Memo from Optify’s Product Development Team
On the heels of what was the biggest release in Optify history, we are already back in full swing as we think about the next round of new features. Having been with Optify for a few months now, I have to say it’s amazing how much a small, agile company can get done with just a handful of developers and close, constant communication with users. As a new company there is so much to get done, so many directions we could go in! We face the challenge of having only a small window of opportunity to identify what we need to do now, sketch it out, and build it quickly and cleanly so we can best serve the most pressing needs of the market.
One of the key benefits we have as a young SaaS (or software as a service) business is that we know precisely who our customers are and we have developed great working relationships with this group. Our mantra here is that every member of the team should meet with customers at least twice a week to understand their workflow and pain points, both related to and independent of our product. We are able to leverage that information and those relationships and know precisely what will have the biggest impact on our core user groups.
In our last release, we focused on a new reporting infrastructure, multiple site support, international SEO, and integration with one of the tools core to our users, Salesforce. To be honest, we probably took on a bit too much for a single release! Going forward, we are working to get back to the goal of smaller releases that we can deliver more quickly. The many projects underway here include improving the Optify Dashboard, the Optify Free Edition and a host of other smaller improvements that will allow easy data export and adding seats more painless for our customers. Below, I explain a bit about what these improved tools will look like.
Dashboard
As the landing page for our application, the Dashboard is the first thing that users see when they log in to Optify and so it is critical that the Dashboard provide immediate value. One of the biggest requests that we get from users and customers is “at-a-glance” access to see quickly what’s working, what’s not, and how a customer is tracking to their marketing and sales goals. The new Dashboard will include “widgets” that display site performance, report summaries, who’s visiting your website and more, based on what is most valuable to your business mission.
Of course those goals look a little different for each customer so we are working on a customizable Dashboard that can be fully personalized to best serve each user. Sometimes that level of customization can be daunting for users, so we’re also making sure that our default layout is pretty darn cool too.
Optify Free Edition
In addition to our core product and applications, we’ve always been adamant about providing a great free product. And I don’t mean just a free trial but an honest to goodness free edition that will provide everyone with the opportunity to drive more traffic and more leads. Our approach in the past has been to provide our lead intelligence and social media application for free and then charge for SEO. But we’ve learned that successful businesses require all those pieces to work together and so we’re revamping our Free Edition. Going forward, users of the Free Edition will have access to limited versions all our applications, including keyword tracking and page optimization in addition to lead generation tools and reporting. We hope that this will allow even the smallest and youngest companies to get some of the benefits of Optify. As always, we will still offer paid editions for those who need more robust lead tracking and site optimization.
I could go on and on about everything we are up to these days but these are some of the highlights in store. We hope you’re as excited as we are. Stay tuned for the fruits of our labor releasing over the next couple months!
Zoe Clelland
Zoe is the Director of Product at Optify, leading user experience and new product. She has over ten years experience leading teams and defining product and design at companies such as WhitePages, Infospace, and Philips.
Zoe started her career in the medical field designing ultrasound machines and medical software and moved to the web industry in 2004 to enjoy the benefits of super fast development, new technological trends and the opportunity to design for the masses. Zoe has a PhD in Human Factors Psychology from Texas Tech University.
