Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/294639
48 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 APRIL 2014 GIANLUCA FINO COULD 2014 be the make or break year for your business? While you are working on making 2014 a great year for your business, you should not neglect a few trends that could really boost your web presence, en- hance visibility, improve customers numbers and in turn increase rev- enue. SEO has evolved I have read a few recent article that have stated that SEO is dead. Please do yourself a favour and ig- nore these claims. I will admit that SEO has evolved from the trend of focusing on keywords, but the proc- ess of boosting your web presence through quality content, responsive design, public relations (Blogs and News Articles) and social sharing is not only on the up, it's a formula that will keep your brand moving forward. Everyone is mobile I have already emphasized this section in a previous article but one does not realise how mobile-friend- ly content is a must. Information from ABI Research states that in 2013, more people used the Internet through mobile devices than desk- top computers. Moreover, there are numerous articles and extensive re- search that confirm that in the past couple of years, the sales of mobile devices have now surpassed those of desktop computers. Plain text just doesn't cut it I don't know if this has to do with the day and age we live in or not - if we have less time in these fast-paced and busy times or we are just plain lazy - but these days, everyone's skimming and no one's reading. Hence it is imperative to attract your customers' attention with a more image-based approach. Pin- terest, Instagram and Tumblr are obvious picks for distributing your visuals, but consider how impact- ful an image, video or infographic could be when leveraged outside of these consolidated platforms. Companies have now realized that a photo posted to Facebook gets more engagement than other posts, and a press release paired with images, videos, and down- loadable files will tend to drum up more views than a text release alone. Retargeting is on the way up Studies from Perfect Audience state that 98% of visitors to your website leave without converting. Yes the numbers are quite shocking but there is a solution. Retargeting takes advantage of cookies to trace visitors after they depart your site. Subsequently, data is collected about the interests of visitors in the products and services on your site, allowing retargeting to con- tinue to push the sale by display- ing these products and services to them again via advertisements that appear across different websites. Retargeting is not just a one trick pony - other retargeting approach- es include site retargeting, search retargeting, keyword retarget- ing, and email retargeting. Many companies are now seeing a great return on investment when using this method and hence it will con- tinue to be used during the coming year and the future. Sharing is caring The more customers sharing your content, the wider a net you are able to cast. Ignoring this fact will limit your reach and hurt your growth. Focus on the heav y- weights in social sharing: Face- book, Twitter and LinkedIn but don't shy away from other plat- forms - consider testing the waters on Pinterest and Instagram. The importance of being social Social advertising gives you the opportunity to reach customers when and where they are most actively engaged. A study done by Adroll shows that Facebook ads displayed directly in the News Feed have a click-through rate 21 times higher than standard web retargeting adverts and produce 49 times stronger click-through rates compared to adverts located on Facebook 's right-hand side. If this doesn't convince you to be more social and exploit its vast ad- vantages then I do not know what will! Gianluca Fino is a Business Development Executive at Alert eBusiness -www.alert.com.mt Information Technology Expanding your online presence in 2014 Last weekend marked the opening of Laguna Walk at SmartCity Malta, the island's latest leisure and entertainment destination that will be open for everybody to enjoy. Thousands of individuals visited the vibrant hub and joined in the exciting activities at the venue's first event. The next Family Fun Weekend at the Laguna Walk will be held on 12th and 13th April.