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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:

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Contact us for more information, email us on…
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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.

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How to write a blog

08/19/202202/08/2021 by scmarketing

There are so many distractions these days from email through to social media or website pop-ups therefore if you have written a blog on your website how do you get people to stay on your website to read it? Here’s some of our tips for writing engaging blog content for your website to help with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

What should you write in a blog?

When you write a blog the first thing you, or your SEO agency, should always think about is who is your target audience. Therefore, thinking of that typical customer or client will help you tailor your content specifically to them. It also helps to make your content engaging and personable.

You then need to write about topics that will help your target audience. Solve their challenges for them. A great way to get ideas for this is to think about the questions that clients ask you. Then that simply becomes the title of your blog. This is a great SEO tactic as it tells search engines exactly what to expect on that page.

Keywords and phrases

We need to mention keywords and phrases – don’t be put off by thinking it’s some kind of jargon. It’s as simple as thinking about what your customers will search for to try and find your products or services. This will help you create a list that you can refer back to when you write about a topic. Check to see if you can add in relevant keywords to help with SEO campaigns.

While we can get technical and look into keyword volume of searches and keyword difficulty score (which Smart Cow can help with), an initial list created manually will also help in the long run.

Get your point across quickly

Once you have your topic and title established then it’s time to get to work with the content. You may find it easier to break your blogs up with subheadings. If you think of these first then you already have the structure of your blog.

With your opening paragraph, you need to get to the point fairly early on. By giving an indication of what is on your blog, this will give more reason for the website visitor to read on to get more of the details.

Blog content

Keeping your reader engaged is the most important thing as this is what keeps people on your website for longer. It also means visitors return and share articles on social media to help attract more people to your website.

Here’s a few tips to consider to help you write engaging content:

Pose a question to move the content along and in another direction
Use subheadings to break up content – it’s easier on the eye and makes for a more engaging web page
Make content topical by tapping into relevant national days
Reference relevant research and statistics – but don’t forget to reference your source

Call to action

Once you’ve drafted the blog, remember the point of it. Ultimately you want people to do something as a result. So, add a call to action in your final paragraph, for example:

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

Free resources to help you write your next blog

Digital marketing Croydon

Get in touch for a consultation or a free website review.

Website design and development key steps

06/16/202111/10/2020 by scmarketing

With the second lockdown in place across England, now is an ideal time to review your website for necessary updates to help potential customers navigate it easily and remind people of your any new services.

We find that most of our clients looking for web design and development already have a website but it’s somewhat out of date, perhaps on an old WordPress website version that could do with some new plugins or complete overhaul. With that in mind, we thought we’d run through the key steps to website design and development so that you know what to ask for from your developer. Even if you are just refreshing your website it will provide you with important tips to consider.

1. Website purpose

Before you embark on creating your website you need to have its main purpose at the back of your mind so that the website can be developed to your requirements and business goals.

Do you just want a brochure website with an overview of services or do you need e-commerce functionality for people to purchase products? Either way, know what you want from the outset to prevent any additional costs at later stages to add functionality.

If you haven’t already established your target audience then now is a good time as this could greatly impact the look and feel of your website. Follow our tips to create an online persona for your business.

2. CMS website

We tend to design websites on a Content Managed System (CMS). This gives you, the business owner, the ability to update content yourself once the website is created.

3. Security

Ensure you have established security at early stages include an SSL certificate as well as an updated privacy policy. A captcha is another security measure to determine whether users are human which you can add to forms or logins. Captcha helps to prevent bots from accessing these areas.

4. Develop your sitemap

Work with your web developer to create a sitemap. Sometimes a suggested map can be included in a proposal if you have already had in depth discussions. However, once you instruct a developer to create your website then the site map will be the first task to agree as the whole structure of the website will be based on this. Your web developer can offer advice on making your website easy to navigate which helps with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

5. Website design

If you’ve followed step one of this process then you will already have established your website purpose. This needs to be communicated with your web designer along with providing an understanding of your company values and branding. This helps a web designer to get a good understanding of your business. Allowing them to create a mock design for you – usually a wire frame. This allows you to see the homepage and perhaps one or two core pages so you can understand how the other pages will look too.

6. Content marketing

It’s not called a Content Managed System (CMS) for the fun of it. Your website needs content. You will need to establish up front with your web designer what content you already have, whether you need content edited or written from scratch. This can impact on the overall cost. Usually content is transferred from the old website or provided. If you need help with this, then make sure you get a quote initially for content including imagery so that you are aware of any additional costs.

7. SEO

Check with your developer that the website will be optimised and mobile friendly. SEO includes activity such as completing the meta descriptions. alt tags and H1 headings.

As SEO is a long-term strategy, you will need to keep up with adding fresh content to your website with keywords to help it rise in search engine rankings.

Just because you will have a new website, you still need to provide signposts to it to help people searching for services to find you. These include adding links into social posts, completing your Google My Business page, communicating with customers via email with website links. This all adds to your awareness. So, if your website is new you might want to consider a PPC campaign to give it a boost in search engine results pages (SERPS).

8. Review your website

You usually get a couple rounds of amends included in a web design quote. So, make sure you spend time reviewing it and flagging anything you think needs amending. Once you approve your website then you may find that any other changes cost money. It all depends what agreement you have in place, so check this up front.

9. Ongoing, maintenance and backups

Once everything is approved and your web developer has tested the functionality then you can go live.

When you get a quote for your website ask about ongoing costs for hosting and technical support. Most web developers will include a fee for weekly backups and updates to plugins. However, you may feel you want more support. So ask what is offered, whether that’s onsite SEO, blog writing or a complete digital marketing package.

Website design Croydon

Remember that the website is the centre of your digital world. Anything you share on social media, through email marketing or in a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign should all link back to your website. Therefore, all digital marketing activity should have a consistent look and feel to help brand awareness and encourage loyalty.

We are a web design company in Croydon. Out digital marketing services include creating bespoke websites for accountants and other businesses, SEO, link building, social media marketing and PPC.

Read more about our web design services and get in touch for a consultation or a free website review.

Overview of the different types of Google Ads

12/06/202106/23/2020 by scmarketing

You’ve more than likely heard of Google Adwords and you may be familiar with the term Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign. Well a Google Ad is a type of PPC campaign.

However, there’s a few different types of campaigns that you can actually run from your Google Ads account.

So, here’s a short summary of the types of Google ads you can run as part of an online marketing advertising campaign. There’s a wide choice so you can find the best fit based on your business objectives.

Google Search ads

If you set up a Google Search campaign then this is the type of ad that appears in the Google search results when you type in something that you want to find. In the search engine results pages, you’ll see a few suggestions at the top of your page with a little ‘Ad’ icon beside it which denotes a Google Ad.

What’s good about a Google Ad campaign as this is the most popular search engine and by running ppc ads your business is visible on the first page of the search results.

This is a great way to get brand awareness of your business, a new site or new products and services. Plus, you can add in calls to action to really help drive visitors to your website.

Google Display ads

These type of Google ads can appear across a network of websites. Google says you can reach more than two million sites and apps across the internet using a Google Display ad.

These ads can also help increase awareness and reach to your core audience as you can target specific interests.

Google Video ads

Google video ads are still a form of PPC, meaning that you as the advertiser will only pay if someone decides to watch your video ad.

A video ad can help you reach your target audience at scale by appearing when someone is perhaps researching a product or service. This way a potential customer has the chance to view your video as it appears on YouTube or the network of sites as mentioned in Display ads.

Google Shopping ads

You know the run of ads that appear at the top of search when you Google a product? That’s what these shopping ads are. Another great way to get your product to appear in search and next to other Google text/responsive ads.

This is a great way to raise awareness of your products and boost traffic to your website for purchases.

Google App

According to Google, these ads run in search, play and YouTube. Plus a raft of its network of sites. This campaign is about getting downloads and you just need to add text, how much you will pay for the click of the ad (known as Bid) and then Google optimises it for the best results.

Ad copy

The copy is a key part of the advertising and should stem from your overall content marketing plan. Your text ads should be succinct, to the point and specific to your target audience to really encourage your ads to be clicked.

Make sure that the landing page you choose is specific for your ads. It can take time to set up the ad campaigns so knowing that all the information relevant to your campaign is in the landing page is essential for success. YOur website landing page should also be mobile optimised – so do check that too before you make your ads live.

However, the beauty of Google ads is you can hone your campaign. So, you can tweak copy here and there depending on the CTR (click through rate) or maximum bid you have associated with the ad.

Lead generation with PPC marketing

A PPC marketing campaign such as running a Google Ad (in whichever ad form) is a great lead generation tool. With the sophisticated technology you can really target your audience so you can obtain good quality leads from conducting such a campaign.

So, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness, promote your latest products or want to encourage people to take action, then perhaps a PPC campaign is right for your business.

Pay per click Croydon

We’re a PPC agency in Croydon working with a range of businesses on their digital marketing activity. We can work with you on a standalone PPC campaign or create a mix and match of digital marketing approach depending on what your business goals are.

If you would like your Google Ad Campaigns set up for you, we can do this and then let you continue to run the campaign yourself. Or we can provide this service on a monthly retainer basis. Get in touch and let’s chat further.