This is a perfect example of how we design websites with future enhancement and added functionality in mind. Check out our project page or go to the online store. Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss something similar for your own business.

One Page Website

Our advice is to go for a 'one page' website, often referred to an a landing page, but don't confuse this with a campaign landing page, that's something different and not what you want here. A 'one-page' website is exactly that, the complete website all on one page, where the content that would otherwise be on separate pages is separated into sections on the one page and a scrolling mechanism is used to neatly move between the sections.

It's neat, attractive and very modern and the visitor can find everything they are looking for just by selecting a menu item, button or link that takes them to the content they want on that page, in a smooth scrolling action. It makes moving between the content pretty quick as well, no waiting for pages to load.

To see exactly what I mean, here is a site we designed for Newport's premier hair salon, Ashley Daniels. This is a great looking, ultra modern site, with all the content the Ashley Daniels Hair team need to convey. It works superbly well on tablets and phones and, Ashley Daniels Hair gets a lot of contact enquiries and booking requests through the site. I'm convinced the ease of getting in contact plays it's part in that.

It's a no brainer for businesses on a tight budget, why forego quality and responsiveness when you can have it all at a snip (ahem, excuse the pun)?

If this is something you're looking for or would like to know how a one page site could benefit your business and fit your budget, please call 01633 431138 or drop us a line and we'll get back to you straightaway.  

Pay-Per-Click Is Not One Dimensional

Are You Using PPC To Its Full Potential?

As a business owner or marketer who is responsible for driving and converting website traffic, you’ve likely encountered articles and discussions that pit search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) against one another in a fight to the death. Ardent supporters of each side will offer a bevy of reasons that you should use their tactic and avoid “that other one” like The Plague. Do yourself a favour - instead of narrowing your options, broaden them. Use PPC and SEO in tandem and you’ll soon discover the benefits of remaining happily neutral in the debate of one vs. the other. If you are using SEO and purposely neglecting PCC (or even vice-versa) you are severely limiting the potential effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

It’s About More Than Just Google Searches

It’s hard not to put Google on a pedestal. The majority of us search using Google, we run our PPC campaigns through AdWords, and we keep our fingers on Google’s pulse, nervously awaiting the release of their next animal. But too often, we lose sight of the fact that solely focusing on what ‘works’ on Google can lead down the wrong path (black hat tactics worked for a while, didn’t they?). That’s not to say that writing content and paying for great keywords - Google’s current darlings - isn’t effective. It just means that at the end of the day, reaching, engaging and providing value for your customers is more important than using and pleasing Google at all costs.

As a primary example, Google isn’t the only cost-per-click (CPC) platform out there, which means PPC doesn’t always have to target Google search. You might have a plan to create great, targeted content that nets you a stream of organic traffic, but that could take time. Your content might be stale before anybody even sees it. So why not promote your content on Facebook? At the very least, the paid promotion will get eyes on your content and, if it’s good, people will share it. That should get the SEO ball rolling on the rest should take care of itself. The end result is a piece of content that Google sees that people like, but that wasn’t the goal. The idea was to connect your content with an audience by any means possible.

Marketing - yes even digital marketing - has to exist beyond Google. And by extension, that means PPC is about more than just Google, too! The sooner you can take that leap of faith and not limit yourself to one line of thinking, the better your marketing efforts will be.

How to Maximize Your PPC Campaigns

Advanced Tips and Tricks

Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of using pay-per-click as an integrated part of a larger digital marketing strategy, let’s take a look at some of the hidden powers of PPC that can help boost your business:

• More than clicks and conversions: according to a recent study, one in three mobile smartphone users searches specifically for contact information (phone number, driving directions). This means that if you put this kind of information in your PPC ads (using the call extension feature) you’ll occupy prime real estate where users are searching for information.
• Lead with PPC (for SEO reasons): we all know that PPC delivers quick traffic and SEO takes time, but why not start with PPC, mine the data and then use it to inform your SEO strategy? If you can find high-value, low-cost keywords that are generating tons of converting traffic, it stands to reason you should target those same keywords organically.
• Go mobile to expand reach: mobile is a great place to reach customers with PPC because of how new it is to everybody. Marketers, customers and even Google are still trying to get comfortable with mobile ads, but there’s no doubt that spending is on the rise.
• These are only some of the many reasons you should adapt and expand your knowledge of PPC and, more importantly, how you’re positioning your campaigns.

Frequently Asked Question

Question: I understand that SEO and PPC work well together, but I only have the budget for one. Which area should I focus on?

Answer: The short answer to this question is PPC. You’ll get quick traffic for a fixed cost and if you’re just starting out, that’s what you want.

The longer answer, though, is that you should always have SEO in mind, especially when you’re running PPC campaigns that are giving you all kinds of great data. In theory, if you (or whoever manages your PPC) run effective campaigns, you should eventually have the budget for a longer term SEO and content strategy. As we’ve discussed, PPC will generate a much higher return on investment if you think about it not as a one-trick-pony, but rather as an overall contributor to many different aspects of your larger digital marketing strategy. .

For more help with understanding pay-per-click advertising or information about dedicated PPC management, please get in touch.

Social Media Needs Your Attention!

Viral Content Doesn’t Grow On Trees

The Old Spice Man. Whatever it is the fox says. Gangnam style. The Dollar Shave Club video that made men everywhere ask themselves, “why are razor blades so expensive?” Viral content is effective because it’s funny, it stands out, it makes an emotional connection and most of all, it makes us want to share with other people. The secret to viral content is creating something people will nag their friends and family to watch or read (and they won’t take no for an answer).

So we’ve established that you want viral content. Great, so do we. So does everybody else who does any sort of marketing. Viral content is an extremely coveted digital asset. But it shouldn’t be used to measure the success or failure of your social media and content marketing efforts.

The fact is, without a pre-existing community, only the best 0.1% of content goes viral. If you write a blog post right now, chances are it would only have a 1 in 1000 shot of going viral. If you’re automatically expecting that you’ll spend a few hours on a post and it’ll somehow go viral, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

With viral content, you can’t be results oriented. What you can do is pay more attention to detail with your content and social strategies. Doing the little things that make your content more shareable might not send it viral, but an uptick in shares is certainly a step in the right direction. And a few months down the road as your community gathers and grows around your content, you’ve suddenly improved your overall digital strategy and increased your chances of creating something viral.

Plant A Seed And Help It Bloom

Think about your content as a seed and social media as the soil. When you start creating content and sharing it on social media, you are essentially planting a seed. Most seeds don’t bloom in an hour or even a week, and they don’t reach their fully blossomed state for much longer. Likewise, your content (as a whole) won’t begin to show the fruits of its loom for quite a while. The only certainty is that if you don’t water and care for your plant, it won’t grow. If you aren’t giving your content creation and social presence the attention and care they need to be effective, they won’t grow and mature the way you want them to. But if you trust that your hard work will pay off, you’ll eventually have a fully-grown content plant surrounded by rich social media soil!

How To Maximise Your Social Media Presence

Tips For Creating More Shareable Content

Not sure how to properly get the most out of the content you’re creating and sharing? Start with these simple tips for making your content more shareable and you’ll be on your way to maximizing your social presence:

• Learn to listen: sometimes, silence is golden. When you meet a new group of people, it’s often best to do more watching and listening before you open up. Social media is the same way. Joining more conversations than you start and listening more than you talk is a good way to get a sense of the social niche you hope to join.
• Stay active: even if you only dedicate 10 focused minutes a day to social media, it’ll make a huge difference. Checking in once every few days isn’t an option - you’ll get lost in the noise. Make a point to contribute every single day, especially when you’re just starting out.
• Strive for engagement: the whole point of social media is to engage with other people in your industry. Think of it as one big, never-ending conference and don’t let the opportunity to network and engage go to waste. Nobody bites.

This piece only scratches the surface of the things you should do to bolster your social media presence and give your content a greater chance of going viral. We will post more on this and other social media topics in future but in the meantime, for further information and guidance on your social media and content marketing strategies, please get in touch!

Content Marketing Mistakes That Are Killing Your Strategy

Are You Really Completely Invested?

It’s no secret that content marketing has exploded over the last few years. Everywhere you look there’s content, content and more content. For a while, marketers were extremely excited that so many businesses were on board with such an effective digital marketing tactic. But as content is churned out at an increasing rate, it’s become painfully obvious that the Internet is now saturated with too much content.

You’re thinking, “If content is so great, how could there ever be too much of it?” The problem is the wide range of quality in the mass amounts of content being produced - and the unfortunate fact that most of it just isn’t very good. There’s a huge misconception about content marketing that seems to be the root cause of a lot of struggling content strategies: content doesn’t work the way most people think it does.

As the demand for content continues to rise, businesses and even marketers are losing sight of the actual function of content marketing. When a company publishes a blog post and people read, like and share it, the blog should be considered a success. However, many businesses believe that since their piece of content did well, anybody who reads it will immediately make a purchase. That’s not how content works.

The reality is that content is successful when it generates reads, shares and ultimately proves to be a valuable resource for those who encounter it. When this process is repeated many times over - as it should be - it increases the chances that potential customers will remember your company when they (or somebody they know) needs your products or services. That’s the real purpose of content marketing.

Be Passionate About Your Customers

What all of this means is that you need to start differentiating your content and help it rise to the top of the content food chain. There’s no reason to stop creating content, but you also can’t ignore the fact that it’s becoming harder to get content in front of enough people for it to be effective. One of the easiest ways you can start to re-think your content strategy is by getting to know your customers. Instead of putting your company or even your customers’ potential interest in your products first, just become passionate about your customers and who they are. Once you’re familiar with your customers’ likes, dislikes, occupations, personality types and what they spend their money on, you can put yourself in their shoes and essentially become a customer. What better way to find out what kind of content they really want to read?

How To Fix Your Content Marketing

The Keys To Success

Your content marketing strategy might be struggling, but the good news is there are some easy fixes. By implementing just a few of these simple changes, you’ll likely be doing much more than your competition:

Create personas: drawing up customer personas for all the various types of people who are interested in your products and services can make a significant difference in your marketing efforts. Creating personas will help you get more in tune with your customers’ needs and therefore give you the insight to create better content.

Cater content: once you have an understanding of who your customers are, you can start to think about how each one of your personas moves along the buying cycle. Your personas are likely to move at varying speeds, which means they are asking different questions that require different answers. The more you can break down and specifically target your content, the better.

Plan and schedule: as with most things, having a plan makes things more efficient. You might not follow the plan exactly, but at least if you map out and schedule your content, you can hold your team accountable for deadlines. If you leave content for “when you have time” it’ll never get the attention it needs to achieve success.

This has only been a brief outline as to why you should re-assess your content marketing strategy. Content marketing needs time and complete commitment in order to be effective, but content is the constant when it comes to evolving digital marketing strategies, therefore it is worth the investment and we will be adding to this with further posts on the subject in the future. In the meantime, for further information and guidance on how to redesign your content marketing strategy, get in touch!