5 Surprising Ways to Increase Instagram Engagement

If you are reading this, you are probably one of the 500 million people who use Instagram every day.

If you are attempting to effectively increase your engagement on Instagram, then you are fighting with 75% of the rest of the businesses who are trying to do the exact same thing.

It can definitely be frustrating when you create some spectacular content and images only to receive a few likes and low engagement, most of which are randomly produced through your over-enthusiastic hashtags and not from genuine sources.

Here are 5 strategies that you can implement today to begin building a stronger following and increase your Instagram engagement.

1. Conduct research about your audience

It is important to properly research the type of content your audience wants to see and how you can deliver it strategically so that they are more inclined to engage.

You need to take time to engage your followers instead of sharing content blindly – or posting for the sake of posting. You will soon realize that there is an optimal method of sharing content that works uniquely for your business.

A valuable tip for understanding who your audience is would be to build fictional personas of their habits, personalities, education, career, and interests. What makes your audience happy or frustrated and why and when are they browsing Instagram?

Many of these answers can be realized and acted upon simply by writing a few sentences down on a piece of paper. Ask a few people their thoughts, test out some content, and pay attention to the numbers. Think about some obstacles and offer solutions.

For example, if you are a home builder, it may be a good idea to offer insight into the home building process – from the decision to build a new home all the way through to completion. Poll your audience on design trends, ask them questions about their concerns on the process, timing or budget, run a contest or giveaway to incentivize them to engage with your page.

Chipotle is a great example of a business that has strategically built a plan to provide their audience what they want to see – clearly, memes and images about burritos. Followers know what to expect and engage with the restaurant.

2. Interact with other users

Sharing content and hoping someone will engage is almost the same as talking at a group of people, while not paying attention to what they have to say in return. It seems a little one-sided right?

It is essential when building your engagement to be active on Instagram. Search for content or other user profiles that are valuable to you, and begin conversations – start engaging.

Search hashtags that are relevant to you and your business or interests and respond to content with your own expertise and advice – (more on this in tip #3 below).

Another reason why you should interact with other users on Instagram is to become inspired. Perhaps you will see what competitors are doing or what other users are posting that is attracting engagement. What are they doing to gain their engagement or alternatively, what are they not doing that you could be to give yourself a competitive advantage?

Take 20 minutes per day to utilize the platform for your own engagement and research. It is amazing what you could oversee from using the platform in the way that you wish your audience was.

3. Use keywords and hashtags

Hashtags have quickly become an Instagram feature that everyone uses somewhat ineffectively to optimize and enhance their social media presence.

Search hashtags and keywords that are relevant and associated with your business, industry, and niche audience.

For example:

• If you are a lawyer, you may want to follow and use #lawyerlife (602K posts) or #lawyersofinstagram (157K posts).
• If you are a realtor, you may want to follow and use #realtorsofinstagram (4.1M posts)
• Restaurants or a business in the food industry may want to follow and use #foodstagram (63.4M) or #foodie(144M posts)

When you find other posts, ‘like’ or comment on them, expressing your interest and your own valuable advice on the theme or topic. In this way, you will already be engaging with other businesses as well as their followers.

You can also search for your location or the area in which you provide business and engage with other businesses in this way as well.

4. Take advantage of insights

Every business should have a Business Profile on Instagram. If you have yet to make the switch from Personal to Business, you will want to do that. Click here for instructions.

A Business profile provides you with insights and analytics that will help you in learning about post performance, reach, engagement, etc.

Take a look back at your previous posts, especially the ones that had the most engagement, reach, profile visits, and subsequent followers.

Pay attention to the type of post and tailor your content accordingly. For example, if the post was offering an opinion, or asking a question or divulging some big news, you may want to structure similar content to test the audience.  

You can actively use analytics tools through Instagram that will effectively provide you with the information you need, such as the location and time-zone, to understand when and how your audience is more likely to engage.

For example, if your followers are Canadian and interact in the evenings, then you will want to post when it is appropriate for them – not when it is appropriate for you (schedule your posts through platforms such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite if this is the case).

5. Create high-quality content

If you are creating quality content that you have put effort into researching and building, then you are more likely to see quality engagement from your followers.

If you do not put any effort into the posts you create and share, then you likely will not see any effort from your followers.

It is not only the content that needs to be high-quality; your images, colors, themes, as well as the layout of your Instagram profile all contribute to the authenticity of your business.

Due to its simplicity and the platform’s intricate algorithms, Instagram Stories gain more views and traction than newsfeed posts. Instagram stories provide the capability to engage your audience through polls, questions, and more. You can drive attention to your posts by using your Instagram Stories to feature your content and persuade followers to visit your profile and engage. 

You can share a post to your Story by clicking the paper airplane symbol under your post and clicking “Add post to your story.”

Wrapping up

The best part about Instagram is that it is an easy and efficient tool used to communicate with your audience and build strong relationships with your consumers and prospects.

Unlike generations before us, our source is right here at our fingertips. If there is something you want to know about your audience, reach out and ask them – poll them, ask them questions, ask for feedback.

You will be surprised at the honest answers you will receive – oh hey, and it is an excellent way to engage your audience and show that you care.

Guest author: Marly Broudie is the Founder and CEO of SocialEyes Communications Inc., a digital marketing and business development consulting firm based in Toronto. Marly launched SocialEyes to help businesses and professionals broaden their opportunities through the power of digital marketing. Her goal-oriented approach and ability to help clients develop a vision to drive growth is her fuel for success, and consequently, the success of her clients.

The post 5 Surprising Ways to Increase Instagram Engagement appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

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How Companies Use AI To Improve Brand Management

Ideally, your brand illustrates who your organization or company is and how it’s perceived by your customers. This means both marketing and product managers need to work closely to protect the overall brand value.

Brand management, at its core, is all about sustaining, positioning, defining, crafting, and ensuring a good brand reputation. All in all, brand management is vital as it helps your company influence purchasing behavior; reassuring clients that your company values them; achieving customer loyalty.

This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can make all the difference. Improving customer experience, guarding online reputation, monitoring brand reputation, or leveraging brand engagement, to name a few. AI plays a key role in enhancing a company’s brand value.

In this article, I’ll discuss how AI can help improve brand management. Read on to find out!

The impact of AI in brand management

A recent study by Markets and Markets indicates that the global AI market is expected to reach a market value of $190 Billion industry by 2025.

Image Source: Markets and Markets

The use of AI has certainly helped in transforming various sectors, which include the health sector, HR Sector, and brand management is no exception. Microsoft and Google are among the leading global brands that have shifted their focus on AI research. They are aiming to transform their main user service platforms by incorporating AI.

Other leading brands like Facebook, Alibaba, Amazon, and Apple are catching up as well. All of these suggest that AI is the core technology that’ll help in improving the company’s brand.

Here are some of the ways AI can help in improving brand management:

AI helps provide a seamless customer experience

More and more companies are shifting their focus on brand management through improved customer experience. This is because happy customers will surely promote your brand. With improved customer experience, businesses can master the art of customer loyalty management. Additionally, a positive brand reputation contributes immensely to increased growth.

With its quick and efficient solutions, AI helps businesses in providing a seamless customer experience. For instance, speech and voice recognition, interpreting human emotions, and predicting consumer behavior have all contributed greatly to improving customer experience.

According to Servion Global Solutions, by 2025, AI technology will support 95 percent of customer interactions. Companies are also using AI to provide personalized recommendations. The use of AI-powered chatbots is also becoming quite popular among brands as it helps in improving personalization, which is crucial to brand management.

Image Source: HubSpot

The above figures from HubSpot’s report show that 82% of buyers prefer quick responses from companies concerning sales or marketing queries. AI-powered chatbots offer a complete communication solution in terms of answering FAQs, guiding customers, or providing sales suggestions.

With the help of AI-powered chatbots, there won’t be any need for your customers to wait or call in for a representative as they will get the answer to all the FAQs from the chatbot.

AI helps monitor online reputation

Online customer review sites, social media posts, and word of mouth can either make or break a company’s reputation. It’s vital for organizations to analyze and monitor what clients say on various platforms so that they respond accordingly and thereby, guard their online reputation.

Reputation is what makes consumers purchase from you or your competitor. Artificial intelligence enables companies to protect their online presence and achieve better brand management. It does this by enabling product managers and brand managers to conduct extensive analysis and research on websites, social media platforms, and other forums.

Firms that use AI for digital reputation management can accurately monitor mentions on various social media platforms. As such, it helps you identify customer feedback and online comments, as well as combat fake news.

AI helps secure customer data

Customer security is another crucial factor in guarding a firm’s reputation. With advanced cybercrime on the rise, consumers want to make sure that their data is safe. According to a study by TRUSTe/NCSA, 92 percent of consumers report data privacy and security as their primary concern.

In recent years, we have seen the introduction of CCPA and GDPR aimed at securing customer data. Organizations that have been involved in leaking sensitive information of their customers have had a negative impact on their reputation.  

In today’s digital age, trust is one of the most valuable resources for business. To reinstate the trust of the audience in your brand, embracing artificial intelligence is crucial. This is a key initiative for improving brand management. For instance, with the help of AI-powered systems like voice or sound recognition, and facial recognition, you can assure your customers that there will be no compromises on the security of their data.

AI helps deliver customer care

Customer care is also a critical component of brand management. Essentially, a firm must ensure that the concerns of its customers are attended to in an effective and timely manner. Failing to do so will affect the trust of your clients.

When your audience loses confidence in your brand, they’ll no longer purchase your services or products. This is where AI tools can aid in improving how organizations provide customer care. For example, AI-based chatbots help companies address the concerns of their customers 24/7. So, customers won’t have to wait for a customer care representative to start their day to get an answer to their query.

Such initiatives also help businesses save tons of money which would otherwise have been used to pay customer care reps who worked overtime during weekends. This shows that AI-based customer service helps firms achieve success in a number of ways.

The bottom line

These are some of the ways AI helps businesses improve brand management.

With a refined brand management strategy, companies can achieve customer loyalty and increased sales using AI tools.

Guest author: Emily Johnson is a marketing consultant with 10  years of experience in the execution of marketing strategies. Currently, she heads the marketing department at Blue Mail Media, a renowned B2B data solution company based out of Irving, Texas. Connect with her on Twitter.

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8 Common Workplace Productivity Killers (And What You Can Do About Them)

Any way you cut it lost productivity in the workplace is bad news for business.

According to a Gallup report, disengaged employees cost the U.S. anywhere from $483 – $605 billion per year in lost productivity.

So, what gives? What exactly are workers doing wrong?

To start, workers are human. And humans tend to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of their day-to-day activities. Getting distracted, falling into a rut, and losing track of tasks are just some of the issues workers run into. In short, people fall into the productivity killers trap all the time.

For a productive workplace, familiarize yourself with the top productivity killers. That way, you can weed them out and encourage productivity among your employees.  

How to identify and quash workplace productivity killers

Workplace productivity killers don’t just absorb your business’s time – they suck up your money, too.

If you think there’s room for improvement in your workplace (and who doesn’t?), then take a peek to find out what you can do to combat each productivity killer.  

1. Disengagement

Engagement and productivity are intertwined. The more excited an employee is about their job, the more likely they’ll be productive at work.

Gallup found that engagement leads to higher productivity – and 21% higher profitability. But the cost of disengagement goes even further. It could lead to high turnover rates, which further hurt your business’s productivity levels. 

Unfortunately, only 34% of U.S. workers are engaged. This could be the result of poor employee development, benefits, management, feedback, workplace culture, or another type of underlying issue.

As an employee becomes more and more disengaged, you’ll probably see their productivity levels drop pretty quickly. They might take frequent breaks, zone out, or work at a snail’s pace. 

Nothing kills productivity like a disengaged employee.

The (not-so) quick fix for disengagement

It’s not your job to force employees to engage with their work. But, there are a few things you can do to improve engagement in the workplace:

1. Offer benefits employees want
2. Lend an ear for questions, comments, and concerns
3. Encourage interoffice collaboration and relationships
4. Make sure your employees know how their work impacts the business

The best cure for disengagement is to establish a culture of employee engagement. This can take time and energy, so be patient for best results. 

2. Workplace distractions

One study found that 50% of people who get distracted in the workplace experience significantly less productivity.

Image Source: Udemy

And let’s be honest – most people get distracted at least once a day on the job. That means your business’s productivity is likely taking a hit on the daily.

Ouch.   

So when it comes to distractions, who’s the culprit?

Distractions are everywhere, and they can come in many shapes and sizes. In the workplace, here are just a few things that might steal your employees’ attention:

• Noisy co-workers
• Social media
• The internet
• Text messages
• Instant messaging
• Water cooler talk
• Dogs in the office
• Office activities
• Snacks

Sure, not all distractions are bad. Some “distractions” can actually improve a worker’s productivity. Maybe that’s why only 50% of people who get distracted find their productivity slipping…

Use distractions to your advantage

Not all distractions are bad. Some of them can be a great way for employees to power through the rest of the day or come up with innovative ideas.

Here’s the ticket: some distractions are always bad, some are OK in moderation, and some can be great. You can sort distractions under the following three categories:

• Distractions you discourage
• Distractions you limit
• Distractions you embrace

Cut out (i.e., discourage) the distractions that are bad, like gossiping. Limit other distractions, like addressing personal business on company time. And, embrace the distractions that could lead to surges in productivity, like a team-building activity.

3. Lack of recognition

Employees who don’t feel recognized are twice as likely to say they’ll quit within the next year. Talk about a buzzkill to your business’s productivity. 

How often do you recognize your staff? If you can’t remember the last time you gave someone a company-wide shoutout, handed out a congratulatory bonus, or even told them Job well done, you may need to step up your recognition efforts.

Employees who feel recognized at work are more engaged, productive, and enthusiastic about the relationship between their role and the company’s success.

On the other hand, employees who don’t feel recognized may feel like it doesn’t matter whether they do great work or OK work. And they might start giving you just OK work more and more.

A little goes a long way

There are countless articles about how you can boost productivity by giving employees the recognition and rewards they deserve. If you don’t take my word for it, you can Google it.

And if you believe in the power of recognition in relation to boosting productivity, here are a few simple tips to get started:

• Acknowledge your employees at the beginning and end of the day
• Recognize employees in meetings or company updates
• Reward employees with food
• If possible, give hardworking employees bonuses

4. Perfectionism

Maybe you’re not sold that perfectionism is a productivity killer. You might think that perfectionism is a productivity strengthener. But trust me… perfectionism can result in an employee getting nothing done.

Keep in mind that there’s a stark difference between discouraging perfectionism and encouraging sloppy work.

Perfectionists strive to put out flawless work that may meet unreasonable standards. If they aren’t happy with it, they don’t accept it. They may start from scratch if the work doesn’t meet their standards. In many cases, perfectionists also procrastinate on doing their work because they worry that it won’t meet their standards.

And that’s costly. An employee who constantly scraps their great projects could be majorly slowing the workplace down. 

Picture a team collaboration between Betty and Kevin. Betty can’t start on her part of the project until Kevin gives her his work. But, Kevin keeps missing deadlines because he can’t seem to get his work just right…

Encourage employees to let it go

Most work isn’t going to be perfect for the first go-around. If possible, encourage employees to do work in rounds and collaborate.

That way, each project or task has multiple eyes on it. And, it might help employees calm their inner perfectionist.

5. Disorganization

Despite some claims that disorganized people know exactly where everything is, disorganization has the potential to be a huge productivity killer. Not to mention, disorganization can pose a security threat, too.

Here are some examples of disorganization in the workplace:

• Dozens of documents scattered across a desk or filing cabinet
• Digital photos or documents in random folders
• Hundreds of unread emails littering an email inbox
• Sticky notes everywhere

And, just think about what disorganization can lead to:

• Missed meetings
• Missed deadlines
• Unkept promises
• Missed opportunities

I don’t know about you, but all of the consequences of disorganization spell poor productivity to me.

Get into gear

To help get your workplace in tip-top shape, you might consider investing in tools that encourage organization.

Some examples include:

1. Project management systems
2. Digital to-do lists
3. Reminder apps
4. Automated recurring tasks
5. Digital filing system

If you encourage a decluttered workspace, your employees may automatically follow suit. After all, who wants to have the sole pigpen in the office?

6. Unnecessary meetings

One Harvard Business Review survey found that 71% of senior managers said that meetings are unproductive and inefficient. And if a meeting is unproductive, that means your business is losing productivity overall.

From “Stop the Meeting Madness” by Leslie A. Perlow, Constance Noonan Hadley, and Eunice Eun. Harvard Business Review, July-August 2017.

Meeting participants can quickly derail the conversation. Whether the conversation turns into a complaining session or personal discussion about weekend events, meetings can be a huge productivity killer. Or, you might find that you’ve met with crickets chirping during a meeting.

Whether it’s derailed conversation or dead silence, an unnecessary meeting could cut right into the middle of an employee’s work, disrupting their actual productivity.

Make the most of meetings

Try not to have a meeting for every little thing that comes up. Ask yourself – Can this be accomplished via email? If it can, you probably don’t need to have a meeting.

If you do need a meeting, optimize your time. Keep things short and sweet to avoid dozing employees.

To make the most of meetings, you should:

1. Plan the meeting in advance, if possible
2. Decide on a date and time, and stick to the timeframe
3. Create an agenda
4. Ask employees to come prepared

7. Technology problems

Your employees are only as efficient as the systems they use, and that includes technology. Inefficient and unreliable systems can cause your employees to waste time and energy.

Computers, POS systems, and software that crash are just some examples of technology problems that can quickly become productivity killers.

In the same vein, confusing technology that your employees don’t know how to use can be just as problematic. Systems with a high learning curve will likely lead to a drop in productivity if your employees can’t use it. 

Invest in the best

Sure, you probably don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on technology. But if it can produce a great return on investment (ROI) for you, you might consider investing in better-quality technology.

The last thing you want is a system that is prone to constant crashing. And, you want something that doesn’t lose data. You might consider opting for cloud-based software systems so your employees don’t lose their information.

To avoid running into user-error, consider training your employees whenever you get new technology systems.  

8. Poor work-life balance

Another reason an employee’s productivity may be down is due to poor work-life balance. An employee who can’t effectively balance their work responsibilities and personal life may quickly become disengaged and unproductive.

Here are some of the consequences of having an unhealthy work-life balance, all of which lead to a drop in productivity:

• Burnout
• Illness
• Absenteeism
• Missed obligations
• Disengagement
• Frustration

Offer flexible schedules

Not all employers can afford to do this, but you might consider offering your employees flexible work schedules, including the ability to work:

• Varied hours
• Remotely

Flexible work hours and remote work can help cut down on absenteeism and encourage a better work-life balance. Employees can avoid missing work due to a contagious sickness or personal conflict.

Encouraging a better work-life balance can not only improve productivity, but it can also lead to happier employees with less stress.

Guest author: Rachel Blakely-Gray is a content writer at Patriot Software, LLC. Patriot Software offers online accounting and payroll software for small business owners. At Patriot, Rachel enjoys providing actionable, growth-oriented content.

The post 8 Common Workplace Productivity Killers (And What You Can Do About Them) appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

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How Content Marketers Can Stay Relevant During COVID-19

COVID-19 has unfortunately brought many industries to a screeching halt – and the impacts of the pandemic on business could, unfortunately, last for years to come. Thankfully, content marketing is not only continuing on but thriving more than ever.

Since many people are ordered to stay at home as much as possible, they are spending more time online. This is why digital marketing is one of the best ways for nearly every brand to connect with people during these uncertain times.

However, many content creators are left wondering how they should approach this with COVID-19 in mind. The pandemic is certainly a topic that seems to be everywhere.

So, how can content marketers find the balance and help businesses grow through digital content?

Here are some tips to help you navigate through content creation in COVID-19.

Adjust to current online behavioral trends

Yes, people are spending more time online – but they are not necessarily looking for products or services in the same way as before.

Obviously, many have lost their jobs or have had their hours or income reduced, so they may not have much extra spending money. Furthermore, many industries like travel, transportation, real estate, and manufacturing have experienced a decline in traffic because of COVID-19.

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However, this does not mean brands should just give up altogether. Instead, it is up to marketers to find ways to produce the kind of content people are looking for.

For instance, DIY projects and educational content have been quite popular now that people are spending more time at home and looking for ways to be entertained.

If you look at Google Trends, you will see there was a significant uptake in searches containing the phrase “how to” that began in March of this year – which was the same time that COVID-19 precautions started to be put in place.

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Keep this in mind when creating content and look for ways to share educational, inspirational, or entertaining content that is still relevant to your brand. For instance, many restaurants are now sharing recipes so people can create their food at home.

This isn’t pushing for conversions. Instead, it is offering highly useful content to keep people engaged with the brand.

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Now might not necessarily be the time to convince customers to make a purchase – especially if you offer more expensive services.

Instead, focus on creating content that gives people something to connect with and make an impression. This will help them to remember you once they are in a place to buy from you.

Consider trending mediums

Video streaming has certainly increased.

Now could be a good time to work on YouTube content. One study has found that people are now spending 20% more time on non-gaming and some gaming apps. This is the perfect time to really amp up your social advertising and content creation.

TikTok has also seen massive growth in downloads and viewership.

It is currently the most downloaded app, and it has a high number of active users and consumer spending. If you have been putting off creating a TikTok account for your brand, now could be a good time to explore it. There are even some useful TikTok bots to help you create good content!

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Podcast downloads have also started to increase, particularly on topics like current events. Now is a great time to launch a podcast or reach out to other podcasts in your industry to collaborate with.

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Do an SEO deep cleaning

A lot of us are doing some cleaning with all of the extra time we are now spending at home – so why not give your website and content a deep cleaning, too?

Go through your content and see where you can include new keywords or remove irrelevant ones that are not performing.

As mentioned before, there are some new keyword trends that you can take advantage of. There may also be some entirely new trending phrases that you can work into your content as well to relate to COVID-19. Google Trends is even offering daily search insights for coronavirus-related searches.

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You can re-arrange some content to create more snippet-bait paragraphs or update it with more recent data. As you know, Google always loves fresh content, so refreshing older pieces with new information or statistics can give it a slight boost in the SERPs.

Be sure to update schema markup and information that may have changed because of COVID-19, such as office hours or contact information. This is super important so that you do not miss out on any lead opportunities!

Make relevancy your top priority

Finally, don’t get too wrapped up in trying to create content around COVID-19 if it is simply irrelevant.

Yes, it does impact every business, and there is pressure to incorporate coronavirus-related keywords – but it is not necessarily your place to write about it just because everyone else is doing it.

Content relevancy is much more important than forcing keywords in an attempt to attract organic traffic. Plus, it could ultimately just lead to high bounce rates, which could end up hurting your site in the long run.

Be sure that your content is relevant to the current situation AND to your brand. Now probably isn’t the time to write about traveling or large gatherings, but you could offer ideas to help people stay productive, start an online at-home business, or save money.

Think a bit outside of the box – but don’t worry if COVID-19 doesn’t seem super relevant to your content.

Conclusion

Content marketers have the ability to offer businesses a lifeline during these uncertain times. Digital marketing could be what keeps many companies afloat while others struggle. However, there are ways to make your services and skills even more valuable given the circumstances.

Adjust where you can in light of emerging trends. Consider ways that you can offer your audience information they are actively seeking out or provide them entertainment or educational content. Now is not the time to step back into the shadows. Content marketing is more important than ever – so be sure you are staying relevant and keeping the ball moving.

The post How Content Marketers Can Stay Relevant During COVID-19 appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

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How eCommerce Sites Must Deal With Accessibility in the Age of Coronavirus

As more and more people are self-isolating or self-quarantining at home, the web has become even more essential.

Everyone is (supposed to be) staying home until it is once again safe to return to our regular routines. For example, individuals who may have otherwise visited a physical store can no longer do so and must use the web to shop online.

While this might seem trivial to the able-bodied, for people with disabilities this spells out disaster, as reports show that 98% of websites do not meet ADA compliance. To grasp what a user experience feels like for people with disabilities in an inaccessible website, imagine a blind person unable to browse through your online store with her screen-reader to hear what you’re selling, or a person with a motor disability unable to navigate your site with the TAB key, and unable to use a mouse as an alternative.

Every website must be reasonably accessible and usable by everyone, regardless of any disability or impairment, regardless of what device they use or what screen resolution they have. But unfortunately, that isn’t the case, and people with disabilities are being excluded from the web on a day-to-day basis, including the world of online shopping.

This is no small portion of the general population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 57 million Americans (19% of the population) had a disability in 2010. These include issues with vision, hearing, walking, mental acuity, and fine motor skills. It’s safe to assume that the global Internet audience would reflect a similar kind of percentage.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) led by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) outlines a number of standards and recommendations for how websites and web services can best serve this diverse demographic. It also provides a number of support materials to help you understand and implement accessibility in an appropriate manner.

But, as an eCommerce site owner, what can you actually do?

Automatic web accessibility

It can feel overwhelming to look over all these standards and best practices, even if you are working with a number of web design professionals. Instead, it is both more comprehensive and more robust to utilize an automatic solution like accessiBe, which provides you with a single line of JavaScript code that you implement on your site, much like Google Analytics.

The code runs an AI algorithm that alters the code and ensures your site is ADA compliant within 48 hours. Blind users that are using screen-readers will be able to navigate your site since the solution will make sure your code has the proper usage of ARIA label attributes, and the AI will automatically insert alt-tags to your images using OCR technology. Lastly, the code will be adjusted to make sure people with motor disabilities have no problem browsing your site using the TAB key.

Browser compatibility

Making improvements to your eCommerce site in terms of accessibility is good, but it won’t do you any good if your website isn’t fully compatible with the web browser the user is actually using. Therefore you must test your site across a broad range of browsers, devices and screen sizes.

For instance, some screen readers may not work properly because of browser compatibility issues. You need to ensure that your site supports the latest browser versions so screen readers, like those that offer a speech synthesizer (text-to-speech) or a braille display, work correctly. Remember that special browsers made specifically for users who are visually impaired may differ from mainstream browsers.

A good starting point might be to preview your site using multiple browsers with a tool like BrowserShots. Better still, your site designers and developers can utilize a developer-centric browser like Blisk so that your site is compatible from the get-go. Think about button size and layout, particularly what happens if a user zooms in significantly as might be the case if someone is visually impaired.

Audio and video transcription

What about users with hearing impairment or who may not be able to listen to audio for any number of reasons? Even disabilities aside, imagine the work-at-home parent who doesn’t want to wake a sleeping baby while watching an important video. Or just someone who doesn’t want to listen through a lengthy podcast.

While audiovisual content can be incredibly popular and powerful for your marketing and advertising efforts, accessibility is equally important. Getting a full transcript of any of your AV assets is an important investment in your eCommerce success. Scribie, as an example, offers both automated and manual transcription services for an affordable price.

New delivery options

In the age of coronavirus, amidst all this uncertainty, a great number of primarily brick-and-mortar stores have had to quickly implement or upgrade their eCommerce strategies to match this changing climate. They must concern themselves not only with the web accessibility of their online ordering platforms but also accessibility from a logistics perspective.

For example, Vancouver area bakery Chez Christophe once operated primarily as a walk-in cafe and takeout counter. As social distancing was enacted and as the cafe could no longer welcome customers into the store, Chez Christophe had to adapt.

Quickly implementing a number of changes, Chez Christophe soon allowed customers to order from the full catalog online, including fresh baked goods, for curbside pickup without ever actually entering the store itself. The bakery also started offering contactless delivery within a 10-kilometer range.  

Real user stories and feedback

As a business owner, you oftentimes like to think that you know what is best for your customer. You go in with the assumption that if you and your team think this product or service is a good idea and offers great value, your potential customers will eat it all up. Of course, innumerable failed ventures have proven the reverse to be true.

The only way that you’ll really know what you’re doing well and where you can improve is if you ask the users themselves. Rather than going through the immense complexity and preparation involved to facilitate such a task yourself, it makes much more sense to leverage a platform like Userlytics for your web and mobile user experience needs.

You define a specific task for users to complete, and you’ll receive a full picture-in-picture video (with the user’s camera and the screen recording) of how each user completed that task. This can reveal some weaknesses in your design that you can then address to improve usability and accessibility.

Adjusting to the new normal

At this point, it’s impossible to tell when (and even if) the world will return to the “normal” it once knew just a few short weeks or months ago. During these uncertain times, it is absolutely certain that eCommerce sites need to be prepared and optimized for both an increase in potential traffic and a potential increase in the diversity of users.

Web accessibility standards are constantly evolving, and the guidelines can change as technology and user needs change over time. A significant segment of the population is turning to the Internet much more frequently to address their day-to-day needs, much more so than they may have before the COVID-19 global pandemic.

As more people order online, eCommerce stores must adjust accordingly to fit the needs of all site visitors and customers. Everyone deserves equal access to the same goods and services as everyone else, even on the internet.

The post How eCommerce Sites Must Deal With Accessibility in the Age of Coronavirus appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

source https://www.jeffbullas.com/ecommerce-deal-with-coronavirus/