In this new era of technology, how businesses target their audiences has changed exponentially. The digital world has provided countless channels where you can expose your business to potential costumers. Regardless of what your business does or sells, exposure is everything. Actually, the more eyes you have on your business the more possibility of it expanding and succeeding on a larger scale. With this in mind, Facebook ads might just be the missing piece for your marketing plan.
How Social Media Changed Business Marketing
Nowadays, the majority of people can be reached through digital media. 81% of the US population to be exact. Let’s say that out of that 81%, the average person spends 1.72 hours online on the different social networks. Out of those 1.72 hours, 50 minutes are spent only on Facebook. Imagine having 50 minutes in which you can reach your customer and convince them to engage with your business. Whether this means buying your product/service or simply liking your Facebook page, every engagement counts.
Facebook began as a social networking site where you could find your friends and interact with them online. It opened a world of possibilities. Suddenly you could reach out to family members living far away, or reconnect with old high school friends with just the click of a button. In the same manner, the possibilities of using this platform to market to large audiences became a new prospect for businesses. Consequently, with time, Facebook evolved into one of the most reliable forms of social media and a highly trackable tool for marketers. Through Facebook ads, Facebook has been able to create partnerships with the big data brokers like Epsilon and Datalogix; allowing Facebook to offer a more commercial approach for marketers.
Benefits of Facebooks Ads
If you considering investing in Facebook Ads for your business here are some main benefits for you to consider
Targeting:
Facebook is first and foremost a socializing network with its main purpose being connectivity. This connectivity allows marketers to reach a wider audience. How? Through likes, comments, and shares. For example, you like a Facebook Ad that appeared on your timeline. By liking it, your friends can see that you liked it, and that might drive them to click the ad as well. The same applies to comments and shares of Facebook Ads. They all cause a ripple effect causing your Facebook ad to spread further than just your targeted audience.
However, it is really important to know who your audience is. Mostly because you need to know exactly for whom you’re writing the ad. You have to make them care enough about it to make them engage with it. The first step to define your target audience is to specify: who they are, where they are located, what they like, and how they behave online.
Measurability:
Marketing is highly defined by the numbers. It is crucial for marketers and business owners to be able to see the results of their marketing efforts. Technologic advances now allow for a much easier way of measurement when it comes to marketing online. Facebook Ads have an incredibly easy system that can test ads with great ease. Facebook Ads give you a very detailed review of how your ad is performing across your selected audience. You can easily see how many people liked, commented, or shared your ad. Additionally, you can see how many people it reached organically or through budget allocated to it. From all the data you gather, you can then assess how to better target your future ads.
Affordability:
Now, more than ever before, marketing to millions at a time is not only possible but incredibly affordable. The cost per Facebook ad depends on a variety of factors. Targeting range, quality of the ad, and even the time of the year your ad is published are factors that influence the cost of your ad. Digital marketing is no longer a foreign concept for marketers, in fact, it has become the norm. This means that is your business does not try to reach its audience online, then it is losing an essential percentage of their potential audience. With the low prices set for Facebook ad campaigns, there is really no logical reason why not to take advantage of all the benefits it provides your business.
Decide To Benefit From Experience
The benefits of using Facebook ads to market your business really are countless. However, at the end of the day it all comes down to you and what your main business goal is. Therefore, when you do decide that Facebook ads are the next step for the marketing efforts you have to be informed. It takes much more than simply sponsoring a post, it takes time and dedication, researching the analytics and understanding the metrics. For this particular reason, a professional agency can be instrumental in reaching the right people at the right time. Phidev can help you understand who your audience is and how to reach them on the different social networks. Contact us today and begin expanding your business.
What is the most important aspect of your business? Well, for some it might be the number of sales for each quarter, for others, it might be website traffic. However, one common factor, essential even, for all businesses is their brand image. How recognizable your business is to your consumers. Anyone can immediately recognize Coca Cola’s brand or McDonald’s’ simply by looking at the colors or listening to their slogan. Having a consistently recognizable brand gives your business an advantage over the competition. Nowadays, you can’t have a recognizable brand without an online presence. And in order to have a prominent online presence, you need memorable web design that stands out.
How Web Design Can Take Your Brand To The Next Level
Let’s just make something clear: first impressions do count. And even if you are not supposed to “judge a book by its cover,” sometimes it is unavoidable. That first impression when the consumer visits your site will define if they want to do business with you or not. If they can’t find what they are looking for right away or if your site keeps freezing up and taking a long time to load, your ‘potential’ consumer will move on. Perhaps to your top competition. Web design consists of much more than the look of the page, it encompasses the functionality and efficiency of the website’s navigation.
Web design is in a way like architecture. You are laying the foundation of what will become a larger structure. Your web design lets you map out how you want your consumers to interact with your business, from what items/services to showcase all the way to purchasing on your site. Through good web design, you are able to take your consumer through a journey and making their online experience all that more enjoyable.
Using Web Design To Attract And Keep Consumers
Today’s business world is greatly impacted by the online world. If your business does not have a website, social media channels, or any type of online presence it looses credibility and therefore the trust of the consumer. You just need to have an online destination for people to find your business. Not only that, but you also need for that online destination to provide your consumers with the information they are looking for.
One of the most surprising revelations discovered in research is the fact that design elements are essentially more powerful than content, in terms of mistrust. Your business’ image defines what your consumer thinks of you. Are you professional? Is your business trustworthy? Are you reliable? If your web design looks sloppy and amateurish, your consumer might think your business is unprofessional and take their business to your competition. If you have your consumer’s trust, you will have their business for longer.
By now, you understand the importance of SEO for a business’ online presence. Well, SEO does not only matter in terms of content; it is also a prominent factor in the design of your website. Professional web designers understand the importance of SEO compatibility in your site, which is why they create SEO compliant sites that can be navigated faster and easier. This will only increase your chances of recognition across online channels.
Taking Your Website On The Go
Additionally, having an online presence allows you to transfer your information to mobile format. In doing so, you are making your business even more available to your consumers. All of these things provide you with endless opportunities to reach your consumer and grow your business. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. You need your web designer to be well informed of how to format your web design to a mobile design. And just like with web design, they need to ensure the functionality of the mobile format.
You might be skeptical about contracting an outside agency to help you with your web design. But, if you really think about it, your business’ design is not something you want to take the easy way out. This is what will define your business and what will help you maintain lasting relationships with your consumers. For more information about how you can improve your web design, contact Phidev today and be one step closer to having the flawless brand of your dreams.
Digital Marketing Analytics: The digital era brought with it a world of new and efficient methods to track a business’s progress and consequent success. A big part of a business’ success relies on analyzing it constantly and understanding what makes it grow. Every business needs to set short and long-term goals in order to prosper. Some of those goals include business growth, customer satisfaction, increase in brand awareness, and financial stability. You might ask, “What is the best way to track if you are on your way to reaching these goals?” Actually, through digital marketing analytics, you can study your strategies and test if they’re working towards achieving your goals.
Why Should You Consider Digital Marketing Analytics?
Time and time again you’ve heard that the key to success for any business is ‘quality over quantity’. There is no point in providing your consumers with endless content if it’s not going to engage them or result in a purchase. Here is where digital marketing analytics comes into play. In order to create engaging content, you need to study your audience and evaluate what truly captures their attention.
Digital marketing encompasses everything from websites, social media networks, Google ads, to email marketing. Through all of these channels, you can develop a strategic plan to reach your audience. For example, if you want to expand your audience, you might consider promoting your business through Google Ads. If your goal is to keep your audience happy and engaged, you provide them with lively content through social media. Therefore, to successfully target your consumers and incite them into interacting with your business you have to ask yourself two fundamental questions:
- What are they looking for?
- Where are they looking for it?
Given that everything is tracked through different channels, you can find the answer to these questions by conducting a thorough digital marketing analysis. Firstly, digital marketing analytics can tell you how many people viewed your campaign. Not only that, but it can also let you know what other things those people are likely to search for next and/or purchase. Additionally, through digital marketing analytics, you can have a day to day analysis of how your online ads are performing. Ultimately, digital marketing analytics can provide you with the information needed to take your business to the next level.
Why Should You Consider a Professional Agency To Help Me Understand My Analytics
According to the Wall Street Journal, “spending on marketing analytics is expected to jump from 7% of marketing budgets to more than 12% in the next three years.” The continued growth of budget spent on digital marketing and its analysis indicates the rapid growth in importance and relevance in the industry. Most of that percentage is invested in companies that can help you understand the numbers and how to use them to your advantage. Keeping track of all your channel metrics can be a tricky business because not all the online programs are reliable. A professional agency helps your business be protected from scams and fraud.
Don’t leave your business’ success up to chance! Take advantage of the benefits offered by digital marketing analytics and optimize your business. Phidev can help you keep track of all of your online metrics and can keep your business current. Contact us at phidevinc.com today for more information.
Social media is everywhere! Do you remember a time when social media wasn’t part of your everyday life? We cannot! And it just keeps evolving. The latest way social media has integrated into our lives? Through our favorite brands and businesses. 97% of marketers are currently participating in social media. This means that the majority of brands and businesses have seen the benefits of social media and are taking action. What started as simply social networking sites, have evolved into an innovative digital marketing strategy for businesses.
In 2015 social networks earned an estimated $8.3 billion from advertising. This number is expected to keep increasing. Which means business either get with the times or get lost in a sea of competition. To get the most out of it, you need to know how to engage with your audience and give them what they want. Additionally, in order to accomplish this, you also need to understand why you are doing a social media campaign.
5 Benefits of Social Media For Businesses
- Increased brand recognition and brand loyalty
If you are an already well-established brand, chances are you have a very steady ingress of consumers. The real feat is keeping those consumers engaged. Through social media, you can create a lasting relationship and develop real brand loyalty. Having this type of direct access of communication creates a more human perception of your brand/business. This in change gives your consumers more incentive to keep coming back to you for their purchasing decisions. It gives your business legitimacy and credibility. - Quantity and quality of content
Social media is great because it allows you to create the kind of content that you want and as much as you want. Being active on social media acts as a “signal” for search engines, which can result in higher search engine ranking. The higher up your brand/business is, the more exposure you’ll get and the better chances of conversion you’ll have. Therefore, having engaging and constant content can increase the chances of growing a business. - Custom audience
It wasn’t long before social media networks discovered the value of providing their services for marketing purposes. Through a personal brand/business’ account, you can execute entire digital campaigns that can be carefully tracked and adjusted. All through a single click of a button. With this type of digital marketing campaign, you can specify who will receive your campaign, when they’ll receive it, at what time of day, and how many times a day. You can segment campaigns by things like location, company, job title, gender, and age/demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections. This gives businesses a more immediate and successful way to reach their audience. - Direct and immediate customer service
More than half of the population in the world owns a smartphone, which gives your brand/business direct access to your consumer and vice versa. If they have a question, request, concern, or complaint about your brand, services, or products they can utilize one of the different social media platforms to let you know. Most businesses allow consumers to write reviews and send direct messages on the different platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). - Affordability
One of the most important factors for a business is its budget. Yet, much of the time, businesses prefer to invest in things other than advertising and marketing. This is social media’s greatest advantage, it is incredibly affordable. The posting of content is completely free of charge. The only money you have to invest in these campaigns is when you customize the reach and demographic of your campaign. You can set your post as a sponsored post or boost it to reach a greater audience. However, in order to do this correctly, you have to conduct extensive research to learn about your audience’s behavior online.
How do you go about curating your social media presence?
Realistically speaking, the advantages of using social media for your business far outweigh the disadvantages. A well-structured campaign can grant you access to a whole other section of your audience you had not targeted before. Additionally, it can make your brand/business stand out from the crowd. Professional agencies specializing in digital marketing and social media campaigns have the necessary tools to ensure that your campaign reaches the right people at the right time.
A professional agency can establish your brand/business at the top of search engine results through extensive research and careful analysis of each campaign.
For more information on how a social media campaign can benefit your business contact us at Phidev.
“There’s an app for that.” How many times have you heard this phrase?
Ever since mobile apps came into the market they took over in almost every category (utilities, productivity, gaming, entertainment, lifestyle, social networking, and news). It is true that there is an app for everything. In fact, you can plan a whole vacation through mobile apps! From choosing a vacation destination to booking your flight to reserving a restaurant for dinner and reviewing that restaurant afterward, life is simply made easier through apps.
Why would this be important for your business you may ask? Well, 68% of Americans own a smartphone. That is more than half the population in the US alone. That 68% of the population spends around 162 minutes on their smartphone daily! Which means that by having a smartphone app available for your consumers you can reach a wider audience and generate more profit your business. Whether it is a product or a service you provide your consumers the benefits of having your own business app can make your business grow exponentially.
Benefits of mobile apps for your business
- Build & cultivate customer loyalty
Mobile apps allow business to have a more direct and instant connection with their consumers. This closeness creates a relationship between your business and the consumer that evolves to brand loyalty. One clear example is Starbucks. Through their star point system, they keep their consumers coming back to earn more rewards each time. - Reinforce your brand
When it comes to the top of mind awareness in the consumer’s mind, you want to be number one. This means that when the consumer thinks of a product or service, your business will be the first they recall. - Increase your visibility
You can increase your visibility by offering promotions and discounts in your app and keeping your consumer engaged. By doing this you are more likely to reach your consumer in those 162 minutes the average American spends on their mobile device. - Increase your accessibility
Through increased exposure across mobile devices, you are accessible to your consumer anywhere and anytime. Imagine sending a discount notification, which creates a visit to your app and results in a purchase, all just in a matter of minutes! - Connect you with on-the-go consumers
People always seem to be on the go. Going to work, going to the gym, going for coffee. They may not always have access to a computer, but on the go, they always have their smartphone with them.
Benefits of mobile apps for your customers
- Easy access to your inventory
Purchasing a product has never been easier. Not only can your consumers do it online, but you can format your mobile app to keep their information. This way they don’t have to fill out their information each time they want to purchase something. - Get notifications of special events, launches, etc.
Notifications remind consumers of what your business has to offer them. This may not always result in a purchase, but it does result in the top of mind awareness. - Have one-touch access to your contact information
The simpler you make the purchasing process for your consumer the more likely they are to take action. By having all of your business’ information accessible through the click of a screen you minimize the time they have to spend actually making the purchase. - Make fast, seamless appointment scheduling
If it is a service which you offer, then through your mobile app, the consumer is able to find your phone number, address and even make appointments. Making appointments has never been easier.
Why a professional mobile app has increased value
In the near future, mobile apps are going to be a standard and fundamental component of any business. Not only do they make the purchasing process easier and quicker, but they build a lasting relationship with the consumer. Additionally, they provide another source of advertising and marketing for your business. For all of these reasons having a well-functioning mobile app, able to handle all the actions and users that your business requires is a must. Creating an app is not as straightforward as creating a website on your own. There are different software requirements for different apps and/or different types of smartphones. The software needed for an iPhone is not the same as the one needed for an Android. Hiring a professional will not only give you the full functionality that your business needs, but it will give it the style and design that will resonate with your brand.
The short and sweet answer is yes. An essential function of every business is to keep expanding by attracting more consumers and retaining their existing client base. As a business owner, you have to be constantly and continuously improving and finding new ways of reaching potential consumers and keeping current consumers engaged. A very effective way to accomplish this is through email marketing.
Technology has evolved at a very fast pace and now you have an array of options where to make your business visible. Seems like social media has taken over. Yet, time and time again, email marketing has proven itself to be highly efficient. So much so that 91% of adults in the US say they like to receive promotional emails from the companies they do business with.
The Importance of Mobile-Friendly Businesses
Email marketing allows you to keep your consumer updated with all your latest news. In today’s day and age, roughly 2 billion people own a smartphone and use it daily. This means your email marketing campaign can reach your consumer directly on their smartphone. This allows businesses to have direct access to the consumer. For example, imagine launching a new product and in a matter of a click in their screen, your consumer can purchase it.
By formatting your email marketing for mobile devices, you create a direct link and communication to your consumer. The ‘proximity’ generates more opportunities to expand and grow your business while creating a lasting relationship with your consumers. By being immediately available to your consumer, you cut some of the time-consuming steps that discourage the consumer from taking action. As a result, this gives your consumer endless opportunities to find your business through the touch of a screen. Whenever and wherever they want.
Additionally, the change of administrations happening this year will impact the economy. Whether for better or worse it is still uncertain. Therefore, businesses have to be smart about how they spend their money, making sure to invest in things they know will generate profit. Advertising and Marketing are essential tools to help a business grow. They allow the customers to be constantly reminded of your business’ existence. With the top-of-mind awareness of your business, you remind your customer of their need for your specific service and make them engaged again.
Hiring a Professional Agency To Help You Maximize Your Email Marketing Strategy
Multiple factors come into play when marketing your business which might discourage business owners from investing in these services. Maybe you don’t have the time to create online campaigns. Or maybe you don’t think there is enough content to create the campaigns. When you hire a professional agency to help you conceptualize and strategize your email marketing campaign, you are investing in a long time service that will only benefit your business. As a result, you have more time to dedicate to your business while you also reach them on the go.
Over the years the percent of online consumption has steadily increased. As a survey showed, around 51% of shoppers made their purchases online. Therefore, by making your content directly available for your consumers you are increasing your chances of raising awareness and attracting new consumers. Ultimately, the only way your business grows is by being visible and by having old and new consumers who are engaged with your message. There is no logical reason why you shouldn’t try email marketing to help your business grow.
Contact us today to learn more about the endless possibilities available to you through email marketing.
According to research conducted by Google, “89% of visits to advertiser’s sites from ad clicks would not have occurred without ad campaigns.” This means that investing in online ad campaigns (Search Engine Marketing) does, in fact, pay off. It is something that pays in the short-term and the long-term.
SEO takes time to place your website on the first page of your selected keywords, in the meantime, an effective way to get in front of potential customers is through Search Engine Marketing.
What is SEM?
Search Engine Marketing (or SEM) is a fancy name for online advertisement, among other things. Some people consider SEO to be part of SEM but not everybody agrees. Here at Phidev, we like to think of them as separate, while SEM encompasses a similar process to SEO. The main difference between the two is that Search Engine Optimization is organic – which means that page views happen naturally (without you having to pay for clicks) and SEM is paid search results to bring people to a specific section of your website.
Most SEMs efforts are done in the “campaigns”, this means, you have a budget and you want to promote a specific product or service within your website. So you do your keyword research and with data in hand, you begin by creating a campaign.
When managing an online (SEM) campaign there are countless of factors that contribute to your campaign’s success and consequent business growth. Either if you are doing this by yourself or decide to hire an agency, you will find out that there are a lot of terms you will need to get familiar with to better understand what is going on with your campaign in order to improve your results.
Here is a quick and dirty list of terms you will need to know when you start doing SEM.
Advertising Strategies
Once you decided you want to go ahead start advertising online (and you should), the next step is to define what advertising strategy you will use. For the most part, there are three different strategies.
Pay-Per-Click or PPC
There are different strategies used to run campaigns online, one of them is, Pay-per-click or PPC. This means that you will be paying everything someone clicks on your ad to take them into your website. For example, imagine you are running a restaurant and you have selected “Best Tacos” as a keyword. Then, you will run a PPC campaign this keyword. This means, your ads will show when someone types “Best Tacos” in Google. Your ad might show, but you will only be charged when someone actually clicks on your ad.
Cost-Per-Mille (Thousand) or CPM
Depending on the objective or your campaign, PPC might not be the right strategy for you. Another, advertising strategy available for you is Cost-per-mille or CPM, in which, instead of paying every time someone clicks on your ad, you decide you want to pay per impression instead. This might help you get a lot more eyeballs into your ad but might not necessarily bring traffic or convert your visitors.
Cost-Per-Acquisition or CPA
Another strategy for your SEM campaign is Cost-per-acquisition or CPA. In this strategy, you decide you want to pay only when someone makes a predefined action once they are on your website. Let’s say you are only willing to pay when someone makes a reservation to your restaurant by submitting a form. Someone will see and click on your ad, visit your website, but you will only pay once the visitor fills and submits your reservation form. This strategy is directly related to sales, and most people might think it is the best strategy since you are basically paying per performance. However, depending on your business objectives it might not be the right strategy for you.
Components of Search Engine Marketing
Once you have selected your strategy there are many other things you will need to know in order to successfully run a marketing campaign online.
Cost-Per-Click or CPC
When you are running a PPC campaign, another term you will need to know is Cost-Per-Click or CPC which is the amount you are paying per click or visitor into your site. So, in a PPC campaign, your ad can be displayed to a hundred people, but if only one of them clicks on it, you will only pay for that click.
The cost-per-click depends on a lot of factors, but mostly on how many other people want the keyword for that ad.
Landing Page
A landing page is the section of your website you want people to visit right after they click on your ad. A lot of people, especially when they are starting into SEM, make the mistake of setting their homepage as their landing page. You want your landing page to be as relevant to the ad as possible, for example, if you are advertising “tacos” then send your visitors, to the taco section of your site.
Geo Targeting
Geo-Targeting means you want to display your ads to people in a specific geographical area. If you are advertising snowboards, you will want to geotarget your ads to cities or regions that have snow and/or skiing areas/resorts.
Device Targeting
With many different devices available, with device targeting, you decide in which device your ad should be displayed, whether on your mobile, personal tablet, or desktop. For example, if you are advertising an Android app, you wanna make sure only people on Android phones get your ad, as you don’t want to waste your hard-earned ad dollars on people on iPhones as they won’t be able to install your app.
Audience Targeting
This refers to targeting a specific group of people who share similar interests and therefore will have similar purchasing habits. Going back to the snowboard example, you might only display your ads to people who have expressed an interest in extreme sports and/or snow boots.
Ad Scheduling
Defines what days your ad will be displayed and at what times of the day. Depending on your audience’s online searching and purchasing habits you can determine the best time to show your ads. This might also make sense if you are running a campaign that invites the visitor to call you for a specific reason. You want to make sure your ad displays only when your business is open and someone will be available to pick up the phone.
Conversion Rate
This one is really important and if you are working with an agency, something you will want to pay attention month-to-month.
Placement
Refers to the place on the website where your ad is going to be located. It can be either on the header part of the web page or aligned to the right, you decide what works best.
Re-marketing
Also, know as cyber-stalking, Remarketing is a tactic that is highly underutilized. Re-marketing refers to displaying ads only to people who have visited your website. It can be even more specific and you can display ads only to people who made a specific action within your site, for example, placing something into their shopping cart on your website but that did not finish the checkout process. This is a hot lead that you want to close.
So, now what?
The availability to track all this information allows you to use the best methods of advertising to optimize your business. It is a matter of utilizing all of the tools available to you in order to achieve your business goals.
The online marketing world is a highly populated one, which only means that it is a very competitive one as well. In such a competitive environment, it is your job to make your business stand out from the crowd. It is a matter of advertising your business in the right place, at the right time, with the right strategies and tactics.
Want to learn more about search engine marketing and how it can help your business grow? Request a Free Consultation to see how we can help.
If you own a business and have an online presence, chances are you have heard the term SEO a few times. If you don’t know by now, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It serves as a marketing effort focused primarily on expanding visibility organically in search engine results. This is particularly important since search engines are the primary method of online navigation. Around 97% of consumers look online before buying a product or service; which can potentially help or hinder your business. When considering if SEO is the right move for your business consider this.
When it comes to online presence, Relevance is KEY.
What you have to understand as a business owner is that using SEO is as much a marketing tactic as a branding play. Through SEO you can specify how and where your customers can find you online. By researching keywords you can develop content that will attract people to your website and essentially create a larger online audience. The content you put out there on your website has a big impact on how search engines such as Google and Yahoo rank your website on search results. Having a prominent and relevant online presence not only gives you higher positioning and organic traffic but it automatically increases your credibility as a business.
The true merits of consistency for your website
However, you have to curate your website constantly, and carefully. It is a never ending process. Your website audience is dependent of your website content and your website content is dependent of the use of keywords which comes from correctly using SEO in your favor. Customers should feel like they are visiting a page that is current and up to date with the outside trends. Otherwise, they’ll simply go to a better and cooler website, a.k.a. the competition. This is the part where the lack of Search Engine Optimization can hinder your business. If you do not customize your website to what you have to offer or utilize all the tools available to you, your customer will not find you online.
Should I hire professional SEO Services?
No one can truly guarantee a #1 ranking on Google or a highly trafficked website, so be wary of people or companies who do or who email you out of the blue. However, there are a few things you can do to make sure your website attracts the right people. It all starts with deciding to use SEO to optimize your website.
The best way to accomplish this is by hiring professionals to help you apply your findings to your website. A professional SEO team can help you with: advanced keyword searches, content development, expertise in specific markets and geographies, and review of site content and structure. Sure, you can probably manage all of these. However, SEO agencies can also provide technical assistance which include, hosting, redirects, and error pages. All of which require more professional assistance, so much so that even Google hires professionals to help them with it.
Have more questions on how to optimize your webpage?
Contact us today!
If you own any kind of business, a website becomes an extension of that business. Through your website, you provide your clients with a strong professional online destination, where they can explore what your business has to offer them. Many will agree that not having a business website is representative of a missed opportunity, and having a bad website can actually be detrimental to your business.
Regardless of the type of business you own, having a website is a vital part of your business because it gives it a certain level of credibility. Nowadays, if your business does not have a website, it is not relevant. According to BIA/Kelsey and ConStat 97% of consumers look online before buying a product or service. With this in mind, the main question is: “Should I hire an agency to do my website or should I do it myself?”
When creating a website there are 5 main things to consider:
Time
Ask yourself, do you have the time to invest in creating your website? One of the first mistakes you can make is underestimating the process of creating a professional website. Consider the fact that creating, setting up, and populating a website can take a substantial amount of time out of your day to day business. From choosing a layout style, setting up a domain and linking it to the appropriate hosting provider, to constantly maintaining it afterward, your website needs constant care and attention.
Design Skills
Most people fail to realize how important content is. This may include but is not limited to, logo design, copy structure, and custom graphics creation. The “look” of your website reflects your business’ brand and communicates the type of business you are. Your logo alone represents a big part of your business’ image, it is what people will remember most. Using the right design programs to develop your logo and graphics has a real and direct impact on your business.
Writing Skills
Poorly written copy can have a negative impact on your business. In addition to what you communicate with the look of your website, you also have to ensure the information you provide your customer is understandable. The copy for your website has to describe your website’s purpose in a way that it keeps your clients interested.
Money
The key concern many business owners face is, “How much money am I willing to invest in a business’ website?” The idea of hiring a company to create a professional website for your business may seem a little bit daunting at first. But think of it this way, you are making a long-term investment that will directly and positively impact your business’ success. Pricing your website design and development can be subjective depending on the functionality of the website and what resources you decide to use. On average a professional website can be priced anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to a few thousand.
Technical Knowledge
Sure, you might opt for a drag and drop template; however, depending on the type of business you own and how it operates, you need to think ahead on the type of functionality you want your website to have. The more you require of your website, the more elaborate your website structure becomes. Hiring a professional team/company to help you create your business’ website can be the best option for you and your business. There is an invaluable merit to the vast knowledge and experience a professional website developer can provide to you.
In Conclusion
All in all, hiring a professional team to design and create your business’ website is the smartest and most practical decision you’ll make for your business. A team of professionals can provide you with the best techniques and latest formatting tools to make your website reflect the best of your business. By having a grade-A, professional looking and functioning website, you are ensuring your business’ stability and success for the future.
Ready to grow your business digitally? Contact us and together we’ll create a professional website that will do just that!
Our clients have been asking recently why is it that we are using HTTPS instead of HTTP on our websites and what the main difference is.
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a way in which your browser communicates with web servers. The main difference from regular HTTP is that it is secure. HTTPS encrypt all information sent to and from your computer and the web server. That’s why it is a requirement on e-commerce websites to protect your credit card data.
On 2014, Google announced it will use https as a ranking signal. This means it will give a small boost in search results to websites that implement HTTPS. Late last year, it announced again, that it will index HTTPS websites by default. Making HTTPS a bit more important. For this particular reason, Google has been promoting HTTPS everywhere.
Do you really need HTTPS?
It depends if you are going to accept any type of sensitive information such as credit card information, social security numbers, and/or sensitive business information, then yeah. You should use HTTPS. If not, then here is what to consider:
Advantages:
- A small Search Engine Ranking boost: This means that when someone is looking for specific information, with the implementation of HTTPS, your website would be the first choice for the user. HTTPS give your website that extra boost. This is can be considered part of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.
- Security: All information is encrypted, and it is also verified (integrity). This means that no-one can do a “man in the middle” attack, or pretend to be your website. This provides your business with guaranteed security and ease of mind.
- Trust: This is more of a psychologic factor. People might feel better doing business with a website that is encrypting all information. Assuring your clients of the security of their information allows you to build a business partnership based on trust.
Disadvantages:
- Cost: Even though the cost of SSL certificates (what you need to implement HTTPS) has dramatically decreased over the last few years, it will still increase your yearly web costs. You also need a static IP per parent domain, which incurs an extra cost.
- Speed: Even pretty much seamless, encryption information takes some time and processing power.
In general, we do recommend securing your site. It is a tool that will let you expand your business website and allow you to reach a wider audience.
Let us know if you have any questions or if you need help making your website secure.
You are just starting a new business and money may be tight… You may be tempted to create your own logo (or ask your cousin) in order to save a few bucks. You may think the fee for a professional logo design and branding is “too expensive”. But hold on a second: you should read this before you decide to “save” that money. There’s a few things you’ll want to consider.
Your business’ image is very important and, as the saying goes “First impressions always count”. The same is true for your logo and business image. People will make assumptions about your business just by looking at your logo, website, brochure, etc. Remember that a logo is more than just a pretty picture. It is a tool to send a message to your prospective clients about how the world is set to see your business. Good branding should make your company’s image memorable and recognizable. An amateur logo/branding may cost you way more than you think.
5 Reasons Professional Logo/Branding is a must.
- Your business may look unstable and unprofessional. As a result, clients may feel insecure and unsure about doing business with you. Would you do business with a company if you were not sure whether they would still be doing business by the end of the week?
- Your amateur logo/branding may confuse people about who you are as a business. Unprofessional and incoherent marketing materials send mixed signals to your prospective clients, and even make them think they are getting marketing materials from different companies. They may also think that you don’t care about the way your business looks and therefore the quality of your work.
- It can make you look as a very small business. What do you think about those free VistaPrint or template-based business cards? If your business cannot afford its own business cards and/or marketing materials and it has to go for the free or cheap ones, it might send the wrong message. The lower quality materials may make it appear that you are not getting business through the door, and that you cannot perform or meet what it is required.
- It may just go completely wrong. We’ve all seen logos that are just completely wrong. Just type “Logos gone wrong” into your favorite internet search engine. If something like this happens to your business reputation, the amount of time and money that you will spend “fixing” your image will be way more than it would have been if you got professional logo design in first place.
These are just a few reasons why you should get professional logo design and branding for your business. Instead of spending hours thinking about what to do and figuring out how to do it, you should spend your time running your business and creating your more important asset: a client base.
If you have never designed a logo, a website, business cards, or other marketing material, and it is not part of the services your business will be offering, please don’t start now. Statistics show that half of new businesses fail in the first five years. Experts say that a common reason is sloppy and ineffective marketing. You will spend an awful amount of time learning how to do it and getting it right, instead of getting more clients and expanding your business.
Not convinced about your current logo? Do you need a new logo and marketing materials? Contact us so we can help you grow your business.
This is the second of a series of guest blog posts by Don Baumgardt about taking his business from a mostly print-based business to a digital business.
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Six years ago I launched the first version of GeoBetty.com. The “plan” was to create a web site with outdoor hiking and biking info for El Paso and the surrounding region. Because I still had a full time job this effort never received enough attention. Goals, plans and resources were limited. Still, between the online version and a paper trail map that followed, I built a following of outdoor enthusiasts in the area.
Now it’s time to put nearly full time efforts in to building this business. One component of the new and improved GeoBetty is a completely new version of the GeoBetty.com web site with a contemporary design using today’s technology, not the ancient tools from just six years ago. So much has changed in just a few years. The site has to work well using present technology and for a high percentage of users on mobile devices.
With help from the team at Phidev I developed lists of what the various user groups of the site want to find. My job is to think about who to reach, what to say and and where we can build value. Only value will lead to long term success and revenue.
Locals need details on routes to hike and ride as well as info on upcoming events. To keep them coming back we need to create a site that attracts and repeatedly engages the local outdoor adventure community.
Visitors and potential visitors to the region need more than just the content locals want. These adventurers also require details on how to get to and around the region. It’s GeoBetty’s job to make them choose the El Paso Southwest as a destination and help them maximize the enjoyment of their trip. Travelers also need advice on other local activities along with where to stay, shop and dine.
Goals, Goals and more Goals
The goal is to have a site that has travel advice for El Paso and surrounding destinations in southern New Mexico and west Texas. This gives our audience more options on where to go. And, it gives us a larger list of potential advertising partners, including chambers of commerce, gear shops, lodgers, etc. in a bigger geographic area.
At our most recent meeting with Phidev we reviewed my outlines of what information needs to be at the site. Now I get to sit and relax (or go for a mountain bike ride or two) and wait for them to come back with a plan of how the site will look and function.
This is the first of a series of guest blog posts by Don Baumgardt about taking his business from a mostly print-based business to a digital business.
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I love mountain biking. I’d rather be out there in the wilderness, sweating and hoping not to fall into a cactus, than doing just about anything else. Six years ago I started using ever-simpler GPS technology to map El Paso area trails. It wasn’t long before I realized was compiling information that no one else had and that maybe I could make a little money from my hobby. Who wouldn’t like that?
Phidev built my first GeoBetty.com web site 5 years ago. Back then, it allowed me to share trail info with others and to see if I could get paid to ride. I didn’t have much of a plan for the site. I was really only worried about bringing in enough revenue to cover my costs (bike gear, camping gear and beer did become costs). I made a few dollars off of the site with little in the way of a long term plan. Plus, I had a lot of other work keeping me too busy to make this anymore than just a hobby.
Into a Journey
In 2015, I decided that I’d put enough years into my last career and it was time to spend more time doing what I wanted. I put my business casual clothes away and decided that hiking and mountain biking clothes were all I wanted to wear. I’m going to turn this obsession into a paying gig! This year, GeoBetty has gone through the steps necessary to obtain permits to lead guided hikes and/or mountain bike rides in Franklin Mountains State Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. We also have a map and (outdated) web site of El Paso trail info.
Now I need to decide who I’m trying to reach with this hope for a more grown-up venture. Where I can provide value for which people will give me real money?
Whenever I talked with Ares at Phidev about what I wanted to do, one of the firsts things he would ask was, “what are your goals, Don?”. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have a very good answer at first. He mentioned, that not having a clear goal is a reason why so many websites fail. So, I wrote a mission statement to help me visualize what I wanted GeoBetty to become:
GeoBetty Mission
To be the definitive source for outdoor adventure information, inspiration and experiences in far west Texas and southern New Mexico. Helping locals find and participate in seeing new sights and experiencing new challenges. Helping visitors make decisions to come to the region and maximizing the enjoyment of their trips. And, helping businesses who can assist these adventurers – destinations, gear retailers, fitness and nutrition companies, etc, – reach them.
Now I have a better idea who my target audiences are and what some of the possible revenue streams might be. To succeed we need to:
- Attract people willing to pay us to take them on tours in the area.
- Provide trail and related information to help locals and visitors explore on their own.
- Tell a larger audience what is so great about the outdoors in the El Paso Southwest.
- Build a community (on the trail and online) for outdoor enthusiasts.
- And, we need to do these things well enough that businesses are willing to be paid to affiliate with us.
One of my next tasks is to build the the team that will help me create this business and to come up with the procedures and guidelines to build a scalable outdoor adventure business. Another is to help build demand for such a business in a town where the great outdoors are not highly valued
Lastly, I need to market this business. This story will be about how we plan and implement that marketing effort. Especially the digital portion that involves the services of Phidev. I’m excepting a great adventure – outdoors and indoors in the coming years.
Once an open source system becomes so popular as WordPress very often it becomes vulnerable to attacks. I wonder why the folks at WordPress have not done anything to enhance the security of the admin site, which, by default, you can access by going to /wp-admin.
According to a recent study by Clutch, a business-to-business (B2B) research firm, 46% of small businesses do not have a website. Unfortunately, a big chunk of the other 54% has a website that is hurting them more than it is helping. The problem is that these businesses do not have a professionally developed website, and not only do people see it, but they also judge the business based on it and determine whether they have had a previous interaction with it. Subconsciously, we think, if their website is bad (or even, very bad), then how good can their product or service can be?
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We were approached by the Hunt Institute to come up with their new web design. After a few years from their inception and of the same website, they were ready to refresh their online home to reflect what they are: A First-Class research institution.
The main idea of the redesign was to bring a clean fresh look to their web design while allowing people to easily find all the great data the institute produces. At Phidev, we loved the challenge of combining multiple audiences and demographics into one responsive website experience. Through research and combining new technologies, we produced a site focused on the user experience as well as providing the interaction to help facilitate finding all the information the Hunt Institute Produces. We also allowed them to easily create events and RSVP forms, turning their website into a more complete business tool.
What we’ve done:
Responsive Web Design / WordPress CMS Integration / Custom Programing
Responsive Web Design
We designed the site to work without a problem over multiple devices and screen sizes and resolutions. Users need the abiliy to look up for information easily, because of this, we made sure all databases from their research are also easily available and that they look great on all screens.
WordPress CMS Integration
We designed the site to work without a problem over multiple devices and screen sizes and resolutions. Users need the abiliy to look up for information easily, because of this, we made sure all databases from their research are also easily available and that they look great on all screens.
