Create a website that stands out

5 Ways to Make Your Website Stand Out from Your Competitors’

by with 8 Comments BlogProduct Development

Are you wondering why your website isn’t driving enough customer engagement despite having great content? The competition for the attention of internet users today is insane. Users spend an average of 10 – 20 seconds on a webpage before opting for another.

Getting noticed and getting users to stay on your site after clicking is becoming more difficult. But there are a few easy and cost-effective hacks to cut through the competition and make your website more “sticky”. 

Let’s walk through 5 simple and effective strategies you can use to make your website stand out from the rest

#1 Use an Original and Creative Design:

The outlook of your website is the first thing that attracts or repels a potential user. So you’re going to need to put some thought into it. Depending on your budget, there are great no-code website builders like Wix and WordPress that allow you to create a website yourself. However, these offer generic templates that may have been used by others. Hiring a professional website designer like MevNet Studios gives you the opportunity to create original and creative website designs that are perfectly suited to your brand and would ensure your website stands out. Factors to consider include the layout of features, colour scheme, font, navigation, consistency and other key web design principles that would guarantee an overall good user experience.

#2. Create Great Content:

It seems obvious right? But, yes. Having great content goes a long way to making users stick to your website. Great content can mean different things depending on what your website is about. Creating content that cannot be found anywhere else is a good rule of thumb. This doesn’t mean complicated information. While your content has to be informative and engaging, it also has to be clear and easy to understand. This can include hosting a blog that features posts that take a unique and fresh perspective on what matters to your audience. Providing information on your website that your audience finds helpful can significantly boost engagement.

#3. Make It Mobile-Friendly:

92.3% of users access the internet using a mobile phone. So, if your website doesn’t load quite right on phones and tablets, you should definitely move for a re-design. The audience using mobile devices to access your website should be able to access all the features as easily as they would if using a computer.

#4. Optimize for Search Engines:

Having great features and content won’t mean anything if users can’t find your website. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google and Bing. SEO can involve a lot of factors including on-page factors like content quality content, making sure relevant keywords are present, adding internal links, creating an optimizing title tag, etc. It also includes off-page factors like building backlinks and gaining exposure through various channels, such as news outlets and social media platforms. Thankfully, anyone can become great at search engine optimisation. There are several free online courses such as those offered by Aherfs, Semrush, Moz and many others available on YouTube.

#5. Captivate Your Audience with Images and Videos:

Images and Videos are great ways to capture the attention of viewers and keep them on your website for longer. Research shows that images and videos will keep people on a web page an average of 50% longer. Short intro videos and custom images as opposed to stock images give your brand a personality and make your website more instantly likeable and relatable to viewers. Use stunning images and videos to showcase your services, your process and the people behind it. Clients value authenticity. 

With these strategies, you can be sure to achieve a unique website that drives engagement. However, following these strategies comprehensively can be demanding, especially if you have limited time and resources. This is where professional product developers like MevNet Studios come in handy. At MevNet Studios, we develop stunning and innovative websites that are suited to the specific needs of our clients. Our approach is to understand your business and its industry and work with you to develop digital solutions that produce the best results.

Contact MevNet Studios today and get a website that stands out. 

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Reasons Why UI/UX Design Is a Good Career in 2023

by with 5 Comments BlogUI/UX Design

Have you been wondering whether having a career pivot to UI/UX design is a good idea in 2023? Let’s give an answer straight away and say that it is a great idea. Increased focus on user-centred designs has made UI/UX design one of LinkedIn’s top 5 most in-demand tech jobs in 2023. This is understandable considering the massive digital transformation we have been experiencing over the last decade. Companies are investing more and more resources to ensure that their users have the best possible experience while using their products. Being that product options are becoming more easily available to users, having a product that is user-friendly has gone from being a ‘nice one to have’ to being a ‘must-have’. 

So, what is UI/UX design actually about?

Although user interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) design are interchangeably used, they are different but related specialisations. They however have the common objective of creating a product that provides an optimal user experience. UI designers focus on the visual elements of the product. They seek to create product interfaces that are engaging, interactive and aesthetically pleasing. UX designers focus on the user’s interaction with the product including how the user feels about that interaction. They try to understand the needs of users and implement strategies to ensure that the user has a seamless journey while using the product. Combining these two skills is essential for having a quality product. Imagine using a food delivery app that has beautiful graphics and an intuitive design but loads slowly and requires you to navigate through many screens before placing an order. You’re probably not going to want to use it, right?

So, why is building a career in UI/UX design a great idea?

Here are 5 reasons why UI/UX design could be a good career pivot:

  1. High Demand:

Every business, profession and industry is being digitalised. Developing software solutions for their services is becoming a top priority for not only businesses but also organisations in education, finance, non-profit organisations, healthcare, government, media etc. And who are they going to need to develop solutions that would guarantee a user-friendly experience? Yes, UI/UX designers. The job prospects are so good that the US Bureau of Statistics, predicts that the employment rate in this field is set to increase by 16% over the next 8 years. 

  1. Competitive Salaries:

Only a few entry-level roles pay as well as UI/UX design roles. According to Glassdoor, the salary for a UX designer in the US with 0 -1 year experience ranges between $64,000 and $102,000. The exact salary, like any role, would depend on years of experience, the kind of company you work for, where you live and a number of other considerations. This far exceeds the national average entry-level salary of $40,153 (the average for UX design is $71,773). There is currently a global skills shortage and increasing competition for skilled UI/UX designers. So, if you’ve been thinking of getting into this field, there is no better time than the present. 

  1. Flexible Working Conditions:

Remote work is not only allowed for UI/UX designers, it has now become the norm in the industry. Being able to work remotely allows you to conveniently balance work with your personal life, especially if you have kids. The remote nature of work means that you can broaden your professional network and opportunities by allowing you to collaborate with teams and clients from all over the world. 

  1. Making an Impact:

Beyond designing interfaces for the websites and apps that make our daily lives better, being a UI/UX designer not only provides job satisfaction, it also allows you to make a meaningful impact on society. From designing intuitive interfaces for medical devices and telehealth platforms, thereby enhancing accessibility and saving lives; to crafting immersive e-learning environments or to designing intuitive interfaces for energy monitoring, smart grid management, and home energy systems and so on, being a UI/UX designer allows you to make a difference. Truly, not all heroes wear capes.

  1. Low Barrier to Entry:

With all these advantages, you would think that building a UI/UX design career would be difficult. UI/UX design remains one of the easiest tech specialisations to break into. With the array of UI/UX training courses available online, like Mevnet Studio’s fully remote UI/UX training program, anyone can become a UI/UX designer without a degree, pre-qualification or any previous background in tech. In fact, the industry welcomes people from diverse disciplines as a non-tech background often enables designers to empathise with users from a unique perspective. 

Am I a good fit for UI/UX design?

Being a good UI/UX designer requires more than just technical skills which anyone can acquire. Knowing whether UI/UX design is the right career path has a lot to do with what you are passionate about. Consider the following questions:

  • Are you passionate about improving people’s day-to-day experiences?
  • Do you have a keen eye for design, and often find yourself thinking about what you would change about your favourite websites and apps? 
  • Are you curious about how the world works? 
  • Do you like variety in your daily tasks? 
  • Do you enjoy collaborating with other people?
  • Do you love learning and discovering new things?

If the answer to most of these questions is yes, then UI/UX design could be the right career path for you. Although there are technical skills required to be a good UI/UX designer, they are nothing that cannot be learned with dedication and commitment. 

With fully remote one-on-one training programmes like that offered by Mevnet Studios, you too can become a UI/UX designer within a short amount of time. At Mevnet, we not only offer personal instructors but also an immersive teaching experience with case studies and real-life projects. We also provide you with a portfolio website, custom domain name and certificate all for a very competitive price. 

Ready to begin your journey into the exciting and fulfilling world of UI/UX design? Contact us today and let’s get you started!

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What Social Media Marketing Is All About and Why It Is Important for Your Business

by with 2 Comments BlogSocial Media Marketing

On average, every human spends approximately 900 hours a year on social media platforms; that’s over 5 weeks of uninterrupted scrolling, clicking or sharing. While this may seem like a lot, global social media penetration is only at 54% (that is about 4.2 billion users). One thing we can be sure of, these numbers will keep growing; exponentially. Statistics like these tell us how much social media can influence not just our online activities but our offline activities as well.

Social media is indeed a powerful tool that can influence customer behaviour; unlocking boundless opportunities for your business. It therefore becomes imperative that every business that wants to thrive in today’s digital economy must harness the power of social media to drive business growth. And there is no better way to do this than through conscientious social media marketing (SMM).

Social media marketing is simply using social media platforms to promote your brand, products or services. It significantly differs from traditional marketing which makes use of conventional channels such as print, broadcasts, billboards, direct mail etc. Social media marketing offers a wide array of advantages that can be a game-changer for your business. 

For one, SMM allows you to increase your brand visibility far more than any traditional marketing channel would; without breaking the bank. With over 4 billion active users, social media enables you to reach not just customers within your region but around the world; allowing you to compete with big international brands. Through creative and engaging content, you can convert these users into customers. 

And when these customers are secured, you can ensure their loyalty through consistent engagement. Unlike traditional marketing channels that only allow you to talk ‘at’ your customers, SMM allows you to talk ‘with’ your customers. By responding to comments and enquiries and engaging with user-generated content, you create a sense of trust with your audience and turn your customers into brand ambassadors. Overall, this helps humanise your brand by giving it a persona which you can further humanise through behind-the-scenes content showing your process and the people behind it. 

Social media marketing also offers targeted advertising options, allowing you to reach a very specific audience which forms your potential customer base. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow businesses to specify their target audience based on demographics, interests, behaviours, and more. Also, by harnessing the data generated by the engagement of your audience on your social media posts, particularly audience demographics, businesses can draw valuable insights that can enable them to optimise their marketing strategies.  

As free and easy as creating social media accounts may be, a solid social media marketing strategy requires multiple platforms, a mix of organic and paid methods, research and careful planning to bring it all together. This can become resource-intensive, and while it’s a good problem to have, the more you grow your audience using social media, the harder it will be to keep up. Hiring a social media marketing agency like Mevnet would allow you to focus on your core business functions while still unlocking the full potential of this powerful medium. 

Our social media marketing associates at Mevnet Studios understand the principles and practices of effective social media marketing and can help your business unlock new levels of growth through bespoke digital marketing strategies. 

Ready to boost your social media presence? Let’s get started. Contact Mevnet today!

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Why You Should Hire an Expert Product Development Team for Your Business

by with No Comment BlogProduct Development

With so many options in today’s digital landscape, it only takes a few simple shortfalls for a user to forgo your product and services for another. Whether your company is a startup or small business launching its first digital service or an established enterprise having the umpteenth iteration, staying ahead of the competition requires that you apply the very best technology and deliver software solutions to the highest standards. This is where hiring a team of experts comes into play. 

Here are a few reasons why hiring an expert product development team is an important investment for your business:

  1. Expertise and Experience:

Whether your company already has an IT department that manages your digital service platforms or not, hiring an external team of product developers who have experience in a wide range of products and are trained in the latest technologies and methodologies ensures that your products are developed with the most advanced technologies and relevant stack.

  1. Fresh perspective:

Based on their experience with other products across different industries, external product developers would be able to take an unfiltered look at your product and detect faults and vulnerabilities that your internal team may not. They would also be able to offer solutions and innovations that have proven effective in other industries and other products they’ve worked on.

  1. Time management:

Hiring a team of product developers enables you to streamline the project delivery timeline even further. There can be so many intricacies involved in developing a product, and hiring a team of expert product developers allows you to channel internal resources towards core business functions. Similarly, where there is already an internal team, having a trial-and-error phase for complex projects may slow down the process. 

Hiring a team of product developers can be project-based; which may either be on a fixed-price model (allows you to leave all of the work to the developers until the product is ready) or a time-and-material model (allows constant supervision of task progress, materials used, and budget spent, as well as frequent meetings with the development team). It may also involve engaging a dedicated team that would be responsible for the product lifecycle on a long-term basis. 

We offer a range of engagement models at Mevnet Studios and are willing to work around your resources to ensure that you have products that are the best fit for your business. We have an exceptional team of tech professionals that would offer you a world-class product development experience and would deliver compelling digital solutions for your business. 

Reach out to us today and give your business the best foot forward. 

WEBSITES

Website or App: Which is better for your business?

by with No Comment BlogProduct Development

As an entrepreneur, your primary focus is to provide the best possible experience for your audience, which is not particularly easy with the constant advancements in digital technology. A big part of this concern is figuring out the best way through which your audience can effectively engage with your business online. So, at one point in your business journey, you may have asked yourself: Do I need a website, a web application or a mobile application for my business? While each of these digital platforms has its respective unique value proposition, the trick is to understand your specific business needs, goals and target audience and create an online platform(s) that effectively responds to these interests.

Understanding your options

Let’s back up a bit and understand the differences between these platforms. As we discussed in our previous post, a website is an essential way of securing an online presence for your business. Websites are a set of web pages with static information (a mix of text and other media) that users can access via a web browser on an internet-enabled device. A mobile application is a piece of software installed on mobile devices and can be extremely dynamic when compared to websites; allowing user interaction to change the way they work. Mobile apps are designed to perform specific functions and so have advanced features and widgets, some of which may not be accessible without an internet connection. A web application, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. It is essentially a website that hosts an application that is accessible through a web browser. 

Pros and Cons

The primary advantage of a website is that it is relatively easy and cost-effective to set up. However, the major disadvantage is that its content is relatively static and is limited in terms of functionality and design when compared to web and mobile applications. While mobile apps offer the most dynamic content, functionality and interactive user experience, they come with a heavier cost for development, are more rigorous to deploy and to be discovered by users and require constant updates. Unlike mobile apps which have to be installed by the user, web apps can be accessed from web browsers and although they have higher functionality and interact with the user more dynamically, they are limited due to their dependence on a web browser. 

The decision between these three options comes down to your specific business needs, goals and target audience. One should however understand that as a business grows, these factors may evolve and would require a review.. Also, the preferences of your target audience may change. You should be willing to adjust in response to their needs and usage patterns.

Understand your business

The needs of your business are of utmost importance to making this decision. For example, a business that primarily needs a digital platform to showcase its products or services may find that a website is sufficient. However, a business that requires more interaction with its users, such as an e-commerce store, would be better served with a web application or mobile application. If the business is catering to an audience that primarily accesses the internet via a desktop or laptop, then a website or web application may be the most suitable option. On the other hand, if the target audience is primarily accessing the internet via mobile devices, then a mobile application may be the better option. For instance, the most popular mobile games have bare-bones websites that direct you to the App Store or Google Play. Budget and time constraints are also important considerations. Websites are the easiest and most affordable to set up and maintain, while mobile applications are the most expensive and time-consuming. Entrepreneurs should choose a digital platform that aligns with their budget and resources. Additionally, when it comes to reaching potential audiences, websites are the safer bet when coupled with good search engine optimisation practices and may thus be better suited to businesses that are looking to reach out to a wider audience. 

Hiring a development team that understands these dynamics is crucial for making the best decisions for your business. At Mevnet, we are keen on understanding the nature of our client’s businesses, their goals and the industry they operate in and offer guidance on the best digital platforms that would enable them to achieve sustainable growth through innovative online solutions.  
Mevnet is here to help you figure it all out. To get the best digital solutions for your business, reach out to us today.

Young designer sketching new fashion models

Why A Website Is A Must-have For Every Business: Top 3 Reasons

by with No Comment BlogProduct Development

1. A website helps you attract new customers

Technology has made it possible for consumers to find whatever they are looking for with just a few clicks. It has been established that 76% of consumers look up a business online before patronising it. So, chances are that if a consumer is looking for the particular product or service that you offer and you’re not turning up on their search result, they would go for those that are, without knowing that yours is better. A website would not only carry your contact details for inquiries but can have a map that enables your potential customers to locate you easily.

2. Having a website gives you credibility

84% of customers believe that credible businesses are those that have websites. In
a time where just about anything is freely available on the internet, not having a
website would indicate that you are not taking your business seriously. Consumers
may think that you’re either too small-time, archaic or not current on trends. And
whereas a social media page can be created in a jiffy, a website allows you to stand
out from the rest and indicates that you are professional in what you do.

3. Cost-effective marketing options

With more than 4.5 billion internet users, a website is a cost-effective way to level the
playing field, giving you an opportunity to compete with larger businesses by
providing reach and visibility that other marketing strategies may not. A website also
allows you to leverage innovative digital marketing solutions. For instance, using the
traffic history on your website, you can engage customers through targeted email campaigns that keep them updated with new products, discounts and other services you offer; thereby ensuring customer loyalty and reduced customer turnover.

Is it necessary to have a website when I am already active on social media?
The short answer is yes. While social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and
other social media platforms are viable marketing channels, you do not have
complete ownership of your social media pages. Meta, for instance, can decide to
make changes to its platforms that affect your business in an unexpected way. And
let’s not talk about how vulnerable social media pages can be to cyberattacks.

It is crucial to understand that building a website that would drive business growth is
not just about putting fancy words and slapping on nice pictures. It must be
purposefully designed, secure and user-friendly, with clear calls to action. Here at
Mevnet, we deliver outstanding websites with creative and innovative designs,
tailored specifically to the nature of each client’s business. Our team of experts
would collaborate with you toward delivering solutions that are not only functional
and secure but are also cost-effective.

Give your business the best foot forward and get a Mevnet website, today.