How do I get investment for my App?

admin - July 26, 2019July 29, 2022

Smartphones are intertwined with almost every aspect of modern life.

When you leave the house, your next steps often involve an app of some kind, whether it be Messenger, Uber, Spotify, Maps or being super old school and making a phone call to another human being.

Apps are a way of life. They are here to stay and everyone takes them for granted. It wasn’t always this way and when they first showed up there was some scepticism when installing an app from an unknown source.

This has changed drastically, to the point that we will often install an app after hearing the name once or simply just searching a phrase in the app store.

According to research on average smartphone use, written way back in 2017, the “average smartphone user has more than 80 apps on their phone and uses close to 40 of them each month” and will spend over three hours a day in those apps.

It feels like every week there’s another huge app on the market and a business that’s worth a fortune. It’s clear that there are loads of people out there who think they have an idea that could really take off and be the next big thing.

Do you have an idea for an app?

Is your app idea original and can fill a gap in the market? If you do, that is a huge first step. A lot of businesses or individuals will have ideas, only to find that their concept is already out there and would be incredibly difficult to dislodge.

App development is a time-consuming and expensive process, however, if it’s done right, can be the start of a massively successful and profitable journey.

The most valuable part of any app is the idea, but if you’re looking to get started and don’t have the funds upfront, what options do you have?

Here’s what the team at Digital8 recommend to bring your vision to life:

Do your research and see if your app idea is truly unique. If not, how can you refine it to be more relevant or benefit your target audience?
Establish a business plan. How will the app work, how will you monetize it, how and where should the marketing take place?
Talk to a digital expert or company (someone like us) to see what the development cost/timeline looks like. Be sure to sign an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) prior to holding these discussions.
If you are going to seek external investment, it’s important to have a solid business plan. It’s equally as important to have a tangible product to demonstrate in person. This can be done by getting a UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) Designer to create a mockup version (a clickable series of images that will look and feel like an app, without the code). A design can be created for a fraction of the total cost of an app and will demonstrate that your idea has had some serious thought put into it.
If your idea isn’t quite complete and you need some suggestions or critical thinking, we can offer strategy workshops to brainstorm the ins and outs of the app process. These are billable sessions, however, it may help to save thousands by refining the direction of your app!

Where can you seek investment for a new app?

There are a few options when seeking a cash injection, however, most individuals or businesses will expect to see some examples of clients or revenue, which may not even be possible at the start.

If you have an idea that can benefit a specific community or group, there are Government Grants that you may qualify for. For more about Grants, read our guide here.
Approach businesses or organisations that may use the app. If they see the benefit, they may offer some form of investment in return for equity or profit share
List your project on an investment platform (e.g. AngelList). It’s helpful to have expected costs prepared to be fully transparent about your idea.

Need more help with app development? Contact our app development strategists today and we can point you in the right direction.

What is SEO? A Beginner Guide to Search Engine Optimisation for 2019

admin - July 8, 2019July 12, 2023

What is SEO?

SEO drives two things: rankings and visibility.

Ranking is the process search engines use to determine where to place a website in search engine result pages (SERPs). SEO helps to ensure that you are ranking competitively and your website appears higher in SERPs. This will drive more visitors to your website.

Visibility is how prominent your website is in search results. High visibility means your website is leading in SERPs whereas low visibility means your website is not showing for many relevant search queries. SEO expands a website’s visibility in organic search results.

SEO will take time. You will be taking data from your various online channels and deciding what content to produce. Marketers do so much to drive traffic to their website through social media posting, inbound marketing campaigns and ads, but SEO is different.

Creating the right content that is optimised for your users’ purpose helps you ensure a steady stream of traffic to your business. Following SEO best practices will help your website eventually sustain itself and therefore give you more time to focus on content creation.

The best SEO results come from managing and updating your content on a regular basis. This can be achieved by undertaking the following SEO activities.

Keyword Research

The keyword research process will guide your entire marketing strategy. Keyword research involves researching specific topics your audience is interested in and identifying search terms they use when looking for information and services relevant to your business. This is an ongoing process and you will need to be able to adapt to changing consumer needs.

SEO is about bringing the right people to your website. It is not about bringing any random to your website. However, attracting the right people is only possible if your content ranks for the keywords they are using when searching. Otherwise, there is no way for them to find you amongst the clutter. This is why SEO starts with keyword research and discovering what phrases potential customers are entering into their search bars.

The keyword research process involves identifying terms and topics relevant to your business and then converting them into initial keywords. Then you conduct extensive research into these initial keywords to discover the related terms that your audience would use. Think about the problems that your product or service solves, and what search terms will potential customers use to find your solution. These terms will often begin with question words, active verbs or modifying words such as “how to,” “why is my” and “best way to.” You will need to use a keyword research tool or the most accurate and extensive results.

Competitor Analysis

Keyword competition is the level of difficulty involved in ranking for a particular keyword. It gives you an idea of how many pages you need to beat to rank higher in SERPs. You must take into account your entire competitive landscape as well as regular keyword research and competitor keyword analysis is a key aspect in the early stages of SEO.

Competitor analysis shows which strategies are working in your industry and what you need to do to improve your keyword ranking. Understanding who your competitors are and seeing where they stand can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of what your goals should be. Knowing where your competitors are strongest and weakest can help you determine how hard it will be to rank above them and the resources that it will take to do so.

Once you have identified your keywords, search for them on Google and find out which pages are ranking highest. Repeat this process for all your main keywords. You might notice that a few particular websites show up in most of your searches. These should be added to your list of competitors.

Find out what keywords these websites are targeting by using a competitor analysis tool. Analyse their websites and look for keyword density, metadata and backlinks. Look over their content and social media marketing strategies and analyse the usefulness of information, factual correctness, expertise and credibility of information. Evaluate their content according to Google’s EAT (expertise, authority, trust) guidelines.

SEO-Optimised Landing Pages

A landing page is a page on your website that focuses on information targeted towards a particular user and is optimised to encourage one of these actions:

Get a visitor to click (to go to another page)
Get a visitor to buy
Get a visitor to give permission for you to follow up
Get a visitor to tell a friend
Get a visitor to learn something which could include posting a comment or giving you feedback

SEO-optimised landing pages are those optimised for search engines with features that make it appealing to algorithms. The primary goal of an SEO-optimised landing page is to rank.

The key aim of an SEO-optimised landing page is to improve the user experience when visiting your site, especially for the first time. Simply directing people to a home page can leave them confused and unclear as to the actions they need to take in order to find the exact information they need. Landing pages that are optimised according to SEO best practices will drive more people who need your services directly to the information that they need.

When building or optimising your landing pages, consider the following SEO best practices as your template:

Publish as a custom URL
Choose your keywords
Include keywords strategically in your title tag, meta description, header tags, image file names and content
Do not worry about the length of your page
Secure backlinks
Leave your seasonal landing page online
Speed up your page
Make your content shareable

Content Optimisation

Optimising your content includes strategically placing keywords in text, using optimised headings and subheadings and placing internal links to maximise engagement. This ensures users who land on your page do not bounce and therefore have a higher chance at converting.

Even though an algorithm dictates the order of websites on Google’s SERPs, you must remember that Google designed their algorithm to reward websites that create the best content and not websites who are best at working the system. Google’s search algorithm ranks your content based off engagement measures such as total traffic, organic traffic, direct traffic, time on site, bounce rate, SERP CTR, brand mentions on authoritative websites and return visits.

First, you must create high-quality and relevant content that will attract and engage a loyal audience. Then, you start optimising this content for search engines.

The main task is to ensure that Google understands which keywords you want your page to rank. To achieve this, make sure you include at least the main keyword in the following sections:

Post Title: include it as close to the start of the title as you can
URL: only really include the keyword and remove stop words
H1 Tag: default setting includes this so make sure your platform has this setting.
First 100 Words of Content: reassures Google of the topic
Meta-Title and Meta-Description Tags: search engines use these to display their listings and understand the topic
Image File Names and Alt Tags: include keyword in the file name of at least one image because Google only sees file names

On-Page Optimisation: Metadata Management and Technical SEO Audit

On-page optimisation, also called on-page SEO, ensures search engines understand a page’s topic and keywords and match it to relevant search queries. On-page optimisation is the process of optimising various front-end and back-end components of your website so it ranks in search engines and brings in new traffic. These components include content elements, site architecture elements and HTML elements.

On-page optimisation is an important part of SEO because it tells Google about your website and how you provide value to potential visitors. This process optimises your content for both human eyes and search engine bots. It is important that you understand and apply on-page optimisation correctly.

The elements of on-page optimisation include high-quality content, page titles, headers, meta-descriptions, image alt-text, structured mark-up, page URLs, internal linking, mobile responsiveness and site speed. Take some time to understand the purpose of each of these elements and how to optimise them on your website.

The following factors also help confirm your page’s credibility and authority:

External Links: links to other content
Internal Links: links to your own content
Content Length: longer content usually ranks better
Multimedia: keeps readers on the page longer

Two ways to ensure on-page optimisation are by managing your metadata and auditing your technical SEO.

Metadata Management

Metadata is what describes each page on your website so that search engines can evaluate the relevance of your content and determine whether your page will be visible in SERPs. Essentially, it is a set of data that describes other data. It is information that we insert to describe our content. This includes tags at the end of your article, keywords, page titles and description tags.

Search engines are good at finding pages that mention particular keywords, but they do not necessarily know how relevant that text is to the topic of the page. They can find all the pages that mention the word “accounting,” but only the metadata that we include can determine whether the page is specifically relevant to accountants. Metadata is also particularly useful for describing non-searchable content such as images and videos.

However, simply including more metadata does not make the information more useful. Metadata management does that.

Here are some ways you can manage the performance of your metadata:

Check all your content has title tags and meta descriptions
Focus on your headings and content structure
Include alt text in your images
Use robot meta tags to guide search engines on how they should access your content
Search for duplicate pages and use canonical tags to avoid duplicate and similar content on your pages
Create a checklist for what you need to do when you create new content and make meta tags part of your routine

Technical SEO Audit

Technical SEO is the key ranking factors embedded in the structure of your website.

To understand how technical SEO affects the overall performance of your website, it is important to conduct a technical SEO audit. A technical SEO audit is the process of analysing and tracking key website performance metrics that impact on all areas of your website. The goal is to identify areas in your website’s structure that are negatively affecting its performance.

To audit your technical SEO, the main areas of your website to check on are:

Website navigation and links
Simple URL structure
Page speed
Dead links or broken redirects
Sitemaps and robots.txt files
Duplicate content

Make sure these areas are working and there are no errors.

Backlink Building

Backlinks are references to your content on other websites. Whenever another website mentions you and points their readers to your content, you gain a backlink to your website. Websites with many quality backlinks are generally favoured by Google because it assumes someone would reference a popular or high-quality website over a mediocre one.

There are many advantages to backlinking, including:

Building Brand Authority: the more your brand is visible on other reputable websites, the more your audience will see you as a trusted member within the community.
Driving Steady Referral Traffic: referral is often a large percentage of how customers find your website as not all traffic comes from social media or Google.
Long-Term Advantages: high-quality backlinks can drive traffic to your website for years which means there is potential to create long-lasting traffic streams.
Creating New Relationships: when someone reads an interesting post and sees a link to your content, there is a good chance they will click through and want to read more. This can lead to valuable actions such as liking a LinkedIn page or contacting you.
Brand Name Exposure and Awareness: the more times your customer is exposed to your brand in an associated website, the more likely they are to create strong brand recognition.

Backlink building can be a challenging activity and requires creativity, strategic thinking and patience. You will need to come up with a link building strategy and here are some strategy examples:

Editorial, Organic Links: websites that reference your content on their own
Outreach: contact other websites for links
Guest Posting: blog articles that you post on third-party websites and those companies allowing one or two links to your site in the content
Profile Links: when setting up an online profile you can list your website
Competitive Analysis: analyse competitor’s backlinks to identify ones they could recreate for their sites too

The primary way to earn high-quality links is by networking with other websites that have a higher authority score and asking them to link to your content. Make sure that content is highly relevant to the other website’s content.

Local SEO

If you run a local business, Google allows you to position your website in front of potential customers in your area. For this, you would implement local SEO.

Local search results look different to general search results. They appear only for searches with local intent (e.g. “restaurant near me” or when a person has clearly included a location). They contain results specific to a location and concentrate on delivering specific information to users so that they do not need to go elsewhere. With the rise of local searches containing the phrase “near me,” it is only fair that Google will try to present the closest businesses first.

Google assesses authority in local searches not just by backlinks, but by any reviews and citations. It is important to have ways that customers can generate reviews of your business as well as working with other websites to attain credible citations and recommendations.

Keywords are also an essential component of local SEO. However, one additional element is the presence of a company’s name, address and phone number on your website. Without this information, Google will have trouble identifying the location of your business.

Google My Business is a way for business owners to have more control over what shows search results. Google My Business gives you the tools to update your Business Profile and engage with your customers for free. Your Business Profile appears right when people are searching for your business or businesses like yours on Google Search or Maps. The information you include in your Business Profile plays a huge part in your rankings.

Conversion Tracking

A conversion happens when a visitor to your website takes an action you care about such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, filling out a form or downloading an app. They are “converting” to a customer. The actions that you care about will be customised according to your business goals and client needs. This means you need to actively communicate with your customers.

Conversion tracking is a powerful tool that lets you see how well your online platforms are doing. Even if your organic traffic is good, if those visitors do not convert to customers then this traffic is not useful for you. It is a long-term planning activity that will involve trial and error because you cannot always predict your conversation success. The data recorded by conversion tracking will allow you to identify which areas of your campaign are working and not working so you can optimise your keywords and other SEO content accordingly.

One of the most effective ways to track your conversions is through Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a comprehensive online tool that can help you personalise your tracking, build your tracking URL, use your tracking URL and define your goals. After you have identified what customer actions you want to track as a conversion, it takes just a handful of steps to get your conversion tracking up and running.

Summary

SEO will take time. Creating the right content and effectively using SEO best practices will take time. However, creating content that is highly optimised will lead to higher ranking in search engine results and a higher conversion rate for your business. By undertaking the SEO activities above and taking time to ensure you manage and update your content on a regular basis will help you achieve your maximum SEO potential.

What CMS Is Best For Your Business? Selecting From The Most Popular Options

admin - July 3, 2019July 17, 2023

When researching how to develop a website, the term “CMS” appears everywhere. However, most people we talk to don’t even know what a CMS is, much less which one to choose.

Do not despair my friend, we’ll help you along. This article will explain exactly what a CMS is, what different types of CMS there are, and which ones you might want to consider.

What is a CMS?

A CMS – which is an abbreviation for Content Management System – is an application used for the creation and alteration of digital content. In order to simplify this, a distinction between two different content management systems is made:

Web Content Management Systems (WCM) and,
Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECM)

Web Content Management Systems are used to manage the creation, alteration and publishing of content on the web.

On the other hand, Enterprise Content Management Systems manage the storing, preserving and delivery of content and documents that contribute to organisational processes.

The primary benefit of a CMS is the simplification of content management for users without an IT background so that the creation of web content or the management of digital documentation can be done without the help of an IT staff member, which saves time and increases productivity.

Both WCMs and ECMs come with different benefits for your organisation. Where WCM will aid in the improvement of your website’s performance, the implementation of ECM helps in maintaining agile workflows within your organisation.

These examples form only a small sample of the benefits that these systems can bring to your organisation. So how would you go about choosing a CMS that is suitable for your company?

There is a multitude of different options when it comes to content management systems, whether it’s an open source CMS, a platform as a service or a website builder. It’s hard to make a decision without having properly examined the different offers available.

So, what are the best CMS options?

Let’s start with Web Content Management Systems

A WCM allows users of a non-IT background to manage the content of a website in an approachable manner. By separating content and layout, the alteration, maintenance and updating of the website is simplified – making it easier to execute your website ideas.

Within the realms of Web Content Management Systems, we can identify different types, including:

Open Source WCM
eCommerce WCM
DIY WCM

Open Source WCM

The thing with Open Source systems is that even though they are managed by one coordinating body, the system is not in the direct possession of a person or organisation.

This means that any person with the right skills – and enough time on their hands – is able to alter the system. The main benefit for users is that these systems or their software are usually free.

And who doesn’t like free stuff?

WordPress

WordPress is most probably the easiest WCM out there at the moment, which is also its biggest advantage. As our very own WordPress website design, Matt Neal, so eloquently stated: WordPress makes getting a new site up and running possible in hours, not days.

WordPress does not require knowledge of programming languages or any other excessive digital skills for that matter. However, if you do have these skills, the WordPress filter system allows you to make custom alterations to pre-set themes and features.

Although this might not be necessary, as pretty much any function or feature you’d like to see on your website will have a corresponding WordPress plugin, creating endless options for the customisation of your website.

These plugins range from helping with SEO to social media strategies, and more. Just keep in mind that WordPress is not made to handle high-performance websites. This means that if you use thousands of plugins to create your website, it will take ages to load.

And no one wants to wait 3 hours for a website to load, now do they?

In the end, it’s safe to say that WordPress is great if you’re looking for an easy website with little fuss. If you’re looking for a high-performing website created through an open source WCM, we recommend you take a look at Drupal vs WordPress instead.

Drupal

Drupal requires a tad more technical skill than WordPress but is extremely useful when you want your website to incorporate more features.

With the upgrade from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8, the use of modules (Drupal’s plugins) was simplified and ameliorated, making it easier to build state-of-the-art websites.

Because Drupal is open source and popular, it has a large online user community – not unlike WordPress’ community. However, the dynamism and potency which makes Drupal so strong are often perceived as complex, as becoming familiar with the WCM can be a bit rough.

To work with Drupal, one needs at least a basic understanding of three programming languages: HTML, CSS and PHP. Still, when it comes to Drupal, it’s an easy WCM to use – but only once you know how to do so.

Joomla!

Another option, although one which is not often preferred, is to use Joomla! as your WCM. When comparing different kinds of WCM, Joomla! can be described as the medium between WordPress and Drupal when it comes to ease of use.

When using Joomla!, some basic skills are recommended, but no knowledge of programming languages is needed. Still, Joomla! is not as preferred as WordPress or Drupal, mainly because its functions and features do not seem to be as effective.

In the end, Joomla! is alright if you’re not familiar with any sort of web development and want an easy way to set up your own website.

So which open source CMS should you choose?

When we compare WordPress, Drupal and Joomla!, it becomes clear that there’s not one definitive pick. There are distinct differences between each, making them better suitable for different situations.

Speak to our Digital8 web developers today for assistance in finding the best solution for your business.

Now, let’s go through a comparison of three popular eCommerce WCM systems.

eCommerce WCM

If your website’s main purpose is aimed at online sales, an eCommerce WCM is your best bet. According to Shopify, an eCommerce WCM that we’ll explore below, the global eCommerce market is expected to total $5.55 trillion in 2022.

Therefore, the set-up and maintenance of a decent eCommerce website with a contemporary eCommerce website design are imperative to the creation of a lasting impression through your online presence.

Magento

Magento offers both an open source and “platform as a service” option for their eCommerce WCM systems: Magento OS (Open Source) and Magento Commerce – previously named community and enterprise.

Magento Commerce will provide you with pre-set designs and is made especially for users that don’t consider themselves to be very tech-savvy. However, Magento Commerce lacks quite a few customisation options, making it the less favourable option in some cases.

On the other hand, we have Magento OS, a free and far more customisable WCM. The latter does, however, require a bit more digital skill. The main benefit of Magento OS is the high level of scalability, as it is fit for both small and larger businesses.

This version is preferable if you want your eCommerce website to have a personalised touch, rather than sticking to basic web design. Magento OS is ideal if you’re outsourcing the creation and maintenance of your website or your company employs its own web developers.

Shopify

Shopify is a great choice for startups or small businesses requiring eCommerce functionality. Shopify is a “platform as a service”, meaning it’s not open source. But no worries, this doesn’t mean that it will limit your customisation options.

Shopify’s main assets include its ease of use, easy integrations with other channels and shopping cart features. Shopify allows you to sell – both physical and digital – products through Facebook or Pinterest, as well.

It’s able to do so because the tool acts like a product database, rather than just an eCommerce sales platform.

In conclusion, Shopify is clean and powerful and it does what you want it to do – for once it’s actually that simple. However, beware that once your range of stock grows and you need more customisation, Shopify may become a less cost-effective option.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin for developing eCommerce websites on a WordPress platform. It’s the way in which the world’s largest open source WCM responds to the growth of online retail.

WooCommerce comes with all the benefits of WordPress, making it an extremely favourable tool when it comes to the creation of an eCommerce website. However, it also comes with the downsides of WordPress, such as the limitations to customisation.

Even though WooCommerce is solely a plugin and not a full WCM specifically designed for eCommerce purposes, it incorporates all necessary functions and features for a properly functioning eCommerce website.

All in all, WooCommerce is better than most other eCommerce WCM systems and should most certainly not be underestimated.

Once again, which WCM should you pick?

Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce all have their own strengths, all of which are best suited to different applications. Talk to the Digital8 team to determine which eCommerce platform suits your business in terms of getting things up and running as well as future expansion.

Website Builders

The last type of WCM that is worth distinguishing is the so-called website builders. These WCM providers are set up in such a way that all you’ll need to do is click on what you think looks pretty.

Their drag-and-drop website builders and simplified interfaces make it easy to build your own website.

The main difference between these WCM systems and the open source WCM systems mentioned earlier on, is that these WCM systems are already hosted and mainly function as a platform as a service.

However, do not forget that these website builders don’t even compare to a website that is professionally built using a WCM like Drupal or WordPress – so you might not want to build it yourself.

Three of the best website builders are Wix, Weebly and Jimdo. The simple fact is, they are all really easy to use, they all provide you with pre-set designs and all claim to have the best digital marketing strategy and SEO tools – the latter being a bit of a stretch, to be honest.

Wix and Weebly are probably the most user-friendly as they use a drag-and-drop interface to build websites, whereas Jimdo doesn’t. However, this does not necessarily mean that Jimdo is a particularly hard website builder to use.

Also, when building a website using Wix or Jimdo, you’re limited to the designs that the builder offers. Weebly allows for some third-party integration when it comes to templates, but it’s far from ideal.

When it comes to marketing and SEO tools, all three are pretty decent – but to classify them as the best… that’s just ridiculous.

For example, Jimdo has some issues with SEO optimisation per single page, Wix automatically adds a question mark and code to your URL and Weebly doesn’t allow for a pre-set header1 option to be added to blogs. All these examples interfere with good SEO practices.

All in all, these platform-based WCM systems are alright if you’re a small business that’s looking for a very basic website.

Just remember to purchase the full versions though, as the free versions will add the website builder’s name to your domain – and let’s face it, “digital8.jimdo. com” would just be confusing.

What we’re trying to say is that we don’t recommend using these website builder platforms. They might be a good short-term solution, but if you want to scale your business, there are far more cost-effective approaches – even if these builders seem cheaper on the surface.

Enterprise Content Management Systems

Ok, so here is where it gets particularly tricky. We’ve looked at what WCM systems are and what different offers there are. Now, Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is not necessarily the same as an enterprise scalable WCM, although it can act as one.

Confused yet? Stick with us.

As previously explained, an ECM manages the storing, preserving and delivery of content and documents that contribute to organisational processes.

In simple terms, this means that all content that’s considered important to the functioning of your business is stored using this system. This content can range from administrative documents to promotional videos, from email threads to employee IDs.

An ECM is able to align with existing databases, alter them or even create new ones. In the end, an Enterprise Content Management system is an umbrella concept.

It incorporates and combines web content management, document management, records management and workflow management.

In this world of continuous change and digital innovation, the storage and management of all your digital content are imperative to the functioning of your business.

Small businesses may not experience significant issues related to their content management, but growing or large businesses will eventually realise that their content is getting lost or is not where it’s supposed to be.

By using an ECM, employees are able to access all relevant content, their previous versions and the corresponding metadata. This, in addition to being able to create, edit and upload content to relevant platforms and channels is where the ECM is able to function as a WCM.

Not every version will have the design options that come with WCM-specific systems, but they will most certainly let you control the content that you are uploading or have uploaded onto your website.

Which one fits your needs?

The answer to this question is extremely simple and you’ll probably have figured it out already, as it relies on your initial interest. Did you want to design a website? Or did you want to change your company’s IT structure and implement a completely new system ?

It’s probably the first, right? This means a WCM system is going to help you reach your goal.

If you’re still uncertain about which one you would like, or simply want to get some more detailed information, feel free to contact us today to explore your options in more depth!