Interview with Matt Bowman, President - Thrive Internet Marketing

Matt Bowman  

President, Thrive Internet Marketing

Give us a quick overview on Thrive Agency. When and how did you begin this journey and what were your motives to be successful in web design and development?
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a top-10-rated SEO agency, Google Premier Partner and Inc 5000 fastest growing company in the US. The team at Thrive is passionate about using the power of the Internet to help businesses grow. I started Thrive in October of 2005. It all started with 1 website project. I got help from a friend and “figured it out”. I fell in love with the power of the Internet to connect people.

What is your role in the management and development of Thrive Agency?
My role now is to lead our team. I help our awesome employees dream big and work through challenges. It is also my job to articulate the vision of the company, inspire our team and protect the culture.

Tell us about your biggest achievement in the industry 
My favorite achievements are when we help a small, struggling company grow. They open new locations, hire new employees and impact their communities for the greater good.

How do you schedule the development phases of the web design and development projects to promise the timeline to your clients?
We have been designing and developing sites for long enough that we know how long a project will take based on the scope of work and because of that when we send a proposal it will include a general timeline for how long each phase of the project will take. Because our process is very collaborative after the client signs the proposal we’ll schedule a kick-off meeting to go over the scope and timeline with the client to finalize all the deadlines and let the client know what will be required of them and by when so that we can meet all our deadlines together.

Which framework, programming or scripting languages do you prefer for web development? How do you convince your clients for the same?
We prefer to use WordPress, jQuery, PHP, CCS3 & HTML5. We teach our clients about WordPress and that it’s the most popular CMS because it’s very easy to use and is very adaptable.

How do you scheme your pricing model? How do you fix your budget?
Our pricing starts with a free consultation with our marketing consultants who then draft a proposal for a custom solution based on what’s best for our client’s needs. Our budgets are based on the amount of time it will take our team to implement each custom solution.

How helpful are the web design and development made by Thrive Internet Marketing Agency for your clients in enhancing their business?
Our web design and development efforts are extremely helpful to our clients who depend on their websites to drive sales for their business because we consider their business goals during the web design and development process.

What according to you are the best practices to attain client satisfaction for web development?
We always try to set expectations upfront regarding cost and timeline. We also provide weekly updates on progress and focus on providing the best possible product and service.

How do you update your business system to be in pace with the technological advancements?
Our team is constantly learning and pushing ourselves so we can stay on top of the latest trends in web design and development.

What are your thoughts about material design, progressive web app and Internet of Things (IoT)?
I think material design is very important to create a unified approach and the best possible user experience. I think PWAs will eventually replace AMP and become the standard for mobile web experiences. Lastly, I think IoT will become increasingly important as companies try to unify their customer’s experience across all devices.

What do you think will be the future of web design and development technology?
I think web design and development will be more focused on functionality, interactivity and most of all user experience. It will focus more on what the user needs and how to fulfill that need as quickly and efficiently as possible. If users are happy with the experience they’ll keep coming back to the website and the website’s that provide the best experience will dominate their industry.