7 Habits that Social Media Marketers Should Break

23 Mar 16 by Chris Jenkin

The following 7 habits that social media marketers should break have deemed themselves ineffective. Whether you’re the voice behind the brand or the owner of a brand new startup, the way you approach and interact with your social media audience can make or break your company’s reputation. Here’s the lowdown on which habits you should kick for good.

The 7 Habits that Social Media Marketers Should Break

1. Inconsistency- It’s hard to imagine but it’s true, there are thousands of companies who just don’t follow a consistent plan when it comes to managing and scheduling social media. While you don’t have to have posts necessarily pegged down to the exact hour, every single day, you should make great efforts to post several times per week at the minimum. To find a business and then search its social pages only to see next to nothing, doesn’t look very good. Potential visitors want to know that business is alive and kicking. Where ya at?
2. It’s All About You- Posting on social allows us the freedom to express our opinions, beliefs, and our feelings. But how much of that should you really be sharing with your audience? The whole point of building a social profile is so that you can interact and engage with your followers. If nobody is talking, and your posts are basically all about your business, your accomplishments, and your agenda, you’ll bore people. Make sure your posts are there to entertain and engage your audience, and if that’s not working you need to try something else.
3. Tagging- While tagging people on Facebook has its perks, it can be confusing to your followers, who are often left to wonder why there is any tagging to begin with. Should they click the tagged person? Should they start following them? What’s really the point of the tag, and why does your audience need to see it? If you’re tagging personal connections in your company posts, you’re no longer focusing on the relationship with your general visitor base. That can turn off visitors who don’t feel compelled to “get to know” your personal life or interests.
4. You’re Offending Your Audience- Always think of your reader. If you’re using social media marketing to also share your opinion on politics and religion, well then, get ready for the tomatoes. Keep your audience happy and keep the posts light. Avoid unnecessary controversial topics, and promptly remove any visitor posts from your page that can be interpreted as offensive to other readers.
5. You Ignore People- Social media is great if you don’t really crave the one on one human interaction of the “real world”, however, people still expect you to answer questions, reply to posts, and generally appear interested in them. Marketers need to use social media to get to know their target audience better, and then adapt the brand, product, or campaign to follow suit. Pay attention to your visitors and make them feel wanted. The more you understand your audience, the better chance you can capture them.
6. You’re Hashtag #Happy- While the #hashtag has its place, some people use the hashtag as a precursor to a funny joke they want to tell, using multiple pound symbols to convey varied opinions and thoughts. #Itgetstiring. #Peopleareoverit.
7. You Don’t Have a Social Media Presence- Perhaps the greatest marketing mistake you can make is not having a social presence of any sort. While it can be a bit overwhelming to decide where to place your efforts, it’s essential that you start somewhere and begin building the social platform on which your business will stand. Facebook, Twitter and even Pinterest or LinkedIn are simple enough for nearly anyone to begin using.

Seek Digital Marketing Help

Do you need help creating a digital marketing plan? Don’t venture off into the unknown without a little guidance. Effective social media marketing isn’t an exact science. What works for one type of business, might provide zero results for another. It takes patience, research, and analytics to begin devising a successful approach. Since time is money and you want your investment to drive results, you need to first identify your audience.

Contact the professionals at gotcha! Mobile Solutions today, and begin your journey into the world of digital marketing. Here you will learn how to capture, engage and interact with your customers, and then of course, how to retain them. We will quickly assess your website and your social issues, and get to work on fixing them. Your efforts deserve to be noticed. Don’t waste another day partaking in any of these 7 habits that social media marketers should break.
Your visitors will thank you.

Mobile Marketing

5 Facts About Digital Marketing That You Never Knew

18 Mar 16 by Chris Jenkin

5 Facts About Digital Marketing That You Never Knew

One of the biggest misconceptions people have about social media marketing is that it’s very simple and easy work. These individuals believe that just because they know how to use Facebook or Twitter, they can already become a digital marketer. They think that it only requires being able to post some stuff on these social networks and it’s easy money.

Unfortunately, there’s more to digital marketing that meets the eye. If you want to be in the business, you also need to provide the right practice so that it will lead to a successful campaign. Whether you are the business owner or someone who is practicing digital marketing, it truly pays to be knowledgeable of the right tools to use in your line of work. Otherwise, it could be very costly for you; especially if you are not doing things right.

So before you get started on your attempt to be successful at digital marketing, there are some things you need to know. Here are 5 facts about digital marketing that you never knew but should:

#5: Some small differences in implementation could lead you to a big difference in results!

When it comes to your digital marketing strategy, you have to keep in mind that sometimes, you need to go beyond the extra mile. For example, if you are a writer, sure you can write well. But the best way you can get results from your writing is to use the tools of influence. The thing about influence is that you will be able to write content that would motivate your readers to do something. Sure, you can be spam about getting your message across to your readers or even hard sell to them. The sad part is, however, that this would end up in them blocking you or getting turned off by your practice.

Knowing what the tools of influence is can be a big help in changing the results you want for your digital marketing strategy. By following this, you can avoid spamming your readers. And again, this simply won’t do you any good.

#4: How you interact and engage with your audience matters

No matter how many followers, fans, or friends you have on the account, it doesn’t mean anything. This is because they are simply people who are keeping up with your posts on your social media accounts. Even if they fit the demographics of your customers, it won’t mean anything if they are simply following you on your social media account.

The problem with this is that most of the time, marketers boast about the number of followers they have on the accounts they are working on. What they fail to remember, however, is that if these followers do not do anything or buy from the company, they are simply followers and that’s all there is to them.

If you want your digital marketing strategy to work, you will have to engage with your followers. You have to show them that there’s actually a human being behind the account and not just a random software that generates content for them to look at. By doing this, your followers will be more open to discussing things about the business and this could lead to a viral messaging campaign and sales for the business. And yes, this is the most important thing to remember when you are engaging with followers in the first place.

#3: Digital marketing work requires extensive skills across a variety of platforms

This truth about digital marketing work contradicts the norm that anyone can do social media work. As mentioned, many people believe they can be a social media manager just because they know how to post on Facebook and Twitter. In reality, however, an individual needs to be equipped with the necessary skills to create a powerful and successful digital marketing campaign.

The usual skills needed in social media include strong writing, marketing background, A/B testing, strong business intelligence, technical web design, graphics design, some coding, online social media management, and CMS background—such as Drupal or WordPress. If an individual does not know these things, he may not be able to successfully do the tasks needed in the field of digital marketing.

#2: Thoroughly understand the digital marketing strategy to be successful with the campaign

There are some individuals who think working in this line of work is easy. They tend to forget that they will have to be thoroughly clear with what it is the campaign is all about. At the same time, they also need to know who the buyer spectrum is.

Some digital marketers believe that the success of a digital campaign depends on the number of followers gained on Facebook or Twitter. But definitely, this is a big misconception that should be stopped. There’s more to social media and digital marketing than just having thousands or millions of followers on the account. These followers need to actually respond so that the campaign can be successful.

#1: You will have to spend money to be successful in your digital marketing campaign

One way you can be successful with your digital marketing campaign is to spend big money. You will really benefit from having a seasoned speaker or personality guest blog on your website. Even though you will have to spend some money on this, the results can be overwhelming.

The trick here is to identify who the right people to invite to guest blog or feature on your social networks. You have to be thoroughly careful about whom you choose so you can get the right results you are looking for in your digital marketing campaign.

Knowing these things are important for the success of your digital marketing campaign. There are plenty of other things that are still good to know when it comes to working on a digital marketing campaign. If you really want to do things right the first time, you can follow these tips so you know how to reach your target audience.

Mobile Marketing

2016 Web Design Trends

11 Mar 16 by Chris Jenkin

The following 2016 web design trends will keep you informed of what to expect in the ever-changing tech industry.

Author credit: Amber Leigh Turner

Design trends often span several years (even decades for some types of design), but Web design is a quickly moving and changing industry where trends come and go quite often.

We’re still working with some of those trends now: responsive web design, flat design, performance and speed, and perfecting the user experience. However, what are some of the new and emerging trends we can expect to see in 2016?

Let’s look through some of the trends we can expect to see more of this year.

Navigation and Menus:As a Web designer myself, I’ve noticed we just can’t seem to get the navigation or menu of a website down. We keep playing with it, experimenting, and doing different things to get it to work well and be useful.

We do things such as put it in a new and unexpected place, hide it behind a hamburger icon (a trend I mentioned for 2015), or just throw it up there because we know it is needed but it doesn’t look very good.

We struggle to figure out exactly the best way to showcase this important piece of content to make it usable no matter the screen it’s being viewed on. We continue to experiment in ways to figure out what works best. For example, Shellshock above is experimenting with both the hamburger icon menu reveal with a card inspired layout for their navigation.

Expect to see more experimentation as we work through trying to figure out how to do navigations and menus well.

Scrolling: Have we reached the point where scrolling increases readership, but we want less scrolling? Possibly. For 2016, I anticipate some sites going with minimal scrolling while others embracing the long scroll.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both: long scrolling feels natural and is easier than clicking but it spaces out content and makes it harder to scan to find info while shorter scroll gets to the point quickly but it may be so quick that causes bounce rates to increase.

Above, Uppercase has opted to go with a no-scroll site. What you see in the screenshot is what their site currently loads. All of what you need is right there without needing to scroll further.

It will be interesting to see the scrolling battle play out in 2016 and which one comes out on top. Currently, there are more long scrolling sites than shorter scrolling sites, but only time will tell which is truly the best way to consume content.

Module design: Have we reached the point where scrolling increases readership, but we want less scrolling? Possibly. For 2016, I anticipate some sites going with minimal scrolling while others embracing the long scroll.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both: long scrolling feels natural and is easier than clicking but it spaces out content and makes it harder to scan to find info while shorter scroll gets to the point quickly but it may be so quick that causes bounce rates to increase.

Above, Uppercase has opted to go with a no-scroll site. What you see in the screenshot is what their site currently loads. All of what you need is right there without needing to scroll further.

It will be interesting to see the scrolling battle play out in 2016 and which one comes out on top. Currently, there are more long scrolling sites than shorter scrolling sites, but only time will tell which is truly the best way to consume content.

Flat design: With responsive design pretty much taken over the Web, expect a flat design to continue to be a dominate design aesthetic throughout 2016. Not only will there be websites that launch with flat designs, those sites that’ve already embraced the flat design trend will look to make things even flatter.

Take for example Google’s logo. The company changed its logo to make it flatter (losing the bevels) and changed the font. It found that a cleaner sans-serif font for its logo helped cut the size of the logo file used on sites by more than half. Google also found that it was easier to read on smaller devices.

This includes updates to logos (like Google), icons, images, and other elements that maybe didn’t get fully flattened the first first time. You can thank the drive and determination to get our websites to load faster and snappier, weigh less, and get content to viewers more effectively.

Material design: Google released its Material design language back in June 2014 but the adoption has been a bit slow. However, designers now have a better understanding of the Material design and I anticipate they will start opting to use it more in their designs as documentation and examples become more widespread.

The material design focuses on tactile but dynamic elements that remind us of paper and ink. Shadows that are realistic, items that overlap do so with regards to reality, interactions stay inside of the material and don’t impact other material around it.

Since we’ve seemed to have reached peak flat design, designers are opting for the next thing, and Google offers that up in their Material design language. I anticipate many more sites to follow this same material design aesthetic in 2016.

Ditch stock elements: We’re starting to see more and more websites ditching the use of stock elements such as stock photography and icon sets over something that feels much more designed and personal to the site itself.

Some websites are opting for using their own photography for use on their home pages or blog posts instead of picking a stock photo. Other websites are ditching stock photography for videos, infographics, or even GIFs to help convey their message. For example, Flatiron Health has opted for their own photography in areas of their website to help be more inviting and personable and less corporate.

Icon sets are another stock element that’s being dropped in favor of something more custom. There are thousands of sets out there, so it’s easy just to pick one and run with it, but for designers, they’re noticing that little extra touch to create custom icons can help set a site apart from others.

Full screen forms: Much like I talked about a year ago with responsive Web design practices being carried throughout an entire website instead of just the mobile versions, this trend also has come from the wide-spread adaptation of responsive website design.

More sites and apps are going with the full-screen forms and input screens (such as signups and logins) instead of it existing in only one small part of the site. Click on “login” and or “contact” and you may be greeted with a full-screen overlay with the form needed instead of being sent to a different page. A great example of this is Eighty East’s contact form. When clicking “contact” you get a full-screen contact form.

As mentioned above, this trend comes from responsive design best practices for several reasons: keeps another screen from being loaded, gives more screen space for easier touch by fingers on touch screens, and encourages users to complete the form (for those forms that present one input at a time).

Animations: As Web design is flattening out, websites are starting to look more and more alike. One way designers have been trying to help make their sites stand apart from the crowd is through the use of rich, clever but subtle animations throughout.

Designers are opting for changing the everyday animations we’ve all grown accustomed to but still serve a purpose. For example, Slack’s own loading screen takes that boring circle loading animation and ditches it for a custom loading animation featuring Slack’s own logo. It still serves the purpose of letting the user know it’s working, but in a clever and rich way.

Better function: Users are caring more about how a site functions than looks
Having a nice design site is great and all, but it really doesn’t matter all that much if your site doesn’t function well. Users are becoming more keenly aware of when something doesn’t work properly on a website.

It’s becoming more common for users to leave a website because they’ve encountered something that isn’t working well for them. Imagine how bad this could be for an e-commerce site?

Designers want their sites to look good, so it’s important that they can make the site function properly as well. Give the people what they want: function and design.

Designing in browser: Some Web designers currently design only in the browser. There are benefits to this: cuts development time down, allows you to see the limitations and reactions of the actual browser with regards to the design, and is more natural than designing in a program that has nothing to do with the Web.

It’s pretty common for Web designers to know how to code at least the front end of websites (HTML/CSS/JS), so designing in the browser makes sense to them. With the trend of Web design moving out of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Sketch and into the browser more, I anticipate many other Web designers starting to work on their HTML and CSS chops.

What are some design trends you anticipate for 2016?

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Why Fresh Content Matters

04 Mar 16 by Chris Jenkin

Many web page owners wonder what the purpose of fresh content is. Fresh can mean a few different things, from a new way of thinking, to something just produced. “Fresh content” is really a combination of both. Here’s a look at what creating fresh website content can do to help drive traffic, and why it’s a bigger deal than you think.

How Often You Should Create Content?

Figuring out how frequently you should post on social media or post fresh content is the first step in setting your blogging and social efforts up for success. At bare minimum you should strive to publish a blog once per month, and post on social media several times per week. This will keep your audience updated on your brand happenings and also keep them interested in the future of your company. This helps to build brand loyalty and will hopefully increase your amount of mobile shoppers.

Don’t expect your content marketing strategy to have instant results. If you do, you’re just setting yourself up for failure, because most marketing strategies take a significant amount of time to reap any reward. There really is no such thing as an overnight success with blogging and having a social media presence. If you are diligent and continuous in your efforts and reformulate your posts as necessary you should eventually see a rise in both page views and web prominence, and your site will (as an ultimate goal) be considered an authority on your topic. Google results will favor your website, and your website traffic and lead generation will flow. It’s all about the content and keeping the cycle going.

What Should You Write About?

Finding topics to write about can be a task all in itself. It helps to have an editorial process in place so that you have some basic guidelines to begin your content production. In addition to the area of interest you should first establish the type of content you’ll be writing, and a goal word count for each piece. This will help you figure out how many contributors you might need on board, as well as how you might filter certain topics so that you have enough information to write a relevant piece.

Research on your industry can help you figure out what to write about when you begin blogging. You should also study and look at other websites and see what they are publishing. If there’s something happening going on in your industry, writing a blog is a newsworthy way to approach it. New employees, new products, recognition, awards, events, etc. are all easy topics you can tie into a monthly editorial calendar.

Should You Recycle Content?

Recycling or repurposing content is the practice of sharing and posting content over and over again. If you have an article that is evergreen, meaning not likely to ever change in relevance or importance, recycling your content on social media is an ideal way to increase site traffic, without expending more writing efforts in creating fresh content. Play around to find an ideal balance between evergreen content and topics that are trendy and of the moment. When you mix both timeless and fresh content together you create web content that is valuable, resourceful, and just a little different.

Why Content Matters

Fresh content matters because Google is constantly seeking new content in all of its search updates. It doesn’t matter if it’s Panda or any other Google update, if your website isn’t constantly producing website content there will be nothing new for the search engines to crawl. This means you will eventually lose your place in search result rankings and that will affect your visitors, hence your website traffic. How many pages do you scroll through after searching a topic? Most people click the results that appear on the first page.

Writing web content is essential if you want to keep a place in the vastly, ever-changing digital world.
Do you need help developing a digital marketing or web content strategy? Contact the SEO experts at gotcha! Mobile Solutions today.

AllMobile Marketing

Marketing Tips for the New Facebook Emojis

26 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin
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Need a few marketing tips for the new Facebook emojis? While the simplistic icons seem rather harmless, you can say a lot and hear a lot about your brand, just by interacting with these digital expressions.

Understanding your customers is key if you want to run a successful business. Businesses that have a social presence have the ability to tune in to their customers and also gain valuable insights on what products or services might soon be in demand.

Facebook is a popular tool for businesses that want to interact with their repeat or potential customers on a social channel, all while sharing pictures, stories and events that are of interest to the brand. Giving customers an intimate peek into your company can help encourage loyal shoppers.

While Facebook’s simple “Like” or “Share” buttons did the deed, the company decided it was time for much needed change.

According to USA Today, acknowledging that “like” isn’t the right sentiment for every occasion, the giant social network is offering new options. Reactions, five emoting emojis, started rolling out to Facebook’s nearly 1.6 billion users around the globe Wednesday. Whether or not you’re thrilled with the idea or not, the new Facebook enojis are here to stay. Here’s how you might use the emojis to your business advantage while interacting on the social media network.

How to Use the Facebook Emojis for Your Business

Now that you know how important emojis are, you can utilize them effectively for promotion. Your reputation is built not just on your goods, but also in your delivery and service. Your customers can learn much more about your company simply by seeing its engagement on social media channels. The next time you’re so inclined to leave a thumbs up, why not consider using one of these emojis on Facebook for your business?

Like--A perennial, the like button remains the easiest way to show your appreciation for a comment or a post. If you want to keep things simple and casual the thumbs up icon will remain available.

Love-Sometimes like just isn’t enough. Show your customer appreciation by loving their posts from time to time, especially during special events or after a positive business review.

Haha- Goodbye lol, hello emoji. Because who really laughed out loud all those times anyway? The humor emoji is perfect for lighthearted and spirited interaction with your audience.

Yay- Good news deserves to be shared. Whether it’s a simple post celebrating a new product launch, a success, or the beginning of a Friday, the yay button sends an encouraging and uplifting message to your Facebook followers.

Wow- How about that? Wow is a standing ovation for a job well done, impressive feats, and it’s a holy moly. No matter the reason for the inspirational emoji, it makes people feel good. So give them a wow.

Sad- Sadness is an emotion most creatures can relate to and depending on the circumstances, pulling on the heart strings is a surefire way to connect to your audience. If you’re posting videos, images or stories that are filled with experiencing this basic human emotion, what better way than to relate to your customers than using the new Facebook sad emoji in your comments or posts?

Angry- Did you experience a bad business review? Understanding why your customers felt compelled to dish things out over the internet can tell you a lot about your business. If customers feel you’re on top of your customer service game they’re more likely to express their dissatisfaction in person, before taking things to social media. But it still happens. Sometimes people don’t want apologies, refunds, or to offer a business a second chance. They simply want to share their experience as a fair warning to future customers. While it may be tempting to leave an angry icon in reply to a criticism or bad review posted on your Facebook business page, it’s really not best practices.

How Emojis Can Help You Understand Your Audience

During Facebook’s testing of Reactions emoji, Facebook will treat them just like a Like when it comes to ranking posts in the News Feed algorithm.

“Our goal is to show you the stories that matter most to you in News Feed,” Facebook product manager Chris Tosswill wrote in a News Feed FYI post. “Initially, just as we do when someone likes a post, if someone uses a Reaction, we will infer they want to see more of that type of post. We will spend time learning from this initial rollout and iterate based on findings in the future.”

Evaluating customer emojis will help you understand which social posts grab their attention. This means when you see a love, you might just want to keep doing whatever you’re doing.

Why the Change

Wondering why Facebook decided to get so emotional? “Not every moment you want to share is happy,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Sometimes you want to share something sad or frustrating. Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years, but not because people want to tell friends they don’t like their posts. People want to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions.”

“We have been very intentional about really understanding what people are trying to communicate on Facebook right now and how can we make that easier,” said Tom Alison, engineering director of News Feed.

For years, Facebook resisted giving users an alternative to the “like” button, namely a “dislike” button. But the lobbying only intensified as more people used Facebook on mobile devices and clamored for quicker and easier ways to comment.

Interacting with your customers couldn’t get any easier. Now that Facebook emojis are officially unveiled, you should soon begin to see different sorts of activity on your pages. Use these new tools as a way to approach new customers while encouraging repeat traffic, and see what Facebook can do for your business.

What do you think? Like? Dislike? (Nevermind) Or LOVE?

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Best Advice for Digital Marketing and Growing a Social Media

19 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin

Whether you’re wondering how to ensure that consumers can find your business online, or need a few tips to boost your company’s social media presence, the following advice for digital marketing and social media will serve you and your customers well.

Best Advice for Digital Marketing and Social Media

Optimize Your Website

If your business isn’t easily located online, people won’t find you. A website that’s been fully optimized for search results is crucial if you want to attract new andrepeat business. A mobile-friendly website loads faster and displays correctly. If people are turned off by your website after they click, away they go…

Use Correct Metadata

If your website is outdated, your metadata probably needs to be cleaned up as well. Incorrect metadata can influence your ratings and, in turn, affect your search visibility. Go through your tags and descriptions and see if anything needs updating to reflect the content of your page or your business.

Go Local

Customers love to read online business reviews. Attract more locals in your area by optimizing your website with keywords and local happenings in your town. Your geographical location should be part of your site content along with your address so that your business can be discovered through a combination of local search strings and relevant keywords.

Be Social

Once you build your local business you’ll want to be social to stay in touch with your regular customers to encourage their repeat business, and of course, promote all of the events of your company. Social media management is a crucial part of your online marketing strategy and you should go at it with a good plan as to which social media channels you will be active on (Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) and the frequency in which you plan to post content. You’ll want to share the most useful and relevant content for your readers if you want to increase page engagement and shares.

Blog

Creating web content is one of the best ways to drive regular web traffic to your site. If you don’t have a blog, now is the time to re-think that. Posting a weekly or daily blog keeps your ranking fresh in search results. The more stagnant your website, the fewer visitors you reach. If you’re not creating engaging web content you should consider hiring a professional that can turn out blog articles that are informative, interesting, and that centralizes on the keywords and the theme of your industry.

Promote Content

Once you have your blogs you’ll need to promote them. This means you’ll need to publish your web content on social media networks. In addition, you should continue to promote your older, evergreen content as often as possible. As long as your shared content is still useful and beneficial, there’s nothing wrong with keeping strong blogs in rotation.

Keep Trying

No matter what your plan of attack is when it comes to promoting your business, the best advice for digital marketing and growing a social media presence is to be patient, analytical, and crazy enough to make a few changes as you see necessary. Successful digital marketing is a combination of both creativity and science. What works for one business might not work for your own brand. It’s best to get to know your audience and learn exactly why they research or buy from businesses like yours, and then connect with them.

Spend the time to research and analyze your efforts. Find our which published blog posts brought in the most traffic, for example, or determine which days your social traffic is most active. When you promote your business locally and then make the effort of maintaining a social presence, you position your brand for long-term success and encourage loyal shoppers. To encourage new customers, make sure your business website is always growing. An active, well-maintained and well-ranked web site is an indication of a strong and vibrant company that consumers are eager to do business with. You can’t get a better review than that! (Or at least that’s what Google thinks.)

Do you have a piece of digital marketing advice you’d love to share? Leave us a comment below. If you need to amp up your social presence or update your company’s website to a new and improved mobile-friendly version, please contact gotcha! Mobile Solutions today.

Mobile Marketing

9 Reasons Why You Should Love Local Businesses

12 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin

The following list of why you should love local businesses serves as a reminder that the little shop down the street, might need a little TLC. You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. Remember that. So instead of filling up your coffee cup with a Mocha-Lava-Java-Hot-Cuppa-Love at the big “S” this Valentines Day weekend, stop and smell the beans at a little charming coffee shop, and show your love!

9 Reasons Why You Should Love Local Businesses

There are many different reasons you should love your local businesses. Admit it, you’ve been shopping online, waiting for the UPS man, and heading out to Target on the weekends. Shame on you. Go buy a kite from the local toy store and instead, go outside to play. These are all the reasons a local business can brighten your day:

1. Accessible- Wrong size? Not a problem. While the modern convenience of ordering online has its perks, purchases such as clothing often find themselves in the return pile thanks to poor craftsmanship, quality, or a bad fit. Returning purchases adds not only to the original cost of the purchase when considering shipping expense, shoppers lose time as well. Local businesses are accessible throughout the week during their normal business hours. Poor quality or unwanted merchandise can usually be returned in person for an immediate exchange or refund. Spending your money at an accessible business is often a safer bet than dealing with online retailers.
2. Trust- Local businesses don’t have the luxury of conversing with customers over the computer, out of sight and out of mind. Instead local businesses have to stay involved with their customers to encourage repeat business. They have to go above and beyond the normal call of duty to please each and every customer. Most small businesses rely heavily on their reputation and a bad business deal is never desired. Local businesses work hard to earn the trust of their customers and are more likely to appreciate loyal shoppers.
3. Reliability- What you see is what you get when it comes to most local businesses. Unlike large corporations that might stake false claims or over promise and under deliver, a small local business tends to operate in a reliable manner. If they want to keep their doors open and their customer base returning, reliability is key for any business.
4. Build community- Small businesses help to build local communities. Imagine that small little town that was practically asleep before the local coffee shop opened its doors and woke the streets up. Local establishments provide a place for community members, neighbors and friends to gather and meet. Becoming the local hangout doesn’t mean you have to offer the best product or even the most competitive pricing, often it is just a matter of becoming that favorite place for people to go. If you patronize a company that helps build community, you’re showing your appreciation for the efforts and expenses that business incurs to provide your town a place to call home.
5. In the family- Many people support local businesses because they know the owners like family. Or perhaps they ARE family. Generational businesses are popular within small communities because they have been around for a very long time. Pairing that will all the other qualities that make a good business, such as reliability, trust, and accessibility, established businesses also offer a nostalgic connection to friends and family members.
6. Customer service- How often have you heard a bad review regarding customer service from a well-established local business? Not often. Even when issues arise regarding quality or expectations, most professional and trustworthy local business owners know they can’t tell off their patrons without consequence. Customer service is key in building rapport within your community and that means service is usually served up with a smile.
7. Competitive- Local businesses know they have to fight for their dollar. This means they’ll often be much more competitive amongst one another, as well as with online competitors. If they can’t match prices a local business might offer a different perk such as a better selection, or even a more reasonable return policy. If it can be done most local businesses will offer a perk for going local, and for coming back. Find out if your favorite business offers any shopper rewards and be sure to sign up for emails or download mobile apps that keep you connected with store specials and promotional events.
8. You’re loyal- Many people love their local businesses simply because they’re loyal. It wouldn’t matter if the largest and best bookstore opened up around the corner, a loyal shopper knows that the dusty shelves of their favorite used book store is still abundant in worth. From the well-trained sales staff to the family-oriented special in-store events, local shops have that special charm that make them more inviting. What can your business do to create atmosphere?
9. Unique- Some things you just can’t find online. This is especially true when you’re dealing with a unique local business that stocks and sells exactly what you’re looking for. Shopping locally provides the opportunity to build relationships with business owners, who can then work harder to earn your repeat business by stocking the things that you love. Take the time to get to know your local merchants and help keep their doors open by asking for what you want, and then going to get it!

Build Better Business with Local SEO

Do you know where locals go when they want to make a purchase? They look at their phones. Whether it’s Googling a business review or checking directions for an establishment, local shoppers let their fingers do the discovering, and nobody cares about the Yellow Pages anymore. If your business if not listed in search results on the internet, local shoppers will not see your establishment’s name, location, contact information, or anything about your brand. Small local businesses need a Local SEO program to ensure business is healthy with an online presence. Do you need help positioning your brand locally? Contact gotcha! Mobile Solutions today.

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7 Reasons Why Your Website Needs to Be Mobile Friendly Now

07 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin

The internet has largely contributed to how we do things. And because of this, its usage has also vastly changed over time. The technologies used a few years ago may no longer be as useful as they are today. Moreover, the media people use to access the internet has changed. They no longer have to log into a computer to look for information. Instead, information is delivered straight to them through their smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches.

With these changes in place, it is so important for business owners to keep up with the times and have a website optimized for mobile use. Not to mention, Google has rolled out a mobile-friendly algorithm update that improves search rankings of businesses that have a mobile-friendly website. If you have implemented such a website, you’ll know that this is vital to your success. Otherwise, you might want to consider preparing your website to be mobile-friendly. Here are some reasons why:

You reach more people
Studies show that 58 percent of American adults have a smartphone,and teenagers also have their own devices. Just think of how many people you can reach with your website if it has been optimized for these devices.

People are making more purchases from mobile devices
Studies show that there is a higher number of shoppers who make purchases through their mobile devices as opposed to a computer or a laptop. You need to tap into this market so you can make your business visible to them.

It loads websites faster
A website that has not been optimized for mobile will load very slowly, if at all. In comparison, a mobile-friendly website loads quickly because its codes have been structured in a compatible format. And, as studies show, website users tend to abandon a website if it takes more than 10 seconds for a page to load. This is definitely something that could be damaging to your website.

It provides a better experience for the user
One good thing about optimizing your website for mobile is that when a user wants to open a link to your website, it will load on his browser without any problem. If a website is not mobile-friendly, it will take a long time to load and can be difficult to navigate. This is a big turn-off to mobile users who want to have information provided to them as soon as possible. If it takes a long time to load your page, you will lose their attention.

Customers spend a longer time on your website
Another advantage you get with a mobile-friendly website is that your visitors will spend a longer period of time on your site. If your website can be easily navigated by people, you encourage them to stay on your website and check out more of your content. And if you are trying to sell something, this can easily convert your web visitors into customers.

Gives you a competitive edge
There is a good chance that your competitors already have a website that has been optimized for mobile. But there is also a chance that their website is not as responsive as it should be. If you want your business to have a good rank on Google Mobile Search, you have to take that first step and invest in a mobile-ready website. This is especially important for local businesses.

Take advantage of free tools
Apart from giving you a high rank on Google Search, you can also make use of Google’s tools for your business. One of these tools is the Click-to-Call feature which is available on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. With this feature available, users can easily get in touch with you by simply tapping on their screen.

The absolute best way to encourage new customers and repeat visitors is to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Need help? Contact gotcha! Mobile Solutions today.

Mobile Marketing

gotcha! Systems Engineer Bhaskarjyoti Roy Publishes Book

05 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin

Our very own Systems Engineer, Bhaskarjyoti Roy (we call him Roy), has published his first book on Amazon, entitled “Mastering CentOS 7 Linux Server.” Roy is an expert in the field, and it’s important that he’s also a teacher. Here at gotcha!, we encourage our team members to instruct each other and be part of our internal “Educate Break,” where our resident experts hold classes for the rest of us.

As a special treat I have interviewed Roy about his book and his time here at gotcha! and this is what he had to say:

Chris: So we are all excited about the release of your book “Mastering CentOS 7 Linux Server” on Amazon. Everyone here at gotcha! is proud of you. Can you tell us briefly in laymen’s terms what your book is about?

Roy: This book is about CentOS 7 which is one of the most famous Linux distributions that you will find. It runs most of the web hosting servers worldwide and in other infrastructures as well. After reading through this book you will learn some advanced aspects of Linux/CentOS 7, and can manage several important services on it like web server, email server, DNS, FTP, etc. You will also learn about advanced services such as virtualization and cloud computing.

Chris: What was the inspiration behind the book? Why this topic?

Roy: After working several years on Linux/CentOS, I found there were not enough books written on this topic, which covers and teaches a System Administrator how to setup, configure, and secure services that are very important to run in an organization like website, email, etc. This book includes almost all the topics that a System Administrator needs to learn and work on today.

Chris: Why Linux over .net?

Roy: Linux is open source and there are distributions like CentOS which are free to use. You will always find a cost advantage running Linux in your organization. Over time, I’ve found that there are not many good books which actually cover exactly what you need for implementation. I tried to solve that problem by writing this book, and I emphasized only those topics which are actually important to run your infrastructure on Linux/CentOS 7 .

Chris: What was your biggest challenge going from Systems Engineer to author?

Roy: The initial planning and the content structuring were what I found challenging while writing this book. Because I knew this needed to be structured in such a way that a System Administrator could go through the topics and learn step by step about security, services etc., I had to think like a System Administrator who started his career in Linux and who wanted to know more about the topics that he needs to perform in an organization.

Chris: Will there be more books to follow and, if so, what types of topics?

Roy: Yes, I have plans to write more books in the future, covering more advanced topics like Virtualization, AWS, Cloud Computing, and Configuration Management.

Chris: How do you follow the latest digital trends? Do you have any favorite books or blogs you could share?

Roy: I follow different websites depending on what exactly I am looking for, but there is no specific one. To find the latest trends, I sometimes look into several freelancing sites and job portals to see and understand what companies are looking for in terms of System and Server Administrators. I think this is one way to understand the latest trends. Another way is to follow some providers’ websites to see what they are offering and what’s new.

Chris: What have you learned from your greatest mistake?

Roy: Personally everyone makes mistakes. What I have learned is to be more careful in what I am doing so I don’t make a mistake and and remember from past mistakes not to repeat them. I like to be armoured with solid in-depth knowledge of a subject.

Chris: Why gotcha!? Why not work somewhere else?

Roy: Freedom, support, inspiration and satisfaction. Here at gotcha!, we are encouraged to perform better and learn. We are a family here, not just a team, and we help each other whenever required. It’s crucial that I find a work environment like we have at gotcha! so that I can improve myself day by day, and be satisfied.

Chris: The secret to success is…

Roy: Enjoy the work you are doing. Be sincere, responsible and eager to learn and perform.

Chris: Excellent, and thank you Roy for what you do for our clients, our team, and the Linux community.

We are proud of Roy and our other team experts who strive to not only be great at their jobs but also be great people.

If you have any questions regarding CentOS 7, hosting, server management, or anything else digital, please don’t hesitate to contact gotcha! or one of our preferred distributors.

You can find Roy’s book on Amazon.

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How to Deal with a Bad Yelp Review

02 Feb 16 by Chris Jenkin

If a customer rant has you Googling how to deal with a bad Yelp review, you’re in the right place. Save face with our tips!

5 Tips for Dealing with a Bad Yelp Review

1. Acknowledge it: Your business is not perfect and your customer caught you serving up less than stellar service. Now of course you don’t want this to become your reputation, but that doesn’t mean you can’t own it and move on with a sense of pride and responsibility. Acknowledging your faults and where your business underperformed will help you understand why you were dealt a bad Yelp review in the first place.

2. Respond- You should always reply to every bad Yelp review. Ignoring it simply implies you don’t care enough, or that you’re too angry or otherwise embarrassed to deal with it (which you are, and that’s also why you’re here). Reach out to the customer and listen to their experience. In any way possible you should try to remedy their concerns, and if necessary- offer them to come back to your business and give it another try.

3. Request a Positive Review- If you’ve reached out to your customer and they’re happy with your response, you’re in a much better position to ask if they’d be willing to write a positive follow-up review based on their new experience. If you’ve handled the situation promptly and professionally they’ll be much more inclined to share their experience with Yelp readers.

4. Establish Customer Loyalty– Now it’s time to move on and keep the customers you have happy. This means you need to establish some sort of customer loyalty strategy. Besides offering quality service and products, your business should also focus on encouraging repeat business. Mobile apps, emails and maintaining an activesocial media presence, are all tools your business can use to encourage loyal customers.

5. Don’t Repeat Mistakes- Last but not least don’t repeat the same mistakes. If you’re constantly reading reviews about your slow or poor service, perhaps it’s time for a meeting and a new game plan? Once you know what you’re doing wrong you can work hard to make things right. Strive to understand your customer and their needs so that you can focus on their expectations (and then exceed them).

You’re Not Alone

Despite what your bad business review discloses, it helps to know you’re not alone. Many businesses have had to deal with the often “unexpected” blow of negative feedback. Since you’re likely already aware that bad feedback spreads like wildfire, you can also make a point to publically share the situation. Social media is a great place to thank your customer for their feedback, and then go ahead and tell the world what the heck you did wrong. People are much more forgiving of people and businesses who make efforts to improve after being blasted.

While it takes time for businesses to get over the sting of a bad business review, patience, acknowledgment, and an unwavering commitment to service will eventually pull you out of the wreckage. (All in one piece.)

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