Atlantic Business Technologies, Inc.

Category: Web Design

  • Why You Need a Responsive Web Design Now

    If you’ve been doing your web design research, and we’re sure you have, you’ve heard this before. Responsive web design is very important for your business or organization. The question now is do you need to follow this advice or should you consider it only if you have the time and money?

    Before we get to the answer, let’s make sure we’re speaking the same language. Responsive web design adapts its appearance and functionality based on a user’s device. It will match a visitor’s screen size and operating system. In other words, someone using a laptop computer would use one version of your website. Another user on a phone sees an optimized layout developed for them.

    Now that we’re on the same page, let’s go back to the question at hand. Do you need a responsive, mobile-friendly website? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”. Let’s look at a few of the most important reasons why.

    Your Users and Customers are on Mobile Devices

    Many surveys and audits have confirmed one undeniable fact. More than half of all web traffic now originates from phones and tablets. That trend will only increase over the next few years. By 2020, two-thirds of your users will most likely be on smaller screens.

    In case this isn’t clear, the majority of your customers or visitors are on mobile devices. Without a responsive website, how can you reach them with a positive experience? You will risk having them take their time, attention, and money elsewhere.

    Mobile Functionality Affects Your Online Marketing

    Hey, guess who’s well aware of the trend towards mobile usage? Google. Shocked? We didn’t think so. As a result, they’ve programmed their search engine to adapt accordingly. Google now prioritizes websites that have full mobile functionality.

    Of course, anytime you find a reward, you’ll also find a punishment. Marketers with mobile-friendly websites are seeing a boost in their search traffic. But, those without responsive websites are losing ground in the search engine listings.

    You may not have any concerns about giving customers a great user experience. (Oh, come on, now, of course you do). But, it’s worth upgrading to a responsive web design for the online marketing benefits.

    It’s Better to Have One Website Than Two

    You could get around the problems of having a website that isn’t phone and tablet-friendly. How? By launching a second mobile version. In fact, that used to be a popular solution in our industry.

    We’ve learned a thing or two, though, and the best answer is clear. It’s easier (and cheaper) for companies to maintain a single website than two. Also, with a single site, you only have one set of backups, analytics, and security concerns to think about. There’s no need to create a brand-new website when you can add responsive coding to the one you already have.

    Getting a Responsive Website Won’t Kill Your Budget

    There’s a common misconception floating around about responsive design features. Some believe that adding them to your website means having to start from scratch. It’s true that many of our clients do decide to make other upgrades and improvements at the same time. But, that’s not required.

    You have a lot to gain from making your new website responsive. And, you won’t have to give up nearly as much as you think from your marketing budget. So, responsive web design is cheap, easy, helpful, and necessary to stay up to date with modern users. What are you waiting for?

    Want to Learn More About Responsive Web Design?

    If you want to know more about responsive web design, or have your web presence reviewed by a team of expert designers and programmers, contact Atlantic BT to schedule a free consultation today.

  • How Nature Can Inspire the Best Digital Design

    Nature has a lot to teach us about well-adapted and responsive web designs. The solutions produced by the natural world have survived every test they’ve faced. Millennia of evolutionary trial and error has bested the most powerful of forces. That would be nature itself. We can glean inspiration and education from the designs nature has developed. Biomimicry is the use of these natural designs in our own digital design work. It can make our designs more effective and beautiful. It also provides services that users intuitively connect to.

    Bio-What? Definitions and Origins of Biomimicry

    Biomimicry is a big word for a basic concept. It’s the application of nature’s forms, processes, and ecosystems to our design work. As a result, we can design elegant, natural solutions to problems we face every day.

    The idea of using nature as inspiration for design is not new. Leonardo da Vinci applied it to his Fibonacci Series and Golden Ratio. It revolutionized how innovators create aesthetically appealing designs through the mathematics of nature. Consider the art and design we’ve seen throughout the years. The spiraling shapes of nautilus shells, budding flowers, and more, have inspired design. It’s an integral part to our history.

    Leonardo da Vinci design anatomy
    This anatomy sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci shows a clear inspiration from nature. (Credit: JanakaMaharageDharmasena)

    Biomimicry in Modern Times

    In recent years, biomimicry has become more and more crucial to the design world. It’s continued to play a large role in the development of the next wave of sustainable solutions. This is being seen in nearly every field of design. In Japan, the Shinkansen Bullet Train took inspiration from a unique source. The train’s design mimicked the narrow profile of a kingfisher’s beak. This resulted in a quieter and more energy efficient train.

    The engineering firm Arup built an entire shopping center in Zimbabwe based on a…deep idea. The center emulates the natural convection ventilation system of termite mounds. The building has no conventional air-conditioning or heating. Yet, it stays regulated year-round. On top of that, it produces 90% less energy consumption than a conventional building its size.

    Speedo made a now famous design choice for their line of swimsuits for the 2008 Olympics. They incorporated biomimetic sharkskin into the suits. 98% of the medals won in swimming that year were by athletes wearing the sharkskin. Due to its insane efficiency, the Olympics banned it from the competition.

    So, what can we web designers draw from nature as inspiration for digital design? Here are my observations and ideas:

    The Innovation Engine of Organic Design

    Natural selection is an innovation engine, pushing the development of species. Advantageous traits give one organism an edge over the others. Natural selection is the reason nature is the master of innovation. It’s trial and error on a massive scale. The internet has its own evolutionary system. Trends rise and die out, leaving only the strongest. It’s a tough world out there, to say the least. Take Reddit for example. It’s not winning any beauty awards. But, Reddit thrives because it’s an incredible source of knowledge. It covers almost every field imaginable. Like the Blob Fish (yes, it’s really called that) Reddit is ugly because it doesn’t need a pretty digital design to survive.

    screenshot Apple iPhone webpage
    Apple has long understood how effective the right shape can be in design.

    On the other hand, animals have also developed a sense of beauty. Consider the beautiful plumes of birds or the large antlers of stags. Even some insects have striking colors. These are all examples of traits that have evolved to attract attention. Apple employs this technique very well, with exceptional image-driven design. They curate beautiful photography with care and choose purposeful color palettes. This all comes together to draw attention to sparse yet crucial content.

    Sensing, Responding, and the Power of Shape

    Many creatures have innate abilities to sense and respond to their environment. Locusts have the ability to see many more images per second than humans. To us, it would be like watching everything happen in slow motion. In the digital design space, this is like algorithms that sense user behavior. Or interfaces that adjust to meet their needs. Like a crab leaving trails in the sand, users leave behind tracks. We can use this pathway to determine their behavior on a given interface. Then, we can design to meet their specific needs.

    digital spore surface for code report
    Organic code-generated art in web design created this biomimicry example.
    (Design: musHo, Art: Daniel White)

    The shapes of objects in your digital design can send messages to the user that they may not even be aware of. Organic shapes, representative or inspired by things found in nature, are more free flowing and less symmetrical. These types of shapes add innate harmony and visual interest to a digital design. A spiral, for example, is often found in nature. Think of snail shells and hurricanes. This shape continues to represent growth, life, and transformation.

    Fertile Ground for New Digital Design Ideas

    Like nature, digital design must take into account both functionality and beauty. Atlantic BT has given me the opportunity to find the balance between aesthetically pleasing and functional design to produce the best possible result. In my work, slowing down like a locust flying through a swarm of data, and observing patterns of behavior is key to designing for the needs of the user. Adding elements of nature to design interfaces, even in abstracted forms can inform the way a user feels and even interacts with a system.

    How Nature Inspires Me

    If the sky was the limit (pun intended)… I would design like a tree. When the conditions are right, life flourishes; as does design. Like a tree putting down solid roots in the soil, I put a heavy emphasis on the beginning of every project. The firm foundation of brainstorming and early concepts allows my digital design process to move and grow. Trees may seem immovable and rigid at first glance, but on the contrary, they are quite dynamic. When you look closer you will see that trees are constantly adjusting to their environment. They adjust how much water and nutrients to absorb, where to spend their energy and even pivot towards the sun to get the right amount of light. That is how I approach my projects; flexible yet sturdy, efficient yet thorough, functional yet beautiful.

    Side of a large tree
    The ecosystem of a tree gives me all kinds of ideas that I’d love to incorporate in my design work.

    Humans have the distinct advantage of being able to learn from nature’s masterful application of design. Nature has essentially done all the hard work for us. It has had all the time in the world (literally) to make the most effective and beautiful design solutions. So take a look around, no really, look around you! Great ideas await you outside of your computer screen.

  • Is It the Right Time for a New Mobile-First Marketing Strategy?

    A few years ago, we were able to see which way the wind was blowing. Mobile use was on the rise. In response, we started advising our web design clients to take notice. Mobile/web compatibility needed to be a priority. It wasn’t a tough recommendation to understand. Website visits from phones and tablets have surpassed visits from desktops since 2014.

    But, having a mobile-friendly website isn’t enough. Now is the time to start thinking about a mobile-first strategy for your online marketing.

    Why should you use this marketing philosophy? And how? Let’s look at what you need to know.

    Why Mobile-First Makes Sense

    Mobile devices are now the primary means of connection to the internet for most of us. The majority of us, including your customers, prefer to use an iPad or Galaxy. Even if we have a laptop ready at hand, we often don’t choose it.

    The numbers bear this out. Smartphones are flying off the shelves. Studies show that 57% of all searches originate from a smart device. It’s likely we’ll reach a point where mobile queries make up two-thirds of Google’s search traffic in a few years.

    This leads to an interesting conclusion: mobile visits to your website are the norm. It isn’t that some of your customers are coming to you on a small screen, it’s that most of them are. Why not prioritize that traffic if it makes up the majority?

    When Campbell University partnered with Atlantic BT for a website overhaul, modernization was a priority.  Mobile traffic to Campbell.edu was skyrocketing, with an increase of 1277% since 2011. You read that right. 1277%. ABT designed Campbell’s new site to accommodate this influx. The result was a significant upgrade for the Campbell site and brand.

    What Does Mobile-First Web Development Look Like?

    Embracing a mobile-first mindset doesn’t mean turning your internet strategy upside down. It simply means you assume a potential customer will be visiting your pages from a phone or tablet. As a result, you should structure your content appropriately.

    Here are a few details that make your website more usable to mobile visitors:

    • You can improve your web hosting so your pages load quickly
    • Optimize items with smaller images and content blocks for speed
    • Design a responsive website layout that will adapt itself to the size of the display screen it’s on.
    • Use radio buttons and drop-down menus instead of long forms and text boxes
    • Deploy calls to action that are easy to engage with from a screen that a user will tap
    • Make your navigation as simple and intuitive as possible. Then a user doesn’t have to dig through a lot of content to find what they’re looking for.

    These tips are not all you can do, of course, but they can help you get started. A good business web development partner can help institute the upgrades you need. Best of all, going mobile-first won’t affect your ability to attract desktop buyers.

    Mobile-first web design is all about getting more from your online presence. Now might be the perfect time to put it to work for your company.  

    Need help from a web development team that can handle both small and large projects? Contact the creative team at Atlantic BT to schedule a free consultation today!

  • Do Online Visitors Like You? Really, Really Like You?

    Do Online Visitors Like Using Your Website?

    Usability is a big topic in web design, but it often feels like an abstract concept to business owners. They want their sites to be more usable and engaging, but what does that really mean? And what are online visitors looking for?

    When your website is as usable as possible, customers stay longer and interact with your content more. It’s not hard to understand why. Think of all the things in your life that you have chosen – like appliances, apps, or automobiles – because you like using them. There are many other products you could have purchased that would do the same things, but you chose the ones you did (at least partially) because you liked their usability.

    More usability means increased marketing power and higher revenue. But how do you make customers love your website?

    Make Your Website Faster

    You may not realize it, but there are several things you can do to speed up your website and have it load more quickly for visitors. You can:

    • Upgrade your web hosting for a few dollars a month
    • Take away over-sized images
    • Remove unnecessary plug-ins.

    These might not seem like major improvements to your website, but they all give customers a better user experience. No one likes waiting for a website to load, so don’t frustrate them with slow pages.

    Maximize the Readability of Your Content

    The readability of your website has two distinct parts. The first is the organization of your writing. Small paragraphs are easier to scan and organize than long blocks of unbroken text. They feel less overwhelming to visitors who may skim before reading your messages from beginning to end. The second component has to do with word choice. For maximum readability, avoid using unnecessarily large words or jargon that might not be familiar to your readers.

    Engage With Visitors

    Your customers might not be concerned with the same topics or details as you. As a rule of thumb, it’s better to cater to their interests over your own. In other words, know that you have a marketing message that needs to get across, but layer them in with content that’s focused on the subjects your readers and customers want to know about.

    Make Your Site Easy to Scan and Navigate

    You might not obsess over the navigation and search features within your website, but they can be a source of frustration for your visitors. If it’s easy for them to find exactly what they’re looking for, they’re likely to hang around your site. Conversely, if someone who isn’t a loyal customer can’t find what they want on your website, they may leave quickly and visit a competitor.

    Atlantic BT faced this issue when working with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. We all know that taxes are often complicated. A website that is difficult to navigate doesn’t help anyone during tax season. ABT  reorganized and modernized the DOR site, adding user-friendly access to essential pages. We also made sure that the site was mobile friendly for taxpayers on the go. The DOR re-design focused heavily on the user. Since then, the site has seen increased traffic and usage.

    Ready to Boost Your Online Marketing Results?

    At Atlantic BT, we are experts in web development for companies and institutions of all sizes. If you want to put these ideas in action – and get some customized recommendations for your organization – contact us today to schedule a free consultation!

  • How ABT Empowered Campbell.edu to Lead with Purpose

    How Can a Hidden Gem Become a Preeminent Private University?

    130 years after opening, Campbell University was an established presence in NC’s higher education landscape. The Baptist-affiliated private college had graduated generations of state leaders in business, medicine, and law. However, only 19% of American adults had even heard of Campbell University—and several of these incorrectly assumed the college was connected with the soup brand. If the university was going to attract elite students on a national scale, something needed to change. Campbell began this process by hiring a new president, J. Bradley Creed.

    [pull_quote]I have heard others describe Campbell as a hidden gem and the best kept-secret in North Carolina. They meant that as a compliment, but I want people all across North Carolina, the region, and the nation to know the Campbell name and to recognize Campbell as one of the preeminent private universities that prepares students to make a difference in the lives of others through work, service, and leadership. –J. Bradley Creed, President-Campbell University[/pull_quote]

    Because 97% of prospective students begin their college search by visiting that university’s website, Campbell needed its website to excite and engage students with a meaningful experience that captured the “feel” of Campbell’s campus and student life. It was also vital for the site to be easy to navigate across Campbell’s different programs as well as optimized for mobile users (mobile traffic to Campbell.edu had increased 1277% since 2011). This inspired the president’s new initiative: a major rebranding and new design for Campbell.edu to expand the university’s reputation across the country. The university chose Atlantic BT as their digital partner to handle the rebrand and site design. 

    [pull_quote]When we started our conversation with Campbell, what really helped ABT stand out was our proven process for tackling this kind of large scale initiative with multiple stakeholders. Our experience around user research was especially compelling. They had multiple stakeholders across their vast program offerings and alumni, and we wanted all of them to feel represented by the new site and brand. To make that happen, we designed digital surveys, brand workshops, interviews, and test groups to get a 360 view of Campbell’s identity. This in-depth research guided all of our design and brand work. –Eric Lloyd, Senior Business Development Manager -Atlantic BT[/pull_quote]

    Designing and Developing Campbell’s New Digital Ecosystem

    The scope of ABT’s redesign required a new navigation, search capabilities, and reimagined user experience (for both desktop and mobile). Our aim was to give Campbell.edu a new digital ecosystem that would help Campbell compete with leading universities. Key to this objective was the development of a strong content strategy—analyzing which pages, images, and videos would do the most to engage Campbell’s audience and organizing these assets accordingly. 

    [pull_quote]It all started with discovery. To create a content strategy for the new site, we worked with Campbell to identify and audit over 8,000+ unique web pages and construct a site architecture that satisfied the needs of the individual schools and their users. We put a lot of effort into streamlining the content, simplifying the navigation, and creating an experience that is logical and intuitive. –Tyler Slocum, Digital Marketing Strategist -Atlantic BT[/pull_quote]

    Throughout this process, it was essential for ABT to have a deep understanding of Campbell’s needs and regular communication with their stakeholders. Campbell’s internal marketing team visited the ABT office at least once a week throughout the project; we also used our Mavenlink project management tool to regularly share research results, user test findings, site mock ups, and other work-in-progress elements of the new Campbell.edu. 

    [pull_quote]Good communication and collaboration is the bread-and-butter of any large project, especially one as massive as the Campbell brand and site redesign. Our in-house work sessions with the Campbell marketing and communications team combined with the digital immediacy of Mavenlink did a lot to keep us on the same page. Thanks to our collaborative process, we completed the redesign and launch of the new Campbell.edu in less than eight months. –Townsley Minton, Director of Client Success -Atlantic BT[/pull_quote]

    Modernizing the Brand for an Established University

    Beyond the redesign of Campbell.edu, the university wanted to give its community a unified brand vision with a statement and symbol that would represent the essence of Campbell. ABT met this challenge with a variety of research methods mixed with a testing-driven creative approach. 

    [pull_quote]For branding research, it is really important to be both quantitative and qualitative. For example, we designed several surveys measuring how many people across the state, region, and country had heard of Campbell University; among those who knew of the university, I measured what words they commonly associated with the school. This helped us understand existing perceptions of Campbell so we knew which qualities to emphasize and which needed adjusting at a brand level. –Natalie Iannello, Lead Digital Marketer -AtlanticBT [/pull_quote]

    The ABT marketing team worked with these research insights along with a series of interviews and collaborative sessions with the Campbell team to craft new messaging and a new icon for the university. Because the Campbell team wanted to balance their Christian identity with the desire to recruit elite students of all faith backgrounds, they needed a brand that would resonate with both kinds of audience. 

    [pull_quote]From our research into higher ed, we saw ‘leadership’ and ‘future leaders’ as familiar terms to describe the kinds of driven, elite students Campbell wanted to recruit. That said, integrating Campbell’s Christian element with respect and the right amount of distance was harder—we wanted to imply the service and selflessness of faith without alienating people who weren’t religious. Ultimately, we tried out different terms with Campbell stakeholders and landed on the word “purpose.” Purpose described the reason why people of faith lived as they did, but purpose wasn’t confined to religious people. Because this word resonated with both audiences without alienating them, it led to the tagline ‘Leading with Purpose.’ –Lorelei Canne, Content Editor -AtlanticBT[/pull_quote]

    On the visual side, the Campbell team requested a new icon with a more recognizable connection to the university. Their team wanted the new unified mark to better capture people’s attention with a symbol that was unique to Campbell and representative of their school’s history and tradition of academic excellence. 

    [pull_quote]We went through a lot of iterations with the Campbell team to help them develop the right icon. They needed a visual idea that would work for the goals of the Campbell marketing team and Campbell’s graduates, students, and community. After a lot of interviews and surveys, we landed on Campbell’s Kivett Hall as a landmark that really captured the university’s identity and history. After all, it’s the oldest building on their campus, and everyone at Campbell recognized it. Next, we helped their team produce and test out several different designs to find the icon that they ultimately landed on, which was modern and fresh-looking while being recognizable to the community. –Mark Riggan, Senior Full Stack Designer -AtlanticBT[/pull_quote]

    The New Icon – Kivett Hall

    KivettIcon1

    Partnering for the Future of Campbell

    Now that the new Campbell.edu and brand have launched, ABT and Campbell University will continue their partnership on Campbell’s digital properties. ABT’s team is currently at work auditing and providing insight for the university’s updates to its sites for the law school, divinity school, and adult & online education programs.

    In the meantime, check out the new Campbell.edu and read their introduction to the new brand and site design—let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

  • 5 Easy Ways to Create a Unique eCommerce Experience

    What do you expect at a standard brick and mortar store? Imagine it. You approach the building and see the logo clearly displayed. You can see the store hours and contact information on the door. An associate opens the door for you and greets you by name. Then, maybe he or she tells you promotions based on what you bought here before. You browse by going to clearly marked sections of the store. You can pick the products up and see the pieces at every angle. If you need to make a decision, you can pick both up and compare and contrast. If you need any help finding what you need, it’s easy to ask workers how to find it and what product will be best for you. Eventually you go up to the register, maybe take out a rewards program card, buy the product, and leave happy.

    There’s no reason someone can’t have that experience in your eCommerce platform. In the words of Bob Willet, former President of Best Buy International and CIO of Best Buy,

    “The sooner we drop the ‘e’ out of ‘eCommerce’ and just call it commerce, the better.”

    The customer service and customer experience you provide, whether in the digital or ‘in real life’ sphere, should follow the same standards. In fact, it should be better. According to Accenture’s 2014 Holiday Survey, 58% of customers expect a personalized experience when they shop online and 77% of customers expect consistent experiences across all channels. That means whether they’re using a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop, people are expecting the same experience. How can you provide that? Simple—use what tools your platform already gives you. Major eCommerce platforms like Magento come with a variety of custom features to create the kind of experiences people want from a brick and mortar, and much more. Here are 5 simple ways to use eCommerce tools to create that experience.

    1. Use Pre-Built Responsive Themes as Reference

    To have any chance at a good customer experience at all, an eCommerce site has to be usable on mobile devices. People should be able to easily buy your product whether they’re on a desktop, tablet or a smartphone. It should be as easy to buy products on a phone as it is to send a snarky tweet.

    Luckily, major eCommerce platforms usually have a variety of responsive themes and tools for you to use. For example, Magento offers a lot of different options in Magento Connect. Don’t lose what makes your website responsive, but feel free to adjust themes and plugins as you need to make your store uniquely you. The same Accentuate Holiday Survey found Smartphone users interact with their phones 150 times a day—that’s every 6 minutes. If one of those 150 times a customer finds you, they should be able to buy from you immediately. If they have to remind themselves to try your website again on a desktop, you’re going to be forgotten. Don’t let that happen: use the resources Magento and other platforms provide to create an experience customers don’t want to put down.

    2. Add 1-Click Ordering to Your Online Store

    In September, Amazon’s 20-year patent on 1-click ordering expired. This simple UX feature gave Amazon a significant edge by streamlining the checkout process for its repeat customers.

    While we could argue about whether or not this legal advantage should have been granted in the first place, it is more important today that your eCommerce store embrace 1-click functionality. Besides being a major improvement to your site’s user experience, 1-click ordering makes it easier and faster for your loyal customers to purchase from you. Bottom line: this means more sales.

    3. Enable Account Creation and Integrate More Payment Methods

    Beyond being responsive, one of the best things you can do is allow the creation of custom accounts. This makes it easier on you and your customers. With the information you get from account creation, you can add customers to your mailing list, setup reward programs, and even integrate suggestive selling. On the customer side, checking out becomes even easier with saved information and a customizable checkout flow. In addition, no matter where your customers are and what language they speak, they can buy from you.

    In addition, don’t forget to let people pay with their preferred method of payment. Major eCommerce platforms like Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce have the power not only to accept traditional debit and credit cards but also payment services like PayPal, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay. Just make sure your platform is PA-DSS validated and PCI compliant to legally accept electronic payments. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2015 report on Consumers and Mobile financial services, here is how people paid on mobile last year:

    Most Commonly Reported Mobile Payments Services in 2015

    Paypal 43%
    Starbucks 11%
    Google Wallet 9%
    Apple Pay 5%

    The same report found that 39% percent of all mobile payments made a point-of-sale payment using their phone. By accepting more payments, you’re allowing more customers to pay in the method they want from whatever device they want to shop on.

    4. Use Social Media Tools

    With few exceptions, our lives are ruled by social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, Instagram, and more platforms every day. These social platforms determine what stories we see and what things we want to buy.

    Whether you’re solely an eCommerce business or have a storefront in addition to brick-and-mortar stores, you need to have a social media campaign. It’s just good business. According to the Business Insider, “Facebook accounts for 50% of total social referrals and 64% of total social revenue.” In addition, despite having a user base 6.5x smaller than Twitter, Pinterest drives 16% of traffic to eCommerce sites. There are many tools and add-ons you can use to connect to social media accounts and manage posting. Make sure to integrate those tools to drive more engagement with your site.

    5. Have Great Content

    It’s easy to forget about content, but beyond images, design, and payment, people need to like what they’re reading. Your style and tone is essential to your brand and engaging your customer base. When you think about the content in your platform, remember the three S’s via Magento U:

    • Searchable— Make sure if a customer is searching for a product, they will find yours. That means the title and description of the product should be relevant to what people are searching for.
    • Snackable— This term refers to users multitasking and finding small pieces of content and consuming it while they do other things. Whether these content pieces are ads, tweets or facebook posts from your company, you need to have content that can be consumed in small amounts in order to draw in new customers.
    • Shareable— The more people who share your content on social media the better. People sharing actually improves your Google search rank (not to mention having more people find you is a good thing). This in mind, be sure to make your content worth sharing.

    For extra credit, the content that most people want to see is video content. According to Ooyala’s recent report, more people are watching video content than ever. In fact, using only the data from the video Ooyala hosts, mobile video “made up of 48% of all video views in the quarter, up 14% from a year ago and up 129% from 2014”. Video is a rapidly growing source of content which can only get you more eyes on your site.  

    Whether you use compelling videos, keyword rich blog posts, or stunning images, great content will bring more eyes and more sales.

    If you do these things for your eCommerce platform, you can create a customer experience beyond what they can get at a brick and mortar. These are only some of the things you can do with eCommerce. For more help in creating great experiences for your store, contact us to get started.