Why SEO is Critical for Your Online Business Growth

Why SEO is Critical for Your Online Business Growth

by | 18 Jul 2020 | SEO, Digital Marketing

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Small business marketing is often a case of having to pick and choose which strategies to implement and campaigns to operate within a tight budget and without a great deal of resource. Yet the real investment to be made in online marketing and business development is often a technical one – and that is, SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation to refer to it by its full name).

SEO can make or break a website, but what is it, how does it work, who ‘does’ it and how can you manage it? Read on for the full lowdown and to answer the most common questions that we get asked regarding online business growth.

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

Search Engine Optimisation is the intensification of a website’s content for it to become as noticeable as possible to the automated algorithms of search engines – preferably boosting its profile to the top of search engine results pages (or SERPs, for short). With search engines bringing up hundreds of thousands of results for most words and phrases searched, identifying relevant information for users is key.

SEO is a marketing practice in its own right and should absolutely form part of any company’s digital marketing strategy for online business growth.

Why is SEO SO Important for Online Business Growth?

The world ‘google’ is as much a verb now as it is a name, and society is increasingly dependent on the search engines they can access through their smartphones and other tech devices to find information quickly and efficiently.

Businesses should view search engines as a marketing channel. Any person looking for a product, service or industry relevant to them should be able to easily access information on their brand; so that they can gain awareness of the brand and its products/services, and ideally, eventually, make a purchase.

SEO is important for businesses because as society moves more and more online, so do their buying habits. There are very few industries not yet with any online presence at all; and for those that do have some, businesses without any SEO will find that their brand is ranked below the search engine results displaying information on their competitors.

SEO is imperative amongst small business marketing and online business growth as it is something that can deliver an inordinate amount of results for a relatively small outlay of finance and resource.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO works by tapping into the automated programming within search engines that determines where to rank what in terms of the results individuals using the search see. This is achieved by ensuring that the algorithm recognises a website as relevant, appropriate, genuine and an expert in a specific niche. It should be able to judge the who, what, where, when, how and why about a brand… just from a millisecond automated scan of the content on its website!

Put simply: search engines are library catalogues. The programs that manage them are the librarians.

The exact ways SEO works change all the time as algorithms and programming develop and grow. The technology involved in search engine operation is always improving and so SEO is never just a job to be done once and never again – businesses serious about it should aim to continuously advance and enhance their efforts toward it.

What Benefit Does Good SEO Give a Business Over Poor SEO?

Good SEO increases a brand’s visibility in search rankings, so when done better than a competitor, gives competitive advantage.

Being top of the search rankings for a relevant search to your business isn’t just important – it’s damn near imperative!

Think of your own search engine behaviours. Do you scroll through pages and pages of results to find the info you want or do you just click through to the first few? Your business needs to be where people will see it, otherwise it will lose out to those who are.

What Do SEO Services Include?

Some marketers have training in SEO and can implement it and optimise a website and its content, however this training needs to be taken in a continuous cycle and the content updated with it. If you are going to invest in SEO services, we highly recommend working with an SEO expert.

SEO experts are consultants who stay up to date with the near daily changes and are able to use this knowledge to implement SEO into a site on an ongoing basis, for best results and online business growth.

Being an SEO specialist is a full-time job. SEO consultants have to ensure every part of a website fits with the current search engine algorithms. That includes, but is by no means limited to: ensuring all written content is optimised, ensuring the website page layouts are optimised and work across different devices, building backlinks to and from other websites to build authority, ensuring every page on a website is tagged and categorised correctly, ensuring every image on a website is tagged and categories correctly, and ensuring that all the ‘backend’ data of a website is optimised.

How Long Does SEO Implementation Take?

The development of good SEO isn’t just a job that can be done once and then not re-visited. The nature of the internet and search engine technology is that it changes all of the time, so it needs to be a continual focus for businesses who want to remain at the top of their game online (and at the top of the search engines!).

It’s impossible to say how long an initial review and ‘go over’ of a brand’s website would take, as it depends on two factors: how bad the website’s SEO currently is, and how much content is on the site. However, an SEO specialist will be able to advise on the initial work required and then recommend an ongoing plan to keep on top of the situation.

SEO specialists are worth their weight in gold, and seeking one out is one of the most effective marketing strategies a small business can invest in. Ranking ahead of the competition in a marketing method where people are already seeking out relevant information? It’s a win-win!

Woya Digital is a digital marketing agency focussed on your business growth! Our SEO packages are paid monthly with no upfront investment making our service affordable for any size business! Get your FREE SEO Website Audit Report NOW!

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Data Privacy Day

Data Privacy Day

by | 28 Jan 2020 | Digital Marketing

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Data Privacy is a key issue around the world now as we increasingly rely on technology and incorporate it into our daily lives, sharing more of ourselves online than ever before. The information that others unrelated to you are able to access on you, is likely a lot more than you’ve ever considered – scarily so!

Yet unless you’re a big business or a high net worth individual, you probably do very little to manage your data privacy; instead relying on those companies you interact with, to do it for you. Introducing Data Privacy Day which we now have to create awareness around this topic.

What is Data Privacy Day?

Data Privacy Day is an (inter)national day aimed at inspiring dialogue and empowering a journey toward knowledge and action toward better privacy for both individuals and businesses. This means safeguarding their own data, respecting the data of others and in doing so, better enabling trust. There’s nothing to fear in the management of data privacy, but it’s a topic that’s definitely worth being aware of!

Why is DP Important?

For individuals, data is important because it’s often made up of your personal information – and the leaking of such info can result in identity theft, fraud and severely negative financial consequences.

The same can happen for businesses, but there are also legal consequences: there is a degree of privacy and security measures that companies must implement and manage as they handle data, be it their own or that belonging to others.

How Can Businesses Ensure They Keep Customer Data Safe?

Businesses have a responsibility to keep their customer data safe – however it’s also good business to foster trust with your customers! In order to best keep their customer data safe, businesses should strive to ensure they’re constantly up-to-date with the latest data privacy legislation and tools.

The enforcement and management of this as part of a cycle of continuous improvement, is something that can always be improved upon. This will allow firms to keep abreast of the latest developments in technology and data security.

Where Can Businesses Go for DP Guidance and Support?

Businesses looking to develop their data privacy procedures and policies should use Data Privacy Day as their first foray into the sector. You can access information and guidance through the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

There are also lots of data privacy specialists who are able to consult and offer tangible help with data security within businesses.

Woya Digital is a digital marketing agency made up of experts in our various fields. We believe in making business growth through digital marketing affordable for all businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth through digital marketing.

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Get To Know Your Customers Day

Get To Know Your Customers Day

by | 16 Jan 2020 | Digital Marketing

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Life is busy for business owners and one day rolls into the next; so it’s important that we step back and take stock once in a while. We need to re-assess priorities and ensure our ship is continuing to sail in the right direction. It is crucial for business owners to be consistently and constantly aware of changing customer attitudes and appetites – so you’re able to adapt, pivot and continue to meet your clients wants and needs.

The purpose of Get To Know Your Customers Day is about doing just this – allowing us to promote business growth and customer understanding.

What is Get To Know Your Customers Day?

Get To Know Your Customers Day is a national day aimed at encouraging businesses to halt their usual work and touch base with their existing (and potential!) customers in order to address any issues, untapped opportunities and/or concerns.

This can feed into business operations, marketing and business growth.

When is Get To Know Your Customers Day?

Get To Know Your Customers Day doesn’t happen just once a year – but instead, every quarter! Usually held on the third Thursday of each quarter, it’s regular enough for businesses to keep on top of rapidly changing markets and attitudes.

Why it’s Important to Get To Know Your Customers

Customers are people, and their wants and needs change over time with changing circumstances, attitudes and appetites for products and services. Building up a trusting relationship with your existing customers fosters brand loyalty that can ultimately increase their value to you.

They’re also the audience you want to hear from to find out what they want, like or dislike – giving you distinct competitive advantage.

How Knowing Your Customers Can Impact your Marketing

The way in which you communicate to existing and potential customers is key to attracting them to start or continue on a relationship with your business. One of the things that can be gained from getting to know your customers is to find out how they would best like to be communicated with, and to identify the channels they use and prefer for communications.

You can also identify which marketing strategies are really impacting your target audience, and therefore focus on these moving forward. This allows you to tailor your marketing to best reach your audience where they are.

Knowing Your Customers Will Benefit Your Business

Really knowing your customers will affect every area of your business! Assure those that you’re interacting with that you want their honest, open feedback on EVERYTHING. Consolidate all the information you receive and work out how the results can best be applied to your business operations and strategy as a result.

Pivoting a business’ direction based on changing markets and client requirements is key to business growth and success, and is something that every business should be reviewing at regular intervals.

Woya Digital is a digital marketing agency made up of experts in our various fields. We believe in making business growth through digital marketing affordable for all businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth through digital marketing.

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Small Business Social Media Marketing Strategy

Small Business Social Media Marketing Strategy

by | 23 Dec 2019 | Digital Marketing, Social media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Social media platforms provide a fantastic opportunity for small business growth, however a considered plan is required to really optimise what they have to offer. We’ve put together this blog as a “Where to start” for business owners with their small business social media marketing strategy.

When it comes to social media marketing, the following quote perfectly sums it up: Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat – Sun Tzu

1. Establish Your Goals

You should know your business goals. Whether you manage your social media marketing yourself or have a marketing partner to manage it for you, you need to establish  realistic goals that you wish to achieve through your social media marketing.

A business generally has one or more of these 6 objectives behind their social media strategy:

  • Drive website traffic
  • Create brand awareness
  • Build audience trust
  • Provide customer support
  • Attract leads
  • Increase sales

Once you know why you are doing what you are doing, you can do it better. Each post you publish will be as a result of one or more of your established goals.

2. Create Audience Persona(s)

Many business owners underestimate the value of audience persons. You should not start a social media marketing campaign without understanding who your targeted audience is.

An ‘audience persona’ or ‘buyer persona’ describes the attributes of your target audience in as much detail as possible.

Understanding the habits and behaviours of your prospects helps you find and create personalised content especially for them. Depending on the nature of your business, you may have to create more than one audience persona.

3. Select the Right Social Media Platforms

As of 2019, 7 social media platforms dominate. Each has hundreds of millions of active users, and its own unique strengths. For example, Facebook has more subscribers than YouTube; however it can’t beat YouTube when it comes to video content marketing.

You shouldn’t limit your business to just one platform, having said this, you don’t need to be active on every social media platform. Use your business goals and audience personas to identify which social media platforms your target audience are on, and also what your capacity is for consistent content creation and distribution.

4. Identify and Study Your Competitors

Studying your competitors will help you identify market trends, establish what is and isn’t working for their audience, and which platforms your competitors are on.

Take out time to thoroughly analyse what your competition is doing. Do not go out to copy what they are doing, but to do it better, and learn from what they are doing.

5. Set Up Your Social Media Accounts

You will need data from all first three steps to implement this step efficiently. While setting up a business profile on a social media platform is not difficult, there are ways to optimise how you do this. It’s worth doing a bit of research.

This step will include having logos properly sized and header images created, and completing text boxes with company information overviews. Much of the information should already be on your website – don’t feel you need to re-invent the wheel!

6. Plan and Schedule Social Media Marketing Content

Planning and scheduling are two different parts of content marketing.

In planning, you have to determine the content that is relevant to your business and attractive for your target audience. In scheduling, you have to plan which content to publish, and when. You also need to establish how many posts you are going to post each day, to each platform. This again will be determined by your capacity to create relevant content.

Consistency is an essential element of social media posting.

7. See What Works and What Doesn’t

Marketing is a continuous process, and you are guaranteed of constant changes and development. An important part of each social media marketing campaign includes gathering and analysing data and using it to improve upon the next one.

8. Run Social Media Advertisements

After you have succeeded in creating the initial presence of your business on social media channels, include paid advertisements. Organic social media reach has plummeted over the past few years,  so an element of paid advertising is critical

Every platform offers paid promotion, and it should be a part of your social media marketing strategy. However, make sure you first fully understand your market and audience to get maximum return on investment.

There is more to each point highlighted above when structuring your small business social media marketing strategy, however you need to start with understanding the basics, and then work into the detail from here.

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Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

Local Citations to put your Business on the (Google) Map

by | 16 Dec 2019 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Businesses (especially smaller ones) have to do whatever they can to get their name heard, and with the internet providing everyone the opportunity to carve out their own little space online, it can often be difficult to stand out from the crowd.

When targeting customers or potential customers in a specific geographic area, local citations can be key to a business ranking highly on Google maps. A small focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) can boost your profile on Google and help you feature higher than your competitors.

What are Local Citations

A ‘local citation’ isn’t a Google term, but instead refers to a really basic form of marketing on the internet. It is simply an instance of your business’ NAP (that is: business Name, Address and Phone number) appearing online – be that on your website or on others. This may be in business directories, press articles, advertiser sites or reviews of your firm.

How Do Local Citations Benefit a Local Business

Aside from it being a small ad boost, every time someone sees your information; a local citation helps reiterate to Google (and therefore Google Maps) that you are a leading business in your area and that you are a genuine business. Google’s algorithms are well developed to identify spam and disingenuous entries and so good, organic reach through local citations is an easy way for it to understand proper local businesses.

What are the Elements of a Local Citation

The three main elements of a local citation are your NAP: business Name, Address and Phone number. The key is to keep them entirely consistent throughout all citations online – any differentiator will break the link between the citation and it relating directly to your business. It may be worth considering therefore if you have a ‘Ltd’ in your name or a space/unusual capitalisation/sub-brands, that you instead revert to one shorter name for your public-facing communications to avoid any confusion.

Other elements that may be included in citations (but aren’t imperative) include e-mail addresses and links to social media profiles. Where you can, keep the names of such profiles consistent and ensure you refer to yourself in the same way across all of your marketing.

Why Local Citations Matter

Local citations are the best way for Google’s automated algorithms to understand who you are and where you are; and that you’re genuine! The internet is full of bots and false entries, and citations are genuine reviews to show you’re not one of them. Citations alone are responsible for about 10% of Google’s decision in who to rank where on Maps, and with 76% of visitors accessing local results and then visiting one of the businesses featured within 24hrs, it’s a no-brainer that it’s an area of your online presence worth investing in!

Search marketing, SEO or search engine optimisation helps websites to rank well in Google and other search engines. At Woya Digital we are specialists in small business growth through digital marketing, including Local SEO services. We make SEO services affordable for small businesses through our pay monthly marketing packages, with no upfront investment. Find out more about how we can support your business growth!

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5 Tips to Boost Your Instagram Visibility

5 Tips to Boost Your Instagram Visibility

by | 12 Oct 2019 | Digital Marketing, Social media

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When it comes to marketing any business, social media should be an important part of your strategy. It’s not only a cost effective solution, it has the potential to support you in reaching a massive audience in a small amount of time.

Get your strategy right and you should be able to achieve a strong return on investment, boost your brand visibility online and increase sales.

Instagram is used by about 60% of the top brands in the world. The platforms visual nature allows you to plug into marketing opportunities that have real value in today’s competitive world.

Building a balanced strategy to grow your business takes a lot of planning and work. Part of this means understanding the right way to construct posts and other content like Instagram Stories.

The good news is, like any other social media platform, there are several key ways to boost your Instagram visibility.

Here are our top 5 tips:

1. Optimise Your Name Field

Your Instagram name field is actually separate from your Instagram handle.

This means you can optimise the name field with relevant keywords that highlight what your business does. Instagram users search keywords on the platform, so using keywords in your name field means you have more chance of showing up in searches.

2. Optimise your Bio

You have limited words to ensure your Instagram bio hits the mark. It pays to put some thought into this and optimise the content. Again, it’s all about showing up in potential searches so use hashtags and relevant keywords.

Don’t be afraid to experiment by changing your bio every so often and measuring how this improves engagement.

3. Add Location Tags

If you want to attract the right people to your posts and Instagram stories, don’t forget location tagging.

This doesn’t just have to be where your business is based. It might be where your target audience or customers are hanging out, for example, at a special event such as a festival or exhibition.

4. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are essential to boost your Instagram visibility and the stats prove it. Putting just one hashtag in your post has the potential to increase engagement by 12.6% compared to a post without one.

You can add 30 hashtags on one Instagram post and 10 to an Instagram Story. Make use of different relevant hashtags for different posts and research your hashtags to ensure you are making use of the most effective and relevant ones.

It is also a good idea to create your own branded hashtag. You can do this by combining an important keyword and your business name.

5. Follow and Engage 

You do not exist in a vacuum on social media and it’s important to engage with and follow other brands and individuals that complement your own to boost your Instagram visibility.

Instagram can predict what type of profiles you might like and show them in the ‘suggest’ and ‘because you follow’ sections. This allows you to be more focused in how you engage on social media and improves the relationships you make when building your following.

Digital marketing is a challenge for any business but understanding what works and what can improve your reach will make a big difference.

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