SEO is such an integral part of any company’s online marketing strategy. It is important for even small businesses to have a basic understanding of how search engine optimisation works.

SEO Basics: Explained Simply

Search engine optimisation is the process of making sure that your website is visible to potential clients and customers.

In this digital age, search engines are most people’s first port of call when looking for services or products. People tend to search for words associated with that particular service.

For example, a person in Essex who needs a tap fixed is likely to search ‘Essex plumbers’. If they need the tap fixed right away, they might search ‘emergency plumbers in Essex’.

Implementing basic SEO simply means that when writing social media posts, blog posts and website content, a smart plumbing company includes the keywords ‘Essex’, ‘plumbers’ and ‘emergency’.

That way, their website appears in potential customers’ search results, increasing the chances of business.

Types of SEO

Organic SEO:

Organic SEO is a marketing strategy that allows you to rank at the top of organic search engine results pages without paying for it. Understanding how to gain customers organically is part of the basics of SEO.

It’s made up of sub-strategies like keyword research and link building which help your website get there faster than if you were just waiting on natural rankings alone.

Organic SEO may not be as flashy or well known as its paid counterpart, but with this organization, small strategies such as keyword research and linking will give your site an edge in ranking higher when people are searching online – all while being more cost-effective!

Organic SEO usually combines three key areas of SEO strategy, these are:

• On-Page SEO: On-page SEO is a practice in which individual web pages are optimized to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. Optimizing the content of your page includes adding keywords that can be searched for, as well as using headers, summaries, descriptions and more.

• Off-Page SEO: Off-Page SEO is a term used to describe the actions one can take off of their website, which may help boost up your site’s ranking in search engines. Some examples are getting links from other websites and social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook.

• Technical SEO: Technical SEO is the process of improving a website’s ranking in search engines by increasing its technical aspects. Technical optimization includes making websites faster, easier to crawl and understandable for search engine algorithms.

Paid Search:

Paid search is an attractive marketing channel for many businesses because it’s measurable and controllable.

Unlike other forms of advertising, with paid search you only pay when someone clicks on your ad – this makes sure that there isn’t a hefty bill at the end of the month in case no one ever clicked on the advertisement!

Ad formats vary depending upon how much you want to spend on advertising; if you have no budget whatsoever then text ads will provide some exposure for your business from time-to-time.

Shopping overlay campaigns show products directly above the organic listing so that searchers know exactly what they’re getting into right away when clicking through.

Not Just Website Content

SEO also applies to image searches and video searches, and improves a site’s organic, or unpaid, results. In other words, it’s free marketing.

All businesses need to do is make sure their content is in line with what their audience will search for!

SEO is pretty straightforward for us and most businesses work on it as part of their online marketing strategy. There is a lot of competition for those first page Google search results though.

That’s where experts like the people at Design Box Media comes in: we look after your online marketing so you can focus on your business, safe in the knowledge that your business has a strong online presence it deserves.

Our Online Marketing Services

We offer SEO services; including keyword research, error analysis, back-linking, press releases, monthly reports, keyword implementation and content writing.

These all boost your site’s chances of reaching that all-important first page. We can also take care of your social media marketing; from reviewing the design of your social media profiles to planning a strategy around your business’s goals.

Additionally, we offer pay per click services with total transparency; targeting specific audiences and boosting your online visibility. We started in 2002, and have built a service that will propel your business to the top. If you’re already enjoying success, we will make sure it continues!

Is my website user friendly? When was the last time you visited your website and tried to see it as a customer would? What makes a website user-friendly?

Accessing your site from the perspective of a potential client rather than as a site owner can frequently reveal that your perception of what you’re offering is markedly (and perhaps disappointingly) different from the reality of what customers discover when they land on your homepage.

Here are four common errors that can result in consumers going elsewhere. With just a little website tweaking, these consumers could be giving you their business. So how user-friendly is your website?

Poor content

Today’s content not only has to be more entertaining and engaging than ever, there’s also a need to mix things up by uploading videos and other entertainment to satisfy shoppers’ growing need for immediate, effortless access to the information they want.

If you’re not sure how to do this, professional web design can provide the solutions you need for user-friendly websites

Unclear calls to action

Is it immediately obvious to online visitors what they need to do in order to get further information? Do they leave their details or purchase your products?

Quickly identifiable calls to action are critical to guide customers into the behaviours you want to see more of.

Mobile-unfriendly design

When you access your site from the small screen, does it still give access to all the important bits and pieces?

With a growing number of users accessing the net through their internet-enabled mobiles or tablets, a responsive site is also vital in displaying what makes a website user friendly.

To find out if it is mobile-friendly, take the first step and use Google’s free Mobile Site Tester tool to see if it can access your site at all now. If so – great! You’re in luck and won’t have to do much work here.

However if not currently accessible on mobile devices there are some simple things you can do for free with help from web-based builders like Hootsuite that allow users to easily create their own responsive versions of websites without any coding knowledge needed.

No connection with social media

Making sure customers get access to the same information and updates no matter how they communicate with you is now a must-have prerequisite to online success.

Web designers can build in methods of ensuring all your modes of electronic communication interact seamlessly with each other.

The constantly evolving environment of website design is frequently difficult to navigate without skilled assistance.

So how user-friendly is your website? For many busy business owners; professional website design and maintenance is the most cost-effective and sustainable solution to the problem of ensuring that your online presence is optimised for maximum business success.

Benefits of blogging for business

Online marketing has become a lot more complex over the last ten years. It used to be the case that a quick assessment of keywords and some well-placed links could boost a website’s profile almost overnight.

These days, successful online marketing requires expert attention to a range of critical areas. This ranges from flawless web design to mobile-friendly content – and it’s anything but straightforward to implement.

But you may be surprised to learn just how big a difference something as small as a blog can make. Here are three surprising benefits of blogging for business.

Blogs boost inbound links by over 90%

Everyone knows that good quality content drives readership on the web. A constant need to stay relevant comes with a high demand to supply useful links.

A useful blog about your area of expertise will get other sites lining up to promote your content. That means swathes of potential customers too. Blogs are always working for you, and unlike conventional advertising the only real expenditure is time. It’s a no brainer to harness their potential.

Drives traffic to your website

New content is the key to a successful website. Whether it’s new visitors or returning ones, there needs to be something that makes people want to visit your site and engage with you as an organization.

The more interesting, creative, and engaging information they find on your site about who you are will make them trust in what products/services you’re offering.

Blogging provides you with the opportunity to create a blog post that can be shared on social media platforms which is another source of traffic for your website.

This way, when people share your content they are exposing it to their networks of friends which could potentially lead them back to your business or website for more information about what you offer.

Blogging in this way is important because every time someone reads and shares one of our posts we have an opportunity at getting exposure from potential new customers who may not know about us yet!

Fresh, rich and consistent content will improve SEO performance

A well-maintained blog is a great way to find new clients and customers. Search engines prefer websites with fresh content, so regularly adding quality pages will create more opportunity for you to show up in the SERPs (search engine result pages).

This doesn’t even take into account creating specific blog posts to rank for particular keywords that have a respectable monthly search volume. Eventually, having these regular blog posts can result in more traffic to your site; this means that some of those visitors might just turn into conversions.

Regularly updating previous blog entries also contributes to positive performance in SERPs. Google loves websites that frequently update old content as well as creating new content. This boosts the trust score of a website and in turns helps to rank better.

Blogs boost B2B leads by over 50%

It’s estimated that blogs can generate up to around 70% more leads for businesses promoting services to other businesses. This is easy to believe for anyone that’s searched for answers about their areas of work on the web.

One of the most trusted sources of information at the moment is the blog. If you can stay relevant and keep answering those evergreen questions in your content, you stand a great chance of being more visible to other businesses.

Prioritising blogging boosts positive ROI

It can take some serious effort (current figures suggest that it takes more than 50 posts before Google starts to index you) but it has been shown that blogging can improve chances of positive ROI on a marketing campaign by more than 10%.

It’s perhaps no surprise that blogging can help to get you found online, but these figures suggest it’s still a driving force in online marketing. So there you have it – blogging might seem like one of the more old-fashioned online considerations, but it remains as relevant as ever.

If you are looking to market your company in the modern business environment, online business branding will be an essential part of the process. Yet, unless you are an expert in digital marketing, there is a good chance you won’t know where to begin with branding your business online.

With so much competition, it takes a lot more than tweeting twice a week to create a true personality for your company in the minds of your web audience. So how do you go about professional branding in the digital world? Here are the key strategies for branding your business online:

Your website is your castle

Any and all attempts to brand your company on the internet will lead back to one place: your website. This is why, before you even begin to flex your muscles on social media, you need to focus on website design. The most successful and click-worthy content that you post elsewhere on the web will only be effective if it leads potential customers back to a homepage that is powerful and compelling.

Today’s web user has no issue clicking straight off a website if it takes too long to load, has a layout that makes navigation unclear or does not work on their device. Making your website as engaging and functional for your target market as possible is your first step to creating online buzz.

Utilise Social Media

Word of mouth referrals have always been the best form of advertising, and for decades this was how brands were sold to consumers. But in recent years marketing has shifted from man-made methods to digital channels like social media because they are more cost effective than traditional means.

You can easily stay on top of social media trends by freely accessing them. If you use a service like Twitter or Facebook to its full potential, then not only will it help your brand get the word out there but also give people an idea about what’s going in with your company- how things are running and that they’re always accessible for feedback.

You can reach out to potential customers as well as current ones through interaction – not just one-way communication! Connecting with industry peers also helps build networks so that everyone knows what’s going on without having someone else tell them.

Learn the tricks of inbound marketing

The rise of the internet over the last two decades has brought with it the growth of inbound marketing. If you don’t know, inbound marketing involves creating content that will draw your potential customers organically to your business, rather than leaving material out there (such as print or TV ads) in the hope it will encourage them to buy.

The best way to do this online is to create content that is relevant to your industry or entertaining to your demographic but does not directly sell your products. This could be blog posts, videos or social media messages. The goal is to make you and your business a respected authority in your field. Then, when it comes time to shop for the product or service you offer, your target customer will think of you first.

Online business branding is not easy. It takes time, effort and will require the creation of truly engaging content on a regular basis. Yet, if you are prepared to put the work in, the potential rewards are massive.

Make use of testimonials

You can be sure that you will have a successful business if your customers are happy with the service they receive. You should always strive to make them feel like their needs and concerns matter by listening attentively, giving great customer service, providing fast responses for any questions or problems along the way, etcetera.

Testimonials help show how well people respond when these things happen because it’s an individual–not just some company saying this stuff about themselves!

Testimonials from satisfied clients prove that companies who provide stellar services not only get more referrals but also create ambassadors out of those very same loyal customers as well!