Tips to Provide the Best Website Experience, Page 4 of 25

As a business, how likely is it that potential customers will come through your door?

The whole point of an online presence is to entice customers into your store, your leasing office or your showroom so you can convert them to paying customers rather than just browsers online.

Further, nothing is more frustrating as a customer than finding out that you have been given the wrong information about where a business is located. As a customer, how likely are you to give this company your business? Not very. In fact, according to Placeable, 73% of consumers stated that they lose trust in a brand when the online listing shows incorrect information.

1. Missing hours of operation information can be a dealbreaker

There are many things that people look for in listings, whether they are looking at that search engine on a PC or on a mobile device. The top piece of information that most people look for is the hours of operation, since their search is likely for a business that they frequent quite often.

In fact, in a study conducted by local data aggregator Localeze, hours of operation were noted as the most helpful feature in selecting a business during local search. 76% of respondent reporting that they expect this information when searching and 61% believe that it is a feature that helps them to select a business.

Even if people are new to a business, it doesn't give people a good impression if the business hours are not listed and they don't know that it's only open from 11 a.m-6p.m. Tuesday-Saturday .Imagine that potential customer who is ready to spend their money in store, but shows up on Monday at 7 p.m. only to find it closed. That customer is likely going to do another search on a mobile phone to find a different store and spend their money there.

2. You can't spell NAP data (and score a citation) without an A(ddress)

While most people would assume that the number one reason people do a search online is for the address or location of a business, the address is actually behind hours of operation as the second most desired information. But, of course, the whole point of being in business is to make money doing what you love or selling what you love. And that happens by attracting foot traffic and increasing customer base.

It bears repeating that if a business address is incorrect on listing sites such as Google or Bing, then customers will not be crossing the threshold. A simple thing such as the wrong number on a street address, or even the wrong town, can mean that a customer cannot find you. The US Postal Service relies on a complex system of checks to verify and standardize addresses, and many of the search engines will default to the USPS for correct mailing addresses.

What this means for the average new business owner is that unless a business is in an established location, getting the correct address on their listing means that both the address from City Hall and the information on USPS must be consistent. If USPS doesn't recognize that address, then a business owner must contact them to verify their new address and get that information updated on USPS's online database.

3. Local searchers are mobile creatures

According to Localeze, mobile-phone-based searches drive in-store purchases with more than 75% of searches ending in a purchase, if a business has their listing details correct. Now if half of the people searching for a business listing on a local search engine, such as Google Local/Maps, can't find the store's business listing details, then the business is going to lose 100% of their business.

For ease of use for potential customers, some of those details need to be as readily available as possible in a mobile-friendly manner. This can be accomplished with a responsive website that supports cellphone and tablet-specific versions.

4. Updated, accurate websites still serve as a first impression

At the same time, more than 60% of searches on PC platforms such as website portals, Internet Yellow Page directories and local sites have a similar chance of ending in a purchase. While mobile searches are becoming more of a standard in where a customer searches, a business owner should not discount the power of a fulsome, consistent and accurate listing that is reflective of the business website.

Any listing should be linked to the business's website and feature the exact same information, but more of it. While a website should be enough to entice a customer to visit or buy, if those inconsistencies exist, then trust issues may arise in a business's practices before a customer ever crosses their threshold.

5. Local searchers mix it up across multiple devices, situations and times

People who search for listings are doing it in many more ways than when the Internet first coalesced into existence about two decades ago. In that time, we went from working on desktops to laptops to PDAs to Blackberries to Apples to tablets--and in each iteration, the methods of search have changed.

However, that has slowed over the last five years or so as web developers realize that they need to be smarter. Rather than designing three different sites for three different platforms, they have created websites that are scalable to the search device. And that has been helped along by the proliferation of types of devices in use everyday.

According to Pew Research Center, In 2015, smartphone ownership in America was at 68%, with tablet and computer ownership at 45%. Statista says that almost half of American adults use their smartphones the most to search for local information online, the other half being split between computers (40%) and tablets (11%). According to Localeze, like the types of devices used, what we are searching for varies by the time of day and device. Entertainment is searched for during work hours on computers, restaurants during evening using phones and health/fitness evening using tablets.

The most important part of those mobile searches is accuracy. If someone cannot find your business in a local search or find inaccurate results whilst out and about, then your business has lost the chance for that browser to become a customer. So having those listings correct in all of the device formats is a must as we, and our technology, continue to evolve in the way we interact with local businesses.

6. Local search results are trusted sources of information

Last but certainly not least is the fact that local search results are considered the most trustworthy. In a study by Neustar, it was determined that these searches, such as "used games Raleigh", are what people do the most since they put that trust in local business more than big box, big website stores.

Think about it, would you rather find a local store where you can get that latest purse in town right now? Or you can wait a week for delivery, which is four days past the event that you want it for! Local searches lend themselves to instant gratification and that interaction between browser and salesperson will convert that browser from someone who might get just the minimum to a loyal customer who feels like a million having spent a little more, but getting what they consider to be gold!

Those interactions are what lead people to local searches and the absolute necessity of getting your listings correct. Trust leads to loyalty, which leads to more business, which leads to happy customers and business owners.

And it all starts with that correct listing in that customer's local search.
Check out your business's local listings by completing form below:

Is your business listed on online directories? If not, it's time to understand the importance of getting your business listed online and why your business listings are important.

There are all sorts of online directories. There are the big ones, such as Facebook, Yelp and Google Maps, and then there are the hundreds of smaller directories, including local directories, niche-related directories, GPS directories, and more.

You don't need us to tell you that printed white paper directories are a thing of the past. What you need to think about, however, is what that means for your business.

You need to get your business listed on every online directory possible. This is the only way that you will be able to reach a maximum audience.

You need to be listed on Google My Business, so that your local businesses will appear when people search for your type of store on Google. You need to be listed on Facebook so that people searching Facebook will find you. You need to get listed on GPS directories so that people in their car will find you. You need to get listed wherever people search for businesses.

Another reason why you need to be listed on as many directories as possible is because it is crucial for local SEO. For local SEO listings to be effective, you must get your business listed on as many directories as possible. These listings must be identical when it comes to the format of your business name, phone number, and address.

If you own a chain of local stores, you must get all of them listed online.

Of course, this is too much to handle by yourself. That's why you need a service that manages online listings, such as Factual, Acxiom, Infogroup and Neustar. These services can get your business listed on over 300 directories at once. For more information, please contact us.

User stories within the scrum framework, a variation of Agile software development, describe the items needed for the product development team's backlog or feature list. The team will refer to the user stories on the top of the backlog during the upcoming work-block of two-to-four weeks (called a sprint). Members of the scrum (a cross-functional development team) meet beforehand to write, submit and select user stories. Here are five tips on how to write user stories for use in Agile development.

• Pick a flexible method for writing user stories.

User stories appear on a spread sheet, consist of a collection of index cards or sticky notes, or are written down in other ways. Regardless of the form they take, user stories are key to producing the backlog features that will be addressed during a sprint. Choose a form that best suits the personality of your group.

• Keep the customer in mind.

One characteristic that describes a user story is that it is customer-focused. The scrum team's goal is to decide how to deliver those designated features at the top of the backlog in a way that best serves the customer's needs.

• Remember that it's a collaborative effort.

When team members come together in a scrum, they have already committed to collaborating, trusting one another's judgement, and holding each other accountable. These factors come into play even before the sprint begins, when the user stories are being selected. Like all aspects of the process, reviewing the user stories involves feedback, inspection and adaptation. For this reason, some scrum teams use index cards or sticky notes instead of a spread sheet. They then place the items on a table, wall or other surface where everyone reviews them.

• Prioritize.

Determine the order in which the user stories appear in the backlog. Whether you use numbers or the terms "high," "medium" or "low," as a group, you'll decide which items come first, second, etc.

• Keep it short.

Within the Agile framework, a user story is two-to-three sentences. Longer narratives are called epics, and include descriptions of multiple features that must be broken down into individual stories. Remember that each user story is small enough to consist of an item or function that, when completed, gets the team closer to "done."

We are though leaders in the software product development industry that use a collaborative, customer-focused framework for designing and developing the highest quality of software. To talk more about user stories, the Agile framework, or anything else, please contact us. 

Becoming a more agile business is important in keeping your employees happy, and better enabling your brand for success. Chances are, you have business processes inside of your organization that can benefit from refinement, and automation. A custom web app may be the perfect solution in cleaning up some issues you've run into with your internal processes, in the past.

Many businesses in operation today have outdated internal systems that are used for very specific processing tasks. While it is good to have custom programs that help you achieve goals, and improve productivity, it is better to enable your employees to accomplish tasks, anywhere, at anytime. This type of liberation requires implementing web-based applications.

Web apps are secure, highly advanced, super fast, and can enable your business to become more cutting-edge in a highly competitive landscape. In the past, issues like bandwidth, processing speeds, and memory allocation, held businesses back from adopting web-based applications. Now, the technology available to everyone, is perfectly suited for meeting the needs of businesses, employees, and consumers alike.

Budget issues are mostly a concern of the past as well. Custom application development may be much more reasonably priced than you anticipate, and it is certainly more affordable than it was in days gone by.

Whatever your specific needs, a custom web app can add value to your business, and better serve everyone within your ecosystem. Contact us anytime to discuss how we can help your business achieve its goals. We're looking forward to exceeding your expectations.

Responsive web design

"It's fair to say that the web's moved beyond the desktop, and it's not looking back." - Ethan Marcotte

Anyone who wants the title of "web designer" should become well acquainted with Ethon Marcotte's seminal book "Responsive Web Design". However, even if you never have the intention of setting a CSS attribute with your own hands, you should have a strong appreciation for the design philosophy that has come to be known as Responsive.

For those unfamiliar or vaguely familiar with the term, it refers to a type of design in which web content adapts to the medium with which the user accesses it. The idea is fairly simple the techniques used to achieve it are anything but. However, it has become such an essential part of modern web design that in many cases we may not even be aware that we are using it. Users have come to expect web content to come to them fluidly and cleanly through their smartphones, laptops, and other devices so much that any online entity that doesn't deliver in this manner sticks out as an anachronism from the early 2000s.

We are "Not Looking Back"- and Neither Are Your Customers

Your users certainly do not want to use another decade's technology. They want the ease and natural feel that they have come to expect in the modern online ecosystem. A brand new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy can render a website from practically any generation of the World Wide Web (even the first page ever), but that doesn't mean that the desktop-bound designs have any place on a mobile screen.

The Evidence

The subjective factors of why you may lose customers over non-responsiveness are fairly obvious. In addition, there is plenty of objective evidence for this outcome:

• According to this piece from The Huffington Post, 30 percent of users looking to make a purchase through a mobile site will abandon the purchase if the site is not mobile-friendly.

• We all know of Google's search engine market dominance over 70% as of July 2015. This has great implications with regards to Responsiveness since Google is dropping the rankings of sites that are not mobile-optimized.
• In a study carried out on UK law firms, those with non-responsive websites lost 2/3 of visitors!

How to Become Responsive

It is irrefutable that anyone with a web presence today needs Responsive web design. The good news is that it is a mature philosophy with a great deal of frameworks and tools that accomplished web developers can make use of. Contact us if your website is missing the Responsive feel that your customers have grown to expect.

Online appdevelopment doesn't have to be difficult. With this handy guide, you'll be on your way to creating your first app in no time.

First off, decide how you want to go about it. Do you want to take the time to learn and DIY your own app, and also face the pitfalls associated with getting your first work off the ground? Or would you prefer to leave it in the hands of professionals?

Next, are you planning on creating a website or mobile app? Do you want it to be accessed on the go by your market, or do you want it to be rooted in your website? Contensive offers both, so the choice is entirely based on what you want to accomplish.

Then think about what features you want to include. It's best to work with a balance between up to date technology and tried-and-true techniques. Too far to one side and you risk wasting time if a technology doesn't become wide spread. Too far to the other and you'll be viewed as outdated. Fortunately for you, our team of engineers, analysts and designers is always up to the task.

Finally, you must decide on a design and flow that you want to implement. How do you want the app to work? How do you want to guide your consumers or employees through the app? How do you want the user interface to appear? We can help you decide all of this if necessary.

We work with your team to figure out requirements and goals, to advise on what is realistic, and create a successful strategy -- all within the agreed-upon time and schedule.

Even at the end of the day, once the app is live, you're not alone. We continue to provide support and maintenance for the life cycle of the app. We stay on-hand as your business continues to grow to advise, plan, execute the continual evolution of your resources as needed.

To talk more about this, or anything else, please Contact Us.

Your business is growing, you're starting a new business, you're scaling a current company. These, among many other reasons, are why people seek out developers for web app creation. Some shops prefer to use frameworks such as Wordpress or others to build out web apps for their clients. Other shops prefer to build things from scratch. There's pros and cons to each approach that a perspective client should be aware of.

1. Time to build.

At first glance it seems to be a no brainer that a framework approach would yield a faster production process. However, in many cases, this isn't the case. Initial deployment of a framework may be faster, but changes and customization can take much longer in the medium and long term. That means if you want to make changes, add, or subtract from your web app you may face longer development times later on. For custom builds the development shop already knows the architecture of your web app so changes should be faster and simpler saving you money in the long term.

2. Scalability

It should seem that many existing frameworks would be very scalable to meet your demands because so many people use them. However, that so many people use them can actually greatly hinder their scalability. These frameworks are trying to be so many things to so many different people, resources are drawn to features and pieces of your web app you may not even be using. With a custom framework all the resources are optimized and dedicated only to the exact purpose that it was built for giving you a scalable and performance focused experience.

3. Customization

While frameworks can be highly customizable, there are limits to what they can do. This can be especially problematic if you have legacy infrastructure and you suddenly need to add new important features. With custom software it's inherently, well, custom. The developer that built it will have enough knowledge of it's exiting infrastructure that new customized options can be added on in a meaningful way rather than bolted on.

In conclusion, there are pros and cons to custom software versus a framework that need to be carefully considered cases by case. If you're looking for custom software say hi today!

Software projects can get out of hand quickly. Often, the problem lies in the requirements. Functions that were once thought simple and straightforward end up becoming a massive list of confusion, uncertainty, and frustration. These types of problems are easily avoided by striving towards good Agile principles. You accomplish this by building user stories that are Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable. Doing so often involves splitting large or complex them into separate stories. Below are a few suggestions on how to split user stories to ensure they meet these criteria.

One Step at a Time: If you find a story that has multiple steps to the workflow, it is best to separate each part of the step into its own user story. Start at the beginning of the workflow and build the user story for the first step. Then work your way through the workflow building and refining the middle use cases. Once the entire workflow is complete, you can go back and add the exception or alternate path user stories. In this manner, you'd simply keep building each step of the workflow from start to finish, until you have a working system.

And Then There Were Two: Often you find user stories that mask two or three stories as one. The first clue is if the user story contains words such as AND, OR, WHEN, and IF. For example:

• As an HR Specialist, I want to create employee records AND send them to the hiring manager so that I can get new employees registered into the system.

This story looks fine, however, the more appropriate approach is as follows:

• As an HR Specialist, I want to create employee records so that I can get new employees registered into the system
• As an HR Specialist, I want to send employee hiring records to the hiring manager so that I can get approval on the new employee.

In or Out: Another common approach is to split user stories based on direction of data flow through the system. In this approach, you would look to create stories that focus on data input and all possible variation of data input into the system. Then you'd do a separate set of user stories that address data flowing out of the system. Complex user stories are not necessarily a bad thing. They spark a discussion, collaboration, and creativity among the team which ultimately leads to a more engaged team, a better product, and ultimately a happy customer. We'd love to partner with your team to ensure the success of your Agile projects.