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Website optimisation for business growth

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What your website looks like, where it’s found, how up to date it is and how easy it is to navigate are all crucial factors to its success in attracting and engaging your target audience.  

A tailored Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign will help your business be seen online. 

Website optimisation involves looking at how your website is built, the keywords within content on your website and the backend (such as Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags etc.) as well as understanding your target audience and their search behaviour.  

With this in mind, you can start to build a strategy to improve your rankings in the organic (non-ads based) search results. 

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Target audience

You’ll already have worked out your online target audience persona to create the content for your website. But if not, look at our blog to help you create a persona.  

Then think about what updates you can 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. As well as good use of negative space and imagery to help guide the web users’ eye easily around your web page.

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 this is for people as well as search engines.  

While, incoming links to your website provide 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 will see 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.

Google My Business

One of the first things to do when your website is live, and to help it be seen in search, is to ensure you have a Google My Business page and complete as much as you can on this page – it’s Free to do! 

Check out our blog on completing a Google My Business page.

In a nutshell the benefits of onsite 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 

Refresh your website with our web design services in Croydon

Having read our article, is it time for a website review and refresh? We can create new web designs that are modern, responsive and optimised. Why not take advantage or our website audit offer and book a free website design consultation to discuss your options.

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Web design

5 must-know website design trends

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If you’re like most business owners, you know that having a well-designed website is critical to your success. But what are the latest trends in website design? In this article, we’ll outline five key trends to keep in mind when you’re planning on revamping your website in the near future.

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1.) Minimalism is still in style - keep your website design simple and clean

In recent years, there has been a trend toward simplicity in website design. This “minimalist” approach calls for clean, layouts and white space. The goal is to make websites easier to navigate and improve the user experience.  

While this trend started out as a way to create more visually appealing websites, it has since become an important part of usability and search engine optimisation (SEO). A well-designed minimalist website can be both beautiful and functional, and it is sure to stand out in today’s crowded landscape. When done right, minimalism can be an extremely effective way to engage visitors and drive conversions.

2.) Increased use of negative space

As part of the minimalist design approach, it’s important to consider negative space – the area of a design that is left blank, unadorned, or devoid of visual elements.

When used effectively, negative space can help to create a more balanced and harmonious design. As we continue to face an ever-increasing deluge of visual information, this is a key trend to keep in mind. By creating more deliberate and intentional use of negative space, your web design can be more impactful and memorable.

3.) More typography for a responsive website

The shift away from complex designs with multiple elements has been driven in part by the growing popularity of mobile devices. With smaller screens and less space to work with, web designers have had to focus on delivering the most important information in the clearest possible way.

Typography is also more responsive, it scales well on different devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones. As a result, we’re seeing more websites that rely on typography and whitespace to create a sense of order and hierarchy.

4.) Gradients, duotones, and other colour combinations for visual interest

The use of colour is one of the most important aspects of web design. And, while there are a number of different ways to add colour to a website, one trend that has been gaining popularity lately is the use of gradients, duotones, and other colour combinations.  

Two-tone gradients are particularly popular, as they can add a touch of visual interest without being too overwhelming.  

Duotones (two colours blended together) are also becoming more common, and they can be used to create a cohesive look while still allowing for some variety.

5.) Video

Video has become an increasingly popular element of website design. There are a number of reasons for this trend. Firstly, video is an immersive medium that can engage viewers in a way that static text and images cannot.  

Additionally, video is highly shareable, making it easy for website visitors to spread the word about your brand.  

Finally, video is an excellent way to drive conversions, as it can be used to showcase product features or highlight customer testimonials. As a result, incorporating video into your website design is a trend worth considering.

More on Video

Professional website design and development Croydon

Are you looking to update your website design? If so, be sure to keep an eye on these five trends.  

At Smart Cow Marketing, we specialise in helping businesses like yours create beautiful and effective websites. For web design in Croydon, contact us today to learn more about how we can help improve your website design and drive traffic and conversions. Thanks for reading!

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Website Analytics

Check how well your website is converting visitors into customers

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Having a website is vital in today’s digital world. But simply having a website is not enough – it’s important to make sure that your website is effective in converting visitors into customers.

To improve website conversion rates, businesses need to understand why visitors are leaving without taking action such as completing a purchase, downloading a form or booking an appointment/consultation. There are a number of reasons this might happen, including confusing navigation, hidden costs, and a lack of brand awareness – therefore trust.

Ways to improve your website performance

There are a few key ways to measure how well your website is performing. First, look at your website’s bounce rate, or the percentage of visitors who leave after only viewing one page. If your bounce rate is high, that’s a sign that people are leaving your site without taking any action.

Take a closer look at your conversion rate, or the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on your site (such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter). A low conversion rate means you’re losing out on potential customers.

There are a few simple steps you can take to improve your website’s conversion rate.

  1. First, make sure your site is easy to navigate and visually appealing. A well-designed website will make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Add links in that help direct people to other relevant pages.
  2. Ensure that your call-to-actions are clear and prominent.
  3. Make sure you’re providing valuable content that will incentivise people to stay on your site and take action. A blog or news page allows you to add unique, regular and relevant content to your website, this also helps with onsite Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), helping to improve positions in search engine results pages (SERPs)

Drive traffic to your website

Once you’ve reviewed your website and implemented changes, perhaps it’s also time to apply some digital marketing tactics to help drive traffic to your website in the first place.

This is where relevant social channels with links back to your website can help.

A good quality Google ads campaign (known as Pay Per Click or PPC advertising) can also help drive targeted clicks to your website.

Make sure you have completed your Google My Business page with up to date contact details. You can also add content, products, offers, images here as well as ask people to leave reviews.

Don’t forget the digital marketing stalwart that is email marketing. If you have built a database already then start to send regular emails to your list with tips, advice and latest offers. Remember to add links back to your website, again to encourage web visitors to increase traffic and therefore conversion rates.

Improve your website for quality leads

By paying attention to both the website design and the conversion process, businesses can create a website that efficiently turns visitors into customers.

If you want to improve your website’s conversion rate, we can help. Our team of web design experts in Croydon are available for consultation and will work with you to identify the areas of your website that need improvement. 

We have experience in a variety of sectors and can offer tailored web design advice that is specific to your needs. Contact us today to get started!

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Reading a blog

The importance of blogging for your SEO strategy

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You may be sceptical of having a “blog” page as you think it’s something for ‘influencers’ and not really anything to do with your business. However, it’s perhaps one of the most important webpages on your site to help you be seen in search engine results pages.

First things first, you don’t need to name it blog! This particular page is all about adding current, relevant and regular content to your website so you can call it what you like – News, What’s New, What’s On, Latest updates and so on. But it’s worth remembering that ‘blog’ is synonymous with people being able to find out more about your business, your opinions, statistics and tips and advice, so don’t think too much outside the box – you don’t have to.

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Reasons to have a blog

  • Drive traffic to your website
  • Increase your SEO/ SERP
  • Position your brand as an industry leader
  • Develop better customer relationships

Drive traffic to your website

Your blog gives you the opportunity to create regular and relevant content to help attract new business leads. You can use the articles as a way to drive traffic back to your website. Make the blog on your website the foundation for all of your social media platforms. Post links – with relevant visuals – of your blog articles on your social channels and give your social followers a reason to click through to your website. 

Additionally, post inbound links directly in your blog articles, to drive traffic to specific landing pages of your website. 

Increase your SEO/ SERP

Blogs increase your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Fresh content is still key to beating your competitors in the search engine results page (SERP). 

Use keywords in your articles. List out the keywords, topics, and categories you want your business to be found for in search engine results pages. Use these words, and related expressions when writing your articles/blogs.  

Keywords and topics on your website are a significant way in which Google (and other search engines) find your website for these searched words.

Position your brand as an industry leader

Well written articles position your company as a thought leader. By sharing topics which resonate with your market and show your knowledge, you are marketing your skills for your business, service or product. 

You are building trust, too. The more you can show that you are well-versed in your field, the more likely your customers and prospects will trust you to supply what they need. 

Digital marketing agency

Content marketing is all part of the digital marketing mix that we can help you with. Talk to us about your marketing needs and we’ll ensure that the best combination of tactics is utilised to make you stand out from the crowd.

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