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Why Blog? Blogging Is A Great Marketing Tool For Your Website - Graphic Showing Laptop With Various Icons Around It And The Title Blogging

Why Blog?

Why blog for your business?

Blogs have been around for quite a long time, in fact, they have been around since Justin Hall created Links.net, widely accepted as the first blog, in 1994.

Today there are well over 2m blog posts created every day! (http://www.worldometers.info/blogs/)

So, why blog for your business? There are many reasons, each will be considered in turn:

Visitors and visitor conversion

By having a blog, it shows your visitors that your website isn’t dead. It shows them that you value your website and your business. It also shows them you know what you are talking about when it comes to your products or services. By building a level of trust, visitors to your website are more inclined to buy your products or services. This leads to a good visitor conversion rate from your website.

Establish authority and your brand

By writing good content that people really want to read, you are setting yourself and your business as authorities in your field. Let’s face it, you got into the business because you passionate about your products or services. It is this passion that you need to show in your blogs. If you have a great product or service, tell people why they are great.

As you publish more and more blogs, your visitors will come back, to see the next post in the series, or to see what new content you have. This all helps you to establish your authority in your market and promote your brand.

As your visitors communicate with your through comments and receive good quality answers, you will be building a good relationship with those customers. They will see you as someone who cares enough about your products or services and customers to take the time to discuss them. Good customer relationships build good customers for your business.

A good way to release news

Have a piece of news you want to share or launching a new product? Your blog is the perfect way to reach your potential customers. It is far better than your local newspaper for the simple reason that the internet reaches far more people than any traditional newspaper could ever dream of. That is why most newspapers these days have a very active website.

You can build anticipation for your new product by releasing teasers in the days before. This will encourage visitors to keep checking back to see what the product is. This is done very successfully by big companies such as Samsung and others. In conjunction with other advertising, your blog is the perfect place to launch new products or share news about your company.

Help keep your content fresh

You will have visited a website that had old out of date information. In some cases of really old websites, they will even have the ‘last updated’ message showing, often this is years previous.

This is actually the mistake of many many business owners. Pay a lot of money to have a website developed and then leave it sitting there hoping it will bring you money. It won’t!

Like everything in business, the success of a website is determined by the effort you put in. Nobody pays you to do nothing. It is the same with an old website. You will, as many others before you have seen how old the website is, or that the content hasn’t been updated since the year dot. Like those previous visitors, you will just leave without interacting with the business. Not even sure if your email has been sent from the website. This type of website can be compared to the shop that has been closed for weeks. Eventually, people will stop checking if it is open.

People like new things. It is the same with content. If your visitors see that you change and/or update your content regularly, they are more inclined to return to see what is new. This is the exact opposite of what was happening above, where visitors http://imagineear.com/pharmacy/ just weren’t returning.

Google also likes to see new content. Google crawls (its program indexing a website) a website that is kept fresh regularly, even daily. Web sites it determines aren’t updated often may only be crawled 6 monthly or even annually. There is a distinct correlation between how often your site is crawled and the importance Google places on it. The more important websites are moved higher in the Google rankings.

It is vital to keep your content fresh. Both for your visitors and to help improve your Google rankings (other search engines are available). A blog is a perfect way to keep your content fresh. By regularly writing a blog you are ensuring the new content on your website.

How often you blog is up to you. There have been various studies to show that the more you blog, the higher you will be in the Google rankings. But nobody wants to be a slave to their blog! Niel Patel has a blog post to help you decide how often to write a new blog post. Visit the article here: 5 simple steps that’ll help you determine how often you need to blog.

What to include in your blog

As well as your content it is always advisable to include some extras with your blog to make it easier for your visitors to read and to help Google index your blog.

Social media

Links to social media at the bottom (or top) of each post, allows your visitors to share your content if they find it useful. You should always include social media links for Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn, together with an option to send the post as an email or to print it.

High-resolution graphics

The old adage that a picture speaks a thousand words is true. You should include graphics that help get your point across. In today’s HD and Ultra HD world, they should be high-resolution graphics or they will look very nasty on some of the larger screens.

Keywords

Simple subject keywords will help you rank higher. But a big note of caution, Google has some very strong metrics to work out if you are just trying to spam those keywords in your blog. So keep it realistic, for a 300-word blog, you should use your keyword 4-6 times at the most. Instead, the keywords should be used naturally in your blog.

Tags

These help to keep topics together in your blog. As you write posts, adding the tags builds up topics you have written about, tags help people (and search engines!) establish what your blog post is about. Users can click on a tag and receive a list of your posts that contain that particular topic, this is a very useful navigation tool.

Call to action

Every single thing you do in advertising and marketing should have a call to action. A call to action asks your visitors to do something at after they have read your post. Such as, enquire about your product/services, ask for more information, make a purchase and so on.

It is the call to action that turns visitors into customers.

Final thoughts

A blog can actually be a fun way for you to engage with your customers. As you become more confident with writing a blog, you will find it much easier. It may even be the case that you want to write it more than you had originally intended.

Your blog can help your website stay current with regularly updated content, it is a great way to release news about your business and establish your brand. By including a blog with your website, you will establish yourself as an authority on the subject matter of your business. It will also bring you new visitors to your website that will become regular customers.

Do you want a blog on your website? We can help you. Get in touch now to discuss your blog and your website https://esthetig.com/contact/

 

EWD (esthetig web design) Blog - Internet Facts That May Surprise You. Graphic of a laptop with clouds around the top and to the right of varying colours with different internet related icons on them, on a green background.

Internet Facts

Internet Facts

that may surprise you

January 2019

World Population: 7.69 billion

Internet users: 4.34 billion or 56% of the world’s population

Mobile users: 63.4% of the world’s population

Social media users: 2.77 billion or 36% of the world’s population

UK eCommerce

18% of all purchases in the UK will be online

The average customer spends a total of £1,600 online

67% of all customers check the returns policy before they buy

Mobiles

53% of all emails are opened on a mobile

70% of mobile users hate mobile ads

80% of internet users have a mobile

$2.73 trillion is expected to be spent online in 2019

Sources: world population: worldometers.info, internet users: internetworldstats.com, mobile users: statista.com, social media users: statista.com, UK e-commerce: pure360.com, mobiles: websitehostingrating.com

Venturing Into Social Media. Graphic Of A Tablet With Three People Around It Holding A Hash Tag On Card, A Heart On Card And A Smiley Face On Card. The Image Is On A Sky Blue Background

Social Media

 

Venturing into Social Media

Communication has always been the most important part of any business.

Communication conveys your business ideals and goals, lets the customers and other companies know that you are there and have a product or service to offer.

Communication is vital to growth, without it a business will either stagnate or die. Advertising is a form of communication and advertising can be as simple a banner on the side of a vehicle, a magazine advert to something more involved such as a television campaign. The wider the audience you what to advertise to; the more expensive it becomes.

As long as there have been businesses there has been advertising.

Looking around ourselves I doubt we even notice how much advertising there is. It has become a part of our every day and just melts into our sub-conscious. We take a lot of forms of advertising for granted in today’s fast paced world but I bet if asked to look at and name brand logos we could name more than we realise. Many of the top brands communicate to us what is represented by their logos, whether it is taste, quality, reliability or value.

Communication, as already mentioned, is vital. but it is also fluid. Developing and changing with each generation to meet individual company needs to let the consumer know what is available.

Use of computers and the internet has grown in use in a relatively short space of time and has been accepted and amalgamated into the lives of businesses and consumers alike. In most every business a piece of technology is used to assist in the running of every day transactions, whether it be a computer system or an app on a smart phone used to place orders. Likewise, a growing number of consumers use either a laptop, tablet or smart phone to engage with the business world.

The engagement of consumers is not just limited to placing orders via their computers. Since the “invention” of social media, consumers are able to communicate in a real time way with businesses.

Traditional advertising means are still of use because this is a visual aid that is used to identify individual companies but now businesses have to “up” their game. They must engage and use social media to have a chance to grow.

Social media is not perfect, it can be a love it or hate it relationship and as there are numerous different forms of social media it can be confusing as to where to start. I believe there is no doubt every company should use some form of social media if only to “keep up with the Joneses”. We are embracing technology at a fast pace and serious consideration must be given in every business plan.

Where do you begin though? I typed “how many social media sites are there?” and picked the top listing from Google, which was Wikipedia (Jan 2017) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

Go look for yourselves, it’s astounding. Some of them are specialist and some are country-based, many of them I’ve not heard of. Even if you just searched for the “top social media sites” there is possibly anywhere from 15 to 25 depending on the website result you look at.

If you want to use social media to advertise your business, there is not enough time in a day to use the top 10 never mind the top 15 or so.

What do you do then if you want to start getting your business involved in social media? Pick the top 3?

Personally, I would pick one to start with. Pick the one you are most comfortable with, the one that you find the easiest to use. One you already use regularly when you’re not working and if you are one of the few that don’t use social media at all, ask your family and friends what they use.

Being comfortable with something familiar makes using it for business easier and not a “must do chore”.

Of course, there are companies out there that can take over your social media campaign. They are specialists, who know their market and how to use it. But I’m speaking to the small business owner here, who may not have the budget or even be sure if it would improve his ROI (return on investment).

Look around at other business, see what they are doing, see how they use social media to promote their business. Each have their own individual style, there are no right or wrongs.

One thing they all have in common though is consistency. They post items, pictures and comments regularly. Social media is a platform on which to talk about your business, communicate what you do and interact with both your customers and potential customers.

Finding Good Quality Images Is Important For A Great Looking Website. Sources Include Photographers, Stock Libraries Etc. Icon Shows A Light Blue Camera Set On A Grey Background

Finding Images

Finding great images for your new website can seem a daunting task. But you have a number of different options available:

Take the photos yourself

This can be a great way if you are good with a camera. Please bear in mind being good with a camera doesn’t mean you know which way to point it. As most professional photographers will tell you, a great composition goes way beyond just being able to balance the image in the viewfinder. Many photographers will take photos at different times of the day, just to ensure the perfect lighting, in the studio they will work hard to ensure the correct lighting for the image they want to achieve.

Hire a Freelance Photographer

If you don’t know a good freelance photographer, consider asking friends or colleagues, also consider that in most circles on Facebook or Google + there will be some freelance photographers or people that can recommend one. OK so you will have to factor in their prices to the cost of your website, but it is well worth that extra spend if you want unique photos on your site.

Royalty Free Photos

Don’t be tempted to simply pull images off Google Images, that way will lead to an expensive court case and you will most likely lose it!

There is an exception to this, some images on Google have a Creative Commons Licence attached to them, these are ok for you to use. Images that are free for you to use in Google Images will have a “CC” in a cirlce attached to them in the details. If you prefer to use Flickr.com, you will see the Creative Commons Licence information if you right click on the image.

Beyond Google Images and Flickr, there are a large number of Stock Photo websites such as http://pixabay.com (free stock photos), and our personal favourite https://stock.adobe.com (very reasonably priced high quality photos)

Royalty free sites such as unsplash.com, gratisography.com and littlevisuals.co have become very popular, they offer free photos on a weekly/monthly basis sent straight to your inbox – check them out there are some beautiful photographs available.

Website Marketing Mistakes And How To Avoid Them. Icon Shows A Broken Robot.

Marketing Mistakes

Want to avoid the most common website marketing mistakes? Then read on.

When you first have a new website it is easy to fall into common website marketing mistakes.  We all know the situation, you buy a new toy for a child at Christmas, by the afternoon they are playing with the box, by Boxing Day it is forgotten and they have moved on.

All too often, we fall into the playing with the box trap.  We pay for a new shiny website and invest in some search engine marketing.  We sit and wait for all the big business to roll in. By the end of the second day you start to think that there is a mistake, the developer/website marketing specialist didn’t put your website on Google.  Your search for your website and your worst fears are proven, your developer and or marketing specialist didn’t publicise your website as it isn’t in the top 10.  This is the typical process for a new website owner and one of the common website marketing mistakes.

OK, you may think it is easy for me to defend your developer as I am one.  But, unless you paid for advertising space on Google or you are only searching for your company name, you won’t find your new website in the top ten.  Just a small aside here.  I am always coming across people who have paid to have some marketing carried out on their website where the marketing company informs them the campaign has been successful as they are number one in the Google listings.  Indeed they are, for their company name – as I have said countless times on this site, you should be number one on any search engine for the name of your company. Let’s face it your company name and location are unique, as such, it should be number one within any search based on the company name and location – or your business isn’t listed.

Website Marketing Mistakes

I guess the previous paragraph really constitutes as one of the common website marketing mistakes.  All too often people are satisfied with top spot in Google or other search engines for their company name and location.  However, most people don’t search for your company by name – they search by a keyword or phrase that they think will be successful in returning the product or service they want.  However, let’s consider some other common mistakes, as that one is too easy.

Duplicate Content

Calling it copying sounds a little harsh but that is exactly what it is.  Don’t fall into the trap of looking at what your competitors have to say, especially those at the top of the search listings.  It is tempting to duplicate what they say. After all, it got them to the top right?  However, most modern search engines detect duplicated content and penalise your site for copying – based on which one was first.  Also, the owner of the site you copied would be within their rights to take you to court!

Things can be a little more subtle, it is one of the more common website marketing mistakes to copy your own content across several pages.  It does speed things up if your title and description are the same across all of your pages.  However, the search engines will pick this up and rate your site lower as the title and descriptions will have nothing to do with the content of the pages you copied it too.

Wrong Title

This is one of the most common website marketing mistakes people make, they rush to get their site out there without any thought to the title of the page and sub-pages on the site.

The title should be a descriptive short sentence to summarise what the page is about (it must include the keyword or key-phrase for that page).

Field of Dreams

Just like the child in our opening discussion who received a toy and eventually gave up on it.  All too often I come across people who have built a great looking website and given up on it too soon.

This is probably the single biggest of all the website marketing mistakes people make.  The old adage “build it and they will come” doesn’t really happen in the real world.

Running a website takes work and lots of time and patience.  The reason that web marketing specialists charge so much is that there is a lot of man-hours involved in getting a website to the top of the search engine listings.

Website marketing mistakes happen all the time, but this one can be avoided and must be.  When you purchase or build a website, you must realise that you need to commit time to promoting the site to get it higher in the search engine listings.  It is a long process, a week of work can result in little or no sign that your website is moving up the listings.  Then one day, when you least expect it, your site will jump up those listings.  But only if you work at it.

Assuming Google is the only one

It is one of the most common website marketing mistakes to believe Google is the only search engine.  However, they are the most commonly used:

Google does have a massive share of the market – some 82%, but there are other search engines – Bing, Yahoo to name but a few.  Now before you purists start calling foul, I know Yahoo isn’t a search engine, but a directory!

A more important issue to note here than just assuming that Google is the only search engine, is that you must never write your website for the search engines.  This is one of the typical website marketing mistakes people new to the industry make.  Websites should always be written with your customers in mind, i.e. real people, NOT search engines.

Lack of Keywords

You have come up with a great website and want to get it seen.  You have decided that you will advertise your site based on this keyword or that key-phrase.  It is one of the easiest website marketing mistakes to make to not include your keyword or key-phrase enough times on the page.

Sadly I cannot give you the exact number of times your keyword or key-phrase should appear in your copy, as this varies from search engine to search engine.  However, it should be in the range of 3-7% of the text.  Don’t forget to include your keyword/key-phrase in the headings and ALT text of images.  Just a small note about ALT texts.  They are intended to be a description of the image to ensure that people who don’t display images (such as people with poor eyesight who use a screen reader) can understand what the image is.  Please don’t be tempted to stuff ALT tags with keywords – mention them once.

The reverse is also one of the worst website marketing mistakes – don’t stuff your page with your keywords.  Please make your website easy to read, it is too tempting to keep finding clever ways to add the keyword or key-phrase to the text.  Please make it part of the paragraph, but remember to use standard English rules when writing.  Don’t repeat the same word more than once in a paragraph!

One of the best ways of ensuring your website reads correctly is to test it against the Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula.  It sounds, and is, complicated.  Fortunately, you can click here to test your text against the formula and read what exactly the Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula is.

Link Spam

Google ranks your website based on how popular it is in searches.  If your site is referred to on a website considered to be an industry specialist, you will receive kudos with the search engines.  Building good quality links to your website is a great way to improve your search engine ranking.  However, Google and all other search engines will give your sites severe penalties if you have lots of links that are poor quality, this is one of the worst website marketing mistakes.  Don’t ever be tempted to accept links from websites that have nothing to do with your industry.  Worse still are the links from so-called link farms.  These sites are blacklisted by the search engines, because of this your website will also be blacklisted if it appears on those link farms or you have a link to them.

Building good quality links takes time.  A simple way to start getting quality backlinks (links from other websites) is to use a blog on your site or use Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.  I know you don’t like using these sites, after all, who wants to hear what you had for breakfast!  They are, however, a great tool to get your business seen, consider using them.  Another way is to look at your competitor’s websites that are in the top ten listings, who links to them?  If you can discover who is linking to them, why not ask those companies to link to you also?  The worst that can happen is that they say no.

Flash Websites

My final look at website marketing mistakes is to consider Flash websites.  Not the ones that just simply look great, but the ones built using Adobe Flash.  Essentially a website built using Flash is just an image, a graphic.  Search engines cannot see the text contained in images (I know there have been some moves towards search engines being able to detect the text, but generally, they still have great difficulty.  Anything that is a block in the path to search engine nirvana is something that will cause a search engine to stumble and not pick up your site.

If you want a website built using Adobe Flash, you should have an HTML version available too.

I hope that this discussion to common website marketing mistakes has been useful.  Anything that is considered risky, sailing close to the wind, black-hat, should be avoided, eventually Google and the other search engines will get wise and prevent those methods and websites employing those techniques will also be prevented from achieving their original position.  Read what the search engine recommends, that has to be the best start to your ultimate goal and help you to avoid website marketing mistakes.

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