There’s a long history to the changes Google has made to its algorithm over the years, but in 2018, SEO best practices suggest that ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs) boils down to relevancy and user intent. In other words, Google’s aim is to deliver high-quality pages that best match the user’s search.

So, you’re ready to take on the world.

In your company, ‘expansion’ isn’t a word to be used lightly. You’re literally spreading across the globe. International trade and the information age have made this a common spot for businesses to find themselves in, so, with that in mind, here’s your primer on international inbound marketing strategy.

The power of storytelling is taking hold in the marketing world, and for good reason—it works. As humans, we’re predisposed to love a good story. They resonate in our minds and teach us about ourselves.

In service of this, companies are gearing their marketing towards storytelling across all fronts—web design, social media, email marketing, and more. And in our experience as a web design firm, we've noticed that one particular strategy can yield great results in this respect: Illustrations!

Bottom-of-the-funnel or decision-stage content is the content that brands can use to finally talk about themselves and how they are best positioned to solve the challenges of their buyer. During the decision stage, potential buyers are looking to evaluate and compare specific products or solutions and the companies who provide them. Up until this point in their buyers journey, the prospect wasn’t ready to review this kind of information. And sending decision-stage to prospects before they’re interested will likely get you ignored, or even worse, annoy them!

“Usability” is a measure of efficiency, ease of use, and accessibility.” User experience” is a measure of how much a product blows your mind.

When you declare total anarchy for the sake of memorable UX, you sacrifice usability.

As companies grow and develop, their business needs change. Their target audience may change as well. Successful web design has always been about anticipating how a customer will interact with a website and designing it with that interaction in mind. The future of UX design is in design automation, UX design for Augmented Reality, and the changing role of a UX designer.

Mobile is one of the fastest-growing marketing channels of 2018. Maybe that’s because mobile isn’t just a channel. It’s a platform. It’s a strategy. And for some, it’s a way of life.

Research published in the Internet Trends 2017 Report highlights this well. Look at how fast mobile use has grown since 2008. In 2016, it reached a full 3.1 hours per day—far outpacing desktops, laptops, or any other type of connected device.

Not all leads are sales-ready after the first conversion. According to Marketo, approximately 96% of visitors that come to your website are not ready to buy. Instead, they’re more likely to be in the early stages of their buying journey - simply gathering information to define their problem and identifying possible solutions. You don’t want to lose a valuable lead simply because they’re not ready to buy, so what can you do? Using effective lead nurturing techniques, you can build a relationship with your prospects, positioning your brand as their trusted adviser. When they’re finally ready to make a purchase, you’ll be top of mind.

The second phase of the inbound marketing methodology is known as "Convert". Once you’ve attracted the right kinds of visitors to your website using inbound marketing, you need to decide what action you want them to take next.

Landing pages are a perennial topic for marketers, and as 2018 is more than halfway over, it’s the perfect time to examine what companies have been doing recently to improve their landing page design.

Of course, best practices are slow to change, but we’ve noticed a few particular trends this year (both good and bad!) that companies should note.