Author Archives: SEO

Content Management Systems (CMS) and Website Builders: Tools to Jump Start Your Business

Leave a reply
Content Management Systems

In a digital world where everything from dating to job hunting happens online, any business needs to have an online presence to capture the market. And how do you have your business online? Well, we have to thank the technology which has gifted us with website builders and content management systems. The importance of website builders and content management systems remains high for giving businesses remarkable virtual visibility.

These tools give you the mechanism supplied with instructions for presenting your business info, products, or services virtually. Continue reading to explore further about these tools and some great options for developing websites and posting content online.

Understanding Content Management Systems

As the name shows, content management systems let you manage your online content. But if you concentrate on the specifics, you can know more about these management systems. By management, we refer to the task of developing content and modifying as per your convenience in websites without any technical know-how through these systems.

You don’t need to learn or develop code on these management platforms to build an online platform or website for posting blogs, business services, or products online. After making an account with email-based registration, you get access to a user-friendly interface and write content there, just like you do in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. You can make the content live so viewers can access it online. Online viewers get to see the published content displayed on a website provided by the service package of content management systems.

Here, it’s necessary to mention that the subscription package you take determines the extensiveness of the CMS service. You can get basic features like a content creation facility and post with a free or basic package. With a premium package, you get features like Word Ads and a free domain.

Despite all differences due to package types and among different CMS, you get the following common features in a CMS.

  • Developing content and publishing it online
  • Storage facility for your content
  • Image or video insertion
  • SEO insights or content analysis reports
  • Content optimization

Understanding Website Builders

A website builder has integrated a lot of ease and convenience into the task of developing websites. As told by Forbes and other online reports found elsewhere, using website builders is pretty convenient if you lack coding experience. You can create websites having your choice of templates. Further, the working process of developing a website is pretty easy.

Using custom themes and templates, you start the web building through these tools. Then, you can edit the selected template with drag-and-drop editors. You can enter content in the developed site and edit the content specifications like text and image size. So, you can modify the appearance of your page just the way you want.

But, inbuilt features in the website builders do come with limitations. You may want certain swipe features on your website, but your selected builder doesn’t offer the feature. The flexibility of changing the elements in the website varies among website builders. But, certain features given below are commonly provided by these building tools.

  • Drag and drop interface
  • Website modification
  • Hosting and domain
  • Content update facility
  • Storage facility for video, image, and text content
  • Mobile adaptiveness
  • SEO insights

Further, most website builders offer the facility of integrating applications sourced from third-party and not from the builder you are using. These third-party integrations include shopping carts, subscription forms, and social media feeds, to name a few.

Difference between Content Management Systems and Website Builders

Both content management systems and website builders are common tools used by bloggers, web developers, and people in the tech industry. With these two tools, you can make your dream of making e-commerce platforms come true. Such is the technological power of these software tools.

However, certain facilities like content creation and publishing are common among CMS and website builders. That necessitates knowing how much alike or different they are. The primary purpose of using CMS lies in managing content, from its creation to its deletion and editing.

On the other hand, the main purpose of website builders involves developing a site from scratch within less time. Considering the intricate differences, you can consider website builders as all-in-one platforms. But you can never expect a CMS to behave comprehensively.

Like, you can get web-hosting facilities in website builders, which cannot be found in most content management systems. So you need to have third-party hosting with self-hosted CMS.

Further, you can differentiate between website builders and CMS in terms of customization. You can expect more options to customize a site and its content with CMS. But, despite having many options for features, a website builder needs a higher degree of customization.

Since a CMS looks and functions not as full-fledged as a site builder, the cost of using CMS software is lower comparatively. But once you add plugins like for SEO or email subscriptions, you have a higher budget.

Tools Which Function as Both Content Management Systems and Website Builders

 

WordPress

You can get confused between wordpress.org and wordpress.com. The former offers a self-hosted solution, while the latter gives a hosting platform. Despite the differences, the software for both tools is the same.

You can consider the said tool as a CMS and site builder. Starting from a niche you are passionate about to business websites, this tool lets you manage content in a website successfully. Importantly you can get SEO insights to optimize your site content and have it ready and running without investing major time. But adding plugins does take some understanding and time, and obviously money, to make your site fully adaptive for getting accessed and used by virtual viewers.

Drupal

With this tool, you can optimize the front-end and back-end and integrate plugin tools. The tool’s function relies on the LAMP stack involving the Linux operating system, Apache web server, MySQL database, and PHP scripting language.

Drupal is notably apt for different types of content, including videos and webinar pages. You can access a wider market section here with improved customization and market insights. Thus, you can expect a lot of flexibility if you wish to give your business a powerful online presence.

Furthermore, the mentioned tools come with many themes useful for building sites. You can get a guide for developing menus in site navigation from the official site.

Joomla

This tool integrates the facilities for site building and content management. For building sites here, you can get many templates with responsive functions. The responsive feature comes in handy if you are trying to tap into the market section, which uses mobile phones to view content.

Plus, you can get plugins and modules here that aid in improving the site’s look and optimizing your content performance. Thus, one can get a responsive website with optimized web content and a seamless management experience. However, using Joomla can get easier with prior background in web development.

Shopify

This tool is a software-as-a-service platform with subscription plans. It can be considered a content management system considering you can post and manage content here. But you can’t satisfy all your content requirements here. You can add product details here; the software lets you add simple blogs. That is helpful for e-commerce businesses. No wonder any website builders company in India and other parts of the world with e-commerce clients benefit through handling the expertise of this platform.

But you can’t add diverse content here, for which you need a full-fledged CMS. With Shopify, you can build e-commerce sites, but that facility also comes with limited advantages. You need a robust site builder for developing highly-optimized sites.

Magento

With open-source technology, the tool lets you enjoy the seamless experience of managing e-commerce content. Thanks to its multiple tools and features, you can give your viewers an excellent shopping experience. Thanks to its catalog management and SEO insights, this tool allows you to run marketing campaigns.

Moreover, e-commerce businesses need to gain the advantage of getting flexibility in online platforms. But with the mentioned tool, you can optimize your eCommerce business present in a site just the way you want. Plus, you can enjoy faster loading speed and more extensions here.

However, this software is best suited for creating and managing content and developing pages for online stores.

BigCommerce

Despite the tool’s dual function of content management and site-building, it is technically founded as a software-as-a-service platform. With BigCommerce’s drag-and-drop website builder and SEO tools, you can accomplish web-building tasks here for your e-commerce business. Further, you can use the tool as a content management system. The tool offers catalog management, inventory processing, and product categorization suitable for online businesses or stores.

However, the tool lacks an abandoned cart feature that facilitates giving email reminders to customers with items in their cart but having no purchase action. The cart feature is available in the Plus plan or other sophisticated subscription plans.

Sitecore

This tool acts as a comprehensive resource for content management and website building. With its versatile tools and customization options, you can have your site ready and running for many purposes, starting from hobby blogs to professional businesses. Plus, the tool comes with numerous support tools and resources, which are great for first-timers on the platform.

Furthermore, the cloud management in Sitecore aids in giving an optimized experience for your customers. Cloud integration helps make streamlined content for eCommerce, like online stores aiming to boost sales. Notably, you can make customer interactions hassle-free and productive with the engagement cloud.

Webflow

Whether you’re the owner of an enterprise or a prolific blogger, you can create amazing websites with Webflow. This visual website editor tool helps you design, build, and launch responsive websites. It’s a combination of the powers of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript without any need to learn them. Your main attention should be on the front-end design and trial to make it look even better.

The mentioned tool is for those designers who want to create the latest websites with CMS in an attempt to design many content pages, or who targets active community support to troubleshoot any issue as quickly as possible, and also for those who try to make a fast website to retain users for long. Diving deep into the benefits, firstly, we need to say that the software allows editing and designing from the grassroots level. It will allow its users to customize codes in an attempt to change the layouts according to their choices.

Secondly, with the tool’s help, you can create a responsive and mobile-ready web design; hence, it’s also operative from smartphones. Further, you can also launch your CMS with content-specific designs. The tool comes with a visual content management system.  You can customize your e-commerce store and opt for interactive eCommerce experiences and animations in your voice. Further, you may also illustrate your texts, images, and features by using Webflow product fields. Finally, you are introduced to world-class speed, customer trust, and considerable security here.

Some Examples of Content Management Systems

Contentful

This represents a versatile content management tool. With this tool, you can optimize your content and post it at your convenience and ease. The said headless management system for content offers features for scaling resources through effective content building.

Moreover, even experienced content developers face a steep learning curve when using new CMS. But, contentful owing to its headless nature, gives an easy learning experience for new users.

Notably, it makes content management smoother with easy to use editor interface. Plus, you can enjoy faster page loading times and easy editing features here.

HubSpot CMS

Hubspot CMS is a content management system that gives you the basic framework to build a successful website. It has been specifically designed to deliver unmatched marketing and sales support. You can build your website from scratch with the help of HubSpot or choose from the library of templates and themes. If you’re looking to custom develop your website, you need to understand HubL, which is HubSpot’s custom coding language.

There are a large number of benefits that HubSpot CMS provides. Firstly, it provides exceptional speed, a functionality built right into the system, and is usually not found in other open-source CMS systems. Secondly, it is known for providing grade-A data security. It also ranks at the top for its first-class stability and unparalleled data and analytics integration.

Kentico

Kentico is a web content management system that is versatile enough and is used for building feature-rich business websites, intranets, and e-commerce stores. The said CMS mainly uses ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL servers for development through its Portal Engine, Visual Studio, or via Microsoft MVC. It is compatible with Microsoft Azure. It is a fully customizable web content management system and e-commerce platform with several online marketing capabilities like web analytics, personalization, lead scoring, and marketing automation. Plus, it also provides internal intranet and workgroup collaboration solutions.

Speaking further, Kentico‘s A/B testing functionality allows marketers to test unlimited page variants and look up messages and designs that lead to improved conversions. The tool helps content developers and marketers in real-time monitoring of tests and also assists them in optimizing without routing through developers. Its integrated email marketing feature allows you to create newsletters and email campaigns, write and send marketing emails, manage recipients, and track and monitor emails.  Most importantly, the mentioned CMS tool is also easy to use and quick. It is extensible, scalable as well as customizable. It provides first-class security and world-class out-of-box functionality.

Ghost

Ghost was officially released in 2013 and served as a free Open-source CMS platform. JavaScript is basically used for the writing part, and it’s distributed under the MIT license. Coming to the main benefit, its main focus is on simplifying the online publishing process for entrepreneurs, developers, and publishers. As it’s a non-profit organization, it cannot be either bought or sold, and its fund comes from customer subscription revenue. Coming to it is site management features, we may discuss a few things. Like it manages custom 301 and 302 redirects to detect old URLs and map them to new locations. Plus, you can publish in any language or multi-languages with the said tool.

The software also has the most simple user interface. The users’ “websites” metadata can also be directly linked to the social accounts. When discussing the publishing workflow, we should say that Ghost allows the users to override the generated URLs by default. The organization of your content gets simplified when you get the scope of using dynamic tags and can add internal tags too. Discussing the Developer API part, it can be characterized as a Headless CMS that comes with custom storage adapters. Moreover, you get to choose the database. Its security features are amazing as it features XSS Prevention and Brute-force Protection, where user login attempts are continually scanned with NSP.

Some Great Examples of Website Builders

Squarespace

This tool is marketed as a website builder with a simple tagline “create a website” found on the official site. You can get beautiful templates that let you enjoy flexibility while developing sites, making the tool a favorite for website builders companies in India and other sections of the world. You can select any design from multiple templates per your professional demand.

Moreover, the tool lets you manage a site for many purposes, from running a business to a blog for a hobby. Importantly, if you establish yourself as a freelancer or consultant, you can use Squarespace to make a portfolio website. With insights on traffic sources and the tool’s commerce analytics, you get apt leverage to optimize your site performance.

Wix

You can build amazing websites using Wix with an easy drag-and-drop interface and above 800 templates. Importantly, this tool lets you integrate more than 300 third-party apps. Combine all these features with the software’s SEO tools; you get a site ready for going live and the potential to boost site rankings.

However, you need to be careful here with template selection. Once you select a template and your site goes live, you cannot change or swap your template with another option. Another shortcoming of this website builder is that you can’t track site traffic with free or combo subscriptions.

Weebly

This represents one of the most affordable and effective website builders on the market. Starting from a professional business site to an online selling store, this tool lets you manage diverse tasks. Moreover, its easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature enables you to develop any site without undergoing a hardcore learning process. Plus, you get responsive themes and the ability to switch between HTML/CSS editors.

Importantly, here you can use passwords to protect your site. And that gives you the ultimate security you need. No wonder this tool has been becoming the favorite of every type of website builders company in India and other regions of the globe.

Final Thoughts

Content management systems and website builders are so indispensable you can only imagine presenting your business online with these tools. Even without coding knowledge, you can develop sites and publish content virtually. In today’s world, you can get many tools like Weebly, Joomla, and Drupal, to name a few, for making sites and posting content.

Certain tools like Magento and Shopify contain features unsuitable for managing sites and content for large-scale or robust businesses or blogs. But, if you need simple features for running your e-commerce business, these mentioned tools are more suited and simplified.

The names mentioned here for CMS and website building integrate ease in making your brand visible online. However, the tools vary in customization features and subscription plans. Select a tool that meets your professional need and budget.

Building Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

Leave a reply
Building-Progressive-Web-Apps

Since its introduction by Google in 2015, progressive web apps or PWAs have been quite popular among developers. The need for developing mobile apps is beyond questions today, and native, cross-platform has existed for quite some time. However, the approach of PWAs has brought some unique benefits.

The techniques of developing PWAs use web stacks like CSS, HTML, and JS to emulate the look and user experience of native applications. In addition, similar to native applications, PWAs promise rich functionality.

PWAs are also preferred because the apps developed using a specific code base are compatible with various devices, or these apps come with cross-platform compatibility. Once you download and install PWAs on your device, you can add them to the home screen and click on them to get redirected to the website. To explain further, with PWAs, you can expect the best experience by combining the experience of visiting a web page and using a mobile application.

In this article, we will talk about how to build progressive web apps. But before that, we will discuss the standout features and technical components of these apps.

Excellent Features of Progressive Web Apps

Though progressive web apps emulate the look and experience of native applications, these have truly unique features.

Push Notifications

Progressive web apps can keep users occupied by sending push notifications. These notifications are ideal for informing users of the latest offers and discounts and creating a sense of FOMO. Further, these messages help boost sales by promoting various products and services. In addition, push messages to make a user more interested in opening and using a particular application.

Full-Screen Loading

PWAs usually open in a standalone mode, offering an app-like interface. But with full-screen modals and changes in loading operations, progressive web apps can be loaded as full-screen apps. This is especially essential when you are using the apps on devices with smaller screens.

Offline Functionality

These applications enable an interface or application shell for caching strategies. So, these applications can load essential and varying information every time they are re-opened. With progressive web apps, you don’t need to enter vital and changeable information like payment history, shopping cart, avatars, and messages, every time you return. Thus, you get to enjoy an improved user experience (UX)even in offline mode.

So, even if your internet connection is disrupted or the speed is down, you can easily use these apps.

HTTPS Security

Progressive web apps come with improved security as these come with HTTPs extensions. Accessing the content is difficult for a hacker or unauthorized users.

Responsive Design

Progressive enhancement strategies or principles are used in developing progressive web apps. So, your browser cannot impact your interaction with the website. Further, the quality of your connection will have no role in determining how you interact with the applications.

At the same time, PWAs are responsive and hence meant for devices with varying screen sizes. So, you will get the same experience while using your mobile, tablet, or personal computer.

Automatic Updates

These applications can get updated independently, making using them more convenient. At the same time, with Web APIs and modular architecture, updates of these applications become free of risks.

Easy Installation and Accessibility

Search engines identify PWAs as applications, but these apps are not distributed through app stores. Further, as these applications are distributed in URL forms, they are discovered without any hassle. As a user, you have to visit a website and add the application to your device’s home screen.

You can click on the application whenever you want to use it.

Use of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for Fast Load Times

Due to the use of AMP or accelerated mobile pages in PWAs, these get uploaded very fast. Further, when the apps get loaded fast, the user experience is improved naturally. Again, as speed is an important factor for Google in ranking, AMPs offering better speed become essential in the SEO optimization of these apps.

Technical Components of Progressive Web Apps

The technical components of PWAs determine how performance optimization can be done for these applications. These apps are based on four technical elements: Service Workers, Web Manifest, Transport Layer Security or TLS, and Application Shell Architecture.

Service Workers

Features like push messages, background sync, and offline working mode come in PWAs because of Service Worker. This technical element is essentially a JavaScript file that runs differently from the PWAs. Further, the Service Worker sends responses to interactions between the application and users. These responses include network requests coming from pages the PWA serves.

Web Manifest

The native-app-like interface of a PWA comes from Web Manifest. In other words, with Web App Manifest, a web developer can decide how a user sees the app display and the way it can be launched.

It is a JSON file; with it, a web developer can get a “centralized place” for the metadata of the PWA. The short and full name of the PWA, starting URL, the type, location, size, and links to icons are included in the manifest. Further, a web developer can decide on the address bar’s color theme and splash screen. A developer needs to connect the manifest with a single link in all the headers of website pages for the application of these settings.

Transport Layer Security

These applications work with the security protocol of TLS or Transport Layer Security. This protocol ensures that data exchange between two PWAs is strong and safe. For data integrity, the website should be served through HTTPs, and an SSL certificate should be installed on a server.

Application Shell Architecture

The development and maintenance of PWAs cover fetching static content from dynamic content. The application shell architecture consists of core design elements; thus, the application continues to work even offline. In addition, as a renowned progressive web apps development company in India, this application shell architecture works well with JavaScript-heavy applications.

How PWAs are Built

PWAs are created using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript programming languages. Further, these are distributed with the help of web servers. While developing a PWA, we deploy the application on a server that can be accessed through HTTPS. These web servers have back-end and front-end codes.

Back-end codes are like endpoints that any progressive web app needs. These codes let you content stored in the server database. However, it’s wise to note that depending on the app, you may not even need server-side endpoints. The app runs on an installed device, cutting the need to require server-side data.

On the other hand, front-end codes include the tools like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript required for app installation on a device. HTML is required for app content description, including text, pictures, or call-to-action buttons that appear on the site.

Further, CSS lets you put HTML content in the app layout. JavaScript is required to make user interactions possible in the interface. Apart from coding elements like HTML, you require a JSON manifest file to let you connect your application with the host operating system.

The components involved in front-end and back-end code remain connected to bring the comprehensive functional integrity of the app. Explore the below steps to get a sneak peek into the development of PWAs.

Taking Care of the Web Server

Users can access PWAs through web servers. So, it’s wise to start the work with the development of a web server. You can start a local server by making a new folder using the command prompt and Node.js library combined.

Furthermore, you need to take care of the HTTPS URL where you need to publish your app as soon as it goes live. If your selected host doesn’t offer HTTPS by default, you can choose to serve your website in App services that include HTTPS. GitHub page is another alternative with HTTPS support for hosting your website.

Developing the Start Page of the App

People get to see the first page when they open your app. So, you need to start bringing content to your web server by making the app start page. In this step, you must utilize the folder contents you created in the first step.

Make a new file and write the codes based on the app you are developing. Obviously, the code components differ based on the app function. For example, in a food delivery app, the content is different from the code used in developing the temperature converter. After completing the file, save it with a name and view it on the web server.

Web App Manifest Making

The app you are developing can run on the browser. But, it requires a web app manifest so that it can be installed. Web App Manifest, the JSON file, contains crucial details about the app, including name, icons, and description.

Make a new file containing the metadata details and add an icon image. The added code connects the web app manifest file to the site.

Creating the User Interface of the Progressive Web App

We will build the main application’s functionality once the progressive web app has a start page and web app manifest file. At first, we create the HTML code and paste it into the index.html file. Then, we make use of the JavaScript code so that the converter starts working. For loading the JavaScript file, we have to reopen the index.html and paste the right code just after the closing tag.

Next, it’s time to add the CSS style to the application and make it very attractive. To add CSS style, we create a new converter.css file and add the code. Further, we reopen the index.html file for referencing the new CSS file with the addition of proper coding within the head tag.

Finally, we visit http://localhost:8080 to see the app before making it installable.

Adding Service Worker

Once you hire us as the progressive web apps development company in India, we will take special care of adding service workers. This technical element is very important to make the PWA fast and functional even if the network condition is poor or completely disrupted.

Service workers are web workers with some specialization. They block the network requests sent from a PWA to offer offline functionality, advanced caching, and continuing background tasks. The background tasks cover getting push notifications, adding badges to the icon of the application, and acquiring from the server.

Installing the PWA

Your PWA already has a service worker and web app manifest at this stage. So, now the app can be installed using supporting browsers.

Final Thoughts

Rich in features and various technical elements, PWAs are great for app development at a lesser cost. Further, these applications ensure better engagement of the users, convenient and safe application updates, and hassle-free installation. So, if you want to get PWAs built for your business, contact Dream Logo Design, your trusted progressive web apps development company in India. We do Lighthouse auditing of every PWA to be sure of its performance.

Responsive Design: Why It’s Essential for Your Website

Leave a reply
Responsive Design

Developing a website with a combination of content and pictures is not sufficient to get a good flow of web traffic. A responsive design is a strategy that you shouldn’t miss whether you want to promote your blog or business. But what does it actually mean to have a responsive webdesign?

To get a web responsive design, the webpage needs to have certain criteria that make the use of the website convenient and hassle-free. Let’s explore in detail what makes a website responsive, the causes of getting a responsive pattern, and some useful FAQs.

Responsive Design Company

What do we understand by Responsive Design?

The website design, when it becomes responsive, includes certain building elements in text arrangement, page size, and content display. Without getting into the nitty-gritty details of coding mechanisms, we can say these coding and building elements used while making the web pages generate responsiveness and adaptability to external changes.

What kind of external changes are we referring to? Let’s say you have come across a webpage that looks quite nice and easy to use on your desktop.

But whenever you access the same webpage on your mobile, the image and overall layout fail to adjust with the screen, giving you poor visibility and user experience. That shows the incompatibility of the page that comes from design elements to behave accordingly with the changed screen parameters.

Making the webpage responsive involves all web contents starting from text arrangements to design patterns becoming well-adjusted to fit into phones, tablets, and desktops. With responsive design CSS and HTML codes, every component online visitors can find on the page gets resized with the screen space correctly. The designs and content shrink or enlarge to give an impeccable user experience and prominent view irrespective of your device.

 Why Your Website Needs a Responsive Design?

 Many causes reflect the significance of getting a responsive design.

Mobile Optimization

 A website with mobile compatibility can fit better with the mobile screen dimensions. A site having such quality gets more web traffic because most people tend to use websites from their phones.

So with high visibility and ease of use on mobile devices, a webpage gets a good influx of web traffic. Thus, a business can reach the larger market section if its webpage has a mobile responsive design.

 

Great Ease in Website Use

 No one likes a slow-loading website or a page that cannot display the content or pictures properly on smaller screens of mobile phones. When users feel at ease while navigating the website, they tend to stay longer on the site.

Further, they can understand the blog or business services or products better while browsing comfortably through the site. Thus with a responsive design, you give more clarity to online consumers.

 

Preventing Duplicate Content

While modifying your website, you can land up with two website versions. One is made compatible with mobile, and the other is for desktop. The presence of two versions can lead to the formation of duplicate content. Plus, the availability of two URLs with the same content confuses search engines like Google on which version to prioritize while ranking web pages.

But you can use responsive structuring of webpages to handle the issue of generating duplicate content. That said, the responsive design of webpages is never the direct contributor to avoiding duplicate web content. But making your website responsive can help you in preventing generating duplicate versions.

With responsive webpages, you get a single version of the mobile responsive website. That aids in avoiding the issue of having two URLs with duplicated content.

 

Enhanced Speed in Page Loading

When the design elements are incompatible with the screen dimensions, the page takes more time to load properly and gets readjusted with the available space. But the page gets readjusted smoothly when the design and page elements are responsive to the device change. Thus the page loads easily without consuming much time.

 

Minimizing the Bounce Rate

Bounce rate denotes the rate at which an online user leaves quickly after visiting the website. Leaving a site just after visiting is encouraged by poor page loading speed or bad user experience. With a high bounce rate, your website can never satisfy the algorithm of search engines and get a good SEO ranking.

Apart from having good content, the webpage needs to be responsive to give users a good experience. That definitely brings down the bounce rate, and people take more time to get familiar with business pages or blogs.

 

More Spread on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter

When your website has a responsive design, it gives comfort and ease in website use. That brings more influx of online consumers, and they prefer browsing your web pages. Thus, you have more chances of getting your webpage getting shared across social media platforms.

 

Final Thoughts

A responsive design for websites is a necessary component in giving a better user experience. Apart from the role of giving improved user experience, responsive webpages remain essential for many reasons. With a responsive structure of websites, you can give ease and convenience to people who view websites from mobile phones.

Device compatibility remains a great driving force to incorporate responsive elements while making a website. You can browse responsive webpages without going through slow loading or struggling to view the website content as you move from desktop to mobile. Further responsiveness of a website helps you more easily understand the blog content, business services, or products. All in all, responsive and adaptive webpages hold the ultimate power to make online audiences know about your business pages or website.

 

FAQs

 

What Is Responsive Website Design?

A responsive layout for a website can be understood as an indispensable criterion for reaching a larger section of the virtual audience. The degree of responsiveness of a website results from making web pages that can be comfortably accessed through different devices and platforms. Responsiveness helps users easily navigate the webpage and get a good user experience.

 

What Is Responsive Web Design In HTML?

HTML or (Hypertext Markup Language) forms an integral part of website development. So undoubtedly, using HTML goes a long way in making a responsive and adaptive web design.

With strategic use of HTML elements, you can make image and text arrangements fit into the screen width of the device you are using. The HTML makes the webpage look adjustable and good irrespective of the device screen.

 

What Are Examples Of Responsive Design?

Responsive webpage design involves setting the width property of images in a compatible range to make the image fit nicely with the size of the device screen. That means the image shrinks or enlarges without losing clarity, depending on the device’s screen size.

Plus, you can consider changing the page layout in response to the device as an example of adaptive design. With flexible grids, you can get larger content condensed into compact sections as you move from desktops to mobile phones.

 

Why Is Responsive Website Design Important?

A website with a responsive layout is important because of many causes, one of which includes giving a good user experience. Another plus point of having a responsive structure is mobile compatibility.

Almost every user accesses the webpage through mobile or has a chance of doing so. That requires a mobile website design compatible with mobile users and shows the importance of responsive pages.

 

How Does Responsive Website Design Work?

Responsive structures or designs work by being adaptive to the device parameters and responding to changes. The design elements fit into the width of the device screen and find their suitable arrangement in the available screen space.

Also, the responsive site rearranges itself to fit with the device orientation. Notably, the responsiveness of the design elements enables no loss in color brightness.

 

What Are The Benefits Of Responsive Website Design?

With a website being responsive, online users can use the site with ease and without any facing any hassle. They don’t have to wait for the webpage to load and zoom in or out to see the content and images properly.

So, with a good user experience, you can get a good SEO ranking. Plus, with a responsive design, you can get good engagement from your consumers. They face no problem doing tasks like subscribing to a newsletter, clicking on action buttons, and downloading online documents.

 

Can Any Website Be Made Responsive?

Irrespective of the amount of design and content elements in the webpage, any site or page can be made responsive. With optimized use of page developing elements, any website can be made to fit into any device.

How to Create a Successful Logo Design – 10 Tips & Tricks

Leave a reply
Create a Successful Logo Design

Introduction

A brand without a logo! Well, that’s an impossible idea for brands that want to stand out and remain relevant. The most successful logo design examples show how those small graphical representations can be the face of your brand. In simpler words, a good company logo design will positively impact your existing and prospective customers. Ultimately, you are trying to win their confidence. Aren’t you?

But the question is how to create a successful logo design. Don’t lose your sleep over it. Some simple tricks and tips employed by an efficient designer can help you to get the best logo. So, without much ado, let’s highlight the tips and tricks.

  • 1. Let the Logo Resonate with Your Brand:

What is the purpose of a successful logo design? The purpose is to represent a brand and create its identity. So, while creating a logo using logo design software, make sure that it is an extension of your brand ethos. To explain further, it should be able to demonstrate your area of operations, products, and services within a brief scope.

  • 2. Gather Ideas

We all need the inspiration to create something beautiful and effective. Don’t we? So, it is important to check out the most successful logo design examples, such as Amazon that has an arrow starting from A and ending with Z to denote that this online store is the one-stop destination for all you need. These examples always help us to channelize our thoughts in the right direction before we pick any logo design software for the final creation.

Logo Design 4

Do you want to connect with your audience? Then, be the audience. Identify the words that describe your brand the best. Also, consider what is important to your target demographic. Finally, use a good combination of your brand ethos and audience requirements to create a successful logo design.

  • 4. Choose the Right Color

Choosing the right color is extremely important for effective logo designing. For example, a hospitality industry should have blue in its logo to evoke a sense of trustworthiness. On the other hand, a food and beverage company can easily make its voice heard by using yellow, orange, or red in its company logo design.

  • 5. Pick the Right Font

It’s great to be creative unless you are overdoing things. These days, there are trends for using vintage and retro fonts. However, you can afford to choose a sleeker style if it goes well with your brand. And one more thing! Don’t make it too flowery to understand. The fonts should be easily readable.

  • 6. Use White Space Effectively

Logo Design 5

Too much salt can make any dish bitter and inedible. Similarly, too many elements fighting for their places within a tiny logo can be disastrous. Look at timeless and successful logo design examples, such as Pepsi, to understand how blank spaces make a logo more comprehensible and easily identifiable.

  • 7. Make a Statement

Let the logo be something that your brand stands for. For example, if you want to follow environment-friendly practices or want to stop racism, these points should clearly come through your company logo design.

  • 8. Brainstorming Has No Substitute

There are many logo design software in the market, and they truly work. We are in no mood for questioning their efficacy. However, we do believe that brainstorming has no substitute, as ultimately, logo designing is a creative process. To create ideas based on brand values and audience requirements, designers and marketers really need to do brainstorming.

  • 9. Customize

Your brand is unique, and you cannot afford to let it be something run-of-the-mill. So, to stand tall, you need a customized logo.  A personalized logo will have all the elements of a good design, yet it should be able to strike a unique chord in the hearts of your prospective clients.

  • 10. Consider the Logos of your Competitors

Check out the logos of your competitors to know the elements they are using to attract their client base. Most importantly, try to find out the things they are missing out on in their designs. Capitalize on those for creating a successful logo design.

Conclusion:

Dream logo design is a reputable logo design company that has clientele across various industries. We have a highly skilled team and use the best logo design software to ensure a 100% satisfaction rate. So, choose us and let your brand be the talk of the town.

5 Design Hacks to Make a Small Memorable Business Logo

Leave a reply
Memorable Business Logo

Introduction

The logo could be the most important visual connection between a brand and its customers. The logo identifies the company or organization and establishes the basic tone for interactions. A logo is more than just color and shape – it is also more than just words. Business logos can be overwhelming to create, but they are essential for any successful brand and personal identity. What you do and why you do it should be reflected in your logo.

5 Design Hacks to Make a Small Memorable Business Logo

How can a logo make itself memorable in a way that is simply unforgettable and sticks in everyone’s minds? Having this in mind, it is increasingly important to create a memorable logo today. Here are the top 5 design hacks to make a small memorable business logo:

Business Logo Design 3

1. Simple Sells

It’s important to have a logo that is classic, easy to understand, and simple to use. In most cases, they include the name of the company and a mark while creating a custom logo design. Take Apple or Google, or McDonald’s, for example, and check how each uses a simple image that can be identified worldwide. When users see the mark, they think of the company. An iconic logo captures that essence. Simple logos tend to work well for a variety of applications and uses. No matter where the brand is used, you recognize it every time.

2. Consider Who/What You Want to Be

Logos should accurately represent your company or product. What you do should be reflected in your logo. Think about the meanings of colors and shapes when creating the free logo design and how those associations influence users. Consider the logo design ideas in context with your overall industry and ask yourself:

  • Does the logo able to tell what you do or sell in your logo?
  • Is the imagery conveying the right message?
  • Is it capable of standing alone?

3. Use Color Wisely

There are two reasons why color is so important in logo design.

Business Logo Design 2

  • You can use color to draw users into your design and express something about your brand.
  • Whether it is a full-color logo or a single-color logo, a good logo will work well.

If you wish to keep the design of your logo simple, use only three colors for the logo’s color palette. Currently, flat logo design styles are in vogue.

4. Stay Away from Clip Art

Don’t use clip art. Not every logo will have a mark that’s immediately recognizable, like Apple’s apple. An effective logo must convey the company’s identity and what it does. Simply avoid using clipart. You can use Fiverr logo design to create the best logo design. You must make your logo special to make it memorable. The logo must be unique among competitors and stand out from all the rest.

5. Be Literal with Your Logo

Business Logo Design 1

Imagine your company is called Electricity Box Productions. What would happen if electricity is contained within a box? In some cases, things are just simple. You could make your company name in your logo if you think it’s a thing. You shouldn’t be afraid to take the obvious route. After all, Apple’s logo is an apple. In some cases, brands had to protect their trademarks for preventing competitors from infringing upon them because their logo was either not translated into local languages or depicted as something that was not translated.

Conclusion

You won’t be able to create a memorable logo overnight. The process can take time and many revisions. However, you should stick with it. There isn’t a guarantee that you’ll be as lucky as Carolyn Davidson, who created the Nike logo. Using typography, color, and design principles in an effective way can provide success, though.

Identity & Logo Design FAQ

Leave a reply
Identity & Logo Design FAQ

Introduction

As a logo designing company, we often face many questions from clients. Therefore, we thought of addressing their pain points and explaining our process by answering some frequently asked questions. These answers will further help you to know why by choosing us, you can be sure about getting a well-designed logo. And a successful logo design will always be helpful in building a brand that is here to stay.

Identity & Logo Design FAQ

Here is a list of FAQs that our clients often ask about identity & logo design.

What kind of services do you provide?

Through 10 years of experience, we create modern and unique brand identities for customers all over the world, maximizing profits and transmitting the right values related to the business through a design process that is comprehensive and effective.

Your Brand

How much it costs to hire us?

Our prices are not predetermined, and we listen to what potential customers’ needs and create a unique proposal based on them. If you want branding identity & logo design explained for your company, please contact us. Please remember that we are not just designing logos, but helping your business grow.

How long will it take to deliver the final logo?

A strong goal-driven approach guides our work, and we will specify a delivery date during the drafting of the offer. We work on other projects as well, so the process takes about 3 weeks. It also depends on your response time at the final stage of delivery and how many changes you feel are necessary.

We’re not in the same city. Can we still work together?

Yes, without a doubt. We are comfortable completing projects on a long-distance basis because 95% of our clients are not local. During the design process, we’ll send all information via emails, and we can talk on the phone or via Skype to share screens. Also, we can share easy color samples, and other details online.

How many and what type of files will be provided?

You will receive as many variations of the logo as you may require once it has been finalized. Upon receipt, we will provide you with a brief explanation of the underlying concept.

logo-design

Preview of design

Here you will find all the variations of the original design, including various sketches of your corporate image, as well as your final logo design. With our new logo, we will determine your type of design, whether it will be a symbol, one with a slogan, black or white, and include a detailed description of the motivations, as well as our choice of logo designs.

CMYK Version

All printed materials comprise four colors; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). You can print this version on any surface and in any format.

CMYK One Colours Version

It is possible to print a logo in 1 color instead of 4 using the CMYK process. Printing on specific materials and objects can save money by avoiding the cost of printing on paper.

White/Black (Pure) Variants

As the title suggests, we will also be supplying white and black single-color variants. When the logo is on a dark or clear background, these versions are best.

Colours RGB Version

Unlike the format for printing (CMYK), this format is used to display on the screen and the web. Files in PNG and JPG formats, optimized and compressed for the web, will be provided on a default background.

Brand Identity

Favicon

Favicon represents an icon that appears on the Internet as a 16 X 16-pixel icon associated with a browser. Furthermore, we can create apps for both Apple and Android devices according to their specific sizes and resolutions.

Logo Guideline

We create a user guide for each logo design project so you can get the most from it. Details about each format are provided, along with fonts, colors, and sizes.

Conclusion

Growth Marketing is all about defining your brand identity with impact. You will never be able to convey your brand’s true essence and character without a properly designed and maintained brand identity. Further, a good logo design by us will definitely be of great help in this process.

7 Tools You Need for Designing Graphics

Leave a reply
7 Tools You Need for Designing Graphics

Introduction

You have come to the right place if you want to add some more essential tools to your graphic design toolbox. Listed below are the best hardware, software, and other tools for graphic designers at every level to make their work easier. No matter what you’re looking for, our recommendations can help you select the best option. It is possible to combine art and technology in surprising ways to create practical, useful, and beautiful things. As the industry evolves, more creative freedom and lucrative career opportunities are created.

Importance of Graphic Designing Tools

The most powerful tool of a graphic designer remains in his very own creative mind. In the case of graphic design, the computer and other software are just indispensable to achieve a quality design. A good graphic designer must know which tools to use and must also be adept at using them. An effective graphic designer can even use Microsoft Word to create a simple graphic design. In addition, the range of software or applications that a graphic design company has in its toolbox demonstrates its ability to come up with highly customized designs that are excellent and truly unique.

Components of an Ideal Graphic Design Toolbox

With the help of a Graphic Design Toolbox, you can easily create flyers, brochures, books, magazines, and more, even if you have less graphic design skills or no design skills. It is designed to assist designers with creating printable layouts & pages. In a basic graphic design toolbox, there should be at least:

  • an image editing software
  • a page layout software
  • a multi-media development software
  • an image development software like Adobe Photoshop

7 Tools You Need for Designing Graphics

When it comes to graphic design, you will find yourself using an array of tools and hardware to remain agile and flexible. For this reason, we have compiled a list of the 7 most important tools you need for designing graphics.

Notebooks

We all have a preference between softcover and hardcover between a small or a large-sized notebook. No matter what you prefer, you need a place where you can doodle, sketch, make notes and write down ideas. A paper of good quality needs to be able to handle the medium you will regularly use, while still being convenient to carry around to school, the coffee shop, or on a bus. Spend some time researching and investing in a quality notebook.

Creative Software

Sketching out ideas and designs in a notebook is an excellent method for coming up with new designs, but graphic designers should also consider software as an essential tool. It does not matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned designer, as having the right digital graphic design tools can make a noticeable impact on your finished product. Many programs, including easy-to-use and advanced ones, provide you a great level of creative control. Adobe Photoshop and Canva are probably on the top of your mind, but there are many others to consider before you choose one.

Large High Definition Monitor

Monitors with large and high-definition screens can seem more like a luxury than a necessity. Nevertheless, the monitor you use can have a significant impact on your work. Most people have no idea how to choose a monitor.  We understand how easy it is to get lost in the jargon. Whatever monitor you buy, pay attention to its resolution regardless of whether it is a 4K monitor. The majority of graphic designers prefer to work with UHD (3848×2160 pixels) or QHD resolution. It’s important to note that size does matter here, so designers typically advise between 27 and 32 inches.

Sketch

Photoshop used to be the ultimate tool for digital design. In a constantly evolving industry, graphic designers have to keep up with the latest technology. Although all of the new software has been promising, Sketch seems to stand out. Sketch is a vector graphics editor that combines a design toolkit with a logo editor to let you create unique logos, animated graphics, and layouts. Using Sketch is a pleasure due to its design and its cool features, which improve the user-accessibility.

External Hard Drive

Anyone who works with a lot of data, or whose work is dependent on many external files, needs a reliable external hard drive. The hard drive is a handy, portable storage device that can be used for large amounts of data. It is even more important to use them for backups, as they can vastly increase your computer’s storage capacity, which is especially valuable if you plan to create large animations, films, or other files on your computer. A graphic designer cannot function without an external hard drive, even though they are not specifically designed for it.

Monitor Calibrator

Monitor calibrators are another piece of graphic design hardware that often goes unmentioned but is so valuable. Regardless of how wonderful your photos or video may appear, you may suffer if you work on a monitor with warped colors. As a result, you can rarely see this kind of warping with your naked eye, and it is frequently difficult to adjust after the fact. You must also use a high-quality camera and lens, and your monitor must be able to display real-world images as well.

iMac Pro

You might think that the iMac Pro would be on the list because it’s one of the most popular graphic design tools. Is it not true? This is so widely used in the creative community that it has become the go-to hardware for design houses and ad agencies everywhere. Purchasing an iMac is well worth the investment whether you work as a freelancer, student, or for an agency. Graphic designers should not overlook this powerful tool, which is easily one of the most expensive all-in-one computer options available.

Conclusion

There are literally thousands of creative possibilities when it comes to graphic design. It is now possible to build a portfolio and a career that was not even possibly imagined 10 years ago. Investing in the right graphic design tools can be a great move in this context. Make sure you think about adding these gadgets to your list if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest technology and boost your creativity.

Motion Graphics: Trends & Hacks

Leave a reply
Motion Graphics: Trends & Hacks

Introduction

Animation that creates the appearance of movement or rotation is called motion design or motion graphics. Some of the latest and most effective advertisements on Instagram have utilized designs in motion to a great extent. Motion graphics can include everything from a moving text bubble to an illustration of characters walking through an environment.

Main Objective of Motion Graphics

Motion graphics are great for:

  • Explaining a complex topic
  • Showcasing a new product or feature
  • Building brand awareness
  • Differentiating a company from its competitors
  • Storytelling or self-expression

5 Quick Motion Design Hacks

Motion design is not an easy task. These motion design hacks will help you get great results if you’re short on time. It is a real challenge to create awesome motion design sequences. The good news is that there are several simple things you can do to make the process easy. Here are 5 great motion design hacks that will provide the advantages of creating animated videos.

1. Depth of Field

The human eye and the camera both have a depth of field, so it makes sense that introducing some depth to your designs will enhance their visual appeal. Despite the fact that it can get out of control quickly, depth of field is a great way to quickly add visual interest to your scene.

2. Smooth Movements

You can make your designs more custom by easing your keyframes. The graph editor should be used instead of its built-in ease of interpolation. With the graph editor, you can specify how your keyframes work precisely. Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas included smooth motion in their book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation in 1981, which was a compilation of 12 principles for animators to follow.

3. Excellent Font Choice

It is really challenging to choose the right font for motion design. As opposed to still design, viewers of motion design will only be exposed to a font for a predetermined period of time. Consequently, you need to choose a font that is clear and easy to read yet intriguing enough to capture your audience’s attention.

4. Move the Camera

A still camera creates a static scene. Moving the camera around in 3D space, regardless of how simple it might be, will increase visual interest and provide greater depth to your scene. You just need to create a new design in Adobe After Effects and set the layers to 3D. Besides looking great, it is also fast and easy to do!

5. Pick a Color Palette

Motion design is incredibly dependent on color theory. If you want to pick great color palettes, rather than try to decide what looks good, there are lots of great online resources available. You can navigate through the color palette quickly with keyboard shortcuts and then export them as a PDF when you’re ready!

Some Trending Motion Graphics Animation

An animated visual presentation of your brand or product gives your audience an unforgettable experience. Whatever the video content may be, motion graphics usually take it to a whole new level by enhancing the message and making the video almost unforgettable. Your audience can be engaged in real-time with trending graphics, such as 3D animation techniques. Another benefit of incorporating motion graphics is that videos can generate 1200% more shares than text or images. Check out several animation trends of 2021.

Liquid Motion Graphic

The After-effects software has literally pushed motion animation to new heights, and we will reveal its secrets. There is nothing more creative than liquid motion animations. Moreover, the videos are well-presented, smooth, and colorful, which makes them extremely engaging. Apart from all of the other factors mentioned, the splashy shifts and transformational shapes are only enhancing the experience and bringing the viewer’s attention.

Isometric Design

Most brands commit the same mistake of including too much in just one motion graphic animation. There is a problem with this approach. By using too many images, facts, and figures, the audience feels overwhelmed, and, as a result, the idea of engaging them is compromised.

Bold Typography

The highlights of your business can be showcased by bold typography-based motion graphic videos. Clear and strong messages are delivered in these videos. Additionally, you get to emphasize the core message of your video using bold and large typography.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality graphic animation is the one type of animation that just about everyone is familiar with. It is possible to give your customers a real-life virtual experience related to your brand, service, or product by taking advantage of this animation trend, which has been growing and evolving continuously over the past few years. Furthermore, virtual reality is highly focused on quality and creativity, so you may convert your viewers immediately.

Thin Lines Motion Graphic

How about creating a graphic animation that connects your brand’s different products and services in your video? Thin lines are a perfect choice if that is the case. A thin line reveals the person behind a brand to your audience. This motion graphics animation has sketchy vector lines that reflect hand-craftsmanship and in a subconscious manner, represent the people behind the brand.

Morphing Animation

Morphing animation is basically a graphical representation of your whole brand like GIF. The logo, images, and culture of your company can be represented with the help of this animation graphic. This animation will help the user to get engaged with your brand in the shortest amount of time. Animated transitions will play a large part in a variety of branding campaigns, as users spend 2.5 seconds on any internet content they access.

Website & Application Motion Graphics

Thanks to the modernization of the digital world, we have many opportunities to engage our audience. The average viewer skips your brand and hops on your competitors if it does not have an aesthetically pleasing website today. The same goes for apps. With motion graphics, you can retain your audience by integrating a video on your homepage or loading screen that is interesting and enticing and that allows them to interact with it.

Conclusion

A motion graphic is an increasingly popular way to communicate design ideas with style and ease. Animations are an effective way to engage and retain readers, plus they provide plenty of creative opportunities for animators. Always encourage new ideas and new approaches by keeping an eye on trends.

LinkedIn Ads Rules 101: A Guide to Creating the LinkedIn Perfect Ad

Leave a reply
LinkedIn Ads Rules 101

Introduction

LinkedIn tops the list of popular social media marketing platforms in both the B2B and B2C segments, and it is a great resource for marketers of all sizes. It is also important not to ignore this platform. Although LinkedIn Ads can be quite costly in comparison to Facebook and Instagram, it allows brands to target specific individuals according to their job title, industry, education, and other criteria to reach people from the specific industries they are targeting, & it is worth the investment. Connecting with your target audience is possible If you are able to target the right audience at the right time and send the right message.

What are LinkedIn Ads?

With LinkedIn Ads, you can access LinkedIn social media platforms using various sponsored posts, as well as other marketing strategies. It is a great tool for online advertising, building leads, gaining online recognition, sharing content, and much more for B2B companies. LinkedIn Ads allow companies to promote their presence within the professional market through LinkedIn marketing. LinkedIn is a social networking platform popular with both professionals and businesses, with more than 660 million users in over 220 countries.

How to Create the LinkedIn Perfect Ad?

You can improve the success of your LinkedIn marketing strategy through the LinkedIn Ad Campaign. You will be able to get strong results when you advertise on this platform if you follow these steps.

Create a free LinkedIn Page

You can establish your brand on LinkedIn easily and for free by setting up a LinkedIn Page. A LinkedIn account and a valid email address are all you need to get started. If you want to run Sponsored Content and Sponsored Messaging on LinkedIn, you must have a LinkedIn Page. Additionally, posting high-quality content can improve your results in the bid auction. The LinkedIn relevance score rewards marketers who regularly publish content that generates clicks, likes, comments, and shares.

Determine Your Objective

In the new approach to advertising, you need to choose your advertising objectives first. Your campaign creation will be streamlined and customized based on your campaign objective. In advertising, an objective is what you want customers to do after seeing your advertisement.  From awareness-building to conversion, LinkedIn Ads support full-funnel objectives.

Know about the Different LinkedIn Ad Formats

It is possible to advertise on LinkedIn using a variety of different formats. In order to build a successful LinkedIn Ads campaign, you need to select the right ad format for each goal. The following LinkedIn ad formats can help companies to promote themselves.

Sponsored Content

LinkedIn’s sponsored content ads work like native ads, and ads appear in user’s feeds as promoted content. Similar to Facebook, sponsored content ads appear in user’s feeds as clearly marked promotions. Sponsored content is available on every device. Your ads will receive the most views when you use sponsored content. In order to build out your marketing campaign, sponsored content is where you should begin. You can choose either a carousel, or a video, or an image post for your sponsored content ads. In LinkedIn, long-form content is more popular since users are more inclined to consume it than short-form content.

LinkedIn Message Ads

LinkedIn’s Message Ads are private messages sent to the groups of users you want to target. Advertisements can appear on any placement or platform. The users receive Message Ads directly to their inbox, so the messages are more personalized. By personalizing ads, you increase interaction with them, and a great ad copy will result in a conversion or a click. Users receive a notification for message advertisements that can be useful for improving results.

LinkedIn Text Ads

LinkedIn’s text ads appear on the right side of the main feed and only appear for desktop users. Due to its hiding ability, it can have a negative impact on the performance of ads compared to other formats. Using text ads can enable you to reach a wider audience and boost conversion rates in a targeted and effective campaign.

LinkedIn Dynamic Ads

You can target your audience with dynamic ads on Linkedin that are automatically personalized. Your LinkedIn business page can increase subscribers by using dynamic ads, and your shared organic content on the platform can be viewed more by using dynamic ads. Dynamic ads can also be used to promote products and services like sponsored content posts to drive traffic to a landing page.

Create an Audience

Your next step will be to create an audience that you wish to target through the ad. You can target your potential customers using LinkedIn’s various attributes like employment history, company, profession, skills, and so on. A bunch of LinkedIn audiences is also listed according to their attributes. When you create your campaign for the first time, you can choose from the relevant audiences. Upon selecting your audience, LinkedIn automates the process of creating an audience by adding relevant characteristics such as job titles, group members, education, skills, etc., within the relevant sections.

Set the Campaign Budget

It is very important to set up a campaign budget to ensure that the budget stays within your control and does not exceed the pre-defined budget. There are two options after that: running the campaign continuously from the start date or scheduling the start and end dates. The campaign must be manually stopped if you elect to run it continuously.

Select a Bid Type

In this step, you have to decide how to allocate your ad budget. There are 3 types of bidding available on LinkedIn –

Automated Bid

By turning this on, LinkedIn can set the bid automatically for your campaigns based on history and member information.

Enhanced CPC Bid

Using this option, you’ll be in control of the bid and you’ll only be charged if someone clicks your ad. Your maximum bid amount can be set, and you will not be charged for anything more than that.

Maximum CPM Bid

In this type of bidding, your ads will appear 1000 times on the LinkedIn feed before being charged.

Set Up Conversion Tracking

By adding conversion tracking to your campaign, LinkedIn Ads allow you to track your audience’s actions after clicking or viewing your LinkedIn advertisement. While conversion tracking is an optional step in campaign setup, it can provide you with valuable insight into how visitors visit website following their click on the ad.

Create Ads for the Campaign

In this step, you need to add the ad to the campaign for which you can create an ad or sponsor existing posts on the page. Yes, it is so simple! Creating a new advertisement is as simple as clicking on “Create a new ad” and adding the title, the introduction text, the destination URL, the image, and the header.

Launch Your Ad Campaign

By clicking the “Create” button after completing all the sections, your ad will be live soon. Lastly, click the “Next” button and then “Launch” on the next page to get the campaign live. Your ad is now live, but do not expect it to start delivering immediately. LinkedIn will have to review according to the advertising policies and approve it before your target audience sees your ad. In Campaign Manager, if an ad’s creative status is listed as Ad Not approved or Rejected, it means that the LinkedIn team has reviewed your ad and it does not comply with their Advertising Policy.

Conclusion

Companies can improve their online marketing strategy by utilizing LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn is a powerful tool in a number of ways for businesses that can fully take advantage of its potential.  You can reach every professional in your industry using LinkedIn ads, regardless of whether you’re looking for B2B leads or to reach out to targeted professionals.

10 Benefits of WordPress Hosting

Leave a reply
10 Benefits of WordPress Hosting

Introduction

The WordPress website statistics indicate that 74 million websites and blogs are hosted by the platform. However, people are often confused by what hosting options are available for their WordPress site. Besides its powerful hosting features, it offers reduced loading times and speed along with enhanced search traffic options. It actually helps to create brand awareness and business goals and increase conversions rate, lead generation for your website. Some WordPress hosting providers offer 30-day free trials so that you can experience the service firsthand.

10 Benefits of WordPress Hosting

WordPress hosting offers extra benefits like automatic backups, security, regular updates, and more, which we will discuss in greater detail in the context of this article.

Support from WordPress Experts

While hosting companies often offer support, managed WordPress providers take advantage of a support team that knows WordPress inside and out. They will be able to assist you with optimized landing pages, plugin conflicts, relevant ads, tricky themes, paid search campaigns, and server issues. WordPress experts know exactly what settings a site needs to run at its best. They can offer reputable recommendations for WordPress-related questions as well. Since managed hosting providers specialize in a specific CMS, the people behind them are more knowledgeable in it and can help with a wide variety of WordPress questions.

The Strong WordPress Security Practices

No matter how safe your website is, you should always keep security in mind. Managed WordPress hosts certainly are not foolproof ways to protect your site, but you will benefit from built-in security enhancements. You can easily recover your site if something goes wrong, thanks to most managed hosting providers who offer nightly backups. Managed hosts not only provide backups but also optimize their servers for WordPress security, eliminating the need to worry about security plugins! Furthermore, it supports two-factor authentication, strong password enforcement, and limited login attempts.

Faster Sites and Better Performance

One of the biggest benefits of managed WordPress hosting is that their entire tech stack is built specifically for WordPress. The result of this will likely be better uptime, a faster loading time, and fewer interruptions. Having a managed WordPress host will provide you with major benefits because it knows how to optimize your server based on the themes and plugins you are running. The managed hosting provider will also be able to provide performance enhancements such as CDNs, servers in various countries, or even automatic scale-out technologies.

One-Click Staging Sites & Local Environments

In order to avoid a white screen of death, it is best to only make small changes in a staging environment. Are you wondering what the staging area of WordPress is? It is a development environment where you can safely experiment with changes before they are pushed into production. No matter whether you consider yourself to be a developer or not, it will benefit any website owner. A staging site is usually included in most managed WordPress hosting plans as an add-on. Setting one up and taking changes live only takes a few clicks. So, anybody can maintain a secure production site.

Features that Go Beyond Server Setups

Having fast and secure servers is essential for a high-performing website, but there are a lot of other things a managed WordPress host can do for your business that are equally valuable. You can use these tools to enhance workflows, collaborate with colleagues, and even learn. Managing a hosting company is much more than simply providing servers; it is like working with a partner. It is worth finding a managed WordPress host that supports your ideal workflow if you want to get the most value from them.

Features at a Glance

Features of WordPress host that will help you to:

  • Easily collaborate with your team, clients, or a one-time contributor
  • Develop themes and plugins templates
  • Demonstrate the site before it goes live
  • Transfer hosting bills to clients

It is Easy to Add SSL Certificates

Traditionally, you would have to communicate back and forth between your hosting provider and your certificate provider to install an SSL certificate.  An SSL certificate can be installed in a few clicks with a managed WordPress hosting provider. Hosting companies actually played a major part in making SSL certificate installation and accessibility easy for website owners. Many WordPress-managed hosts are now offering free SSL certificates as it is seen as an online best practice. A managed hosting provider can also assist you in obtaining an advanced SSL certificate.

The Ability to Resell Hosting

Approximately 30% of websites run on WordPress. It means there is a large market for hosting out there, making WordPress one of your best opportunities for reselling. There is no surprise that managed WordPress providers encourage reselling of their products. In many cases, reselling workflows are supported by referral programs, partner programs, and sometimes even add-ons of their own. As a result, managed WordPress hosts often make it easy for you to resell hosting, which improves your capacity to generate new revenue streams.

Easy Site Management

Managed WordPress hosts will allow you to organize all of your sites in one place. There is not any need to jump between providers or struggle with different setups; all your sites will be managed out of one place. You will spend less time spinning up new sites if you simplify your providers, especially if you are adding more clients or expanding your agency. By working with a managed host, you and your clients will enjoy a hassle-free setup.

Quick Access to Development Tools

You can access all the common developer tools right from the WordPress hosting application, no matter whether you are developing a new site or troubleshooting one already in place. While some use cPanel, others offer their own personal dashboard that makes the entire experience more appealing and intuitive. With a managed host, you will also have staging sites and local development environments at your disposal. This allows you to design and develop your site quickly and efficiently for any number of clients or sites you are working on.

Hosting by WordPress Lets You Focus on Your Business

Overall, managed WordPress hosting can be an excellent option for you since they will handle all of this for you – and you can focus on what you actually like to do. It is the purpose of managed providers to simplify the process of hosting WordPress sites so that you can work on developing your craft instead of learning the ins and outs of servers. The additional workflow tools will not only increase your business efficiency but will also help you collaborate better with your client and team members.

Conclusion

Fortunately, managed WordPress hosting offers an easy solution for those who run WordPress sites, especially if they are a business. Actually, nowadays, it can be used as an eMarketing or content marketing strategy. There are a lot of benefits offered by this kind of service, and it will undoubtedly save you time and eliminate the stress of manually setting up servers.

Website Development Trade Secrets and Hacks

Leave a reply
Website Development Trade Secrets and Hacks

Website development is a diverse field presenting umpteen opportunities for improvisations. As a web developer grows his or her skills, the design process becomes easier, more organized, and further effective. It’s a dynamic field, constantly evolving, and a web developer ought to stay on top of the game.

Whether you are designing on WordPress, or by plain HTML coding, use design hacks to get the job done faster and more effectively. The tips mentioned below are aimed to optimize a website’s functionality for the best, whether in WP or any other platform.

Don’t use standard templates

Wordpress is open-source platform with a wide range of free templates.  The same is applicable for other platforms such as Wix. While using Wix templates or WP templates, is not necessarily a bad idea, keep in mind that they are often overused.  In the battle to get page views, the last thing you will want is a doppelganger website.

Free templates may contain bugs

As the old adage stands, you get what you pay for. As it is, standard templates may contain bugs. Besides, these drastically reduce the ability to customize themes since you would have to make do with limited features.  

Get custom templates designed

The best way to go about it is to develop custom themes. It will take some time to finalize the design, but it is always worth it. You can always take inspiration from the range of themes available, but at the end of the day, make sure it’s original. You can do it yourself or hire a web designer. Hiring a good service always pays off because you typically get free customer support and theme maintenance whenever required.

Experiment with CTAs

Call-To-Actions are critical in assuring a high conversion rate. While text-only CTAs are but traditional, you can improve upon the appeal by experimenting with this aspect. You guessed it, using button CTAs tend to work better than text-only ones.

Use Creative Wording

Level up your content game by becoming creative with CTAs. Although it would typically consist of only two to three words, it should reflect the visitor’s psychology aptly.

Use Animated CTAs

Using animated CTAs can also help you get the reader’s attention better. Just make sure not to use it when it is irrelevant. The site’s content should be peppy and vibrant to tally really with the appeal of an animated call to action.

A Case for Images

Enhancing the visual experience of design layouts goes a long way in increasing its acceptance among users. There’s a lot of scope for improvement with images. To start with, use high-quality visuals. Dig deep into those stock photos to grab the best images, ones that make strong statements concurrent with the rest of your content. Obviously, you can also hire a talented graphic designer or a photographer to produce unique images. Here are a few other tips on maximizing the potential of images on a website.

Use Alt-Tag for SEO

Alt tags or Alternative texts are brief textual representations that appear when an image fails to load. These have a vital role in retaining user interest. The most important benefit of Alt Tags is that search engine algorithms find them as credible parameters to rank your website.

Display an Error Message

Use a CSS snippet to display an error message if the image fails to load for some reason.

Use Title Tags

Although title tags are invisible to the end-user, they are instrumental in boosting your SEO.

Reduce Image Size

Don’t forget to reduce the image size to ensure that your site loads fast. You can put to use several image compression tools found online.

Use Images to Create Negative Space

Another use of images is to use it to break chunks of text and therefore create scope for negative space on your page.

Try Using Images of Different Shapes

Gone are those days when you needed to use only rectangular images. These days, tools like Bootstrap allow you to use images of different sizes.

Use Image Filters

You can also use the image filter attributes like grayscale or blur in CSS. These allow developers a subtle opportunity to get creative whenever it’s applicable.   

Improve Your Site’s Navigation

A site’s navigation is probably the most obvious aspect of it, but it can get overlooked. Remember that it has a crucial role in helping visitors to find what they need. Having well-organized navigation also helps with your site’s SEO. Here are a few design hacks that you can implement with the navigation of your web page.

Have Fewer Choices

Keep the navigation as uncluttered as you can. This has been shown to have a key role in improving visitor experience and reduce bounce rates.

Place it in the Header

Navigation bars placed in headers are shown to have a better effect than those placed on the side or in the footer. Use the hamburger menu only when you are making a responsive website.

Make Everything Click

Make all elements in the navigation clickable.

Use Simple Words

Use easy-to-understand wording in the navigation.

Use Mega Menus

It is always challenging to design navigation bars for e-commerce websites. Mega menus are ideal because they allow the display of many choices in a two-dimensional dropdown layout. Here are a few other tips while designing the navigation for e-commerce.

Include a Search Bar

Again, while coding the navigation for e-commerce websites, don’t forget to include a prominent search bar right in the header section.

Use the Hover Option

Consider using the hover option to introduce visitors to the sub-categories. This piques their interest and inspires people to look deeper.

Don’t Overload Your Site with Plugins

With so many plugin options on WP, developers are often tempted to go over the top with them. Remember to use your discretion. Use only those plugins that will make a positive difference to your site’s UX.

Conclusion

The key differences between a successful website and an unsuccessful one are that the former is both user-friendly and SEO friendly. Employing the above design hacks should definitely help your website deliver better performance. Besides these, you should also take note of web hosting best practices and always make sure that you are having a responsive website.

11 Benefits of Hashtags

Leave a reply
11 Benefits of Hashtags

Introduction

Nowadays, the hashtag is much more than just the pound key on your phone; it has become an indispensable content marketing and eMarketing strategy and social media tool for categorizing posts and making content easily searchable. By using the right hashtags, your business can be more visible on social media and encourage audiences to join in on the conversation. Hashtags gained popularity over microblog sites first and were soon supported by many well-known social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+.

11 Benefits of Hashtag

By using hashtags, small and large businesses alike can benefit from the popularity of these social media platforms. A hashtag can be incredibly valuable if it is used strategically. You can use them to expose your content to more people, raise brand awareness, target a specific group of people, boost your search traffic optimization tool, and use trending topics and hot topics to your advantage, among other things. The following list will show 11 benefits of using hashtags.

1. Hashtags are Great for Promoting Your Business

The use of hashtags allows your audience to take part in your conversations. Your social media followers will be able to follow what’s happening in real-time when you establish a hashtag for a promotion or event. To be effective with hashtags, you should use them moderately. In your posts and updates, you will not need to include them all. You should also avoid using long hashtags.

2. Hashtags Encourage Audience Engagement

By using hashtags, you can open up conversations for your audience depending on which social platform you are using. At the time of deciding which hashtags to use, you should keep in mind that hashtags are used differently on each platform. For example, hashtags that are used on Instagram are likely to describe the picture and video content more than anything else. Other social media platforms, such as Twitter, have hashtags that are focused on a certain topic or group of people that you want to engage.

Use Appropriate and Specific Hashtags for Each Platform

If you are using hashtags on different platforms, make sure you use them appropriately. In most cases, you will be given guidelines for picking and using the appropriate social media platform. When you use the most relevant and popular hashtags on each platform for your business and events, you will be able to reach more people. In addition, by using the paid search campaigns, you will target your audience better and improve the conversions rate of your social media account. Target audiences usually result in more engagement.

3. Hashtags Make Searching More Efficient

The use of hashtags can greatly simplify the process of finding relevant posts as well as specific posts. Search results will be constantly updated when hashtags are popular. Social media platforms and search engines make hashtags more visible when you optimize conversations, content, and updates. Using hashtags is an effective way to search for content and people who are speaking about specific topics.

4. Hashtags Make It Easier To Find You

You will be able to conduct more efficient searches with hashtags, as mentioned earlier. When someone searches for you or what you offer, they do the same. Your audience can use hashtags to search and discover what your business offers across multiple platforms. Twitter and Instagram both have hashtag search options. People who are interested in your services, as well as existing customers, can use hashtags to search for information and posts about you.

5. Hashtags Attract More Followers

The use of hashtags on some social networks, such as Instagram, will help you reach more people, and this will almost always lead to more followers. This can be used as a lead generation strategy for your social media account. Your business becomes more visible when you have more followers. The use of hashtags is more helpful on other platforms for representing the topic of a post and helping users to find related content more quickly.

6. Hashtags Help You to Establish Relationships with Followers

Establishing relationships with your followers can be done in a unique way by using hashtags. People love sharing important moments, events, and purchases through hashtags. They can help you make the most of these social media practices. This enables the opportunity for real customer engagement and more exposure for you. Creating relationships with your followers is possible since people enjoy posting, and you want your followers to be engaged.

7. Hashtags are Great for Cross Promotion

As soon as you understand which hashtags are best suited to your business or event, you are likely to use them across multiple platforms. These hashtags are consistently used across different platforms to create multiple conversations. You will gain more exposure and engage more customers with this.

8. Customers Can Easily Give Their Input

Customer feedback will have a tremendous impact on your reputation and business methods. By using social media platforms, you have direct access to the opinions and ideas of your customers. Additionally, they give you an idea of what is hot and trending on the social media platforms that you may have missed otherwise. Hashtags also help you to gather customer feedback and encourage customer engagement, as you can easily find the reaction of the customers about events, promotions, and properties by using hashtags.

9. Hashtags for Photo Content Description

A great photo is the best way of advertisement for selling any product or offering any service. It is important to reach as many people as possible when you post your photography on social media platforms. One of the main business goals of your social media accounts is to gain followers, likes, and appreciation from the viewers. You should use the best hashtags along with relevant ads to describe what you are selling or offering.

10. Hashtags Specify Your Niche

In most cases, buyers have a certain mindset. You can use the best hashtags to promote your properties that suit their requirements, regardless of whether they are looking for luxury homes, ranch-style properties, or vacation homes. For example, you may own an Italian restaurant in Mont-Royal. Using Hashtags like #italianrestaurant, #MontRoyalitalianrestaurant, #MontRoyalrestaurant, etc., you can specify the specific details of your niche, location, and specifics.  Recently, YouTube has launched an optimized landing page for users to discover niche content and videos.

11. Hashtags are a Powerful Marketing Tool

The most important thing is to make sure you know the hashtags that are most relevant to your business and clients in order to use them efficiently. The use of hashtags can help your business reach its full potential when using social media marketing online.

Conclusion

Increasingly, hashtags (#) are being used to facilitate digital interaction, bringing people from all over the world together under one idea. Though hashtags have cemented their popularity in the digital landscape, many people still do not understand what a hashtag is or how it can boost their business.

How to get the most of your ad budgets on social media?

Leave a reply
How to get the most of your ad budgets on social media?

Introduction

If you want to reach new, targeted audiences fast, social media advertising is a must. Organic reach is becoming increasingly difficult, whether you like it or not. It may be impossible to go viral without a little boost in the future. Putting real money on the table can be scary, especially when you have an organic social strategy in place. It is therefore important to be aware of all your options. As an expert in social media advertising services, we will discuss how to maximize your spend on social media ads through various types of advertising.

Types of social media ads

Ads for social media are the direct way to reach your target audience. Your social media marketing efforts can be centered on acquiring new customers or retargeting existing ones. Social networking service offers different types of advertising options to all users. But that does not mean you should use them all.

Choose Your Network Wisely

According to the experts in social media marketing services, if you want to know which networks your target audience prefers, you should also know which networks they use. How do you engage, concentrate, and reach your target group? Check out which ads for social media marketing are performing well for your brand organically and providing better pay per click options for driving traffics to your website. Let’s look at how each network advertises.

Facebook ads

Objective

There are three broad types of Facebook ads:

  1. Awareness: Promote brand awareness and increase organic reach.
  2. Consideration: Encourage web traffic, app installations, video views, lead generation, or Facebook Messenger communication.
  3. Conversion: Drive more traffic through your online app, increase sales and leads through your site or app.
Audience considerations

With 2.45 billion monthly active users, Facebook is popular across many demographics. Almost all teenagers use Facebook, and seniors are quickly catching up. For anyone looking to start advertising on social media, Facebook is a great place to start. Users can be directed to your Facebook Page or website by your ads. In addition, you can send them to an Instant Experience customized to their needs. The Facebook mobile app features a full-screen informational or interactive destination page.

Facebook ad types

Facebook offers eight types of ads to help you meet your objectives, and they are:

  1. Photo ads
  2. Videos ad
  3. Stories ad
  4. Carousel ads
  5. Slideshow ads
  6. Collection ads
  7. Messenger ads
  8. Playable ads

Instagram ads

Objective

Instagram is owned by Facebook. Therefore, it is not surprising that Instagram ads share the same three broad goals as Facebook ads:

  1. Awareness
  2. Consideration
  3. Conversion
Audience considerations

Millennials are the most popular users of Instagram. The platform is also popular among Generations Z, and X. Advertising on the platform can be targeted to your ideal audience with custom targeting options just like on Facebook. Defining the behaviors, activities, interests, and demographics of your audiences will help you create lookalike audiences.

Instagram ad types

Instagram ad types are also similar to four of the Facebook ad types:

  1. Photo
  2. Video
  3. Carousel
  4. Collection

Twitter ads

Objective

Three different business objectives are served by Twitter ads:

  1. Awareness: Reach as many people as possible with your advertisement.
  2. Consideration: In this category, you will find ways to increase video views, pre-roll views, app installations, web traffic, engagement, and followers.
  3. Conversion: Encourage users to take action on your app or website.
Audience considerations

In Twitter Ads campaign, approximately two-thirds of addressable audiences are men. Advertisers on Twitter have two options for creating Twitter ads:

  1. Twitter Promote automatically promotes Tweets for you. (Please note that this service is no longer available to new users).
  2. Twitter Ads campaigns allow you to create your own marketing plan based on your objectives.

Snapchat ads

Objective

There are three types of marketing objectives you can achieve with Snapchat ads:

  1. Awareness: Increase brand awareness, promote products and services, and drive traffic to your website and app.
  2. Consideration: Engage your visitors, increase app downloads, video views, and lead generation with your website or app.
  3. Conversions: Increase conversions on your website or sales through your catalog.
Audience considerations

Snapchat has 220 million users younger than 25 years old, making it overwhelmingly popular with youths. The app is used by nearly three-quarters of 18- to 24-year-olds. In contrast, 25% of adults 30- to 49-years-old participate in those activities. Snapchat ads provide you with access to about 60% of the female audience.

Types of Snapchat ads

In order to help you reach your objectives, Snapchat offers six types of ads:

  1. Snap ads
  2. Story ads
  3. Collection ads
  4. Filters
  5. Lenses
  6. Commercials

LinkedIn ads

Objective

You can use LinkedIn ads for three types of marketing objectives:

  1. Awareness: Make your brand or company more well-known.
  2. Consideration: Engage website visitors, increase video views, or drive website traffic.
  3. Conversions: Convert website visitors into leads.
Audience considerations

Compared with the other social media networks in this post, LinkedIn is much more business-oriented. You can target people based on their professional qualifications, such as job title and seniority.

Types of LinkedIn ads

These are the four types of ads you can run on LinkedIn to accomplish your goals:

  1. Sponsored Content
  2. Sponsored InMail
  3. Text Ads
  4. Dynamic Ads

Pinterest ads

Objective

The following six business goals can be achieved by Pinterest ads:

  1. Build brand awareness
  2. Drive traffic to your website
  3. Drive app installs
  4. Drive traffic to specific products
  5. Encourage specific actions on your website
  6. Drive video impressions and increase your video reach
Audience considerations

The number of female users on Pinterest is significantly higher than that of male users.

Types of Pinterest ads

You have a couple of options for promoting your Pinterest ads.

  1. Pinterest Ads Manager
  2. Promote Button

YouTube ads

Objective

Ads on YouTube can help you accomplish the following business objectives:

  1. Collect leads
  2. Drive website traffic
  3. Increase product and improve brand consideration
  4. Build brand awareness and extend your reach
Audience considerations

The majority of YouTube users are male, and the users are well-distributed among age groups up to 65.

Types of YouTube ads

YouTube offers several different types of video ads. As YouTube is owned by Google, you will need a Google Ads account to create YouTube ads.

  1. Skippable in-stream ads
  2. Non-Skippable YouTube ads
  3. Video discovery ads
  4. Bumper Ads
  5. Outstream ads
  6. Masthead ads

Conclusion

Tools like Google Analytics and Hootsuite Impact allow you to measure results across multiple networks at the same time. An excellent way to track social media results and look for great content to promote with social ads is to create a social media report.

How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Your Business in 10 Steps

Leave a reply
How to Create a Social Media Strategy

The executive chairman of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, has rightly said, ““If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

Bang on! What is a business going to do without a proper social media strategy? As an omnichannel data powerhouse, V12 says that 90% of the customers try to get associated with a brand or want to purchase its products or services through social media. Further, an effective marketing plan, including a powerful content strategy for social media, helps a business to:

  1. Achieve a sense of purpose
  2. Determine your business goal
  3. Define your target audience
  4. Achieve clarity regarding the key targets on a short-term basis

Yes, we know that the planning part is extensive. However, by following an easy step-by-step guide, and setting up some short-term measurable goals, you can propel your business towards success. So, read on as we discuss how to create a social media strategy or the document outlining the social media goals for your business in 10 steps.

1. Have you heard of S.M.A.R.T goals?

So, let’s start with the first step, and that is setting S.M.A.R.T social media goals that agree with the objectives of your business. How else are you going to measure the success/failure of your business and the return on investment?

Why you will use the S.M.A.R.T Goal Framework:

 By S.M.A.R.T goals, we refer to goals that are:

  1. Specific
  2. Measurable
  3. Attainable
  4. Relevant
  5. Time-bound

S.M.A.R.T goals will help you channelize your actions and yield visible business results. For example, many businesses collaborate with influencers and content creators on Instagram as a part of their social media content plan. Thus, they interact with the niche audience and attract the traffic they want.

2. Tracking Value Metrics:

 You can easily find and assess the quantitative metrics, such as the number of followers on social media. However, it is important to get an idea about the real values. These real values include engagement, click-through, and conversion rates. However, it is important to know which metrics are important for which network. For example, In the case of LinkedIn, one should go for click-through. On the other hand, you can use Instagram for brand awareness, and measure the success of a campaign on Facebook through cost-per-click.

3. Know Your Audience:

Do you know who your real audiences are? Unless you know them and have an idea about what they want to see, you will not be able to create an effective content plan for social media. In other words, if you know your audience, you can easily turn them into your customers. By knowing your customers, we mean having an idea about the following.

  1. Age
  2. Location/Geography
  3. Average income
  4. Job
  5. Interests and others

4. Gather Essential Data:

Social media marketing and social media content strategy cannot be based on assumptions. Those should be data-driven. You can use social media analytics and tools to find the relevant information you want. For, it is not wise to guess that users of a particular age group (say 18-35) are using a particular platform frequently. If you are planning to target that particular age group, you should have the data to focus on a definite social media platform.

5. Know who your competitors are and keep track of their social media activities:

It’s time for some competitive analysis. Well, this analysis can be performed using advanced tools to know who your competitors are. Besides, it will help you know where they are winning over you and where they are lagging behind. Further, it will help you explore various opportunities. For example, if your competitor has made its presence felt on Instagram, but absent on Facebook or Twitter, you can easily capitalize those channels to reach out to more consumers.

6. Go for Social Media Audit:

Have you been using social media for quite some time now? It’s time you measure and monitor your strategies/endeavors so far. You can ask yourself the questions, mentioned below.

  1. Which strategy is working, and which one is unable to yield any result?
  2. Are people engaging with you, and who are they?
  3. Which particular network is being used by your target audience?
  4. How is your social media presence doing in comparison to your competitors?

Once you have these required pieces of information, you can plan a further roadmap.

7. Find Inspiration:

We are not denying the fact that your brand is unique, and it needs to STAND OUT. However, it is also important to find inspirations, especially for creating copies for social media. In other words, you can always find ideas from other businesses that are doing great on social media. You can refer to case studies (easily found in Facebook), and the marketing strategies of your favorite brands on social media for your valuable insights.

8. Make a Social Media Content Calendar and Set Your Posting Schedule:

Create a social media calendar, mentioning the type of content and the date you will be posting it on any social medium. You can include all the content plans in your calendar, including blog posts, videos, links, images, and others. Along with your day-to-day posting plans, it should also include the social media campaigns of your business. Remember to space out the posts properly using a calendar to yield the maximum benefit.

9. Use the Right Content Mix:

While creating the social media content strategy, you should create the perfect mix of content you post on social media. There is a popular rule of thirds for creating the right content mix for your business. It says:

  1. 1/3rd of the content should inform and educate by sharing thoughts and ideas from industry experts and leaders
  2. 1/3rd of the content should promote your business
  3. And the remaining 1/3rd should be used for personal interactions.

10. Evaluate and Bring Changes if Needed:

However powerful your social media strategy may be, you cannot undermine the importance of evaluation. Be smart! Track the results and introduce changes in the areas that need improvement.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have discussed how to create a social media strategy for your business in 10 easy steps.  It’s time you explore those and see how you can devise the most effective social media marketing plan. It’s a wrap until we come back with some other cool ideas for making your business a success in social media.

The Top 10 Types of Social Media Content that You Can Create

Leave a reply
The Top 10 Types of Social Media Content that You Can Create

Introduction

The success of your social media strategy depends entirely on the quality of the content you post on social media. However, producing high-quality, effective content is challenging for small businesses. This is a competitive, time-consuming process where you should aim to add value to your customer experience.  Content plan for social media usually includes a variety of content types in order to overcome these hurdles. By including different styles in your marketing strategy, you can create a more engaging experience for your audience.

The Top 10 Types of Social Media Content that You Can Create

Here, we have shortlisted the advantages of each style used by social media and content marketers as the content strategy for social media. Besides, we have discussed how to produce them, and the best social media platforms for them.

Written posts, blogs, articles, guides, and more

Advantages

Your company’s expertise and knowledge can be demonstrated in written posts or articles, which can help you to build your credibility.  This can be used as a social media content strategy.

How to produce

You may find it useful to research trending searches when developing this social media content plan. By doing so, you’ll gain insight into the questions people ask, giving you ideas about the articles you must write.

Best platforms

It is ideal for long-form articles, like those that are at least 1,500 words, to use LinkedIn and Facebook. You can post a whole piece, a short snippet, or a link to the piece. Twitter is also a good bet, but it has a limited character count, so you can only post links or quotes, which can still drive traffic to your site.

Electronic books (eBooks)

Advantages

A blog post doesn’t give as much detail as an eBook, so it helps showcase your expertise in your field. Additionally, ebooks are being produced by far fewer firms than blogs, so you don’t have to worry about heavy competition.

How to produce

Ebooks are basically collections of blog posts from the same category, compiled together as chapters. It is important to choose your best content or hire a professional writer who’s experienced with writing eBooks.

Best platforms

LinkedIn users join the site to network with colleagues and learn about their job or other interests, making it a good place to share eBooks. The second-best options are Facebook and Twitter.

Links to external content

Advantages

In the case of a writer not being available for a blog post or if your writer is on vacation, you could link to relevant articles, resources, and websites from other reliable sources. Leaders in your industry can also provide excellent content ideas.

How to produce

You can find similar content on different blogs using the keywords you used on your website. You should read every post and browse the site, too. If you follow this guideline, you will avoid sharing articles on social media accounts from sites that might portray your brand negatively.

Best platforms

Any type of content can be marketed using LinkedIn and Facebook, even just providing the link of the content. In addition to LinkedIn and Facebook, you can also use Twitter.

Images

Advantages

It is much easier for users to consume visual content than long-form blogs and articles. There are many apps that let you edit photos, add filters to them, and more on your smartphone, as the camera on these devices is highly advanced.

How to produce

Images and pictures are among the easiest types of content to create. You only need your smartphone or camera to take the picture.

Best platforms

The best platforms for sharing images are Instagram and Pinterest, both of which work well with images. You can also use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Snapchat as alternative options. You can also improve engagement and click-throughs by adding images to blog posts and creating copies for social media.

Videos

Advantages

Taking videos is easy and convenient, and they are more engaging than photographs. You can create videos that will drive traffic to your website and encourage sales with how-to guides, video tours, and product updates and demonstrations.

How to produce

 Producing video is difficult as well, just as it is with images. Depending on where you fall on that spectrum, you may need specialized skills and equipment.

Best platforms

Although YouTube is the king of video content, Facebook also has good performance in video content. Instagram is the best option for short videos, even above YouTube.

Video Stories

Advantages

There are thousands of stories on Instagram every day, but they last for 24 hours and then disappear. You can also find them on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Keeping your users informed about upcoming events, special offers, or other announcements is a great way to keep them engaged. There are truly endless possibilities!

How to produce

In every app on the social network platform, you have the option of posting images or videos. A business can easily create them since high-quality production is not required.

Best platforms

Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook have popularized this content type and remain to be the most popular.

Live Videos

Advantages

The use of live videos allows audiences that cannot physically attend events to still view them. You can watch live streaming after they end, unlike stories, which are removed after 24 hours.

How to produce

 Live content is readily accessible and convenient to users through social media platforms supporting live content. The preview allows you to see what your audience will see before you go live, so you can be sure everything looks good.

Best platforms

The most popular live streaming social media network is Facebook Live. Other smaller platforms, such as Periscope, may not have as large an audience, but may still be viable.

Infographics

Advantages

Using visuals, infographics illustrate written concepts, explanations, and statistics. When communicating complex ideas, they are especially effective.

How to produce

To create your infographics, you should first create an outline. After completing the outline, your writer and designer can start creating the components and piecing them together.

Best platforms

Both Facebook and LinkedIn are excellent options for infographics while Twitter can be your alternative choice.

Testimonials and reviews

Advantages

Reviews and testimonials are incredibly valuable because people tend to trust other opinions of the customers more than companies own.

How to produce

Get in touch with past clients and ask for a testimonial. The practice of rewarding people for reviews is bad practice, however, since it can lead to dishonesty, and review sites such as Yelp may punish you for it.

Best platforms

Social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn are great places to post reviews and testimonials. On business pages, Facebook even provides star ratings.

Announcements

Advantages

By letting people know what’s new and noteworthy with your business, you can build hype and alert people to new products, projects, events, and live streams. Readers love getting the inside scoop on their favorite stores and brands!

How to produce

If possible, information should be slowly released. An announcement can be viewed as a series of teasers leading up to some big news.

Best platforms

Keeping in mind that each social network has its own best practices, announcements can be made on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or even through social messaging tools.

Conclusion

To make your brand stand out, save time, and enhance your customer experience, use the features of the social media platforms to weave these content types together. Be creative with your ideas, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Your unique audience will help you determine what types of content to provide. There’s no way to know what works until you try it!