TWP Publisher, Author at TotalWeb Partners • Page 13 of 31

September 10, 2020

10 Tips to Grow Web Development Business During COVID-19

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Development

Irrespective of your organizational structure or size a website is hard to indispensable. An attractive website is not enough, as customers have to be driven to the site. Only if the website is attractive customers would stay there and sales figures would scale new territories. In the present era of COVID-19, this posses to be a considerable challenge.

Only a handful few small businesses have the financial capacity to afford services of the website development business. The better news is if you focus on a few basic principles on anticipated lines you can derive true value for your investment.

Tips to enhance web development business during the pandemic

Business-oriented approach

Be aware that the website works out to be a business tool and a quality design is essential. Ideally, it should be business-driven and your current and future customers can engage with the company via a quality website. Regular branding and promotion of your company starts off with a quality website and from there stationery, marketing along with other activities start.

Review and develop measures

Sometimes you could be happy with the layout and design of your website. But the need of the hour is to evaluate the performance of your website on a regular basis. Does it align with the customer needs or has the design changed considering the market trends? Check with the graphics, content or the design is a relevant one. For example, if the website is operational for numerous years, it is difficult to adopt an objective approach.

Design differentiation

People who have a shorter attention span might be forced to leave the website within a short time frame. At this juncture, design has a role to play. Due to improved design and higher bandwidth of the internet, the design of a website has developed. Images along with graphics have assumed new proportions and we are well on the way to be establishing a greater brand identity. Another way you could differentiate from the completion is via a graphics design.

Recurring development

A website should not be static and needs to be continuously developing. Sadly most people fail to acknowledge this fact and once a website is over they feel that a task is accomplished. But you have to update the website on a regular basis in terms of content and design. Developing blogs and providing links to the website are ways to achieve the task. A reason for its importance is clients along with visitors have a liking towards attractive sites. Even Google is bound to revise their listings if the site is not updated on a regular basis.

Reaching number one

When a customer is searching for a service or product, they would be availing services of a search engine. It is important that your site is mentioned on the search engines. Smaller companies are of the opinion that only the large companies can reach the number one rankings, but this is a myth. If you have a proper strategy in place it is possible to reach the number one rankings easily.

Sort out the priorities

When marketing any component of your business, it is necessary that you have a clear strategy in place. Even when marketing your website it is no different as you have to formulate short term and long term goals and a web designer might not justify the decision. Designers often lack the concepts of SEO and the basic versions of Meta tags would not suffice. For example, even if you have an active marketing strategy sales figures would not substantive.

September 6, 2020

by TWP Publisher

How To Grow Your Community With Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing

One of the most important ways to boost customer loyalty is by building a community. Even though smartphones and mobile internet connect billions of people, it’s harder than ever to gain trust or loyalty. This is because your audience is inundated with content, including promotional messages from your competitors.

You can advertise to your user base but it’s harder to make them remember you and trust you enough to buy from you. You can manage this distance by creating an emotional connection between you and your audience. And the most practical way to do this is by creating a community.

In this post, we’ll look at how you can leverage social media to build a solid community around your brand. Businesses like Lego, Harley Davidson, and many others have online communities to share ideas. These places offer a curated space for people to share their passions.

For some types of businesses, not having a community is not an option. Coaching, personal wellness, or educational businesses need to develop a community to share information and offer their audience support.

Let’s look at how you can build your own brand community by leveraging social media. We have two main approaches based on the platforms you choose. You can:

Create a membership site and use social media to draw in more members
Build your community using social media as your main platform
Each option has advantages and their own problems too. You can also use both options simultaneously.

Whatever approach you adopt, you need to have a clear strategy in place. Let’s get started!

Creating a membership site
A membership site or portal is a gated website where your audience can access content by signing up as a member. You’ll need to have a membership software to do this and create unique content that members are willing to come back for.

You get more control and several benefits by creating your own membership site.

A membership portal allows you to build your brand image more effectively
You can add features to your site such as email marketing, online courses, forums, and loyalty programs
The availability of in-depth analytics
Complete customization of your membership site

August 21, 2020

by TWP Publisher

Effective Backend Web Development Technologies In 2020

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Development

Often when someone talks of a website, the frontend where the user/visitor interacts is what comes to mind. However, the backend is where most of the magic happens. This backend has been said to be the engine of a website, as it is where developers get to define how the website will function.

With the growth in the complexity of technology, frameworks have become an integral part of web development. Depending on the features and functions you want your website to perform, the framework you choose will determine the nature of the success and functionality of your website. The best developers are versed with these latest technologies, but most specialize. Here, we will feature some of the top web development frameworks in the market to help you make a decision.

Express

In recent years, Node.js has grown in popularity within the developer’s community. Consequently, Express has gained a reputation as one of the most preferred backend web development frameworks. The popularity is attributed to it being minimal and flexible while giving room for robust features a developer needs. This flexibility makes it suitable for single-page and multipage/hybrid web applications alike. Perhaps the most appealing characteristic of the Express framework is that it leverages Node.js performance, allowing for a light coating of web applications without obscuring the node’s features.

August 20, 2020

by TWP Publisher

6 Web Development Trends Every CTO Should Know in 2020

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Development, Web Development Trends

The web development industry is quickly evolving, and companies need to keep ahead with innovations to stay competitive in the online world. Web development trends might seem to change even faster than they are implemented by most of the enterprises. However, if you want to position yourself an innovation-driven brand and trendsetter, you must be aware of all the current web tendencies. To help you navigate the latest web development trends and save time spent on the market investigation, I provide an intensely concentrated piece of information in this article. Meet the six most popular web development trends that are gaining momentum in 2020.

A progressive web app is a website with the same functionalities as native apps. It is fast-loading and can work both online and with a bad Internet connection. PWAs allow users to enjoy a high-end experience and forget that they still are using the web browser. The world-known brands like Forbes, Twitter, and Alibaba have already unlocked the benefits of PWAs for the excellence of their online presence.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) and Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Along with PWAs, we can also see a similar trend. It’s an AMP (an accelerated mobile page), an open-source HTML framework developed by Google as a competitor to Facebook instant articles. AMPs also load very quickly and display only the essential information like text, images, etc., omitting unessential UI elements. They might be a perfect choice for websites oriented at publishing news and articles.

Animation in UI

Motion graphics is one of the biggest web design and development trends this year. The business can greatly benefit from motion graphics in website design and leverage its power to increase visitor engagement, guide them throughout a site, demonstrate relations between components, visualize information in dynamic charts and beautiful graphs, and more.

Besides functionality, the visual experience is one of the key factors to success in software development. Users love brands that offer them something more exciting than a straightforward layout. Keeping things simple and caring about the UX intuitiveness, you can also consider adding the background motion graphics, animated hovers, beautiful transitions in a header and footer, modular scrolling, and other UI animations. Although it adds to the development time, motion graphics in UI is worth it since it increases the end-users’ satisfaction and helps turn them into returning customers.

August 18, 2020

by TWP Publisher

7 Social Media Marketing Myths, Busted

Social Media Marketing 7 Social Media Marketing Myths, Social Media Marketing

One of your greatest foes as an entrepreneur is misinformation. There is a lot of erroneous advice online, especially when it comes to social media marketing. Unfortunately, much of this guidance seems reasonable on paper. Without the right research or knowledge, you may end up unwittingly endangering the future of your business. Here are seven common social media marketing myths you need to watch out for.

Negative feedback can be safely ignored
Social media marketing isn’t just about promoting the positive parts of your brand. It also involves managing any and all negative feedback directed at your business. Ignore those snipes and jabs and they will fester online, convincing consumers to ignore your brand at a time when you need every single customer to help your company grow. When you find negative feedback, answer it — strategically. Respond to all comments quickly. Not only can you tamp down on negative feedback before it gains any ground, but quick responses will show that you listen and respond to customer concerns, even if they are negative.

Matt Broussard, content creator and chef at Spiceology in Spokane, commands more than three million followers on TikTok, and as he shares, “All feedback, both positive and negative, has merit. As a chef, that’s what I live on: how a dish is, what it needs, how I can improve it, etc. I don’t push off negative comments, because that helps fuel how I iterate my recipes.”

Email is no longer relevant
Social media marketing should not be considered a replacement for other methods, but rather a tool to augment your customer reach. Email still has a role to play in your marketing campaigns, so keep those recipient lists and e-marketing campaigns around. They are still worth your time.

All content represents thought leadership
Content marketing is an integral part of social media marketing. The social platform is what you use to efficiently distribute content to your users, and the content itself is responsible for perpetuating and developing your brand. However, many entrepreneurs falsely equate all content with thought leadership.

Your best content is what will likely give you that kind of authority over your audience. Some of it will revolve around answering questions or giving the market exactly what they asked for. This is less about thought leadership than appealing to your audience directly. The distinction is important, because without it, you may create content that doesn’t reinforce your brand’s authority and trustworthiness.

August 14, 2020

by TWP Publisher

Useful Tips To Build Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing, Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social media is an incredible tool that has allowed billions of people all over the world to connect with others and stay updated on the world. It lets you keep up with your favourite athletes or celebrities, as well as make friends all over the world. It allows you to communicate with other like-minded individuals on nearly every topic under the sun.

By Wendy Dessler

In addition to being great for users to get their news and entertain themselves, it can also be great for businesses. Social media marketing can be great for promoting an array of different products and services and can grow companies and brands quickly.

However, building out your social media marketing strategy can be intimidating at times. Thankfully, having to create your social media content strategy doesn’t have to be a nightmare. With that in mind, this article is going to go over a few tips to build a great social media marketing strategy for 2020.

Know Who You’re Trying to Reach

The most important part of any social media marketing strategy is to know your target market. They are the individuals that you feel want or need your product the most and are most likely to convert into customers. When researching your target market, be sure to look at things like their age, their education, their gender, their hobbies and interests and several other things.

Being aware of your target can make it much easier to create content that they will enjoy or find value in. If you simply make assumptions on your target without doing research of any kind, your success (if any) is likely to be limited. You have a ton of data out there at your disposal, so you might as well use it.

Be Aware of the Benefits and Drawbacks of Different Platforms
Next, you need to think about the social media platforms themselves. While your marketing strategy can include different platforms, you need to break down the benefits and drawbacks of different platforms. Some content will surely perform better on certain platforms than others. You need to keep this in mind when creating content for specific platforms.

For example, YouTube and TikTok are likely best for videos, Instagram for pictures and Facebook or Twitter are often the best for text. Also, be sure to take advantage of the certain features included on different platforms, such as Instagram Stories.

Once you know about the benefits and drawbacks of a platform, you can create customized and engaging content for said platform. If you create one piece of content and spread it across all of your different platforms and channels, it won’t be as effective.

July 7, 2020

by TWP Publisher

15 SAN DIEGO WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES MAKING THE WEB MORE POWERFUL

Website Content, Website Design Practices WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

What would the world look like without the internet? It’s a question that we’ve all wondered to ourselves at a certain point, but in reality, the question we should be asking is, “What would the internet look like without websites?”

We’ve come a long way since the dot com revolution of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Languages and capabilities have evolved to the point where the sites we visit are faster, designed for experiences across devices and ultimately more powerful in just about every aspect. Because of the work of engineers, developers, designers, project managers and several others in a long line of professionals, the web continues to become a more beautiful and innovative place.

Many of the most savvy web professionals have established web design and development companies in San Diego and are working with clients to deliver stronger website capabilities across industries.

BAREFOOT SOLUTIONS
What they do: Barefoot Solutions is a designer and developer of applications for websites, mobile devices and IoT devices that delivers better user engagement and outstanding ROI. An in-depth strategy, design and development process that includes acquiring audience insights, prototyping, visual design, coding and product launching allows Barefoot Solutions to provide top value to their clients and create applications that remain powerful over time.

BOP DESIGN
What they do: Bop Design is a B2B marketing agency specializing in web design, branding and content marketing services for brands across a wide range of industries. Web design services from Bop Design are built on a customized WordPress engine, developed to include heightened capabilities and responsiveness so users always find a pleasant experience.

July 5, 2020

by TWP Publisher

The Importance of Investing in Web Development for Your Business

Website Content, Website Design Practices Web Development

According to the Digital 2019 report, a typical person spends 6 hours and 42 minutes online every day. The rise of the internet has revolutionized how we live and communicate and moved most of us to live a digitally-driven lifestyle. This is now exacerbated as we live in a ‘new normal’ because of the COVID-19 pandemic where we are pushed more than ever to rely on the internet for entertainment, education, employment, and livelihood among others.

With everyone depending on the internet for their access to necessities and supplies (i.e., food, appliances, medicines, clothes, among other products and services), website development has become more crucial to any business’ success. Website development is one of the ways to ensure the success of your business by informing people of products and services your business offers, getting to know your (possible) customers better, and understanding how to improve your product and service further.

Website or web development services include building, creating, and maintaining websites. It includes aspects such as web design, web publishing, web programming, web content creation, and database management.

Having an online presence is no longer an option for businesses; it is a requirement! Here are more of the reasons why companies need to invest in web development services:

Increasing Accessibility

It allows businesses to be accessible at any time of the day. It provides space for everyone to access the information they need when they need it. Whenever customers need to know something about the business, having a contact form, a live chat, an option to comment, or a phone number is a step towards them, which increases the possibility of sealing the deal.

Proving Credibility and Reliability

It allows effective communication with customers. Interacting and engaging with customers shows that the business is concerned about their satisfaction and is responsive to their needs. People prefer to transact with a business with their own websites as it gives them security and assurance.

Expanding Reach

It helps businesses to expand their reach by attracting possible customers or leads. Through website development, testimonies about your product/service will be available. These details help earn the trust and confidence of potential customers in the future. A properly designed website can help build an audience, target niche customer bases, and quickly return your investments. Your website conversion rate can multiply by 200-400 percent if your webpage is well-designed and has a functional, responsive interface.

July 3, 2020

by TWP Publisher

How to Use Empathetic Marketing in Your Social Media Strategy

Social Media Marketing Social Media Strategy

If you’re like 44% of people worldwide, you’ve been spending more time on social media during the pandemic. Whether you’re catching up on the latest news on Twitter or chatting with family on Facebook, social media has allowed us to stay connected.

But as a small business owner, are you spending more time on social media being empathetic?

While sometimes confused with sympathy, which is feeling compassion for someone else, empathy means putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes.

By empathizing with your customers, you can better serve them.

Here’s the Merriam Webster definition of empathy: “the action of (or capacity for) understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”

It’s important to take an empathetic approach in all of your marketing materials, from your website copy to your social media strategy.

Because social media offers such a great way to interact with a large audience, you should be willing to put in the time and effort to ensure your communications are not only engaging, but empathetic to what people are going through.

According to the Braze Brand Humanity Index research, around 65% of people were more loyal to brands they felt a human connection with.

So to help you get—and stay connected—with your customers, here are four ways a small business owner can build a social media presence with more empathetic content marketing.

Create an empathy map.
This can be a good first step to put you deeper into the mind of your customer. Originally a tool used in the design and agile development worlds, empathy mapping provides a deeper understanding of your customer. It’s usually split into four quadrants: says, thinks, does and feels.

With your target customer’s persona in the middle, you begin to brainstorm questions, like:

Why do you need my product?
How does using my product make you feel/think/do/say?
What are some stressors/fears in your life?
How does my product help you reach your goals?
Write out your customer’s thoughts the way you think he or she would express. Their needs, wants, desires, hopes, fears, goals and dreams will start to be more clear, and you’ll be able to build a social media presence using messaging that resonates with your followers.

Tap into your customers’ emotions.
I’m not talking about playing on their fears to sell your products, but rather, thinking about how your product makes them feel.

Here’s a way that a brand helped ease their smallest customers’ fears. Philips invented a miniature version of a CAT scanner called the ‘KittenScanner,’ which doctors use to educate kids about the MRI process and put them at ease. Children can try it out with toy animals, taking the focus off of their procedure and onto fun.

It was created back in 2004, but it still gets mentioned on social media, in videos and in health journals as a way to reduce the need for sedation. How could you position your brand in a helpful, stress-reducing way for your customers?

July 1, 2020

by TWP Publisher

5 Mistakes You Might Be Making in Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing Social Media Marketing

Social media is one of the best ways to market your business, no matter what industry you belong to. This is because platforms like Facebook and Instagram have millions (or even billions) of active monthly users, and you can easily reach out to them by sharing relevant and interesting content.

That said, here are 5 common mistakes you need to avoid in social media marketing.

Overlooking Branding
There are thousands of large and small businesses posting on social media, so you need a unique brand image in order to stand out. Use various components, particularly the color palette, communication tone and language, and an attractive logo.

When you share images and videos on social media for marketing, make sure they include your company logo, making your brand more recognizable and memorable. If you don’t have one, use a professional designer or freelancer. You can’t use a machine to create a logo, even though these services can be affordable. Only a graphic designer can understand your brand requirements perfectly.

Buying Followers
It’s clear that social media and influencers are changing ecommerce by affecting the very dynamics of marketing. However, do you know that most social media celebrities have tons of paid followers? Many brands and influencers purchase followers, and there are many easily accessible platforms for that.

If you’re considering this step, stop right there. Most platforms have advanced algorithms that can detect accounts that have paid or fake followers, and you could be banned if you’re found to be engaging in this practice. Also, you won’t be able to generate actual interest for your brand online as these fake followers won’t interact with your shared content. So, it’s better to get as many organic followers as possible.

Ignoring the Comments Section
One of the biggest reasons brands are active on social media is to be able to interact with their target audience in a relaxed, comfortable environment. If you want the best results from your social media marketing campaigns, it’s important to interact and engage with your followers on a regular basis.

Responding to comments on posts is a great way to improve your social media engagement. Whether you get praises or complaints, addressing them promptly and professionally will ensure your customers are happy. You can also register their feedback in order to avoid doing things that upset them in the future.

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