DESIGN TO CODE-1

Turning Stunning Web Design Into Flawless Code

by Website Development

Web development reaches its crucial stage when designers transfer their work to developers through the design handoff process. The phase marks the point where abstract concepts turn into concrete reality while transforming creative plans into functional user interactions. The transformation from design to development during this phase produces numerous obstacles that threaten to ruin carefully designed projects. This article examines the major challenges that developers face while presenting effective solutions to overcome them.

The Chasm Between Design and Development

A designer invests their time for multiple weeks to develop an aesthetically pleasing interface that perfectly represents brand values through pixel-perfect design. The development team receives this design from the designers with the understanding that they should produce code that perfectly matches the original design. The developers start analyzing the design files only to discover unclear specifications together with missing assets and ambiguous elements. The result? The final product drifts away from its initial design which produces negative reactions from designers and developers.

This failure to connect design with development occurs frequently throughout the industry instead of being an isolated exception.  The main cause stems from specification miscommunications and insufficient asset sharing and most importantly from poor designer-developer coordination.

Bridging the Communication Gap

Communication represents the fundamental hurdle which causes most handoff problems. Designers and developers share a single objective but maintain separate spaces where they use communication methods which share similarities but have separate linguistic patterns.

Consider the term “padding.” A designer views padding as design space surrounding elements for better visual appeal while a developer sees it as a specific CSS property requiring numerical input.  Such terms create confusion when they remain undefined between different stakeholders.

 

Strategies for Effective Communication:

  1. Early Collaboration: Developers should join the design process from its initial beginning. The developers’ expertise helps designers make decisions which both boost project feasibility and reduce development complexity. 
  1. Regular Check-ins: Both teams must participate in scheduled meetings that enable progress updates and concern resolution and necessary adjustments. This fosters a culture of continuous feedback and mutual understanding.
  1. Unified Terminology: Develop a shared glossary of terms and components. A designer referring to a “carousel” should have the developer visualize the exact same functionality.

 

Ambiguous design specifications create numerous risks during the development process.

A design that appears beautiful will fail to deliver its intended effect when designers fail to provide exact specifications. Design file ambiguities force developers to guess which design elements the designer intended leading to potential design discrepancies.

Consider a button featuring a gradient overlay. A developer implementing a flat color button instead of a gradient might disrupt both visual structure and user journey without proper design direction.

 

Mitigation Measures:

  1. Detailed Documentation: Each design component should include complete documentation that describes its dimensions as well as color codes and both font styles and interactive responses.
  1. Interactive Prototypes: Designers should use prototyping tools to generate interactive interfaces for developers. Developers receive an actual representation of user interactions together with transitions through this method.
  1. Design Systems: Organizations should use a centralized design component repository alongside guidelines for implementation. This central resource acts as the authoritative reference point that maintains uniformity throughout the entire system.

 

Asset Management: Ensuring Completeness

The process of delivering assets stands as a frequently disregarded step in the handover procedure. Development delays because of missing or incorrectly formatted assets may force designers to reduce design fidelity to ensure project completion.

An e-commerce platform depends heavily on product images which serve as its core feature. The user experience suffers when developers use placeholders or low-quality images instead of high-resolution alternatives because they lack sufficient image resources.

 

Best Practices for Asset Delivery:

  1. Organized Asset Libraries: Asset folders should be structured consistently through logical organization which includes separate sections for icons, images and logos and uses uniform naming conventions.
  1. Multiple Formats: Assets should exist in SVG, PNG and JPEG formats to accommodate multiple use scenarios and resolution requirements.
  1. Asset Checklists: Checklists should be implemented before the handoff to verify that no asset remains unaccounted for. The methodical approach helps prevent missed elements during this stage.

 

Embracing a Culture of Continuous Collaboration

The design handover needs to be recognized as an ongoing partnership rather than a single occurrence. After handing off projects, designers should stay involved to explain and modify designs according to developer feedback while addressing unexpected development issues.

Think of it as a relay race. The baton (design) is passed, but the runner (designer) doesn’t leave the track. The designer continues to follow the same track while monitoring the baton reaches its destination correctly.

Fostering Post-Handoff Synergy:

  • Open Channels: Establish communication tools which enable developers to ask questions easily and designers to answer them promptly.
  • Joint Testing Sessions: Both teams must conduct joint testing sessions to verify the implementation matches the design while addressing immediate alignment issues.
  • Feedback Loops: Following project completion the team should conduct retrospectives to evaluate successes and failures while identifying improvements for future handoff procedures.

Crafting Cohesive Digital Experiences

The transition between design and development demands more than technical expertise because it needs both empathy and understanding together with teamwork.

Our experience at Griffon Webstudios demonstrates that better designer-developer collaboration leads to improved project outcomes. The creation of exceptional websites requires teamwork because our process depends on open dialogue combined with clear specifications and shared ownership.

e-commerce strategy

Enhance Your E-Commerce Strategy with Product Schema

by Digital Marketing

Selling items online is a saturated market. That is a fact. However, it doesn’t mean you cannot succeed. The reality is most people who create a small business online don’t have the time, effort, or know-how to actually stand out in the market – leaving a massive gap in that saturation for dedicated companies to succeed.

Your e-commerce strategy must be based on taking every advantage you can to deliver quality products to your target audience in a way that solidifies your brand presence. One of the most overlooked tools for this is developing Product Schema.

What is Product Schema?

The idea of product schema is simple. You are adding structured information to your website and products to help search engines better identify your offerings. Think of this like a catalog sheet giving all the details people want or a translator conveying your wishes in a different language.

The more you make it easy for search engines to understand your online presence, the better they can interpret your website and give you a higher rank. With product schema, this idea goes a bit further. Search engines can generate your results without forcing visitors to go to your website. They can see product pricing, reviews, sizes, and other details based solely on their search engine request.

When implemented well, your product schema helps you stand out in search results as rich snippets that drive user engagement. They increase your CTR (click-through rate) simply by answering questions like:

  • Do you have products available?
  • What price are they at?
  • What colors can be purchased?
  • What reviews have you received?
  • And similar inquiries.

How to Implement Product Schema

The actual practice of adding product schema only requires a little technical knowledge. You can save yourself a lot of time and hassle by having our experts at Griffon Webstudios do the work for you like:

  • Adding required properties such as product name, price, availability, and reviews so Google can quickly see them and provide such details to users based on their inquiries.
  • Following specific Google guidelines such as JSON-LD schema markup formats so all your structured information is well understood and free from errors.
  • Testing and retesting all the information integrated into your product schema through tools like Google’s Rich Results Test to verify it is correct and not missing any elements.
  • Confirming results and monitoring the impact by tracking different metrics like CTRs, impressions, and overall traffic.

Adapting to your e-commerce strategy requires real-time monitoring. You never know when one little detail here or a review there can make all the difference to your target audience and search engine rank.

Conclusion

Your e-commerce strategy is a living, breathing puzzle. It must be tailored to your unique needs and the desires of your audience. You want a professional, experienced hand at the wheel to ensure you’re taking advantage of every opportunity you can, including product schema.

Learn more about how you can implement this type of advantage by reaching out to our team at Griffon Webstudios. We have the experience you need based on our years of adapting and growing in the highly competitive NYC market. Call us today to discuss how we can help your e-commerce business.

Top 5 ecommerce platforms for SEO

Top 5 e-commerce platforms for SEO

by Website Development

Top e-commerce systems make launching a profitable online business simple and inexpensive. Of course, with so many outstanding solutions available, selecting the best plan for your needs may be difficult. To assist, we have compiled a list of the 5 finest e-commerce platforms accessible in 2023. These solutions provide all the functionality you need to swiftly establish your website, increase traffic, and close more transactions.

1. WooCommerce

Opensource, customizable for every business need.

WooCommerce is a popular open-source e-commerce plugin for the WordPress platform. It allows you to easily create and manage an online store by adding e-commerce functionality to your existing WordPress website.

The cost of using WooCommerce primarily consists of the following:

Hosting: WooCommerce requires a hosting account to run your website, which typically costs between $5 and $30 per month.

WordPress theme: You’ll need a WordPress theme to design your website, and there are many free and premium themes available. Prices for premium themes can range from $20 to $200 or more.

Plugins and extensions: WooCommerce is highly customizable and can be extended with a wide range of plugins and extensions. Prices for plugins can range from free to several hundred dollars.

Payment gateway: You’ll need a payment gateway to process transactions, and there are many options available. Some popular payment gateways, such as PayPal and Stripe, charge transaction fees, while others have monthly fees.

Customization and development: If you need custom development work, such as customizing your theme or adding new features, you’ll need to hire a developer, which can add additional costs.

 

If all WooCommerce stores formed a country, its revenue would be greater than 35% of the world’s countries

2. Shopify

Integrations for dropshipping, omnichannel selling, and built-in selling features. One of the most popular eCommerce platforms that are SEO friendly.

Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that enables businesses of all sizes to create and manage an online store. With Shopify, you can easily create a professional-looking website and start selling products online, whether you have a physical store or not.

Shopify offers several pricing plans to meet the needs of different types of businesses. The following are the main Shopify pricing plans:

Basic Shopify: This plan costs $29 per month and includes the core features and tools needed to sell online, including a website builder, unlimited products, and a payment gateway.

Shopify: This plan costs $79 per month and includes more advanced features, such as shipping discounts and a professional report builder.

Advanced Shopify: This plan costs $299 per month and includes even more advanced features, such as advanced reporting and abandoned cart recovery.

Shopify Plus: This is a custom plan designed for large enterprises and is priced based on the specific needs of each business. It’s important to note that all Shopify plans include 24/7 support and access to the Shopify app store, where you can add additional functionality to your store.

 

 

Additionally, Shopify charges a transaction fee on each sale, depending on the payment gateway used. To find the best plan for your business, consider your budget and the specific features and tools you need. You can also start with a lower-priced plan and upgrade as your business grows.


Over 4.4 million websites globally use Shopify as of 2023. Celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Adele, and David Beckham have implemented Shopify to establish their online stores.

3. BigCommerce

Ease of Use, Scalability, and integrated payment processing solutions.

BigCommerce is a cloud-based e-commerce platform that enables businesses of all sizes to create and manage an online store. It provides a range of features and tools to help you sell products online, including website-building tools, product management, payment processing, and shipping and order management.

BigCommerce offers several pricing plans to meet the needs of different types of businesses, including:

Standard: This plan costs $29.95 per month and includes core e-commerce features, such as unlimited products, a payment gateway, and basic reporting and analytics.

Plus: This plan costs $79.95 per month and includes advanced features, such as gift cards, professional reporting, and an abandoned cart saver.

Pro: This plan costs $299.95 per month and includes even more advanced features, such as custom SSL, real-time carrier shipping, and advanced reporting.

Enterprise: This is a custom plan designed for large businesses and is priced based on the specific needs of each business.

Bigcommerce stats

It’s important to note that BigCommerce charges a transaction fee on each sale, depending on the payment gateway used. This fee ranges from 0.5% to 2% of the sale, depending on the pricing plan. Additionally, some features, such as custom SSL certificates and premium themes, may incur additional fees. To find the best plan for your business, consider your budget and the specific features and tools you need. You can also start with a lower-priced plan and upgrade as your business grows.

BigCommerce when it comes to transaction fees charges 0% transaction fees with all its plans and has negotiated special rates with PayPal for credit cards.

 

4. Magento (Adobe Commerce)

Multi-Store backend Capabilities, Highly customizable, and has a huge library of extensions.

Magento is an open-source platform designed specifically for e-commerce websites and online stores. It comes with built-in SEO capabilities such as configurable meta tags and customizable URLs which makes it easy for businesses to optimize their webpages for SERPs without having to use additional tools or services from third parties.

Additionally, Magento also offers advanced reporting features so users can keep track of how well their website’s content is performing in terms of organic search traffic and conversions over time so they can make informed decisions about what changes need to be made in order to improve visibility further down the line if necessary.

Magento Open Source is a free, open-source platform that can be downloaded and installed on your own server. You’ll need to cover the cost of hosting, and there may be additional costs for extensions and custom development work.

Magento Commerce is a paid platform that provides additional features, support, and scalability. The cost of Magento Commerce is based on a number of factors, including the size of your business, the number of products you sell, and the level of customization you require. Pricing for Magento Commerce starts at around $22,000 per year and can go up to several hundred thousand dollars per year for large, complex deployments.

It’s important to note that Magento Commerce pricing is flexible and can be customized to meet the needs of your business. Additionally, there are many third-party extensions and plugins available for Magento that can add additional functionality and increase the cost of using the platform. To find the best pricing option for your business, consider your budget, the specific features and tools you need, and the level of support and customization you require.

In 2018, Adobe acquired Magento for $1.68 billion. Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform and it is supported by a huge pool of more than 3,00,000 developers worldwide. The Magento marketplace is the world’s largest eCommerce marketplace for extensions.

5. Squarespace

No transaction costs, free domain and SSL certificate, and award-winning templates.

Squarespace is one of the top choices due to its appealing templates, many of which are free. While there is no free plan, the Business package starts at $23 per month (if paid annually). It includes the ability to sell an infinite amount of items, CSS and JavaScript modification, and a Google professional email account. It also offers a more affordable option that starts at $14 per month (paid annually), but it does not contain e-commerce functionality.

The Basic Commerce package, which allows you to have a point-of-sale system, costs $27 per month (paid annually) (POS). This plan is suitable for anyone who owns a physical store or sells at markets and fairs. E-commerce metrics and the option to tag your items in Instagram photos are also included.

The Advanced Commerce plan is $49 per month (if paid annually) and allows you to sell subscriptions as well as send automatic emails when a consumer abandons their basket without making a purchase.

It’s worth mentioning that there is a 3% transaction charge on sales unless you have one of the Commerce plans. These charges are in addition to the regular credit card costs imposed per sale on each plan.


The top 5 e-commerce platforms discussed above all offer great solutions when it comes to optimizing your website’s content for higher rankings on SERPs like Google or Bing. From built-in tools like structured data markup support or customizable URLs – these five platforms provide everything necessary for businesses looking into improving their visibility without having any technical knowledge required at all.

Ultimately, using these platforms will ensure greater success when attempting to attract more customers through organic searches conducted through various search engines around the globe.

Squarespace is responsible for 1.7% of all websites on the Internet

Digital Marketing Agency in New York- What To Expect?

Digital Marketing Agency in New York- What To Expect?

by Digital Marketing

Elevating your brand recognition and market reach does not require a massive enterprise-level advertising agency. You can get far more ROI with specialized agencies that understand the power of targeted marketing.

This is especially true for businesses working in and around the greater NYC area. You want to work with a digital marketing agency in New York that understands how to build websites, leverage ad campaigns, and utilize local SEO in New York to bring in more direct leads in your geographic area.

For businesses outside of the NYC area, using a digital marketing agency with direct experience in surviving the highly competitive New York environment means you have an expert company. If they can make it in New York, they can make it anywhere!

Benefits of a Digital Marketing Agency

The goal when searching for a digital marketing agency in New York is to improve your online visibility. This means a firm that knows how to increase traffic to your website through hyper-targeted advertisements on Google and other social media platforms.

You want to increase brand awareness while building trust with your target audience so they will organically share your content. This way, one advertisement could create a ripple effect that goes well beyond the original intentions of your initial digital ad.

An experienced team, like those at Griffon Webstudios, will then use those increased visitation numbers to leverage them into higher conversions for your sales and site traffic. This transforms the people checking out your online brand or ecommerce store into actionable sales and brand interactions.

What to Bring to Your First Digital Marketing Agency Meeting

Bring a list of questions about the agency, their work, and what you need from them. For example, if you are looking for content marketing help and know that your business needs a lot of blog posts each month, ask the agency what volume they can handle. If you’ve heard great things about video marketing but are not sure where to start with it, ask the agency how they would incorporate video into your marketing strategy.

Bring some examples of creative content work you like (and don’t like). This will give the agency a sense of what style and tone fit your brand and how you want consumers to perceive it. It also provides an idea of whether or not an agency can deliver what you’re looking for.

Have a clear picture in mind of your budget and timelines before going into this meeting. These numbers will directly affect what type of strategy the agency designs for your business, so they must be considered early on in this process.

Most importantly, keep an open mind. A digital marketing agency in New York will have plenty of experience and make suggestions that may seem new to you. Let yourself be convinced of the latest techniques and strategies that are proving beneficial to the agency.

Getting Started with Griffon Webstudios

If you’re looking for an exceptional digital marketing agency, it’s vital that you do your due diligence to find the one that will best suit your needs. At Griffon Webstudios, we are a digital marketing agency in New York with a proven track record of success from satisfied clients. We have plenty of testimonials and case studies that celebrate how we bring value to your brand, including local SEO in New York.

Reach out to our excellent design, marketing, and development team today, and let’s schedule a consultation. We are eager to learn more about your upcoming project or ad campaign. We love creating custom solutions for clients in New York or anywhere else around the globe. One quick email or phone call could mean all the difference in accelerating your online growth.

Proven Ways to Improve Your Website Performance

Proven Ways to Improve Your Website Performance

by Website Development

The number of people entering the side hustle of the online business sector is astounding. The recent global pandemic has forced many people to entertain ideas of creating their own e-commerce storefront, which means a lot of competition online. If you want to grow your business into something that will last more than a couple of months, you need to utilize as many tips and tricks as possible to enhance your website optimization.

The state of the current market is the faster your site can load across multiple platforms and screen sizes, the better the response will be from your target market. If you want to be one of the top results that consumers receive from search engines, you need highly relevant and engaging information that quickly loads when they click on your link. Here are a few of our tips for excellent website optimization.

 

1. Optimize Your Images

Having fun and engaging photos and images across your site is not enough. You also need to make sure those images are not so bulky in size or dimensions that it takes them forever to load. You need to utilize tools and plug-ins that optimize your image sizes. This increases website page load times, boost conversions, increases user engagement, and elevates your SEO ranking.

 

2. Fix Broken Links

The Internet is a volatile space where websites are being uploaded and taken off-line on a minute-by-minute basis. If your website has many broken links leading to articles or sources that are no longer there, your overall SERP rank will downgrade. Not to mention customers don’t want to click on the link that leads to nothing. It makes you look unprofessional or, at the very least, shows that you are not paying enough attention to your own website.

 

3. Mobile First Design

Plan on the majority of your consumers and potential leads to be using a mobile device when viewing your website. That means you need to test your website across all types of devices and optimize for mobile screens. Even the code should be managed so that it is mobile-first prioritized.

 

4. Engage a CDN

A content delivery network, sometimes called a CDN, is a way of spreading out your media files onto servers worldwide. It can drastically save you bandwidth, which allows more users to engage with your website at faster speeds. That way, when a visitor from Germany is viewing your website, they see files that are physically located closer to where they’re accessing your site. This also helps increase your security by spreading your resources, making you less susceptible to DDoS attacks and traffic spikes.

 

5. Revisit Hosting Options

Now is a good time to look at your hosting plan and see if there isn’t some leeway for increased speeds. Many hosts are currently in a highly competitive market. They are offering great deals on upgraded plans for significant cost savings. A little boost in your current hosting plan can make a big difference if you suddenly get a giant spike in consumer visitation. You always want to have the least amount of downtime possible with your website optimization.

There are so many other tips and chicks that we could describe that could fill a book. The easiest way to take advantage of many of the tools needed to increase your website optimization is to schedule a consult from our expert team at Griffon Webstudios.

We have spent years working in the fast-paced New York City market improving websites and getting businesses into an online situation where their brand is highly recognized by the broadest target market. Reach out to our expert team today or visit us online to learn more about how we can transform your online presence.

Creative Promotion Strategies for Your E-Commerce Business

Creative Promotion Strategies for Your E-Commerce Business

by Digital Marketing

There are an estimated 12-24 million e-commerce sites across the entire globe. Practically every single minute, another e-commerce site is launched, creating one more competitor in your niche or target market. Rising above all of us competition is a real challenge for anyone running an online business.

The best way to overcome these challenges is to integrate promotional strategies and engage with e-commerce website experts who are willing to offer you tips and tricks to elevate your brand above the noise. You never know when a quick slight adjustment to a marketing campaign can suddenly make the difference between exponential success and business failure. Here are some of our creative promotional strategies that you might wanna check out for your e-commerce business.

 

1. Make it Personal

Consumers want a reason to stick with one brand over another. Just seeing the quality of your product is no longer enough to separate you from the other brands that are out there on the market. However, giving yourself a story and putting a face to that story increases the emotional response consumers will get whenever they see your products. Finding a way to attach a spokesperson for your e-commerce business is a great way to make your products more relatable to your target market. It shows that you care about the experience your consumers are having.

 

2. Build Customer Relationships

The modern consumer wants a rewarding relationship with the brands they use the most. That means creating content and experiences that are highly relevant to the type of people shopping on your e-commerce store. Practically any e-commerce website expert will tell you that if you want to attract more visitors improve the relationship you have with your current customers. Make it the easiest thing in the world to shop with you and treat them the way you would want to be treated by your favorite brands.

 

3. Wishlists and Gift Guides

Creative promotional ideas like allowing your guests to create wish lists or publishing gift guides for different special occasions enhance the user experience. The goal is to find ways for your customers to think about your products in ways other than just using them. Maybe they want a giant list of things to purchase for your work-at-home tech store that they are working towards for the next year. You are giving them a reason to come back to your site and visit your products more often.

 

4. Quizzes and Guest Posts

Think about content that would attract you. For example, having fun quizzes or posts from guests within your industry enhance the engagement of visitor has with your brand. The more rewarding you can make the overall experience, the more likely visitors are to return and probably make a purchase. It also creates a certain stickiness to your brand identity. This helps your products become front-of-mind purchases for your visitors because they had such a good experience in the past.

If you would like to learn more about the different creative promotions you can include in your e-commerce store, like offering free shipping or working with micro social media influencers, contact our e-commerce website experts at Griffon Webstudios. We are located in the heart of New York City, where the latest trends in marketing campaigns of international agencies get tested and launched daily.

Let our professional team help elevate your brand with creative promotional campaigns that resonate with your target market.

Best E-Commerce Platforms to Consider for Your Online Store

Best E-Commerce Platforms to Consider for Your Online Store

by Digital Marketing

If there is anything we have learned during the recent global pandemic is that people can make money online. The sheer number of inquiries we at Griffon Webstudios have received for building new e-commerce stores is astounding. Everyone wants to enjoy the luxury of making money from a custom website while they rest comfortably at home.

The good news is that there are plenty of excellent content management systems to get your latest shoe design or custom mobile app onto the best e-commerce platforms. Our e-commerce website experts have put together a quick list of our favorites.

Shopify

Shopify is our leading best e-commerce platform only because it is easy to use for beginners. This platform has all the bells and whistles you would want and requires so little self-education that you can quickly launch your new line of products without having to spend days trying to learn code.

We have completed many projects by setting up a Shopify site and then happily passing it off to a client after a short introduction and tutorial. This is also one of the most cost-effective solutions for small businesses just getting started and works with all the major payment processing companies.

WooCommerce

This is our number two pick because it is the favorite of WordPress-based websites. When you are a team of e-commerce website experts like us, you need to understand how to use the tools for WordPress sites. They are the most frequently used platform for bloggers and individuals to set up a business for the first time.

WooCommerce is open-sourced, which means it is free to use. You only spend money when an actual transaction occurs or if you want some of the extra features that individual developers create for add-ons.

Squarespace

Coming in third place, we have Squarespace. This is an excellent all-in-one solution for artists, authors, and people who want a more “drag and drop” situation for their online store. The reason this is in third for us is that you do not get quite the design variety of options in WordPress or the incredible SEO features of Shopify, but you do get a clean, easy-to-use system for your e-commerce venture.

BigCommerce

If you would like a more technical option, we suggest BigCommerce from our list of the best e-commerce platforms. This is a more customized version of Shopify with the capabilities of WordPress design, but it comes at a premium price, and it does require a little more technical know-how to really leverage.

Let Us Help You

Whatever platform looks right for you, let our e-commerce website experts be the ones to make it a reality. Our team at Griffon Webstudios has successfully launched e-commerce solutions for a variety of industries across a wide range of technological platforms. We can show you the best methods to ensure your audience gets the most out of each product listing and how to customize the experience for SEO purposes.

To get started with our team, visit our website. There you can find information on the different services we provide and some of the previous work Griffon Webstudios has completed in the past. So when you want an e-commerce site that will wow your customers, give us a try!

Emerging-ecommerce-trends-that-will-dominate-in-2020

Emerging eCommerce Trends that will Dominate in 2020

by Digital Marketing

eCommerce has exploded in popularity over the last few years as a growing market with exponential potential. As 2019 comes to a close, ushering in a new decade, we found it fitting to set our sights on the future of eCommerce and the trends that will catapult those to the top of their markets. Join us as we predict our 2020 visions.

Subscription model

Subscription models have dominated the eCommerce space. Offering customers, a grouping of products under an umbrella of interest, is not a new concept by any means. However, the use of the subscription model allowed sellers to capture an expanding base of users, from those intrigued by the upcoming delivery and those who forgot they were subscribed. We believe the trend will continue into 2020. 

While incorporating the ever-buzzy internet of things. For those unfamiliar, it is the interaction of electronics into neighboring ecosystems, such as a fridge able to place an online Walmart order. Thereby streamlining the purchasing process while offering consumers the convenience they so desperately crave. The internet of things represents a renewed opportunity to engage with customers on various platforms.

Experts project a significant metric of online sales that will occur on new hardware integration such as cars, appliances, and devices with voice integration. Bridging the intent to purchase with the product used to perform the purchase. Integrated marketplaces utilizing the vast capability of the internet of things.

E-commerce in 2020

eCommerce was popularized by offering products with a personalized touch. Customized products circumvent the competition by leveraging personal interest to increase the value of product rarity. We believe that this point to a future fueled by a personalized approach. 2020 will see an increase in targeted marketing. As more companies adopt a Business to Customer model or B2C, utilizing tracked data to identify purchase intent will become common practice.

Consumers will be directed towards products within their umbrella of interest at an increasing rate, further cementing eCommerce as the industry’s conversion rate champions. This personalized approach will also consolidate the shopping experience. Customers expect retailers to provide a unified transaction process across multiple disciplines. The marketplace will adjust to meet those expectations by integrating channels into a singular touchpoint. 

Customer demands will also be reflected in the representation of products. Today’s consumer is inundated by visual stimulation. Social media platforms reinforce this trend of communication through imagery. We noticed a trend over the past year as more buying power is afforded to millennials engaging in the workforce. A drastic increase in the reliance upon visual product representation continues into 2020 at an alarming rate. Causing eCommerce to adopt a visual-centric approach.

We believe renders and imagery will dictate product sales figures like never before. Positive image reinforcement is a cornerstone of eCommerce and shows no signs of stopping.

73% of consumers will switch from a poorly designed mobile site to one that makes purchasing easier. (Google)

eCommerce as a whole is on the rise making it the opportune time to enter the arena. We hope you put our prophetic visions of the future to good use. May they aid you in unlocking the immense potential that awaits your online store. For all of your eCommerce website development and online marketing needs, look no further. We bid you a very Happy New Year.

What’s-a-good-conversion-rate-and-how-can-it-be-achieved

What Is A Good Conversion Rate And How Can It Be Achieved?

by Digital Marketing

Your business goal is to bring profits and in order to do that, you need to track your customer engagement and conversion ratio. The question is what’s a good conversion rate and how can your business achieve that?

First, Let’s define what a conversion is. It is when you guide your website visitors or your in-store walk-ins (who are intended to just browse the products) into actual buying customers. Whether you do that in your e-commerce website or at your brick-and-mortar store, a high conversion rate signifies a better return on investment (ROI) for your business

What is a good conversion rate?

Research shows that defining a good conversion rate depends on the industry you are in. Google rates in the past have shown that the average in selected landing page conversion rates was less than 3 percent, however, the industries in the top 25 percent of online businesses were getting a conversion rate of more than 5 percent.

Do you want your company to appear in the top 1 percent of the e-commerce conversion rates? You then need to convert 12 percent of your website visitors into paid customers.

So, if you are seeing a conversion rate on your site at less than these or even if they are right on point, there are still ways to increase them and get an even better ROI.

Ways to Get a Higher Conversion Rate

1. Vary what you are offering the customers

Most of the time a company has a default template/offer that they use on their landing pages. It usually looks similar to what the other businesses in that niche are offering to their clients.

For instance, many places offer a free consultation or meeting to new clients or some sort of free gift. People start thinking this is the norm and may get bored and think all companies and therefore all their products are the same.

  1. So, how do you shake things up and offer something more creative to your visitors?
  2. What unique and more compelling thing could entice your potential clients to help you in increasing sales?

You need to determine what your company can give to a new customer that your competitors aren’t giving them. Something that will make them loyal to your company and choose to buy your products or services instead of those from the competition.

2. Use Remarketing Strategies

Studies have shown that more than 85 percent of website visitors don’t convert into buying customers. However, if you properly use remarking tactics and send these people relevant and targeted messages, they could end up part of your e-commerce gains.

161% Conversion Rate Rise From Google Remarketing Campaigns

You do this by creating pertinent information that shows up on other online sites, social media, via email, youtube videos, or search engines. You must convince your visitors that you have the means to solve their problem or meet their needs via the content you place where they are sure to see it and decide to buy from you.

3. Try out different types of landing pages

Another reason your visitors may not be converting into paying customers is that they probably don’t like your landing page. You can up your odds as well as your conversion rate by trying out different types of landing pages to see which one helps you to increase sales.

How obvious is your call to action? You may think your directions to visitors are simple but are you making it easy for them to answer that call to action?

For instance, if you are asking your visitors to give you a call, Is your phone number easily visible and placed at the right spot? If you are asking them to provide their email address, is your contact form simple to understand? It’s always the little things that make or break your conversion rate.

4. Ask website or store visitors what they want or need

Don’t try to guess the needs and desires of your potential customers. You should provide a means for your visitors and your paying customers to provide feedback.

70% of unhappy customers whose problems are resolved are willing to shop with a business again

For instance, if you have a Facebook page for your business, Are you answering questions posted there by your prospects and customers? The speed at which you interact with people can be a determining factor in the number of conversions you get.

5. Establish your business as a leader in your niche

It’s impossible to get a higher conversion rate if you aren’t even getting enough people to come to your store or visit your website. You must ensure that potential customers know that your store or website exists and they trust your company as an expert in your niche.

You can do this by creating a blog on your website or on social media providing insights and tips on how your products or services can meet the needs of your potential customers.

This makes your company show up in search engine results for all keywords related to your products/services. Make sure that the content you post is always relevant and up to date or you will end up doing the opposite and scare your potential customers to run away and not buy from your store.

6. Traditionary PR Methods

Don’t give up on traditional public relations strategies. Especially if you are trying to shoot up your sales in your physical store, you can still get a lot of bang for the buck from radio or TV commercials, holding a live event, mailing out coupons, or doing mobile shout outs.

The bottom line is that getting a higher conversion rate will help your e-commerce sales, as well as your physical sales, improve, and lead to a better ROI for your business.

How-to-Evaluate-the-Effectiveness-of-your-online-marketing-campaigns

How To Evaluate the Effectiveness Of Your Online Marketing Campaigns?

by Digital Marketing

Online marketing has become a great way to boost your brand awareness and sales, but how do you know if your marketing campaigns are actually working? Knowing how your online marketing campaign is crucial because it will let you know if you’re meeting your marketing goals and expectations (whatever they are).

With no real knowledge of how your online marketing campaigns are doing, you’re wasting time, money and effort. Before you even start your campaign, you’ll need to define a few variables to determine your metrics. This includes your objective, user context, target audience and the like.

Then based on these variables, you’ll be able to create specific call-to-action and associated assets that will yield trackable results. Here are some helpful ways on how to evaluate the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns:

1. Total Website Visits

One of the easiest ways to track your online marketing campaign’s effectiveness is with how many site visits you got during the time period of the campaign. This will give you a rough idea if the campaign is driving the traffic you expected to your site.

2. Website Traffic By Channels Or Sources

You should be using your online marketing campaign on all your social media channels and any other places you can drive traffic from, such as blogs, forums and the like. To do so, give each source and channel it’s own unique link so that you can track it to see where the most traffic clicks came from.

Using Google metrics like Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools can help you determine where the most traffic came from.

3. Your Site’s Bounce Rate

The bounce rate of your website is the number of users that visit your website and then leave without performing any action. A high bounce rate means that there are flaws in your online marketing tactics.

Either it’s poor campaign targeting, weak landing pages, irrelevant traffic sources and the like. But whatever it is, your bounce rate means there’s a problem in your marketing that needs to be fixed for your next campaign.

4. Online Sales

If your online marketing campaign revolves around a product on your site, the number of online sales will help you figure out if you met your goal or not.

Even if you have brick-and-motor store, you can also track the sales of a particular item you mentioned in your online marketing campaign or see if your sales for the time period increased due to the online marketing campaign you created around more foot traffic.