Category: Design & technology

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Design & technology

Tips on how to optimise your professional website

When used properly, a professional services website can account for the majority of your income. Unfortunately, most businesses think of it as an afterthought that doesn’t help improve the bottom line.

That’s a mistake which you shouldn’t repeat. In this article, you’ll learn simple but effective ways to create a website that works as a powerful lead generation and acquisition channel for your business. Additionally, we take you through some easy steps you can take today in building a winning first impression.

Think about the look and feel

First impressions always count, so put your best foot forward with a professional, secure and fast-loading website full of content curated specifically for your target client. Take the opportunity here to differentiate yourself from your competitors and make it clear why you are the best business for the job. 

Inundated with questions? Set up an FAQ section

Nip the commonly asked questions in the bud by directly addressing them on your website. Assume your customer has zero knowledge of your services so use clear and concise language, and take the time to explain things coherently. Using keywords here is also a great opportunity to boost your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) ranking!

Get straight to the point

By the time a customer has reached your website, they’ve potentially been on dozens of others researching. Make their journey to book or purchase as easy and seamless as possible. For example, consider adding in your unique selling points, telling your story and clearly displaying your contact details at the top of every page on your website. Businesses on the Oneflare platform use their Oneflare profile as the designated one-stop-shop for explaining who they are, what they do and offer, what people are saying about them and how to get in touch with them. 

Let customers know what your website is all about straight away / Source: M.R Design & Marketing

Content is king

If appropriate, use pictures and/or videos on your site, especially in the FAQ section. Rich media is fantastic for SEO and makes it easy for customers to understand what you do. Build trust from the get-go with some positive reviews and trust badges on your site.

Build content mapped to funnel stages

When people have challenges, they follow a series of steps before they settle on a specific provider. People often first research the problem, figure out the kinds of solutions available, take a look at the service providers, and finally choose one. There’s another step that most people miss – retention – which focuses on maximizing the results of a client or getting them to come back when another relevant problem arises.

For example, if someone’s roof is leaking, they’d first search online for causes. After finding several answers, they’ll look at multiple types of solutions such as DIY or hiring a contractor. Next, they’ll vet different contractors before finally settling on one.

Use your website content to lead people through every step of this process. With the example above, the kind of content they create may look like:

  • An infographic that explains the different reasons a roof may leak
  • A blog post that dives deep into the different ways you can stop a leaky roof
  • A comparison guide that shows how your service stacks up against the competition
  • Landing pages, targeted at different buyer personas, which detail how your service will help them solve the specific problem
  • Host a podcast or video tutorial that shares insights about how to maintain the roof going forward.

Once you’ve got all the pages set up, you may want to consider launching a local link building campaign to improve your search visibility. When it’s successful, you’ll be the first business that shows up when potential clients are looking for solutions to their problems.

Contact local web design experts

Clear and relatable social proof

The last piece of the puzzle is arguably the most important. Social proof has been proven time and again to improve conversions on almost any website.

It can be a case study, client testimonial, or even mentioning how many clients you’ve served in the past. Use the type of social proof that makes the most sense for you and supports a promise you’ve made on your landing page.

For example, if a plumber promises to get to a client’s house within 30 minutes for any plumbing issue, they would show social proof that supports that claim. Maybe a client called at 2:00 AM because of a burst pipe. A testimonial from them about how the plumber saved the day would be perfect.

Think about the biggest promises you’ve made and your value proposition then gather testimonials or even case studies that support it. Interested in learning more? Our Oneflare HQ industry leaders in sales, marketing and SEO recently discussed best practices, new technology and how to build trust with potential customers online.

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Design & technology

9 contactless services to hire

Here we are again, seeing the effects of COVID-19 all over the country. Over the past year, the majority of us have spent a lot more time at home, seeing our houses transform into offices, schools, restaurants, gyms and more. With this shift, some Aussie’s are using this time to learn new skills, indulge in some long-standing hobbies and tick off long-overdue tasks. And let’s not forget the healthy dose of TV streaming of course. To give you some inspiration on some projects to embark on, we’ve rounded up the top 9 service categories we’re seeing an increase in jobs being posted over the last couple of weeks. 

1. Web Design & Graphic Design

With this time spent at home, often with a lighter workload, many are turning their attention to their “side hustle”, or in the case of the self-employed, their online presence. Physical stores and services have had to rapidly up their internet ante, and many are now are taking the opportunity to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a reality. 

Whether you want to spend this time giving your existing online business a makeover, a new logo or start a new brand from scratch – you can find a web design expert or graphic designer on Oneflare. 

2. SEO & SEM

While we’re on the “side hustle” bandwagon, don’t forget about the powerhouse that is your Google ranking. Improving your ranking can be a time consuming and complex process, which is often why it’s left in the “too hard basket”. Since many are now finding themselves with more time on their hands – you can always give it a go yourself, or alternatively, find yourself a pro. 

3. Fencing

Another one of those long-forgotten house projects – fencing. It’s no surprise Aussies are starting to focus on ensuring their homes are safe, secure and homely – because we’re all spending a lot more time there. Sort out your own fence now with one of our experts, or read up on how much it should cost you with our cost guide.

4. Accounting & Bookeeping

We’ve noticed that over the last few weeks, many small businesses owners have (finally) had the time to take stock of their suppliers and ask if it’s the best deal they can get. No matter what industry you’re in, keeping a close eye on your balance books is important now as ever. If getting your money matters in order has been on your to-do list for a while, now is the time to tick it off.

5. Courier

It’s not really a surprise to find ‘courier’ on this list, considering so many of us are social distancing and staying home as much as we can. With many stores shutting their physical presences, and online shopping on the rise – not to mention food delivery services – it’s no surprise many are offering no-contact services to pick up and deliver goods. Did you know you can find a courier on Oneflare? 

6. Roofing

One of the most popular categories over the last few weeks has been “roofing” jobs. Whether you need urgent repairs before the next downpour or have some regular maintenance or enhancements in mind, these jobs are completed entirely on the exterior of your home. That means, you can successfully limit contact to almost nothing. 

Find your own roofing expert today, or brush up on how much it should cost with our roofing cost guide.  

7. Gardening & Landscaping

If all this extra time spent at home has given you cause to examine the trees and gardens around your home in a bit more detail – you’re not alone. Landscaping, gardening and arborist are some of the hottest categories on Oneflare right now. If you can’t really venture out into the great outdoors, you may as well ensure your own slice of paradise is looking lush. 

8. Car Painting

While this might sit as a low priority in your regular life, now is the time to tick off those to-do list tasks that would otherwise fall by the wayside. In fact, we’ve seen searches for car painters increase over the last few weeks and with our car respray cost guide being one of our most popular cost guides at the moment. 

9. Interior Designer

Has all this extra time spent at home realised how much you can’t stand your wall colour? Or that you actually want to completely start again in the kitchen? The good news is – many interior designers are offering remote consulting, so you can start creating your dream home from the comfort of your couch. Go on, hop on Pinterest today and get those inspirations flowing! 

Are you feeling inspired to tick off your to-do list? Post a job today, or show us your home projects on Instagram. 

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Design & technology

The best tools to use if you’re building an app

Creating an app is a tall order. However, it’s also one that’s well worth the time, dedication, and resources that go into it. According to the Business of Apps, there were 194 billion app downloads in 2018 alone. In other words, the field of app development is a large market, and it’s only growing.

Having an app for your business can help increase your profit margins by drawing more customers in and making shopping with you more convenient for existing customers. Also, it can help you drum up important brand recognition and loyalty.

Making an app isn’t an easy task, though. It requires plenty of planning and works on behalf of the app company. To get the job done efficiently and to the best of your ability, you’re going to need the right tools for the trade. Luckily, there are plenty of different types of tools you can take advantage of during the process that will help pave the way to your new mobile app!

General workflow management

One of the hardest parts of project management is making sure that every step is done in order without fail. If a step is skipped in app development, you’ll find it difficult to move forward or even struggle with bugs within the program. So, a way to easily track what needs to be done is essential.

There are a lot of options out there for this, but Casual is one that’s quickly gaining steam. It offers a simple interface that displays a flowchart of what needs to be done and which users are taking care of that step. This is incredibly helpful when it comes to handling large projects that require many smaller tasks or need to be done over a longer period of time.

Contact local mobile app developers

If you want something slightly more streamlined that gives team members their own individual tasks without necessarily tying them all together. If you’re seeking this level of individual anonymity, apps like Asana focus on individual task lists. They allow for task assignment with a description of what needs to be done and space in each task to instant message back and forth on the specific job. With its simple interface, there isn’t much room for confusion, and you can easily communicate what you need between team members without any trouble.

Note-taking tools

As you go through the app development process, you’re likely to find that you come up with ideas as you go along that you can’t put into practice immediately. In these cases, you’ll want to keep these ideas in a central, easy-to-find location. If you’re just scrawling them on spare pieces of paper, it’s very easy for them to get lost or forgotten about. In a dedicated area, though, you can find them as you need them. You should have a clear mobile app development process follow to be able to manage any small or big mobile app development task.

One example of a handy service for this purpose is Evernote. This is a tool that is often marketed to college students, but it’s just as valuable to businesses and individual employees. It allows you to keep track of any notes on or ideas about a project and search and reference them as you need to. Since it’s a cloud-based system, you can even access it from a different computer, or it can be accessed by a different team member working on the project.

All of these tools will help you keep your app development projects on track and give you a profitable and polished end results. This is crucial in a world where the tech industry is not only growing but an essential arm that businesses can’t survive without.

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Design & technology

7 tips to increase cyber security for small businesses

Data breaches have become quite common in 2020. This has raised concerns on how to boost SME cybersecurity in 2021. Hacking is quite risky because this means that your data can be accessed by unauthorised people. Most of them are committed by individuals that can do severe damage to businesses. The fact that small businesses do not have enough resources to protect themselves from fraudsters even worsens the situation. In this piece, we have discussed some of the best ways to ensure information security in Australia.

Fortunately, there are many security measures and managed IT services that can be put in place to ensure cybersecurity in Australia and to prepare your small business for attack from hackers.

1. Modify your passwords

Changing your password regularly is one of the best ways to ensure that your data is safe from possible attacks. If you haven’t done this, try to run checks on your primary emails and usernames and make some modifications. You can make good use of online tools that run your important information through specific account data. These tools can tell you the ones that have been accessed illegally and then let out into public domain. Even if you learn that your data still safe, consider changing your passwords and usernames.

Data breaches are rampant, and you might not appreciate being a victim of fraudsters. Still, you don’t want to change your password details so often that your employees find it hard to access information that they need. Worse still, it has been realised that if businesses have to change their passwords many times, they tend to use a pattern. They take the old password and make some slight modifications.

Modify simple passwords / Source: Shutterstock

2. Use a password manager

You should make use of various online passwords manager tools. These tools will help you manage unique passwords for all the sites you need to use and keep them secure for you. With the password manager tools, you reap the full benefits of changing your passwords. SME cybersecurity should involve picking the right tool that has been tested and confirmed to be highly reliable.

It is a great way to manage your accounts without giving your employees a hard time. If you need a member of your team to log in to any of the business accounts, you can share a set of passwords with them. You can also let them change things on the website and even manage social media accounts on your behalf.

Contact local computer repairers

3. Get rid of unused accounts

It is easier for hackers to access your information using credentials that fall along the way. To keep business information safe, go back and delete old unused accounts. This is one of the surest ways to ensure information security in Australia as it does not leave anything behind for the hackers. If you recently moved to a new system or transitioned through multiple employees, you will end up with many accounts. This mostly happens when you do not have a good off-boarding plan. Doing some regular housekeeping might help you get rid of old accounts that you no longer need.

4. Use two-factor authentication

If you have not started, you need to consider using two-factor authentication. It helps you achieve extra security on your logins. It is a simple process that works like registering a new phone number or installing an application on your phone. However, it brings about an extra layer of security so that an attacker cannot access your business information. You can learn more about how it works from reliable offline and online sources before you start using it.

5. Make sure your software is up-to-date

Software updates tend to come up at the most inconvenient time. Therefore, you can easily ignore or even save them for later. This is one of the hugest mistakes made by SMEs. For the sake of cyber and information security, you should ensure that you update your software on an ongoing basis. You will usually be asked to update your software when a new version comes out.

For passwords, you should know that once the vulnerabilities have gone public, hackers will start looking for people responsible for the unsafe software. If you have a pending update that needs to be done, go ahead and do it as soon as possible.

Two factor authentication / Source: Shutterstock

6. Identify phishing and spear-phishing attacks

Phishing and spear-phishing are some of the most popular ways attackers use illegally access business information. While phishing tends to be general, spear phishing is more specific and usually highly convincing. Through training on how to identify any of the two attacks, you can ensure that your business information is not illegally accessed. Also, your employees should know everything involved in phishing and spear-phishing attacks and what they need to do in case they detect an attempt. They should also know the details to be ready for in case a hacker makes an attempt to access important information.

7. Use antivirus and antimalware protection

As a small business, you must use professional antivirus and antimalware protection to protect your business from attackers. Regularly, check if all devices used in your organisation have the latest versions of operating systems and software. Make improvements in the necessary areas using highly safe software.

You also need to make use of spam filters to ensure that 99% of spam emails are kept off your email account. This will protect your small business and ensure that your employees are getting the most pleasant user experience. Also, in this case, you need to select reliable spam filters that have been tested and proven to be the most effective.

Every small business should take cybersecurity seriously. This must be done even if there is not enough budget to employ sophisticated initiatives. The steps mentioned in the piece can be highly effective when it comes to protecting your small business from attackers. Make sure that you check your login credentials and use password managers regularly to ensure cyber and information security.

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Design & technology

How to troubleshoot your poor internet connection

Technology might be moving at a fast pace, but sometimes your Internet connection loves nothing more than slowing down. This can occur for a variety of reasons, from viruses to broadband configuration errors. We suggest you go through the following troubleshooting steps to ensure your internet speed is running at the optimum level.

1. Test your speed

  • Test your broadband speed

When you are experiencing lagging web pages or it’s taking a long time to download files, check your broadband speed using speedtest.net. This online tool helps to accurately measure network speed. Simply complete a click test and you ’ll be shown what download and upload speeds are. You can also determine your ping time, this means how long it takes to get a signal to your nearest location and back.

To put this into perspective, you’ll need 0.5 megabits per second (minimum) to watch Netflix in real time. DVD quality episodes of your favorite shows, you’ll need three megabits per second.If you’re watching in HD, you’ll need five megabits per second. Just remember not to compare your actual results with your ISPs maximum expected speeds. Depending on where you live (e.g. far away from a node or in a congested area), you might not always be able to get the best speeds possible – especially during peak times.

  • Understand Internet shaping

Your Internet is slower when your downloads exceed your monthly internet bandwidth allowance. Once you go over the limit, your internet service provider (ISP) either charges extra money on per-megabyte basis or slows down the internet speed to 64Kbps.

How much data do you need? How important is it to have a realistic estimation of your monthly data usage? Think carefully about your downloading habits and consult your broadband providers for the best option. In general, having 10-20GB per month is suitable for those who do general activities, such as web surfing, checking social media, watching Youtube. But if you are a heavy downloader and enjoy watching live stream TV, it is safe to go with 50-100 GB plans.

  • Check NBN connection

For those who have a real need for speed, having NBN is the best option to ensure your speed needs are met. It is consistently fast and more than capable of providing a faster speed than other broadband options. However, as noted, it is only available in certain areas. Check here to see whether NBN has been made available in your area.

Home desk with modem & devices / Source: Tattwa Networks

2. Free up some space on your computer

  • Remove unnecessary programs on your hard drive  

Are there any programs you installed but haven’t used for a while? Now it is the time to hit the uninstall button. Not only will removing unnecessary or old programs free up space on your hard drive, but it will also improve the overall health of your computer – including your Internet speeds.

Installed programs can run on the operating system even if they’re not being used. The more connections there are, the more work your OS (Operating System) has to do. Computers are certainly advanced, but just like us, multitasking can slow things down.

  • Use 3rd party installer to remove stubborn programs

A good rule of thumb: the leaner the better. If you’re having trouble removing certain software, it might be a smart idea to find a dedicated third-party installer that allows you to scan quickly for programs and delete at the click of a button. Problem solved.

3. Conduct a computer health check

  • Invest in a reputable anti-virus program

If you don’t have one already, it’s time to invest in an antivirus program. While Mac and Windows have their own inbuilt virus protection (which often does the trick), it’s still worth considering an extra/alternative option. There are many to choose from, but going with a reputable program such as Norton, McAfee or Kaspersky is your best bet.

  • Run a anti-virus program on a regular basis

When was the last time you ran an antivirus scan? If the answer is, “I can’t remember,” – then it’s probably time to do something about it! There are viruses, worms and bugs that often perform malicious acts, such as deleting files, accessing personal data, or using your computer to attack other computers. And the truth is, malicious software can hijack your network and slow your connection.

Contact local computer repairers

4. Seek and destroy adware

  • Check your cookies to spot adware and spyware

Ever been bombarded by pop-up windows after clicking a link? Or installed a free download and noticed your computer has slowed down? Welcome to the frustrating world of adware and spyware. These programs range from being mildly annoying to completely invasive – and they always hijack your bandwidth.

  • Install programs and extensions with care

Prevention is better than fixing a problem once it is there. It is important to take extra caution when you decide to install a free tool. Legitimate sites will not force their users to install a “toolbar” or any other extra program as part of a file download.

5. Extend your Wifi network by boosting router

  • Tweak software to maximise performance and speed

Upgrading your firmware depends on your device manufacturer and model. Most up to date routers have the process built right into the administration interface, so it’s simply enabling the firmware upgrade button. However, older models you need to first find and download the firmware from the router manufacturer’s website. It’s tedious, but the benefits really do outway the work required.

  • The faster the better

While it’s a sad thing to say, many people’s lives now revolve around the Internet – researching, buying things, booking travel, setting up businesses, finding work, developing our skills. Productivity is the key to organise our busy lives. So, when we can’t do these things efficiently, it can be frustrating. If your connection is jumping about or your speed is slowing you down all the time, look to need the following steps to troubleshoot and speed things up.

If the problem has gone beyond your control, speak with a computer repairer to solve it immediately.

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Design & technology

How SEO drives business growth

The 21st century has seen the world turn digital and thus so should your marketing efforts. Traditional print media is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Now, businesses can track the return of every dollar they spend through their marketing efforts through digital marketing.

Through digital marketing, businesses have access to a wide array of avenues to grow their online presence. Traditional-style online directories are a common starting point. However, more complex channels, including social media, pay per click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimisation (SEO) lead the way.

Through these marketing channels, businesses can drive targeted traffic to their websites. Thus, resources are spent as effectively as possible. Alongside PPC advertising, SEO is one of the most effective inbound marketing strategies that businesses utilise. In this article, you will learn what SEO is and how you can grow your business through this digital marketing strategy.

What is SEO?

The purpose of SEO is to be the first organic result on search engines. Thus, SEO is the set of practices that are employed to achieve that first place. Why is this important, though? Here are some facts:

  • Over 90% of all internet traffic starts from search engines – whether people are looking for information or buying a product
  • In terms of looking for products, over 81% of people turn to search engines as a starting point to perform their research
  • After conducting an online search for a local business, 72% of people will go ahead and visit the physical location

These are just some of the facts that outline why focusing on search engines is important. SEO is important, thanks to something known as the click-through rate (CTR). This is the percentage of people who visit your website after seeing your link.

On average, SEO has the highest CTR of any inbound digital marketing channel. Thus, you are driving targeted traffic to your website more efficiently than any other related channel, for example, Google Ads.

Website using SEO / Source: Nucleo Pty Ltd

How does SEO work?

There are three parties to think about when it comes to SEO ~ the user, the search engine and the website. We’ll explain how the relationship works between the three in the shortest way possible:

  1. The user enters a query into the search engine
  2. The search engine generates a list of relevant search results
  3. Websites at the top of those search results inherit traffic

For a site to show up at the top of search results, it must be correctly optimised, so that search engines can determine whether it’s the best fit for the query.

One of the easiest ways to make sure your website is correctly optimised is to engage in a marketing agency that performs SEO services. Otherwise, you can learn about SEO and go it alone.

How does SEO drive business growth?

Each month there could be tens, hundreds, thousands or millions of people searching for a product or information that you offer. For example, there could be 100 people who search for “lawyers in Sydney” on a monthly basis.

If your website is optimised to target the keyword and you’re the first to pop up in the search results, then you’re likely to inherit 30% of the traffic. That’s 30 people who are looking for lawyers coming to your website every month, and that’s just for one keyword.

Though in reality, websites compete for many variations of a keyword and many completely different keywords. Also, as the target visiting your website is targeted, it is much more likely that your visitors will become customers as well.

Contact local SEO & SEM experts

SEO FAQ’s

Those who are new to SEO – particularly if they’re looking to hire someone – often ask two main questions. We’ll cover them here for you.

What’s the difference between SEO and Google Ads?

Search engine optimisation focuses on ranking for organic search results and is thus commonly considered a long-term digital marketing strategy. Due to the nature of SEO, you would almost never run a three-month campaign. This is because things take longer to unfold in the SEO world.

By comparison, Google Ads is all about immediate results. Thus, you pay for clicks. In exchange, Google sends traffic to your website, and you hope to land a sale. With Google Ads, you can run a one-week or one-year (or longer) long campaign. It is both short- and long-term oriented.

There’s no one better strategy either if that’s your next question. If you can only have enough in your budget to engage in one of the two channels, then it’s entirely up to where you’re at as a business. If you have no existing source of income, then Google Ads may be the way to go for you. On the other hand, if your business already generates an income, you might prefer an exclusively long-term focus.

How long does it take to get to the first page?

Every case is different. It depends on your website and how competitive your market is. In general, though, it could take anywhere from six to twelve months to get to the first page of Google for a low- to mid-level competition keyword.

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Design & technology

How to use WordPress for website design

WordPress is a popular CMS platform that is carefully designed to cater to all users. No matter if you’re designing your first website or your hundredth, the design of WordPress aims to offer a suitable platform for you.

A big part of why WordPress works so well for so many different skill levels is the availability of so many various features. For instance, according to CodeinWP, WordPress offers more than 11,000 different pre-made themes to users.

These themes offer a variety of different benefits:

  • They’re easy to use
  • They provide a quick route to designing a WordPress website for you or your company
  • Both individual developers and WordPress development services can use these themes during the development process

Benefits of WordPress themes

Pre-made themes are ready to go

One of the most significant advantages of using pre-made WordPress themes is that they’ve already set up and ready to use. With a few quick clicks, developers can use these to set the basis for their site design. This saves a lot of time compared to a developer or WordPress design agency, taking the time to build a custom base theme for the website.

Themes are user friendly

Not having to code a custom theme not only saves time for advanced developers, but it also makes WordPress very accessible to new website designers. After all, users don’t need to possess any programming skills to choose a theme and apply it to their site. However, working with a more experienced service can give even a website using a pre-made theme a unique edge.

Website Design / Source: Sombrilla Digital

Themes come with tech support

Another advantage of themes is something that WordPress does well – tech support. This is mostly thanks to the huge community that WordPress boasts. Since many users are using a similar theme, other users have experienced the issues you might run into. As such, it’s much easier and quicker to find answers than to try and go through and find problems that might come up when creating a completely custom website design.

Contact local web designers

Themes often feature demos

In the same vein as depending on reliable tech support, if you run into a problem, WordPress themes guide you through the process from the beginning and get you started right away. To ensure that developers understand their purpose, many have demos that they can watch to get an idea of how the theme runs and supports a website. These are also handy in determining if a theme fits the design that a developer has in mind for the site they’re building.

Easy to update themes

Much like developing a custom theme, updating a custom theme design is often a complicated process because developers have to build the updates themselves. WordPress themes, on the other hand, typically entail periodic update releases. From here, all individual website developers or services need to do is ensure that they periodically update their website.

These updates also often target important features about the site as well, such as added security and functionality. They may also generally improve upon flaws that existed in the previous version of the theme.

WordPress themes are handy and help developers create a quality website with less hassle and in a shorter time frame. Themes allow developers to get the groundwork for a website set up immediately without having to commit to any coding and even update them later in only minutes. If you’ve given it a go and you can’t seem to get your website right, speak to a professional web designer to find out how much their design and developing services can cost you.

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Design & technology

How to maximize brand exposure for your start-up

Branding is a vital marketing strategy for any business. Branding can elevate you in a crowded market and help your company differentiate itself from your competitors and other brands as well. That’s why branding should be considered as early as possible, more precisely, during the startup stage of a company.

However, branding during the startup stage can often be a real challenge. The main reason is that startups usually lack the resources to commit to branding fully. Still, developing a brand is a long process, and you don’t have to do everything in one day.

Therefore, do what you can with the resources that you have and develop your brand further alongside your startup business. Once you begin the branding process, you can work towards maximizing your exposure and awareness one step at the time. With that in mind, here are a few simple tricks to help maximize brand exposure for your startup.

1. Get creative with your content

If anything can help with your brand exposure, it’s content marketing. Content is, indeed, the most effective form of marketing today. The main reason is that it provides true value to consumers.

  • Educate, inform and entertain your audience

Create content that is well-made and highly relevant to your audience.  No matter if you run a fashion blog, a cooking studio, a pastry shop, or a doggy daycare, you should know by now that your content can make or break your digital presence. To leave it all to chance would be the biggest mistake you could make for your reputation. Instead, take the reins and create a content strategy that will help you stand out in your local market, and if you run an international business, include your global image, too.

  • Consider various types of content

Stunning images and videos work well for audience engagement. Podcasts and presentations can bring your content closer to a broader audience. When you do your best to diversify through posting videos to your social media feeds, as well as YouTube channel, helpful tutorials, smart infographics, and not just stick to blogs and articles, you’ll have a much better chance to attract more attention and get more people to engage.

  • Location

Consider the best way to publish content that will boost your brand exposure as much as possible. For instance, social media contests and giveaways are an excellent way to promote your brand, your content and drive customer engagement with free samples of your products or services.

Consistent branding through web design / Source: Vibes Design

2. Utilize SEO

Whether your website is the core of your brand or merely its extension, your digital presence can completely transform your brand’s reputation and visibility alike. Depending on how well you approach your SEO needs, you’ll be able to get in front of the right people at the right time and establish yourself as a significant figure in your industry.

Some new business owners, however, might not have the skills or the resources to devote so much time and effort to crafting their SEO strategy. This may be the time that they turn to a white label SEO company, which enables them to focus on their core tasks while experts handle their digital presence. From continuously researching keywords, technical SEO, all the way to link-building, this is one of the essential parts of your strategy for better positions in the SERPs, and consequently more visibility in front of the right audience.

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3. Leverage social media

Your first step towards establishing a strong online presence and brand exposure should be social media platforms. Social media is essential for brand awareness because you’re in direct contact with your target audience on various networks.

As you may already know, brands now have a more personal relationship with their customers, and social media can help you build such a relationship. However, to do so, you’ll have to be very social. Here are a few examples of what you should do to boost brand exposure on social media.

  • Identify your target audience and learn as much as you can about them
  • Determine the most relevant social media networks to build your presence
  • Consider your audience’s demographics to tailor your messages better
  • Incorporate your brand values, brand promise and a unique tone of voice into your messaging
  • Create a unique approach for every social channel you’re present on
  • Create top-quality and highly relevant content for your audience.
  • Engage with your audience frequently
  • Always remain consistent

Social media is a dynamic and unique environment. If you want to leverage its full potential, you’ll have to develop specific strategies and monitor your results. If things aren’t looking too good, you can always redesign your approach.

Device compatible web design / Source: VMA Web Design

4. Engage in word-of-mouth promotions

It’s no secret that startup businesses don’t have it easy when it comes to competing against well-established competitors in the market. However, you shouldn’t be discouraged just because you lack the resources to outrun someone.

Good brand exposure can work wonders when it comes to gaining a competitive advantage, and the key is word-of-mouth marketing. However, for your word-of-mouth to be successful, you must meet customer expectations, needs and demands. Here are a few ways you can do that.

  • Provide exceptional customer service and support
  • Ask for feedback and improve upon it
  • Keep your promises
  • Respond to negative feedback well and on time
  • Focus on customer value
  • Provide top-quality products and services

Once you gain the favour of your customers, you can ask for referrals and even reward customers for their recommendations. In addition, ensuring customer satisfaction will encourage them to become loyal. Loyal customers often become brand ambassadors, and they’ll further promote your brand to their friends and family.

5. Work with influencers

Influencer marketing might not be so new anymore as a concept, but it’s becoming more relevant than ever, especially for brands that have yet to establish themselves in their market. So, when you’re looking to increase brand awareness, finding an influencer that shares your values and has access to your target market can boost your visibility immeasurably.

Okay, yes, it’s measurable, and it’s amazing what you can do when you track the success of your social campaigns, but the point is that a single bond can make all the difference for your business.

Building brand exposure and maximizing it in the startup stage can be a real challenge. The main reason is that most of your efforts and time are focused on developing and growing your business. However, if you allocate enough resources to your branding strategy, you can start reaping the benefits early on.

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Design & technology

How SMS marketing can grow your online business

According to Finances Online, 48% of customers prefer receiving brand updates through SMS — making it one of the best channels for your marketing efforts. It’s great for offering upfront value to customers, therefore, eliciting interest and engagement — which ultimately leads to sales. If you plan to use SMS marketing to grow your online business, then this guide is what you need.

But first…

What is SMS marketing?

It’s a strategy that uses permission-based text messaging to engage your customers on their mobile devices at a personal level. SMS marketing requires explicit consent from recipients before companies can start sending them messages. There can be severe legal consequences if you send unsolicited texts to people.

Why you should start using SMS marketing

SMS marketing takes you where your customers are, giving you opportunities to connect with your target market on smartphones they look at for hours. Plus, mobile devices are direct and immediate channels, making them one of the best touchpoints to send customers targeted marketing messages. Whether you’re running a content marketing campaign or using webinars to bring in website traffic, SMS marketing can help you build a subscriber database to increase brand loyalty. Consider these other reasons why you need to use SMS marketing.

Increase customer engagement

SMS marketing can enhance how your brand engages with your target audience throughout the customer life cycle because they allow instant interactions. Sending sales-related offers such as discounts, vouchers, promotions, and even birthday greetings, for instance, helps you nurture customer relationships while promoting your marketing content. Studies even show that text messages have a 99% open rate, and 94% are read within five minutes and customers are six to eight times more likely to respond to CTAs in a text message. Plus, the click-through rate for links is 19% in SMS compared to 4.2% in email, which is crucial when you want to generate traffic.

Streamline data gathering

Using SMS lets you gather customer feedback and get great reviews swiftly, which helps in enhancing your marketing strategies to achieve higher customer satisfaction. Additionally, your SMS marketing campaigns are trackable, allowing you to get analytical insights on what works and or not and helping you refine your strategies for better results.

Integrate with other channels

SMS can integrate with and support your other marketing channels, such as email and social media. For instance, you can send text reminders to customers about emails you’ve sent about their orders or other marketing materials, which can increase your email open rates.

Use automation tools

Email marketing automation platforms let you send messages directly from a web app and connect them to your scheduling or booking system. However, timing your SMS marketing strategically and knowing when your audience is most responsive on top of running your campaign takes time and effort.

Centralized e-commerce marketing automation platforms such as Omnisend provide a solution by letting you integrate several channels, such as email and SMS, to your workflow. Combine automated text messages with email and push notifications on workflows that include pre-built sequences with text messages for cart abandonment, birthday, order & shipping confirmation sequences, special offers, and more. Omnisend provides SMS list building tools that incorporate signup boxes with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliant templates to collect phone numbers. Plus, it offers personalization and opt-out instructions in the messages you send.

The platform also streamlines your campaigns through automated text messages for your customers’ order follow-ups and confirmations and browsing abandonments. Additionally, Omnisend’s SMS campaign segmentation profiles your customers to help personalize your marketing efforts more. With automation tools, you’ll run your SMS marketing campaigns seamlessly and strategically without spending too much time and effort while getting excellent results.

Implement the right SMS marketing strategies

Write an excellent SMS marketing copy that provides value to your customers, instead of generic messages that lead them to skip through your texts or tag as spam.

Welcome message

This is the first message your customers will get from you, so you need to make it count. Personalize your message by addressing each person by name, grabbing additional attention, which can push your engagement levels higher. Send unique one-time coupon codes as well to entice them into purchasing. Plus, this can make them feel like they’re part of an exclusive group with access to offers other people don’t get.

Abandoned cart reminders

Optimize your communication to recoup the sales from your high-intent shoppers. Send them a text message reminder, and provide a direct link to their cart. This way, they won’t have to navigate to your site to complete the purchase.

Feedback

70% of customers consult reviews or ratings before they decide to purchase, but generating these reviews can be difficult. SMS marketing allows you to seamlessly follow up with your customers after they make a purchase. Text them a poll, asking if they’re satisfied with their items. If they give a positive response, ask them for a review. Keep your survey brief, focused, and contextual to help support your marketing efforts. Additionally, offer incentives for survey participants by delivering a unique coupon code once completed and entice them to make another purchase.

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Promos

It’s a simple text blast to your subscriber list with an offer that drives them to your website. Create a sense of urgency to your offer with time-limited promos to motivate people to take immediate action, which helps increase your conversions and sales. Provide a direct link to the product or category you’re looking to push as well, to make them easier for your customers to find.

The success of your SMS campaign can boil down to whether or not you’ve added enough value to your audience. Streamline your SMS marketing, as well as your other marketing efforts, by using some of the best task management tools to manage and track your campaigns.

Wrap up

With the right approach, SMS marketing can be your go-to strategy to reach your audiences quickly with highly targeted messages and build brand awareness and loyalty. Not only is SMS marketing perfect from helping you generate more engagements and traffic, but it can help you get truckloads of sales.

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Design & technology

How to market your small business online

Getting a small business off the ground is a challenging, time consuming and costly exercise. After going through the effort of planning and setting up, the next thing you need to focus on is getting found by potential customers.

Usually, this means paying for ads. Thankfully though, there are ways that you can get around paid advertising, to begin with, especially when your budget may be a little low after paying for setup. Instead, you could invest in a professional graphic designer to revamp your logo or animation on your site. Or maybe you don’t yet have an online website and need to hire a qualified web designer or developer. Below, we’ve gone through the top 6 advertising methods that you can engage in to get your small business off the ground.

Source: Blue Platypus

Google my business

If you’re wondering how thousands of businesses manage to appear on Google Maps, then the chances are that they have a Google My Business profile. These are completely free and are a great way to help potential customers discover you.

Many internet users perform search queries which include terms such as “near me” e.g. “lawyers near me”. With an optimised Google My Business profile, you could appear in both Google’s search results and Maps for related customer queries.

Some of the key benefits of owning a Google My Business profile include:

  • You can get found on Google Maps
  • A potential customer can build their trust of your business through customer reviews
  • Information such as opening/closing and peak visit times is available on demand
  • An optimised GMB profile helps improve your search rankings

Google My Business also offers insights on how many people visited your profile, and whether they did so via Maps or a search query. If you see that it’s beginning to pay off, you can always pay to show up at the top of the maps pack, which will help your business generate even more enquiries.

Social media

Social media networks are visited by billions of people every day. As a result, they’ve become a mighty competitive space between businesses. In fact, social media websites Facebook and YouTube are the second- and third, most visited websites in the world.

It’s no secret that just about all social media channels have become a “pay to play” environment in terms of exposure to new customers. Though there are always ways to beat the system.

Generally, posting content across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are completely free, albeit with limited exposure. With Facebook in particular, though, you can take things one step further.

There are many neighbourhood community Facebook groups, each presenting an opportunity to reach a localised audience. Every time a new post is made within these groups, users are notified.

To find a neighbourhood community group, begin by typing in a suburb name in the Facebook search bar. Then, you will see a list of related groups under the “groups” tab. When you find your group, join and then you can begin posting away. Just be mindful of any community posting rules.

Another great way to increase exposure via social media is with the use of “stories”. This is a feature derived from Snapchat and has been adopted by Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Email marketing

The letterbox drop of the 21st century, email marketing is among the most effective online advertising channels. You can take advantage of email marketing platforms such as Mail Chimp who offer their services for free for up to 2,000 subscribers.

The trickiest part is building up a relevant subscriber list. Depending on how aggressively you want to generate subscribers, this could be a costly exercise, though we’ll keep to the free methods.

The easiest and cheapest way to acquire a new email subscriber is to ask a customer in person. If someone has engaged with your business already, then the chances are that they will be more open to receiving emails from you due to familiarity.

Another great way to obtain new email addresses for free is through the use of lead magnets. For example, if you own a pool cleaning business, then you can offer a free downloadable pool safety checklist in exchange for website visitor emails. This is something that you can ask your web design expert to setup for you.

The final free method that we’re going to is the method of blogging. Essentially, this is offering free and useful information to your website visitors. Take this article, for example. At the end of the article, you can place a newsletter sign up form. Then, users who find your articles useful might be inclined to subscribe.

Abandoned cart emails

If you own an e-commerce site, chances are you’ve experienced customers leaving your site before finalising their purchase or completing a form. This is can be referred to as an abandoned cart. A way to win back these customers is to implement an abandoned cart email strategy for your business.

Firstly, this involves capturing the customer’s right email in the early steps of your online form. As long as you can successfully capture your potential customer’s email, you can target them with a personalised follow-up email.

There are multiple reasons why a customer may have leave part-way during your checkouts process, from the shipping costs being too high to getting distracted. Strategies for your abandoned cart emails can include sending easy steps to complete their purchase or creating a clear call-to-action.

Another strategy can you implement is applying a multivariant split test on both your email campaigns and landing pages. By implementing this technique, we were able to convert 60% of users who landed on our abandoned cart landing page.

Local citations

Local citations are the digital version of those thick Yellow Pages books that were once delivered to your door on an annual basis. Here you can input your business details such as name, address, phone number, trading hours, services you offer, website address and more.

Admittedly, these have become less effective as free advertising methods, and many businesses have moved over to paid services such as ours where you only pay when you get a potential customer.

Online directories mainly apply to businesses with physical addresses. If you don’t operate from a physical address though, you can look for link roundups related to your services online. Then, ask these websites to include your site as well.

Contact local SEO and SEM experts

Review websites

Many customers turn to review websites to find out whether or not a business is worth visiting or not. Think of Word of Mouth. Not only is it the best way to get free publicity, but on this Australian site, customers can leave reviews about businesses such as restaurants and bars, dentists, beauty salons, doctors and more.

The best part about Word of Mouth is that the brand has built trust among its community members, meaning that all you have to worry about is getting some positive reviews. The Word of Mouth website receives thousands of visitors on a monthly basis, so this represents a massive opportunity in terms of reach.

Thankfully, Word of Mouth allows you to list your business for free. Using the free profile, you can respond to customer reviews, upload photos and even post your own deals. There are also paid options, which allow you to create targeted ads, including customer support and even remove competitor ads from appearing on your profile.