Category: Community

Enhancing Customer Support with Chatbots: Reducing Costs and Improving Satisfaction

Imagine having a team of customer service operators available to deliver real-time responses and personalized experiences with no excessive costs associated with around-the-clock support. Welcome to game-changing chatbots in customer service, powered by advanced AI that makes them pivotal in the race towards over-exceeding customer expectations.

The Future of Web Development: How Chatbots are Transforming the User Experience

Nowadays, more and more businesses and developers would like to find new ways of improving users' experience on websites. Now, with the chatbots, user interaction and customer support are about to be revolutionized. It was said that they can raise user engagement as high as 30% and cut expenses on customer support by half.

Building Smarter Chatbots: The Benefits of OpenAI's Advanced Language Models

Today, artificial intelligence isn't just science fiction—it's changing our lives. Smart chatbots are a big part of this change, and OpenAI's advanced language models are leading the way. These models help chatbots understand and respond to human language better than ever before. Whether you are a developer, a tech fan, or a business leader, using these models can improve your chatbot development, making interactions more intuitive and personal.

Understanding Internet Cookies: How They Work and Protecting Your Privacy

Have you ever thought about what cookies are and how they work? These small files help websites remember what you like and make them work better. Although helpful, cookies may give rise to security and privacy issues. Maintaining your privacy online requires that you know how cookies work, the various kinds that are out there, and how to handle them.

Let's examine internet cookies, define their technical terms, and examine useful advice for properly handling them.

CCPA vs GDPR: A Comparison of Data Privacy Laws

When dealing with data privacy, two important laws stand out: the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Both aim to protect consumer data but differ in scope, application, and obligations. This guide compares these laws, helping you understand how they affect data protection practices, compliance, and consumer rights. By the end, you will know how to stay compliant in both the US and the EU.

ADA Compliance: Creating Inclusive Spaces in Website Development

The accessibility of a website isn't solely a stipulation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In fact, it's a cornerstone for cultivating an inclusive digital presence. We aim to help you ensure your online platform caters to everyone's needs. By identifying common obstacles, implementing changes, and aligning your web features, we provide effective methods to transform your website into a welcoming environment for all users.

How to Back up Your Universal Analytics Data

Don't lose your valuable website data! Google is ending Universal Analytics (UA), and your years of valuable website data could be lost forever if you don't act by July 1, 2024. Don't panic!

Custom 404 Pages: Their Importance and Why Your Website Needs One

Have you ever clicked on a link and got the awful "404 Page Not Found" message? While this can be annoying, there is a way to use this frustration to draw users back to your website. We break down why those boring, generic error pages miss the mark, and how a little creativity can make those "oops" moments way more pleasant for your visitors (and better for your website!).

Essential Elements of a Successful eCommerce Website

With the tremendous potential and fierce competition, the online shopping scenario is simultaneously thrilling and volatile. Every eCommerce platform is attempting to differentiate itself by offering something exclusive, appealing, and beneficial. But when numerous sites are contesting for visitors' focus, which attributes can make your eCommerce site truly stand out?

Seamless Website Migration Without Harming Your SEO

Moving your website to a new host or platform might seem scary. After all, you've put a lot of effort into making your website a crucial part of your business. A badly planned move could harm the SEO work you've done to make your site visible and relevant, affecting every visitor and interaction. That's why any type of migration needs careful planning so as not to mess up your hard work.

Does Changing Hosting Affect SEO?

Ever wondered if switching hosting can impact SEO? You're not alone. Many website owners grapple with the same question when looking to switch website hosts. 

Finding the Perfect Balance: Quality and Cost in Managed Hosting Services

A strong online presence is not just nice to have-it's a must-have. It can really make a difference for businesses, what with e-commerce and influencers, and the like. Picking the ideal web hosting service is more than a technical choice- it's a decision that influences both your website's performance and reputation.

Why Your Site Needs a Content Audit

A content audit is a must for your website. Think of it as a health check for your site. We dive into everything – your web pages, blog posts, you name it – and figure out what's hitting the mark and what's not. This isn't just busy work; it's about keeping your digital game strong and rolling with the punches as Google keeps tweaking its content rules.

Google 2023 Core Updates, What's New and What to Do

Keeping pace with Google's algorithm updates is super important for your website's success. These updates are all about making search results better for users, and they really shake up how websites rank and how people see them. Whether you're running a big enterprise or just blogging your heart out, you've got to be on your toes with these updates to keep your online presence shining bright.

Why Use Shopify for E-Commerce

From showcasing your products to chatting with customers or handling sales, the Shopify e-commerce platform is equipped for everything. It's great for business owners at any stage of their online journey, as it makes online selling easier.

Faceted Navigation & SEO: What You Need to Know

Discover the power of faceted navigation in e-commerce and learn how to optimize it for both users and search engines. Explore the benefits of faceted navigation and the challenges it poses for SEO. Follow best practices to make your faceted navigation user-friendly and SEO-friendly. Get expert insights from Curious Minds Media to maximize the potential of faceted navigation on your website.

Benefits of Partnering with a White Label Web Developer For Agencies

Learn why partnering with a white label web developer can benefit your agency. Discover how white labeling can help you save costs, increase revenue, and offer a wider range of services to your clients while maintaining your brand identity.

What Programming Language is Shopify Built On?

Discover the technology driving Shopify's success with Liquid and Ruby on Rails. Explore how these languages work together to create a visually stunning and high-performance ecommerce platform. Learn about Shopify's adoption of Rust and the popular languages for Shopify app development. Whether you're a coding pro or a newcomer, Shopify has you covered, and Curious Minds Media is here to help you make the most of your Shopify experience.

Offshore Development: Is it Worth the Risk?

Since technology is constantly growing and evolving, offshore development has gained significant traction in the business world. Assigning work, particularly internet and software development labor, to folks in other nations is known as offshore development. As with any business decision, you must understand the risks and ramifications.

Why Post-Launch Website Support Matters

An exciting milestone for any business is the launch of a website. It represents the fruit of all your hard work, planning, and ingenuity. Yet it doesn't end with the launch, as any seasoned company would attest. In actuality, the launch is just the start. The remaining phases, especially post-launch support, are just as important, or perhaps more so. Let's explore why this stage is so crucial.

Search Generative Experiences: The Future of AI and Google

As AI and machine learning keeps getting smarter, our online experiences are becoming more tailor-made. Because if this, businesses must leverage AI to create generative experiences that resonate with their target audience.

Schema Markup SEO: What Is Schema In SEO?

Welcome to the exciting world of Schema Markup, where your website's performance in search engine results pages (SERPs) is about to get a major boost. Get ready to take your visibility and effectiveness to new heights!

Why Content is More Important than Ever for Visibility in the SERPs

SEO can feel like a tough puzzle when you're trying to figure out how it all works. One of this puzzle's most important parts is understanding why content is so important for SEO. Your SEO content strategy dramatically influences your website's visibility in the search results.

What to look for when hiring a Laravel developer

Laravel is a PHP web application framework that provides web developers with the tools and foundations to get a web app up and running in no time. Over the last decade Laravel has become one of the most popular web development frameworks in use today. This article is focused on helping stakeholders in their decision making process while hiring qualified Laravel developers.

GA4 - What It Is and Why We Need It

Surely by now, you've caught wind of Google Analytics 4. Google's certainly not made it easy to ignore with the bold red warning messages and the enormous countdown clock that appears when logging into your Universal Analytics account. This is all a clear indicator that Google Analytics 4, commonly known as GA4, is here, and it's a big deal. It's the most recent version of Google's analytics tool. We will unpack what it is all about, what distinguishes it from its predecessor, and why your business must make the switch (if you haven't already). 

Onboarding at Curious Minds

What does onboarding entail, and why are we doing it? Here at Curious Minds, our onboarding process provides you and our developers with the information needed to ensure we have what we need to jump right into your site, and you have the information you need stop worrying about your site, and can instead focus on other, more important items.  

How User Experience Affects SEO Rankings

SEO helps websites rank higher on search engines, while UX creates a positive user experience. Both are crucial for a website's success. Good UX can boost search engine ranking, and improved SEO can lead to a better user experience. UX and SEO work together to make a website successful, just like a dynamic duo.

The benefits of using a headless CMS for SEO

In recent years we’ve seen a move toward static sites. The term “static” is really a misnomer here, because the type of sites we are talking about are anything but. 

Old Fashioned Marketing Tools. Do They Still Fit In?

In today’s marketing landscape there are seemingly a million “tactics” both old and new to increase brand awareness, drive new sales, etc. But how do we, as marketers, or those pursuing a marketing strategy for your business, wade through those options?

Web Designer or Web Developer: Which Do You Need?

Choosing the right team of professionals to assist with your web project is vital to ensuring its success. We'll explore the differences between web designers, and web developers, so you can better pinpoint which talent is best suited for your next project.

Why is Customer Support Important for Company Growth?

Your customer support system is just as important as your product. If you don’t have any type of customer support to help your existing clients, you won’t have any existing clients.  For most businesses, neglecting existing clients can greatly jeopardize a company’s growth and its future long term.

Should I still have a blog on my website?

Blogs have evolved from online diaries to fully fledged marketing tools. They showcase a company’s expertise, increase your SEO, and expose you to more consumers.

Knowing When to Change

There comes a point when everything starts to get a little bland. You do the same thing, day in and day out. You don't even have to think about what to do next because you've been doing the same thing for who knows how long.

Making a More Accessible Website

Approximately 1 in 4 adults in the United States lives with a disability. These range from mobility issues, to vision impairment, hearing loss, and cognitive functions, and others not listed here.

Massive Attack Against 1.6 Million WordPress Websites

Wordfence reported a series of attacks that occurred the week of December 5th, resulting in 1.6 million WordPress websites being affected. The reported attacks came from over 16,000 IP’s over a total of 36 hours.

What Your Developer Should Expect from You

Just as there are certain expectations and goals your developer needs to meet, your developer needs some information and communication from you as well. Knowing what to expect from each other helps fuel a good, long term business relationship.

Web Design Trends for 2022

We’re fast approaching the end of 2021, and with that, discovering new trends for 2022. What’s going to be popular, what’s going to be the ideal design choice? What stays, what goes?

Creating a Work/Life Balance

I used to answer every work call, no matter when or where I was. In fact, one early evening, my boss called. I excused myself to answer it, and see what she needed.

Client Communication: How to do it, and Why it’s Important

Client communication is essential for maintaining healthy and productive relationships with your client. Without proper communication, things break down and go wrong.

Remote Work with a Newborn Baby

Working from home can be great but challenging. Add a newborn into the mix, and that takes it to an entirely new level. Before having a baby, the house was quiet.

Designing a Sustainable Website

Going paperless is often presented as an eco-friendly alternative to junk mail. The internet is considered more sustainable, but in reality, internet surfing generates about 3.7% of global carbon emissions.

Maintaining My Focus at Work

I get distracted easily. All it takes is a sudden noise, or a dog walking past and all I want to do is pet that very good pup, or find out what made everything go boom.

What to do Before Hiring a Developer

The time has come. Your website needs to spread its proverbial wings and fly far, far away into the world that is Outside Help.

What is Uptime Monitoring?

You’ve probably heard this term before, or seen it mentioned. You may have even seen it mentioned in our newsletter. But what exactly is uptime monitoring?

How is WFH Culture Changing Business Culture?

Before the pandemic turned everything upside down, you could stick your head over your cubicle wall to ask a question, or turn to your coworker in your open office environment.

What to Expect from Your Developer

There are millions of web developers out there, all waiting to be plucked from the ether and put to work. And everyone has their own method, their own practices, but here are a few items to expect from your developer.

When is Outsourcing a Good Idea?

You find yourself in need of more help, but you’re not sure exactly what type of help you need. Or you know where you need help, but your labor budget isn’t ready to handle a new hire just yet.

Making Your Website More Eco-Friendly

We’ve all taken steps to reduce our environmental impact in recent years. Our homes are filled with metal straws and reusable shopping bags. But what about your website?

The Benefits of Partnering with another Agency

Maybe you’ve been approached by a client for an exciting, interesting, and potentially lucrative project. The only problem is that it doesn’t really fit in your wheelhouse, or your team already has a full project load.

Avoiding Procrastination in the Workplace

I’m putting off finishing another article as I’m writing this. Maybe I should follow my own advice? Part of procrastination is avoiding the thing/task that you could fail at, thereby protecting yourself.

Slowing Down to Speed Up

In life, and in business, there are no guaranteed outcomes. Yet it’s human nature to attempt to control and manage risk.

Avoiding Burnout in the Workplace

It doesn’t matter how many hours of sleep you get, you’re still tired. It feels like there’s a perpetual fog in your brain, making any thought beyond the most basic all but impossible.

Utilizing Web Design to Influence Consumer Decisions

Design is something you don’t quite notice if it’s well done. Bad design, though, hits you over the head with a 2×4. Your web design choices influence customer decisions.

Five Ways to Maintain Morale when Working Remotely

Remote work is on the rise. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from this trend, or from the last year, it’s that it’s good for business.

Why Concise Content is more Important than Lots of Content

Creating the right kind of content, as opposed to just creating a lot of content, helps get you in front of your target audience and keep them engaged. What's the best approach?

Designing Successful Product Pages for Ecommerce

It only takes a few seconds to get a first impression of a website. There are almost two billion websites currently in use, so it’s crucial to make that impression a lasting one.

Increase Your Productivity by Developing these Work Habits

A busy day at the work/home office is the norm for a hard working developer. However, busy doesn’t always equal productivity in the current day.

When to Break Up with Your Developer

So they’re a little quirky. It’s not that bad, you just need to get used to them, and how they are. No one’s perfect, right? Right? But you never get used to them. It gets worse.

What is JAMstack, and What is it Good For?

Alright, let’s get right to it. The JAM in JAMstack stands for Javascript, APIs and markup, and describes a methodology used to create and deploy modern websites. Your dev team may also call it a “static site.”

Brand Ambassadorships and Partnerships: How Can They Help to Elevate Your Business?

Every business needs strategies to expand its reach and grow sales. While you may keep marketing and sales in-house in your earliest days, you should explore options to use external parties to promote your brand.

Storytelling through Design

Design is more than just finding the best way to convince someone to buy something or make a product appealing. The ability to distinguish oneself from one’s competitors is more important than ever in the age of click and add to cart.

Fixing Fundamentals in Web Development Education

One of the challenges our customers often bring to our attention is the difficulty in filling lower level web production roles. It’s a problem that we can relate to at Curious Minds, as we face the same issue when on-ramping new developers on to our team.

Re-Imagining In-person Events to Online Events

Due to the pandemic, many organizations have needed to shift in-person events to online. Now that people have grown more accustomed to online events, the trend towards virtual may continue.

Working Effectively Remotely

The current pandemic has led to a lot more people working remotely, and many are finding it hard to adjust from a traditional office environment. I started working remotely when my wife and I decided to move back to our home state several years ago.

Business, Covid, and the Future of Remote Work

No one expected a global pandemic would upend life as we know it. But the rapid spread of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented change for organizations and employees.

The Hidden Cost of Offshore Development

One of the questions we get asked by our enterprise clients, is if we have considered using offshore resources for our client’s development needs. In the past, we’ve managed offshore teams for our clients.

Killing Flash

It’s been a long time coming, but the writing has been on the wall since the advent of the first iPhone. In a recent press release, Adobe announced that it would “stop updating and distributing the Flash Player,” within the next 3 years.

CIO Digest application prototype for iPad

Mobile application development is in full swing over here at Curious Minds Media labs. We’re getting really close to unveiling our newest addition to our Integrated Publishing Solution’s suite of services with a shiny new mobile application.

Jersey Boys still going strong

Jersey Boys continues to be a sensation, breaking records at venues across America around the world. Jersey Boys is now playing in London, Australia and New Zealand.

Tools of the Trade – free web development tools for Mac OSX

One of the things that I love the most about coding, and the web in general is the development of open and free standards. Along with those open and free standards comes the web development tools needed to build and deploy web applications.

New Website Launch

Welcome to our new website, and apologies for the mess during our construction phase. Something about the shoemaker’s kids not having a pair?

HeartBeat Digital

The challenge of the this project was taking on an application halfway through the development cycle. The application was suffering from severe performance issues, and we were able to track the problem down.

Symantec Reader

Symantec’s marketing department needed a way to enhance their traditional print media. Not only did they need to get their content on the user’s desktop, but they needed it to work in both on and offline modes.

Jersey Boys Becomes 27th longest running show in Broadway History!

“JERSEY BOYS, the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, surpassed Oklahoma! with 2,213 performances last night, March 17, making it the 27th longest-running Broadway show in history.”

New Jersey Boys Broadway site is launched

Way back in 2005, we had the privilege of working on a site for a new show that was opening on Broadway called Jersey Boys. Little did we know that the show would be going strong almost 5 years later.

Magic Tree House: The Musical

The challenge of the Magic Treehouse Musical was to create interactive website that captured the vibrancy of the stage production, yet still had good search visibility.

Embedding Irregular Fonts in Flex 3

Often in programming, what seems to be a simple task can trip you up. Yesterday I was trying to embed the font Helvetic Neue LT Com Bold 77 in a css style sheet for a project of ours.

Jersey Boys Named 5th Best Theatre Production of the Last 25 Years

Entertainment Weekly recently came out with their list of “The New Classics”, and named their 50 best plays and musicals of the last 25 years. Coming in at number 5 was Jersey Boys.

Jersey Boys Videos for The Palazzo

Curious Minds Media just finished a series of videos for the Las Vegas production of Jersey Boys. This hit musical will be premiering in Vegas in April 2008 at The Palazzo Hotel and Casino.

Double Happiness Creations Flex Store Launch

We’ve just completed a cool little application for Yvonne Wong’s company Double Happiness Creations. She specializes in creating custom greetings and invitations.

Curious Minds!

Welcome to the Blog of Curious Minds Media, Inc. We’re a web dev group in upstate NY. I figured that it might be a good idea to start keeping track of the strange stuff that goes on around here.