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Promoting Your Website Yourself: A Beginner's Guide to SEO
Embarking on the SEO journey but not sure where to start? This beginner-friendly guide provides straightforward, step-by-step instructions for novice SEO enthusiasts.
By the end of this read, you'll grasp the basics of SEO and understand how to proceed further.
Key tip for beginners: Concentrate on core content, leaving the deeper 'whys' and 'hows' for later.
Let's get started...
Contents
Getting Started with the SEO Guide
This guide demystifies search engine optimisation for beginners. It addresses crucial questions, preparing you for an SEO-savvy future.
What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
SEO comprises tactics to enhance a website's visibility and ranking in search results. It’s about signaling your website's quality to search engines, thereby attracting organic traffic.
Focus on quality content, structured information, and links. Remember, the end goal is not just search engine interaction but also a stellar user experience.
Why is SEO Important for My Website?
SEO is vital for boosting your site’s visibility. Search engines like Google and Bing are major traffic drivers, more so than social networks. They connect users with their search targets. Effective SEO ensures your site isn't overlooked, directly impacting potential revenue.
What if I Ignore SEO?
Neglecting SEO means losing potential search engine traffic. While search engines are proficient at indexing sites, they have limitations. SEO aids them in understanding and ranking your site appropriately. Without it, your site risks low visibility and reduced traffic.
The Role of SEO in Enhancing Website Visibility
Proper SEO not only makes your content more accessible to search engines but also improves your site's ranking, making it easier to find. In a competitive digital landscape, effective SEO can provide a significant advantage.
The competition is constantly increasing, and those involved in SEO undoubtedly have a distinct advantage when it comes to driving website traffic and attracting an audience. I hope the concept of SEO is now clearer. Let's move on to the next question of our guide.
Can I Manage SEO Myself?
Yes, mastering SEO is challenging but doable. The basics are straightforward; it's about applying strategies effectively. Numerous free online resources assist in self-taught SEO.
If you're dealing with a complex site or prefer not to delve into SEO yourself, professional help is advisable. However, understanding the basics remains crucial.
How Does Google Search Work? Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO
Here's a brief description of each.
Black Hat SEO Strategies:
Replicating content from other sources without adding value.
Overusing keywords at the expense of informative content.
Deceiving users by redirecting them to unrelated sites or pages.
Acquiring links from sites unrelated to your content or industry.
White Hat SEO Strategies:
Providing original, informative, and valuable content to the audience.
Adding images with relevant descriptive text.
Writing complete sentences with proper grammar and language usage.
Using unique and pertinent titles that accurately reflect the content.
Adhering to HTML standards for optimal website structure and accessibility.
Understanding the distinction between unethical Black Hat and ethical White Hat SEO is essential.
Black Hat SEO involves dubious tactics like content duplication and misleading redirects. White Hat SEO focuses on providing value through quality content and adhering to search engine guidelines. While Black Hat methods might yield quick results, they risk severe penalties, including ranking drops or bans. Therefore, always practice White Hat SEO for sustainable success.
Keyword Research
Effective SEO revolves around using appropriate keywords. Keyword research is about identifying terms your audience uses in searches. This involves understanding the search frequency and context of these keywords. Selecting the right keywords is crucial for aligning your content with user searches, enhancing relevance and visibility.
SEO optimisation of website pages
Optimising your website for SEO involves several components:
1. Content
Quality content is pivotal for effective SEO. This includes not only text but also multimedia elements like videos, images, and infographics. The focus should be on crafting content that is not only unique and relevant but also resonates deeply with your audience.
Crafting high-quality content for effective digital marketing and SEO.
Quality content is pivotal for effective SEO. This includes not only text but also multimedia elements like videos, images, and infographics. The focus should be on crafting content that is not only unique and relevant but also resonates deeply with your audience.
Remember, Google, the dominant search engine, prioritizes delivering the highest quality and most relevant content to its users. It's not just about quantity; the length of your content should align with its informativeness.
However, it's crucial to understand that content is not just about the substance. The way it's presented plays a significant role. Striving for the best user experience while optimizing for search engines can enhance the shareability of your content.
Enhancing Content Quality:
Headings: Craft engaging headings to spark interest and make a strong first impression.
Keywords: Strategically select keywords that align with what potential visitors might search for, leading them to your site.
Links: Incorporate links to high-quality, complementary sites. This not only adds value to your content but can also encourage those sites to engage with you.
Quality and Uniqueness: Aim to publish unique and superior quality content. This uniqueness is what keeps users returning, as they won't find similar content elsewhere.
Freshness: Regularly update your content. Fresh and current content is more likely to engage and retain visitors.
Remember, in the realm of SEO, it's not just what you say, but how you say it that counts. Your content should not only be informative and relevant but also structured and presented in a way that appeals to both users and search engines.
Word count of text content and search rankings graph
2. Site Navigation & Menu
A user-friendly site menu facilitates easy navigation, improving the overall user experience. It should be intuitive and well-structured, guiding visitors smoothly through your website. Properly organised menus contribute significantly to SEO by making content more accessible.
3. Website Speed
The speed at which your website loads is crucial for retaining visitors and improving search engine rankings. Slow-loading sites deter users, leading to a higher bounce rate. Utilise tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to evaluate and enhance your site's loading speed.
4. Website Design
A well-designed website offers more than just aesthetic appeal; it ensures functionality and responsiveness. Poor design can lead to a high bounce rate, negatively impacting SEO. Focus on creating a design that is both visually appealing and mobile-friendly.
Offsite SEO
Off-site SEO, as important as on-site SEO, strengthens your website’s authority and credibility in search engine rankings. This is achieved primarily through link building:
Building Links Gain links from respected websites in your niche. Quality link building signals to search engines the relevance and value of your content. Start with excellent content on your site, then share it across various platforms, gradually earning backlinks. Use platforms like HARO (Help a Reporter Out), where you can connect with journalists and bloggers seeking expert opinions or information. By providing valuable insights or data, you can earn mentions and backlinks from reputable media outlets and industry-specific blogs, further boosting your site’s authority and credibility.
Content Promotion Use social media to distribute your content and engage with your audience. Among various platforms, LinkedIn stands out for its exceptional organic reach, presenting an untapped opportunity not yet saturated like other social networks. It’s an ideal platform for sharing professional content, building personal brand, engaging with industry peers, and reaching a broader yet targeted audience. LinkedIn's unique environment for B2B interactions and professional networking makes it a powerful tool for content promotion, especially for businesses and individual professionals aiming to establish thought leadership in their fields.
To learn how to launch a successful Employee Advocacy Programme for large organisations in New Zealand, enhancing your company's presence on LinkedIn, enquire about my specialised programme.
Blogging and Guest Blogging Regularly update your blog and contribute to others' blogs to enhance your online presence and create backlink opportunities. Search for “blogs accepting guest posts [add your niche] 2024” to explore blogs which offer a range of opportunities for guest posting.
Forum Participation
Engage in relevant online forums to offer insights and solutions, thereby building your credibility. To find forums on LinkedIn, follow these steps:
Use LinkedIn Search
Use LinkedIn's search bar to find forums. Type in keywords related to your industry or interest, followed by the word "forum" or "group."
Explore 'Groups' Feature
LinkedIn has a dedicated 'Groups' feature, where you can join various industry-specific or interest-specific groups. These act as forums where professionals discuss various topics.
Check Suggestions
LinkedIn often suggests groups to join based on your profile, industry, and connections. These suggestions can be a quick way to find relevant forums.
Look at Connections' Profiles
Check the profiles of your connections, especially those in similar fields or roles. They might be members of forums that could be beneficial for you.
Participate Actively
Once you find and join forums, actively participate in discussions, share insights, and offer solutions. This active engagement enhances your visibility and credibility within the community.
Remember, the key to successful forum participation on LinkedIn is to provide value, engage constructively, and build relationships with other professionals in your field.
Multimedia Sharing
Share valuable photos and videos relevant to your niche to not only share content but also enhance engagement and add value for your audience. Consider incorporating interactive elements like quizzes, fun surveys, and calculators to further engage your visitors. These interactive features can encourage visitors to spend more time on your website, increasing engagement and the likelihood of return visits. This strategy goes beyond mere content sharing; it's about creating an immersive and interactive experience that resonates with your audience and supports your brand identity.
Creating Business Lists
Develop directories or lists that are pertinent to your niche to attract backlinks from relevant sites and businesses. For example, if you are in real estate, you can make a list of top real estate agents the major cities, a directory of real estate investment opportunities, or a compilation of home improvement and interior design influencers. If you’re in Travel and Tourism, you can make a list of must-visit destinations for specific types of travellers, a directory of travel agencies specialising in adventure travel, or a list of travel bloggers with niche focuses like eco-tourism or budget travel. The opportunities are endless.
Links from PBN Networks
Understanding PBNs
PBNs (Private Blog Networks) are networks of websites created to build links to a primary site. These networks, which can be quite effective, are typically optimized for SEO and filled with content.
Risks of PBN Links
It’s important to note that using PBNs can be risky and may violate search engine guidelines. Relying heavily on PBNs can lead to penalties from search engines.
The Anatomy of a Link
Anchor Text: The clickable text in a hyperlink. It's important for SEO as it should be relevant to the linked page.
Link Location: Indicates the destination of the link, which could be a web page, image, document, etc.
Closing Link Tag: Marks the end of the hyperlink in HTML code.
Strategies for Acquiring Links
Develop Quality Content: High-quality, informative content naturally attracts backlinks.
Guest Blogging: Writing for reputable blogs in your niche can earn you valuable backlinks.
Engage in Commenting: Leave insightful comments on blogs and forums related to your niche.
Utilize Wikipedia: Contributing to Wikipedia and adding your site as a source can be beneficial, but it must be done carefully to avoid being labeled as spam.
Social Bookmarking: Promote your website on your social media profiles to encourage followers to link to your site.
In conclusion, successful off-page SEO requires a combination of strategies focused on building high-quality backlinks and enhancing your website's visibility and credibility.
While techniques like PBNs can offer short-term gains, they come with risks. The focus should always be on ethical practices that provide long-term benefits, like creating valuable content, engaging in community discussions, and building genuine relationships within your niche.
Keep moving forward
Your journey in SEO is just beginning, and this guide is a stepping stone towards deeper understanding and expertise. Here's a summary and some final tips to keep you moving forward:
Find Your Niche: Passion and interest in your topic are key. Choose a niche that excites you, as this will fuel your motivation and creativity.
Keyword Research and Planning: Conduct thorough keyword research to understand what your audience is searching for. Plan your content around these keywords to ensure relevance and search engine visibility.
Build Your Platform: Create a website or blog where you can publish your content. Make sure it’s user-friendly and optimized for search engines.
Develop In-depth Content: Utilize your keyword research to create rich, valuable content. This is crucial for attracting and retaining your audience.
Social Media Presence: Establish a presence on relevant social networks. Use these platforms to share your content and engage with your audience.
On-Page Optimization: Ensure your website and its content are optimized for both users and search engines. This includes using the right keywords, optimizing meta tags, and improving site speed.
Encourage Content Sharing: Make it easy for visitors to share your content. Social shares can increase your visibility and contribute to off-page SEO.
Off-Page Optimization: Build quality backlinks and engage in other off-site SEO strategies to improve your site’s authority and ranking.
Analyze and Adapt: Regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google Analytics. Analyze what works and what doesn’t, and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Continuous Improvement: SEO is an ongoing process. Keep learning, experimenting, and refining your approach. Stay updated with the latest trends and algorithm changes.
Conclusion
Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time, patience, and persistent effort to see results. Don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate improvements. SEO success builds over time.
Finally, always keep the user in mind. The ultimate goal of SEO is to provide valuable, relevant content to your audience while making it easily discoverable through search engines. Good luck on your SEO journey, and keep pushing forward!
Digital Precision: Key Ingredients for a Successful Business Digital Marketing Plan
Summary: Understanding the intricacies of digital marketing can often be overwhelming, making it crucial to invest in skilled professionals. This blog post delves into six fundamental components of a robust digital marketing strategy: data organisation, customer-centric content, multi-channel integration, technology platforms, SEO, and targeted email campaigns. The initial investment in these areas may seem significant, but the long-term benefits and the ability of a specialist to navigate these elements make it a worthy endeavor. The right approach depends on your business's unique needs and digital marketing maturity.
1. Clean data
Data should be the driving force behind digital marketing strategies for business owners. More than 80% of those in the marketing industry make decisions based on data, relying upon analytics tools to evaluate each campaign and customer journey throughout its entirety.
Without solid data to inform decisions for long-term objectives, crafting an effective digital marketing strategy becomes a very difficult task.
Data analytics helps businesses remove the guesswork from marketing strategy, generate value from a company’s marketing budget and succeed in digital campaigns.
2. Customer-Centric Content
The famous mantra, 'Content is King,' continues to be relevant. Crafting engaging, persuasive, and tailored content is a critical component of an effective digital marketing strategy.
When content resonates with customers by addressing their specific challenges, it naturally fosters trust in your brand, creating a predisposition towards purchasing.
For example, research indicates that 91% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations.
This means that when content is tailored to address the needs and pain points of customers, it can boost their trust in the brand and influence their purchasing decisions.
This demonstrates the power of personalised content: when it is designed to meet the unique needs and solve the specific pain points of customers, it can boost their trust in the brand and positively influence buying decisions.
Therefore, content marketing becomes an indispensable strategy across all digital platforms - from email marketing and social media marketing to emerging fields like messaging app marketing.
3. Multi-Channel Presence and Integration
Begin leveraging platforms that are effortlessly accessible and routinely used by your customers for their everyday needs, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
By 2021, messaging apps had a staggering 3 billion users worldwide; the vast majority of whom were on either Facebook or WhatsApp.
Moreover, social media advertising has become more than half of New Zealand's ad spend, allowing companies the perfect opportunity to reach their target audience and promote their product or service through this means.
The open rate for messaging apps like Facebook Messenger outweighs that of emails at 70-80%, drastically improving click-through rates for businesses as well.
Furthermore, chatbots can help streamline the booking process and provide answers to FAQs within seconds, and connect customers with a reliable contact person in no time.
4. Marketing Technology Stack
Just as digital transformation requires an IT uplift, a successful digital marketing strategy requires an investment in user-friendly marketing technology.
Easy to use tools are essential for streamlining marketing efforts, enhancing efficiency, and improving ROI.
A robust marketing technology stack is not only necessary but a critical factor in achieving digital marketing success—this includes leveraging CRM systems, analytics platforms, and automation tools.
Statistics shows brands utilise only 58% of their martech stack’s capabilities, despite marketing technology accounting for a sizable portion of their marketing budgets.
The disconnect between technology adoption and ROI is a persistent challenge for digital marketing leaders.
This issue could potentially be resolved by moving to more user-friendly platforms. As often, some organisations resort to 'cost-effective' but outdated technology, which might impede their success.
5. Search Engine Optimisation
The visibility of your business in search engines is essential, as 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. This is the starting point for potential customers to find services like yours. That's why having a powerful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy is crucial when it comes to digital marketing.
With an advanced SEO strategy, your website can become one of the most powerful lead generation tools, with SEO driving 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media.
Furthermore, SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to only 1.7% for outbound leads such as print ads.
Serving current customers better by applying well-considered keywords and key phrases is another benefit of SEO. In fact, 60% of marketers say that inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads.
Given that 61% of marketers say SEO is their top inbound marketing strategy, makes a dedicated SEO specialist necessary for your business' digital marketing efforts.
6. Email Marketing
A study conducted by HubSpot concluded that email marketing continues to be an incredibly powerful form of digital advertising, providing unbelievable returns for its ROI—it yields $36 for every dollar spent! That's a 3,600% ROI.
In terms of engagement among users, it remains second only to social media messengers. With emails consistently engaging potential customers and keeping your product or service top of mind, this strategy is more than worth the trouble and challenge encountered during set-up.
Although average open rates and click-through rates (according to MailChimp) are shown at around 20%, respectively 3%, successful email campaigns still remain an invaluable asset for businesses wanting to excel in this digital age.
As an experienced email marketer in New Zealand, I can say that one should strongly consider investing in email marketing strategy if they strive towards progress.
In Conclusion
The listed aspects of digital marketing are far from comprehensive. Essential components such as social media and search engine marketing must also be taken into account when crafting a profitable digital marketing strategy. I am going to analyse these topics further in my upcoming blog post; nonetheless, it is essential that I emphasise this now: even though the money spent on these digital marketing techniques could appear high, hiring an expert who is proficient in them will undoubtedly pay off.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you require help and knowledge in this subject. Let's collaborate and create some beautiful work together!
Why Squarespace is a Great Choice for Your Business Website.
If you’re looking to create a website for your business, Squarespace is an excellent platform due to its expansive list of features. In this blog I will explain why using Squarespace for your business website could be the perfect choice for your online presence.
An advantage of this popular platform is that it comes with numerous design templates. This means that users can easily build a simple yet professional-looking site in a few hours.
With its straightforward drag-and-drop tools, users can customise their site with minimal technical skills required. All sites come with mobile versions so customers can access websites on any device while still maintaining its high quality appearance across devices and platforms.
Furthermore, Squarespace site themes are constantly being updated meaning that businesses have access to fresh designs regularly; making sure their website remains relevant in today's ever changing digital landscape.
The content management system (CMS) provided by Squarespace also makes managing day-to-day activities much, much easier compared to other complicated CMSs such as Drupal or Joomla!
Simple actions such as adding new pages or images do not require any coding knowledge making it less confusing for those who may not know how to code in HTML/CSS etc.
In addition, changes can be easily previewed before officially publishing them live so web admins can ensure everything looks right on different screen sizes without uploading something they were unsure about beforehand.
Furthermore, many businesses consider security when picking out a web platform for building their website. This is especially pertinent if there’s an eCommerce store involved where sensitive customer data must remain secure at all times.
Thankfully, businesses looking into using Squarespace needn’t worry too much about this since the service employs automated redundancy backups and encryptions technologies.
These offer regular back ups of both databases and user accounts while passwords are encrypted ensuring maximum protection from potential cyber threats or attacks aimed at stealing customer data like credit card numbers documents, etc.
Why is Squarespace better than Wix?
Although Squarespace and Wix are both popular website building platforms, there are several key points that give Squarespace the edge over Wix.
For example, Squarespace features more design customisation options as compared to Wix's limited selection of templates. Additionally, users who struggle with coding can take use of drag-and-drop tools provided by Squarespace which make creating beautiful websites possible even without prior experience in web development or coding languages.
Furthermore, when it comes to SEO, Squarsespace offers its users SEO capabilities right from the platform where they can optimise content for organic search results while using analytics data available at their disposal.
Such features come off as a non-existent on Wix as optimising content would need third-party software installed first.
In terms of security protocols too, Squarsespace again delivers with automated redundancies backups and end -to –end encryptions while Wix falls short from such levels of protection. This means if hacked all customer information is left open in plain text.
Finally, when it comes to pricing, SquareSpace's plans offer more features compared to Wix's plans. This means that SquareSpace provides a robust website building experience with ample graphics storage and monthly bandwidth options, regardless of your budget.
Why is Squarespace better than WordPress?
Squarespace offers a superior website building experience when compared to WordPress. Firstly, in terms of design flexibility and ease-of-use. Squarespace takes the cake in this aspect with its drag-and-drop interface allowing businesses to quickly create stunning websites without any prior knowledge or coding background.
The platform also allows users to preview changes they make during the site’s design stage helping them stay abreast of how their website looks from different angles.
Secondly, Squarespace packs powerful SEO tools that helps boost organic search traffic; these are built into the platform rather than something that webmasters have to install via third party plugins like on Wordpress. This lowers barriers for entry while still delivering robust performance all round.
In addition, there is no need for patching security holes as updates are regularly pushed out there to plug gaps left by hackers while providing strong encryption technologies protecting sensitive customer data from becoming public information.
Furthermore, businesses looking to cut costs can take advantage of cost –savings initiatives like reduced monthly technology bills due to lower hosting rates offered by Squarsespace when compared to WordPress. This means that those running on tight budgets but still wanting high -grade quality websites can benefit from Squarespace overall deliverables despite their budget constraints.
In conclusion
In conclusion, given the amount of features available through Squarespace, it should come as no surprise that many businesses prefer using this particular online platform when building their websites.
Whether it be small personal blogs or more established corporate websites requiring eCommerce or enterprise capabilities.
Thanks to Squarespace’s simple yet powerful set of features alongside its commitment towards increasing security protocols almost every type of business would benefit from using this web platform, regardless of their size, location or needs making for a website creation process that is satisfactory for everyone involved.
7 Essentials Elements of a Good Website
If you’re looking to create a website, it’s important to consider the elements that make a good website.
A great website is one that is user-friendly, visually appealing, and optimised for conversions. In this blog post, I’ll go over the essential components of a great website design.
User Friendly Navigation
First and foremost, a good website should be easy to navigate. Your visitors should be able to quickly find what they are looking for without having to click through too many pages or search for things in your navigation bar.
If your site has too much clutter or difficult-to-navigate menus, visitors may become frustrated and leave your page without finishing their desired action.
To improve user experience on your website, consider using internal links and categories in the menu bar so users can easily find what they need without having to scroll down too far on any single page.
Less Than 5 Categories in the Main Menu
By creating up to five categories in the menu, you can ensure that navigation remains simple yet effective.
This makes it easier for visitors to get from one page to another without having to search through multiple pages of random content.
Also, by limiting the number of categories, you ensure that each category contains relevant and related items which further improves user experience and is critical for SEO.
Responsive Design
The look and feel of a web page is also incredibly important in creating an effective site design. Visual appeal plays an important role in creating authority for visitors who land on your web page.
If it looks outdated or unprofessional then people will likely not trust what you have to say or offer them on the site itself.
Investing time into designing an attractive layout with brand colours will help attract more people onto your site as well as keep them browsing around for more information about you or services/products you offer them.
Collet Customers’ Feedback, Using Tools Like “HotJar”
HotJar is my favourite tool to learn user behaviour! I use it to collect customer feedback and identify customer needs, which in turn helps me create an effective content plan for customers.
HotJar offers heat maps, session recordings, surveys, polls and more - all of which help businesses gain valuable insights into how users interact and what they want to see on their websites.
This information can then be used to create targeted content that solves customers' problems and addresses their needs.
Targeted Content
Creating targeted content that solves customers' problems and addresses their needs is essential for providing an excellent user experience.
By carefully considering customers' interests and needs when creating content, businesses can build trust with them as this shows them that their requirements are being taken into account.
Furthermore, content tailored to customers' needs improves SEO rankings. It does this by indicating to search engines that visitors are spending more time on the site, actively engaging with the content.
Using F-Shape Form
Adding written content in an F-shape form is important because people tend to scan information online rather than read it.
By presenting the content in an F-shape, you make it easier for visitors to quickly and easily find key information without having to read through long blocks of text.
This format also helps draw attention to the most important points while allowing visitors to skim through additional details if they wish.
Additionally, using an F-shape form helps improve SEO rankings as search engines can identify when users find a website easy to use which can lead to higher rankings in SERPs.
Web funnels
Last but not least, optimising your webpages with conversion goals in mind is key when designing any successful online platform.
From adding contact forms at strategic locations throughout each page so visitors can easily get in touch with sales representatives all the way down to including A/B testing features so developers can better understand how customers interact with different versions of content being served up by the website.
Doing this helps ensure that all efforts made into driving relevant traffic onto pages are not wasted because potential customers have no paths (or easy paths) leading away from those location towards actually converting into paying customers themselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, building a great website requires careful consideration of several key components such as ease-of-navigation, attractive visual design elements, high quality content, and paths to conversions through thoughtful placement and implementation strategies like contact forms & A/B testing toolsets being used across multiple pages and posts alike.
If you're looking for a professional Squarespace website designer to create a new website or improve your existing one, look no further! I have the expertise and experience to transform your online presence into something that stands out from the crowd. Contact me today and let's chat about how I can help you get the most out of your website.
“Why does my business need a blog?!” Here’s the answer to the common question.
Every business should have a blog, regardless of the industry and the size of business. Blogging presents a unique opportunity for every company in that it allows you to promote your services or products in new, creative ways; attract new customers and build trust with your audience.
As a marketer, business owner or freelancer you should have a blog. Blogging is one element of digital marketing that is critical to the success of any business. If you are asking, "why does my business need a blog?" our answer is - regardless of what kind of company you run, blogging is something you should focus your efforts on.
Here are three things that make blogging essential for any business:
You Can Promote Your Products and Services by Providing Your Audience With Helpful Content
Studies show that 80% of brands prefer ads in the form of a series of articles over the conventional "buy now" agenda. And consumers are also getting tired of the traditional commercials and adverts.
Therefore, creative, “soft-sell” ways to showcase your services are critical in the contemporary, highly-competitive business climate.
Blogging allows businesses to stand out by being creative, showcasing their knowledge of the industry and sharing their thoughts on a specific topic.
A blog can help you keep the audience engaged, and softly promote your business.
Think about promoting your webinars, workshops, events, and more through your blog.
Content like this is helpful for your audience and great for your website rankings in search.
Get New Leads and Gain New Clients
Blogging helpful and relevant content is one of the most important pillars of your digital marketing strategy that helps to grow your web traffic.
By adding SEO basics to your blog pages, e.g. keywords, titles, meta descriptions, alt text for images, descriptive URLs, and more blog entries turn your website into a machine for increasing visibility for your company.
On top of that, every new blog post creates a new page on your site. That is very important for SEO because it tells Google that it should re-crawl your website to index new content.
If you're not sure how to add the key SEO elements to your website, check out our Website: SEO Essentials package.
It’s designed to help your website achieve higher rankings in search results.
Build Brand Credibility and Drive Thought Leadership
If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand (c), and blogging lets you share your vision with your audience, and gives you the chance to earn their interest.
A blog is a way to show your values and thoughts in the specific area. After making a blog entry, you can share it via email and social media.
That allows you to become a true thought leader in your space.
People will remember your website and will want to come back to it to get the industry-specific information.
If you're keen to implement a sophisticated blog strategy or would like to have an audit of your existing blog section, get in touch with me for a 30-min consultation. I will review your blog posts, identify performance gaps and provide you with specific recommendations to improve or keep on building a successful blog strategy.
Social Media Marketing for Businesses
Social media marketing suits businesses of all sizes. However, there's a lot businesses should think about before creating their social media account. Yes, it's very easy to open an account and start making posts. But for marketing on social media to actually help you achieve your business goals, you need to spend some time making a plan.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing, or SMM, is a type of marketing that involves content creation and content sharing on social media networks. It’s used by brands to build awareness, and sell products or services online.
Social media marketing includes regular posts. These can be:
videos
images
texts
links
infographics
and other forms of content
This is done to drive audience engagement, as well as promote your business through paid social media advertising.
To help you get started with social media marketing below are some starter social media marketing tips. You can use them to build online presence for your business. With these tips, you can start to develop your own social media marketing strategy.
Before you begin making social media posts, consider your business’s objectives. Namely:
What are your organisation's vision and mission?
How should your brand be perceived online?
How does your brand differentiate itself from competitors?
What revenue and profitability is your business targeting?
What non-financial goals are you trying to achieve?
How will your business grow?
Then think of your marketing objectives.
First, think of the quantitative marketing objectives:
What's your website target traffic?
What is your lead volume per month?
Conversion rate?
It may seem like starting a business account on social media without answering these questions may not be such a bad idea. But if you want to drive sales you need to be clear in your mind of the outcomes you aspire to. So, having concise answers to these questions is crucial for success.
Here are some additional questions to ask when defining your social media marketing strategy:
What level of brand awareness do you want to achieve?
How will your customers perceive your brand and its products/services?
Your key buyer personas (what their goals are, why they want to buy from you)
Your business type should inform and drive your social media marketing strategy.
Example of a clothing company doing social media marketing on Instagram
For example, an online shop can get a lot of value from using Instagram for business. A B2B or marketing company might gain more value from using Linkedin.
How to Further Your Business on Instagram
Hop on your business account, screenshot best performing posts, log in your personal account and start posting about your business here from now.
Most posts made from public personal accounts broaden your reach, build influence and credibility amongst buyers. Clearly you have to be comfortable with your profile being public. More and more Instagram bloggers running two separate accounts. If you don't have thousands of followers yet, merging business and personal accounts will boost your business one level up.
Incorporate personal account to enhance your business with authenticity and transparency, gain your business audience trust, and win more influence by increasing your personal brand.
Plus, the approach hits multiple goals with one stone. People often default to separate personal and business accounts, but this method is really going to build your influence over future bosses, customers, branded partners, investors.
Start softly introducing your business to existing follower on in your personal account. Decide on your visual style. Create a branded hashtag that'll be unique to you. Start posting business related posts every other day, then mix personal and business messages from your personal account entirely.
Create a 4:1 ratio (4 personal to 1 business post). Don’t forget to tell your business account followers your page moved by adding a few words and a link in bio.