Move over millennials, the next generation is here. Generation Z are youth born between the mid-1990s and the early-2000s. Unlike millennials who will remember dial-up internet or earlier, Generation Z’ers may have a challenge recalling the time when they were not connected to the outside world via computer or smartphone. This means they look at technology and apps differently — and more often. A recent study found that 12% of youth between the ages of 13 and 17 check their phone every few seconds. It’s up to companies to build apps that will keep this generation engaged. Here are a few apps currently making it work. Social Media and Messaging A predictable first app to mention, Snapchat is insanely popular among Generation Z. The photo and video messaging app has more than 100 million active daily users, with 45% of those users between 18 and 24-years-old. This demographic uses Snapchat to document every cool, funny, and interesting moment in their lives, leading to a generation that can have vicarious experiences unlike any group in the past. Snapchat taps into two defining elements of Generation Z: a love of selfies and a fear of missing out (often known as FOMO). Through its ever-changing filters in which users can adorn themselves with flower crowns and dog faces — as well as the simple and short-term shareability of pictures and videos through private messages or public stories — Snapchat meets this demographic’s core app desires. Generation Z loves secret identities. That’s perhaps why an app called Whisper is so popular. Whisper users can send messages anonymously and receive replies which are posted publicly or sent to them by a user with a pseudonym. (However, it’s important for developers to consider that secret identity apps like this have the potential to open up a door to cyber-bullying and may need to be monitored heavily.) The messages — also known as whispers — are questions or confessions users may never share in the real world and are displayed to the app’s 30 million monthly users, with replies coming from around the world. While emojis continue to dominate smartphone messaging, an app called PopKey allows users to easily send GIFs in addition. The app installs a GIF keyboard to your phone, so users can easily select a trending GIF. There’s never been an easier way for Generation Z to send a virtual “face palm.” [gravityform id="9" title="true" description="true" ajax="true"] Photography and Video As mentioned, selfies are a big part of life for Generation Z, and photo sharing app Instagram can be the perfect outlet for those shots. The Instagram app of today has started to resemble Snapchat, with Instagram Stories allowing users to share momentary glances into one another’s lives. The fact that 76% of teenagers use Instagram shows there’s merit in allowing Generation Z the ability to add filters to their photos and easily engage with their friends, community, and celebrities. Live video streaming app Periscope has also gained traction among Generation Z’ers. If you thought Snapchat was an overshare, think again. Periscope is akin to The Truman Show, where users become famous by live streaming every moment of their life. Twitter acquired Periscope before its launch in 2015 in an effort to capture the attention of younger users, and it worked. One of the reasons Periscope is so popular is that it’s a more authentic look at someone’s day. Unlike Snapchat and Instagram where users can add filters and take hundreds of photos before finding the right one, there’s a level of vulnerability and exposure that comes from a live streaming app like Periscope. Music When it comes to music, the apps that are popular with Generation Z are the ones popular with millennials: namely Spotify and Pandora, with respectively, 39% and 21% approval ratings from this demographic. One of the reasons these apps may be popular is because of a user’s ability to curate content, i.e. create their own playlist or station. App developers considering the audio and music industry should consider designing their app as a streaming platform rather than one based on downloads. What Makes Apps Popular? Generation Z grew up on the internet, and they understand that there are no (or at least very little) secrets. This doesn’t mean that youth don’t want privacy and security, though. Apps targeting Generation Z’ers should incorporate some element of a confessional or ability to share — but should consider masking that information or the user’s location with some sort of disguise. An element of immediacy will also help with popularity, as Generation Z wants to find out what’s going on in real-time.

So, your website is up and running, people come to your site and get value from it... but are you really maximizing the opportunities you have? A wise person once said, “Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.” And while this quote was in relation to someone's personal life why can’t it also pertain to your company’s web presence? Taking this philosophy and applying it to your company is what will put it in the top tier.  Just because you have a functioning website does not mean that it’s the best possible website you could be giving to your visitors. Re-design will allow you to improve the way you present your information and change how visitors use and engage with your site. Below we have detailed  a few of the reasons it might be time for you to redesign your website. You aren’t getting the results you want. If you’re not getting the results you want it may be time to improve your website. A new design can allow you to create new calls to action that will allow you to better optimize your site for lead generation. Because at the end of the day that’s the end goal, right? So it's definitely beneficial to do what you can to improve your conversion rates. A few important things to take into consideration is the copy of your website:  is it too text heavy or does it not give enough details? Does it match your company's voice? What about the look- does it go with a general theme or just seem sporadic? While these all might seem like minescule factors about your website it's important to remember that all combined together they are your company's voice and online impression. Make it count. Your website doesn’t work across all platforms. If you’re anything like me you like to do majority of things from your phone and then later will check it again from your computer. We expect things to be easy across all channels and to be able to seamlessly  transition between any platform. Providing a smooth experience for your visitors is a key factor. By having a responsive design it allows your website to be easily adaptable from any screen on any device. Another key thing to take notice of is the functionality of your website. How easy is your site to use? Are your call to actions visible and easy to access? These are highly important factors that can make or break your website! The purpose of your site has changed. It's important to stay on top of your website's purpose; if it has changed then your website should reflect this change. Perhaps your marketing strategy has changed or you have decided to feature different aspects of the company altogether. Perhaps you want people to read your blog more or use your request a quote box more often. Whichever it is- keeping up to date with your site’s purpose is highly important. Another instance to be mindful of is if your company has added new services or features. If so, then your website should reflect this change otherwise your visitors will take their business elsewhere! Your third-party tools are outdated. A very important factor to pay attention is to how your third party tools are functioning. Ask yourself the questions: are these tools up to date ? Are they functioning at the highest level they could? If you answered no to either of these questions then perhaps it's time for an upgrade. Making the moves to more modern third party tools will not only appeal to your visitors but also turn them into leads. By ensuring that you are up to date with current technology you will not have to worry about your website lacking in loading times or meeting your guests with error pages! Your Sites Loading Time is …. Slow! As we’ve entered 2018 its important to note that loading speed is now a MAJOR factor. Even if we don't like to admit it, we’re impatient people who have grown accustomed to pages loading instantaneously. “People will visit a Web site less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds (a millisecond is a thousandth of a second)” (Ny Times, 2018). Website speed and mobile speed should be  a top priority. If your website is loading slowly then it's definitely time for an upgrade.  Some of the Features or Content Don’t Display Properly Ensuring that your content displays properly is another major factor to be mindful of. As I said previously it's important to have seamless transitions between your web and mobile and the same goes for the way the content displays. You should also be mindful of the many different mobile devices your visitors may be using- there are lots of options out there! Whether they are looking from an iPhone or an Android Tablet the navigation and display should be easy to use and look the same across all channels. Compare to Competitors Another important reason to consider redesigning your website is seeing how it stacks up against the competition. By keeping up with the competition you are able to set your prices competitively, create marketing strategies, and accurately respond to rival marketing campaigns. If your top competitor is having far more success generating traffic to their site  then perhaps it's time to take a look at their site and see what they are doing differently. Now you don’t need to redesign your website every time you see your competitors making changes but staying relevant and up to date will be beneficial in the long run. I hope that you’ve found the above reasons as useful insight on whether or not to redesign your website. It’s easy to remain content with a website that’s working but as we said above: are you maximizing on the opportunities you have? If you’re not, or you felt like any of the above reasons directly related to your website, it's time to redesign! This will be an exciting time because you will be able to take a close look at your website, analyze the strategies that have worked, and improve! Remember “excellence is a continuous journey, not a destination.” Now, we are aware that redesigning your website can seem like a daunting or overwhelming task, but that's where we come in! Barefoot Solutions is more than happy to work with you to help redesign your website. Use the contact button located below and let's get redesigning!  

So you built, or want to build, an app. Obviously the creation of a successful app involves many moving parts and a multitude of steps. The research, planning, hours and effort required add up to a helluva process - but that’s only half the battle. To fully bring your idea to life there is an important final touch you can’t forget - user acquisition. Given the competitive mobile app market, gaining usership can be a battle. With over 2,000 new apps published every single day, you better plan ahead and get your marketing act together if you don’t want to end up with a dead app. You worked way too hard for that. Now that we have you a little rattled, don’t panic - there’s plenty you can do to get noticed. Start with social media. For example, you can easily set up advertising such as a pay-per-install campaign on Facebook. Find out what tweeters are tweeting and get your hashtags rolling. While you do that, here’s a few tips that will help you get the visibility you need to get those coveted downloads and industry buzz: Learn and Master ASO You’ve heard about SEO and know what a pain in the ass it can be. ASO is certainly not the same thing, but a game you must play if you want downloads. App Store Optimization, ASO, is the sprint to get your app visibility in app store search rankings. Tools such as App Annie or SearchMan are helpful to manage and monitor your soon-to-be-climbing ASO. Keywords are important in ASO, so be sure to carefully think about the title and description you put together. Think about what kind of search the user you’re targeting will type. For example if you were marketing Pandora, you would want to include keywords such as “online radio,” “free streaming,” or “music playlist.” Get inside your audience’s head and figure out what they will search to try and get to an app like yours. Word-of-Mouth Never, under any circumstances, underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Get your friends and family to download your app and ask them to spread the word. Even better, ask for their feedback and make the changes they suggest. Few people are going to care more about your success than your friends and family, and fewer still will give you the honest feedback you need to improve. Mom may not be the savviest app user, but she’s not afraid to give it to you straight. Utilize the Blogosphere Bloggers are always looking for a hot topic to muse about. Guess what? Your app is a hot topic and damn straight they should be talking about it. Tech bloggers not only love to get their hands on the latest technology, but vie to be the first ones publishing their witty thoughts on it. Comb through tech publications, find out where the early adopters chat, and fire away offering first time access to your app. Writers eat that up. Keep in mind, while you may not have a ton of control over this, do what you can to coordinate publication releases at or around the same time. What this does is hits the Internet like a charging horse, click-a-clacking across the information highway to maximize hype and improve results. And hey, you’re a patron of the internet too - get involved yourself. Comment on the blogs, share on social media, be interactive and boost that buzz. Become a Student of Your Users Listen. L-I-S-T-E-N. Was that not clear? Listen to the users who took the time to download your app. People are happy to provide feedback because they want products they want (see what I did there). If you can fashion your app to something users really want, they’ll tell their friends and increase their own usage. Don’t be surprised if they may have some pretty radical requests. Keep an open mind. While your vision for the app is certainly brilliant, try not to hold too tightly to these original ideas. There may be great suggestions outside the round-one-dev-box that can take your app places you never thought of. Ratings and Reviews Plug in functionality that asks users for ratings and reviews. Users don’t really care what you have to say about your app and what it can do. Users care what other users think and listen to their peers far more than you. Apptentive is a great app to get started with this. Ask users for reviews and again, listen. Make the changes that affects common use cases as quickly as possible. The Internet is instant, it lives in your users’ pockets and purses. They are not a patient bunch and will speedily move on if dissatisfied. Keep Users Happy This is a no-brainer and a theme you may have picked up on. But seriously - keep users happy. ASO also looks at user behavior such as discard rate (how often an app is deleted), ratings, download counts and frequency of use. Ensuring your app is something they really want will increase their use of it, and encourage them to tell their friends how great it is. If you can keep your users happy they will have no reason to delete your app and rate it highly. Happy users are the gold to go after in your marketing campaign. Publishing your app and getting people to use it can certainly be overwhelming - but you can do it. Mobile users want you to make their lives easier with a new fantastic app. Get the word out there, actively listen, and build a happy user base.