digital marketing

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What is Digital marketing?

Digital marketing refers to any online advertising delivered through online or digital channels that include ads or content you might see on search engines, websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. You may think of it as promoting and selling products and services by leveraging online marketing tactics but it is a massively broad and sweeping term that coves pay-per-click advertising, social media marketing, educational information promotions, SEO, Geo fencing, IP targeting and even digital billboards. In many cases there are also dimensions of digital marketing in print and traditional marketing campaigns. There are as many specializations and ways to produce and engage with within digital marketing as there are ways of interacting with digital media and to put that in gross terms it would simply be better to say it is nearly immeasurable.  To quote one of my favorite developers “Digital Marketing is the strategic use of  SEO as a science, under the unpredictability involved in making art.”

Here are a few examples of some topics on Digital Marketing strategies for websites for you to read about from our industry leading  digital marketing specialists.

Questions To Ask To A Web Developer

Author: Harnil Oza

WordPress is the most dominant content management systems. Around 25% of content website systems are supported by WordPress. It’s necessary to create your WordPress format properly. A WordPress developer should have certain features before they need them. Even a little glitch can cost hefty losses. Anyone can have one bad experience, but it will cost and loss of your time. WordPress is one of the user-friendly websites. WordPress currently powers about 20% of all websites on the online. A poorly built WordPress site is often even as difficult and restricting as an outdated custom, proprietary CMS. If you’re curious about adding, changing, and testing different types of content throughout your site, then you want to confirm your website is made accordingly.

To protect your best interests and to offer yourself the flexibility you’ll sometimes get to support and grow your website, you want to confirm your invite and obtain the following: WordPress administrative access

FTP access

Database access

DNS settings access

If you’re not looking to find out WordPress development or becoming familiar with FTP, then you’re getting to want your website to be built so editing defined blocks of content are effortless for you. More specifically, confirm the next things are done:

Homepage content blocks are controlled by Widgets or Pages Navigation menus are controlled by WordPress native Menus feature Page layout options are provided as page Templates Sidebars and footers are controlled by WordPress.

Sidebar feature primary on-page SEO elements aren’t hard coded. If your developer goes to use plugins, then you would like to make certain that everyone is completely necessary.

Here are some plugins that we recommend limiting your website to Akismet W3 Total Cache (or WP Super Cache)

WordPress SEO by Yoast Gravity

Forms your website must be mobile-friendly. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. There are a couple of alternative ways to form your website mobile-friendly: Make your website responsive (recommended) Build a mobile website specifically for mobile users create a mobile application SEO This may be the foremost forgotten, under-appreciated question of all of them, so you would like to know something important here.

If you’ve got an existing website that has been online for a short time, then you want to do the right migration work to preserve any history or SEO value that your website may have grown over the years. If you or your web developer fail to try to do this work, then you’ll experience the following:

Drop-in organic rankings Broken links from other websites that have linked to you

Increase in 404 errors on your site

WordPress is already one of the foremost SEO friendly frameworks to create an internet site on; however, implementation of SEO work and best practices are still needed for optimal results. Any reputable website development company should be conversant in the simplest ways to set up and optimize WordPress beyond what’s included with the core codebase. To be safe, here are a variety of the essentials that you simply will want to be addressed on your website: No canonicalization issues with the foremost domain unnecessary archive pages aren’t getting indexed Title and meta descriptions are unique for each page Permalinks are clean and consistent throughout the situation Social graph and schema markup

You rely solely on your developer to make sure that your website converts, then you are getting to end up pretty disappointed after a couple of months of little to no results. As a business representative, it’s your job to possess a conversion strategy. These involve knowing and communicating after your developer:

Who your audience is (are they regional, federal, or global?)

What your USP (unique selling proposition) is

What your calls to action are

What your inbound web lead process is

Once this information is clear to your developer, then they ought to be able to use this information to properly design and develop the right elements to draw in, capture, and log conversions for you. WordPress is often susceptible to being hacked because it may be a popular, open-source platform.

However, hacking should never be a problem as long as your developer does the following: Properly codes the website to stop easy entrances for hackers. Only uses themes and plugins from reputable developers that actively support their code helps you keep the online site updated ( for example themes). Recommends/uses preemptive security tools Although this is often not 100% required, we do recommend that every WordPress website accompany some kind of backup solution.

You never know when something can happen to your site or once you might get to restore an old version of your site, so having a backed-up version to tug from can prevent tons of your time and money. Some great backup solutions for WordPress sites are-

ManageWP

Backup Buddy

Infinite WP

To improve your website, you would like to possess constant access to data on the subsequent metrics (at the very least): Traffic (visitors, traffic sources) Usability (site performance, bounce rate) Engagement (top content) Conversion (conversion rate, top conversion funnels) There are tons of website options to settle on from, but we have yet to return across a framework to create on top of that’s more flexible, scalable, user-friendly, and SEO friendly – all at an equivalent time – aside from WordPress. When a WordPress website meets the subsequent criteria, there’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t be the simplest investment a business can make in a web asset or marketing tool: Built, hosted, and supported properly optimized for users and search engines Updated with relevant, useful content tested and improved regularly.

Final Thoughts

To make your next WordPress website an efficient one that meets the standards above you want to ask the proper questions at the very beginning of the method. It will save your time, money and energy. With the above questions, you may be able to create a proper WordPress. A good web developer will make your project valuable and enjoyable.

Author Bio:

Harnil Oza is CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem, a mobile app development company in New York and India, having a team of the best app developers who deliver the best mobile solutions mainly on Android and iOS platforms. He regularly contributes his knowledge on leading blogging sites like top app development companies.

How to Approach UX Software and Apps During the COVID Pandemic

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

It seems that COVID-19 has transformed every part of the world. While that’s true for most markets, the way users and investors approach UX software is just about the same.

It’s part of the reason why markets are bullish on companies that have robust technological platforms. While it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for every tech platform, the strength, stability, and growth of most platforms are undoubtedly signs of things to come.

But how do you approach UX software and apps in the current COVID pandemic, and where’s it all going when the dust settles? The answer might not be as complicated as you think.

It’s Still About Convenience

UX software, especially CRM software and apps took off in the first place because of the convenience factor. It’s everything UX stands for. It needs to look and feel natural, and of course, be extremely useful.

So, in a world where a global pandemic has limited human interactions, it’s no surprise that those with easy to navigate user-friendly software and apps are reaping the rewards.

UX Software and Apps are Taking Off During COVID

Experts tell us that we need to stay apart from people to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We’re still longing for that connectivity and a way to interact with the world and live our lives. UX software and apps have bridged those gaps and are gaining in popularity by the day.

But why exactly has UX software and apps taken off during COVID? A large part of it has to do with the way that COVID-19 has shifted human behavior. According to Forbes, Covid has increased internet usage by 70%, and online streaming services by over 12%.  Instead of going to stores to shop or the movies for a night out, consumers are shopping online and using apps to stream movies.

It’s about bringing your product to the consumer instead of having the consumer come to you. This is where UX software and apps thrive. They’re not about trying to get a consumer to a specific place. They’re about making everything as easy as possible for the product to come to you.

But it goes beyond that. Consumers are spending significantly more time at home and are using apps like Zoom, Facebook, and Skype to connect with friends and family.

This leads to more consumers on the Internet throughout more of the day and more ways to reach them. Even better from a UX software and apps standpoint, it’s forcing entirely new consumers to the web.

Many of these consumers are technologically illiterate, so the easier it is to navigate the app or software, the better. It’s a golden age for UX software and apps.

How to Hire the Right Specialists

If you’re serious about investing in your UX software or apps, you need to find the right specialists. Hiring the right developers the first time can save you hours of frustration and tons of money.

But where can you find a qualified developer that will take the time to put your product over the top? While there are tons of great choices out there, freelance marketplaces are a choice, according to Taso du Val, CEO of Toptal: “the reason that we are able to do that is that we actually have a lot of process and domain expertise internally to be able to vet those talents, whether it’s in finance or software development, to ensure that that person before we send them to you, is the perfect match.”

Tech is the Future – With or Without COVID

Tech has slowly been taking over just about every industry for years. COVID-19 only hastened the transition. It’s because of this that you don’t have to worry about new UX software or apps going out of style once we’ve finally beaten this pandemic.

COVID-19 is unique because older generations have more of an incentive to switch to mobile apps and software to meet their daily needs.

This benefits UX software and apps in two ways. First, it brings along a market that has long been dragging its feet into the fray. Second, older generations benefit the most from software and apps that are more user-friendly. It’s a win-win for UX software and apps.

The better the UX software and apps, the more likely they will be to succeed. Whether you’re looking to invest in your own business or get into a new career, UX software and apps aren’t going anywhere.

It’s why major corporations have been investing in their mobile apps and software for years, and those that invested more had those dividends pay off sooner than expected once COVID-19 hit.

It is very clear that the new age of social distancing has changed the way business is done, and as the market is connected more than ever, it is time to maximize your social media management to reach out to them.

Invest, Invest, Invest!

If you’ve got a business or product that you’re trying to take to the next level – UX software and apps are undoubtedly the way to go. Even if a vaccine for COVID-19 is right around the corner and solves the pandemic woe, the world has shifted to a tech-centric model for good.

As the older generation learns and realizes how easy it is to use some of these programs and apps, they’re likely never to go back. Even if they do, the younger generation is making up more of the population every day.

If you want to compete for the upcoming generation, you need to do it through software and apps. Of course, the more user friendly the app, the more successful you’ll be! It’s why UX software and apps are the way of the future.

It’s beyond maximizing profits; it’s a necessity to keep afloat in a changing world. The good news is that once you make the transition, you can see profits like never before.

Summary

While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on just about every industry, those that have learned how to adapt are starting to overcome its worst effects.

Both large and small companies are learning what those in the industry have known for years – UX software and apps will dominate the market in the 21st century. But don’t lose faith if you’re late to the party! Take the time now to catch up and take your business over the top!

 

How to Increase Customer Attraction Towards Your Online Business

Author: Arslan Haider

Online business revolve around customers. Customers are the key stakeholders in any business. Success of any business depends on the loyal customer base. Here we shall discuss a few of the ways to increase customer attraction towards your online business.

Sale:

Sale is the form of discount that you offer on products. Choose the product wisely for offering the discount. The product on sale must be having maximum customer’s interest rate. Though it is not a long-term strategy, it brings new customers to the business. After deciding about giving sale on a product, announce the sale on different social media forums including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Competition:

You can organize a competition awarding people about your business, product or services. It is recommended to arrange a competition that is purposeful. There must be a voting mechanism in which you attract maximum customers to your business. Spread the competition on different forums so that maximum people may participate in voting system.

Free sample:

Successful businesses do not hold any barrier between their services and the customer. In order to break the barrier, you can give free samples to the customers. If your product is worthy enough to buy, every customer will buy the product happily after experiencing the free sample package.

Partnership:

In order to enhance the customer base, you can collaborate with other businesses in the market having strong customer base. The partnership is not necessarily be with the established and competitive business. You can choose any business that has maximum traffic on the site for collaboration. In this way, you will get customers from your partner’s customer base and eventually, it will lead to increased customer base of your product.

Blogging:

Blogging is one of the effective long-term strategy for increasing the customer base of your business. Quality content plays a vital role in driving the customers to the product. It is recommended to create a high-quality content that is targeted specifically to customers. Targeted content increases the SEO of the site and improve the ranking of the website on search engine. Eventually, you get more traffic to your site. Customers will read the content and if they find it appealing, they will share the content with their fellows, friends, and family.

Advertisement:

Advertisement is the basic method to advertise your business in different dimensions. You can use Google Ads for advertising. Google Ads require you to spend money, but it is one of the quickest ways to get maximum customers.

Social Media:

21st century is a digital age in which you can reach to customers through different forums. Now you can reach to your customers through the channels which are frequently used by customers. Nowadays, every person has its account on social media forums including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and post relevant content that targets the customers. Through social media, you can get enormous sharing of your posts. So make sure to make an account on every forum.

First time purchase:

You can make the first time purchase experience of your customers memorable by offering incentives over it.In this way, the visitors of your online store or physical business will become regular customers.

Referrals:

Referrals are the most efficient and effective way of marketing your business and getting new customers. This type of marketing is usually done by existing customers by referring it to their friends and family. This strategy works if the product you are offering is of high quality and customers are satisfied with it. If you are running an online business, you can get an automated software for referral marketing.

Network:

Interact with new people by attending business seminars, events and tell them about your business. Introduce your business among gatherings of a chamber of commerce and trade associations. Your business will get a significant boost through your effective interaction.

Website:

Nowadays, customers find companies by looking at their websites first. Your website often serves as the first introduction of your business. So, frequently update your website according to the latest trends in the market. Visitor should not feel any inconvenience while browsing your business website. You can hire a professional website designer for professional web display.

New product:

Offering a new product will obviously attract the customers. It may seem expensive or complicated, but you do not need to launch an entirely new product or service. You can replace an existing product, reprice the product, or even change the packing of the product. It will be considered a new offer and customers will get attracted to the product. Suppose you are running a business of Bluetooth Party Speakers, you can change the color of the speaker that will be considered as a significant change in the product.

Expertise:

You can volunteer your expertise by speaking on different forums. Share your knowledge with your peers and customers. It will build your credibility among people.

SEO Trends To Pay Attention To In 2021

Author: Shawn Byrne

As we near the end of a truly tumultuous year that most people would rather forget, we look forward once again to the coming year and the changes that it brings, specifically to the world of search engine optimization.

SEO has evolved so much since its advent a couple of decades or so ago.

It only seems like yesterday when keyword stuffing was an acceptable way of getting high search engine rankings. Now it’s a widely-condemned practice by Google and other search engines.

The unmistakable emphasis on quality content today is also a far cry from the way search engines ignored it in the beginning. And who would have thought twenty years ago that mobile optimization would even become a thing?

Given that SEO is a relatively young and ever-changing field, we can only expect more and more optimization trends to pop up year in and year out. For 2021, here are some of the SEO trends we believe will impact the industry.

UX Will Blow Up

Over the last couple of years, people have been talking about how great user experience and SEO go hand in hand, but it’s in 2021 that we will see UX become a true-blue, honest-to-goodness ranking factor with the rollout of the Page Experience signal in May 2021.

When sizing up your page’s overall UX, Google will look at your site’s Core Web Vitals, a set of specific factors that focus on the most critical aspects of the user experience such as loading, interactivity, visual stability while loading.

The Core Web Vitals will then be combined with other search signals for page experience like mobile-friendliness, browsing safety, HTTPS-security, and lack of interstitial pop-ups to get a clear picture of the quality of the experience a user goes through when exploring a web page.

Although how Core Web Vitals will directly impact your rankings is still unknown, it’s probably safe to say that getting an excellent page experience score could increase your chances for higher rankings. We have to wait until next year to see what happens, though.

Site Speed Will Matter More Than Ever

Improving site speed has always been a trend year in and year out, mainly because users will always have an insatiable need for speed.

These days, users expect the web pages they access to load in three seconds or less.

If your pages load more slowly than that, you will need to speed things up by optimizing your images for size, content optimization, reducing redirects, and switching to a better web hosting provider.

Voice Search Will Grow Bigger

One clear indicator that voice search will only grow bigger in the coming years is the number of households with at least one smart speaker, the device of choice of voice searchers for their search engine queries.

According to Statista, 35% of U.S. households have at least one smart speaker as of 2019, but that figure is poised to balloon over the years to 75% by 2025.

With the continued rise of voice search, the people who do SEO would do well to optimize for it. They can do things like target long-tail key phrases, use conversational language when creating content, and improve content readability to perform well in voice search results.

Mobile-friendliness Will Grow In Importance

Being mobile-friendly has always been important over the last few years, given that it’s actually a ranking factor.

However, Google’s scheduled rollout of mobile-first indexing for all websites in March 2021 is going to change the mobile game forever.

Starting March next year, the mobile version of your website will be Google’s primary basis when indexing and ranking it. That means your site must perform well on mobile devices or face the risk of your pages dropping in Google search rankings.

Find out how mobile-friendly your site is by checking out Google’s Mobile Friendly Test.

These trends are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far as 2021 SEO trends are concerned. While trends may come and go, the ones listed above are likely to be around for a long time. Then again, change is the only constant in SEO, and that’s why we all need to be on the lookout for trends that just might become a game-changer for everyone in the coming years.

About the Author

Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers and networks, then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.

Why Your Landing Page Needs to Make a Better First Impression

Author: Lexie Lu

You only get one chance to make a first impression — and when it comes to landing pages, visitors make up their minds fast.

According to research from Google, visitors can develop design opinions within just 17 milliseconds of opening a new site.

If there’s something wrong with your landing page design — it isn’t clear, it doesn’t make a good offer or it takes too long to load — you could risk giving those potential customers a bad impression. Using the right design can encourage customers to move forward, no matter where they are in the sales funnel.

This is why your landing page needs to make a great first impression — and how the right design can boost conversions.

1. Consistency Builds Brand Recognition

Consistency can provide a good first impression and also make your landing pages more effective.

Landing pages need to be consistent with the ad campaign they’re attached to. Otherwise, you’ll be passing on a valuable opportunity to build some extra brand recognition.

You may also confuse customers if your landing pages and ads are vastly different. Without consistency, it may not be clear why the link they clicked led to the landing page they’re on.

2. Less Intimidating Forms May Reassure Potential Customers

Your business may need a lot of information from a potential customer to move them along the sales funnel. For example, ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Uber need a driver’s name and contact info, as well as a lot of detailed information on their car and income.

Asking for all of this information at once can create a fairly intimidating lead form.

Simple tricks can break down complicated lead forms without reducing the amount of information they collect. For example, many companies organize their lead forms with multiple columns. This way, no scrolling is necessary, and a visitor can always see the entire lead form at once.

Many sites will also split an overly long questionnaire over several pages or site elements — hiding later parts of the form until the visitor completes the current section or clicks through.

3. Strong Images and Design Can Lead to Conversions

A good first impression can reassure customers and quickly demonstrate what kind of results they can expect if they work with your business.

Continental Door Co., a garage door installation company in Spokane, Washington, provides a good example. Its page is dominated by a high-quality hero image that shows off some of the company’s work. Other page elements are paired with other photos that communicate the services it provides.

The more concrete and literal a product you sell, the better chance you have of taking advantage of this kind of strategy. If you market a physical object, leaning on visual commerce can be a much better strategy than using text, shapes and colors on their own.

4. A Good Impression Can Make a CTA More Appealing

Simple design choices can lead a visitor’s eye, making a CTA much more obvious and appealing.

This landing page from Wistia, a Cambridge-based video software company, shows how effective a simple palette and strong use of color can be in encouraging customers toward a page CTA.

Subtle color choices help the CTA stand out and communicate what kind of service the company is offering. This kind of design is especially important when the service you offer is more abstract and you can’t lean as much on images of the physical product.

A video on the side of the page helps add visual interest and shows off the company’s product — in this case, video hosting software for businesses.

5. Simple Navigation Can Keep Customers on Track

Navigation- and designwise, landing pages are often some of the simplest pages on a business’s website.

This is because a clutter-free, easy-to-navigate page can help keep customers moving through the sales funnel. Effective landing page design makes it clear what your company can offer, as well as how visitors can move forward in the buying process.

The landing page for I Done This, the developer of a collaboration app, features a compelling heading, a subheading that provides some extra explanation and a highly visible CTA with an obvious purpose.

There are also minimal navigation elements at the top of the page, which helps streamline things. The fewer clickable elements there are vying for a visitor’s attention, the less likely they’ll be to get lost.

This is a pretty standard way of structuring a landing page, and it works well for many businesses. The combination of short, compelling copy that doesn’t overexplain your business with an effective CTA and engaging visuals can go a long way in convincing customers.

6. Social Proof Can Make or Break a Sale

Customers are more likely to trust your brand if there’s evidence that other people have been satisfied with the products or services you offer.

Testimonials, reviews and similar evidence can go a long way in convincing customers and creating a positive first impression.

Many landing pages include quotes from satisfied customers or snippets from reviews for this reason.

Effective Landing Pages Make Good First Impressions

Visitors form their opinion about your landing page fast — which means effective design is just as important as your sales pitch or what you’re trying to offer.

These best practices can help you create strong landing pages that take advantage of good design to make a lasting first impression.

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. When she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Effective Use of Fonts in Web Designs

Author: Sofia David

Do you know that sometimes little things make a big difference among professional web designers and incompetent web designers? It is little things that we often ignore and don’t pay any consideration to. If you are a professional designer, then you might know these facts or those little things that are stopping you from becoming a master in your field.

If you have experience in designing a website, then you might know all the little points that make a big difference.

Have you ever tried to make minor changes on your website that resulted in a significant contrast? Yes, this is what I am talking about. Fixing ignored results is a considerable improvement that left us surprised and pleased at the same time.

Okay, if changes are so uncomplicated and easy to make, then why not do it 100%? If you want to give a professional and eye-catchy look to your website, then don’t even try to miss these tiny errors that may create a big problem in the future. Now you might be thinking that what obstacles I am actually referring to? Let’s proceed with the topic.

Effective Use of Fonts in Web Designs

The actual topic that I want you guys to understand is the complexity and significance of fonts or typeface that we use on our websites. The use of fonts in designs referred to as Typography that can impact significantly on your website.

With the right typography, you can make people understand your website in a better way. Now, how true is this? Let’s go in-depth to prove my words.

Why Should You Care About Font Design?

Do you know that Steve Jobs is called as the father of typography? Is it just because he originated ten fonts? No, it is because those ten fonts had made a vast and remarkable significant to our industry. He got this recognition because fonts play an unimaginable role in our website that can’t be contradicted.

Let’s make you more impressed and gratified.

Everyone wants a change in life. We, as human nature, get gloomy while looking at the same thing for a long time. Have you ever wondered that for how long we could look at the same style or design of font? Of course, we can’t. Choosing the right font for your website can do wonders that you can’t imagine.

Let’s come straight; typography reflects the context of your work. If it is done right, then it will have a powerful impact on the users. With the right typography, a user can easily understand the logic of your design. If you haven’t chosen the right fonts for your website, then how come you will be able to make them know your design?

Now, let me elaborate on this topic by mentioning points that will allow you to stop for a while and will force you to think that why you should care about Font design.

1- It Creates a Specific Identity

Believe me or not, but the fact that you can’t deny is that a specific font conveys a particular message to the reader or a visitor. It depends on you that what type of message you let to communicate them. For example, if we use Montserrat font in our graphic designs then its impact will be different on our audience, however instead of this if we use any other font then there will be a big difference. The fonts vary from website to website. You can’t utilize the same style or the same size as the font for every website. Understanding the importance and nature of fonts for your newly created website is a symbol of a professional designer.

2- It Helps You to Grow

Using the right font for your website assists you to flourish your business. Now, how much right is it? Let’s verify this point with a little example. For Instance, you have made a website on a specific niche. If you have selected the right fonts that are easily understandable, then the chances are that people will agree to read the entire context of your website with comfort.

On the other hand, if you haven’t chosen the right nature of font or size of the font, then the user will switch to someone’s else website where he can read the same context with a better font quality. Isn’t it make sense?

3- It Attracts the Audience

Choosing the right font for your website attracts your customers. It let them stay on your website due to good readability, and good readability comes by selecting the readable fonts. If you want that more and more customers visit your site, then be selective and be careful in choosing the font. A perfect font conveys a certain mood or message to the audience, so make sure it won’t be the wrong one.

4- It Develops Conformity

When you use the same font or two fonts repeatedly, then it helps to create harmony or conformity, and the user remained stuck to your website. However, using so many fonts in a single context make people confused, and somehow, they lose their interest, so that’s why fonts have so much importance.

Final Thoughts

So, here are a few points that you should consider before designing a website. As a professional designer, you should never avoid little things that may disturb your entire site. Try to adapt those things that have a positive impact, and try to avoid those mistakes that have a negative effect.

I hope you will find this article useful and informative, and it will help you to make the most excellent website in the future. Consider these points and be a professional web designer.

How to Increase Brand Awareness on Your Landing Page

Author: Lexie Lu

A good landing page will encourage your audience to keep moving through the sales funnel — and convince them that your business has services or products to soothe a pain point they’re dealing with.

However, advertising isn’t the only job your landing page has. It may be the first encounter a customer has with your brand, much like a product on a shelf or an ad on social media. Because you won’t get another chance for a first impression, your landing page also needs to be a good brand ambassador. A visitor should roughly understand your business with a quick scan and know what you do and why you do it.

With these strategies, you can use design landing pages that convince your audience and strengthen brand awareness.

1. Include Your Logo

Your logo is the face of your brand. It’s almost always a good idea to make sure it’s prominently featured on your landing page, even if you’re trying to keep the design as simple as possible.

In general, companies will opt for top-left logo placement, but some landing pages may change this up. A centered logo may be more effective, depending on the overall design. However, keep in mind that customers expect the logo to be in the top left, simply due to how many brands use this placement.

2. Use Custom or Distinct Brand Fonts

If your brand has some excellent typography backing up its look, you can lean on those design decisions to improve your landing pages.

Simple adjustments to your landing page fonts can help bring the page in line with your company’s overall look. They can reinforce the values or aesthetics you want customers to associate with your products.

While standing out is always helpful, it’s best not to go overboard. Some fonts that work great for a logo or header won’t translate well to body text or a form field. Ideally, you should have a standard font that works well for large chunks of text. When designing your landing page, it’s not always necessary to use the same font you use elsewhere in your branding. Sometimes, using one with similar characteristics will be enough to communicate the same values.

3. Use Your Branding Materials

Branding materials that show off what your company stands for — like graphics, videos and images that represent your products — can help a landing page show visitors what you’re offering. They can also quickly demonstrate your business’s values.

H.O. Penn Machinery is a dealer of Caterpillar heavy machinery and tools in southern New York state. The still background image here is actually a video, showing off some offered tools and machinery in action. The imagery in the video — heavy machinery used on construction sites and contractors overseeing work in a residential area — emphasizes the kind of utility and equipment new customers can expect from the brand.

Because H.O. Penn Machinery is a CAT dealer, the video also shows off the distinctive Caterpillar coloration and logos.

4. Build a Palette With Your Brand Colors

You can use almost every aspect of your landing page to subtly echo the look of your company. One of the simplest ways to do this is by basing the landing page palette off your brand colors.

This landing page from Vivino, an online wine marketplace and app, is a good example. The logo, center graphic and “Enter” button at the top-right are all in the company’s particular shade of wine-red burgundy. It provides a little bit of sophistication and re-emphasizes what the brand is all about.

Your landing page’s use of color doesn’t need to be complicated. This is especially true if your company, like many others, has adopted more of a minimalist aesthetic and may have a logo with just one color. Good design may just be a matter of remembering to use your logo shade as an accent, as with Vivino’s page.

5. Get Straight to the Point

A good landing page is scannable. You want customers to quickly know the benefits of working with your company — and it also improves awareness of your company. Your brand is about what you do and why, so if you can explain the products or services you offer in a sentence, you can boost your visibility.

Canva, a graphic design platform and software suite, is a good example of this. The page clearly communicates what the business has to offer — in this case, graphic design tools that anyone can use, regardless of experience level.

Breaking down your offerings into the simplest, most direct form possible will help customers know what you can provide. If your landing page makes things clear, it can help build that relationship between your look, logo and products in the customer’s mind.

6. Match Your Landing Page With Your Ad Campaigns

Consistency is critical in building brand awareness. The more often a customer sees your branding elements, the more likely they are to remember your design choices and associate them with your company.

Because of this, it’s best to keep your ad campaigns and the related landing pages as close as possible in terms of look and language.

Using Landing Pages to Strengthen Your Brand

With the right approach to design, your landing page can communicate a lot about your company and the products you offer. Keeping it in line with the overall look by using colors, fonts and imagery related to your brand will help the page build audience associations between your company and its values.

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. When she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

How To Rank Your YouTube Videos – 5 Steps To Get Started

Author: Victoria Daniel

YouTube is a powerful marketing platform that helps to enhance your business and brand. Over 6 billion hours of YouTube video viewed per month. Also, YouTube is the second largest website in the world. One-third of the internet audience spends much time on YouTube.

YouTube marketing is the main key to getting videos ranked on both YouTube and Google search. It makes an automated flow to find the people with your videos, which is related to your business.

In this guide, we will discuss the importance of Youtube ranking with the help of 8 tips. Once you have followed these steps, it helps you get more likes and views by ranking your YouTube videos higher on Google and YouTube.

STEP 1: YOUTUBE VIDEO NAME

Naming is an identical factor in the marketing process. Most marketers made a mistake with improper naming for your videos. This naming structure will happen in two places.

  • Raw video file
  • Video title

YouTube has the algorithm for the raw video file, which helps to find the content. If you’re not familiar with raw video titles, this guide helps to work on it.

Below are the tips to optimize the raw video title:

  • Right-click on your YouTube video and choose “Get Info”.
  • Include tags which are related to your video’s and synonym keywords.
  • Give a name the file based on your main keywords
  • Use some comments about your YouTube video.

Once you upload your file on the YouTube channel, it will automatically throughout the raw file name.

The video title should be less than 60 characters. Use keywords at the beginning of the title. Also, it must be short and descriptive and easily attracted by the audience. Don’t forget to add the keywords to your title. It helps to be an essential part of the ranking progress.

STEP 2: VIDEO LENGTH

The YouTube algorithm is based on the views when YouTube was first launched. Once you get the most views for your video and it gets a high rank. But two years ago, YouTube changed its terms and conditions. They have counted your views, but at the same time, they do conjunction with engagement metrics.

The engagement metrics are,

  • Number of seconds viewed
  • Comments
  • Social shares and Likes

These additional metrics help to cut out the false clicks from the million click farms. At this moment, it can neglect a lot of videos with less focus content. It’s better to make rich content that drives user engagement. YouTube doesn’t have any guidelines regarding video length. Any user can upload extreme video length, but we suggest creating your video at least 60 seconds.

There are two main reasons:

  1. Your video length is longer, which means you can engage your viewers. Therefore, having your videos will add more seconds to your count and increase your watch time.
  2. In YouTube policy, short videos consider the spam your videos; So, avoid making length videos. It helps boost your video and enhance your YouTube likes & subscribers.

STEP 3: VIDEO TITLE & DESCRIPTION:

The audience first lands on your page; they can see the title. Your video title should be related to your video and descriptive. The length of the title is 55-60 characters. Use keywords at the beginning or mid of the title, which improves your chance for ranking higher in YouTube search.

Many YouTubers forget this section; the most important section is a video description. Basically, you can describe your video with the help of the keywords. Also, you can add the link to your website. A new member lands on your page, they first read the description part and click the link. Your video views are great, but YouTube is merely a means to something larger. Your videos should encourage your audience to take action. That action should be clicked on your website where you can finish the marketing process.

Here are some tips for creating a video description:

  • Create a unique style! Don’t copy the content from competitors and your previous videos. Each video is different and should be treated. Write a unique description for each video.
  • The character’s length of the description section is to be 5000. Use 2-3 keywords in part.
  • Avoid placing the same keywords twice. You’re stuffing the same keywords, and there is a chance of going spam.
  • Use synonyms of the keywords in your description. For Instance, your keyword is – how to rank on YouTube videos, how to rank on YouTube videos in Google-like.

STEP 4: MAKE A PLAYLIST

Make a playlist for your YouTube channel that helps your viewers easily find your videos. It is the easiest way to segregate your content and share it with others. You can create playlists for saving the multipurpose channel.

You can make a playlist with the help of keywords. Whatever you can split that music videos, news, funny videos, and entertainment videos. It is simple to add, edit, and delete from the YouTube playlist. You will drop your videos to change the order, change the priority, and rename the playlist.

Here are the steps on how to make a playlist:

  • Start to watch the video before you can add the playlist.
  • Save the video first, and create a “New Playlist.”
  • Give the name of the playlist and select the private or public.
  • Once created a playlist, add your favorite video and again save it.
  • After that, you have to check whether the videos are added or not. Note it – add more videos to your playlist at a time.

The playlist section is placed on the left-hand column of your YouTube homepage.

STEP 5: CUSTOMIZED THUMBNAIL

YouTube offers to choose the image that suits your YouTube videos—adding a thumbnail of your videos to make the best impression for your viewers. I suggest placing a thumbnail that tells the viewers what your video is about and why they click on it.

If you want to boost your subscribers, you have to use a proper thumbnail to your videos. It is the heart of YouTube videos. Also, you can easily include the custom thumbnail and upload it.

Here are the few tips to before uploading the content:

  • The thumbnail image size should be 1280 x 720
  • Images must be .JPG, .PNG, .GIF or .BMP
  • Under 2 MB
  • Use attractive colors like Yellow, Red & Green, and use stylish fonts.

FINAL THOUGHT:

YouTube is a robust platform when you have used it correctly. YouTube Video marketing is developing, and many marketers want to promote their product in the channel. Creating unique content and standing out the right people at the right time is important for success. Don’t forget to add the above steps to your videos and start ranking in Google & YouTube searches.

Author Bio

Victoria Daniel is a social media expert and writer who is working in PixelGroovy. She is a regular contributor to well established IOT blogs and she has been into Internet marketing for two years.

Why Business Longevity Matters (and How to Market It)

Author: Lexie Lu

The longer you’ve been in the business, the better known your brand becomes. People often look to see if you’re established and likely to remain operating for the foreseeable future. While longevity is never a promise of success, business owners who’ve already weathered a few storms are more likely to know some tricks to getting through new ones.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a mere 50% of businesses in the United States survive the five-year mark. About a third make it to 10 years and beyond. If you’re one of the lucky few to survive the first decade in business, you’ll have a much better chance of long-term success.

There are a lot of advantages to being around for decades and very few disadvantages. Here are some reasons why business longevity matters and how you can market your endurance.

1. Build Loyal Fans

Businesses that make it through economic downturns and tough times tend to have an army of devoted fans who talk them up to everyone they know. You essentially have a street team of influencers who let others know how great your product or service is.

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful forms of marketing you could hope for. You don’t have to do anything but make sure your current customers love you and know you appreciate them. Asking them to share what you do with others requires a simple email or message, and many will be happy to help.

The North Face has an entire team of athletes who serve as brand ambassadors. They manage teams of climbers and other rugged outdoor sports enthusiasts. Because they are in the throes of whatever sport they represent, their recommendations hold a lot of clout. Their athlete representatives use their products out in the field and can speak to the specifications others in the sport need to know about.

2. Promote Usability

When you’re in business for a long period of time, you learn what your customers need and how to make your site and products usable and reliable. When marketing your longevity, point out that you’ve made mistakes, rectified them and know how to create a quality product you stand behind.

You may have made mistakes along the way, but as long as you learn from them and continuously improve your product and service, you’ll gain traction.

3. Highlight Your Experience

When you’ve been in business for decades, you have a pretty good idea of what your clients need. Explain how long you’ve been around and why other companies trust you to get the job done. You can even highlight some testimonials from customers who’ve stayed with you for years. They can probably explain better than anyone why they choose to remain with your company year after year.

Louisiana CAT highlights their more than 80 years in the industry. They point out that they’re a trusted partner and know the equipment inside and out, as well as what clients need. For someone new to the industry or looking for an experienced equipment provider, the reassurance of their knowledge is helpful.

4. Present a Clear Vision

When your focus is on staying in business for the long haul, you have to develop a clear vision of where you’re headed. Perhaps your goal is to build a company that will be around for your grandchildren to inherit. What do you want that brand to look like in 50 years and what do you need to do today to get to that point?

5. Develop a Specialty

When you’re in business for many years, it’s easier to develop something your brand is known for. You should have a special item that no competitor carries or that you’re known to be the best at making. Think about the needs of your customers and come up with an amazing solution. Devote an adequate number of hours to creating the absolute best product imaginable.

G.A. Schimpff’s Confectionery has been around since the 1800s. They are known for their Modjeskas and red hots. When you visit their store, they’re often in the process of creating one of the two types of candy and offer a free sample to people passing through. Being famous for particular types of candy helps them gain customers and orders.

6. Train Your Leaders

If you want your brand to have longevity, you must train tomorrow’s leaders. Successful companies have long-term company culture goals. Not only should you invest in current leaders, but also encourage them to build up the next generation of managers, passing down their knowledge along the way.

7. Know Your Audience

Marketing is a critical component of longevity. You must know who your customers are and what their pain points are. Once you understand the situations your users face, it’s much easier to provide insightful solutions. Dig into more than just the demographics of your clients. Get to know them on a psychological and emotional level, so you can market to them from their perspective.

Otis Elevators has been around for about 160 years. Over time, the industry changed, and Otis has managed to change alongside it. They’ve kept pace with higher skyrises and new developments in sensor-driven data and smart features.

Marketing Strategies

Think about the advantages of being around for a long period of time. Talk up your experience in the industry and your ability to see what is a trend and what is something that will last. Know who your audience is and use your past challenges to overcome today’s. With a little marketing effort and a lot of hard work, your brand will outlast the others around you and you’ll be able to highlight why you’re the best of the best.

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. When she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.