tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66226513775091466722024-03-05T21:03:35.769+00:00angelfysh seo blogThe SEO blog of Newcastle based angelfysh featuring news and articles on all things internet marketing and search engine optimisation related.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-69979432849854467042015-01-19T09:12:00.000+00:002015-01-19T09:12:00.324+00:005 Tips for Successful Content Marketing in 2015The secrets to successful content marketing in 2015 are simple really. Know what makes you different, know your customers THEN engage with your customers in an honest, authentic, clever and original way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs8zK7oqizgcVT2pnxscGAVs_ggCyKFgkHfy0Ddj-hP5Di_pK_ixreCwi9cK4LBMy9AIKuUgJURuhM5ZTSZ2ujMC8lCChVWCUkTs46M9tMSi8P3Jj1fXdTn18MLTZoxbP1GXuxOKl1oU1F/s1600/content-marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs8zK7oqizgcVT2pnxscGAVs_ggCyKFgkHfy0Ddj-hP5Di_pK_ixreCwi9cK4LBMy9AIKuUgJURuhM5ZTSZ2ujMC8lCChVWCUkTs46M9tMSi8P3Jj1fXdTn18MLTZoxbP1GXuxOKl1oU1F/s1600/content-marketing.jpg" height="251" width="510" /></a></div>
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Here's 5 tips to make your content marketing efforts work smarter for you in 2015:<br />
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1. People are becoming immune to content so make your content stand out</h3>
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With so much content freely available these days it's hugely important that your own content stands out from the average, the ordinary and the dull. <br />
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During 2014 <b><a href="http://moz.com/blog/10-predictions-for-the-marketing-world-in-2015" target="_blank">content marketing grew by over 200%</a></b> and I estimate that it will continue to grow at the same rate during 2015. With this in mind, brands that create engaging and authentic content with their target audience in mind will benefit from the continued growth of content marketing.<br />
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<b>Tip: Make your content stand out with better, more targeted and clever content. </b><br />
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2. Know your customers through customer profiling</h3>
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If you don’t know who you’re talking to, you won’t know what to say. Who are your customers, where do they hang out, what are their needs, desires and fears? What motivates them to buy?<br />
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<b>Tip: Get to know your customers BEFORE you try to market to them.</b><br />
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3. Don't ignore the power of social media</h3>
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Social media is here to stay so get used to it. Not only will social media give you brand exposure, it will also helps a brand to connect and engage with it's target audience and is essential to support search engine optimisation. <b><a href="http://searchengineland.com/twitter-seo-more-visitors-208160" target="_blank">Twitter has been putting more emphasis</a></b> on its indexation and SEO efforts and as a result more tweets are being found on page one of Google. Plus producing well written content is essential to encourage social sharing so brands reach a wider audience.<br />
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<b>Tip: Develop content for social media that's brand supportive, targeted & shareable.</b><br />
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4. Content, social media and seo: a marriage made in heaven</h3>
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Brands must realise that content marketing, social media AND seo are all needed if they want to succeed online. It's no longer one or the other. Great content (written, video, infographics, images) will be 'liked' and 'shared' more on social media and more social media engagement will indicate to Google that the content is deemed to be valuable. Therefore Google will rank valuable content higher in the search results to benefit it's users.<br />
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<b>Tip: Integrate SEO, social media and content marketing into your online strategy.</b><br />
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5. Content marketing is more than just writing a few blog articles</h3>
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Add variety to your content marketing strategy. Written content is great but tweets with images get <b><a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-stats-for-more-conversions" target="_blank">150% more re-tweets</a></b> than those without, by 2017 video will make up almost <b><a href="http://marketeer.kapost.com/content-strategy-2015/" target="_blank">70% of consumer internet traffic</a></b> due to the increase in mobile and tablet use, and around <b><a href="http://www.convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/how-to-make-social-medial-infographics-that-get-noticed/" target="_blank">65% of us respond better to infographics</a></b> than textual content.<br />
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<b>Tip: Mix content types for successful content marketing.</b><br />
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Thanks for reading.<br />
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LisaANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-14214753868810881882014-12-22T12:22:00.000+00:002014-12-22T12:22:14.743+00:00Merry Christmas from angelfysh<h4>
We'd like to wish all of our past and present clients a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2015.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOCvOnUmQr3zuA2dNwXfmZy3uEOg38jADU34tL4cvHi4XiM1LJUW9ckKvuiY3Hh25B1pepuYRIfElboluq-EV729hzvKefitmGeJoJMkECH_ljGbjdhzRpm7188GQsgaezvvh2ZbAmOPY/s1600/ginger-bread-house-old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOCvOnUmQr3zuA2dNwXfmZy3uEOg38jADU34tL4cvHi4XiM1LJUW9ckKvuiY3Hh25B1pepuYRIfElboluq-EV729hzvKefitmGeJoJMkECH_ljGbjdhzRpm7188GQsgaezvvh2ZbAmOPY/s1600/ginger-bread-house-old.jpg" /></a></div>
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Best wishes from Lisa, Henrietta and Debbie.ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-23538934416820388332014-12-17T09:00:00.000+00:002014-12-22T12:24:58.565+00:00Over 20 email marketing tips to increase your open rateOn average, subscribers only spend <a href="https://litmus.com/blog/8-email-design-factors-influence-action?utm_source=litmusblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=8emaildesign&utm_campaign=LOFT" target="_blank">3-4 seconds</a> deciding whether they’re going to open your email. You’ve got to get in there quick! Here are over 20 easy-to-implement tips to get more email opens and keep readers engaged.<br />
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<b>Short and sweet subject line</b></h3>
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Subject line space is precious. The most successful subject lines are straightforward, to the point and non-salesly. <br />
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<a href="http://kb.mailchimp.com/campaigns/previews-and-tests/best-practices-for-email-subject-lines" target="_blank">Research by MailChimp</a> of 200 million emails found that subject lines longer than 50 characters had lower open rates. <br />
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Short. Stands out.<br />
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<b>Seven tips for a better subject line:</b><br />
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1) Keep it under 50 characters.<br />
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2) Be specific.<br />
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3) Be informative.<br />
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4) Give location and / or date information.<br />
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5) Avoid salesy, promotional language.<br />
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6) Use amounts instead of percentages.<br />
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7) Words to avoid: free, reminder, CAPITALS!!!, help, special, and any promotional phrases.<br />
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Make best use of pre-header space </h3>
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The pre-header space is the snippet of text pulled in from the message of the email to next to the subject line. On an ISO mobile (an iPhone for example), the subject gets one line of space and the pre-header gets two! So it’s a great opportunity to give subscribers another reason to open your email. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvb0s9xP-_Z9lS8JYayHWfGeko4fc71krhVxCUBQxfVD0EGZICwnZV4vCtLaatjvNdzxwLONGs2tSxnAy6I2wNQYsUShFBmm4_DXiqnPxvR2HRb852z7Drou9EeH7hcnOqMPVHKTYLA7D/s1600/preheader.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvb0s9xP-_Z9lS8JYayHWfGeko4fc71krhVxCUBQxfVD0EGZICwnZV4vCtLaatjvNdzxwLONGs2tSxnAy6I2wNQYsUShFBmm4_DXiqnPxvR2HRb852z7Drou9EeH7hcnOqMPVHKTYLA7D/s1600/preheader.PNG" height="92" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Four tips for a better pre-header:</b><br />
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1) Continue the conversation on from the subject line.<br />
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2) Be personal. Emails from personal contacts get the highest open rates and they usually start off something like this: ‘Hey Henrietta, how are you doing?’.<br />
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3) Include a call-to-action. This sets the expectation for the email.<br />
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4) Above all make sure your pre-header doesn’t include default text like: ‘view email as webpage’ or ‘If you’re having trouble…’ This is wasting the opportunity.<br />
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Mobile friendly design</h3>
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<a href="http://kickofflabs.com/blog/half-of-all-emails-are-being-read-on-mobile-devices-do-your-landing-pages-work-on-mobiles/" target="_blank">Nearly half</a> of all email content is read on mobile devices and <a href="http://www.bizreport.com/2013/03/bluehornet-302-unsubscribe-on-receipt-of-a-badly-formatted-m.html" target="_blank">80%</a> of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.<br />
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The most successful email marketing uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.<br />
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<b>Here are six tips for mobile friendly emails:</b><br />
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1) Minimum font size of 13 pixels.<br />
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2) Buttons should be large enough to read and click on a mobile.<br />
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3) Use a single column.<br />
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4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.<br />
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5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.<br />
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6) Use bullet pointed lists rather than paragraphs.<br />
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Keep content fresh</h3>
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Newsletter subscriptions start off with high open rates, then as time goes by, email opens drop off. The challenge is to keep your content fresh. A big part of this is personality.<br />
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<b>Here are four tips to keep your email content fresh and interesting:</b><br />
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1) Have a voice. Say things in a particular way. Your voice should be recognisable and fit in with your brand.<br />
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2) Sign emails from a staff member. Your emails will be far more memorable if readers think they’re coming from a real person. <br />
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3) Offer opinions in your writing, and anecdotes too. This will set you apart from the boring marketing spiel that so many promotional emails are filled with. <br />
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4) Start with a friendly hello and message, just as you would if you were emailing a friend.<br />
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Personality is really important to maintain engagement and it’s what will keep each email fresh and different to the last one.<br />
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Include alt text in your images</h3>
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When your images don’t show up in an email, alt text will describe the image that can’t be seen. Alt text is really important to encourage people to download images and not just click delete on your email. If images aren’t downloaded your email will not be classed as an ‘open’ and any activity or links clicked won’t be tracked.<br />
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Focus your emails on a single topic</h3>
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Then you can craft the subject line, message and images to that topic. The subject line must set up the expectation, the content must be informative and to the point, and the call-to-action obvious but not salesy. <br />
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Emails covering multiple topics with multiple call-to-actions will often see better success when split up into shorter, more focused emails. Lower down in the email, you can of course include some relevant offers or promotions but make sure it’s clear what your email is about.<br />
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Perform A/B testing</h3>
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A/B email testing involves comparing the performance of two variations of the same email, where there’s one difference between the two emails. You can test which subjects, call-to-actions, styles of writing, length of content, format etc… get the best responses from your readers.<br />
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Summing this all up, I would say, think as if you were the reader. Think about your own experiences with promotional emails and full inboxes and ask: Would you open your emails? Would you stay subscribed? <br />
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Please let us know in the comments below if you’ve got any great email marketing tips, we’d love to hear from you!ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-35327065119130638812014-12-15T09:00:00.000+00:002014-12-15T11:36:13.348+00:005 tips for mobile friendly email marketingThis week we have 5 tips to help make sure that your marketing emails are mobile friendly.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://kickofflabs.com/blog/half-of-all-emails-are-being-read-on-mobile-devices-do-your-landing-pages-work-on-mobiles/" target="_blank">Nearly half</a> of all email content is read on mobile devices and <a href="http://www.bizreport.com/2013/03/bluehornet-302-unsubscribe-on-receipt-of-a-badly-formatted-m.html" target="_blank">80%</a> of consumers say they delete emails immediately if they are not optimised for mobile.<br />
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The most successful email marketing for mobile uses responsive templates which resizes the content to fit the device screen size, but even without a responsive template you can make your emails work better on mobiles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9O17ux5YVPGu_fa8tarOIvC1j-vam7n7mhzcMYVvrWUZdSA3WIrgZmIB-9OS_6iVXfx6nlUGcRHbwp7zf423wqo9qFpzW68FObakA3ME-lhY5jY_IV97JBT-eSiLG0i04PzSGKSuy2Wo/s1600/person+reading+email+on+mobile+phone_580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9O17ux5YVPGu_fa8tarOIvC1j-vam7n7mhzcMYVvrWUZdSA3WIrgZmIB-9OS_6iVXfx6nlUGcRHbwp7zf423wqo9qFpzW68FObakA3ME-lhY5jY_IV97JBT-eSiLG0i04PzSGKSuy2Wo/s1600/person+reading+email+on+mobile+phone_580.jpg" height="338" width="510" /></a></div>
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<b>Here are five tips for mobile friendly emails:</b><br />
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1) Use a minimum font size of 13 pixels.<br />
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2) Make sure your buttons are large enough to read and click on a mobile.<br />
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3) Use a single column.<br />
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4) Make sure links aren’t too close together.<br />
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5) Check that the call-to-action is above the fold.<br />
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Thank you for reading.ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-30937119534474398952014-12-08T10:15:00.000+00:002014-12-08T10:15:20.678+00:005 Tips for Ecommerce WebsitesWith more and more ecommerce websites popping up every day it can be difficult for businesses (old and new) to keep up with best practices when it comes to selling online.<br />
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So this week we have 5 tips to share with you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqmxwSIixNvXpY5hNt2DF81Uqwpa547rMIW1RFkzDlf8d5ZpPo-QQwMR4ubxeE8kw5x0JdVZ2fmPthJsOLqSdUP6C6STvdRYppVZXnfR6GCNTdJYnJnUQrCGkhrapNeE5gZRrSbJwvtzW/s1600/ecommerce-online-shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqmxwSIixNvXpY5hNt2DF81Uqwpa547rMIW1RFkzDlf8d5ZpPo-QQwMR4ubxeE8kw5x0JdVZ2fmPthJsOLqSdUP6C6STvdRYppVZXnfR6GCNTdJYnJnUQrCGkhrapNeE5gZRrSbJwvtzW/s1600/ecommerce-online-shopping.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a></div>
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1) Add attention grabbing deals and bestsellers to your homepage</h3>
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Give your visitors (and Google) something new to look at each time they visit your website. Keep it fresh. This can include displaying special offers, best sellers, sale items and what’s new etc on your homepage.<br />
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2) Display delivery and returns information prominently</h3>
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It's important to clearly display delivery costs and any free delivery threshold on every page of your ecommerce website. Information on how to return items must also be easily accessible as this will instil confidence and encourage people to purchase knowing they can easily return easily if they need to.<br />
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3) Make use of onsite product reviews</h3>
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Displaying star ratings for products (like Amazon does) will allow your visitors to see which products have been voted the best by other customers. Products that have reviews that customers have written are an excellent way of making use of user generated content (Google will love you for this too).<br />
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4) Let visitors know your website is secure</h3>
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It's important to show your customers that it’s safe to buy from your website, especially when they're adding debit or credit card information. This must be clearly displayed for any visitor (repeat customer or new prospects) to see.<br />
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5) Optimise your Thank You page</h3>
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Make your Thank You page work hard for you. Here's a few examples of what you can include... social sharing buttons to encourage customers to share what they've just ordered, also include social follow buttons. Ask for feedback about whether the order process was easy. And you can provide examples of similar items to those they've just purchased.<br />
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Thank you for reading.ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-65929298738412056322014-12-01T09:28:00.001+00:002014-12-01T17:46:04.745+00:005 Easy to Implement Blogging TipsHello everyone and welcome to December!<br />
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Today we have 5 easy-to-implement tips to help you when blogging.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiforqaDJCzE93UusqTZ6MexXCx63zqQ-JZUBftSpOx4KWrn9oqSsXgwZ-KrvqiFNa5O9NcYXGAstNPa_yrAraLGiKrzQWz_WQ_SJI4MW-7sraZGVTae7aRXdNRzL63ByYggc5rrQvaSaWv/s1600/blogging-tips-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiforqaDJCzE93UusqTZ6MexXCx63zqQ-JZUBftSpOx4KWrn9oqSsXgwZ-KrvqiFNa5O9NcYXGAstNPa_yrAraLGiKrzQWz_WQ_SJI4MW-7sraZGVTae7aRXdNRzL63ByYggc5rrQvaSaWv/s1600/blogging-tips-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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1) Make time to blog. </h3>
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We know how difficult it can be to fit regular blogging into your busy schedule so here's an article containing <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/07/6-steps-to-fit-blogging-into-your-busy.html">6 easy steps to fit blogging into your working week</a>. <br />
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2) Keep in mind what's proven to work.</h3>
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There are tried and tested best practices when it comes to blog writing. Everything from the article length, blog title, content type and media used should be considered. With that in mind, <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/05/18-stats-to-help-you-write-perfect-blog.html">here's an article we wrote</a> containing <b>18 statistics</b> to help you write the perfect blog post.<br />
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3) Proof, proof, proof. </h3>
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It's really important to check your work for typos etc before you pop it live. Not only from the 'back-end' in the CMS but preview your article at the 'front-end' to make sure it looks good and there are no double spaces etc between words. Ask someone to cast another pair of eyes over it too.<br />
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4) Promote your blog content. </h3>
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Probably more important than the blog article itself is making sure that you <b>promote it effectively</b>. We have a total of 169 tips on how to do this in <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/09/10-tips-on-how-to-promote-your-blog.html">another article here</a>. <br />
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5) Measure.</h3>
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It's all very well creating the best blog post you've ever written and actively promoting it but you also need to define <b>measurable goals</b> too. Who do you want reading your content, what do you want them to do and how do you know whether they've done what you want? Metrics can include page views, social shares, comments, newsletter signups, media downloads etc.<br />
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Thank you for reading.<br />
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LisaANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-2213018434964409882014-11-27T14:51:00.000+00:002014-11-27T14:51:13.811+00:007 online marketing trends you can't ignore in 2015As you plan for your 2015 online marketing strategy, here are 7 trends that we expect to see and 7 actionable tips to benefit your strategy.<br />
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1) Mobile will continue to grow</h3>
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During 2014 the amount of time we spend on our mobile has overtaken PCs. In a survey of US adults it was found that on average we spend <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Continues-Steal-Share-of-US-Adults-Daily-Time-Spent-with-Media/1010782" target="_blank">2 hours and 51 minutes</a> on our phones vs 2 hours and 12 minutes on computers. Many companies have now moved to responsive websites which resize according to the screen the visitor is using but as we go forward into 2015 further optimisations for mobile will be necessary to maintain a share of mobile traffic. <br />
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One huge factor is load time. The average load time for a top 10 Google ranking website is 0.99 seconds. <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-special-ranking-mobile-friendly-sites-208957?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social">Search Engine Land</a> recently reported that Google is experimenting with ways to favour in search results websites that are mobile friendly. Already Google takes into account user behaviour, penalising websites which visitors don’t stay on for long or look at many pages on – two behaviours which are directly affected by load time. Not only are there ranking benefits from a fast loading website, Amazon reported that for every <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/04/05/site-speed/" target="_blank">100 millisecond</a> improvement in website load time, they see a 1% increase in revenue.<br />
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<b>Tip 1: </b>Make sure your website is mobile friendly, that it loads in under a second and that your content is easy to read and looks good on all devices.<br />
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2) Local SEO will become increasingly important</h3>
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</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pLssvO2gWUhVNA-ImtCg9W0lVBHgfIJ5_O5ZcQRuWpRTLSbqsEd8fwbRJygCbA8OO7a8CG47f06sPAJ1YzrFOsD-_BJgH6Fau2-4BPnM_FaxWMKZ449Q2bzbY9OMPng7vvCDagc7QQ8T/s1600/Local+search+results_coffee.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pLssvO2gWUhVNA-ImtCg9W0lVBHgfIJ5_O5ZcQRuWpRTLSbqsEd8fwbRJygCbA8OO7a8CG47f06sPAJ1YzrFOsD-_BJgH6Fau2-4BPnM_FaxWMKZ449Q2bzbY9OMPng7vvCDagc7QQ8T/s1600/Local+search+results_coffee.png" height="118" width="510" /></a></div>
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Research has shown that <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Local-Search-Near-Universal-Among-Smartphone-Users/1010847" target="_blank">50% of customers</a> who performed a local search on their mobile visited a bick-and-mortar store within 24 hours of their search and 18% of these queries led to a sale. The fact remains that many people still prefer physical shopping to online shopping; there’s something about holding a product in your hands. A report by Accenture revealed that <a href="http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Outlook-Who-Are-Millennial-Shoppers-What-Do-They-Want-Retail.pdf" target="_blank">82% of customers</a> say they prefer shopping on the high street than online. Google understands the importance of providing the best local results to users and they’re fine tuning their algorithm to this end.<br />
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<b>Tip 2: </b>Local businesses with physical shops must make use of Google+ and local search so that they’re listed in search results for mobile users. (Oh and make sure you apply tip 1: to having a mobile friendly website!) <br />
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3) Specific targeting will be needed for success</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMLcL5b-EKWYjpfXMwstR0dYU6Pz3FaWupebSWLYE4HrTJdJtcUmeefqcwYbbdI6qTXr6W9Q3L6brmdWsrHkyRMLfo6_JJx2vFR1EKJZWj1W_nZJgjd_4mTegxPyBhqsDWr8xSD4SRHln/s1600/IMG_0774_2_590.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMLcL5b-EKWYjpfXMwstR0dYU6Pz3FaWupebSWLYE4HrTJdJtcUmeefqcwYbbdI6qTXr6W9Q3L6brmdWsrHkyRMLfo6_JJx2vFR1EKJZWj1W_nZJgjd_4mTegxPyBhqsDWr8xSD4SRHln/s1600/IMG_0774_2_590.png" height="226" width="510" /></a></div>
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The days of scatter gun marketing approaches are numbered. Best marketing results will be seen when businesses break down their customer base into segments and market specifically to those segments with the correct voice and tactics to reach that group. It also means more repurposing of content to promote it in a relevant way to each segment. A targeted approach is essential to make sure ROI of time spent creating and money spent advertising content is maximised.<br />
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<b>Tip 3: </b>Speak to your customers; find out their wants, needs, lifestyles and habits then tailor your approach to each group. Make sure that whatever you say fits in with the audience you’re saying it to.<br />
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4) Content will be expected to entertain</h3>
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</h3>
As more and more companies have embraced content marketing our lives have become even more flooded with content. To stand out from the noise content will need to become more than informative, it’ll need to be entertaining. Investment in video is becoming a must for brands that want to stay relevant and cutting edge.<br />
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Content is and will remain the driving force behind inbound marketing – especially since over <a href="http://adage.com/article/adagestat/key-millennial-trends-a-edelman-study/146644/" target="_blank">50% of 19 to 34 year olds</a> will look at 4 or more sources before making a purchase. Now that the effectiveness of content marketing has been demonstrated, distribution will become just as important.<br />
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In 2015 we will see more of a focus on re-purposing and distributing to get maximum value from the content we create. Great content marketers will create different thumbnails according to platform, format restrictions and audience preferences so that campaigns consistently look good across all platforms. We’ll also see the same content being promoted in different ways, for example a topic might start out as an article, then an infographic, and then thumbnails and also as a Slideshare. This really follows on from Tip 3: knowing your audience and being specific with how you target different groups.<br />
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<b>Tip 4: </b>When you’ve created a great piece of content promote it across several platforms multiple times. Pull out nuggets of information and create interesting, engaging social posts about your content. Use images and video to create something that will stand out.<br />
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<b>5) We’ll see more paid advertising</b></h3>
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<b> </b></h3>
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We’ve seen the rise and growth of social media success with many businesses adopting social for customer service and to reach out to new prospects. Now however there is increasing need to advertise on social platforms. With Facebook’s algorithm update it’s become increasingly hard to get content in front of consumers without advertising. This algorithm change lead to a <a href="http://blog.visual.ly/five-b2b-marketing-trends-2015/" target="_blank">44% decline</a> in brand content in users’ new feeds. LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest have followed Facebook and have all launched sponsored ads to put content in front of a specified group. <br />
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<b>Tip 5: </b>Budget for sponsored ads on social platforms, even £5 a day can dramatically increase your reach on Facebook. Once you invest, use analytics to measure your success and fine tune your strategy.<br />
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6) And more user reviews</h3>
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</h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Consumer reviews are certainly not a new trend but what we will see increasingly is companies asking customers to share their experiences become brand advocates. User generated content is invaluable. In the words of <a href="http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/11/24/6-crucial-steps-stay-relevant-digital-marketing-2015/" target="_blank">Jeff Bullas</a>: “Reviews are a source of truth that will live on the web indefinitely”. It’s one thing saying you provide a great product or service, how much more valuable is it if your customers sing your praises for you? According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2014/11/14/tips-for-successful-digital-marketing-in-2015/" target="_blank">Neil Patel</a>, customers are ready and willing to talk about great buying experiences: “50% will write about positive experiences, and 39% will write about negative”. Customers want you to wow them, and when you do they want to tell people about it.<br />
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There are various ways that you can collect reviews; on Google+, Trustpilot or with onsite review functionality. Collect reviews on Google+ one of the results when customers type your brand into Google will be your Google+ page with your shinning reviews. Companies that grasp this in 2015 will benefit from higher levels of trust and, consequently, better conversion rates.<br />
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<b>Tip 6: </b>Start asking customers to leave reviews on your Google+ page. We’ve written a couple of articles on the topic: <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/03/11-ways-to-encourage-customer-reviews.html" target="">11 ways to encourage customer reviews</a> and <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/03/user-reviews-why-theyre-essential-for-e.html">User Reviews: why they’re essential for e-commerce SEO</a>.<br />
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<h3>
7) We’ll expect increased personalisation</h3>
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Another trend is increasing personalisation. More than ever customers are expecting companies to reach out to them personally. This is especially true of <span id="goog_1524740052"></span><a href="http://adage.com/article/adagestat/key-millennial-trends-a-edelman-study/146644/" target="_blank">millennials<span id="goog_1524740053"></span></a> who have grown up in the digital age and now have money to spend. They expect companies to court them for their business, they want to feel valued and personalisation is one way to do this.<br />
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<b>Tip 7: </b>Start sending out personalised follow up emails after <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/08/how-to-get-more-customers-to-complete-checkout.html">cart abandonment</a>. It shows that you do really value their purchase.<br />
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Thank you for reading.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-78742378449394915372014-11-24T09:07:00.000+00:002014-11-24T09:07:17.044+00:005 Tips for starting out on Social Media<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJvTUFx1vhVIyGdqVOn0Es_qwD4vp_E-QhsBIXgDvOA8wZ1bU1O9heNRnNNcdYQdT-yGfYiPnZH5itUp5Ao7DIQ28omjrylMMRNW7W9ZAuKnt2fUSwpSStxfab42nUh9oI1QJvTu08wUU/s1600/IMG_0899_510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJvTUFx1vhVIyGdqVOn0Es_qwD4vp_E-QhsBIXgDvOA8wZ1bU1O9heNRnNNcdYQdT-yGfYiPnZH5itUp5Ao7DIQ28omjrylMMRNW7W9ZAuKnt2fUSwpSStxfab42nUh9oI1QJvTu08wUU/s1600/IMG_0899_510.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>1) Create personality</b><br />
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Your social media activity needs to reflect your business and have a personality, so take time to think about your voice and which voice will connect best with customers.<br />
<b><br />2) Plan</b><br />
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Decide who your target audience is, which channels you want to use to best reach your audience, what your goals are and when and how often you will post.<br />
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<b>3) Schedule</b><br />
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Once you’ve created your plan you can schedule a baseline of social updates, we like using <a href="https://hootsuite.com/" target="_blank">Hootsuite</a>. You can add retweets, responses and news updates to this baseline.<br />
<b><br />4) Be consistent</b><br />
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Consistent quality and volume is how you build an audience, scheduling your social media helps with this.<br />
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<b>5) Use images and video</b><br />
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Visual content is so easy to absorb and stands out amongst text posts on the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.<br />
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We'll be publishing a blog post full of useful tips every Monday morning so why not <a href="https://twitter.com/angelfysh" target="_blank">follow us on Twitter</a> so that you don't miss one!ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-53127356288579543042014-10-15T12:28:00.000+01:002014-10-16T13:34:45.099+01:0011 of the best internet marketing infographicsInfographics have really surged in popularity over the last couple of years. And it’s no wonder really as visuals make a topic easy to understand and instantly digestible. <br />
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We've picked out 11 of our favourite infographics. Together they create a beginners guide to internet marketing, search engine optimisation, content marketing and social media marketing.<br />
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If you’re new to internet marketing, these infographics are a great place to start. And if you know your way around the world of internet marketing pretty well, we hope this blog post forms a useful bank of statistics for you.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://searchengineland.com/seotable/" target="_blank">1) The Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors</a> (published 2013)</h3>
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This infographic clearly explains the most important factors involved in SEO. It splits these factors into two groups, On-The-Page and Off-The-Page Factors with an explanation for each. Rating and colour coding the different factors between +3 for really effective SEO tactics and -3 for harmful practise, makes it obvious which to use and which to steer clear of.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://searchengineland.com/download/seotable/SearchEngineLand-Periodic-Table-of-SEO-2013-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRsz2hEgXu8T0LM_ylcU-B-cKPN39rXQllL8_XlEQfPJRrF31qVH_hv47Naq6RXlWQVKKtNpP5-JXNZyYgDGJwMI4IhXRDn9fyosFvLl6vnJ6KBrHmE0XNjYkhPvJ51eY-FUU5hHUJCps/s1600/SearchEngineLand-Periodic-Table-of-SEO-2013-medium.png" height="330" width="510" /></a></div>
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Take away: Make sure you (or your SEO agency) only employ SEO tactics that have a positive rating in this table.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/blogconomy-blogging-stats-infographic" target="_blank">2) The Blogconomy</a> (published August 2013)</h3>
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The infographic starts with the heading “why blogging is good for your business”. Then it goes on to list over 50 different stats/pieces of information on blogging. Thanks to the hard work done by <a href="http://www.ignitespot.com/" target="_blank">ignitespot</a> collecting all of these valuable figures into one resource, it’s easy to see why and how blogging will grow your business.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.velocitydigital.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/The-blogconomy-infographic-640x5604.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1YvlZ4cyvWY/VD1HsDbuE-I/AAAAAAAAAUo/NE2tFnHP4Is/s1600/The-blogconomy-infographic-v2.png" height="1081" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: If you don’t blog, start now. It generates leads and will boost your website’s visibility in Google search results.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://jeffberezny.com/2013/02/12/the-ridiculously-exhaustive-social-media-dimensions-blueprint-infographic/" target="_blank">3) The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Image Dimensions</a> (published February 2013)</h3>
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We really like this infographic because it’s so useful! Anyone setting up or refreshing their company’s social media profiles will need to navigate the tricky world of multiple profile image and channel art dimensions. Thankfully, this lovely infographic collects all of this information in one place.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jeffberezny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/social_media_design_blueprint21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-70P43rF5ClU/VD1JjJA7pII/AAAAAAAAAV0/Kfhp_e4_uBc/s1600/social_media_design_blueprint21_v2.png" height="850" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Don’t settle for stretched images on your social platforms. Get them right.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233567" target="_blank">4) The Best Times to Tweet, Pin, Tumble and Post</a> (published May 2014)</h3>
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One of the most common questions our clients ask on the topic of social media, is when should I Tweet, Facebook or post to Google+, this infographic puts this information at the tip of your fingers for the 6 most used social platforms.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/dbimages/article/1398974207-best-times-tweet-pin-tumble-post-infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJRYc6xZf6M/VD1LItcKM7I/AAAAAAAAAWc/VCMnGrPt88Y/s1600/Best-times-tweet-pin-tumble-post-infographic_v2.jpg" height="752" width="519" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Be strategic about when you post on social media to see more engagement.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/create-content-infographic/" target="_blank">5) 22 ways to Create Compelling Content</a> (published February 2012)</h3>
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We talk a lot about content here at angelfysh. And rightly so. It’s one of THE most important factors when it comes to getting your website to the top of Google search results. unfortunately, deciding what to write about isn't always easy. This infographic has 22 ways for you to get your creative juices flowing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netdna.copyblogger.com/images/copyblogger_infographic_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1KDX2Zn24M/VD1Ji-_PFfI/AAAAAAAAAV4/KMf_XRIBRMQ/s1600/copyblogger_infographic_v2.png" height="989" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333339691162px;">Click for full infographic.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Get blogging!<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.quicksprout.com/2013/12/19/how-to-increase-linkedin-engagement-by-386/" target="_blank">6) How to Increase LinkedIn Engagement by 386%</a> (published December 2013)</h3>
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This infographic has some great tips on how to take your LinkedIn use from personal networking to generating leads and revenue for your business. It includes useful information such as when to post, and what to talk about.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://quicksprout.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Increaselinkedinengagement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1umvUOGpgIA/VD1Jh_5utkI/AAAAAAAAAVk/YqifZxC0-N0/s1600/Increaselinkedinengagement_v2.jpg" height="770" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to see full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Include links or images in your LinkedIn updates.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://www.marketingtechblog.com/why-video-drives-sales/" target="_blank">7) Why Video Drives Sales</a> (published October 2013)</h3>
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Content marketing isn’t just about written content, it includes video too. This infographic shows why every company must include videos as part of their marketing strategy – e.g. 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week. And! Video traffic will account for a huge 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.marketingtechblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/why-video-drives-sales-640x989.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T3MUSaWxMPE/VD1Jj7Dg1RI/AAAAAAAAAWI/IrVCgPZ_tLU/s1600/why-video-drive-sales-infographic_v2.png" height="332" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to see full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Don’t just leave video to the ‘big players’ in your industry. Take the lead and add videos into your internet marketing strategy.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.ad60.com/10-reason-to-have-mobile-site/" target="_blank">8) Mobile Marketing</a> (published May 2012)</h3>
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Did you know that 46% of users who view a product on their phone are actually standing in the store? And by 2015 43% of mobile users will make purchase on their phones. This infographic contains loads of great statistics on mobile usage which you can use to inform your mobile marketing strategy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.ad60.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AD60-Mobile-infographic_R5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQ0tPuAvf14/VD1PdQXF-qI/AAAAAAAAAWw/PotwDqrQ3Fw/s1600/10%2Breasons%2Bfor%2Ba%2Bmobile%2Bsite_v2.jpg" height="694" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to see full infographic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: Make sure your website is responsive. A responsive website will resize to fit the screen (laptop, tablet, mobile etc.) being used to view the website.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/infographics/multi-screen-world-infographic.html" target="_blank">9) The New Multi-Screen World</a> (published August 2012)</h3>
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Google has created this neat little infographic which contains some really interesting information on cross-platform consumer behaviour. By cross platform we mean shoppers who use more than one device in their buying journey. For example, 67% of people use two devices when shopping such as a phone and a computer.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBqfcnqvRdM/VD1GqKGPCZI/AAAAAAAAAUI/KTqoyD2AtDA/s1600/multi-screen-infographic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBqfcnqvRdM/VD1GqKGPCZI/AAAAAAAAAUI/KTqoyD2AtDA/s1600/multi-screen-infographic.png" height="666" width="510" /></a></div>
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Take away: Make sure your website is responsive, easy to navigate and easy to checkout on multiple devices.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/visual-content-marketing-delivers-results-infographic/116496/" target="_blank">10) Why Visual content Marketing Delivers Results</a> (published September 2014)</h3>
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This is really an infographic on why infographics work! If you’re still to be convinced of their merit here are some statistics that will leave you without any doubt of their effectiveness to engage.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Power-of-Visual-Content.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wnKJLN6Ta28/VD1Jh6g6wiI/AAAAAAAAAVg/zWaQXvAfrTc/s1600/The-Power-of-Visual-Content_v2.jpg" height="983" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333339691162px;">Click for full infographic.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Take away: What subject could you create an infographic on to engage new leads or customers?<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-algorithm-visual-history-infographic" target="_blank">11) A Visual History of Google Algorithm Changes</a> (published February 2014)</h3>
<br />
This infographic will give you a snapshot overview of the background of SEO today. It eloquently summarises the changes Google has been making to the way it finds and ranks websites over the last decade.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/53/file-518515210-png/Visual_History_of_Google_Algorithm_Changes.png?t=1413373063102" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C5-S5l4lbrg/VD1JivjNdYI/AAAAAAAAAV8/8HTmfq5DhTQ/s1600/Visual_History_of_Google_Algorithm_Changes_v2.png" height="538" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333339691162px;">Click for full infographic.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Take away: Google will favour websites with quality content and quality links.<br />
<br />
<br />
We hope you've found this interesting! If you've got a favourite infographic, please let us know in the comments below. Please also share this post with your own followers. Thank you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-11912901854525764702014-09-30T08:57:00.000+01:002014-09-30T08:57:48.849+01:00Happy Birthday Google<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h3 class="MsoNormal">
Yesterday was Google's 16th birthday.</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That means I've been been optimising websites & working
in the online marketing industry since Google was a 1 year old.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Makes me feel old!</div>
ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-32871094998045581962014-09-29T18:05:00.001+01:002014-09-29T18:31:43.190+01:00Ranking factors: How does Google decide the order of its search results?This is an easy question to ask - but a hard one to answer! It’s the £500 million question behind the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) industry.<br>
<br>
Whilst the algorithm that Google uses is a closely guarded secret, we can go a long way to answering this question by studying search results in-depth. That’s exactly what searchmetrics have done.<br>
<br>
They've recently released their annual <a href="http://www.searchmetrics.com/en/knowledge-base/ranking-factors/" target="_blank">ranking factors report</a> comparing the top 30 results for the 10,000 most searched for terms on google.com.<br>
<br>
In today’s blog post we’ll summarise the findings of their report including the factors which show the strongest correlation for search engine success.<b> If you have a website for your own business</b>, please read on as there’ll be some tips that you can implement to help your SEO.<br>
<br>
<h3>
First of all, what is a ranking factor? </h3>
<br>
A ranking factor is an aspect of a website which affects where it will be positioned in search engine results. These factors are combined and weighted by Google’s very complex algorithm to determine the ranking of that website in its search results. Some examples of ranking factors are: relevant keywords, back links, site load speed.<br>
<br>
<h3>
Types of ranking factors</h3>
<br>
In their report, searchmetrics divided the ranking factors into four groups:<br>
<br>
<b>Onpage technical: </b>These factors describe the technical build of the website. For example how long the website takes to load or how the website is structured.<br>
<br>
<b>Onpage content: </b>These factors look at the content of the website. For example word count, or the number of relevant keywords.<br>
<br>
<b>Back links:</b> These factors measure different aspects of a websites back link profile, for example, the percentage of <a href="http://searchengineland.com/infographic-nofollow-tag-172157" target="_blank">nofollow</a> links and how well those websites giving a link back rank in Google.<br>
<br>
<b>Social:</b> These factors measure how much the URL has been talked about on social media. For example how many times a website has been shared and liked on Facebook.<br>
<br>
<b>User signals:</b> These are factors that describe the users behaviour, such as how many searchers click through to the website from the search results page or how long they spent on the website. These factors tell Google how useful or relevant users found a particular website for a particular keyword.<br>
<br>
<h3>
The results</h3>
<br>
Now on to the actual results from the study in chart form. How to read the chart:<br>
<ul>
<li>The numbers next to the circle show the average value across the top 10 results for that ranking factor.</li>
<li>The longer the bar, the higher the correlation between the factor and a high Google ranking.</li>
<li>A negative bar is best interpreted by reversing the statement.</li>
</ul>
<br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z_EBlilXcUM/VCmN7o_MFGI/AAAAAAAAACs/719PPgfe1io/s1600/searchmetrics-seo-ranking-factors-2014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z_EBlilXcUM/VCmN7o_MFGI/AAAAAAAAACs/719PPgfe1io/s1600/searchmetrics-seo-ranking-factors-2014.png" height="710" width="510"></a></div>
<br>
<h3>
What we can learn from these results?</h3>
<br>
<h3>
<b>Onpage technical tips</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Make sure your website loads quickly, average load time for a website on page 1 of Google was 0.99 seconds.</li>
<li>98% of the URLs studied had a meta description. Make sure your website has expertly written meta descriptions and titles.</li>
<li>Internal linking structure is important, it should be easy to navigate.</li>
<li>Make sure you keep your website up to date.</li>
<li>These factors are a basic starting point if you want your website to be ranked high up on Google because if they are absent they will have a negative effect on your rankings.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>Onpage content tips</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Write your content for the user. All copy should be easy to understand and well written.</li>
<li>Top results had longer content, the average word count for a page 1 result was 975 words.</li>
<li>Images and video content are important whereas ads aren’t helpful.</li>
<li>Include a range of relevant related keyword terms in your copy instead of repeating an exact keyword.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>Back link tips</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Back links are still one of the most important ranking factors.</li>
<li>Quality is more important than quantity. Back links from websites that are themselves positioned well on Google are more valuable than those that aren't.</li>
<li>Anchor text, the clickable text of a link, should be brand or domain name based and not keyword based.</li>
<li>Build a balanced back link profile with some links pointing to the homepage but with a larger number pointing to specific pages within your website.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>Social tips</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Promote your content on social media. Social signals such as likes and shares tell Google that your website content is good. On average, a Google page 1 listed URL had 143 Google+ Plus ones, 1,690 Facebook signals, 162 Tweets, and 36 Pins. We've written a <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/09/10-tips-on-how-to-promote-your-blog.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> especially on this topic.</li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b>User signal tips</b></h3>
<ul>
<li>Making your website engaging to keep users on your website for longer is also important. The average time spent on a Google page 1 URL was 101 seconds.</li>
<li>Encouage users to visit more than one page of your website. If a user only visits one page of your website this counts as a ‘bounce’. Websites with a lower bounce rate are on average ranked higher. The average bounce rate for a page 1 URL was 37% of users.</li>
</ul>
<br>
<b>In summary</b>, high quality content along with a balanced, quality back link profile are essential for websites wishing to be ranked prominently in Google. Technical factors such as page load speed are crucial but will not get your website positioned if you don’t have great content.<br>
<br>
<b>SEO takes time and consistent effort.</b> So keep adding useful quality user focused content to your website whilst you apply these tips.<br>
<br>
<b>You can find the original report by searchmetrics <a href="http://www.searchmetrics.com/en/knowledge-base/ranking-factors/" target="_blank">here</a>.</b><br>
<div>
<br></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-63306451958186589842014-09-22T19:11:00.001+01:002014-09-22T19:11:30.682+01:00Effective & brilliant homepage examples - Part 2Today we’re following on from <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/09/effective-homepage-examples-part-1.html" target="">Effective & brilliant Homepage Examples - Part 1</a> blog post with 5 more examples of household brands with brilliant home pages.<br />
<br />
Your homepage is the starting point for most of your customers. So what can we learn from these examples of great homepages that will get more of your customers from your homepage and on to their buying journey...<br />
<br />
<h3>
Example 1: <a href="http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/" target="_blank">mySupermarket</a></h3>
<br />
This website helps you find the best deals on your grocery shopping by comparing your basket across different stores.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz2FeZEOOhY/VCBd3WVj90I/AAAAAAAAASg/ds0NHUTstnA/s1600/mysupermarket.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kz2FeZEOOhY/VCBd3WVj90I/AAAAAAAAASg/ds0NHUTstnA/s1600/mysupermarket.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>What’s good about it?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1.This website clearly describes how it’s going to help you and why you should use it at the very top of the page. (And in fewer words than this bullet point!)<br />
<br />
2.There is one stand out call to action - ‘Start shopping’- and it follows straight after the above reasons to use mySupermarket. It’s obvious where to click. This is so important because if a visitor doesn’t navigate to a second page on your website it will count as a ‘<a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1009409?hl=en-GB" target="_blank">bounce</a>’ and Google doesn’t like websites with high numbers of bounces.<br />
<br />
3.The navigation menu is pictorial. Since <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/08/what-is-an-infographic-and-ways-to-make-it-go-viral/" target="_blank">65% of people are visual learners</a>, this makes site navigation instantly intuitive.<br />
<br />
4.The search bar is prominently positioned. This is a must for ecommerce websites.<br />
<br />
5.For mobile visitors there are links to download the app front and centre of the homepage. This shows that they’ve really put a lot of thought into caring for their mobile customers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P42VQySYZhs/VCBd28jrsAI/AAAAAAAAASY/uW2dT4GwWB0/s1600/mysupermarket-mob%2Bapp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P42VQySYZhs/VCBd28jrsAI/AAAAAAAAASY/uW2dT4GwWB0/s1600/mysupermarket-mob%2Bapp.png" /></a></div>
<br />
6.There is a ‘real’ up to date example of the kind of deals mySupermarket can offer. Today’s was kiwis, 50% off.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNoWLSmXRsg/VCBd2j5cTcI/AAAAAAAAASU/mTNOw4fAc6k/s1600/mysupermarket-kiwis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pNoWLSmXRsg/VCBd2j5cTcI/AAAAAAAAASU/mTNOw4fAc6k/s1600/mysupermarket-kiwis.png" /></a></div>
<br />
7.The stores that are compared to give you your bargain basket are displayed across the screen so that you can see exactly what your options are.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p25GBJnvMHo/VCBfYRRGEZI/AAAAAAAAATk/eYqji0f3mFM/s1600/mysupermarket-compare.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p25GBJnvMHo/VCBfYRRGEZI/AAAAAAAAATk/eYqji0f3mFM/s1600/mysupermarket-compare.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
Example 2: <a href="http://www.dyson.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dyson</a></h3>
<br />
This household brand almost doesn’t need an introduction – Dyson make vacuums that don’t lose suction. And this is clearly conveyed by their homepage.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFnthUFNrHc/VCBd2HjlZTI/AAAAAAAAASQ/Ccyr1nepsAo/s1600/dyson.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFnthUFNrHc/VCBd2HjlZTI/AAAAAAAAASQ/Ccyr1nepsAo/s1600/dyson.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>What’s good about it?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1. Front and centre there is a compelling reason to buy from dyson.co.uk and not a competitor – you save up to £110.<br />
<br />
2. The imagery is truly stunning. It’s obvious straight away that the products are beautiful engineered and built.<br />
<br />
3. We really like the help me choose button, it’s customer focused and helpful.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BMtoiRdTx9A/VCBd1Jo2mFI/AAAAAAAAASE/qgdn7SPf9XY/s1600/dyson-help.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BMtoiRdTx9A/VCBd1Jo2mFI/AAAAAAAAASE/qgdn7SPf9XY/s1600/dyson-help.png" /></a></div>
<br />
4. Navigation is clean and simple.<br />
<br />
5. Social media icons are displayed at the top and in the footer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xr0g7vkNwJI/VCBd1w87y6I/AAAAAAAAASM/hXZHFzSBiHg/s1600/dyson-social.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xr0g7vkNwJI/VCBd1w87y6I/AAAAAAAAASM/hXZHFzSBiHg/s1600/dyson-social.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Example 3: <a href="http://www.thomascook.com/" target="_blank">Thomas Cook</a></h3>
<br />
Package holidays, hotels and flights.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JB-bRqgs-0I/VCBd4szOowI/AAAAAAAAASs/bLKbtLxxrI0/s1600/thomas%2Bcook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JB-bRqgs-0I/VCBd4szOowI/AAAAAAAAASs/bLKbtLxxrI0/s1600/thomas%2Bcook.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>What’s good about it?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1. The search form on the homepage is clean and simple to use, and it auto fills the airport based on your location. It’s little details like this that make an online experience more enjoyable, which is very important when booking a holiday.<br />
<br />
2. Above the fold, you’re shown beautiful sun soaked beaches. When you hover over these images you’re given more information about that particular deal. This is a nice feature for the user and it provides extra information to Google.<br />
<br />
3. Below the fold you are given detailed information on why you should choose Thomas Cook as well as pros for a few example resorts. For example ‘family beach resorts’, ‘late breakfast’ and ‘free Wi-Fi’. Exactly the kind of information you need.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pu-R7kGqgus/VCBd4ePSRcI/AAAAAAAAASo/Q80-fjBxH7Y/s1600/thomas%2Bcook-why.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pu-R7kGqgus/VCBd4ePSRcI/AAAAAAAAASo/Q80-fjBxH7Y/s1600/thomas%2Bcook-why.png" /></a></div>
<br />
4. At the bottom of the page there is detailed information on the website’s security. This is well considered since customer peace of mind is so important when it comes to large purchases such as holidays. There’s also information on the payment options available.<br />
<br />
5. There are links to 6 different language versions of the website.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F2Kt-dkZfPg/VCBd3rA8cmI/AAAAAAAAASk/hkGaTdag56c/s1600/thomas%2Bcook-payment%2Binfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F2Kt-dkZfPg/VCBd3rA8cmI/AAAAAAAAASk/hkGaTdag56c/s1600/thomas%2Bcook-payment%2Binfo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Example 4: <a href="http://www.barkerandstonehouse.co.uk/" target="_blank">Barker & Stonehouse</a></h3>
<br />
The ecommerce website for the stylish, modern home furniture company Barker & Stonehouse.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nR5HBAX01hQ/VCBd0EFqabI/AAAAAAAAAR0/pngDL8colDQ/s1600/B%26S.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nR5HBAX01hQ/VCBd0EFqabI/AAAAAAAAAR0/pngDL8colDQ/s1600/B%26S.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>What’s good about it?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1. The above the fold slider shows beautiful furniture in a home setting, and right below, the individual products are displayed. This makes it’s easy to see where to go next if you like what you see.<br />
<br />
2. There’s a phone number to call right at the top in bold for those who want to place an order over the phone.<br />
<br />
3. Order tracking options are also prominently positioned, right where you’d expect it to be.<br />
<br />
4. Click & collect, stock check and finance options are clearly displayed and explained on the homepage. All of these make it easier for the customer to get their hands on the product faster.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhoutO4CRA/VCBd0KrxGBI/AAAAAAAAARw/G4Arl92rzV0/s1600/B%26S-faster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhoutO4CRA/VCBd0KrxGBI/AAAAAAAAARw/G4Arl92rzV0/s1600/B%26S-faster.png" /></a></div>
<br />
5. There’s a link to their blog. And I want to click through to their blog because it tells me what to expect. Tips and inspiration.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igXl7tTU23g/VCBd0AZrH1I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Jwc0vl3Otnc/s1600/b%26s-insipration.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igXl7tTU23g/VCBd0AZrH1I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Jwc0vl3Otnc/s1600/b%26s-insipration.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Example 5: <a href="http://www.britishgas.co.uk/" target="_blank">British Gas</a></h3>
<br />
Gas and electricity supplier.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5GZLwhPSNA/VCBd1BNiP4I/AAAAAAAAASA/mnK2QrMv9zk/s1600/british%2Bgas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5GZLwhPSNA/VCBd1BNiP4I/AAAAAAAAASA/mnK2QrMv9zk/s1600/british%2Bgas.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>What’s good about it?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1. The copy on this homepage is very customer focused. ‘How can <u>we</u> help <u>you</u>?’ … ‘services <u>most</u> suited to <u>your needs</u>’.<br />
<br />
2. Actions are clearly laid out for the visitor to choose from according to what type of homeowner they are – making something which could be quite complicated, simple.<br />
<br />
3. This website is responsive – it adapts to the size of your screen – so it is just as easy to navigate on a mobile device.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzEHCLNXfko/VCBd1Jez_II/AAAAAAAAATU/AAqA0qz5F60/s1600/british%2Bgas-mob.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzEHCLNXfko/VCBd1Jez_II/AAAAAAAAATU/AAqA0qz5F60/s1600/british%2Bgas-mob.PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
4. It’s also super easy to download the British Gas app for mobile visitors.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>That's it's for now. Thank you for reading, hope you've come away with some useful ideas to improve your own homepage. </b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you've not read part 1, you can find it <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/09/effective-homepage-examples-part-1.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-49427404954709249122014-09-15T15:55:00.000+01:002014-09-15T15:55:32.128+01:0010 Tips on how to promote your blog posts after you hit publish (+ 6 links to another 159 tips!)<h3>
How to promote your blog content and news articles</h3>
<br />
Okay you've spent hours researching, crafting and polishing the perfect blog post and you've hit the publish button.<br />
<br />
So now all you have to do is sit and wait for all the lovely traffic to pour in right?<br />
<br />
Wrong.<br />
<br />
Now you need to start actively promoting it and engage with new readers. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Here's 10 tips to help you promote your blog post</h3>
<br />
1. Make sure you choose a compelling title for your blog post. Something people will want to click on.<br />
<br />
2. Promote via social networks. Tweet to Twitter. Post to Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Images and infographics to Instagram and Pinterest. Videos to YouTube etc.<br />
<br />
3. Take your blog post, turn it into a pdf and upload to SlideShare and other document sharing websites. This works well for 'how-to', 'lists' and 'top 10' type blog posts.<br />
<br />
4. Feature and link to influential websites, blogs and brands in your market from within your blog post. And let those people know on social media that you've featured them in your blog post. They'll most likely reward you by sharing and re-tweeting (IF your content is good enough though).<br />
<br />
5. If your blog post contains statements, facts and figures, make sure you back them up with references and quotes from experts in this niche. Include a 'click to tweet' option for quotes. Then again let those people know via Twitter etc that you've featured them.<br />
<br />
6. Get to know who the authorities in your market are. Network with them. Share their content. This again will get you noticed and could generate some 'shares' from them.<br />
<br />
7. Make sure you encourage your readers to share your blog post. Place social share buttons at the bottom of your blog post (you could include share buttons at the top too). And ask people to share.<br />
<br />
8. If you have a database of email subscribers make sure you do a mail shot each time you publish a new blog post.<br />
<br />
9. Find forums in your niche and become part of the community. Join in with conversations, offer help and advice but don't over-promote your blog posts just yet. And take the time to read the forum rules first.<br />
<br />
10. Make sure you re-share your blog post again across various social networks. Use the image below as a guide on how often to share across Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/blogging-101-traffic-generation-blogs-budget/109627/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/blogging-101-traffic-generation-blogs-budget/109627/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpEwVyShgOp7JCgsvgwI9jhhhxsgAti23UGzL6WdHA_5Rfbt06srLi8nu0woAp_z3rhpOwgJVatInaWTygUbbx9HnSGMCMa_6OHxkz2DGnek1ZpAm0mQTD3Ji_ZQdZfSaBRHqA8h7hu1f/s1600/social-media-sharing-frequency.png" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The original source of this image can be seen across at Search Engine Journal in this post <a href="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/blogging-101-traffic-generation-blogs-budget/109627/" target="_blank">Traffic generation for blogs on a budget</a><br />
<br />
<h3>
And the additional 159 tips I promised are... </h3>
<br />
<a href="http://nichehacks.com/promote-blog-posts-blog-traffic/" target="_blank">31 ways to promote your blog</a> courtesy of Stuart at NicheHacks (good stuff in here).<br />
<br />
Rebekah Radice's post <a href="http://rebekahradice.com/ways-to-promote-your-latest-blog-post/" target="_blank">25 Smart ways to promote your latest blog post</a> will also give you some good ideas.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogher.com/14-ways-promote-your-blog-posts-after-you-publish" target="_blank">14 ways to promote your blog posts after you publish</a> was written earlier this year by Jessie Joathome across at BlogHer and is worth reading.<br />
<br />
Samuel Pustea wrote this useful article <a href="http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/05/29/50-ways-to-promote-and-market-your-blog-posts/" target="_blank">50 ways to promote and market your blog post.</a> <br />
<br />
There's a nice infographic at Marketing Land showing <a href="http://marketingland.com/infographic-how-to-promote-your-blog-posts-24579" target="_blank">30 ways to promote your blog posts</a>.<br />
<br />
And another infographic entitled <a href="http://socialmarketingwriting.com/9-potent-tactics-promote-blog-posts-infographic/" target="_blank">9 powerful blog promotion tactics</a> can be seen across at Social Marketing Writing.<br />
<br />
Thank you for reading. If you've enjoyed this post please do share it.<br />
<br />ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-55548713682527854752014-09-11T13:31:00.000+01:002014-10-22T09:53:51.893+01:00Effective & brilliant homepage examples - Part 1The homepage of a website is usually the very first page a visitor will see when they visit your website. It's effectively your shop entrance and visitors will judge it within seconds.<br />
<br />
There's many things an effective homepage should do (<a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34006/15-Examples-of-Brilliant-Homepage-Design.aspx" target="_blank">as detailed here by Hubspot</a>). But one of the main things it should to is encourage your visitors to move further into the funnel. So you need to tell them what you want them to do with clear call-to-actions (CTA's).<br />
<br />
Here's some examples of websites (in different markets) that have great homepages.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="lcn">Example 1:</a>
<a href="http://www.lcn.com/" target="_blank">LCN.com </a></h3>
<br />
UK company providing web services such as domain names, web hosting and email accounts.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEw2xTWQKl-76nT9BZIwvXfRFQzhoNQDO0SopJ-Cps7CFIGWwjRYyoN6qS5Nddu8zfhrUidl31Dtw0wA9E86m3IzHOqV6tAlBMpBHk_7GZc5iy5jkpTs-5FFsR_NAJIrgvSJ1zCPDhej3/s1600/lcn-full-page-screenshot.png" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjGiqAE8NCAa1UvHbywf6G_VNa72wu4ruGNtpyIK_DHyI0JcwqQLYlKB5DA0IxGVAi-hJb7_wQvB2RH-EqSY9C2WuJx995kfvv4tMz-DxHKyJ6__4QLvHwOgkj2yVVV4xnK2haNYjiBbOX/s1600/lcn-banner.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNEw2xTWQKl-76nT9BZIwvXfRFQzhoNQDO0SopJ-Cps7CFIGWwjRYyoN6qS5Nddu8zfhrUidl31Dtw0wA9E86m3IzHOqV6tAlBMpBHk_7GZc5iy5jkpTs-5FFsR_NAJIrgvSJ1zCPDhej3/s1600/lcn-full-page-screenshot.png" target="_blank">Click the image above for a full page screenshot</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<h3>
What's good about it?</h3>
<br />
There are so many things we like about LCN's homepage. And we're not biased just because we're customers!<br />
<br />
1 - At the top of the page above the fold (see screenshot above) there's a changeable 'banner' with one slide telling me what they can do for me; '<i>Everything you need to succeed online</i>'. This message is for me and is something I can relate to.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8K2qZmwrio1YwpMW3BY93jU3SpN5eLKGH5O6Q6fC2W2nK85MRXq6r2ij_JOlfwT0g6Xqke8MHWwIazaX8X_TVyxDjzYNlemFDV2MpvgkLJc-ouHaBYTTJtQTFCcwuVNk2Ph637e_XdPis/s1600/lcn-twitter-testimonial.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
<br />
2 - Further down the page I'm presented with a testimonial from Twitter (above) which tells me a) how good the support was and b) that that customer felt compelled and motivated to share their experience with others.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqa9DfQkmFQYumHPBjFN5cszWBZVvFIwS2rHGPy0nsBw-BJRXSHAUR7FZsjQLqh6a7F3-yKXDdZM6CBjHf6WH9mVMAYqm8Dhyphenhyphena21a-fJVRjh8n6_4lvgwnKX3niCq7MM4c-ZROJ71VnLpv/s1600/lcn-phone-review-social-icons.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
3 - If I scroll further down the page there's statistics to give me confidence that this company can easily host my website no problem (<i>Gigabytes hosted this year - 6132.68</i>).<br />
<br />
4 - And the average support call wait time is less than a minute (which is important to me).<br />
<br />
5 - Then there's another review along with a link to 216 other external reviews (which means these reviews can't be faked). Google will like this and it gives me even more confidence.<br />
<br />
6 - Finally 3 links to social networks and what each network will help me with.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lcn.com/" target="_blank">www.lcn.com </a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="mps">Example 2:</a>
<a href="http://www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk/" target="_blank">Monster Pet Supplies</a></h3>
<br />
Supplier of pet products (cats, dogs, horses, small pets, birds, reptiles).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eQ3KAvcsR-jJZQzWGxHHTC0lcUK88rbpkbmTVeXBxkuRh4PqRLHDQaobCeQR8KuYH0OzS1V-XHN3fR43wKrp3zob1_nybuKpNB3KNLQ0jae1THWSSF5OzYblpPbUdX6AISB2Y-AhDVAR/s1600/monster-pet-supplies.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
<h3>
What's good about it? </h3>
<br />
It's aesthetically pleasing to look at. Easy to navigate. And just a pleasant experience.<br />
<br />
1 - The phone number is clearly displayed at the top of the page with the message 'Happy To Help'. The shopping basket is also very visible in the top right hand corner of the page.<br />
<br />
2 - There's a lovely clear search bar (essential for ecommerce websites) placed prominently at the top of the page.<br />
<br />
3 - The 'Food Finder' navigation is a great idea. It's clear by this (and the left hand menu) that they sell mostly to dog and cat owners.<br />
<br />
4 - I know right away that there's Free Delivery if I spend £29 or more.<br />
<br />
5 - Just below the fold there's a row of 5 best sellers with the option to buy once or schedule every 1, 2 or 3 months. This is good for me as a customer and good for Monster Pet Supplies repeat orders. (The product pages have this same option).<br />
<br />
6 - Towards the bottom of the page there's useful information for me about delivery costs, the 'Monster Promise', newsletter signup and incentivising me to tell a friend about Monster Pet Supplies.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN1dPV1Sijzk2vRUWG0dC5t5Vz9yFtc3uXDDE7UZvWlJ1KvlwD38u6CjCU-Sy-wYOlB91LspwzlsAoZsavikBx41pYdSuhjzDtWRjJIiaERJmR8qATiQOyEe7nLVlsTZukXf5MFWmExc6L/s1600/monster-pet-supplies-footer.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
7 - There's also links to recent blog stories and a banner asking whether my pet blog could make the top 100 pet blogs.<br />
<br />
8 - Finally there's clear links to their social media channels.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.monsterpetsupplies.co.uk </a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="thynk">Example 3:</a>
<a href="http://www.thynk.com/" target="_blank">Thynk</a></h3>
<br />
UK based IT Training Company delivering world-class training.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmg93unXnjIj7YlsLM46Ztn-UX5moFL7SZ9PGxCEDDo2YxOQ6AF1JX4J4YqPnyjb_Ky9bVESkHjx3Kmv7UiDXpMz3OGBIZVm_KFttRH7XprcuYa0_czjudpKPZOMPGyPZfs90yzux_5g0S/s1600/thynk-it-training.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
What's good about it?</h3>
<br />
The Thynk website balances brand positioning and advertising perfectly. Thynk’s brand promise; their reason-for-being “de-cluttering the world’s best training” is communicated immediately and emotively.<br />
<br />
Most businesses rattle on about what they do and I, the reader, have to work out what they actually do for me. <br />
<br />
Not with Thynk IT training. As they say – “When all you get is all you need, what you learn today – you can use today”. So they’ve even de-cluttered their messaging. Perfect.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thynk.com/" target="_blank">www.thynk.com </a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="freshbooks">Example 4:</a>
<a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/" target="_blank">Freshbooks</a></h3>
<br />
Online accounting, invoicing and billing software for small businesses.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrRtoCBYQ2AITMQ0The17SsqZznisNvQ0EQ8UGpBgvG3gJfZjszEk6FGcAmXUjgKYOZBx1OsgcfB4NnT6OB-ZBi6jJXizl4DFx3X6opotot3jAdMOA6Sl6db1ctZabvgVxyA__r1w823V/s1600/freshbooks.png" width="520" /></div>
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<h3>
What's good about it?</h3>
<br />
Very clear and concise. As with the example above, Freshbooks homepage tells me straight away whether this product is for me or not. And the clear green CTA (call-to-action) button tells me I can try before I buy..<br />
<br />
If I scroll down the page the website give me a reason to stick around.<br />
<br />
1 - Shows me how easy it is to send invoices. And there's that lovely clear CTA button again with the same message.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhTInoxyS_s94O7IclaX5UAXYnlrBvIWUCfqp9EnX5CqNFMXepuxX4V7fwLBCySvQ1AO4SRWqVPMzzXpBCk4kGgJmQ-stSBdUhn5OkRghUrmi3nc7c1UWJ-Kl_EdrGYnNQ5JKvu3xXwrC/s1600/freshbooks-send-invoices-seconds.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
2 - A little further down there's 4 reasons why I should use Freshbooks and answers some questions I'd have. The user review gives me even more confidence in the product.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9Sh_dnO6L52zpaBhmG8M_wM5M6hLhL-EfseR1rmKTAv_0OQQIsBqagzmqe1hkKweOAc5EsDo-gcvtkuMKse5Z_4nggNTbwREdLf78NbE793QtJjld5iEYDzVVI9CUlkDiG4JVYjohe75/s1600/freshbooks-why.png" width="520" /></div>
<br />
3 - After scrolling further through a serious of screens with lovely imagery and more features I get to the following which actually shows me the support team!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoRB_9jKuJjsi7IJkVSfoTnjZn3zavYTtwI6m20o6cXMAKQ3vMXL1YMZIEhnueswZ3TmKl9fEO4k_QbesUFdfdukYpYcVuS_WeNyrF3-CUko5nkYkr1OI6KAmSyGD8N56hiKvFDIzPu6TZ/s1600/freshbooks-support.png" width="520" /></div>
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4 - Finally if I'm not already convinced I'm told which other products Freshbooks works with. Oh and there's that lovely call-to-action again.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKU-LVJcdZZb46FiumrPpa_zmm3XgU7TdNe6QasakFscV2KLdJdV-5Ho5Pdt9Z144_UBV-UEufYxgGv515yK2k_JTNdYwqPKOJ6j2szD1QjrDCsMqoz4ELwjq7_ttJ6SxaP__2CrZHbUB/s1600/freshbooks-connect.png" width="520" /></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/">www.freshbooks.com</a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="justeat">Example 5:</a> <a href="http://www.just-eat.co.uk/" target="_blank">JUST EAT</a></h3>
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Order takeaway food online from over 20,000 UK food delivery restaurants.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTEGp9AtuJ-cySSZYn2GbUkbWVDa9UR6dtcrkSyuCJwZOcFM7ym6-ZmXhNVtzYM0qlW7kiUrtwFOF5uUhHOZG0zZFmss2yf9H5vyWeDCiErpuP-p2X-JKU8G3niM8mvoYGx5mZeL-Co0Y/s1600/just-eat.png" width="520" /></div>
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<h3>
What's good about it? </h3>
<br />
Dead simple and easy to use. You land on the homepage and know instantly what to do. Nothing more to say other than I love this homepage.<br />
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<a href="http://www.just-eat.co.uk/">www.just-eat.co.uk</a><br />
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<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="mrmrssmith">Example 6:</a>
<a href="http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/" target="_blank">Mr & Mrs Smith</a></h3>
<br />
Online directory of hand picked luxury boutique hotels.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YdOjI7Z5yFZBjALegvrck6YBUpM2cby_gBtOhLeChD8_PCHVcXBzQ-itIaNqDTyi59Vn5lp7TEQ70zPvlS2B4ZPCRvUDNj-gMZFEiRWd3g4CAv528nY5UZmoGimzHKvr_iOg3byNPHYq/s1600/mrandmrssmith.png" width="520" /></div>
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<h3>
What's good about it? </h3>
<br />
For lovers of the finer things in life. This homepage tells me immediately whether I'm in the right place or not.<br />
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<br />
1 - Beautiful imagery and clear call-to-action (CTA) are the first things I see. I want to explore further.<br />
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2 - Regularly updated news on the homepage keeps not only me happy but Google too.<br />
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3 - Lovely web copy, well placed social media icons and the use of video gives me plenty to have a nosey at.<br />
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4 - Nice use of links in the footer take me directly to an area of the website that interests me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/">www.mrandmrssmith.com</a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="grantswhisky">Example 7:</a> <a href="http://www.grantswhisky.com/" target="_blank">Grants Whisky</a></h3>
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Scotland’s oldest family-run blended scotch whisky.<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRozFb3qMto9HPd_nxar7KDPaF2d-rp-Zemg_bMc0YvSc4LPrS3F3AnZVdgQew5H8BvApDEC2MAI216qOK-FMQ2qt0udzQl7tEM_Bt28EbztT6iXQNXs4iGUzPP0t_AW_zN6DFEtXV4O2U/s1600/grants-whiskey-age-screen.png" width="520" /></div>
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<h3>
What's good about it? </h3>
<br />
As with all alcoholic drinks websites I visited the age verification is the first thing I see as the homepage. So this age verification screen needs to be brilliant if any website wants me to take the time to enter my date of birth. (I know it only takes a few seconds but people are impatient and if they don't like what they see they won't stick around).<br />
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Grant's Whisky have a beautiful age verification screen. Out of the 30 or so websites from <a href="http://brandirectory.com/league_tables/table/top-50-drinks-brands-2012" target="_blank">the top 50 drinks brands</a> I checked out it was the best.<br />
<br />
1 - Visually it's classy with lovely imagery. The image of the 2 glasses filled with whiskey over ice feed my imagination. I could be anywhere drinking a Grant's and with anyone, this homepage doesn't dictate where I am. (<a href="http://www.chivas.com/" target="_blank">Chivas</a> have a pretty good homepage too).<br />
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2 - There's not much copy on the page so it really needs to be crafted... and Grant's page copy is spot on. <br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNHuqd4RNqOp_WZDXTR3XNqzqy7QuNNvQB1UOcfYqzL8WHKDodC36nHzUVbS_r3Ia93Q6FE3ZRUATz1W0n_xP3RBsYNcBVkaNW-NAqwYBGsWcmAuW7wZ8VOlr2XB-Fj5O3O87zUY-IwAF/s1600/grants-whiskey-copy.png" width="520" /></div>
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3 - The drop down functionality to enter my Country is good too. It lists the most popular countries first so I don't have to scroll all the way down to choose United Kingdom.<br />
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4 - And the 'remember me' check-box is pre-ticked which I like.<br />
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5 - Finally upon entering the 'real' homepage it doesn't disappoint. And it won't disappoint you either.<br />
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<a href="http://www.grantswhisky.com/" target="_blank">www.grantswhisky.com</a><br />
<br />
<b>____________________________________________________________________________</b><br />
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<h3>
To be continued...</h3>
<br />
Next week we'll create <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/09/effective-brilliant-homepage-examples.html"><b>part 2</b></a> with examples of brilliant homepages of household brands.<br />
<br />
Thank you for reading.<br />
<br />ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-63651770127073025422014-09-02T13:35:00.002+01:002014-09-03T16:30:47.407+01:0047% revenue increase in 4 monthsangelfysh has been working with <b><a href="http://www.sagegateshead.com/" target="_blank">Sage Gateshead</a></b> now for 4 months on improving search engine visibility and helping the website to convert more visitors into ticket sales.<br />
<br />
To say we're pleased with how things are going is an understatement.<br />
<br />
During the months of May, June, July and August 2014 there's been an increase of 47% in revenue generated from ticket sales alone compared to the same period in 2013.<br />
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Of course we can't take all the credit as Sage Gateshead have their own strong marketing team and also work with Newcastle based <b><a href="http://www.violetbick.com/" target="_blank">Brand Consultants Violet Bick</a></b>.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-30081234869754828032014-09-01T19:14:00.001+01:002014-09-03T12:31:59.050+01:00Business owner or marketing manager? 5 tips to save money when hiring an SEO agencyHiring an experienced professional SEO agency will set you back thousands of pounds every single year. But it's a necessity if you a) have limited or no knowledge of search engine optimisation yourself and b) you want to rank highly in search engines like Google.<br />
<br />
So what can you do to save money if you have a set online marketing budget and time on your hands?<br />
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We've listed 5 things that you can do yourself that will not only save you money but also support the work that a professional SEO agency will do for you.<br />
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1. Blog regularly</h3>
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Creating regular (at least weekly) high quality blog or news content yourself (or within your organisation) is an absolute must. If you don't write your own content your SEO agency will do it for you (and charge you for it). Creating an 'editorial calendar' will help you to organise your time and identify any seasonal trends that you should be preparing for.<br />
<br />
Earlier this year we advised a household brand name on how to encourage
and empower their 3,000+ employee's to create content for the brand. You can do it too.<br />
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Here's <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/05/18-stats-to-help-you-write-perfect-blog.html">18 stats to help you write the perfect blog post</a> but remember that a great blog/news article should sell without selling.<br />
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Coca-Cola are a great example of a brand that blogs well with a nice balance of different article types. <a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/" target="_blank">Here's their blog</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.coca-colacompany.com/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtN8p8sOWrFhh6HjWSU1JDgNfUP2RCXXiEsM9mFrm9UpSM_J8tc6a2l35QTcHNmey0TFX4vN4pJMyZL_SHNUCtcWbNAW8qXvGnh203AOnPf4VpFMjSGkbtDvBGv6MF_VmQr0eUmzcHGlj/s1600/coca-cola-blog.jpg" height="353" width="500" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://blog.mint.com/blog/" target="_blank">Mint.com blog</a> also do this well with a mixture of articles and infographics.<br />
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And the <a href="http://blog.sharpie.com/" target="_blank">official Sharpie Markers blog</a> is fun and innovative.<br />
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<h3>
2. Automate your social network posting</h3>
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Your social media platforms (Twitter, Google+, Facebook etc) should all be linked & setup from your blog to post automatically every-time a new blog article/news story is published. This will save you time manually publishing to each network.<br />
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<h3>
3. Manage your own social media marketing</h3>
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One of the factors Google looks for when determining how well a website should rank is 'social signals' (re-tweets, Facebook likes/shares, Google+'s etc). So make sure you provide your followers with information that adds value as this will encourage them to like and share your posts.<br />
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And remember to be well mannered... thank people who have interacted with you.<br />
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<h3>
4. Encourage user reviews</h3>
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Encourage your customers to leave a review of your company and/or products. You can encourage company reviews to be left on your Google+ page as well as on external websites such <a href="https://www.trustpilot.co.uk/" target="_blank">TrustPilot</a> and <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/" target="_blank">TripAdvisor</a> etc (depending on your market).<br />
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Product reviews should be encouraged within your e-commerce website as well as externally on websites such as <a href="https://www.reevoo.com/" target="_blank">reevoo</a> and <a href="http://www.cnet.com/" target="_blank">CNET</a>. Use positive feedback as testimonials on your website homepage as this will help to lower the bounce rate (which is another thing Google looks at).<br />
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Here's a recent blog post we did on <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/03/11-ways-to-encourage-customer-reviews.html" target="_blank">11 ways to encourage customers to leave a review</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/" target="_blank">Amazon</a> do a great job of this. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTu6kZRXcmHyBcBD6rfiLPPea-1DAUXFLSfhjnUsGM9MFmVIVTG7B3R5jqq3cNr3K-zdslWqef-ZVRvzMilmU5KjmiEf7_Y2VZUNyjYnHp2NDVTH5Fe4ok0BiJ5ZwalrVZOCLUlA9Yqqqa/s1600/amazon-reviews.gif" /></a></div>
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<h3>
5. Write <u>really good</u> product descriptions</h3>
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One of the most difficult things e-commerce website owners face is making sure that their product descriptions are well written, informative and unique. This is especially true if the very same product with the manufacturers description is being sold online elsewhere (DVD's for example). Google doesn't like duplicate content so take the time to make your product descriptions different. Encouraging user generated reviews of your products (as mentioned in point 4) can help with this.<br />
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Not sure what makes a good product page? Here's some great examples for you:<br />
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<a href="https://www.nakedwines.com/wines/hacienda-don-hernan-rioja-reserva-2009.htm" target="_blank">Naked Wines</a> - Great way to display content saving space and the use of user generated content to make the page unique.<br />
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<a href="http://www.firebox.com/product/5520/Instant-Regret-Chilli-Chocolate" target="_blank">Firebox Chilli Chocolate</a> - Quirky and well written content with a lovely tone.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury-hotels/the-rutland-hotel" target="_blank">Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels</a> - Very informative page with information about the hotel, facilities and the surroundings.<br />
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If you've enjoyed reading this post why not share it?ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-71259734501778602742014-08-25T07:25:00.000+01:002014-08-25T07:25:00.022+01:00How to get more customers to complete your website checkout – Part 2<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Today, we’re continuing on with more practical advice on what you can do to see more customers complete checkout.</div>
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A lot of effort goes into actually getting a customer to a website. Just think about everything you’ve done as a business owner to get your name and product out there. This only makes it more frustrating when a significant proportion of these visitors start the checkout process but then never complete it.</div>
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In this blog post we’ll guide you through another 6 tips that will make your checkout process easier, more user friendly and streamlined.</div>
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<h3>
Have a persistent shopping cart</h3>
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This is top of the list of our recommendations today. A persistent shopping cart is one where the items will still be there if the shopper goes away or is in active for a while. It means that they can come back and easily make the purchase later on.</div>
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I left some shoes in the basket for a whole day on the <a href="http://www.crocs.co.uk/" target="_blank">Crocs</a> website. And when I came back, they were right where I left them.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EnZ-e5VjkZk/U_LpCv71jwI/AAAAAAAAAQY/Y3LgbZN0et0/s1600/crocs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EnZ-e5VjkZk/U_LpCv71jwI/AAAAAAAAAQY/Y3LgbZN0et0/s1600/crocs.png" /></a></div>
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Make the primary button stand out</h3>
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One key to easy checkout navigation is having a single, most prominent button on each page. This makes it clear to the user where they need to go intuitively. Where there are multiple options, the most important or desired action must be stronger. Being consistent with the design and positioning of this primary button will make your checkout navigation easy to use and intuitive.</div>
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Urban outfitters do this well. Everything on the page is monotone, except for the primary button which is bright blue. This is consistent throughout the checkout process.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cejW36DFPhs/U_LpDlvNCvI/AAAAAAAAAQg/phYma057OZU/s1600/urban%2Boutfitters.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cejW36DFPhs/U_LpDlvNCvI/AAAAAAAAAQg/phYma057OZU/s1600/urban%2Boutfitters.png" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Autofill address</h3>
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If you’re an ecommerce store, all your customers really want is to have the right product in their hands. Anything that you can do to make that happen quicker and easier is of benefit to your business. This includes details as seemingly insignificant as whether you provide an autofill for their address after they’ve entered their post code. Equally important is allowing delivery details to be used as billing details. Time saving optimisations like this will become increasingly important as more and more users make online purchases using their mobile phones.</div>
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We like the way <a href="http://www.firebox.com/" target="_blank">Firebox</a> has kept the number of fields to a minimum, they'll find your address using your post code and they also autofill title and country. Sensible defaults like these save customers time and effort.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LFfW4hvuqjs/U_LrmRQaz0I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/AUkVxVBcEKk/s1600/firebox.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LFfW4hvuqjs/U_LrmRQaz0I/AAAAAAAAAQ8/AUkVxVBcEKk/s1600/firebox.png" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Provide helpful error messages</h3>
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It’s more than a little frustrating when you go through the trouble of filling a form out, then you press submit but for some reason it’s not happy and wants you to fill it all out again. </div>
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It’s really important that when there is an validation error, the correct information that the customer has typed is retained. Secondly, a useful error messages needs to be given. Often these messages are displayed at the top of the page, instead they need to be alongside the field containing the error as this makes is so much easier to spot and correct.</div>
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<a href="http://www3.schuh.co.uk/" target="_blank">Schuh</a> give concise and helpful error messages when something's not quite right.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOluSrmkWME/U_LpDSvujsI/AAAAAAAAAQc/sFlRdXGHTuc/s1600/schuh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOluSrmkWME/U_LpDSvujsI/AAAAAAAAAQc/sFlRdXGHTuc/s1600/schuh.png" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Offer gift options</h3>
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A huge proportion of our online shopping is for gifts. Just take Mother’s Day for example, 60% of gifts are bought online. With birthdays and anniversaries the need for gift wrapping options becomes obvious. </div>
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It’s not just gift wrapping options that a customer might look for, they might want to conceal the price or include a ‘don’t open before [date]’ note. Implementing these considerations in your checkout process will make your customer feel valued because you thought about their needs.</div>
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<a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Chocolat</a> do this amazingly, not only do they offer you several gift options, they show you what they look like.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-68r0tZqoEiQ/U_LpCvLBgOI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/gTkOWB-PTAE/s1600/hotel%2Bchocolate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-68r0tZqoEiQ/U_LpCvLBgOI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/gTkOWB-PTAE/s1600/hotel%2Bchocolate.png" /></a></div>
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Display basket items</h3>
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This keeps the user focused on the end goal – their shiny new thing. The <a href="http://www.nike.com/" target="_blank">Nike</a> website displays the products being purchased throughout the checkout process, it’s nicely done with beautiful product imagery.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nsQZEFGjPFQ/U_LpCQgAXdI/AAAAAAAAAQU/QoIFRxz1YFg/s1600/nike.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nsQZEFGjPFQ/U_LpCQgAXdI/AAAAAAAAAQU/QoIFRxz1YFg/s1600/nike.png" /></a></div>
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There are 6 more checkout optimisation tips in last week’s blog post, which you can read <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/08/how-to-get-more-customers-to-complete-checkout.html">here</a>. Enjoy!</div>
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Also, we’d love to know if any of you have implemented any of these recommendations and the impact it’s had on your conversion rate. Let us know by commenting further down.<br />
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Oh and if you've found this article useful please share it using the icons below.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, UK54.978252 -1.617780000000038954.8325385 -1.9405035000000388 55.1239655 -1.2950565000000389tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-67793075900895314492014-08-18T19:02:00.002+01:002014-08-18T19:32:24.811+01:00How to get more customers to complete checkout on your ecommerce website – Part 1Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on what makes a website great... it just feels ‘nice’ doesn’t it? This doesn’t happen by accident or by having better designers but by deciding to put user experience (UX) first.<br />
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In this article we’ll be sharing six techniques that really successful websites use to make their checkout experiences feel ‘nice’. If you can incorporate just some of these intentional user focused decisions in your website then you’ll be well on the way to seeing more checkout completions and fewer shopping cart abandonments.<br />
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Allow customers to checkout as a guest</h3>
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Did you know that <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/7730-why-do-consumers-abandon-online-purchases" target="_blank">25% of shoppers abandon</a> their cart because of forced registration? That’s 25% of sales that have been lost. Even mentioning the word ‘register’ in your checkout is a bad idea because it makes some customers feel like they’re not in control of the checkout process.<br />
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Instead of making customers register as default, try offering the option for first time buyers to checkout as a guest and once they have completed their purchase then offer the option to register.<br />
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A website which does this well is <a href="https://www.asos.com/" target="_blank">ASOS</a>.<br />
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Include secure payment information</h3>
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We all want to know that the website we’re purchasing from is secure, especially if we’re using our mobile phone to access the website and buy.<br />
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Websites should display SSL certificates and logos ensuring security throughout the checkout process, not just on the payments page. And on the payments page there should be a short piece of text reassuring visitors that the website is secure.<br />
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Something else that we’ll mention is, make sure you also provide information on what exactly a security code or expiry date is. This is something that <a href="http://www.quiksilver.co.uk/" target="_blank">Quicksilver</a> have done nicely.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cFIRnqkzjlE/U_I96WrfV_I/AAAAAAAAAP0/03x-xWcbbS0/s1600/quicksilver.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cFIRnqkzjlE/U_I96WrfV_I/AAAAAAAAAP0/03x-xWcbbS0/s1600/quicksilver.png" /></a></div>
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Show customers their progress</h3>
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Much of what we've talked about so far comes down to one thing: making the customer feel in control. Informing the customer where they are in the checkout process, what step is coming next and allowing them to navigate forwards and backwards through these steps hands them the reigns and relieves any worries they might have.<br />
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This can be effectively done in a process bar showing the checkout steps. Each step should be a clickable link in case the customer wants to go back and change anything.<br />
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We like the way <a href="http://www.lakeland.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lakeland</a> has done this and even included a brief sentence to let customers know what to expect from each stage.<br />
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Make your checkout mobile friendly</h3>
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Sales completed on mobile devices <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10493834/Cyber-Monday-purchases-made-on-mobile-double.html" target="_blank">grew by 94%</a> from 2012 to 2013 and now account for more than <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/64511-32-of-uk-consumers-make-purchases-on-a-smartphone-stats#i.1ium3zqtixfcd1" target="_blank">32% of all online sales</a>.<br />
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In light of this and the fact that a mobile screen is so much smaller than a desktop screen, your checkout process <i>has</i> to be mobile friendly. This means keeping the design simple, using radio buttons and drop down menus where possible and only asking for the most essential information.<br />
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<a href="http://www.topshop.com/" target="_blank">TopShop</a> have a great mobile checkout which is easy and quick to follow, and it ticks all of the other best practises in this article.<br />
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Remove all distractions</h3>
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It’s really important that there are no unnecessary navigation or exit points in your checkout process. Since you've worked so hard to get your customer to the point of buying, everything should be focused on moving your customer along the checkout process and not away from it. There should be a limited or no menu navigation. Only information relevant to encourage completion should be included, such as: guarantees, returns policy and delivery information.<br />
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<a href="https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/" target="_blank">Notonthehighstreet</a> are a shining example of how to do this:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5U5XzreuFaU/U_I9AgthF3I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/Wa26Ra15XzI/s1600/notonthehighstreet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5U5XzreuFaU/U_I9AgthF3I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/Wa26Ra15XzI/s1600/notonthehighstreet.png" /></a></div>
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Offer customers complimentary products</h3>
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Not only is this helpful to shoppers, it’ll increase your average transaction value. But you must up-sell in the right way by offering only the most relevant products. <a href="http://store.apple.com/" target="_blank">Apple</a> is a great example of this they've kept it simple and still kept the continue button the most prominent on the screen.<br />
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Provide multiple payment options</h3>
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PayPal is fantastic. Instead of having to rummage around for your card and type out the really long card number you can just enter your email address and hey presto the payment is made.<br />
<a href="https://www.wiggle.co.uk/" target="_blank">Wiggle</a> not only provides the option of paying by card or PayPal, it also clearly explains what to expect and when to enter your PayPal details.<br />
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That's it for Part 1 of How to get more customers to complete checkout on your ecommerce website. Part 2 to follow next Monday.<br />
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Please share this post if you found it useful.<br />
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Thank you. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-62799981535285617672014-08-11T18:58:00.001+01:002014-08-12T12:32:41.317+01:006 e-commerce website best practice examplesA little while ago we wrote an article on <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/06/examples-of-e-commerce-best-practices.html" target="_blank">15 e-commerce best practices</a> that you can’t ignore - no longer is Google only concerned with factors such as meta data and alt tags.<br />
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Google wants to see websites that are user friendly. So build your website for the user and you’ll be on the right path to seeing your Google rankings improve as visitors stay longer on your website, make more purchases and keep coming back. <br />
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The examples below are all websites that put customer experience first, and as a result have come out on top of Google too.<br />
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<h3>
Great use of product images</h3>
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<b><a href="http://made.com/" target="_blank">Made.com</a></b> have really put a lot of consideration into providing images of their products. Each product page contains photos of the piece of furniture from every angle, close ups of the fabrics and materials, images with the dimensions clearly labeled, and showing the relative size of the piece compared to a person. What more could you ask for without actually touching it?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xG7PH-CSTSA/U-j0sDuRmsI/AAAAAAAAANo/DNt_Xt1ePrI/s1600/made.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xG7PH-CSTSA/U-j0sDuRmsI/AAAAAAAAANo/DNt_Xt1ePrI/s1600/made.png" /></a></div>
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In the end; the more attractive, juicy, stylish and high quality a product looks the more confident your customers will be when buying online.<br />
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Easily accessible delivery and returns information</h3>
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Trust is a huge factor in online retail. Delivery and returns information must be easy to find and adhered to unfailingly by e-commerce websites. These two topics are ‘pain points’- in fact <a href="http://www.infifthgear.com/infographics/shopping-cart-abandonment-infographic/" target="_blank">44% of carts are abandoned</a> because of high shipping costs. Being upfront about delivery and returns ensures that the customer doesn't feel like something's been sprung upon them.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/" target="_blank">Notonthehightstreet.com</a></b> does a great job of this, giving delivery dates and prices for several UK and international delivery options as well as a simple returns policy. Both these pieces of information are available on the product page allowing customers to continue with their shopping uninterrupted.<br />
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Fast repeat purchase</h3>
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Mark Cuban, an American billionaire said this: "Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you".<br />
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Speedy repeat purchases not only helps your customers, it helps you! <b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b> the kings of e-commerce lead the way with this offering purchase with just one click. For websites who have many returning customers this is a must.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C7uPi5FEQ0M/U-j1XvfYhqI/AAAAAAAAAN4/OWS2aCh31tM/s1600/amazon2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C7uPi5FEQ0M/U-j1XvfYhqI/AAAAAAAAAN4/OWS2aCh31tM/s1600/amazon2.png" /></a></div>
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Attention grabbing deals and bestsellers on homepage</h3>
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Deals on your homepage will grab your customers’ attention when they arrive; this is crucial if you want to stop them from hitting the back button. Bestsellers work really well on the homepage because they get customers to their favourite products even faster.<br />
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You've heard the saying, you are what you eat; well, e-commerce websites are what they sell. By having your bestsellers and deals on your homepage customers can easily see what you’re about, the price bracket you sell in and if you make use of reviews how much your customers have loved your products. <b><a href="http://www.diy.com/" target="_blank">B&Q</a></b> do a great job of this.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsdRozxWqO4/U-jx5NZ_OuI/AAAAAAAAAMg/QGaMylOMETs/s1600/b&q.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsdRozxWqO4/U-jx5NZ_OuI/AAAAAAAAAMg/QGaMylOMETs/s1600/b&q.png" /></a></div>
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Onsite product reviews put to good use</h3>
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According to Reevoo, onsite reviews produce an <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/9366-ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them#i.1ium3zqtixfcd1" target="_blank">18% increase in sales on average</a>. That’s huge. Just think what you could do if you had 18% more income from your website.<br />
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So who’s doing this well? <b><a href="http://www.thenorthface.com/" target="_blank">The North Face</a></b> have a well thought through review system tailored to each category of product. What we like about this review system is the use of tick boxes and sliders, great if you don’t want to write loads!<br />
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As well as showing star ratings on the product category pages this website actually highlights products with the most reviews and the best ratings.<br />
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Well optimised Thank You page</h3>
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Thank you pages are often overlooked as they come at ‘the end’ of the customer journey, but if you can retain your customers then you've won half the battle. Thank you pages give you the perfect opportunity to leave your customers feeling appreciated and looked after.<br />
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Jezz Bezos, the CEO of amazon.com said this: “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful”.<br />
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Here’s one thank you page that we like, <b><a href="http://masterofmalt.com/" target="_blank">masterofmalt.com</a></b>, as it makes it really easy for customers to quickly leave a review and to stay in touch.<br />
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Hope these examples have given you a little inspiration to put to work on your website. Let us know if you've got any favourite examples of the these e-commerce best practices.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-12753612898256751342014-08-04T19:13:00.001+01:002014-08-04T19:13:47.491+01:00Personalised Google Search Results and how they affect your websiteIt might surprise you to hear that no one sees exactly the same search results even if they type identical words into a search engine. The search results we see are personalised to suit us 'better'.<br />
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To Google, the accurate tailoring of search results to each user is a huge part of being the 'best' search engine and it's has been the driving force behind <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/landing/now/" target="_blank">Google Now</a>.<br />
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Many users will see very similar results, but there will be differences due to factors such as search history, location, device and even someone’s social contacts.<br />
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How much does personalisation change search results?</h3>
A 2013 <a href="http://personalization.ccs.neu.edu/paper.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> showed that:<br />
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<li>73% of personalised #1 ranked results originated from position #2.</li>
<li>93% of personalised #1 ranked results come from the first page - in other words the top 10 ranked websites.</li>
<li>82% of original rank 1 results remain somewhere on the first page of personalised results.</li>
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Google doesn't throw the baby out with the bath water when it comes to personalising results. <b>Websites that are ranked high up in Google will <u>still</u> be ranked high up in</b> personalised results<b> </b>but their position is not absolute. This is reassuring considering the hard work that goes into achieving a #1 ranking.<br />
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What factors are used to personalise our search results?</h3>
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<b>Personal search history</b><br />
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The primary way that Google personalises your search results is by using your search history. Put simply, Google will rank websites you've visited and found useful higher up in search results as they think that you will find them useful again.<br />
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It’s important to note that your search history is used by Google whether you’re signed into a Google account or not. If you’re signed out Google can still see up to 180 days of search history collected using anonymous cookies stored on your web browser.<br />
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<b>Location</b><br />
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This is the most obvious and understandable customisation, we’re all shown results depending on country and locality. Google uses your IP address to tailor your results when you search for keywords associated with places such as ‘restaurant’ or ‘zoo’.<br />
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These types of search queries will bring up Google maps and Google+ local business pages according to where Google thinks you are located. This creates a great opportunity for local business owners who can set up a Google+ business page and more easily appear in local search results.<br />
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You can easily see and change your location by clicking on Search tools, entering a location and clicking ‘Set’.<br />
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Additionally, some keywords mean different things depending on your location. For example, ‘football’ would bring up American Football in the USA but in the UK we would expect to see results like the premier league.<br />
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(What’s an IP address? – Your IP address identifies the location of your computer. Check out <a href="http://www.whatismyip.com/" target="_blank">What's my IP</a> to find out your IP address.)<br />
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<b>Type of search query</b><br />
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Different categories or types of search terms have a higher degree of personalisation. We’ve already mentioned personalisation due to location. Brands are another category for which search results can differ dramatically depending on the above factors, whereas factual queries starting with ‘what is….’ are far less personalised.<br />
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<a href="http://justinbriggs.org/better-understanding-personalized-search" target="_blank">Justin Briggs</a> tells us that 82% of results for ‘what is…’ queries are identical, while only 43% of results for ‘gadgets’ are identical. Politics, places, gadgets and brands are all types of search queries which show a high degree of personalisation.<br />
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<b>Device</b><br />
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Google also recognises when you’re searching with a mobile and will favour responsive websites and local search results for the mobile user, different to the results that a desktop user may see.<br />
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<b>Social signals</b><br />
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Finally, since 2012 Google has been personalising your searches to be influenced by what your friends on Google+ are saying. Who you know, what they’ve shared and what you’ve shared - these ‘social signals’ are used by Google.<br />
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When commenting on Google collecting of data to personalised search results <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1841498/google-nows-personalized-search-automated-results-creepy-or-future-search" target="_blank">Fast Company</a> said this:<br />
“Some might call that a creepy amount of shared data. Others might call it the future.”<br />
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How do you stop your search results being personalised?</h3>
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By now you’ll probably be thinking how am I supposed to know where my website is positioned if my results are personalised.<br />
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Well, <a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/4540094?hl=en" target="_blank">Google</a> has provided these instructions themselves:<br />
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<b>Pause your Google account history</b><br />
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You can pause or delete your web history. Start by going into your <a href="https://www.google.com/settings/accounthistory" target="_blank">Account Settings > Account History</a> and then click ‘Pause’.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oJLPfpRdLpM/U9-v6LaKLzI/AAAAAAAAAL0/hOiUwvySGHc/s1600/Pausing+your+Google+search+history2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oJLPfpRdLpM/U9-v6LaKLzI/AAAAAAAAAL0/hOiUwvySGHc/s1600/Pausing+your+Google+search+history2.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Delete and turn off your Google search history</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Visit your Search History page at <a href="http://google.com/history" target="_blank">google.com/history</a>.</li>
<li>In the top right corner of your Search History page, click the gear icon then Settings.</li>
<li>Click Delete all, then click the Delete all button to confirm.</li>
<li>Finally click Turn off to stop future searches being stored.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Delete your browser history</b><br />
<br />
Your searches may also be stored in your browser or the Google Toolbar. Learn how to delete your history on <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95537" target="_blank">Chrome</a>, <a href="https://www.apple.com/support/mac-apps/safari/" target="_blank">Safari</a>, <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/ph/807" target="_blank">Internet Explorer</a>, and <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/home" target="_blank">Firefox</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Turn off results customisation </b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sign out of your Google account. </li>
<li>Go to <a href="http://google.com/history/optout" target="_blank">google.com/history/optout</a>.</li>
<li>Click Disable customizations based on search activity. This will turn the setting off for anyone who uses the same browser and computer as you until someone signs in.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vKmqFfBqf-E/U9-v6KMs2_I/AAAAAAAAALw/qVgKq5WNLdY/s1600/search+history.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vKmqFfBqf-E/U9-v6KMs2_I/AAAAAAAAALw/qVgKq5WNLdY/s1600/search+history.png" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Use ranking software</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
If you’re an angelfysh client, the easiest way of seeing non-personalised search results is to sign into our SEO ranking software at <a href="http://clients.angelfysh.com/" target="_blank">clients.angelfysh.com</a>. If you've lost your logins, just <a href="mailto:henrietta@angelfysh.com" target="_blank">email us</a> and we’ll send you new logins.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_9dzPoMU9fk/U9-ws9p9ipI/AAAAAAAAAMI/uSVQ42pQUV8/s1600/ranking+software.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_9dzPoMU9fk/U9-ws9p9ipI/AAAAAAAAAMI/uSVQ42pQUV8/s1600/ranking+software.png" /></a></div>
<br />
…<br />
<br />
Hope we've helped you to find out where your website is really positioned in Google search results. If you’d like to speak to someone about getting your website ranked higher up in Google, that’s what we do - it’s called SEO and we have a 100% record of success. Give us a call on <b>0191 276 6904</b> or drop us an email to <a href="mailto:hello@angelfysh.com"><b>hello@angelfysh.com</b></a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-34468753061874933712014-07-28T18:48:00.000+01:002014-07-29T11:51:17.362+01:0016 stats that show the value of SEO, Content Marketing and Social MediaAnyone else love a good juicy statistic? We certainly do! <br />
<br />
In this blog post we've rounded up 16 stats for you that demonstrate the value of SEO, content marketing and social media - three things which go hand-in-hand with internet marketing and e-commerce success.<br />
<br />
<h3>
SEO statistics</h3>
<br />
Outbound leads cost 61% more than inbound leads. An example of an outbound lead could be direct mail or print ads, sources of inbound leads include SEO and content marketing. <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31555/Inbound-Leads-Cost-61-Less-Than-Outbound-New-Data.aspx%20SEO" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>. <br />
<br />
SEO
leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads have a 1.7% close rate. <a href="http://www.searchenginejournal.com/24-eye-popping-seo-statistics/42665/" target="_blank">Search Engine Journal</a>. <br />
<br />
44%
of online shoppers start their buying journey with a search engine. <a href="http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5573" target="_blank">IPSOS</a>. <br />
<br />
75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. <a href="http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics" target="_blank">Hubspot</a>. <br />
<br />
70-80%
of users searching on Google and Bing ignore paid ads. <a href="http://searchengineland.com/eye-tracking-study-everybody-looks-at-organic-listings-but-most-ignore-paid-ads-on-right-67698" target="_blank">Search Engine Journal</a>.<br />
<br />
Search
is the largest traffic driver providing 41% of visitors compared to 11%
coming from Social Media. <a href="http://searchengineland.com/search-sends-more-better-traffic-to-content-sites-than-social-media-study-says-72988" target="_blank">Search Engine Land</a>. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Content Marketing statistics</h3>
<br />
Companies
that blog have on average 4 times more indexed pages, pages that Google
has deemed valuable enough to store in its index. <a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/blogconomy-blogging-stats-infographic" target="_blank">Social Media Today</a>.
<br />
<br />
Companies
with blogs on their websites have on average 97% more back links. <a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/blogconomy-blogging-stats-infographic" target="_blank">Social Media Today</a>.
<br />
<br />
90%
of consumers find customer content useful and 81% trust advice from blogs. <a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/blogconomy-blogging-stats-infographic" target="_blank">Social Media Today</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Social Media statistics</h3>
<br />
There
are 3.2 billion interactions on Facebook and over half a billion tweets
published every single day. <a href="http://blog.kissmetrics.com/master-social-customer-acquisition/" target="_blank">KissMetrics</a>.
<br />
<br />
77%
of B2C companies and 43% of B2B companies have acquired customers on
Facebook. <a href="http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>. <br />
<br />
34% of marketers have generated leads using Twitter. <a href="http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/social-media-statistics-stats-2012-infographic/" target="_blank">Digital Buzz Blog</a>. <br />
<br />
Marketers reported that demand for social media marketing increased by over 60% in 2013. <a href="http://moz.com/blog/2014-inbound-marketing-trends" target="_blank">Moz</a>.<br />
<br />
71% of social media users are more likely to purchase from brands
they follow online. <a href="http://balihoo.com/resource/infographics/local-web-infographic/" target="_blank">Balihoo</a>.<br />
<br />
Interesting
content is one of the top three reasons customers follow brands on
social media. <a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/blogconomy-blogging-stats-infographic" target="_blank">Social Media Today</a>. <br />
<br />
50%
of Companies struggling with SEO aren’t integrating social media.
<a href="http://searchengineland.com/50-percent-of-companies-struggling-with-seo-arent-integrating-social-media-survey-166311" target="_blank">Search Engine Land</a>. <br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
We hope you've found this collection of statistics both interesting and helpful to your online marketing efforts! Let us know if you've got any SEO stats you'd like to share by commenting below.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-85421964862679084732014-07-21T21:41:00.000+01:002014-07-21T22:09:51.002+01:006 steps to fit blogging into your busy scheduleRunning a business takes a lot of time, for many businesses writing blog posts can come way down their list of priorities. Which is a shame because creating interesting content for your website is so important to its success in search engines – so how can you streamline your blog writing process so it fits into your busy schedule?<br />
<br />
<h3>
1. Decide how often</h3>
<br />
Consistency is key. Decide how often you want to schedule blog posts, which day of the weeks and what time you want your blog posts to go out. <a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/7345/When-is-the-Best-Time-to-Publish-Blog-Posts-Infographic.aspx" target="_blank">Hubspot research</a> showed that you’re likely to get more views, links and comments if you publish in the morning.<br />
<br />
Once you’ve decided on your schedule you need to stick to it! Block out time in your calendar and be consistent with it.<br />
<br />
If you can have a couple of back up articles on the ready then you'll have something to fall back on if you miss the odd deadline.<br />
<br />
<h3>
2. Always be on the lookout for ideas</h3>
<br />
Have somewhere to store your ideas. It’s hard to think up ideas on the spot so collect and jot down ideas through the week when they come to you. These could be questions that customers are always calling to ask, inspired by an interesting article you’ve read or a different spin of on article that’s done well on a competitors blog.<br />
<br />
The key to a successful blog post is to create value for the reader. Every single blog post you write should help your reader in some way. Every single one. Use this rule to judge if your article idea is a good one… or not.<br />
<br />
You’ll end up with a bank of ideas to choose from when you come to putting pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard. Spend just 5-10 minutes choosing one of your ideas.<br />
<br />
We’ve also written a whole blog post on blog post ideas <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2013/11/blog-content-ideas-10-tips-on-what-to.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
3. Start with an outline</h3>
<br />
First decide on your title, keep it under 65characters and make sure it’s compelling. There are some more tips on blog headlines <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/05/18-stats-to-help-you-write-perfect-blog.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Next write your introduction, conclusion and list the points to include in the body of the blog post.<br />
Your introduction should be clear and engaging; it should tell your reader why they need to read the post and what it will teach them. <br />
<br />
Conclusions should be a simple summary of the main points from your post and include a call to action. Calls to actions are really important, if the reader has enjoyed your post you want to keep them on your website moving along the journey to becoming a customer. The call to action could link to a related product, webpage, or another relevant blog post.<br />
<br />
<h3>
4. Write</h3>
<br />
Now it's all about adding meat to the structure you have and since you’ve already decided what your points are you’ve already done the hard bit.<br />
<br />
When you’re writing be sure to keep things simple. That means no jargon! Jargon only alienates readers, you want to reach out to them.<br />
<br />
Keep your writing to the point, if you can say it in half the words then why don’t you? Longer content is only a good thing if it tells the reader more.<br />
<br />
Back up what you say with stats or links to studies. This both substantiates what you’re saying and it tells the reader that you are well read on the subject.<br />
<br />
<h3>
5. Get someone else to proof and schedule it</h3>
<br />
There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it’s really hard to spot your own typos because you know the article you’ve written too well. A fresh pair of eyes is needed.<br />
<br />
Secondly, proofing, adding pictures and scheduling a blog post can take an extra 30 minutes – which is time you probably don’t have when you’re busy running a business. Getting a member of staff to do this for you solves this problem.<br />
<br />
<h3>
6. Don’t forget to promote your content</h3>
<br />
If you’re a busy person, you want to see the largest return for every minute you spend on something.<br />
<br />
Promoting your blog posts will not only get it in front of more people it will also make it more discoverable in search results. You can promote your blog posts by including a link from your newsletter, Tweeting it, putting it on Google+ and Facebook. Again, this is something you can delegate to one of your team. (We could actually write several articles on this... I'll add it to my list of blog post ideas!)<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
So that’s it; decide how often, get your creative juices running with ideas, outline, write, get help proofing and promote your articles.<br />
<br />
Hope we’ve made blogging sound a little less scary and a lot more manageable! It really is something that can benefit your businesses’ online presence tremendously so if you can crack the art of producing great content efficiently, you’re on to a winner.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-53194215996259107472014-06-30T17:45:00.002+01:002014-06-30T17:45:57.418+01:006 ways to improve your bounce rate to boost SEO resultsBounce rate, as explained by Google is “the percentage of visits in which users view only a single page of your site.”<br />
<br />
If you have an e-commerce website, your aim is to get visitors to stick around, look at your products, read about your business, put items in their basket and make a purchase – then you need to get your bounce rate as low as possible as a high bounce rate means low conversion.<br />
<br />
Bounce rate is also used by Google to measure how relevant a website is to the search terms or keywords used to find it. This means that if a website has a high bounce rate, not only will it convert fewer visitors, its Google rankings will be negatively affected. And on the flip slide, lowering your bounce rate shows Google that your website is relevant and useful, positively impacting your rankings.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
How do you find out your bounce rate?</h3>
<br />
a) Firstly you’ll need to have <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/learn/setupchecklist.html" target="_blank">Google Analytics set up</a>.<br />
<br />
b) If you’ve already done this, go to <b>Behaviour > Site Content > Landing Pages.</b><br />
<br />
c) Select Comparison View from the icons at the top right of your data table.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijpEK6sVgTY/U7FbNZOID2I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Gz_vKtbuaqw/s1600/how+to+find+your+bounce+rate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijpEK6sVgTY/U7FbNZOID2I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Gz_vKtbuaqw/s1600/how+to+find+your+bounce+rate.png" /></a></div>
<br />
d) Select Bounce Rate from the (compared to site average) drop down, and you should see a chart like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XoSEyiEuYfo/U7FagdvQEZI/AAAAAAAAAJc/gpQ56gU9b0k/s1600/how+to+find+your+bounce+rate+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XoSEyiEuYfo/U7FagdvQEZI/AAAAAAAAAJc/gpQ56gU9b0k/s1600/how+to+find+your+bounce+rate+2.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Now on to how to reduce your bounce rate.</h3>
<br />
<h3>
1. Drive quality traffic</h3>
<br />
As mentioned above, bounce rate tells Google how relevant a website is to search terms used to find the website. Driving quality, relevant, hungry-to-buy traffic is more important than getting large volumes of less interested visitors as poor quality traffic will only result in a high bounce rate.<br />
<br />
First concentrate on ranking in Google search results for keyword terms that correlate closely to what your website is about, rather than more vague and competitive keywords with a large number of monthly searches.<br />
<br />
<h3>
2. Focus on customer intent</h3>
<br />
One reason that visitors don’t stick around on a website is not being able to find what they’re looking for. You know the frustrated feeling; you instantly hit the back button and go to the next website in the list of search results.<br />
<br />
Overcome this by thinking about what your customers are most likely to want, need, expect, be looking for on your website and then clearly provide a route to that information from your landing pages. (A landing page is any page that a visitor enters your website on.)<br />
<br />
Use enquiry emails to provide you with insight into questions customer couldn't easily find the answers to on your website. You can use these questions to create an FAQ page, write blog articles on, add information to your landing pages, improve your product pages, and so on.<br />
<br />
<h3>
3. Get your website looking its best</h3>
<br />
With the online world becoming increasingly competitive, customers have higher expectations, they’re more impatient and less tolerant of poor design. Good design now signals legitimacy, trustworthiness and providing a quality product and service.<br />
<br />
Google actually gives redesigning the landing pages of a website as the first piece of advice to websites with high bounce rates.<br />
<br />
<h3>
4. Improve usability</h3>
<br />
Usability is just as important as design. A website which looks amazing but offers a very tedious checkout process will lose customers to its competitors. How easy a website is to use is actually a reflection of the quality of customer service provided, it will not only build trust it will keep your visitors on your website, reducing your bounce rate. You can read more about how to improve your usability <a href="http://blog.angelfysh.com/2014/05/usability-testing-12-tools-to-measure.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<h3>
5. Make your website mobile friendly</h3>
<br />
This is simply a website that will resize according to the screen it’s being viewed on. It’s a great way to optimise your website for those browsing on mobiles or tablets. Mobile traffic now accounts for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-mills/5-reasons-you-absolutely-_b_5122485.html" target="_blank">one quarter of all web searches</a> and <a href="http://resources.mobify.com/50-mobile-commerce-stats.html" target="_blank">30% of shoppers say they will abandon a website</a> if checkout is not optimised for mobile.<br />
<br />
Additionally 57% of mobile users will leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Clearly, making your website accessible to mobile users can have a massive effect on reducing your bounce rate.<br />
<br />
<h3>
6. Give visitors a clear reason to buy from you</h3>
<br />
We've already mentioned how competitive e-commerce can be; this final point is one we couldn't leave out. Is it obvious to visitors why you are different to competitors? If you provide the best value for money, best quality product or fastest delivery service is this clearly stated on your website?<br />
<br />
This differentiation actually comes down to <a href="http://www.violetbick.com/" target="_blank">brand definition</a>. Visitors need to be given a compelling reason to stick with you rather than going back to the previous, maybe slightly cheaper but not as great, product. Providing this will keep them glued to your website and to you as a customer.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-74335813582243268202014-06-18T08:18:00.000+01:002014-06-18T10:04:21.621+01:00New Phone Number<b>Hello there.</b><br />
<br />
Please note that our NEW telephone number is now <b>0191 27 66 904</b> or <b>07960 117077</b>.<br />
<br />
Thank you.ANGELFYSHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14701171457808973581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6622651377509146672.post-73421277652960379472014-06-12T15:47:00.000+01:002014-09-11T13:23:49.871+01:00Goodbye Thomas Zehetemair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-prdRVUpsv0w/U58Dc6K9aOI/AAAAAAAAAI4/X0JMZU-Li6o/s1600/Sage+Gateshead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-prdRVUpsv0w/U58Dc6K9aOI/AAAAAAAAAI4/X0JMZU-Li6o/s1600/Sage+Gateshead.JPG" height="382.5" width="510" /></a></div>
<br />
Yesterday we witnessed the entire audience of <a href="http://www.sagegateshead.com/" target="_blank">Sage Gateshead</a> Hall One standing to applaud Thomas Zehetemair farewell after twelve years of musical directorship of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Twelve years that has seen the opening of Sage Gateshead and the Queen bestowing the title 'Royal' to the Sinfonia.<br />
<br />
As he gave his goodbye speech there were more than a couple of us with teary eyes.<br />
<br />
It's not the last we'll see of Thomas though, he'll be returning at Christmas as Conductor Laureate to conduct the <a href="http://www.sagegateshead.com/event/messiah-14-12-14/" target="_blank">Messiah</a>.<br />
<br />
It's quite fantastic really to have such acclaimed musicians and a world class music venue a stone's throw away from us.<br />
<br />
And we're not just saying that to be nice because they're our client.<br />
<br />
Sage Gateshead is really up there when it comes to acoustics - with special air-filled-concrete, funny shaped wooden walls and lots of curtains. It's acoustically perfect. Which is why it attracts talent like Thomas Zehetemair.If you've not yet been... you should.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0