03.18.08
Posted in AdWords, CRM, Caspio Bridge, Google, Lead Generation at 3:56 am by Frank Zamani
As online advertising costs and demand for high quality keywords increases smart advertisers seek to get the most from their budget by:
- improving ads to get more qualified clicks, and
- improving conversions once visitors reach their site
Improving your conversion rate is a process. You need to study best practices, look at other successful sites, but above all do a lot of AB testing. This includes AB testing your landing pages, call to action, and even your forms.
With Caspio Bridge creating and tweaking web forms is simple. You can try different ideas with forms and play with wording of labels and questions, form length, colors, layout, styles, buttons and graphics.
Next is managing your leads but you don’t need to invest large amounts on a fancy CRM systems. While I cannot divulge names, a Fortune-500 company has recently dropped the leading on-demand CRM provider in favor of a custom Caspio-powered solution primarily because they found that the dizzying array of tabs, links and buttons in that CRM system were distracting their sales staff. Now all the clutter is eliminated in a custom solution built with Caspio. And since Caspio pricing is not based on seats, the saving is very attractive.
Every Caspio Bridge account comes pre-loaded with a basic lead generation form and management app. While it is for demonstration purposes only, many use it as the foundation of their own custom CRM solution.
Don’t forget that Caspio’s Solution Advisors are at hand to consult with you and help you get the most out of your advertising and IT budget.
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02.15.08
Posted in Broadcast, Caspio Bridge, Database at 5:37 pm by Frank Zamani
Nothing gets me more excited than seeing a customer succeed with Caspio Bridge beyond their wildest dreams. Fortunately, we run across such moments very often. Here’s a great example:
“One week ago we held our first “get acquainted meeting” with Caspio and came away impressed with the ease of service and terrific content possibilities. We then went through two training sessions and began gathering data. Today, one week later, we launched the wltx.com Data Center with 11 Caspio-powered searchable databases. The response from the public has been overwhelming and we can’t wait to build out more. Thanks to the entire Caspio team for making this seemingly overwhelming task, a piece of cake.”
Rich O’Dell
President & General Manger
WLTX-TV CBS Channel 19
Columbia, South Carolina
http://www.wltx.com/datacenter/
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02.10.08
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Firefox, Mac at 7:32 pm by Frank Zamani
The most frequently requested “feature” our customers have been asking us since Caspio Bridge went live years ago, was the ability to run it on Mac. The administrative interface was only compatible with Internet Explorer 6 and 7 which are only available on Windows. Of course the deployed DataPages were compatible with all major browsers all along.
Those days are over now. The Caspio team is thrilled to release the latest version of Bridge which is fully compatible with Firefox on Windows, Mac and Linux and if it wasn’t for the shifting sands that the current Safari beta is, Caspio Bridge would have been compatible with Safari as well.
The Caspio Bridge administrative interface is decidedly one of the most sophisticated AJAX applications ever built and making it compatible across all major browsers required significant determination. We hope you enjoy this new flexibility as much as we do.
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01.25.08
Posted in Caspio Bridge at 11:08 pm by Frank Zamani
Last week we held our annual company meeting. This is the time when as a company we reflect on our past year, celebrate our accomplishments, review our mistakes, and set the tone for the next year. Our customers may be interested in a brief report.
In 2007 we made three major releases. Each release was packed with much new functionality. Among them was the concept of parameters which glue Caspio Bridge apps together or connect Caspio Bridge apps with other apps. Parameters provided many new possibilities for our users. Instant app localization and extensive data formatting plus new data presentation options were other highlights of these releases. We also developed and implemented innovative back-end infrastructure technology that allows us to scale Caspio Bridge enormously. It enables us operate a distributed grid of Caspio Bridge nodes. We are very excited about the potentials of this new infrastructure.
Almost all of our production servers were replaced with new and we upgraded our databases to Microsoft SQL Server 2005. In the future releases we begin utilizing some of the enhancements provided in SQL Sever 2005.
Early in 2007 we formed a new business unit to focus entirely on the needs of the online media organization, primarily newspaper and TV web sites. A year later, Caspio has become the de facto standard in this industry and we now serve hundreds of leading newspaper and TV web sites. We will continue to invest in innovations and solutions that will make our online media customers more successful.
Our revenues grew by over 130%. We expanded our team and moved to new headquarters in Mountain View, California.
We also learned valuable lessons from the decisions that didn’t quite work out the way we intended them. For example the idea of opening a support center in Scottsdale, Arizona seemed to be a good one, however challenges in managing the remote office turned out to outweigh most of its benefits. After about eight months we shut down the office and stopped the distraction.
In future posts I will share with you our plans for 2008. I can say this now that we are preparing for large scale growth. We have already prepared additional office space for housing new team members. We are also working on some fantastic new features that are bound to get you excited. The Caspio team is just warming up!
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12.14.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Database, Web Applications at 9:55 am by Frank Zamani
ABC News “20/20″ today launched a Caspio-powered interactive database that allows you to see just how much stuff goes missing every year from luggage at your local airport. The special interactive, “Lost & Looted from Luggage,” chronicles the tens of thousands of passenger belongings that have been looted and lost from luggage using data obtained from the federal Transportation Security Administration. The database is available online and will be featured in the special ABC News “20/20″ segment, “Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity about Travel,” that airs tonight (December 14, 2007) at 10 p.m..
If you missed it on TV, check it out here.
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08.24.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Database, Microsoft Access, Web Applications, consultants at 1:35 am by Frank Zamani
Many companies have aging internal applications that are built on Microsoft Access. There is tremendous appeal in making these applications web-based so they can be accessed from outside the office.
Caspio provides the fastest and easiest way to transform Access applications into web-based applications:
- The Caspio Bridge user interface is designed to be familiar to Access users.
- Access data can be imported directly into Caspio Bridge.
- Caspio’s wizards for creating DataPages (i.e. web forms, searchable databases and other components for web sites) are designed to be easy to follow and intuitive.
- Caspio’s plugin for Microsoft Office can keep a local Access database in synch with your online Caspio account.
Most importantly, Caspio’s Solution Advisors are very familiar with Access-to-web migrations and are ready to provide assistance and consultation.
Consultants specialized in Microsoft Access solutions find Caspio a powerful complementary addition to their toolbox.
The 100% AJAX web-based user interface of Caspio Bridge is designed to be intuitive for Microsoft Access users.
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06.12.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Database, IRE, Trade Shows, newspapers at 7:12 pm by Frank Zamani
Last week at the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) conference in Phoenix, Ryan Konig, a Senior Reporter for The Arizona Republic (and a new Caspio Bridge customer), told the audience that their database of executive compensation which he recently deployed to the newspaper’s web site using Caspio Bridge generated more page views than the “Paris Hilton Goes to Jail” story.
Sr. Reporter Ryan Konig (right) of The Arizona Republic, which was the host of the IRE 2007 Conference in Phoenix.
The public counts on newspapers for local data and online media sites are increasingly using Caspio Bridge as an easy and cost effective way of building searchable databases.
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04.12.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Database, Web Applications at 12:05 am by Frank Zamani
The number one reason for creating web apps is to make money, directly or indirectly. For online publishers advertising revenues are a big part of the business and increasing visitors and page views is a sure way to improve the bottom line.
Provided that you have a semi-interesting set of data, the design of your DataPage directly affects its ability to generate page views. Consider the following techniques to maximize traffic:
1. Don’t make me think
Long and complex search forms are a kiss of death. They intimidate me. They may be great for research, to find a single record in a massive database, but a fun and interactive “consumer” database should have a simple search form. I don’t have a lot of time or energy to learn a new interface. Make it easy for me.
2. My hand stays on my mouse
Limit your search forms to clickable controls like dropdowns and checkboxes. If you want me to have fun with your database and try different searches again and again, don’t make me work hard. Don’t force me to take my hand off of my mouse and type in some words in a text field. Besides, I could be tired or spelling-challenged, which ruins the whole search.
3. I can’t drink from a fire hose
Don’t dump your entire database on me. That’s no fun for me. Give me my search results in small doses, like 20 or 25 records at a time. Let me discover more by paging through your database. Remember, every new page is an opportunity to show me more ads.
4. Engage me!
Show me just enough to make me want more. Then take me to the detail page of your record for the whole story. If you show me all you have in the search results page, I have no reason to dig deeper. Also, don’t expect me to know where to click. Make it clear.
5. Design sells
Just because it’s a database it doesn’t have to look like one. Give your data a nice layout and color scheme and add interactivity with integrated maps, reader feedback, and rating.
6. Make me look smart
Give me an easy way to send the address of this page to my friends and family. Show me how to bookmark this page and alert me when you update this database or bring another one online.
Benchmark your current performance so you can measure the results you get by applying these techniques. Everything mentioned here is easily possible with Caspio Bridge. If not sure how, ask our friendly solution advisors.
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02.05.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Small Business, Web Applications at 10:48 am by Frank Zamani
Choosing not to “program” your next software project might be a very smart decision. Here is why:
1. Time to market
Writing code one line at a time is not the fastest way of bringing a new idea to life. Companies using Caspio Bridge see at least 80% reduction in their app development timeline when using Caspio Bridge. For IT department it’s time that can be devoted to other tasks. For business manager it’s good business practice and faster deployment. And for independent consultants it’s pure profit.
2. Improved quality
Crafting code is half art and half science. It is error prone the same way it can be ingenious. On the other hand, auto-generated apps are consistent day after day. As the same system generates large number of apps everyday, it receives a level of scrutiny and utilization that custom apps rarely get. As a result potential problems are identified and addressed quickly ensuring high quality and reliability standards.
3. Ease of change
The most dreaded task in the software development profession is changing someone else’s old and usually undocumented code. In many cases it’s easier to rewrite the program again than to change it. In contrast, changing Caspio Bridge apps is through the same wizards used to create the app in the first place. All previous selections are preserved and can be easily tweaked and modified.
Not all app categories are a good match for Caspio Bridge capabilities, however many are. If in doubt, let our trained solution advisors help you decide whether your project can benefit from Caspio’s app creation platform.
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01.28.07
Posted in Caspio Bridge, Database, Web Applications at 11:12 pm by Frank Zamani
If you have created anything other than simple web forms, chances are that you have felt the need to send information from one DataPage to the next DataPage. In Caspio Bridge 5.0, due for release soon, we have introduced the concept of Relational DataPages through parameters.
In DataPage wizards you will have “on load” and “on exit” options for all fields. With “on load” you can assign a static value or a parameter to the field. With “on exit” you get to pass the field to the next DataPage.
Parameters along with other features built in Caspio Bridge version 5.0 make it possible to create one-to-many relationships in your apps, without programming.
For instance, you could create a customer details screen showing standard customer information from the “customers” table plus a history of each of their calls from the “call_log” table. Furthermore, you could add a “call log form” to this page in such a way that every new submission is automatically stamped with the customer id.
By default parameters are internal to Caspio Bridge DataPages, however, you will also have the option of passing or receiving parameters through query string values. This way you can integrate Caspio Bridge apps with external apps and web sites.
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