10 things to check before your new website goes live
You’ve done it. After weeks of planning and countless discussions with your design team, you’ve finally got the green light. You’re ready to launch your beautiful brand new website to the world!
But although you might be tempted to push the ‘live’ button right away, it’s really important to test a few vital elements of the site before you start showing off the fruits of your labour to your potential customers.
Carrying out the ten final checks below will give you extra peace of mind that your new platform will perform at its very best after launch (and have a great chance of ranking well in the search engines, too!).
1 - Proofread your web page content
Before launch, go back to basics. Review and proofread all the content on your website to make sure it’s free from typos, poor grammar and duplicate copy.
This is essential for two reasons. Firstly, poorly written content won’t leave the best impression on your users. You only have five seconds or so to capture their attention and encourage them to explore everything your company can offer, so the last thing you want is for them to head straight over to a competitor’s site because they’ve been turned off by sub-standard writing.
And secondly, the major search engines such as Google will take your syntax into consideration when deciding whether or not to rank your web page in their organic listings. Bad content is less likely to rank well.
2 - Review the flow of the site
Pretend you’re a potential customer. Work your way through your site pathways to see if your new platform offers a simple, seamless experience.
Are your instructions clear? Is your main call to action displayed prominently on each page? Does your contact form return that reassuring ‘thank you’ message once it’s been completed? If you’re finding it difficult to get from A to B, or you’re encountering needless hurdles along the way, you need to address these flow and usability issues before you unleash your site to a wider audience.
3 - Test the site’s speed
It’s a simple check, but it often gets overlooked by webmasters who are keen to launch sooner rather than later. The load time of your pages will have a big impact on the user’s experience (and you’re probably already aware that slow load speeds can have an adverse effect on your SEO, too).
As we mentioned in a previous blog post How Important Is Site Speed For SEO, there are plenty of tools out there that can help you assess and improve your page load speed. Google’s PageSpeed Insights will give you plenty of food for thought, but other alternatives such as WebPageTest, GTmetrix and Pingdom will also return useful feedback.
4 - Make sure the site displays correctly on mobile devices
This is a big one. More of us than ever before are using smartphones and tablets to navigate the web, so any new website must be able to render correctly on mobile browsers.
The best way to make sure your site is mobile responsive is to test it on as many devices as possible. If you spot any glitches, or you find that some or all of your content is displaying incorrectly, let your developers know so they can fix the problem before launch.
Again, there are tonnes of tools out there that can help you test responsive websites. Google Search Console’s Mobile-Friendly Test will show you exactly how your page is being displayed on a typical smartphone screen and will provide you with a site-wide mobile usability report that highlights any major concerns. Elsewhere on the web, you could use Responsinator, mobiReady or MobileTest.me to gauge the responsiveness of your latest creation.
If you want to improve your SEO rankings, you need a winning link building campaign.
Link building is a form of off-page SEO that helps to improve the credibility of your website. Getting links to your site placed on other reputable sites establishes your authenticity and boosts your rankings.
While the premise behind link building sounds simple enough, a successful campaign can be tricky to execute. If you want to get on the first page of Google, take a look at this step by step guide and start building your link building strategy today…
5 - Remove any unwanted noindex and nofollow tags
These small but mighty directives are often used by web designers while they’re creating your new website in a test platform. The noindex directive stops the search engines from being able to access the test site’s content while it’s still in development; the nofollow tag prevents Google from following links between pages.
As you can imagine, launching a website with noindex and nofollow tags is far from ideal if you want your pages to be found – so make sure they’re taken off the code when everything’s ready to go.
6 - Add accurate Open Graph tags
These handy tags let you control what content shows up when one of our web pages is shared on Facebook. They’re also recognised by Twitter and LinkedIn.
Needless to say, if you don’t have the right Open Graph tags in place, you won’t have any say in what copy is displayed when somebody shares your page or post on social media. Set up and customise these vital pieces of code as soon as you can (or ask your developer to do this for you).
7 - Check your 404 error page
If a user requests a page that doesn’t actually exist, your site will return what’s called a 404 error page. This page can play a key part in keeping the potential customer on the website if they’ve reached a dead end; an empty template will confuse them and, in the worst-case scenario, encourage them to jump ship.
Test your existing 404 pages to see if it follows the same design theme and contains visible links back to the homepage or other resource pages that might be of interest. If it doesn’t, get your developer to improve it ASAP.
8 - Implement an XML sitemap
Every website should contain two sitemaps: one written in HTML, and one in XML. The HTML sitemap is a more user-friendly version that’s easy for human eyes to follow, whereas the XML addition is designed specifically to help the search engine bots find and index your website’s pages.
Make sure your developer creates an accurate XML sitemap file, then uploads it to your root directory so it can be found at www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.
9 - Test your contact form
We’ve seen it time and time again. An organisation has created a flawless website – its design is impeccable, its UX is incredible, and its content adds that extra je ne sais quoi to the whole platform. But several weeks after launch, there’s not been one single enquiry… or so it seems.
In reality, plenty of people have tried to inquire about the company. But the contact form hasn’t been working properly, so all attempts at communication have been bouncing straight back to their potential customers.
Before you open up your website for business, make sure that your contact portal is set up to send your enquiries straight to the email address of your choice (and isn’t pinging correspondence to your developer, who may have used their own email to test the form during the development phase).
10 - Hook your site up to Google Analytics
As we all know, the work doesn’t end with the launch of a website. If you really want to make a splash online, you’ll need to invest in an ongoing search engine optimisation campaign that will increase your reach and exposure over time.
To make sure you’re able to monitor your online performance, set up a Google Analytics account and link it to your website’s header to start tracking your site data from day one. The data generated by the software will give you valuable insight into where your traffic is coming from, how users are interacting with your pages, and how people are converting into genuine leads.
How Many Backlinks Should a Website Have?
We all know just how important backlinks are to an SEO campaign. What remains unclear though is just how many backlinks you need to have on your website.
Today, we’ll be seeking to answer the age-old question of quality vs. quantity. To some degree, both these options offer valid reasons as to why you need to back them.
However, for the sake of clarity, we’ll be imploring further into the topic in today’s discussion.
Understanding Backlinks
Backlinks are essentially the hyperlinks from your site to other sites. If you happen to be an authority in your industry, then, it’s not uncommon to find websites linking to yours for the sake of credibility.
Those who are renowned for achievements in their industry are oft-referenced in articles by others. The more backlinks you receive, the better your odds of registering increased traffic and seeing a boost in search engine rankings.
Why Search Engines Like Backlinks
Search engines love backlinks since they serve as an indication that other people love your website. Aware of this stance, there are some unscrupulous entrepreneurs who seek to use underhand methods to rank highly.
Such back hat practices usually involve the payment of money for links to your website across various other sites. While this may see you gain some ground over your competition, in the long term, Google and other search engines are bound to discover your exploits. This usually happens because when backlinks are purchased, some emphasis is usually placed on the quantity aspect. The poor sources where your links originate from usually sound the warning bells for Google to respond.
To avoid getting penalised by Google, try steering away from such link schemes. In the worst case scenario, your website may be de-indexed. When this happens, search engines may choose not to display your website completely in search results.
How Many Backlinks are enough?
New Websites
Age plays a key role in determining just how many backlinks you need.
New websites typically little link building activity. Instead, most of the work needs to go into building branded links. If you’re working on local SEO, you need to put more emphasis on developing your social profiles, local citations and branded web 2.0s.
Ideally, you need to wait at least a month building your social profiles and setting up content for your site. Once the groundwork is done, it easy for you to justify just why you’re doing link building.
Websites aged 2 Years and Above
There’s some wiggle room for you to flex here. You can come up with as many links as you’d wish in this scenario. Having said that, it’s best to wait for a while for the content you post to simmer. Once sufficient traffic is recorded, you can get back to building backlinks. A good waiting period is about a week’s time.
Old Websites aged 10 Years and Above
You can play with your options on such websites. The fact that you can come up with as many backlinks as you want however doesn’t mean that you can compromise on the quality.
Things to Consider
Setting backlink targets is not the most prudent thing. The best ways to go about is to build steadily and naturally go into building links.
Rather than being an instantaneous activity, link building needs to happen on a consistent basis. As an ongoing process, it doesn’t make sense to include targets and deadlines into the mix. A steady development is the only sure fire way for you to have an edge over your competition.
You should not stop pursuing your SEO targets even once you manage to break into the first page of search results, monthly link building services are offered by multiple companies for a reason.. its an ongoing task and is not a one off thing.
Quality is of the Essence
Many people make the mistake of focusing on the number of backlinks instead of quality. 1 high-quality backlink can be just as effective as 100 low-quality backlinks. As such, it’s not a pure numbers game.
You need to strike a perfect balance between the number of backlinks you generate and their quality. If you’re unsure how to do this, you need to ensure that the backlinks you create conform to at least half of these qualities:
- Comes from a relevant source
- Originates from trusted sources
- Not paid for
- Not easily gained
- Not reciprocal
- Contains few other backlinks on the page
- In-content
- Sends traffic
- Next to backlinks to authority websites
- Originates from different sources to existing backlinks
On-Site Optimisation
You require fewer backlinks if you’ve done due diligence and properly optimised your website. If you have a poorly optimised site, the odds are that the backlinks you share will have zero effect on your audience. This is because you don’t have grounds for prospects to trust your website and regard you as an authority in your field.
Some recommended optimisation steps are:
- Introducing in-content links to vital pages
- Removing or merging pages containing little precious content
- Ensuring that no page is situated more than 5 clicks from the homepage
- The key pages need to be at least 1 or 2 clicks away from the homepage
- You need to direct authority towards the pages you’d like to rank highly
- Editing out unnecessary outbound links
- Identifying and rectifying all the broken links
Level of Completion
As you look into your competition, be sure to take note of how many links are pointing to each of their pages on search engine results. While at it, be sure to ignore the numbers from the webpage containing the most backlinks and the webpage with least number of backlinks.
Once you have the numbers right, ensure that you develop high-quality content (whitepapers, infographics, blog posts, and landing pages). Providing in-depth coverage about your industry is likely going to put you in good books with your audience.
With the content sorted out, it’s necessary to come up with smart sharing initiatives, not just to your audience, but also to other industry titans. Striking a rapport with some of the top brass in your field may be a masterstroke on your part since you’ll be able to promote your business on a person-to-person basis.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions – Everything You Need To Know
It’s not uncommon to hear beginners to SEO inquiring about the essence of title tags and Meta descriptions.
While we could dive straight into explaining just how important they are in modern SEO practices, a little definition of terms is necessary.
When users search for content on the web, title tags and Meta descriptions are what usually load up on the search engine results. To gain more clicks, it’s is therefore imperative that you invest some time to develop compelling meta tags that prompt more users to check out your website once the search results roll in.
Title Tag
This is the title section of a webpage which briefly summarises what’s contained in a page. They are usually found in three main places, on search engine results, browsers and on external platforms like social media pages.
To rank, search engines require websites to have title tags to include relevant keywords and phrases that accurately describe what’s contained in the page. As such, if you find yourself straying away from the agenda of your page, you may be forcing Google’s hand to display some other title instead.
Since this is not something you want to happen, it’s best to really craft meaningful title tags. There’s plenty of opportunities for you to lure prospects to click through your site by having a relevant title tag. A great way to capture some of this information is by providing accurate, concise, and compelling narratives of your page.
Here’s an example of how the HTML code looks like:
Some Tips on How to Write Compelling Title Tags
- Ensure that the title you develop is highly relevant to the content you share on a particular page
- Insert essential keywords and phrases near the beginning of the title tag so that you inspire users to click through
- Be sure to write naturally for visitors and try not to stuff in keywords hap hazardously
- Don’t duplicate the content on your page. Because all the pages on your website are going to have different topics, you need to ensure that you come up with unique titles
- If possible, include your brand name towards the end of the title tag. That said, you need to put more emphasis on getting the message right first.
- Try to keep the length between 60-64 characters. Sticking by this rule ensures that all the content fits comfortably in a 512-pixel display. If you write something longer, the title will appear lengthy and ellipsis may be introduced
- Strive to come up with eye-catching tiles. With the objective being to lure visitors to click on the title tag to discover what you’re all about, you need to have your A-game on at all times
Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions are meant to convey a summary of all the content contained on a webpage. As you can already tell, it has some similarity to the previously mentioned title tag. The key difference here is that Meta descriptions allow you some ample breathing space.
You have the freedom to flex your wordplay with plenty more space as you let visitors to your site know what you’re offering. If well utilised, you can grab hold of a significant portion of the population.
Here’s how Meta descriptions usually look like:
<head>
<meta name=”description” content=” This is where you insert your Meta description. Write something interesting.”>
</head>
Tips on Writing Meta Descriptions
- Make sure all the descriptions on your page are unique
- Come up with compelling descriptions without forgetting to incorporate relevant keywords. As a rule of thumb, strive to cover what users can expect to find once they are on the actual webpage
- Try to inspire curiosity in readers. While the objective is to inform them on what your webpage contains, don’t give up all the information too soon. Failure to abide by this rule may see you registering lower click-through numbers since users will already know all they can expect to find on your page.
- Don’t forget to incorporate a call to action somewhere in the Meta description. Doing this informs readers how they can benefit from reading the content
- The ideal size of a Meta description is 150-154 characters. You should avoid using lengthy meta descriptions since search engines typically cut off any extra characters found
Meta Data Optimisation
A great way to do this is by monitoring the click-through rates in Google Search Console. Using the tool, you can locate pages with reasonable volume but low click-through rates. To practice, you can try optimising the pages as per the highlighted steps above.
If you really want to push your website as the best out there, don’t make the mistake of neglecting Metadata. The best way to keep abreast with the times is by constantly monitoring the happenings of this section.
Having said that, we caution you against making too many changes in a short span of time. This is because it usually takes some time before adjustments made come into effect and cause an impact. In light of this, you need to hold out for a while in order to track what’s actually working
Importantly, you also need to consider the average time visitors spend on your site. While CTR is a great metric to monitor, it’s not the be-all and end-all of success.
If a significant portion of visitors is spending fewer amounts of time on your page, that could be an indicator that your metadata is not appealing enough or your webpage isn’t living up to the standards people expect. When this happens, it may indicate that your website is built on the foundations of clickbait, something you want to avoid.
Rocket Your Rankings with a Solid SEO Strategy
- ClickSlice is a London SEO agency, who specialise in boosting the search engine rankings of company websites. We take an individualistic approach to SEO and work with businesses to develop a plan that works best for their specific situation. For more information on how we transform businesses through the power of organic internet traffic, contact ClickSlice today on 020 3287 3638 or email us at hello@clickslice.co.uk.
5 Tips to Protect Your Website from Hackers
If you own a webpage, nothing can be more depressing than the knowledge that a platform you spent eons developing has crumbled right before you thanks to the efforts of a hacker.
To avoid becoming a casualty of this, it’s a good practice to ensure that you take time to shield your website using our 5 point action plan. As we delve into the various ways to protect the data on your website, we’ll also share actionable intel on how to conduct checks to see just how secure your website is.
Having a data back-up system in place is a good idea. Even then, protection is always a better alternative. Let’s dive right into the content.
1. Install Security Plugins
Right after you update every other component of your website, you need to take things up a notch by installing security plugins to lower the chances of your website getting hacked.
If your website runs on WordPress, you can review security plugins like Bulletproof Security and iThemes Security which do an impressive job of shielding the content on your page from leaking out. They are able to do so by masking any security vulnerabilities from hackers and thereby foiling any ill motives.
On the other hand, if your website runs on some other HTML page or CMS-managed platform, you can take a quick review at SiteLock. Over the years, SiteLock has become known as a great security tool for sealing loopholes and providing tracking tools for everything from vulnerability identification to malware detection. It’s regarded as a prized asset among those who are keen on ensuring that there are no data leaks from their webpages.
2. Make use of HTTPS
As someone who’d frequently on the web, you may already be on the lookout for that green https browser bar every time you check out a website. If not, that’s what you should be focusing on.
HTTPS websites are usually an indicator that all is clear for you to conduct financial transactions on such platforms.
Recently, Google Chrome released a new security update which alerts visitors about pages lacking installed SSL certificates. This SSL certificate is of the essence in securing the transfer of personal and financial information over the web.
It’s also worth noting that search engines are aggressively pushing the campaign for a safer internet where information exchange can occur without inhibitions. If you’re looking to be in good books with them and rank higher in search results, it’s best to make the change and implement the new security protocols necessary for your site to become HTTPS approved.
The extra level of encryption offered by an SSL certificate is a great investment for your business since you’ll be able to reap the long term benefits.
3. Update Your Website Platform and Software
By updating your plugins, apps, scripts, and content management system on the regular, you’ll be taking the next step in protecting your website from hackers and malicious individuals.
Doing this is necessary because most of these tools are open-source software solutions which means that their code is accessible by all and sundry. Hackers who are intent on bringing your brand down can easily pore over this code and exploit all the security vulnerabilities they can spot and seize control of the website.
If you’re running a WordPress website, you can check the dashboard every time you log in for a peek at whether there’s a notification about an available update.
4. Secure Your Passwords
As alluring as having a universal password is, it’s not the best way to go about website security. The most popular password in the world today is 123456, if you have something along those lines, then it’s best to act quickly and implement a change today.
You need to take some time in figuring out the most unique, secure password that will be easy for you to recall. Incorporating special characters, numbers, and letters is a great way to go about it.
Importantly, you need to keep clear of obvious targets like birthdays, and pet names. This is because these are usually the first things hackers typically inquire about as they prepare to launch an attack.
A single point of weakness is all it takes for all the cards to come tumbling down. As such, you need to take necessary precautions.
5. Use Parameterised Queries
SQL injections are among the most popular website hacks in the world. These attacks arise when you have a web form that allows visitors to your webpage to feed you information.
If the parameters in the field of entry are too open, it’s very possible that a hacker will be able to key in the code and gain access to your database. To avert scenarios like data loss, it’s necessary to shield your site from this.
By using parameterised queries, you can inhibit the playroom for hackers to exploit and plant their code into your system.
Google Ads vs. SEO: Which Is Better For Your Business?
SEO and Google Ads are the core components of SEM (Search Engine Marketing) today. They are also among the most important tools when it comes to digital marketing campaigns. While they have huge similarities and differences, their applications have always pitted the online marketers into an unending debate on which is better. Therefore, which is better for your business? In this post, we demystify SEO and Google Ads to establish how they operate and establish the better option for you.
What exactly is Google Ads?
This is an advertising platform run by Google. It allows marketers to place their ads on Google Search Result Product to visitors. As an advertiser, the marketer has the option to pay every time that a visitor clicks his adverts placed on websites that participate in Google Ads program. This is referred as PPC (Pay-Per-Click). Consider Google Ads model like a big auction where advertisers are competing for limited advertising space.
Google Economic Impact Report Indicates that businesses that use Google Ads make an average of $2 for every $1 they use on Google Ads. This figure is likely to be a lot higher if you outsource your google ads management to a PPC agency. Another study done by Search Engine Watch found that 72% of marketers who use Google Ads plan to increase their spending on PPC because of positive results. This means that the potential of Google Ads is very high when implemented correctly. However, get it wrong and you’ll literally be throwing money down the drain.
Main pros of using Google Ads
- The ads appear on the top and bottom of Google search results. This means that you do not have to worry about ranking like in SEO.
- Google Ads makes it easier to calculate ROI. Many marketers even have the opportunity to plan for respective PPC budgets.
- Google Ads allow marketers to advertise on Google sites as well as others that use Google Adsense.
- The results from Google Ads are more prompt compared to those of SEO.
Disadvantages of using Google Ads
- The traffic from Google Ads is paid for based on clicks from visitors.
- The moment you stop using Google Ads, the traffic drops promptly.
- Setting a Google Ads campaign that generates results is very complicated.
- Segmenting your marketing campaign is very difficult when using Google Ads.
What is SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a marketing method that mainly focuses on getting content that is relevant to search engines. The main objective of SEO is helping your business to get better ranking on natural and organic search results. If you implement SEO optimization appropriately, it helps to grow links and customer engagement.
According to Pole Position Marketing, bigger companies are likely to implement SEO strategies compared to the small ones. In 2014 and 2015, Pole Position Marketing found that about 30% of businesses with 10 or fewer employees are likely to implement an SEO strategy. However, this percentage goes up to 45% for businesses with more than 11 employees.
Pros of using Google Ads
- SEO delivers a progressive flow of free and highly targeted traffic. This is different from Google Ads that requires users to pay for every click or 1000 impressions.
- SEO provides the business greater exposure especially to the audiences looking for solutions.
- Search Engine Optimization traffic provides a bigger opportunity for conversion.
- SEO helps users to spur business growth through developing a brand community.
- SEO continues driving traffic even after stopping to post content.
- It is the best platform to raise your brand authority in the industry.
Cons of using SEO in your business
- Getting results from SEO takes a lot of time.
- You have to wait for long before realizing ROI (Return on Investment).
- While Google Ads might be seen to take more because payment is calculated based on clicks or impressions, SEO is equally expensive, especially in competitive niches.
- You do not have a guarantee for ranking on the first pages.
- The marketer does not have control of SEO and also risks getting penalized for not following changing search engine rules.
The final take
To establish whether to use Google Ads or SEO, you need to review the business goals and targets carefully. If you only have a small budget or the business is at start-up, consider starting with SEO and using Google Ads after reaching a certain level of growth to use both. Here, the secret is not to look at SEO and Google Ads as contrasting marketing strategies. Rather, you should marry them to enjoy the benefits that come from each. If you simply go with one option, the chances are that you will miss high traffic and other benefits that come from the other. Once you have decided to use Google Ads, SEO or both, ensure to set targets and review them progressively over time.
The Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the canon that will fire your enterprise to success. That is right. Your current clients, the target audience, influencers and everyone else is on social media. 75% of male internet users and 83% of female internet users are on Facebook. 81% of the millennials check their Twitter accounts daily while 6 in 10 online adults are on Instagram.
What these figures mean is that all that your business needs to grow is leverage or appropriate social media marketing strategy. Reach the target audience, understand what clients want, and professionally answer their issues.
Why social media for your brand marketing?
Well, you might say that your business is already on social media because you run an account there. But this is not all. You need to understand the social media dynamics, use all the available tools, and learn about the competitors in order to outdo them in their game. Digital marketers agree that social media is only opening up. Therefore, be part of this great train that is helping enterprises to grow rapidly. When social media marketing is implemented appropriately, here are the main benefits to anticipate.
Greater brand awareness
Notably, social media is one of the most cost-effective online marketing tactics. When a good social media strategy is implemented, your brand gets greater recognition because it will get engaged in a broad range of audience of clients.
To get started on social media and start interacting with clients, you need to set up brand profiles. Then, ask the employees, sponsors, clients, and business partners to visit, like the page and start sharing it. By getting more people to interact with the business content, you will raise brand awareness and embark on a journey to grow its reputation.
To get more from social media marketing, you should consider investing ample time to study and know what the target clients want. Here, you also need to create content that can help visitors relate to the business more. Let us take an example of a business in the fitness industry. You need to create content that helps answer questions such as the best strategies to lose weight, great fitness strategies for the elderly, special recipes, and related content. The bottom-line is to understand the target audience and bridging the information gap.
Social media helps to generate higher inbound traffic
If your enterprise is not using social media marketing, the inbound traffic will only come from usual clients. Those who are already cognizant of your brand are already searching for related keywords that your enterprise is ranked for. This means that it will ultimately become more difficult to reach new clients outside the common customer base.
Social media profiles add to the brand marketing mix that acts as the gateway to the website, blog and email marketing. Therefore, social media will act as a melting point to net different clients to your brand. By forming groups, following competitors, and guiding discussion about your industry or brand, social media offers the opportunity to showcase what the brand has and funnel traffic to the main site. To draw more traffic, use social media to shout about the latest offers, new info, coupons, and membership specials.
A great way to promote business ranking on social media
One of the main reasons for posting content to social media profile is driving traffic. It is also a unique way to raise ranking on social media. Though social media does not have a direct influence on search engine ranking, more than 58% of digital marketers indicate that posting great content on social media is directly correlated to better ranking on search engines. But how does it happen?
Today, everyone uses Google to search for information. In many cases, people searching on Google only open what is on the first page. If a business is featured on subsequent pages, people will rarely open it. But Google search algorithm has advanced so much and is interested in getting what delivers better UX to the front page of search pages. The algorithm follows carefully even what takes place on social media.
To get better ranking, make sure to craft high-quality content and integrate the keywords with specific targeted keywords. Content like case studies, blogs, articles, reviews, business info, employee reports, business location, and others will grow the brand community. In addition, it will often get featured by influencers. The search engine algorithm will not take long to figure out that the important content belongs to you and place it on top of SERPs.
Raised conversion rates
Now that the social media marketing strategy has won the brand’s extra visibility, the business has more opportunities for conversion. For every post, video, image, or comment, all followers will become part of the traffic that could ultimately convert to sales.
As a marketer, the content and interaction should only be a first step in the long journey to driving sales. The next thing should be developing partnership and demonstrating why they should buy from you. Most social media marketers indicate that developing a relationship with clients on social media have a positive impact on direct sales.
The final take
Social media is the ideal tool and a force that your enterprise requires to grow traffic, enhance engagement, and drive conversions. It will further help to increase customer satisfaction, improved brand loyalty, enhance enterprise loyalty, and lower cost of marketing.
Why Now Is a Great Time to Start Investing In Digital Marketing
Are you using digital marketing in your enterprise? If the answer is no or unsure, know that you are lagging behind. The marketing niche is adrift. Traditional brick-and-mortar models no longer bring results. They are expensive, lengthy and unreliable.
Starting from 2017, marketing professionals are referring to the session as post-digital marketing period. In their study, Smart Insights found that most businesses already have some form of digital marketing.
About 34% have already integrated digital marketing into their marketing strategies while 17% do not have a digital strategy though they use several channels for online marketing.
Brands no longer broadcast their ads on television and sit back waiting for clients to come. Rather, they use digital marketing campaigns that help build communities around their enterprises to strengthen their image, sustain high sales and grow over time. In this post, we take a comprehensive look at digital marketing to demonstrate why now is the best time to start investing in digital marketing.
What exactly is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is an umbrella term used to refer to online marketing efforts through channels such as emails, social media, search engines, and websites to reach and connect with the target audience. Good digital marketing strategies involve understanding
where your target clients are and reaching them using the best strategies. Some great digital marketing strategies include;
- Affiliate marketing: This is a strategy that involves using industry leaders who command a lot of following to drive higher traffic and sales. Affiliate marketing brings the market leaders who command respect and use their endorsement to help drive sales. The experts review your items, post related posts, and direct clients to come and buy. You are charged a commission for every client who comes and converts. In one of the 2015 IBM Digital Experience Survey, about 56% of marketers believe that personalized content promoters yield higher engagement.
- Mobile marketing: In 2016, Google found that over 50% of the searches on its network were made from mobile devices. This prompted the search engine giant to encourage enterprises to optimize their sites, posts, and design for mobile viewing. By using mobile-optimized marketing methods such as mobile apps and mobile sites, you are sure of reaching more than the target audience.
- Content marketing: In digital marketing, content is king. This strategy involves crafting content for blogs, posting as a guest post in other websites, generating web-based content, and social media posts to help educate, connect, and persuade clients to buy from you. The process involves comprehensive niche study to determine what the target clients want, issues affecting them, and solutions. About 70% of online marketers lack a clear content marketing strategy according to Altimeter.
Other digital marketing strategies include social media marketing, Google Ads, Search Engine Optimisation, email marketing, and marketing automation.
Digital marketing puts your enterprise on wheels and sets it in motion
Even as digital marketing takes root and its benefits become evident, many businesses still opt to go the traditional way. However, it comes as a rude shock when the target clients find alternatives that are more reliable, direct and satisfying. Here are some great reasons why you need to put more investment to digital marketing.
- Digital marketing such as SEO helps to increase reach, traffic, and conversions. Unlike the conventional marketing where the limits and bottlenecks are very many, digital marketing increases reach to drive traffic and sales. You can take content to all social media platforms and search engines to drive traffic.
- The strategies help marketers to understand the target audience better. Whether you prefer social media marketing, email marketing, or affiliate marketing, the strategies place the target audience and marketer in the same room. Your audience can reach you directly using emails or mobile apps to get clarification, raise concerns and even give feedback.
- The best way to follow, gauge and implement changes in your marketing strategy. If you release an ad on television, it is very difficult to tell if the results actually came from the message sent to clients. However, it is very easy to follow back digital strategies and establish which strategy yielded results. For example, you can set the UTM parameters of the website’s product URLs to follow specific campaigns. It is also easy to know which referrals from affiliate marketing that actually converted. This means that you only pay for the methods that bring results.
- Investing in digital marketing helps to build and strengthen the brand community. With digital marketing, the target is not to simply make sales. The strategies are always long-term. Marketers combine these strategies to ensure that clients stay around for longer to strengthen the community. They own the brand, help to demonstrate products effectiveness and keep the conversation about your enterprise alive on other platforms.
The final take
To succeed in the current highly competitive marketing environment, investing in digital marketing is not an option. It is the best way to fire an enterprise and keep the fire for faster growth burning. When implemented appropriately, digital marketing guarantees the highest return on investment.
