wed development and other terminologies

What does web development mean?

What Is Web Development?: The Key Points

Have you ever wondered what web development is in simple words? Let’s take a closer look at this issue.

Web development is the programming that allows a website to work according to its owner’s specifications. It focuses on coding and markup writing, and web design and development encompasses everything from simple text pages to large web-based apps.

Most developers employ HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the development of websites.

  1. HTML defines a website’s basic framework, on which everything is built. It comprises blocks that define the layout, format, and essential components of a page.
  2. CSS is a technique for styling a website’s content with a minimal set of files shared throughout the site. Whenever a change needs to be made, such as changing the colour of all the buttons on every website page, a web developer only needs to edit one CSS file.
  3. The JavaScript programming language can be used to add different interactive components and alter the look of icons and drop-down menus.

What Does Full-stack Web Development Mean?

Front-end developers, back-end developers, and full-stack developers are the three types of web developers.

A front-end developer is responsible for the website’s visual aspects (navigation bar, layout, etc.) and its interaction and the tying together of all its pieces.

Back-end developers manage the website’s hosting services, database, and apps, among other activities that ensure the website operates successfully.

Full-stack web development encompasses all aspects of a computer application system, and full-stack developers work on both the front and back ends. Working with CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to create client-facing platforms is a full-stack developer’s daily responsibility.

Also included:

  • taking care of databases and servers,
  • programming for cross-platform and multi-language functionality,
  • monitoring new technologies that may be useful to the company,
  • creating Minimal viable products (MVPs).

Difference between Web Development and Software Development

Web development, as previously mentioned, is the process of creating a website for the internet, which varies from creating simple web pages to E-commerce websites. Its main goal is to deliver high-quality content on the website and add and update information regularly and build confidence among users.

Software development is a method of building software products that involve understanding user needs and then designing, testing, and producing software to meet those goals. It primarily focuses on locating and implementing the appropriate code and ensuring that standard quality is met.

We hope our article was helpful to you and you learned more about web development.

The Evolution of Text to Speech in Gaming

In 2021, the video gaming industry is estimated to total $178.73 billion.

As voice technology advances, synthetic voices are no longer a luxury feature for the gaming industry. But rather a requirement.

By providing realistic voice interaction elements, AI text to speech has brought a completely new experience for gamers. From enemy bots to neutral characters, developers leverage text to speech (TTS) for a better gaming experience.

Online text to speech is not just limited to user experience. TTS technologies are transforming the way video games are developed. As a result, tech-giants like Sony and Microsoft have begun to research and experiment progressively with AI for gaming.

Let us see how.

The challenges

It takes years to build plot, gameplay, characters, and game mechanics. Moreover, high costs are involved in a successful video game in terms of design, content, and voice.

Recording audio involves recording voiceovers with actors as well as translating everything for multiple countries. On top of standard video game localization, developers must consider accents, dialects, and even complete languages for gamers from various cultures.

There are just too many events in open-world games for game developers to run through, test, and produce the content for.

In the past, Online text-to-speech technologies could not bring the desired experience to the gaming environment. The voices of evil and silly characters were indistinguishable. TTS had a bad reputation in the gaming industry.

Even after everything is figured out, creators come to the challenges to attract and retain users. It is often contingent on the emotions and attachments a player builds with the gaming environment and characters.

Functionality and Accessibility

When you enter a game, the features, instructions, and suggestions are often presented in the form of text or speech.

A lot of games have storylines, which we consider the glue to make users stick to the game.

A natural-sounding voice, which can actually come with the right accent and expression, can create an emotional connection with the user. Needless to say, for general gamers, text-to-speech will enhance the user experience and help with understanding the game better.

According to NOVIS, over 23 million video game players worldwide are blind or visually impaired. It is impossible for visually challenged players to progress forward in the game without online text to speech.

Prototyping

Prototyping is the phase of game development when the scripts are tested. It involves first-time user experience, guides, game mechanics, animations, and player interactions, among many other things.

Before they get their hands on the actors’ version of the script, game producers frequently employ TTS to get an idea of how long phrases and sentences take to say. In order to optimize the recording process. TTS solutions bring significant financial and time savings to prototyping.

Red Dead Redemption 2’s prototype included 500-plus hours of dialogue recording. Imagine the reduction in the development cost, if they had used online text to voice.

Voice artists iterate and refine their dialogs. They come for multiple recording sessions. It necessitates a significant investment of time and money. TTS reduces the cost and can completely take over the process of recording.

Localization

As mentioned above, a game needs to be translated into different languages across the globe. Pokemon Go has been created in nine different languages. While you may think of other options like dubbing and subtitling, Dubbing is not economical, considering the charges of voice artists. While general public reviews show that people hate reading subtitles. Furthermore, it is not an option for visually impaired gamers.

Hence, for players as well as developers, text to speech is the most efficient solution.

Personalization

Gamers love their avatars. They devote hours of time and a significant number of game credits to adding a personal touch. Personalization has not been extensively targeted yet by companies. But with AI-based online text to speech, it is possible. AI TTS can capture the required voice of users and, furthermore, produce outputs in the same language and accent.

Character Voice

Unlike the tedious voices of the past, every character in a game has a unique voice and accent. Today we witness the heavy and evil voice game villains. Avatars pause and breathe at the right time. It is essential to bring adequate liveliness to the voice of avatars.

Online TTS brings a precise level of intensity to dialogues and narratives.

Voice talents come with a heavy budget. Even with just a few recordings of the hired actors, TTS can expand the dialogue and save a lot of money.

Games and their levels expand. Characters change and grow. AI text to speech is dynamic, with just a click software like Murf can create and edit a new character voice for your video games.

 

How to Add a Live Chat to a Website For Free

How a live chat can benefit a website

Live chat software is a flexible communication tool that you can use on your website for online technical support. If clients need help, they can ask an online consultant a question and get a quick response. That’s not all, though.

Unlike email support or FAQs, when you download live chat, you can provide clients with a live and personal experience. The faster the support, the more satisfaction, trust, and even more sales.

Effective use of live chat software allows generating a huge number of new leads, which will ultimately lead to increased sales. Numerous studies have shown that providing support through live chat can increase conversions by 20% or more.

Using an online consultant leads to an increase in the average cost of the order, as customers receive recommendations and answers to questions in real-time, without delay. You should take advantage of all the benefits of live chat software and download this tool now! The good news is that your business does not even have to spend any extra funds as there is a free live chat software download option.

How to add a chat to a website

The live chat download and setup process takes only a few minutes and does not require any special knowledge. For WordPress websites, txt.me has created a free plugin that makes it even simpler to add live chat to your website. Chat software downloading is typically done by copying an html code.

  1.     Got to txt.me and create an account, if you do not have one yet. Otherwise, log in to your account.
  2.     Navigate to the Widgets tab at the top of the website, then select Installation on the menu on the left.
  3.     Copy the code that appears in the box by clicking the blue button.
  4.     Go to your website and paste the code in the </head> section on every page you would like to have a live chat widget appear.

Installation is complete, so you can now customize and test your widget.

How to use a chat for different communication channels

Instead of sitting and waiting for a client to contact you, you can take a proactive approach and encourage them to interact. Live chat not only helps to provide an answer faster compared to let’s say email but also provides a more personalized level of service. Sometimes, though, clients find it more convenient to use a phone. During non-working times, an email or contact form may substitute for live chat and phone communication.

An omnichannel approach to customer experience assumes that the company uses various sales and marketing channels. The client can make purchases or communicate with it in any convenient way, using any channel, seamlessly, while maintaining the history of communications and sales. The client is the focus of such a strategy.

A holistic customer experience platform helps to show your customers that you care about them. For instance, a customer can click on a banner and go to a website that sells the item they want. There, they are welcomed by the sales team through a live chat message and can ask for more details in real-time.  Then, the customer can make an order on the go using an app, while being assisted via chat by a tech support member. Afterward, the sales team might call back via phone to confirm the order and ask for shopping experience/product feedback that can be provided using a link that was emailed to the customer.

How to use communication with a chat support team to your advantage

Do you want to get something more than just a live chat software free download option? The chat support team is not there only to answer your questions when you have issues setting up and using the software. They can help you get the most out of the new tool and customize it. After all, they know all the available features and how they can be used to your advantage.

If there is a feature you would like to see in the live chat software, you can send the support team an inquiry if the widget can be further customized to meet the specific needs or preferences of your company. Although it is likely going to cost a little extra, the investment will soon pay off in the form of new leads, more loyal customers, and less time spent by your employees assisting them. On that note, it is a good idea to ask chat support if your company can get a discount.

 

 

5 Ways Technology Has Improved Time Management Skills

Photo from Pixabay

With the integration of technology in everyone’s lives, the amount of time to do a task has been significantly reduced. And this is important since managing time can be difficult to do on your own. Technology brought about tools that help people with time management.

Some of the most useful time management tools are Microsoft Excel, Gmail, and Dropbox. They help with communication, consolidation of files for quicker access, and analysis of huge amounts of data. By learning how to use these tools, you’ll be able to build your time management skills. 

Having said that, technology has a huge part in time management, and they go hand in hand. Let’s look at some of the ways technology can help you with managing your time. On the other hand, the article will also tackle the problems with technology when it comes to time management.

How Technology Helps You Manage Your Time

Whether you’re a professional or a student, you are expected to finish a lot of tasks. Fortunately, you’re living in a digital world where you can use tools that help delegate your time to more important tasks. Some of these tools are straightforward, and some require a little bit of training for you to maximize their use.

But don’t worry! With platforms like Acuity Training, you can also attend online courses to build your technical skills. They provide a medium for you to learn how to work your way around different Microsoft Office programs. Not only that, but you can find courses for other apps and programs like Adobe Photoshop, SQL, and AutoCAD.

We provided a list of how you can use technology to manage your time better.

  1. Provides Easy Access to Documents With Cloud

With technology, you don’t need to fill out bookcases with important documents that are at risk for any natural disaster. You can save your library of work-related documents online through cloud-based programs. This eliminates the need to look for a specific document in a pile of paper, reducing the time to get the information you need.

Below are some software and tools that can assist you with a cloud-based filing system.

Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the most well-known cloud storage services available right now. It’s free, and your account initially comes with 2GB of storage. You can increase the storage and gain some perks by purchasing specific plans.  For example, their standard business plan lets you have 5Gb storage and can share to more than 3 users.

It is a great application since it syncs instantly across all of your devices wherever you may be. As long as you’re connected to the internet, your files are automatically uploaded to the cloud. You don’t have to worry about saving work files to a USB drive again. And more importantly, you are given access to your files through your smartphone, laptop, or tablet.

Google Drive

Google Drive is ideal for generating documents and spreadsheets. Through apps like Google Docs and Google Sheets, you don’t have to remind yourself to save every once in a while. As you work, the system saves the file to the Drive automatically. 

You can simply log in to Google if you need to make changes or view files from home.

Sharing and collaboration are other important features of Google Drive. You can organize projects into folders, share them with others, and work on papers at the same time. This will help get your project done quickly.

  1. Helps You Plan Your Day and Manage Your Tasks

Technology makes it easy to keep track of your schedule. You don’t need to go through paper calendars, emails, or old text messages to know which tasks are scheduled for the day. Some apps are integrated into other apps where they automatically remind you of the tasks you need to do.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is such a useful tool as it syncs with the majority of third-party task apps. This significantly makes it easier to manage your time to do tasks across many apps.

nTask

nTask is a project management tool with a wide set of features that are flexible to use. It allows you to schedule, plan, and manage your tasks through a calendar view. You also get access to the meeting management feature. This enables you to schedule and manage meetings easily.

Most importantly, it has third-party integrations, which let nTask remind you of your to-dos for the day.

  1. Helps Keep Track of Your Time

Knowing where you focus your efforts is a vital aspect of time management. This doesn’t mean you need to keep track of every minute of your work. This just means that you need to have a basic idea of how you spend your time. And technology can help you in this aspect.

Toggl

Toggl is an essential tool where you can accurately monitor the time you spent working on each task. Perfect for allocating enough time for more important projects. It’s a useful program that works on both your phone and your PC. You can manage your time according to projects and tasks, and you’ll obtain a detailed report in the form of graphs and charts.

It’s also useful for getting a sense of how you spend your time. You may think you’re being productive for the majority of your day, but sometimes, that’s not really the case. 

Toggl can help you see your workflow during the day by showing how much time is spent doing non-work-related activities. Knowing this can help you revisit your process and make it more efficient in the future.

  1. Provides a Medium in Delegating Tasks

Whether you’re a manager, a corporate director, or a team member, delegating tasks is an important aspect of your job. Fortunately, technological advancements provide an efficient way of managing a team. You won’t have to do meetings or conference calls as this can take up much time for both you and your team. 

Trello

Trello is an incredible tool for visualizing tasks, especially for groups. It allows you to create boards used to represent projects and simply assign tasks to each team member. You can also create various lists inside each board and include tasks in the form of cards.

  1. Helps You Focus on Your Task

While technology is useful in many aspects of your job, it can also distract you from important tasks. Receiving texts, emails, and calls, for example, disturbs your focus on the task you’re currently working on. 

The only solution to this is to turn off your phone and concentrate on the task at hand. Luckily, you don’t need to be rude to other people when they try to reach you. There are apps with features that automatically send a message that you’re currently away.

Auto Response Feature in Emails

You need to stop responding to emails as soon as they arrive. It distracts you from your concentration and ruins the momentum while you’re working. Is the email urgent? Do they really need an immediate response? If not, you can set an auto-response email to let them know you’re currently unavailable to answer their questions.

To maximize such features, you need to establish a system where you only respond to emails during specific times of the day. If it’s an emergency, they can contact you through other means. 

Create an email auto-responder that informs recipients when they can anticipate a response. Schedule a time of your day for responding to emails and leave the others to the auto-responder.

Final Thoughts

It’s a known fact that technology helps people improve their time management skills. The list above provides some of the examples of tools that you can use to manage your time better. However, some challenges also arise when it comes to using technology. And these can get in your way of doing tasks.

The key here is to avoid becoming distracted or overworked. Schedule a time in your day for non-work-related activities and avoid being on your phone all the time. Technology has its pros and cons. Use technology to your advantage and make it work for you rather than against you.

Want to share other apps and programs for time management that are not on the list? Let us know in the comment section below!

 

8 Website Design Trends That Will Make an Impact on Your Business

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/web-design-webdesign-web-design-1668927/

A website is a powerful, robust, and flexible marketing tool for any business. It is a platform that can reach millions of people, without huge spending on advertising.

The company has total control over the content. This gives tons of flexibility to the marketing team. They can use it to showcase products and services. Blogs and whitepapers are also fantastic ways to build authority in the industry.

So, an impactful business website should have some critical elements. The content should be relevant and provide enough information on the business. Pages must be fast loading and easy to navigate.

An e-commerce website design has specific requirements. Such include the proper arrangement of page elements to allow for easy browsing. Think of it much like an aisle or counter arrangement in a brick and mortar establishment.

There must be a contact page for anyone who needs to reach the company. Tech-savvy companies are integrating some technologies to improve the user experience.

AI chatbots, for example, assist customer service. Voice search provides convenience to online visitors. It works well for those who prefer to speak rather than type requests.

But, there is so much more to website design. Our article explores some trends that could have a significant impact on a business.

Why Web Design Matters

Why should web design be such a big deal? In seeking answers, we spoke to Chromatix web design and conversion agency founder and CEO Irwin Hau. The Melbourne-based digital agency has been in operation since 2009.

This is what he had to say. “Web design is more than the act of putting together different elements. There must be a thought process behind everything the web designer does.”

He goes on to say; “a business website is a robust sales tool. It needs an engaging design, and user engagement persuasion techniques to achieve ROI. The web designer must have a good grasp of human psychology and human behavior to achieve this.”

The business website design matters because it should elicit a specific response. Think engagement, interest, interaction, persuasion, and finally conversion. 

“Staying on top or in the know about the latest trends is not negotiable. It is a requirement for modern web design companies. There is so much competition, noise, and clutter in the online space. The designer will be doing the client a disservice in using outdated practices,” concluded Chromatix CEO Irwin.

We went on to ask the web design specialist what he felt were some impactful business website design trends. Read on to see what they are.

     1. Accessibility is Taking Center Stage

We will place accessibility as the number one trend for business websites. To make it in the business world you must reach everyone. 

That means taking into account people who may have disabilities or specific impairments. The site should cater to those with visual, hearing, or mobility challenges. 

Screen readers, special keyboards are some elements that can help. Others are descriptive alt text in images and easy-to-read fonts. What you may not know is that your business can get into trouble if you do not consider accessibility.

There has been a significant rise in lawsuits within the last few years. In the US, there were 11,053 cases in 2019. One case involved a blind man suing Domino’s because he could not use the website. 

Federal agencies have been on the receiving end as well. Such include Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

The web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG), standardize compliance and accessibility issues. What we are calling a trend right now, may very well become a must-have feature on all business websites.

     2. Technology in Web Design

Business owners need to take time to understand the online user. The first thing is that there is so much content in the digital space. Competitors are doing all they can to get to the target audiences. 

The modern, tech-savvy consumer is more demanding. Your offering must evolve beyond the basic product or service offering. What do you have that will set you apart from everyone else? 

The competition is now revving up. It is becoming commonplace to find some of the latest technologies in web design. Such include:-

  • AI chatbots to assist with customer service. Online visitors get prompt responses to queries or concerns. The chatbots can also recommend products, based on past purchasing behavior. They are also a fantastic way to collect data that helps in decision-making.
  • Voice assistants provide convenience on the website. They help in communication, fulfilling orders, and responding to other customer demands.
  • Voice search for those who prefer not to type out requests.
  • Virtual and artificial intelligence to provide immersive shopping experiences. Customers use the technologies to explore products without touching the tangible item. You can try on makeup virtually before deciding what to buy. IKEA has an AR app that allows you to pick and arrange furniture in a virtual room. It helps customers in decision-making. It is easier to buy when they see what the pieces will look like once in position.

     3. The Mobile-First Approach to Website Design

The reality for businesses is that many people use mobile devices to browse the internet. Research shows that as of 2020, there were over 4.28 billion mobile internet users. 

Without a doubt, the number will keep on increasing. The figures show that mobile internet traffic stands at over 55%.

Astute web designers realize the importance of a mobile-first approach. That means they design for small screens and scale them to larger ones. The whole idea is to get the layout right for mobile devices first. 

And, search engines like Google use mobile-first indexing. That means they base their ranking on how the website looks on such devices. When designing for mobile there are some critical things to have in mind. 

The design should be intuitive and simple. Navigation and links must respond to finger scrolling. Font sizes should be easy to read. Image sizes should allow for quick loading while maintaining clarity.

     4. Minimalism is Here To Stay

https://unsplash.com/photos/bs2Ba7t69mM

If there is one web design trend that remains relevant year in year out, it is minimalism. Just look up the best web design trends, and it  is sure to come up. 

Minimalistic web designs are attractive for various reasons. They scream professionalism, simplicity, and elegance. Web designers incorporate a lot of white space for a non-cluttered look.

It all goes back to Chromatix CEO Irwin’s position of understanding human psychology. White space is inviting and provides a subtle nudge for the online user to browse through the pages. 

Think about it much like you would visiting a brick-and-mortar store. How likely are you to stay if everything is everywhere? The clutter will evoke feelings of confusion and disorientation. Yet, the typical  human mind appreciates order. That is why clean aisles with lots of space bring in a calm feeling. 

Minimalistic designs aid in easier browsing. The online visitor views each unit independently. Crowding elements together forces the eyes and mind to view them together as one. 

But, put some space between each element. The eyes pick and concentrate on each one. It provides a fantastic way to communicate without distractions. The right positioning of elements like CTAs can elicit the right response. 

     5. Ultra Minimalism is Replacing Minimalism

The beauty of web design trends is that they keep on transforming. While minimalism is here to stay, a new concept is creeping in. And, that is ultra-minimalism. Think about it as an extreme version of minimalism. 

The website design team only includes the most basic elements. Think minimalism, then slash it down to 75% or less. Remember the white space we talked about? Now, add a little more blank space. Color use should typically not exceed two tones. Forget lengthy paragraphs, excess details, and so on.

For the business, you get to achieve so much. The most obvious is a professional-looking website that is clutter-free. You also get fast loading speeds because of the few elements on the site. Communicating with audiences is pretty simple with such designs. 

And, you get the opportunity to draw their eyes to the products or services, without any distractions. The web designer will focus on elements that spark interest and make you want to click on the site. 

     6. Dark Mode Adds an Element of Mystery

https://unsplash.com/photos/i1VQZsU86ok

There is something so mysterious and alluring about the dark mode. It evokes feelings of drama and curiosity while being very attractive. Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are some of the forerunners in its use. 

Some people find that dark mode makes screen reading more comfortable. There may be no substantive research to support this. But, those who use mobile devices for long sessions find it more comfortable.

And now, the trend is finding its way to e-commerce website designs. There is so much flexibility, allowing for tons of creativity. The right combination of contrasting colors will make images and fonts pop. 

Those who are not ready to make the full transition have alternatives. Such include night shift or low light interfaces. That means the user can adjust the setting depending on the light. Providing toggling options is a great way to get people to engage better with the website pages.

Is the dark mode for everyone? We would say no, but it depends on your target audience. Younger audiences, millennials, and Gen Z would gravitate towards such a site. It has a ‘cool’ factor that is sure to catch their interest. 

     7. Custom Images Increase Engagement

It is not uncommon to find the same images on many websites. To cut costs, some designers will suggest to the client the use of stock images. Such are pretty inexpensive. And you also have the option of free ones on platforms like pixabay.com and unsplash.com. 

But, web design companies are starting to offer clients the option of custom images. There are several options available. 

  • The first is image treatment. The web designer tweaks or customizes photographs using different treatments. They can include shapes, layers, textures, or colors onto existing photographs. The resulting image is unique to your business website. 
  • Another option is to use illustrations. The web designer has complete freedom to ‘draw’ images that fit into the design aspects. 
  • Collage images combine graphics with images. Done in the right way, it provides a powerful way to communicate 
  • Cartoon characters are playful and fun
  • Organic or abstract shapes bring more depth to the pages. Forget straight lines to break sections within the page. Directional wavy lines are a fun and easy way to pull the visitor’s eyes to specific parts within the page.

Taking this approach frees you from the copy and paste culture that exists in the digital space. There is no limit to creativity, which increases engagement.

     8. Movement Makes Things More

 

Image source: https://www.vertbase.com/

The other interesting trend is to add some movement to the website. The advantage is you increase interaction and engagement with whoever is on the site.

There are so many ways to achieve movement including:-

  • User triggered micro animations like hover effects
  • GIFs
  • Shifting shapes or icons
  • Floating elements to remove the rigidity of static layouts
  • Dynamic scrolling
  • Embedded videos, and so much more.

Final Thoughts

Keeping an eye on web design trends is always very interesting. Some manage to remain relevant year in year out. One of the golden oldies that still trumps newbies is minimalism. It is a safe option for any business that wants a professional-looking site. 

But, some new designs show signs of a progressive company. Before making major changes, have a good understanding of the target audience. Gen Z is more accepting of change than older generations. 

The latter find safety in the familiar. So, if your business targets such groups, some trends may not be for you. 

The best piece of advice we can give is to consult a professional web development and design company. They have relevant experience to advise you on the best options. Consider the cost of hiring experts as an investment towards the success of your company.

Optimizing images in WordPress for SEO

In a time where we have cut-throat competition in almost every sector, it gets very crucial on our part to make sure our product, site, or business stands out. In a virtual world, you can make your content or site visible by optimizing it according to the latest algorithms. That’s the way you can rank better in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). People who use WordPress know that this platform allows you to build your own site from scratch and requires almost zero programming information. But creating a site through WordPress doesn’t mean the admin will get the highest rank on SERP. Again, there are many more pages that have quality content and can give you competition. For that part, you need to learn a few tricks about WordPress SEO. You need to understand which tools can help you coax more traffic to your content.

Now with time search engines are also revolutionizing to make it a more efficient experience for their users. One of the features which define this revolutionary take is ‘image search’. Around 1 billion searches are made on Google Images every day, and that number is quite big. That’s why people have initiated to optimize their images for WordPress SEO.

We have jotted down 10 really constructive tips to optimize images in WordPress for SEO. Go through each point and build a better optimization strategy.

     1. Use Images

The foremost tip to optimize your page through images is to add images to your site. Many people just believe in writing a good piece of content for their website and don’t pay much attention to the visual outlook of their pages. Images help your readers/visitors to understand better. They are a visual representation of your ideas which might not come across through words but definitely through images. As it is said, a picture is better than thousand words. Sometimes what your content fails to do, images can do that like a child’s play. Now, comes a very important clause to this trick. You can’t put TOO MANY IMAGES in your blog post either. If it has been advised to use images, that doesn’t mean we can overload our pages with that and don’t have any useful content for our readers.

     2. Choose The Right Image Format

Search engines are evolving every day. They are getting better each day. So, it will be wiser to choose the right image format for your site. A large image will make your website big and it will take a longer time to load. When everything in this virtual world is just one click away, you can not even take an extra second to revert to your user with apt information.

Images saved as JPG are usually smaller in size as compared to PNG and GIF. However, when you have to maintain the quality of the image you must use PNG images which are better for high-quality images, and WordPress Seo.

     3. SEO Friendly Alt Text

Before we start with how to put your Image Alt Text, let’s clear out the idea of what it is. Alt texts are generally used to describe your image to Google. You have to put words in Alt Text which describe your image best so that the search engine can rank your image better in searches. Now, the next important question that arises here is how to optimize your images through Alt Text. That’s quite simple, stick to the basic rule: elaborate with minimum words.

For example, do not just write ‘Books’ instead write ‘Steve Jobs Biography’. This way, you can make it more clear about what your image is. In case your image doesn’t load, at least the viewer can understand it by reading the Alt Text.

     4. Work on Your SEO Title and Description

By default, Google uses the title and description you have used on your page to show under the description space of an image. You must take care of what title and description you are putting on your page, whether it matches with the image or not.

     5. No Attachment Pages

When you use WordPress, in case you upload images on your site it creates a page for all the images being uploaded. These pages are called attachment pages. Now the thing is, these pages just display the bigger size version of your image. Search Engines usually consider such pages/sites as lower quality with little or no content. This could result in bringing down the ranking of your page. The good part about WordPress is that it is one of the most SEO-friendly CMS which gives you plenty of options to work on WordPress SEO. In this case, as well you can disable your attachment pages by using the plugin.

     6. Image Structured Data

Google Images categorize some images as a rich result and show them along with prominent badges on search result pages. You can get that badge for your images as well. All you need to do is work on adding structured data to your site. This way Google will consider your image as a rich result and rank it better with badges. These badges give quick info that what your page is all about which increases the chance of bringing traffic to your site. Google Images display schema markup for categories including products, videos, and recipes.

     7. Turn to Social Media Platforms 

We know this well that the amount of traffic social media has these days can’t be matched with any of the other online platforms. Social media has immense traffic always available for doing great business. Under your WordPress SEO strategy to optimize images, make sure you select the right images which can be shared on social media for your site. Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram are quite image-based, users are generally there to check out interesting stories or pages through images. So, that can be a great opportunity for you to optimize the kind of images you may use for your site and bring traffic through it.

     8. Speed Up Using Plugins

If your site has some large files and images, you can try up the idea of browser caching. The cache stores all the large files on the user’s web browser which can enhance the speed of your website. There also another way in which cache contributes to WordPress SEO is that when your site’s first page is loaded cache copies that page and then shows the copied version of your page to other users. In this way, it speeds up the load time of your site for the user. We are already in a time-space where everybody is in so much hurry that they need everything available online within seconds. So, this trick can do wonders for your SEO strategy.

    9. Compress The Size of Images

Google has already shared in their algorithm that speed of site matters in SEO. You have to build your website in a way that it takes less time to load everything online. That’s the key to ranking higher on any SERPs. Google uses this as a factor to serve the user with rich results including fast and relevant sites. One way through which you can speed up your site is by compressing the image size. This way your images used on the site will take lesser time to load without compressing with the quality. There are plenty of free online platforms available where you can compress your images before use.

     10. Create Mobile Friendly Site

Earlier the sites were accessible through browsers only until smartphones came. Now everything is just right in the hand of your user and a click away. So being a good and efficient website, it must be mobile-friendly. Google even ranks mobile-friendly sites even higher on search result pages. All you need to do is select a good responsive WordPress theme that can adapt to different sizes and shapes.

Try on these 10 tips to optimize images in WordPress for SEO and make your site even better.

 

HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE THAT WILL BRING A LOT OF TRAFFIC

Gone are the days when you needed to simply update your site to attract a lot of organic traffic. Such basic tools don’t work now, but with the right strategy, you can still boost your metrics. In this article, we are going to show you some interesting tactical decisions that you should try to take your blog to the next level. The main point is that you should always be flexible — to hire specialists , to try different strategies, to get rid of outdated topics, and so on. Be open to new opportunities, and you’ll surely succeed.

Write about something your audience is really interested in 

Most students hire companies like Studybay when they don’t like their essay topics because they know it is a losing game. Starting your blog, you should write about something that you really like. Passion always serves like a readers’ magnet. But if you feel that it is time to generate something new, you should take your audience’s opinion into account. The world is changing rapidly, and while you’re writing about your favorite music, young TikTokers own your followers. Just because they follow trends.  

So, what can you do?

  • Ask your readers directly;
  • Do research in different social media and find hot trends;
  • Analyze your blog and think about topics that you’ve not written before;
  • Think about collaboration with other bloggers. 

Of course, it doesn’t mean that if your website is about running, you should write about cycling. But what about interesting sports ads that were posted recently? Make brands your friends, and they will bring you a new audience. 

Use technical content

There’s no need to always write only your own content to fill your blog. Sometimes the best content can only be created by a professional at times with more experience. The trick is to use that content for our own purposes.

Don’t steal, copy and paste anything; just put some effort in and create a list from the content you already have and then refine it. A weekly “best of the industry” post can make you relatable. It shows that you follow the news, link to the best of the best and it makes people want to read you and share a link to your blog.
Write optimal length posts

The ideal length for an online article is somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 characters.

If it’s less than 500 characters, it’s probably too short to be meaningful. If it’s 5,000 or more, then break it up into 2 parts, that will be right and beneficial to you. Although… big articles, especially if they’re guides like this one – have their perks. So – the choice is yours, your niche and your audience.

Ask for professional help 

Though your blog is your business, you can collaborate with other people and enter into partnerships that will help you to increase your traffic exponentially. The main point is that you work with people and companies who do something that you can’t.

For example, if you post content just for fun, and now you want to delve deeper, to look for more serious topics, to show your attitude, etc., it would be a good idea to hire a writing service with appropriate experience. These are people who will study your request, analyze your blog and ideas, and write incredible content for you. When your articles are of high quality, interesting, fresh, and unique, people just can’t ignore them.

Try basic SEO tools

If you believe that your content is great, and the only problem is that people don’t see it, you should try search engine optimization (SEO). It is a set of practices that make your blog visible on the Internet. The better you optimize your site, the more followers you can get. 

The most obvious choice is to hire a SEO expert who will conduct an audit and provide you with a plan of action. If you’re ready to invest, choose this way and find a reliable professional. But it doesn’t mean that there are no other solutions that will take you less money.

You can install apps like All in One SEO, Semrush, MozBar, etc. You can also learn more about Google Analytics. These services can give you a score that evaluates the optimization of your site. You can also receive an actionable checklist with tips to follow. For example:

  • Use keywords in your posts;
  • Optimize all links;
  • Link to other articles from your blog;
  • Link to articles from other blogs;
  • Ensure your title, description, and headings are optimized;
  • Write longer articles;
  • Optimize your visual content, etc.

This SEO story may take you some time, but you definitely shouldn’t avoid it if you want your blog to grow.

Experiment with hooks for your audience 

You may think that traffic is just numbers but, in fact, traffic is people. It is your audience that likes or dislikes your content. If you want your readers to share your posts, comment on them, interact with you, and get engaged in any other way, you need to make your content fascinating. There are some ideas that you will appreciate:

Infographics

If you want to communicate some concepts in your blog, it would be great to add quality infographics that can hook your readers. Even the most valuable data and statistics are dull, but you can change the way your audience perceives it. And you don’t even need to hire a graphic designer, there are many free or cheap tools like Canva and Crello that will help you to create visual content.

Memes

Memes are funny, easy to make, and, what is most important, they are viral. People don’t share smart articles, they share something that their friends can laugh at. Use online generators to add your text to common meme images. However, it is very important that you don’t overdo it. When your mood hits, you can meme the funny idea, but you shouldn’t create memes all the time. Use them like icing on the cake but don’t forget that your cake should be delicious as well.

Reviews

If you want to make your content useful and attractive, write articles with titles like “10 best romantic movies to watch this summer” or “5 books that changed my life”. People like lists, and they like it when somebody provides them with recommendations. Share your opinion on the content you digest so that your site becomes more vigorous. It would also be a great idea to ask your readers to share their favorite movies, books, songs, etc., and to compile their ideas in your articles. 

Ask for feedback

If you have been analyzing your blog for a while and can’t understand what is wrong, it is because you’re biased. Most content creators consider their sites to be impeccable because they consider them to be their children, raised from birth. And if you don’t want to hire third-party auditors to provide you with some recommendations, you can just ask your audience.

Write a post with your reflection on this issue, and your honesty will surely attract a lot of traffic since people like it when bloggers become closer. Besides, you’ll receive more interesting hints from your subscribers.

You can also conduct a small survey with questions and make it anonymously. Gather any kind of feedback you receive and analyze it to come up with new solutions.

It is essential to remember that running a blog is a continuous job that never ends. You have to follow the trends and be flexible if you want to stay aboard! 

Best Ways To Build An Email Marketing List For A Brand New WordPress Website

An email list is a bunch of individuals who are interested in getting general email updates from you. Normally, individuals get onto your email list by providing their data in an opt-in form on your website. 

Email marketing is not the only approach to keep your crowd up to pace. But it tends to be an important technique for business. Sure it’s a decent method to get individuals to return for extra. However, you can likewise consistently fabricate customer trust by offering some incentive for nothing. You would then be able to transform this into a deal or customer further. The best part is, you can practically robotize the entire cycle. You simply need to develop and create an email list. 

Isn’t email marketing outdated?

In any case, isn’t email dead? Haven’t you heard that social media is the place where everybody’s at? 

It’s a typical assertion! However, if email use was really dead, for what reason would each online platform expect you to join with an email address? 

Email has been the most solid type of electronic communication for as long as twenty years. And it hasn’t eased back down. Also, building an email list is significantly simpler than building followers on a social media platform. 

Facebook and Instagram both cut off the reach of your pages to only a portion of your followers. Except if you need to pay for advertisements. Likewise, your tweets just show up for a restricted time frame on a client’s feed. 

Then again, when you send an email, it arrives at all your subscriber’s inboxes and stays in their inbox until they make a move. 

We are not saying you should relinquish social media. These platforms are extraordinary for building client engagement but the email will bring you more guests, conversions, and deals. 

Ultimately, a social media website can vanish or turn out to be less famous. By the time they vanish, they will take your subscribers along with them. 

But email has been around since the beginning of the internet. It’s as yet the most well-known way individuals impart on the web. 

Email marketing beats social media advertising in a number of snaps. 

We have tried this over and over. And the outcome is consistently something very similar. Emails get us multiple times a greater number of clicks than all social media consolidated. 

Be that as it may, how does email perform so well? The appropriate response is simple. Email is private and individual. 

If this is anything but sufficient motivation to begin building your email list, here are some significant advantages. 

Assured Reach

Consider you are using a social media platform like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Your updates will undoubtedly be missed because of the actual idea of how social media works. Be that as it may, individuals will generally browse emails more cautiously than their social media accounts. 

Completely accessible and full ownership

You don’t claim the content you post via social media. Your profile can be suspended anytime. And you lose every one of your subscribers. Or even wild, what if the famous social media platform leaves the business? We are not saying that they will, for sure. However, your email list is something that you own. Next, you are not restricted to the standards of the social media platform. For example, the length of the content or hashtag rules. You create the boundaries yourself. You can add email newsletters inside your WordPress blog with more viability than adding on social media platforms.

Focus on your audience

The best part about building your email list is that you can utilize it to focus on your target audience locally. Moreover, target people in explicit nations, urban communities, and states. Let us assume that you are introducing a new product in selective areas. Email is the most ideal approach to arrive at your subscribers around there. 

Boost income

You will attain a stage where you have ensured reach, better focusing on, and your client’s consideration. Then, you are unquestionably going to build an income. 

Check out some numbers!

The ROI of email for every $1 spent is $40. That is more than paid hunting and natural traffic consolidated! 

2% of followers of a business social media account follow a company’s post in their feed. But 90% of emails reach the intended inbox.

You are 6 times bound to get a click-through from an email campaign than from a Tweet.

When requested to pick to get updates from an organization, just 10% ended up with Facebook. 90% decided to get email updates.

These details explain enormous opportunities for anybody hoping to increase their promotion exertion.

Building an email list – Get started

You can’t make an email list in WordPress if you don’t have a set-up in place. A popup plugin! With a WordPress email list building plugin like Optinly, you can make delightful, customizable opt-in forms and show them on your site. 

Popups – How effective are they?

There are various sorts of pop-ups that can be utilized to build conversion and guest engagement. Choosing the perfect one for your WordPress site is the only thing that is in any way important. Alongside picking the right plugin, idealizing the pop-up prescribed procedures, you need to know the right kind of pop-up for a colossal effect on your WordPress site. 

Ways to build an email marketing list 

Each and every popup is outfitted with its highlights that aid the cycle of business development. Distinguish the popup features and type that will work for you and install them on your WordPress site. Here are a couple of popups you can look at for your WordPress site. 

Gamification or spin the wheel popups

Presently, who might not cherish a fun component to a great extent? Then gamification pop-ups are the ones to opt for. These pop-up forms boost conversion and increase customer engagement on your WordPress site. This permits you to collaborate with your WordPress site guests extraordinarily. 

Gamification pop-ups are ideal ones for gaining the attention of first-time guests. They help increase guest communication on your site. 

Crowd pulling popups

Create extraordinary forms through attention-gaining and eyeball-grabbing pop-ups. These sorts of pop-ups will play an essential part in expanding your email list. Not exclusively will it increment the number of email accounts you have but also will produce better quality email leads. 

Get the WordPress pop-up messages right, then these sorts of pop-ups can have an extraordinary engagement rate. There is no uncertainty about these pop-ups building a solid crowd base. 

Guide website visitors

Why not utilize a popup for directing guests to your WordPress sites? 

Directing through the site doesn’t mean assisting the guest with exploring but telling them about the following steps or a major announcement. This will go about as an update just as an aide for the guest to monitor your site updates. 

 

These popups are ideal in telling the guest about your tentative plan and convert them into a dedicated client. However, commit no errors as these popups are pivotal and should be utilized at the perfect spot of page pop website design. 

Special offer popups

As the name says, these pop-ups are powerful. They show up and let the guest realize what is “going on” on your site. For instance, a WordPress site that offers certain downloadable items or resources at a unique cost can raise its deals through these popups. 

With regards to getting the message out about unique offers, there is no option in contrast to this popup in the advanced range. They are experts in completing the work hassle-free. 

They make the best out of each circumstance and will tell the guests the deal they will get. They can be shown on a full screen or in a specific position of the screen. 

Notification popups

How might you tell the guest something significant that is happening on your site? The appropriate response is a notification popup. 

They are ideal popups when you need your guest to think about the extraordinary digital books, impending significant occasions, or something enormous. These popups immediately command guests’ attention and let them think about the significant happenings on your site. 

These popups can be set anyplace on your web page and it will draw in guests’ eyes when it pops up. Notification popups are among the most utilized email popup prescribed practices. This will engage your guests with new data and furthermore go about as a reminder.

Countdown timer

Indeed, you got it right. A popup to incite a need to keep moving among your guests. Let us say that your site is facilitating a tremendous discount deal. Then, this is the popup you should opt for. It will tell the guests about the deal while poking them towards making the purchase. Utilize this popup at whatever point a huge deal or an enormous occasion is drawing nearer. It’s anything but a high drive towards the objective event.

Full-screen overlays

These full-screen popups are baffling in some cases. When rightly utilized, there can be no other popup that can compete with this popup’s capacity. These popups with the right message will command the client or guest’s attention totally. 

For instance, let us say that you are introducing another product. You need every one of the guests on your WordPress site to think about the product. Then, this is the popup that can get it going. Indeed, these popups can sometimes be bothering visitors. So, ensure that the button to close the popup is unmistakably apparent to the guest. 

Make the most of these popups each time they are shown with the right message. A full-screen popup will empower you to convey the right message with no problem. Have a clear and concise objective while utilizing these popups. 

Timed popups

These popups will appear when a guest invests a specific measure of energy in your WordPress site. This popup can be utilized when you need to give the guest extra data about your site. 

For instance, let us assume that there is a guest on your WordPress site. And checks out around five minutes on the landing page will find out what the site is about. Now you can utilize this popup to give the guest something exceptional, such as digital books, unique event content, and things like that. 

These timed popups are viable and will effortlessly command crowd attention. The guest will be unquestionably taking a look at the screen when this popup is shown. 

Exit-intent popups

An exit-intent popup can similarly help you by running with advanced triggers. 

One of the immense concerns of eCommerce is cart abandonment. If you look to reduce the cart abandonment rate, then this is the popup you should opt for. 

Commonly this popup will wake up when a client is just a few minutes away from abandoning the cart. 

You can pass on a message to the client regarding an exceptional discount when they will finish the purchase. This will push the client to place the order successfully. These kinds of popups have a solid demonstrated history of diminishing cart abandonment.

Another exclusive way to recover abandoned carts and boost sales is to run automatic cart recovery campaigns using plugins like Retainful – Abandoned cart recovery plugin.

Widgets and ribbon forms

Utilize a standard ribbon form at the most visible area of the site. 

It is direct and undeniably observable. You can similarly make a widget email membership form for your sidebar that appears on each page. You can use floating bar popups in various positions like those listed below.

You have alternatives to 

  • Show slide-ins on either corner of your screen. 
  • Show floating bar popups either on the top or lower part of your screen. 
  • Fix floating bar popups to the screen while being looked over.

This shows up at the most visible point of your visitor’s program. Thus making it easy for them to spot. You can just make it with the assistance of a WordPress popup plugin like Optinly that you add to your site to look rich. 

A sign-up form

In any case, you need to guarantee you have an email signup form that lives on your blog or website forever. 

While picking where to put your sign-up form, the thumb rule is to find the most recognizable yet extraordinary position that doesn’t encroach on the experience someone has with your site. 

Your site visitors may not be adequately searching for your email membership form. In any case, they really desire to see the link in the navigation bar of a site. Whether or not it is a link to your newsletter or your free ebook, use the navigation bar to add more subscribers to the email list. 

 

Feature box ends up being a commendable way to gain the attention of the site visitors and get their contact information. A feature box is just an enrollment membership box set around the highest point of your landing page or other important pages of your website. 

With Optinly, you can make a membership popup that is viable on all gadgets – mobiles, tablets, and computers at zero expense, as it is a responsive WordPress popup plugin. 

The wrap

While the initial step to developing a set of audiences and transforming them into clients is obviously traffic and getting guests, mainly. The subsequent step is ensuring that they continue to return. If they don’t return, they’ll simply be some arbitrary individual who wandered onto your site once. 

In this way, whenever you have begun building your email list, it’s significant that you engage your subscribers. 

In a perfect world, you’ll make it a habit to send them periodic emails, regardless of whether it’s week by week or month to month. 

Only one out of every odd email must be promotional. You can send emails asking for inputs, giving supportive tips, or telling them of the new content you have made.

Meta description:

Got your business a brand new WordPress website? Subsequently, you want to know how to grow an email marketing list. Check out the blog for the best ways to building an email list.

Author Bio:

Tharani is a blogger and round-the-clock learner. Apart from blogging, she has years of experience writing content for social media promotion, explainer video scripts, project case studies, and various forms of content. When not busy writing, you can find her exploring movies, cooking, and of late discovering the amateur voice artist in her.

Author Email: [email protected]

What is a Lead Campaign on Google Ads? How to Set it up?

Google has captured 92.42% of the market share in web search by capitalizing on its ability to provide users with relevant information quickly and easily through Google Ads campaigns, according to a 2017 report from eMarketer .

But as SEO becomes more competitive than ever before, organic clicks are no longer profitable enough for advertisers who can choose from over 1 million keywords that cost them upwards of $2 per click or 2¢ per view.

Creating a lead-generation campaign on the Google ads platform is incredibly simple. You need only follow three easy steps and you’ll be ready to start getting more customers for your business or organization! 

Advertisements are now taking up a significant amount of space on mobile devices. While Google search ads used to occupy only 25% of desktop clicks and 55% of mobile clicks from 2015-2017, this trend has continued until they can take up the full screen above your result before you even click through or reach page one.

These results are bad news for advertisers who want to capture a high percentage of search traffic. In the past three years, ads have started appearing above or below organic links on mobile devices and desktop computers as well (full screen). Now that Google has made it so difficult to get through even the first page in most cases, ad campaigns seem like an unnecessary investment.

What is Lead Campaign on Google Ads ?

An online advertising campaign is a lead generation tool that draws in high-quality, relevant leads for businesses.

To make more sales, businesses that have long sales processes need to use lead campaigns. Lead campaigns supply their employees with opportunities for making a sale when there are many customers in the market who might be interested (in buying insurance or real estate).

By driving traffic to landing pages, insurance companies are able to acquire their customer’s contact information in exchange for a free quote.

People visit insurance landing pages to get a free quote in exchange for their contact information.

Google Search Ads are ads displayed in relevant search results and can be the most profitable type of ad. As Google has expanded its advertising program, these now include YouTube video ads as well as display network text-based advertisements that appear on websites across the internet.

 

Google Search Ads are ads that display relevant search results. They typically generate a positive ROI and drive an average of $2 for every dollar spent on them.

Google is one of many companies that uses paid advertisements to generate revenue for their business. These types of digital marketing tools have become very popular among small businesses due to how easy they make it for a startup company with little resources compared to other forms such as television or radio commercials which require much more time and money spent before seeing any return on investment (ROI). While some online advertisers struggle finding success from using traditional methods like PPC or CPM platforms, starting out with Google’s

So let’s start with the lead campaign

1.Find The Right Keywords

The first step in starting a business is to find the right keyword. The best way to do this is through research and testing, so it’s important that you don’t rush into anything blindly or spend too much time on one particular keyword before moving onto another.

The very first thing someone should consider when they are looking for keywords for their business is whether there has been enough search volume recently within Google Keyword Planner Tool – meaning these words have just started gaining popularity as of late which might make them more relevant and useful than previously used ones such as “buy now” rather than something like “how can I help”

Google encourages advertisers to target generic keywords, but users are more attracted by a targeted approach. Google Ads actually show the search term in parentheses next to organic listings and paid results for that particular phrase or word on the page.

This is an example of how it’s easy for people who don’t know what they’re doing with their campaign targeting strategies can cause major problems when trying to get leads/customers from Adwords campaigns because there isn’t enough research done before starting them up about which words would be best suited towards getting conversions easily – instead just using terms like ?electrician.? People should look into whether these types of keywords, if used, will draw interested parties through ads so that companies won’t waste time and money resources advertising a product. This is why it is really important that you focus your efforts on understanding your customer expectations. A customer centric business has a clear advantage regarding its strategic keyword campaign as it has a deeper knowledge about its customers’ needs and mindsets, and knows the exact words that will trigger them.

2.Optimize Your Landing Page 

you have to optimize the page to convert as many visitors into leads. Google has set out best practices in order for their ads to not be paused/removed from search results if they are followed properly.

ohh no! the pop-ups

Google Doesn’t Want You Using Pop-Ups or Interstitials

While most marketers are using popups and interstitials to make money, Google doesn’t like them. This means not only no annoying popup ads that you probably weren’t planning on including anyway, but also no lead-capture interstitial ads.

Full-screen landing pages don’t always have to be long and informational. Google is fine with them as long as the content is relevant, but there are still some rules that users need to follow for their page not to get penalized by search engines or catch user attention in a negative way.

3.Run and  Test

Testing ads can improve the quality score, CTR, and CPC/CPA.

The secret of successful marketers is that they run tests to improve quality score and lower cost per click. Google defines ‘quality score’ as a metric which measures the relevance between ads, landing pages, search queries on GOOGLE Ads. Some advertisers think it’s just for vanity but really this holistic benchmarking algorithm helps with finding new ways to place your ad in front of relevant users according to their keywords searches thus helping you make some revenue from them!

The way I understand marketing campaigns such as AdWords (specially when we talk about Quality Score) is almost like running an experiment where one gets data back after every step taken during the execution process so understanding results becomes easy & effective at deciding what next steps need be done based off past

A/B testing landing pages can improve your conversion rates by as much as 550%. You could also perform simple changes like adding extensions to your ads. This may help you increase CTR and ultimately boost ROI!

With drastic improvements like this, you will see a huge improvement in your quality score and lower CPCs & CPA.

Try to Split-Test Ads

To test different ad combinations, simply enter in the description and headline variations you want. Then select an aggregate function to automatically generate ads for testing.

If you aren’t already an AdEspresso user, there are still some testing options within Google Ads. You should make sure that the ad group to test ads in has disabled its “optimize” setting by default.

A new Ad Variations feature in Google Ads will help advertisers create more varied ad groups for campaigns.

This update to the original automated tool, called “Ad Group Experiments” was created specifically with small businesses and marketers without large advertising budgets in mind. The tools allow users to automatically experiment within their existing ads instead of having one option always be shown while another is being tested on its own separate campaign or even entire account level.

This can interfere with impressions shared and prolong time needed to get conclusive results from tests so it’s important that only two options are ever running at once during experiments which this updated version allows you to accomplish easily through manual set up or via an improved AdEspresso integration .

Then, you only have to monitor the individual CTR, CVR, and CPC. also switch the ads on and off based on your  performance.

Conclusion

It only takes a few clicks to create an effective lead-generation campaign on the Google ads platform, but it requires more effort than that in order for such campaigns to be profitable month after month.

Instead of creating an individual landing page for each search query, you can create a few general pages that are optimized to drive people towards your CTA.

A campaign manager’s true test is their ability to improve upon results over time. You can also utilize external digital marketing CRMs to manage all leads at one place. Campaign managers must continue testing, or they will lose out in the end due to rising costs and a shrinking margin for profit.

 

 

 

8 Things Every WordPress Website Needs

Whether it’s a business website, creative portfolio or personal blog, no WordPress website is complete without these 8 “must-haves”.

When it comes to creating a high quality WordPress website that looks the part, there are a few essential things every WordPress website needs. Some are obvious, some are subtle, and some are things you might never have thought about.

In the points below, I’ll cover all the WordPress must-haves, so that you can develop a sleek and professional website to be proud of.

     1. Clear Purpose

It’s such a simple factor that it often gets completely overlooked in the site creation process – what are you trying to achieve with this website?

Is it a portfolio to display your work? Is it a point of reference for potential customers who want to learn more about your services? Is it an ecommerce shop where customers can actually purchase your products and have them delivered to their door?

Whatever your motives are for creating a website, it’s important to regularly remind yourself of this throughout the creation and development of your WordPress site. Purpose-driven websites deliver a clear message while maintaining a consistent tone of voice, with minimal distractions.

Whether you are selling a product, exhibiting a collection of work or providing valuable information, make sure you assign a clear purpose to your website – and stay true to it!

     2. Simple Navigation

When it comes to navigating between various pages on your website, you want it to be as fluid and intuitive for the user as possible, so that you don’t overwhelm them with too much information.

Drop-down lists are an excellent way to declutter your site menu, by grouping numerous pages into a handful of categories.

For example:

  • Links to Hairstyling, Nails, Massage and Skin Treatments can all appear when the user hovers the mouse over Services.
  • Links to Our History, Testimonials and Store Locations can all appear in a drop-down menu when the user clicks on About Us.

By streamlining your site menu, you keep your website looking sleek and simple, while still providing quick and convenient access to every internal page with the click of a button. Crisp site navigation is something every WordPress site needs.

     3. Eye-catching Design

Once your website conveys a clear purpose and is easy to navigate, it’s time to add some flair. Thankfully, WordPress makes this remarkably easy, with a whole host of visually stunning design templates to choose from – many of which can be customized to make your site unique.

The ideal design ultimately depends on your brand personality, and your target audience. The “less is more” mantra is always a good policy, and consistency across every webpage is key.

When it comes to search engine optimization, content and web design make a powerful SEO duo. This brings me to my next point.

     4. Good Copywriting

Have you noticed that everyone – from public figures, to pubs and restaurants, and even your local plumber – has a blog these days? There’s a good reason for it.

A blog can help you maintain a presence on search engines, so that when someone is looking for the products or services that your business provides, they’ll find you. This process requires good copywriting.

And when I say “good copywriting”, I’m not just talking about spelling and grammar (although, a quick spellcheck before publishing never hurts!). Good copy will:

  • Clearly demonstrate that your brand is a reliable authority on the topic
  • Contain keywords that can place you higher in the search result
  • Link to reliable external sources that substantiate your claims
  • Link to other content you have written, in order to strengthen your website’s internal links

Not only do you need to post regularly in order to stay on the radar and maintain your status as an authority in your field, but you also need to update ageing content to remain current.

     5. Share Buttons

This one is quite straightforward to implement, but it can do wonders for your website’s online presence.

Now that you’re engaging readers with quality content, you want to make it as easy for them to share your stuff as possible. Don’t make people copy your blog URL and paste it into the “share” field of their social media accounts – set up “share buttons”, so that every new blog post contains icons that the user simply clicks.

These icons will redirect the user to their social media page, with the link to your content embedded and ready to share. I recommend including share buttons for:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Depending on what your website is and who it’s for, you might also include links to Pinterest or Instagram.

     6. Testimonials

As persuasive as your website copy might be, it still comes from your brand. A simple yet effective way to convince potential customers that you provide a quality product or service is to include testimonials from existing customers.

This establishes brand trust, and displays a positive review of your business from a third party source.

     7. Numerous Contact Options (if applicable)

If the purpose of your website is to promote your business (or yourself), then ideally you want customers to be able to quickly and easily contact you for assistance, or a quote, or any other query.

Your website’s contact page should contain a phone number, email address, social media links (for instant messaging) and an enquiry form. In addition, every single page of your website should contain some form of contact method, whether it’s a phone number or email address.

Rather than simply stuffing your website to the brim with the same phone number in every corner of every page, I recommend a subtler approach – which brings me to my final point.

     8. Call to Action

A CTA is a phrase or sentence that speaks directly to the reader, commanding them in as persuasive manner as possible, to:

  • Buy your product
  • Book an appointment
  • Request a free quote
  • Start their free trial
  • Get in touch, etc.

Ultimately, you want your website to convert visitors into customers, members or subscribers. A well-written CTA that inspires urgent response from the customer is vital to maximizing conversions.

Don’t stop at these essential “must-haves”

By incorporating these eight things every WordPress site needs into the creation of your website, you can rest assured that your website already has the foundations for success.

While the points listed here cover the bare essentials of any professional website, there is no limit to the ways in which you can improve your WordPress site.

For instance, if you plan to sell products directly through your website with Shopify, it’s worth reading up on how to get your Shopify SEO right from day one.

And finally, keep in mind that a website is like a car – it requires servicing and maintenance in order to run efficiently. There are actions you can take on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual basis to keep your website optimized, updated and refined.