The Biggest Trends in Web Development We’ve Seen this Year

The web is continually changing. Thus web development techniques have also been constantly changing. With every New Year, newer and more improved tools for web development come out, giving developers more opportunity to play with design and page interactions. Each time a new design comes out, new patterns bloom, fresh techniques blossom, and a possibility for a trend to begin appears. And each year, new trends come and go. The year of 2017 is no different from other years. This year, we’ve seen significant trends in web development. Though some of them are no longer new in the scene, they still brought impact to the industry. If you’re still not aware what they are, here are some of the biggest trends in web development we’ve seen this year.

 

1. Color Choice

Your color choice can significantly impact your audiences; it can affect their thoughts, emotions, and ultimately, their conversion rate. So, the color choice for most websites this 2017 is green. Most people see green as a symbol of new beginnings, a refreshing start, a revitalizing first.

Green is not the only color that made the scene this year, because of the popularity of Google Material Design, the following colors also made headlines:

• Shades of Red
• Shades of Violet
• Shades of Blue
• Shades of Orange
• Shades of Yellow
• Shades of Grey
• Shades of Brown

Duotone or an image made of two colors also made the cut. It has been used since 2016, but it rose to popularity this year. You may have noticed that examples of sites that used duotone are Spotify and YouTube.

Whatever color or color scheme you may choose to go with, make sure it goes well with your overall aim. Pick something that will convey what you want to say; if you’re going to say “be happy”, choose a color that carries happiness, or if you’re going to say “enjoy life”, pick a color that shows enjoyment of life. Again, your choice can impact your audiences, so choose well.

 

2. Retro Inspired and Modular Design

 Who would’ve thought that pixel art, images from the late 80’s-early 90’s, and vintage typography would make a big comeback this year? Over the years, people have utilized the retro-inspired designs, but this year, it has made much more influence on web design. Even modular design also made a comeback this year. It isn’t something new, but it has gained so much popularity over the years, that it finally reached its peak in 2017.

There are a couple of websites that followed the trend of retro-inspired and modular designs; some have mixed retro style with modern style. There are also websites like Sweet Magnolia Gelato that went for the vintage look and combined it with animations. Build in Amsterdam has incorporated a very tasteful modular design in their website. Some websites have also used both themes, retro-inspired and modular design, integrating vintage looks with modular layouts.

Whether you go retro-inspired, modular or industrial design, just make sure that it can connect with your audience. No matter how great looking your design is, if your audience doesn’t understand the message you’re trying to convey, it won’t work. So, ultimately, pick a design that works for you and your audience.

 

3. Interactive And User Experience Focused

 A user experience focused and interactive design has always been part of what most web developers aim their website to have. This year, website interactivity and user experience were brought to another level, as microinteractions can now be found in most sites. Microinteractions are those small moments where your audience can interact with your site. These are the times when your audiences can click a call to action button, like and share your content, send you a message or fill a form field.

Yes, microinteractions have been there for a time, but this year, you can see significant improvements on them. More and more of them have become more animated and eye-catching. They have become more focused on the user-experience during the interaction. An excellent example of a user experience centered microinteraction is the Customized Like by Facebook, where audiences can choose different emojis.

Do remember that the aim of this trend is one thing and one thing only: to communicate with your audience. You shouldn’t just put random animations all over the place; you shouldn’t put it there just because it looks cool or trendy. When adding animations to your design or customizing it, no matter how small the changes would be, it should communicate with your audience.

These are the biggest trends in web development we have seen this year. Hopefully, we’ve helped you become aware of what’s in this year. Now, you can start preparing for what’s coming next year. Just remember that whatever the trends are, your duty as a web developer is to make sure that you’re improving the experience of your every customer. We hope you liked this No BS article.

Author Bio:

Aaron Gray is a leading digital marketing expert in Australia, specialising in Blogger Outreach services through No BS. Aaron’s goal is to deliver professional blogger outreach to clients. He’s dedicated to hard work, his job, and loves to travel in his downtime.

The post The Biggest Trends in Web Development We’ve Seen this Year appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2DN2WJS

5 Effective Ways to Get Backlinks From Social Profiles

Getting backlinks is an effective SEO strategy for your site to gain more foot traffic. Of course, it can be very tricky and tedious and you have to maintain your integrity by sticking to White Hat practices only.

One of the ways to get more links is by making use of your social profiles. But the thing is, social profile linking has garnered a bad rep for being somewhat spammy and shady. This is due to using random profiles, some of which may not even be real. But even if this is the case, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it in an authentic and legitimate manner.

Here are 5 effective and very doable ways in which you can garner more links using different social profiles.

1. Forum Profiles

Community forums such as Reddit and Quora make for a great opportunity not just to increase your backlinks, but to also connect with highly technical and authoritative people online.

If you’re heavily involved in a certain niche industry, forums may be the way to go to establish connections with relevant people. You can comment and answer tons of questions and even start discussions with those who are also within your niche. Of course, just make sure that you provide substantial information.

You can start with answering some minor questions, completing your profile, and keeping active before proceeding to share your own valuable content.

2. LinkedIn Profile

Sharing valuable information on LinkedIn can also prove to be beneficial for getting more links. Compared to Facebook and other social media platforms, you have a higher chance of reaching out to the right people through LinkedIn, especially if you belong to a technical or niche field.

Make sure to have your LinkedIn profile complete and looking professional so as to increase your credibility in sharing content. You can also connect with other professionals outside of your work or industry, who may find the information you’re sharing to be of value to them.

If you’re handling your company’s LinkedIn profile, you can setup a posting schedule for various content pieces. You may even ask your superior or the executive in your office if you can publish the posts through their profiles to increase chances of click-throughs given the credibility their profiles have.

3. Profile of an Executive

Speaking of executives, there’s so much you can do once you’ve gained access to an executive’s profile in terms of networking and getting links. Simply put, a profile of an executive holds more credibility and earns more trust than that of a general company profile.

An exec’s profile (e.g. CEO, CMO, Manager, etc) puts a more humane approach in networking and anyone who would connect with them would feel more privileged, therefore trust is built more easily. Any outreach message or shared content done using an executive’s profile would stand out in a sea of various messages and posts on social networking sites.

It goes without saying that this should be done with the executive still involved in the process. Of course, it wouldn’t bode well for the exec or for the company should there be a direct dialogue with the exec without him/her knowing about what was shared through his profile.

4. Facebook Profile & Ads

Even with a small amount, you can readily boost your post and target it towards the right audience in Facebook.

The key in getting the most out of this technique is to have a more narrowed down and concise targeting. Even with less ad spend, you’ll have higher chances of garnering more interest with the quality of your targeted audience.

As with any other form of content, make sure that the post you boost and promote provides substantial and useful information. You’ll be surprised with how far its reach can be, since the audience themselves may even share and repost it to their own networks.

5. Connect With Social Media Profiles of Authorities

Be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or even Snapchat, you can easily build rapport and genuine connection with authorities in different fields through social media profiles.

It’s as simple as following or following back and making sure that you send out a genuine message to kick things off. You can show genuine admiration for the work they do or perhaps provide some insightful comment or opinion on a certain topic they featured or talked about.

As you continue to build the relationship, you can even ask them to also promote the link to your site or post given that there is mutual trust established along the way. This method may take more time and effort but the results would be extremely beneficial, especially if you’ve managed to help one another in your respective ventures.

Conclusion

Surely, getting more links through social profiles isn’t the quickest way to increase your backlinks but it’s definitely one of the most rewarding given the authentic connection you’re bound to build along the way.

You’re not just building connections but you’re also establishing trust within the online community, which in return would also be beneficial in increasing your reach as they share your content to their own networks. Do remember that these connections are a two-way street, so also make sure to return the favor or take the initiative to also share and promote the work of others as well.

The post 5 Effective Ways to Get Backlinks From Social Profiles appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2DkXxgd

It is Possible to Blog Without Writing Blogs: Welcome to Instagram!

Most bloggers on Instagram do not even have blogs! Modern bloggers do not believe in the power of words. Well, we are not saying that the text content of blogs is not relevant. With the advent of image-heavy platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, long articles and features take a backseat. Great images with a high resolution have been replacing word-form content for a long time now. Look at Instagram accounts like the_salty_blonde and wihitneybearr. They are successfully reaching out to thousands of people each day with their unique posts, without writing extensively about their styles or fashion choices.

Hashtags speak louder than words

The Instagram fashion club has its own hashtags. The leading hashtags of 2017 include #ootd, #outfitoftheday, #fashionista, #instafashion, #runwayfashion, #streetstyle and #streetfashion. These are your regular high volume keywords. They can give you a lot of traffic, but since hundred other Instagram accounts, both business and private, are using them as well you may find a tough competition.

You can move towards more niche fashion tags like #summerbeachwear, #crochetfashion, #bikinibods, #casualmomstyle and many other low volume keywords. They generate small amounts of traffic, but they are highly accurate as well. Therefore, you will get quality traffic with much less competition as compared to your high volume keywords.

Big brands can easily stick to high volume keywords. Brands include Instagram influences like the Kardashians and Hadids. If you are a small, niche fashion house making your own statements each day, try to find hashtags and keywords that fit your brand image. Find low volume long-tailed keywords to describe images and longer hashtags to filter in relevant traffic.

Schedule your posts from beforehand

Posting a couple of pictures is quite standard for a new brand on the platform. However, that does not mean you have to take 1-2 new pictures every day. Sometimes it is a budget constraint, while most commonly, it is a time constraint for most people. In fact, taking a series of shots of different related subjects makes more sense than composing 1-2 pictures each day. You need not worry about models and photographers. You can use your iPhone as your professional photographer, use still-life compositions for lifestyle and fashion products and use professional editing tools to create the Instagram effect.

Use business-friendly filters

Did you know? On Instagram, certain filters like Mayfair and Vintage have more likelihood of getting you more followers? When you are a new user, your followers count for Instagram can be dwindling. Start with unique posts and Gramista to boost your followership. You can use listening tools like Hootsuite to find out what your potential followers and consumers. Listening tools are advantageous for new entrepreneurs since they have to know their potential market to be able to sell their products.

How to engage influencers in your marketing plan?

Instagram can give your brand 25% more engagement than any other social platform. Now, this will happen if you can market your products correctly. For example – you are selling women’s shoes, how will you introduce your products on Instagram with a bang? Working all by yourself will not get you enough attention. You need to find a fashion partner. Working with influencers has its own perks. To find the right influencer for you, you can check out sites like Websta. It catalogs all popular Instagram users related to your niche.

Here are a few things you have to do –

• Find people who are interested in shoes or showcase shoes in their accounts. (make a list of at least ten people)
• Find their link or contact on their “contact” page.
• Send the first name on your list a formal email or direct message on Instagram with your proposal. Do not push or bribe. Ask if they would be willing to accept a sample of your product for review.
• Wait for a week. Send a follow-up email.
• If you do not get any reply from one influencer, move on to the next one on your list.

Getting ready-made images from other accounts

If you are particularly in love with a picture posted by an influencer, you can ask their permission to repost it. There are a few copyright issues that you will have to keep in mind.

• You can make minimal changes to the photos.
• You can make changes to filter choices.
• You can add your brand name and watermark only after giving the original poster their due credit for the photo.

Easiest way to get new content for your account

An easier way to bypass these legalities is to hold a contest. However, this only works if you have a strong followership on Instagram already. Ask for photo contests with particular hashtags. It will make sure you get new content almost every day and keep your brand name visible too, without a huge marketing budget. Do not use stock images from Shutterstock or Getty Images if you are running out of fresh content. Try playing with your keywords a little; this will give you a broader perspective of your potential market. It will also broaden the reach of your account and campaigns.

Always add a CTA

Do not forget to add a call to actions on or beside your images. Adding new stories every week will increase your brand reach by over 30%. More people are into Instagram videos and live stories than the regular feed. Use fresh photos and videos to link to your fashion site. Paste your URL on the top and add your stickers, filters, and emojis to keep things interesting.

All in all, as a brand, you need to keep your audience engaged. You cannot stay inactive for a month and hope to find your followership as high as the day you left them. Just like any other social networking platform, people forget about brands, events, and celebs very easily once they are on Instagram. You need to stay visible, active and engage with your followers on a regular basis to steer a steady flow of traffic from your Insta account to your website.

Author bio: Harris is a leading blog writer and content marketing professional with thousands of real Instagram followers for his postings.

The post It is Possible to Blog Without Writing Blogs: Welcome to Instagram! appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2lQcQ5G

6 Best Forms of Visual Content That Get Lots of Links and Shares

Are you aiming for more engagement for your business’ content? Whether it’s a blog post or a social media post, it’s all about the likes, comments, and reshares in order to get your business out there.

So how exactly do you do this through content?

Let’s get real for a moment. Most readers tend not to read through long text and would prefer visual content to get the information they want and need. It just makes sense to not only include visual imagery into your posts, but to also consider making them the highlight and focal point of your online content.

To get started, read on to see the six best forms of visual content that get the most likes and shares:

1. Memes

Who doesn’t love memes? What started out as images seemingly done by people who have too much time on their hands, then became a viral sensation one after the other. It’s so effective that most marketers bank on using funny or witty memes to rouse the interest of their readers and to get the likes and shares coming.

Memes are such great sources of entertainment and the best part is that it appeals to all demographics and audiences. Of course, memes are more prominent with a younger audience but either way, it makes for an effective means to gather your audience and instill some lighthearted fun and positivity to their browsing. All it takes is some funny graphics, preferably having a pop culture reference, and some short but concise witty text placed on it

2. Compelling Images

Images and text naturally go hand in hand, but what makes your text content even more resonant is having compelling images to support your message. It’s true what they say that a picture can say a thousand words–what more if that photo is compelling enough to evoke so many emotions from your readers?  

Take this viral photo of a starving polar bear from National Geographic as an example. Even without saying any other text to go with it, you can pretty much draw out the story behind this one photo. Concepts and ideas such as global warming, climate change, and polar bear extinction come to mind. What makes this image even more compelling is how it also awakens a wanting to act and move towards contributing to a positive change in the society.

Of course, not all images are created the same. But the main idea is to find the best images that would convey your message, trigger emotions, and perfectly complement the textual content.

3. Infographics

If you’re presenting technical data such as statistics, then using an infographic would be the best way to present it so your readers would find it easy to understand and absorb. The great thing about infographics is how it can be easily shared and reposted as it is and without the need for a supporting text message or link.

In fact, Hubspot found out that infographics are shared three times more than any other type of content on various social media platforms. Not only that, but you can also get more backlinks using infographics when it’s reused on other blog sites. Just make sure to experiment with the right combination of fonts, colors, and shapes and lay it out in a reader-friendly and eye-catching manner

4. Screenshots

Posting screenshots can help earn your business or site more credibility. Screenshots give a first-hand look into what your products and services are and how it works. You can use screenshots in doing step by step instructions or explanations, which readers would find very easy to follow and understand.

Other ways you can reap the benefits of posting screenshots is by posting testimonials or user reviews, which is an effective way of boosting your products or services.

5. Video

This year saw the rise in video content. Just about every credible site made use of video content whether in their blog posts or in their social media posts. Though videos may be considered as the most expensive and complicated type of content, it proves its worth by being so much more effective in engaging, educating, and entertaining your audience.

Whether it’s how-tos, explainers, behind the scenes, or even narrative videos, you’re bound to attract more audience and even increase your site’s conversions as well. If you don’t have the budget to hire a professional, you can tinker with it yourself using amateur-friendly (and free!) software programs such as Lightworks, VSDC, Shotcut, HitFilm, Wondershare Filmora, and many more.

6. Slide Presentation

Slides aren’t just for formal presentations in the classroom or boardroom. These days, you can also make use of slides to present information in an engaging and educational manner.  Just like infographics, the effectiveness of slides is also dependent on the fonts, colors, and graphics that you use.

In creating slides, you can head to Slideshare for a quick and easy way to create presentations that you can share in blog and social media posts. Just make sure to keep the slides clean and avoid clutter for better presentation of information.

 

The good news about visual content is you don’t even need to be a professional designer to get started. There are several beginner-friendly tools such as Canva, BeFunky, and Fotor among many others which provides you with ready-made templates given a wide range of visual content formats.

Creating visual content is all about engaging audiences through entertaining and digestible information. Of course, presentation is also key and when done right, you’d be surprised at how these visuals would serve as free marketing for your business through linking and sharing.

The post 6 Best Forms of Visual Content That Get Lots of Links and Shares appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2pGMUOh

How to Get Blog Ideas Straight From Your Customers

With the onslaught of various forms of content all over the World Wide Web, marketers and business owners have struggled to generate enough traffic and leads towards their respective sites.

It’s given that leads and traffic matter to everyone. It leads to sales and revenue opportunities, and a big part of it heavily relies on producing content that’s worth driving customers straight to your site’s doorstep. But when you’ve exhausted all possible topics and grounds to cover for your content, where else can you find quality content that would appeal to your customers?

Spy on Forums

Getting blog ideas straight from your customers isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t even need to conduct an extensive survey or do further research because all you need to do is spend some time hanging out at forums.

Community forums are an effective way of getting ideas directly from your target market. Of course, you’ll have to do some digging to find the most relevant questions asked by various people and then prepare content surrounding that question or topic.

Some of the most prominent online forums that marketers frequent are the following:

• Reddit – No doubt the biggest online community forum where anything goes. Reddit may be a bit overwhelming at first but it can be a goldmine if you know where to look.
• Quora – If you’re not too keen on diving into Reddit, you can go for Quora, which provides you with top questions and answers based on topics you’re interested in. Also helps that Quora has a cleaner and more organized layout, making it easier to search for relevant topics.
• Warrior Forum – Warrior Forum is known to be the most popular Internet marketing forum there is. Perfect for beginners and pro marketers, you’ll be able to find a wide range of topics you can create content for that would appeal to your customers.
• Yahoo! Answers – Anything goes with Yahoo! Answers as well, but given a little patience, you’ll find topics that may rouse the interest of your target audience.
• Inbound – Inbound is another favorite online marketing forum, where you can search and go through a bevy of topics in different aspects of digital marketing.
• Wicked Fire – Wicked Fire is known to be a more advanced version of Warrior Forum. Pro marketers would be more comfortable discussing and researching through advanced tactics and techniques in digital marketing from this forum.

The key to hitting the content game is combining proper keyword research and a relevant question, and then providing informative answers for your customers. Even just one question would do for one blog post and given the amount of questions you can find in these forums, your blog content planning would already be set for the whole year!

Just remember to include all the important aspects of a winning piece of blog content: write in accordance to your persona or brand identity, provide a solution to your customers’ needs, and drive their attention with a catchy call to action.

The post How to Get Blog Ideas Straight From Your Customers appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2pCnIZc

5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Pro For Your Site’s SEO

SEO has long been an important strategy for businesses to succeed. It’s even become more necessary in this digital age, especially since more and more consumers are relying on e-commerce to purchase what they want and need.

While there are several optimisation tactics that you can very well do on your own, completely managing it while running your business may not exactly be the best idea. Here are 5 compelling reasons why you should just go hire a pro.

Reason #1: SEO requires technical knowledge.

Let’s get one thing clear: SEO is not easy. Sure, you can start and do some form of SEO yourself but there’s more to it than just reading an article on the best SEO practices. Professional optimisation covers a lot of technical ground, from content to user experience, as well as off-site and specific local SEO strategies that would prove useful for your business.

This is not to say that you can’t do SEO by yourself. It simply means that if you want a more comprehensive and effective way of optimising your site and get the results you want, then it’s better to invest in a dependable and trusted SEO agency.

Reason #2: SEO requires time and attention to detail.

As a business owner, you already have a lot to deal with in running your business on a day-to-day basis. Do you really have the time to constantly monitor and implement various SEO strategies for your site?

Your time is extremely valuable and it would serve you and your business well to leave it to professionals who can really focus on optimising your site, which entails a number of continuous and progressive tasks. A dedicated SEO agency is also updated with changes and updates in algorithms and rules, as well as keeping track of your competitors. All of these come into play into having a successful SEO campaign.

Reason #3: They can provide extensive analytics and do proper monitoring.

It’s not enough to simply see the numbers from your SEO efforts. What’s even more relevant is to know “why” that’s the case and how to go about fixing or improving it further. A professional SEO agency would know what to do with the numbers and more importantly, understand the relationships among your site’s key performance indicators.

Always keep in mind that optimisation is a continuous process. It’s not a one time, big time effort, which is why it requires consistent monitoring and analysis to identify points for improvement. With proper understanding of analytics come better strategies to improve ranking and online presence of your business.

Reason #4: The pros have the pro tools.

There’s a myriad of software solutions and online resources that can help in developing and executing SEO strategies. However, some of which cost more than your marketing budget allotment, which is why it doesn’t make for good business sense to acquire the program on your own.

The professionals are pros for a reason and this includes having the right tools on their belt that provide the right assistance and guide for various SEO strategies and tasks. A truly reliable and proven SEO agency invests in premium software for effective optimisation and they would be able to assess which applications would best work for your business.

Reason #5: Significant ROI potential.

Compared to other conventional means of marketing your business, SEO provides some serious potential for return on investment and a long-term one at that. Traditional advertising can cost you way more than having to pay for monthly SEO services from a reputable agency. With continuous SEO efforts, your business will certainly reap the rewards with the boost it’ll get down the line.

Don’t scrimp on your optimisation budget. It would benefit you even more to hire a professional and trusted SEO agency to take care of boosting your business right from the get go. Leave it to the pros to help get your site ranking high, while you sit back and take care of other important business matters.

The post 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Pro For Your Site’s SEO appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2BJBpKJ

The Best Trending Social Media Management Tools

In today’s digital era, social media is one of the ultimate ways for businesses to excel in this tough competition and reach to the prospective audience. It has become vital for the businesses to have an active presence on all major social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others for engaging with its prospective and current customers in a new way. Social media has turned out to be the most effective ways for a business to bring huge traffic and generate new leads.

Though it is a tough task to manage all the social media platforms simultaneously it is not impossible. In such a scenario, social media management tools come in handy. It helps the marketers track interactions with their brand and enable them to respond accordingly.

Social Media Management App: An Overview

Social Media management apps are an ultimate solution for monitoring and updating your social media accounts together. There are several social media management apps that allow you to line up posts in advance, receive more details on your social sites with analytics tools and many more. Such tools can supercharge how your team makes use of social media as an effective marketing tool and allows you to attain new insights in your community.

Latest Social Media Tools

These days, social media management has turned out to be a significant area that needs to be paid special attention. Irrespective of the scale and size of the enterprise, it is important to make an active presence on varied social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. But, the major question is how to handle these social networking platforms.

In this article, we are listing some of the top social management tools that are extensively utilized by marketers to handle these trending platforms.

1) Sprout Social:
http://ift.tt/WeRZZ3

Sprout Social is the most sought-after solution for tasks related to social media. It comes with an initiative interface that permits you to handle your several accounts, line up your posts and keep a check on post-performance. Moreover, it enables users to handle, schedule or collaborate messages for varied social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Add On Benefits

? Automatically notices distinct activities on all social networking sites.
? Helps users to always remain up to date and get the latest information.
? Assists you in analyzing an individual post as a single feed.

2) Oktopost:
http://ift.tt/2nhb931

Utilization of this tool can be highly advantageous if anyone wishes to generate enhanced business leads. With the help of Oktopost, marketers, as well as campaign managers, can measure and assign a fiscal value to inbound leads which are created via distributing social media posts.

Essential Features

? Plans and designs promotional campaigns.
? Offers analytic and generates track records.
? Spreads huge content on social networking sites.

3) Buffer:
https://buffer.com

Trusted by the big brand names, agencies, individuals and businesses, Buffer is a streamlined social media management tool that assists in driving meaning results and engagement on social media. It offers a simple and wise way to optimize social media platform. In addition to this, Buffer shares your content at the suitable time throughout the day and keeps the record of all the links in order to see which content is getting more traction.

Captivating Traits

? Comes with simple to use interface that makes the team more dynamic.
? Perfect for broadcasting.
? Assists in maintaining constant social media schedule for several weeks without even minimizing the delivery times.

4) Sendible:

Home

Sendible is a prominent social media management tool that collects all the comments and posts from social networking sites like Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook making it simpler to handle and respond to all the sites from one single place. Every post is examined and messages that need immediate attention are highlighted. After that, users deal with important messages that need an instant response without any delay. Just like any other social media management platform, Sendible enables you to engage with your online communities across multifarious platforms, track and evaluate your email campaigns and social media, analyze the success of your shared content and many more.

Eye-catchy Features

? Assist in creating higher conversion rates.
? Offer latest and advanced targeting for social ads.
? Ensure effective collaboration, publishing and CRM.

5) BuzzBundle:
http://ift.tt/2fxmS9i

Popularly known for its wide range of operations performed, Buzzbundle enables the users to include an extensive range of social media platforms at a place. Apart from social media platforms, it handles all the forums, blogs and Q7A websites for monitoring promotional activities. This application comes in two varied versions. One is free edition that offers you limited access to its functionalities. On the other hand, you can purchase the professional edition for $199 and get infinite access to its exceptional features.

Outstanding Traits

? Assist in shooting private messages on all channels at the same time.
? You can easily design 5 cloud projects and save your history.
? Permit users to comment on the received feedback or replies.

Ending Notes

To sum up, selecting the right social media management tool needs you to have a good understanding of your business requirements. These tools help you enhance the chances of huge traffic and business prospects. Ensure to choose the tool that improves what you are already doing on social media presently. The above-stated tools are the perfect illustrations of social media tools that are widely used across the market by the marketing experts. You can select the one that best suits your requirements and optimize your business insights.

Author Bio: Steven Bowen is a columnist and professional blogger associated with No-refresh :Online T-Shirt Design Tool Provider, who likes sharing informative post with high-quality content to enhance the visitors’ knowledge.

The post The Best Trending Social Media Management Tools appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2zjOh8p

How Accelerated Mobile Pages Are Beneficial from SEO Perspective

The huge rise of mobile users has drastically changed the web world and businesses are now focusing more on mobile optimization to fetch good SEO rankings. The online traffic of today has very low patience quotient due to the top-notch competitive environment.

No one wants to navigate in the slow interface which is cluttered and not finger-soothing. Grievances become wide when there is a lot of data to skim. Here arises the demand to opt a technique that can result in promoting page load speed in mobile devices and to produce faster mobile websites. The answer is Google’s Accelerated mobile pages, or AMP , which retains the integrity of your featured content as an evolution of mobile UX.

What is AMP?

 AMP can be considered as a framework that can help serve web pages to the mobile devices in no time using minimal resources. This appreciating effort made by Google acts as a strong ranking medium for a website and in turn puts a great impact on organic visibility.

You can also think AMP as an effective way to fast-track content to the mobile devices. It surpassed the traditional process of mobile content display by completely relying on AMP HTML where the content representation is stripped down.

Let’s look at the below example to know the AMP effect.

Here, the articles will be visible with basic text and images keeping the load speed up to 10 times faster as compared to the old formatted content style.

AMP For SEO

 From ranking point of view, Google puts page speed and mobile-readiness on the top of the list. It is obvious that a website with fast loading speed will cater more to the mobile devices and hence will soon clicked by web searchers. It will certainly determine the placement of your website within the search engine result pages.

Better speed will certainly translate into more page views and less users that bounces back. This results in more ad views and content engagement over the web with an intent to gain wide reach of audiences.

Let’s read the below list of fruitful SEO aspects of implementing AMP:

1. Improved Mobile Rank

 AMP has been introduced with a goal to put mobile optimization in the right direction. This improvement has resulted into segregation of ranking pattern into 2 types-

1. Traditional ranking
2. Mobile search ranking

With changing times, now people are more dependent on the mobile devices in comparison to the desktops and laptops.

2. Better Mobile User Experience

 A relaxing UX is the predominating factor to make a website rule the web. AMP can act as a beneficial approach to optimize a website in the eyes of search engines along with attaining a brilliant user experience to gain mobile ranking at par. An added advantage is that users can be granted with the content access on carousel without visiting your website. Users can wait for the web pages to process and the time they feel your website to be worth, they explore it with easy scroll.

3. High-end Ad Efficiency

It is a common fact that AMP ads give better results because of the quick screen display without buffering. With AMP integration in your ads, there is a more probability that they can be seen by large number of viewers. The mobile pages filled with carousel display offer a wide exposure to the ads. Thus, it is a win-win deal to pick AMP as your website rank booster.

4. Enhanced CTR

 AMP gets you better clicks and thus results in better conversion rates. Conversion is all about traffic redirection to your website pages that can results in overall ranking boost in search engines. This is the reason AMP is the talk of the town and the websites with AMP label are more likely to be clicked and thus produce improved click-through rates. It also signifies that the end-users will not feel disheartened with slow load speed of your web design. 

5. Reduced bounce rate

 The site speed not only saves time but also gives users a better feel and they will never get frustrated and think of leaving your brand website. Bounce rate is for sure an essential factor to improve the website ranking and thus needs to be maintained well. AMP is the ultimate solution that can guarantee stable SEO results for your business.

On a Whole

 With the fresh Google updates coming each day, it is a compulsion for the site owners to push their limits in the mobile view. A major need here is to present the content of the mobile device in an eloquent manner. AMP is one such effort by Google with a motto of generating better CTR, conversions and SEO results. Precisely, you will have a better website with improved load speed so that users will never bounce back.

Author Bio                 

 Tom Hardy has hands on experience as a SEO Expert. He currently works at Sparx IT Solutions: SEO Services Provider and offers exceptional SEO auditing services to the global clientele. Also, he writes informative blogs and articles on varied SEO related subjects and helps readers know the best tips how to optimize a website over the web using SEO tools and techniques.

The post How Accelerated Mobile Pages Are Beneficial from SEO Perspective appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2ADn8Qh

Helpful Tips On Hiring An Outsourced Web Designer–And Be Happy With It!

Outsourcing has become the norm for small to medium and large enterprises these days, and how could it not be? It is a smart move for companies looking to save or cut costs and still get what they need done, when they need it.

Among the most highly outsourced jobs today is web design and development. It has become too costly for companies to have their own in-house web developers, especially if they just need them for seasonal projects. This is why outsourcing to a web design company or individual contractor has become the more logical and practical option.

But while hiring outsourced talents appear to be the better option, especially for small and upcoming companies, there are downsides to it that can also be detrimental for business. This includes not getting the expected outcome, abandoned work, and so on. So how can you hire an outsourced web designer and be well satisfied with it all the way through? Here are some helpful tips that you can do.

 

1. Come up with a specialized screening process – Whether you’re outsourcing to a company or directly to a remote contractor, it would help to come up with a special screening process to easily filter out those that are unqualified for the job. Example of which is by providing specific instructions to follow upon their submission of their application and if not met, would automatically be not considered for the job.
2. Ask for samples of previous work and references – In hiring remote “creatives” (e.g. writers, designers, etc), it’s necessary to request for a couple of the sample work they’ve done, whether it’s from their portfolio or work that they did for previous clients. It would also help to get references, whom you can contact regarding the work done by the remote contractor. Not only will you get an idea of their work ethic, but you’ll also be able to verify if they’re a suitable candidate for the job you need to get done.
3. Prepare list of questions – Don’t just rely on spontaneous conversation when doing the formal interview. Live video chat is preferable (e.g via Skype or Google Hangouts) and you’ll need to have a fixed set of questions to ask and go through with the candidate. You can then compare answers among candidates to see who’s the best person for the job.
4. Observe communication throughout hiring process – Are they very responsive or does it take some time before you hear back from them? How respectful are they when discussing the details of the job? The hiring process would normally take at least more than a week and that’s enough time for you to assess how well they communicate. Communication is key in managing a remote employee and if there are certain red flags just from the hiring phase, then it may be a sign to simply move on to the next candidate.
5. Read between the lines before committing – You and your outsourced employee should agree on a contract that specifies your terms and conditions for the employment. As with any other agreement, due diligence is important before signing and committing to a binding contract.  

 

Hiring an outsourced employee always has its risks but do it the right and careful way, and you’ll certainly reap the benefits of having the work you need at a more cost-efficient level and be completely happy with the results. Of course, it’s also one thing to hire and it’s also another thing to nurture the working relationship you have with your outsourced employee. At that point, it’s also dependent on you, as a business owner and superior, to be able to effectively manage and guide your outsourced employee as you would with your in-house employees.

The post Helpful Tips On Hiring An Outsourced Web Designer–And Be Happy With It! appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2kZa7te

What To Consider In Building A Website

Ready to start building the website for your business?

Before you dive in headfirst into the world of web design, you may first want to take note of these factors that you should consider in building an effective and functioning site.

 

Mobile Responsiveness

Did you know that mobile web browsing has already overtaken desktop browsing since late 2016? Mobile-friendly sites aren’t just an afterthought anymore. These days, it has become an even bigger priority than your traditional desktop site given the volume of users who do most of their browsing and shopping on their smartphones.

It’s important to create the same seamless user experience for desktop and mobile sites, from the navigation to page layout and everything in between. Not only will this further engage your target market, but it will surely result into higher sales and revenue opportunities as well. And in case you’re not aware of it, Google also rewards sites that are mobile responsive through higher search rankings.

SEO

Optimising your site isn’t just about using keywords and inserting them into your blog post or web content as many times as possible anymore. SEO has become so much more strategic than before that you’ll most likely need the help of a certified SEO agency if you want your business website to rank and be known to your target market.

Also take note that optimisation happens both on-site and off-site and requires a continuous process and progression. This means that even with the best SEO practices put into effect, it may still take some time to see actual results. Just make sure to be on the good side and follow legitimate white hat SEO practices to avoid getting penalized by Google.

Imagery & Graphics

Let’s face it, most people online are attracted towards visual content than text. And while optimised web content is important for your site, it’s also just as necessary to invest in beautiful imagery and graphics to appeal more to your audience.

Balance out the text with high resolution photos and videos, and make sure to strategically position them throughout the site! Also experiment with combining text and graphics by creating infographics that could lead to higher click-throughs and conversation rates.

Call To Action

You’ll definitely want your website to be effective in pulling in your target market and converting them into paying customers. One effective way of doing so is by having different forms of call to actions found on your site.

CTAs can be a click-through button or image, it can be a text telling your customers to order now or inquire about your products/services, or it can even be a main header on your homepage informing visitors of what your business is all about and why they should make the purchase. CTAs can vary for different types of businesses–the key is to do proper research, then test out and check which ones are the most effective for you.

Design

While it’s true that design is very subjective, there’s still a viable standard of what makes a nicely designed website. And these days, it’s not enough to simply put in the images and text from your business’ marketing materials and call it a day. You’ll have to invest in a professionally designed and coded site in order to appeal to customers and provide them with a seamless user experience.

 

Building a website for your business does seem like such a daunting task but all it takes is proper planning, a solid vision for your business, and a reliable team of web designers and developers to help turn your vision into reality.

The post What To Consider In Building A Website appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2ydzVT5

How Cloudways Adds Value to Magento Development Agencies

There are many that claim to be Magento hosting providers but fact of the matter is that they aren’t really cut out to be one. The wide discrepancy between what they claim and what they really offer is probably one of the biggest ironies of this industry. In the midst of this uncertainty we’ve narrowed down our choice to Cloudways, a managed Magento hosting provider that manages all server-related issues.

 

Cloudways- Worth Every Penny

Developing a Magento store and maintaining it means that you already have enough on your plate. Delayed response time or even a serious problem with the server affecting the operations of your store is the last thing you want. While you’re solving the problem, you are burning money and losing business.

Now imagine a scenario where you don’t have to spend resources to retain a system administrator and you still get someone to manage the risks of downtime with minimum server-related hassles.

Cloudways offers managed Magento hosting with optimized servers that are monitored professionally by the Cloudways team. This means that while you keep your focus on the priorities of your business, Cloudways takes care of your servers. Fastest page load times, effective monitoring of servers and applications and easy deployment are just some of the perks of hosting with Cloudways. Cloudways offers a range of well-known cloud infrastructure providers including Google, Amazon Web Server, DigitalOcean, Kyup, Linode and Vultr. Here are some of the most prominent features of Cloudways managed Magento hosting.

ThunderStack – A Recipe for Optimized Solutions

Websites hosted on Cloudways have better loading times thanks to the ThunderStack, the optimized magento hosting stack comprising of  Apache, Nginx, PHP-FPM and MySQL/MariaDB. Additionally, ThunderStack also includes cache solutions for fastest Magento performance: Cloudways Full Page Cache for Magento 1 and Varnish Cache for Magento

CloudwaysCDN for Fast Loading Websites

CloudwaysCDN fulfills the needs of a business by widening the reach of your Magento store and improving the user experience. With Cloudways you are able to build better websites and improve the performance without having to pay too much- CloudwaysCDN merely costs a dollar per month. As a result, you get faster load times of your website as CloudwaysCDN caches all static content and serves them from the closest server.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry about separate billing for CDN. Cloudways users can pay for all the related charges in a single invoice.

Team Collaboration

Team collaboration is one of the key aspects of development. You have to manage and collaborate with different stakeholders and different Magento applications at the same time. To solve this problem, Cloudways offers its Team Collaboration feature that lets you create separate login credentials for both servers and applications.

You can create different credentials that can be shared with your development team or your clients or anyone associated with the project, without having to compromise your master credentials. All you have to do is assign these team members specific applications/servers with access to only specific things.

To spice it up, Cloudways extends this feature by incorporating the option of creating Projects. You can use the Projects feature to further segment and classify specific projects and assign them to your specific team members.

Efficient Server Monitoring and Transfer

With Cloudways you have the ability to easily deploy and install (unlimited) applications on a single server. With just a few clicks, you can deploy your Magento applications and get started with the optimization. When you’re done installing, Cloudways lets you monitor all the server related issues from its user-friendly platform. You can make all the modifications and tweaks in just a few clicks on the Cloudways platform.

Additionally, if you are a development agency, you don’t have to fret over the billing of the server after you’ve handed it over to the client. With Cloudways, you can transfer complete control over to the client once you’ve done your part.

Multiple Staging Areas – Hassle-Free Testing Environment

One of the biggest advantages of hosting with Cloudways is that you have the ability to easily manage multiple applications by creating unlimited staging areas.

You can create clones of multiple applications for free and do all the testings you want. This means that you don’t have to mess with the live website and make all the changes on the dev website until you’re fully satisfied. Once you’re done, you can point your live domain to it.

All in all, Cloudways offers fully managed cloud hosting services, allowing its clients to keep their focus on what really matters – their online business.

The post How Cloudways Adds Value to Magento Development Agencies appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2BH15Ec

How Cloudways Adds Value to Magento Development Agencies

There are many that claim to be Magento hosting providers but fact of the matter is that they aren’t really cut out to be one. The wide discrepancy between what they claim and what they really offer is probably one of the biggest ironies of this industry. In the midst of this uncertainty we’ve narrowed down our choice to Cloudways, a managed Magento hosting provider that manages all server-related issues.

 

Cloudways- Worth Every Penny

Developing a Magento store and maintaining it means that you already have enough on your plate. Delayed response time or even a serious problem with the server affecting the operations of your store is the last thing you want. While you’re solving the problem, you are burning money and losing business.

Now imagine a scenario where you don’t have to spend resources to retain a system administrator and you still get someone to manage the risks of downtime with minimum server-related hassles.

Cloudways offers managed Magento hosting with optimized servers that are monitored professionally by the Cloudways team. This means that while you keep your focus on the priorities of your business, Cloudways takes care of your servers. Fastest page load times, effective monitoring of servers and applications and easy deployment are just some of the perks of hosting with Cloudways. Cloudways offers a range of well-known cloud infrastructure providers including Google, Amazon Web Server, DigitalOcean, Kyup, Linode and Vultr. Here are some of the most prominent features of Cloudways managed Magento hosting.

ThunderStack – A Recipe for Optimized Solutions

Websites hosted on Cloudways have better loading times thanks to the ThunderStack, the optimized magento hosting stack comprising of  Apache, Nginx, PHP-FPM and MySQL/MariaDB. Additionally, ThunderStack also includes cache solutions for fastest Magento performance: Cloudways Full Page Cache for Magento 1 and Varnish Cache for Magento

CloudwaysCDN for Fast Loading Websites

CloudwaysCDN fulfills the needs of a business by widening the reach of your Magento store and improving the user experience. With Cloudways you are able to build better websites and improve the performance without having to pay too much- CloudwaysCDN merely costs a dollar per month. As a result, you get faster load times of your website as CloudwaysCDN caches all static content and serves them from the closest server.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry about separate billing for CDN. Cloudways users can pay for all the related charges in a single invoice.

Team Collaboration

Team collaboration is one of the key aspects of development. You have to manage and collaborate with different stakeholders and different Magento applications at the same time. To solve this problem, Cloudways offers its Team Collaboration feature that lets you create separate login credentials for both servers and applications.

You can create different credentials that can be shared with your development team or your clients or anyone associated with the project, without having to compromise your master credentials. All you have to do is assign these team members specific applications/servers with access to only specific things.

To spice it up, Cloudways extends this feature by incorporating the option of creating Projects. You can use the Projects feature to further segment and classify specific projects and assign them to your specific team members.

Efficient Server Monitoring and Transfer

With Cloudways you have the ability to easily deploy and install (unlimited) applications on a single server. With just a few clicks, you can deploy your Magento applications and get started with the optimization. When you’re done installing, Cloudways lets you monitor all the server related issues from its user-friendly platform. You can make all the modifications and tweaks in just a few clicks on the Cloudways platform.

Additionally, if you are a development agency, you don’t have to fret over the billing of the server after you’ve handed it over to the client. With Cloudways, you can transfer complete control over to the client once you’ve done your part.

Multiple Staging Areas – Hassle-Free Testing Environment

One of the biggest advantages of hosting with Cloudways is that you have the ability to easily manage multiple applications by creating unlimited staging areas.

You can create clones of multiple applications for free and do all the testings you want. This means that you don’t have to mess with the live website and make all the changes on the dev website until you’re fully satisfied. Once you’re done, you can point your live domain to it.

All in all, Cloudways offers fully managed cloud hosting services, allowing its clients to keep their focus on what really matters – their online business.

The post How Cloudways Adds Value to Magento Development Agencies appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2iVnfyM

How to Harness the Power of Instagram for Your Ecommerce Site

With competition in the e-commerce sector getting even stiffer, there is an urgent need for entrepreneurs to innovate. While the internet marketplace has brought about myriad opportunities, especially for smaller brands, the vicious competition on this platform makes it crucial to keep adapting. If you are still sticking to your old website as the only avenue for marketing, you are driving your business to oblivion.

The e-commerce industry is growing rapidly and if the challenges you are facing today are driving you to the wall, you just have to consider the opportunities you are losing. According to a study by eMarketer, retail e-commerce sales will shoot up to $4.058 trillion in 2020.  

A similar study by Big Commerce says that over 51% of Americans today prefer shopping online, with over 96% of all consumers already having completed a purchase online. The same study says e-commerce is growing 23% year-over-year, which highlights the opportunity that every business can enjoy if they have the best marketing strategy.  

There are over 3.7 billion internet users according to Internet Live Stats and you have to position yourself strategically to leverage the opportunities available. The best way to do this today is by riding the crest of the Instagram wave. The days of Facebook dominance seem to be over with its reach reducing and Instagram now gives the innovative marketer an opportunity to thrive. In fact, Instagram has been labeled the world’s most powerful marketing tool and for many good reasons.

 

 

The Power of Instagram Marketing

With Facebook’s decline in business marketing, it was only a matter of time before another platform came up. This time, Instagram, a photo and video sharing platform started by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010, has come in to provide the much-needed solution. With over 700 million monthly active users (MAUs) and 500 million daily active users (DAUs), this is one of the most powerful social media networks today.

Close to 50% of brands in the U.S are already using Instagram for marketing purposes and according to eMarketer, the number is expected to go up to 71% by the end of 2017. A recent Forrester Research tagged Instagram as one of the most effective social marketing tools.

All these numbers highlight the power of Instagram for your marketing campaign. If you are struggling to leverage the growing numbers of internet users, it is time you learnt how to build your Instagram followers, but first things first.

Harnessing the Power of Instagram for Ecommerce

While it is very easy to set up an IG account, it is more difficult to start getting followers on Instagram and achieve your business objectives. In fact, this is the reason why most brands say social media offers no returns. In the rush to build an IG account, most business owners miss out on the bigger picture and they find it hard to get any results from their campaign.

If you want to leverage the power of IG, consider the following:

 

• Create an Instagram Strategy

 

Like with any other business campaign, you have to create a roadmap to get you to the desired objectives. There are many objectives of taking your brand to Instagram and it is advisable to first assess what you want to achieve before even opening your account. For example, do you want to increase your e-commerce website’s visibility on social media or do you want to drive sales?

Are you more after brand awareness or do you want more mentions of your products? Whatever the idea you have, make sure you set it down as this will guide the rest of the campaign. You should also consider the type of content you will be posting, schedule of posting, and the person tasked with posting content among other factors.

 

• Optimize Your Bio

 

The cardinal rule when creating a profile for your e-commerce website is to use a public account and use the new business tools to give your profile a professional touch. More importantly, you need to optimize your bio by giving detailed information about your business and more importantly adding a link to your landing page.

This is the only chance to direct traffic to your e-commerce site and it is surprising that most marketers overlook it. While at it, make sure you have optimized the landing page to make it easier for shoppers to compare the products available and make a purchase in a few steps.

 

• Integrate IG Photos into E-commerce

 

The easiest way to use Instagram for conversion is by integrating IG photos into your e-commerce website. You can use a feed or a widget on your landing page with your IG posts to showcase your products. For instance, if you are selling eyewear, why not share posts from your IG account by customers who are wearing the same? This instantly creates a sense of authenticity in your products and you will witness better sales conversions. There are many 3rd party Instagram tools which you can now use to embed Instagram photos onto your website.

 

• Show Your Best Products

 

The power of visuals drives Instagram and this is also the reason why it has become one of the most powerful marketing tools over the last few years. It is now possible to showcase your best products in the best way possible. With IG photos, you have an opportunity to call attention to your products.

The platform has the amazing photo and video editing features to give your images an edge. These amazing photos will attract visitors to your store and from there it gets easier to close a purchase.

 

• Contests Galore

 

If you want to engage users on social platforms, start with a contest. The same applies on Instagram and it is easy to get started; you just need to choose a prize, pick a contest-specific hashtag, create a contest “theme” and finally aggregate and display the photos online.

 

• Use the Full Power of Hashtags

 

Now that there are no links, you have to leverage hashtags which allow connection of your Instagram followers with the larger marketing strategy. Start by getting a small number of real Instagram followers using popular hashtags. To get the best out of your hashtags, use a mixture of broad and specific terms. However, avoid overusing hashtags or using irrelevant ones.

Using Instagram for your e-commerce site is a learning process and these tips will help you get started.

This is a guest contribution by Scott Harris.

Author Bio

Harris is a leading blog writer and content marketing professional with thousands of real Instagram followers for his postings.

The post How to Harness the Power of Instagram for Your Ecommerce Site appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2i9vlTX

Have You Considered Custom Developed Apps?

We all use so many web based apps like Gmail and Google Docs to be more productive, but did you know many businesses are developing their own custom apps to get an edge over competitors these days?

Here at Creativ Digital, we develop many types of custom apps and software for both web and mobile devices. These help in solving problems in various industries like finance, transport, not for profits, to improve efficiency or make a better experience for customers.

Here are some reasons why you may need our help to develop custom applications.

 

One Software Doesn’t Fit All

Surely, productivity software apps such as Google Docs, Asana, Trello, and even CRMs like Salesforce, Zendesk, and Pipedrive do help in providing a more systematic way of streamlining business processes. However, your business process is very much different from that of another even if it falls within the same industry.

These traditional and generic apps may partially address what your business process requires, but it will still lack in catering to exactly what your business needs. For example, a retail A company with more than one brick and mortar location should be able to properly track inventory, sales, and customer relationship management, whereas, the same process applied to retail B company with only one store location may need a different way of handling their sales and tracking process.

 

Scalability Is Key

Another plus point of custom database applications is its scalability in line with what your business needs. Using different apps and systems will not give you the proper insight and analysis that you need to improve your business and keep it sustainable for long term.

Given that a custom developed app perfectly matches the size and requirements of your business, it would be better in providing you with accurate measurements with precise reports and analysis. Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, have said, “What gets measured gets improved.” Suffice it to say, accurate scalability thanks to custom developed apps will help you in measuring performance and productivity of your team, which would prove to be vital in continuous improvement for your business.

 

Increased Productivity Equals Efficiency

Having your company use a customized app does not only provide exactly what you need, but it also eliminates what you don’t need. It’s about doing more of what is right and needed, and reducing unnecessary and inefficient tasks and errors.

All of these create a powerful impact on how your business run and its long-term sustainability. And in this day and age where businesses have a 50-50 chance of succeeding and failing, you’ll need a reliable system as part of your business’ foundation in order to ensure success.

 

A custom developed app is one investment that your business will surely reward from. There’s really no time to delay in having one done for your company. And with the help of our team of specialists in web development Sydney here at Creativ Digital, you can be rest assured that you’ll be securing the overall efficiency and future success of your business.

The post Have You Considered Custom Developed Apps? appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2zqGOWX

5 Tips to Help You Come Up With Creative Headlines

The title or headline of your blog content shouldn’t be treated as a mere afterthought. A lot of thought, creativity, and succinctness has to go into it in order to instantly appeal to readers.

Think of it as creating a first impression–how would you want your article to be perceived as at first glance?

If you’re in need of some help on coming up with catchy headlines that would surely engage your readers, here are a five simple tips to get you started.

1. Use the Five Ws and the One H

We’re talking about the “what, when, where, why, who, and how.” These trigger words are best used to arouse curiosity from your reader at first glance.

Asking or stating “how” or “why,” for example, creates an air of mystery that would make the reader want to continue reading to know more.

 

2. Trigger Emotion

Whether it’s curiosity, mystery, satisfaction, bravado, or what have you, rousing any kind of emotion from your readers at first glance helps in pulling your readers in. Any strong emotion felt on their end pushes them to the point that they can’t help but click on that link or continue on reading the rest of the article no matter how long it may be.

Of course, do make sure that your article delivers on satisfying that emotion instead of just opting for the usual clickbait.

 

 

3. Rationalize and Simplify

What exactly is your article about? Gone are the days when vagueness works with a title or a headline. Readers are so much smarter now and the last thing they want is to waste their time reading an article they know nothing about.

Rationalize and simplify your headline by adding in the detail of what you’re talking about. Of course, just make sure it’s unique and interesting. For example, if you’re doing a list article, avoid using “things” or “stuff.” You can go for “tricks,” “facts,” “ideas,” “ways,” and so on.

 

 

4. Go for Numbers

One thing that copywriters almost always do, is including numbers in their headlines. It’s still widely used to this day for one simple reason: it works.

But while there’s no distinct rule when it comes to what range of numbers would work best for articles, the challenge is in creating substantial information that your audience would find very educational and helpful to their interests–and not just a lot of listed items just for the sake of having it.

 

 

5. Get Creative, But Be Clear and Honest

Steer clear from clichés and make sure to be as clear and honest as you can be, all while getting creative with your headline.

People nowadays don’t want to be tricked into reading anything boring or something that proves to be a waste of their time. Better be straight to the point, as opposed to shady or too over the top with your headline.

 

 

Coming up with a catchy headline is definitely important in grabbing your readers’ attention, but do make sure to follow through with an article that’s just as exciting and informative. The key is to pull them in with a well researched and planned headline, and then making it worth their while as they go to the trouble of reading the body of the post until the very end.

The post 5 Tips to Help You Come Up With Creative Headlines appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2zjNING

How to Leverage Google Analytics Data in Your Database

The internet marketplace offers many opportunities for any type of business to compete. However, there are also challenges that your business has to overcome, top of these being increased competition.  Your online business is competing at a global level, meaning you have to contend with competition from major players in your niche. To stay ahead of the pack, you need to optimize your website for search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) must be at the core of your marketing strategy.

Importance of Google Analytics

While there are many SEO tools you can leverage to boost your business, Google Analytics stands out due to its relevance in contemporary times. This is a free tool from Google which helps you track information about potential leads and also gather invaluable customer insight. When used together with a powerful database, the information gathered here can propel your business to the highest heights.

This tool helps in the collection, processing, and analysis of data arising from your online processes. The importance of data in modern business cannot be overemphasized. The information collected by Google Analytics is crucial in helping you understand and optimize your company’s website usage. The insight gathered is crucial in helping shape your business strategy. In summary, Google Analytics helps in:

1. Identifying the source of traffic – You can easily tell where your site’s visitors are coming from. It is easy to determine whether traffic is flowing from referral links, paid advertisements, search engines or other sources.
2. Determine page popularity – You can determine specific page popularity in order to determine which content is valuable to the site.
3. Bounce rates – High bounce rates for s specific webpage highlight some problem in keyword use, relevancy of content, quality of content or other issues.
4. Traffic flow data – This is a crucial factor in determining the success of your marketing campaign. The numbers you get about website visitors will help in building your future strategy. You will also learn which devices your website visitors are using.

Google Analytics offers many other advantages including the chance to review historical data, understand the type of visitors who frequent your site, identify the most clicked pages and links, identifying other keywords your visitors use to find your website and many more aspects. Using this information, you can now fine-tune your website in terms of speed, content quality, web redesign and many other ways.

Using Google Analytics with Database

There are many reasons to use a powerful database for your website, the main one being the capacity to process all data coming to your website. Google Analytics provides crucial data that can easily help build a stronger website strategy. It is now possible to load your Google Analytics data without the need for coding.

By integrating Google Analytics into your database, you will be enhancing your DBA processes and this is where DBA service by Remote DBA.comcomes in handy. Your DBA has the expertise to extract any data sets you need from Google Analytics into your business.

Author Bio

Sujain Thomas is one of the world’s most renowned DBAs with over 26 years’ experience in the industry. She is an expert in DBA service by Remote DBA.com and reviews the same regularly. Sujain lives in Miami with her family.

 

The post How to Leverage Google Analytics Data in Your Database appeared first on Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital.

from Website Development Sydney, Magento Ecommerce Solutions | Creativ Digital http://ift.tt/2ySJ4pr