by Marianna Muscat | Dec 19, 2019 | Website Design
Your website is the heart of your business. It is where consumers go to learn more about you, explore what you have to offer and size you up against your competition. As such, it makes sense to pay close attention to the quality of the user experience that your website is providing. One way in which to do that? By keeping up with, and implementing, the latest web design trends. Here is a look at some of the hottest web design trends for 2020 and beyond.
Personalisation
One way to ensure that your brand comes across as relatable via your website is to personalise it as much as possible. In order to do this, you will need to understand your various types of consumers by creating buyers’ personas and then creating specific, personalised content for those personas.
Voice User Interface
Voice search using Google has been growing in popularity for a long time now. 2020 web design should seek to take advantage of this widespread preference and implement voice search functionality on the website itself. It is also important to take note of how consumers are phrasing their voice search queries. Then, factor this information into your website’s SEO.
Chatbots
Chatbots were a massive web design trend of 2019, and they are certain to continue to dominate throughout 2020. They not only offer a greater sense of personalisation and provide the illusion of an ‘always-on’ approach to doing business, but they also save your business time and money by reducing the need for a large customer support team.
Minimalism
The functionality of a website is imperative, but aesthetics play a role too. Next year, do your best to keep your website interface clean and simple. Yes, minimalism is still the only way to go.
Need help with creating an incredible website from scratch or with a website redesign? Contact the experts at WSI OMS!
by Marianna Muscat | Dec 12, 2019 | Digital Media Marketing
Digital marketing is a wonderful medium for showcasing fashion and new insights from Facebook paint a picture of how online marketing is shaping how consumers find and purchase products. According to a survey done with 1 729 participants in the US, consumers want a personal touch, they are convinced by individualised engagements with brands both online and in-store, and they seek authentic interactions.
How Digital Marketing Is Shaping the Shopping Experience
Targeting specific audiences with tailored content is the way to earn loyalty when it comes to the fashion-conscious buyer. 72% of US fashion shoppers say that some form of personalisation in the process increases their chance of purchasing an item. 43% of 18 to 34-year olds react positively when brands speak to consumers through similar values and morals.
In societies that encourage self-expression, shoppers want to feel like individuals, and they will reward brands who oblige them in this search.
Although many shoppers still make purchases in-store, their mobile devices are always at the ready, inspiring and informing their choices. 23% of surveyed shoppers compare products using their mobile devices, and 28% of shoppers use their devices to look for discount codes. The key take-away for marketers should be to use digital marketing to create a seamless experience that starts with showcasing a product and ends with purchasing of said product. To get ahead, retailers should fast-track online purchasing processes to meet shoppers when they are ready to make a purchase.
The age of the influencer is here and according to the survey, almost one in three people are influenced by people they follow on social media. These interactions need to be authentic, and influencers need to be relatable to earn trust. Over half of the surveyed shoppers who follow influencers say they have made purchases based on the recommendation of an influencer.
The important part of authentic interactions is the give and take of the exchange. Consumers follow influencers not only for their recommendations on purchases, but also because they are entertaining, they teach their followers tips and tricks as well as inspire their followers.
The future use of digital marketing in the fashion industry seems secure, but marketers need to understand that the impact of social media, influencers and quality content cannot be underestimated. Shoppers are seeking a deeper, more integrated experience that translates from ‘want’ to ‘have’ seamlessly and digital marketing can facilitate this process as long as the individual shopper is kept front of mind.
by Marianna Muscat | Dec 10, 2019 | Website Development
You’ve recently commissioned a web developer to assist with building your new website. At the face of it, your site is aesthetically pleasing. However, you are not attracting any website traffic or leads. Web development may not be your forte and, furthermore, you don’t necessarily understand the ins-and-outs of what happens behind the scenes, which makes meetings harder. If it makes you feel any better, you are probably just one of the many business owners who are dissatisfied with their websites.
How Do I Know It’s Time to Strategize?
If you can identify with at least one of the common complaints below, it’s time to strategize:
- Your website’s content is poor.
- Your website is not unique, which means your customers won’t be able to differentiate between your website and your competitor’s website.
- Your website is hard to navigate.
- Your website is slow to load on different devices and browsers.
- Your website is not secure, it is unstable and/or expensive to maintain.
How Do I Avoid Issues Down the Line?
To avoid issues down the line, we’ve listed three important key steps for your website development project:
- Set Clear Goals for Your Website
Make a list of the priorities for your website, and ensure that your web development team is on the same page as you to avoid any misunderstandings. You need to establish what you want to achieve and by when, providing everyone with strict outcomes and deadlines.
Whether your website is being developed in-house or you’ve outsourced the project, you should ask for a written proposal before starting on the project. Take the time to read through the proposal carefully, making sure you understand all the content (it is important to ask questions if you don’t understand a certain point or section). The proposal needs to specify your project’s deadline, the scope of work, the roles and responsibilities as well as the approach and the detailed work plan.
Don’t forget to request and to review the web developer’s credentials, experience and reputation before making a final decision. The cheaper quote may not always the better option.
- Assign Someone to Manage Your Website Project
If you don’t have the time to completely focus on your project, consider engaging a project manager who will handle everything for you, especially if you lack the technical skills. He or she will oversee your project on a day-to-day basis, providing the necessary leadership and decision making required.
Post launching your website, have you given thought to who will be managing and maintaining your website on a regular basis? Assigning an internal project manager or an outsourced project manager would be recommended.
Careful planning, communication and attention to detail are critical to the success of your website. So, if you have any questions about web development projects, feel free to contact us for more information.
by Marianna Muscat | Dec 2, 2019 | PPC, SEO
Is your ultimate digital marketing goal to increase your reach when it comes to your local community? This is definitely a worthwhile objective as a focus on local search is known to boost conversions.
In order to master the art of targeting locals in your area, you will need to not only understand how the local search algorithm works, but you will also have to adjust your website’s SEO and PPC strategy accordingly. Here are the facts that you need to know.
Location
Ultimately, the biggest factor in Google’s local search algorithm is where your business is actually located. Scroll down to the bottom of a page on your website and it will often list a zip code that Google thinks you are in.
Reputation
Your local search rankings are certain to improve as your online reputation grows. The best way to boost this reputation is through your SEO efforts, such as creating authoritative content, engaging with your customers on social media, and ensuring that your website offers a magnificent user experience. The reviews that you receive online are also certain to make a difference.
Keywords
It can be very helpful to use your location as a keyword in any new content that you produce. This signals to Google that you are serious about pleasing your local customers. And, in so doing you are likely to appear more prominently in relevant Google searches by people residing in the area. A good rule of thumb is to include your location in your meta title/page title, meta description, as well as in the first and last paragraphs of your content.
Mastering the art of local search and content marketing is no easy feat, hence the reasons why countless businesses rely on the digital marketing experts at WSI OMS to do it for them. As a leading digital marketing agency with an international reputation, we are ready to help get your business noticed online! Contact us today for details.
by Marianna Muscat | Nov 21, 2019 | Digital Media Marketing
In today’s rapidly changing world, digital transformation is no longer an option for business. Yet, with digital at the heart of all things marketing today, there is no guarantee that business will survive this fast-paced modern industry either. It is a fine line to cross, and a workforce who is oblivious to these changes can be crippling to any organisation.
In a recent global survey published by The Economist Group and the Digital Marketing Group (Perpetual Evolution: The Interplay of Talent and Technology in the Future of Marketing), research highlights a dire shortage of critical skills and talent within this space. Based on interviews with more than five hundred international marketing executives, the report indicates that 74% of marketing executives are of the belief that the marketing industry faces a critical talent shortage of digital experience, marketing experience and soft skills needed to meet customers’ increasing demands.
The marketers identified ‘customer experience’, ‘strategy and planning / brand management’ and ‘data and analytics’ as crucial to their organisations’ success and business performance.
The survey further points out that many of these marketers will need to place a strong emphasis on recruitment and reskilling of their existing workforce equally.
With global marketing struggling to ‘future-proof’ organisations during this skill shortage, business needs to become diligent about ongoing employee development and agile teams in order to easily adapt to this constant digital evolution.
Need help with your copywriting, social media or digital marketing strategies? Then contact WSI OMS today.
