Whether you’re stressed or on the wind down, it is important to ensure that amongst the Christmas period mayhem that there is some time assigned for you.

Part 2 of the Hard Truths series takes a look at digital vs offline advertising and explains why Digital Marketing isn't a knight in shining armour for businesses that are struggling to get their act together in other areas. We finish up with a look at why businesses that dabble in setting up and managing their own AdWords campaigns are wasting money and leaving opportunity on the table.

As I have recently come on board at Apex, I thought it would be a good idea to practice what we preach, provide an insight into the Apex Company from a newbie perspective, and actually write something about what I’ve been hired to oversee. I was lucky enough to have done some project work for Apex at the beginning of 2014, so wasn’t walking into the newly acquired role with my eyes firmly shut. I knew from experience that I was about to work with a bunch of professionals, who knew their stuff, worked like trojans and were strong client advocates.

When it comes to promoting a business online there are a number things NZ business owners need to know in order to make smart decisions - ones that will drive results and enhance brand perception and visibility. There's a lot of bad information and poor advice and poor execution circulating the NZ online marketing industry (particularly within the SEO and paid search niche) and it's time it was addressed head on.

Our pick of the web's best Online Marketing articles from September/October 2014. Save yourself valuable time sorting through low quality articles - read the good stuff here...

For several years, SHA-1 secure certificates have been considered somewhat insecure, resulting in a recommendation to phase them out by leading industry players such as Google and Microsoft. This is happening quicker than anticipated, but fortunately Apex have planned ahead and can assure our clients that their websites are already protected by a more secure and accepted form of SSL certificate.

Join the Apex Digital team as we enjoy some hot chocolate, compliments of West Coast Cocoa! Learn more about their amazing products and newly launched website in today's blog post.

Ever wondered what the difference was between the ‘@’ symbol and the ‘*’ symbol when setting up a DNS Zone file for a domain name. In the past I have seen them used interchangeably with sometimes unexpected results. The difference is that one (@) is for exact match search where there is no subdomain and the other (*) is a Wild Card – they are not interchangeable in all circumstances. Consider the following Zone File for domain name xyz.com, Any DNS...

Big changes are coming in the domain name space with the addition of thousands of new gTLDs in the coming years. The process has already started, so don't wait until it's too late to grab one of these new domain names for your business! Here's what you need to know now.

Are you missing out on receiving emails from particular senders? You may not have the sender added to your 'safe list'. Here, we discuss how you can add a sender to your 'safe list' so you never miss an email from them again.