In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses of all sizes are recognizing the immense value of digital marketing services. The internet has become a central hub for finding services and products and staying competitive means ensuring that your brand has a strong online presence. Whether you’re a small business owner or the leader of a larger organization, embracing digital marketing strategies such as inbound marketing, SEM, organic SEO, and Google Ads is critical for growth. This blog will explore these key strategies, demonstrating how they can help you boost visibility, drive targeted traffic, and increase conversions.

 

What is Digital Marketing?

 

Digital marketing is the practice of using digital channels, platforms, and technologies to promote products or services. This umbrella term covers a variety of strategies aimed at reaching consumers through online platforms. In the digital age, businesses have to be where their customers are, and that’s online. Digital marketing includes multiple approaches such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and more.

The main goal of digital marketing is to attract, engage, and convert potential customers using online platforms like websites, search engines, social media, and email. Digital marketing services encompass both organic and paid strategies, allowing businesses to enhance their online visibility and reach their target audience effectively.

 

 

Inbound Marketing: Attracting the Right Audience

Inbound marketing is all about creating valuable content that attracts the right audience to your brand. Unlike traditional marketing, which often interrupts the consumer journey, inbound marketing pulls customers in by addressing their needs, questions, and pain points through informative and engaging content.

Inbound marketing strategies focus on delivering content that solves problems, builds trust, and establishes a connection with the audience. It’s about creating blogs, eBooks, videos, and social media posts that inform and educate potential customers. By offering valuable insights, your business becomes a trusted resource that people turn to when they’re ready to make a purchasing decision.

One of the main benefits of inbound marketing is that it fosters long-term relationships. Instead of pushing for immediate conversions, inbound strategies focus on nurturing leads over time, which helps in building loyalty and customer retention.

Example: Imagine a small business offering eco-friendly home products. By creating blog posts about sustainable living, offering free downloadable guides on eco-friendly home tips, and sharing relevant videos on social media, they can naturally attract an audience that cares about sustainability.

 

 

Organic SEO: Sustainable Growth through Search Optimization

Organic SEO refers to the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results without paying for ads. It involves techniques such as keyword research, content creation, link-building, and technical SEO to improve website visibility and drive organic traffic.

The key to successful SEO is creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience and properly optimized with keywords and meta tags. Additionally, off-page SEO strategies such as building backlinks from authoritative sites also play a significant role in improving rankings.

Best Practices:

• On-page SEO: Optimize your website’s content, structure, and metadata. 
• Off-page SEO: Build backlinks from authoritative websites to boost credibility. 
• Long-tail keywords: Targeting specific, long-tail keywords can help you rank for less competitive search queries. 

Benefits of Organic SEO:

• Long-term results: Once you rank high for relevant keywords, you can continue to drive free traffic. 
• Higher credibility: Organic results are often viewed as more trustworthy by users. 
• Better ROI: Compared to paid advertising, organic SEO can deliver a higher return on investment in the long run.

 

Read more: SEO – Why It Matters for Your Website’s Success

 

 

Local SEO: Winning Customers in Your Neighborhood

Local SEO is a strategy focused on optimizing your online presence to rank higher in local search results. This is particularly important for businesses that serve a specific geographic area, such as restaurants, local retailers, or service providers.

Local SEO includes tactics such as optimizing your Google My Business listing, getting reviews from local customers, and ensuring that your business information is consistent across all online platforms.

Benefits of Local SEO:

• Increased visibility in local search results. 
• Higher chance of attracting local customers who are ready to make a purchase. 
• Improved local reputation through reviews and ratings. 

Tips for Local SEO:

• Optimize your Google My Business profile with accurate contact information, business hours, and images. 
• Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews. 
• Use location-specific keywords in your content to target local search queries. 
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Google Ads: Fast-Track Your Way to More Leads

Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to target specific keywords and drive paid traffic to their websites. Google Ads are ideal for businesses that need quick results and want to appear at the top of search results for highly competitive keywords.

With Google Ads, businesses can target a wide range of keywords related to their products or services. The beauty of Google Ads lies in its ability to provide instant visibility, enabling businesses to reach customers who are actively searching for their offerings.

Benefits of Google Ads:

• Instant visibility: Appears at the top of search results immediately. 
• Flexible budget: Control how much you want to spend each day or month. 
• Measurable ROI: Track your ad performance and adjust your strategy for optimal results. 

Tips for Google Ads Success:

• Target high-converting keywords with a clear intent. 
• Use negative keywords to avoid irrelevant traffic. 
• Continuously monitor your campaigns and adjust your bidding strategies for better performance. 

In conclusion, digital marketing services offer a powerful way for businesses to reach and engage with their target audience. Whether you’re utilizing inbound marketing to build trust, SEM to drive targeted traffic, or organic SEO to ensure sustainable growth, each strategy plays a unique role in your digital marketing ecosystem. A well-rounded approach combining these services can help you achieve both short-term success and long-term results.

If you’re ready to take your online presence to the next level, working with Visible One can help you navigate these strategies and achieve your goals. Contact us today for a consultation and start maximizing your online presence!

The year of 2015 has been called “The Year of Video Marketing”. Today, live video is maybe the hottest trend in digital marketing. Video-based apps like Snapchat, Meerkat and Periscope and now Facebook takes up this challenge by introducing live streaming video option for everyone.

Why Live Streaming Video is Important for Business

For marketers and business owners, you already know how important video marketing is and why you have to take advantage of it for promoting your products and services on the Internet. According to Invodo Video Stats Report, 51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.

In a world where buyers do most of their own research online before purchasing or contacting a business, a video can be a powerful tool to tell a story and to grab the attention of potential customers. Video content can entertain, inspire, and educate them about what you do and who you are, including the culture of your company.

Show, don’t tell. There is no better medium than video for storytelling. Live video is the natural extension of video marketing. Live video is where it’s at for businesses. It can increase reach and video chat has been shown to increase sales rates by up to 10 percent. With live video, you can let customers view product demos, current events, behind the scenes and everything they want to know. Customers can watch a live video and comment at the same time which creates an interaction and connection. You can also reply to their comments and answer questions in real-time which both increases sales conversions and lowers the need for further support after a purchase.

Today, live video is a trend that business should not ignore. It is simple to implement, just grab your mobile phone or a video camera and start taking some short live videos about your company. You will be surprised at the advantages it can bring to your business.

The world has transformed with the upsurge use of the internet. Today’s consumers are savvy, discerning and extremely well-informed. Thus, many e-commerce platforms are now available in the market and retailers are playing in a field in which competitors are just a click away.

In Singapore, 4.4 million people are accessing the internet this year (2016) and is one of the two countries with the fastest internet, with download speeds of 122.4 mbps and 20 mbps respectively. For this reason, consumers can easily make purchases or find information online through the PC or mobile devices. Thus, having an eCommerce website design is a essential for businesses nowadays.

According to a report, Singaporeans are among the most active online purchasers globally across a broad range of products and services and 60% of consumers in Singapore buy products online at least once a month. Come 2025, Singapore’s e-commerce market is expected to be worth US$5.4 billion (S$7.46 billion).

Given this information about e-commerce, it should be clear that repeat customers and their loyalty are worth having. Customer loyalty doesn’t come around quickly but by engaging in some of the best e-commerce practices, including:

Offer high-quality product at a competitive prices

Quality products and price matters to consumers. Today’s consumers are thrifty and if they know that you offer expensive products with low-quality, they will not stay longer on your site and probably will not revisit in the future. Instead, they will find for another business that will provide what they are looking for in a product, which means loss for your business.

To retain customers and earn their loyalty, retailers have to offer high-quality products with competitive price that meet the needs and budget of customers.

Great delivery service

For e-commerce businesses, great delivery means fast delivery. If you are delivering products to consumers, make sure you keep your promises and exceed their expectations.  For example, promising delivery in seven days but delivering in three. Fast delivery is one of the key factor to make repeat customers.

If they need to return items they purchased from you, it would be better if you provide an easy and free return policy because it is a real bugbear for them to be charged costs almost as much to return as it did to buy! If customers know that they can change what they purchased that doesn’t meet their expectations, they would preferably revisit your site in the future.

Provide excellent customer service

According to Zendesk, 40% of customers begin purchasing from a competitor because of their reputation for great customer service.

If you want customers to come back, make it easy for them to contact you. There are unlimited communication outlets to provide customer service. Provide a web chat, contact form, phone number or e-email on your site and make sure customers shouldn’t encounter any trouble when trying to reach you. A research report of American Express shows that 58% of customers are willing to spend more on companies that provide excellent customer service. Therefore, it is important to maintain the philosophy that every customer matters, provide immediate and satisfying answer to their specific query or a solution to their complaints. And always remember, never ignore negative feedback from customers. Show them that you care no matter what the situation is and do your best to meet their needs.

These are quite simple things to implement but are a great way of nurturing trust and making an impression for customers that you are accessible, accommodating and reliable company.

Be very convenient

E-commerce means a platform that can service consumers 24/7 while keeping the operation simple and convenient. Customers can browse your site and make a purchase no matter if its day or night so optimize their online shopping experience by making your e-commerce site user-friendly, accessible and responsive. According to Zendesk report, more than 40% of shoppers said that convenience contributed to brand loyalty.

One way to be very convenient is offering customers a log in account so that if they return or revisit your site and make a purchase, they don’t have to repeatedly fill up a long checkout form. If possible, let customers log in using social media networks like Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Creating a convenient e-commerce website is the key factor to increase the rate of repeat customers and your sales in general.

Reward repeat customers

Every customer love rewards and special offers. And, they like it that much when they feel valued and appreciated. Reward your customers by giving special offers like discount coupons, free shipping for two or more items purchased, or faster customer service response, to attract them to keep coming back. These are the greatest way to thank them for being loyal customers and encourages them to revisiting your site for repeat purchase. You’ll be surprised how much the little things count!

There are many social media platforms where you can advertise your business but Facebook is still the best and proven way to reach your audience and be seen on people’s News Feed by the power of Facebook advertising. With approximately 1.79 billion monthly active users as of the third quarter of 2016, Facebook is the best social media platform choice for businesses, however there are effective marketing strategies that need to be implemented in order to have a cost effective and result-driven campaign.

In Singapore, Facebook users are expected to reach 3.2 million, up from 2.9 million in 2016. Thus, it gives local businesses a huge opportunity to market their brand in a massive number of users. Here are five Facebook ads will help make your business successful;

Targeted advertising

Facebook ads allows you to specify the interests of the people who you want to gain exposure to. You can target a specific group of people according to demographics, age, interests and basically everything else that they do on the internet.

With Facebook ads, you can create targeted ads to reach different audiences and meet your business goals.

Tracks performance and ROI

Facebook Ad Manager offers a wide range of performance metrics intended to help you measure ROI and track performance.

Facebook also offers Power Editor tool with user-friendly features that helps you to set up your ad campaign and handle your Facebook advertising campaigns. Power Editor is a bulk ads creation and management tool typically used by larger Facebook advertisers or advertisers who want advanced features. If you want to change the pictures, video or copy of your ad, you can do it with Power Editor at any time. It also allows you to insert a tracking pixel into pages within your website to target your prospective customers with the products that they are interested in.

Facebook Advertising Increase customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is important to any business as they can bring in a constant source of sale and profit. Businesses are always seeking new ideas on how to boost customer loyalty and Facebook is one of the easiest ways to do so.

Using Facebook ads, you can educate fans about your products or services and interact directly with them to provide fast and accurate support to questions and comments so that you can build loyalty and brand image. Facebook users check their newsfeed several times a day, giving your target audience frequent exposure to your ads. Even if they aren’t clicking your ads, the continual visibility in their news feed increased efficiency and engagement which creates opportunities for retargeting in the future.

Facebook Advertising Increase Exposure of Your Business

With Facebook ads, you can choose to run a PPE (pay per engagement) campaign that cost some money yet reach the target audience for your business maximizing your business exposure. Your target audience will be able to see your business’s message directly in the news feed once they log on to their Facebook. Make sure to use call to action, relevant and shareable content to your Facebook ads that fans find entertaining, informative or useful. This way, existing and target audience will be motivated to like or comment on an ad you’ve set up then an alert goes out on that person’s Timeline thereby augmenting your visibility.

Increase Lead Generation and Customers

Lead generation is the generation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services your business offer. Facebook is much more than just a way to expand your brand, engage with your prospective and existing customers. Facebook ads when done correctly can essentially increase lead generation and customers.

To maximize the effectiveness of Facebook ads in generating leads, make sure that you are creative enough in how you incorporate your links and posts with compelling content that will eventually drive your targeted audiences to a landing page or website which drives more traffic which results to more customers, and more sales.

Conclusion

Start changing the way your business uses Facebook today. Done correctly, Facebook ads can be very beneficial for the marketing efforts of your business. But without an effective testing and practices in place, you won’t recognize whether you’re essentially getting the most out of your budget.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for all of your online marketing efforts. It is about marketing of products or services using electronic media such as the web, email, mobile phones, display advertising and any other digital medium in conjunction with digital data about customers’ characteristics and behaviors.

The term is predominant today as the usage of internet increases over the years. In 2016, the total population in Singapore is 5,781,728 and there 4,699,204 internet users which means almost everyone access the web. But, not all users know the benefits of digital marketing and the current digital marketing trends.

With the change and evolution of modern technologies, the market is going through dynamic changes and many large companies are expanding and reshaping their marketing strategies from traditional marketing to digital marketing. For that reason, Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as the backbone of the economy, must go digital to be able to adhere with the dynamic changes. The Government of Singapore is committed to help and support SMEs to keep up with the changes in digital culture which makes it easier for them to keep up with these changes.

The rise of the Internet offers a golden opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to level the playing ground against their bigger competitors. But, what really are the benefits of digital marketing for SMEs?

Cost-effective

Not all SMEs have a lot of resources and capitalization but digital marketing allows them to overcome the challenge of tight budgets and limited resources as well which helps them to compete with its bigger competitors. Digital marketing has a higher ROI when compared to traditional marketing since the latter acquires in a lot of expensive costs, which vary depending on the platform. This is why digital marketing provide SMEs with a better and much more cost-effective marketing channel that delivers better results.A poll conducted by UOB this month found that 88% of SMEs in Singapore believe that their business will benefit from the adoption of digital technology. In particular, more than half felt that it would help them save costs and reduce reliance on manpower.

Builds brand awareness

Digital marketing campaigns allow you to build substantial brand awareness and to constantly be in engaged with your potential customers, gaining their trust and loyalty by leaving long-lasting, positive impressions on them.

Provides better ROI

With the right execution of digital marketing techniques, it can generate a steady flow of targeted traffic that converts into higher conversion rates and revenues. The more your business generates this kind of traffic, the faster you can comprehend your ROI which help you stay ahead of the competition

Build better relationship with targeted audience

Building strong relationships with customers is a key part of your brand’s long-term success. Digital marketing reaches out to your target audience and is a valuable asset for developing good customer relations. Through different marketing channels, businesses can improve customer service and reduce customer agitate.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart was famously quoted as saying,

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but LEGENDARY.” – Sam Walton

Reach out local and international customers

Digital marketing is rapidly transforming and is so pervasive that most consumers worldwide have access to information through the web any time and place they want, using their smart phones, tablets or laptops. According to a study, 61% of online searches are about products or services. Therefore, an optimized website with the right SEO practices, engaging content and relevant social media posts can do a lot of opportunities for your business. Interestingly enough, content marketing can generate up to 3 times more leads than traditional marketing strategies, at one third of the cost.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is one of the best marketing options out there for SMEs and is truly a dynamic marketing strategy that can be used by any business types. Ignoring the benefits which your business can get from investing in digital marketing is a big lost. Whether you have a limited or big marketing budget you can still use this promising strategy to promote your business in the most efficient and effective way.

In this fast-paced world we now live in where there is a rapid increase in innovation, E-commerce have created a big impact on the retailing industry all over the world. Electronic Commerce, also known as e-commerce, entails purchasing and selling of products or services through electronic systems like computer networks and the Internet; it refers to not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. E-commerce web design is a marketing and advertising tool with the ability to promote products and services using the World Wide Web to have company information listed on search engines so people can see what you do on a global scale and so has benefited to retailers to promote their business globally.

E-commerce has a major impact on the retail industry in a variety of ways. Retailers have had to adapt to new technological demands from users to allow them to participate in the e-business world. It has revolutionized the way companies, regardless of size, do business. The implication was that the retail industry was in decline as e-commerce took over. Every traditional retailer now has web and mobile offerings, while many e-commerce companies, like Amazon, Warby Parker, and Bonobos, are opening brick-and-mortar shops.

As technology is rapidly evolving, there is greater need for retailers to find out new ways to connect with their customers. With up-and-coming wearable technologies and refined mobile products, customers are shopping online in more ways than one and are using technology on a daily basis. For the retailing industry, E-commerce has increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. E-commerce offers buyer and sellers a new method of communication and offers opportunities to create new marketplace and has created new activities and features in which consumers and businesses can participate.

Nevertheless, e-commerce made it possible for retailers to gain potential customers, improve communications, tracks finances, increasing research and improve their brand easier than before, as well as increase sales in a cost-effective way. It has made their stores a secondary option to sell their products since customers prefer an easier way of shopping which is through the use of e-commerce. Retailers are now able to sell their products all over the world. This has made the potential for the retailing industry to increase their revenue and customer base dramatically. This have created pressure to retailers since their customers are increasing. They must be able to predict this and create a cost-effective way of delivering their products to consumers by merchandising on shelves and having a trust worthy distribution centers who will handle the products directly to their customers. With this said, E-commerce revolutionized the way retailing industry works through its consistent growth and has become a standard way of retailing to consumers.

Before, when there were no e-commerce, retailers were restrained to only local and domestic consumers which was tough for them to create sales. E-commerce has made it possible for products to be sold at a global scale. This have made it possible for retail brands to be visible worldwide and had created a global competition scene. With e-commerce, shops will be able to sell their products 24/7 while keeping their costs at a minimum. It can also prevent over staffing because e-commerce will be its own sales person. With e-commerce emerging in our world, the products will have a high availability for all consumer’s needs and wants.

Whilst retails who depend on the traditional ways might have a hard time competing against the E-commerce world. They will be stagnant to their own area while losing against the innovative ideas other retailers have dependent upon.

Corporate logos serve as the face of a company. They encapsulate a major graphical representation which provides an instant recognition of your company’s brand and unique identity to consumers.

Nowadays, where there are too many businesses to compete with, it is very hard to establish yourself without a logo. In short, logo is like a mental shortcut to a company or a particular product. Let’s look how a logo can be of help to your company’s success:

1. Branding

Your brand is more than just your company’s name and logo, but a professional and well-designed logo is an integral part of any company’s brand. In today’s competitive market, having a strong brand that rises above the crowd is becoming increasingly important. Good branding is no longer optional, it’s a must. According to a recent research, a brand logo can be an integrator of the marketing efforts of the brand, a reflector of such effort and the icon of what the brand means to its customers. In short, a good logo can be a synthesizer of a brand that is readily used by customers for identification, differentiation and positive associations.

2. Advertising

Advertising helps to keep the customers informed about whatever new products or services are available with your business. It helps to spread consciousness about products or services that are of some use to consumer and potential buyers. A logo plays an important role in the task of advertisement as it creates a connection point between the company and its customers. It allows you the opportunity to provide essential information to your customers and potential customers in an artistic, visually stimulating way.

Many brands like Coca-Cola, Nike and McDonald’s have made their enterprise and corporate identity on their iconic logo through showing it via all their advertising methods.

Displaying your brand’s logo on all your advertising and promotional materials will enable you to expose your brand to a wider target audience, which in turn bring more sales, profits and revenue.

3. Trust

A brand strategy includes developing trust and corporate logos earn trust with professionalism. Logos don’t only identify what your company does or stands for, but they also send a message of professionalism to your existing and potential customers. Every time a customer visits your website, opens a newsletter, stationery or accepts your business card, they are seeing your company’s logo, the logo you chose to represent your business. And put this in mind, people remember great logos!

According to Midlands-based independent brand consultant Rebecca Battman, no matter how good a logo’s design is, it will only be successful if the company itself is trusted.

“A logo is a simple and functional signpost to help people find and identify your business,” she says. “But for a logo to be successful, the company behind it must be a respected and trusted brand.

As the biggest social networking site, Facebook offers a powerful advertising platform that can help engage your brand with your targeted audience and generate more sales for your business. One fact that’s known by every business owner is that online marketing strategies of a business can have an enormous effect on its growth and success. With approximately 2 billion monthly active users as of the second quarter of 2017, Facebook is the best social media platform choice for small businesses to promote their products and services if they want to grow their customer rate. Here, Facebook can be very beneficial. While having a business page on Facebook is very similar to owning a website, there are some significant benefits that only Facebook can provide.

“As a small business owner, you’re in a great position to start exploiting social media for all its worth, adding much sought after personalisation and relevance at an integral stage of your development.”

Here are five ways to make the most of your time on Facebook:

1. Sharing photos and videos

As people are innately visual and Facebook caters to this fact, using photos and videos to represent your products and services are the most effective and powerful way of driving engagement and to communicate with potential customers, allowing them to see your products and services without visiting your premises. The more shareable and engaging you have with your photos and videos on Facebook, the more word of mouth marketing works to your customers with their connections which increase your brand awareness.

2. Facebook Advertising

There are many social media platforms where you can advertise your business but Facebook is still the best and proven way to reach your audience and be seen on people’s News Feed by the power of Facebook advertising. Facebook advertising allows you to reach people based on location, age, gender, interests and more, with regular updates on how well your Ads are performing. that need to be implemented in order to. If you can get the right marketing strategies such as mix of targeting, ad creative and copy, you can really have a cost effective and result-driven Facebook advertising.Read more on https://visibleone.com/benefits-facebook-advertising-business/.

3. Post Scheduling

To be effective on Facebook you would require to do long-term content planning. Facebook allows page owners to schedule posts for a week, a month or a quarter in advance. Set aside time to schedule posts at the beginning or end of the week to make sure you’re giving your business proper coverage on Facebook, while saving yourself time. This feature allows admins to have the opportunity to execute your content plans online despite being away from the computer. You can schedule links, photos, status update and videos ahead of time. At this time, you can’t schedule photo albums, events, questions, offers or milestones.Facebook allows you to edit or delete scheduled posts from your activity log, so this is a perfect tool to get ahead on your Facebook posts and track your post activities and integrate changes if anything is missing from your current content pipeline. Be sure to return to your page each day, to respond to any feedback on your Facebook page.

4. Provide Customer Support Right from Your Smartphone

Responding with insightful information in a timely manner when appropriate is very important to increase the level of satisfaction of customers and can help in developing personal relationships with them, promoting brand loyalty. Responding to messages, reviews, dealing with complaints and removing spam is one of the most important ways to give your audience the best experience possible on Facebook. If your customers feel both loyal to your business, it’s more likely you’ll have a strong, long-term connection with them.

You can download on your smartphone the Facebook Pages Manager app to view and reply private messages, manage feedback, respond to wall posts, or comments. The app allows you to update your Page and check Page insights as well but the best way to utilize this app is for viewing your notifications in real time to ensure you’re handling your customer’s needs as they arise.

5. Install Free Apps on Your Page

Custom tabs are installed manually and show up below your cover photo to add functionality to your Facebook page. There are four standard Facebook apps that come with every page— Photos, Events, Videos and  The photos tab that highlights all the photos shared on your Facebook page cannot be changed but what you can change and customize for your business are the other three tabs to the right of the photo tab which allow you to highlight applications of your choice, free or paid. It’s not required, but it’s certainly recommended that you add apps to these tabs to enhance the online experience of your customers or prospects. There are a lot of other apps available that provide a variety of features, like easily bringing in your Instagram photos, tweets, email sign up form  and many others out there that may also be a good fit for your business. Start by searching the Facebook App Center for apps you’d like to add to your page and if you come up short, use a search engine to find a Facebook app (since Facebook search can be unreliable at times). For example, search: Facebook Instagram app in Google, Bing or Yahoo.

The goal of a website is to represent a company’s brand, generate more business leads, increase sales, and promote brand awareness. In this digital marketing era, almost every business has its own company website that showcases its products or services, its company information, and its brand.

In fact, there are 1,630,322,579 websites in the World as of June 2018. However, standing out in today’s competitive market is challenging, and without remarkable branding to set you apart in the local market can be next to impossible.

When building your new website or updating your current website, there’s a comprehensible focus on things like making sure it’s mobile-friendly, attractive, and organized and other fundamentals of a good design such as your company logo, color scheme, slogan, and font choice. These elements should all be prominent in your web design and should be consistent with any social media or email marketing you do in order to increase the value of your company and give you a strong online presence. Just about every business that is successful has its own brand.

A brand is a promise to your consumers and having a consistent message on different platforms builds positive and long-term relationships with consumers who will likely share the positive message with their friends and colleagues. Your company’s website has an effect on the perceived credibility and quality of your business.

Neglecting your brand on your website will not only harm your sales, but it can also have a negative effect on your search rankings. Google focuses on providing a good user experience and relevant to whatever it is they’re looking for. In the long run, if do not properly develop your brand online, people will not click on your site and eventually your search ranking could fall making it more difficult for your target audience to find your site online.

Brand definition:

“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association).”

Why is it important?

A company’s brand represents a business identity—who you are, what you do, what kind of quality you provide, your reputation for credibility, and more. A strong brand has one important advantage — recognition. Brand recognition comes with awareness. With awareness comes trust and confidence. Done correctly, consistency in your website brings more consumers who become loyal to your brand. However, building trust is no easy task. Exposure to a brand many times is needed for consumers before they become loyal to it. So a clear and consistent message has to be established that consumers will immediately distinguish your brand from the competitive market.

To conclude, a product or service is what you sell, branding is the strategy to create a brand image, and a brand is the image of the product or service you sell, which is what is being perceived by consumers.

Google launched Google+ also known as Google Plus service in 2011 and became one of most popular social networks on the Internet including Facebook and Twitter. Google+ wasn’t Google’s first venture into social networking. Google had made several attempts to offer a social networking service of some sort like Google Buzz launched in 2010 and it closed the next year or Google Friend Connect launched in 2008 and eventually retired in 2012 and Okrut that didn’t go very well since it was launched in 2004 and eventually being shut down in 2014.

Google+ was initially created as an invitation only system and users were required an invitation to sign up for the service. The demand for accounts was so high and later the service was made opened to everyone. Many Gmail account holders signed for the new social network website. The statistics for the usage of the social network looked very well during its first months.

Why Google is shutting down Google+ social networking website?

Google decided to shut down Google+ for consumers only and will remain available for enterprises because it is better suited as an enterprise product because the strong connection between Google+ and the company’s other services opened up a new wave of opportunities for businesses who were already advertising with Google. There are two reasons of the decision of shutting down Google+.

1. Security Issues

Back in October, Google announced that it would shut down its Google+ social network and after it discovered a new bug a software update that impacted approximately had exposed the account information of 500,000 users and approximately 52.5 million users in connection with a Google+ API. The discovery of the security API bug caused third party apps to get access to user data that were shared with the user, but not marked as public. The user data that could led to being stolen includes name, birthday, gender, nickname and more even if those users had limited access to that information. At that time, Google planned to shut down the social network by August 2019.

“We discovered this bug as part of our standard and ongoing testing procedures and fixed it within a week of it being introduced” wrote in a blog post by Google Vice President David Thacker. “No third party compromised our systems, and we have no evidence that the app developers that inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused it in any way,” it added.

Google revealed that it internally found the security bug which was shipped with November update, and was only active for six days (November 7 to November 13). The testing revealed that a Google+ API was not operating as intended, and while the bug has been fixed, it is still investigating in to the details of it.

After fixing the bug a week after it was discovered and found no evidence that anyone took advantage of the API bug and that that any profile data was misused, Google decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs within the next 90 days. It means Google+ for consumers will now go away sometime in April 2019 due to security issues.

2. Low Usage and Engagement

Early last year, when Google decided to make design changes, experts were not in favor. At the time, Google also said that Google+ had seen “low usage and engagement,” with over 90 percent of all user sessions lasting 5 seconds or less.

Within two weeks of its launch, Google+ reached 10 million users and grown to 25 million in just over a month. Even if Google was only tracking sign-up numbers, it still appeared like a massive threat to Facebook. However, Google+ received mixed feedback that it became challenging for them to sustain its massive users. Google had tried to make Google+ a unique product but has eventually failed.

After the security issue incident, Google realized the significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ service that meets consumers’ expectations. Given these challenges and the very low usage and engagement of the consumer version of Google+, this led to the decision to shutter the network in August 2019 but decided to accelerate the sunsetting of consumer Google+ to April 2019.

In the coming days, Google will provide users with additional information, including ways they can safely and securely download and migrate their data.