PSPINC Official Company Blog

Within the last few years, QR (quick response) codes have become more popular, serving as a contactless, and therefore, sanitary, way of providing customers with information in person. A QR code is a graphical representation of digital data like a barcode. However, the difference between the two is that people can use a smartphone to scan QR codes because most have a QR reader built in.

Engineer Masahiro Hara first invented QR codes in 1994 to track vehicles and assembly line parts, but they didn’t become popular until the invention of smartphones. But even then, users still had to download an app to scan the QR code, crippling its adoption. Then, there was another surge in 2017 when Apple integrated a QR reader into their phones, and other smartphone companies followed suit. But that also died out shortly afterward. Then, the popularity of QR codes returned in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marketing with QR Codes

One of the most popular use cases involves companies marketing their business with QR codes. For businesses with physical locations, QR codes bridge the gap between digital and non-digital marketing efforts. Not to mention, they’re generally free or inexpensive and easy to use. With QR codes, marketing to customers in person becomes much easier to track and measure. Some marketing examples of QR codes in use include:

• QR code menus. They lead users to digital menus online, providing a touchless option for health-conscious restaurant-goers.

• Business cards with QR codes. They quickly guide users to someone’s website, online portfolio, or social media pages.

• Retail store signage encourages shoppers on the go to check out your loyalty programs, review storefronts and overall customer experiences, or view online catalogs when pieces go out of stock or are no longer available in store.

• Museum, library, and/or park brochures. They provide visitors with additional information on displays and exhibits.

• Audio QR codes. They help brands personalize their messaging on product packaging or greeting cards.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

Fill out this Pass Wizard survey to enter to win one year of Pass Wizard Pro for free.  With this information, we’ll be able to improve our customers’ experiences and get a better idea of what features we should prioritize in our future development work.

To enter this giveaway, users must already be a Pass Wizard user (free or Pro), fill out the survey, and enter their Pass Wizard email at the end of the survey. This contest ends at 11:59 pm PST on Thursday 3/9.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

Managing your business can be difficult, juggling both your customers and employees. But you need both when running a business of any size. An organized management system reduces the chance for mistakes to happen and increases overall productivity. It also improves the overall work culture, giving employees more transparency, trust, and control over their job.

On the client side, you want all the important data you have on them to be secure and organized. That way, you can provide great customer support and gain insights you wouldn’t otherwise have. For employees, an organized management system will help prioritize tasks and optimize the overall workflow. That’s why we created PSP Pilot, a CRM (customer relationship management) designed to simplify managing, operating, and logging daily tasks for your business. Get started for free today by signing up for PSP Pilot.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

One of the easiest ways to increase visibility online as a small business is through paid ads. As we’ve mentioned before, organic social posts have a limited reach. One of the easiest and most affordable paid advertising options is Facebook ads.

Facebook makes it easy for marketers to create and run ads. After logging into Facebook, you’ll find the Meta (Facebook’s parent company) Business Suite on the left navigation bar, which is where you’ll be able to set up, monitor, and review your Facebook Ads. After opening Meta Business Suite, you can start by clicking on Ads on the left-hand side after selecting the Facebook page you’d like to run ads from. Then, click on Create Ad in the top-right corner. From there, you have three different options:

From There, You Can:

Create Automated Ads

Facebook offers this option to make it easier for beginners, as it adjusts over time based on its algorithm. However, automated ads don't give marketers as much control over their ads to make them as specific as they might like them to be.

Boost Existing Content

If you already have a well-performing social post on either Facebook on Instagram, this option lets you boost that post. Boosting essentially helps that post be seen by more people, increasing the likelihood that users will take whatever action you'd like them to, whether it's engaging with the post or clicking on a link.

Start a New Ad Campaign

This option lets you choose a specific goal that you'd like your marketing campaign to accomplish. To start, you'll choose a goal, which could be: 

     ·         Getting more website visitors.

     ·         Promoting your post.

     ·         Promoting your business locally.

     ·         Getting more leads.

     ·         Getting more messages.

From there, you'll input the information to create the ad, which could include targeting options, ad copy, images, ad scheduling and duration, placements, and payment information. Then, clicking on "Promote now" will start your ad campaign.

Monitor Your Ads

After setting up your ad campaign, you can continually monitor it as it runs as well as after it ends. To see how your ads are performing, check Ads Summary, which is the default screen you'll see when clicking on Ads on the left navigation bar. From there, you'll see the Advertising Summary, Recent ads, Recommendations, and Audience sections.

The Advertising Summary shows you:

• Overall reach: the number of people who saw your ad. This, however, doesn’t include multiple views from the same people.

• Post engagement: the number of engagements people made involving your ad. This could include liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking on the link included in your ad.

• Link clicks: the number of clicks your ad received.

• Page likes: the number of likes your Facebook page gained because of your ad.

Recent ads will show you your most recent ad campaigns, with the option to view all ads if you’d like to see how a past ad performed. Recommendations, as the name suggests, show suggestions Facebook recommends to help you improve your overall ads. And lastly, Audience gives you more insight into your audience, i.e. your Facebook page followers and those who interacted with your past posts and/or ads. That information includes demographic data like age, gender, and location as well as where your ads were placed.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

Background of Development

Purpose and Features

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

Building a Website from Scratch

1. Add text, images, navigation bars, and other site building blocks with HTML


2. Add styling elements with CSS to design your site. A business site should match the look and feel of your brand.


3. Add more advanced functionality to your site by writing some JavaScript.


4. Upload the HTML file to your server to be filed away in your database.

Building a Website with a CMS

1. Create an account on a CMS platform. We recommend WordPress or WebdeXpress, which is free with our Dreamersi web hosting.


2. Open the content editor to create and edit the content on your site. Without needing to write out any code, you can bold text, add links, and insert images among other things by dragging and dropping blocks or clicking a few buttons.


3. When you’re done creating or editing content, click on the Publish button and the CMS will display it for your website visitors.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

Why Your Business Needs Both

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. 1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.