Software development company iowa

The Future of Software Development: Trends to Watch in 2024

In this modern era, technology has taken a great place in every industry. From small startups to well-established businesses, everyone is turning their business online for better customer reach and a wide audience base. Software development plays an important role in taking your business online. It is the foundation for encouraging innovation and driving progress in an era characterized by rapid technological advancement. The current environment is characterized by a landscape in which the future is shaped by lines of code.  

Most development companies are experiencing a period characterized by significant opportunities and challenges. A rapid evolution has occurred in the fundamental concepts, development, and utilization of software. This blog explores the emerging trends of software development solutions and discusses how these companies are poised to play a pivotal role in the industry’s transformation.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning 

Software development iowa

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have transitioned from being limited to science fiction to becoming essential elements of our technological landscape. However, in 2024, promising prospects for elevating their role to unprecedented levels exist. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into the field of software development is causing a significant transformation across various domains, including predictive analytics and natural language processing (NLP). Software development companies are utilizing advanced technologies to create intelligent solutions that can adapt and learn in real-time.

Low Code & No Code Development 

The trend of software development democratic transformation has emerged and is causing a significant impact. Low-code and no-code development platforms are emerging as tools that enable individuals with limited coding knowledge to engage in software solution development. Many businesses, despite their size, are experiencing significant advantages from utilizing these platforms, which have significantly reduced the barriers to entry in the software development industry. The ongoing revolution in software development is expanding accessibility to a wider range of users.

Edge Computing

Edge computing is a transformative technology that significantly impacts the current landscape. Edge computing is a paradigm that reduces latency and facilitates real-time decision-making by moving processing capabilities closer to the data sources. In the state of Iowa, professionals in the field of software development are actively investigating edge computing solutions that can bring about significant changes in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare. 

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency 

The application of blockchain technology extends beyond the realm of cryptocurrencies. This technology’s secure and transparent characteristics are being utilized in diverse industries, including finance, supply chain management, and healthcare. Software development firms in Iowa actively engage in exploring blockchain technology to assess its potential to enhance system efficiency and security.   

Quantum Computing 

Although in its early developmental phase, quantum computing is emerging as a promising technology on the horizon. In 2024, there will be significant progress in the field of quantum computing, which has the potential to create new opportunities for software developers in Iowa. It is a domain where the fundamental principles of classical computing are questioned, and the opportunity to solve intricate problems at previously unattainable speeds emerges.

Conclusion 

In a nutshell, the trends talked about in this study will help us figure out how to move through this changing time. With the help of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), software development will change very quickly. 

Also, the growing use of low-code tools for software creation is changing how software is made and used. Because of this, software development companies are about to go through big, ground-breaking changes. Cloud-native applications bolstered cybersecurity measures, and edge computing and IoT integration are revolutionizing the digital landscape. If you are looking for any software development company in Iowa to help you, SevenVerbs is a good choice.  Get in touch with us to learn more.

Software Development and Data Consulting

Unlocking Success: The Imperative of Software Development & Data Consulting Services

In this modern world, digitization has taken a great place in the business industry. From a small startup to a well-established business, everyone is in the race to upgrade their digital business for better reach. The Internet has become an easy-to-approach platform for everyone where anyone can look for the product or services he wants to get. 

Moreover, we all know the power of online business marketing, but you must follow some guidelines to expand your business. Having a great knowledge of your business data and well-versed software are the two main necessities to explore your business. 

In this competitive and evolving digital landscape, software development, and data consulting services have emerged as critical factors in achieving success. Different software development and Data consulting providers are available to help you to outperform in the market. With the ability to offer customized solutions, expert guidance, and adaptability, they have become indispensable for businesses striving to stay competitive.  

These services will help you streamline operations as well as drive strategic decision-making. In this write-up, we will dive into the need for software development and data consulting services and how they empower businesses to thrive in the modern era. 

Enhancing operational Efficiency 

Efficiency is one of the biggest paramount in this world, and software development is pivotal in optimizing business operations. Data consulting companies play an important role in expanding your business. They collect your business’s data, analyze it, research it, and create the best suitable software project for you.                                       

Customized software solutions will assist you in aligning with a company’s unique needs and act as a powerful catalyst for optimizing various facets. 

For example, inventory management is a cornerstone of many businesses. Software development companies have developed software that automated manual tracking. 

Nowadays, automation has taken over by ensuring real-time visibility into stock levels, minimizing the risk of stockouts or overstocking. This enhances chain efficiency.

Expert Advice     

Expert advice is also significant in software development and data consulting services. Consultants offer specialized advice and guidance on the optimal technical solution for your business needs and challenges. The experts of data consultancy will have a one-on-one conversation with you to understand your business goals and vision. 

Once you have given an overview of your business, the experts will start research. They will understand your business needs and give you a reality check on the scope of software projects. They will help you determine your business needs and develop projects according to your requirements. 

Informed Decision Making 

Data has become the lifeblood of business operations. It holds the potential for invaluable insights. The sheer magnitude of data generated can be paralyzing without the proper tools to distill its significance. 

Data consultants or Analysts use advanced analysis methods to find important patterns, trends, and connections in large datasets. By breaking down these complicated data sets, businesses learn more about how customers behave, how markets change, and how industries work. With these pieces of information, businesses can make choices based on facts instead of guesses.   

Adaptability & Dynamic 

In an era when technology changes quickly, the ability to change with it is key to a business’s success and growth. The environment is always changing, so you must act quickly to stay relevant. Software development and data consulting services that work well together in this fast-paced environment become a critical must.

These services give businesses the tools they need to not only deal with technological changes but also grow in them. Businesses can make solutions that work well with new technologies that are flexible and scalable through software development. This keeps infrastructure flexible so new ideas can be added with as little trouble as possible.

The Final verdict 

Software development and data consulting services are not a nice-to-have for businesses; they are a must. These services help businesses be more efficient, grow, and make decisions. As organizations realize the power of software development and data consulting to change things, they put themselves in a good situation to do well in a time when technology and new ideas are the norm. Contact us if you are looking for a software development company in Iowa to explore your business. 

Comparative analysis of Java vs .NET

A little about Java…

Java is basically a platform or a suite of programs that assists in developing and running programs written in java programming language. It provides a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross platform computing environment. It is used in a variety of computing platforms, starting from embedded devices, mobile phones to enterprise servers.

A little about .NET…

.NET platform is basically a newer way to program on the Windows platform. It is fully object oriented and allows several languages to be utilised such as VB.NET, C++, C# etc. It provides the base services needed to interact with operating systems.

 

Pros and Cons of Java

Pros Cons
Simple Performance
Object-Oriented Look and Feel
Platform Independent Single Paradigm Language
Distributed
Secure
Allocation
Multithreading

 

Pros and Cons of .NET

Pros Cons
Object Oriented Limited Object Relational Support
Caching Slower than Native Code
Easy Maintenance Vendor Lock-in
Time Saving Expensive
Simplicity
Feature Rich
Consistency
Monitoring

 

Comparative Analysis Java & .NET

Feature Java .NET
Programming Languages Java, Clojure, Groovy, Scala, PHP, Ruby, Python, JavaScript & more C#, VB.NET, C++, .NET, PHP, Ruby, Python & more
OS Multiple Windows
Runtime JVM CLR
Server Components EJBs .NET, COM + Serviced
GUI Components Java Beans .NET Class
Web Services Support Add-on Built-in
Unit Testing JUnit Microsoft Unit Testing Framework, NUnit
Web Application Framework Spring ASP.NET MVC, Spring .NET
Web Server Scripting JSF ASP.NET
Data Access JDBC ADO.NET / oLeDB
HTTP Engine Application Servers from Multiple Vendors IIS
Remoting RMI-over-IIOP SOAP, HTTP, DCOM

 

Conclusion

Both languages are built with the intention of simplifying the development of apps. You need to make a fair choice between them depending upon your needs.

In case you are looking at an enterprise level application which has portability and is platform independence drawing high number of users, then might want to choose Java.

On the other hand, if you are looking at developing web services, highly secure applications which would be feature packed with a rich GUI. You might want to choose .NET.

Be wise… Be decisive…

 

Customer Feedback

What is customer feedback?

Customer feedback is an information which is directly conveyed about their satisfaction or dissatisfaction related to any product or service. These are important resources for improving and to address the needs of the customer.

Ways to receive customer feedback

Although there are several ways to fetch feedback from your customer, let us look at few of the ways/methods which can get consistent feedback from our customers:

  • Surveys
    • These could be on the website or as a form which can be sent to the customer. It is always better to keep the survey short and asks appropriate questions. The major feedback which an IT services might ask for is Quality, Timeline, Communication & Budget. It is best to have focussed questions and make it easier for the customer to answer it easily.
  • Direct reachout
    • This is one of the most traditional and conventional way of receiving words from the customer. It is always a great idea to meet with the customer over a cup of tea/coffee or over lunch. It gives a tremendous platform to open up on both sides and you are able to attach the words with the expressions.

Why customer feedback are important?

Any organization irrespective of the industry should understand and give importance to customer feedback and reviews. This is a very crucial aspect will help organizations keep the existing customers retained and make new customers.

Let us look at some of the factors to see why it is important:

  • It helps an organization improve its products and services
  • It helps you to measure the level of customer satisfaction
  • It assists in showcasing that the organization values its customers opinion
  • It will help you create best of customer experiences
  • It is an excellent way of customer retention
  • It acts as a reliable source for information to other customer/consumers
  • It acts as an excellent data bank to help you make appropriate decisions

How to stay on task


What is a task?

It is a piece of work to be undertaken or to be done.

How do we stay focussed on tasks?

Remaining focused could be difficult with a constant stream of colleagues, clients, phone calls and emails. Amidst all these, getting to know your brain’s limitations and working around them could improve our focus and increase the productivity.

The brain is attuned to distractions, in today’s world it makes it difficult to stay focussed. Multitasking is definitely an important skill, however it has its own flip side. It reduces the intelligence getting a drop in the IQ as study says.

  1. A ToDo list – It is extremely helpful to have a list of tasks listed down. If feasible we can have it outside of our PC or phone as it could lead to a distraction. As and when the tasks get completed, it can be crossed out.
  2. Prioritization – The initial hours are the most productive as all energy is unused. We should use this time to prioritize in such an order that the complex tasks are addressed first followed by less complex and easier tasks.
  3. Focus on creative work first – To remains focussed effectively, review the tasks that require creativity or more concentration first thing in the morning and then shift to much easier tasks.
  4. Prepare your brain – As in today’s world multitasking is kind of a norm, our brain quickly adapts. We lose the ability to focus as distraction then becomes a habit. It is best to practise concentration by avoiding all distractions and focussing on a single task.
  5. Make it a self inspiration & fun – We should find ways for any task to be fun and exiting. Let the creativity within us think widely without borders. If we are able to make the task our own, the battle is already half won.
  6. Keep our workstation clean and organized – Too many things within our reach could prove to be distracting. Plan to have only necessary things set up nicely for yourself
  7. Giving yourself regular breaks – Especially, the IT world is running 24*7, taking breaks is extremely important. It helps us regain and renew our focus. It is important to ensure that the break taken off is both physical and mental.

To remain focussed and on task is tough, though easy as well by following few things judiciously. If we are able to focus each day on important things, it becomes a repeated step and helps us compound on it.

What does the future look like for WordPress?

Learn about WordPress

It is a free and open source content management system – CMS which is based on PHP framework and MySQL. For people not familiar with the term open source, it means the platform is not restricted under copyright or trademark and is freely available for anyone to download and modify (under what is called the GNU General Public License).

It provides a template system and plugin architecture. When it started off, it was primarily used for blogging. Later on it also supported other types of web content.

WordPress has become the most popular website management system in use. It is gaining acceleration towards other application domains such as PDS (persuasive display systems).

Its primary support website is WordPress.org. This supports website hosts both WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress and a living repository for WordPress information and documentation and WordPress Forums, an active online community of WordPress users.

Benefits of using WordPress

Since its inception in 2003, it has become the most famous and preferred CMS. There are several reasons which has drawn it such a user base.

  1. It is extremely easy to use with an intuitive interface. User can add new pages, images, blog posts etc very easily without assistance.
  2. It is browser based which makes it accessible from anywhere.
  3. It is a self contained system, hence does not require any HTML editing s/w. A user can create new pages, blog posts, text formatting, images uploading etc without FTP s/w.
  4. It has a very simple and clean code, which makes it search engine friendly. The search engines can easily read and index a wordpress site’s content.
  5. WordPress let’s a user have complete control over the site and its various aspects. It rules out the dependency on a technical person to make edits to your website.
  6. A WordPress site is full customizable in terms of UI & UX aspects
  7. It was originally created as a blogging platform, hence the capabilities are built-in and are easily integrated.
  8. It provides a wide range of customizable plugins which lets you extend functionality of a website
  9. Websites built on wordpress are very scalable. The number of pages or blog post will not directly affect the performance of the site.
  10. It has a multi-user setup, hence an admin can setup multiple users and assign different access levels respectively.

Future of WordPress…

In the coming days, wordpress is moving in a direction where it will no longer be known as a CMS only. It is moving towards becoming a robust framework that will run all kinds of applications. With the REST API, we will be able to create apps in any programming language and run it on wordpress.

b)Wordpress is envisioning to include security tools which can keep the sites secure proactively. The introduction of Tide, will ensure that the wordpress core is able to verify that the plugins and theme downloads are correct.

c)The progress towards visual page builders, multi-purpose themes and advanced frameworks makes it very clear that the front end design will be a key and need JS skills.

d)They are focussing towards a tougher and smarter theme which has more built in features. E.g. shopping carts and checkout systems.

e)It is moving towards a direction where new or experienced users can run app running on wordpress via REST API. Alongside the visual builder accelerates creation and launching of websites.

f)As the features and functionalities continue to grow the support will also be extended. Also wordpress is taking initiatives to ensure improved assistance to managed wordpress sites.

Overall it looks bright as they take each step towards improvement and diversification of services.

 

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress

https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/wordpress-crash-course/ https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/future-of-wordpress/

https://aspireinternetdesign.com/web-design/10-benefits-of-using-wordpress-to-power-your-business-website/

Importance of Github

What is Github?

Github, in simple words, is a code hosting platform for collaboration and versioning control. It provides a space for a team to work together on projects. It is web-based and majorly used for computer code. Alongside workflow, it provides distributed version control and source code management.

Github essentials:

  • Repositories – Repo
  • Branches
  • Commits
  • Pull Requests
  • Git

Git is built in C, with some components (mainly UI) written in higher level languages.

Purpose of Github

Since it is a version control system (VCS) for tracking changes in computer files and coordinating the work on the same files by one or multiple people. The primary purpose is source code management in software development, however, it can be used to keep track of changes in any set of files.

How does it work?

Github has developed a process as easy as possible. It’s as easy as signing up, installing, creating your first repository and finally making your first commit!

What are the benefits?

Companies & developers should be motivated to use Github as it strives towards these great benefits:

  • Ease of contributing to open source projects.
  • Assists in greater excellent documentation.
  • Reliable for showcasing profile and work.
  • Markdown feature allows you to use a simple text editor to write formatted documents.
  • Simple issue tracker and user comments process.
  • It allows the work done to get publicized.
  • It helps track changes in code across versions.
  • It can easily integrate with common platforms such as Amazon & Google Cloud.

The benefits of using Github are substantial. With its user-friendly interface, customizable tools, reliability and its ability to provide guidance to each developer it surely is the right choice for SevenVerbs and provides us with the ability to deliver high-quality performance!

-Ritesh Sharma, Senior Solutions Consultant

data protection

Compliance with General Data Protection Regulations

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations. This is a regulation in the EU for data protection and privacy for organizations and individuals. It hovers around the outgoing/export of personal information outside of European countries. Its primary aim and focus is provide complete control to individuals over their personal data and to simplify the regulations for international business.
Any organization who is acting as a data processor must clearly disclose any data collection, declare lawful basis and purpose for data processing, and explain how long data will be retained and if the same data is being shared with any 3rd party or outside of Europe.

This regulation gave a platform wherein the data subjects have the right to request a portable copy of the data collected by a processor in a particular format and the complete right to have their data removed under circumstances. It was officially rolled out worldwide on May 25, 2018.

GDPR principles:

  • Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
  • Purpose limitation
  • Data minimisation
  • Accuracy
  • Storage limitation
  • Integrity and confidentiality

Implications to businesses

GDPR and its data protection regulations put the customer in the driver’s seat and the act of staying compliant lies on the shoulders of businesses and organizations. It applies to both EU established organizations and non-EU organizations offering good/services to citizens in the EU. It is a regulation and not a directive. It does not need national governments to pass any enabling legislation. Violations of the GDPR may be fined to an enterprise.

How does GDPR apply to non-EU nations

Most importantly, it does not only apply to organizations in the EU, but also to organizations outside of the EU who market their good and services to EU citizens. It also covers companies who act as a processor or controller of information for EU citizens. Any organization that falls under either of the categories must comply with GDPR requirements. Hence, it brings in importance and information for one and all.

Tools to enable you in being GDPR compliant

Thankfully, there are technology advancements making life easier for everyone. And providing various tools to ensure you are compliant. Here is an exhaustive list of tools which you can review and choose from. 

Be wise, be compliant, and continue your business transparently!

Ritesh Sharma, Senior Solutions Consultant

employee engagement

Employee Engagement and Marketing: Related?

Marketing and employee engagement may sound like two very distinct and separate subjects not relating to each other at all. But these two topics actually relate more than one would think. In fact, a marketing department’s success can be largely dependent on employee engagement across the company. A company needs its employees to buy-in, to believe in and share its vision. 

Why It Matters

Let’s start at the beginning — why it matters. The benefit of having buy-in across the company shows, when a company’s marketing department has active participation with the rest of the company. What does that look like? Engaged employees can offer insight into what makes their company stand out. And what comes from that insight are marketing nuggets of gold! They manifest when a customer service representative hands over accolades from customers, or a salesman divulges what issues his customers are currently experiencing. Other employees are a marketing department’s strongest brand ambassadors.

When a business has worked to build a culture where it’s employees are actively engaged, their employees share in its vision and want to see it succeed. Anytime an opportunity arrises for an employee to help the company be more successful, they will take it! Businesses in today’s atmosphere are vying for their targeted customers attention. And when a marketing department has that kind of ammunition, encouragement, and cooperation from the rest of the company they can’t help but be successful.

Empowerment Marketing

When a marketing department has support and cooperation from their co-workers, it creates a powerful atmosphere where marketers create robust and effective marketing campaigns. This idea has been coined as Empowerment Marketing. “Empowerment marketing is the idea that the quality of customer experience is directly a function of the quality of the employees delivering the experience.”

When Employee Engagement is Non-Existent 

When a company has yet to build a climate of engagement among its employees, it bleeds into all areas of the company, effecting everyone. If employee engagement is low or non-existent the marketing department often ends up on an island spinning it’s wheels. That can lead to marketing efforts being unsuccessful, which effects the sales team, and of course effects the overall success of a company.

When a company makes the intentional decision to put emphasis on company culture employee engagement will increase, and the marketing department won’t be the only area to reap the benefit!

Four Things A Church Can Do To Have A Great First Digital Impression

In Christian Culture today staff members time is valuable and in high demand. I know this because I worked at a church for seven years and totally understand the pressure leaders are under, along with their ever expanding job descriptions.

My job entailed handling all digital communication and media items, at times — like many people experience in their job, there wasn’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all that was needed. When leaders are experiencing a multitude of heavy responsibilities, digital communications almost always get tossed by the waste side, and understandably so. 

So, I can’t imagine a church that wants to love God, love others and reach those around them WITHOUT a full-time Communications or Media Director on staff whose responsibility it is to handle all digital items and ensure digital first impressions are up to snuff. But that is often the scenario for many churches!

Shameless Plug

If I am describing your circumstances, we have a couple of options for you. We want to make sure your digital presence is stellar. First, our shameless plug — let SevenVerbs handle your digital communications, no matter your budget we can help. If your digital presence is non-non-existent then we will establish and safe guard it, with monthly reporting to ensure you are getting the traffic you desire. 

This Blog

Second, this blog. Use it as a monthly resource to review and treat as a checklist so that you can rest knowing you are doing what you should be to secure your digital presence.

The Numbers

Before we get into the four things that can help your digital first impression, consider these statistics.

  • 46% of church attendees said that a church’s website was important in picking a church to visit (Hubspot)
  • 97% of people search for local organizations online (Forbes)
  • By 2019, video will account for 80% of global internet traffic, and 85% in the US (TubularInsights)
  • 46% of people say a website’s design is their number one criterion for determining the credibility of an organization (CRCNA)
  • 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video (Worldstream)
  • The average internet user spends nearly two hours browsing social media networks daily (SocialMediaToday)

Fact is, most people have already formed an opinion about you well in advance of walking through your doors. You have roughly 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) before a person will make a judgement about your website, then ultimately your organization. Not only that, 75% of users admit to making a judgement about an organizations CREDIBILITY based on their websites design. Pretty crazy, right? Let’s get into it…

1. Website Review

One of the most basic things you should do on a monthly basis (at a minimum) is to scan each page for outdated information. Do you have outdated events, previous staff members or even gathering times that aren’t relevant? For potential attenders, something that could be cleaned up really easy is double checking all of these items and making sure your content is as updated as it can be. 

Now that you have your content up to date, don’t overlook location and time information. As a staff member it might be hard to get in the mindset of someone who doesn’t know where the church is, where to park, or even what to expect when they walk through the door. The goal here is to remove any hesitation that a potential guest may be feeling. 

Consider building an “I’m new” page dedicated to the new or prospective attender. Something that shows them right up front where you are located, exactly where to park and where their kids should go. Relevant kids information on where they should be dropped off and safety information for their children is something I learned REAL QUICK that should be easy information for parents to find. 

Mobile Review

Something that is often overlooked after you update your website for desktop users is the experience of the site in mobile conditions. Most people aren’t viewing your website from a desktop, they are viewing your website on their mobile phone.  This makes your mobile review just as important as your desktop website review.

I know we’ve thrown a lot of statistics at you already, but check this one was important to include as it says a lot:

52% of people say they’re less likely to re-engage with a brand following a bad mobile experience.

52 percent! That is a lot, it certainly is high enough that you must address it! If you aren’t a web developer, think about what you would want to see as a new user coming to your website on a mobile devices. My guess is it doesn’t fall too far from the desktop experience. They want to know your location, where to park, what about my kids and what to expect. This can all be handled under an “I’m new” page or right on the front page under a one-column layout built for the new person. 

Monthly Website checklist:

  • Review your website for outdated information
  • Double check your location information
  • Check your design – Desktop and Mobile

2. Social Media

Depending on the generation, if they aren’t checking your website first, they are definitely checking out your social media. Think about it. What do you check when you possibly might buy something on Amazon? Reviews and what people are saying about the product. The church is no different, especially with a younger generation. Trust me, they might not see your website right away, but they will see how much weight you put into your social media game. 

A few things to look at with your social media profile. 

Content

We aren’t going to start with how important it is that you are on social media, because that is a whole separate blog post. Let’s just say it is important, and data supports that notion. Let’s assume you are posting, and skip to your content. Are people seeing your love for Christ or just a list of events you are promoting? Consider focusing on people and relationships rather than events and sermons quotes. Promoting your events are important, but you want to use your social media to give attenders (or possible attenders) a look at what is going on Monday-Saturday. The relationships that are being built, the young people that are being poured into and the dedication of your staff shows in order to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Review

Does your “about” section reflect what is on your website? Have you thanked the people that have possible left reviews or messages already? Being responsive to those who take the time to reach out to you and possibly want answers is a great way to build your digital relationship with those who haven’t walked through your door yet. What if they are reaching out to multiple churches on social media and you were the first to respond? Remember, from my experience with being on staff at a church, some people are just looking for an excuse not to come and a bad social media experience is just another reason why they shouldn’t go. 

Again, double check our about section and description, but also don’t forget your header graphic and profile picture. A great tip is to keep your profile picture consistent. Using a variant of your church logo design and leaving it as your profile picture is a good rule to follow. That way no matter what, people can always associate your logo with that page. Where you can get really creative is your social profile header. You are already using your logo on the profile area, why not use the header area to highlight more of what your church is about. Of course you can use photos, but now you can use short videos to highlight this as well. Try it out and see what you like!

Monthly Social Media Checklist:

  • Double check your informational sections on each platform
  • Review your content and posting schedule
  • Remind yourself to be laid back and creative with your posts
  • Change your social media headers

3. Google

Now that you have you have completed a review of your website and social media, you need to think about your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Most likely people don’t have your exact web address memorized, or are searching general phrases. Which is the reason you need to think about your digital presence on google. Do you have control of your businesses likeness on Google itself? Are there updated addresses, logos, pictures, hours? Does your Google listing connect to your updated website and social links? You may not be aware, but Google has the ability, based on search results, to auto-generate a business or organization listing from website and social data. 

Knowing this and taking control of your organization is key to managing your likeness on Google as well as managing reviews that people are leaving on google. To check on this, search for your church or organization on Google if you haven’t already and see if there is a generated listing. If so, navigate to that page and click on the button that says, “Claim your business listing” and follow the instructions to take over your Google listing.

Google Checklist:

  • Do you have control of your organizations likeness 
  • Have you responded to reviews
  • If someone googles churches in the area, does yours show up

4. Video

You should be using video on your website and social media on a daily basis. Here is another important and relevant statistic:

  • By 2019, video will account for 80% of global internet traffic, and 85% in the US (TubularInsights)

So, if you aren’t using video to connect with potential new attenders you are missing out and it is probably effecting your digital presence. Video allows you the opportunity to connect with people and show them a smiling face without them even walking through the doors. What if you had a video showing people exactly where to park, where their kids go AND used the same person as a greeter when new people arrive? You can use this video and others like it on your website and include it in your social media plan as well.

Video is king for social media. Due to their various algorithms, if you are just posting status updates via text and photos, you may not be reaching the amount of people you could be with video. Facebook decides whose newsfeed you get into, and using video is one way you can boost how many newsfeeds you show up in. Consider going live on Monday or sometime during the week answering questions from your congregation. What if your congregation and follows on social media were able to connect and communicate with their pastor more than just a couple hours on Sunday? 

The video checklist is pretty short. Take more video, and use it!

Hopefully, we didn’t take you too deep into the weeds, there are so many ideas and paths we could travel down relating to your digital presence! When you are passionate about something the ideas and possibilities really excite you, and for us at SevenVerbs digital media is a passion. We know these are a lot of tasks and a heavy responsibility, if this is too much for you or your staff, feel free to reach out to an experienced digital media aficionado! Email us even with a  simple comment of question about the blog!