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Why website optimisation is key to business growth

12/22/202409/12/2019 by scmarketing

Why website optimisation is key to business growth

Your website in the online world is the equivalent to a business premises in the real world. What it looks like, where it is found, how up to date it is and how easy it is to navigate are all crucial factors to its success. A tailored Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign will help your business be seen.

What is SEO?

SEO is a collection of processes that make it better for a website to be found through the search engines. Most online searches do not start with the company name being typed into the search engine, it’s usually a few words relevant to what you’re looking for. So, if you’re an ‘accountancy’ practice in ‘Guildford’ then you would likely be interested in your company showing up on page one of a search relevant to these keywords.

Website optimisation involves looking at how your website is built, the keywords within content on your website as well as understanding your target audience and their search behaviour. Armed with this background you can build a strategy to improve your rankings in the organic (non-ads based, natural) search results.

Target audience

You’ll already have worked out your online target audience persona to create the content for your website. But if not, it’s not too late. Look at our blog to help you create a persona. Then think about what tweaks you may need to make to your website content or call to actions to make it engaging to this audience and worth their time visiting your website. Think quality over quantity when it comes to content on your website. This will stand you in good stead for optimising your website.

Outbound, internal inbound links

As part of the ranking process, search engines consider the quality of links, awarding scores based on the usefulness and relevance of those links. Internal links can ease navigation within the website itself, this includes making sure it is mobile friendly. While, incoming links to your website provides an indication of how useful your content is to others as people share posts on social media. Less links will have an impact upon where you return in a search result for a given term.

Meta descriptions

Think about when you’ve recently searched online for something. You see a return of results where companies have great headlines and a paragraph of well written copy that entices you to click the link instead of others. Behind the scenes you can create these paragraphs or meta descriptions on pages on your website – these are really good when it comes to blogs you may upload. Meta descriptions are a website’s way of telling Google and other search engines exactly what each of your pages are about, what to display and how to display it in the results.

Tip: Google My Business

Check out our blog on completing a Google My Business page. One of the first things to do when your website is live, and to help it be seen in search, is to fill out as much as you can on this page – it’s Free to do!

In a nutshell the benefits of SEO are:

Enhanced brand perception and online presence through better ranking
Better rate of enquiries due to improved visibility
Prime and prominent visibility across Google Maps
Attraction of closely related audiences through better use of popular search terms

Book a Practice Growth Session

Smart Cow assists in website design in London and Surrey. If you feel you need some support in getting your website Search Engine Optimised, then get in touch with our web design team today to create you a bespoke website.

We also run Practice Growth Sessions which are tailored for businesses keen to grow and ready to invest in a digital marketing campaign to achieve their goals. You can book a session with us for £95.

The user experience of a website is fundamental to growth

12/22/202409/10/2019 by scmarketing

Have you ever wondered why customers leave their shopping cart without completing? Or only visit your homepage without clicking through to other pages? This could all be down to the user experience: how easy it is to navigate; how relevant and; how up to date the content is. Sounds simple, but if you don’t get it right it can easily impact on sales and business growth.

We’ve gathered together some top tips on what to consider if you’re embarking on a website update or totally new design.

Looking good

It goes without saying that your website needs to look good. It needs to reflect your brand, be image led and enticing to potential and existing customers. But it’s not all about looks. We’ve previously spoken about developing a target persona for your brand and ensuring that your website takes into account your target audience with appropriate keywords, phrases and imagery!

Ultimately you want to speak in the same language as your customers do and get across why your services or products are right for them. It’s also worth noting that you want to solve their problems so think about how your product and services can do this.

Easy to navigate

So, you may have got people to visit your website, but you need to keep them there and you haven’t got long to make an impression. If someone can’t find what they want in 3 seconds, especially if they’ve come to you because of a well worded social media post or Pay Per Click Campaign, you will lose them. Websites need to be basic and simple and if you’ve said in a marketing campaign to ‘click here’ about a certain product or service, then a customer wants to see exactly that.

Make sure you have very clear call to action buttons and arrows to draw the eye to areas of the website. Bold and contrasting colours can also help with navigation.

Bounce rate

If you’ve failed the 3 second rule, then customers are likely to ‘bounce’ off your website. When we start working with clients, we do an analysis of their website which tells us the current bounce rate – we then work with you to tailor messaging so that this rate lowers over time and converts. But you will find it hard to tailor messaging if you haven’t done the process of creating a target persona. Read our blog on how you should develop this persona for your business.

The Path Forward

The relationship between a well-designed website and business growth is unequivocal. Enhancing user experience is an investment in your brand’s future, necessitating a thoughtful approach to design, content, and technology. If the prospect of undertaking a user experience redesign seems daunting, professional assistance can provide the expertise needed to transform your website into a potent tool for engagement and conversion.

We encourage all businesses to critically assess their online presence and consider the profound benefits of prioritising user experience. The potential rewards, in terms of customer satisfaction and business growth, are truly limitless.

Searching for why google reviews can help business growth

Why a Google Review can help business growth

10/18/201909/05/2019 by scmarketing

At the core of a digital marketing campaign is the need to drive traffic to your website and in turn win new clients or clinch that sale. But to help with brand awareness and to build a trusted brand, growing the number of Google Reviews you have is one of the most cost-effective ways to help achieve this.

In our previous blog, we spoke about one of the first things you need to do when you create your website is to help search engines find you. So, setting up a Google My Business page – which is free – is a great way to get more information and brand awareness out there about yourself. It’s also another way of letting Google know you exist. And, as part of this page you can welcome reviews from clients and customers.

Let’s take a step back for a moment. Think about how you approach buying goods for yourself or perhaps booking a holiday. How often do you look at comments from people who have stayed in the hotel you are looking to book? It’s amazing how this can influence your booking isn’t it?

Therefore, in much the same way, encouraging people to leave reviews on your Google My Business page should become part of your conversation with clients. These reviews can help build awareness of your brand as a trusted leader in your sector.

So, if you have received feedback from a happy customer ask if they can complete a Google review. You can also share your reviews via your social media channels to ensure people know about the good service that customers have experienced.

Book a Practice Growth Session

You can explore setting up your own Google My Business page yourself for free. If you have any questions or would like to delve a little deeper into ways to grow your business then why not book a Practice Growth Session with us? We tailor these sessions for businesses keen to grow and ready to invest in a digital marketing campaign to achieve their goals. A digital marketing agency based in Croydon, we will arm you with the fundamental details for you to be able to implement a campaign to help you grow. You can book a session with us for £95.

Get in touch for more information.

Laptop searching for inbound marketing agencies in London

Have you told search engines you exist?

10/12/202009/02/2019 by scmarketing

Grow your business with Google

To help your business grow, you need to tell people that you exist. These days your shop window is a virtual one – it’s your website. However, just like a bricks and mortar premises your website needs to be found, it’s just that these days that means via a search engine. Just as you would have a sign on your window advertising your products and services you need to let people know where you are.

One of the first things you need to do when you have created your website, or if you are embarking on a digital marketing campaign to grow your business, is to make sure you’ve told search engines that you exist. The most popular way to do this is initially is by populating Google My Business with your company details.

About Google My Business

This is a free tool to use and well worth the time and effort to complete. Google is one of the most popular search engines after all, so you may as well let them know about you by filling out as much about your company as you can.

The very basics to complete are your website URL, opening times, address, contact numbers and email addresses and a short paragraph about your company. But it is worth exploring what else you can complete as this will all help Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and your company being seen in search, further optimising your website.

For example, you can add ‘posts’ to your Google My Business page. This allows you to add offers and event details with clear call to action buttons. It’s worth noting here that you don’t need to create fresh content for this you can just edit one of your blogs or offer from your website and repurpose for Google My Business as part of your routine SEO work.

Images say a thousand words and you have the ability to add imagery to your Google My Business page too.

A regular look at your ‘insights’ on this page will reveal the most popular search queries for your business by unique users. These insights can also assist you in keeping the keywords and phrases you use up to date.

Reviews

These business pages are also a great way for you to ask customers to leave reviews. When people look for a product or service they are comforted by reviews from people and this could be the difference between whether someone clicks on your link or the person with a populated Google My Business page.

Book a Practice Growth Session

Google My Business is just one of the tactics we recommend that our clients implement. If you would like to find out more, our Practice Growth Sessions are tailored for businesses keen to grow and ready to invest in a digital marketing campaign to achieve their goals. As an inbound marketing agency in London, arming you with the fundamental details for you to be able to implement a campaign to help you grow is well within our abilities. You can book a session with us for £95.

Keep an eye on our blog for more tips on growing your business with a well targeted digital marketing campaign.