5 Important Questions to Ask Your Website Development Agency

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There are numerous questions that an organization may have when outsourcing a website development project to an agency. Investing in a new website is no small expense for a business owner, so addressing any questions that arise is a must. With our previous website development work at Onimod Global, there have been many questions we have received from clients over the years. Listed below are just a few critical questions that every business should ask their agency when it comes to a new website development project.

1. What does the previous work look like with other clients? 
Knowing what an agency is capable of when it comes to their website development expertise is extremely important. Request case studies from agencies to see what an agency has to offer in terms of website development, and what benefits can be provided for your organization. Click Here to view our previous website development work and case studies at Onimod Global. Ultimately, conduct research on multiple agencies to ensure the one you select is legitimate and will produce the final product you are looking for.

2. Is Google Analytics being utilized to track data and set up goals? 
Ensuring that a Google Analytics tracking code is installed to a new website is crucial and it’s amazing as to how underused this tool is by many businesses today. One major benefit that Analytics provides is where website traffic comes from and what adjustments can be made. Setting up goals in Analytics to track certain conversions like form completions and downloads is another critical aspect that Analytics provides. Essentially, being able to monitor general website traffic information is huge and implementing Google Analytics should always be a step in the website development process.

3. Will the website be optimized to increase online visibility? 
Regardless of the objectives an organization desires for their website, online visibility and being able to drive traffic should always be a priority. Therefore, if a site is not optimized for search engines how will it drive traffic? Ensuring that a website is highly optimized will require a lot of SEO knowledge and time. There are many components of SEO that involve “on page” optimization like paying attention to title tags, content, meta descriptions, keywords, and internal link building. There are also “off page” optimization tactics like blogging and utilizing local directory sites. In the end, having a highly optimized website is a must and be certain that the agency developing your website is familiar with these practices.

4. Is the Google Tag Manager being used?
Application of a tag management system like the Google Tag Manager to a website is extremely beneficial for any organization. In technical terms according to Google, the Tag Manager “replaces hard-coded tags on a website with dynamic tags that are easier to implement and update.” Tag management systems like Google’s provide multiple benefits such as adding AdWords, Analytics, and even third party tags instead of having to manually edit the site code. Therefore, this reduces errors and allows the simple deployment of tags on a website, so be sure to address this area of concern with your agency.

5. What does the timeline look like until the site officially launches? 
It’s important to be on the same page with your agency about the development of a timeline and what the expectations are. Depending on the complexity of the site a website development project can take anywhere from months to years. It’s essential to stay in contact with your agency throughout the entire process as new requests may arise and an agency should always be adaptable to client changes. An experienced team like ours at Onimod Global has worked together on multiple web dev projects and understand how important client timelines are.

Contact Us: If you’re a business seeking an upgrade in website development, feel free to reach out to our expertise at Onimod Global and check out Our Work. We look forward to hearing from you!

4 Common SEO Myths That Marketers Should Reject

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When it comes to the best search engine optimization (SEO) practices, it can be difficult to know what methods are currently working and what is not. Search engine algorithms on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others are frequently changing and this factor makes it challenging for marketers to adapt. There are numerous myths floating around about what a “good” SEO strategy consists of. Listed below are four common SEO myths that all marketers should be aware of.

1. Stuffing keywords is the way to go
The method of stuffing keywords is both outdated and falls into the “black hat” side of SEO practices. Search engines these days (Google especially) are more focused on rewarding legitimate organizations trying to drive real traffic to their sites. Don’t confuse implementing rich keywords in good content development compared to “stuffing.” An article from Entrepreneur describes keyword stuffing as “having too many keywords stuffed into your domain, this will be viewed as a spammy tactic that Google can pick up on.” Ultimately, the practice of keyword stuffing not only destroys credibility, but can ban sites from being shown on search engines at all.

2. The security of a site doesn’t affect rankings 
Regardless of the other benefits a secure site offers, many marketers and organizations either don’t believe or realize how important having an SSL certificate is for optimization purposes. According to an article in 2014 from Google’s Security Blog, “security is a top priority at Google, so we’re starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal.” Other search engines like Bing and Yahoo have adapted this practice as well. In general, secure sites (SSL installed) are starting to become the norm online and do have important implications when it comes to optimization and higher organic rankings on search engines.

3. Blogging isn’t that important for SEO
This is one myth that appears to be going away soon, but is still present among organizations who aren’t in touch with today’s digital environment. Maintaining a well kept blog in general will only increase online visibility and fuel your SEO. Google and Bing’s algorithms reward valuable and fresh content for specific search queries. The major SEO factors of blogging consist of relevant content production, attracting internal/external linking, expanding of keywords, and many more. Regardless of the industry, maintaining a well written blog is one way to increase your organization’s SEO presence and appear ahead of competitors in the search engine results.

4. “Having a contact at Google will get me on the first page”
Some organizations actually believe having a contact at Google will help their site rank better for relevant searches. Although knowing a Google representative is very beneficial in regards to the Google Partners Program and latest information, Google doesn’t staff employees to help businesses with their SEO. According to the Entrepreneur article, “this is the fascinating component about Google; you have to follow the latest trends to make sure your SEO strategy aligns with Google’s constant algorithm updates.” Moreover, if an agency or marketing professional claims to have a contact at Google relating to SEO and first page rankings, they are lying.

Contact Us: At Onimod Global we know that organic search engine optimization or SEO, is absolutely vital to achieve long term search engine visibility for your website. Years of experience in SEO is the core of our strategies. We develop organic search engine optimization campaigns that deliver increases in organic traffic and natural rankings on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Check out Our Work to see what SEO solutions Onimod Global has to offer!

Snapchat App Debuts Pixel To Help Marketers Track Conversions

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Despite still being a bit young in the advertising world, Snapchat is starting to step up their game with the introduction of the new ‘Snap Pixel’. This new addition to the wildly popular social media app will give marketers incredible insight into their ad’s success rate amongst targeted consumers.

What Is A Conversion Pixel?

The idea of a conversion pixel may be a bit foreign. Essentially, a pixel is a tool used to help track conversions. Digitaland.tv describes a pixel as being a, “tiny, transparent, pixel-sized images embedded in everything from emails to banner ads during Digital Banner Production.” Digital advertisers use these pixels to see if their advertisements generated the desired response from consumers who viewed the ad.

Once embedded, these pixels can show marketers if the user converted after viewing an ad or not, which helps marketers determine if the ad is effective or not. It also tells them how well their ad dollar is being spent, which is incredibly important on the bottom line.

How It Can Be Used

We have already discussed how pixels can be used to tell marketers about an ad and its effectiveness, but what else can it do? An article by Casey Wilson of Forbes shares insight into how this tiny tool can be used to better understand your target audience.

Specifically, Wilson says that a pixel can help digital marketers produce the following 3 audience segments:

  • All Site Visitors
  • Cart Abandoners
  • All Converters

It is always critical to understand your target audience. The more information you can gather, the better. This information is what is going to help you generate solid conversions, and in the end every business is looking for more conversions because more conversions mean more money made.

Other Pixel Platforms

Google and Facebook have already been using pixel tracking for quite some time, and have received great results. Social media has shown itself to be an incredible digital marketing medium. Facebook recently released their third quarter reports for 2017 to reveal an astounding $10.14 billion in advertising revenue.

This is the very same stage that Snapchat is now competing on. It will be very interesting to see the effects that the new Snap Pixel has within the industry of digital marketing. It is doubtful that Snapchat will ever rise to the same level of advertising at which Facebook currently operates, but it will certainly be intriguing to see how it all plays out in the months to come.

 

*Feature image courtesy of: ThoroughlyReviewed