In case the title was tricky to understand, today we are blogging about the latest iOS 5 update coming out for Mac users. As a Denver internet marketing company, we are always looking at the latest software and firmware updates to see what is going to be beneficial to business and individual use alike.

The updates that are coming through iOS5 are rumored to be some of the most extensive and revolutionary updates that Mac has produced for its mobile software.

With over 200 new features it would appear that it shouldn’t be rumored, but stated fact that this update is going to be something that will definitely once again change the way we use our mobile devices.  If not change, at least make our mobile device use simpler and more streamlined across everything that we are using them for.

So what features are being brought up that are so great?

Notification Center

This will centralize all notifications that come to the device, whether it’s an email, text message, or events on a calendar, all will appear in the notifications.  This will obviously help streamline the process of checking a mobile device.

Reminders

This is something that has been missing and called for in previous iOS updates.  A place where reminders can be compiled into a calendar of events, instead of having to use a third party application or scheduling the reminder as an event in the calendar.

PC Free and Wi-Fi Sync

The ability for every mobile device to update without having a PC is something that has been looked for since mobile Mac devices could access the internet and that opportunity is finally here.  Also coming with the update is the ability to sync to a PC via the internet, without cords.  Both of these things have been looked for and will be greatly welcomed with this latest update.

These updates are great, however they aren’t what originally had us excited to blog about this.

Twitter

As a company that is heavily involved in social media we see the Twitter integration into iOS 5 as one of the best updates not only for businesses but individuals as well (if they are on Twitter of course). This integration will allow the user to tweet from Safari, Youtube, Maps, Camera and Photos.  This greatly improves the speed at which something can be tweeted.  Reducing the need for a third party application to tweet out a picture, a location, a video, or a link.  Helping of course feed the ever growing social media world through our mobile devices.

These are just a few of the positive changes coming from iOS5. A comprehensive list can be found on Apple’s website.  We want to know, what are you looking forward to most about the iOS5 update?

Ready to Learn Something New? How about something you can use in iOS5?

We talked about the new updates to iOS5, now we have an e-book about smart phone apps.  If you want to learn about the benefits of them then download this ebook!

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As a Denver internet marketing business we try to stay up on current web trends.  This week Google launched the beta of their latest “tool.” So we are taking a break from our Inbound Marketing series to blog about this new tool and what it means for the web, individuals, and businesses.

Google has begun the beta of their latest in an arsenal of programs, entitled Google+. Clicking the link will allow you to take an interactive tour of how this new program is going to work.

Google has created a program that is meant to rival all social media platforms that have come before it.  Loaded with features meant to simplify the social media experience, Google has created what seems to be a platform ready to revolutionize the web.

The surge of people looking to be the “first” to experience Google+ has a been phenomenal.  The unique thing to watch is how people have already hastily put together not only blog posts but even webinars to dissect Google+.  It’s only been 3 days since it’s recognized release.  Currently Google is no longer fielding testers as they have “exceeded capacity” however they have a landing page for people to sign-up to be the first to know about openings to access Google+.

For the web this means potentially another competing social media platform.  Where users will make decisions on which social media platform they spend the bulk of their time on due to usability, functionality, and looks. This means potentially another section of the internet where Google has come in and taken over.

For individuals this leads to the potential of having a social media platform that is sleeker, cleaner, and less cluttered than other social media platforms.  A place to truly connect with friends on the level that humans were meant to (according to Google).  A platform that is much more personal than any other site, a place meant just for the individual and not also the business professional.  Though at some point this will either find its place there or Google will make way for it.

Currently for businesses (at least when signed into a business account) the Google+ website isn’t even available.  It informs the user that the site is not meant for the type of groups that email holder would be in.  So potentially Google will be keeping businesses off of their social media platform and keep it simply for the individual to connect.  This could be a plus, meaning that businesses would not have to worry about keeping up with yet another social media platform.

All in all there is still much to be discovered about Google+. Ultimately social media platforms live and die by the user.  So as beta continues and Google moves forward with development it will be determined if this will be the next big social media phenomenon.  Everyone knows the fate of Google Buzz, so we will anxiously watch to see the fate of this new tool from Google.

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Online marketing and RSS feeds, online marketing and social media… they’re all just a few peas in a pod!  Since we are an internet marketing company, we are going to share a little secret with you…shh…RSS feeds are a perfect tool for any online marketing organization!  Sure, you’re on Facebook, Twitter, and every other social media site that’s popping up around the world wide web, but are you utilizing RSS feeds?  If the answer is no, then hop on the RSS bandwagon — it’s efficient, easy, and all around excellent.  Let’s go into a little more detail…

Why so efficient?

When someone subscribes to your company’s RSS feed, your feed url will be added to the subscriber’s feed reader program (for example, Google Reader).  Each time an article, piece of news, etc. is posted to your site, the new content will magically (okay, not magically, but you get the drift) appear on the subscriber’s feed reader.  Not sure about you, but if you ask us, that’s a whole lot simpler than having to email your subscribers with titles, pictures, the article itself, and anything else that might go along with your new content!

Wait…is it really that easy?

Well, yes.  It is that easy.  Either you create an RSS feed designed for your content and your content alone, or you add your content to an RSS Feed that also pulls articles from other sources.  A lot of RSS feeds are all about content related through keywords, tags, etc. so your articles might be pulled into a feed that is being updated with articles of similar subject matter.  So really, when you’re creating your RSS feed and managing the content that goes into it, you’ve only got a few things to think about:

• a title or headline (presumably whatever your article or entry title is)
• keywords!  (or tags, we talked about this a little while ago)
• the actual content (well, obviously…plus, you get to decide how much of your published content is published to the RSS feed as well — you may want the content on the feed to just be a “teaser,” convincing readers to click and go straight to your url to read the full version)

Yes, yes, we told you it was easy!

And we told you it was excellent…

Since we do often delve into the realm of search engine optimization, let’s discuss one more perk of RSS feed use.  What we’re talking about is search engine presence and visibility.  When you update your content regularly and have it published to an RSS feed (or multiple feeds), you’re much more likely to get your site picked up by Google Crawlers and similar tools around the internet.  So, basically:

regular content + RSS feed + search engine crawlers = web prevalence

That equation is easy enough to work out.  Start using those RSS feeds, folks.

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Icon courtesy of Aha-Soft, released under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

You’re probably wondering about this Netscape icon over here on the left.  It seems like most people these days are fans of Mozilla, Safari, Google Chrome, or something along those lines…however, remember those RSS feeds we talked about last week?

Well, they were actually invented by Netscape.  Many eons ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth (or before the whole Y2K event, anyway), Netscape wanted to develop an XML system that would help easily distribute news and stories.  Netscape eventually dropped their newly developed concept, and Userland Software picked up on it at some point soon after.  UserLand and Netscape duked it out for about 5 or 6 years over the RSS concept (well alright, not duked it out so much, but the two companies certainly switched off in creating newer versions of RSS).  Eventually, in 2003, RSS 2.0 — the version so commonly found around the internet today — was released through Harvard by UserLand Software with the help of Creative Commons.

As a Denver internet marketing company, we also think it’s important to know a little bit about the main components embedded in an RSS feed itself — here’s a few:

Title — Pretty self explanatory here.  Usually this is the same as the title of its accompanying website page or blog title (i.e. “Daily News” or “The Political Opinion of a Gutter Punk”).

Link — The URL back to the website from which the RSS feed is channeling information.  Obviously, if you are creating an RSS feed, this is pretty important to get right!

Description — A blurb about the RSS feed and its content.

PubDate — With the use of this element, the RSS feed manager can actually set a time for content to be channeled through the feed.  So if the author of a blog wants to write their posts at night and have them published the next morning, it’s no problem!

Keep in mind, when you are using an RSS feed system that is attached to your blogging service of choice (for example, WordPress), you’re not going to have to build all of these things yourself.  Things are very user friendly when you’re using a blogging service, but it is certainly helpful to know a little background information on what you are doing!

So anyway, we hope with that crash course on the history of the RSS feed concept and a little on how they work, that you’ll be ready for our next post: how useful RSS feeds can be for an online marketing company.

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Icon courtesy of Morcha Design, free for commercial use.

We got quoted in an online article about business tips for web designers: Big Dreams for a Small Business — Web Designer.

Being a good designer or programmer isn’t good enough by itself. When running your own company, you also need to be a salesman, finding prospects and landing contracts. It’s basically a commission-only sales job: If you can’t land clients, you won’t earn any money.

— Chris Strom, cstrom.com

You can read the full article here: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/small-business-web-designer-advice-0671.

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