Ask these questions to a content marketing agency before hiring

The success of any digital marketing strategy largely depends on the kind of content you create. And this is not something that everyone can be good at. Naturally, hiring a content marketing agency makes sense as you will get expert guidance this way, without having to onboard professionals permanently and spending a lot more on their salaries. Moreover, by outsourcing content development and marketing to an agency, you will have more time on your hands to focus on the core aspects of your business. But, can every content agency you come across seal the deal for you? No! You need to ask these questions first, to gauge if an agency is the right choice or not.

What is your experience and can you show past work samples?

While some agencies might have a decade of experience to back them, others might be just starting off but ready to make a mark. Even a brand new content agency can do a great job for you if they have the requisite knowledge or talent. This is something you will need to decide based on your requirements. Also, if an agency has spent some time in the industry, they should be able to show you past projects and give you a list of clients. This will help you assess if they can run campaigns successfully, have a quality team at their disposal and know the latest trends. 

How do you carry out research before starting to work?

If a content marketing agency doesn’t have a clear research method, do avoid it. Whether the content marketing strategy will succeed or fail will largely depend on the research process. Ideally, a good agency should find out all that they can about your company and industry, they should understand your objectives, and they should study your target audience’s behavior, intent and needs. Plus, the agency should conduct a competitor analysis which will help them devise a strategy to help your business stand out from others. 

What are the tools used to collect data or generate insights? 

Any reliable agency will use tools related to web analytics, SEO analytics, social media analytics, CMS and blogging, to collect valuable data and provide insights about how your campaign is performing. These tools usually take care of everything from keyword research and SEO campaigns to monitoring competitors’ keyword usage and organic traffic tracking etc.  Also ask how the agency will prepare the analytics reports and if they use charts, graphs and so on. They should be able to tell you which keywords are performing well and which ones should be dropped. The agency should also help you to constantly update your content so that the traffic doesn’t decline. 

Who will work on the project or how will it be handled?  

This is an important question to ask before hiring a content agency. See if they have enough writers, editors, designers and content marketers in their team to handle your project’s size and complexity easily. For example, if your project is a massive one and requires say 800 SEO articles per month, an agency that uses only an in-house team will not be suitable. You will need an agency that has a large network of contract-based professionals. Such an agency will be able to scale up or down the staffing as per the project need. 

Last but not the least; do ask how much they charge and how much time they will take to start the project and complete it. Avoid a content marketing agency that promises a very short timeline or too cheap rates. This will usually lead to compromised quality and a waste of money for you.  

Important Tips for an Effective Ecommerce Website Design

Having an attractive and interactive ecommerce website design is essential for converting your visitors into customers. If you want to secure more sales, you should focus on having a simple website design that makes the purchase process easy and hassle-free. No matter how good your online advertisements are, you could lose many customers if your ecommerce website is not adequately optimized for sales. 

In this article, we will have a look at some essential tips that should be borne in mind while finalizing your ecommerce website design. 

Keep Your Users in Mind

Every single aspect of your website can potentially influence a user’s decision to make a purchase. This is why you should keep your target audience in mind when it comes to finalizing the most suitable ecommerce website design. Make sure your website is easy to use, navigate, and comes with alluring visuals. This will ensure a satisfactory user experience. 

Go for a Simple Website Design

Simple, straightforward websites designed in a minimalistic manner are known to be more visually appealing as compared to complex websites. So, if you wish to optimize your ecommerce website for sale, try simplifying it. Go for a simple theme with compact information and plenty of white space.

Provide a View Cart Button

If you use any well-designed ecommerce website, you will notice a small shopping cart icon appearing on almost every page. This is one of the most significant ecommerce website design strategies that are known to increase conversion rates. 

Make sure that the icon you make resembles a shopping cart and is visible throughout. You can also make it stand out by using some bright color to contrast it against the background. 

Do Not Distract Your Users

The main goal of any ecommerce website is to generate sales. So, make sure your website is well-optimized to do so. Sometimes it is good to include additional information, maybe in the form of a blog, etc. to connect better with your customers. However, you need to make sure that this information doesn’t distract people from making a purchase. 

High Quality Photographs

One of the biggest disadvantages of online shopping is that it does not allow the customers to see the products in person as in the case of shopping from brick and mortar shops. To ease this disadvantage, try to incorporate high-quality images or even videos that enhance the shopping experience of the customers. 

To reinforce your ecommerce website design, add HD pictures of a single product from many angles that can be zoomed in to see the finer details.

Navigation Menu

Any website can only become successful if it offers navigational ease to the users. For this, you need to make sure that menu bar appears across all pages, to help the customers easily locate what they are looking for. Also, this bar should preferably be placed at the top of the page or vertically on the left side to accommodate an F-format. 

These simple tips can prove to be very helpful in designing a responsive ecommerce website. And with such a website, you can expect to draw more traffic and encourage more visitors to make a purchase.