As artificial intelligence continues to advance, we’ve found ourselves new best friends with intelligent personal assistants such as Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and Google. The way people search the web for information is changing from the traditional search engines. Nearly 60 percent of searches today are performed through mobile devices. Mobile devices are becoming our key source of knowledge and consumers are increasingly using their voice over their fingers to search the web. Asking questions and receiving answers has never been quicker or easier. As voice search continues to gain market share, it is imperative that we as marketers understand how to optimize our websites in order to stay ahead on SEO best practices.

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Social media and messaging apps have led to the evolution of bots. A bot is a computer program that automates certain tasks by chatting with a user through a conversational interface like a messaging app. Interactions with bots can be straightforward such as asking a bot for the location of a restaurant, or more complex, like troubleshooting your internet service. In a world of immediacy and instant demand, simply offering an app won’t cut it anymore. Consumers expect an immediate response when it comes to customer service, and bots offer quality service before the customer even comes across an issue. If you haven’t invested in bots quite yet, here are a few reasons you should consider:

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It has been a decade since Apple released the first generation of iPhones that changed technology forever. This revolutionary product digitized many industries and built a world dedicated to instancy and connection. This September, Apple announced the release of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X. Since the latest release, in many cases, consumers did not feel the iPhone 8 met their expectations for innovation and the iPhone 7 has been selling more than the iPhone 8. The iPhone X will be released on Friday, November 3, with the intent to give consumers the futuristic phone they’ve been craving. With competitors like Google and Samsung lingering, here are a few capabilities of the iPhone X that set Apple apart:

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Slack is the fastest growing business application in history. Launching in 2014, Slack is a platform that connects teams with the apps, services, and resources they need to get their daily work done. With access to over 1,000 apps and a strategic API, Slack works with partners and developers globally to create apps and integrations that make your work more efficient, automates tasks and brings better content into your conversations in Slack. Not only is it a great tool for communication and project management, it also creates a more social work environment by allowing individuals to send quick emojis and gifs. We love Slack, so we thought we’d compile our favorite Slack hacks.

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The madness of starting another school year is finally starting to slow down. People are beginning to get back into their normal routines, and whether we like it or not, it’s time to accept that summer is coming to a close. We, personally, are looking forward to a breather from the Texas heat! Aside from saying goodbye to summer, it’s also time to prep for a strong finish to the last quarter of 2015. From our experience, digital marketing strategies can and does play a huge role in determining your success from quarter to quarter, so it should not be left on the “back burner.”

To help you in your final push towards the new year, we wanted to offer up some of our insights into building an even stronger digital marketing plan for your business. Regardless of what your company objectives are, each of these can provide a great deal of value in distinguishing yourself from your competition, building relationships with your audience, and increasing your profits.

 1. Publish Content Regularly  

 Your goal should be to develop a content strategy that encompasses the products and services that your  company offers. Not only that, but you want to show your audience that you are the industry leader in the  market. Consider posting content that illustrates your experience on a particular issue for your clients, or  write a feature story on one of your products. Also, don’ t be afraid to recycle older content. Often times, you  can simply repost content that you created years ago. Unless it is irrelevant, this is a great way to generate a  ton of content that is already proven to be successful. For more information about developing quality content, check out our blog post on incorporating appropriate and relevant content.

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Have you been hearing Google’s drum roll these past few days? Google announced earlier this year that it will be using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor, and this update rolled out yesterday. If your website already provides an optimized mobile experience, you should be benefiting from it immediately. Google has clearly stated that it’s in favor of a responsive design approach, yet two in eight websites are not mobile responsive. If you website doesn’t provide an optimized experience for mobile users it’s safe to say that Google will take this into consideration and your site will be listed lower in the mobile search results.

To get started, we would suggest testing your web pages to see if they are currently mobile friendly. Also, visit Google.com using your mobile device and search for your business. Google search should come back with your website near the top and with a “mobile friendly” tag next to the link, if your site is compliant.

We’re here to help! If you have questions about how this update affects your organic search ranking and/or what can be done to make your current website mobile friendly/responsive please let us know.

Did you know that 66% of Americans ages 24-35 own a smartphone? How about that 75% of Americans bring their phones to the bathroom? Although this may seem like too much information, it’s something to consider when making the decision to go mobile. Today, everyone is connected to their device. Why not take advantage of that common statistic and make your website available to them wherever they are? And if those statistics didn’t get to you, what if you knew that in 5 years, mobile is predicted to be bigger than the internet? Would you reconsider making your site mobile friendly? Whether you choose to create a native mobile app picks, create a separate site specifically for mobile or use responsive design (we’d recommend the latter), get out of your 20^th century funk because mobile is the future.

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Website development has come a long way since the days of the text-heavy, flash-infused websites of the ‘90s. The rise of mobile devices, tablets and social interaction online has created a whole new world for web developers—a world that has created the necessity for innovation and a new way to synchronize the user experience across a variety of platforms and devices. It’s called responsive web design.

What is Responsive Web Design?

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Everywhere you look someone is texting, emailing, looking up a product or Googling on their phone.  In fact, 91 percent of all US citizens have a mobile device within reach 24/7. This is why many companies are contemplating launching a mobile site if they haven’t already like www.badcreditmobiles.net/blog. But it seems even more business owners debate the value of having a second site when their traditional site can open up on a smartphone browser “just fine” and may be reluctant to spend the extra money. Well, with over 100 million smartphone users in the US alone and half of all search being performed on a mobile device, the value and necessity for a mobile web site is higher than ever.

Below are top reasons why you need to launch a mobile site to compliment your traditional website.

Content Prioritization

• Mobile browsing is all about an easy, accessible experience. In comparison to desktop web sites (which usually contain a wide range of content and information) mobile sites include only the most crucial time- and location-specific functions and features. Traditional websites are too content-heavy, complicated and usually not relevant for practical mobile use.
• Traditional websites simply can’t give mobile users what they need. They are designed to be viewed on a computer screen instead of a mobile device. This means that regular websites, while still serve a purpose, are not effective for a mobile user with broken links and cluttered information. Too much chaos on a little screen equals high bounce rates and a negative response to your company.

Rank Higher in Search

• Because of their simplicity in nature, mobile websites have higher speed, making the visitor experience more pleasurable and this means increased relevancy to search engines.
• Mobile allows you to have the advantage of coming up higher in search engine results for local searches performed on mobile devices. This means that when people search for your type of product or service using their mobile device, you can show up higher in the results just because you have a mobile website.

Increased Conversions

• A mobile site makes it easier for on the go visitors to easily access information. Conversions increase as users can contact you with one-click calling, one-click email, and instant directions. This eliminates the need for your customers to take “extra steps” in order to contact or visit your business. In the age of instant information, an extra click could mean missed opportunities.
• Integrating social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with your mobile website is simple and will help retain your visitors and increase customer base and lead generation.
• Fact: Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons.

Friendly User Experience = Repeat Interaction

• Mobile sites help you attract both new and repeat customers by giving your business instant appeal when visitors land on your clean mobile site with all of the important information clearly and easily accessible.
• When users are successful in finding what they need while visiting a mobile website, they’re more likely to come back. When mobile users land on a website that is distorted, they quickly exit and make a mental note never to return.

Bottom-Line:

Your customers and potential customers are utilizing mobile for almost every aspect of their daily lives. To stay relevant and accessible you must adapt your web strategy to align with the current mobile trends, which are only going to increase. Mobile gives you the advantage over your competitors; most of which are not yet leveraging the powerful benefits of mobile marketing.

Want a free assessment of your site to know how you can improve interaction with a mobile site? Give us a call and mention this blog post to receive $200 off your new sleek, very mobile interface.