Top 7 Social Media Trends For 2019

From being a means of staying in touch for friends Social Media has turned into a communication powerhouse for brands. However, with a low attention span, a multitude of options to choose from and other online distractions there is plenty to keep your target audience hooked. So how do you make sure that your communication signals are getting through to them? We’ve scoured the internet for data, spoken to plenty of digital marketing industry experts and witnessed the blooming of some of these strategies by digital behemoths to bring to you a collection of the top social media trends of 2019. Here’s everything you need to know about the best social media trends of 2019.

Key Social Media Trends Of 2019

1. Trust Building
With the backlash that followed the scam after scam that affected Facebook, the U.S. elections, and Cambridge Analytica it seemed like Facebook was almost over. As it is Facebook has lost some of its early prominences with users now spending more time on Instagram. Even though Facebook has more than 2 billion- active users on a monthly basis the whole picture isn’t as perfect.

Due to the users feeling their privacy being violated by social media and the slew of inaccurate information available online consumers are in a pickle as to what they should and should not believe. Especially when companies try and use marketing strategies that seem disingenuous. This puts their reputation on even shakier ground as customers are no longer willing to put up with fakery from brands.

There have been several instances of brands and big companies being called out on social media due to their false promises and lies. One of the biggest social media trends to look out for in 2019 and put into practice immediately is to try and build trust with your customers. To make them believe not just in your products and services but in your organization as a whole.

2. Using User Stories
Word of mouth was a very important part of the marketing gamut of a company. The practice is still in place but the methodology is vastly different than it was decades ago. While it is still important for people to talk about your product in a positive light, where they do the talking is as relevant as what they say.

Unlike previous generations, it does not take several days or weeks for user stories to reach thousands of ears. With the evolution of social media, live videos, Instagram stories, hashtags, and the like consumers now have access to word of mouth publicity in a matter of seconds.

Therefore, it has become extremely important for businesses to put out their own stories with the help of some loyal fans of the products. There are several ways in which companies are trying to get users to share their product stories. Some examples of these are running contests, using special hashtags, “share your memories with us” kind of experiences. These are all methods by which companies are trying to get good word of mouth publicity going out to willing buyers.

3. Augmented Reality Will Play A Bigger Role
Many companies including Facebook and Google are trying ways to incorporate augmented reality into their applications. Facebook has already bought a company focused on augmented reality and Google is working on its own projects to include augmented reality in its apps. Take Google Maps, for instance, one of their senior product managers admitted that it was hard to really know the direction we were supposed to turn while walking. To fix this problem they have decided to use a guide who will help us make all the right turns.

Pokemon Go is another example of seeing augmented reality really take off in the gaming world. Not only is it vastly popular, it is also highly addictive and people tend to spend hours playing the game. Brands, businesses need to figure out ways to make an entry into the augmented reality space.

You can already see the subtle entry of augmented reality in the form of those cute filters used on Instagram. What can brands do to make raise their awareness levels on these popular social media apps? Gamifying seems like the obvious choice but it isn’t always the right solution for every brand? Have you considered how you could use augmented reality to your brand’s benefit?

4. Quality vs Quantity
The age-old debate over quality vs quantity will never end. Depending on the niche you are in you will have to figure out what it is your consumers crave for. For most businesses quality of the content rather than pushing out mindless media is paying a lot of dividends. Even though you may not always the largest share of voice with your consumers with quality content you can be assured that you will always be at the top of their minds when it comes to your products or services.

Showing a creative spark while giving your consumers a good cause to back is one of the best things you can do moving into 2019 on social media. It is sure to be one of the hottest social media trends of 2019.

5. Growing Power Of Influencers
Social Media Influencers have taken their game up a notch in 2018 and we can only see this trend growing in popularity in 2019. Influencers are becoming very aware of their popularity and will do almost anything to stay relevant on social media. But they have also understood the price they need to pay. No longer can social media influencers be frivolous with their endorsements. They cannot afford to alienate their fan base.

Brands using social media influencers have gone one step ahead of the rest by adding a human persona to their brand. Even if there are multiple personalities endorsing a brand the image maintained by all of them will be surprisingly similar and one that works in conjunction with the brands own image. This is closely related to the next point of making the brand more human.

6. Humanizing The Brand
Podcasts, Webinars, Reddit AMA’s are a very popular way of making sure your brand has a human touch associated with it. Think about Tesla and how much Elon Musk is always at the forefront of their branding effort. So much so, in fact, that you can’t think about one without mentioning the other.

Look how personally involved Elon Musk is in the building of his own brand. It makes the consumers believe that the owner or a high-level executive is highly invested in the product or service which is why they are more likely to buy them. Of course, you have to make sure your product is worth it to begin with but that’s a completely different story.

7. Video Streaming
Another excellent social media trend to keep an eye on in 2019 is the growth of live videos. Its another aspect of humanizing the brand. Live videos give instant access to millions of people to your content. Since it’s live there is no scope for hiding the truth and even lesser scope to mess up.

Also unlike photos videos make you feel more like you were part of the process or event. Since most of the human experience comes through sight, live video streaming is a great way to get your prospective customers to love your products. Get them to engage more with your brand and also helps build more trust both ways.

Conclusion
Riding the social media wave is going to be really important in 2019 if you and your brands want to stay relevant. Before you can do all that you’ll need to study your audience and get familiar with the nitty gritties of the various social media channels. Or you could get a professional digital marketing company in Pune, like CodePlateau Technology Solutions to assist you with your digital marketing needs. If you need someone to get bigger than ever on social media, get in touch with us today.

5 Top Brand Building Strategies On Instagram

Here’s an astounding statistic, more than 500 million people log onto Instagram DAILY! You have short video content, visual content, and Instagram stories that people just can’t seem to get enough of. If you’re looking for a social media platform to build your brand and truly engage with your prospective customers, Instagram is probably your best choice. But there is a lot of competition out there so how do you get yourself noticed and build a brand on Instagram? By using the scientifically derived tips mentioned in this blog. Here are 9 amazing tips to help you build a brand on Instagram.

5 Pro Tips To Build Brand Awareness On Instagram

1. Separate Your Personal And Business Account
Unless you are a celebrity or social influencer you have no business being on your brands Instagram page. You have to set up a separate business account for your brand. Your business Instagram account should focus on your audience which will be vastly different than the audience for your personal photos.

You are after all trying to sell your product, aren’t you? So the focus of your business account on Instagram should be solely on your products or services.

Here are some tips on How To Set Up The Best Instagram Business Account
 i. Goal Setting
What do you hope to achieve from your Instagram account will best decide how you should set it up. Your account should always contain a link to your website to help drive traffic to it. If you are looking for engagement from your audience find out what they’re looking for and post relevant pictures or videos.

  ii. Include A Bio
A bio is an important bit of information for your consumers. Within a few words, your prospective customers should get a snapshot of what your brand is about, what your page is about and who you are as a brand. Customers often follow brands simply based on their bio so make sure its epic.

iii. Target Audience
It’s also essential to know who you’re building your account for. Finding the right target audience can be tricky but if you’ve been in business long enough you do have a rough idea of who buys your products and what they’re looking for from a marketing standpoint. Always remember the content you are posting is for them.

 iv. Competitor Analysis
Very often it’s your very own competitors that will give you the best ideas. It’s not always that they’re doing something better than you, in fact, you could even profit from their mistakes. See what they’re doing right and improve on it. See what they’ve gotten terribly wrong and avoid those pitfalls.

 v. Plan
Don’t have a haphazard posting schedule. Be consistent. Not only with what you post, but when you post. The best way to keep your audience hooked to your content is to get them addicted to it. Having a regular posting schedule is the best way to make this happen. If for some reason you’re not going to be able to post as per your schedule let your audience know. They’ll feel as though they’re a part of the process.

vi. Be Consistent
Not only do you have to be consistent in your posting schedule, but you also have to stay consistent when it comes to your design, style, and theme elements. Your persona on all social media platforms should remain consistent so as to be more welcoming to the customer.

 

2. Post-Pretty Pictures
Duh! But to get into a little bit more detail about this point think about your product. Not all products have the photographic appeal. You have to be extremely creative when it comes to selling your products. Fashion products are easy, but what about something like a UPS or a power generator? By being innovative in your product visuals you may be able to attract the attention of those customers not even actively looking to buy your product.

One thing you should definitely not do on your branded Instagram account is to try and hard sell to your customers. Remember that 90% of information processed is visual. If your customers just see you peddling your products without really giving them anything extra they’re not going to be following your page for long.

Focus on first providing something interesting for your prospective customers to look at and then focus on your product sales. If you’re creative enough you’ll find exciting ways to merge the two together so it seems like a seamless process.

Also, note that Instagram uses square frames for its photos. They’re usually in the 612×612 pixel range. To make your photos look professional and to make it seem like a lot of effort has gone into every little detail of every picture you post on Instagram you have to pay attention to the small details.

 

3. Be Discovered More Often
The major problem with Instagram is the competition you have to face not just from local brands, but your competitors all over the world. Here are some strategies to get more people to notice your brand, posts, and pictures:

 i. #Hashtags
Instagram feeds are not chronological. They use their own algorithm to show users pictures they feel are most relevant. What helps keep you relevant is to use the right hashtags in your posts. At least use 1 hashtags in all your post but not more than 5. You wouldn’t want your post to feel too salesy.

Another strategy is to use branded hashtags. This isn’t as easy as you might think. Companies have been marketing for decades to build brands but lately new start-ups have found it easier to brand their products by just using the right hashtags.

Do proper keyword research, be bold and fun, and keep it short.

ii. Use Influencers
While this shifts into the territory of affiliate marketing using Instagram influencers or ambassadors does go a long way in making your product more visible to a larger audience. You have to pick influencers who are connected to your industry. Don’t pick random people just because they have a high follower count. There needs to be a symbiotic relationship between the two.

iii. Share Customer Photos
People love their 15 minutes of fame. When you share a photo from one of your prospective customer (assuming they’re talking about your brand and in a good light) they’ll be bound to talk about it more. This will convince other people to start sharing photos with your brands and using your hashtags. If it works well this causes an avalanche effect with your brand almost blowing overnight.

It’s the best form of word of mouth marketing you can get online.

 

4. Spice Up Your Engagement
Compared to other social media platforms Instagram users tend to be a lot more vocal. The engagement rate is higher than that of Twitter as well as Facebook. Use these tips to Improve engagement on Instagram.

i. Write Stellar Captions
Everyone loves to give their opinion. Inviting people to share theirs is a sure fire way of getting some engagement on your brand account. Witty captions with puns, questions, sarcasm, also seem to get a lot of traction online. If you can write a caption that makes the user double take on the image there is nothing like it. “Spot The Error” is a caption that usually gets people’s attention.

ii. Use Contests
Nothing gets crowds excited like the chance of winning a contest. If you’re not seeing the right kind of followers then maybe get started with a contest and make sure to keep them coming. It keeps users hooked on the page and actively participating. However, if you don’t have enough followers then maybe a contest isn’t such a good idea. However, if you do, this is how to set up a perfect contest to build your brand on Instagram.

Make sure to have the terms and conditions clear while setting up the contest so as to not anger your fans.

Have an attractive prize which you know people would have to win. Post pictures of the prizes with your products. Double win for you.

Before picking the winner to try and build anticipation in your customers. Announce the winners publicly and make it grand.

iii. Respond To Comments
There is nothing better than a good comeback. If you’re able to get the crowd on your side through humor and fun with your witty retorts they’re sure to go viral and add value to your brand visibility.

 

5. Measure Success, Improvise and Innovate
The Instagram brand account provides you with a lot of data to analyze. Use the data wisely to find the right fans for your products. You also have the best times to post which garners the maximum number of views and engagement. If you feel like posting is eating into too much of your time get smart about it and use third party tools to help you schedule your posts.

See if you’ve met the goals you had set for your Instagram account. If you have, then figure out ways on how to improve on the statistics. If you’ve been unable to meet your goals find methods of improving your posts, captions, or strategies.

How Can Augmented Reality Fit Into Mobile Apps?

Augmented reality (AR) is the projection or the integration of the real world into a virtual one. The integration takes place through various interfaces in real-time, which gives reality an improved makeover. The view that the user gets accordingly is a reality that has been augmented with the help of technology.

AR uses technology such as Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (S.L.A.M.) and depth-tracking. It is different from virtual reality (VR) in that VR excludes reality completely and projects a virtual one in its place, while AR uses reality and presents it in an enhanced way.

Augmented reality fits into mobile apps by making use of phones’ cameras and sensors so as to enable the users to view reality in a wholly composite manner. The phone as a medium improves upon the reality to suit and thereby fulfill the user’s needs.

The types of AR that exist today are marker-based, marker-less, projection-based, and superimposition-based. Marker-based AR apps like WhatsApp and Paytm are those which help us by using markers such as QR Codes. Marker-less or location-based AR apps (such as Google Maps) are those which utilize GPS, compass, accelerometer, and gyroscope to inform the users about events and places for hanging out near them, among others. Projection-based AR apps are basically manufacturing apps which allow artificial light to interact with real objects. Superimposition-based AR apps (like the IKEA Catalog app) allow us to view reality by superimposing virtual items onto it.

The fields that have made the most interesting use of AR apps are gaming, architecture, real estate, archaeology, tourism, etc.

1. Gaming:
The best example of an AR gaming mobile app is undoubtedly Pokémon Go. The game became quite popular and gained a huge number of users just a few years back. Pokémon Go uses reality which it then integrates with the game to give the player the digital gaming experience in the real world.

2. Architecture and Real Estate:
There are a number of AR-based mobile apps, like Realar, which allow users to view and navigate through, and thus choose, the house of their dreams by virtually viewing the rooms, and even allowing us to add furniture or remove them, just to get the complete feel of actually being there.

3. Archaeology and Tourism:
There are apps that let us view actual geographical places from historical points of view. Apps like CityView AR simulate actual places. Projects such as StreetSmart and Futuristic History have conducted research into letting tourists view information visually. History buffs and travelers could then compare, say, the city of Florence during the Renaissance and Florence as it exists now, in the 21st century, and the actual variation in architecture, roadways and marketplaces that existed between the two centuries.

Apart from AR and VR, Mixed Reality, or MR, which combines features of both AR and VR, is another phenomenon that is making its mark in the field of technology. The first MR-based app, HoloLens, was released by Microsoft in 2016.

We hope that this article has provided a perspective on AR fitting into mobile apps. Please do share your feedback as comments below.

7 Tips To Get Started With AMP Stories For Your Business

We’ve all witnessed the boom of Snapchat stories. So much so that other popular social media applications were soon seen mimicking the feature. Although Snapchat was the first to introduce the feature to people and popularize it, it is actually Instagram that brings in the most users to the stories features. Now we’ve seen a lot of other applications try and attempt the stories feature to varying amounts of success such as Facebook which has seen the most disappointing turnout. Now the latest company to jump on the bandwagon is Google introducing the AMP stories.

As per Google AMP stories are an immersive visual content format that is fast and open, built specially for the users.

What Are AMP Stories?

It’s a feature built by Google similar to Instagram stories that help content creators build short-term, visual content for their viewers. However, unlike stories features in other apps, Google AMP stories will be featured in Google’s search results.

If you take into consideration that more than 75% of all user time is spent on their mobile phone you can clearly see why Google is pushing for mobile first content.  Since the whole concept of AMP was to push mobile first AMP will display an array of search results in the form of swipeable feeds. You can swipe right or left depending on whether you liked the story and would like to see more sources for the same information.

AMP stories also make it easier to share the information you’ve just received at lightning speeds. Google is hoping to capitalize on the format and draw users who are more accustomed to using other apps.

What Are The Components That Make AMP Stories?

Unlike traditional AMP content, you don’t have to rely merely on text anymore. You can include graphics, animation, videos and more. This is highly beneficial for content creators. AMP stories are made of 3 main components that you need to absolutely master if you want to rule the search engine game.

–    The story itself

–    The story page

–    The story grid layer

The story is the main content itself while the story page is the location when your content is based on. The grid layer contains all the elements that make up the page and the story.

So you must now be wondering how to get started with AMP stories?

 

7 Steps To Use AMP Stories On Your Website

  1. Code The Page

Now I’d like to say it’s easy for all companies to get started with posting AMP stories on their web pages but it isn’t as simple as that. Before you begin you need to code the regular pages of your website to AMP pages.  Use the following canonical tag on the original story

<link rel=”amphtml” href=”http://www.example.com/blog-post/amp/”>

If you want the entire AMP code set you can download it from the following link: https://github.com/Automattic/amp-wp

https://www.ampproject.org/docs/getting_started/create/basic_markup

Add the code to your WordPress page like you would for any other plug-in and you’re done with the first difficult step. In our opinion having a professional web design and development company in Pune to help you setup AMP pages will save you from a lot of future problems. You wouldn’t want the data on your website to suddenly disappear, do you?

  1. Run A Sample

Before you get started with the main content you need to check if all your settings are in order. Running a test project goes a long way to check this. For this, you’ll need a test server.

To be on the safer side of things you should use a secure layer with the test server to protect yourself from any data breaches. Once your local server has been set up, try using the link https://localhost:8000/article.html

Check the layout the design and if everything looks spot on you can move on to step number 3

  1. Create Cover Photos

Your stories can have multiple components but one single cover page. This cover photo should ideally represent what lies within the stories. To create a cover page, assign a unique ID for your cover to the first page:

<amp-story standalone>

<amp-story-page id=”cover”>

</amp-story-page>

</amp-story>

If you’ve worked with Photoshop at any point in your career you’ll know that cover photos need to be built using layers with each one built on top of the other.

The first layer will have <amp-story-grid-layer> element in the <amp-story-page>

There will be other attributes that you need to use to ensure conformity such as “fill”, “responsive”. Here is an example of what an ideal code will look like as provided by the AMP tutorials

<amp-story-page id=”cover”>

<amp-story-grid-layer template=”fill”>

<amp-img src=”cover.jpg”>

Width=”xx”, height=”xx”

Layout=”responsive”

</amp-img>

</amp-story-grid-layer>

</amp-story-page>

You can use multiple layers by adding the “vertical template” rather than the “fill template” as mentioned above.

  1. Additional Pages

Once you cover page is set up you can start to add other pages to your AMP stories.  You can find the code you will need to enter (based on which template you choose to use) on the AMP site. There are several other resources available to help you better code for AMP stories.

Of course, if you think you need professional help you can always get in touch with the best web development company in Pune.

  1. Glitz it Up with Animation

There are multiple animation elements you can use on your AMP stories to get the Wow! Factor. However, unlike social media apps, you can’t just drag and drop the elements in your AMP stories. You will need to code them in. There are plenty of animation presets already available like “fade-in” “fly-in-right”, “pulse”

  1. Close Out Story

You’ll need to effectively close out your story and provide your consumers with additional links from your content or related content. This last screen is known as the “bookend”.

  1. Validate Your AMP File

Before you upload the pages you will need to validate them using the Chrome Devtools Console. Remember if AMP pages are not validated they are not considered as AMP and do not give you any advantages. There are 2 methods of validating AMP files the other being using the AMP validator browser extension.

 

Why Should Businesses Use AMP Stories?

The golden rule of any business is to stay ahead of the competition. AMP stories are the next big wave to give you an edge over the competition. Also, it is now known that users are more accustomed to seeing short-form visual content which can be seen by how much more popular online streaming platforms have become. Good storytelling leads to better attention-grabbing of the users.

Using Stories To Push Products:

Who says that traditional marketing metric cannot follow good storytelling guidelines? In fact, 92% of consumers surveyed by the SEO-Journal responded that they wanted their advertisement to tell a story rather than just hit them with facts.

Reducing Page Load Times

Speed is good. The faster you are able to deliver the right content to your consumers the better. They’ll be invested in the conversation and look forward to it more. This undoubtedly leads to a lower bounce rate, higher conversion rates and not to mention you’ll also receive a slight boost in rankings courtesy Google. But that’s only if you work with the right web development companies in Pune like CodePlateau who are accustomed to delivering AMP pages to their customer.

Getting More Creative

Because of the way AMP pages are built you have more opportunities to experiment with creative styles. The design is an important element when it comes to potential customers picking your product or service over the competition.

With AMP pages you can add a whole lot of features and that can add a certain oomph to your content. While you’re at it you should also push your viewers to your AMP content until they become more accustomed to it. Links, buttons to promote your AMP stories in your content won’t hurt.

Better Rankings

As I’ve mentioned before AMP pages help with search engine optimization. If your website ranks well on all parameters important to Google it’s obvious they’ll be willing to give you a push up the results.

 

Conclusion

In this fast-paced world, your competitive advantage lasts only for a few months, maybe even less depending on the rate of technological innovation. If you want to get ahead of the competition you need to try and grab every advantage you can. Getting the best web development company in Pune, CodePlateau, to help you build and design attention-grabbing AMP stories and pages for your website is the right move to make right now. If you need more information about AMP stories or need some assistance in your web development needs, get in touch with us today.

What’s new in Laravel 5.7.13

When we first looked at Laravel earlier this year we focused on the security features it possessed and why it was such a popular framework that top web design and development companies in Pune, like CodePlateau, use it. Laravel has just recently been updated to version 5.7.13. It’s the constant updates that Laravel receives that make it such a popular framework for web developers and web development companies to work with. In this blog, we’ll be looking at the whole host of changes that have been introduced with the latest update.

But before we do that let’s take a small look at the update cycle of Laravel

Laravel Update Cycle

Not many companies provide an update cyclefor their applications. You have to keep guessing and this is important todevelopers to understand how they’re going to move forward with their plans. Asper the release cycle updates provided by the company Laravel will receive 2major updates every year.

The first major update will be in June and the other normally by the end of the year. While the framework has been updated the previous versions will still be supported for up to 6 months and provided while the newer version receives bug fixes and minor updates.

It’s important for web development companies to know when they need to perform updates and when new versions will be available so they can plan around it. However, if you want to stay to developers the latest release information you could visit the following link:

Here are the changes that have been added to the new release of Laravel:

  1. Messaging Ability
    You can now add a variety of messages to your custom validation rule. Something that the previous versions or Laravel were surely missing.
  2. Empty
    The collection methods now have the ability to pick between whenEmpty /whenNotEmpty/unlessEmpty/unlessNotEmpty method
  3. Added Illuminate\Support\Collection::some method
  4. Added Illuminate\Cache\Repository::missing method
  5. Added Macroable trait to Illuminate\View\Factory
  6. Added support for UNION aggregate queries

Changed

  1. Updated AbstractPaginator::appends to handle null
  2. Added “guzzlehttp/guzzle”:“^6.3”, to composer.json
  3. Showed exception message on 403 error page when message is available
  4. Don’t run TransformsRequesttwice on ?query= parameters
  5. Added missing logging options to slack log driver
  6. Use cascade when truncating table in PostgreSQL
  7. Allowed pass absolute parameter in has valid signature request macro

Changed realization

Used Request::validate macro in Auth traits

Apart from the above changes Laravel version 5.7 known as project Nova has also introduced the following features

  • Authentication scaffolding now also contains an optional email verification process
  • Authorization gates and policies now have support for guest users to log on
  • Testing improvement for various consoles
  • Notifications that are localizable
  • Dump-server integration with Symfony

Laravel continues to be an outsider’s choice when it comes to web development framework; however, it is quickly building up a steady reputation for itself. Here are some startling statistics about Laravel use in India and abroad.

  • Laravel is the most popular framework for developing web application in India: This should come as no surprise since the PHP Framework itself is solidly built. It allows you to develop a whole lot of applications with simple coding. Along with India, Laravel is also a top contender in the USA, China, Spain and the UK among others.
  • Laravel is slowly but steadily taking customers away from its competitors. For instance It’s leaving behind competitors like RealTime and Web2py. However, it is still facing stiff competition from the likes of WebMatrix and Lasso. Webmatrix is one of the most popular PHP frameworks in use currently. Of a hundred websites in use, application for 46 of them have been built by WebMatrix while only 11 have been built using Laravel so there is still a lot of catching up to do.
  •  Business and Industry category use Laravel the most frequently because of the high level of security it offers and the simplicity in the build.
  • Arts and Entertainment make up the next largest category with 6% of all Laravel web apps used in the arts and entertainment industry.
  • While USA leads the race in the top usage statistics for Laravel, India is in the top 10 list ahead of Turkey, Indonesia, and the Netherlands

CodePlateau is one of the top web development companies in Pune India that uses Laravel to develop top notch web applications for our customers. We have some amazing work to show in our Portfolio section which highlights the great work we can and have achieved using Laravel. If you are interested in knowing more about Laravel or would like a web App developed for your website, get in touch with us today.

Different Types of Mobile Applications – Native, Hybrid and Web Apps

In the current decade the majority of the people owes a smartphone, it has become like an essential commodity in our daily use. We use the mobile application for any kind of our work it may be booking a cab for your way to work, buying grocery, playing games, instantly replying to work emails or just hanging to the social wall. Every mobile app has a uniqueness of its own like what platform its developed on, which technologies are used, its advantages and many more of them.

Mobile applications are categorized into major three types depending upon the development platform like Native, Hybrid and Web. Each of them has its special features and development process.

Types of Mobile Application

  1. Native Apps – As the name suggests it specifically related to only one platform. This type of app is developed for one and only operating system. For example, if the app is built on the Android Operating system it will only work for that, whereas, if developed in iOS it would be only applicable for iPhones. There is also the third type of operating system which is Windows on which the app is developed.

Native App has its own distinct features like the best of the user experience can be gained through these types, has no limit in using multiple API’s while developing the app for different interfaces. The speed of the app is fast and responsive rate is high in performance. Software used to develop native apps generally are Java and ADT for Android operating system, Objective-C or Swift for iOS, and .NET (C#) for the Windows operating system.

Example:

  • Pokémon GO
  • Pinterest is a cross-platform native app, built with Xamarin.
  • PayPal
  1. Mobile Web Apps – These are also apps but can be run on any device you are viewing on and are mainly used on the browsers. Unlike the native app, they do not require any kind of download or installation process.

These apps are usually written in HTML5, JavaScript or CSS. There is also the limitation to the usage of API’s in Mobile Web Apps. The user experience is almost the same as the Native Apps and does not require regularly downloads updates. The only thing is that for running the Web App good internet connection is a mandatory thing to have.

Examples:

  • Flipkart
  • Twitter Lite
  • BookMyShow
  • Forbes
  • OLX
  1. Hybrid Apps – It is basically a combination of Native and Mobile Web App together. It has the compatibility of cross-platform and also can run on the mobile device. Mainly HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Mobile JavaScript frameworks, Cordova/PhoneGap etc. software is used to develop these kinds of apps.

Even though Hybrid Apps lack in speed and the performance, but comparatively they are fast and simple to develop which eventually means low cost in development. Also, they have a low maintenance cost and can opt for a large number of API’s.

Example:

  • Instagram
  • Uber
  • Evernote

There are different types of Mobile App platform depending upon the requirement and the nature of the App. CodePlateau is one of the renowned names as the best Mobile App Development company in Pune.

All You Need To Know About AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)

Since we’re living in a world of short attention spans your consumers are looking for the fastest smoothest web browsing experience. With the advent of the smartphone more and more of the users browsing experience has moved to smartphones. Google recognized this and in 2015 made speed a ranking factor and again in December 2015 hinted at making mobile website loading speeds a ranking factor too. Web developers in Pune and around the world began experimenting with mobile-friendly versions of their website but it wasn’t good enough.
Kissmetrics data shows that pages that take longer than 3 seconds to load are more likely to be abandoned by up to 40% of the users. To battle, this problem Accelerated Mobile pages were introduced, and it was found that websites that were AMP-optimized showed a significant improvement in their rankings. In this blog, we’ll look at what AMP Pages are and how you can use CodePlateau’s world-renowned web development services to take advantage of them on your own website.

What Are Accelerated Mobile Pages?
It began when Google and Twitter joined forces to bring about a faster online experience to their users. It is an open source experience that helps design your web pages to make them faster and provide a better user experience. It’s a plugin that can help reduce your web page to the absolute essential basics to make it load quicker.

How To Optimize Your Web pages For AMP?

  • This is what most of your readers are here to find out. The solution, simple, download the AMP plugin from right within the WordPress plugins search or from the Github downloads. You will need to change a bit of code however and that’s where the excellent team of web developers from CodePlateau in Pune come in handy.
  • What we also suggest is that you create two different versions of your content pages. One can simply be a mobile-friendly version where you can have all your features and customizations while the AMP pages will be bare bones but provide a better online experience to the user. You don’t have to be worried about Google considering the pages as duplicate as they take into account the AMP version as long as your page has been validated online.
  • Use AMP URL’s to distinguish between the two.

So How Does The AMP Plugin Work?

Like we’ve mentioned before the AMP plugin strips your webpage to the absolute basic code required by smartphones to run smoothly. There are three parts to the AMP structure:
1) AMP HTML
2) AMP JS
3) AMP CDN

AMP pages don’t load regular Javascript, there is an AMP Javascript subset that you need to use. There are several other factors that you need to consider before using the AMP plugin on your page –

– Before you can roll out your AMP pages they need to be validated
– It is best to avoid custom fonts on your AMP pages as this may delay load time as these fonts have to be specially loaded every time
– You have to specify height and width for every image you share on your page if you want them to load correctly
– Videos need specially approved extensions to run on your AMP pages

You also need to be aware of the fact that AMP pages are built for quickness and readability. You might not even be able to enable the social sharing icons on your AMP pages as these are built using Javascript. CodePlateau’s web development team in Pune have found a workaround for this issue, get in touch with us for additional details.

5 Benefits Of Using AMP Pages For Your Website
While there are numerous benefits of using AMP pages for your website, we’ll be looking at the top 5. These are the factors that can really help enhance your site’s ranking and help you convert more sales.

1) Quicker Loading Speeds – The whole purpose of building AMP pages is to get an edge over your competition when it comes to the speed with which the content on your pages load. Users love a faster browsing experience as can be ascertained by the KissMetrics numbers.

Here are some more statistics to help convince you that you need AMP pages for your website

  • Every second your page delays in loading you are losing 9.4% of your pageviews
  • Conversion rate drops by 3.5% with every second added to your page load time
  • Bounce rate can go up by 8.3% for pages that take more than 3 seconds to load

In commercial terms, depending on your monthly traffic this could amount to a serious loss of site visitors, sales and more

2) Highlighted Results In Search – When it comes to SEO every advantage you can find is worth the time you spend getting it. Websites that rely heavily on their content for marketing were thrilled when AMP pages were introduced as it provided them with a green lightning symbol to display them as AMP pages. They also showed up higher in the search results. AMP pages have a higher click-through rate than their non-AMP counterparts.

3) Higher Listing In Search – Since speed is now one of the ranking factors on Google pages that load quicker tend to have a higher listing in search. This is especially true for AMP pages as not only do they have faster loading times as compared to non-AMP pages, they also have a better click-through rate. While Google may not necessarily be focusing on earning money using AMP pages it has helped them generate more revenue. A better user experience has led to more users pushing to use Google as their default browser. More clicks mean more money for Google.

4) Better Ad Support – Speaking of Google making money using AMP pages it has also helped content creators streamline the Ad’s on their sites. Since only custom AMP approved HTML works along with streamlined CSS code and almost no Javascript there are fewer distractions on your web page. Users can focus on the content and there is plenty of space for Ads. While you don’t want to clutter your pages with Ad’s less clutter makes it more convenient for people to click on Ad’s when they’re truly interested in them. AMP pages make the Ad’s stand out more effectively than the rest of the content on the page.

5) Simpler User Tracking – It’s not just that AMP pages provide the user with a better experience they also provide the content creator with more data to work with. Using Tag manager on their AMP pages provides Google webmasters with more information about their users. All the metrics you can find on Google Analytics are provided separately for AMP pages.

Conclusion
India is still in a very nascent stage when it comes to adopting AMP pages. If you want to get a head start on your competition you should start working on converting your pages to AMP as soon as possible. While setting up AMP pages on your website might seem easy there is some web development knowledge that you would need. Who better to help you out with your problem than Pune’s best Web Development company CodePlateau. If you’d like to get started on your project or need more information on the subject, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch today!

Top 5 Tips To Generate More Business via LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be hit or miss for most businesses because most businesses don’t utilize the full spectrum of tools available to them. If used smartly LinkedIn can actually be the jewel in the crown of your social media strategy. In this blog, we’ll detail the top 5 strategies you can use to generate more business via LinkedIn.

Top 5 Tips on ‘How to Generate More Business via LinkedIn’

As you go through the list you’ll begin to wonder if you haven’t already set all of them up. If you have and you’re still not getting the kind of numbers you expect, think about what you’re doing wrong or get in touch with us. With that in mind let’s look at the best LinkedIn strategies to get more sales from LinkedIn

1.Optimize Your Profile for Search and Visibility

If you’re under the impression that keyword research is only relevant while writing content for your blogs and website copy, then you’re surely mistaken. If you’re a relatively unknown brand in the marketing providing a special set of products or services, the only way customer can find you on LinkedIn is via the search tool.

You need to figure out the keywords your customers are likely to use and optimize the content on your LinkedIn profile using those keywords and variations of the keywords.

Let’s say for instance you are a digital marketing expert that own a company of your own, would you rather pitch yourself as Founder of Company or Digital Marketing Expert? What do you think customers are going to be searching for? These are the factors you must take into consideration while creating a LinkedIn Page for your company.

2. Make Your Company Page as Compelling as Possible

Most company pages on LinkedIn have only the most basic information. You learn almost nothing exciting about the company or the brand. Why would you want to partner with them for your business?

When prospective customers are looking at service providers, they want to be able to read blogs about company successes, words from the senior management of the company talking about the vision of the organization. Anything that would make your potential clients get in touch with your company rather than the competition.

3.Set Your Targets and Goals

Another stellar tip to be successful on LinkedIn is to make sure you set your targets. Most businesses on LinkedIn will either try to generate leads for their businesses or create additional brand awareness for your company. Or maybe both.

Depending on the goals that have been set for the organization the measuring standards will also differ. When it comes to brand awareness the number of likes and shares your posts get. Lead generation is more straightforward as long as you’re measuring the data correctly.

4.Create a Customer Persona and make sure you target correctly

One of the biggest problems most businesses face on LinkedIn is they cast their net too wide. Only by creating a customer persona and sticking to your targeting goals will you be able to attain your business goals.

For this, you might have to join special groups, limit your network to only a certain kind of individuals. The more you work on your customer persona the clearer your idea will be about how to go about meeting your business goals. You’ll be in a better position to answer the question about what kind of content to share, what kind of posts to publish and more.

5.Make proper use of analytics

The most essential tool you have at your disposal when using LinkedIn to grow your business is their analytics tools. Businesses that are new to LinkedIn marketing regularly skip this step because they believe they know their customers.

More experienced hands, however, will know that there will always be more to learn when dealing with your customers.

We’ve had the first-hand experience where clients were pushing one strategy because they saw what they believe was growth. Turns out their page was growing because of a post shared months ago following a completely different strategy.

Always, and I cannot stress this enough, make sure to run through your analytics numbers before you make any major decision in your LinkedIn marketing strategy.

Conclusion

We hope these hot tips to help improve your business with LinkedIn work for you. If there are certain parts of the strategy that seems alien to you and you need additional help, we recommend you get in touch with us. We’d be glad to help you figure out your LinkedIn marketing strategy.

4 Important Social Media Marketing Tips

Social Media has massively grown in the last few decades as compared to any other platform of engaging people around the globe. In terms of the spread and usages, has also reached to new heights which cannot be matched to anything else. As we are aware about the widespread of the platform, so not utilizing it for marketing for your business would lead to a huge mistake. For the marketing purpose there are several options currently available in the market which would help to use the social media for marketing purpose. But in all the process, number of basic things are being miss out which leads to unfruitful results to the business. Let’s discuss few points which are needed to keep them in the checklist before starting the Social Media Marketing. Decide Your Goal Many of the marketers or businesses start their marketing campaigns without any specific objective or the goal. The objective is very essential as depending upon it you need to plan the process and pattern of the social media marketing. There are different types of goals such as launching new product or service, awareness about the brand, getting sales through that source and many more of them. The proper social media plan is designed upon the requirement of business. There are numerous strategies which vary from business to business or the marketer to marketer. The marketing plan will not have the desired result if they are unplanned. Competitor Analysis Yes, the competitor analysis, unlike any other industry or business, competitor analysis is a mandatory thing to be done in social media marketing. There are several benefits of doing the analysis like getting to know their strategies, designs, ranking keywords, working flow the etc. Shortlist your best of the competitors and the through a number of tools available in free as well as paid form. By the competitor analysis you get to know the potential of competitors as well as your own. Engaging Content It’s a revealed truth about Google that content is the king and engaging content of the social media. So, creating a unique content is not only the criteria for ranking, its now the engaging one. There are multiple options you can opt for to keep your audience engaged on to your profile like creating stories, limiting your daily post, ask for polls or opinions of audience, set a specific time of the posting etc. Track & Modify Keep a record of the social media marketing plan, so you can analyses the data and change it according to the requirements. There might be some strategies which work for specific products or service the and same might not work for another. Analyzing each and every strategy is very important. There are certain tools available which help to track the revenue gained from the social media marketing plans. Here are few of the tips which you should not be left out to add to your checklist of social media marketing to gain desirable results. Also, for any professional services regarding any social media marketing, CodePlateau offers the bestplans among the industry

How Does Instagram Works?

Instagram was just an ordinary social media platform like others when it was launched back in 2010, but does is it really now the same; ofcourse not, it’s now a huge giant and also one of the top contenders in social media. Its been used by people all around the world and grown drastically nearly 10 times within the short span of 5 years. According to the statistics there are more than 500 million of daily active users engaged and they tend to hit the “like” button averagely 4.2 billion of times in a single day. Continue reading