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Online Advice Web design
Why are Google Reviews Important?

GOOGLE REVIEWS CAN GIVE A BUSINESS A BIG CREDIBILITY BOOST, WITHOUT YOU HAVING TO SPEND A PENNY!

Nowadays nearly everyone’s got a smart phone or at least some kind of access to the internet, and for the majority of people, if they want to know something or find something they turn to Google for the answer!

If you want to know more about a business you check them out on Google, and their Google reviews form an important part of that. Hearing what people think about a business can support you in making the decision of whether you are going to use them or not.

Think about it, if you were looking for a local gardener, you’d more than likely Google it.

More than one Gardener will show up in the search results but who will you contact to help you with your current jungle? Steve who has over 30 positive Google reviews, or John who has none?

GOOGLE REVIEWS CAN ALSO HELP:

  • Improve the click-through rate to your website.
  • Organically increase your SEO.
  • Gain trust with new clients or customers.
  • Increase your businesses exposure online as well as with your local SEO.
  • Convert more customers.
  • Give you an insight into what you are doing right (or wrong!)

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Google reviews make up part of Google My Business which is a free tool to help you get your business a presence online, whether or not you have a website.
Google rules the search engine world with over 70% of the search market share so it’s a great place to get noticed!

What is Google My Business?

  • An online portal where you can promote your business free of charge.
  • Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and visibility
  • Manage how your business appears on Google⁠
  • Add opening hours⁠
  • Update map information ⁠
  • Respond to google reviews of your business⁠⁠
  • Update map information ⁠⁠
  • Respond to google reviews of your business⁠
  • Add details on your services or products⁠
  • Create posts products or services you sell or events that you are hosting.

To get started go to google.com/business

 

5 TIPS ON HOW TO GET MORE GOOGLE REVIEWS:

1. Ask them! It’s that simple, “if you get a minute would you mind leaving me a review on Google?” If you send them the link too they’ll be even more inclined!
2. Offer an incentive – a free cup of coffee, a discount, the choice is up to you.
3. Send an email. Ask them for a favor, say roughly how long it will take them to do it and what a difference it will make. ‘It will just take two minutes of your time, and we’d really appreciate you taking the time to leave us a review’.
4. Keep it simple. Could you provide a template with some questions to tick or to rate, with an overall comment at the end!
5. Include a link in your email signature to you Google review page.

Have any questions or want to see if I can help you and your business online why not book a FREE 30 minute consultation?

by webfunction
13,906 Views70
Email Marketing Online Advice
Email Marketing Tips

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER

We all receive them, most of us daily, but what makes the difference between us deciding to open and read the newsletters we receive in our inbox or sending them directly to our deleted items without even opening them?

GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST

You might have all the ideas, created your account with an email marketing platform and be raring to go. But there’s one problem. You only have two people on your email list (and one of them is you!) so who do you send your emails to and where do you find these people?

Growing an email list can be a tedious and time-consuming task, the chances are you’ll have a steady stream of people who sign up to your newsletter rather than a sudden rush, but that’s ok!

Lead magnets are a great way to organically grow your email list. A lead magnet is an incentive that is used in exchange for someone’s email address or contact details. This can be a free download, an e-book, a free webinar or anything that entices your target audience into entering their email address in your sign up box.

Once you’ve figured out what your lead magnet is, and have it in place, you need to let people know about it!
You can do this in a number of places, by emailing existing clients or customers, as a pop up on your website, at networking events or on your social media platforms.

OK GREAT, BUT HOW DO I ASK?

If you ask people bluntly to sign up to your email list the chances are they’ll say no, or you may get a reluctant yes, only for them to hit the unsubscribe button as soon as it lands in their inbox.

You need to tell them of the benefits they’ll get from receiving your newsletter – what’s in it for them?
Apart from mentioning your lead magnet it’s also a good idea to create a statement you can use to explain to people what and when they will be signing up to.

“It’s a weekly email which includes tips on eating well and a new healthy recipe!”

TIME SCALES & FREQUENCIES

Will you be sending out an email every day, every week, monthly or quarterly? Even though they’ll probably forget this as soon as you tell them, they’ll subconsciously be expecting your email to land in their inbox when it does.

What will the content of your newsletter be? Will there be free tips, advice, discounts, special offers, new products or valuable content they wont want to miss?

CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT

When it comes to content – less is more!

Research shows that emails that contain between 1-3 topics are more likely to be read and get their point across.

* FOCUS ON RELEVANT CONTENT *

Emails with loads of text are also probably going to end up in the trash. People are busy and unless you have a really great story to tell them, try and keep your email to a maximum of 20 lines of text and a maximum of 3 pictures.
The fewer links you include in your email the less choices the receiver has to make. Research shows that mail campaigns with endless buttons and call to actions end up getting a lower click through rate than those that have only 1 or 2 call to actions.

* ABOVE THE FOLD *

Use a call to action with the step you want people to take and try to keep this above the fold (the area which first fills the users screen without them having to scroll).

* LET YOUR CONTENT WORK FOR YOU *

Just like a website people presume a logo will take them to the home page of your website, this is also true in terms of email marketing. It’s a great way to direct people to your site without adding extra redundant content to your email itself.

* TITLE AND FROM NAME *

Make sure you include your business name in the email ‘from’ field.
You want people to know straight away who the email is from or again, you risk ending up in the trash can!
Keep your subject line short and sweet, try not to use more than 10 words (or 32 characters).

* BE RECOGNISABLE *

Do you have certain colours, font types or imagery you use for your brand, if so don’t forget to follow this through in your email marketing too! It will make it more recognisable, can help let people know who the email is from and help tie your branding together.

METRICS

The majority of email campaign platforms also include metrics which tell you what’s happening (or not happening) when your emails land at their destination. Use this data! Are you finding that you have lots of people unsubscribing? Set up a form to ask them why when they click the unsubscribe button, as once they’re gone, they’re one and the chances are they won’t be signing up again!

Focus on the click throughs and not just the open rate, what are people clicking on, did more people click thi month than last month? Whats different?

TOPS TIPS ON WHAT MAKES THE IDEAL MARKETING EMAIL

  • Subject line is around 8 words long (or 35 characters)
  • Include your business name in the ‘from’ field
  • Use the pre-header text to entice reader to open your email
  • Make your logo clickable! A link to your website works great!
  • Communicate through images
  • Only include relevant text – less is so much more!
  • Include 1 to 3 call to actions and make sure its above the fold!
  • Make sure you apply your company branding to all of your campaigns
  • Include social media buttons, to your own profiles and also so readers can share your content to their own social media platforms – free advertising is free advertising right?
  • Keep it short and to the point!
by webfunction
3,513 Views0
domain name registration
Online Advice Web design
What is a Domain Name?

WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME?

In the simplest of terms, a domain name is your online address.

As well as looking professional, it can also be used to secure your brand in the online world.

Before we go further, let’s get back to basics…. a domain name consists of two parts: the SLD and TLD

SLD (second level domain)
The SLD can be anything you choose (as long as it’s not already registered by someone else).
Every domain name is unique (just like a fingerprint) so selecting the right domain name can be crucial to your site and brands success.

TLD (top level domain)

The TLD refers to the last segment of the domain and is used to identify the objective of the company or organisation it’s registered to.

    .com – Commercial businesses
    .org – Organisations (often non-profit)
    .edu – Educational facilities like universities or schools
    You can also have country-code TLD’s
    .co.uk – UK
    .th – Thailand
    .ca – Canada
    .au – Australia

Industry specific TLD’s are also now available to register, for example:

    . accountant
    .builders
    .cafe
    .cleaning
    .florist

WHAT DOES A DOMAIN NAME DO?

A domain name is ultimately used for finding and identifying devices on the Internet.

The internet uses IP addresses (a bit like a postal address) to find different locations. As an IP address consists of a series of numbers which, for most of us humans are difficult to remember, domain names were developed and used instead.

Domain names are looked after by hosting companies but you, the client, ultimately owns your domain name so you can move it from one provider to the other as and when you wish

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WEBSITE AND A DOMAIN NAME?

As mentioned, a domain name is a bit like a postal address.

A website is a collection of pages that are uploaded onto your domain. When people type your domain into an internet browser they find your website.

WHERE DO EMAIL ADDRESSES COME INTO THIS?

Your domain name can be used across your brand, tying your company emails into the equation for a complete professional look.

Any email address you want can be associated with your domain and would just appear before the @ symbol.

Here’s a little example:

A lady called Kate has made cakes for peoples special occasions for years. She decided to turn her hobby into a business and has just opened a her own bakery called Kates Cakes.

Kate has registered the domain name katescakes.co.uk and wants to set up different email addresses for the different departments in the company.

She decides to have info@katescakes.co.uk for general enquires, orders@katescakes.co.uk for the new orders and kate@katescakes.co.uk for her own, personal email address.

WHAT SHOULD I CONSIDER WHEN LOOKING FOR A DOMAIN?

SHORT & SWEET
If your domain is long and complicated it will be harder for people to remember and ultimately find you.
Keep it short and sweet!

AVOID NUMBERS AND HYPENS
Numbers are difficult, the number 5 can be displayed as the numeral 5 or the word five.
Hyphens are also complicated and are often missed out when typing a web address – meaning the people looking for you won’t be able to find you.

ALWAYS GO FOR A .COM OR .CO.UK (WHERE POSSIBLE!)
There are many domain name extensions available but the .com or .co.uk are your safest option. According to W3Techs.com 46.9% of the worlds websites use the .com extension, the stats can’t be wrong!

PROTECT YOUR BRAND
To help protect your brand you should also consider registering different variations of your domain.
If you currently have a .co.uk domain why not see if the .com is still available?

LOOK AT KEYWORDS
Look at keywords that define what you do. Lets go back to Kate and her cake company. She brainstorms a few ideas around the keywords he would use to describe his business and also decides to register katescelebrationcakes.co.uk as well.

WHAT NEXT?

If you’ve already got an idea of the domain you would like or don’t know where to start, just get in touch and I can help guide you on your new online journey.

by webfunction
9,072 Views0
190
Web design
What is a responsive website?

I am often asked what a responsive website, or responsive web design is. In short, it refers to a website that is able to resize itself depending on the screen in which it’s being viewed on, such as desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

Why is a responsive website important?

In today’s world a responsive website is imperative. Websites are now viewed across a multitude of devices, results from a recent OfCom report state that in the UK alone, smartphones are now used more than desktops or laptops when searching the internet and that on average, adults are spending up to two hours a day, online, on their smartphone.

In 2015 Google updated their algorithm which shock the web development industry and changed the way responsive websites were viewed. The update – referred to as ‘Mobilegedon’ meant that websites which were not responsive were doomed in terms of organic listings on Google – no matter how much SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) was in place.

In the past, companies would have had two separate websites – one to be viewed on desktops and laptops and one for specially for mobile devices. Responsive websites allow your site to adjust to the size of the screen and although it may take slightly longer to initially configure, it will save you time and money in the long run as only one site needs to be updated.

We all know that first impressions count – and it’s no different when it comes to your website.

Think of it as a shop window, naturally we are attracted to the best-looking window display. The same principle applies to your website. It is the difference between someone clicking off your website or continuing and converting into a customer. If you have a poorly designed/developed website then it’s more likely for them to leave. This could result in your competitors who have invested time and money into their online presence gaining the customer. Often your website is usually the first experience a consumer gets of your business.

So, if your current website isn’t yet responsive we would strongly recommend you getting one. If you need a web designer and web developer then look no further. We pride ourselves in our knowledge of design, development and responsiveness.

by webfunction
6,980 Views190
Online Advice Web design
Does my website need to secure?

Website security was historically aimed at complex sites that took online payments or gathered personal information.

As the the worlds online footprint has increased, so have the security measures you need to take to make sure you and your visitors are protected.

Google have recently launched their new browser Chrome 68, which will alert users if your site does not have a secure connection. With Google Chrome now far surpassing its competitors as the most popular internet browser, with 59% of the online population now using it, if you decide not to upgrade your site the chances are it will be having a negative impact on your audience.

WHAT IS HTTPS?

Simply put both HTTP and HTTPS are what’s used to transmit data between the user and your website.

The difference with HTTPS is that you are providing a high level of security for your visitors, ensuring that the connection between your website and their device is secure, so should anyone tried to access the data that was being transmitted between the two parties they won’t be able to. This helps protect your site against online attacks as well as assisting in ranking you higher in the search engines.

IS MY WEBSITE ALREADY SECURE?

You may not know if your website is already secure or not.

One quick way to find out is to view your website in Google Chrome. If you look at the left hand side of the address bar and see a message saying: ‘Secure’ then you can sit back and relax! However if it says ‘Not Secure’ we would strongly recommend you get it sorted.

A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF WHY YOUR SITE NEEDS TO BE SECURED WITH AN SSL CERTIFICATE

FOR YOUR WEBSITE USERS
Securely transferring information from your website to their devices (and vice versa).

FUTURE PROOFING
The steps the search engines and internet browsers expect you to have taken.

POSITIVE RANKING FROM THE SEARCH ENGINES
The majority of first page results displayed on Google have a strong correlation with sites that have HTTPS.

INCREASED CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE
A website showing as insecure can have a negative impact on your visitors.

HOW DO I GO ABOUT GETTING A SECURE SITE?

All that you need to do, is drop me a message.

Our premium level hosting includes HTTPS as standard as well as faster loading times, firewall protection and much more.

We can advise on whether or not your site is already secure and the process involved in getting it there. It’s as simple as that!

by webfunction
6,552 Views0
Web design and Branding Birmingham

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