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Optimizing Your Mobile App for App Store Discovery

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Hosting

In case you haven’t noticed, there is no shortage of mobile apps on the market right now. Google Play and the Apple app store each have over a million of them. You can find an app for practically anything – from doing your taxes to calculating your BMI, to keeping you from drunk dialing your ex . With so many mobile apps vying for attention, creating the actual app is the easy part. Yet the majority of organizations and developers are not utilizing ASO (app store optimization) to give their labor of love its best chance of success. Here are some great tips for getting your app optimized for the mobile store:   Title and keywords According to mobile development company MobileDevHQ, the app store search is the second most popular way people find apps to download (the first being word of mouth). They also found that apps that use relevant keywords in their titles get 10.3 percent higher search rankings on average. That means that keywords are important here. Think about what keywords you want your app to be known for, and then do a search in the app store to see how relevant they are. Include the keywords that are most relevant to your intended audience in your app’s title and listing description.   Encourage reviews MobileDevHQ also states that user reviews are another big factor when users are choosing which apps to download. You can’t exactly control who reviews your app or doesn’t, but there are some ways to encourage it. First off, integrate some kind of review submission option with your app. You can use a prompt asking users to leave reviews if they’re happy or just provide a link to the review page. Apptentive is one easy way to integrate this option into your apps.  If you have a Twitter following, just ask users to leave a review if they like your work. Once you start getting thousands of downloads, use Applause to leverage your reviews. This free download analyzes your reviews and rates your app across key factors. It’s a bit like Klout for mobile apps. You can use this information to see what people are saying about your app, and to learn how to make it better.   Tweak and experiment It’s okay to tweak your title, change your category, and revise your description after you’ve created your initial listing. In fact, you should definitely do this to see which keywords and categories get you the most downloads. The MobileDevHQ app is great for keeping track of app analytics. Not only do you get detailed performance reports, but the program also has tools to help you select the best keywords. Once you’ve got your ASO in order, generate some buzz around your app. It’s best to get your product out there and on people’s lips as early as you can, as more downloads may mean better app store performance.   Create community A good number of Twitter users are also mobile users. Twitter’s real-time, short message quality goes hand-in-hand with the mobile lifestyle. Create a Twitter account for your brand and create a following. Don’t just Tweet about your app, though. Add your personality to your tweets. You can also join developer forums and other forums relevant to your app to get your name out there.   Release a screen shot This is probably the most underutilized technique of all, but keep in mind that a picture really does say a thousand words. Whet the public’s appetite with a preview of things to come.   Pitch relevant blogs If your app aims to solve a problem in a particular niche, then it might be worth it to pitch to well-known blogs and websites in that industry. For example, if your app focuses on teaching kids to speak a new language, you could get in touch with language learning and K-12 education blogs. The Appstorm app review network also accepts submitted iPhone apps for review.   Update often Devices are always being updated, so make sure that your app remains compatible with newer versions of the most popular devices. Also, keep tabs on user suggestions and incorporate them into future versions to keep your audience happy.   Hire a pro If you’re simply no good at marketing, there’s nothing wrong with sticking with what you know while somebody else does the heavy lifting. Hire someone who knows their way around when it comes to digital marketing, assign the task to someone else on your team, or use an app marketing firm like Appular . Sometimes, it’s best to outsource so that you can focus on what you do best. Above all, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. The number of apps on the market may seem daunting, but the truth is, a lot of them aren’t that great – and most of their creators don’t employ proper ASO. If you have a killer app, half the battle is already won. Continual ASO, along with some solid marketing efforts, will give your app the best chance at getting noticed. Continue reading →

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15 Ways to Expand Your Brand’s Authority

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Hosting

Having trouble standing out in your industry?  Tired of fighting against bigger brands when it comes to market share?  It’s time to expand your brand’s authority! Any of the following techniques can help you to gain an edge – no matter how crowded or established your field may be:   Idea #1 – Release a whitepaper Whitepapers are research-based document that educate audiences on specific subjects.  Create a good one with your brand’s name on it and you can be sure it’ll be sent far and wide on industry social channels.   Idea #2 – Write an ebook Either write your own ebook or hire a ghostwriter to develop something you can put your name on.  Give it away for free and watch your brand’s authority soar.   Idea #3 – Develop an infographic Infographics are highly shareable.  By creating your own (whether by hiring a marketing agency to do so or by using infographic creation tools ), you’ll get your name out within your industry.   Idea #4 – Launch an email crash course Educational email courses are a great way to build brand authority as they’re free and highly attractive to potential customers.  As an added bonus, they’re easy to develop using traditional email management services or technique-specific programs like Drip .   Idea #5 – Start an educational YouTube channel People love video, but truly great internet videos are few and far between.  You don’t need to spend a fortune to create a good video, but releasing a channel that’s packed full of informative, engaging videos is a great way to attract brand attention.   Idea #6 – Release a podcast Though simple, podcasts can be incredibly popular – especially amongst listeners with long commutes.  Create your own business-branded podcast and you’ll have direct access to prospective customers’ minds for as much as an hour at a time.   Idea #7 – Sponsor a social media contest Everybody loves free things, which is why social media contests tend to attract so much attention.  Spend a few hundred dollars on a great giveaway item and tie contest entries to some type of social participation.  Within a few weeks, you’ll have more brand interest than ever before.   Idea #8 – Interview an industry expert The great thing about interviewing industry experts is that they come with their own built-in audiences.  Use Skype to record a video interview with your chosen expert and then post the resulting clip to your website.  Your profile will increase by association and you’ll experience a flood of inbound traffic from the expert’s promotions.   Idea #9 – Connect with journalists Journalists are always looking for great sources for their next projects – you can be that source!  Join a service like Help a Reporter Out and you’ll be entered into a database from which journalists pull expert sources.  Just one interview in a major news publication can do a world of good for your brand.   Idea #10 – Get a book deal  If you fancy yourself a talented writer and have a good story to tell, a high profile book deal can be a great way to boost brand recognition.  Obviously, this isn’t the easiest path to walk, but if you’re successful, the brand-building results can be huge.   Idea #11 – Speak at industry events Want to put yourself in front of a room full of your peers and be granted automatic expert status?  Sign up to speak at industry events.  Not only will you expand your brand’s authority, you might even be paid for the privilege!   Idea #12 – Sponsor industry events Not the speaking type?  You can still use industry events to boost your brand’s recognition by sponsoring panels, sessions, gift bags and more.  To do so, pick an event that’s highly attended within your industry and get in touch with the event’s organizer for more information on sponsorship opportunities.   Idea #13 – Create your own industry event Of course, if you’ve got the time and money to do so, you can always create your own branded industry event.  It’s a major undertaking, but it’s guaranteed to boost your company’s profile.   Idea #14 – Volunteer at industry events One last way to leverage the power of industry events is to volunteer.  It isn’t glamorous work, but it will put you in touch with a number of influential people.  Once the event is over, they’re sure to remember your good works.   Idea #15 – Add a charitable initiative TOMS has it “buy one, give away one” shoe sales project.  Warby Parker donates one pair of glasses for every set sold.  Getting involved in a charitable initiative isn’t just great for brand-building – it’s great for the world at large.   What other techniques have you used to build your brand?  If you have other recommendations, share them in the comments section below! Continue reading →

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More Gator Art

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Hosting

It’s been a little while since we shared some good ol’ gator art with you. We received this drawing from a customer following us having assisted them with a support issue.  They were so pleased with the resolution that they emailed us this one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn image of a gator apparently drinking a cocktail on an island.  Of note are the nice boat there in the background, which likely served the cocktail to the gator, as well as the beautiful sunset that really brings the whole image together.  The artist did not sign their piece of art, so we can only thank them anonymously:   From time to time, as seen in our Office Art series , some of our own staff will get a creative inclination and produce some impressive HostGator-themed art.  One of our support staff created the following shirt, featuring a blinged-out Snappy!   Let’s take a closer look at this shirt, as it truly is a remarkable piece of bedazzle-y craftsmanship: We would love to see any HostGator-themed art that you produce!  If you’re feeling gator-art inspired, please send us your creations at feedback@hostgator.com ATTN: Blog and we can share your art with the world! Continue reading →

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How to Optimize Your Bing Local Profile

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Hosting

Most potential customers find their local businesses by sitting down to search online. They often do so by searching for their city and the type of business they’re interested in. For example, if they live in San Francisco and need the help of a contractor, they are likely to search for “San Francisco contractors”. More than anything else, this is how users are currently finding their service providers. As a result, it’s very important to make sure your business is well positioned to rank highly in the search engines for these specific keyword phrases. When discussing search engine optimization, many companies focus on Google to the exclusion of all other search engines. Still, traffic to your website is important, no matter what the referral source is. That’s why making sure you optimize all your profiles – including your Bing Local profile – is so important. So if you haven’t already, sit down and take the time to optimize your Bing Local profile in order to drive traffic to your website using the following tips:   Claim Your Business Listing It’s very easy for businesses to set up listings that they never visit again. This can make it difficult for search engines and customers alike to determine which businesses are still in operation – or whether the information on the page is even accurate. Claiming your business listing is an easy way for you to verify that the information on your page is correct and that you’re an active participant in your business. While you’re doing this, make sure to add a branded image to your profile and to verify that your business information is indeed correct. Check that your address, website URL and phone number are all accurate so that you can really get the most out of your Bing Local listing.   Set Your Hours of Operation Bing Local has a great feature that allows businesses to set their hours of operation. When you’re open, an icon appears on your listing indicating you’re open. This lets customers know that they can call or visit you right away and receive an instant response. Especially if you’re open for more hours than your competitors, this is a great way to get an edge in the marketplace.   Strategically Add Categories and Specialties Adding categories to your Bing Local business profile can help you to rank higher in search engine searches. Be sure your listing includes what category your business falls into. From there, be creative in adding all the possible descriptions for your business. For instance, if you’re a lawyer, you’d want to add the individual categories for lawyer, attorney, legal, legal services and more. From there, look at your firm and any additional services you offer. If you have a paralegal, add that to your categories as well. This ensures that, however potential customers search for what you’re offering; you have a great shot at showing up in the search results.   Develop Citations In order to rank well in Bing searches, it’s important to have citations and inlinks incorporated into your profile. These citations can include links to sites like YP.com, Superpages.com, Yahoo! Local, Manta, Judy’s Book and more. Sites known as vertical directories – like Restaurants.com, Dentists.com, Contractors.com, etc. –can also help add to your citations and inlinks. These sites are great ways to drive traffic, but they also add power to your Bing Local profile. In essence, every link your business has adds to its credibility with the search engines, earning you higher rankings. It’s worth noting, however, that in order for these citations to truly help your business profile, they should be filled out fully and accurately.   Incorporate Deals into Your Profile Bing appears to have integrated with Groupon so that adding information on any deals you’re currently running can add oomph to your profile. You can also directly add deals into your profile through the Bing Business Profile. This lets any deals you’re running be offered directly to those who have found your profile through search. This is a great way to help convert leads into sales directly through your Bing Local profile. Optimizing your Bing Local profile is a great way to rank higher in Bing searches. This is important when it comes to driving traffic to your website and – ultimately – cornering more of your target market. As search continues to become more important for local businesses, knowing how to and taking the time to optimize your Bing Local profile can make a major difference for your company’s success. Are you currently using your Bing Local profile? If so, how has it helped your business? Continue reading →

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HTML 101: Your HTML Cheat Sheet

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Hosting

Once your website is up and running, you may find yourself wanting to make some small additions or edits. Contacting your designer or a webmaster for every little change can become tedious (not to mention expensive), which is why it’s so helpful to understand some basic HTML. HTML is the language that most websites are coded in – it drives the layout, fonts, colors and other formatting and functionality aspects of your website. You may be thinking, “That’s great! But I don’t know any HTML.” If you’re in this position, this short cheat sheet will serve as a guide to making basic HTML changes to your website. This way, if you’d like to change some minor formatting on a page, you can quickly make these changes yourself.   What is an HTML tag? An HTML tag is a snippet of code that tells the website how to read or format your content. HTML tags are surrounded by the < > characters. All HTML tags must be closed with corresponding tags. This tells your website where your formatting changes begin and end.   Where do I make HTML changes? Before we get started, it’s important to note where these changes get made. In most content management systems (CMSs), you’ll find that each page has two views. One is a design or visual view. This lets you see the page as it will look when it’s posted to your website. The other view is often referred to as the text, code or HTML view, depending on which CMS you are using. HTML changes should all be added to the text, code, or HTML view. To enter a change, you’ll need to find the section of the page you’d like to change. Simply scroll until you see the text you’d like to alter or the space where you’d like to add new content. There, you can add the appropriate tags. After this, make sure to check the design view or preview the page to make sure everything looks the way you’d like it to.   Make text bold using HTML To make text on a web page bold, use the HTML tag . For example, if you wanted to make the sentence, “This is important” bold, it would look like this:   This is important   Make text italic using HTML To make text on a web page italic using HTML tags, you would use the HTML tag . This is short for emphasis. For example, if you wanted to make the sentence “This is important” italic, it would look like this:   This is important   Add a link using HTML Adding a link is somewhat trickier than simply changing the formatting of your text to be bold or italic. If you’d like to add a link, you’ll use the HREF tag. HREF tags tell the website what text should be linked, where the link should go, and how the link should be opened.   For example, if I wanted the text “Google” to be linked to the Google website, it would look like this:   Google   For contrast, if I wanted the text “Yahoo” to link to the website for Yahoo, it would look like this:   Yahoo   Additionally, if you’d like your link to open in a new window or tab so that users aren’t directed away from your site, you can add some additional information to the HREF tag. For this example, you would tell the code that you’d like to open the link in a new window by indicating that the target is blank. In this instance, the HTML code would look like this:   Yahoo   Add a picture using HTML Adding imagery is a great way to help users connect with your content and become more interested in what you have to say. To add an image, you’ll first need to host that image somewhere online, either on your CMS or on another service. Once you’ve uploaded the image to the place where you’re hosting it, simply add an image tag. As an example, an image tag should look like this:     Images are somewhat unique because they do not always have an end tag. The code does not need to know where the image ends – the image itself can dictate that. However, you can link images to a web page. For instance, if you wanted to link your image to your home page, it would look like this:     You’ll notice that, in this case, the code for the image simply replaces the text in the HREF tag. Obviously, these few tweaks only scratch the surface of full HTML coding. However, simply knowing how to handle these simple changes on your own can save you big money by minimizing the need to contact your web designer every time edits must be made. Start with these HTML 101 steps and continue to grow your coding skills as you go! Continue reading →

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