by threshold | Sep 14, 2023 | Digital Marketing, General, Marketing, Tech/Web, Thought Leadership
Michael Pratt
How do you stand out in a sea of competition? By guiding your audience through a killer experience.
Effective UI/UX design is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of successful digital marketing endeavors. And within the real estate industry, where visual appeal and user engagement are paramount, crafting immersive digital experiences is crucial.
We’re sharing the secret sauce to engaging your audience below, so don’t click away just yet!
first impressions. they’re kind of a big deal.
UI, the visual layout and aesthetics, and UX, the overall user experience, profoundly impact initial impressions.
In real estate marketing, where potential residents will turn away if properties aren’t presented in the best light, a well-designed and intuitive website fosters trust and encourages visitors to go down a rabbit hole of site exploring.
make every visitor a navigator pro.
In real estate marketing, streamlined navigation is, well, kind of essential. Intuitive UI/UX design ensures potential buyers can effortlessly browse listings, view property details, and access contact information.
A seamless navigation experience enhances user satisfaction and encourages conversion. Cha-ching!
tap into those emotions.
Effective UI/UX evokes emotional connections. High-quality imagery, immersive virtual tours, and engaging property descriptions amplify the emotional resonance of a property. What does this do? Lots.
Emotional engagement strengthens branding and increases the likelihood of prospective buyers reaching out.
not local? not a problem.
Navigating a real estate website should mirror the ease of visiting a property in person. Effective UI/UX ensures intuitive property categorization, filtering, and detailed property information presentation.
So even if your prospects aren’t local to the property location, this seamless exploration process enhances their satisfaction and encourages extended engagement.
get people inquiring about you.
UI/UX design influences users’ interaction with contact forms, chatbots, and other communication channels. Streamlined interfaces facilitate inquiries and foster trust, ultimately translating into increased lead generation.
to wrap it all up.
The potency of UI/UX design in real estate marketing cannot be underestimated. As online interactions increasingly shape buyers’ decisions, a strategic focus on immersive, user-centric experiences is paramount.
Don’t be discouraged! Threshold is an expert in this domain, employing innovative UI/UX strategies that truly transform real estate marketing.
By cultivating emotional engagement, streamlining interactions, and delivering personalized experiences, we underscore the potential of UI/UX to redefine success in the dynamic landscape of real estate marketing.
by threshold | Aug 9, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Tech/Web, Thought Leadership
Anooj Francis
A robust online presence is crucial for businesses to succeed in today’s fast-paced digital world. As a trusted web development agency, we understand the importance of choosing the right hosting provider for your WordPress website. Among the many options available, WP Engine stands out as a game-changer. Here we will delve into the exceptional benefits of hosting your WordPress website with WP Engine and how it can elevate your online success.
unmatched performance.
When it comes to website performance, speed is paramount. WP Engine boasts an unparalleled infrastructure, utilizing cutting-edge technology to optimize page loading times. Their servers are purpose-built for WordPress, ensuring lightning-fast loading speeds for your website. This translates into better user experiences, higher search engine rankings, and increased customer engagement.
enhanced security measures.
Security is a top concern for any website owner, and WP Engine takes this responsibility seriously. With robust security features and proactive monitoring, they provide a fortress-like environment for your website. WP Engine automatically updates WordPress and its plugins, guards against malware, and conducts regular backups, ensuring your data is always safe and secure.
hassle-free WordPress updates.
Keeping your WordPress core and plugins up-to-date is vital for maintaining a secure website. WP Engine handles all updates for you, saving you time and effort. They thoroughly test updates before implementing them, minimizing the risk of compatibility issues and potential website downtime.
scalability for growth.
As your business expands, so will your website’s needs. WP Engine offers seamless scalability, effortlessly accommodating increased traffic and resource demands. Whether it’s a surge in visitors or the addition of new features, WP Engine ensures your website performs optimally, no matter the scale.
top-notch customer support.
Nothing is more frustrating than encountering technical issues with your website and waiting endlessly for support. WP Engine sets itself apart with its exceptional customer support team, which is available 24/7. Their WordPress experts are ready to assist you at any time, swiftly resolving your concerns, so you can focus on what matters most – your business.
global reach with CDN integration.
WP Engine leverages Cloudflare’s powerful CDN, ensuring your website’s content is distributed across a vast network of servers worldwide. This results in faster page load times and improved user experiences for visitors from around the globe while reducing requests to the WP Engine origin server.
staging environment for testing.
WP Engine provides a staging environment, allowing you to test changes and updates to your website before making them live. This invaluable feature ensures that any modifications are thoroughly reviewed and optimized, reducing the risk of potential errors impacting your live site.
managed backups for peace of mind.
Accidents happen, but you can rest easy with WP Engine’s managed backups. They automatically create backups of your website, allowing you to restore it to a previous state with just a few clicks. This feature is a lifeline in case of data loss, ensuring your valuable content remains intact.
to conclude.
Partnering with WP Engine for hosting your WordPress website can be a game-changing decision for your online business. The unmatched performance, enhanced security measures, seamless scalability, and exceptional customer support ensure that your website operates at its full potential.
We highly recommend WP Engine at Threshold for its reliability, advanced features, and commitment to empowering businesses. Please get in touch with us if you wish to explore the possibilities with WP Engine or discuss any other aspect of your website. We are here to help you maximize online success and take your business to new heights.
For more tips and information about marketing your everything, take a look at the rest of our blogs, right here on our website!
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by threshold | Jul 10, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Marketing, Tech/Web, Thought Leadership
Abby Barnes
AI: ever heard of it?
As the digital marketing landscape continues to rapidly evolve, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a critical tool for marketers. At Threshold, we’ve witnessed how AI is reshaping customer interactions and enabling marketers to make more informed marketing decisions.
To fully unlock the potential of AI and create personalized customer experiences, it’s crucial to understand its fundamentals, select the right AI technologies, and measure its impact. We’ve created a guide to equip you with the knowledge you need to really harness AI’s capabilities, enhance your marketing campaigns, and drive your team toward success.
Let’s get started, shall we?
what is AI?
AI simply refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that traditionally require a human. In digital marketing, AI plays a critical role in helping businesses automate and optimize their marketing efforts to create more personalized experiences for their customers. Cool, right?
One use of AI in digital marketing is through the use of machine learning algorithms. These algorithms can process and analyze large datasets, including customer behavior and preferences. AI can help identify patterns and predict future behavior, allowing marketers to develop more strategic and personalized marketing campaigns.
But it doesn’t stop there. Another application of AI is through the use of chatbots on your websites. Many property management companies have already started adopting these bots as they can serve as valuable virtual assistants, capable of delivering instant support.
what are the benefits of AI in Digital Marketing?
We’re so glad you asked.
enhanced efficiency
AI helps with automating tedious tasks like data collection, analysis, and segmentation, freeing up valuable time for marketers to focus on strategic initiatives.
personalized experiences
Leveraging AI tools allow marketers to gain insights into customer needs and preferences, providing tailored campaigns that resonate with your target audience.
real-time optimization
AI-powered analytics provide real-time insights into customer behavior, enabling marketers to optimize campaigns quickly. By leveraging AI’s ability to analyze vast datasets, businesses can make data-driven decisions that enhance marketing strategies and deliver better results.
automation and scalability
AI automates various marketing tasks, including customer service, data analysis, and social media and email scheduling. This automation allows businesses to scale their marketing efforts efficiently as their customer base expands.
identifying the right AI technologies
Choosing the right AI technologies that align with your specific needs is crucial for successful implementation in marketing. A wide range of AI-driven tools, from customer service bots to data analysis platforms, are available. Like any technology, AI in marketing carries inherent risks that should be addressed. Privacy concerns may arise when collecting and analyzing customer data using AI-driven tools.
That’s some serious business.
It is crucial to ensure that data is collected and used securely and in compliance with regulations. Additionally, being aware of the potential for bias in AI algorithms and taking steps to ensure accuracy and fairness are paramount.
integrating AI into your marketing strategy
Once the appropriate AI technologies have been identified, integrating them into your marketing strategy is key. As digital marketers, we’re already using AI-driven initiatives in Google Ads campaigns. Responsive Search and Display Ads are the perfect example!
By providing multiple headlines, descriptions, and creative assets, Google’s AI will generate ad combinations and learn over time which combinations drive better results.
AI-driven tools enhance efficiency and campaign effectiveness, but it is crucial to track and evaluate results. By measuring campaign performance, you can identify areas where AI has the most significant impact and make informed adjustments. Plus, (last point, promise), considering factors such as cost and return on investment helps ensure you make informed decisions about implementing AI technologies.
to sum it up
The potential of AI in marketing is vast, and understanding how to harness its power is vital for marketers. This comprehensive guide gives you a quick overview of the fundamentals of AI in marketing, along with how you can see success in implementation.
By embracing the benefits and mitigating the risks associated with AI, you can unlock your marketing team’s potential and drive better results.
Tired of spending precious hours trying to decipher AI, ad trends, and where to put your spending? We don’t blame you. Luckily, we have a solve. At Threshold, we are well-versed in AI technology and can guide you through this transformative journey.
Contact us today to explore the revolutionary possibilities AI offers for your marketing initiatives.
before you go
For more tips and information about marketing, take a look at the rest of our blogs, right here on our website! You can also subscribe to our email newsletter, or follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
by threshold | Dec 29, 2022 | Digital Marketing, General, Marketing, Tech/Web
 Ava Page
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What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of utilizing optimized content in order to improve your ranking on search engines and increase traffic to your website. The best ways to ensure this practice is completed at maximum success are to create high-quality content, ensure quick load time for your website, and create a user-friendly website across all platforms.
Why should I focus on SEO?
The bottom line is that SEO is what will make your website visible, and will in turn ensure long-term equity for your business or brand. Higher visibility will result in higher organic traffic for your site, all without spending a dime on advertising.
Improving your SEO rankings is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your site. 65% of users who search on Google say they will choose organic results over ads, proving that securing a solid SEO campaign can be more effective than paid ads in this arena.
What SEO content should be included on my website?
At Threshold, we happen to know a thing or two about SEO. In fact, it’s pretty much our specialty. So much so, that we’re offering some insight on the top ways to ensure SEO success for your business or brand and how we provide for our clients on custom websites, social media management, and other digital marketing services.
Alt-text
First things first, it’s worth noting that 22.6% of Google searches come from image searches, hence the importance of your website images’ SEO.
Alt-text – sometimes referred to as alt tags or alt attributes – is an included written description of an image within the website. This helps in giving your site and its images a higher search engine ranking, as it enhances the accessibility of your site.
Meta descriptions
Meta descriptions allow you to provide a snippet or summary of your website and all its pages to be shown in the SERP (search engine results page).
A good meta description will entice viewers to click on your page in search engines, increasing your CTR (click-through rate), organic traffic, and lead generation.
Without effective meta descriptions, search engines will rank your website lower, and those potential viewers who do make it down to your listing will turn away from site descriptions that don’t interest them.
Page titles
We’ve all heard not to judge a book by its cover, but in most cases, it’s inevitable.
Page titles on a website are no different! When creating your page titles, you must be sure to let your clients know what they’re searching for, while also drawing their interest.
As far as page titles go for SEO, it’s a pretty similar idea. Search engines are never going to prioritize a website without clear page titles to indicate where they are sending their users.
Keywords
Keywords are where things can get tricky in SEO, and why we recommend you leave it to the professionals – like us!
However, for the sake of giving you a better understanding of why we do what we do when choosing keywords, we’ll let you in on some tricks of the trade.
Keywords are what most often will attract users to your website in search engines. Think about what clients will be plugging into their search engines when looking for a business such as your own – these are the starting points for choosing your keywords.
Another tricky part of keywords is knowing how many to include per page, per site. Include too little, and search engines won’t recognize your site. Include too many, and search engines will avoid promoting your sites due to spam triggers.
Lucky for you, keyword research and implementation are a huge part of our premium SEO services when creating our custom websites.
Linking
Whether it’s to provide examples, deeper dives into the information you’re promoting, or simply linking to other locations within your own website, this is a step you’ll want to pay attention to. Both internal and external links let search engines know that your information is relatable, and oftentimes, verified.
Mobile-friendly
Creating a website that is user-friendly across all devices is something that will contribute largely to your SEO rankings, and it’s because of one simple fact: nearly 60% of online users access the web using a mobile device.
Gone are the days of simply using laptops and desktops to access the internet, and mobile-friendly websites are here to stay. Google and other search engines are simply not going to prioritize a website that isn’t designed with the majority of online users in mind.
This is why creating a mobile-friendly website isn’t something that can be pushed to the back burner to be resolved later – it’s something to look at now, or else your SEO rankings will suffer exponentially as a result.
Before you go
Don’t forget, we’re experts when it comes to crafting high ranking SEO friendly custom websites, and we are here to help! Reach out to a CSM or any of our team members to get started on taking your website’s SEO to the next level, and see an increase in traffic, and watch the leads roll in.
For more tips and information about digital and real estate marketing, take a look at the rest of our blogs, right here on our website! You can also subscribe to our email newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
by threshold | Oct 16, 2022 | Design, Digital Marketing, Tech/Web, Thought Leadership
Angel Roa
Now more than ever, people are accessing the internet through their mobile devices and tablets. Long gone are the days of desktop-only users! According to StatCounter, a web traffic analysis website, a whopping 59.25% of global online traffic came from mobile users alone, followed by 38.53% desktop users, and just 2.22% tablet users.
This displays the importance of where we must start our design, and where we should be focusing our efforts in making an effective and dynamic real estate website that drives leads. Designing mobile first, and then expanding to a desktop friendly site, is the most user-centric and accommodating to most target audiences.
What is mobile first design?
A philosophy which aims to create better user experiences by starting the design process with prioritizing the smallest screens first. This strategy is often referred to as the concept of progressive advancement. Once a mobile design is in place, designing for larger screens becomes easier and we have the core elements of the design established. Starting a design with mobile also enforces aspects such as bandwidth, screen size, and multitasking capabilities. As you progress onto larger devices, it’s easier to expand the functionality with supplemental elements and features. Remember: it’s always easier to add than to take away!
We’ve put together a few design principles to get us started in our mobile first design stage.
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Users should be at the forefront of your design
- The design of your real estate website must help users solve a problem or complete a task quickly and effectively. Users should easily be able to view floor plans, virtual tours, check availability, call or contact your community, and ultimately, apply and sign a lease. Keep in mind user flow – convenience is key to generating more leads!
- Look at your competitors’ mobile websites and check out what they do and don’t offer. How can you improve your user’s experience compared to your competitors? Maybe it’s adding a floor plan filter to make it easier for prospects to find exactly what they’re looking for. Or maybe you notice that a competitor doesn’t have virtual tours on the website. As crazy as it may sound, over 80% of renters apply and secure a lease without ever visiting the property, thanks to online marketing. Adding virtual tours to your website can increase website engagement and provide a convenient option for people who prefer to tour virtually as opposed to in-person.
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Keep it simple
- Improve content clarity on your mobile site while helping the user focus on what content is most important. This can be done by reducing links in your navigation menu, reducing the number of pages, and keeping borders wide and lines clean.
- Use white space to your advantage to make the layout less cluttered and more readable, which will also improve your SEO and increase organic traffic.
- Prioritize the content you want displayed on the website: Ex: Floor plans, Location, Gallery, Amenities, Blog, etc.
- Prioritize the hierarchy of that content. Understand what the user flow is and how to display the most important content. For example, we recommend prioritizing floor plans because data confirms that people spend the most time looking at floor plans on the website, and it’s usually the first stop after visiting the homepage.
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Incorporate bold and consistent CTAs
- A call-to-action needs to be easily located by users throughout your website. Not doing so can lead to a loss of leads and decreased conversions.
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Adhere to mobile friendly practices
- Choose fonts that are web safe and keep font styles to a minimum.
- Select contrasting colors and make text legible according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
In Conclusion
Now that you know what a mobile-first design is and its importance moving forward, we hope you will incorporate this new knowledge into your real estate website to generate more leads. By remembering to put users at the forefront of your website design, improving content clarity, and incorporating consistent CTAs, maximizing your lead generation should be a walk in the park.
For more tips and information about digital and real estate marketing, take a look at the rest of our blogs, right here on our website! You can also subscribe to our email newsletter, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!
by threshold | Sep 27, 2022 | Digital Marketing, Marketing, Tech/Web
Abby Browning
Google has announced that Google Analytics is getting its most significant update ever with the release of Google Analytics 4 (GA4). On July 1, 2023, GA4 will officially replace Universal Analytics (UA). Each day after this date, your UA will stop processing new hits. To make sure that your real estate marketing isn’t disrupted, we’ve put together a list of some key differences in the new instance and what you need to do to prepare.
What are some of the key differences between UA and GA4?
1. New & Improved Data Model
Universal Analytics relied on a hit-based data model tracking items like pageviews, events, and more. While UA has worked for simple site tracking, there was a need to keep up with the ever-changing and increasingly complex web and in-app environments to gain valuable insights and collect quality data. So, GA4 was built on an event-driven data model. This means that everything is an event from a pageview to a click to a file download.
2. Events
Because GA4 is built on an event-driven data model, events in GA4 have gotten an update. You may be used to seeing Events in UA structured with a Category, Action, and Label. GA4 has simplified events by requiring only Event Name and Event Parameters and automatically collects certain events on your website.
- Automatically Collected Events are collected by default and measure basic interactions with your website. These events include first visit, page views, session start, and user engagement. A comprehensive list can be found here.
- Enhanced Measurement captures optional events automatically that can be enabled/disabled at any time and measures additional engagement opportunities on your website, like scrolls, outbound clicks, file downloads, site search, and video engagement. More information about Enhanced Measurement can be found here.
Plus you can modify events, create custom events, and if you’re using GTM, you can easily push events into GA4.
3. Goals vs. Conversions
Because the events in GA4 have been improved, conversion tracking has been simplified to understand conversions based on specific events. Instead of creating goals, we can now use events in GA4 and mark them as conversions. Instead of setting permanent goals, GA4 gives us 30 conversion slots that can be turned on and off in order to keep the data we’ve collected while freeing up slots for the future. You won’t want to mark every event as a conversion but take advantage of modifying or creating custom events to drill down on the conversions you want when someone takes a specific action on your website (ex: view a “thank you” page view after a form completion).
4. Front-End Redesign and Navigation
The entire front-end and back-end was redesigned to offer more flexibility and insights across all of your digital properties. Because the front-end has been redesigned, when you log-in for the first time, your left hand navigation will look slightly different. You’ll be used to seeing your ABC’s in UA – Audience, Acquisition, Behavior, and Conversions. GA4 has restructured the nav to Reports, Explore, and Advertising. Don’t worry, everything you need will still be there (and eventually more), but it’s a little easier to navigate and understand. You’ll find a bulk of what you are looking for by using the Reports section to view acquisition and engagement.
5. Behavior Flow Vs. Exploration Templates
If you’re like us, you may use Behavior Flow in UA to understand the user journey on your website. Behavior Flow will be replaced by two new Exploration Templates in GA4.
- Funnel Exploration Report – a funnel is a specific, pre-designed path you want your user to take while visiting your website. For example, if you want to track users who look at a specific floor plan and make a purchase, you could set up a funnel to track a series of events like “floor plans” > “check availability” > “select unit” > “start application.” The funnel exploration report will give you insights into where users are falling off in your desired funnel.
- Path Exploration Report – a free-flow user journey report that is not predetermined like the Funnel Exploration Report. The Path Exploration report lets you follow your user’s journey to see where they go and how they interact with your site. This is a great way to measure organic behavior and gain valuable insights.
Within Explore, there are several other Exploration Templates that you can take advantage of now, like Segment Overlap, User Explorer, Cohort Exploration, and User Lifetime.
6. Terminology
GA4 has adopted some new terminology that better fits with the event-driven data model it has adopted. By measuring events, we’re able to measure and track engagement on the site, so you might see terms like “bounce rate” going away.
The first term to keep an eye out for is “Engaged Sessions” meaning a session must last longer than 10 seconds, include at least one conversion, or includes 2 or more pages views.
“Engagement Rate” will replace “Bounce Rate” currently found in UA and will measure the percentage of engaged sessions on your website. For example, if you had 100 sessions and 70 of them were engaged (Engaged Sessions above), your engagement rate would be 70%.
What do I need to do to prepare for the switch to GA4?
1. Create a GA4 Property
As soon as possible, the first step you need to take is to create a new GA4 property and implement GA4 alongside your existing UA to begin data collection. This will allow you to gather the historical insights you need to measure your results over time when UA stops processing hits on July 1, 2023.
Most likely, you are already using Universal Analytics. The easiest way to create a GA4 property is to log in to your UA, navigate to Admin, and select “GA4 Setup Assistant” in the middle column labeled Property. This will prompt you to create a new Google Analytics 4 Property.
After your GA4 property has been created, the screen will prompt you to go to your new GA4 property, so let’s do it!
2. Implement GA4
The next step you’ll want to complete is implementation. You can implement GA4 one of two ways. You can add code directly to your website or you can implement GA4 using Google Tag Manager. Adding via GTM is very easy, so let’s explore that option together.
First, you’ll want to grab your Measurement ID from GA4 by navigating to Admin > Data Streams > Web. Copy your Measurement ID.
Open up your Google Tag Manager account and navigate to the correct container. Go to Tags > New Tag > Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration. Copy and paste the Measurement ID and set a trigger to fire on All Pages. Save your tag and publish.
Congrats! You have successfully completed the implementation of GA4.
3. Set Up Conversions
If you are currently not tracking any goals in Universal Analytics, you don’t need to worry about this step right now. If you are tracking goals, now would be the perfect time to convert those to conversions in GA4. This is also very simple and can be done from the Setup Assistant in your Admin view in GA4. Under Setup Assistant, look for the section labeled Property Settings and select “Set Up Conversions.” You will see a prompt that says “Import From Universal Analytics”
You will see the available goals to import. Click “Import selected conversions.” It may take up to 24 hours for data to start populating, but to view these new conversions in GA4, navigate to Configure > Conversions > Conversion Events.
Amazing work, you’ve successfully created, implemented, and imported goals into your new GA4 property. What’s next? Start getting familiar with the new instance and keep an eye out for more features and capabilities in GA4 overtime. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you posted.
In Conclusion
In summary, we’ve covered some of the key differences between UA and GA4 and the creation and implementation of GA4. We hope this gives you a better understanding of how to prepare and what to expect for GA4 in the upcoming year. As new features are released, we’ll be sure to keep you updated. If you have any questions about how GA4 will affect your real estate marketing efforts, we’d love to connect with you.
