Why it’s important to build your App right the first time

admin - August 28, 2019July 29, 2022

At Digital8, we see all kinds of scenarios when it comes to app development.

Some people come to us with an idea, looking for guidance. Others bring a project that’s ready to kick-off and are ready for us to handle the whole development. Then there are those who come in with an app that’s partly built, or not built right, that they want to hand over to a local team to complete.

Yes, apps are expensive (helpful reading: Is my App idea likely to succeed?) and if they don’t succeed, apps can be a huge financial burden. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it – if you truly believe in your app idea, why not build it right and give it the love it deserves?

Build an App Right the First Time

Our team have a preferred technology stack that they almost always use for app development because they know exactly how it works and what it’s capable of. It’s also a modern solution that won’t be outdated any time soon.

Some businesses will look for alternatives in their hunt for a development team. This may come in the shape of a freelancer or a cheaper overseas company, and this can work out when done right.

It can also backfire massively if the developer isn’t as qualified as initially thought, or if they choose an obscure development stack that proves inflexible.

The toughest part for us when taking on someone else’s work is understanding what has been built, how it is all held together, and where the bugs/issues are coming from.

Issues with a Poorly Built App

Imagine you’re building a house, the construction team puts down their tools and you’re left with a half-built property.

If you bring a new builder on-site, they need to understand the plans for the house, what the foundation is made from, what materials have been used and what issues there may be (or that they need to be aware of).

A lot of time goes into understanding what’s already been done and they may refuse to take on someone else’s work not knowing how it’s all come together.

The same rules apply to app development. It’s impossible to quickly look at a half-built app and understand everything about it. If things aren’t done in a modern and sensible way, it may prove difficult to work with and keep building.

How to Make Sure Your App is Built the Right Way

When it comes to building your amazing new app, be sure that your development team have an established process, runs on the board, knowledge of different platforms, can recommend the right solution for you and ultimately, can take your project and build it right.

Ready to build your app right the first time? Contact our app development team at Digital8 today!

5 Things We Learned At The WP Engine 2019 Summit

admin - August 15, 2019September 6, 2022

WP Engine recently brought a range of industry experts together to discuss all things digital in Sydney. We were lucky enough to be invited along to hear what’s going on, what’s coming in the future, and how it affects our client’s websites and marketing plans.

1. Generation Z are here, and they take your website and advertising very seriously

A panel of speakers from Generation Z (born 1997 onwards) were interviewed to gauge their opinions on web use, social media, and how they interact with ads online.

WP Engine also surveyed a large group of Gen Z to provide some statistics, all of which showed that their online habits are very different from their predecessors.

Almost all of the surveyed group said they would choose a lifetime of free internet access over a free university degree. To older generations this is mind blowing, but goes to show how much they value the internet and access to whatever information they seek.

Gen Z have short attention spans, and despite spending more time than ever before on their devices, won’t hang around for too long if your website is not fast and responsive. When they do land on your site, it’s apparent that trust is a very real thing. If they feel misled or doubt the legitimacy of your company, they may never come back.

– 85% trust a company more if they use actual customers in their ads

– 75% trust a company more if the images in their ads are not photoshopped

So if you’re presenting a professional and real experience on your website, you’re off to a great start. If you rely on the user to click on a call to action, submit an enquiry, or complete a purchase, Gen Z are more than happy to oblige.

They’re also completely open to handing over personal information for you to use appropriately. There’s one catch though; if personal information is submitted, they expect instant results.

Whether that be access to more content, a confirmation email, or a page explaining the next steps, Gen Z wants to know what’s going on and they don’t want to have to wait around all day for an email. If they feel misled or have a poor experience they will remember the brand and avoid it.

2. Forms have an ideal length, so don’t ask too many or too few questions

When submitting enquiries or forms, website users know that they will have to answer a few questions. Insights from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering showed that users will bomb out of a form it it’s going to take a lot of effort with no guaranteed result. They will also feel cheapened and unqualified if you don’t ask enough. One case study showed a medical survey process:

Previous iterations of the survey were approx. 20 questions long and could accurately determine if the user was suffering from a specific medical condition
Users complained that the survey was too long
The experts then realised there were three key questions that if answered positively, always produced the same end result
The survey was reduced to the three key questions
All of a sudden, the users felt that they were being unfairly diagnosed and that they weren’t providing enough information
After some back and forth, the survey was eventually adjusted to ten questions, including the three key identifiers
While the results were based on these three questions and the other seven were there just for peace of mind, the end result was perfect;
The users felt they were being asked the right questions, and the experts were getting higher response numbers.

The moral of the story; users are happy to self qualify themselves and provide some information in exchange for a quote/action. It may take some time and testing, but it’s worth seeing how people interact with your forms to determine how long they would like to spend filling these out and what they consider to be efficient enough.

3. Websites need to have a data budget

We were very fortunate to hear from Richard Hall, a Mobile Solutions Consultant for Google. His experience and knowledge in the field of data delivery provided some hugely beneficial insights as to how websites should be built in the modern era.

Not only should websites be responsive and work perfectly on all devices, they should also have a data budget to ensure that the experience respects all site users. From those who have a super fast wired connection all the way to users who have a slow connection on a mobile device. This experience and availability is valued by the user first of all, but perhaps more importantly, by Google themselves.

Google will monitor your website speed, size, and availability for all devices, and use this in determining whether you are deserving of that craved listing on page one.

When building websites, it is important to have a data budget to ensure your website works nicely across all devices. This can be managed by having the very best in auto-scaling plugins, caching options, and keeping on top of page content.

If your website isn’t set up to deliver the very best in terms of performance, you may be doing more harm than good by delivering a poor user experience that Google will be even more critical of.

4. WP Engine really is the best WordPress host

Speed test comparisons have been run since returning to our office, where we took snapshots of sites and uploaded them to our WP Engine server. The speed difference in content delivery was night and day.

We can do this for your WordPress site to see how your hosting compares. A statistic that proves why a few seconds can make a huge financial difference to your business: On average, every second that a site takes to load adds 7% to the traffic bounce rate. What is a genuine lead worth to your business? Don’t give them a reason to quit before they even get the chance to see what you can do!

5. Your Social Media channels may be more important than you think

This was a point of discussion that raised its head a few times at the WP Engine Summit.

The Gen Z panel were all heavy users of social media, with most leaning towards Instagram as their #1 platform. What surprised us most was the importance they all placed on LinkedIn, especially when it came to B2B and professional engagement.

Most businesses will have social media accounts, with the logical place to start being seen as Facebook and Instagram. With more concerns about data privacy and professional integrity, now may be the time to start investing more effort into growing the LinkedIn presence. This can be achieved through article sharing (get people back to your website!), helpful tips, industry insights, and recommendations based on positive experiences you have had.

If you’re interested to have a chat about it, feel free to reach out to us.

Neto: The Perfect eCommerce Solution for Businesses of All Sizes

admin - August 1, 2019August 1, 2019

Running an online store should be simple, but more often than not, business owners find that selling products through their website turns into a logistical nightmare. Some even go as far as to turn their back on their eCommerce solution and revert back to a basic information site.

At Digital8, we have been offering a range of eCommerce solutions for years, and this list of platforms has recently grown with the addition of Neto. After being wowed by the functionality and brilliance of the all in one solution, we officially became Neto Partners.

Neto is more than just an online store; it does everything small to medium (and a great number of large) businesses need in an all in one solution. Setting up your stock, putting in physical point of sale devices, running one or multiple warehouses/locations, and setting up payment gateways of your choice are all simple out of the box features provided by Neto.

Further customisation and integrations are available for great add-ons such as AfterPay, eWay, Sendle, Xero, MYOB, and many more.

For businesses that want to expand their reach and list stock on external platforms, Neto has the option to add sales channels on things like eBay and Amazon. Gone are the days of double/triple handling product information across different websites!

Neto does have a monthly subscription cost which is slightly more expensive than competitors such as Shopify/Wix/Squarespace, however the out of the box features make the price fantastic value. We have found that adding the features available in Neto to these other platforms would end up costing significantly more per month, with a lot of custom configuration required.

Included in the monthly cost is managed hosting, platform updates, and security patches (automatically applied by NetoHQ), so there’s no nasty surprises when you do go live with your shiny new store.

Digital8 recommend Neto for eCommerce so you can do what you do best; run your business.