4 reasons why you need to invest in Ecommerce Website Design
Website design does not only refer to the font, images and style you choose for your website but also, the usability, navigation and page speed. These are only some of the important elements that sit under the umbrella of Ecommerce Website Design. Many businesses do not bother putting any effort or invest in a good web design, creating it generic and weak, claiming it as “unnecessary”. This is far from the truth. Website Design is an important key feature of your business, your online presence and is a massive on-page seo ranking factor. We have come up with 4 of the many important reasons as to why investing in website design is extremely important for the sake of your business. First impressions are everything When a consumer first clicks on your website, it only takes a visitor seconds to form an impression of your brand and they have high expectations. They will judge your business from presentation and layout to information and accessibility, which are all important key features to a successful site. If consumers visit your site and are met with generic, outdated and unappealing content, that will cause your website to perform negativity. Web design impacts how your audience perceives your brand and whether they can trust your business to provide them with the products or services they are searching for. A good web design helps keep traffic and leads on your page and can motivate that call to action through creative content. It is important for your website design to be customer orientated from the very start of the home page to give your brand a good reputation with your potential customers. 75% of users make judgments about a company’s credibility based on visual design alone, so making the visual content, creative and customer orientated could be the make or break for your brand’s impression and reputation with your consumers. It aids your SEO strategy Ecommerce Website Design elements are not only measured and judged by consumers but search engines as well. Search engines will monitor the content, layout and structure of your website and will make a decision on whether your website is good enough to receive a better ranking than other websites. This then negatively impacts your SEO strategy and organic performance. Without a positively performing SEO strategy, your ecommerce business will be struggling to compete for any traffic in your industry and can be detrimental to the business you built. So, your website has to not only pass the user-friendly test as well as the SEO-friendly test in order to be an optimal site with good rankings and traffic flow. Without taking these into consideration, your ranks will decline and when your ranks go down, your competitors’ rankings go up, which brings us to our next point. You’ve got competition The online world is competitive and no matter what sort of business or services you provide, you’ve got competition. To survive in your industry, you need to stand out and be on top of your competitors. Your competitors may have caught on to the fact that web design is a significant strategy to increase positive performance on their website and taken advantage of this. In order to stay one step ahead of the competition, you need uniqueness to stand out, monitoring your competitors and having a website design that contains beneficials elements that your competitors don’t, presented in a unique, user-friendly way is a step in the right direction. It is important to monitor what sort of strategies your competitors are currently using, this helps you identify what your business may need to invest in, in terms of Website design and SEO strategies. Friends close, competitors closer! Consistency is key Having a consistent, user-friendly website design, gives your business a better reputation. When building leads or opportunities for potential sales, you want your customers to recognise your brand and get familiar with who you are to generate brand awareness. By using consistent on-page SEO, formatting, fonts and overall design, you’re creating a brand profile for your consumers to form connections with. By building consistency in a professional manner, you’re building your business’s reputation as a trustworthy, reliable website. That way consumers can recall your brand with a positive user experience which then benefits your website. Design chaos or genericness can cause your brand to be unidentifiable to customers, decreasing your rankings and potential traffic to your site. Your website can make a significant difference between your businesses success and failure. If you’ve noticed your website design is not up to scratch, or your SEO rankings are not performing to your expectations, reach out to us at our local SEO agency, DGreat Solutions and let us know your concerns. Our professional SEO and website design specialists are qualified and can guarantee a better success rate to optimise your website. Give us a call on 1300 955 184 or fill in our free, no obligation quote form.
Utilising Link Building and Content Marketing in SEO
Link building and content marketing are two strategies that fit hand-in-hand in terms of SEO tactics and that have been proven to be strong actions that contribute to the success of a website. Strong links generate a vast quantity of traffic directly to your website and are a huge priority in terms of SEO tactics, then paired with strong content marketing distributed on the website, your website rankings will sky rocket. SEO specialists in Adelaide use these strategies to increase traffic, website conversions and build optimal rankings. But how does it work and what is the process? Let us explain. Understanding Your Target Audiences Needs To serve your audience, you have to know what they want. Understanding what your customer is looking for when they click on your website is the first step to a successful site. Identifying a customer’s journey and displaying that in the layout and On-page SEO will already provide your audience with a better customer experience. Potential customers want to know what to consider before they choose your business. Providing information on your brand, reviews and case studies helps the customer narrow down their options and make you a top consideration. Specialists steer clear of irrelevant topics and information that could potentially result in customers having more questions, concerns or cause a decrease of your SEO rankings. Unique, Optimizing Content Providing your customers with unique content sets you aside from your competitors and gives you that step up. Validating your topic is an important step to start with. Identifying why the information you’re providing for your website is important to your customers or why it should be. It’s important to sell your business with context. Being consistent with the tone of your content optimises the relevance of the information to your customers. Internal linking, title tag optimisation and layout, is all strategically applied in order to convey to your audience that the content is relatable information and they can continue to move along their customer journey with ease. These elements are vital parts of On page SEO and website design and proves an important asset that makes a website, customer oriented and user-focused. Links = More Traffic + Better Rankings Traffic, traffic, traffic! Backlinks provide your website with external sources to bring more traffic to your business. They provide a sense of trustworthiness in relation to your website if you can earn backlinks from credible sources. Even using internal links can help your consumers identify their relevant needs and have easier accessibility to the services you provide. Relevancy is a huge positive onpage SEO ranking factor, so having relevant links on your page has the ability to boost your rankings. Now, it’s important to not get carried away with links, making sure that the link is relevant, valuable and within the correct context. Don’t Stop There! Once valuable content is created and internal links and backlinks are earned, you will begin to notice an increase in your website performance over time, however, that does not mean that is the final step of website optimisation. Consistent maintaining and keeping that momentum to keep that traffic flow is vital. SEO tactics such as links and content marketing build up overtime, need to be updated frequently and are not considered to be a “one off” strategy. In this case, adding and editing content for your website consistently, ensures that you stay up-to-date with what your consumers want and provide fresh information to meet their needs. By further strengthening your website, it further strengthens your brand and reputation. This means more conversation and awareness for your business, more traffic and higher rankings. It is important for your website to provide the best user experience for your consumers in order to fuel the sales funnel and increase profits for your business. Links attract customers but content persuades them, and without one, you cannot succeed with the other. Your website is the “hub” of your brand and needs to have positive visibility, strong readability and be user-friendly. Adelaide SEO Specialists, DGreat Solutions have all the knowledge you need to optimise your digital marketing. Reach out to us here at DGreat Solutions and speak to our SEO specialists in Adelaide for all your SEO and digital marketing needs. Help us, help you, build your brand.
4 Reasons to choose a local SEO Agency in Adelaide
Technology is on a constant rise in today’s society and with digital marketing being more successful than ever, traditional marketing strategies are being left in the dust. New and old businesses are leveraging off the trend of the digital world and growing their online presence to generate a bigger recall of brand awareness with consumers. The world of digital marketing is only growing therefore making it vital for businesses to be identifying their place within it. SEO is search engine optimization and refers to the organic rankings of a website, it is a vital part of a business’s online presence. The better your SEO strategy is, the better results you’ll see from your brand measurements and the more customer engagement you will receive. Working with local SEO Agencies in Adelaide is an effective strategy to build your brand and generate higher organic ranking. Here are 4 reasons why you should reconsider your marketing current strategies and choose a local Adelaide SEO agency to improve your brand: 1. Cost Effective/Affordable Brand growth and performance can only occur through building brand awareness. SEO has the ability to boost your brand’s awareness when implicated correctly. Using a local SEO agency is a cost-efficient strategy in which you will 100% see optimal results from local services. Search Engine Optimization becomes a long-term investment for you and your business and positive impacts to your webpage will become distinctive. The value of a local SEO agency services will eventually form right back into your business, increasing your profits and can be measured through your performance metrics. SEO is a more cost-effective way to promote and build your brand and by doing so using a local business, you’re guaranteed to receive top tier support at a low price. 2. Support Local Business Through supporting local Adelaide businesses, brands are getting more consideration and thought put into the services and SEO strategy they are receiving. When using national/international SEO corporations, they are unable to provide the same level of support and personal attention as a local business. With larger SEO companies, they cannot put as much value and time into their clients, which results in the reduction of the worth of their services. Supporting smaller organizations will be a more beneficial opportunity to your brand, you are guaranteed in receiving a better SEO strategy focused around your brand that is more relevant and personal to your brand and can help you stand out against competition. As a small business, it is our guarantee that your brand and SEO strategy will be well taken care of and used in order to maximize traffic to your website and specific pages you want customers to view, with the ultimate goal of turning those views into sales, to smash your business goals. 3. Reaching Target Audience Targeting the demographic of people, you need to grow your brand can be tricky and there’s only so much you can do to ensure you’re reaching your target audience. With SEO experts, carefully selecting keywords that are measured in order to be relevant with your business, and maximizing brand awareness you are guaranteed to see positive impacts coming from your target demographic. SEO creates platforms in which engagement can be generated to influence your audience through highly interactive content. By selecting a local agency to do so, we are more experienced with what works and what doesn’t in Adelaide and the surrounding area. Local SEO experts are more aware of what helps drive more traffic to your premises through online leads and what keyword confinement will increase the most local traffic. 4. Customer Service Building relationships with customers and clients is the number 1 priority of a local business. It is our aim, as a local business, to help support other South Australian businesses grow and improve their brand performance and SEO strategy. As locals ourselves, we understand the importance of customer satisfaction and user-experience therefore it is our goal to provide the best experience for you, to provide the best experience to your consumers. SEO is a dominating trend (especially for smaller businesses) to invest in for the benefit of their brand. Come speak to our professional team of SEO experts, at DGreat Solutions, Adelaide, for assistance on all your SEO needs and how to improve your digital marketing.
Why SEO takes time and is worth the wait
As much as we all wish it was possible to obtain top ranking positions on search engines overnight, unfortunately it just isn’t possible. Many factors come into play when expecting results from search engine optimisation, which is why the process requires some patience. As the saying goes, good things come to those who wait. This is certainly the case with SEO and the long-term effects are certainly a worthwhile investment for any business, in any industry. Learn more about why SEO takes time and why it’s definitely worth the wait. CONSIDER YOUR COMPETITION Consider your industry in itself and how many other businesses are in your niche. It’s likely you’ll have thousands, millions or perhaps even billions of other competitors who have the same objective that you have. They all want to rank for the top position in search results and want searchers to choose their business over anyone else. The current top-ranking websites utilising your keywords are likely to have invested in SEO for quite a while and have built up their online reputation overtime. There are more websites online now than ever before so the task of ranking #1 isn’t impossible, however it just requires time and good SEO practices. Your competitors have invested their time into SEO, and it’s rewarded them with the top-ranking positions, you may start off as the underdog, but soon enough your patience will reward you. TRUST THE PROCESS If you’ve decided to dedicate time and money into SEO to boost your business, it’s important that you learn to trust the process. The first initial stage of SEO requires an audit, where your SEO specialist will optimise your website in order to ensure it fulfils Google’s ranking guidelines. This will include fixing any technical issues or content issues which could impact your ranking. Your SEO expert will also conduct keyword research and a competitor analysis in order to devise the ideal strategy. This process can take some time especially if you have thousands of pages on your website which need to be audited. After this process, then your page is ready to be ranked. The next steps involve content creation, on-page and off-page backlinking as well as constant monitoring of your website’s technical components. This process is what determines your rankings and must be done efficiently. BUDGET CAN PLAY A PART The amount of money you are willing to invest in an SEO strategy can also impact the time frame with which you begin to see results. This isn’t to say that the more you spend the greater results you will receive, however the more you invest, the more time your SEO specialists can spend working on your website and your SEO strategy. Each digital marketing company has their own strategy in place, yet most will charge per hour so if you want to have the ball rolling fairly quickly, you may want to consider your budget and how much you allocate towards SEO. WHEN YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE RESULTS Considering all the above factors, each website will vary in the time frame with which they are likely to see results. No SEO company can guarantee a definite time, however most will provide their clients with a guideline between 4-6 months to which they begin to see the results of SEO. Results could mean increased rankings, more enquiries or more website traffic. You should begin to notice positive impacts within this time period. In terms of ranking in top positions this can take anywhere between 6 months to 1 year, sometimes even longer depending on your competition and the strategy your SEO company has put in place. No SEO company should ever mislead their clients to believe that top rankings can be achieved instantly. These are positions which must be earned, and the time invested to doing so will positively impact your business in years to come. Unlike paid forms of advertising, SEO is based upon ranking websites organically and requires hours of hard work and time. Although PPC forms of advertising can provide benefits for businesses instantly, the long-term benefits of SEO are worthwhile. SEO takes time to implement a forceful strategy, yet once it’s implemented, the results will exceed your expectations beyond what you could ever imagine. Talk to the search engine optimisation specialists today at DGreat Solutions.
PAID VS. ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA
When diving into the realm of the online world, the two types of social media businesses can utilise are paid and organic. Both present a number of opportunities for businesses and learning how to utilise both will be highly beneficial for your business. Whilst paid and organic social media varies in a number of ways, what you decide to invest more time into will depend purely on your business’s overall goals. So what exactly will work best for your business? Continue reading to learn more. WHAT IS ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA? Organic social media is essentially free content which is shared across the social accounts of businesses. When you create content on your social pages, it’s often viewed by a number of your followers, the followers of those who reshare your content and those who may follow any of the hashtags you utilise in your posts. Organic social media is effective for businesses as they are able to develop a deeper, personified connection with their audience. When you gain exposure organically, your followers are more likely to trust your brand as you’re providing content for the sake of adding value to their lives not just trying to make a sale. WHAT IS PAID SOCIAL MEDIA? Paid social media is promoted with payment and helps businesses reach a wider audience beyond their existing audience. The content you create will become visible in the newsfeeds of those who fall within your targeted market. You can target those who may be interested in your products or services as well as other demographics including their location, age and those with similar interests to your business. Paid social media is an ideal way to obtain new followers within a shorter period of time. By using paid social media, you are guaranteed visibility depending on the amount of money you invest and which platform you advertise on. Paid social media is highly effective for those who want to obtain greater brand exposure, reaching as many people as possible. HOW TO INCORPORATE ORGANIC & PAID INTO YOUR STRATEGY With changes in algorithms being made more and more frequently, having your content reach a wider audience organically can be a difficult task. This is where paid social media can be very effective and assist your organic posts in obtaining a greater visibility. By combining both paid and organic social media you can obtain a greater understanding of your audience, grow your online presence and have both forms of social media support one another to provide you with the best results possible. TRACK ORGANIC POSTS TO UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE By analysing the metrics from your organic posts, you can obtain a better understand as to who you should target in your paid advertising campaigns. You can also gain an insight into which forms of content will work well for a campaign and what your target market will prefer to see. If you notice you have a post which has received a significant amount of organic engagement, use the same post as an ad and you’ll be likely to receive even greater engagement and click through rates. GROW YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE When you utilise both paid and organic social media tactics, you’re maximise the potential to gain more followers. Those who see your ads are likely to search your profile on further social media accounts and become more familiar with your brand, ultimately boosting your overall online presence. Both paid and organic social media work exceptionally well in conjunction with each other. Whilst you can still maintain an online presence with just one, you simply won’t achieve as great results as when both are combined. By utilising organic social media, you can understand more about your audience and further enhance your paid social media strategy. If you want to implement the ideal social media strategy, speak to our expert team at DGreat Solutions today to find out how we can help.
BENEFITS OF FACEBOOK SHOP FOR BUSINESS
Created with the intent of simplifying the process of selling and purchasing products online, Facebook Shop is a common favourite amongst both business owners and consumers. With many businesses currently struggling and forced to close their physical shopfronts, taking their business online and utilising social media has been their saviour during this difficult period of time. Facebook provides small businesses in particular with a convenient method to do so. Even if you don’t have a website, you can still conveniently sell your products online to consumers via both Facebook and Instagram, as long as you have a Facebook Business Page. Facebook Shop has made the intention of buying and selling, quick and easy. So how can Facebook Shop benefit your business? IDEAL FOR IMPULSE SHOPPERS In the words of Facebook “users can enjoy the experience of shopping, not the chore of buying” and for impulse shoppers, Facebook Shop is the ideal tool to make purchases. Impulse shoppers see a product they find value in and want to make the purchase as quickly as possible, buying right in the moment. Facebook Shop caters perfectly well to this customer base and has proven to work effectively for many businesses. As Facebook Shop is also linked to Instagram, you can easily set up Instagram Shop in the same process. Share an image of a product, tag the items and your audience can easily tap the image to see details of the product. They can then click a direct link which will take them to the product either on your Facebook page or website to make the purchase. The process is simple, fast and makes shopping much more convenient. FREE TO SET UP AND EASY TO USE Another great benefit of Facebook shop is it’s free to set up and incredibly easy to use. There are simple instructions provided by Facebook which assist businesses in setting up their online shops. All you are required to do is choose the products you wish to sell and add them to your online catalogue. Page owners can then customise their shop in order to suit their brand, then link the shop to their eCommerce platform in order to make the purchase or they can purchase directly from Facebook. List all product features of your item and any other important information regarding your business. Facebook Shop replicates a real-life store where you can send messages to the shop and ask questions regarding specific products. Within a few clicks you can create your online store and begin sharing your products with the wider Facebook and Instagram community. SELL YOUR PRODUCTS ONLINE WITHOUT A WEBSITE One of the best features of Facebook Shop is business owners can sell their products online without having a website. If you’re relatively new to the online world and haven’t had the time or money to invest in a good website, you can opt to simply create a Facebook Business page and then utilise the shop feature. This will work exceptionally well for businesses who have a significant amount of their target market on Facebook already. Once you have added your products online you can easily share them amongst your followers in order to promote them and attract potential buyers. There’s no denying that one of the keys to keeping your business afloat during these uncertain times is to establish an online presence. For newcomers to the online world, creating a Facebook Shop is a great place to start and easily sell to consumers. The introduction of Facebook Shop has assisted business owners across the globe in providing a seamless shopping experience for consumers. Not only does it assist shoppers with their shopping experience, but it also assists business owners in their ability to conveniently sell products to their target market. Facebook Shop is a cost effective, easy to use platform for business owners to sell to consumers with or without owning a website. If you’re seeking social media assistance, contact the team at DGreat Solutions today to find out how we can help!
Google algorithm updates, what content survives and how to prepare.
Google Algorithm updates aren’t always predictable and as SEO specialists this is something we have become accustomed to. One of the best tips we can share with you is to always expect the unexpected and always be as prepared as you can possibly be for the next Google Algorithm update. Although there are frequent changes being made, there are steps you can take to keep your website within the safe zone. Being one of the biggest factors of SEO, creating valuable content is one way you can ensure you survive the next Google Algorithm update. After years of experience monitoring the updates and adhering to them, we’ve established what content can keep you afloat. Here’s our top tips! ALWAYS CREATE EXCEPTIONAL CONTENT We understand creating content isn’t always the easiest of tasks, especially when you are managing other aspects of your business. However, when you do create content, it’s important you only produce exceptional quality content which will be interesting for your audience to read. Avoid writing numerous pieces of content which lacks in quality just for the sake of creating content. Ensure the content is well-written with no grammar or spelling errors. You don’t have to be a professional writer to create good pieces of content! DO NOT copy content from other websites or blogs. Be original and showcase what you know and can provide. Not only will your audience appreciate this but so will Google crawlers checking for duplicate content. If you want to be Algorithm Update Proof, this is the way to do so! UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE Do you know exactly what your audience needs? Learn about them! Take time out to think about who your typical clients/customers would be and the content you think they would be more inclined to spend time reading. What questions would they ask? The more time which you invest in learning about your audience, the greater equipped you will be to create content for them. The more you can appeal to your audience; the more people will recognise your brand and appreciate your content. Understanding your audience is the key to creating exceptional content which Google will always appreciate regardless of which updates come into play. PROVIDE YOUR AUDIENCE WITH VALUE One of the biggest factors which the Google Algorithm is essentially put in place to monitor is how well website owners cater to their audience. When you are creating content for your audience always consider what they actually would want to see or read. You need to first of all understand your audience as we have mentioned above, and then be able to predict what they would like to know about your industry. You could consider turning some frequently asked questions into content pieces and further educate your audience on topics you have an in depth understanding of. The best way to stay ahead of the Algorithm is to always keep user experience top of mind. Develop the trust of your audience by providing them with valuable content. ALWAYS WRITE CONTENT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE IN MIND The golden rule when writing content is to ALWAYS keep your audience in mind. Those who read your content are the people who most likely will become your clients or customers. Whenever you write content, you have the opportunity to showcase exactly what you know and how you can provide solutions to their problems or the answers to their questions. The content you create is for your audience, so it should be apparent that they must always be in mind throughout the creation process. Content which is purely driven to appeal to the audience will always succeed throughout Google Algorithm updates. In order to survive Google Algorithm updates, it’s important to always ensure you provide your audience with an exceptional standard of content. Keep up to date with Algorithm changes and make your audience a number 1 priority when writing content. For assistance with your SEO, talk to our expert team at DGreat Solutions today.
WHY LOCAL BUSINESS SHOULD USE FACEBOOK ADS
One of the most effective methods of Social Media marketing local businesses can utilise is Facebook ads. With its exceptional marketing capabilities, Facebook ads are the ideal way for local businesses to attract those within the community to support your business. Local businesses are often more conscious about the amount of money they invest into advertising and want to select the best method possible which provides the best return on investment. Facebook marketing has the ability to assist local businesses to promote their content and create a strong sense of brand awareness, driving lead generation. Are you a local business owner and want to learn how Facebook ads can benefit you? Continue reading to find out more. FACEBOOK ADS ARE MORE COST EFFECTIVE Implementing a Facebook ad strategy is one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising you can utilise as a local business. Having the ability to control your daily spend limit means you can closely monitor your spending and determine what best works for your business. This means businesses are able to try Facebook ads without outlaying a significant amount of money and learn about how to best target their desired audience. For new business owners, this is a great way to have your brand exposed to locals and increase your customer or client base. If you only have a small budget to spend on advertising, Facebook ads are the way to go and will provide you with the greatest results. ACCESS TO LOCATION TARGETING OPTIONS One of the greatest advantages of Facebook ads are its targeting options. As a local business, this is exactly what you need to reach your defined target audience and showcase your products or services. You can effectively reach those within a specific radius to your shopfront including your country, state, city and even your postcode with further defined categories such as their gender, age, occupation, income and more. By using this feature effectively, you can ensure your advertising budget is spent on attracting those who are actually interested in your products or services BUILD TRUST WITHIN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY By using Facebook ads, you can promote your brand and gain the trust of those within your local community. The more frequently people are exposed to your ads, the more they will become familiar with who you are and the services or products your business provides. When creating your Facebook ads, it’s important to demonstrate your brands visions and values so your community understands they can trust you to provide them with the best service. Consumers are more inclined now than ever to support local businesses, use this to your advantage to provide them with an insight as to why they should choose you. EDUCATE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE Finally, another benefit of Facebook ads for local businesses is you have access to a platform where you can educate your target audience. All businesses want to make sales, we need to in order to continue operating however in order to make those sales it’s important to educate your audience about your business. Facebook provides you with the option to share educational videos to demonstrate what your products or services are and how they can add value to the lives of your target audience. Think about what people need within your local community and how your business can assist, this will put you ahead of your competitors and show your target audience you aren’t just trying to sell. Local businesses are always on the lookout for the best ways to attract more clients or customers. As social media has progressed to be one of the most popular forms of marketing, we all spend so much time using it, it makes sense to promote your brand across the various platforms. For local businesses, in particular, Facebook ads are the most convenient and cost-effective ways to promote your business.
5 MOST COMMON SEO MISTAKES___
As digital marketing specialists, we encounter many websites which demonstrate poor search engine optimisation qualities. More often than not, this is as a result of business owners hiring inexperienced SEO specialists or they have attempted to enforce their own tactics without enough knowledge. SEO is not as simple as some may perceive it to be. There are many rules and guidelines which must be followed to ensure websites are providing useful information to their audience. If SEO is attempted by someone with minimal knowledge within the field, you could experience a negative backlash from search engines, resulting in your online reputation being tarnished. With extensive knowledge in the digital marketing industry, we’ve identified 5 common SEO mistakes so you can avoid them. 1. RANKING FOR THE WRONG KEYWORDS A significant element of SEO is your keyword strategy. Ultimately, this is the basis of SEO and determines the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. We often witness websites which are ranking for keywords which are not relevant to their industry or are too generic to be ranked. This is not beneficial for your SEO and will not provide your website with any value. It’s important to conduct research within your industry and devise a strong keyword strategy which targets your ideal target market. Think about the types of searches your ideal client/customer would make, try to incorporate this into your keywords. Ideally, the longer and more specific your keywords are, the greater your chances will be to rank. If you are a local business, incorporate local phrases or keywords into your strategy. The goal is to rank for keywords which generate the greatest number of searches with the least number of competitors. 2. NOT INCLUDING TITLE TAGS/META DESCRIPTIONS Optimising your website for SEO isn’t just about including your keywords throughout your written content. There are many other factors which influence your rankings and how search engine crawlers filter through relevant information on your pages. You must include relevant title tags and meta descriptions on each of your pages to ensure crawlers can accurately analyse the content on your pages and rank it accordingly. Without title tags and meta descriptions, crawlers are unable to read your content and determine whether or not it is useful for your audience. 3. WRITING POOR QUALITY CONTENT Posting poor quality content to your website can be seriously damaging to your SEO. Content which is considered ‘thin’ meaning it’s too short in word count, poorly written or unoriginal, can impact your search engine rankings. Google favours content which can provide searchers with value and isn’t just written purely to increase its website’s rankings. If writing blog posts isn’t your forte, you could invest in hiring a copywriter to create content for you on a regular basis. This will ensure your content is of a high standard and meets SEO guidelines. When writing blog posts, aim to have a word count of at least 600 words to ensure your content isn’t too thin. Avoid plagiarism at all costs and write content which is insightful and provides value to avoid being penalised by search engines. 4. NOT OPTIMISING YOUR WEBSITE FOR MOBILE Over half of all search volume results come from smart phones. This means the optimisation of your website on mobile is just as important as it is for desktop. Most of us now tend to search for items or services we need on our mobiles and if your website is not responsive or takes too long to load, you could lose a significant amount of business. Not only is it frustrating for searchers, search engines use mobile responsiveness as a method of ranking as they aim to provide a seamless experience possible for searchers. Check the responsiveness on your website and click through each page to ensure everything is running efficiently. You can test your mobile speed by using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. 5. IGNORING SEARCH ENGINE UPDATES One of the most important things to consider regarding SEO is the frequent updates which are made to search engine algorithms. Algorithms are consistently updated to ensure websites are providing valuable information and adhering to their rules and regulations. If you are not abiding by these updates, your website could be penalised, and you could lose your top-ranking position. Ensure your website is always updated to reflect new algorithm updates and maintain your positive SEO. SEO is an intricate technique to master and without correct knowledge and implementation, your website could suffer. Ensure to avoid making the common mistakes listed above to maintain your search engine rankings. Need help with your SEO? Talk to our expert team at DGreat Solutions today.
HOW TO GROW YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING
With more than 1 billion users across the globe, Instagram continues to provide incredible marketing opportunities for businesses. As we learn to embrace our digitally dominated society, it’s become apparent that there really are no limits as to what we can achieve with the help of social media. As marketers, one of the core objectives we work towards on Instagram is increasing the number of followers on a profile. The more followers, the more opportunities you have to showcase your brand and what you have to offer. If you are determined to grow your Instagram following, read our tips below to find out how you can do so organically. BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR POSTS One of the greatest ways to grow your Instagram following is to stay consistent with your posts. Set a realistic goal of how frequently you are able to post. Whether it’s 4 times a week or once a day, create a content sharing goal and hold yourself accountable to it. The more frequently you post, the more familiar people become with your brand, trust it and expect you to continue posting regularly, providing quality content. A great tip is to plan your content in advance so you’re not just posting for the sake of posting and can actually provide value for your followers. Remember those who post regularly are more likely to receive greater engagement. CREATE A HASHTAG STRATEGY Hashtags are another great way in which you can easily grow your Instagram. With the right hashtag strategy, you can obtain visibility in the Instagram explore tab and be seen by those who aren’t yet following your profile. Instagram allows users to include up to 30 hashtags per post, however, it’s important to use good quality hashtags which are relevant to your business in order to achieve the best results. We recommend collating a list of hashtags that your target market would be searching for. For example, if you are a café you would want to incorporate a series of hashtags relevant to food/drinks, the cuisine you offer, your location etc. MAKE USE OF VIDEOS, LIVE CONTENT AND STORIES Creating video footage is the best possible way to showcase your brand and provide your followers with a deeper insight into the faces behind the name. Live content and stories in particular are raw, real and relatable. Make your video footage fun and interactive by showing fun elements of your workplace you can answer any FAQs, introduce your team or show a sneak preview of any new products or services you will be introducing. The more you create video content; the more familiar Instagram users will be with your brand and learn to trust your business. EMBRACE USER-GENERATED CONTENT Did you know that 9 out of 10 people are more likely to trust a brand that shares organic, user-generated content as opposed to professionally constructed content (Nielsen Consumer Trust Index). Essentially, what this means is Instagram users want to see content from REAL people utilising your services or products. Encourage your followers to create their own content and include your Instagram handle or hashtag. You could prompt people to create their own content by offering a discount on their next order or whatever you are willing to offer. Most Instagram users will gladly promote a brand if they are happy with the service they have received. COLLABORATE WITH OTHER BRANDS/INFLUENCERS Another highly effective way to grow your following on Instagram is to collaborate with other brands or influencers in your industry. Reach out to local businesses and influencers with a high number of followers and ask if they would be willing to promote your brand in exchange for a discount on your services or products. You could even suggest running competitions together to leverage both of your followers. This is an ideal way to create brand awareness and network within the online community. Once you gain new followers it’s critical to be conscious of the content you share with them. The work isn’t over once they hit the follow button. You must continue to create valuable content in order to gain their trust and encourage your followers to support your brand. And please, do not fall into the trap of buying followers! More often than not this provides practically no value to your business, wasting your time and money. Genuine followers will support your brand and are more likely to engage with your profile, becoming your customers or clients. For assistance with your social media strategy, let the team at DGreat Solutions assist.
