12 Digital Trends to Watch in 2019

Back in 1969, the computers NASA used to send a man to the moon were the size of a car and could perform a few hundred thousand calculations per second. They were rare, expensive, and difficult for anyone but an expert to use.

Today, a smartphone can perform billions of calculations per second while weighing only a few ounces. There are over 4.5 billion of them, they’re cheap (comparatively speaking), and they’re intuitive enough for a toddler to use.

This history lesson’s point is that technology is constantly advancing and the number of users is increasing. As a business, it’s important to stay on top of these advancements so that you can reach potential customers in the newest, hippest ways possible.

This year is no exception. Now that we’ve sailed into the second quarter, we can see which are the most important digital trends of 2019 and we’d like to share them with you.

2019 SEO Trends

• Set up a profile in Google My Business and encourage your customers to review you. Google reviews are now a major factor in determining your rankings, which makes sense. Plus it’s free, so there’s nothing to lose by signing up.
• Focus on mentions. Google is no longer only concerned with how your company is referenced on your own website, but others as well. The more positive mentions you can get on other websites, via review platforms, and through social media marketing, the more your ranking will improve.
• Keywords… keywords everywhere. Everyone knows that it’s important for your website content to be loaded with keywords, but it’s not just about your content anymore. Google checks links, images, logos, headers, footers, and website navigation menus for keywords as well, so load them up!

2019 Content Trends

• Keep your content fresh and juicy. Google doesn’t like old things, and neither do users. Your content needs to be updated periodically so Google can see that your company is alive, well, and engaged. And that doesn’t mean changing the wording of your old content; it means writing new, rethought content designed to get users in the marekting funnel.
• Put your back into it. Google can see right through websites who write content just to put more words on the page. The words you post have to be valuable. The more information you can provide, especially information nobody else is providing, the better.
• Start producing audio and video content. Text-based content is still important, but more and more users are responding to audio and video marketing. Part of that is because some people learn better that way and part of it is because it’s more exciting to watch a video or listen to a podcast than it is to read. Creating these types of content is time consuming, but relatively easy and cheap.

2019 Web Design Trends

• Be prettier. Bolder, brighter colors are a huge web design trend for 2019, as are gradients. Both of these things give users a sense that a website is vibrant and luxurious which, in turn, makes them feel that brand is exceptional and worth interacting with.
• Be engaging. Users hate being talked at and sold to. Instead, they much prefer to have a dialogue or physically interact with companies and brands. Thankfully, that can now be easily accomplished with things like animations and interactive illustrations. Additionally, you can also help users interact with your brand by making use of artificial intelligence in the form of customer service chatbots or Alexa and Google Home integration.
• Be mobile. As we’ve discussed before, a huge portion of people access the internet on their mobile devices. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times: your website simply must be optimized for mobile use.

2019 Marketing Trends

• Promote, promote, promote. Self promotion will be more important than ever this year. You can do it by sharing your sparkling, new content on every social media outlet that’s relevant to your industry. You can guest star on industry-specific podcasts. And, of course, you can make use of influencers and link-sharing opportunities.
• Share your story. Creating an emotional connection between you and your customers is key, and there’s no better way to do that than by telling them how you got your start. Walking users through your journey from beginning to end will help them feel like they’re a part of your life and you’re a part of theirs.
• Use live video. When people see a company doing a live video, they’re quick to engage. It creates a sense of urgency and makes them feel as though they’re getting exclusive, never before seen material before anyone else. Plus, users can interact during the live video, so it’s a great way for businesses to feature new products and answer questions.

Although we’re already a few months into 2019, it’s never too late to start taking advantage of some of the tips and trends we mentioned above. All you need is a strong marketing team to have your back and help you implement these strategies and you’re golden.

Without an in-house marketing team, it can be tricky and time consuming to make a lot of these changes happen. Fortunately, BlueTone Media is always ready and waiting to discuss how to improve your website and your marketing strategy.