Reading Time: 5 minutes
Why Duplicate Content is Bad for SEO

Why Duplicate Content is Bad for SEO

30 Nov 2022 | Content Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Navigating SEO can be a tricky job for businesses, particularly if there isn’t the resource in-house to focus on digital marketing full-time.

We support organisations of all shapes, types and sizes to grow their organic digital presence, increase their search rankings, and to ensure their online exposure to both potential and existing clients within their target audience.

A common aspect within SEO is duplicate content issues. But why is duplicate content bad for SEO, and why? Read on to learn more and ensure you are producing valuable content and managing your online content in the best possible way.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), is the process of making sure that the content on a website is as apparent and clear as can be so that the automated algorithms behind search engine rankings know what the site is about, who it’s for, and what purpose it serves.

This, along with several UX (User Experience) metrics such as fast loading speeds, good accessibility, mobile responsiveness, web design elements and high security standards allow search engines to identify the best possible results for users when they make a search query through.

SEO is usually considered to be the optimisation of websites and web pages specifically for Google, as this is the market leader in the space. In most of the world, Google holds a 90%+ market share of online searches completed, although there are geographical variations that businesses will need to be aware if they’re targeting audiences in locations other than the western world.

What is Duplicate Content?

Duplicate content issues can be considered any identical content that appears in more than one URL online. This may be the result of a bot or other website copy-and-pasting content onto their own domain, or from a company publishing duplicate content or duplicate pages. This applies to written content and not necessarily to shareable content such as videos, photos or infographics.

Shorter bursts of text that are likely to be organically repeated such as strap-lines or short descriptions are not considered duplicate content for search engine purposes.

Google instead indicates that duplicate content refers to “substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content in the same language or are appreciably similar”. There are no specific limits or word counts given to the definition of ‘substantive’ in this case and so it could be anything from a product description paragraph to a lengthy article.

Duplicate Content IS bad for SEO, But Why?

Technically, Google doesn’t penalise a site for producing content that is duplicate within its own domain, saying: “Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don’t follow the advice listed in this document, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results.”.

However, this doesn’t stop internal or external duplicate content issues being bad for SEO. Where duplicate content exists – particularly where it is spread across more than one domain – the search engines algorithm must judge which is the original and which is the most relevant to appear in each search engines results or search rankings – which is an automated process and may not necessarily decide in the original website’s favour.

If a site duplicating content from another is an older domain, has more backlinks to notate authenticity, hosts other content more relevant to the topic or has a higher DA (Domain Authority) than the original, the search engine’s algorithm may decide to feature that same content above other results.

This can mean that competitors, industry press or even entirely unrelated websites gain competitive advantage above the original and are subject to more click-throughs and completed actions. For this reason, the removal of internal duplicate content across your website web page can be considered improving its UX.

Duplicate content is bad for SEO

How Does Duplicate Content Affect SEO Rankings in Search Engines?

Generally speaking, the issue with internal duplicate content that results in it being bad for SEO is that it will confuse search engines. This is due to two primary issues:

  • Search engines will usually only show one version of content where the same content appears online more than once, and so it must differentiate between multiple versions.
  • Duplicate content dilutes link equity as other websites also must choose between which version of a duplicate content to link to. This can affect the number of inbound links to the original source of the content, and as inbound links are a Google ranking factor, it can impact negatively on search engines ranking and search visibility.

Managing Duplicate Content Issues

Remove Duplicate Blocks of Text

Ideally, a website will have no more than one instance of anything that may comprise a ‘substantive text’, and so webmasters and digital marketers are wise to remove any multiple versions of copy to improve the UX of the site and make it clearer for site users which version is best suited to their needs.

Minimise Boilerplate Repetition

‘Boilerplate text’ is the repetitive text that some businesses are required to repeat around their domain for legal reasons, such as copyright notices or legal disclaimers.

Where this appears in the main body text of a page, it is likely to be considered as standard duplicate content by the algorithm, but of course the organisation may have no choice but to feature it. Instead, it is best practice for webmasters to use a shortened version on each page and link through to the full required legal text. This avoids unnecessary duplicate content and the confusion it may cause for search engines.

Prioritise URL Parameters and Variations

Minor page URL variations may result in unintended instances of duplicate content, and can prove pretty harmless but should be dealt with and removed if possible. Most commonly, these small variations are as a result of analytics codes, click tracking, print-friendly page versions and session IDs. Despite the URLs only having tiny differences due to their sub-domain status, this can result in search engines indexing two versions of the same website page.

The Google Search Console can be used in these incidences to set the preferred domain for crawling and to tweak parameters around these so that the search engines algorithm knows which to ignore. Google search console often provides many immediate answers that will affect search results. Ensuring early Google search console connectivity with your website will provide insight on matters such as duplicate page issues, multiple pages of external duplicate content and even internal duplicate content across multiple urls that could affect search results.

Pay Attention to Any CMS-Generated Pages

It is not uncommon for content management systems to inadvertently create duplicate content on a website without the business realising. This may be a result of a bug or a shifted standardised setting on the back-end of the software. It is imperative that businesses understand the inner workings of their CMS and know how to remove same content when it does duplicate.

Get Website, SEO and Duplicate Content Support

Duplicate content is bad for SEO, and is an important aspect of your SEO that needs to be managed efficiently. Woya Digital manage SEO for businesses of all shapes and sizes, and can help advise on how best to manage and fix duplicate content issues. Get in touch to learn more and let us optimise your site to gain the best possible online search results!

Why You Must Include Long Tail Keywords In Your SEO Strategy

Why You Must Include Long Tail Keywords In Your SEO Strategy

10 Nov 2022 | Content Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is not just a ‘nice to have’ marketing tool for businesses presenting online – it’s not an option! Showing up in the right place at the right time digitally for customers searching online, is critical for any organisation wishing to gain competitive advantage, remain relevant and grow its audience.

The discipline of SEO covers a wide of variety of topics, but a prominent one is keywords. Here specifically we’re going to flesh out long tail keywords!

What Are Long Tail Keywords?

Most keywords refer to a single word or couple of words that match together to create a searchable phrase that users type into a search engine in order to find results. Long tail keywords are formed of between three and five words usually (though no such numeric limit actually exists) and are, by their nature therefore, more specific and less common.

The term ‘long tail keyword’ comes from a book called The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, which focuses on the niche of markets and products, and how successful focusing on a specific sector or area can be.

For example, a standard keyword search may be ‘pink trainers’ but a long tail keyword search would be ‘pink Nike trainers size 5’.

How Do Long Tail Keywords Work?

The longer nature of long tail keywords compared to briefer search terms means they are more specific and will as a result drill down more specific (and hopefully relevant) search results. For search engine users, they present an opportunity for more appropriate results and ideally, less clicks to find exactly what they want. For businesses, they present an opportunity to target more niche markets.

Generally speaking, long tail keywords are less competitive than more generic keywords because they’re designed to better reflect how users make queries. They are more likely to attract high-quality traffic to a website, which is likely to increase conversion rates.

Often, long tail keywords aren’t the first search query typed in by search engine users. It is not uncommon instead for users to type in a more generic search term, uncover generic results, and then use long tail keywords to drill down to more specific results.

How Do Keywords Form Part of an SEO Strategy?

Statistics suggest that over 70% of all search queries are now made using long tail keywords, with voice search being a key factor in consumer behaviour.

Users are more likely to use the same types of phrasing they would in colloquial speech, in such searches – an evolving behaviour recognised and catered for by Google with their focus on NLP (Neural Linguistic Programming) in search algorithms to produce relevant results. This high level of long tail keyword search means that including these keywords in an SEO strategy is imperative.

Long tail keywords should be used to create blog posts, web pages and other relevant content to explain the specific topics within the agreed product or service pillars of the business. Together, the relevant long tail keywords should create a cluster of information around each pillar topic, with the algorithms behind the search engines depending on these to connect users with exactly the details they’re looking for.

Once uploaded, businesses should monitor the performance of each piece of content and continue to produce relevant content around areas of both shortfall (to bridge the gap and supply info where it doesn’t already exist) and success (to continue to build upon the content that users find useful).

Long tail keywords should be focused on alongside other keyword types, as part of an overall concerted effort to improve a websites content quality and quantity.

Different Keyword Ranking Difficulty Levels

The most commonly used generic search terms, by their nature, have the most competition online. This means that it is difficult for businesses to rank highly for them.

Long tail keywords tend to be easier for businesses to rank highly for as they’re searched less and are considerably more specific. Generic search terms sit at the head of search, a tiny number of keywords with exceedingly high search volumes. Long tail keywords constitute millions of search terms all with very low search volumes. This leaves the opportunity for digital marketing and content production around long tail keywords to be more prevalent and more prosperous.

The type of keyword being used or focused on isn’t the only factor that contributes to the difficulty or ease of ranking. Other such determinants include the content type, the Domain Authority (DA) of the website on which the content is published and the links to and from the content piece.

How To Identify Relevant Keywords To Focus On

There are various tools for keyword research, all of which will advise of relevant keyword combinations (both generic and long tail), their competition levels, search volumes and CPC (Cost Per Click) fees. However, these research tools should be used with caution as oftentimes they are created independent of tangible human input and can be based around theory rather than actual user behaviour, particularly in fields where the relevant keywords may include an ambiguous word or phrase.

Ideally, once identified, businesses should look to target long tail keywords that are low in competition and high in volume.

It is not enough to just look up keywords and produce content including them. Instead, businesses should look to incorporate long tail keywords into a thorough SEO strategy that looks to improve all areas of a website’s accessibility and relevancy, and includes regular content creation as part of this.

At Woya Digital, we have a team of SEO experts who work on creating tailored SEO strategies to best improve our customers’ competitive advantage. Get in touch to learn more!

Blog Structure for Success

Blog Structure for Success

4 Apr 2022 | Digital Marketing, Content Marketing

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Many businesses reap the benefits of posting regular blogs to their website in order to keep a library of relevant brand content available online for their customers; both potential and existing. Routine blogging is also important to support SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rankings and website performance as well as position a business as a thought leader, providing valuable resources for those looking for related information and data.

Yet posting blogs regularly can quickly become something done ‘just for the sake of it’ and this attitude can rapidly deteriorate the quality and usability of the content as the focus wanders and it’s no longer deemed a top business priority. However, there are some easy steps that can be followed with blogging to ensure the copy is of high quality, it’s useful for those reading it and that there will be benefit to the organisation from it being posted.

Follow our recommended tips below to ensure you’re applying a blog structure for success, every time.

1. Establish Your Goals

It’s important to keep a blogging schedule regular so that readers are able to return to up-to-date appropriate content.

Establish what is to be achieved through the publication of the blog and what benefit it presents to the reader. Who are the audience? What’s important to them? What question or problem does this blog answer or resolve for them? Once a piece’s purpose has been identified, it can be written in a way that encompasses its derived value.

2. Create a Catchy Title

The targeted SEO keyword or phrase should be included in the title for SEO purposes – and the title itself should be descriptive and catchy. No one likes a purely clickbait title that bears no resemblance to the content within (and indeed, search engines will only punish a website for it) but the title should give the reader a reason to click through.

Keep a title short and direct – and don’t be afraid to us it to post a question. You can revisit the answer to that question and others related to it within the body text.

3. Hook Readers in with a Great Introduction

Once the title has achieved the click through, content has a very limited time to capture the reader enough to encourage full readership – so the introduction must hook readers in, fast. A short introduction to let users know what the blog will cover reinforces that what they’ve clicked through to is in fact what was advertised, and that they have value to gain from reading it.

Ideally, sentence structure in an introduction should be short and concise; encouraging the desire for more information to be gleaned from further interaction.

4. Break the Blog Structure into Sections

A huge block text is unappealing to the eye and will immediately put a potential reader off as too wieldy and difficult to absorb. Instead, blogs should be broken into smaller sections with relevant sub-headings; allowing for skim-reading as well as easier comprehension of the piece in its entirety.

Sub-headings provide further SEO benefits and should include keywords or phrases where possible.

Each section should be no more than a few paragraphs so if it does require longer or more technical explanations, create further sub-sections to make the article even further comprehensive. Don’t allow blog sections to run so long they lose focus on the topic – this will just encourage the reader to stop and leave.

5. Include Internal and External Links

There are benefits to including both internal and external linking within blogs, with both playing a role in SEO. Internal links to other resources on the same domain encourage further browsing and more time on the organisation’s website; and can be optimised to best include a desired call to action or user journey.

External links are often avoided as people don’t wish to direct readers away from their site – yet they hold powerful SEO value. Linking to reputable sources with a high Domain Authority (DA) is positive as it demonstrates to search engines that the business is dedicated to providing quality content for its users.

Always designate external links to open in a new tab or window, keeping the original website open elsewhere on the browser, and as not to encourage readers away from the original blog.

6. Draw a Strong Conclusion

No blog should finish abruptly and instead should draw a proper conclusion that summarises the main points of the article. If there is no clear ‘one way or another’ conclusion, businesses may wish to mention the topic’s questionable or controversial nature, or end with a bullet-pointed list of relevant considerations.

7. Mention your Business

Blogs on a business’ website are not only read by existing site users or those who are already familiar with the organisation, and this should be taken into account.

A small paragraph about the business should, therefore, be included – ideally with internal links around the site for further information. Ideally this should be included organically within the content or as a standalone explanatory portion after the conclusion.

8. Add Sharing Buttons

Giving readers the opportunity to share blog content with friends, colleagues and social media connections is a simple but valuable addition.

Adding sharing buttons at the top or the bottom of the pages can be done through the inclusion of a basic widget or coding – and the more content is shared, the higher the traffic will be, the more value will be demonstrated to search engines and the more likely the content is to ‘go viral’.

9. Add an Image

Including photos, infographics or other imagery throughout blog text content not only helps break up the aesthetic of a chunky piece to read but also holds SEO benefits. Research shows that social media users are much more likely to click through on a post with an image than one that is text only, and indeed, social media algorithms are more likely to display it.

Contrary to what some may think, blogging is still a powerful and very important part of any business marketing and growth strategy.  At Woya Digital we can help with all your digital marketing needs, including setting up a blogging strategy that really works to boost your business. Contact us today to chat through your content and digital marketing strategy.

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share Via Email
Share On Whatsapp
Share On Linkedin
The Importance of Business Content Marketing

The Importance of Business Content Marketing

15 Jan 2022 | Digital Marketing, Content Marketing

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Content marketing is increasingly acknowledged as a vital component of an overall marketing strategy in creating and furthering brand awareness to attract customers both online and off.

Content marketing is particularly important for growth and visibility in ever-crowding markets and looking up any successful brand online today, you’ll undoubtedly find a whole host of multi-model content spanning various platforms.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is the creation of relevant, useful and educational content for a business’ target audience, consistent with its overall branding and positioning. Content should ideally be multi-modal to span different content consumption habits and preferences as well as to enhance SEO ranking and may include: blogs, e-books, audio files, videos, images, infographics, white papers or full content libraries that customers (potential and existing) will find useful.

Content marketing is often primarily pushed out to market online but may also involve offline communications; dependent on the audience and their preferences. For this reason, content marketing often forms part of a wider digital marketing strategy.

Why is Business Content Marketing important?

Content marketing has numerous benefits for businesses of all types and sizes and continues to prove itself as valuable for marketers across all industries.

As an activity, content marketing focuses directly on improving engagement between customers (or potential customers) and a business; in the long term aiming to increase sales, nurture customer loyalty and to encourage repeat custom. This engagement comes through the interaction customers have with the content being created and published; be that reading it, listening to it, viewing it, watching it or even better, sharing it onwards with others. If the content is pitched and created appropriately, the target audience will consider it to be of value to them and so will interact with it.

Content marketing can help position a brand as a thought leader or industry expert. In creating and providing educational and informative content, even if it is not of a specialist or especially technical nature, businesses are able to cement a reputation as one that can be approached for knowledge or guidance in their field, and that they can be trusted. It is this tangibly useful and valuable content that creates a connection with consumers and dependence on the business that promotes loyalty.

Great content produced and published online may be shared widely; furthering a brands exposure to an ever-growing audience. This furthers organic digital reach and increases the amount of people exposed to the business’ branding.

Content marketing also has positive benefits for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) purposes. Google and other search engines use algorithms to read through digital content to reinforce a website’s theme, location, relevance and authenticity; promoting its chances of higher ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). In addition, with the latest update to Google’s algorithm, the Multitask Uniform Model, all types of content can be understood by the programming and so a variety of media used will only seek to enhance organic search performance.

It is clear that content marketing provides fantastic value not just to the business’ target audience online but also to the business’ bottom line. It is estimated that content marketing as an activity costs up to 62% less than traditional marketing but delivers three times the leads.

What Type of content should form a Content Marketing Strategy?

For many years, content marketing has simply involved the writing and publication of blogs on a website but with devices improving in function, mobile network speeds improving in capacity and speed, and attitudes toward content types changing, it now involves much more.

We are seeing a shift in short form written content to long form with articles of 1,000 words and more becoming more prevalent; and being read more as users recognise the value in investing the time to consume them. In conjunction with this, studies prove that consumers are more likely to engage with content that includes data and analysis as they respect the specific detail included.

Google’s latest algorithm update will, for the first time, analyse and understand multi-modal media types and so will favour the ranking of a brand with a variety of content available. This reinforces the importance of businesses offering their content in different modes; appealing to and being accessible for as many people as possible.

Strategising Your Business Content Marketing

Many businesses create and push out blogs on themes related to their brand niche ad hoc, whenever they’re able to but with no rhyme or reason in their topic or placement. This makes the success of such content largely down to luck.

Taking the time to lay out a proper content marketing strategy allows for the production of strong, long-lasting assets that serve the brand long-term. This involves the planning of content spanning different types, topics and platforms to carefully curate helpful and valuable resources for consumers.

How to put together a Content Marketing strategy

A business looking to compile a comprehensive and effective content marketing strategy must first define their mission and goals, outline their target audience and understand what they wish to achieve with the content they produce. Content can then be planned on a tailored basis to cater for specific personas; giving them the information they need in a form they’ll understand and enjoy on a platform they use.

A timeline should be created to map out the planning, creation, management and publication of content across all channels with a joined-up approach for consistent (and therefore recognisable) branding. Finally, the results of content marketing should be measurable so that the business is able to understand its effectiveness. Without this, there can be no real mark of success.

If you are looking for support with your content marketing strategy and execution, you’ve found the right blog! Head to our Woya Digital website to find out more about us and then get in touch to discuss with us how we can help you grow your business with effective content marketing.

 

 

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share Via Email
Share On Whatsapp
Share On Linkedin
Content Creation Tips for Every Step of Your Funnel

Content Creation Tips for Every Step of Your Funnel

18 Dec 2020 | Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Social media, Top tips

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When it comes to the art of digital marketing, we often work clients who haven’t heard of the terms we use and don’t necessarily know how to leverage each step of the customer experience to drive sales.

We have created this article not only to explain why every step of your “funnel” needs to pack a content punch, but what it all means – and why it’s enormously valuable for you to understand as a business owner.

You hear a lot about content creation, particularly in this visually focused age where innovative graphics are the norm, however content isn’t just for marketing and sales. It’s also about building relationships and trust with your customers, establishing yourself as an expert in your field, as well as encouraging engagement and growing brand advocates.

Why a Content Strategy is a Secret Business Weapon

To kick things off, we’d like to introduce the concept of a content strategy. It sounds pretty serious, but doesn’t have to be mind-blowingly complicated, and you can start with a short-term calendar of content and build on it as you go – or dive right in with a strategy that covers the next 12 months!

Strategising is the key to all great marketing.

Think about:

  • What do you want customers to think of when they think of you?
  • What values does your brand stand for?
  • Who is your key customer, and what sort of content resonates with them?
  • Where do they look for information? What mediums will help you meet your customer on his or her own terms?

In essence, a content strategy means that you have worked out your key business priorities, and put energy into fleshing out those objectives to identify how you’re going to go about content creation that will help you reach your audience, step-by-step. But, circling back, you can’t create a content strategy until you have established your funnel!

The word “sales funnel” always sound a little cold. Still, the reality is that every brand, every business, every company that engages in any sales and marketing does have a funnel; even if they don’t realise it!

The funnel is the journey your customer goes through, from first hearing your name, to becoming a loyal follower.  This theoretical funnel is made up of specific steps that your customer will move through, but the key is to focus on each step individually and for the purpose of content creation, create content to nurture and move your customer on to the next step in the process.

How are Funnels Essential to Driving Business Growth?

As an example, we’re going to work through a sales funnel, to illustrate what that customer experience might look like.

  1. To start with, we’re not going to try and force a customer into buying a product (nor would that work!). Instead, we’re going to introduce ourselves, establish a presence, and get our name out there to build awareness.
  1. Next up, we want that customer to consider us as their next port of call when they need something. Alternatively, we tell them what problems we solve, and establish ourselves as the experts who can help.
  1. Yep, that’s right; all businesses are real people, with real personalities, and real thoughts. Engagement isn’t just telling people who you are, but listening to them! Ask your audience what they like, what they don’t, what they think, how they feel – get a  conversation started that values any contribution they would like to make.
  1. So, you’ve connected with a customer, and they’ve bought a product. Great news! The next step is just as important as everything that’s come before – retention. You don’t work this hard to sell one product, or one service, to one person. You want them to rely on you to deliver the good stuff and keep coming back for more.
  1. Once you’ve reached this stage, it’s essential to retain that customer and to connect with them at the right level to cement your relationship. This stage is about your customer becoming your advocate, and being happy to share their positive experiences with other potential new customers; who start right at the beginning of your funnel.

So, this is a very brief rundown of the critical steps in the funnel, and why you need to build up through the stages to secure sales.

Why Skipping Content Creation at any Funnel Stage is Disastrous

You probably see where we’re going here; EVERY step of the funnel is fundamental.

Content creation doesn’t solely mean videos, website content, newsletters, follow-ups, messages, social media images, blogs, emails, marketing ads. It is all of these things, working cohesively to engage with your ideal customer base, and showcase what you have to offer.

Once you have established your funnel, what you’re doing is breaking down the steps that every customer will take before they decide to spend their hard-earned cash with your business, and then afterwards too. Your content creation strategy should be built around your funnel, and the funnel provides you with a good framework from which to work and help you to make sure that you deliver valuable, interesting, engaging content at every touchpoint.

How to Create Great Content at Every Stage of Your Funnel

It’s easy to use phrases like ‘content strategy’ and ‘sales funnel’ – but for a lot of businesses, particularly SMEs who perhaps don’t have a marketing guru on their team, it’s not always quite so obvious or straightforward.

This information is to help you create a standout content strategy and guide you in your content creation, so let’s work through each step of the funnel, and think about what content we might create that would help us work towards those overarching objectives.

  1. The top of the funnel – ATTRACT – Build Awareness

Building awareness means you want to increase the visibility of your brand. This is not a step for pushing sales, but rather for introducing your business, sharing advice or solutions, and generating leads.

  1. Publish blogs to educate, guide and provide solutions to problems
  2. Share social media posts with tips or info
  3. Share ‘how to’ videos
  4. Share checklists
  5. Create downloadable guides with lead generation forms
  6. Share a signup for your newsletter with lead generation forms

Step Two – CONVERT

In this step you want your customer to consider using your brand. It establishes you as the business that can solve a problem (even if it’s a problem they didn’t realise existed!).

  1. Make good use of CTAs (Calls to Action) – make it easy for your customer to ask you a question, learn more, download a guide, and send you a message. One-click is ideal!
  2. Focus on your website, populating it with relevant, informative content.
  3. Think about SEO, and optimise every element of your digital presence to make it easier to find, and higher ranked
  4. Invite customers in the door to get to know you, with blog posts that explain what you can offer
  5. Keep creating engaging social media posts

Step Three – ENGAGE

Now we’re in the conversion stage of the funnel – you’ve worked consistently to reach this point, so let’s keep going!

Here we need to solidify everything your customer knows about you, and leave no doubt that you’re the business they need.

  1. Concentrate on your website UX (user experience) – how many buttons do they need to press to add something to their cart?
  2. How quickly can they find the information they need?
  3. Do you have a published FAQs page with all the critical answers about delivery lead times, packaging, payment terms and anything else relevant to your business?
  4. Do you make it easy for a customer to sign up, register, or buy? Use CTA buttons, instant links, and make sure the content and pop-ups at every stage of that process are perfectly aligned with the brand image you have created.
  5. Do you have a mobile optimised version of your website? Can customers buy something from you with one-click through social media?
  6. Can customers purchase directly through social media – are you set up for social commerce?

Step Four – SELL

Here we’re building on that established relationship and creating brand loyalty

  1. Make sure your customer is happy with their purchase. Send an email, pop them a message, or give them a call (depending on your business and what makes sense!).
  2. Request feedback or a review – everyone likes to be asked for an opinion!
  3. Use email marketing to stay in touch, and allow your customer to connect with you again.
  4. Keep on delivering useful content; think about blog posts, new product or service launches, sharing interesting social media content, and keeping that interest alive.
  5. Always pay attention to reviews and feedback you receive. Be honest, keep it public, and never be tempted to brush off a bad review because how you react will define whether you reach the next stage of the funnel.

Step Five – CONNECT – Customers That Advocate for You

Once you’ve turned a potential lead into a customer, you then want them to become an advocate, and cement their brand loyalty.

You want your customers to love what you do, and to be proud to buy from your business. Delighting customers is an excellent way to expand your reach and connect with more like-minded people.

  1. Think about customer loyalty; do you add value to their experience, by sharing content, links or opportunities that you think they’ll be interested in?
  2. Can you build a community that will make this customer feel that they’re a valued part of something?
  3. Use emails and social media to keep them informed, continue to engage, and perhaps create special offers or exclusive services that only your established loyal customers receive.
  4. Reward customers who share your products by using giveaways or competitions, ask them to share their experiences and be sure to give them something back in return.

What’s interesting is that, at every step of the funnel, the goal isn’t brand marketing. It isn’t pushing products, selling at knockdown prices, or piling a budget into digital ads (although all of these things have their place on the broader marketing framework!)  This is about content creation and engagement that sings for your brand, makes customers want to buy from you, and establishes your position in the market as a reliable, personable, expert brand.

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share Via Email
Share On Whatsapp
Share On Linkedin