by Simon Jones | Nov 6, 2018 | Business Strategy, Business Website Help, Marketing Online
Business owners can no longer ignore the need to have a user-friendly, optimised website, and quality content – at least, not if they want to convert website visitors into customers and remain competitive. Yet every year we hear about startups failing to gain traction despite an innovative product and strong financial backing. And major corporations aren’t immune either. After failing to leverage the power of e-commerce in its early days, it was only last year that stuttering Toys ‘R’ Us announced a plan to revamp its website – part of a $100 million e-commerce strategy. But you might remember how that panned out. For many businesses, the website is often the first interaction a prospective client has with the brand. And it doesn’t matter what you sell – B2B or B2C, products or services – your ultimate goal is to convert the ‘potentials’ visiting your website into customers. If you aren’t converting visitors into customers, or views to sales, asking why should be a priority. Could it be something as simple as… You’re attracting (or targeting) the wrong audience This could be for any number of reasons. Does your website address issues more likely to interest small business, when your ideal clients are medium and large businesses? Are you building a young Instagram and Snapchat audience when your offering is more attractive to baby boomers? Setting up Google Analytics properly can provide valuable insights on your website visitors – their age, location, how they found your site, how long they stayed, the number of pages they visited. From there you can tweak your content or reconsider publishing platforms to... 
by Leonie Seysan | Jul 4, 2017 | Business Strategy, Business Website Help, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Small Business, Traffic Generation
If you’re a service based business without any means of lead capture on your website, then you’re probably allowing many prospective clients to slip away. Perhaps you’ve come across the term ‘lead capture’ while reading up on content marketing, but aren’t quite sure what sort of difference it would make to your business, or how you would implement it. Let’s take a look at what lead capture is, what the benefits are, and what’s involved in doing it. What is lead capture? Lead capture is the practice of inviting website visitors to register their details in order to receive content and/or further communication from you. In the simplest form, lead capture is that ‘subscribe to our newsletter’ or ‘subscribe for updates’ option you see on many sites. However, unless your content writers turning out highly unique material and you have droves of people wanting to sign up, this doesn’t go far enough. One reason this isn’t sufficient for most service businesses, is that not all their prospective clients have precisely the same interests, challenges, pain points and buying motivations. Unless you’re able to segment your database into buyer types, and deliver the most relevant content to each, results with a newsletter subscription alone are likely to be mediocre. Another issue is in the timing. When someone subscribes to your blog or newsletter, that action doesn’t indicate what they’re interested in right now, or how you might help them. However, if they download an eBook related to a specific challenge, it’s a different story. What you have then is often a genuine lead – someone who has identified themselves as a... 
by Leonie Seysan | Apr 19, 2017 | Business Website Help, Content Marketing, Small Business, Social Media Marketing
Professional looking visuals to illustrate content are a no-brainer when it comes to standing out from the crowd. But the problem with great design is that it’s traditionally come at a hefty price. Now, thanks to improving technology, there are plenty of online design tools. You can create professional visuals inexpensively or free, from infographics to cartoons and video – and often with only a few minutes work! DIY visual tools for businesses and individuals have really taken off in the last year or two, not only because they’re affordable, but because most are very easy to use. Graphic design skills not required – if you can point a mouse and click, you’re good to go! Here are five of our favourite (inexpensive) design tools. 1. Venngage Infographics are huge at the moment and they’re a fantastic way to present complicated information in an easy to understand, visually appealing format. An infographic can help you grow your social media shares, boost your website visitors and give you a content asset you can use time and time again. Venngage is a handy platform that lets you create infographics on just about any topic you like, for minimal or no cost. How it works Venngage is about as easy as it gets. Sign up for an account and choose your template from the hundreds on offer. Next, input the information you want to display to generate your infographic. Customise with images and icons, and add any extra charts and text needed. Adapt the fonts and colours to match your branding or personal preference, and you’re ready to publish. The Venngage... 
by Tess Oliver | Feb 27, 2017 | Business Website Help, Content Marketing, Marketing Online, Small Business
There’s now a plethora of online tools out there that can make running your business and your content marketing and promotion efforts so much easier. Best of all, many of these offer free versions, or free trials on their paid options. They can be very handy for businesses without the budget to outsource to a content marketing agency. In pre-internet days, content marketing was often an expensive exercise, involving printed brochures and catalogues, direct selling, or TV, radio and print advertising. It was also largely hard to measure, which meant it could be very hit-and-miss. American department store pioneer John Wanamaker, who is credited with printing the first copyright store advertisement in 1874, is famously quoted as saying that half of his advertising spend was wasted, but he wasn’t sure which half! Some of the tools we’ve singled out not only make content marketing easier and cheaper, but infinitely more measurable, so you can avoid wasting time, money and effort on content strategies that aren’t working. Read on to find out more about 10 free tools you should consider using in your business. GoSpaces – free e-commerce website building Shopify’s GoSpaces app enables fledgling e-commerce businesses to build an online store for free. Once you join up, you are provided with a generic website template which you can alter to suit your business by adding your own content, images, and products. The platform also comes with multilingual (up to 20 languages) and multi-currency support, and a shopping cart support service. It is free to set up and use until you reach sales of $50 per month, after which there... 
by Leonie Seysan | May 10, 2016 | Business Website Help, Content Marketing, Small Business
Since moving pictures were first created they have been a very popular medium, and have also often been used as a highly effective form of communication. It’s also safe to say that more than any other medium, film and video have the capacity to reflect ‘real life’. They engage several of the senses at once, and when done well have the ability to deeply engage human emotions. MORE: Choosing the Best Channels for Promoting Business Content These days, of course, just about any of us can be our own film-maker, editor, director and scriptwriter without the need for a giant film studio, and video content can be used in a myriad of ways. Your videos can also be posted on your website or blog posts, used in webinars and SlideShares, hosted through YouTube, or shared by email or on a variety of social media channels. Whichever way your video content is utilised, the most important thing is that it supports your content marketing goals and delivers results – especially since this medium can often be a costlier form of content marketing than blogging, podcasts, or social media. Ideas for video content You can use your video content to: Present yourself as the ‘face’ of your business, and allow your audience to get to know you better. Tell a story about your brand, in turn increasing brand awareness. Promote and demonstrate your products. Provide tutorials or how-to instructions on products. Share case studies or success stories. Film and share interviews you have held with influential people. Raise awareness of an important issue. Respond promptly to trending topics. Invite people to a... 
by Wes Towers | Apr 7, 2016 | Business Website Help, Marketing Online, Small Business
About six weeks ago, I held my first webinar, and I have run two more since then with another on the way. So far, the feedback has been excellent –attendees often ask if I will be running it again so they can invite others. I’ve never run any other marketing strategy where those involved actively do the marketing for me. Why do they do this? Because I’m not giving a marketing pitch. I provide useful, valuable information they can take away and apply in their businesses. Yes, I have a special offer at the end. But I think most people think that’s a fair deal. They appreciate the free content and understand it’s only fair that I make a special offer. A few people drop off when the pitch comes, and that’s totally fine. I trust they get great value out of the webinar and walk away with enough information to take their businesses further. So what’s involved in running a successful webinar? Here are a few key tips. 1. Answer burning questions My webinar is about search engine optimisation and is titled Cracking the SEO Code. It’s an area with lots of misinformation, bad advice and horror stories. That’s why I put this webinar together. It answers the burning questions I hear all the time when meeting small business owners and entrepreneurs. Running the webinar gives me the chance to answer these questions, one-to-many rather than one-to-one, so it’s saving me hour upon hour each week. I show attendees exactly what happens in the SEO world, and what strategies to apply and avoid so they don’t get their website...