What we’ve learned from building 40,000+ links for clients
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Amanda Milligan Contributor
Amanda Milligan is the marketing director at Fractl, a prominent growth marketing agency that’s helped Fortune 500 companies and boutique businesses alike earn quality media coverage, backlinks, awareness and authority.
Since our agency opened in 2012, we’ve learned a lot about how to build quality links through content marketing.
The industry has evolved for a variety of reasons, including Google’s algorithm updates and the state of digital media. We’ve had to change along with them.
Over the years, we’ve completely revamped the way we develop content ideas, report on results, identify pitch targets — everything except for our core belief: a combination of content marketing and digital PR is the best way to build top-tier links.
I want to share three of our biggest insights from our experiences adapting so you don’t have to start from scratch or wonder which of your processes needs an update.
Kids and guns–the idea is both terrifying to parents and thrilling to kids.
After all, what kid hasn’t wished for a BB gun or picked up a stick to play soldier or cowboy?
9mms like this Ruger SR1911 Lightweight Commander are a good option for kids (this is actually the author’s daughter’s gun).
Truth is, young shooters can be just as safe (and honestly, safer) than their adult counterparts. They just need appropriate training and someone to mentor them in the ways of the firearm.
If you have kids of your own, why not get them into the shooting sports? Or hey, borrow someone else’s kids (yes, with their permission).
Here’s how to safely get kids into firearms and on the road to a lifelong obsession with all things pew pew.
Disclaimer: this is just a starting point. There are a ton of considerations for teaching kids to shoot. Use your head.
Table of Contents
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Safety First
This may or may not surprise you but the NRA’s Eddie Eagle really is one of the best kids-and-gun-safety programs out there.
Eddie Eagle teaching a class how to stay safe with guns.
Eddie Eagle walked my sixteen-year-old daughter through gun safety in a fun, relatable way more than a decade ago and I’m using it again today.
To this day Grace remembers the “Stop! Don’t touch! Leave the area! Call an adult!” mantra of Eddie Eagle which is proof positive of its effectiveness at burrowing into their brains.
Another good program is run Kids S.A.F.E run by Derek LeBlanc. The Kids S.A.F.E program is a lot more hands-on and although it is largely available on the west coast hopefully it’ll expand this coming year.
The Kids S.A.F.E. Foundation trains kids of all ages in gun safety.
Of course, that only covers what to do if kids find a random gun lying around (something you yourself are never going to do, right?), so how do you handle the actual shooting portion of gun safety?
Personally, I prefer teaching my kids about gun safety myself. If you’re going to have firearms in the house you both need to remove the mystique and teach them to be safe.
That means memorizing the four golden rules of gun safety. Not only did I and do I make mine memorize the rules I’ve made them recite the rules back to me every time we go to the range together. Every. Single. Time.
The four rules every shooter should follow:
All guns are always loaded.
Never let the muzzle cover anything which you are not willing to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
Always be sure of your target (my addition: and what is beyond it).
This means a few different things. Your kids must be both tall and strong enough and mentally mature enough to understand and follow through with muzzle awareness.
A tiny little kid is going to have trouble controlling an adult-size long gun. Conversely, a handgun is small enough it might be harder for a brand-new kid shooter to be aware just how quickly and easily that muzzle can swing around and flag somebody.
Hitting the range with ARs is my idea of the perfect way to spend time with the kids.
You, the parent–or responsible adult, whatever–are responsible for constantly monitoring their actions and ensuring they do not take on more than they’re ready to handle.
It’s also your job to keep an eye on them repeatedly. One safe range trip does not make an expert, especially with kids or anyone else with a short attention span (like my own ADHD self… it’s harder for some of us to focus than others).
Hand-in-hand with teaching muzzle awareness, we have triggers. Your five-year-old can indeed be taught to index their trigger finger high on the gun.
Just because their fingers are tiny doesn’t mean they can’t stay the heck away from the trigger. Teach them early, teach them young, and teach them safely.
Not how you want to teach your kid to handle guns.
A great way to learn basic firearms safety is with empty guns at home (and then at the range). You can also use airsoft guns, BB guns, and Nerf guns (for real, people, you’d be amazed at the creative ways you can instill safe gun handling practices).
If you use actual firearms consider putting a chamber flag in and remember the safe direction and triple-checking the gun is empty remain A Good Idea.
If I have said it once I’ve said it a million times: safety is ultimately your responsibility and you should not expect a child to function like an adult with a firearm. It is your job to make it safe prior to teaching them to be safe.
Your. Job.
Age
Age of your child, not age of the gun.
What age you can start teaching your kids to shoot varies because no two kids are alike.
I am a firm believer in instilling safety from a very young age and I don’t say that only because guns are my job.
The author’s daughter with the author at the age of three, which is the age she started learning to shoot.
If you have a gun in your house it is up to you to make sure everyone–and I do mean everyone–in the house knows how to be safe with it. Then there’s the fact that seeing guns as a natural part of life helps remove the mystery, which is what we call A Good Thing.
It is up to you what age to start your kids with guns.
This all depends on your own skill and experience level, your comfort with teaching and supervising, and the maturity level and focus of the child in question. Kids are different. Use your own judgment.
Caliber and Platform
You’ll find a ton of curriculum and social media opinion out there about what caliber is the best one to start your kids off shooting.
It is true that something like .22 LR is good because it’s mild, quieter, easier to control, and way less likely to create bad flinch habits, but that isn’t possible for everyone.
The Taurus TX22 is a decent little starter pistol in .22 LR.
If at all possible start small and work your way up. If you want to start with a Red Ryder BB gun or an air rifle from Gamo, go for it. Once your child is proficient with those, move on to firearms chambered in .22 LR.
No, throwing a .380 ACP at them is not a good idea. Pistols chambered in .380 ACP tend to be snappy and more difficult to control. Smaller does not always translate to less recoil and muzzle rise.
When you make the move away from .22 LR handguns, go for a larger 9mm, not a teensy .380 ACP or .38 Special. Guns like the Ruger SR1911 Lightweight Commander in 9mm are slim enough for smaller hands, produce less recoil, and are generally solid guns.
As for platform, I taught Grace to shoot using a bolt-action Marlin with a tube magazine.
The .22 LR-chambered Marlin the author’s daughter used as her first rifle.
Today I also favor the Rossi RS22, a semiautomatic rimfire with an 18-inch barrel and synthetic Monte Carlo stick. It also has a ten-round magazine so you can teach kids to load and seat mags.
The Rossi RS22 is a magazine-fed .22 LR suitable for teaching your kids to run a gun.
The Rossi RS22 ships with adjustable fiber-optic front and rear sights and is a nice teaching rifle right out of the box. It weighs 4.1-pounds, empty, and is reasonably well balanced.
Remember, you are not going to start your child off shooting offhand, they’re going to be sitting at a bench. Start simple and move on from there.
AR-15s are actually stellar teaching platforms, too. .223 Remington has minimal felt recoil and it’s ridiculously fun.
The trick is finding one that is light and balanced enough to be easily handled by a child. Yes that takes us back to starting from the bench but eventually you’ll have them shooting sitting, kneeling, and standing, so unless you can and will buy an array of teaching guns keep these things in mind when you buy that first AR-15.
Grace zeroing a Remington bolt-action Model 7 in .308 Win.
Shotguns are another area where the general consensus tends to be a deafening roar of “Use a .410 bore!”
If we’re talking about small children it is wise to use a .410 or 20 gauge rather than expecting them to run a 12-gauge right off. Realistically, whether you start with a .410 or a 20 gauge might be more about affordability than anything else.
If you buy a .410, is it ever going to see use or will it just serve a brief teaching purpose, then sit and collect dust? At least if you buy a good 20 gauge like the Remington 870 or 11-87 it will be useful for years to come for a variety of purposes.
Remington’s 11-87 in 20 gauge has been a long-time favorite of my now-teenage daughter’s.
A nice 20 gauge is great for not only the range but for hunting game like turkeys. My two cents is to get a 20 gauge, not a .410, but you do you.
My current pile of youth guns for the littles includes the aforementioned Rossi RS22, a Remington 870 Express in 20 gauge, and my beloved uber-lightweight carbon-fiber Axelson Tactical Black Pearl in .223 Wylde.
For handguns the Taurus TX22 is a nice little teaching option – yes, I said Taurus. Don’t be a hater, dear.
The guns you are using to teach your children are not the same guns you would use to defend your life. Unless you have endless resources you need to make teaching them affordable and that means affordably-priced guns that get the job done.
A teenage cheerleader and an Axelson Tactical AR-10: a perfect match.
Yes, my Axelson rifle is on the high-custom-end but there are a ton of nicely-priced ARs on the market you can grab up.
Eyes, Ears, and So On
Protect your kids’ eyes and ears, for the love of all that is holy. Cheap foamies are not sufficient to guard their hearing. If possible, use electronic muffs so they can still hear you talking them through the steps.
Muffs are also more adjustable because electronic buds are sized for adult ears as a general rule. Of course, the good thing about teaching with smaller calibers is that they also create less noise.
Check out Walker’s Ultimate Power Muff Quads. They have four Hi Gain Omni-Directional microphones, 9X hearing enhancement, a 26 decibel rating, and independing AFT controls.
Walker’s XCEL 100 Digital Electronic Muffs with Voice Clarity are less expensive than the Ultimates and also well-made and effective. Yes you are going to pay more for good electronic muffs but look at it this way: you are investing in your child’s hearing for the rest of their life, not just for ten minutes or one day.
Eye pro should be worn at all times. If the eye pro is too big for their head it isn’t going to stay in place and it’s also going to be way less useful if something comes back at their face. SSP Eyewear offers a youth line with different levels of tint suited for varying weather conditions. Over the years I’ve become a huge fan of SSP Eyewear.
Hats. Yes, hats. Do I get annoyed wearing a baseball hat at the range? Yes. Do I always wear one when taking classes and hunting? Again, yes.
Grace running an AR-10 in .308 Win on a deer hunt at the age of twelve.
Especially when you are dealing with the littles you need to consider protecting them from every aspect of flying debris including brass that comes flying back and could potentially get caught between their eye pro and face.
Do they always, always have to wear a hat? No, but it is a good additional safety layer. Consider it.
Things to Remember
Break things down in bite-size pieces and brief lessons. Expecting a five-year-old to follow directions and retain an enormous amount of information all at once is ludicrous.
If your kid looks like this, it’s time for a break.
It just isn’t going to happen.
Kind of like asking them to sit their wiggly behind on a hard school chair for six or eight hours it’s asking a lot to expect stillness and attentiveness for long stretches at the range. Even the most interested kid is going to struggle.
Keep it simple.
Teach your kids that guns are tools, not toys. Guns require a high level of awareness and responsibility. Their use is a privilege (don’t get started on Second Amendment issues and rights, people, you know that is not what this is about).
Grace with the Marlin at the age of ten, keeping the muzzle down. She’s always had better discipline and safety practices than most adults I know.
Start with single-shot drills. Don’t toss your kid a loaded magazine and let them go nuts. This is, of course, assuming you’ve worked with them on empty guns and dryfire already.
The first thing your kid’s gonna do if you don’t train them.
Once you’ve done that, then move on to single-shot drills. I know you want your kids to be having a literal blast at the range but you must start safely and cautiously.
Start young. Let your kids watch you clean guns, then teach them to help. Becoming familiar with handling guns while remaining safe and learning the parts of guns is an excellent way to build a solid foundation for a young shooter.
20-gauge shotguns like this Remington pump-action are great teaching tools for kids.
Your behavior will influence your children’s behavior. If you handle guns carefully and safely, they will, too.
If you’re flip and inobservant, not really giving a crap where the muzzle swings, guess what? Neither will they. Model the behavior you want to see in your kids. This applies to more than guns.
For heaven’s sake don’t leave your guns lying around where your toddlers and grade-schoolers can get their hands on them.
Deer hunting with kids? Absolutely.
Conversely, don’t give me that “I have to keep my home defense gun locked up because there’s kids” line.
If you have a self-defense weapon, carry it on your body. It is not difficult and it is a lot more useful when it’s immediately accessible than if you have to run for the safe if someone breaks into your home.
That brings me neatly to my final point: buy a tourniquet, learn to use it, and teach your kids to use it.
You are statistically more likely to need and use a tourniquet than you are to ever need to use that self-defense gun. Your kids should be familiar with first aid–and that means tourniquets.
Above all, have fun. This is an awesome lifestyle and one you should be proud to pass on to your kids.
Conclusion
As for me and mine, you can find us at the range–or in a hunting blind. Or against a tree calling in turkeys.
Introduce your kids to the shooting sports. It instills responsibility, teaches dexterity, improves focus, and is a great way to spend time as a family. Go on, get thee to the range with your kids.
Did you teach your kids how to shoot and handle firearms? Looking forward to doing so? Share your tips and questions in the comments below! For a first gun, check out:
My wife and I have homeschooled our boys for 14 years. Two started university this year, returning home last week when their campus closed. The third is a sophomore in high school. At home, we’ve applied many of the principles, models, tools, and skills I use in my work to help individuals and teams learn and work more effectively.
This morning, my wife, one of my college-age sons, and I put our heads together to share some tips that might help people who are homeschooling, suddenly and not by choice, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Your Family Is Not a Scrum Team
You may have had good results with Scrum at work. This does not mean it will work for you at home.
Just a few ways your family is not like a Scrum Team:
Your family is not a dedicated team working towards a common product increment. Different people have wildly different responsibilities, commitments, and availability.
There’s no clear Product Owner. Nor should there be. Different areas have different people who can set direction and prioritize. In some cases, it’s the person doing the work.
There’s no clear ScrumMaster. No one can focus full-time on the system of work. Everyone has tasks to do.
Not all the work is plannable. Things emerge every day. That’s ok. That’s just life, especially during a crisis.
Keep the principles. Experiment with some of the practices. Don’t try to apply the whole framework.
2. Make the Work Visible
If there’s one thing that has made the biggest difference for our family, it’s this. Get all the work, school and chores, onto a big Kanban board. You can find the board layout we ended up with in this post.
This works at home for all the reasons it works at work. But there’s a more important reason why it matters at home:
Your relationships are more important than the work to be done.
By moving the work to be done outside of you and your child, the work is just there. It’s not you chasing them around, trying to get them to do the work. It’s just, “Is there work left to do?”
3. Use Timeboxes All Over the Place
You’re probably also working from home now and trying to get your own things done. You’ve probably discovered that getting anything done with interruptions every two minutes is, basically, impossible.
The thing is, the kid interrupting you probably isn’t getting anything done either.
To give both of you a chance to focus and get something done, use timeboxes: “Let’s set this timer for 20 minutes. You work on your math, and I’m going to do my work. Write down any questions you have for me. When the timer goes off, we’ll talk through your questions.”
This also helped us ensure we took regular breaks and moved around instead of just sitting at the table all day long. (Breaks benefit from timers, too.)
4. Everything Seems Worse When You’re Hungry
More time together means more things to have conflict about. Those conflicts seem—and actually become—worse when you’re hungry. Plan time for meals and snacks. Don’t hesitate to call time-out on an argument to have a snack and then come back to discussing it.
5. Not Everything Is Equally Important
The 80/20 principle applies here. Not everything is going to get done perfectly every day, especially when we’re all stressed and adapting to a new way of living and working. Sometimes your energy is done before the tasks are done. That’s ok. Find the most essential part of each task. Focus on the why. Let some things slide.
Prioritize health and relationships over accomplishment. That’s what will matter in the long term.
6. It Doesn’t Have to Look or Feel Like School
As I write this, it’s the middle of the “school day,” and one of my sons is laying in bed listening to an audiobook, one is on the back porch on a Zoom discussion for a college class, and the third is doing his laundry. As long as everything is getting done, it doesn’t matter when, where, or what it looks like. Kids don’t need to sit in rows—or even in chairs!—for learning to happen. Take advantage of the flexibility you now have to integrate school, chores, rest, and play. Let your kids experience how lifelong learning is just a part of life, not something that has to happen in a classroom setting.
Finally, be patient with yourself and your family. A wise friend once explained patience to me as something like, “choosing to let go of your expectations.” It’s not having no expectations. It’s owning your expectations, acknowledging where they’re not being met, and choosing something else you value more (usually a relationship).
Leave a comment below if this was useful or if you have additional questions. If there’s interest, we may host a Zoom call to answer questions and share more tips.
The Raspberry Pi Hub: 45+ Tips, Tricks, Tutorials, and Guides
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We have all the tips, tricks, tutorials, and guides you’ll need to become a full-fledged master of the Raspberry Pi. Newbies and veterans, welcome!
The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer, a fancy term for any tiny-yet-fully-operational computer that’s built on a single circuit board. It can do everything that a normal computer can—such as run software, connect to the internet, control USB devices, and more—although the computing power and speed of a Raspberry Pi falls short of modern desktop CPUs. Its main selling point? Small size and cheap price!
Still not sure what a Raspberry Pi is, exactly? Want to know why it’s called Raspberry Pi? Who invented the Raspberry Pi and when was it launched? Why are there different Raspberry Pi models and what are the differences? Learn all of that and more in our newbie’s introduction to the Raspberry Pi.
What Can You Do With a Raspberry Pi?
You’d be surprised how much a small little device like a Raspberry Pi can do. All you need is a bit of know-how and some elbow grease. For Raspberry Pi virgins, we recommend the following articles to get a sense of the Raspberry Pi’s capabilities:
One of the most practical ways to use a Raspberry Pi is to turn it into a home media server. With it, you can load movies and TV shows onto the device and stream it to any internet-capable device—including TVs, computers, smartphones, and tablets.
TheRaspberry Pi can be quite handy for retro gaming enthusiasts, allowing you to build your own gaming consoles using emulator software and gaming accessories:
The Raspberry Pi is more than a gimmick. When used in the right way, it can be insanely practical and beneficial to productivity. If you want to do something with it, you probably can—your imagination is the limit:
Getting started with your first Raspberry Pi can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Our guides will take you through the steps you need, explaining everything you need to know. You’ll be comfortable and confident in no time:
To really get the most out of your Raspberry Pi, you’ll want to incorporate a few accessories as well as some freely available apps. None of these are essential, but will prove useful and convenient on your road to becoming a Raspberry Pi master:
Trying to fix a Raspberry Pi that’s gone awry can be tough—it is, after all, a full-fledged computer that’s prone to errors. However, with the following tips and tricks under your belt, you’ll be able to solve most issues that you may encounter:
Raspbian is the official operating system that comes pre-installed on Raspberry Pi devices. Don’t like it? The good news is, you can always go ahead and install a different operating system if you want to. Perfect for tinkerers!
Camera Records Critters Crossing a Log in the Woods for a Year
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On each day of our lives, we have time to spend. The way we choose to spend that time varies, and the value of our minutes depends on how each one is spent. I contend that spending five of your minutes watching this video is a good idea.
YouTube channel “Bush’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Camera” placed a game camera on at a log crossing a small creek for an entire year to capture all the wildlife using the log — then they compiled it into one five-minute video.
Viewers see all sorts of critters crossing the log, including raccoon, black bear, chipmunk, bobcat, coyote, squirrel, fox, turkey, porcupine, muskrat, and a host of many different birds. Heck, there’s even a whitetail deer that comes along to feed on some stuff growing from the log.
To their everlasting credit, the makers of this video did not pollute it by adding a song. There is perhaps nothing more obnoxious than a bunch of manmade racket rattling around in the background of a video. Instead, we get the calming sound of flowing water and natural sounds made by some of the creatures. Nice.
I admit I did enjoy seeing the big bear’s paw slip off of the log and into the water. Doh!
Water levels vary, with the creek’s level usually pretty low — but at one point there was water roaring over the bridge log. Watching the squirrel leap over some flowing water was fun.
USPTO launches the Expanding Innovation Hub, a new online platform to encourage greater participation in the patent system
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The following post is republished from the USPTO Director’s Blog and is authored by USPTO Director Andrei Iancu and Deputy Director Laura Peter.
“To maintain our technological leadership, the United States must broaden our innovation ecosphere demographically, geographically, and economically.”—USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Today, as part of Women’s History Month, the USPTO has officially launched the Expanding Innovation Hub (“the Hub”), an online platform available on the USPTO website that provides resources for inventors and practitioners to encourage greater participation in the patent system. The new platform is yet another step the USPTO has taken to broaden the innovation ecosphere, to inspire novel inventions, to accelerate growth, and to drive America’s global competitive edge. It builds on our SUCCESS Act report to Congress of 2019, as well as our Progress and Potential report on women inventors.
“Expanding Innovation” is part of the USPTO’s effort to inspire more women, minorities, veterans, and geographically and socioeconomically diverse applicants to join the innovation economy. Important pillars of that effort include education and mentorship. On the Hub, you will find the new Demystifying the Patent System Toolkit, designed to help innovators understand the process of obtaining a patent. Additional resources on the Hub include the Mentoring Toolkit, intended to assist organizations in establishing an infrastructure to connect experienced innovators with the next generation in their organization; and Community Group Resources, designed to help organizations establish an infrastructure to connect groups of employees with shared characteristics, interests, and goals.
These new tools are in addition to many other efforts at the USPTO to help expand the innovation ecosystem. We will continue to host a wide variety of events to amplify this message, such as Invention-Con and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium. We have a pro se assistance program to help inventors who are not represented by counsel apply for patents. We have a pro bono network, and we also work with 60 participating law school clinics, all to help inventors and entrepreneurs secure free or discounted legal services. We provide a host of other online resources to help guide and educate inventors as well.
We also continue to expand our reach geographically. In addition to our headquarters in Alexandria, we have four regional offices in Detroit, Denver, San Jose, and Dallas, and 83 Patent and Trademark Resource Centers located in public, state, and academic libraries across the country. These centers not only offer a physical connection to valuable government resources, but they also offer regular programming, office hours, and staff trained to assist inventors and entrepreneurs with intellectual property (IP) research.
The USPTO also supports dozens of STEM-related programs that provide education about IP to young men and women. These include programs in partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame, such as Camp Invention, which is offered in school districts in every state, and the Collegiate Inventors Competition, which takes place each year at the USPTO; the National Summer Teacher Institute, which brings invention and IP into the nation’s classrooms; collaborations with historically black colleges and universities; the Girl Scout IP patch, which is available to Girl Scout troops across the nation; and so much more.
Now, with the new Expanding Innovation Hub on our website, inventors will have a central location to find information about all of our programs and resources.
America’s economic prosperity and technological leadership depend on a strong and inclusive innovation ecosystem. That is why it is so important to make sure all Americans have the opportunity to develop and protect their inventions, build thriving businesses, and succeed. It is therefore critical that industry, academia, and government work together to broaden our innovation ecosphere demographically, geographically, and economically. Please visit the Expanding Innovation Hub and check back often to engage with us in this critical endeavor.
legal_stuff
via Patent Law Blog (Patently-O) https://patentlyo.com
Keep stock for Eloquent models. This package will track stock mutations for your models. You can increase, decrease, clear and set stock. It’s also possible to check if a model is in stock (on a certain date/time).
Installation
You can install the package via composer:
composer require appstract/laravel-stock
By running php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Appstract\Stock\StockServiceProvider" in your project all files for this package will be published. Run php artisan migrate to migrate the table. There will now be a stock_mutations table in your database.
Usage
Adding the HasStock trait will enable stock functionality on the Model.
We can all use a good laugh these days, that’s why we prepared you a list of what not to do while designing a logo while working from home. Hopefully, these logos will put a smile on your faces.
Bad logos might be quite bad for your brand. Your logo is what the people remember you with after all.
There are many different ways you can go with your logo. you have probably identified a business by looking at its logo before, even if their name isn’t on the logo. There are some business logos that when you see them, you can immediately guess what that company does.
Your logo is a huge part of your brand’s identity, it’s probably the first impact on public perception and having a bad logo design could affect your business. World’s multinational companies can spend millions of dollars on their logos – like UK-based oil group BP. They’ve spent £136m back in 2000 when they introduced their current sunflower design.
You probably have come across people posting a logo design job for incredibly low prices on freelancing websites or graphic design communities, and yes, there are people who will design your logo for those prices. It shouldn’t be too much of a shock to those people when they end up with bad logos.
Okay, we understand that there are people who don’t have enough budget, and they are just starting out. You want to get the most out of your business, and logos play an important role, especially if you are just starting and trying to get your name out there. Before having your logo designed, it’s important to learn about the dos and don’t of logo design so you know more about what you are getting into.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s see the worst logos.
Top 31 Bad Logos
Locum
A Swedish property management company. You do you, Locum, no judgment here.
Bing
Typography masters at work, we see you Bing.
Megaflicks
This logo is self-explanatory. At least they know what’s up.
Mont-Sat
Your satellite will be working extra smooth in the mornings.
NYC Taxi
NYC is known as the cultural hub of the world, and it has a great design and art community. NYC Taxi is not.
A Style
We’ve never seen the “A” like this before. Freudians might have things to say to these guys.
MSN
Look, mom! There is a butterfly!
Arlington Pediatric Center
It doesn’t give the most trustable vibes for sure.
Kraft Foods
No comment.
Kudawara Pharmacy
What kind of an operation are you running here, sir? Sir?
2012 London Olympics Logo
You might remember the Lisa Simpson memes, can’t be unseen.
The Computer Doctors
They specialize in cooling systems, with their exclusive thermal paste.
Comprehensive Health Care
Isn’t that Channing Tatum posting up right before the dance-off?
The Bureau of Health Promotion, Taiwan
You gotta do what you gotta do to promote, I guess.
Catwear
Something is up with the “A”. We’re starting to see a pattern.
Enron
This is a design by the legendary Paul Rand. Even though we like most of his work, we’re not sure about this one.
Dough Boys
They are definitely all about that dough, boy.
Kids Exchange
The importance of using space. Not the kind of “change” we are looking for, thank you.
Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission
No comment on this one…
Brazilian Institute of Oriental Studies
Uhm, sure oriental studies and the struggle for “power”.
Clinica Dental
They say how important it is to take care of your teeth. After your teeth are done, you’ll be taking.
Office of Government Commerce
Commerce is getting hard day by day folks.
Cleveland Browns
This is one of the creative ones, a football helmet for a football team. God, what’s next, just a football as a logo?
Hilton
That alignment though.
SafePlace
You’ll always be safe.
Pepsi
This can not be unseen either. Must. stop. drinking.
HASC Center
I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
Kostelecké Uzeniny Sausages
This one seems like it’s straight out of a 80’s flick.
Vermont Maple Syrup
Canadians love their maple syrup. We didn’t know it was in their system though.
Fully Erect Tents
Your tent won’t ever go flaccid.
Mama’s Baking
That mama is definitely baking something!
So these are the 31 bad logos we’ve got. Now you probably fully understand the importance of logo design and how a bad logo design might affect your business now you’ve seen the worst logos.
Let us know about the other bad logos you’ve seen out there!
Whether you are starting an eCommerce website or already have an existing one, it is crucial for you to provide quality service to your customers. Many people think that implementing cutting-edge features to the website can lead to conversions growth.
However, only an integrated approach is the key to converting your leads into customers. You should take into account all the details to provide an unforgettable customer journey for your user. Here are ten must-haves for your eCommerce website that can help you with it. Let’s get it started!
User-friendly interface
According to the research, you have up to 0-5 seconds to grab your customer’s attention. Take so much time and the customer decides to leave your website or not. Make sure that your website has a beautiful and modern design. However, more often than not, it is not enough to have a fresh look.
To engage with your customers, one has to think about usability and how easy it would be for a user to make their purchase quickly and effortlessly. Your website should be convenient and easy to use. Try to make it as simple as possible, avoiding unnecessary pages, buttons, or long business flows.
Moreover, following a “mobile-first” rule, your online shop should have a responsive design that works on all devices like tablets, mobiles, desktops, PC, or laptops and runs on all types of browsers.
Filtering and easy search
If you offer a wide assortment of products, it can be hard for customers to find products that meet their needs. The clear search capability is a must-have of every user-friendly eCommerce website. To make the customer experience better, provide the ability to filter products by categories, prices, sizes, colors, etc.
These things can help your visitors to find and purchase products in a few moments. The latest artificial intelligence technologies also allow you to render a tailored catalog using predictive algorithms based on previous purchases and views.
Informative pages
When customers get to your website, they expect to understand what you do and what kind of products or services you offer in a few minutes. No one wants to waste their time looking for the right information. The homepage should be the clearest and should be catchy, allowing your customers to feel like you know what they are looking for.
Besides, product pages should include all kinds of products you sell with photos. If you sell custom products, it is essential to have an interactive design tool that will provide your customers with a design proof. Also, include a short description of every product, size, colors, and prices.
It is also helpful to include information about available shipping methods — how long does it take and how much delivery costs. These are must-haves that come with any eCommerce platform.
Contact page
When we talk about an eCommerce business, it is essential for you to build trust with your customers. The contact page is one of the methods to create strong relationships with them. It is not necessary to create a separate page for the “contact us” feature.
You can place it in a visible part of your most visited page. It would be a good idea if you add not only your email or contact form but also your skype, phone number, and links to your business’ social media. The more ways to contact you, the faster customers will do it. Chat software where you can quickly contact your customers and even assist them with the choices on the site would work best.
Do you know that personalization is a trend nowadays? Web to print tool allows your customers to buy custom things like t-shirts, business cards, jewelry, stickers, and other promo items. Furthermore, the whole process becomes automated.
You do not need to make many calls or send emails to discuss the ordered goods. Thanks to the automation, you can save costs and get more satisfied clients. Moreover, using the web to print tool makes you more competitive in the market.
Advanced payment
A wide variety of payment methods is a must-have for modern online shops. Customers value this because it is straightforward. They can pay in a few clicks and save their time. You can provide payment via PayPal, Apple Pay, or Amazon Pay — the most common, but it would be better to know your audience and consider adding those payment methods that they use regularly.
If your customers face the same problems every day, try to make their life more comfortable and provide them the list of answers to frequently asked questions. FAQs can be helpful to make them feel more comfortable during the buying process. Plus this will build your customers’ confidence towards your business
Do not forget to add answers about the return process, how to recover a lost password as well as available discounts, coupons, and promos. People always check on products with limited offer discounts.
Client reviews
More than 85% choose an online shop or a certain product after reading reviews. Would you agree to deal with an online store that doesn’t have any review or one that only has bad ones? Adding this feature to your website can build trust, but it also does not mean that all reviews must be positive.
Negative reviews are more valuable than positive ones as they can also give you feedback whether certain product builds overall customer satisfaction. It shows transparency to your prospects, and you will not seem like a fake. You can send emails and ask to add reviews or use ready plugins.
Good site speed
If your site loads more than 3 seconds, you are a risk-taker. People do not like to wait. Low website speed has an impact on your online shop visitors’ experience. Besides, it can harm your ranking factor, and your Google positions will leave much to be desired.
Pay attention to speed on mobiles. You can consider adding AMP to your website as well. It loads faster than the regular HTML page and can lead to sales increase by more than 20%. Moreover, AMP provides a better user experience due to being mobile-friendly.
Similar products
Adding “you might like this” feature to your eCommerce website can increase your sales. If you provide this to your customers, it will work like magic. They would think then, “Oh, this company really knows me and my preferences,” and get more excited. Hence, customers’ loyalty and engagement increase. In most cases, they click on the related products you offer and buy them. Isn’t that what you want so much?
Now it is time to try making some changes and adding innovation to your eCommerce website to create an unforgettable shopping experience. Imagine how your visitors will be shocked when they see a user-friendly, convenient, fast, and modern website. They will order once and get back for returning orders building a long-term commitment. It can be the beginning of your business prosperity!
