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Nothing beats that feeling of walking through a peaceful, verdant forest, full of fresh scents, with the sunlight streaming through the trees, or perhaps ambling around a meandering coastline with the gentle sea breeze lightly caressing your skin.

Wherever it may be, for many of us, there are few better ways to lift your spirits and get away from life’s troubles than by getting in touch with nature.

The growth of the ‘near me’ search has been significant over the last several years. In fact, according to Google this way of searching has grown by more than 130% year on year. Google has said formally and informally at different points that ‘local intent’ searches account for 30, 40 and even 50 percent of mobile queries. Currently, the official figure from Google stands at roughly 30 percent.

According to Edison Research, 65% of people who own an Amazon Echo or Google Home can’t imagine going back to the days before they had a smart speaker. Voice commerce sales reached $1.8 billion in the US last year and are predicted to reach $40 billion by 2022. This is growth at a staggering rate, and will undoubtedly have an impact on SEO algorithms and rankings. As well as voice search, visual searches are also shaking up the search industry.

As the healthy food fanatic at MAXX, when I heard that the next Business Forum Event had the theme ‘Nutrition & employee performance’, I jumped at the chance to go.

When it launched in 2000, Google AdWords was simply a platform for running text ads on desktop search. A lot has changed in the last 18 years; the influence of digital is becoming ever more evident with businesses and for consumers. In June this year, Google announced that AdWords would be re-branded to become Google Ads. The core function of the platform is not changing, however, it is “indicative of where we have been directing products over the last few years” according to Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s SVP of ads.

There is no doubt that every business, of every size, in every industry needs an online presence (if you can think of one that doesn’t, I’d love to hear it!).

Now while it’s all very well and good having a website, there’s pretty much no point having one if it can’t be found easily right? Especially if you’ve just spent your hard earned cash on a snazzy new site with all the bells and whistles!

Whilst racking up a high number of website views should of course be a key goal of any businesses site, the amount of browsing time each visitor spends on the website is actually the thing which should be prioritized. The longer a visitor stays on the site, the more likely they’ll be able to offer value.  

Part 2 of a 2 part Instagram series

Since it’s launch in 2010, Instagram has racked up a mammoth 800 million users, and out of those, 300 million of them actively use Instagram stories. For those who are unaware, the stories feature is essentially a tool enabling Instagram users to post temporary photos and video clips (which disappear after 24 hours), providing followers with a ‘behind the scenes’ insight into their day-to-day lives. As users share multiple photos and videos, they will appear together in a slideshow format.

Graphic design is incorporated into so many areas of MAXX. Our designers create beautiful print products, websites, logos and branding for a range of businesses.

Part 1 of a 2 part Instagram series

Are you baffled by Instagram’s algorithm and how it works? If so, you’re not alone.

Despite the fact that Instagram has operated with an algorithm-based feed for over 2 years now, many people are still clueless as to how it works and why it was introduced.

Essentially, the platform has gone from showing posts in reverse chronological order to a more complex, machine-learning driven approach.