Use Your Blog to Drive Sales: An Essential Checklist

Video on building a blog with Joomla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bqG2iXiQOc


You've heard it a thousand times: you can't do Inbound Marketing without a blog.

But you may be wondering - how does all of that writing translate to an actual boost in your revenue? I've got the answer for you, and I'm also here to provide you with a checklist to take blogging from an annoying task to an invaluable medium for driving sales.

For many, blogging seems like a poor use of a lot of time. By the time you think up a topic, research it, write a post, and promote it, you're looking at 2+ hours invested. And I'll admit it - those naysayers are right.

If you're blogging without a purpose, and if you're not optimizing your blog's structure for lead nurturing, your time will likely be wasted (in terms of tangible ROI). Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the case.

Read more: Use Your Blog to Drive Sales: An Essential Checklist

The New Joomla 3 Template Manager

The New Joomla 3 Template Manager

We've covered the new features in Joomla 3.2 already.

We've given you a rundown of the top 15 features and shown you interviews with the lead developers.

This week, we're going to focus on the new Template Manager.

In the updated Joomla 3.2 Template Manager you can edit files, create files and folders and even create overrides directly inside your admin area.

Read more: The New Joomla 3 Template Manager

The Joomla Developers Introduce You To Joomla 3.2

joomla-32Joomla 3.2 is now available.

This is one of the most interesting releases that Joomla has ever put out. Important new features include an app store and content versioning. 

The Joomla community had the wonderful idea to get the developers involved to introduce the new features.

Here are 7 interviews with some of Joomla's core developers, explaining the new features in Joomla 3.2.

Read more: The Joomla Developers Introduce You To Joomla 3.2

How to Create a Call to Action in Joomla

Inbound marketing is all about positioning your company in the right place, at the right time. If you can make it into that context, your next task is to provide the right information to the people you're reaching.

Calls to action are a critical part of this inbound information process - in this post, we're going to talk about how you can create and display them on a Joomla site.

Read more: How to Create a Call to Action in Joomla

Joomla 3.2 Templates, Joomla 3.5, etc

Browse through all our Joomla Templates using our Demo Template Gallery

Joomla 3.2 was released November 6th, 2013. Our team started testing Joomla 3.2 that same morning and by that afternoon, our team had already tested and made sure 40+ of our Joomla Templates and Extensions worked as promised with Joomla 3.2. Today we have over 37 Joomla 3.2 Templates in addition to several Free Joomla 3.2 Templates.

This is the kind of immediate access to upgrades our customers have grown to expect from the Joomlashack Team.  

Our team was able to accomplish this because they are awesome, and because our templates were created using the nimble, powerful, and versatile Wright Framework.  

Read more: Joomla 3.2 Templates, Joomla 3.5, etc

10 Critical Elements of an Inbound Marketing-Ready Website [Infographic]

Every time you create a Joomla site, you likely go through the same initial process: you determine menu items and navigation, you create categories for those items, and then you draft each item and page. This process is simple, it works, and it gets the content you want on the site.

But as you make the transition to Inbound Marketing via your website, you'll need to think a little differently about the process of creating (or updating) a site. Check out this infographic to better understand the anatomy of an Inbound website. 

Read more: 10 Critical Elements of an Inbound Marketing-Ready Website [Infographic]

Write Copy That Sells ~ Focus on Benefits

Are you writing "Benefit-Driven" Copy?

Or, are you boasting about your product's features? Believe it or not, it is way harder to write copy for your customers than it is to write copy describing your products. And it is way easier to fall into the trap of "feature-driven" writing than "benefit-driven" copy. Here are some tips to help you know the difference.

When a customer has a problem, you have an amazing opportunity to help him/her out.  If you write "benefit-driven" copy, you certainly stand a higher chance to differentiate yourself from the gazillion providers that are out there competing with you. Why? When a customer realizes that you truly understand his NEEDS or WANTS, you are setting yourself appart.

Read more: Write Copy That Sells ~ Focus on Benefits

The T3 Template Framework for Joomla

logot3v3In Joomla, there are two widely-used, commerical template frameworks.

We previously covered one of those frameworks by showing how to use Gantry from Rocketheme.

This week we're going to examine the T3 framework from JoomlArt.

T3 has since become the framework of choice for another well-known template company: JoomlaBamboo. The T3 framework and blank template are free to use and licensed under the GPL.

Read more: The T3 Template Framework for Joomla

Optimizing Joomla Landing Pages for Conversions

A landing page is probably one of the most important parts of any website. It's the point in the visitor's journey where they make the leap and convert on some sort of offer. However, even though this is such an important piece of your Joomla website, it is often one of the most overlooked sections to make improvements. 

In today's blog we are going to look at some of the important best practices and tips for creating high converting Joomla landing pages.

Read more: Optimizing Joomla Landing Pages for Conversions

What Is Social Proof? Powerful, Persuasive, and Awesome - That's What!

Throughout your experiences creating and managing Joomla websites, you may have encountered the term "Social Proof".

Much buzzed about in marketing circles and quickly making it's way into the web design sphere, social proof is the careful art of guiding people to take actions by providing evidence of other people doing the same.

Let's take a look at an example of social proof at work, and discuss how you can incorporate it into your website and Inbound strategy.

Read more: What Is Social Proof? Powerful, Persuasive, and Awesome - That's What!