Making Digital Marketing Work for your Business | WSInetMarketing

Using QR Codes properly can increase sales and engage customers as well as accessing important data. Putting together a good marketing campaign using QR codes effectively cn be achieved by following these 5 tips:

1. Have a Purpose
Have clearly-defined objectives, ranging from collecting email addresses, distributing coupons or providing information.

2. Give a Reason to Scan
Scanning QR codes is easy but make sure you give the customer a reason to scan. Clearly print instructions next to the code.
Remember, the bigger the incentive, the more interested the customer will be but ensure that you are truthful else you will lose the trust of your customer.

3. Choose a Good Location
Placing your QR code is as important as what the code is offering. Make your code easily accessible.

4. Create a Designer Code
Attract more customers with a designer code – this can compliment your brand image and gives the customer security if it appears tied in to a brand on offer.

5. Mobile-Friendly Site Access
If you want to send customers to a website after code scanning. make the site mobile-friendly. A desktop website may not show to full advantage on a mobile phone.

If you would like help with your mobile marketing campaign using QR codes, call us on 0845 658 1812

Google today made a change to the way it displays brands.   If a user searches for a phrase which Google believes is a brand (or company name) then it will now display half a page of sub-links with descriptions.   This is a significant extension of the existing “site links” which were single line text links below the main listing.

Here is what it now looks like:

This shows that when Google recognises that a searcher is looking for a brand name.  In this case, it is a reasonable assumption that the searcher wants to see more information about this brand, rather than, as previously, a list of different directories or other sites mentioning the brand.   This is excellent for sites which Google recognises as belonging to a brand – but how can we ensure that a site is recognised as belonging to a brand.

Well, we can surmise that it will include the following elements:

• A well structured site, systematically linked internally to clearly identify different departments or product sets
• External links pointing to the website with the links frequently referencing the brand name term
• Social media, local and industry directories and other citation sources that reference the brand name when pointing at the website.

The first point should be the result of a well designed website, the latter two points may occur naturally for household brands but more likely will need to be managed via search engine optimisation processes.

We don’t know if this is just a Google test or a definitive new style, however overall, it is a very good news for users as well as an appropriate reward for those businesses that have spent time and effort over many years building up their brand and online presence.

When you are looking for a website, you need to hire a web developer who will make your site workable and maintain its success online. It’s not just about building a site, it’s about increasing online business, identifying new customer opportunities, improving existing customer service, reducing costs and getting good communication all round.

Understanding
Ensure that the person you hire understands your business, including short and long term goals, and can offer suggestions to attract and engage customers. The right candidate will analysise your website needs thoroughly and is aware of any individual requirements.

References
Check out other sites that the web developer has designed, trying them out for design, ease of load and navigation and above all, clarity.

Marketing
Online marketing is a vital knowledge. Make sure that your web developer knows how to effectively  use email, search and social media marketing activities.

Usability and Accessibility Issues
A good web developer can make your site content engaging, engrossing and easy to navigate, ensuring that assistive technology makes it accessible to all.

Speaking Your Language
With so many web gadgets emerging, a good web developer will be able to tell you what will and won’t work for your site. You do not have to use the latest gizmo just because it is available. Using clear and understandable explanations will ease the process.

Approachability
A good web developer can only help and advise you – it’s your website and your business. See him or her as a consultant who can understand and accommodate your requirements, not take over and dictate.

If you would like to know more please call 0845 658 1812.

Product pages are designed to convert visitors into customers, to make them click the Buy Now button with confidence. So far, we have given you ideas on:

• Making the most of your copy
• Presenting product options
• Using effective product images
• Allowing zoom in on product pictures
• Improving presentation
• Keeping the purchase process clear and simple
• Cross selling by promoting related items

By following the final advice tips below, you can improve the value of your product pages and convert more visitors.

Clever Sub-navigation
Use tabbed product details to provide shoppers with product information. An effective sub-navigation tool will allow them to get greater detail without leaving the page.

User Reviews
Encourage the practice of user reviews. This is an excellent way of presenting the product’s strength, and also serves to present you as a trustworthy e-tailer.

The Power of Video
Adding video is an ideal way to present a product, review it and explain its best selling points.

Share Product Insights
Use video or slideshows to demonstrate your products. This not only helps shoppers make an educated choice in what to buy, but it also presents you are a trusted buyer who knows what you are talking about.

Feature Media Reviews
Feature media reviews or link to their product presentations for even more impact.

Remove Risk
Buyers are wary of the risk involved in making a first purchase from an unknown online retailer so eliminate the risk perception by publishing an upfront warranty, detailing shipping details and returns procedure.

Social Sharing
Use the power of the social media network to promote your pages. Share them across the network, using ‘like’ buttons and social share opportunities.

Spend time honing your product pages, and if you need a review of the effectiveness of your product pages, please call 0845 658 1812.

Although the opportunities for website design are now vast, with many self build options available, it is still important to remember the basic principles of professional design. By following these 5 simple rules, you can design a website that will work.

End In Mind
Have a clear idea of what your website intends to achieve. Target your audience, set your goal. Ease of use and simplicity should be a key priority. From the outset, consider your web pages as carefully as you would with a physical presence, such as a shop.

Ensure that you offer:

• Clear navigation – minimise the amount of clicks your customer needs to access content
• Appealing aesthetics – use colours and shapes to appeal to visitors
• An inviting and logical and inviting browsing menu
• A customer service that is accessible.

Remember, if a customer doesn’t get instant answers, they will go elsewhere.

Don’t Design Over Substance
Be realistic with your expectations, especially if your design experience is limited. If you can get advice from an experienced website designer, it can work out to be a wise short term investment.

Understand Usability
It really is a case of keeping the design anchored to the task. Usability means ease of navigation and clarity. By all means incorporate flashy designs and features but do not make the mistake of overloading your site with confusing graphics and too many unnecessary links.

Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is still a crucial element of success in web design. Many designs rely on flash but search engines prefer HTML so to ensure your pages have a good web presence, use flash sparingly. Also remember that a cluttered web address or URL will be negative for the search engine and social media enthusiasts who are content hungry.

Keep Testing
It is important that you test your site to ensure that there are no broken links, no errors of functionality or accessibility.

A website should look good and appeal new customers. If you would like help in website design, call us on 0845 345 2592.

Landing pages are vitally important and for the marketer, is the first chance to get it right, attract visitors and make conversions. Although there are no sure fire ways to success, the following blog shows how you can make your landing page as attractive as possible to browsers.

Clear and Concise Headline
State exactly what you are about in the headline, as this is the first message to be seen. If you make a good impression with your headline by clearly stating your intent, then you give visitors a good reason to stay on your site and reach their desired aim.

Make it Snappy
Summarise your value proposition concisely. Don’t ramble on endlessly about your product or service: recall those repetitive websites that offer you a miracle cure to weight loss or unlimited earnings. Make it easy and clear for the visitor to see what you are offering. 

Pre-Call to Action
Before you provide a call to action, ease the visitor in with a persuasive message that will bridge the gap and lead to a close. Place this message at the end of the main body of copy.  

Call to action
Be aware in your call to action of where your visitors are in terms of the purchasing stage. Remember:

• problem recognition
• information search
• evaluation
• decision
• purchase.  

Beware of being too aggressive in your call to action if your site is informative only. Visitors may be put off by the strength of the message in ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Sign Up’ . Adopt a more subtle, persuasive approach and encourage your reader to click on.

To be successful, the landing page needs to be well prepared, enabling visitors to easily access the information they need, encouraging them to spend time on your site and increasing your conversion rates. Simply call 01454 261111 for help in your marketing effectiveness.

Social media really came into its own in 2010, with the growth of networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as the increasing popularity of video sharing sites including YouTube and Vimeo. However, social media marketing has not completely overtaken traditional internet marketing techniques such as email and search marketing. To make sure that 2011 is profitable for your business, it’s worth reviewing your online sales and marketing plan. Follow our 5 step plan below and get it right first time, saving time and money in the process.

Define your Marketing Goals
What do you want from your web presence? Are you after market share, brand awareness, direct sales or lead generation? Identify exactly what you want to achieve and make plans to implement a suitable strategy.

Determine How to Measure Your Success
Put some kind of measuring system in place to gauge how well your online presence is doing. This will help to check the impact of any changes you make.

Create a Strategy
Once you know what you want to achieve from your web presence, then generate a list of ideas to make it happen. Offer a free sample for signing up, increase social media presence, hire a copywriter for better content or simply change the layout of your site to make it easier to navigate.

Determine the Resources You Need
Find out the best route to take in order to engage your reader. This includes choosing the best social media platform, what publishing format to use, targeting keywords or personalising email marketing.

Track Your Results
It is essential that you monitor what works and what doesn’t. Keep a careful record and this will allow you to adapt your online marketing plan successfully. Break the performance of your website down into measurable goals in order to accurately assess changes.

If you want assistance in creating an online marketing plan that will work for you, call 0845 658 1812.

Access to the internet is now widespread, particularly with the growth of the mobile device. People are spending more time on social media sites than ever before, with Neilsen reporting this activity up by 82% year on year. Sharing information, particularly news has become a socially engaging activity and one that is also socially driven (Pew Centre). 2011 will see this trend of reading, sharing and publishing content continue. For businesses, there is a risk that your marketing message can be lost, as consumers tend to divide their online time between content outlets that they trust and use regularly. Instead of the push techniques of flashy banners and pop-ups, today’s marketing relies on the pull technique – creating unique content that will attract customers.

How Content Marketing Can Help You
Produce a steady stream of fresh content for your target audience and you will:

• Generate inbound links
• Attract qualified traffic to your website
• Create interactive two-way dialogue over multiple platforms
• Recognise genuine customers for quality, sales-ready leads.
• Build up a sales momentum geared towards visitors making a purchase.
• Make your content easy to share.

Where To Publish Content
Your website and to a lesser degree, your business blog, should be the core that allow you to share content. However, it is crucial to success that you publish it in a number of formats over as many social media platforms as possible. Why not host a webinar or join in conversations on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook? You can publish product reviews, how-to articles, or product demonstrations. It’s up to you to deliver content that fulfils a need.

Followed Content
Hire a copy writer if you don’t think your writing is up to scratch. Or if you decide to do it yourself, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I have unique content?
• If I was reading this content, would I share it?
• Am I getting the message across with my content?
• Does my content  get across the right personality?
• Does my content maximise the potential of the channels where it appears (eg, social, mobile, video)?

For a well-executed content marketing campaign, develop a content plan. This will help you focus your activities. A good tip is to follow a content editorial calendar to help you feed through a steady stream of magnetic content. We can help with your online marketing, simply call us on 0845 658 1812.

Previously we looked at some basic issues such as web address, meta tags and getting across the right message. Now let’s look at how we can improve and expand a successful web strategy – you have enticed them in, now make them buy!

The Customer Experience
Prepare your website to provide a successful customer experience. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does the architecture of your site architecture lead your visitors to the sale?
• Have you made your calls to action obvious and accessible through your sales process?
• Have you made your content easily readable, with relevant headlines and sub headings?
• Have you made good use of pictures and even video content?
• Can you offer a guarantee?

If you are happy with the content, then run through the online sales process thoroughly. Make sure you check all contacts and outbound links.

Keep It Current
In order to keep your site updated for the search engine bots, and therefore steal a march over static competitors, update your site regularly. Mix up the material: add blogs, videos, resource links, but ensure they are relevant to your target audience. This will enhance your presence online for Search Engine Optimisation purposes – and will also interest visitors.

The Follow-Through
How do you follow through, that is, ensure that a customer comes back for more? Whatever you decide to do, do it quickly. The follow-through can take many forms such as newsletters, ezines, emails, etc. The aim is to create a long term relationship with the customer, and turn his single purchase into many.

Statistics
Analysing website performance statistics sounds complex and time consuming but in reality, it is not as difficult as it seems. There are any number of tools that allow enable site owners to check what traffic pointers work best; if you want to be very analytical, there are tools that can provide you with data into all aspects of your website.

Use these tips and make your website work to its full potential. If you want to review how effective your website is, call us on 0845 658 1812.

It’s too easy nowadays to lose sight of the basics. As marketers in a digital age, we all fall into the trap of trying to follow each new fad, and in doing so, sometimes we end up losing the focus on our website, the hub of our marketing strategy. Here are some simple ways to consolidate and streamline your online business presence.

What Does Your Web Address Say About You?
The best URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) address both the reader and the search engine, and they say exactly what they are and send visitors to your site. A good URL is the foundation of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Start by researching keywords, and once you have found what works, see how you can build it into your URL. 

Right Titles and Descriptions
To achieve healthy organic (free) search engine rankings, include relevant metatags in your web pages. Basically, metatags are broken down into title (displayed blue in the search results) and page description (the lines of text beneath the title). Including rich keywords will bring results. 

Provide a Clear Call to Action
Check your website to ensure that you offer the facility to contact you. If you are confused as to where to go to sign up or buy or even just enquire, then you can guarantee first time visitors to your site will give up pretty quickly. On each page, decide on a single desired action which is clearly navigable and not hidden by too many options.

Lead the Charge – Give an Incentive
Incentives are excellent to entice visitors. Offer an initial purchase that is relatively low in value as a lead product. To find out what would be the best product, carry out a series of split tests. It’s your decision what to use as a lead product is entirely up to you but chose one that will convert site visitors to customers.

The internet is constantly moving and so should your website. Don’t be afraid to go back to basics and attract your target audience.

If you need help in reviewing your website, call 0845 658 1812