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How to choose your keywords

08/19/202210/15/2021 by scmarketing

Using keywords and phrases on your website is an important part of search engine optimisation (SEO). Keywords form part of the strategy to help your website be found in search engine results pages (SERPs). So, how do you choose what keywords are right for your business?
Here, we look at a few ways you can brainstorm for keywords that will help with your online marketing campaign.

Search online and take a look at competitors and get a feel for what they are talking about. Look at blogs and news pages to find out about new product launches or services, how they are promoted and talked about.
Check your competitor’s social media feeds to see what snippets they are sharing with their followers and get a feel for what is popular by the amount of shares or likes their posts receive. The types of hashtags being used can help with your keyword research too.
Use Google Trends and see what people are searching for right now.
Check affiliate networks such as Clickbank then check the products and find the relevant keywords that are usually written in descriptions of any product.
Look for long tail keywords. Head keywords are considered to be the most popular searched item, such as “accountant”. This however only takes up a small percentage of total searches the majority being long tail and specific searches such as “find an accountant for self-assessment in Croydon”. So note specific long tail keywords as part of your research.
Membership associations. If you’re an accounting firm and you are part of an association such as ICAEW then check their website for what events and webinars they are hosting as the titles of talks and presentations will give an indication of what’s a topical theme for discussion.
Check industry publications that you know your audience are interested in. See what’s being discussed and trending to help brainstorm ideas for keywords.
Use a tool such as Semrush to help improve online visibility and get further insight into keyword volume and difficulty.

Once you’ve found your keywords you can use these as the basis of your online marketing campaigns however do not use keywords unnecessarily. This is known as keyword stuffing and search engines such as Google will penalise accordingly. In a nutshell, don’t overuse words, if your content feels uncomfortable to read lacking a natural flow because of keywords and it’s perhaps sounding too salesy and irrelevant then it’s best not to use it.

Most importantly focus on writing good quality content to engage with you target audience.

Keywords are just one of many ways you can help to optimise your website.

Digital marketing agency Croydon

It’s important that you understand why optimising your website is key when it comes to the growth of your business. So, if you need a helping hand with your digital marketing strategy, get in touch with us at Smart Cow Digital Marketing for expert advice.

Services we offer include web design and development, SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC), social media management through to CRM and marketing automation.

Content – the foundation of search

08/19/202209/14/2021 by scmarketing

Just like a bricks and mortar shop you need to build a website on good foundations. There are numerous frameworks that allow website owners to maintain and add content. These are called Content Management Systems (CMS) such as WordPress. The beauty of a CMS website is that it allows the user to easily update content especially blogs.

Hubspot says that: “Text will always be the foundation of search so making sure the text around your website’s assets is descriptive will help them rank well in search.”

In a nutshell, this means that the content you add to your website is a key element in generating leads via search engines. This is because if you have relevant content in relation to what someone types into search to find you’re making the search engines job in finding your business and returning you in the results page a lot easier. With this in mind, here’s some tips to consider to help improve the content on your website for search engine optimisation (SEO).

Great content

To get your message across to your target audience, and Google, keep content relevant and to the point. This is essential to help you be found in search engine results pages and it helps to position you as a thought leader in your field of expertise.

Potential clients and search engines need to see you as an expert. This is where a blog helps as you can add fresh content regularly. Your blog should have tips and advice that answer your target audience’s pain points and issues.

If you are writing the blog posts yourself and struggle to think of new content every week it’s worth noting that 51% of companies say that updating their old content has proven a great tactic for creating blogs (Source: SEMrush, 2019 via Hubspot).

There are more tips about writing engaging content in our recent blog which covers creating offers, developing case studies and topics of interest.

Keywords

When you embark on writing a blog or creating a new website it’s worth thinking about what you want to be found for in search. This will help define what is on your list of keywords or phrases to include in your content moving forward.

Working with a digital marketing agency or using a tool such as Semrush can help you identify the volume of searches associated with a particular keyword as well as its difficulty to get ranked for. This can help you hone the list of keywords further so that you have a good balance of words and phrases.

Understanding that 49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product, being found in search engine results pages should be a key part of your SEO strategy. (Source: Think with Google, 2019 via Hubspot )

A picture tells a great story

Don’t just think of content as the written word. Sometimes less on a webpage is more and breaking a page up with relevant images will help make the page easier to read, builds your brand and helps visitors get a feel for who you are.

Make sure your images are optimised for use on websites. You may need to resize them before you upload as large images can impact site speed. The first five seconds of page-load time is crucial as it can impact on conversion rates. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time (Source: Portent, 2019). Also remember to complete your image alt tag on the backend. This is good for SEO.

Can website visitors easily move from webpage to webpage?

Make sure your website menu is easy to read and navigate. Ideally a webpage should be no more than 2 clicks – preferably 1 click – from the homepage.

Create bold and clear call to actions with directional text so visitors know what to do. Make it easy for them. Add a call to action near the top of a blog as well as the end to help with engagement. Phrases to encourage action include:

Download our ebook
Book a meeting
Contact us for more information, email us on…
Get involved by registering at….
If you want to attend the networking session, contact…
Free website review

Internal links throughout content especially in blogs also helps guide visitors back to services and products where you mention them on the site.

Digital marketing Croydon

We are a Croydon based digital marketing agency offering SEO services including blog writing, keyword research, local SEO, Google Ad campaigns to help improve your online presence and visibility online as your SEO experts.

Is your marketing targeting your audience?

08/19/202208/13/2021 by scmarketing

Incorporating a tailored Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign into your digital marketing strategy will help your business be seen online.

SEO is a number of processes that help your website be found via search engines. This is when you appear in the Search Engine Results pages and your aim is to be in the first page.

Most online searches start with a few words relevant to what your prospect is looking for.

As part of your SEO strategy, have a think about who books your services and buys your products. If you don’t already know who your target audience is then you need to create a persona. This is a fictitious character based around the requirements of your target audience.

Once you understand the challenges and needs of your target audience then conduct an audit of your website with your persona in mind. You’ll soon see whether you need to change any content or add specific calls to action, a new contact form or a few new images that will appeal to your audience.

You don’t necessarily need a brand refresh it’s all about the initial details for landing pages such as your homepage or pages that are linked to your Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign.

However, if you think a new web design could be in order then drop us a line to discuss as we can also provide a website audit for you.

Web design Croydon

We can analyse your website’s performance and develop a plan to boost your website’s potential with a tailored SEO campaign. We can also mix and match with other digital marketing such as social media, PPC, and email marketing.

We are a marketing agency based in Croydon, South London and work with small businesses, as well as those in accountancy and the construction sector.

Send us an email at Saymoo@smart-cow.com or give us a call on 020 3137 1826.

Can video help with SEO?

08/19/202207/21/2021 by scmarketing

By now we’re sure that you’ve encountered video content and whether you’ve embraced it fully for your business or not, now is the time to really think about using it as part of your content marketing to help optimise your website further.

We’d recommend having accounts on channels such as Vidyard, Vimeo and YouTube. This all helps with your rankings in search.

Think about the name of your video file and its title when you upload to the video channels as it should contain keywords.

On YouTube you can add an SRT file to enable you to add subtitles and closed captions rather than burn them onto the video file. This can help with long term Search Engine Optimisation or SEO within the YouTube channel.

Creating video content

Create relevant content for your brand.

Whilst you can create corporate videos working with companies that can create scripts, take footage and edit interviews, you can also make videos efficiently, simply and at no extra cost all on your mobile phone. You can take great product shots and footage at events to showcase your business.

If you are shooting the video yourself it is useful to write a script so that you incorporate your keywords which are important for SEO. Memorise it as best you can and then speak naturally to the camera offering your clients and prospects tips and advice.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel either. Repurpose content from your blogs and make short and snappy videos to bring your blog web page and social media posts to life.

Our blog on using video for business has top tips on setting up videos and what to consider along with some useful dos and don’ts.

You don’t need to have a video of yourself but for small businesses adding a face to your brand is a great way for making marketing more personal and letting customers know that there’s a person dealing with orders and enquiries.

SEO company Croydon

As a digital marketing agency in Croydon, we’re well placed to offer local businesses digital marketing services and online marketing advice on relevant Local SEO Services and content marketing to help increase presence in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Get in touch to chat about your business goals and how a tailored SEO campaign can help your marketing strategy.

We can walk through ideas for video and the potential of using it for your business.