In short: no.

Although it may be able to transform how we go about digital marketing strategies like content creation and search engine optimization. Here’s a look at what the future of content creation may hold, ChatGPT and all.

1. SEO and Content Marketing Will Remain Vital

Despite fears that ChatGPT will make Google Search (thus SEO) irrelevant, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. For starters, ChatGPT and similar tools like Google Bard were not built as search engines.

Even Google Bard works as a companion tool to Google search, giving you the option to run your question through Google search to find citable sources.

Similarly, content marketing is not going anywhere anytime soon — 93% of B2B marketers either have a content marketing strategy or plan to implement one in the next 12 months.

SEO and content marketing work in tandem to help companies build, maintain, and nurture healthy sales pipelines. Perhaps the way content looks may change — we may see more investment in areas such as video, but the content itself won’t go away.

2. The Use of Generative AI for Content Creation Will Continue To Be Experimental

In a survey by AuthorityHacker, 75% of the surveyed marketers stated they already use AI-powered tools in their day-to-day work.

So far, marketers have leveraged AI to create workflow efficiencies by streamlining more manual processes and supporting tasks like brainstorming ideas for video content, creating outlines for blog posts, and writing short-form content like social media posts.

Given the high proportion of early adopters, it’s likely that we’ll see a percentage of companies experimenting with generative AI to create new content.

The main benefit is that AI enables brands to generate a lot of content quickly. However, a few problems with AI-generated content prevent it from being a sustainable way to create engaging content.

First and foremost, there’s the price of paying for quantity by sacrificing content quality. When looking at content quality, inaccuracies in AI content remain a top concern, listed by 56% of companies as a relevant risk.

Having a large library of content on your website will do little to attract an audience and keep them engaged if your readers can’t trust the reliability of the information you provide.

Not to mention, with SEO remaining a relevant marketing strategy, using AI for content production also brings up uniqueness and plagiarism issues.

Using AI tools to generate content results in generic writing similar to any other brand using the same tool trained on the same data. Any benefits teams may gain from speed will be greatly outweighed by the content’s inability to rank on search engines and resonate with readers.

3. Full-Funnel Content Will Become More Important

Many brands are realizing that while SEO is a cost-efficient and effective way to bring leads into the sales funnel, it shouldn’t be their content marketing team’s sole focus. Once potential customers have discovered your brand, content plays a significant role in their eventual purchasing decision.

A study backs that up, showing that 84% of B2B consumers said the winning vendor’s content positively impacted buying decisions.

The importance of mid and low-funnel content only seems to be growing, as 55% of B2B buyers say they rely more on content to inform their research and decision-making when choosing vendors.

Brands wanting to keep leads engaged need to meet changing buyers’ needs by providing relevant content at all sales funnel stages.

For instance, adding clear and specific details about your product can improve your chances of converting leads. In particular, 72% of B2B buyers say they’re more likely to buy when the vendor has transparent pricing information on the website.

Beyond product specifications, brands need to focus on creating the types of content that showcase how their product is relevant for different customer segments. That can be done by sharing assets like case studies, webinars, and ebooks that illustrate your product’s functionality, use cases, and impact.

4. Brand Building Will Still Require Human Connection

Despite the many applicable uses and opportunities AI writing tools present, they also have limitations. When it comes to brand building, AI doesn’t have the empathy required to build strong connections with your target audience.

Brands need content creators who can establish a unique voice and tone to set themselves apart and build relationships with customers. AI, by nature, delivers generic responses that make it difficult to use them to create high-quality content that can set your brand apart from the competition.

You still need humans at the wheel, steering your brand in the right direction and taking the temperature of your target audience to know if you’re succeeding.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Content Creation for Businesses

The recent advancements in AI will no doubt shape the future of marketing and content creation. AI has the power to make teams more efficient, but it can’t replace the essence of content marketing, which is about connecting with an audience.

That need will always stay the same, and it will always require humans. New technology might just change the how: how we work, how our content looks, and how audiences connect with brands.

At The Blogsmith, we’re committed to staying at the forefront of content marketing and SEO growth so we can help our clients navigate the opportunities and pitfalls of transformative tools like AI. If you’re interested in working with a partner who can help you create a successful and sustainable content strategy, get in touch with The Blogsmith today.

About the Author

Maddy Osman is the bestselling author of Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style. She’s a digital native with a decade-long devotion to creating engaging, accessible, and relevant content and the founder of The Blogsmith content marketing & SEO agency. Her experience earned her a spot in Semrush’s and BuzzSumo’s Top 100 Content Marketers and The Write Life’s 100 Best Websites for Writers.

The post The Future of Content Marketing: 4 Key Trends To Know appeared first on WebDevStudios.

In this blog post, we’ll explore what gamification is and take a look at some gamification examples around the web. Then we’ll check out some interesting gamification statistics and brainstorm some ideas for adding gamification to your website.

What Is Gamification?

Gamification is the process of adding game-like elements to applications in an attempt to increase engagement by motivating users. Gamification can be found in many settings and industries, such as business, education, fitness, software, apps, and website technology.

In business, elements of games can give people a sense of fun in an environment that would otherwise feel like work. On your website, gamification is a deliberate strategy to increase user engagement, and it can also enhance motivation and loyalty.

Elements of Gamification

You can gamify a non-game system, such as your website or app, by using a variety of components. Here are some of the most common.

Points

The basic attribute of any game or gamified application is the collection of points. They are awarded for activity on your website and will add up as the user takes action across the system.

This gives the user a direct and simple method to see their progress. Points are allocated in different ways, such as for experience or reputation. They add up over time, contribute toward achievements, or are redeemed for rewards.

Badges and Achievements

Badges and achievements usually go hand-in-hand, with the user earning a badge for achieving specific milestones within the system. In video games, achievements are awarded for completing long-term or difficult tasks.

As elements of gamification, achievements are awarded once a user has reached a certain number of points or completed a series of activities. The user earns a badge that is displayed on their profile.

Leaderboards and Competitions

In gamified systems that feature leaderboards, users compete against each other and are ranked according to points accrued or achievements. Apps might also create competitions between users in which people will compete for the highest score in a set time frame.

Scores are displayed publicly so that users can compare their progress against their competitors. Competitions are arranged in teams or played by individual users.

Unlocks

Both points and achievements are used to unlock new game elements once the user has reached a certain threshold. For example, once users attain a certain number of points, they might be awarded new privileges within the system. Or, having completed certain achievements, the user might be presented with new challenges.

Progress and Completeness Bars

Progress bars and completeness trackers are ways to encourage users to complete all steps in a particular series. For example, this is commonly used to help people fill out all pieces of their user profiles.

Adding a profile photo, location, and other details will move the progress bar toward completion. Completeness bars can also be used to guide customers along the process of requesting a quote, completing a purchase, or filling out a long form.

Random Chance

A traditional form of gamification that’s easy to implement is random chance. This has been used at work, school, and home for centuries.

People use chore wheels to assign chores to family members by spinning a wheel. Drawing numbers out of a hat is another common way to use the random chance to make decisions.

Even though it’s random, it can help people feel more motivated to participate in tasks because they know they weren’t singled out for the chore and that it will change next time. Many card games, board games, and video games rely heavily on random chance to progress game elements.

Gamification Examples

Gamification can be found around the web in a variety of ways that you are probably already interacting with, but might not have noticed.

Social Media

Reddit is a great example of a social media website/app that uses different elements of gamification:

• Users gain “Karma” points, which are awarded by other people in the form of upvotes on their posts or comments.
• Users can give awards to each other, which are displayed on an individual post and in the user’s profile with icons and titles.
• Users gain trophies, which are similar to badges, for certain milestones like numbers of years on the app or for taking actions like verifying their email address.

Stack Overflow is a message forum website where people can ask questions related to programming and development. The platform uses these gamification techniques:

• Users gain points when other people upvote their questions and answers. Some activities award larger amounts of points, such as when a user’s answer is marked as “accepted.”
• Then, these points are shown as reputation earned, and indicate how helpful a user has been in answering questions.
• As users gain reputation points, new privileges are unlocked, including the ability to ask questions. Users must first be helpful before they can receive help.
• Badges are awarded at increasing levels of reputation.

Social media websites and apps like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are gamified with likes and shares. Those add up by post, instead of contributing to a user’s overall score, and they motivate people to create more content and improve their posts to garner more likes and shares.

Education and Training

Treehouse is a website that offers online courses on web development and related coding topics. It’s a fantastic example of gamification in an educational setting with points, badges, and learning tracks.

• Learners gain points when taking important actions on the platform, such as completing quizzes, doing code challenges, finishing courses, and participating in forums.
• When users gain achievements they earn a badge that’s displayed on their profile.
• Courses are arranged into tracks, which are collections of courses on a related topic that move a learner from beginner to advanced skill level. These keep students motivated as they see their progression through the track.

Health and Fitness

Fitness trackers like Fitbit and Apple Watch include a lot of gamification to make workouts more motivating and fun. For example, Fitbit users aim for goals like the number of steps per day, resting heart rate, pounds lost, and the number of minutes exercised per week.

• Data from workouts is tracked and displayed on a dashboard.
• A number of steps is counted and displayed throughout the day.
• Weight loss or maintenance is tracked and displayed graphically.
• Users earn badges for reaching specific goals.

Fitbit also includes virtual events and competitions. Users can compete against each other in daily or weekly goals, but they can also participate in “Fitbit Adventures” where they use their real-life steps to follow virtual trails, reach destinations, and collect hidden items.

Work and Business

Gamification can be built into our daily working lives. Here at WebDevStudios, we use a Slack integration called HeyTaco that helps employees build relationships and give each other kudos for a job well done.

HeyTaco works by allowing users to give each other taco emojis in Slack or Microsoft Teams. They’re typically used to say thank you, good job, or congratulations. It goes a long way toward building camaraderie, especially in a remote work environment.

HeyTaco includes a few elements of gamification:

• Tacos add up like points.
• A monthly leaderboard ranks employees based on how many tacos they received that month.
• Tacos are exchanged for real-world rewards, set by the organization, such as gift cards or extra time off.

A 2019 study found that 89% of employees said that gamification made them feel more productive and 88% said it made them feel happier at work. Eighty-nine percent also said that when a task is gamified, they feel competitive and eager to complete it. (Source)

LinkedIn even has some gamification in the form of skill badges. Users take skill assessments, and if they score in the top 30%, they earn a badge that will display on their profile. The promise of a reward for a high score makes the skill assessments feel more important to the user, and it’s also useful information for potential employers.

Gaming

Gamification is even found within gaming systems themselves. For example, Xbox Game Pass members earn Microsoft Rewards points by playing games that are included with the Xbox Game Pass library.

• Players earn points by playing Game Pass games daily and weekly.
• The points are tracked within the user’s profile in the Xbox console and mobile app.
• These points are redeemable for rewards like Xbox gift cards, in-game content, movies, and more.

Gold Stars

Other forms of basic gamification exist in our daily lives. In elementary school, teachers sometimes award gold stars for good behavior or exceptional grades.

The stars are shown on a board next to each student’s name. This gamification takes the form of both points and a leaderboard and motivates kids to do well in school.

Website and App Gamification Statistics

Most website owners would like to improve certain stats on their website, like the bounce rate, time spent on the site, and the number of pages viewed. Higher user engagement with a website should lead to an increase in conversions and revenue.

• Gamifying your website can boost browsing time by up to 30%. (Source)
• A fully engaged customer tends to net an average of 23% premium in terms of profitability. Actively disengaged customers represent a 13% discount. (Source)
• Gamifying a website boosts comments by 13%, social sharing by 22%, and content discovery by 68%. (Source)
• Gamifying a website can lead to a 100-150% increase in engagement metrics including unique views, page views, community activities, and time on site. (Source)

These companies experienced measurable success with their website and app engagement rates due to gamification:

• Duolingo used gamification in language learning efforts to help grow its user base to more than 300 million. (Source)
• After introducing gamification to its mobile app, Foursquare expanded by 10 times within a five-year period. (Source)
• In 2018, Roblox launched its Roblox Education program, which helped increase the number of active Roblox users to over 90 million in a year. (Source)
• Autodesk used gamification to increase its trail usage rate by 40%, with conversion rates increasing by 15%. (Source)
• The logistics company Kenco saw a 45% increase in sales after using a sales gamification tool. (Source)
• Ford Motors increased sales by more than $8 million and boosted Facebook likes by 600% with gamified content. (Source)
• Coop saw an 39% average increase in spend amongst customers who stayed engaged with its gamification system long enough to collect a prize. (Source)
• Masai experienced a 50% cost-per-lead reduction. (Source)
• Samsung Nation increased its customer product reviews by 500% and site visits by 66%. (Source)
• Teleflora increased traffic by 105% and conversion rates by 92%. (Source)
• IBM has shown a 299% increase in comments posted. (Source)
• Texas bank Extraco tested a gamified process that taught clients about its offers and benefits, which led to a rise in conversion rate, from 2% to 14%, and raised customer acquisitions by 700%. (Source)

Ideas for Gamification of Your Website

Gamification is easy to apply to most websites with a little creativity and web development. Start with these ideas.

Gamification of eCommerce Websites

eCommerce websites are well positioned to take advantage of gamification since they already have a user database that can be expanded upon to include gamification elements like points and discounts.

Points and Progress Bars

A progress bar, shown prominently on the website, can track the customer’s number of purchases. The progress bar fills based on point accumulation for every purchase and amount spent.

Badge Achievements

Specific call-to-actions (CTAs) earn users badges and achievements. These CTAs are commonly used.

• Follow the company on social media
• Share an invitation to the website with a friend
• Use a coupon
• Sign up for the email list
• The customer’s first order
• Order number milestones such as 10 orders, 20 orders, etc.

Spin a Wheel

Displaying a wheel with various prizes such as discounts or free shipping is enticing. The user spins the wheel, which lands on a prize and adds the reward to their account.

Product Recommender

Product recommenders are like quizzes that allow the user to find the products they’re looking for. The user selects from product attributes and the results of the quiz show the customers which of the store’s products meet their needs.

Checkout Progress Bar

Users stay on track by monitoring the progress bar during checkout. It shows the stages of the checkout, such as shipping, billing, and review. This lets the user know what to expect during checkout and where they are within the process.

Gamification of Business and Professional Service Websites

Professional service websites include businesses like creative studios, web development agencies, marketing agencies, health industry businesses (clinics, doctors, dentists), lawyers, accountants, insurance, cleaning services, home repair services, and more. These businesses sell services instead of products, but many of the gamification methods for eCommerce apply here as well.

Product Recommender

If your business offers different levels of service, such as different packages, a product recommender is an interactive way to let clients discover which of your packages is best for them. The user selects from package attributes and the results of the quiz show them which of the services best meets their needs.

Completeness Tracker

If your website includes a database of user accounts, it can be beneficial to encourage your clients to fill out their profile. A completeness tracker can motivate them to input data like their location, times available for meetings/appointments, user photos, budget range, and preferred types of services. You can request the data that’s important to your business.

Achievements and Badges

The completion of action items can result in achievement levels and badges. Here are some common examples.

• Following the company on social media
• Sharing an invitation to the company with a friend
• Signing up for the email list
• Completing a large project with the company
• Keeping up with recommended activities (like six-month dental checkups or annual home maintenance)

Gamification of SaaS Websites

Software-as-a-Service websites can take advantage of gamification in training and sales. Some of the top SaaS companies include Salesforce, HubSpot, G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Amazon Web Services, and Dropbox.

In addition to the sales and purchasing ideas mentioned earlier, SaaS websites can make great use of gamification in educational training for their product.

Some education and training ideas are:

• Award the user achievements and badges for watching training videos.
• Give the user different amounts of points for completing different tasks. Some activities might award more points, such as 10 for watching a video, and 20 for passing a quiz.
• Guide the user through the process of setting up the software for their business with a completion tracker.
• Award the user a downloadable certificate when they have successfully passed a course.

Gamification of News, Review, Blog, and Informational Websites

Informational websites include news websites, product review websites, personal blogs, professional/industry blogs, or advice columns. Text articles mostly make up the composition of these sites, which lack complex features like eCommerce.

While these websites might not directly sell products, they can still benefit from some of the same elements of gamification. Think about ways to include these elements:

• Encourage website visitors to sign up for your email list with a spinning wheel of prizes. Prizes can be anything that makes sense for the topic you write about.
• If you review products, you can treat them like any e-commerce site would, and offer a recommendation quiz that will help users find the content they’re looking for.
• Include a “Surprise me!” button that sends users to a random article.
• Run giveaway contests for special content like books written by the authors of the website.
• Add interaction that’s similar to social media, such as a robust comments feature with upvotes and downvotes. If your site has a user database, you could rank commenters by the number of comments.
• Include interactive elements that give the reader something to do. Buzzfeed quizzes are a great example of this.
• Embed social media posts, especially from your readers, to build a community and take advantage of social media’s built-in gamification of likes and shares.

Conclusion

Gamification is a compelling way to add interaction and fun to your website. Moreover, it can enhance websites in any industry by using game-like elements such as points, badges, and progress bars.

Statistics show that gamification improves user engagement, motivation, and ultimately revenue. That said, it’s worth gamifying your website to cash in on these benefits.

The post Gamification of Your Website appeared first on WebDevStudios.

First, let’s look at the definition. Marketing Evolution defines it as…

Omnichannel marketing is the integration and cooperation of the various channels organizations use to interact with consumers, with the goal of creating a consistent brand experience. This includes physical (e.g. stores) and digital channels (e.g. websites).

In other words, be everyone at one time.

Customer-Focused

The old way of doing this was simple multichannel marketing. Think of it this way, typically businesses would spend time advertising on various outlets with company being the focus. The message is consistent and doesn’t change based on the customer.

With an omnichannel marketing strategy, the customer becomes the focus. The message can be altered or adjusted to meet the customer or client wherever they are in their engagement journey.

Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

This strategy of tailoring messaging for the customer is proven to be more successful. Here’s why. According to the Omnichannel Marketing website, there is clearly higher engagement. They share the following:

• Higher engagement: Omnichannel marketing campaigns earn an 18.96% engagement rate. Those using single-channel campaigns see a 5.4% engagement rate.
• Higher purchase rate: Omnichannel marketing campaigns earn a 287% higher purchase rate than those depending on just one channel (12% versus 3.21%). Bonus: When you use SMS as one of the channels within an omnichannel marketing initiative, the conversion rate improves by 47.7%.
• Higher spend rate: Customers engaging with omnichannel campaigns spend, on average, 13% more than those engaging with single-channel campaigns.
• Higher customer loyalty: Marketers using omnichannel campaigns experience a 90% higher retention rate than those using single-channel campaigns.

DesignRush reports:

• Companies with strong omnichannel campaigns retain over 89% of their customers.
• Buying frequency is 250% higher on omnichannel vs single-channel marketing.
• Customer retention rates are 90% higher for omnichannel vs single channel.
• Omnichannel shoppers have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel.

Omnichannel marketing starts or ends with your website.

Your current strategy may include different touch points with a customer during their journey and experience with your business, other than your website. You may employ a CRM, like Hubspot or Salesforce, or email marketing through Constant Contact or MailChimp, for example. Social media could also be one of the ways your reach your clients.

The right web design and development agency, such as WebDevStudios, can bring all of these marketing channels together in one digital experience. Creating a digital experience that embraces and supports your omnichannel marketing strategy is really the proper way to think about customer engagement.

This leads me to the importance of a CRM. Are you using one for your customers, clients, or users? Think of this as a giant hub of information and insight for each client.

I often think of that scene from “The Office” where Michael talks about his index cards for each client. While the premise of the scene was funny, the message was important.

The nuances and characteristics of your clients can tell you a beautiful story. When thinking through the lens of omnichannel marketing, it’s as if your user’s story is being read to you.

3 Things to Consider

• Go through the customer engagement process yourself. Visit your websites. Fill out a contact form. Make a purchase, etc. How does it feel? What improvements could you make?
• Talk to each department and understand their needs and challenges. How can they be addressed through either refinements or customer data?
• Think of each piece of your omnichannel marketing strategy. Do they satisfy your customers’ wants or needs, not just to advertise?
• Make sure you convey clear calls to actions.
• Test and retest. Analyze the date and adjust when and where needed.

Get help.

When in doubt, enlist the expertise of a creative agency and/or a web development agency to put all these pieces together for you. Having experts work with you will ensure your success.

At WebDevStudios, we are well-experienced in developing web platforms that reinforce your omnichannel marketing efforts. Contact us and let’s chat. Creating the proper digital experience for your omnichannel marketing strategy will show your customers that you are there to assist them and make their experience complete.

Try this TED Talk.

If you are interested in learning more, this is a great TED Talk to check out. Illustrating his thoughts with inspiring example from some of today’s largest retail players, Kilian Wagner, CEO of a very innovative Swiss start-up, gives insight on his retail strategy and on how omnichannelling might just be the quiet revolution we have all been waiting for.

The post An Omnichannel Marketing Strategy appeared first on WebDevStudios.

As the popular quote by Orvel Ray Wilson goes,

Customers buy for their reasons, not yours.

You should try to understand your eCommerce customers well enough to gain more sales. This article discusses how to delight your customers with your WooCommerce store.

Why WooCommerce?

It powers 26% of all online stores, is open-source, and it’s easy to customize and maintain. At WebDevStudios, we build and maintain some popular WooCommerce stores.

Below os my list of recommendations. Many store owners often miss these, and that affects sales. So, let’s get started.

Target Audience

Defining your target audience is a crucial factor in your marketing efforts. As Seth Godin says, “Everyone is not your customer.” So, you have to niche down and identify your target eCommerce customers.

There is a popular marketing term called “buyer persona,” which means identifying the buyers to a deeper level. If you have buyer personas, pat yourself on your back. If you don’t, here is a simple approach in two steps.

1. Start with the demographics of your customers by including age, gender, location, occupation, income level, etc.
2. Then, proceed with psychographics, like interests, lifestyle, behavior, attitude, etc.

This gives you a better picture of your target audience. Do you need a buyer persona? The short answer is yes.

Many store owners and agencies know how the sales funnel works, but only a few of them target the right target audience and convert visitors to customers.

Whether it is social media advertisements, email campaigns, or SEO, the wrong target market won’t convert into sales. Here are some tools to help.

• HubSpot Make My Persona
• Xtensio
• Upclose and persona
• UXpressia Personas Tool

Competitor Analysis

Every business has a unique selling proposition, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have competitors. A business or person that offers the same services or products as yours to your target audience is competition. Instead of competing with them, you could learn from them.

1. Identify gaps. By curating a list of your competitors and what they offer, you can find the gaps in the market. Find the blue ocean where you can make a difference and dominate the market.
2. Find what is trending. Spy on your competitors on their social media pages, email campaigns, webinars, and other all possible outlets. Research and use the data you discover to guide you. See what is trending and add to your brand’s identity, core values, and invent your own trend.
3. Pay attention to social signals. Find out what the customers talk about your competitors’ customer service by reading testimonials, tweets, and whatnot.
4. Analyze their strategies. Observe competitors’ pricing, shipping, refund, returns, and other strategies and policies. You can learn from these and avoid their mistakes. Keep it DRY. That means, don’t repeat yourself.

These tools help with competitor analysis.

• Spyfu – Check paid traffic.
• Brand24 – Manage social media engagement, brand mentions, and voice.
• BuzzSumo – Find what content performs well and discover influencers.

Store Features

The experience of your eCommerce customers matters. From header navigation to search filters, every feature of your online store is important. These are the minimum required ones:

• Navigation – Keep your menus, categories organized. This may look so obvious, yet many sites don’t have proper navigation.
• Accessibility – Making the site more accessible is a necessity now. With Core Web Vitals on the ranking factors, you will get better SEO results and also happy customers by following accessibility standards. The trick is to choose a theme that supports this out of the box, like wd_s, storefront, and others.
• Security – Self-signed SSL certificates may throw security warnings, which in turn result in customers leaving the store and bad SEO scores. Start with a free SSL and Web Application Firewall (WAF) by Cloudflare or others. Enabling multi-factor authentication and CAPTCHAs adds another layer of security.
• Updates – Keeping your store’s plugins and themes updated is crucial. Security patches should be installed as soon as possible to avoid security issues. The latest versions of extensions will have improvements and new features. So, keep up with the updates.

Did you know that 88% of the online carts are abandoned worldwide? Understanding your eCommerce customers and providing a good user experience will help in reducing abandonment rates. The following tools help.

• Cloudflare
• Accessibility tools

Pricing

Who doesn’t want discounts? Pricing can often make or break the deal.

As we discussed earlier, analyze your competitors’ strategies, including pricing. Find inspiration in their examples and formulate a pricing strategy that works for you.

• Set up upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Create discount coupons and offers. Make them prominent throughout your online store.
• Showcase discounts. Make it obvious how much a customer will save on their purchase. This encourages people to buy while the offer lasts. Declutter the checkout page, and do not ask for unnecessary details during the checkout process.
• Rely on referrals. Having a referral or reward program boosts sales. You might be spending more on acquiring a new customer via promotions, so inspire your eCommerce customers to return with a tempting rewards program.
• Simplify pricing. Don’t leave the customers puzzled with the sale prices. Keep it simple. Consider adding the shipping cost to the product base price and make shipping free. There is no definitive guide for pricing. Try different pricing models and find out what works for you.

One tool I highly recommend is WooCommerce Points and Rewards. This product allows you to reward your customers for their purchases and referrals.

Customer Service

Others can copy your strategies, get supplies from the same supplier as yours, use the same theme and plugins, but they can’t match your customer service.

Every brand has its own core values, and it reflects in customer service. WooCommerce makes it easy to add and view order notes for both store owners and customers.

Make sure you are providing excellent eCommerce customer support before, during, and after the purchase to stay on top of the market. Adding these elements to your WooCommerce shop will help.

• Chatbots – Use a chatbot to respond to any queries quickly. This also helps you to save your manpower and time.
• Chat – You might have noticed “chat with a human” chat boxes on many websites. This helps to talk directly to customers and receive feedback in real-time. You can configure the chatbots to redirect to the support team, if necessary.
• Email – Not all questions can be answered immediately. Use a support ticket system to track the status of customer messages.

You may not be able to control the market, but you can control the way you serve your eCommerce customers. Good customer service also brings you positive feedback. Additionally, positive ratings from your customers increases brand awareness

For assistance with your customer service, keep these tools in mind.

• Facebook messenger chat – This chat box comes with basic and free automated questions. You can extend it with third-party apps.
• MailChimp for WooCommerce – Connect your WooCommerce store with MailChimp services.
• Newsletter Glue – Compose emails with Gutenberg block editor and send them directly from your WordPress dashboard.

Communities

This is a commonly known yet ignored piece of advice. Be a part of the community related to your industry and grow your own community around your eCommerce brand. Here are two ideas.

• WordPress Community – Get help from WooCommerce experts and users by participating in local WordPress and WooCommerce meetups, WordCamps, and other similar events near you.
• Social Media – Facebook groups, Subreddits, Slack, Twitter—you have ample social media choices to receive help.

Communities foster a sense of belonging. You learn more by listening to others’ experiences.

At first, you can start by becoming a member of various communities. Then, you should create a community with your customers as you grow.

As the Pareto principle advises: 80% of sales come from 20% of the customers. When you have a community of loyal eCommerce customers, marketing and sales become easy.

Need some help with building or scaling your WooCommerce store? Let the experts handle it. Contact us now.

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Most of the leaders and experts I know are humble people. However, in today’s digital world, you need an online presence that influences others to do business with you. Your potential clients and customers want to work with and purchase services from innovative thought leaders who are at the forefront of trends and new solutions. How do you convince them that you and your business fit that description without coming off obnoxious?

Keep reading to learn how to use marketing and public relations (PR) techniques to tell the world you’re a thought leader without actually screaming, “Hey! Look at me! I’m a thought leader.”

Start by Introducing Yourself

If you have not done so already, write your biography and background story. Begin by creating a long, detailed biography. The length should be about a full page. Try not to go longer than that.

Your long-form bio should first identify who you are and what you do today. From there, transition to your history and background. After that, wrap it up with the fun stuff, such as inspirations and personal interests.

Now, write three more versions of this bio. (I know, but hear me out.) The first should be a briefer version of the long-form bio. My general rule-of-thumb for length is three paragraphs.

Utilize the exact same sentences from the long-form version, but just make this bio more concise. Use this version on the About page of your website, or whatever personal page you have for yourself. As an example, view the bio for WebDevStudios (WDS) CEO and Co-Founder, Brad Williams.

The next version of your bio should be even briefer—just one paragraph. Again, use the same sentences and wording. This is the version you will use on LinkedIn and your other social media profiles.

The last version of your bio is only one to two sentences in length. This is your 30-second elevator pitch. Please memorize it.

Share Your Knowledge

Now, you know who you are. You have written your description, backstory, and you’re keeping it consistent everywhere. These measures are important as we move to the next step in your journey as a thought leader: sharing your knowledge.

Generously donating your time and expertise is the number-one way for telling me you’re a thought leader without telling me you’re a though leader. Here’s how and where to do it.

Blog

You need a blog on your website, and you, personally, need to be contributing to it. The WDS blog is one of our hottest marketing methods for brand recognition.

By blogging regularly, our team members are establishing themselves and WDS as thought leaders in subjects such as:

• Headless WordPress
• Next.js
• Digital strategy

What are your specialities? Blog about them on a regular basis.

Long-Form Content

Case studies and white papers are valuable because they provide a wealth of information for anyone gathering knowledge in your industry. Since long-form content tends to be more in-depth and detailed, they are very effective for establishing yourself as a thought leader.

Books

Did you ever think about writing a book about your particular expertise? WebDevStudios COO and Co-Founder, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, is the For Dummies brand franchise author on all things WordPress, including the best-selling WordPress For Dummies.

Want to tell me you’re a thought leader without telling me you’re a thought leader? Write a book!

Events

All the world’s a stage. So, find your spotlight and share your knowledge. Here are some ideas for venues and platforms.

Talks and Presentations

My coworkers love speaking at WordCamps, WordPress meetups, and conferences. You should do the same. Nowadays, many events have gone virtual, so you can showcase your expertise across the globe easily.

Webinars

Every time I attend a webinar, I wind up following that speaker on every platform and buying their books, if they have any. Presenting a webinar on a subject that you know a lot about is a sure-fire way to garner new followers, fans, and clients.

Webinars are a great marketing tool and worth the investment. They’re not as difficult to coordinate and conduct as you would think. Today’s technology makes webinars easy to manage and not so costly.

WebDevStudios is offering a webinar on Headless WordPress at the end of this month. You can watch and register via Zoom, and it’s free to attend.

If your knowledge can help boost someone else’s, I highly recommend setting up and hosting an educational webinar.

Twitter Spaces

Brad loves sharing his WordPress knowledge and opinions in an informal manner. That’s why every Friday he hosts a WordPress Twitter Spaces event.

With Twitter Spaces, you can hold an informal, off-the-cuff audio chat about a topic related to your industry and expertise. You can even invite others to speak and engage in conversation. Another option is Clubhouse. You can do the same thing there, too.

I recommend going into a Twitter Spaces or Clubhouse event with topics in mind already. Take the time to promote the event beforehand, too. You don’t have to conduct an event like this weekly like Brad does, but consider finding a groove and establishing some level of consistency.

If you’d like to join Brad’s Twitter Spaces events, follow him on Twitter. He tweets out his Twitter Spaces link at 1 p.m. Eastern on Fridays. Use the hashtag #WPFriday to grab his attention and ask a WordPress-related question.

Your Own Media

Podcasts are hot! Even I have one. You could, too.

Tell me you’re a thought leader without telling me you’re thought leader by hosting your very own podcast or YouTube channel. These are other effective ways for sharing your knowledge with a lot of people.

It’s true that podcasting and hosting a YouTube channel are time-consuming activities because they require a lot of content. Plus, the post-production process (if you’re not live streaming) can be daunting. Nonetheless, they’re both worthwhile marketing and PR tactics and bear consideration.

Comments and Guest Appearances

Make yourself available for guest blogging on someone else’s blog, contributing commentary for a reporter’s article or broadcast piece, and guest appearing on another industry leader’s podcast or YouTube channel. When you share your knowledge on somebody else’s platform, you’re benefiting by gaining exposure to their audience.

Bonus Tip #1: SEO the heck out of everything!

Between your bios, blog posts, webinars, and guest appearances, you should be optimizing all the words you’re using for search engines. How do you do that?

Back when you wrote that long bio, you should have established your main keywords and key phrases. Your job role and business descriptions should reflect those. As you flit and flutter about sharing your knowledge everywhere, never stop using those keywords and key phrases. They’re your business cards—what you want to be known for. They’re also your key to the kingdom of Google.

Bonus Tip #2: Hire someone to do it for you.

The easiest way to tell me you’re a thought leader without telling me you’re a though leader is to hire someone to do it for you. As the Marketing Strategist at WebDevStudios, it’s my job to develop and grow our brand presence. I spend my workdays cheering the accolades of WDS and my teammates, so they don’t have to do it themselves.

If you’re too humble to dive into a public relations strategy that encompasses all the aforementioned activities, create an appropriate job role within your company and recruit the right person. Let those responsibilities fall on their shoulders.

You could also hire an outside marketing and PR agency or a freelancer. Whichever road you choose, it’s wise to enlist the assistance of a passionate professional. Rely on them to tell the world about your expertise and thought leadership.

Conclusion

As you can see, being pushy and off-putting does not have to be a part of your position as an industry thought leader. Be confidently forthright about your skillset and make time for sharing your knowledge with others. It truly is that easy.

Are you ready to tell me you’re a thought leader without telling me you’re a thought leader? Begin with your website. Whether you need an updated About page or an entirely new website that showcases your expertise, talk to the team with the most knowledgable website design and development thought leaders around. Contact WebDevStudios.

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People exercise an unconscious selection in being influenced. – T. S. Eliot

That’s hot. – Paris Hilton

Call it thought leadership or endorsement, influencer marketing is a viable digital marketing trend that continues to remain popular. Businesses that incorporate it into their overall marketing strategy stand to benefit by increasing their online brand presence, attracting customers through published testimonials, and selling more product or services. If you’re planning to launch an influencer marketing campaign, I have some words of wisdom. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself about the role your website plays in influencer marketing, along with some helpful tips.

Does your website influence the influencer?

I’m going to be really, really blunt. Ready?

If your website looks outdated, unprofessional, or just plain ugly, influencers will not want to work with you.

Sorry if that hurts, but it’s the plain truth. Influencers are a savvy crowd with discerning taste. That’s why they’re influencers! If your website looks like it was designed in 2004, expect them to snub your pitches to join your influencer marketing campaign. Before replying to any outreach communications you send the influencers you want to work with, know that they will investigate your brand and website.

Everything on your website will be judged by influencers, including:

• Fonts
• Colors
• Product/service landing pages
• Imagery
• Shopping cart
• Overall design and style
• Security
• Blog content
• Website performance

Prior to contacting influencers, you should tidy up your website. It has to look fresh, modern, and on-trend. Plus, your website’s performance has to ‘wow’ them, too. Make it your goal to inspire your potential influencers to feel eager about joining your influencer marketing campaign.

Is your website optimized?

The whole point of an influencer marketing campaign is to increase sales. Is your website prepared for an onslaught of web traffic? Influencers have their own brand reputation to think about, too. The last thing they want is to send their followers to a website that crashes. That would be embarrassing for them.

You also want to ensure that your website is optimized so that product or service landing pages load quickly. If anything on your site takes more than three seconds to load, more than likely, that visitor will bounce. Congratulations. You’ve just lost a sale.

Is the user experience (UX) impressive?

People follow influencers because they feel connected to that person; they feel engaged. These same people need to feel connected to your brand and engaged with your website, too. This is essential if you want to keep them around. Give them a website experience that knocks their socks off!

Present these new visitors with an impressive UX that makes them forget that it was an influencer who brought them to your website, and give them an experience that makes them return for more. The most dynamic UX can win them over and make your brand the new influencer on the block.

Is your website 100% secure?

As is the case with a website that crashes, a website that is easy to hack and allows for personal information to be stolen would be mortifying for any influencer. Now that you have garnered the attention of your influencer’s followers and converted them into customers, prove that your website is a reliable, secure place of business by providing a rock-solid, safe payment gateway.

Influencer marketing is a proven marketing strategy that every business should consider, no matter the industry. Don’t jump the gun before you launch your campaign. Get your website in proper shape first, and when you decide you need a trusted partner for that, contact WebDevStudios.

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The Basics

Every company should have a style guide. If you don’t, get on that. Within your company, you need to regulate your brand’s outward appearance, but you should also set the guidelines for external companies to use your brand properly. Even more importantly, you need to have a style guide for incoming and existing users and customers alike. Brand recognition is what drives sales and spreads your content around the web and material world.

All brand guidelines should include, at a very basic level, your brand colors, proper use of your logo, icons and images. It should also include any typography or fonts utilized by your company for web and printed materials. These can be as broad or as micro and specific as you would like. But the rule of thumb is the more specific the better, and the few outliers or one-off situations you may have can be resolved when the time comes.

I typically see two types of style guides, although they share many of the same parts. These are print and web style guides. A print style guide will include guidelines specific to the use of logos, colors, type, etc. for print media, billboards, pamphlets, business cards, and other print collateral. A web style guide will be presented the same, but the guidelines are specific to the web. This is because web and print are treated differently in units of measure, how colors are utilized, resolution, etc.

Always take both your print and online presence into consideration. Colors and fonts usually won’t look the same on digital devices as they do on printed materials.

Your Content

The design and execution of your website hold weight, but the content on your website carries more weight in order to properly communicate your brand. The message that you spread to your users or customers needs to be consistent and work to improve and strengthen your company or product image. When people say that something is “on brand,” this is what they’re referring to.

If your content works against your brand or could potentially hurt your appeal in the eyes of your users or just doesn’t apply to your mission, it’s off brand. Users expect consistent content that is fresh or new and information from your company that reflects progress and forward momentum. I’m not talking about tweets or Instagram posts, but blogs, advertisements, reviews, testimonials, or any other content-driven brand exposure.

Keeping in mind that your content reflects your brand accurately, the design that accompanies it and delivery should also be in line with all of your basic design principles. Content is what keeps people around, but the design is what keeps your brand in the zeitgeist, which is especially marked in the world outside your website in places like social media.

Social Media

Social media is a full-time job. It might not seem that way to someone not directly involved with internet communities, but it requires a lot of precision and dedication to grow your online presence and retain interest effectively.

Knowing what to post is less critical than knowing who you’re posting for and why you’re on the particular platform to begin with. Your brand is your brand and that won’t change, but the way you advertise to the public will be based on who you’re targeting. Facebook, for instance, is primarily comprised of women between the ages of 30-49 years, which has drastically shifted older in the last decade. So your strategy will need to accommodate that generation and group.

Twitter’s largest demographic are Millennials, who need a different marketing strategy and perhaps a different brand approach. To skew even lower, if you were to feel the need to advertise on Snapchat, you might find that you need to adjust even more, as their primary demographic is under 34 years of age with the vast majority being 18-24 years of age. Needless to say, you can’t expect the same strategy, content, or brand expression to affect every demographic in the same way.

Do your research and keep in mind that social media is targeted.

Imagery

Imagery is, of course, a must. With the attention of most users being under seconds on average, imagery is a requirement to get a user’s attention and keep it long enough for your content to take hold. There are now dozens of free stock photography websites out there like StockSnap, Pexels, and Unsplash which can help provide a sense of consistent imagery on your website, but I’m inclined to recommend that these be avoided for the sake of your brand.

If your brand is reliant on some sort of imagery, that should be something handled within your company by hiring a professional photographer with a consistent photographic aesthetic. Your brand identity is what makes you memorable, but for general brand aesthetic (business, lifestyle, fun, serious, etc.), your imagery says a lot. That translates over to places like Instagram, if your company utilizes the platform. Consistency and quality are key to providing a great experience for your consumer that informs the content and extends your brand aesthetic.

Clarity

Is your brand then, after taking into consideration your brand guidelines, target demographics, and brand aesthetic, accurately represented on your website? If not, contact us.

The goal to a consistent brand is really having your guidelines set in stone. There should be no wiggle room when your company’s reputation is on the line. Content, imagery, and social media help strengthen your brand aesthetic, memorability, and recognition only as much as your identity is managed properly. If you take only one thing away from this post, it should be that your brand’s style guide is a requirement for successful long-term branding.

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Classified generally as individuals born between 1980 and early 2000s, Millennials are not only utilizing the internet the most, but they’re known for expecting transparency, personalized experiences, and a deeper social impact from brands with whom they engage. The big question is, is your website built to speak to them? And if not, how are you going to build a website to attract Millennials and engage with them in an authentic way? Think about the statistics below to orient you to the way a Millennial thinks and operates.

Millennial Stats

• They touch their smartphones 45 times a day.
• They spend about 25 hours per week online.
• They are far less likely to buy something because it’s convenient, something many companies capitalize on. Rather, they’re focused on value.
• Eighty-four percent of them say that user-generated content has some influence on what they buy.
• Worldwide, 69% of Millennials want businesses to better facilitate customers getting involved in social issues.
• User-generated content is a great way to push Millennials further down the conversion funnel, especially since they trust it 50% more than any other type of media.

Thanks to technology and the internet itself, you don’t have to embark on this journey alone. And no matter the type of business you’re operating, being mindful of these statistics and how to make them make sense for you is going to be key. So let’s unpack them a little bit to get to a few tips you can implement when it comes to using your website to attract Millennials.

Millennials Use Their Phones (A LOT!)

Gone are the days of the dial-up. Businesses used to get away with a static page with oversized graphics, crazy fonts, and hidden calls to action. And they could, because internet access was a luxury once upon a time. But fast forward to 2018, and everyone seems to have access to the internet. Furthermore, they’re spending more of that time online via their phones.

In 2017, mobile traffic surpassed desktop traffic for the first time, and we’re not going back. You now not only need to think of the desktop visualization and experience of your website but also how that information is going to be translated to a mobile experience. Do your users see the most important information first? How easy is it for them to navigate your site on their phone? If you’re an eCommerce store, how quickly does your site load and what is the checkout process like?

A quick user test by loading your website onto a mobile device (our recommendation is to check both Android and Apple devices) can help point out blind spots and give you good direction. Analyze the responsiveness of your website. An experienced developer will know how to help you get a responsive website that helps cater your desktop site to mobile within one design. Additionally, you may need to check with your web host about the speed of your site specifically when it comes to mobile. Google has a mobile speed test that can help provide a quick analysis of how your mobile site is performing.

Millennials Want Personalized & Authentic Content

Your brand needs to evoke emotions within Millennial customers. They don’t care how long you’ve been in business but care more about the story your brand tells. Partnering your marketing efforts with user-generated content that speaks authentically to your end user is the way to win their hearts.

Brands who have done a great job at implementing this are Aerie and REI. Aerie uses the body positivity movement to build positive brand equity by using “regular women” in their marketing, leaving consumers to feel as though they can relate to the brand. They see themselves in the ads. Aerie has even gone so far to incorporate popular Instagram users and bloggers into their campaigns and website content, an effort know as influencer marketing, which further establishes that the brand knows its target demographic.

Millennials don’t want to hear why you, the brand, think you’re a good brand. They’re more likely to trust a peer who has experience with you. Activating and partnering with those types of people (influencers) and then incorporating those partnerships into your content will set you apart.

The other great brand that I love referencing is REI. If you love the outdoors, chances are you love REI. But again, the brand stands for so much more than recreational equipment. It’s a movement. The REI lifestyle is about actually getting out into nature, exploring, and then encouraging consumers to share their stories with the world.

On the REI website, you’ll find their hashtag #optoutside being leveraged, whether they’re encouraging a site visitor to tell their story, or they’re showcasing photos from their Instagram profite, utilizing the hashtag. Their added success has been displayed based on how they listen and incorporate their consumer into the online experience.

Ask yourself:

• What is the motivation behind my brand?
• What am I trying to evoke within my consumer?

Then, try to do things that put the consumer front-and-center in all of your content. Help them see themselves there. Answering these questions can help guide you to a great space for authentic content creation, which you can then feature on your site. I always like to remind myself and our team that people like to do business with people. Shoot straight, be authentic, and focus on telling a great story.

One More Thing…

When it comes to social media, you know what is best for your brand. Don’t feel persuaded to use a specific social media platform just because that’s a popular channel for Millennials. There is something to say for being true to your brand, and if having a Twitter profile doesn’t make sense, then there is no need to invest in something for the sake of investing in it. But I do encourage you to think of the totality of your brand. What Millennials see on social media should be reflective of what they see on your website. The experience you offer to someone when they engage with your brand should be consistent and thought of holistically, as opposed to fragments.

I think this is even more crucial for brick-and-mortar stores to be mindful of and keep in mind. Every interaction someone has with your brand is either bringing them closer or pushing them further from doing business with you. Practice going to your website as a consumer, or even perform informal user testing. Have your grandparents go through your site, your parents, and your teenage daughter or son. It will give you a good gauge into things you may be missing from your site and what your user is probably also looking out for, whether it’s identifying where a button should be or pointing out a particular color that is too hard on the eyes.

The great thing is that a website is dynamic. So if your site isn’t there now, it doesn’t mean it can’t be. And thankfully, we have some expertise when it comes to building not only highly performant and secure websites but also beautifully thought out and designed ones too. Please check out our portfolio to see our work, and feel free to reach out even if you have questions about this blog. We’d love to discuss this with you!

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Needless to say, media websites are a big part of our world. So when Women in Media was announced, it piqued our interest as an event where we could gain current knowledge about what challenges typical content creators and media sites are facing as the landscapes for both media and technology continue to change. I attended with our COO, Lisa Sabin Wilson, and together we soaked up all the information presented and took advantage of the opportunities to speak with women who work in media and learn about the needs of their media websites.

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That’s why I want to talk about the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) as it pertains to web design projects.

The Importance of SEO: 3 Important Things To Consider

My goal in this article is to convince you that paying attention to, and investing in, good web design alone will not serve your business well.

I will cover several arguments for incorporating SEO into a website design project from the beginning, including:

• How “good” design (by itself) can actually hurt you
• Why it is more expensive to “SEO” a site later
• What the “element of intent” is and why it is so important

So let’s get to it!

Reason #1: “Good” Design (By Itself) Can Hurt You

You might think, “I’m sure my web designer will build my new site according to SEO best practices. Why wouldn’t they?”  Sadly, that is NOT a safe assumption to make. More often than not, web designers are focused on the very thing that defines their craft—design. And nothing more.

At Pam Ann Marketing, we are frequently hired to evaluate the SEO-friendliness of a website that was created by a design agency. All too often, we find that the design team completely turned a blind eye to SEO best practices when designing the site.

Some Web Designers Truly Do NOT Care About SEO

Opinions certainly differ amongst designers about the importance of SEO. We have actually heard some web design studios state quite bluntly that, “We here at ‘X Design Firm’ are not interested in designing for Google.” But do they let their clients know that? Of course not.

We often encounter homepage designs that have… wait for it… NO WORDS. It does not take a seasoned SEO expert to know that search engines like words! Below is an actual mockup we received for a homepage that had nearly no words on it.

How would a search engine know what that site was about? It is crucial to include a text heading and at least a few sentences on the homepage of a site so that search engines like Google can understand what the site has to offer.

You can see on the right how we suggested editing this design so that it had at least a few of those handy little things we call “words.” It really did not take much to marry the SEO and design goals in this case.

Designer Apathy Can Really Hurt You

Even worse, as horrifying as this is, we frequently see designers launch a new site with a line of code that specifically prohibits search engines from indexing the site! This causes the client’s search traffic to nearly completely disappear almost overnight.

While it is appropriate to include such a tag on the draft copy of a new site while it is under construction, a designer who understands the importance of SEO would never forget to take that tag off prior to launch.

With the number of times we have seen this specific mistake happen, we can say with statistical certainty that most web designers are NOT paying attention to SEO best practices.

If You Don’t See Something, Say Something

If you do not see language about SEO in your web design contract, do not make the very unsafe assumption that “of course” the designer will create an SEO-friendly design. That assumption could put you in a position where your new site, that you just invested a lot of money in, is even LESS likely to get found online than the prior version. Perhaps unable to be found at all!

At the very least, have a conversation with your web design firm about the importance of SEO, and ask them to include some language in their contract about incorporating SEO best practices into the project. Also consider hiring an SEO company or consultant as a separate, objective third party to participate in the project and ensure that the new site is built as search-engine-friendly as possible.

Reason #2: It’s Expensive to “SEO It” Later

A website build or redesign is an intense process. For many business owners, it can be both expensive and exhausting. For budgetary (and sanity) reasons, it may be tempting to put off SEO efforts for later. We often hear clients say, “We just want to get this new website finished. We can ‘SEO it’ later.”

Assuming that the designer does not make major blunders like the ones noted above, it may technically be true that you have the option to “SEO it” later; however, that could lead to a lot more incurred cost in the long run than if SEO was “baked in” to the new site from the get-go.

Building a website is like building a house. You would not say, “Let’s just get this house built and then we will call the architect in afterward to design it correctly later.” If you did do that, you would end up spending a lot of time and money tearing down walls and rebuilding things in a different way—things that could have just been built that way in the first place. The importance of SEO to web design is akin to the importance of having an architect properly design the structure of a house prior to the house being built.

If you intend to spend money on SEO eventually, you might as well spend it now. It will save you in the long run, and you will start to benefit from that investment right away, instead of at some undetermined point in time later.

Reason #3: The Element of Intent

I truly believe that there is no channel in digital marketing as powerful as the search engine. When a user opens up a search engine and types something in, they are performing that search because they want or need something now or soon. A search engine user typically has a “high intent to buy,” as compared to users that are just hanging out on other platforms or websites.

While other forms of digital marketing such as Facebook ads or banner ads have incredibly effective targeting methods, those targeting options only make sure that you get in front of the right person. It is not necessarily the right TIME that they need your product or service. When you get in front of users on search engines, you are getting in front of the right person at the right time. The importance of SEO usually becomes pretty clear when I explain the element of intent to business owners in that way.

If you are investing in a new website design, why not extend that investment a bit and take advantage of the most powerful digital marketing channel available to you? A website build or redesign is the absolute perfect opportunity to add some SEO-friendliness to your site and get in front of those people that are looking for your products and services right now!

Are You Convinced Yet of the Importance of SEO?

The TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) version of this article is that although good design is indeed important, if you focus ONLY on design, you can end up wasting (a lot of) money and missing out on opportunities to capture users that are actively looking to buy your products or services. The importance of SEO for website and business success is too great to turn a blind eye to during the website design process.

About the Author

Pam Ann Aungst, M.B.A., President of Pam Ann Marketing, LLC and founder of Stealth Search and Analytics, is widely recognized as an expert in search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), and digital analytics.

A self-proclaimed “geek,” Pam began studying computer programming at 6 years old, started creating websites in 1997 and has been working professionally in the field of e-commerce since 2005. Referred to by Sprout Social as a “Twitter Success Story,” she harnessed the power of social media to launch her own agency in 2011.

Pam has been interviewed by publications such as Internet Retailer magazine and CBS Small Business Pulse. She guest-lectures at prestigious universities such as NYU and frequently travels around the country giving talks at industry conferences. Pam has been honored with several awards for her small business leadership and non-profit advocacy work, including being named one of “Jersey’s Best Marcom Professionals Under 40.”

Pam holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Regis University, where she learned the cornerstones of traditional marketing strategy. She now combines that with her more than 12 years of professional experience to help established companies and “household name” brands take their traffic-driving and analytics strategies to the next level.

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