Max Stanworth, Author at Design Shard

Employ Search Engine Optimization Services To Make Your Business Successful

When it comes to staying competitive on the market in terms of business, a lot of firms have devised plans and strategies to make sure they stay atop of their game. There are some important advantages to be use such as promotion a business by owning a website which makes sure that every customer is aware of what the certain business is promoting.

These respective websites need to be extremely visible since the internet is dominated by giant search engine providers such as Google, Yahoo or Bing and that can be achieved by employing search engine optimization services which are also Premier Google Partners.

Google ads are regarded as the best form of advertising products today and making sure these services are mastered will turn anyone’s business ideas into great marketing campaigns which will not only benefit them in terms of sales but it will also increase revenue and clients in the long run. Only a select group of companies will be able to boast with being a Premier Google Partner and if one business achieves that, it will surely thrive.

Employing a company which is a master of online paid search marketing will only yield great results as they will make use of a wide range of practices to make sure that the business has a successful website and not only generate more traffic but the website owner will also see an increase in sales and potential buyers.

Search engine optimization providers promote a website which will increase the site’s visibility on the web which should be the main factor that must be prioritized on top of all. Being more visible on the web means that more people will access the specific website and by doing that not only will the respective website will be better known but sales and popularity will also exponentially increase.

Such firms offer services such as micro-managing the website themselves and even employing a web designer who takes care of the appearance and potential flaws which might occur in order to give it the best rendition available. Another factor which should be regarded is the website’s relevance to the items promoted and taking into account that engines such as Google employ algorithms to display the most relevant results, SEO firms also manage the website to make sure that it increases in rankings.

These firms will also provide potential customers and visitors the best user experience in order to make sure that the websites can be easily navigable with extremely clear and defined search bars which will make browsing products a whole lot easier.

PDF files can be converted into Word files to better suit text manipulation

Word documents are the staple of text manipulation. The Microsoft provided Office suite has helped many generations over the years, and is the go-to service for when it comes to either drafting up a quick document or writing a full-blown 10 page document. Often times people are put in a situation where they are given a file that is not in Word format, and asked to edit that document. This can be quite an inconvenience. As someone that predominantly uses Word (if that’s the case) you might think that editing text in other formats shouldn’t be that hard since editing in Word isn’t hard at all.

Unfortunately things are a little more complicated than that. Editing text in a PDF file for example can be quite stressful and certainly not as productive. The reason we’ve chosen PDF for this example is because PDF is one of the best format available overall. Due to its popularity and sheer convenience, it’s understandable how some people might constantly use it and also send other people documents to edit thinking they’re PDF-ready.

Many users end up asking how can they convert pdf to word format. The answer is simple. All you need at your disposal is a tool that’s easy to find and knows how to do what you ask of it. To be more specific, you’re looking for something that can convert PDF documents to Word documents and won’t obliterate this month’s paycheck. You’re in luck because such converters are available all over the internet.

While searching for these converters, you will prominently find two types:

The paid type which requires either an upfront or monthly pay in exchange for its more or less competent services;
The free type, which might come in a not so cool of a packaging but can do its job great and give you what you need. There might also be some free solutions that are bad, but you can surely find a good one in a matter of two minutes by Googling it.

There are also the ones that you must download and install, but that’s not the case with every converter. A lot of them are accessible directly from the internet and only require that you upload whatever PDF file you are trying to convert.

After you’re done converting, simply use the appropriate option from the ones provided so that your new Word document is safe and sound in its new location. You might also be able to get other options if you access a website that provides them.

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10 Top Productivity Hacks for Designers

Designers, just like any other creative professionals, just cannot keep working mechanically. They need to be at the peak of their physical and mental state in order to deliver quality output. So, here are a few hacks that should help the designers improve their efficiency as well as the quality of their work.

1. Take Ample Breaks

In order to do your best, you need to be physically fit. So, do not overstretch yourself. Take care of yourself by taking ample breaks.

2. Eat small meals

A heavy meal makes one lethargic and sleepy. It is not ideal for any kind of work. If you must eat a hearty meal, do it at the end of the day. Otherwise, break down your meals into smaller portions to be taken several times throughout the day.

3. Exercise Daily

Some exercise always helps. If you are not a gym person at least take some time out for a walk every evening. It will refresh your body and mind and help you refocus on your work. Yoga or meditation might help too, but you need to find a good teacher for this purpose.

4. Break down the Tasks

Do not just look at the final outcome of a large project, break down your work into smaller parts and categorize them in terms of importance and priority. This way you will have a clearer picture of what is to be done and when.

5. Delegate repetitive work

You do not have to do everything yourself. If you are getting good returns for a major project, the best way is to delegate boring and repetitive works to others and focus on what you do best, i.e. the creative parts where your inputs matter the most. The previous step of breaking down the task will also help you in this regard.

6. Find online resources for the basics

There are many interesting online services that can provide quick solutions to various problems. For instance, nowadays you can find suitable fonts, graphics, and background templates for all purposes online and many of them are even free. Use them to save your time and build upon them.

7. Turn off the Wi-Fi

Yes, in this day and age, the internet can be your biggest ally as well as your biggest enemy. Most of us habitually keep checking Facebook, Twitter and various news sites, wasting valuable hours every day. It will be better you turn off that connection for some time and reward yourself with an hour of surfing only if you finish your task on time.

8. Use Technology to measure efficiency

Nowadays there are many innovative smartphone apps that tell you how efficient you are. They keep track of how much time you are spending on various websites and give you reminders. Find something that suits you and use the same to measure and improve your efficiency.

9. Find a Hobby

As counterintuitive as it may sound, a hobby can be of great help. It helps for you to engage in something else other than your work. This refreshes your brain cells and sharpens the mind. So, do not just watch TV during your leisure time. Play with the Rubik cube or read a book that enhances your knowledge.

10. Use Social Media Productively

If there is a problem, do not hesitate to ask for help. In this day and social media can be your most important ally here. Join relevant interest groups to ask queries and get advice from experts in your field. This can also be a great place to build rapport and find collaborators from the comforts of your home. Spend some time to learn how to use social media effectively for work.

Keep All Your Ideas On File

The great thing about inspiration is that you can never know when it could strike. For this reason, you need to make hay while the sun shines. To a large extent, this relies on basic preparation. You should always keep a text document or spreadsheet handy at a place you can easily access any time that you like. Any time you get an interesting idea that would be great as a post on your blog, write it down in this file.

When you have a routine of doing this each and every time, you will soon have a large inventory that you can work from, even if you do not feel particularly creative.

Get Ideas from Other Bloggers

One way to quickly and consistently develop ideas for your blog posts is to gain constant exposure to the type of blogs that you aspire to. You could use a feed reader like Feedly and subscribe to various blogs. Check in to these blogs at least once a day and view what they publish.

Do not be afraid to steal some of the best ideas that have worked on other blogs. There is a lot that you can learn from those who have succeeded before you. If you read an inspiring post from one of your competitors, note it down in your ideas file. It may just prove to be the bit of inspiration that sparks a new idea in you.

Ask the audience

A foolish blogger will go out in search of inspiration, while efficient bloggers will let ideas come to them. It is easy to crowdsource ideas for your posts by studying the comments on your blog, checking the replies you get on Twitter and keenly listening when people talk about your subject matter.

When you understand the questions that people are asking, and know what gets people excited or confused and know their stories, you have gone a long way toward developing great post ideas. Talk to you readers and find out the things they would like to know more about and then give them this information. Although it sounds extremely simple, there are few people who actually take the time to do it.

Ask Others

When you are stuck for inspiration, it is important to remember that there are many other bloggers who have been there before but have managed to conquer this hurdle and have documented the process they went through. A great way to overcome writers’ block is to have a look at some of the excellent post ideas that your peers in the blogosphere have come up with.

When you ask and find out what great posts you have written in the past that still bring in loads of traffic in the weeks, months and even years after they were first published, you will know the kind of content that works.

You should then think of how to expand on this content. Is it possible to dissect one of these posts and provide its ideas in more detailed steps? Could you write a follow-up post? Is it possible to refresh the post by including newer ideas? Your readers and other bloggers can help you find the answers to these questions and more.

Ride On Trending Topics

Today, there are many ways to discover hot topics. An excellent way to come up with content that many people will want to read and share is finding out beforehand what it is that people are looking for in their searches. Some of these are:

Google Trends
com/search
com

All the above sources will give you an idea of the type of content that is most popular at the moment.

Tell the Story So Far

There are times when the best posts are those that tell your entire story of your blog in a single, condensed version. No matter what you blog about, it is likely that you have been doing it for a while. What you need to tell your readers is:

What have you managed to learn during this time?
What is it that has changed during that time?
If you could give yourself a piece of advice when you started out, what would this advice be?

Writing this kind of post is more than an exercise in narcissism; the posts could end up being incredibly useful to others in your niche. Everybody starts somewhere, and you could help someone else learn from the mistakes you made early in your career.

Give Something Back Through a Guide

Many bloggers ask: What kind of blog post is the best? The answer to this is surprisingly simple. The best blog post is one that makes people click through and read more of your posts. Surprisingly, few bloggers link the posts on their blog together adequately to capitalise on this fact.

You should take time to re-read your old posts, group posts that are related together and order them in a sort of mini-guide to enable visitors to your blog to read them in sequence, in a meaningful way. Always include an introduction, add a conclusion as well as some brief descriptions and links to the relevant posts. This will ensure that you have a guide that will lead visitors on a quest around your blog.

Conclusion

Every blogger gets great ideas for their posts every day. What proves difficult is organising these ideas in an actionable way. Hopefully, the ideas in this post will offer you useful guidelines that you can follow while allowing your creative juices to flow.

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Whimsical, Surreal Illustrations with iStock’s Signature Artist – Iveta Vaicule

Illustrations are at the forefront of communications these days, with everyone from small businesses to major brands using them to make a visual connection.

Illustrations used to act as supporting elements to big beautiful photos on websites and campaigns, but now advertisers and designers are using illustrations more and more as the main vehicle for expressing their message

iStock by Getty Images Senior Manager of Illustration Jennifer Borton said. They can really provide a unique and personal stamp on any project.

Iveta Vaicule, one of Jennifer’s favorite illustrators, is creating her own mark on the illustration world. Born in Latvia and now living in Norwich, UK, she originally started her career as a graphic designer before realizing her true passion lied in illustration.

Illustration provides me with more freedom than graphic design, it feels more like ‘me,’” Iveta said. “I love the creativity and how you can put together a bunch of scribbles and something beautiful comes out of it.

Iveta’s signature hand-drawn style combined with the whimsical, childlike quality of her designs helps her stand out among other illustrators.

“Iveta’s style is very surreal and almost primitive — it’s deliberately clunky and very charming. Her color palettes are really bizarre and cool. She’ll take two colors that you would never think would work together and she crashes them together and it works beautifully,” Jennifer said. “I also love the texture she builds up. The more you look at her illustrations, the more you get drawn into the composition and start noticing all the little details she’s added.”

One of Iveta’s favorite topics to draw are cityscapes. Her illustrations provide a quirky, fun perspective of destinations across the globe from Moscow to Rio. Interestingly, she hasn’t actually been to most of the cities she’s drawn, and instead uses photographs as inspiration to create her own unique spin.

“She takes the buildings and landmarks and mashes them all together into these crazy compositions with a skewed viewpoint,” Jennifer said. “They’re really interesting and stand out among a sea of more straightforward, realistic depictions of these locations. It’s almost like she just draws whatever she wants.

And that’s exactly what she does.

It gives me great joy, excitement and happiness to create something. It’s a good way to express myself — it’s almost like a diary of my life. Looking at various illustrations of mine brings back memories of places, people, pets, happy and sad times from my past, I’m really just trying to draw for myself, that’s how I produce the best work. If you do something for yourself and other people like it, that’s a massive bonus.

This photo was inspired by a man I once dated a long time ago who was very good at playing piano and writing little songs. He was a very entertaining and interesting person but he didn’t pursue his dream of becoming a musician and instead, he sold pianos and caravans. He also couldn’t click his fingers. So in this illustration he is in a band, singing away and clicking his fingers too.

iStock are offering a free download of Iveta’s chosen image

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View Iveta’s collection and millions more royalty-free images at iStock.com

Author: Max Stanworth