In less than 12 months, AI has taken the world by storm, marking what is arguably the most significant technological development since the birth of the internet.
ChatGPT has become the poster child of this technological eruption, with a userbase increase of 9,990% in the first 60 days of launch. At the time of writing, it has more than 180.5 million users.
Of course, this meteoric rise has been far from subtle. In what seems like the blink of an eye, AI technology has transitioned from a point of post-pint speculation to workplace reality, embedding itself across industries. From initial research and conceptualisation to data analysis, time management and content creation, marketers worldwide are unveiling innovative uses for these powerful tools.
The danger with such a rapid adoption of new technology is that unstable dependencies are formed. SEO professionals everywhere are jumping head-first into the world of AI, for fear of falling behind.
The question, therefore, is not ‘will AI change SEO forever’, but to what extent has it already?
If you were to ask a room full of marketing professionals what they thought of AI, it’s likely their answers would vary significantly. On one side of the fence are the utopians, with their boundless optimism for the technology’s endless capabilities. On the other, are the doomsayers, to whom AI tools mark the first step towards a dystopian Terminator-esque future. End of days stuff.
At Superb Digital, we’re somewhere between the two.
As far as research, data collection, analysis and reporting are concerned, AI tools are brimming with potential. They can streamline processes, smash through monotonous tasks and massively improve overall efficiency. But, don’t believe the hype; AI can’t do everything and the quality of its output is wholly dictated by the information it is provided.
Working with, and getting the most from, AI requires a clear understanding of objectives and best practices. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the ways in which AI tools are actually being implemented by marketers at ground level.
The role of AI technology within a digital marketing and SEO context is, of course, nuanced. Where its usefulness ends and its limitations begin is frequently debated among professionals. That said, its capabilities with regards to research, data collection and analysis are undisputable.
As far as research and analysis is concerned, AI is more than capable of scouring live sites and retrieving key information such as page structures, meta data, content styles. Where necessary, this research and data can be stored and presented, for use in later stages of a campaign.
The above methodology is useful, but basic. The full potential of AI can only be realised with the correct combination of input and instruction. If, for example, AI tools are fed specific documentation and reference points, such as Google’s Helpful Content guidelines, they are able to learn from the information provided and proceed from a point of task-specific understanding. As is the case with most AI technology, well-engineered human-led prompting is essential.
You don’t have to spend long working with AI to understand its planning capabilities. After all, heavy lifting and monotonous task management is where tools like ChatGPT really come into their own.
AI can be of great use when generating content plans, brief outlines and structures, but this technology is limited by the efficacy of its instructor (there’s a theme developing here…). Generic, poorly structured prompts will lead to equally useless content.
From our own experience, working with AI requires a clear understanding of two things:
Simply instructing ChatGPT to ‘create a plan’ based upon a topic or title is sure to lead to bang-average results. Whereas, feeding the programme clear examples of high-quality work will provide insight as to the results you want to achieve. Whether this is a website quality report or long-form article outline, it is crucial that such examples are well-crafted and reflective of the results you wish to attain. This type of activity has already garnered a name: “prompt engineering”.
Now, this is where opinions begin to differ. While some AI evangelists will claim that its content creating abilities are on par with those of a human, this is simply not true. AI is capable of many things, but crafting and writing high-quality, insightful content is not one of them. If you’re looking for content that meets Google’s Helpful Content guidelines and actually reflects your brand, ethos and personality, you need a person.
But, this is not to say that AI has no place in the content creation process. As discussed above, this technology can prove endlessly useful during the ideation, research and planning phases. Here at Superb Digital, we often use AI tools for transcription and summation purposes. This allows us to extract key points from client interviews and collate research much faster. As far as the writing is concerned though, that’s all us.
As powerful as AI tools may appear, it doesn’t take a top-tier developer to understand their current limitations. Yes, this technology is cutting edge, and getting better by the day, but it is not infallible. As is the case with any software, AI language is capable of making mistakes.
Take ChatGPT, for example. The language model’s achilles heel is the pool from which it draws information. As of this point in time, ChatGPT is only trained on information up to January 2022. This means that, without the use of plugins and beta tools, it cannot retrieve up to date information from search engines.
Moreover, one of the most obvious flaws that arises when working with AI is the way in which it receives information. There is, understandably, a dissonance between the language model’s method of processing and our own human cognition. In other words, it cannot always recognise actions as we do.
It goes without saying that over reliance on this technology can be dangerous. Rather than becoming overly-confident in the abilities of AI, it is important to adopt a cohesive approach. By all means, use these tools to assist, streamline, cut down and create, but beware of leaning too heavily on their independent capabilities.
The million dollar question: what next? AI technology has already transformed the digital marketing industry, impacting the ways in which user data is gathered, analysis is carried out and optimised content is created. If this continues, what will be left of human jobs?
The reality is that SEO is, and always has been, evolving. This industry is built on the ever-changing foundations of internet algorithms and technological advancements. Keeping up is just as important as getting ahead.
As AI technologies develop and cement themselves in our personal and professional lives, emphasis will be placed on certain skills. In particular, prompt engineering. As capable as these tools may be, they require precise and focussed instruction to achieve above-average results.
Additionally, it is worth noting the impact that AI has, and will continue to have on the ways in which individuals search for products and services. If AI assisted search tools, such as Google’s Bard, are transforming the means through which consumers browse the internet, so will the ways in which businesses and marketing experts target them. It is difficult to say exactly what this change will look like, but an increased focus on the ways in which AI platforms search for information will become a necessity.
Here at Superb Digital, AI tools are swiftly becoming an integral part of our arsenal. That said, certain processes simply cannot be replicated by computers; we place great emphasis on the value of real human input.
Yes, these tools will continue to evolve and improve. But our focus must remain on the knowledge and experience of human experts. Prompt engineering, quality control, copywriting and strategy are among the many areas of SEO that cannot, and should not, be replaced by Artificial Intelligence technologies.
There are many pros to using social media to promote your business, with few cons. If you are just starting out, establishing a presence on the platforms can be completely free if you are doing it yourself. Once your business grows, investing more in your social media presence is a good idea. This could be by outsourcing this aspect of your business to a social media agency, or by having a marketing team take them over.
Businesses with better customer service tend to see better customer loyalty. Responding to direct messages on social media or comments on posts is a way to speedily and efficiently provide customer service.
Email marketing is currently one of the most successful ways to convert leads into customers. If you have the budget to run social media ads and promote lead magnets, this is a great way to grow your mailing list.
Facebook is one of the oldest and most established social media platforms, therefore it is important to ensure you have a business presence on this platform. It also has the most social media users at just over 3 billion, out of those on this list. Depending on your business industry and your budget, it will depend on the success you see on this platform and how is best to use it.
Organic reach on Facebook is difficult and most businesses utilise social paid advertising or post boosting on Facebook. (This is then shown on both Facebook and Instagram as the platforms are connected and both owned by Meta).
But if your budget is limited, one way to still make the most of Facebook is to set up a group instead of a page and drive people to join this group. This will act as a concentrated space to nurture the group members.
Firstly, ensure your profile is set to ‘professional’ status rather than just ‘personal’. This feature gives you access to support, analytics, and tools that a personal account doesn’t.
Instagram is all about optimisation. It has a wide range of features, which is great! But it’s especially important on this platform they haven’t been half-hearted, and they have been optimised.
This includes optimising your bio and profile, the links in your bio, your Instagram shop, and any direct messages or automated messages page visitors might receive.
If you already have an established presence on Twitter – great! If not, now might not be the best time to start a new account. With the change in ownership when it comes to Twitter, it has undergone a lot of changes. Furthermore, with the new verified paid structure the platform is prioritising the content of accounts that pay to use the platform rather than those that don’t.
If you want to set up a new Twitter account, why not consider Threads…
If you also use Instagram and are looking for a Twitter alternative, Threads could be the answer. The latest Threads stats show the platform now has 130 million users (that’s a lot). Despite being a fairly new platform, it’s showing no sign of slowing down or users changing their minds and closing their accounts.
Compared to Twitter, Threads also has a more generous 500-character count, compared to the smaller 280 offered by Twitter. Plus you can post videos up to 5 minutes long.
YouTube is often referred to as the second largest search engine after Google. It has the second most users after Facebook. Therefore given its high user rate, it’s an excellent place to promote your business. Short-form video content you post on your social media can be turned into long-form video content for your YouTube channels, providing customers with a more in-depth, exclusive insight into your business.
There are lots of SEO features and opportunities on YouTube your business can utilise which can assist in driving more traffic to your website.
Most users use Pinterest as a vision board or a source for ideas and inspiration. There’s nothing stopping you from using Pinterest if you have the means and resources to create content for this platform; but it is ideal for businesses to ‘showcase’ e.g. interior design businesses, fashion designers, virtual assistant tips and advice, home improvement businesses or planning a vacation and hiring a travel agent, just to name a few.
Anything related to showcasing, ideas creation, products, or just mood boarding, is ideal on Pinterest.
Last but by no means least – TikTok. The good thing with this platform is you can repost your Instagram reels onto TikTok, and vice versa, meaning you can appear on both platforms without having to create brand-new content for each!
This platform is an excellent place to partner with influencers (as well as on Instagram), showcase your products or services through catchy and fun short-form video content, and make the most of user-generated content (this is content created by your customers on their experience with your service or product).
___________
Trusty Social is a social media marketing and management agency. We aim to improve the online presence of busy businesses through social media while positively impacting the world and donating 3% of our profits to social justice initiatives. Find out more by visiting here and get in touch with us here!
How do potential customers decide if a business is a friend that shares the same beliefs as them, or if they are a foe that shouldn’t be trusted? A business blog could be the answer.
If you think about your own buying experience, you might start your journey by researching a product online. You might browse a website to view the products or services on offer and you’ll come away with a flavour of what that company is about. The tone of voice will have impressed you or put you off, as will the colour scheme or what they have covered in the body of the website. Then it’s likely you’ll look at a few more websites to compare different companies, but what would make you take that leap to go from prospect to customer?
A business that truly expresses its personality by talking openly about its ethos, its brand journey, the people behind the brand, and some of the relevant issues surrounding the organisation is more likely to build trust among prospects than one that doesn’t. And one of the best ways to get this much information across is by publishing a business blog.
One of the best things you can do as a business is empathise with the problems of your prospective customers. Think about customers you have helped in the past and put yourself in their shoes. How were they feeling at the start of their journey, and how did you make their lives better? Then talk about these problems in your blog. Perhaps you can help customers with a service because they don’t have enough time to do a certain task themselves, or perhaps you have a product that will save them money. Talk about the issues affecting them so they can see you understand where they’re coming from. If they feel understood, they are more likely to trust you.
It can be so tempting to sell, sell, sell on your website, but it would probably be more helpful for your customers to be able to read a pros and cons list of a particular product. It takes a certain confidence for a brand to offer an objective view of the products they sell, but the likelihood is, the more honest you are about the fact your product or service will suit some people but not others, the more likely your prospects are to trust you and want to buy from you.
Build a strong relationship with your existing customers and engage with them throughout their customer journey too. By better understanding their experience of working with you, you will have more of an idea what new customers want to hear. By addressing issues as and when they arise, you can adjust your offering and then tell prospective customers how you are always evolving to give your customers what they need.
Business blogs might feel like a lot of work – to produce content consistently isn’t easy. But the benefits of having a regular dialogue with your customers and prospects is a great way to build a relationship and demonstrate your personality. If people feel like they know you, they are more likely to trust you and what your business stands for.
If you would like a business blog on your website that accurately reflects your voice and values, but simply don’t have the time to dedicate to it, drop me a line and I would love to help.
SEO is more than merely optimising the text on a page for search engines. It is important to design the overall user experience, including the visual components. This experience depends heavily on images, which, when properly optimised, can significantly boost your site’s SEO performance.
Each part of SEO’s multifaceted approach is crucial to the overall success of a website’s exposure. Images among these aspects are frequently disregarded as merely cosmetic features. But nothing could be further from the reality than this notion. When used correctly, images are crucial to SEO.
Humans are naturally visual beings. Studies show that text is processed by the human brain 60,000 times slower than visuals. This implies that the photos you use on your website can leave an immediate impact on visitors, often even before they start reading. Utilising captivating, pertinent photos can hold the attention of your audience, ensuring they stay on your site longer, lowering bounce rates, and letting search engines know that your material is valuable.
Without any pictures, try reading a thorough article about the old Roman buildings. Sounds difficult, huh? Images give context, aid in the visualisation of complicated concepts, and increase the accessibility and digestibility of knowledge. Users may spend more time on your website as a result of their improved comprehension, which will help your SEO.
Although text is necessary, large passages of it can become boring to readers. Images provide a respite, which improves the taste and enjoyment of the information. User experience is important, but search engines also favour websites with rich, varied information for their users.
Engaging visuals are more likely to be shared on social media sites, especially infographics or original graphics. Increased social sharing can result in increased visitors, better brand recognition, and perhaps even more backlinks, all of which are good things for SEO.
Users can access your website through entirely other channels thanks to image searches like those on Google Images. By making photos SEO-friendly, you can attract visitors who may be looking for visual information that is directly relevant to your niche and open up a new channel for organic traffic.
The significance of visuals is amplified by the growing prevalence of mobile browsing. Large amounts of text might be overwhelming on smaller screens. Images help to break this up, making the surfing experience for mobile users more pleasurable and less intimidating. Images are essential to mobile SEO since search engines use mobile friendliness as a ranking factor.
In the digital sphere, images are a captivating form of communication. However, if not optimised properly, their potential can be wasted, resulting in longer loading times and lost SEO prospects. Let’s examine the numerous strategies you may employ to fully leverage the potential of photos for the SEO of your website.
If you want to understand how to learn SEO, images are an important factor to take into account. Selecting the best image for your text is crucial before moving on to technological optimisations.
While stock photos are convenient, original images, whether they’re photographs, illustrations, or graphics, resonate more with audiences. They add a unique touch to your content and can increase trust and credibility.
Make sure the image complements and closely ties to your content. An unnecessary graphic can perplex readers and distract them from the point you’re attempting to make.
Once you have the right images, the next step is to ensure they are technically optimised for web use.
Different image formats are used for various purposes:
File sizes can be decreased without a noticeable loss of quality using programmes like Compressor.io or TinyPNG. Keep in mind that faster loading times result in reduced file sizes, which is essential for both user experience and SEO.
Making sure that photos appear correctly on devices of all sizes is essential in a world that is constantly moving towards mobile. You can instruct browsers to display various pictures dependent on the device’s screen size by using HTML properties like’srcset’.
Alt text and titles aren’t just afterthoughts; they play a significant role in image SEO.
A text description of a picture is known as alt text, or “alternative text.” It should be succinct while still being descriptive enough to convey the meaning and goal of the image. It helps search engines and users who are blind understand the image.
Alt text has two purposes: it improves accessibility and increases SEO. Screen readers will read out the alt text, which captures the spirit of the image, for people who are blind or visually handicapped. Because search engines cannot “see” images the way humans can, the alt text also gives search engines context. The relevancy of your material in search results can be enhanced by an image that is well-described.
Should your alt text contain keywords? While it might be advantageous, it ought to be carried out naturally. Keyword stuffing can lead to poor user experience and may even be penalised by search engines.
The title attribute offers additional information and is often displayed as a tooltip when a user hovers over an image. While not as crucial as alt text for SEO, it can enhance user experience.
In the information-rich digital age, it is crucial to present content in a logical and understandable way. Structured data and detailed outcomes now. These words may sound like high-tech jargon, yet they are crucial to contemporary SEO and user experience.
A defined framework for categorising the content on a webpage is called structured data. Webmasters can give search engines detailed information about the content, its context, and its relationships by employing structured data. In essence, it functions as a “cheat sheet” for search engines regarding what is on a page.
Structured data comes in a variety of formats, but the following are the most used ones:
Search engines attempt to comprehend the context of the material when they crawl a website. This procedure is aided by structured data because it provides clear hints as to a page’s intent. For instance, structured data can tell a search engine whether the word “Avatar” on a page relates to the James Cameron movie, a user’s online profile image, or a philosophical idea.
When search engines are equipped with the additional insights provided by structured data, they can create enhanced search listings, known as ‘rich results’ (previously referred to as ‘rich snippets’).
Image SEO optimisation is a complex procedure that involves more than just resizing. You may improve both the user experience and search engine rankings for your website by comprehending and putting into practise a variety of optimisation tactics.
The marketing sector would not exist as it does today were it not for third-party cookies. Over the past two decades, businesses have developed a heavy reliance on these bite-sized chunks of data for user insights, audience analysis and strategy development.
However, this method has faced frequent controversies and raised countless concerns regarding user privacy. As a result, the digital hemisphere is shifting, with tighter GDPR regulations leading to a future free from third-party cookies; by the end of 2024, this method of data collection may be a thing of the past.
In light of this change, alternative methods of data collection, prediction and analysis must be harnessed, filling the gap left by cookies. Machine learning algorithms, particularly those within Google Analytics 4, will play a significant role in compensating for this loss.
Before exploring the key components of this so-called ‘cookieless’ future, it is important to clarify the difference between first and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are accessible only by a website’s owner and play a vital role in collecting analytical data and optimising site functionality. In contrast, third-party cookies, created by separate domains, track a user’s behaviour across the internet. In this context, ‘cookieless’ refers to eliminating third-party tracking by internet service providers (ISPs).
Eliminating third-party cookies is certain to leave voids in online marketing. Google heavily relies on cookies for its advertising platform. However, to ensure privacy compliance, alternative methods must fill these gaps; tools such as statistical modelling, predictive analytics, and machine learning will play critical roles.
As of July 2023, Google permanently retired Universal Analytics, replacing it with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a property now used by over 20 million websites worldwide. This transition brings significant changes for digital marketers. With a focus on user privacy, GA4 utilises AI algorithms to connect data points without third-party cookies.
By blending directly observed and modelled data, GA4 builds comprehensive and accurate datasets while complying with user privacy regulations. Moreover, AI integration and machine learning enable more precise data collection than third-party cookies, utilising predictive analytics, analytics intelligence, and behaviour modelling to compensate for cookieless browsing data loss. Below, we delve into the specifics of these features.
Among GA4’s many innovative features is the property’s capacity to predict future metrics and audiences through machine learning algorithms. As soon as data collection begins, GA4’s algorithms start learning from the information gathered, enabling the generation of projections like revenue, events, and trends based on account-specific datasets.
Additionally, GA4 utilises the data from its machine learning algorithm to create predictive audiences, forecasting which of your audience is likely to churn based on past events. This information is set to prove infinitely valuable in the development of remarketing strategies.
Moreover, GA4’s ‘consent mode’ is vital for data compliance. This feature allows businesses to create predictive data even when a user doesn’t consent to data collection. When consent is declined, GA4 uses relevant existing data to predict the user’s behaviour.
This method of behavioural modelling fills data gaps when direct observations are lacking or non-existent. Instead of cookie-shaped voids, GA4 combines observed data with behaviour models, offering comprehensive insights into user journeys and site interactions.
Alongside the above, GA4’s Analytics Intelligence functionality is set to play an important part in navigating a cookieless future. As Google describes it, analytics intelligence uses machine learning and custom configurations to understand and act on data effectively. In other words, machine learning can identify anomalies and errors while simultaneously adapting to these variations; as GA4 receives more distinctive data, its ability to detect outliers improves.
This advancement in GA4 distinguishes authentic data from anomalies, reducing reliance on third-party cookies for true ‘insight’. Unlike cookies, which are about 60% accurate at best, machine learning and analytics intelligence offer continuous enhancement opportunities.
As previously mentioned, past iterations of Google Analytics faced scrutiny for their handling and retention of data. GDPR regulations have, naturally, tightened over the past few years; Google has adjusted its software accordingly.
Alongside the implementation of machine learning algorithms, GA4 introduces a host of features focused on data compliance and user privacy. Most notably, IP anonymisation means that IP addresses are neither logged nor stored. In the tech giant’s own words, ‘analytics drops any IP addresses that it collects from EU users before logging that data via EU domains and servers.’ Whereas universal analytics collected IP addresses by default, this is no longer possible in GA4. Regarding EU privacy legislation, this is perhaps the most momentous update.
Of course, this fortification of user privacy is just the tip of the iceberg. Alongside the above mentioned IP anonymisation and consent mode, Google have introduced:
Google Analytics exists as the dominant property for good reason; its newfound capabilities balance cutting edge technologies with tightened data restrictions. That said, GDPR legislation differs in relation to server location. To ensure compliance in your region, it is essential that your property is set up in a way that does not breach privacy laws.
Without a doubt, the accessibility of machine learning in GA4 is an exciting development. Unlike previous instances that required third-party solutions, Google’s integrated features now place AI power in the palm of marketers’ hands.
Machine learning, especially that within GA4, will be crucial in filling the gaps left by third-party cookies. While the property is far from flawless, businesses should not underestimate the potential of machine learning in this platform. In a cookieless future, a certain adaptability and open-mindedness towards technology is essential.
User testing is analogous to asking your friends to try out a product you’ve produced, to put it simply. Consider creating a toy or game and wanting to determine whether it is enjoyable and simple to play. Similar user testing is done for websites and apps. People who didn’t build it check it out and report back on what works and what doesn’t. This makes it better and simpler for everyone to utilise websites and apps. London-based digital consultancy WeAgile will conduct user testing on your new website or app if you are one of our very fortunate and satisfied customers. Why not reach out to us right away to learn more? But now – onto User Testing.
To make user testing feasible and effective, you’ll need to take a number of actions. Here is a brief explanation of each of the steps; we will go into greater detail on some of them in the blog.
This could be a brand-new website, app, or other digital product created to address a particular user demand. The testing procedure is built upon this phase. Simply put, there won’t be anything to test without the product (even if it’s an MVP).
Based on your objectives, pick the testing approach that is best for you. (Read more about down below). Depending on the insights you want to gain, this may involve usability testing, A/B testing, or even eye-tracking experiments. Each approach presents a distinct viewpoint on user engagement and pleasure.
Find the people that most closely resemble your target market. You can be confident that the feedback you receive correctly represents the experiences and preferences of your real users by selecting participants who are representative of them. Trust us when we say it. Below, we go into further depth regarding several locations where you might discover your test subjects.
Select a suitable area to carry out the experiments. If you’re conducting online testing, this could be a controlled environment, a real-world scenario, or a remote environment. The setting ought to reflect the way users would naturally engage with your digital work. Most likely, the people who take part in your test will test your website or app from home, on their own schedule. Just always tell them when they have to turn in their results, so keep reading.
Find out how long it will take each participant to finish the test. By evaluating how long customers generally spend navigating through your digital product, you can make sure that the testing period is reasonable and doesn’t pressure participants.
Give the chosen participants access to your digital product and the essential instructions. Sharing a website or app’s link may be necessary for this. Consistent outcomes across participants are ensured by clear criteria.
Gather and assess the information and comments gathered during the testing process. This entails assessing user interactions, watching how they behave, and taking into account their input. To learn how consumers interact with your new app or website, look for patterns, insights, and pain areas.
Given that we discussed a variety of testing techniques in the preceding section, you may be asking how to do user testing for your product. There are various methods for conducting user testing because every product, prototype, and feature is unique — just like every firm. We’ll examine the three most popular ways WeAgile, a web design and development company in London, has had tremendous success with. There are various approaches that may be utilised for user testing.
In A/B testing, you split up your test subjects into groups (which could be two or more) and have them try out several iterations of your product to determine which they prefer. This enables you to determine whether version delivers your clients a better user experience and makes them happy. A/B testing involves exposing your clients (or test subjects) to various versions of your product. It’s comparable like testing various ice cream flavours to determine which one they prefer. You get to observe what actually excites your customers rather than assuming based on what you know about them. Even if you are confident in your knowledge of your clients, A/B testing may still surprise you and reveal something intriguing. There is a reason why huge companies (like Facebook) do A/B testing regularly.
It does sound a lot like user testing, don’t you think? It is not, however, the same. Before getting into the specifics, let’s first examine the distinction. The entire range of client interactions with your website or app is captured during user testing. This may include — from when they first come into contact with the object until when they cease using it, their thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, reactions, and behaviours related to the item. On the other hand, usability testing focuses on how and to what extent a client uses your product to accomplish a certain goal. Even if it helps to make the user experience as a whole, this isn’t the whole journey.
Giving a product, prototype, or feature to actual customers (or your test subjects) allows you to gauge how user-friendly it is. Usability is the ability of a product to be useful and simple to use. You can determine how naturally your actual users find your product, prototype, or feature by conducting usability testing.
Beta testing happens in the last stages of developing your website or app. It occurs when you present your finished product to your clients and target market and allow them to closely examine how it will look when it is ready for release. Prior to entering the market, this testing phase serves as the final customer approval.
When should beta testing be used? It’s ideal when you’re almost done creating your product and want to get one more opinion before releasing it to the public. This step gives you the chance to make any last-minute adjustments to the user experience, making sure it’s excellent for your clients. Other user tests throughout the design process ought to have been conducted before beginning the beta testing phase. This is so that only the most significant and final product upgrades are subjected to beta testing. By getting client feedback beforehand, you’ll probably only need small changes—if any—during beta testing. By using this tactical approach, you can be confident that your product is polished and prepared to shine.
A variety of measurements used in user testing are used to assess the usability and efficiency of your website or app. These metrics offer insights for improvement by quantifying user interactions, engagement, and satisfaction. Here are some metrics from user testing that you can find helpful for your website or app. Keep in mind, though, that not all of these will apply to your digital project because every website and app is different (in its own way). These metrics offer insightful data on how people interact with your websites and apps, assisting in the development of improvements and optimisations that will result in a flawless and pleasurable user experience.
Task Success Rate: this measures the percentage of tasks users successfully complete during testing, indicating how well your design supports their goals.
Time on Task: the time users spend on specific tasks. This could indicate how intuitive and efficient your design is.
Error Rate: this metric calculates the frequency of user errors during tasks, shedding light on confusing or challenging aspects of your product.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): for links or buttons, CTR measures user interaction by showing how often they click on these elements.
Bounce Rate: for websites, this measures the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page, indicating a lack of engagement.
Navigation Flow: it maps users’ journey through your website or app, revealing any confusing pathways or friction points.
Satisfaction Ratings: these are often obtained through post-test surveys; these ratings provide insights into users’ overall satisfaction with the experience. You could also do short (or in-depth) interviews with the test participants if the time and resources allow.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): this measures users’ likelihood to recommend your website or app to others (be it their friends, family or promotion on social media channels). This reflects their overall satisfaction – the more satisfied they are, the more they will promote it – as simple as that.
Conversion Rate: for e-commerce sites, this measures the proportion of visitors who complete desired actions, such as making a purchase.
Scroll Depth: tracks how far users scroll down a page, showing if important content is being missed.
Time to Complete Tasks: it is what it says on the tin. This quantifies the time users/test participants need to finish tasks, revealing potential obstacles or ease of use.
User testing works like a detective, swiftly identifying the precise issue so that your team doesn’t spend time and resources on the wrong thing. It involves making a quick investment in the appropriate cause. Your product, feature, or prototype may be simple to use for your team and designers, but it could not be for your actual customers. User testing reveals areas in which your product might be more appropriate for your target market. It highlights the areas where people might become perplexed or irritated. Since user testing takes place prior to the release of your product, you can utilise this information to keep making improvements until you’ve created a user experience (UX) that you’re truly proud of.
To get insightful feedback on your digital products, you must enlist consumers to test them. If you’ve decided to attempt to do it on your own, here’s how and where to do it.
Your Network: Start by reaching out to friends, family, and colleagues who fit your target user profile. They can provide initial insights and help you refine your testing process.
Social Media: Post a call for participants on your social media accounts or in relevant groups. Explain what you’re looking for and the perks of participating (e.g. an Amazon voucher or a free subscription to your app once it launches). Platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and X can be effective.
Online Communities: Participate in forums, discussion boards, or online communities related to your product’s niche. Engage with users, build rapport, and then invite them to test your product.
User Testing Platforms: Websites like UserTesting.com, Userlytics, and TryMata allow you to recruit users based on specific demographics. These platforms handle the recruitment process for you – easy but not always cheap. There are a couple of more you can have a look at – Helio.app (formerly Verifyapp.com), UXTweak.com.
Email Subscribers: If you have an email list, send out an invitation to your subscribers. They’re likely already interested in your product and might be willing to participate.
In-Person Events: Attend relevant meetups, conferences, or workshops. Engage with attendees and invite those who align with your target audience to participate in testing.
Universities: If applicable, approach universities and colleges to recruit students who match your user profile. Many students are open to participating in user testing.
Local Communities: Utilise local bulletin boards, community centres, or coffee shops to post recruitment flyers. This can help you find participants within your area.
Referrals: Ask your current participants if they know someone else who might be interested in testing your product. Referrals often lead to engaged participants.
Paid Advertisements: Consider running targeted online ads to reach your desired user demographic. Platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads can help you reach a wider audience.
User testing enables us to improve, innovate, and create digital solutions that genuinely resonate with our audience with every click, scroll, and interaction. By embracing the art and science of user testing, we not only produce useful products but also experiences that have a lasting impression on users and the digital world. Let us at WeAgile join you on this exploration as we work to improve customer satisfaction, elevate our design, and push the envelope of what is conceivable for websites and mobile applications.
Sometimes merely using words or static visuals to describe something is insufficient. Making a wireframe is the next stage once a concept for your company’s mobile app or website has taken shape. To guarantee that consumers have a flawless browsing experience, it nevertheless occasionally occurs on paper or via a dedicated tool. Interactive mockups known as prototypes are used to test the aesthetic and user experience of websites and mobile applications.
Designers and developers can demonstrate how they want something to look and function via interactive prototypes. They may test the interactions they want to use, which will aid developers in knowing what to design. Like a how-to manual for getting everything just right!
For both websites and mobile apps, an interactive prototype provides insights about user interaction at several levels. By allowing users to evaluate design usability and feasibility before to the start of the development phase, these prototypes help eliminate unforeseen problems that may arise during project execution. It acts as a sneak peek or presentation of the final look, navigation, drop-downs, and filtering capabilities of a digital product. Because of its robustness, users may thoroughly examine the system’s features, functionality, and usability in a single package. It is similar to taking a “test-drive” before buying “the car” (i.e., creating a digital product).
There are currently a lot of different options to choose from, despite the fact that it has long been a preferred pick for UX/UI design teams. Figma is used by almost four million people. It is excellent for project management, building website pages, making app prototypes, and brainstorming and mind maps. To see if it works for your needs, you can start with the free version.
Instead than being a single tool, InVision is more a collection of tools. Three tools and collaborative places are included in one membership. The first is Freehand, which is used for collaborative wireframing in real time. After that, you proceed to Studio to design screens and create interactive prototypes. Studio features a function that allows you to turn comment suggestions into tasks that can be completed. When everything is finished, use Inspect to collaborate with developers and give off designs.
This is an excellent tool for collaborating between designers and developers. After finishing your project on Webflow, you can download the HTML, CSS, and Javascript code (without really having to code anything). It will resemble something a developer would create exactly! Give your developer this code so you won’t have to worry about the front-end details any more.
Sketch provides a sizeable selection of prototyping tools. You may bring your ideas to life in ways that enhance the projects you’re working on by using tools like scrolling artboards, fixed elements, and overlays.
According to user feedback, Miro’s prototyping tool streamlines the prototyping process, making it efficient, flexible, and collaborative. Additionally handily, Miro provides wireframe and prototype templates. Over 60 million people presently use Miro, so there must be some value there. Check it out for yourself without a doubt!
Our team of designers, developers, and marketers at WeAgile, a digital agency based in the UK, has extensive experience in app development, website development, and digital marketing. Reach out to us right away and let’s start to work on your brand-new, exciting digital project or campaign!
> Download the full ebook here for free.
INTRODUCTION
Tackling noise and cynicism in a post-truth world
No 21st century business would disagree with the assertion that the technological advances of the last couple of decades have fundamentally changed the marketing industry.
From build-it-yourself-website platforms to single-print self-publishing services to ChatGPT-generated content, the barriers to entering the competition for people’s attention has never been lower. Winning that competition, however, has never been more challenging.
But the challenge is not simply that it’s difficult to be heard above the noise. The ease with which literally anyone can publish content has made people cynical. As a result, they’re no longer asking, “What can you tell me?” Instead, they’re demanding, “Who are you to tell me?”
In this context, not only is it not enough to create content. It’s not even enough to create articulate content, or content that hooks people’s attention on social media, or tick’s the right boxes for Google’s ever-changing algorithms.
Instead, businesses need to dig deep into the knowledge, skills and experience within their people and create content that is brimming with something AI-driven content mills can’t reproduce: expertise.
Expertise is, firstly, a positioning strategy
There are many ways to position a brand in a marketplace. You can compete on price or personality, values, location or, if you’re lucky, the uniqueness of your product or service offering. Or you can choose an expertise-based positioning strategy.
Expertise builds trust. It encourages loyalty. It allows you to charge a premium because it shows you’re wiser and sharper than the next brand – and you can prove it. If members of your team have mastered certain disciplines and subjects, why would you try to compete on price?
This strategy is also a strong choice because it’s difficult to emulate. You can’t fake expertise, or not for long anyway. Only a few brands have what it takes to even qualify – and fewer know how to translate the expertise within their business into marketing strategy.
But, if it is to have an impact, expertise-based positioning can’t simply be a strategic choice. It needs to be executed well. In other words, you can’t just say you’re an expert, you have to prove it.
Why choose an expertise-based positioning strategy?
> Download the full ebook here for free.
Ever heard of the dark funnel? You’d be forgiven for thinking it sounds like a Jim Henson film or a Stranger Things rip-off. But it’s not as scary or mysterious as it sounds.
It’s no secret that marketers love data. We pore over numbers, analytics, and reports to build the most accurate picture of performance and inform our all-important marketing strategy.
This data is gathered from an array of sources, whether it’s a company’s website, paid advertisements, third-party businesses like HubSpot, or countless other avenues. In fact, businesses put huge amounts of money into collecting as much data as possible about their audiences.
By having an informed plan, underpinned by data, you’re able to craft a marketing strategy tailored to your audience and optimised to target specific demographics. But what about the touchpoints in a buyer’s journey or the sales funnel that can’t be tracked?
This is what’s known as the dark funnel.
Originally coined by 6Sense, the phrase refers to interactions over the course of the sales funnel that you can’t follow or gather data from. To my fellow data-loving marketers, this might seem like a nightmare. But fear not – you can actually harness the power of the dark funnel to further nurture your leads and open the door to new business opportunities.
View image in original blog here.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at some examples of dark funnel data:
The above data points are either incredibly difficult to track, or untraceable altogether. But I think we can all agree any marketing that shares your brand with more people is important. You should also note that the dark funnel doesn’t just consist of these data points – it also includes all of the research a potential buyer may have undertaken during the consideration stage (before converting).
A valid question, indeed – why should this concept matter to you and how does it affect your business?
According to CXL:
“over 80% of a customer journey is spent navigating dark channels”
This staggering figure illustrates the huge potential that can be found in dark funnel marketing. This facet of marketing is largely focused on nurturing your leads.
By nurturing your leads, you can increase brand loyalty with your audience before they’re ready to buy. And as 95% of B2B buyers are not currently in the market to buy, it goes without saying that you still want these buyers primed and ready for when they’re prepping a shortlist.
Another reason to consider dark funnel marketing within your strategy comes from the fact that Google is set to phase out third-party cookies. With this huge shift in data privacy incoming, it’s important that your business doesn’t rely too heavily on tracking them. When these get phased out, you likely won’t have enough data to understand your buyers and measure performance, and you risk losing leads.
“…harness the power of the dark funnel to further nurture your leads and open the door to new business opportunities…”
If the dark funnel was a total mystery when you started reading this blog, that’s exactly why you should embrace it. Many companies aren’t doing this yet, which creates a great opportunity for businesses to set themselves apart from the competition and give their marketing a significant boost.
As previously mentioned, dark funnel marketing is all about nurturing leads without analytics, so that they’ll remember your brand and consider your business when they’re ready to make a buying decision. So how exactly can you get people thinking about, talking about, and considering your business over others?
Consistent organic posting
Putting paid promotion behind your social media posts will undoubtedly help your marketing efforts, but it’s crucial that you don’t underestimate the power of organic posting. This free method of marketing solidifies your brand’s online presence on platforms with millions of users. And it’s not just social media. Posting blogs on your company’s website, for example, is a great way to attract potential leads and build your reputation in the market.
High-quality work
This might seem obvious, but by always striving to meet and exceed client/customer expectations, you give people the best reason to talk about you and take control of your reputation. The quality of your work is a direct representation of your business and its values. By producing top-shelf products or delivering first-class service, you allow your work to speak for itself – and people are far more likely to help you spread the word.
Attending events
This is another great way of boosting your brand awareness and holding space in people’s minds, even without trackable data. By attending events, speaking on panels and growing your personal profile (and encouraging your colleagues to do the same) you start to make those all-important face-to-face connections. These interactions tend to stick in people’s minds far more, giving you a chance to leave a lasting impression.
Using the right channels
There are so many online channels where perfect prospects are talking and interacting (with each other, not your content). If you can enter these spaces without selling, whether it’s getting involved in LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages, or something else entirely, you can take part in your prospect’s conversations. But don’t be tempted to lead with your business or credentials. You can get your brand in front of all the right people, and engage with them to form positive relationships, simply by being your helpful, knowledgeable self.
“…Google is set to phase out third-party cookies. With this huge shift in data privacy incoming, it’s important that your business doesn’t rely too heavily on tracking them…”
Just ask
A highly effective yet often-overlooked way to make the most of dark funnel marketing is to ask your leads how they found out about your business. Plain and simple. You can do this by adding a section on your website’s contact form or a step in your checkout process. Alternatively, you can try reaching out via email. This will give you a really strong sense of which of your dark funnel channels are gaining a response from your audience, and which might need a bit more attention.
Hopefully you’re no longer in the dark about dark funnel marketing or its potential to influence your marketing strategy. Now all that is left is turn ideas into action.
While data can get you so far, there are plenty of ways to get front of mind and build your reputation without a cookie, or a dime.
We’re currently offering free marketing consultations, so if you’d like to find out how your business could discover untapped potential, get in touch at [email protected].
Apart from having over 900 million+ professionals on this platform, research shows that 4 in 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions. This is especially important in lead generation for B2B, because the decision making is more complex and involves more people than in B2C purchasing.
View image in original blog here.
We know first-hand that LinkedIn marketing is a great place to start adding value to your business with both paid advertising and organic marketing having delivered measurable results for us and a number of our clients.
Here are our top tips and tricks to boost traffic to your page and convert your leads to customers.
What content should your business be posting?
Following the 80-20 rule is a simple, yet effective way to think about your content creation.
“The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is a familiar saying that asserts that 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event.” – Investopedia
80% of content should be focused on brand awareness, aiming to educate, entertain and solve problems within your sector – your output.
And just 20% should promote your business, products, and solutions directly – your input.
Craft powerful benefit-led headlines
This is possibly the most important element of your content creation. In this attention economy, you need to engage your audience by using headlines that spur action.
When creating a LinkedIn ad, you need to highlight to your user that you have the solution to their pain-point, this will help you generate more ad clicks and build brand awareness.
Create a compelling, clear CTA
You need to consider the business goals of your campaign. What action do you want your users to take once they’ve seen your advert? Do you want buyers to visit your website? Download an ebook? You can let them know with a clear call to action.
It’s also important to make sure that the offer, link or download meets or exceeds expectations and benefits set out in the ad copy.
Some good examples of effective CTAs are:
Posting high-quality, relevant content on your LinkedIn Business page will improve your bid in LinkedIn advertising auctions. This is because the LinkedIn relevance score rewards marketers who regularly post content that earns ample clicks, likes, comments, and shares.
It’s essential to have a deep understanding of your target audience.
An informed approach will ensure you’re targeting the right people and not wasting money or resources. You can build these out by conducting competitor analysis, understanding your ICP (ideal customer profile), evaluating current clients, and reviewing your data and analytics. LinkedIn analytics alone can reveal a lot about your audience.
Ensuring you have these details is critical for informing campaign-creation tasks, such as audience segmentation and persona- or vertical-specific messaging.
This way, you know the content you create and the paid advertising you run will resonate with your audience as you’re targeting them based on their intent.
The importance of employee advocacy when it comes to your online reputation cannot be overstated. If your employees champion your brand and engage with your content, you can drastically expand your reach. And what’s more, it’s totally free.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, people are 3x more likely to trust company information shared by an employee than content shared by the CEO, so you can’t underestimate the power of employee advocacy.
Employees being active on LinkedIn and engaging with company content is just as important for their personal branding and career development as it is for your company. And if you take into account that every employee in your organisation has their own network, which is an average of 10x more connections than a company has followers – that’s a lot of potential reach for your content.
A simple way to do this is to create a communications channel with your employees and send a link to the post once it goes live on LinkedIn. Encourage them to share their knowledge, opinions, and insights on the thread.
For the most effective performance, commenting, tagging relevant people, and liking the thread will help maximise reach. And hopefully, with a bit of help from your internal teams, you’ll see your network grow.
It’s important to establish an employee advocacy program for this to be successful. LinkedIn itself boasts a helpful guide to leveraging employee advocacy for maximum impact.
Aside from organic performance on LinkedIn, you can boost your lead generation by running paid ad campaigns. According to research:
Brands have seen a 33% increase in purchase intent from ad exposure on LinkedIn.
Depending on your campaign you can choose a number of different objectives, but as we’re focusing on lead generation that seems like a good place to start.
However, it’s important to take the stage of your audience’s buyer journey into account. This means that running brand awareness and consideration campaigns alongside lead generation is a must.
Once you’ve set up your campaign objective, you’ll start building out your target audience. You can upload your own audiences, whether company – or contact-focused.
Alternatively, you can use LinkedIn’s own targeting options, making sure the right people are seeing your content at the right time.
Some of LinkedIn’s targeting options include:
Once you’ve set up your target audience, you can choose the format of your ad. Depending on your campaign objective you can choose from single image ads, carousels, videos and more.
For instance, a manufacturing company may choose a video ad, sharing an explainer video to promote a new product and demonstrate its benefits. This is more likely to be successful than a single image ad because the video can add context to a complex solution that’s tricky to summarise.
Next, you’ll be asked to set up a budget and schedule of your ad. A common rule of thumb is: B2B companies should spend around 2-5% of their revenue on their marketing.
So, depending on your size, you can decide how you want to split your marketing budget and which platforms will work best for your business (generally where the majority of your audience is most engaged).
You can also monitor how effective your paid advertising is using LinkedIn analytics, so you can continuously optimise your campaign.
But, absolutely the most important thing to remember when setting up your ads:
“Content is King” — Bill Gates 1996
Much like in TV, the real money-makers online are driven by beautiful, well thought out content. The kind that resonates with your target audience and influences decision-making.
So, make sure there’s always purpose behind the content you create and the copy you write. Keep your content strategy thoughtful, interesting, well-researched and, most of all, relevant.
You need to educate and provide value to your audience without asking for anything in return.
There are many lead generation tips and ideas that aren’t just focussed on LinkedIn marketing, and can be applied to any marketing methods, watch Phil Robinson, our Creative Director, provide some lead generation tips and tricks in the video.
If you have any questions at all, send an email at [email protected], or book in a meeting with Sophie Harris, Director of Business Development and Marketing for a (no obligations) consultation.