Is SEO Really Important For E-Commerce?

Opening an online shop is a great way to compliment your brick and mortar business. Not only is this shop open 24/7, it is also accessible to people around the world. However, we all know that setting up shop is just the first step. You need a solid strategy that will bring traffic to your website and one of the best strategies is search engine optimization or SEO.

SEO is ubiquitous. According to the Search Engine Journal, SEO is important to SEO success because 93% of online activity begins with a search. Avoiding search engine optimization can impact your business negatively and can be lethal to your e-commerce goals.

Here are some of the best reasons why SEO is important to e-commerce.

Traffic Creates Sales & SEO Creates Traffic

 

SEO can help target potential customers and there is a big chance that these guests will become buyers. According to Monetate Ecommerce Quarterly, conversion rate is at around 2.5%. This means that for every 100 guests, at least 2 of them will become customers.

This means that a properly executed SEO strategy will drive a number of people to your website and with a 2.5% conversion average, for every 1000 guests 20-30 will become paying customers all thanks to your SEO efforts.

When compared to other traffic generating strategies like PPC (pay-per-click), SEO requires more effort. However, SEO is also more resilient compared to PPC since “leased” traffic can disappear as soon as your campaign ends.

A strategy that contains both long-term and short-term marketing methods like SEO and PPC can greatly improve your e-commerce traffic.

SEO Can Reduce Overhead

 

Many people think that online businesses are cheaper compared to their brick and mortar counterparts. However, according to WebStragies Inc, small to medium sized businesses allocate approximately 12% of their revenue to their digital marketing campaign.

This money usually goes towards purchasing advertising such as ad targeting on e-commerce websites, SEO efforts and other traffic generating strategies. Businesses including online ones are forced to pour astonishing sums of money on programs that might not yield real ROI.

This sounds like a waste of money but they are really investments within a highly competitive and complex environment that has the potential to reveal itself to the whole world. This is because SEO can provide a powerful boost in organic searches and general visibility that is not possible with programs like PPC.

Instead of investing heavily on purchasing online advertisement for your website or a new product, pour more efforts into your SEO strategy to gain a significant amount of traffic. This way your website will get a lot of traffic even after your campaign ends. This means that SEO can prevent your website from sinking into obscurity once funding for PPC or paid advertising runs out.

SEO Is An Industry Standard

 

It is a fact that nearly 75% of web users never travel past the first page of a search engine result. Therefore, SEO’s worth is clearly seen because un-optimized pages will forever be relegated to the dregs of search engines results page where users seldom go.

Because SEO is now an industry standard, the absence of SEO leads to an absence of visibility. Simply put SEO improves all aspects of your e-commerce experience. It is clear that SEO is not only here to stay but will also dictate the rank of your website.

Having a good understanding and implementing a sound SEO strategy is clearly a great way to get traffic to your website. It makes good business sense to invest in SEO to gain an advantage against your competitors and also to boost your profits.

What do you think, is SEO really important to your e-commerce survival? What SEO methods do you currently employ? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

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Best iPad Apps

The tablet market may have cooled down from its hay day but Apple’s iPad is still one of the most coveted and useful gadgets to own. Many users praise this tablet for its huge screen and impressive specs. The iPad is a great platform for productivity apps, social media tools, productivity apps and everything else in between.

Here are some of the best iPad apps you can download and use for better productivity and convenience.

Evernote

 

This is perhaps the internet’s most favorite note-taking service. Evernote has a powerful mix of functions and a simple and effective interface and cross-platform support. This app has everything you need to keep your ideas organized.

Jot down notes and images then send to the printer or share on Facebook, Twitter or through email.

Timepage

Timepage by Moleskine is a calendar-app for the iOs that sell for around $6.99. it is  a feature-packed smart calendar and day planner that can work with existing calendar providers like iCloud, Google and Facebook.

The base-view provides an outline of your day’s coming appointments with a date tab on the side to select specific days of the week. There is also a “heat map” which shows days that are going to be busy.

Paper

 

Paper by Fifty-Three started out as a sketchbook and drawing app but it has now expanded its features to include checklists, photo annotations and note taking but retaining the apps original drawing engine and analogue feel.

Bring together your checklists, notes, photographs and notebooks for easy organizing. Once you’re done, your work can be exported into PDF, Keynote or Power Point format.

Astropad Studio

 

Turn your iPad into a graphics tablet with Astropad Studio. It provides a natural drawing experience. Astropad supports a variety of pressure-sensitive stylus brands like Adonit, Wacom and Apple’s Pencil. It is designed to work really well whether you’re connected through USB or wirelessly.

Procreate

 

Procreate is a digital arts studio that features support for ultra-high def 4k canvases, up to 128 layers, 250 levels of undo and redo, and more than 100 customizable brushes.

This app puts on an impressive performance. Don’t use it if you’re just going to doodle. However, this is one of the top choices if you want a robust, professional quality art app or your iPad.

Comixology

Laughter is the best medicine and what better way to find something to laugh about than Comixology? It is a digital comic book reader that allows people to access comics bought through Comixology. It is backed by the biggest comic book market place that features big name publishers such as Marvel, DC, Image and IDW.

It features Guided View technology which allows for panel-by-panel reading experience. It takes advantage of the iPad’s large screen which enhances reading experience.

Do you have any of these apps installed in your iPad? What other apps can you recommend? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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CSS Tools You Should Be Using

CSS has become easier over the last few years thanks to an abundance of tools that has helped make web development easier. Some of these are new, some old but hopefully you will find something that will make work easier for you.

Bourbon

 

Bourbon is a valuable resource for Sass developers. It’s a free mixin library for developing vendor prefixes and automated values with functions like modular scale.

It’s not a scripting library but a detailed compliment to Sass. You need to understand and know Sass in order to work with Bourbon but it’s worth learning especially if you want to improve your workflow.

Sierra Library

 

This is probably one of the coolest UI libraries for Sass. Sierra Library is open source and downloadable for use in any project.

It can also be customizable with options, typography, changing grids and everything with a single variables file. The source of the code is on GitHub so you can browse to see if it works for you.

Ultimate CSS Generator

 

There are many CSS generators that spit out code for gradients and shadow boxes and custom shapes. But what about finding all of this in a single website?

The Ultimate CSS Generator has a web code tools generator that comes in handy for everything you can imagine. Best of all it’s free. As you generate settings you will get notifications with code output with icons that indicate which browsers are supported.

Compass

 

Compass is a set of tools that run on top of Sass to make development easier. It is a trusted resource among Sass developers thanks to its powerful framework.

Newbies might find Compass confusing. It’s like PostCSS but it runs directly to a terminal to execute commands on your Sass files.

Koala App

 

Koala App is a GUI application. It handles Sass Less Compass and Coffee Script. It is made for these 3 operating systems and is one of the nicest interfaces you will find in an app.

It has many compiling options, error notifications and optional project settings to help you stay organized and keep track of all applications in 1 visual web editor.

There is no single CSS tool that can do everything. However, having access the right tools can make you do almost anything. These tools are some of the best and are geared toward CSS development. We hope you found something valuable in this collection.

Tell us what you think by leaving your comments below.

 

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FAQs: Relevant Information For Better User Experience

If you’ve been to websites then you know that there will be time when you have burning questions that need to be answered ASAP. Most websites and companies go for the typical FAQ format that addresses some or all information needs of their users. However, what they don’t realize is that their FAQs often miss the mark because they don’t create effective user information. What website FAQ need is a comprehensive content strategy designed to meet user and company goals.

One of the problems with FAQ is redundant or contradictory information. This is because for most websites, their pages are authored by different people with unclear strategy so information can get out of sync easily. For example, a customer might need allergy information in the FAQ and buy the product because it is safe for allergy sufferers. However, when they receive the product, there is a label that says it contains peanuts or other allergen.

FAQs also lack a discernible order. Most people like things that are organized, whether it is by size, alphabetical or any other sort of arrangement. Many FAQs on the other hand are filed helter-skelter.  They are not only organized, many of them seem like an afterthought of the author.

They are also too long sometimes. Users want concise answers that they can easily understand. This is especially true for technical questions. Users want to understand or get inform quickly through FAQ to save them the trouble of calling your customer service line.

 

What Needs To Be In FAQ?

Your FAQ needs to have information relevant to the user. Include:

• Most popular, common and most encountered questions by users. The featured questions should expedite resolution to cut down on search time.
• Info tabs to separate by concept, product, category or department. Cross tag questions if needed.
• Make FAQ searchable so that users can quickly find answers they need.
• Include a rating system so that users will have a way to let you know if the answers were useful or not. This will help you gauge the effectiveness of your FAQ.

Why FAQ is Important

FAQ has a big impact on user experience and profitability. Always remember that customers or users will need relevant information especially if they are buying a product. If they can find resolution quickly they will not only buy your product or service but feel good about using your website.

According to research conducted by experts, 69% of users equate good user experience to quick resolution of their problems. 72% of customers said that their bad user experience was caused by having to explain their problem over and over to different people and 65% blamed bad customer service on taking too long to solve.

Always remember that problem resolution and good customer experience go hand-in-hand. People who want to buy something online need fast answers to their questions. If they can’t find it in your FAQ quickly, they might go somewhere else. So review your FAQ and ensure that everything your customers need can be found on it.

Does your website have an FAQ Page? Do you think an FAQ page is important? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

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Best WordPress Plugins To Install

WordPress plugins can help expand the functionality of your website. Although the type of plugin to install depends on the niche or kind of website you have, there are some plugins that every website need to install. For instance, all websites need SEO, speed and security which are all universal concerns.

WordPress has an impressive repository with over 47,000 plugins and counting and there are many that can reduce work on your part. This means that there is a plugin for every function for your website.

In this post we will discuss the best WordPress plugins that you should use for your website that will add functionality to make your website great.

Everest Forms

 

As we all know a “contact us” page is essential to every website. No matter how big or small, a website needs a contact us page so that guests can contact you.

One of the best ways to create a contact us page is through Everest Forms. This WordPress plugin has a drag and drop interface to let you create forms easily and quickly.

JetPack Freemium

 

This plugin is a must have for all WordPress sites. As the name suggests, it will make your site fly. Using this plugin takes care of security, performance, traffic growth, image optimization, appearance and many more.

It also has features that will enhance sharing of your public content to third parties like search engines to help increase traffic. Most of all it protects your website from brute force and monitors your site every 5 minutes and notifies you when something is wrong.

Aksimet Freemium

 

Aksimet is one of the few default plugins in every installation. It is basically an anti-spam plugin that lets you check which comments are spammy by Aksimet or the moderator. It also allows you to see the number of approved comments per user.

This plugin is free for personal blogs while a monthly fee is required for commercial purposes.

Yoast Freemium

 

SEO is even more important nowadays because of tough competition. With Yoast Freemium you can create better content and improve your search rankings.

Additionally it helps make your site look good in search results using a snippet preview. It also crates better headlines and catchy meta description to help increase click-through to your site.

W3 Total Cache Freemium

 

WordPress caching is one of the best ways to improve your website’s performance. It is a caching plugin that caches your posts so that it loads faster next time.

W3 Total Cache will cache your posts as static HTML files which are served to users. This helps to reduce loading time drastically and improve overall site performance. Additionally enhanced-site SEO will help improve search engine rankings.

WordPress users know that while it offers a ton of flexibility and features, there are a lot of features that are missing from the core software. The best ways to enhance your website is by find the right plugins to enhance user experience and for better manageability.

Do you use any of the aforementioned plugins? Which in your opinion are some of the most useful WordPress plugins? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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Popular Web Tools Designers Use Part2

Recently our blog featured popular web tools designers use to build websites and landing pages. These tools are popular among designers because they offer the best functionality, pricing and support.

Let’s continue where we left off in part 1.

Hotjar

 

If you want to know what guests do on your websites, get hooked up on Hotjar. It will give you an insight and help you understand how people interact with your site. There are more than 210,000 companies that use Hotjar because it is an affordable way to find out what users want.

Some of the features of this tool include Heatmap. It will tell you where visitors click, tap and scroll. You can see what guests care about while recordings will help you to see guest behavior so that you can discuss it with your team.

They have forever free plans and plans that can suit different budgets and needs.

Landingi

 

Build powerful landing pages with Landingi. This is a popular tool among marketers and designers who want high converting landing pages with their team. It is quick, budget-friendly and can be used by people who don’t have coding skills.

You can start with their over 200 stock templates and then customize it for your very own landing page. They have a 14-day trial you can use to see if this tool is a good fit for you.

Orion

 

Orion is a free icon library with over 6,014 free to use icons. You can access 2,599 more premium icons for just $5 per month and $7 per month for teams. Best of all, the plans can be cancelled, upgraded and downgraded anytime.

BrowseEmAll

 

All web developers need a reliable cross browser testing service. BrowseEmAll supports manual and automated testing and is probably the easiest and most professional service on the market. You can try it for free or schedule a demo.

Locate and fix browser specific problems on premise with BrowseEmAll.

MailMunch

 

MailMunch is another page builder and is packed with everything you need to grow your business. It is a drag and drop builder equipped with beautiful themes that will help you build web pages and forms.

The best feature of MailMunch is the dedicated squeeze pages that can help you convert visitors into email subscribers. It’s an easy way to build a mailing list and start converting.

These are just some of the tools web designers use and there are many more.

Do you use any of these tools? What is your experience with using them? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

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Learn These Programming Languages of The Future

Programming just like any other language is always evolving. They come and go with some of them blazing bright before fading into obscurity.

Take Pascal for instance. It was a powerhouse during the 70’s to the 80’s and was designed to teach the concepts of structured language. Pascal declined because programmers adopted C++ . Sure, there is still a number of diehard Pascal fans but its glory days are done.

One of the great things about programming is that once you learn how to do it, it is very easy to learn a new language. But which languages will be in-demand in the future?

Here’s a short view of what we think will be popular programming languages in the future.

Go

 

Go is an open language created by Google in 2007. It was designed to create simple and reliable apps quickly making it a good choice for minimal web applications.

The best thing about Go is that it has many features that can run concurrently with other functions and channels and allows them to communicate with each other on how best to complete a task. This means that Go can easily scale with ease.

Just like many Google tools, Go was built to be easy to understand. It is simple which is why it is one of the fastest growing programming languages during the last few years. This is a good choice to learn especially if you want to harness the power of the language that powers most of Google.

R

 

R has been around since 1995 but its popularity has spiked in recent years. R is used by Facebook, Google and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

R is an open-sourced language designed by statisticians and scientists. It was built for complex statistical analysis while being easily understandable to those without programming skills. This language is being used by corporations racing to cash in on big data since it allows statisticians to do complicated analyses without having to know about difficult programming languages and systems.

It is often described as a turbo charged Microsoft Excel.

Arduino

 

Arduino is an open-sourced electronic platform which includes a programmable circuit board (a.k.a Arduino board) and an IDE (integrated development environment) that’s used to write code for the board.

Arduino has been used to build robots, 3D printers, launch satellites and create musical instruments. It is accessible for students, beginners and hobbyists and advanced users. It is compatible with Windows, Linux and MacOSX.

 

Python

 

Python is one of the easiest languages to learn and is fun to work with. It resembles English so it’s very readable. This is why Python has replaced Java as a learning language and has become the most commonly taught language in the US.

Best of all, Python is adaptable so it can be used in web apps and data analysis. Websites like Instagram, NASA, Reddit and Pinterest use Python.

Swift

 

Swift was invented by Apple in 2014 but has gained enough traction to be a language of the future.

It was built for OS X and iOS developers and is tailored towards app creation. Best of all, it can be seamlessly incorporated into Objective-C so Swift can enhance existing apps.

If you know C++, Swift is easy to pick-up.

Do you know any of these languages? Which languages are you interested in learning? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

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Best Content Management Systems For Bloggers

Serious bloggers know how important it is to keep their blogs fresh which is why they update it all the time. Blogs also need to look professional and it should be fast loading. These are some of the reasons why many bloggers are always on the lookout for good content management systems (CMS).

If you’re looking for a good CMS, you’re in the right place because we have some recommendations for you.

Self-Hosted WordPress

 

Many bloggers prefer to blog on a WordPress site and there’s a reason for that.

It is easy to set up, allows you to digitally manage content easily and has a simple admin panel and the learning curve is minimal. However, the best reason to use WordPress is its flexibility. Because of its popularity, they have countless templates and thousands of plugins that make your website feel and look unique. The plugins can also be used to extend WordPress functionality and allows you to crate communities, blogs, websites and online stores.

There’s not a lot that WordPress can’t do. It’s a power house as well as a great blogging tool.

Ghost

 

Although it was launched in 2103, Ghost is still a relatively new CMS. However, it is growing up fast with a platform that’s dedicated to bloggers only. The admin panel is beautiful while the dashboard widgets showcase stats elegantly. The focus of Ghost is blogging with a growing number of templates.

Bloggers can choose to self-host Ghost or use Ghost Pro, a cloud-based solution.

 

 

Movable Type

 

WordPress was created after Movable Type but you can think of it as its little cousin. Moveable Type’s interface looks like WordPress and feels similar too. However, Moveable Type has its own plugins and templates.

Best of all, Moveable Type has the capability of multi-site publishing across domains and subdomains. Managing everything is easy because you get to do it in a very user friendly interface. This makes Moveable Type very powerful and scalable. It is ideal for bloggers looking to create large blogs or magazine websites.

Squarespace

 

Squarespace takes the guesswork out of blogging. It is a cloud-based platform with amazing templates that are ideal for building professional-looking websites and blogs. They also have a good number of templates and plugins. They also have a great visual editor that lets you edit anything on your website just by clicking.

There is a downside though. Squarespace is not an ideal tool for publishing hundreds of blogs and their social media management is on the weak side.

Type Pad

 

This is a secure blogging platform that hackers avoid. Type Pad is a hosting solution with integrated analytics and easy design customization. This platform feels like a writers club with a small and highly dedicated community. Best of all, great Type Pad blogs have the chance to be featured on the Type Pad website. However, this platform has limited functionality and is a bit on the expensive side.

Do you have experience with any of these CMS? Did we forget to mention a CMS that you currently use? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

 

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Best Reasons To Embrace Your Online Reviews

Ecommerce landscape is always evolving and one of the biggest change is the proliferation of online reviews.

Reviews have spread in the internet dramatically over these last few years even if you’re actively seeking them or not. They are found not only in product pages but in social media too.

However, reviews can become powerful pieces of social proof that can help persuade people to buy your product.

According to PeopleClaim.com, 70% of customers read product reviews before making a purchase and 63% of customers are more likely to buy something if a site has reviews. Furthermore, 79% of customers trust customer reviews and see them as personal recommendations. In other words, reviews are valued by customers and depend on them.

Here are some benefits of online reviews for ecommerce stores.

Customer Perception

 

Online reviews can help change customers’ perception of you. Ecommerce owners want to build trust between their brand and customers. Nobody wants a bad reputation. Quality products, reliability and helpfulness can impact the way customers perceive your products and your brand.

Genuine positive customer reviews can help customers look at you as someone they trust.

Unbiased Insight

 

Aside from trust, customers also want unbiased insights on products they might want to purchase. People like 3^rd party reviews because they want an impartial source for information and quality.

Reviews help people imagine themselves while they are using your product. It can also help reduce questions that get asked in customer support inquiries.

Builds Credibility

 

In an online marketplace, anybody can sell anything. This is one of the reasons why new businesses face a bigger challenge when it comes to building credibility compared to big businesses that have been around for years. Aside from this, the increasing proliferation of phishing scams, malware and other click baits have made customers more cautious when shopping online.

Trust indicators like reviews are even more important and should be made available to customers to persuade them to pull out their wallets and make a purchase.

 

Encouraging Customer Reviews

 

Now that we know why reviews are important, it’s time to generate reviews.

You can start by sending emails to customers. Some people forget to review products and sending them a reminder to leave reviews will encourage them to write one.

Sending a review reminder after a week or two will give them time to experience your product and give them time to generate an opinion.

Reviewing should also be easy. There should be no complicated forms or tedious verification process to fill up when leaving reviews. If you can, it should also be rewarding. You can offer a voucher code for a small discount on their next purchase when they leave reviews.

Do you encourage customers to leave reviews? How have they helped to increase your sales? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

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Should You Sell On Amazon Or Ebay?

At first glance, online market places like Amazon and Ebay seem like a seller’s paradise. Many marketers feel that joining these platforms mutually beneficial wherein store owners get exposure and the market place gains an expanded product line.

However, closer inspection reveals that while mutual benefit remains, but the selling reality is different. Should you expand your store and tackle the world of online selling?

The answer: perhaps. An online market strategy can be a boon to some sellers but a burden to others.  There are a lot of factors to consider including the type of product you are selling and the competition in your niche, restriction, market place fees and many more.

But there are pros and cons that remain the same across multiple platforms.

Pros Of Selling On Amazon Or Ebay

·         Increase Scale Of Online Presence

 

Selling on Amazon and Ebay can help increase sales because they are high traffic channel. Amazon has an estimated 184 million visitors per month while Ebay has over 164 million active buyers. That’s a lot of visitors which can translate to higher sales volume for you.

Amazon sellers report that they experience 50% increase in sales when they join the market place.

·         Acquire New Customers

 

While it’s true that nobody goes to Amazon and Ebay to search for your store, there is a big chance they will discover your product while searching.

Once you get a customer, there is a good chance of winning repeat business especially if you have exemplary customer service and fulfillment. This is especially true if you’re selling a product that prompts repeat orders like cosmetics, hobby shops or fishing equipment.

·         Many People Like Shopping Online

 

According to statistics, more and more people are shopping online. It’s more convenient for many shoppers because online shopping means no long queues at the checkout or endless searches for parking space. Having products delivered to your doorstep is also more convenient.

Cons Of Selling On Amazon Or Ebay

 

·         Market Place Fees

 

Sad to say, selling on Amazon and Ebay is not free. These platforms generally take a percentage from each sale that varies from site to site and category.

Before selling on any market place, make sure you have a good understanding of profit margins and the market place’s fee structure.

·         Control

 

Before joining any market place you need to understand that they will want you to conform to their brand. Online markets like Amazon and Ebay exist to help themselves. They are focused on the products, not the sellers. This means that there will be restrictions on how you can brand or promote yourself or product, limit communication with customers and even dictate which products you can and cannot sell.

·         Keeping Inventory In Sync

 

It can be hard to sync inventory when selling in online market places. Essentially they are considered as a second point of sale and can’t be configured to talk to your shopping cart. As such, reconciling stocks for your online and physical store can be complicated without having result to doing a manual count.

Choosing A Market Place

 

Amazon is a great place for retailers. They have tools that can help sellers become part of a seamless shopping experience. Amazon lets you send your products to them in bulk and let them take care of shipping and fulfillment.

Ebay is a massive marketplace that lets you buy and sell products in fixed priced or auction style. While Amazon focuses on shopping experience, Ebay has tools to make it easier for you to feature products and brand in an Ebay store.

Where To Sell?

 

How to choose between Amazon and Ebay? It really depends on what you’re selling and the size of your operation.

Many successful business owners sell their products online as well as on online market platforms. Just remember to take time to figure out a market place and see how it affects your current business before diving into another one.

Have you tried selling on Amazon or Ebay? Can you tell us about your experience on online marketplaces? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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Phrases To Avoid In Email Marketing Campaigns

We all know that there is no book that can tell you how to successfully run an email campaign. Successful campaigns are a result of trial and error; so to understand it and to leverage it properly, you need to practice and learn from results.

However, there are a lot of techniques that can boost your performance and a lot of mistakes that can put a damper on your success and damage your business.

In this connection, some words should never be included in your email campaigns. These words should be avoided because they can damage your reputation and trustworthiness. Here are some unprofessional phrases to avoid.

“Free”

Everybody knows that there is no such thing as free. Everything comes with strings attached so adding “free” to the headline of your emails will make you look untrustworthy.

Spammy emails also contain the word “free”. “Free consultation”, “free session”, “free ebook” etc. Be different and stay away from this cheap word to retain your subscribers. There are better ways to grab their attention.

“Act Now”

This phrase is bad news especially for marketers who have yet to strengthen their subscriber base or their reputations. “Act now” is a very powerful call to action. However, it also looks spammy and pushy; so think twice when using this phrase.

“To Be Honest”

Why would you put this in your emails? Aren’t you honest all the time? Readers always expect you to be honest so there is no need to say it.

When said face to face, “be honest” has a lot of impact. However, the opposite is true for email marketing. It won’t catch readers’ attention so it’s best to leave it out of emails.

 

“Increase Sales”

In case you’re wondering why emails with “increase sales” in them get sent to the spam mailbox, it’s because it is used too often. Emails that are counted as spam can seriously hurt your marketing campaign performance.

Instead of using this phrase in your headlines, use it in the body without overusing it.

“Online Biz Opportunity”

Firstly, shortening words in emails sounds very unprofessional. Sure, it makes you work faster and is more convenient but stop and moment and think about how your readers will perceive your words.

Aside from this, “online bizz opp” sounds like a scam. Internet users have been around for a long time so you can be sure that no millennial or Gen X or Z user will open an email with that sort of headline.

“While You Sleep”

“Lose weight while you sleep”, “use money while you sleep” or “become famous while you sleep” sounds absurd. Only fake marketers use this phrase.

This phrase is one of those “too good to be true” promises and should be left out of emails entirely.

Misspelled Words

Nothing screams unprofessional more than misspelled words. They are a turnoff especially when spotted in emails. Always remember that recipients are subscribed to your campaign because they are looking for value.

People can be critical and harsh when they find misspelled words in your campaign. Trust, confidence and authoritativeness can take a dive when there are misspelled words in your emails.

Stay away from these words to avoid email marketing disasters. While you can’t control how people think of your brand, staying away from phrases that turn emails into “rejects” can help keep your emails relevant and professional.

Are you guilty of using these words in your emails? What did you do to remedy the situation? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

 

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Increase Your Blog Conversion Rate With These 6 Tips

Blogging or article writing has many purposes; some blog for marketing or promotion, while others do it for self-fulfillment. But no matter how you look at it, we all know that there are good blogs and bloggers and there are great ones.

Good articles contain good information but great articles have passion. Good blogs are posted weekly but great blogs are updated daily. Good articles are shared by people while great ones are shared by the thousands.

If you’re one of these bloggers that are creating good content but want to increase conversion rates and make more money using your blog, you’re in the right place because we have some useful tips for you.

Be Consistent

Blogging can cost considerable time and effort. Therefore, it can be heartbreaking when your voice is not being heard. One of the first things you can do as a blogger is to experiment with different writing styles. Try to find the right delivery and note until you hit the right one. But you must also post regularly. Once a week will seem inconsistent but twice a week should be able to put you on a more reliable track.

Bloggers need to post more often because consistency means commitment and passion about the things you care about. Consistent posting will also make you an authority figure in the niche or industry you are blogging for. Experts also have bigger audiences compared to novices.

Be Aware Of Your Audience

Your readers are composed of people who are always evolving and want to hear what you have to say. The more you know about your content, the more people will be interested in it. This means that should know not only their preferred delivery method but also what information or topics will interest them. Identifying these factors will help you connect with your audience.

Be Personal

Audiences invest a lot of time reading your blog and want to feel connected with the writers. It is important that blogs are transparent and personal. Add personal anecdotes so that your audience can empathize with you. Being transparent also more relatable and make your audience trust you.

Stick To One

As a rule of thumb, it’s better to pick one topic and stick to it for the entire post. Blogs are usually between 300-700 words so there’s not really a lot of ground to cover multiple topics in 1 article. By sticking to just 1 topic per blog, you will be able to tackle the subject more thoroughly so your readers will gain better understanding.

 

Choose Your Words

Don’t try to be clever with words. Bloggers should avoid complicated sounding words because you don’t really know who’s reading your blog. First-time subscribers might feel intimidated if words are too long or unfamiliar. Either way, long time and first timers need to be able to understand and connect with your blog without having to open a dictionary.

Keep It Short

Always remember that readers are on your blog because they want information. They are looking for useful information. Therefore, bloggers should always remember to edit fluff out and to keep their blogs short. If you find yourself typing 800 words per post, try to edit it down to around 500 while keeping all the important parts intact.

These 6 tips will help you to write better blogs and articles. However, don’t forget to read the comments section too. This spot is where readers leave their feedback and ask questions. By responding to them in the blog posts, it shows that you are reading their comments and interact with your audience. It also shows that you care what they think.

What do you think of our tips? Do you have other tips that can help bloggers make money off their blogs? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

 

 

 

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Content Distribution Fails You Need To Avoid

Who would want to fail at content distribution? No one would. However, according to research conducted by Ian Cleary of Outreach Plus, 90% of content marketers have distribution problems.

For many marketers, the stark reality is that content distribution can make or break your content marketing success. Without a good distribution plan, your investment in content creation can go down the drain because content is unnoticed.

Why does content distribution fail? Data from the research revealed that 65% don’t have time to distribute their content while 25% don’t know how to distribute it.

Content distribution problems can dress up as other issues. However, most of them can be summed up by these 5 core content fails.

No Documented Content Strategy

 

Many marketers don’t think they fall into this box. However, if you’re really honest with yourself you have a vague strategy in your head but not on paper. This is considered as a fail because it is not shared with other people in your organization. As a result, people who should know don’t or it is misinterpreted by others.

As a company or organization, you need to have a content marketing mission statement. It should contain (at the very least):

• Who the content is intended for
• The target audience
• To yield a benefit
• In order to achieve your goals

Lack Of Content Marketing Budget

 

Although many companies buy in to the benefits of content marketing, not all of allocate the needed budget to implement plans. According to research, average content marketers allocate 26% of their marketing budget to content marketing while the best content marketers allocate 40% of their budget.

Lack of budget for content marketing can lead to problems with social media reach, limited blog, website and intranet distribution, poor customer service and limited housefile access among other things.

 

No Clear Content Focus

 

To standout in a content driven world, you need to deliver value to your target audience. You have to meet your target audiences’ content needs and wants. If you know who your target audience is and what is relevant to them, you can deliver content that is useful and interesting to them.

When creating content, vet ideas around your team. The title should be attractive and clickable (but not a click bait), do your keyword research so that it shows up on searches, format for easier consumption, get input from through leaders and influencers and select the best headlines. Keep these in mind so as not to waste your creation efforts.

Low or No Content Engagement

 

It can hurt if content has low or no engagement from your audience. This can be a result of:

• Poor website loading – clients like webpages that load within 7 seconds.
• No communication options – according to Hubspot research, customers usually prefer social media, video conferencing and messaging,
• Not participating on existing communities – Facebook groups for instance.
• Not showing your real face – audiences like to interact with the people they are doing business with.

Wrong Content Metrics

 

Being able to evaluate your content marketing strategy is very important. Analytics can address issues and identify opportunities in your content marketing strategy. Key consumption metrics should include:

• Users – number of unique visitors to your site.
• Page views – records the total number of times a page is viewed.
• Unique page views – this is the combined page views generated by the same user during the same session. This will give you an insight to the number of sessions that page was viewed.
• Location – where do visitors come from? Knowing where your visitors come from can help you create tailor made content.
• Clicks – how many clicks does your email get and where do they go?
• New VS. Returning – new visitors vs returning visitors.
• Shares – how many people are sharing your content on social media?

There are many other metrics in content marketing. Some marketers make the mistake of relying on CTC or ROI as a marketing metric. They are great but they are not the end all and be all of content metrics.

Are you guilty of these content marketing fails? What did you do to remedy the situation? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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How Social Media Affects SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is not just about keywords and ranking. It is also about off-site methods that can affect your visibility which includes social media.

In the early days, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter was about connecting with other people in the sense that it was primarily a communication tool. Today, social media is being utilized as a platform that works in conjunction with your content and SEO strategies to raise traffic.

However, Google has made it clear that being active on social media channels have no impact on organic SEO rankings. So why invest time on social media anyway?

If leveraged correctly, social media websites can help increase and maintain visitors to your websites. There are literally millions of people who use social media to follow not only their friends but celebrities and companies so that they can be the first to know if something happens.

And because everyone is on social media, your customers are going to be there too. You can use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to announce product launches or events or go on YouTube to demonstrate products. Aside from this, you can also communicate and interact with customers using social media. Using these platforms you are not only promoting content, you are also asserting yourself as an authority which is one of the factors Google looks at in their SEO rankings.

It is also good to note that Tweets are now being indexed by Google. Being on Twitter can help increase brand visibility and awareness. In other words, social media is a great way to get noticed and talked about. It has come a long way from being a tool to reconnect with old college friends.

It doesn’t matter if social media has no effect on SEO rankings. What matters is that marketers and website owners have a way to get the word out to get maximum exposure.

Marketers don’t only use social media for brand building and awareness; it is also being used for lead generation. This is all done through engaging content. It should be interesting to their target audience. Marketers should find a good balance between promotion engaging content.

Updates have the tendency to get lost in the newsfeed so offers should be something that can get customers enthusiastic. Having a strategic timetable to be able to know when to create a buzz can help your site gain more leads and customers.

As time goes by, your social marketing strategy’s strengths and weaknesses will become exposed. Make sure to take note of the good as well as the bad. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you come up with an updated strategy so that you can leverage your exposure to improve your SEO ranking. Furthermore, analysis and refinement of your strategy can help you get take advantage of one of marketing’s greatest tools.

Is your website or company on social media yet? What is your most effective social media platform in terms of lead generation? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

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Popular Web Tools Used By Designers & Developers

Just like many of us, designers and developers rely on tools to make their jobs easier. They like to find programs or software that offers the best support, pricing and functionalities.

For example, HotJar is popular for logo design and creation and Landigi is used by non-programmers to create landing pages that convert quickly.

Here are some of the best solutions used today by designers and developers.

Tailor Social

Tailor social is a great tool for those who want to quickly build their social media presence without too much effort. It can help you create a full social media campaign in Facebook and Twitter thanks to a very intelligent AI and plenty of templates.

You can also keep track of your campaign and which content is resonating with your audience. You can even set your social media on autopilot and the software will do the job for you so that you can focus on other tasks like developing your website or ranking better.

A basic plan for Tailor social is around $10 per month for 2 accounts while a business plan is $15 for 7 and corporate account is $50 for up to 30 accounts.

WP Page Builder

Build gorgeous websites for $1. Sounds unbelievable, but doable with WP Page Builder. This is one of the fastest and powerful site builders that is easiest to use. You don’t need coding skills or previous experience to use their drag and drop editor. It also works well with other WordPress themes.

AppBeat Monitoring

This is one of the best and most affordable monitoring plans on the market. AppBeat Monitoring will text, email and 10 other ways to notify you if something happens to your site, ping, email and many more. The system is fast, easy to use and very reliable.

 

48 Hours Logo

You want a gorgeous logo but you also don’t want to spend a lot of money. 48 Hours Logo is a good option because it lets designers compete for your design and you can choose the best one. It offers fast and reliable service.

Codester

Codester is a huge market place filled with products for web designers and developers. You can find scripts, codes, graphics and many more. Everything is well structured and there are even flash sales for products and have a section where they are heavily discounted.

Visme

Infographic is one of the most powerful tools on the internet today. However not all of us are well-versed in creating infographics and other visual tools. Enter Visme, a presentation design tool that can help you create powerful and attractive inforgraphics and other visual content.

There are many more popular web tools designers and developers use. Stay tuned for part 2 of this series.

 

 

 

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Best Reasons To Move To VDI

Companies are now embracing digital transformation and remote work and as such are switching to virtual desktops. A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) not only simplifies the IT process, it also improves cost while providing more flexibility. According to Allied Market Research, VDI is expected to grow 16.5% per year and reach $10.15 billion by 2023.

Companies always want to provide means for their employees to be productive. Here are the best reasons to switch to VDI.

Flexibility

 

Many employees now have the choice of when to work and where to work. According to reports, telecommuting has grown 115% over the last decade. Gallup reports that 43% of employees work remotely at some time and more than half say that flexibility is important to them when choosing a job.

A virtual desktop can give remote workers the same experience as those working in the office. Laptop, smartphone or tablet users don’t have to waste time looking for files and apps. They can work anytime, anywhere and collaborate with workers across the globe using VDI technology.

Lower IT Costs

 

Did you know that the cost of a public cloud VDI workspace is 55% lower annually when compared to using an on-site solution?

This is because deploying a cloud based working environment is easier and cheaper compared to installing and updating software in multiple devices used by employees to facilitate work.   Patching and updating software from a central location is more cost and IT efficient. You can save a lot of money by lowering capital expenditures on infrastructure, maintenance and IT labor costs.

When business is run through a virtual machine, there is no need to worry about fans, hard drives and other hardware that needs to be replaced. With cloud hosting, you only pay what you use at a given time.

Better Productivity

 

VDI lets people work wherever and whenever they want to. They can work at home, at a café, in the airport during Saturdays, Monday nights or even during Thanksgiving because they can access their desktop anytime anywhere. They don’t have to rely on office infrastructure or suffer downtime or on-site outages.

Employees can access new programs and features instantly instead of waiting for their computer, smartphone or tablet to be installed with the latest programs and software. This results in better productivity per employee.

Enhanced Security

 

Some companies worry about sensitive information once an employee’s device has been stolen. However, VDI stores sensitive company information in data centers not in individual devices. This means that even if a device is stolen, thieves would not be able to steal company information.

There are many identity and management controls available in VDI machines and infrastructure to protect sensitive data to make sure that employees only see data that they are meant to access.

Better Energy Efficiency

 

According to studies, remote work (via mobile devices) and VDI can help reduce energy costs by up to 90% (when compared to PCs) and help companies save 75% on hardware costs.

Cloud based VDI can help save companies thousands of dollars on operational costs while giving employees flexibility when it comes to their working schedule without compromising the “office” experience.

What do you think of VDI? Do you think your company will be adopting VDI anytime soon? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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How To Hire A Graphic Designer

Graphic designers are the go-to professional for logos, infographics, labels or a whole new brand identity. Finding and hiring a graphic designer is all about communicating your needs and then having them executed in a manner that leaves an impression to your target audience.

The question for many business owners is how to find a graphic designer that can help you make an impact.

Here are some tips on how you can find and hire a graphic designer.

Identify Your Project Requirements

 

Most designers know how to make logos, infographics, page layouts and websites. However, there are also designers that specialize in a specific field.

Before hiring a graphic designer to do a job, it is best to know what you need. For example, if you need a layout for a website, it is best to find a designer who is an expert in this field or somebody that has a lot of experience. The same is true if you need a branding expert or a logo.

Be thorough in identifying your needs. Not only will it help you find the right designer, it will also help you avoid potential communications problems in the future.

Find The Right Skills

 

Many graphic designers are versatile and well-versed in using programs such as Adobe Creative Suite, PhotoShop and Illustrator. They are the so called “gold standard” when it comes to graphic design software so most designers would know how to use them.

However, being a good graphic designer is not just about knowing how to use software. A good designer should also be able to communicate well, be creative, strategic, be a good team player and take a criticism well.

Check out their portfolios too. Try to see if they have past projects that are similar to what you want. Candidates should be able to show past work including the process they use from planning to conclusion. Find similarities between candidates’ past jobs and your company’s work. This will give both parties a reason to think that working together will be mutually beneficial.

Shortlist Potential Candidates

 

As the interview date draws near, you will want a shortlist of candidates from among the many applicants you have received. You need to look for:

• Professionalism – you can already get an idea of this by looking at the way a candidate has submitted their application.
• Talent – graphic designers create visual content and this should be clear in their proposal, portfolio and profile.
• Experience – is the candidate versed in design software? Do they have experience with working in your industry or with what you need?
• Feedback – what do previous clients say about them as a professional and about their work? Getting feedback from past employers through their references will give you a good idea on how they work and how they are at work.
• Portfolio – art is subjective just like design but it is also important that people are able to understand what they are trying to communicate. Their portfolio should contain a description of each of the project. Check out projects that have elements of design that you want.

Interview

 

It’s now time to prep for the interview. This is the best opportunity to learn about their approach, creativity, experience and talent. It’s best to prepare questions ahead of time so that you can ensure that you’ve covered everything you want to learn about them.

Good questions include:

• Tell me about 3 of your best projects.
• What is your timeline for projects?
• What makes a great project?
• What do you think about our past work?

Observe their responses for all the questions you ask. Using their responses and engaging the candidates can help you find a graphic designer that is well suited to your company and its culture.

Do you have any more tips to add? What is your experience in hiring a graphic designer? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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Keyword Mistakes You’re Probably Guilty Of

The keywords you target for your SEO campaign are crucial for your ranking success. After all, the keywords you target are responsible for the type of traffic you will be receiving. This means that the right keywords have a better chance of being clicked compared to the wrong ones. Despite this, people are still making keyword mistakes that greatly affect their PPC success.

Here are some of the most common mistakes PPC advertisers commit in their keyword targeting.

Vague Keywords

 

Generally speaking, the more vague the keywords, the higher the CPC. It means that your budget will be eaten up more quickly when using vague keywords. Let’s say for example that you’re selling shoes and place a bid for “shoe” as keyword. This keyword will target people who are looking for all kinds of shoes.

The more specific the keyword; the higher the chance of reaching the intended audience.

Lack Of Negative Keywords

 

Negative keywords are a list of words you don’t want in your bidding campaign. You want to miss these words to prevent them from interfering with your campaign. This is very important to PPC campaigns because negative keywords prevent traffic that is not interested in what you’re selling. This means that negative keywords prevents drainage to your budget.

For example if you are selling acoustic guitars, negative keywords should include electric guitars and guitar music. This will not only prevent people who are looking for electric guitars but also those looking to buy guitar music. Better fine tune or review your negative keyword list.

Not Improving Or Updating Keywords

 

Finding the right keywords for your business and PPC campaign is an ongoing process. Some owners research their keywords and then run their campaigns year in and year out. However to be successful in PPC campaigns, keywords always need to be improved or updated. Business owners learn through trial and error which keywords work best and which ones need to be discarded.

Not Assessing The Cost Effectiveness Of Keywords

 

Sometimes people focus too much on CPC because it is a great way to get traffic to your landing page or advertisement.  However, ROI is more important than CPC. This stat will tell you how profitable it is to pay for a keyword in exchange for a conversion.

When you know the ROI of your keywords, you can choose the most profitable even though they don’t have high CPC.

Are you guilty of these mistakes? How have they affected your keyword and PPC campaigns? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

 

 

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