Introduction
Data is classified into two broad categories; Quantitative and Qualitative, based on the techniques employed in the field to gather and analyze data/facts. Researchers need to choose the most suitable methods that can be helpful in collecting relevant and viable data/facts, suiting the monitoring and evaluation of the given project. There is a distinction between quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. This is elaborated in the discussion below.
Quantitative techniques in M&E
Crafting for quantitative methods, largely depend on the kind of data we need and the nature of the project under evaluation and monitoring. Evaluators can opt to use secondary data or primary data as per the needs of the project.
Quantitative methods directly measure the status or change of a specific variable, for example, changes in crop yield, kilometers of road built or the amount of money spent on purchasing items. Basically, this methods incline to numerical data whereby the collection involves the formulation of structured questionnaires that form the solid part of getting facts from sampled respondents. Upon getting the questionnaires filled, data is then coded into specified programs and softwares, to attach meaning to every number used, and then the analysis proceeds. In regard to the presentation of the outputs, answers such as; How many? How frequent and how much forms base for the numerical results. The successful completion of a project depends on how fruitful the quantitative methods applied were and the nature of data collected, analyzed and presented. In knowing how the study was conducted, monitoring and process evaluation reveals the quality of the program and techniques used, viability of collected facts, the barriers encountered in the field and whether the set objectives were achieved. All these help in streamlining the intended purpose of the project.
Qualitative Techniques in M&E
As we monitor and evaluate projects, we use many different kinds of qualitative methods, and each of these methods gives us different kinds of data. Based on our evaluation statement or performance monitoring plan, we apply different techniques on particular scenarios to elicit certain kinds of data. We might develop emic or etic perspectives depending on where we get data from.
Qualitative methods gather information by asking people to explain what they observe, do, believe or feel. This is more of textual descriptions rather than numerical values. Qualitative methods can also be called “informal” as they have an open-ended approach to gathering facts. Respondents get subjected to provide views based on how they understand the topic of concern. Sample of questions mostly answered are; “Why do you think this happened?” or “How do you think this will affect you? People’s attitudes/behaviours, beliefs, opinions, experiences and priorities can be known through the kind of facts collected hence, making qualitative methods to be unique in a way. For any project conducted, it is easy to monitor and evaluate the progress based on how both respondents and researchers behave. The qualitative methods mostly used in collecting facts include; Interviews, focus groups, case studies, The KAP (knowledge, attitude and practice) survey and observations. In getting to understand more about data collection and analysis in M&E, enroll at Sirmirt Company for the coming training.
Technology has rocked today’s world and every company; be it big or small is yawning to embrace new invented tactics, methods and even programs with hopes of replacing the once re-known tedious manual processes and systems. Among the many shocking innovations, ODK and Kobo toolbox are inclusive as they add value to the field of research. For many years, NGOs, private corporates, government parastatals, ministries, and even students have been relying on hard copy questionnaires, which at some point are prone to numerous errors, leading to collection of ineffective data. The invention of ODK and Kobo has solved the menace as the use of electronic questionnaires is the way to go. The use of pen, bulky papers and unreserved methods has been replaced by structuring of electronic questionnaire which get uploaded to online servers like On.io and survey CTO, then get accessed by ODK or Kobo toolkit and one is able to conduct a research by filling the questionnaires upon asking respondents questions.
Over the years, the manual systems have been expensive, costing companies and even students or individual researchers a lot, but with the coming of ODK and Kobo, there is hope of reducing these expenses. Large amounts of data can be collected at a minimal cost an instance that has made companies to adopt the technique. The user friendly nature of ODK and Kobo enables researchers to gather facts without getting tired nor losing any valuable data as opposed to when using hard copy questionnaires. It is time for technology to be given room, hence, NGOs, private and public companies, students and any research related entity should try ODK and Kobo if viable and quality facts are to be collected.
The use of ODK or Kobo not only cut costs but also, provides error free and quality data which is directly subjected to analyzing tools and programs. There are no regrets by any company or individual who has applied ODK or Kobo in conducting a study. In getting the skills of formulating electronic questionnaires, uploading them to online servers, and then retrieving these forms for a given research, Sirmirt Data Services has got experienced professionals who will impart the knowledge to anyone interested.
Data Science continues to evolve as one of the most promising, in-demand aspect necessary for companies to adopt. As technology advances, data science keeps on developing, prompting organization to subscribe to new innovative methods, strategies, programs and systems in order to be abreast with any changes experienced.
The types of data analytics each company needs to embrace are;
Descriptive Analytics
Descriptive analytics answers the question of what happened. For example, a nurse or a doctor needs to know how many patients were hospitalized last month; and a manufacturer – a rate of the products returned for a past month.
Diagnostic Analytics
At this stage, historical data can be measured against other data to answer the question of why something happened. Companies go for diagnostic analytics as it gives in-depth insights into a particular problem. At the same time, a company should have detailed information at their disposal otherwise data collection may turn out to be individual for every issue and time-consuming.
Learn Data Science By Doing Data Science
Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics tells what is likely to happen. It largely depend on the findings of descriptive and diagnostic analytics to figure out tendencies, exceptions, and to predict future trends, facilitating forecasting.
Prescriptive Analytics
The purpose of prescriptive analytics is to literally prescribe what action to take to eliminate a future problem or take full advantage of a promising trend.
Data in the modern world has grown to be a powerful house that drives all businesses across the globe. To develop the most astonishing and decision-based insights, businesses should be hungry for big data. Big Data is not just like any other data until it is well collected and managed. Big data is the combination of the tools and processes of managing and making use of the large datasets. This data can be both structured and unstructured data. Structured data is a kind of data that has been organized into a better format for analysis. On the other hand, unstructured data is the information that lacks a predefined data model. Running better analytics on the big data will help draw best insights from the data and identify the most valuable customers to the organization. Well collected and analyzed data can help organizations create new products and services as well as gain new experience. This analysis will reveal the trends, patterns, associations, behavior and interactions. Without modern and advanced application software techniques, it is difficult to maneuver through this data. Research has proven that many successful and leading companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Huawei among others have used data-driven strategies to innovate and develop new experiences in their products. The big data has helped these companies to make predictions and metrics from the customers intent, preferences and loyalty retrospectively. Success of an organization or a company is not how you run the company but rather depend on various factors. All the other factors depend on the big data for better predictive analytics. It is recommendable therefore to train the employees of the company about Big Data management skills and techniques for the company to reap more in the competitive market. We will also ensure that you are conversant with data safety and protection measures for the success of your company. Our team will not only help you to gather quality and timely data but will ensure that;
- Data is well analyzed to identify business opportunities for your organization
- Data collected targets the relevant customers
- Data collection tools are efficient
Your SEO Checklist
The goal of search engine optimization is to have the search engine spiders not only find your site and pages but also specifically rank the page relevance so that it appears at the top of the search engine results. The process of optimization is not a one-time process but requires maintenance, tuning, and continuous testing and monitoring.
Below is a broad four-step process for a strategy for search engine optimization. Use this as your top-level checklist.
Step 1: Target Market Business Analysis
- Website analysis. Analysis of meta sets/keywords, visible text and code to determine how well you’re positioned for search engines. For example, how much code do you have on a page compared to text?
- Competitive analysis. Examination of content keywords and present engine rankings of competitive websites to determine an effective engine positioning strategy. Pick the top five results in the Google listing results to begin this process. Expand as necessary. Use tools such as Semrush.com and Keywordspy.com.
- Initial keyword nomination. Development of a prioritized list of targeted search terms related to your customer base and market segment. Begin with this: What would you type into a search engine to find your business website or page? Then, ask your customers!
Step 2: Keyword Research and Development
- Keyword analysis. From nomination, further identify a targeted list of keywords and phrases. Review competitive lists and other pertinent industry sources. Use your preliminary list to determine an indicative number of recent search engine queries and how many websites are competing for each keyword. Prioritize keywords and phrases, plurals, singulars and misspellings. (If search users commonly misspell a keyword, you should identify and use it). Please note that Google will try to correct the term when searching, so use this with care.
- Baseline ranking assessment. You need to understand where you are now in order to accurately assess your future rankings. Keep a simple Excel sheet to start the process. Check weekly to begin. As you get more comfortable, check every 30 to 45 days. You should see improvements in website traffic, a key indicator of progress for your keywords. Some optimizers will say that rankings are dead. Yes, traffic and conversions are more important, but we use rankings as an indicator.
- Goals and Objectives. Clearly define your objectives in advance so you can truly measure your ROI from any programs you implement. Start simple, but don’t skip this step. Example: You may decide to increase website traffic from a current baseline of 100 visitors a day to 200 visitors over the next 30 days. Or you may want to improve your current conversion rate of one percent to two in a specified period. You may begin with top-level, aggregate numbers, but you must drill down into specific pages that can improve products, services, and business sales.
Step 3: Content Optimization and Submission
- Create page titles. Keyword-based titles help establish page theme and direction for your keywords.
- Create meta tags. Meta description tags can influence click-throughs but aren’t directly used for rankings. (Google doesn’t use the keywords tag anymore.)
- Place strategic search phrases on pages. Integrate selected keywords into your website source code and existing content on designated pages. Make sure to apply a suggested guideline of one to three keywords/phrases per content page and add more pages to complete the list. Ensure that related words are used as a natural inclusion of your keywords. It helps the search engines quickly determine what the page is about. A natural approach to this works best. In the past, 100 to 300 words on a page was recommended. Many tests show that pages with 800 to 2,000 words can outperform shorter ones. In the end, the users, the marketplace, content and links will determine the popularity and ranking numbers.
- Develop new sitemaps for Google and Bing. Make it easier for search engines to index your website. Create both XML and HTML versions. An HTML version is the first step. XML sitemaps can easily be submitted via Google and Bing webmaster tools.
- Submit website to directories (limited use). Professional search marketers don’t submit the URL to the major search engines, but it’s possible to do so. A better and faster way is to get links back to your site naturally. Links get your site indexed by the search engines. However, you should submit your URL to directories such as Yahoo! (paid), Business.com (paid) and DMOZ (free). Some may choose to include AdSense (google.com/adsense) scripts on a new site to get their Google Media bot to visit. It will likely get your pages indexed quickly.
Step 4: Continuous Testing and Measuring
- Test and measure. Analyze search engine rankings and web traffic to determine the effectiveness of the programs you’ve implemented, including assessment of individual keyword performance. Test the results of changes, and keep changes tracked in an Excel spreadsheet, or whatever you’re comfortable with.
- Maintenance. Ongoing addition and modification of keywords and website content are necessary to continually improve search engine rankings so growth doesn’t stall or decline from neglect. You also want to review your link strategy and ensure that your inbound and outbound links are relevant to your business. A blog can provide you the necessary structure and ease of content addition that you need. Your hosting company can typically help you with the setup/installation of a blog.
Source: Entrepreneur
How Your Marketing Plan Will Change for Good in 2019
As we reach the end of 2018, it’s time to start thinking about how our marketing plans will change in the new year and beyond. In the world of digital marketing, things don’t stay the same for long. Every day new technologies emerge and we learn more about our users.
With that in mind, let’s look at how the different areas of your marketing strategy are going to change in 2019 and beyond.
Content Marketing
We’re already beginning to see the rise of long-form content online. Indeed, you’ve probably already noticed early adopters publishing white-papers and eBooks online. You don’t have to go to this extreme though. Generally, long-form content is understood as anything over about 2000 words.
This is only going to increase in 2019 and beyond. How do I know? Well, for one thing the search engines love long-form content. First page results on Google rarely have below 2000 words. We also know that the longer a piece of content is, the more likely it is to be shared.
We can also look at what our audience wants. People are generally fed up with disposable content. That’s why we’re seeing more emphasis being put on high quality, authoritative and ever-green content. A well-researched, thoughtful article is going to be far more use to your readers than a stub or a listicle. Every time.
Segmentation
Traditionally, segmentation has meant grouping our audience based on certain characteristics, normally at a single point in time. The rise of AI means, we are increasingly able to segment audiences based on behaviors instead.
As AI algorithms analyze trends in our customer’s behaviors, they are able to make more and more accurate predictions. This means that you can create hyper-personalized marketing messages based on where individual customers are in the buying journey.
This basically comes down to finding the right customers at the right time with the right message. As we move into 2019, you’ll want to take a look at which of your marketing tools have native AI functions. If your email automator, CRM, or social ad platform lacks this, it may be worth shopping around a little bit.
Social Media
In 2019 and beyond, we’ll also need to keep an eye on the way people are using social media. Especially if you’re targeting specific demographics. For example, Facebook use has plateaued and is even decreasing among young people.
As such, it’s time to start thinking about how to replace the marketing value Facebook no longer offers. Younger generations tend to use messaging apps far more than full-scale social networks. In fact, Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat have a higher combined user-base than Facebook and YouTube.
So, it’s worth thinking about moving away from traditional social media advertising and moving towards social messaging. This is basically the same idea as email marketing, but directly into messaging apps rather than into your customer’s inbox.
Source: B2C
WEB MAINTENANCE
Web maintenance is the practice of revising, editing and changing a few things in order to give your website a new look. This practice is crucial and important for any business for the sake of real-time services, attract new visitors and retain the already existing ones. Web maintenance also enhances search engine ranking and provides updates on new products or services.
Web Maintenance packages
- Creating Pages and Updating
Web pages are a great way to provide your customers with additional information and resources about your business. We create professional websites that are easy to use, easy to navigate and easy to update bringing your business to the market leaders’ level.
This may also include
Adding promotions to the website
Adding recent company news to the website
- Content Creation
You need fresh & regular content for your website or blog. Content is the heart of the SEO and digital marketing campaign and plays a vital role, whether you want to improve your brand value, make the website or blog look engaging, or simply to engage the prospects on social networking sites.
- Blog Management and Email Newsletters
Blog management and maintenance is an essential procedure if you are running an online business or if you have a website for your business. Keeping the customers informed about upcoming products and/or services and offers is necessary to engage them.
- Social Media
The increased presence of people on social media platforms has forced the business organizations to enhance their activities on all the leading social networking sites. You as a business owner can listen, cooperate, and engage with the targeted audience while also providing your prospects with a better platform of knowing your brand and communicating with the service providers.
- Fixing bugs or errors on your website
A website is the business’ CV. You cannot afford to have a website with errors. A flawless website enhances business credibility and attracts more visitors while encouraging the existing ones to come back.
- Reviewing link structure and sitemap
Talk Code To Me, Software Development Process
Do you remember your first mobile phone? Big, heavy, horrible specs, super bad camera or none at all…are those memories coming back? Now, compare it with your current phone. We all agree so much has changed from the physical appearance to the user interface. It is pretty evident that technology is accelerating at a rapid pace and we are becoming further dependent on it for every purpose. The demand for software is also rising considering the fact that we use them for simple and basic things like ordering food, accessing health care and also education.
Today we will talk about software development process. A software process (also known as software methodology) is a set of related activities that leads to the production of the software. These activities may involve the development of the software from the scratch or modifying an already existing system.
A good software process is repeatable, predictable, learnable, measurable, improvable. These characteristics allow the process to be reused and improved over time.
Requirements Analysis
This is the first step in software development. It involves extracting the requirements of a desired software product which is the first task in creating it. It may require skill and experience in software engineering to recognize incomplete, ambiguous or contradictory requirements.
System Analysis
This step is about analyzing the performance of the software at various stages and making notes on additional requirements. Analysis is very important to proceed further to the next step. It involves developing concepts, terminology, and relationships essential to the software and its behavior.
System Design
In this stage, the software is designed by the designer. Here the analyst and the designer work together in designing the software. This step helps remove possible flaws by setting a standard and attempting to stick to it.
Implementation
This involves writing and compiling code for the individual software components. The actual task of developing the software starts here with data recording going on in the background. Once the software is developed, the stage of implementation comes in where the product goes through a pilot study to see if it’s functioning properly.
Testing
The testing stage assesses the software for errors and documents bugs if there are any. When the software is ready it is sent to the testing department where quality analysts test it thoroughly for different errors by performing test cases.
Maintenance
Once the software passes through all the stages without any issues, it is to undergo a maintenance process wherein it will be maintained and upgraded from time to time to adapt to changes. Maintaining and enhancing software to cope with newly discovered problems or new requirements can take far more time than the initial development of the software.
Marketing Metrics To Track
Having practiced basketball for the longest time now, i came to realise the only way you can term yourself the best player is after your skills have been measured during a tournament. During this same tournaments, you learn and improve more on what you are doing.
The same applies to marketing. Putting up billboards and advertisiments on the three media giants (tv, radio and newspaper) is part of marketing. But the only way to guage if these efforts are bearing and result, one has to have a track of them. To measure and ultimately, improve your marketing efforts, you need to know which metrics to track and analyze them. Start by checking the below details on your website to figure if what you are doing is a yes ✅ or no ❌.
1. Unique visitors
The best indication of your site’s overall traffic, unique visitors refers to the number of individuals who visit your website during a given period of time, where each visitor is only counted once. This number will vary dramatically depending on the size of your company, your industry and, of course, the amount of content you’re producing.
2. Page views
The cumulative number of individual pages that your visitors click on during a given period of time. If your page views are higher than your unique visitors, that may be an indication that your audience is finding your content engaging because individuals are clicking around to multiple pages.
3. Search engine traffic
The amount of traffic being referred to your site through search engines, such as Google or Bing. This number will give you a clear indication of how effective of a job you are doing at optimizing your content for search.
4. Bounce rate
The percentage of visitors who come to your site and then immediately “bounce” or leave before clicking on any other pages. A bounce rate of less than 40 percent is considered good. If it is any higher, it may be an indication that visitors to your site don’t like what they find there.
5. Conversion rate
The percentage of visitors to your site who take a specific action that your content encourages them to, such as signing up for your newsletter. Conversion rates vary considerably based on industry, but tend to hover around 2 and 3 percent on average. That said, aim for a conversion rate of approximately 5 percent, or even higher if you are creating specific landing pages for specific audiences.
6. Inbound links
The number of external links to your site, an indication that other people have found your content important enough to link to it. Importantly, the more high-quality inbound links you have, the higher your content will rank on search engines.
Source: Content Marketing Insitute
Importance Of Digital Markeitn In Today’s Market
The world has changed and there has a paradigm shift from analog to digital in every aspect including business. People worldwide consume all sorts of information online thus rendering digital marketing the most effective way to reach a targeted audience.
Digital marketing is the bridge connecting organizations and the market on a bigger scale. With so many people online, it’s essential for businesses to be online as well which is the easiest and effective platform to endorse, promote and enhance business visibility.
Let’s have a look at the importance of Digital Marketing in relation to the evolving marketing trends.
Enhances Engagement
Digital marketing for business lies on the method of marketing as per your budget and reach a wider audience at a lesser cost. With people spending most of their time on social media, you are likely to get conversion and likely who are interested in the content you put on the digital platforms. Ensure to put up posts that will instantly catch the eye of your target audience but remember not to oversell yourself.
Customer Support
Digital marketing allows timely interaction with customers thus creating a good rapport with the customers. Either via social media or email marketing, you can always offer real time solutions to customers concerns and problems which makes them feel valued and tis in turn enhances brand loyalty.
Get ahead of your competitors
Business are putting aside traditional forms of advertising and investing on SEO, Google Adwords and Social media. Check on what your competition is doing well and perfect it. Also look into what they are doing wrong and do it in the best way possible. Track their product, learn their marketing strategy and improve on yours to male you the market leader.
Cost Effective
Digital marketing is the most prices effective. In particular, if yours is a small enterprise without a great deal assets or capital, then this is the excellent method of marketing your business. This platform is a cheaper and more powerful advertising channel.
Connect With Mobile Users
Most websites are mobile friendly. If yours is not, you are losing a lot. Almost all customers have access to a smartphone and most of them even look and purchase products on the same.
Best ROI
Email marketing which is one of the components of digital marketing and also the most effective, has the highest ROI of any marketing method. Email marketing is a conversion machine that simply needs delivering highly relevant content to a subscriber’s inbox. Even a small level of investment done in a mode of email marketing has the potential to deliver results in terms of customer’s engagement.
Higher Revenues
Higher conversion rates generated by effective digital marketing techniques will deliver loads of profitable benefits for you and your business in terms of better and higher revenues. Since the amount of money invested is less and the ROI more, the scope to make money is much higher. According to IPSOS Hong Kong and confirmed by Google, digital marketing is said to generate over 2.5 times more revenue compared to other forms of traditional marketing.
Skills You Should Master To Become A Digital Marketing Expert
As technology dominates the world, marketing has undergone a seismic shift thus the rise of digital marketing. The term digital marketer has become a common thing in today’s industry. Many a times it is tossed around like vodka glasses at a Russian wedding without clearly understanding what it takes or rather the skills required for a professional digital marketer to succeed.
Digital marketing entails understanding and adapting all the new paradigms of different digital channels and knowing how each of these channels or media operate and interact with each other to create a synergy.
To become a digital marketer superstar, here are some of the skills you should master.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
It goes without saying, Content is King. Content and SEO work hand in hand. SEO is an important aspect in digital marketing as it is the only key that makes you stand out from your competitors. A digital marketer should at least have basic and fundamental knowledge if not “Masters” on SEO. Despite the competitive advantage when it comes to google search, SEO gives you the pleasure to appear top on the search engine and also brings some sense of credibility.
EMAIL MARKETING
It is via email that your loyal customers and committed prospects would want to closely relate and keep in touch with you. Learning the art of email marketing, when to send out the emails, the language and platform to use is the first step to successful digital marketing. We do not dispute what social media is good for brand awareness, but top marketing companies use email marketing for sales and campaigns which has undoubtedly generated unimaginable results.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media is an imperative part of marketing, and present a massive opportunity for digital marketers to amplify their message to their audience. With an average person spending around two hours in a day on social media one needs to understand the various social networks and social media marketing tools that allow you to leverage your efforts including automation.
The best way to handle social media marketing is by treating it like a conversation with your audience. Post content that provides or adds value to your audience, content that is educating, informative and entertaining. Connect with your audience.
SALES SKILLS
A digital marketer may not be closing deals directly, but it is required of them to know how to sell the product or brand. They should be in a position to engage with people online and turn them into sales opportunities.
STORY TELLING
Alex Frias from Track Marketing Group said it well “digital media is a copy- and visual-driven medium unlike any other before it. Our social heart is won over (or double clicked on) by copy that is relevant and visuals that pull on our emotional strings. The native understanding and ability to manipulate those two elements is critical in today’s digital marketing landscape.”
A Guest NeverForgets A Host Who Has Treated Him Kindly
Deciding on which web hosting company to choose can be as tough as looking for Mr. Right. Gone are the days where Bandwidth and disk storage were the only thing to consider while deciding on which web hosting server to choose. There is a lot more that needs to be carefully contemplated and examined before settling on a particular host.
Different sites have different tasks to deliver and different customers to satisfy. Do not be in a rush to follow what other companies are doing or what they recommend to avoid breaking the bank yet you would have found an affordable host that fully satisfies your needs. Make a calculated decision before purchasing a web host having weighed the pros and cons of everything.
Let’s check out the factors to consider when choosing a web hosting company
Hosting Needs
This is the most important thing to carefully analyze and consider when purchasing a host. You should be in a position to answer the following questions:
- What type of website are you building? e.g blog website, Company website or portfolio website
- What kind of platform will you use?
- What volume of traffic do you want to attract?
- Is it a single website or multiple websites?
- Will you need special software?
The answers to thins questions will give a more particular guideline to the best host and the exact results you intend to get at the end f the day that will last you longer without fail.
Server Reliability and Uptime
Your website should be functional 24/7. This can only be so if the server operates 24 hours, 7 days a week. You cannot afford to have your website go down every now and then considering the level of impatience we have developed as onlibne users. Weak servers and unstable network connections can often push your site offline, what’s even worse you end un ranking low on search engines.
Besides making sure your websites are running fast, it is also important to ensure they are secure and trustworthy.
Addon Domain
For one reason or another at some point in life, you will want or be forced to grow and add another website. An addon domain allows you the pleasure to have more than one website within a single web host account. This might be expensive than a single domain but in the long run, it saves you the expense of buying another account when the need to have another website arises.
Customer Service
There is nothing as important as customer service. This is what will determine whether a client will work with you or move on to the best service provider.
Do your homework well and figure out: Are they easy to contact for support? What’s the average time it takes to respond to a ticket? When they find a problem with a site, what’s their course of action? Look into their social media pages or do a google blog search and find out the reviews given by previous customers.
Email Features
In this case, when looking for the right web hosting company, chose one that provides email hosting for your website’s primary email. What email features does your provider offer. Do they provide spam protection? Is your site and email address or addresses protected from viruses and malware? These are important issues to consider. You will most likely have to ask these questions of your potential provider in order to obtain the answers.
Control Panels
The web host should allow you should to easily update and modify your site without scratching your headache and biting off all your nails. The best providers use cPanel or Plesk to make updating and modifying your site easy.
A Promise Of Value To Be Delivered
Big companies like Apple or Amazon do not need to tell us who they are. They are globally known. However, if we do not know who you are, there is need to explain to us who you are and why we should care about you. When I say, what I mean is your target market. That is exactly why you need a Value Proposition.
According to Wikipedia, a Value Proposition is a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged. Simply put, it is a promise of value to be delivered in exchange for something else. A value proposition is the tool you use to communicate to prospects and customers the overall benefits you have to offer and why you are better as compared to your competitors.
To come up with a good value proposition, there are a few elements to consider. If gotten right, it is a huge boost for your brand. These elements should answer the questions
What will the visitor get?
Which specific problem are you solving?
What quantifiable valuables are you offers?
Why by from you and not anyone else?
Now, lets see how to arrive at a unique and selling value proposition
TARGET AUDIENCE
If you get this right, you’ve got everything right. You need to figure out who you intend to sell your product or service to because you cannot afford to sell to everybody. Research everything about your target audience, leaving no stone unturned. Know what they like, what they do during their free time, the language they use, lever of literacy etc. Trying to appeal everybody, there is a high chance you will get lost in the crowd.
COMPETITION
You can only be different if you clearly know what has already been done. Setting yourself apart from your competitors requires you to know what they are doing and how they are doing it. It is then that you will be in a position to improve what is being done or doing it absolutely different. But remember not to move out of the line to avoid being irrelevant.
NEEDS MET BY YOUR PRODUCT
Does it work faster, is it affordable, does it save time, does it do it better than the rest. Clearly elaborate and champion how your product or service satisfy and meet the needs and wants of your customers in a way special and specific way.
BRING IT TO LIFE
Actions speak louder than words. After considering all these factors and coming up with an award-winning Value Proposition, now you have to figure out how to execute it and make it a marketing tool. Earn the trust of your customers by delivering on the promise you made to them .
Your Best Teacher Is Your Last Mistake
“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do a little.”
The major segment of starting a business is having a plan and religiously sticking by it with discipline. Pioneering a start up is not a bed of roses, it requires giving your all and submitting yourself to the process until it is stable.
There is no golden bullet or clear blueprint to being a successful entrepreneur. Just like in life generally, the road to a successful business will be fraught with many challenges and mistakes which sometimes are too costly. However, thanks to the entrepreneurs before us, we can learn from their mistakes and make all the difference between failure and success. Here are a few of the mistakes you should watch out for and avoid.
HAVING NO SENCE OF DIRECTION.
Here we are talking about having no goals or having goals that are unrealistic or having no business plan. It is like starting a journey without knowing where you are going or starting a construction without a plan. This is the most vital mistake many startups make.
As a young entrepreneur you should have clear goals. Know what you want to achieve and most importantly give yourself a time frame. Also ensure you make your goals and plans known to those working with you so that you can move forward together which makes the growing process easier and faster.
NOT KNOWING YOUR INDUSTRY
Do not assume you know everything by just conducting a marketing research. Learn all you can from the people who have been on the industry for some time. A great entrepreneur once said “If you have an idea you like, great, get a job in that field working for someone else, learn what it actually takes to be there, as well as what works and what doesn’t. Then open your shop.” Need I say more?
SPENDING TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE
Spend the start up cash wisely. This does not mean you become “stingy” on things that are important and necessary like a good team or quality products. Like if you want to set up a website, do not go looking for free domains and hosting, this will disappoint you in the long run. Also, do not go buying the most expensive ones yet you could get an affordable one serving absolutely the same purpose.
THINKING YOU CAN DO IT ON YOUR OWN
Carrying everything on your back is more likely to kill you than build you. You might feel that no one can do your job better than you simple because you know your product inside out. However, two heads are better than one. A good team will push you further than you would yourself with better ideas, simpler way of doing thing and faster ways or achieving your goals.
On the other hand, be keen on getting a good team. A team that will focus on spearheading your business rather than sit and wait for a word from the busy you.
NOT LISTENING
This is also one deadly mistake young entrepreneurs make. They talk, talk and talk and not listen. What young entrepreneurs do not know is that listening earns them respect and keeps them away from unnecessary problems. Wise people talk less and listen more. Before you say anything think carefully.
Telling Your Brand Story
In today’s world of social media and numerous technological advancements, spelling out your brand story seems obsolete. I am almost certain you do not think it is necessary to tell a brand story but what you do not know is that story telling brings about a sense of emotions and feelings, which in term moulds powerful connections between you and your audience. The market has grown and consumers are spoilt of choices. They go for brands that resonates with their own personal values and associations. Having a good and authentic brand story will earn you the highest probability of being chosen from the crowd.
Telling a perfect brand story requires a few details here and there. As you begin to write your story, first you have to figure out the theme of this excellent story you are going to tell.
Purpose
What was the great idea behind your brand? Tell your audience why you in business, your main purpose and the impact you intend to make. Be as particular as possible in order to “own”. Let them know that you care about adding value and making their lives better.
Ensure Credibility
Clearly state why you are qualified to sell that particular product or service. This is where you gain their trust and pursue brand loyalty. Be honestly, real and genuine. Credibility is like respect, it has to be earned.
Develop a statement
So many other companies are offering what you have. Your statement should be something that matters to your customers and consumers, something that really define your purpose. Do not misstate this from your mission or vision statement. This is where you also point out your core values, what makes you different, what makes you stand out and what makes you unique.
Personality
Here it is plain and simple. Why should anyone listen to your story. Why should anyone care? What will appeal to your customers? Tell your story with some authority, confidence, efficiency and reliability.
At the end ask yourself, Would you want to listen to your story?
Importance Of Onsite And Offsite Seo For Websites And Blogs
Onsite and offsite SEO, also known as on page and off page SEO, are ideally the two main components of the search engine optimization (SEO) process. These two aspects must be done for a successful search engine optimization. SEO is very important as it not only gets high quality visitors from search, but also improves the user-friendliness of your website and increase its credibility.
ONSITE SEO
Onsite SEO is the process of initializing some elements in your website in such a way that search engine can easily understand the content and structure of your website. Simply said, Onsite SEO is the process of making your website search engine friendly.
While dealing with onsite SEO below are key factors that you should put into consideration
- Domain Name
Identity is very important for any websites. A short catchy and memorable name will always make your visitors want to see what you have to offer. A perfect domain name ought to be relevant to what you offer and add credibility in such a way that immediately a visitor reads the name, they will know automatically the website has what they are looking for.
2.Meta description
This is a short summary or overview of what the blog is all about. Each blog in a website should have a unique description of the content in it which is the same overview search engine crawlers use while ranking different websites.
3. Quality Content
It has been said and proven time and again that content is key for any blog or website. Content is a big influencer for onsite optimization. Much focus should be emphasized on quality and unique content with eye-catching headings and topics containing valuable information that will help your visitors. Remember, the title and topic of the page is wat search engine look at first when crawling a page.
4. Internal Links
It is almost mandatory that a website should have properly places internal links from another page or home page that are relevant and useful for your visitors. These internal links enhance the user experience, help search engines discover more pages from your website, help you create content that is strongly inter-related, reduce a website’s bounce rate and help you lead readers to the most important pages of your website.
5. Accessibility
There is no better way to say it but all the above factors would not be of much importance if search engine have difficulty accessing the website. Check over and over again and ensure you are not blocking crawlers from accessing your website.
OFFSITE SEO
Offsite SEO is the process of promoting your website across the web by the use of some techniques which increase your ranking or position in search engine. It is done outside the page/ blog. Off page SEO is a very good indication on how other websites and users perceive your website. This kind of optimization requires a lot of effort. Here are the major factors to look into
- Link Building
Links are very important for aby website or blog. Search engines use links to determine the quality and value of any page. Links not only provide direct referrals but also increase web traffic. Search engine results are highly influenced by links pointing to a website, not just any links but those that come from trusted, relevant sources and are backed by high-quality content.
There are three types of links according to MOZ
- Natural links are editorially given without any action on the part of a page owner.
- Manually built links are acquired through deliberate link-building activities.
- Self-created links are created by practices such as adding a backlink in an online directory, forum, blog comment signature, or a press release with optimized anchor text
2. Social Media Management
Social media has proven to provide different ways for all businesses to create brand awareness, generate direct traffic to the site and also boost SEO. Social media has gain popularity leading to google using it as a parameter while ranking. By increasing social media engagement, you are sure to increase your rank in search engines.
Importance of Offsite SEO
- Increase in rankings – The website will rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and drives more traffic to your website.
- Increase in Page Rank – Page rank is a number between 0 and 10 which indicates the importance of a website in the eyes of Google.
- More exposure – With a page ranking high in search engines this means greater exposure. Being on top, the website gets more visits, more mentions and more links
What You Need To Know From Your Digital Marketing Agency
With the advancing technological structures, there is a subsequent rise in the digital marketing agencies because of their requirement and importance in today’s marketing strategies. They are at the peak at the moment like the search engine optimization (S.E.O.) and search engine marketing (S.E.M.) agencies because almost everything is getting digital.But with this, everyday a new agency is formed which might not be as good as the others and so you need to know certain things before you hire one for your company. In this article we will be discussing top 10 questions you must ask before you select a digital marketing agency:
1. What are the Services Offered?
When it is social media/digital marketing, you have to carefully note down everything starting from the basics to the add-ons. You have to make sure that your requirements fall under their basics in order to have full access.
2. What is Success to them?
It is very important to understand that every single individual has a completely different explanation for what success means to them. Now, you should be on the same page as that of your agency while you try working together.
3. How well acquainted are you with this industry?
You have to understand how well they understand the industry. Now, one cannot simply add keywords in the content and make it large but they have to write great content.
4. What kind of success stories do you have?
The success stories are responsible for giving you an insight into the working structure of the agency and thus making you understand whether they are suitable for you or not.
5. Who is going to work for me?
You have to remember apart from the agency head there would be one person who would be in contact with you all the while and he or she would be the one working for you directly.
6. How good is your communication system?
Like customer response or service is necessary to be fast it is essential that internal communications are well maintained as well. An agency has to function in synchronization with your company.
7. How do you calculate the reports or results?
Feedback is an essential element when calculating the results of a company after a certain period. Now adverts like Google Adwords have instant responses and thus the agencies prepare reports as well to measure the rise or fall in the graph.
8. What is your charging structure?
Different agencies charge in different manners apart from the fixed work they are doing for you. Now, this completely depends on the agency so it is better to clarify everything.
9. Do you organize meetings for review reports?
Like they are analyzing your reports it is important that they share the reports with you as well. You need to understand how your company is functioning and if there are any changes to the agency working on your behalf.
10. What is your idea of a perfect client?
This question would determine whether you should hire them or not. The question judges the type of client they would prefer and thus if it is below your expectancy level then you know the answer!
These are the top 10 questions you must ask before hiring your digital marketing agency. Remember these are the questions that would judge them so well.
What should be in your website have?
When you have a business or company website to run then, there are a lot of things that you need to take care of. Like for instance, your website should have the right features or else it may go down in S.E.O. ranking which is based on keywords. Also, you may have problems getting more traffic to your website even when you have your website promoted on Google Adwords. To help you out, we have listed the top 10 features that every website should have.
10 Important Features
Here you go with the 10 important features that your website need to have:
1. Domain Name
Having a domain name for your website is really important. They add a sense of professionalism to your site which is hard to get if, you don’t have a domain name. Also, you need to make sure that the domain name is sensible enough. Like for instance, the name of your company can be the ideal option.
2. Purpose
It is important that the purpose of your website is clear. When visitors view your website, they should be able to understand what the website is for or what your website provides. If the purpose is unclear then users may simply just lose interest from your site and thus, may never visit it again.
3. Fresh Content
You should be regularly updating your website with fresh content. By doing so, the visitors to your site will know that the site is an active and efficient one. This will help them to trust your site and will also keep them interested. But if you keep on serving the same thing old thing to your viewers then they have the impression that your site is not competent enough.
4. Uniqueness
There are millions of websites out there on the net. So, you can very well figure out the level of competition that you will have to deal with. Try to come up with something new and unique that you can do to your website. This will help you attract more traffic to your site. If you are unique, you will sell.
5. Relevant Information
Your website should obviously contain detailed information about what your company does or what it provides or any other important details that you think your customers or visitors need to know. This will help your visitors to know more about you and your company.
6. Contact Details
If you are serious about your website and business then, make sure that you furnish the contact details on the site. If customers don’t find the way to contact you then, they may simply just leave your site and shift to some other site.
7. User-Friendly
Make sure that your site is user-friendly because if users find it difficult to handle them, they may shift to some other site. Therefore, it’s better that you design an easy to use the site.
8. Clear Navigation
A website is useless without clear navigation. Therefore, it’s important that you use logical names for the different pages of your website. Because trying to be clever is not going to work well with your customers.
9. Social Media Integration
In this age of social media networks, you should definitely promote your site on the social media platforms in order to get more recognition. Also, integrating these social media networks on your site will help improve your SEO rankings.
10. Mobile Ready Version
Majority of the population browse the internet from their mobile phones and therefore, it is important that you have a mobile-ready version of your site. This will help the viewers to visit your website even from their phones.
Now that you know about the 10 important features make sure that your website has all of them.
Mobile Business App Just Made Work Easy
Gone are the day where one was required to sit in the office for work to be done. Thanks to technology and digitization, working has now become fun and easy as you can deliver any project or task on your table at the comfort of your sunbed in the warm beaches. This works both ways for a business person and a customer.
Have you thought of how easy it would be if you had an App for your business? There are a lot of reasons why you need this app that with time you will come to realize it works magic. Did you know that any smart phone user spends almost 90% of their time on apps? This makes it certain that your business needs to be part of the mobile users are interacting with on a daily basis. You might think that this is just something for the big brands and companies but let me convince you why no matter how small your company is a business app is a necessity
1. Enhances Brand Recognition
With people spending almost 3 hours on their mobile phones than on their PCs, a mobile presence creates a greater chance of your business being exposed to many individuals. A business app is the best way possible to enhance brand awareness and increase visibility. With a flawless and attractive business app, there is a better chance of your business sticking into the mind of the audience which is the ultimate goal of branding.
2. Improve Customer Engagement
A user friendly and customized business app helps you gain and maintain customers. A customer would feel valued and special if they are using an app that is customized. This allows them the pleasure to get any service or product from anywhere at any time. Imagine how easy and efficient it is to reserve a table or a room using an app at the comfort of your house or office rather than calling in the receptionist.
3. Direct Marketing Channel
One of the greatest benefit of mobile business apps is that it provides a better and cost-effective platform to market or send out advertising campaigns to your target customers. The app acts as a sales booster where you push special promotions and discount offers directly to your customers. Through pop-up, you constantly remind your customers on ongoing promotions.
4. Stand Out From Your Competition
small businesses are still not very sure about business app. Take advantage of this and create one for your business. By the time your competitors learn the importance of these apps, you will few steps ahead of them and with no doubt you will have already taken over the market.
5. Improve Customer Experience
Mobile app is way easier to use. An app gives the customer ample time to get what he or she is looking for unlike a website. Remember with the advanced technology used to develop an app, the customer can be in a position to use it even when there is low network.
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