by Francois Muscat | Apr 10, 2015 | Mobile Marketing, SEO, Website Optimization
By now, most people know that Google prefers mobile friendly and responsive websites. Google is now taking it a step further by announcing they will start penalising websites that aren’t mobile friendly from 21 April, 2015.
From the end of April, a comparable mobile friendly site will rank higher than a site that isn’t mobile friendly, so if you haven’t tested what your website looks like on your smart phone – now is the time.
“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimised for their devices,” read the announcement on Google’s Webmaster Central blog.
How to find out if your website is mobile friendly
You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly test to find out if your website is mobile friendly. Simply type in your website’s URL and wait for your results to find out how mobile friendly your website pages are.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a big part of internet marketing, so this change to Google’s algorithms will have an impact on how internet marketers, like us, build sites. According to a report from June 2014 by comScore, smartphones and tablets now account for 60% of total digital media time spent (this is a 10% increase from 2013), so this is just another way Google is trying to make their search results more relevant to users.
If your website currently isn’t mobile friendly or you need help determining what should be done in order to improve your search engine rankings, get in touch with us today. Our in-house team of web developers, designers and SEO experts are here to help you stay on top of Google changes (and on top of the search results). Contact us for more information today.
by Marianna Muscat | Mar 24, 2015 | Content Marketing, Mobile Marketing
Are you using mobile marketing for your African business as part of an overall digital marketing strategy? If you aren’t, then you certainly should be, because the statistics surrounding mobile usage and mobile Internet usage in the African region are quite astounding.
Here are our top three tips for a winning mobile marketing strategy:
- Create a seamless user experience. Your mobile site shouldn’t be an exact replica of your website. It needs to be less cluttered, clean, neat and easy to use. Users shouldn’t have to scroll very far to get the information they need and users should be able to click through to social media pages directly.
- No two audience members are alike, which means everyone deserves a personalised experience of their choosing. Allow users to choose what information they want to see, if/when they are contacted by you, how they want your site to appear on their mobile phone and more. Personalisation is the key.
- Use visual content when possible. Research shows that visual content such as photos, infographics and videos are much more widely shared than written content. If you can communicate your message using visual content, certainly do so. Track the visual content’s performance and see how it resonates with your audience.
Our digital marketing team delivers customised mobile solutions
For more information about how the digital marketing specialists at WSI can help you create a winning mobile marketing strategy, or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us today. Discover why so many businesses in Africa partner with us for mobile marketing success. We look forward to hearing from you.
by Francois Muscat | Nov 10, 2014 | Mobile Marketing
Christmas fever is beginning to set in and including a mobile wallet in your mobile marketing strategy could be the best way for you to benefit from the shopping mayhem that is bound to occur. In today’s society, people look for speed and convenience and these needs are only made more important during the chaos that is Christmas shopping. Consumers are changing the way they spend money and it is crucial for businesses to evolve with their customers.
Mobile wallets allow shoppers to pay for their purchases using their mobile devices. Payment information is stored in mobile apps, which means consumers are now free from swiping cards and dealing with cash, giving customers a sense of control and safety when it comes to their financial information.
Three main benefits of mobile wallets
- Businesses that stay on the cusp of innovation stand more chance of expanding their customer base. This is the twenty first century and keeping up with technological advancements places you in a positive light in the eyes of consumers. By catering to the evolving needs of consumers, businesses can benefit their brand as well as attract more tech savvy shoppers.
- Customer experience. A business would not survive without positive customer experience. Mobile wallets help businesses deliver this by making purchases easier and more convenient. By implementing mobile payments, you can increase efficiency by speeding up the check-out process, saving on paper by using digital receipts instead and provide self-service for customer queries relating to transactions.
- Mobile wallets contain valuable information that businesses can use to better serve their customers. By having a better understanding of clients, businesses can cater directly to the needs of consumers as well as offer loyalty and rewards programs that will ultimately increase sales. This data can also be used in other aspects of your marketing strategy, giving you the chance to boost your social media marketing as well as gain valuable insight as to where you should direct your content marketing to better gain customer interest.
When you begin looking for a mobile wallet vendor or processor, it is important to make sure the new technology is compatible with your existing systems. Also important to consider is the visibility and capability of the system and the guarantee that all necessary security measures are in place for the sake of your customers as well as your business. If implemented correctly, using mobile wallets should decrease your risk of fraud.
At WSI OMS, we cater to every aspect of digital marketing for businesses. Our digital marketing seminars are there to educate you and your staff on the important aspects of digital marketing such as Search Engine Optimisation, web design, mobile marketing and much more.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 30, 2014 | Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is the ideal way of making a connection with modern, tech savvy clients who can drive your sales and spread the word about your product and brand. The average person will spend a couple of hours on their phone each day, which makes mobile devices a prime advertising medium for businesses.
If you want your mobile marketing campaign to yield great results you will need to plan properly, understand the technology involved and ensure you present your target audience with high quality and relevant content. Below we provide a step by step guide to setting up your own mobile marketing plan.
Steps to follow when setting up your mobile marketing plan
- Establish objectives for your campaign. Your mobile marketing plan is not just a strategy – it will take hard work and effort. It is therefore best to know what you are working towards.
- Focus on your set up – with any promotion, competition or giveaway there are admin tasks which need focus. You will need to set in place official rules, legal compliance and sometimes even age verification. Make sure your plan has catered to these.
- Opt in and out – building a relationship with your client base is essential, however you need to let the consumer decide if he or she would like to be a part of your marketing campaign. Make sure you offer opt-in and opt-out features and that these are managed effectively.
- Tracking – make sure you have the tracking methods in place so that you can track your mobile campaign and its results.
- Creative components – you will want to grab the attention of your consumers without trying to fit too much into the small screen space you have available. SMS is a great option as most phones can receive texts. Remember to keep your graphics lightweight and ensure any copy used is short, catchy and effective.
- Reports and analysis – this is one of the most important aspects of any mobile campaign as it will help you to see your ROI and also reveal areas where improvement is required in your plan / strategy.
- Testing – a mobile campaign’s variables should all be tested before your campaign is launched. Testing should be carried out for user flow, responses, data capturing, carrier and load testing.
- Landing pages – make sure when clients click links or try to find out more information, that you have dedicated landing pages available with sufficient content and clear calls to action.
- Customer service and follow up – when your mobile marketing campaign is sent out, and your consumers start to redeem your offer; you will need to provide excellent customer service. Make sure your consumers can easily make contact with your business.
To learn more about setting up a mobile marketing plan and to reap the rewards of professional digital marketing assistance, contact us at WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 13, 2014 | Mobile Marketing
In today’s ever evolving technological society, consumers are looking for buying experiences that are secure, fast, convenient and reliable. It therefore stands to reason that including a mobile wallet in your mobile marketing strategy has the potential to reap fantastic rewards for the overall success of your business.
A mobile wallet is – quite simply – a new way to pay for things. Most mobile wallets work through apps on your smart phone, merely requiring personal information such as your cell number or a PIN to instantly debit your account and allow you to pay for items purchased at your local supermarket or any other businesses that are mobile wallet friendly.
Three benefits of a mobile wallet
- The most important commodity in today’s society is time. Consumers do not want to waste time with long winded payment methods or fussing with little bits of paper. Mobile wallets not only allow you to make general purchases, but are also evolving to store concert tickets, gift cards and the like, serving not only as a financial tool, but as an organisational tool as well.
- There are also financial benefits to the mobile wallet, for merchants as well as consumers. The cost of a mobile wallet payment is less than those of a traditional fund transfer and the convenience of the system allows merchants to sell more of their product faster.
- Mobile wallets provide security to both customers and merchants as, unlike credit cards or cash, it cannot be stolen. Both merchants and consumers are protected from fraud as mobile wallets are based on encryption software that keeps all the necessary information secure.
Minimise the intrusiveness of your marketing strategy and maximise its success by letting the professionals at WSI OMS handle all your mobile web design needs. For more information, contact us.
by Marelise da Silva | Sep 24, 2014 | Mobile Marketing, Website Optimization
Location-based mobile marketing is one of the greatest developments in the digital industry over the past five years. It gives you the ability to engage with a customer in the right area, at the right time – which is priceless.
There are, however, many business owners and internet marketers who are getting it wrong (for example, sending someone in Cape Town a message at 2am telling them they can go check out your new products at your Johannesburg store RIGHT NOW!). That’s when people opt out from receiving messages from you and sometimes even report you to the consumer complaints commission.
A new survey from Hipcricket showed that over half of the respondents said they found mobile messages from brands intrusive and spammy and close to half said the messages they receive aren’t relevant to their interests. What does that tell is? It tells us that we’re not personalising our mobile strategies for our various audiences.
The good news, however, is that location and demographic data are the most common forms of data that people are willing to share with companies. This means that – if you play your cards right and follow through with a smart campaign – you can create location-based mobile messages that are relevant to your potential customers (and will more likely result in business for you).
GPS technology allows you to target customers based on where they are. Combine this type of data with customer behaviour and you’ve got a winning strategy to launch a mobile marketing campaign that adds value to your customers’ lives as well as your bottom line.
Need someone to help you with your mobile marketing strategy? Then contact WSI OMS today.
