1. Mobile-first
For businesses wanting to grow their web presence, the mobile dimension can't be ignored. Ensuring that a site is mobile friendly and tablet friendly through responsive design, is only the start of the journey. The vast majority of us use our mobiles every day to browse the internet, search for answers to questions, get things done and make purchases – but there's sometimes a disconnect between what we expect from other people's sites, and the standards we demand of our own.
"Consumers will allow only a few seconds for a mobile site to load up before trying another option from search engine results."
In today’s competitive market, it's not enough just to have a site that displays reasonably well on mobile – pages must be fast-loading, easily navigable and surface the most appropriate content for mobile users.
Google is heavily pushing accelerated mobile pages (AMP) as a form of mobile optimisation. AMPs allow select pages to load especially easily on (often slower) mobile internet connections, meaning the time between a potential customer making a search and browsing on your site is minimised. We know that consumers (and think of your own browsing habits here) will allow only a few seconds for a mobile site to load up before trying another option from search engine results if they can't see the information they require.
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Optimising for mobile is as important for user experience as it is for search engine optimisation (SEO) – Google and other search engines increasingly evaluate your site in the same way that humans do. That means fast loading, relevant content, ease of use and low bounce rate will reassure Google that your site deserves to be a top result.
2. Multi-channel marketing and customer communications
Related to mobile-first strategy is the increasing requirement to develop a multi-channel strategy to customer engagement. Previously, businesses would have had perhaps one way of engaging with their customers, through a bricks and mortar shop, a physical office or maybe a website. Now there are so many ways people can interact with a brand online and through social media, and many would rather engage via Facebook or email than pick up the phone.
"The fact that there are more ways to interact with customers also means there are more ways to look bad or to damage your reputation."
Understanding the customer journey – which may involve a range of online and offline channels – is vital to meet customer needs and support growth.
Customers, particularly millennials, are often happier posting queries and complaints on Facebook than picking up the phone, so you must have a strategy for managing your brand – and customer requirements – in the public arena of social media. Whether its through well trained community managers, chatbots or loyal brand ambassadors, we’re finding more companies investing in customer service on social media networks.
To strike the right chord with existing and potential customers. it’s vital that businesses understand the different tone and personality of each platform. The fact that there are more ways to interact with customers also means there are more ways to look bad or to damage your reputation – so it's not a task to be taken lightly.
3. SEO in 2017
Equally we must remember SEO, which is a well-established business priority, but perhaps more important than ever in today's crowded and complex marketplace. Google continues to change its algorithms to decide how to filter organic search results and produce the best answers for users.
The cliche that SEO never stands still happens to be true, so it’s vital that businesses invest in their search strategy and keep completely up to date with new developments to ensure they remain visible.
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As I mentioned earlier, Google is rewarding sites with AMPs, that meet customer expectations and offer good user experiences. SEO isn’t something you do once – it’s an ongoing task and once built into the rhythm of how you do business, is the best source of visitors your site could hope for, generating 'free' traffic rather than surrendering spend to advertising.
4. The rise of video
There’s a lot of talk about online video, particularly for SEO and this use of video will grow in line with hype, but most of what we see will be offensive to the eyes.
The unfortunate fact is that due to time limitations, lack of resource or a reluctance to talk about what customers care about (rather than what the company cares about) most organisations are terrible at creating content. Producing your own video can be tempting – like getting a non-professional photographer for wedding – it's just point and click, right?
The lesson that goes unlearned too often is the need to invest in professionals (either in-house or agency) to maximise marketing effort to drive online growth – that goes for video, content marketing, SEO and more.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fgvczd1M66w?wmode=opaque
Video specifically will become a priority area for those looking to increase online growth. It all comes back to giving customers choice in this multi-channel world – some people prefer to watch and listen to content, and so your well crafted video can separate you from the pack – and of course there are huge opportunities for the few brands who can produce high-quality, shareable content. In SEO terms, it is worth noting that Google owns YouTube and so favours the platform in search engine results pages (SERPS).
Using video can help maximise the amount of real estate you take up on the SERP, and make the difference between your company getting that sought-after click, or a competitor.
All in all there are more tools and approaches than ever to drive online growth – but just as many opportunities to use them wrongly and push customers away. Game-changing online growth is won by companies who not only keep up to date with trends, but recognise how to use them strategically for the benefit of their brand and their customers.