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Category: Web Design

  • Google Antitrust Case: How DOJ Case Against Google Impacts Digital Marketing

    Google Antitrust Case: How DOJ Case Against Google Impacts Digital Marketing

    The Future Of Google + Digital Marketing

    The United States Department of Justice recently proposed a solution to the ongoing monopoly that Google has on web search in the country. As many know, Google holds an astounding share of the search traffic in the US, upwards of 90% of the market when it comes to people searching anything from a singlular factoid to emergency home repair services.

    While there is nothing imminent as to the adoption of any specific recommendations or Google being broken into smaller pieces, it is an important thing that the DigitalParc team is keeping up on as the process moves. The main reason is that this change could have the potential to cause significant changes within the search landscape for years to come. When Core Algorithm updates are usually the largest singular change that can occur in a defined period for web design, marketing and SEO, a change to the structure of Google with search queries would be far and away one of the most impactful things in our industry in a decade.

    What’s exactly happening?

    As Search Engine Journal notes, the popular phrasing is that the DOJ is trying to break up Google. While that can be a somewhat accurate summary statement, the reality is much more complicated with recommendations, sell-offs, limitations for future business actions and more.

    As for the specifics, the DOJ has indicated that Google has been holding illegal monopolies of search and search ads for years. They’ve proposed ending revenue sharing agreements between companies influenced to use Google search, limit exclusive search distribution deals, require Google to share its search index and data models with competitors.

    The DOJ is also recommending ways to increase competition in search advertising and increase transparency in ad auctions through its service.

    What does this mean for search and SEO?

    This change could have a variety of effects. From a consumer’s standpoint, it would give you more search options that are less Google-centric and revolving around the Google algorithm, along with others. With developments like Google’s AI features being permanent features that users cannot disable, it has turned many users sour on Google’s experience.

    For businesses looking to market themselves on the web and companies providing those services (DigitalParc), it has the chance to change the landscape of search marketing. Instead of having to worry about one major source of traffic, sites would need to be partially optimized towards each algorithm for search engines that deliver on major sources of traffic. Also, if companies currently enjoy a good standing with rankings on Google and search results, this could be altered by a drop-off in traffic searching their key terms or a shake-up in the algorithm that tanks a website’s rankings.

    What does this mean for paid search advertising?

    There could be a number of side effects for the paid search sector. If the market were to be fractured, it would require advertisers to divide budgets between new emerging platforms and compete most where it makes sense. New strategies, technologies and potentially higher budget needs could all result from Google’s stranglehold on advertising platform being diminished.

    Cautious Approach, Fast Action

    DigitalParc has been following these developments as they have come to be, and we’re evaluating what this means for our valued clients and their marketing plans. While the changes can be a daunting sight, our team is committed to taking the challenge of a new search landscape and establish our clients’ websites for the future of search. The future of SEO and paid ads will certainly involve more diversification of platform as Google will likely face similar actions in the future, even if the most current suit doesn’t radically change things for businesses and marketers alike.

    When more of these recommendations and guidelines become actions, DigitalParc will move fast to ensure our clients’ websites are ahead of the curve to adapt, securing additional rankings and continuing success through search advertising.

    As this is certainly not the end of the matter for Google’s ongoing monopolistic approach, we will be following up with updates in the weeks, months and years ahead to share our expertise on the direction of search and digital marketing.

  • Digital Marketing + SEO Trends For 2024

    Digital Marketing + SEO Trends For 2024

    As 2024 is underway, DigitalParc has been hard at work formulating new plans and strategies for all of our clients’ success into the new year. Analyzing Google trends, site design standards and more is always the matter of focus around the turn of the new year. Being on the cutting edge of these developments ensures we serve our clients and maintain their competitive edge on their industries.

    What are some of the top Digital Marketing trends to look out for in 2024 and beyond? Read more below to see what your business needs to be focusing on to stay atop the rankings and generate more leads this year.

    Helpful Content Revolution

    For the past few years, Google has been pushing updates to its search ranking algorithm to be better at recognizing content that is actually helpful for users, rather than filler content that historically was good for SEO but not great for real people to find what they need. This old practice is sometimes referred to as keyword stuffing which worked back when Google’s algorithm was much simpler. Now, the game has gotten tougher to rank with those simpler practices. Google’s algorithm has really grown up before our eyes and frankly become more human-like. It has become very good at identifying content on websites that will be helpful to real users looking for goods, services or information on the web.

    For hard-working and dedicated business owners, this is a good thing. As this emphasis on helpful content continues, businesses that are legitimately good at what they do will be rewarded — as long as they can properly showcase what they do. That’s where a digital marketing firm like DigitalParc comes in to manage your presence online, both on-site and off-site, helping you get more leads to do what you do best: serve your clients.

    Helpful content at its most fundamental level refers to the idea of providing the most clear and concise description of what your business does for its clients. The basics of:

    • What you do.
    • Where you conduct business.
    • What sets you apart from competitors.
    • What tips and insights you can offer that will help users decide to do business with you or learn more about the industry.

    Frequent Site Updates

    It doesn’t matter what size your business is, where you’re located or what industry you are in, updating your site frequently is a must. This isn’t a completely new development in SEO, but the emphasis has never been greater with the amount of competition plus the more deliberate nature of Google indexing crawls being less frequent.

    With Google reducing the frequency of crawls to index pages on websites, frequent site updates can help give additional signals to Google that your site is one worthy of being indexed. With robust content that is up-to-date, Google’s view of your website as a current and authoritative voice in your niche will be beneficial for organic rankings leading to new business.

     

    Local Rankings Have Never Been More Important

    Depending on the scope of your business, local rankings will have a different weight to them. If your business specializes in selling goods or services within a defined local area, local pack rankings are something you absolutely need to focus on in 2024, if you aren’t already. Google reviews have a significant impact on giving the map-style results at the top of SERPs (search engine result pages). Given the value Google puts on these rankings vaulting ahead of organic rankings, it’s imperative for businesses to find a place in these results.

    The statistics don’t lie, either, as 44% of local searchers clicked the local pack results, compared to 29% of the organic results and 19% for paid ads. Sites listed in the top-3 local pack results receive 126% more traffic than businesses in the organic results below.

    If your business provides local goods or services, it’s imperative to start driving Google reviews, presenting an updated Google Business Profile listing and showing up on the map.

    Site Update Designs

    As 2024 rolls around, that means there’s more hackers and bad actors across the world cracking their knuckles and rolling up their sleeves to wreak havoc on good websites to promote their own, shadier sites and businesses. We’ve noted an uptick in spam and hacking attempts, which often prey on vulnerable website plugins and outdated site infrastructure.

    A fresh website build can help mitigate these problems drastically. With a new website, not only do you get the support of updated and secure infrastructure, but you get an updated design and the latest user experience (UX). Both Google and real people take site design very seriously. If load times are slow for a website, which older ones nearly always have problems with, Google cannot properly crawl a site, or will devalue it in rankings for being a waste of time for users. Twofold, if a user gets to a site that is slow, hard to navigate and looks untrustworthy for being outdated, it can push someone to look elsewhere for the goods or services your business provides.

    Conclusion

    Another new year with new expectations and new trends for the world of digital marketing. This may seem like a lot to focus on, but it’s important that your digital marketing be taken seriously. The digital marketplace is more crowded than ever, with businesses vying for supremacy in all industries and realizing that there are plenty of opportunities to gain new customers thanks to organic searches, paid ads and more. Make sure your business can not only keep up in 2024, but have your best year yet by getting ahead of the trends.

    DigitalParc can help you get ahead of the curve, as we do for our numerous clients who have trusted us with their digital marketing efforts for the past 15 years. Reach out to us today to see how we can take your business to the next level and drive more leads.

  • Why You Should Consider Redesigning your Website

    Why You Should Consider Redesigning your Website

    To get the most out of your website, it should be redesigned often. If you think that your website is up-to-date and your website’s design looks great, it probably is. However, a website should be improved and looked after regularly to ensure that your company’s presence is effective and successful at driving what is most important to your business.

    1) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

    A website must be SEO friendly, which means that website contains rich content, relevant text, and HTML tags that are relevant to what users want, especially users that you are looking for. Sometimes a website’s structure is non-compatible with search engine algorithms, which means the website’s pages are not indexed and the website fails to appear in search results.

    This is also a good time to make sure your website is mobile responsive. As you redesign the website, ensure that it is easy to access the website across multiple devices and browsers. It should easily read on-screen sizes of any device that a website visitor might be browsing with.

    2) Technology Changes

    Website technology changes regularly, and your website should follow the same trend. It is important to stay up-to-date with recent technology to ensure visitors can view website content properly and access the website across multiple devices and browsers. The software surrounding your website updates more often than one might think. WordPress updates, internet browser updates, search engine algorithm updates and other changes can all affect how a website performs with an effective user experience.

    3) Rebranding your website

    When a website is redesigned for a company it should follow the company branding and messaging. The redesign allows rebranding the website to better represent the brand’s voice. In addition, the newly designed website will stand out in website visitors’ minds when they are looking for products and services.

    4) Make your website more functional

    Depending on the features and functions of the website, it may need to be redesigned to make it more user-friendly and accessible. For instance, you might want to add social media integration or e-commerce features. Adding these website functionalities can make for a more engaging experience when a visitor lands on your website. This will increase leads and, in return, increase revenue.

    5) Optimize your website for mobile users

    It is important to ensure website availability and access is across multiple web browsers and devices. Today more website visitors are browsing on mobile phones and companies need to adapt to the changes in website design.

    People visit your website to learn about your products and services, so it is important to keep your site up-to-date and provide website visitors with valuable website content.

    If it’s time for your website to undergo a redesign, DigitalParc can help you at every step of the way to optimize and design content as well as market your site and business to ensure website success. We have been selected as one of the Top Minnesota Web Design Companies by DesignRush. Contact us today at hello@digitalparc.com or at 612-845-5590.

  • 5 tips for a new website

    5 tips for a new website

    Getting started with a new website

    You’ve started your website from nothing and now you’re ready to get some traffic. Whether you want to make sales or to simply get views, there are certain things that you need to do to get your website ready for true customer interaction. Even if you have created a great new website with strong content, you need to take steps to make sure that it is reaching your target audience. Here are 5 tips for a newly launched website…

    Make sure that your site accomplishes its original goals

    If the goal of your website is to inform or promote certain things make sure that they are easily accessible. Make sure if there’s a blog that there is a way to navigate to the latest updates or view old posts.

    If the goal of your website is to sell a product, make sure you have software that was made for commerce like Shopify or Opencart.

    If the point of your website is a call to action make sure it is apparent when a user visits a site. It should be obvious what the point of your website is to the use.

    Make sure it’s mobile Accessible

    Having a site that people can have access to on their smart phones is becoming more and more important as the mobile market continues to grow. It may be necessary for you to have not only mobile accessibility, but also an app.

    Be Social Media Savvy

    Depending on your industry, it can be vital to bolster traffic from an outside source. Having Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts helps keep users updated. If you have a new blog post or a new product to sell you can keep your followers on Twitter and Facebook updated. Pinterest is also a good way marketing tool because it allows users to share items pictures. If you have a unique product it could be shared between friends on Pinterest.

    Utilize this opportunity to cultivate your brand image

    Having a website is a great opportunity to continue to establish your brand image. Make sure that you make good use of logos and color schemes. This is also a great opportunity to have an “about” page for your company to continue to cultivate your brand image.

    Be easy to contact

    Make sure it is easy for people to potentially contact you. If you have a store location consider having a Google maps plug-in for your location. Have an email address you set aside for people to contact you about your website.

    Taking these steps is a great way to make sure that the launch of your new website goes smoothly. If you need a little help or some ideas for a new website, check out DigitalParc’s web design services today!

  • The Impact of Cloud Computing on Web Design

    The Impact of Cloud Computing on Web Design

    Cloud computing offers a small business the remarkable opportunity to make the most of modern technology and improve its bottom line. Are you planning to build or improve your company’s website? This article explains why business owners should consider cloud computing during the web design process.

    Enhanced Productivity

    Cloud computing can drastically enhance a business’s productivity level by reducing the time it takes to complete processes. Web design professionals can dedicate more time to proactive responsibilities. They will no longer have to deal with tedious IT issues. Cloud-based tools are resilient against viruses and blackouts. Disruptions such as these are problematic for any company.

    Offers More Flexibility

    Exercising a flexible approach to your day-to-day business can have an undesirable influence on your company without the use of cloud-based technology. You can benefit from the services of remote workers when you utilize cloud-based tools as you complete projects.

    Security Benefits

    As a website designer, you are no doubt familiar with online hackers and data breaches, but that should not be your primary source of concern. Although it is true that large-scale data losses can have a detrimental financial impact on your business; by using a third-party cloud backup service, your data will be much safer.

    Improves The Overall User Experience

    The majority of today’s web designers have embraced cloud-based technology. Most of them use their mobile phone messaging applications and video calls in the cloud. As a business owner, when you provide your clients the most current cloud-based tools, those clients will be impressed with your progressive approach. This will give you a competitive edge.

    Cloud computing can simplify make online business transactions and improve the your web designer’s productivity. If you are planning to create or update your business website, you may want to consider employing cloud technology.

  • How to Enhance Creative Thinking for Web Design Professionals

    How to Enhance Creative Thinking for Web Design Professionals

    It’s a moment of dread that everyone in a creative role has experienced: you are expected to deliver innovative and original ideas or concepts, but you have lost all inspiration and for the life of you cannot come up with anything that looks or sounds good. No matter what profession, brain blocks happen. That’s why it’s important to try and think critically and creatively while mastering your craft. Web design professionals frequently face the task of creating unique ideas to help their customers stand out from the crowd. Although most professionals in the field make it look easy, the truth is that all creative professionals have encountered blocks in their creativity. The next time it happens to you, remember these tips on how to enhance creative thinking for web design professionals. (more…)

  • Website Field of Dreams: I Built it. Will They Come?

    Website Field of Dreams: I Built it. Will They Come?

    “If you build it, he will come.”

    This line from the movie Field Of Dreams was meant as an inspirational promise to motivate the main character to build a baseball diamond in the middle of a corn field. Of course, it being a movie, the field was built and lo and behold, people arrived in droves, saving the family farm and leaving everyone in smiles.

    The world of technology boasts the same whispers from across the web, calling out to business owners to create a website; many times with ads that imply that building a website is simple and anyone can do it.

    While it’s true that there are a host of programs and organizations out there that can assist you in making a website, the truth is that actually getting sales and traffic to your website is more difficult.

    The help of professionals in the digital industry can be one of the best investments that you can make as a small business owner, given the digitally driven world that we live and consume in.

    Here are some things to know about the truth of building a website:

    It is not a fast process.

    Anyone that promises you a website that will yield immediate results is not being truthful with you. Building a website that is targeted to the needs of your potential customers and that boasts an interactive and intuitive platform requires ongoing studying of the habits of your website visitors.

    A successful website cannot be built overnight.

    Design Matters

    You have about eight seconds to keep a visitor on your website if they are visiting for the first time. If your site does not appeal to them, or the navigation does not make sense, they will simply leave and head to a different website.

    Website designers and professionals can assist you in getting your message across with compelling design, as well as taking care of the backend work that assures smooth navigation.

    Time: The Most Precious Commodity

    If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you’re likely wearing many different hats. Building a website can be extremely time consuming, even for professionals in the field. If you’re trying to build your own website and maintain it, you need to dedicate many hours to the process.

    Once your website is built, you still need to maintain it and assure that you are getting the traffic that you desire. Keep your website up to date by publishing fresh content. SEO is critical to the process, as is having good copy and clean design.

    A professional website design company will employ staff members who are dedicated to keeping atop the most current and ever-changing trends in technology. It will supply you with content that will keep your website ranked high in search engines.

    Building a website does not guarantee that you will build customers and traffic. Website design professionals can help you draw the crowds that you need to your technological field of dreams.

  • What Business Owners Might Not Know About SEO & Web Design

    What Business Owners Might Not Know About SEO & Web Design

    SEO is an important part of building your business. Understanding search engine optimization is critical for business owners.

    If you are a small business owner, you’re likely wearing many different hats as you work to build your company. You’ve probably researched “web design” in an effort to get online and advertise your services or products.

    Many small business owners are lured in by ads and companies promising that you can build your own website for free or nearly free, only to find that indeed, you get what you pay for.

    The reality is that while creating a website may seem simple, actually getting people to visit your site and ranking in search engines is much more complicated. Even if you have a great looking site, if potential customers aren’t using it, it’s not doing you any good.

    You’ve probably heard of search engine optimization (SEO) and the importance of understanding it and incorporating it into your website design.

    Here are some key points that every small business owner should know about SEO and web design:

    You Must Choose Your Words Carefully

    While images and fonts are important to overall website design, the words (copy) that you use on your site play a critical role in SEO. You must plan for each page to have clear, concise and compelling copy on every page of your website.

    In addition to great copy on your pages, you also need to make sure that you are adding relevant keywords to each post that is added to your page. SEO titles and meta descriptions should always include the appropriate key-word phrases in order to attain great search results.

    URLs matter in the world of SEO. Make sure yours contains your domain name as well as keywords in each URL. This will maximize your search engine results.

    Having a skilled content or copy writer is often the most effective way to boost your SEO results.

    Good Things Take Time

    Be wary of SEO services that offer you immediate results. The truth is that building your SEO takes time and effort and cannot be done overnight. Having a realistic expectation of how long it takes SEO to work is crucial to your business planning.

    By creating a dedicated content calendar and updating your website regularly with blog posts, you will be consistently submitting to search engines and your SEO results will grow over time.

    A good rule of thumb is that you need eight to twelve months of a dedicated SEO plan and content creation to get you increased SEO traffic and more importantly, results. Remember, if you are getting website visitors, but not converting customers, your SEO isn’t working for you.

    SEO can be confusing to understand and time consuming. Many design firms and social media professionals offer SEO optimization services that drill down into the details of what your particular business needs in order to get good SEO results and can study the results to assure you are getting the SEO that you need to grow your business.

  • 4 Essential Tips For Improving The UX of your Application

    4 Essential Tips For Improving The UX of your Application

    Creating an effective mobile experience is a bigger challenge for designers. There’s not as much room to convey your product features or brand message as a regular site. You have to deal with decreasing attention spans, and you have more limitations in how you control the interface. Despite the obstacles in the way of the designer, you can prevail by delivering the best experience to your users. Here are some tips on how to give the user what they’re looking for.

    Let users figure it out

    A lot of companies set out to make sure that the user has a clear understanding of the functionality of mobile site or app by providing tutorials. With a rising need of instant gratification, it’s best to let your users get started before they become disinterested. Provide light guidance to help them get started, but mostly rely on the functionality and responsiveness of your design so that users can accomplish what they set out to do. If there’s considerable confusion regarding the interface, you’ll have to make changes.

    Gather user data

    While it might seem helpful to emulate similar features and experiences delivered to the user on other mobile sites and apps, you should first seek the opinions of your users before you make changes. You might think you’re improving your site, but your users, whose opinions matter the most, might see it differently. Look for what your users want improved by gathering as much qualitative data as possible.

    Impress users before conversions

    Making a customer conversion easy is one thing, but in order to really inspire buying behavior, you have to impress the user that conveys the message of your site or showcases your products in a very unique way. A responsive, superiorly designed site will make users become frequent users and repeat customers. Establishing good retention will set you up for success for years to come.

    Make it responsive

    We talked about how advancements in technology have resulted in diminishing attention spans. This particularly rings true with mobile users. People expect apps to be as fast or even faster than a full website. If your app is constantly unreliable, your users won’t come back.

    You get out of your app what you put into it. Take these tips into account and get to work, or hire an experienced web design company that can design and develop an app that drives conversions again and again.

  • The Importance of Honest Website Project Timelines

    It can be a challenge for website designers or agencies to explain the intricacies that are involved with website design or website redesign to their potential customers. Even clients with a good grasp on how digital advertising and online shopping work might not understand all of the development and nuances that go on in the background to make a website successful. Of course, adding a new client to the roster is always exciting and sometimes even the best designer gets caught up in the moment, promising to deliver a website project that doesn’t fit into a realistic timeline. Giving an unrealistic timeline regarding website design sets you up for stress and potential failure, as well as undermines just how much work goes into good website design. Simply put, the importance of honest website project timelines cannot be understated.

    Usually when you’re contacted for a website project, the client either has a site that isn’t functioning the way that they’d like, or they are eager to get their new idea off the ground. In the competitive nature of the business, with people promising all sorts of abilities to design a website overnight, it can be a professional instinct to also make a promise that cannot be met out of the fear that you won’t be viewed as being able to provide the same services as your competitors.

    Anyone in the website design field that is good at their job knows that building a powerful, result driven website takes time and analysis. Expressing this to clients up front establishes a business relationship that allows both you and your client to operate professionally. Here are a few ways to help you set realistic project timelines for your website design projects.

    The Importance of Honest Website Project Timelines

    Understand The Scope

    Make sure you understand exactly what the client hopes to achieve with the website design or redesign. This may sound easier than it is sometimes, as many people tend to think that just having a website guarantees business.

    Have a form and process in place that allows the client to walk through their desired goals and make sure that you articulate those desired outcomes back to the client before beginning the project.

    Be Specific

    Once you know the desired outcome of the website and the elements that need to be built into it, make a schedule for the project with firm dates rather than approximate ones. Avoid giving nebulous timelines like, “It will be done in about two or three weeks” and instead deliver date-specific outlines. This allows for easy assessment of how the project is going by cross-referencing the project timeline with the work that’s been done.

    Look At The Calendar

    You’d think that looking at your calendar is a given when creating timelines, but so often designers forget to work holidays and peak busy seasons into setting realistic timelines. If your agency contracts with freelance professionals, assure that they are available to meet your deadlines before you promise to deliver.

    Despite efforts to provide realistic timelines for website design, everyone has encountered projects where you run into issues that you’ve never seen before or that pose problems that weren’t previously thought of. Should you hit one of those snags, make sure that you update your client right away. While they may not be happy about the delay, most professionals understand that sometimes unforeseen issues arise and will appreciate the honesty.