If you’ve read any of our other Zion & Zion articles, you’ve likely heard us talk about Google Analytics. If not, the quick version is Google Analytics is a tool that you place “on” your website to learn things like how people got to your website, what they are doing on your website, and how long they stay on your website. And the best part is, the tool is free!
 
Stanford’s d.school offers an intensive, four-day Design Thinking Bootcamp where attendees immerse themselves in real-world projects on the streets of Palo Alto and San Francisco. The purpose is to learn the d.school’s human-centered, prototype-driven approach to innovation. One Stanford alumnus described the program best when they shared “d.school is like riding a bike … except the bike is a skateboard … and the skateboard is made from 17,689 paperclips … and through the design-thinking process and empathy journeys … your team creates magic for users.”
 
As a member of the web development team at Zion & Zion, I was sent to Toronto, Canada where I attended the Smashing Magazine conference. Smashing Magazine is a website that publishes content for web developers and web designers. I was really excited to attend this conference as Smashing Magazine is one of my favorite websites to catch up on the latest development topics and trends. It was a two-day conference that featured a range of design, development, and UX/UI experts. In addition to the conference, I also attended a workshop that focused on the JavaScript Framework, Vue.
 
A well-rounded content marketing strategy is a valuable asset for any brand, business, or individual looking to build their online presence. However, far too often even the most well-meaning strategies fall victim to digital sharecropping. This is due to the remarkably low amount of awareness surrounding digital sharecropping, with many content marketers not being familiar with it at all. The fact is, every content marketer needs to be aware of digital sharecropping and the negative effects it can have on the content you create.
 
My primary objective for SEO is to rank a website in organic search, so it’s impossible for me to overlook the influence UX is having on search results. Right now, there’s enough overlap between UX and SEO to suggest they go hand in hand—however, the futurist in me believes we’re not far off from these fields being practically synonymous. In practice, they are already the same thing.
 
Starting a small business is exciting. But, this new endeavor can be stressful, requiring a lot of time, patience, and money. If you are starting a small business, marketing and advertising may be the last things on your mind. However, they are an important part of growing your business, if done effectively and strategically, no matter your company size.
 
Recently, members of our creative team attended the Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) conference in San Francisco, California to learn about UX (user experience) design. It consisted of seven full-day, immersive classes taught by the UX designers and usability consultants at NN/g.
 
In March 2018, Apple disclosed there are more than 2.1 million apps in the App Store. WOW, right? The number is more than impressive, it is awe-inspiring when one remembers that the App Store will barely celebrate its 10th birthday in July. If you are interested in singing, “Appy Birthday” and adding it to your calendar, the official opening of the App Store was July 10, 2008. In February of 2009, less than a year later, Apple released a commercial celebrating the opening of the App Store. Whether marketing genius or the viewing of tea leaves, the ad included a trademarked moniker that predicted the future as Nostradamus might, “There’s an App for ThatTM.”