1. Get to Know Your Mates: Understand Your Customers

First things first, it’s essential to know who you’re selling to. Are your customers retirees enjoying the sun in the Gold Coast or are they young professionals hustling in Brisbane? Conduct market research to understand your target market’s needs, preferences, and behaviours. Use surveys, social media polls, and even good old face-to-face chats. Once you know them, create customer personas to make your marketing and sales efforts more targeted.

Pro Tip: Use Aussie slang in your communications to create a relatable and friendly vibe with your audience. Crikey! You’d be surprised how endearing a well-placed “mate” can be.

2. Chuck in Some Digital Magic: Embrace Online Marketing

It’s 2023, and if your business isn’t online, you’re missing out big time. Here’s a few ways to sprinkle some digital magic on your sales strategy:

• Website Excellence: Ensure your website is user-friendly, mobile-optimized, and showcases your products or services beautifully. Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) for purchasing and inquiries.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): Get your website to rank higher on search engines by optimizing it for keywords relevant to your business. This boosts visibility and attracts potential customers.
• Social Media: Engage with your audience on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Share behind-the-scenes content, customer testimonials, and special promotions.

Pro Tip: Run social media contests where customers can win freebies or discounts. It increases engagement and spreads the word faster than a kangaroo on a trampoline.

3. Become a Local Legend: Focus on Local SEO

Australians love supporting local businesses. Make sure your business pops up when people do a “near me” search. Here’s how:

• Google My Business: Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. Add photos, update your contact information, and encourage customers to leave reviews.
• Local Listings: Ensure your business is listed in local online directories such as Yellow Pages, True Local, and Yelp Australia.

Pro Tip: Partner with nearby businesses for cross-promotions. For example, if you own a bakery, team up with a local coffee shop to offer a combined discount.

4. Fair Dinkum: Be Authentic and Genuine

Aussies can spot a phony from a mile away. Building authentic relationships with your customers is paramount. Here’s how to keep it real:

• Personal Touch: Address customers by their first name, send personalised emails, and remember their preferences.
• Transparency: Be honest about your product’s features, pricing, and limitations. When something goes wrong, own up to it and offer swift solutions.
• Customer Loyalty Programs: Implement loyalty programs to reward repeat customers with discounts, freebies, or exclusive access to new products and service.

Pro Tip: Highlighting your ‘Aussie-made’ credentials or sustainability efforts can also resonate well with customers who are passionate about supporting local and eco-friendly businesses.

5. Offer Top-Notch Customer Service

Let’s face it, mate. Bad customer service is the surest way to lose sales. In an era where everyone has a megaphone thanks to social media, it’s imperative to keep your customers happy. Ensure your staff are well-trained, friendly, and responsive.

• Speedy Responses: Respond to customer inquiries promptly via phone, email, or social media.
• After-Sales Support: Offer reliable after-sales support to assist customers with any issues they encounter after purchasing.

Pro Tip: Occasionally, throw in a surprise. A thank-you card or a little freebie with an order can make a customer’s day and earn you a loyal follower.

6. Participate in Local Events and Markets

Australians love their weekend markets and local events. Participating in these can significantly boost your sales and expose your brand to a wider audience.

• Pop-Up Stalls: Set up a stall at local markets, festivals, or fairs to showcase and sell your products.
• Networking: Attend business networking events to meet potential clients and collaborators.

Pro Tip: Use an eye-catching display and offer sample products to draw people in. The smell of freshly baked goods or a free taste test can work wonders.

7. Harness the Power of Testimonials and Reviews

Word of mouth is gold. Encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews and testimonials on your website and social media pages. Display these prominently to build trust and credibility with potential buyers.

Pro Tip: Implement a referral program where customers get a discount or reward for referring friends and family. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!

Final Thoughts

Running a small business in Australia comes with its unique set of challenges, but with the right sales strategies, you can thrive and grow. Remember, understanding your customers, embracing digital marketing, focusing on local SEO, being authentic, offering exceptional customer service, participating in local events, and leveraging testimonials are crucial steps toward boosting your sales. So, put on your thinking Akubra, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to see your business flourish!

Cheers to success! 

For more tips and insights on growing your small business, stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter. Happy selling!

Have you implemented any of these strategies? Share your experiences in the comments below!

The post Top Sales Strategies for Small Businesses in Australia appeared first on VR Digital.

Google uses software known as web crawlers that explore the web and scan the content of the websites they find on the internet so that the entries can be created for a search engine index. Google has complex algorithms that analyse web pages for their relevance to the end-user. Google rates web pages based on its opinion of their authority and usefulness to searchers. So, if a web page shows up higher in search results when searching something on Google, this means it is the most authoritative and accurate result for the given search query according to Google. 

In the search result pages, you find answers to the search queries that consist of keywords. Google’s AI understands the intention and meaning behind every search query and then processes it in concepts. There are more than 210 known factors that influence which websites will rank on the search result page for a particular search query. 

Now, the most important thing you need to know here is that many of the ranking factors are created by Google’s AI algorithms themselves. So, understanding how Google decides which websites to rank when searching may seem difficult. But luckily, there are certain strategies that you can implement to improve the search engine rankings of your websites. Also, Google often shares news on their latest algorithm updates. You can take a look at them to better understand how Google ranks websites. 

In this blog, we will discuss some important things that will give you a clear idea of how Google ranks websites and what you can do to improve your site’s rankings on Google. So, let’s get started. 

Does Google Change Its Ranking Algorithm?

Google releases algorithmic updates on a regular basis. These can either be minor updates or bigger ones. The goal of the algorithmic updates by Google is to improve the search results and provide the most relevant results for searchers that match their search queries. 

Google usually releases bigger algorithmic updates every 3-6 months and they affect millions of websites and web pages at a time. However, it can’t be predicted exactly when Google will release an update. You may lose your search engine rankings after a major Google update. If you notice that your search engine rankings have dropped dramatically, you will need to use SEO processes that consist of recovering strategies. That said, websites that are well-maintained may not get much affected from a Google update. 

Types of Google Algorithm Updates

Google releases minor algorithm updates as well as bigger changes that are known as “Broad Core Algorithm Updates”. Minor updates occur 5-9 times every day. In 2018, Google announced more than 3200 updates (About 9 updates per day). These changes may result in a change in ranking positions. You can estimate how big the updates are based on the spike in rank fluctuations. 

You can expect a “Broad Core Algorithm Update” from Google every 3-4 months. This means bigger Google algorithm updates can occur 4-5 times a year. Some of the biggest Google algorithm updates till now include Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, RankBrain, Medic, BERT, etc. 

How Does Google Decide When To Update The Ranking Algorithm?

Google focuses on both user signals and webmaster signals to decide when to update the ranking algorithms. Google analyses user behaviour to find out whether or not users are satisfied with the search results. They also monitor what webmasters do with their websites. If Google finds that a webmaster is doing something wrong to get his website to the top of Google search results or users are dissatisfied with the results, you can expect Google to take action about it.

Google Ranking Factors 

The three major contributing factors in the Google search engine ranking algorithm include:

• How unique, useful, and relevant your content is,
• How well-rounded and attractive your web pages are to the end-user, and 
• How authoritative your website is based on backlinks. 

Let’s take a closer look at the most important Google rankings factors:

On-Page Factors

There are several on-page factors that can influence your website’s rankings on search engine result pages. Here are the measurements that google considers when analysing the content of a website:

1. Is The Content Unique?

Is the content that you have published on your blog or website your original work? Have you added something new to the subject? Then chances are that Google will rank your website higher for relevant search queries. 

2. Is Your Content Helpful?

Google wants to provide as much value as possible to its users. So, if your content is genuinely helpful, you can expect Google to rank your website or blog higher in search results. 

Now, the question is, how Google determines whether or not a piece of content is helpful?

Google makes the decision based on various user signals. The most important ones include:

• Do Most visitors stay on your website for long or bounce back to the search results immediately after landing on your website?

• Do visitors click on the internal links and explore other pages on your website?

• Do visitors actively engage with your content?

• Does the content really answer the queries of the visitors? Or, is it just keyword-stuffed?

These are all crucial factors that tell Google where to rank a website in the search results for a given search query. 

3. Does Your Content Cover The Topic In-Depth?

Long-form content that covers a topic in-depth always has a better chance of ranking higher in search results. So, if you want to improve your rankings, make sure you publish in-depth content. 

4. Other On-Page Factors 

Other on-page factors that Google takes into consideration when deciding which websites to rank on search results when searching include:

• Title Tag
• Meta Description
• Click-Through Rate or CTR
• Page Speed
• The Overall Appearance of A Website, etc.

Off-Page Factors

Here are the off-page factors that Google looks at closely when ranking a website in search engine results:

1. Is Your Website Authoritative?

Your website authority is a major factor that directly contributes to the rankings of your website. 

Does your website have backlinks from authoritative websites? Are those websites relevant to your industry? These are the things that Google considers when determining how authoritative a website is.

2. What is Your Page Authority? 

Page Authority is another important off-page factor for determining the position of a specific web page in search results. Here’s what Google considers to determine how authoritative a particular web page is:

• How many inbound links are pointing to that specific web page?
• Are those links coming from relevant and authoritative websites?
• Is the page linked with relevant anchor texts?

3. How Authoritative and Relevant Your Competitors’ Websites Are?

You need to check the backlinks and on-page content of your competitors’ websites to know how authoritative and relevant they are. 

What Makes A Page Bad According To Google’s Algorithm

Here are the things that make pages bad according to Google’s algorithm:

• Pages with A High Bounce Rate

Suppose a user types his query in the Google search bar and hits enter. He sees a web page on the search results page and clicks on it to visit the website. Now, if the user returns back to the results page immediately after landing on the website, then it will be counted as a “bounce”. If a website’s bounce rate is high, Google assumes that the page is not providing searchers with what they are searching for and that’s why they are leaving the site unsatisfied. This can make a negative impact on the site’s search engine rankings.

• Low Page Speed  

If your pages are too slow to load, it can negatively impact your Google rankings. Studies show that most people leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. There can be several reasons why a web page takes longer to load. These include large web assets like videos, images, scripts, and more. So, if you want better rankings, you must consider optimising your page load speed.  

Ranking Factors That You Can Improve To Rank Higher In Search Results

Here are some of the ranking factors that you can improve:

• Content Quality
• Your Website’s Performance
• Backlinks 
• The Usability Of Your Website

Listed below are some of the questions you need to answer first if you want to achieve a higher ranking in Google search results:

• Does your website look fresh and well-organised?
• Is the text easy to read?
• Is the content on the page unique, helpful, and relevant?
• Are you targeting the right keywords?

Here are some strategies that can help you rank higher on Google:

Step 1: Keyword Optimization

Finding the right keywords and placing them at the right place in your content is important. 

Step 2: Competitor Analysis

See what your competitors are doing to rank on Google, and then work to improve your site based on your findings. 

Step 3: On-Page Optimization

As mentioned earlier, on-page signals are crucial when it comes to Google ranking. Consider making text and visual improvements on your site to make it look more attractive. 

Step 4: Backlink Building

Authority websites always rank higher on Google. And to build authority, you must get backlinks from authoritative websites.  I hope these tips will help you achieve higher positions on Google search result pages. Please go through other online resources to know more about how Google ranks websites. 

The post Google Rankings Explained – Here’s How Google Ranks Websites appeared first on VR Digital.

But what is HTTPS? How does it work? What is the importance of HTTPS?

In today’s blog post, we will discuss everything you need to know about HTTPS. We will show you the differences between HTTP and HTTPS. What’s more, you will learn how to make sure that your website survives a migration from one protocol to another. So, let’s get started.

HTTP – The Basics

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is an application layer protocol that is used for transferring the data of a web page over a network. It is actually the foundation of the World Wide Web or WWW. 

An HTTP request is a method by which the web browser asks the server to send a copy of the information it needs to load a website. HTTP requests usually contain:

• HTTP Version Type
• An HTTP Method
• A URL
• HTTP Request Headers
• Optional HTTP Body

However, the problem with HTTP is that the information that is transferred over an HTTP connection is not encrypted. It means third-party attackers can steal the information. That’s why you should avoid submitting any sensitive data when you are on a website that uses HTTP.

HTTPS – The Basics

HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) is a secure version of HTTP. It protects the communication between your web browser and a website against attackers. This provides increased security of data transfer. It is particularly important when transmitting sensitive information such as credit/debit card details. 

Web browsers mark websites that use HTTPS differently than those that do not. If there is a lock icon in the address bar, it means the webpage is served over HTTPS and is secure. Otherwise, a “Not Secure” warning will be displayed next to the website URL. Websites that require login credentials must use HTTPS.

How Does HTTPS Work?

HTTPS uses a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, formerly known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), to encrypt communications between a server and a browser. It uses a secure certificate (SSL certificate) from a third-party vendor. 

The encryption protocol uses an asymmetric public key infrastructure that uses two different keys (The Private Key and The Public Key) to secure communications. It helps protect sensitive data that you don’t want any third-party attacker to access. 

If you run an e-commerce website, then you must consider using an SSL certificate. It will help you secure the transmission of transaction details and other information of the user.

Importance of HTTPS

HTTPS plays a crucial role in preventing intruders from tampering with the communications between your website and the browser of your user. When the information is sent over HTTP, it is broken into packets of data. Anyone can sniff them using free software. With HTTPS, if someone tries to sniff the packets, he will only be able to see nonsensical characters. 

Another thing you need to know here is that Internet service providers or other intermediaries may inject ads into webpages without the permission of the website owner if the website doesn’t use HTTPS. 

What is TLS?

As I said earlier, TLS is an abbreviation for Transport Layer Security. You need to get a TLS certificate and install it on your server to enable HTTPS on your site. These certificates are issued by CA or Certificate Authorities. To check the issuing Certificate Authority of a website’s TLS certificate, you just need to click on the lock icon in the address bar.

TLS uses cryptographic techniques. They are responsible for ensuring the information has not been tampered with since it was sent. They also ensure that the communications are with the person who sent the request. 

A TLS handshake is the process that establishes an HTTPS connection. It involves a series of steps. It is where session keys are created. 

Build Trust with HTTPS

Studies have shown that people buy from brands they know and trust. HTTPS can help you build trust with your audience. 

Here’s an example that will give you a clear idea of how it works:

Suppose you run an online business that accepts online payments. Now, if there is a “Not Secure” warning sign in the browser’s address bar, people will think twice before entering their credit/debit card details. 

On the other hand, the fact that there’s a lock icon in the address bar assures the users that no third-party attacker can access their private data such as credit card details, passwords, etc. 

How Does HTTPS help SEO?

Here’s how enabling HTTPS can help you improve your site’s SEO performance:

• HTTPS is considered as a lightweight ranking signal. 
• It preserves referral data.
• It will help you earn trust. People tend to stay longer on websites that use HTTPS because they are secure. It will improve dwell time which is an important ranking signal.
• It allows you to use TLS 1.3 and HTTP/2 to improve your website’s page speed. 

How to Avoid Potential HTTPS Migration Issues?

Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS has a lot of benefits, especially from an SEO perspective. However, you must familiarize yourself with the process to avoid any migration SEO issues. Here are things you need to consider when moving from HTTP to HTTPS:

1. Inform Google

Set up a new Google Search Console profile for your site’s HTTPS version. In Google Analytics, set your profile to secure to be able to track the right data. Also, consider updating data collection parameters in Google Tag Manager where applicable. 

2. Choose The Right Security Certificate

You can choose between an SSL and a Wildcard certificate. An SSL certificate for multiple domains allows you to secure the main domain and up to 99 SANs. On the other hand, with a wildcard certificate, you can secure your initial website URL and all its subdomains. However, a wildcard certificate costs more.

3. Properly Update All URLs

Whether you use relative or absolute URLs, it’s important to keep them updated on site. Consider prepending all your website URLs with “https://”. 

4. Allow Google to Crawl Everything on Your Site

You should allow Google to crawl all elements on your website. In fact, you should consider allowing Google to crawl your CSS and JS files as well. Disallowing the rendering of CSS and JS files could create many problems.

Conclusion

So, this is how HTTPS works. It’s always a good idea to use HTTPS, especially if you run an online store or business that deals with sensitive data such as credit card details or other personal information of users. Also, there are both free and paid options when it comes to enabling HTTPS on your site. You can choose one as per your preferences. 

The post How Does HTTPS Work? Here’s Everything You Need to Know appeared first on VR Digital.

Now, let us move on to some more complex findings that you can explore by the website traffic metrics of your rival. Let us check out six hidden points you can explore within a finger snap with the help of competitor analysis tools! Here are the insights that were found with the use of Market Explorer and Traffic Analytics.  

1. Who is Currently Leading the Market?

When planning a marketing campaign, you are likely to check out the insights and strategies of your business rival. You should not judge your competitors just by estimated market share, brand awareness, frequency of PR appearances, etc. If you do that, you will miss the competitor with the best reach and traffic. 

If you are looking for a better strategy to find a legitimate digital benchmark, you will have to check out your top 5 competitors. You will have to identify the one holding the highest traffic volume in the last 12 months. Also, note if they demonstrated speedy or stable growth and whether they had any declines over the year.

Also, check out whether or not these ups and downs impact their offline popularity. You can take that company’s website as a benchmark and develop your campaigns considering their successful and unsuccessful steps.

You can take the biggest-on-the-market brand in your industry for the competitive market analysis and enter it into Market Explorer. After that, the tool will automatically gather the top market players in your industry and demonstrate their traffic, aka online market, share, QoQ, YoY growth/decline dynamics, etc. The Growth Quadrat widget divides your competitors within four categories, and those are:

• Leaders: Denotes sites with both the volume and the traffic spike dynamics.
• Game-Changers: Represents sites with lower traffic share yet with big visitor spikes within a short time.
• Niche Players: Means sites having both lower-traffic-share and slower-than-average growth in the online market.
• Established Players: Denotes sites with a comparatively large online market share but a lower traffic growth rate.

Also, check the traffic sources of the companies and keep an eye on the one that is driving the most traffic—no need to go anywhere else to look for this data. Market Explorer divides the key traffic sources of your rivals. Also, this breaks down the impact of each channel.

This is how you can research the traffic volume amongst the businesses and determine the industry leader. Remember, while doing competitive and market research, concentrate on relative numbers, not absolute ones. It is important, especially if you are in search of a benchmark for a specific traffic source.

2: Which Hidden Seasonal Trends Not to Overlook?

Even though you may be aware of all the industry spikes and declines in demand, you still have to learn the seasonality existing for some companies. Sometimes, it is the budget remaining at the end of a quarter and needs to be spent. Thus, you see that there are lots of paid traffic going to the website during this time.

In another scenario, it can happen that a new head of marketing has emerged with fresh ideas catching everyone’s attention to, for example, blogger relations. Don’t forget to check the traffic metrics over current and previous years. Note the peak month of your main competitor by the number of website visits. Then compare data and check if it is similar for the overall market and other industry players. Also, identify the reasons for such a spike. Repeat that same procedure for checking the period of decline as well.

Thus, once you know how the campaign of your competitors worked in a low season, you can decide whether or not a better promotion in this period will help you.

3. Do Your Competitors Hit the Total Target Audience?

Your rival’s target is not important, but who they hit is the question. To discover this, you need to study the audience overlap between your competitors. Traffic Analytics can help you with this with advanced competitor analysis methods. The percentage of shared vs. unique audience will help you point out the present or even the future leader of the competition. Also, with its help, you can compare the positioning of different brands, marketing strategies, and revealing media preferences. All these will help you align your campaigns accordingly.

For example, if you look at top streaming sites, their home pages may look more or less similar. But you will see the actual difference in the viewership of these platforms. If you share the same situation with your competitor, you need to increase the number of common media placements you share. Or, avoid them in the future since this differentiates your audiences. 

4. Does Your Competitor have better Communication with the Target Audience than you?

Traffic numbers can say so much about the success of the brand online. It is simple – if your company website doesn’t provide what users want, users will leave. So, switch to Traffic Analytics and unveil your competitors’ key user engagement, which is the average visit duration and bounce rate. 

5. How Your competitors Manage to Drive Target Users to the top products?

Once you come to see that you share a certain volume of the same users with your competitor, look at your competitors’ top products/services. Also, unveil the marketing channels performing as the best traffic drivers. With the help of Traffic Analytics, you can cover both areas.

6. What is the Estimated Conversion of your rivals?

Well, this goes for e-commerce website design and online-based companies only. If users visit a web page to confirm a purchase or enter their bank details, they have already bought something.

With the help of insights from the Traffic Analytics tool, check the traffic of the Top Pages related to payment and filter the complete list by “checkout”, “secure”, “pay”, “thank-you”, etc. There won’t be exact numbers. Instead, get some general understanding.

Final Words

So, these were the insights that would help you know your competitors better. From getting increased traffic to getting more sales, you can better prepare your online business strategies if you analyse these insights and prepare yourself accordingly. Contact for Website Development Services in Melbourne or call 0481184833.

The post Top Competitor Insights Anyone Can Get with Advanced Competitor Analysis Tools!! appeared first on VR Digital.

On the other hand, if you own a startup business, you know that fast-evolving ranking algorithms and SEO techniques can make it difficult for your businesses to optimize their presence in search results. So, what are you going to do to tackle all that?

Well, while challenges are many, the SEO and web designing experts are there for help. So, if you haven’t consulted your website needs with an expert yet, it is high time you take your business on the side of safety.

Here we will be focusing on some relevant SEO and web designing challenges that a reliable digital marketing agency can help you with. So, here we go.

Web designing hurdles to overcome

After all, the aesthetics of a website is determined by the web design. It will decide how it will look, the content, graphics, and how it will work. The modern web designing challenges are conceptualizing, planning and developing a bunch of electronic files.

These files will determine the design, colours, structure, graphics, images, text styles, and other interactive traits displaying pages to visitors on the site.

Another thing is scalability. When a website is being developed, it is crucial to estimate the workload it can deal with. Therefore, it is a part of web design challenges toconsider all the problems that might appear later. Generally, there are two aspects of scalability:

• Increased number of visitors (often more than anticipated). This tends to reduce the performance and speed of the site or application.
  
  
• In e-commerce sites, an expansion of the product range might adversely affect the page loading time. Also, it can make the inventory updates an issue.

When it comes to solving these problems, a lot depends on how the website has been designed. To speak the truth, scalability is not about performance or bandwidth. It is more about the load put on a single server, and the best solution to this problem is to design software that can share the total load among multiple servers at the peak times of usage.

SEO Challenges For Start-Ups

It will surely make the journey much easier if you are aware of the major challenges of optimizing your content for improving your search presence. The difficulties that startup owners should take a look at and get ready to overcome are below:

It is crucial to consistently produce great content and build many high-quality links in due course. What is even more important is getting a realistic picture of when you can expect your SEO strategies to yield visible outcomes.

You should be ready to face the other challenges are fake SEO companies, budget, conventional vs. modern Search Engine Optimisatio tactics, slow progress, social media vs. SEO, ROI, Quality content, etc.

However, it would help if you did not worry about that because the trusted and highly experienced digital marketing experts are out there to help you out. In some of our upcoming blogs, we will be discussing the tactics experts imply for dealing with these hurdles. So, stay in touch.

The post Common challenges you might face as an SEO or Web Design startup! appeared first on VR Digital.

In this blog, we are going to discuss the latest web design and development trends. These tips will help you create a highly functional website that looks great and appeals to the people of the modern world. So, let’s get started. 

Web Design and Development Trends for 2024

Here are some of the top website design and development trends that you can use to make your website perform better:

1. Dark Mode

Dark mode has grown in popularity in recent years. More and more people are switching to Dark Mode in 2024. This is mainly because the dark way is better for our eyes. It cuts glare and reduces eye strain in low-light conditions. This is making designers embrace the dark mode design. It has emerged as one of the best alternatives to the light mode that causes digital eye strain. 

However, here are a few tips that will help you make the most of the dark mode in website design:

• It’s not always necessary to use the colour “Black”. You can also use a dark purple or a pale grey background.
• Make it easy for your users to toggle between the light and dark mode.
• Don’t use highly saturated colours.
• Don’t ignore the font size and contrast. 

2. 3D Illustrations

Incorporating illustrations and animations into your web design is one of the best ways to attract users’ attention. 3D visuals add to the overall user experience. Many people fall in love with such methods. Many big brands and e-commerce stores use these types of designs to give their users a more realistic feel of their products and services. 

3. Elegant Serif Fonts and Realistic Textures

Nowadays, the increased space around the text and words enables serif fonts to appear clearer and more readable. This is making designers fall in love with these once-popular font styles again. 

Also, designers are using realistic textures that positively impact the UX. It’s an excellent way to make your users feel familiar with your website. Some of the most common natural textures you can use on your website include wood, ice, etc. 

4. Mobile-First Development

The use of mobile devices such as Smartphones, tablets, etc., is increasing with each passing day. This is why it’s important to focus on mobile-first development in 2024. It would help if you worked on creating responsive designs that work well on mobiles and tablets.

Bottom Line

So, these are some of the website design and website development trends that you should look out for in 2021. Remember that you must understand all the different parts that make up the whole to create a functional website. Please go through our other blogs and resources for more tips.

The post Top Web Design and Development Trends To Look Out for in 2024 appeared first on VR Digital.

Robots have been assuming new roles in the SEO world as well. Programmatic technology and predictive analysis have been used to deliver targeted messaging with high efficiency and accuracy for a long time. Google’s Rankbrain, which is a major component of Google’s core algorithm, uses machine learning to determine the most relevant search results to user queries. It is the third-most important ranking signal that plays a crucial role in ranking webpages on a search engine result page. 

However, the question is, “Are robots and artificial intelligence a threat to SEO service providers?” 

While it’s true that robots are already performing many SEO tasks once handled by humans, humans are needed to control these technologies and effectively execute different SEO operations. Now, let’s discuss the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence for SEO professionals.

Need for Human Touch in Automation  

The human element plays a pivotal role in the successful execution of an SEO strategy. It’s because only living, breathing people can understand how humans would search using search engines and social media networks. For example, machines can never understand how a person locked out of his car at midnight searches differently compared to a person searching for a car lockout service in the middle of the day.

Cons of Relying Completely on Humans for SEO Services

Humans can hardly match the speed and efficiency of a robot. This is the biggest disadvantage of relying completely on human resources when it comes to SEO services. AI helps improve efficiency, speed, and cost-savings, allowing SEO professionals in Australia to focus on things that impact user experience. It makes it easy for marketers and SEO experts to decide, filter, and manage complex data sets. 

However, though AI helps automate SEO operations, human input and analysis are always important for monitoring and controlling results. 

The Role of Machines

An AI tool can make visualising the internal linking structure easy and less time-consuming for webmasters. These tools work by going through the website and tracing the links throughout the webpages. They also help webmasters formulate a solution if they identify any problems with the internal linking structure. 

AI can also help SEO professionals optimise visual content, improve voice search, cut down on different SEO tactics, create accurate reports, and provide a better user experience. 

Here’s How To keep the Balance Between Humans and Machines in Professional SEO Services

Google has said that they focus on user intent when delivering results to a search query. This means SEO professionals should focus on the needs and wants of their customers when optimising content and webpages for SEO. While tools help automate different SEO processes, the human element can never become a thing of the past in the SEO world. AI can never match humans’ thinking patterns that help determine the right steps to respond to specific insights. 

Bottom Line

So, effective SEO is all about finding the perfect balance between humans and machines. They need to go hand in hand to find solutions to complex modern-day problems. 

The post SEO and Machine Learning: A New Relationship between Man and Machine appeared first on VR Digital.

However, some industries are more dependent on the service of a digital marketing agency than others. Here, we will be taking a closer look at those top industries that can benefit from digital marketing in 2021 and why so.

What makes Digital Marketing so relevant in the modern industry?

The popular studies report that a majority of consumers will significantly rely on digital channels. On these channels and search result pages, people will get better advertising and suggestions for products/services than traditional marketing advertising.

To speak the truth, digital marketing has entirely exceeded traditional marketing strategies. The only difference here is that while several industries use it slightly, others enjoy a great Return on Investment. It is possible because of their online branding efforts and digital marketing strategies.

 More or less, every industry depends on online advertising techniques. And with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (industry 4.0) and others coming to follow it, digital marketing demand only continues to rise. That is why the majority of sectors have begun to make plans for long-term digital marketing.

Therefore, it is no longer a question of whether or not your business will benefit from the work of a website development agency Canberra. Instead, the only problem you should focus on is how much your business can mug up from your digital marketing efforts compared to other companies.

Industries That Can Benefit From Digital Marketing

Marketing

Digital marketing constitutes every online interaction between the service provider and the consumer. So, it is quite logical and expected for marketers to significantly benefit from digital marketing tactics.

 Retail

Since more and more consumers are looking for speedy online solutions for buying products, retail companies have to take their business online.

Automobile

Today, digital marketing solutions have become the main tool for promoting and selling cars. Moreover, digital marketing is saving this industry thousands of dollars when compared to traditional tactics.

Law

Digital marketing solutions, including informative blogs and newsletters, will help lawyers build authority in a highly competitive market. Thus, they can convey their message to potential employers.

Health

People must have online access to healthcare advice, guidelines, and medical practitioners. Moreover, people need to be able to find the best option. This is how the healthcare industry can considerably benefit from digital marketing services.

Education

Students need to stay updated. Educational institutions and training programs are now using digital marketing to attract as many candidates as possible.

Food

People are emotionally attracted to various cuisines, but they don’t have time to prepare them. This creates a big opportunity for the food industry. That is why digital marketing is a great place to start.

The other industries that can mug up great ROI from a web design agency Canberra are entertainment, Fashion, Real Estate, etc. So why hesitate? Consult an expert today and stay ahead of the competition with digital marketing!!

The post Which Top Industries Can Benefit from Digital Marketing Agency Services? appeared first on VR Digital.

In this article, we will talk about the benefits of email marketing for businesses. It will help you get a clear idea of whether or not you should invest your time and money in it. So, let’s get started.

Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you take your business to the next level. Marketers have been using it to stay in touch with their audience and increase brand awareness for a long time. It is one of the best ways to connect with your target customers and get the word out about your business. It can help you stay ahead of your competitors. 

A study shows that email is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter when it comes to reaching your target audience and obtaining new customers. 

How Does Email Marketing Work?

Getting started with email marketing is easy and quick. First of all, you need to build a list of clients, customers, and prospects who are interested in your products/services. You then need to send emails regularly to stay top of mind with them. It is a great way to motivate your potential customers to buy your products or services.

The monthly or weekly newsletter is the most common form of email marketing. However, permission-based email marketing may include special email promotions, advertising, daily deals emails, etc.

Discover How Email Marketing Can Help You Grow Your Business

Here’s exactly how email marketing can benefit your business:

1. Save On Your Marketing Budget

One reason why email marketing is so popular among marketers is that it is inexpensive. With email marketing, you can avoid printing, paper, mail handling, and postage costs. You can easily create a custom email newsletter template by using a free online tool. The best thing is that you can use the same template over and over again. This makes email marketing an ideal option for small businesses and start-ups that have a tight marketing budget. 

2. Grow Your Audience without a Website

Most of the online marketing strategies require you to have a website. But with email marketing, you can stay in touch with your audience even without a website. Just create a landing page with a sign-up form. There are many email marketing apps out there that allow you to create a landing page easily and quickly. This way, you don’t have to take the headache of maintaining a multi-page website. 

3. Increase Brand Awareness

Email marketing is one of the best ways to raise brand awareness. You can get your brand image in front of your target audience by incorporating your brand logo, tagline, graphics, etc. into your template design.

Also, an email is a great piece of shareable content. If you deliver valuable information to your subscribers, they may share your email with their friends and colleagues. It can help you get your products and services in front of a new audience that might be interested in what you offer. 

4. Build Credibility

It’s no secret that people buy from businesses they like and trust. However, building credibility can be a challenge for small businesses. Email marketing can help you achieve that goal. When done correctly, email marketing helps you earn the trust of your target audience. It will make it a lot easier for you to then promote your products and convince your potential customers to take action when they are ready. 

5. Connect With Your Audience

As I said earlier, email marketing is one of the best ways to stay in touch with your audience. It will help you build strong customer relationships. It ensures when they need your product or service, they buy from you instead of your competitors. Your target customers may also refer their friends and family to you.

6. Drive More Traffic To Your Website

You can use email marketing as a way to increase traffic to your website. Just send emails regularly and include a call-to-action that takes your target audience to your website. You can use this tactic to promote your blog or video. However, make sure that you include a link to something that your audience will be interested in. 

7. Create New Sources of Income

You can earn commissions by recommending the products and services you have used yourself to your subscribers. You can join an affiliate program and make money as an affiliate marketer. 

8. Turn Your Website Visitors into Customers

Email marketing can help you convert your site visitors into your customers. Just add a sign-up form to your website to capture the email addresses from your visitors. You can use a lead magnet such as a free e-book to motivate more people to subscribe to your list. You can build a stronger relationship with those people by sending them emails regularly. This way, you can rest assured that they will choose you over your competitors when they are ready to make a purchase.

9. Educate Your Customers About Your Business

You can share the latest news about your business with your current customers and clients through emails. Whether it’s a new product launch or a price drop, you can share it with your audience through emails. It is a great way to entice them to buy from you again. 

10. Grow Your Network

With email marketing, you can expand your network. By subscribing to your email list, people give you permission to send them marketing emails. It gives you the opportunity to market your products and services to a wider audience.

11. Establish Yourself As a Thought Leader in the Industry

Email marketing is not all about delivering information about coupons and deals. You can also share unique and valuable content that your audience will enjoy reading. This way, you can position yourself as an industry expert. 

Conclusion

So, this is how email marketing can help you grow your business. From the above discussion, one thing is clear that email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to attract new opportunities and reach a wider audience. Many may say that email marketing is dead. But the truth is that it is still one of the best tools for business communication. 

The post Here’s Why You Should Use Email Marketing to Grow Your Business appeared first on VR Digital.

Good website design can be the difference between a potential customer spending time on your website and a visitor leaving your site after viewing only one page. It can influence the conversion rate, SEO rankings, and your audience’s perceptions of your brand. This is why it’s important to focus on creating a website design that is user-friendly.

However, creating a user-friendly website design from scratch can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. They are usually experts in recognizing good designs over bad. But they find it difficult to achieve that ultimate balance between innovative creativity and business prowess. 

There are plenty of templates and themes out there for nearly every business objective. But they lack uniqueness. You will find thousands of other websites that are using the same design. So, if you want to add a personal touch to your website and stand out from the crowd, then it’s a good idea to create the design from scratch. 

However, website design is not just about visuals and aesthetics. There are much more to it. There are a lot of things you need to consider when creating your site’s design and layout. After all, your website is the cornerstone of your online presence. 

Whether you are looking to build it from scratch or evaluate numerous templates and themes, there are a few key elements of web design that you must consider. In this article, we are going to discuss them in detail. So, let’s get started.

Website Design and User Experience

Before we start talking about the elements of web design, let’s take a look at how website design can affect user experience:

• A well-designed website will keep readers scrolling. It often involves breaking up content into smaller sections, using white space, including visual hierarchy with banners, etc. 

• According to a study, It takes 0.05 seconds for a person to decide whether or not he will stay on your website. So, you have to grab the attention of your readers from the moment they land on your site. This is where the role of high-quality imagery and good typography comes in. 

• Responsive web design makes sure that your website will fit the screen of any device. 

• Good website design can help you build trust among your readers and potential customers. It will promote professionalism. 

Take Care of Tech Stuff

Most people think that web design is all about choosing the right colour palette and visuals. While these things are important, there are a few other things that you need to consider to improve your user’s experience on your site. 

The website loading speed is the first thing you need to consider here. Even the best design of the world is of no use if no one can see it. It has been found that almost 30% of all internet consumers expect a website to load within one second or less. So, you could lose a lot of customers if your website doesn’t load fast.

This makes it important to choose a reliable web hosting provider. They can ensure that your website loads fast and is online 100% of the time. They can also take care of other technical stuff that can affect user experience. You can find tips and advice on how to choose a reliable website hosting service provider on the internet. Consider going through them carefully before selecting a hosting provider for your website. 

Key Elements of Web Design

Different designers and website owners take different approaches when it comes to designing a website. It depends on what the site owner is trying to achieve with the website. 

However, there are basic design elements that everyone should consider when creating a web design. In this section, we will talk about the top 8 elements that are foundations of great web design. 

1. Layout and Visual Appearance 

The overall look of your site is the first thing you need to take into account here. It is one of the most important parts of web design. 

The first impression counts. So, you need to impress your target audience in the first place. Your site’s layout can play a very crucial role in it. 

It’s a good idea to have a design that is simple, clean, and accessible. It’s advisable that you use a lot of whitespace in your design. You can consider using grid-based designs. This will help you keep your design items organised. 

You should also use high-quality images, graphics, and icons. However, make sure that the visuals are relevant and complement each other. You need to place your website elements based on the visual hierarchy you want to assign it. 

You can consider using F-Patterns or Z-Patterns. They emphasize on the area at the top of the page. Businesses usually place their logo in that area. However, you can also use a search box or navigation. It will inspire user interaction.

2. Colour Palette 

It’s extremely important to use the right colour schemes when it comes to designing a website.

The most important things that you need to consider when choosing a colour scheme are:

• Your brand perspectives
• The demographics of your target audience

For instance, a lawyer or accountant can use blue or green colour schemes for their website. Similarly, a photographer can consider using black and white.

It’s also important to consider the expectations of your readers when choosing a colour scheme. For example, if your target audience is the parents of newborns, then using soft pink and blue colour schemes can be a great idea.

The number of colours you use is a crucial thing that must be taken into account. You may use different colours. But remember that using too many colours can distract your visitors. It’s better not to use more than two or three colours. 

You can visit the websites of the leaders in your industry for inspiration. It will give you an idea of what colours you should use. You can also experiment with different shades of your current colours.

3. Content of The Page

People will visit your website because they want information. And if the content of your website doesn’t meet their expectations, they will immediately hit the back button. This is why you should focus on creating content that is informative and easy-to-digest. 

Also, it’s important to craft a content structure that is visually pleasing. No one likes blocks of text throughout a page.

Use short sentences and short paragraphs. Also, use headings and subheadings to organise sections. You can use bullets and numbers to highlight the main points. These rules apply to all the pages of your website, including the homepage, about page, contact page, and blogs. 

Remember that you need to communicate your message in a way that can make your potential customers understand that you are capable of delivering what they need. 

4. Typography

Choosing the right typography or font is a crucial part of web design. Like colour schemes, you need to consider your industry perspectives and your audience demographics when selecting a font. 

For example, lawyers and accountants can consider choosing distinguished serif fonts. On the other hand, photographers can use a very light and airy sans serif font. 

The most important thing you need to keep in mind is that your text should be easy to read. For this, make sure that the body of your content is at least 16 pixels. However, don’t use unnecessary elements or fonts that are difficult to understand. It’s better not to go beyond three typefaces. Also, it’s important that there’s plenty of contrast between your text and the background colour of the site. It means you need to pair a light colour with a dark tone.

5. SEO-Boosting Elements

You must incorporate SEO-boosting elements into your website design. It will greatly improve the SEO performance of your website. 

You must optimize your meta tags, title tags, header tags, and other HTML coding elements for the keywords you want to rank for. 

6. Navigation

You should place the navigational elements in a way that can allow your readers to find the information they are looking for quickly. It’s better to avoid overly animated hover effects. 

Most people use three horizontal parallel lines to hide their navigation off-site. It helps save space. However, it can obscure interactions from your readers. 

When it comes to navigation, you need to think beyond the menu bar. It’s always a good idea to use directional arrows and “Back To Top” for one-page websites. It will make it easier for users to navigate the different sections of the webpage. 

The footer navigation menu is another important area you need to focus on. You should also optimize your footer menu. It can increase conversions. 

7. Mobile Friendliness

The number of smartphone users is increasing with each passing day. In the last few years, mobile web traffic has overtaken desktop traffic. This is why it’s important to make your site mobile-friendly. It will help you better serve the people who will use a mobile or tablet to access your website.

Most of the professional templates that are available on the internet come prepared for mobile traffic. If you are creating a custom design from scratch, make sure that it can adapt to various screen sizes. 

8. Call-To-Action

You want a website design that can turn visitors into leads and customers. Call-to-actions have an important role here. The most common CTAs include email subscription forms, contact forms, free consultation forms, free downloadable ebooks, etc. 

You need to incorporate them into your website design strategically. You can place them in the sidebars, at the end of your blog posts, and other visible areas of your website. Also, don’t forget to include a call to action on your homepage.

Conclusion 

So, these are some of the key points you need to remember when creating a website design. Incorporating these elements into your web design will surely increase your conversions. You should always prioritize user experience. Also, it’s important that you optimize your website for its physical design as well as its functionality. I hope you would have gained some knowledge and motivation this article to improve your web design.

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