As a digital marketer, your job is to promote brands and the products and services they offer to their target audiences. It’s a job you do well, and you have lots of satisfied clients, many of whom provide you with repeat business.
But have you noticed how challenging it is to promote yourself, yet you have no issue with promoting other people and brands? If you’re struggling to promote your digital marketing services, here are some simple suggestions to help you out:
The sad truth about the marketing services you provide is that thousands of other people, just like you, are also trying to promote themselves in the market. How can you make yourself stand out from the crowd?
One way is by establishing credibility and authority. Marketing experts like Stephanie Camello have noted that content marketing is crucial to marketing yourself. Creating and distributing quality content that strikes a chord with your core audience makes perfect sense.
2. Play an Active Role on Social Media
Don’t be a digital marketer that only updates their social media profiles once in a blue moon. Instead, you should play an active role and publish relevant content to your audience regularly.
Facebook and Twitter are two social media platforms worthy of your attention. You should also maintain a LinkedIn profile to help build up your professional network. As with Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn lets you publish posts to your audience. Make your content count!
3. Get Involved in Networking Events
The COVID-19 pandemic has put in-person networking events on hold, but they still occur on a virtual basis through mediums such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Despite the current health crisis, you can still get involved in local and regional networking events.
Why are networking events so crucial to promoting yourself as a digital marketer? Firstly, they help you spread awareness about your brand, and secondly, you’ll be more memorable to people than companies that constantly cold-call and email potential marketing prospects.
4. Create Some Case Studies
You will undoubtedly have a website that describes the marketing services you offer. That’s great, but what people also want to know is how your work benefited your clients. The way to achieve that is by publishing some verifiable case studies on your site.
Case studies typically describe a brand’s problem, talk about how a service like yours resolved the issue, and give verifiable proof such as statistics to illustrate or measure the success of all work carried out.
5. Apply Your Marketing Tactics to Yourself
You already know how to market brands and the right methods to achieve the best results. With that in mind, you need to apply those marketing tactics to yourself as you’re also a brand!
It might feel weird thinking of yourself as another client or in the third person. But, doing so might help you focus on the methods needed to market yourself better online.
PPC and SEO are two popular marketing strategies. Most businesses can benefit from using both, however there are times when you may want to use one type of strategy more than the other. The following guide compares both PPC and SEO to help you determine which one you should be using.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) involves paying for an advert to display until a certain number of people have clicked on it. Such an advert could lead to your website, helping to generate more visitors and customers.
PPCadverts can be found all over the internet and can take various different forms. A few examples of types of PPC adverts include:
Paid search marketing: When searching for something on Google or Bing, you may notice that a few search listings appear as ads at the top. This is one of the most popular forms of PPC advertising.
Display adverts: These include image ads and video ads which can be found all across the internet. They are another popular form of PPC.
Social media advertising: The likes of Facebook allows users to pay in order to ‘boost’ a post. The advert will display on users Facebook walls until a number of people have viewed it. This can also be viewed as another form of PPC.
Some of the popular ad platforms include Google Ads, Facebook Advertising and Microsoft Advertising (used for Bing). You can create ad campaigns yourself using these platforms or you can seek help from advertising companies. Getting help from a professional company could help to make your campaigns more effective.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a strategy used to help improve your rankings on search engines such as Google and Bing. This can help you to attract more visitors to your website (and potentially more customers).
While you can use PPC advertising to display your search listing as an advert at the top of the rankings, SEO can help you to rank at the top longer without the need for constant advertising. It’s a known fact that some people also tune out adverts and skip straight to the non-paid search listings.
SEO involves a variety of tactics including using keywords, improving page loading speed and building backlinks. It is often worth using a professional company to handle SEO as it can be quite complex and time-consuming.
Which is better for me: PPC or SEO?
PPC and SEO can both be used alongside each other. However, there are times when you may want to favour one over the other...
Are you looking for a quick or long-term solution?
PPC is much better for getting quick results. As soon as you publish your advert it will start displaying - you could start to see more visitors and customers within hours. Of course, most people aren’t this lucky and it can sometimes take a bit longer to get results (the average amount of time is about 3 months).
SEO can take a little longer to make an impact. Most people don’t see results until 4 to 6 months after starting an SEO campaign. Consequently, SEO isn’t recommended for promoting temporary deals or imminent events (PPC is better for these types of promotion). The advantage of SEO is that the effects are much longer - while a PPC ad may only display for a few weeks, an SEO-boosted webpage could continue to rank highly for years.
Are you looking to target a specific demographic?
PPC campaigns can be targeted at specific demographics. Advertising platforms allow you to set certain parameters so that they only display for certain types of consumer. This can make PPC useful for marketing a niche business.
SEO can similarly be targeted at niches but you don’t have quite as much power over your target demographic. As a more general marketing strategy, it can often be more effective - whereas PPC is not so effective at this.
How much money have you got to spend?
In the long run, PPC can often work out more expensive than SEO. This is because, in order to be effective, most companies will have multiple PPC campaigns on the go.
SEO tends to be a much better long-term investment. While many companies pay for SEO on an ongoing basis, you generally won’t have to spend as much you will on PPC to get results. Companies on a budget may want to focus on SEO more than PPC for this reason.
There are several important factors to consider when you want to design a superior website for your online gaming service.
The key to success is, of course, to stand out from your competitors in a positive way so that you can gain the most web visitors to play your games.
Responsive Web Design
One of the most essential but often overlooked aspects to consider when designing your website is how responsive it is.
A website that isn’t responsive can provide a poor user experience and can also get your site penalized by Google when it comes to how you rank in the search results.
A responsive website is one that will seamlessly adjust in appearance depending on the device, screen size, and orientation of the device it is being accessed on.
Ensuring that your online gaming website is going to rank well in the search results is key to getting a high number of visitors.
This is a concept that you will have to pay attention to during the design phase of building your website. It is also a point that will require ongoing attention, such as by having your website listed on other well-established and authoritative websites.
For example, if your gaming website focuses on bingo, then you will want to be listed on other top online bingo sites so that more people can find you.
If you are a gamer or know someone who is, you know how competitive the field can be. There are tons of different gaming websites out there vying for your attention, and one of them will eventually win it. Whether that website is yours or not depends on what you do to maximize SEO for your gaming website. This is a long-term game, so you need to be patient and focused on the things that will help your site grow. Changing some of the more traditional SEO techniques for gaming websites may seem counterintuitive, but it can work wonders if done correctly! Of course, if you are struggling with this or don't have the time, you can always hire an SEO agency to ensure there is a lot of traffic directed to your website.
Keep it Simple
If you have big ideas for your online gaming website, then that’s fantastic. It’s great to be passionate about what you are doing, and the more ideas you have, the better!
However, it can be a good idea to keep your website relatively simple so that you do not run the risk of confusing people.
People will be visiting your website to play games, and they will want to be able to find these games with speed and ease. If you have a complicated website design and a lengthy process to sign up to play, then you may put people off. This can quickly cause them to click away and play on the websites of your competitors instead!
Consider Your Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy is a secondary action to building your website, but it is something you should keep in mind during this process.
It is never too soon to start developing a marketing plan that you will then implement once your website is complete.
Good points to keep in mind when considering your marketing strategy are:
Who is your audience?
What is your advertising budget?
Where do you want to advertise?
What are you offering your visitors?
How will you retain your visitors?
If you are not comfortable marketing your gaming website yourself, then it is always possible to outsource this job to an expert.
Do Your Research
When you are attempting to create the very best website, it is important to do your research and to see what other people are doing. You can take inspiration from the websites that you already enjoy and reach out to other people for advice and guidance.
Remember, it is always possible to continue updating and upgrading your website. So, if an aspect of your website design isn’t working for you, then the potential to improve it always exists!
In business, you need to ensure that you are doing all you can to keep your intellectual property protected at all times. That is something that you can actually do relatively easily, but you do need to make sure that you are approaching it in the right way for it to be successful. There are a lot of points that you need to be aware of, and it might be more challenging than you think to ensure you have done it all right too. In this post, we are going to look at some of the intricacies of protecting your intellectual property, so that you can ensure you are doing it right.
One of the most effective ways to protect your intellectual property is to make sure that you are always running your business in the most lean manner possible. That will ensure that your competitors will always be playing catch-up, as you cycle through newer and newer innovations faster than they are able to. This is a surprisingly effective way of protecting your intellectual property, so it’s something that you are certainly going to want to think about in some detail. It could make all the difference.
Copyright Registration
Of course, very often keeping your intellectual property safe and secure is just a matter of doing all of those ordinary legal things that are in place for that very purpose. One of the first ones that you might want to look into is copyright. You need to ensure you are registering everything you create as copyright, as otherwise it might not be protected at all. There are some grey areas where it is less certain whether you are able to copyright something or not, such as copyright computer code, so you need to do your research in those cases. All the rest of the time, just make sure you are copyrighting your stuff straight away.
Trademarks vary from copyrights in that they cover all the intellectual property to do with your branding rather than what you create as a business. So you can trademark your brand image, your logo, your colour scheme, and also your unique product descriptions and any relevant attributes. This will stop anyone else from repurposing any of that for their own use, which keeps your brand and product competitive and safe in the marketplace. You need to ensure you are protecting your branding with trademarks if you are to keep it safe.
Patents
So we’ve looked at copyright registration and trademarks, but what are patents? Put simply, patents are a way of legally protecting anything that you have invented or discovered before anyone else. As you might imagine, this can be very important if your business centres around a novel product that the world has never seen before. If you fail to patent it, someone else might be able to make their own version of it. Not only could they steal your business from customers, they might also then go on to patent it themselves, stopping you from being able to continue trading. Clearly, it is in your best interests to patent your inventions, so that you can protect them in this way as best as the law allows.
There are a range of other ways to protect your intellectual property too, which includes the simple act of registering your business name, and the names of any products which you are selling. You can do this through the government’s service, but the important thing is to make sure that you are doing it in whatever way it is normally done in the country you are based in. It’s vital to keeping your business safe in terms of its intellectual property, and it will ensure that people can’t steal your business name from you, which could be something that holds you back a great deal.
Digital Concerns
These days, there are also a range of digital concerns that you need to be aware of too, as you need to make sure that you are protecting these things as much as anything else. For instance, you might have a website with an attached domain name, and you need to make sure that you are protecting that domain name too, as otherwise people could potentially try to profit off of it themselves. You should aim to acquire the best domain name for your business possible and then register it as soon as you can. That will help to stop other people from using it.
There are millions of companies around the world seeking to do almost the same thing as you in this day and age; catch the attention of clients and eventually market their goods or services. People have become more intelligent with their money, however, and are not quite as eager to let go of their money until they know it's a legitimate sale. This is where professionalism comes in, and with your company, it's something you should be striving for.
You might have a swanky website that shows off your goods and services, and very credible ads, but that may not be enough. So, if you're a business that needs to be more professional this year to better serve your clients and consumers, then you're in the right place! These tips will make your company look more professional in 2021, whether you're a small business that's new on the scene, or a well-established business that's looking for a boost.
Yes, you and your employees should dress smart for your day at work, but can you say you work for the same business when you're together as a unit? If the answer is no, now may be the time to look at a workplace uniform (or tighter dress code). With your company logo, you can get custom t-shirts, or even fleeces, coats and beanies to look more uniform! If, however, you work in an office setting that does not really suit a t-shirt or fleece, consider tightening the rules of your dress code and getting personalised name badges made with the name and logo of your company. Even if you’re an online company, doing this and taking pictures for your “About Us” page on your website will instantly add credibility to your business.
In today's world, where we're still battling COVID-19, buying customised PPE for your workers will be another gesture to keep you and your staff in uniform. Compared with a mix-match, imagine matching face masks with your company logo - it'd look more professional, right?!
Use a business phone number
Although it is perfectly okay to give potential customers and investors your personal phone number, you also run the risk of answering the phone in a less than professional way. This could destroy your reputation immediately, and that's why a business phone number is a fantastic idea. Not only that, you can route several phone lines from that number, enabling more staff members to assist individuals on the phone lines.
Instead of a basic and easy to forget number, buying a business telephone number often gives a powerful impression. Some business owners prefer to use a 1300 number because it is quick and easy to recall. Perhaps you're asking, "Are 1300 numbers free?" and you can find out more by following the link. Basically, it would immediately add professionalism to your company by using a 1300 number over a standard phone number, thus making you look more trustworthy to current and future clients.
Don’t skimp out on website design
Thanks to websites such as WordPress and its many plugins, it is not hard to build a working website these days. However, it takes more than a WordPress theme to create a professional-looking website! It's understandable that, particularly during the pandemic, you want to cut costs whenever possible, but this is an environment in which you should invest.
A professional web designer can not only make your website look more professional, but they can do this while maintaining your brand guidelines, integrating SEO into the design (making you rank higher on search engines), and ensuring that your website is easy to navigate, even for those who do not use the internet regularly. For a greater return and to look more professional, invest your money here.
Invest in professional images
Finally, no matter what size you are, you’ll need images for your business. Pictures are used to make products on websites and social media more appealing. Online photos are rising in quality these days, and because of this, you can't afford to miss out on customers.
Invest in a good camera, or hire an independent photographer to take amazing pictures of what you have to sell. Then, employ a graphic designer to bring together these photos! One thing that's important to note for your company with any graphic content is that it should always remain on brand. This way, customers will immediately realise it's from you as a company when they see your content, thereby adding another layer of trust and credibility.
More than talking about fashion, we must deal with the topic of news in user-oriented web design. The experience and the comfort of the same when moving on a web page is the key to detect which is the design strategy that every entrepreneur, company, or freelancer must carry in their project. No matter you are designing online slots like the book of Ra 2 euro or an NGO’s homepage.
Animations and Effects in Web Design
Movement and animation are very effective on websites with greater dynamism. In case you are wondering how can web design influence human perception, the key is to use illustrations, gifs, or effects to highlight this dynamism what we really want to notice in order to achieve positive action on the user.
When it comes to web design online in the e-commerce business, micro animations will have a greater implementation, especially in clothing stores where you can see how the clothes they sell fit graphically and with movement. All web design jobs have to have a balance, that is why it is not good to abuse this first point, since it could achieve the opposite effect.
A website with too many animations and without criteria will cause distraction in the user causing them not to know where to focus their attention.
Web Design Minimalism
Although it’s not a new concept, it’s still relevant enough to be considered a design trend in 2021. Combining dark or bright shades of color with the white space is a good mix, since we can safely say that smart use of the white space brings a feeling of balance and space to the page. Another advantage is that user participation levels are higher in this scenario.
Take that and combine it with other important elements of design like separate actions or calls to action, and you should get an overall balanced appearance of your content. A very good example of this is the Apple website and the Google search engine, which make very good use of the white sections, turning up the conversion numbers.
Split Screen Content in Web Design
Following Apple's line of work, a novelty in web design and development in 2021 will be the division of the screen. Dividing the screen into two clearly differentiated parts is another of the most used trends in current web design. This option offers a web design company many interesting possibilities, such as applying a different behavior to each side of the screen.
Several web design courses can help you in this matter. Remember that in web design you always have to guide the user towards a profitable destination, and therefore, this trend is very effective and attractive, and visually modern.
Web Design Typography And Oversized Elements
Typography is always decisive when creating an impression on a website, but for the sake of effective communication, the use of fonts and other elements such as video is more and more frequent as a means of attracting attention to what is most important.
Large format header video is also very effective and will become even more important in the web design freelance industry than last year, although a header without an image, with striking color and an attractive font, is also a trend. Besides, the use of bold will be widely used this year.
Fluorescent 3D Digitized Artwork And Complicated Elements
The use of digitized 3D artwork is not new, but it is more prevalent than ever. When it is also combined with fluorescent colors, the result is a design with a futuristic style and a lot of personality, exactly like these so-called slots offline for home. However, in web design, it is important to highlight that its strength lies in using it in moderation.
Some interesting web design facts tell us that the psychology of color is important, and fluorescent colors have to be balanced with neutral tones so that the result causes the intended effect. Faced with simplicity, some bet on the use of complicated patterns to differentiate themselves.
Since designers usually have very limited time for their work, these types of designs are often overlooked, and it is preferred to use stock images of a mandala or similar geometric shapes to speed up the process.
Secure Web Https and GDPR
A website that is not in HTTPS is a website destined to fail. The reason is that Google requires this protocol and the users will not access your website if they see that it is not entirely in HTTPS. If your website does not appear with a padlock in the browser, you have a security and reliability problem on the part of the user who accesses your website.
If your website is not in HTTPS, you must install a Lets Encrypt certificate to perform the migration. A quality hosting will offer this secure protocol installation service for free for you. If your hosting does not offer it, we recommend that you migrate to another as soon as possible (also free migration).
Now when it comes to GDPR, you should be aware that 90% of the websites do not correctly comply with the general regulation of data projection. Installing the cookie policy acceptance bar or the legal notice, privacy policy, or acceptance in comments pages is usually poorly done on almost all websites.
The user must accept the cookies before being able to leave them to the web administrator and decide which ones and which ones if they accept and this is not fulfilled. The poor integration of the GDPR in web design is a reason for a fine and should be a trend to apply in 2021.
Overlapping Layers With Custom Illustrations
The web design layering effect can be achieved by placing elements on top of each other so that they are partially hidden, or by allowing additional content to appear once clicked. Done right, using white space and using hierarchy between elements, the final composition will look balanced, neat, and legible.
Websites need visual tools such as illustrations, icons, and photos to be more attractive, but these resources can also be used to create and strengthen brand identity. That is why web design is important, to make use of unique vector art elements and employ images that suit the brand's needs.
Conclusion
If you google “web design near me”, you will see how popular this industry has become, as more and more professional design agencies have appeared. The trends in web design of 2021 have changed little compared to last year. More visual movements, wide sections with a white background, large visual videos, or large fonts are more and more common in web design, and this year they will be seen more and more.
What are some of your favorite trends or web design business ideas for this year? What advice would you give to a newcomer? Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with us.
The Author
Ellen Royce is a business consultant with experience of over 15 years. She specializes in training for web development and social media marketing. She has written articles for many prestigious newspapers and five marketing bestsellers. An avid reader, Ellen likes to recharge the batteries in her ancestral home library at Bibury.
