What is search engine optimization (SEO) and how does it work?

Posted on April 24, 2018November 22, 2019 by Alex Wilks

Blogs are a terrific way to continuously engage with your audience and keep them interested in your company. The ideas are endless, but you may not be reaching out to your full potential if you have been disregarding any crucial blogging components. Understanding more about what SEO is and how it works is important when marketing and creating content.

What is the purpose of SEO?

SEO, or more technically known as search engine optimization, is essentially free advertising that attracts both new and existing customers and followers. Similar to how appealing context increases engagement on Facebook, SEO determines words and phrases that make your content stand out on SERPs (search engine result pages). Crawlers, spiders and robots often refer to tools that search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, use to display their results. These technical applications may seem daunting, but the right keywords can significantly affect those algorithms and page rankings.

Specific, relevant keywords

Think of keywords as part of your marketing conversation to the consumer. Let’s use handmade soaps as an example. Instead of only referring to them that way, also use long tail keywords that are more specific — fragrance-free, vegan, goat’s milk, rose petal, charcoal or glittery. Include your business name, the city or market where they’re crafted or available as well as words that can further describe certain designs, ingredients or types (San Diego farmers market bunny-shaped bar soaps).

Whatever phrase you choose, work them into your content organically, so that it doesn’t sound scripted or forced.

Furthermore, make sure that the keywords are relevant. If you create a post that’s off-topic it’s better that you apply search terms accordingly, or not include any at all, rather than put them in just for the sake of it.

Remember to also keep applicable keywords for the following:

Anchor text: words that lead to internal links (backlinks to other content you’ve created) and to external links (links to content from outside sources).
Meta descriptions: the short text that appears with links in search engine results.
Page URLs: www.businessname.com/lavender-unicorn-bar-soap vs. www.businessname.com/soap-399
Alt attributes: the descriptive text used for images which search engines crawl instead of the actual visual.

Off-page Appeal

As you learn more about SEO, pay attention to off-page sources. These are the ways that others mention your company’s services or products through comments and social media interaction, as well as how you engage with your audience. The more customer reviews you get the more brand recognition you can receive. This opens up the possibilities for influencers to include you in their own heavily followed pages and videos. It is important to consider this potential when you create anything online.

We’re here to help you navigate the ever-changing SEO algorithms. Find out how our SEO services are the digital strategies you need for success!

Common copywriting mistakes to avoid

Posted on April 17, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

Although blogs, social media posts, emails, e-newsletters and web pages vary in technical components, they all require a certain attention to detail. If you are able to avoid the following common copywriting mistakes, you will produce content that better appeals to marketing strategies.

Addressing the wrong audience

One of the most important steps in understanding content marketing is knowing your audience. As tempting as it may be to try to sell your services or products to everyone, it’s important to not lose focus if you have a niche market. Determine the target age group, income bracket and other identifying characteristics that your wares are most intended for, then adapt your voice accordingly. Make sure that your tone, vocabulary and hashtags genuinely speak to your main consumers.

Incorrect formatting

That extra minute spent on spell-check is well worth the effort! Firstly remember to review proper sentence structure, choice of words (affect vs. effect, etc.) and sub-header divisions. Read content out loud and if possible, ask friends, family, or colleagues to preview and proof-read for you. Increase engagement and attention by breaking up lengthy texts with photos and infographics. And with customers constantly on the go, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test, to check for mobile optimization.

Outdated or incorrect links and content

Almost everyone has at some point clicked on a link, only to find it broken or non-existent. It is important to make sure that outlinks work and internal links are still relevant. Additionally, headers, subject lines and meta descriptions should reflect the topic. Unless you state that content is explicitly your opinion, review statistics and facts for accuracy. Always remember to properly credit your sources either through hyperlinks or annotations.

Improper SEO

SEO (search engine optimization) is not as difficult as it may seem. However, it is necessary to create a balance between keywords to avoid using generic phrases that don’t generate results. Research engaging long tail keywords and implement them organically as if you were having a verbal conversation with your audience. The more that you understand why ecommerce businesses need a blog, the easier that it becomes to develop proper SEO.

Lack of direction

Think of engaging with your consumer base the same as establishing a relationship. You should talk about yourself, but remember it’s more about the other person. Don’t be self-centred, forget about a feature > benefit structure and ignore how readers and followers will feel by becoming paying customers. Include clear information and direct CTAs.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is one of the most common copywriting mistakes, even if it’s done inadvertently. Let your personality come through, to find ways to make content unique and relevant to your business. If you’re still unsure how your words compare to similar posts by others, review them through a plagiarism checker tool.

Effective content creation takes time. Let us do the work and see how our copywriting and SEO services will enhance your business!

Create Engaging Social Media Content that Retains Customer Interest

Posted on April 10, 2018November 22, 2019 by Alex Wilks

Now more than ever, it’s easy for people to directly communicate with their favourite companies and designers. However, you need to cultivate that online relationship to keep customers interested in your products and services. Learn how to create engaging social media content that increases brand recognition, inspires purchases and makes admirers remember you.

Designate Dedicated Social Media Admins

Social media is an important aspect of marketing that requires dedicated time. There’s nothing wrong with allocating those duties to someone else if you can’t commit to a steady schedule. Determine what works best for you so that you can maximize the ways that social media can help a business and maintain a strong online presence.

Utilize Interactive Ideas

Did you know that companies are more likely to retain loyal customer engagement if they interact with them online? Whether your target audience is Millennials, Generation X, or a combination of age groups, you need to create ways to open up discussions. Take a look at what’s trending as well as what competitors are talking about and then develop ideas that will help you stand out in the market. Consider the following:

- Polls and surveys
- Q & As
- Discounts and giveaways either chosen at random, for answering trivia questions, or for being a certain number respondent
- Fun facts about employees
- Prompts relevant to your business (share a photo of your pet, post the text you last sent, what’s your dream destination? What would you like to see added to the menu? etc.)
- Video how-tos and tours of the company
- Links to blog posts and e-newsletter subscriptions
- Reminders about promotions (punch cards, first 100, etc.)
- Interesting industry related facts and news
- Links to community events
- Weekly, monthly, and seasonal themes

Maintain a Relatable Voice

Just as with writing product descriptions that entice customers, make sure that your social media voice is real and relatable. Use unique hashtags, post photos of demos and new products and encourage sharing and tagging. A key to successful engaging social media content is showing your audience that you are indeed listening. Reply to opinions and experiences and make user-generated content a part of your posts.

Tell us how our social media marketing services will help support your company vision!

How to Write Product Descriptions that Entice Customers and Boost Sales

Posted on April 3, 2018April 14, 2018 by Alex Wilks

Product descriptions seem easy: simply write exactly what they are or just use the manufacturer’s copy, right? Sure, if you want a routine site that lags in attracting customers. Implement the following suggestions, and learn how to write product descriptions that grab attention and increase sales.

Act as Your Customer

You obviously know your products, but how familiar are your customers with them? Who is your target audience? Identify the demographics and choose language that speaks to them. Use an active, second person voice, with relatable vocabulary for that market – there’s a difference between using hashtags and emojis to sell artisanal cupcakes to millennials and more straightforward language that makes antioxidant herbal teas appealing to baby boomers. Also, remember the level of experience – professional contractors don’t have to be told about why they need a mitre instead of a jig saw, but hobbyists and general DIYers do.

Tell a Unique and Succinct Story

While it is beneficial to take certain information from your manufacturer’s specs if you’re a reseller, it is crucial to give your customers more than what they’ll find elsewhere. Ask yourself what some of the most common questions about that product may be, and answer them within the description. Use sensory words to tell an enthusiastic story that customers can imagine themselves in.

Utilize some of the methods that are ideal as blog ideas for eccommerce business to support a feature > benefit structure. For products that are similar, such as shirts with a slightly varied sleeve style, alternate highlights and try to find something individual so each description has distinctive appeal.

Use bullet points after the intro, to effectively summarize the product’s main selling points. This also helps retain attention, because even if customers skip the story, they’ll still have a checklist to refer to. Place keywords organically, don’t stuff them randomly into the text, and link to coordinating products for an additional present or future sale.

Provide All the Facts

Another important part of knowing how to write product descriptions is presenting more facts than fluff. Your running shoes are terrific because multi-layered EVA cushioning protects against hard impact. You’re highly regarded because of awards, endorsements, and patented technologies. Include information that can deter returns or unsatisfactory reviews, such as if a product is heat-sensitive or may fade after repeated washings. Mention allergens and directions for use to boost customer confidence in choosing you.

Not sure if you have the time to create stand-out product descriptions? Find out how our professional copywriting services for web content can help you!

Social Media: Tips to Increase Engagement on Twitter

Posted on February 27, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

An increasing number of businesses are now using Twitter to build brand awareness, provide speedy customer service, and discover new trends in their industry. While scheduling regular Tweets is good practice, how can your business stand out and encourage current and potential customers to interact with your content? This blog post will provide you with three helpful tips to increase engagement on Twitter.

What is Engagement?

Engagement consists of various ways that users interact with your content. Some examples are replies, retweets, mentions, Tweet expansions, follows and favorites, as well as hashtag, link, or username clicks.

Use Images and Illustrations

Give your Tweets an edge by adding images and illustrations. In an experiment conducted by Buffer, Tweets with images resulted in 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets when compared to text-only Tweets.

Provide customers with an opportunity to get to know your company’s culture or get a sneak peek of the behind-the-scenes by posting original photos rather than relying heavily on stock photos. Use images with bold, as opposed to bland colors, and fun illustrations to catch people’s attention.

Use Twitter Polls

Polls are an excellent way to gather feedback from and show people that their opinion matters. From “just for fun” questions to questions about your products and services to questions about your industry, the options are endless.

If you are in the fashion industry for instance and have a product that comes in three different colors. You can ask your audience which is their favorite. By incorporating a trending hashtag, other users who are not necessarily following you may want to weigh in on the topic too, expanding your reach further. In addition to providing that particular product with more exposure online, the Twitter polls can also help you make business decisions based on valuable customer feedback.

Include a Call-to-Action (CTA)

Another way to increase engagement on Twitter is to include a Call-to-Action in your Tweets. There are a multitude of ways to do so. CTAs can range from retweet requests to link clicks to outright asking your audience to buy your products.

Creating a contest, for instance, and asking your followers to share or retweet (RT) for the chance to win a prize or giveaway can be highly effective. If you’re donating a portion of your profits for a good cause, you can ask people to help you spread the word by retweeting your message.

Will you be using these tips to increase engagement on Twitter? Let us know what works for you in the comments section below.

Social Media Marketing: How to Use Twitter for Business

Posted on February 13, 2018February 25, 2018 by Alex Wilks

Twitter is a unique social messaging platform whereby someone or a company sends out a Tweet to begin a conversation that others can retweet, respond to, and like, amplifying their message across the world. According to the social media giant, over 500 million tweets are sent each day, making various text, photos, links, GIFs, and videos visible to a wide range of followers and users. If you operate a company and are wondering how to use Twitter for business, read on.

Increase Your Company’s Brand Awareness

By regularly tweeting information that your potential customers or industry influencers find valuable, you increase the likelihood of being discovered by new followers. Incorporating relevant or trending hashtags into your tweets will further help you connect with those interested in those topics. For instance, if you specialize in men’s fashion, using hashtags such as #mensfashion, #mensstyle, or #menswear will make your tweet visible to users following those particular topics, which could prompt them to visit your Twitter profile and start following you, hence expanding your circle.

Respond to Customers

Twitter is an excellent customer support platform. Increasingly, customers are abandoning email as a way to contact companies and choosing social media instead. Users often discuss products they use and like (or dislike) on social media, making it an excellent avenue to provide prompt customer service. Make it a habit of monitoring your business’ mentions as often as possible since people’s Tweets aren’t restricted to business hours. Responding to both positive feedback and concerns promptly is a great way to build a good reputation and strong relationship with your customers.

Participate in Discussions

By following various hashtags, influencers, and brand advocates, you can participate in discussions and discover what’s happening in your industry at that very moment. As people take notice, you will begin to establish yourself as an expert in the subject matter, which can increase your number of followers.

How does your business use Twitter? Tell us in the comments section below.

Social Media Marketing: How to Use Instagram for Business

Posted on February 6, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

Instagram users use the popular visual platform to discover content and brands that appeal to them. How can your online store capture their interest? Here is how to use Instagram for business.

Set Up an Instagram Business Account

Creating an account on Instagram is easy. Simply download their app and sign up using your company email address or Facebook login if you are set up as an administrator. Go to your profile and click on your settings. Scroll down and change select “Switch to Business Account.” Doing so will enable you to input important business information like your store hours, business address, or phone number. A business account also provides you with access to real-time metrics and valuable insights into your followers and their interactions with your posts.

Develop a Visual Theme for Your Account

Since Instagram is a highly visual medium, your photos, videos, stories, and captions need to have a cohesive look and feel for maximum impact. It’s always a great idea to include the colors of your logo, for instance, so that customers can quickly and instinctively recognize your brand. Or, maybe you want your feed to have a particular hue to evoke a certain emotion when customers are browsing your images. Deciding on a theme will help you choose the most appropriate photos and filters for your feed.

Post Visually Captivating Photos and Videos

Even if you don’t have a professional photographer on staff, you can create visually appealing photos and videos within the app using filters and editing tools. Mix it up and get creative! While you can focus on showcasing your products, you don’t want your account to look like a collection of ads. Instead, share candid photos of your staff, snaps of your beautiful office space, inspirational quotes, or behind the scenes. Don’t be afraid to experiment with stories. You can, for example, do mini how-tos or tutorials to show your customers how they can use your products.

Don’t Neglect Captions

Captions serve a multitude of functions. They provide more information about your posts and are a great way to show your company’s personality. You can engage your audience by asking questions and include hashtags to categorize your content. Since people can now follow hashtags, using them also means that you increase your discoverability on the platform.

Follow Users

You’re probably wondering who your business should follow. One way to start is to identify influencers in your industry; follow them and people who follow them since they are also likely to have an interest in your brand. Another option is to use relevant hashtags and find out who is interacting with posts containing those. The goal is that the people you follow follow you back, so make sure you also like or participate in discussions in order to get noticed.

Did you find our How to Use Instagram for Business post helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

How to Increase Engagement on Facebook

Posted on January 23, 2018January 29, 2018 by Alex Wilks

Posting on your Facebook page is an excellent way to keep your customers informed of what’s going on with your business. However, if you’re merely posting text, images, and video content without engaging with your audience, you are not utilizing the platform to its full potential.

What Is Facebook Engagement?

Social media engagement refers to various actions that your fans or followers perform on your page or profile. For Facebook, it can be liking a post, leaving a comment, responding to someone else’s comment, sharing your post, or clicking on an image, link, or video.

In addition to engaging with your audience, it also leads to increased organic reach, which can help you drive additional traffic to your page, and eventually, increase sales. If you’re struggling to increase engagement on Facebook, here are three easy strategies that can help you.

Initiate a Conversation

A popular method to start a conversation on Facebook is to use content to engage your audience. For instance, if you schedule a blog post on your Facebook account, accompany it with a question, as demonstrated by one of our customers, Zeus E-Juice. Instead of merely posting a link to that week’s blog post, we asked their customers a question and invited them to share their personal story: “Has vaping helped you quit smoking? Share your story in the comments section below.”

Host a Facebook Live Broadcast

Hosting a live broadcast can help you increase engagement on Facebook, but it is essential that you promote the event in advance so that people can plan to attend. Sephora, for example, hosted a demonstration, followed by a Q&A session with makeup influencer, Samantha Ravndahl. Not only did they give their audience a heads up, but they also made it clear what the broadcast was going to be about and encouraged fans to come up with questions ahead of time.

Respond to Customer Comments and Questions Promptly

Social media is fast becoming the most preferred channel for customers to communicate with companies, which means that you will often get comments and feedback, both positive and negative. Making sure that you respond quickly makes the potential or current customer feel like their input is valued and that their concerns have been acknowledged. Whenever possible, aim to provide your audience with a satisfactory answer, illustrated by the example below.

What strategies do you use to increase engagement on Facebook? Share your tips in the comments section below.

Social Media: How to Use Pinterest for Business

Posted on January 16, 2018May 31, 2019 by Alex Wilks

This is How to Use Pinterest for Your Business Marketing

While all social media platforms provide businesses with a way to promote visual content that captures their audience’s attention for a limited time, Pinterest remains the only platform where its 200 million worldwide users, or Pinners, can curate images that they can access for an indefinite period of time.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual visual board, used to discover and save multimedia content, known as pins, on online boards that Pinners can access via the site or the Pinterest app. Although primarily comprised of images, Pinterest supports gifs and video as well.

How to Use Pinterest for Business

While social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have more users than Pinterest, they are used mainly for social networking. Pinterest, on the other hand, is principally used as a content discovery medium, enabling Pinners to connect and engage with content that they are interested in and actively seeking. So, if you’re now wondering how to use Pinterest for business, read on.

Use Pinterest to drive brand or product awareness

Since Pinners use Pinterest to discover new ideas to try and products to buy, companies using the platform can share content that meets their interests, including information about their own brands and products.

As Pinterest’s receptive audience starts to notice your engaging imagery, users are likely to save your pins or follow your account. According to Pinterest, “67% of Pinners say they’ve discovered a new brand or product from business content on Pinterest.”

Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog, website, or online store

When Pinners see something they like, they usually pin it onto their boards. Doing so makes your content not only accessible to that particular user but also visible to all their followers, driving referral traffic to your blog, website, or online store.

If you want to increase your audience, Pinterest provides you with the option to create paid ads, known as a Promoted Pins, giving you access to an even broader audience.

Use Pinterest to increase sales

93% of pinners say they use the platform to plan future purchases, so providing them with rich product pins that include pricing and availability information and links to your product make it easier for them to purchase your items. In fact, 87% of users report having bought a product on Pinterest. However, since pinners take time to plan their purchases on Pinterest, conversions typically take longer.

Will you be using our “how to use Pinterest for business” ideas for your ecommerce business? Tell us in the comments section below.

4 Ways Social Media Can Help Your Business

Posted on January 9, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

In the US alone, there were approximately 208 million social media users in 2017, and that number is projected to reach over 220 million in 2022, fueled in part by people’s voracious appetite for social networking and the rapid increase in mobile browsing. If you’re new to the game and wondering how social media can help your business, read on.

Social media can help your business increase brand awareness

Once you have launched your business, you need traffic, whether it’s foot traffic or web traffic. An excellent way to get the word out about your new business is to use social media. Not only does it provide you with word-of-mouth advertising, but due to ease of which content can be shared online, it is amplified. Businesses are now using social media to create awareness and build anticipation even before they launch.

Social media can help you build relationships with your audience

Unlike traditional marketing, social media marketing provides two-way interaction. It enables you to build and nurture relationships with your customers by sharing content that they value, rather than merely promoting products, and engaging with them in a conversation. Listening to what your audience is saying can help you further refine your marketing strategies.

Social media can help you provide better customer service

People on social media can be very vocal. We have all witnessed an angry customer lashing out at a business on Twitter or Facebook. Don’t let that intimidate you. Unhappy customers will vent on social media whether you have a presence or not. Having a social media profile gives you an opportunity to have a say in that conversation. It enables you to listen to their concerns, get in touch with them, and provide a solution and is ultimately an opportunity to win that customer over.

Social media can increase sales

People who follow you on social media have implicitly expressed interest in your company, whether they do so because of the humorous posts you share, the helpful tips you provide, the relevant updates you give, or the amazing products that you offer. This audience is far more likely to respond positively to sales messaging. Promoting various products or sales on your social media can result in higher conversions.

Are you a small or medium-sized business who uses social media? Tell us what strategies worked for you in the comments section below!

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