Doing your own marketing can be a great way to save money and stay completely in control of your brand’s voice. To ensure that your DIY marketing campaign is a success, here are a few important dos and don’ts to follow.
Do have a strategy
You’re not going to get results by winging it. Effective marketing campaigns need to be planned out. This involves choosing the right time, targeting the right audience and using the right channels. Strategy should be applied to every element of your marketing from your social media posts to your promotional emails – by planning them out a week ahead, you can fine-tune them for maximum effectiveness.
Do have a budget
Whilst going DIY can save you a lot of money, there may still be times when you need to spend some cash to get results. It’s all too easy to overspend by boosting too many Facebook posts or pouring too much money into a trade fair stall. Set a monthly budget so that you’re not spending all of your money on marketing
Do know the limits of your knowledge
Whilst you may be able to self-teach yourself various marketing skills, it’s important to know when to let the pros take over. When it comes to practices like web design, SEO and video advertising, you’re usually better off hiring a digital marketing company. Learning to shoot and edit videos to a professional level or learning how to master SEO can take people years – trying to do these tasks yourself could result in something amateurish if you have no experience.
Don’t just market online
You can’t run a successful business nowadays without doing some online marketing – however offline marketing can be just as important. Never underestimate the power of networking and word of mouth. Printing off business cards and organizing marketing events could also help you to attract new customers.
Don’t get preoccupied chasing competition
A lot of companies feel that successful marketing is all about trying to outdo competitors. Whilst it is important to keep up with your competitors, you should obsess over trying to offer better deals or getting more Facebook followers. Instead, think about ways to stand out from your competitors. This can often have much better results by giving you your own USP.
Don’t forget about return customers
Marketing isn’t all about attracting new customers either. For many companies, return customers can be just as valuable. There are lots of marketing strategies aimed at return customers that you can try such as introducing loyalty schemes, creating a mailing list and keeping previous customers following on social media.
Web design and web
development are related aspects that come together to form a well-built
website. A few years ago when websites and technology surrounding websites was
young, you could achieve all your website building needs with just a web
designer. Nowadays, websites have become complex, both in terms of user
interface and the functioning behind the scenes making it essential to combine
aspects of web design and web development to achieve a quality website.
In a nutshell, web design
deals with the look and feel of the website from a design perspective which web
development deals with making the site functional through writing code that
carries out the specific function. For example, take a look at any website's
contact page. The overall look of the page is part of web design while the
functioning of the contact form where you input information is considered web
development because the form needs to perform the function of sending your input
or storing that input in a database. Today, the roles of web designers
and web developers are interchangeable because of overlapping tasks that a
designer or developer needs to tackle to complete their overall work.
Web Design & Web
Designer
Generally speaking, web
design deals with the look of your website. In the early days, a web designer
would design the website in Adobe Photoshop or other similar graphics tools
page-by-page and be done with it. Today, while you can still design a website
in Adobe Photoshop, there is one important aspect that a web designer needs to
take into account and that is the different screens that a user will be viewing
the website on. In our world today more people are using mobile gadgets
(smartphones and tablets) to browse the internet as opposed to those browsing
from a laptop or desktop computer.
User Experience (UX)
User Experience is a
discipline of web design that deals with studying and improving users' experience
when they are browsing the website. Since we've established that web design
deals with the look of a website, it's from this point of view that we can
improve the user's experience. To achieve a great user experience, web
designers apply one or more of the following:
test positioning of certain elements at different positions on a
web page,
test varying color schemes to see which ones resonate with
website visitors,
run A/B tests where 2 versions of a page are displayed to a
group of people to see which version of the page is more engaging with users
Web Development & Web
Developers
Web development has
expanded greatly in the last few years due in part to the introduction of
dynamic cloud servers and new technologies that harness the power of these powerful
servers. In essence, web developers build functionality and features so that
websites are more than just pretty graphics and text.
Web developers today need
to know a number of scripting or programming languages for them to perform
their jobs properly. For starters, a web developer must understand HTML &
Javascript. Next, he/she will need to be proficient in a server-side
programming language such as PHP, .NET, Java, C#, Python, Ruby on Rails, and
NodeJS.
Web development can be
further broken down to front-end development and back-end development. Let's
look at the functions of each.
Front-End Development
Front-end development, also
known as client-side development deals with features that happen on web pages
that don't require server processing. The main languages for front-end
development are Javascript and CSS. Front-end development leverages the power
of the user's device to execute certain features or effects.
Back-end Development
Back-end development deals
with the processing of information and logic between the website and the server
that is running the website. For example, when a user submits a form, back-end
development processes the form and sends a notification to the right parties.
Back-end development also deals with database functions such as connecting,
querying and storing of information.
How To Choose Between Web
Designer And Web Developer
When looking for a web
professional, you need to list your needs and then compare that with the roles
we've discussed here. Here are some examples:
If you're looking to build an informational site, a web designer
or front-end developer will be sufficient,
If you're looking to just update the look of a page on your
website, a web designer will be sufficient,
If you're looking to build an eCommerce store, then you need a
back-end developer
Keep in mind that many of
these professionals can handle tasks outside their core competence. For
example, a web designer can also fill the role of a developer to an extent
while a web developer can fill the role of a web designer to an extent. Many
companies have designers and developers on staff and this makes them a good fit
for a variety of web building projects.
Search
Engine Optimization plays a huge role in how customers find your online store
through search engines. Simply put, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the
process of optimizing aspects of your site so that search engines understand
what you're offering (through tags & description) and place you high on the
search results page. SEO is the online equivalent of the billboard or
advertisement banners that we pass by on the streets. The big difference is
that while the billboard can only be seen by those who pass by that particular
street, SEO can potentially expose you to millions of people when done right.
Combining Woocommerce, the most popular shopping cart plugin and SEO is the most essential thing to the success of your Woocommerce store in bringing you new customers and growing your store. Woocommerce provides you easy-to-use controls to build and manage your online store but on its own, it won't help you get high up on search engines. In this article, I'll share tips to help you optimize your Woocommerce store and get it ready for higher ranking on search engines.
Product
Titles
The most important part of woo-commerce SEO from a search engine point of view is the product page title. When search engines show your product in the search results page, the first thing shown is the title. Write short, descriptive titles that describe the product in as little words a possible. Avoid general terms that are too broad or that could have multiple meanings. Ensure that your title has important keywords such as brand, model, or make to quickly distinguish it from a bunch of other items like it.
Product
Description
Many
online store owners use a very little amount of text to describe their products
because they assume people will just get it. When it comes to product
description, the more the better. Just be sure to break the text into shorter 2
- 3 sentence paragraphs and use bullet points wherever necessary. As far as
product information goes, you need to answer questions like:
What material is the item
made of,
What size and color does
the item come in,
Who is best suited for this
item
Think of
the questions a visitor may have and add it as part of the product description.
Categories
and Navigation
The other
factor that impacts your Woocommerce SEO is the structure of your site's
navigation. Aim for simple, intuitive navigation that is easy for visitors to
understand. When setting up categories try to keep the levels shallow so that
users don't get lost trying to track down an item.
Category
names, just like product titles, should be descriptive. Woocommerce allows you
to enter a description of the category so go ahead and add helpful text there
as well. Product categories help search engines understand the grouping of your
store so it's important to have them laid out nicely.
Conclusion
Woocommerce
SEO, when done right, is like having a 24-hour salesperson on the streets
inviting customers to your site. Take some time and optimize your online store
today and start enjoying the benefits of more sales and business growth.
If you have spent so much time creating content, you will know how sad it feels when you don’t get as much engagement as you expected. Businesses are spending so much money on creative content so they can become a news source for their customers. Their blogs aren’t just to update consumers on new features, patch fixes, bugs and glitches in software, but also to promote their ethos. Content can be educational and for businesses that’s exactly what it should be. Brand news shows customers what you’re up to, who you’re talking with, what about and what they can expect in the future. But surely nobody wants to sit down and read your content do they? You’d be surprised how key marketing strategies can make customers want to read your news.
You’ve got mail
One of the best ways to keep customers informed is via email. This trusty old but gold method allows you to share content across a wide spectrum of customers. Newsletters are a short and sweet way to inform your customers on what you’re doing, tell them how to access new features and generally keep them up to date with what’s going on. Samsung do this by sending out email newsletters to their customers, showing them new releases of products, what the latest software update included and more. The engagement level will slowly rise when you start using email marketing to help with SEO. If you archive your newsletters, they can be changed in future to include current popular keywords and keyphrases. Thus your template and text is ready to be filled using the best consumer trends of that particular month or week.
Among the professionals
Sharing your blog posts on LinkedIn is an excellent idea. Your business is exposed to industry minds, so many experts can take a gander at what your business is exactly doing. You also get to speak with industry lingo, using jargon that professionals will appreciate. Thankfully, you blogs might also get shared, liked and commented on by such people. Among the professionals, your business will be talked about and this gives your brand news more leverage in expert discussions. You never know you might also meet other industry professionals or business owners that would like to collaborate with you. Getting interviewed or quoted by journalists is also something you should be aiming for when sharing on LinkedIn.
Offer your link
Working with SEO and marketing companies, you can offer your links to spread the word faster. SEO companies will use your link and smartly put it into an article that can be varied in tone. If you want an article that examines industry changes and examines the future, you can demand so. Putting your off-site link in this kind of article will project an image of your business being cutting edge and in the running to be seen as one of the more futuristic companies.
Engaging with customers with brand news allows your content to be viewed as an educational source. You can not just change minds but inform them, so your customers understand you better.
If you are a newbie entrepreneur, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with just how much you have to do. You are no longer a specialist as you were in your full-time position. You now have many shoes to fill from finance whizz to marketing guru, and from social media manager to website designer. These roles can be difficult to master and the chances of you being able to fulfill them to the highest standard are slim. Instead, you need to consider the joys of outsourcing.
Outsourcing was once frowned upon as it was thought to show weakness and admitting defeat. If you are truly worthy of being an entrepreneur, you should be able to complete every duty and task yourself. This is a defunct concept in the twenty-first century and nuanced outsourcing is seen as a business function in itself. If you want to have every aspect of your startup running cohesively and to the highest standard, you will need external experts on board. Read on to find out why outsourcing could be money well spent.
The most crucial aspect of any modern business is the online presence. It's all very well and good having a snazzy all singing and all dancing website that is aesthetically pleasing, but what’s the point if no one knows that it exists. You need to outsource your SEO & web design capabilities to off site experts. These specialists will work with you to craft a website using WordPress or a drag and drop builder according to your digital marketing strategy. This means that your website will be designed to meet your goals. Perhaps you want a global reach, more followers on social media, hits to sales conversions, or you want to analyze the traffic that you achieve. A specialist firm can help you formulate strategy and adapt it according to your business vision.
Your online presence doesn’t begin and end with a website. You should be exposed across a number of platforms from your website to social media and from third party blogs to online directories. Emulating your brand across a range of platforms can maximize your exposure online and can help build your brand’s following. It doesn’t matter whether you import ball bearings from Taiwan or whether you design bespoke tee shirts for teenagers, you need to tap your niche online.
Making your website utilize SEO tools means that you will appear further up the Google search results. This means you will be the company harnessing the traffic and potential customers that are searching for relevant terms linked to what your business has to offer.
Payroll
Forget spending a day a month working through tax obligations, pension contributions and job sharing legislation to ensure that your staff get paid on time. Instead, you can relinquish this responsibility to a third party. Outsourcing tedious administrative tasks such as payroll will free up your time to enable you to spend your hours on more important aspects of your business vision. Outsourcing payroll also means that you no longer have to worry about human error or panic about your staff being paid on time. A third party firm will work efficiently and accurately to ensure that your workforce gets paid the right amount on time.
If you always have a queue of people at your office door to complain about the server going down, WiFi being patchy or laptops freezing, it’s important that you can outsource your IT troubleshooting. Having to fix simple IT issues can take up a ridiculous amount of your time each day and can prevent you from being productive. WiFi downtime can also result in an unproductive staff team that become frustrated and struggle with low morale.
A specialist external firm can become your team of IT troubleshooters. These experts will work remotely alongside your IT system to ensure that downtime is minimal and that your assets remain secure. Rather than queuing up at your door, your staff can raise a ticket, pick up the phone or email the external team and have their IT issues rectified within minutes. Being able to work more efficiently will lead to greater productivity, which you can then convert into profit.
Being an entrepreneur is tough, often simply because of your workload and the variety of tasks that you need to complete. Forget about risking burnout and use outsourcing to help you. By utilizing outsourcing sensibly and according to your business plan, this could be money well spent.
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