Do you really need a mobile app?

Firstly, what is a Mobile App:
Mobile Apps also known as Mobile Applications or Apps are software programs that can be downloaded on your mobile devices and tablets such as Android Phones, Windows Phones, Iphones, Ipads etc, from an App store: Google Play for android apps, Apple store for Iphone and Ipad and Windows store for windows apps.  Each mobile app has a certain functionality that it runs on the device such as a calculator, game, products list, etc,

Various devices for running mobile apps.

Depending on the feature of the app; it can use many of the  phone's default features such as camera, compass, browser,  global positioning system etc.,
The feature of each app varies and aim to engage the customers and target audience.

Why do you need a Mobile App?
A very common question that many businesses who only have a website ask is if they need a mobile app developed for their business also. The answer lies in their own behavior as a user (mostly). If they see how many times they use their mobile they would understand the urgency of having an app for their own business too.

We carry our mobile devices with us everywhere we go - in our pockets or purses. Every time we need to do something online we just pull out our phone and do it in a few tabs. There's no need to go to a computer. Mobile app allows users to access the data offline when the they don't have any working internet available. Having an app allows a business to be at par with its competitors who would already be having apps. In today's competitive world almost every online merchant is trying all that's available to reach their customers- website, apps and an aggressive online marketing strategy.
Its a great way to engage the online users and customers by interesting features.

HTTP VS HTTPS

Very often we come across websites that have https added before the domain name instead of http. The extra ‘s’ indicates that the website is secure by having an added security layer called SSL or Secure Socket Layer. If you notice you would also see that there is a Padlock icon and a green bar that shows up.

So what is this SSL, why is it needed and who needs it? SSL is an extra layer of security that you can add to your website to safeguard your customers information that they submit on your website. It encrypts the customers data so if a hacker can somehow hack into your website he cannot make use of the customer and other data because it is in encrypted form.

With increasing security threats online concerning credit card theft, identity thefts etc., this is a must have if your website stores customer information and has ecommerce. Lately Google is also suggesting webmasters to have the SSL security for all types of websites and apparently is giving preference to sites that are more secure in ranking.

There are different types of SSL:

Extended Validation: This is for the highest level of security that you need and covers the standardized Extended Validation guidelines. Latest web browsers indicate the use of Extended Validations by turning the url address bar into green color and showing the company name. The company name shows because it is validated by Certification authorities who checks and validates all the details of the company.

Organization Validation: This is next level of security which also shows the company name and is validated by Certification authorities.

Domain Validations: This is the most basic and fastest way to get SSL as it is issued almost immediately without having to submit the company details. Since the company information is not validated it does not show the company name.

So to summarize, Secure Socket Layer helps websites in the following way:

• Makes them secure by encrypting information submitted on the website.
• Gives confidence to customers that their information will stay safe if they use the website. Especially where they have to use their credit cards. When you buy SSL you get a security icon that says your website is secure which you can prominently display on your website. Of course the URL also indicates that your site is safe with an added ‘s’ and the padlock icon.
• Search engines like Google are said to give more preference to secure sites that have ssl. 

Next steps after site launch

You have got a beautiful looking mobile responsive website made for your business that uses breathtaking parallex effects, amazing infographics and great content. After the site goes live, you share it on your facebook wall and text the link to your friends and family. But is that all? Having a site done will not get you business alone. Its like getting a Getting the site ready is just 50% of the work done. The pending 50% is done popularizing your website online by doing the following:

1) Publish content: Publish well written content in the form of blog posts, forum posts, articles and wikis. Create a blog on your site as well and publish there regularly. Google likes sites that publish fresh and original content. 

2) Ask for reviews: Ask your current and past customers to review your business, products and services online. Add a review and feedback section on your site where you can request your customers to rate your service or product on various parameters and write their comments. Make it a easy to fill form. Post the review on your site and other reviews website. 

3)  Get social: Publish new content in the form of helpful articles, offers, latest happenings, news etc on twitter, facebook etc., Make it interactive so that readers leave comment. 

4) Get news worthy: Publish press releases to formally intrdocue services, products and your company to the world. 

5) Get Videos: Videos that inform you cusstomers on how your products work or how a service solves a problem is a great way of marketing. You could have videos on any theme including help guides or trouble shooting videos for your products for which your customers contact you quiet often. You can post such videos on various free video publishing websites like vimeo, youtube etc.,

Defining your online mobile presence

More and more internet users these days use mobile devices for not only buying merchandise but also for planning vacations, booking tickets, paying bills,  buying products, checking emails, dating etc., Mobile devices gives the advantage of doing things when you are in transit or waiting or when you don't have access to PCs. For this reason, any online business - whether Local, Regional, National or International should should have a mobile web presence  in the form of a mobile site or an app and make use of all possible options to allow the online users to do most of the things  that they can do offline at their establishments or even more. For example some mobile sites and apps allow customers to pay in installments because their products are expensive and their target market are college students. The feature of easy installments gives them an advantage of a bigger customer base. The more you can add value to the online experience the higher conversion that helps in getting. 

Each business has a niche. Being aware of what your competition is important keeping your niche into perspective. An all rounder mobile strategy will help the business to get the maximum out of its niche through a mobile online presence.

At Vantagewebtech we provide ecommerce and mobile consultancy services to our customers that helps in taking their business to the next level. Contact Us today for a no obligation review of your business and quotation. 

Why You Need To Update Your Wordpress website regularly?

Now a day’s wordpress is most known CMS. At very earlier wordpress just known as a blogging system, but at present well known and used as a CMS with thousands of plugins and widgets. It is open source software that’s why people love to use it for creating websites. Updating wordpress to latest version is easy, you just need to click update button. With WordPress webstie you need to update three areas: the actual WordPress application, themes and plugins. But be careful, because sometime updates don’t go as well as planned. You need to restore previous version in such situation, so always keep backup before updating anything on your website.

Why it’s essential to update wordpress websites regularly?

Many business owner may think that why should they update their wordpress website when it is working fine. But think that you don’t have to do anything onerous, only a couple of minutes and few clicks of mouse are enough to keep your CMS up-to-date. New updates contain more efficient codes and features which will surely help you to improve the speed and performance of your site. It can also simplify the process/way you add data to your site. 

Advantages of updating website regularly

·         It makes websites more secure: Regularly updated sites can’t be hacked easily then compared to websites which are not upgraded. So it’s best to upgrade your WordPress website as soon as a security fix is released.

·         Compatibility with new plugins: Day by day wordpress community providing new plugins to its customers. If you are installing a brand new plugin, then you need to update wordpress version also because older version may not be compatible with new plugins and its features.

·         New Features: Each time wordpress provide any update, it means they are providing you new feature/shortcut to make your CMS easy for you. If you update wordpress website regularly then you can take benefit of these features.

If you want to add latest WordPress updates to your website contact us.

How to optimize your website landing page for better conversion rate

A landing page is where people end up after they click an ad. Website landing page experience affect conversion rate in several factors. The homepage of a website is not the only landing page; every page in your website may be landing page for specific keywords. Website’s conversion rate won't come from the new ad you create; it comes from the landing page you build. A well designed landing page can make website visitor to shop with you. Following tips can help you to optimize your website landing page:

·         Simple and Clean Design: Look and design of your website will have a huge impact on website visitor. Primary goal of landing page should be to make visitors satisfied and impress them with smart colors. Attractive images should be used to make landing page attractive. But keep in mind that simple and clean design will benefit you as it gives beautiful look to your landing page.

·         Appropriate Heading: Your landing page should have strong heading about what you offer.  It allows you to display key opportunity of your offer. Remember you have 6-8 seconds to convince visitors. So use heading and subheadings to promote your offer.

·         Make Landing Page Trustworthy: Use trust signals to indicate visitors that your product and brands are trustworthy. It can be done with testimonials, like counters from various social medial sites and secure payment options. You can also add logos of well known brands you’ve worked with, any certificate or award you have received and any group you are a member of etc.

·         Length of Forms: Short length forms are effective in a good landing page. Many of online customers like short length forms which contain very few fields to fill. I know as an online marketer you want to collect most of data from site visitors, but it’s important to keep these data forms short if you want to convert most of visitors into customers.

·         Match Landing Page with PPC ads: Make sure the words used in PPC ads, mostly matches with content of your landing page. It assures visitors that they are on right place. If you use PPC ads it’s important to drop your user directly to page they are looking for.  Example- If a user click on a PPC ad about men’s t-shirt, don’t drop them in men’s clothing section- you need to bring them exact desired location.

Designing the Perfect UX of Mobile Ecommerce in Few Simple Steps

Mobile phones are now an important part of our life. A huge crowd of people is using mobile phones to shopping online. If you are running an ecommerce store it’s important that your website design will work well with mobile and other small internet devices. Mobile shopping can be difficult because mobile screens are small, however you can make it possible to create a smooth and delightful shopping experience to your customers. The best shopping experiences are ones where products are shining through screen, designs are navigating and content are providing necessary information. Your website will be able to attract customer’s attention. Below are few tips to create a great mobile shopping experience.

Focus on product: Mobile shopping experience can be improved if your ecommerce website only focuses on products.  Excess navigation, excess promotions and excess content can irritate users. If you are using excess navigation then its waste of space. You need to allow user just shop, don’t over use promotional material and distract visitors.

Provide Quality Photos of Products: Maximum number of mobile phones have small screen resolution. Product photos should not be tinier as visitors wish to see products in detail. If photos are small then it will surely annoy visitors. Shopping on mobile is difficult but you can low difficult level by focusing on your products through big and quality photos.

Don’t Force Customers to Log In: In order to shop through mobile apps, user is often required to log in. It makes customers shopping experience bad and customers can also visit to your competitor website. Simply, don’t do this. Don’t force your customers to register and log in. Allow user to browse without logging in and checkout as guest.

Build Lightweight Website: Make your website lightweight and fast loading. Your customer will surely get convinced, if your website will load in 3-5 seconds. Visitors have come to shopping, and they are already convinced with site speed, so it makes them trust you and make shopping with you.

Design a clear basket and an easy checkout: Once someone decided to buy with, don’t let them change their decision because of poor checkout process. Make sure the process from adding products into cart, to confirmation of order, is seamless and awesome. Allow visitors to checkout as a guest. Things like meaningful flow, good copy writing, simple form design and privacy considerations can create a great checkout experience.

(Vantage Webtech)