If the longevity of a content management system’s (CMS) history is an important factor for you, Squarespace is one of the first and oldest. If ecommerce and analysis is an even bigger factor, they’re definitely for you. With their announcement and demonstration last week, Squarespace solidified itself as an excellent choice for SMBs focusing on internet-driven ecommerce. Read on for more details on how their new service helps you achieve better conversions.

Squarespace publicly admits that their earliest iterations of Commerce, the platform’s ecommerce tool, were targeted at businesses that didn’t see their online sales as their number one objective. Unsurprisingly, that mentality didn’t last long and the website creation company caved in to consumer demands for deeper functionality.

Squarespace Commerce originally did offer some data analysis via a service titled ‘Metrics’, but was recently granted a huge upgrade and the new title of ‘Advanced Analytics’. To access it, simply click ‘Analytics’ from the ‘Home Menu’ on your site. From there, you are taken to a dashboard that displays an overview of seven of your most important data points: Revenue, Units Sold, Orders, Visits, Conversion Rate, Average Order Volume and Revenue per Visit. You can see the performance of these variables over any period of time you set and exact values can be found by clicking on the graph wherever you need more specific information.

So far this isn’t anything that several other CMS platforms can offer you. What begins to set Squarespace Commerce apart is the ability to sift these seven data points by source. You can filter the indicators by sources such as device (desktop, mobile, tablet), site/social network (Google, Facebook, direct, etc.) or by specifying which product produced the data. Although, potentially the most helpful upgrade of all is the ‘Abandoned Checkout’ feature. As one of the biggest problems among ecommerce sites, Squarespace sets its sights on determining why your customers fail to finish their purchase in your online store. It does this by tracking data from all seven of the aforementioned data points and allowing you to create custom followup emails for anyone that has entered their email address and added items to their cart without finishing their purchase. The email can act as a simple reminder or even include a ‘Complete your Order’ call to action in the text of the message.

And since Squarespace is putting such a huge emphasis on data, there’s a whole tab under the Analytics menu titled ‘Purchase Funnel’ that allows you to see how far into the shopping process your customers get. You can compare the number of site visits to the number of users that viewed a product, added an item to a cart and completed a purchase, all in one screen. This will allow you to see where in your sales process you’re losing customer interest.

Of course with any announcement comes all of the finer details like adding templates for ecommerce websites, the addition of a mobile app that allows store managers to keep an eye on their ecommerce from mobile devices and an order delivery calculator.

Although Squarespace promises more availability of customer data is on the way, it still believes that business owners don’t want to be inundated with overly verbose data. Right now they want to focus on simple, key indicators that result in higher profits.

Nowadays the vast majority of SMBs will be offering at least one product or service for sale over the internet. There are a lot of different ways to go about it, but something as simple as improved conversion tracking or mobile management on your ecommerce store could become the reason your company is in the black, or the red. We’re well versed in all of the CMS vendors operating today and we’d love to help you find out which one is best for you -- ask us today!

In an age where information is abundant and easy to access, it's quite hard to differentiate between what’s important and what’s not. Luckily, annual conferences like Google I/O 2016 help keep budding developers and tech connoisseurs up-to-date by going through a series of key announcements. On top of that, a variety of interesting products are explored, explained and expanded on. Let’s take a look at five of them:

Google Assistant

Unlike its predecessor, Google Now responded exclusively to voice queries, Google Assistant is less clunky and is slightly more personal. This upgraded version does the same but also manages to book flight tickets, order takeout, and just about anything else by simply searching in Google. The Google Assistant can even make recommendations, distinguish your questions, and return with the 'right' answer. Think of Anne Hathaway in the Devil Wears Prada, but on your smartphone.

Google Home

Since its release, Amazon’s voice-controlled computer took the US by storm. Google responds to the situation by announcing the tentative release of Google Home. According to the tech giant, it is equipped with the best-in-class voice recognition technology. Google Assistant is also integrated into Google Home, which will allow you to order an Uber, get down on Spotify, set daily alarms or inquire about the weather.

Allo and Duo

Sounding like the quintessential Cockney greeting, Allo is dubbed Google’s new smart messaging app. Where does the smart come from? Not straying too far from the general nature of other messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger - Allo also has nifty built in with nifty features such as “Smart Reply”, where it suggests responses when you don’t feel like typing. On top of that, you can converse with Google Assistant on Allo, and simultaneously order pizza while bickering over the toppings.

As for Duo, it’s basically Google’s version of FaceTime or Skype, allowing for internet video calls. Both applications will be available on iOS and Android operating systems this summer.

Virtual Reality

Daydream is the latest step taken in Google’s venture into virtual reality. This feature allows certain phones to enhance VR. Google is also set to release a Play Store, Street View and YouTube just for VR. On top of that, a blueprint of a third-party friendly headset as well as controller reminiscent of Apple TV’s Siri-powered pointer has also been produced.

Android Wear

Plenty of new features accommodate the recently updated Android Wear 2.0, the most notable of which are applications that can run without having to rely on the usage of smartphones, potentially boosting the overall efficiency of smartwatches. Not only that, it has become easier to respond to messages on Android Wear through the Smart Reply and handwriting recognition features. Also, there are new fitness functions that is set to roll out this summer.

We hope this Google I/O 2016 roundup was beneficial for you. For any further information on the key announcements or products to look out for this year, feel free to contact us anytime!

The I/O conference is a chance to learn about everything new and exciting that Google is working on, and some of the new Android features are that, and more. Traditionally, operating system updates can range from barely visible interface tweaks to unavoidable features, and these are no different. Read on to see if any of the announcements are items you can’t wait to use.

Split Screen

The most visible and exciting feature is Android’s new ‘split-screen’ functionality. Soon you will be able to enter your ‘overview’ mode (the button that shows all of your open apps in a rolodex style queue), click and hold on an app like YouTube and drag it to the top of your screen where it will dock. The bottom half of your screen will remain in ‘overview’ mode, allowing you to select an app to occupy the bottom half of the screen. With this update, sending an email while YouTube is open won’t cause any interruption in either of the two programs. It’s the same as having two monitors, just on a much smaller scale.

Because phone manufacturers get to layer their own components on top of Google’s core Android operating system, Samsung and LG already have a few ‘split-screen’ devices. However, by integrating this item into every Android phone regardless of manufacturer, app developers will have more incentive to optimize their product for this feature or even develop new apps designed entirely around this functionality.

Fast App Switching

Do you ever find yourself switching back and forth between two apps? Maybe you need to write an email on your phone, while using a web page as reference material. Switching between the two can really slow down the flow of your work, and Google has finally addressed this by improving the ‘overview’ interface. In addition to limiting the number of displayed programs and adding a ‘clear all’ button, Android mobile devices will get ‘fast app switching’. With this feature a simple double tap of your ‘overview’ button will switch to the last program you used. After switching to the previous app, you can double tap again to return to the original app. It’s simple, but goes a long way.

Updated Notification Window

Next up is a small change to the native notification window. At the moment, if one app has multiple notifications they all get grouped into one vague ‘card’ in your notification window. I/O announced that in the future users will be able to tap on one of those cards to expand it for more detail. Instead of just seeing that you have six emails from various users, you’ll be able to see more information and access response actions for each individual notification within apps.

Instant Apps

How many times have you installed an app that you didn’t want, but needed for a one-time use? Whether it’s to purchase tickets, gain access to a promotion or receive something from a friend who uses the app, it can be a lengthy and tedious process. With ‘Instant Apps’ Android will give you the option to temporarily load software, similar to a webpage, so you can access the service without actually downloading the unnecessary app. Google promises this will take mere seconds compared to the time it currently takes to download and install full programs before using them.

Some tech writers have cited ‘Instant Apps’ as actually faster than loading a website, with all of the security and safety of an app. Additionally, while the 3 features before this one will be released for phones with the most recent OS update, Google is making ‘Instant Apps’ available to developers for any phone running anything newer than the Jellybean OS.

In general, Android phones offer a lot more customization and developer-specific options when compared to Apple’s mobile devices. However, that can mean a lot more upkeep as well. If you’re having trouble maintaining your Android device’s peak capacity or need help managing their updates, don’t hesitate to call us.

“We are living in a digital world, and healthcare practices need a URL”. If Madonna could change the lyrics of her 1984 classic to speak to the healthcare industry, she may have sang something like this. A URL is just one facet of the digital strategy that hospitals and private practices alike will need to adapt if they wish to remain competitive in today’s world. Here are a few other trends worth taking note of.

Online presence

More and more practices are understanding the importance of online presence. These days you need a website, but not just any website: a responsive one is key. In fact, PEW Research noted that in 2014, 72 percent of American internet users got healthcare information online. And that number is only growing. Data from the Children’s National Health System supports this statistic, as almost half of all their site visitors came from mobile devices. What’s more, their responsive design has also led to 15% more page views and 54% more donations. Moral of the story: without a responsive website and informative content, your site visitors are likely to bounce (not to mention Google won’t rank you as high in search engines).

To go along with a responsive website, healthcare practices should also consider adding social media profiles and pages. More and more patients, especially the younger generation, are using these platforms to get medical advice. And they can provide your organization an alternative means to keep in touch with patients, while humanizing your practice.

Remote care

It’s becoming clear that telemedicine is the future of healthcare. It provides patients easier access to medical services and the ability to cut costs. Tools such as The ACT - a device which consists of a cell phone, sensor pendant and patch electrodes - can monitor a patient’s heart remotely and transmit the information to a doctor automatically via Wi-Fi. A tool like this can literally be a lifesaver as it allows a doctor to notice abnormalities immediately, at which point he can get in touch with the patient or send an ambulance. Apple is also catching on to this trend with the Apple Watch, which can also monitor heart rate.

Perhaps a more significant trend in remote care for patients is the ability to have a virtual office visit with their doctor. With advances in telemedicine enabling doctors to look into the throats and ears of patients remotely and virtually listen to their heartbeat, rural patients can save time and money by skipping the trip to the doctor’s physical office which could be dozens or even hundreds of miles away.

HIPAA

A security breach could not only cost your practice its reputation and loads of money in downtime, but it could also cost you up to a million dollars in fines. The government is not joking around about HIPAA Compliance. And with hospitals becoming an ever alluring target for hackers, security breaches are on the rise and will likely continue to be in the future. Staying compliant could literally save your practice from going out of business due to an unexpected breach.

As the digital age continues to evolve, your practice has much to take advantage of by getting onboard with these trends early. If you’re curious to learn more about HIPAA compliance and these other digital technologies, don’t hesitate to get in touch.