Designing Your Website’s Homepage
Your homepage is most likely the first page that people will visit, so when designing a home page for a website, it’s important to follow some tried and tested methods in terms of layout. Here are some tips for where certain elements should be placed on the page:
It’s a Jungle Out There! Choosing a Digital Marketing Agency
I get your pain, you need help marketing your business online but really have no idea where to turn. How do you know what you need, how much you need to invest and actually you may not know much about digital marketing and what it is all about. It doesn’t help that there are so many companies out there calling and emailing you every day, offering their services, promising the earth for next to nothing. But be warned, if you take nothing else away from this then NO ONE can guarantee natural ranking results on the first page of Google EVER, that’s right, EVER!
Using Facebook to run competitions
Facebook is a great place to run a competition, research shows that they get a good response. But what do you need to think about before running one?
Well the first thing is to understand your overall marketing aims, if you are looking to expand your customer reach and help build your brand then Facebook competitions can certainly help. The first thing I would do is ensure that no one can enter unless they have ‘liked’ your business page, this way any posts you make will appear in their news feed long after the contest has finished
Using technology to keep your customers happy
Forget the whole fantastic customer service thing; we all know that that's vitally important. But beyond that the thing that most people I know complain about is the lack of communication from their suppliers. It's one of the fundamental rules of any relationship to keep the lines of communication open. Just think of all those great friends you had in your school days that just drifted away, if they were still in your life today, chances are some of them at least you would still see on a regular basis.
Keyword Research – the beginning of the beginning
Sounds a bit melodramatic but Keyword Research is where it all starts out. If you are looking at lead generation and increasing traffic to your website then keyword research is a must. Before you do anything else you need to understand what people are physically typing into the search engines, you need to understand any trends and look for gaps in the market. You need to look at each individual keyword as a market in its own right remember as people often use different words to search for the same thing.
Images on your Website – things to consider
The images you use on your website should be considered carefully, firstly make sure you have permission to use the image in the first place.
If your business does not have its own images then using a resource such as IStock or Fotolia can help you get hold of photos that represent your business in the right way.
You need to ensure that the image fits in with the page itself, make sure it relates to the content on that page and that it accurately represents it, that’s not to say it has to be literal but images can help to draw the reader in and act as an aid in attracting them to reading the content on that page.
Long Tailed Keywords
A long tailed keyword is basically a more descriptive version of a keyword, so instead of searching for 'jacket' you might search for 'black leather jacket UK'. On an individual basis they do not account for a particularly large number of searches but they are far more likely to result in sales.
In terms of converting traffic into customers, this is the second most valuable kind of search term as people are very late on in the buying stage, they know exactly what they want and are far more likely to buy.
How to use LinkedIn for business
LinkedIn differs from most social networking sites in that it is expressly designed for business use. While many other social media sites can also be used for business, LinkedIn specialises in it and welcomes those looking for professional networking opportunities with open arms.
As contact with another business professional requires either an existing relationship or an introduction via a mutual contact, LinkedIn has built a lot of trust among its users and has therefore become the social portal of choice for many professionals and businesses.
Social Media – How to Write a Press Release
The first thing you need to decide is what your news is, make sure your announcement is relevant to your business and also something that people will find of interest, there’s no point writing a Press Release about business as usual.
Make sure that you include clear call to actions so that readers know what they need to do next, why not include some important points but encourage people to visit your website to find out more. Make sure that it is clear and concise this isn’t the place to write a full blown essay, nor is it the right time to use lots of industry jargon.
What it’s Like to be a Digital Marketing Apprentice
After hearing so much about other business owners having a really positive experience in hiring and Apprentice we decided to bite the bullet and do the same. For us it was really the chance to give a young person the opportunity to learn whilst working that most appealed. So in November 2014 we took George on, here is his guide to what it is like being an Apprentice with us!