STOP DOING YOUR SEO!!

 

If you’re anything like the 45% of the world marketers who don’t even know what SEO means, yet forge on ahead with their weekly optimisation tasks anyway, then you are killing your website.

Stop it now!!

 

Notoriously complicated, ever-changing and a wormhole of hacks, tactics and processes, SEO is one of the most valuable marketing practices you can do for your business. But it can also get your site into trouble hella quickly with out of date tactics (the black hat kind) and a lack of appreciation for user experience.

 

Quit Missing Out!

Making sure you have a knowledgeable and experienced SEO guru on your team is a must for any modern online business. Not just to make sure your site is visible, user friendly and properly targeted, but to make sure that you are on top of the latest developments in the SEO landscape, and that you are ready for any updates from Google that could potentially penalise and damage your site.

 

You’re too busy to do this all yourself, that’s understandable, but what’s not acceptable is not making sure that your site’s precious SEO is being managed by someone who knows their stuff. It’s too important these days, as suffering just one penalty from a change in Google’s algorithms can set your site back pages worth of search results listings and months of laborious optimisation work.

It’s not worth it, and you’ll only be missing out on bigger and better opportunities as you try to fix your mistakes.

And don’t think just because you may be a startup or a SME that this doesn’t really apply to you; all sites are equal in the eyes of the Google algorithm. If Nike messes up on their site, they’ll be just as penalised as your local dog food supplier site.

 

Black Hat Doesn’t Pay

American department store JC Penney had a terrible time a few years back, all thanks to some black hat SEO tactics that cost them more site traffic and revenue than they’d probably care to admit.

 

What’s ‘black hat SEO?’ you ask. SEO practices commonly fall under two terms; White Hat and Black Hat. White Hat SEO are Google approved, organic and ‘honest’ processes that SEO marketers use to optimise their sites. Things like high-quality content, related keywords and meta optimisation.

Black Hat SEO are ‘dishonest’ marketing practices, ones that Google penalises websites for using, like keyword stuffing and hidden text, but the tactic that cost JCP all that money was a prolific use of Paid Links.

 

Unbeknownst to the top dogs at JCP, their SEO agency was buying huge amounts of paid links from completely unrelated sites to increase their keyword rankings for some of their top performing online products, like ‘dresses’ and ‘menswear’. Now these were all keywords that they were ranking at number 1 for in search listings, and that was great! But when the overlord Google found out about all the paid links, it penalised the site by dropping them like a stone from the top positions. It sentenced them to a 2 month penalty period, where they languished in the bottom of the search listings, missing out on all that ready-to-buy page 1 traffic.

 

Google hates paid links for a good reason; when users make a search, Google pulls in the most valuable, user-friendly and related websites for their search query. Paid links deceive Google, and therefore the innocent users, into thinking a particular website is more valuable and related than it really is, by purchasing links on random websites that have nothing to do with the actual site content.

 

It’s basically electronic lies, and Google hates liars.

Your site needs to hold valuable information and links for your users to learn from, else Google sees this as spam and will unleash its wrath upon your site. Of course there’s way more black hat tactics that you should steer well clear of, but here’s the 4 main ones to stay vigilant against.

 

The Black Hat Big 4

Paid Links

Like above, Google hates liars, and that is essentially exactly what paid links are.

In the eyes of Google, websites with a bigger backlink profile (more sites that link to them) are more valuable to a user and will get pushed up to the top search listing pages. But paid links do not relate to your site, making them worthless and end up pushing unrelated and subpar websites into the top search results pages.

So in order to find these dishonest sites, Google created Penguin, an algorithm designed specifically to sniff out paid links and penalise the sites that use them.

 

At the end of the day, paid links don’t pay, so stay smart and build your site’s rankings through quality user content and engagement!

 

Keyword Stuffing

Unlike the exquisite stuffing we enjoy with a roast chicken dinner, keyword stuffing is not something that should be a regular practice.

Back when websites were new and shiny, it was relatively simple to get complete nonsensical, unrelated and awfully designed websites to the top pages of Google, thanks to the keyword stuffing tactic. Sites would fill their site pages with unrelated keywords, hundreds if not thousands of times, in order to get Google to rank up their ‘related’ content. You could have a hair salon using the keyword ‘George Clooney’ 5000 times on their homepage, in the same colour as their background (sneaky huh!) and it would show up on page 1 for George Clooney searches every time.

 

Obviously Google doesn’t link that, so it decided to penalise sites for deceiving users, and drops them from the top search results pages. Some sites recover from this within a year, but some never get their rankings back thanks to the harsh competition out there. Stay in your lane and use your keywords wisely, else your wallet will feel it.

 

Link Directories

This relates to the paid links black hat tactic, but I feel it’s worth reiterating here as I know a lot of marketers that have done, and continue to do this, as there is a sneaky grey area that catches well-meaning SEO’ers out more often than not.

Finding index directory sites that indiscriminately put company links and information on their site is a sure fire way to get penalised by the Google Penguin algorithm. These sites are seemingly easy wins for building your sites link profile, and it definitely isn’t hard work to find one. But they will crush your site, and your dreams, and get your site hit with hefty penalties from Google.

 

The only way an index site will be ok-ed by Google is if it is moderated, if there is an actual person deciding whether or not your site is relevant and valuable enough to go up on their site. These sites you can link to, but you must be on the lookout for spammy directories!

 

Random Guest Blogging

True fact; guest blogging is a great way to build your audience, attract new site traffic and build on that social media empire you’ve been working on. But guest blogging on random sites just to get links? No, Google will get you for that.

 

The whole point of guest blogging is for you to open your expertise and wealth of knowledge on your core subject, to a willing and interested audience. Whether this is through an industry peer’s blog site or a social media influencer in the same field, you are able to expose your business to a wealth of new potential customers, and that is invaluable in this competitive climate.

Where this goes awry with some companies, is when you have a shoe design brand blogging on a car enthusiasts website; what car enthusiast wants to read about shoes on their website? It’s not valuable to the reader, and it’s not related to the site’s topic, so Google will recognise this as a foolish play to get more site traffic and will penalise your site.

 

Don’t waste your time creating content for uninterested viewers. Build organic, mutually beneficial and engaging relationships with people in your industry, to share knowledge and grow your business.

 

Play Fair, Win Big

As a small business it’s tempting to be a Jack of All Trades and get stuck into everything. It’s not the way to do things though, you need people who you can trust supporting you in all areas of your business, and SEO is a key aspect to make sure you have adequately covered. Google is a harsh but fair master, and you need to respect its rules, and your users, by providing a high-quality and naturally optimised website.

 

Being on top of the latest developments in the SEO landscape is crucial to staying ahead of the algorithms and keeping Google on your good side, and our team of Google experts are always ready to help get your site to the top of the search results pages organically and quickly.

Be good to your site and stay in the game with up to date and effective SEO tactics, and watch your audience and your revenue grow.

Do you create video content for your website?

You should do! It’s the fastest growing advertising format on the planet, increasing by 46% in 2017 alone, and missing this traffic stream can seriously impact your revenue.

You’re already creating videos you say? Well good to hear!

But are you creating the right videos for your business? With over 20 million people in the UK watching online videos every day, you need to be making sure your brand videos are valuable, engaging and conversion focused in order to get the biggest return on your investment.

 

What’s the Right Video?

It’s common knowledge that high-quality video production requires cash. Lots of it, and with 2017 seeing a UK ad spend of around £669 million, it can be incredibly difficult for SME’s and startups to even get their foot in the door.

Don’t let that put you off though, as it’s crucial to the success of your business that you create content that truly reflects your brand if you want to build customer advocacy and long term revenue increases. Video is one of the single best ways you can do that; not only is it easy to share and for users to digest the information you present them with, it’s emotional, creative and can make an impression in an instant.

 

Remember, emotion is KEY to creating your success!

 

You just need to make sure it’s the right impression, and you should be reminded that creating this doesn’t have to cost the earth! There are hundreds of SME’s and startups that have exploded their brand awareness and driven revenue increases that CFOs drool at the thought of, like Sevenly for example.

 

Their ‘Who We Are’ video exploded their brand awareness and site traffic rates, and within just 30 days, they had attracted over 40,000 unique visitors. The power of video cannot be understated, because if they’d have sent out a long-form text document outlining their business mission, they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near that level of engagement.

The brand showed creativity, authenticity and the human side of their business, and showcasing this in a short & sweet video format gave them the ability to reach millions of eyes across the world in an instant.

And they’re not the only companies thinking big on a smaller scale either….

 

SME’s are Doing It for Themselves

Dogsee Chew

 

 

This natural dog food company based in India needed to increase their brand awareness and revenue quickly, and smartly turned to video to make this happen.

You’ll notice though that the video content isn’t about their business model, not to do with any kind of dog food at all in fact! It’s a video centering on keeping your dogs safe and calm over the Diwali period, yet contrary to not being successful, it was quite the opposite, increasing the company’s revenue by 50% during the Diwali holiday!

Key to this being such a success was the the video evoking the ‘protect mode’ in their target audience; pet owners. Showing their authentic love for dogs, and their desire to protect them when scared resonated with their audience and made them much likelier to engage with a brand that feels the same way as they do. It’s not an expensive video or necessarily a professional looking one (not when you’re used to Coca-Cola and Sony adverts all day long!), but it worked perfectly, and created the success they were after.

 

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

 

 

Especially when it comes to food, people love to see how things are made, in what environment, do they have the same funky kitchen apron as you, all sorts of reasons. Just look at the success M&S have with their video adverts for their food range; beautiful close ups of organic and succulent produce, kitsch displays and fun music tracks = designed to make you feel hungry, happy & ready to buy!

Jeni’s follow suit here, but with a much smaller budget and no script, here the images speak for themselves; handcrafted, lovingly made ice cream, in all the colours of the rainbow, made in clean environments by people like You and Me.

 

Honestly, it doesn’t take much for people to crave ice cream, especially not one as beautifully crafted like Jeni’s! But instead of a more corporate approach to their ‘whys’ and BTS, like Ben & Jerry’s, Jeni’s shows you what goes on behind the curtain to cement the notion of ‘home-cooking’ (no conveyor belts or huge industrial mixers), just getting on the same level as their target audience and showing them delicious and beautiful handcrafted treats that even you could make! You just don’t because it’s easier to buy from Jeni and it looks so much better than anything that could come out of your kitchen. Well mine at least!

 

Both these small companies took a short 60 second video and exploded their brand awareness and revenue. Not with a budget well into the hundreds of thousands, or with fancy CGI or edits, they simply took their core beliefs, figured out the best way to showcase their business and used a short video to engage their audience with emotional & authentic content.

It’s really not as insanely complicated as some people think, but it does take some honesty, creativity and gumption to get the results you want.

 

The Basic Video Studio Setup

It’s entirely do-able, shooting, editing and publishing your own company video content, and it doesn’t have to cost you the earth as you saw from the brands above. Stop letting the fear of failure, expense and time get in the way of you making real leaps forwards in site traffic and revenue! In business you have to invest to make progress, and crafting your video content in-house is a great first step.

 

So what would you actually need to create your own in-house videos? Not as much as you might think….

 

DSLR Camera/Video Camera

You might have an old DSLR thanks to an old photography degree, your IT manager might have a video camera that you could borrow, there are hundreds of ways for you to get your hands on a camera (ever heard of a rental?) but ensuring it has the right specs to shoot quality video is essential. Resolution is a big point to notice, as this will affect your post-production process, so do your research on the basics before you dive in!

 

Microphone

A bad soundtrack to your video will make even the best picture quality seem crap, and is an instant turn-off to viewers. Grabbing a mic like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio kit will give you a simple to use & setup microphone, headphones and interface to create studio-quality sound tracks for less than £300. A brilliant price to invest in for your video production, and will be a drop in the pond compared to the revenue that your amazing videos will create!

 

Lighting Kit

Lighting is crucial to your video, and making sure you have a setup that eliminates harsh shadows and banishes a yellowed-out background is studio setup 101. A simple kit like this LED set on Amazon is all you need for a basic studio;  LED bulbs last longer, are more environmentally friendly and give you greater control over the dimness of the light.

 

Tripod

A wobbly video looks amateur, to say the least, and is something you need to wholly eliminate from your business content. A tripod, sturdy and simple enough for anyone to use, is a key item in your in-house studio, and one that should be at the top of your list. The most recommended brand for this is Manfrotto, an Italian company that has a reputation for producing stellar professional photography and video tech. Certainly not the cheapest brand on the market, they are however the most durable and reliable, and an investment well worth making in the early stages, as continually replacing your tripod can turn into a costly affair. Invest in the first place and get one that will see you through the decade!

 

Editing Software

Your mind immediately went to Adobe didn’t it 😉

Renowned for being the software of the professionals, and expensive as all hell, don’t let the rumors fool you. There are plenty of affordable editing options out there, and you may even be surprised by Adobe too….

 

Apple iMovie
Exclusively for Mac users (boo), this free editing software is blissfully elegant, simple and ergonomic to use, making it a great choice for beginners and those shooting on their iPhones.

 

Lumen5

A handy tool for those who want some fun in their videos, Lumen5 comes in 2 stages of pricing (free and not-free), but is great for social videos and adding some ‘pzazz’ to your clips.

Corel Video Studio

With 4K and VR capabilities, Corel Video Studio is an insanely useful piece of software, for a ridiculously affordable price. Under £100, it’s simple to use, stocked with a host of high-quality transitions and effects, and will be of great use to your team as your build your business’ video content library.

 

Adobe Premier Pro

Pretty much at the top of its game, Premier Pro is flexible, simple to integrate and allows you to work with Photoshop, Lightroom and other Adobe platforms to create unique and beautiful videos. Truly an investment, this comes with a £20 monthly subscription, or as part of the Adobe Package.

 

You and your team have the intelligence and creativity to make your own incredible video content, videos that showcase the humanity of your brand, and build real, authentic relationships with your target audience. Contrary to popular belief, you can take production into your own hands and it won’t bankrupt you, but you mustn’t go into the process envisaging you’ll emerge the new James Cameron. You won’t get the same level of results as giants like Audi or Topshop with amateur-made footage, but you will create results that change your businesses future for the better!

 

Successful video marketing needn’t mean shelling out wheelbarrows of money. It should simply mean videos that best showcase your business, and create those important emotional connections to your target audience. A tricky yet widely used and wholly creative format, video marketing benefits you and your users with valuable, engaging and entertaining content for them, and brand awareness & revenue increases for you.

Putting your best foot forward with your digital marketing content can only put you in the best position, so lead with authenticity and finish with humanity to build inexpensive video content that will take your company to the next level.

 

Of course, our video and design experts are available to discuss any issues you may have about increasing your revenue tenfold and skyrocketing your site traffic. So get in touch to allay any worries you might have about being ridiculously successful in the near future, and let us walk you through the process of professional video marketing for companies who like to win big.

Does your current SEO strategy consist of your team optimising your existing content?

Adding internal links throughout the site?

Trying to build shallow relationships for guest posting ops?

Auditing your site’s link profile for the twelfth time this quarter?

 

Stop it now. It’s a waste of your team’s skills and time, and you can most definitely do better.

 

To SEO or Not to SEO

It’s tricky, a lot of SMEs are in this very same position. For instance, in 2017 only 17% of small businesses actually invested in real SEO for their business sites, begging the question, what are the other 83% of small businesses doing?

In our experience, they’re either plainly not doing SEO, or they’re doing their version of SEO which is usually a hashed together Google search on the simplest tactics to bring in more site traffic. Obviously this isn’t great, it’s better than absolute nothing, but not ideal.

 

At its core, search engine optimisation (SEO) is the continued practice of optimising your website to be found at the top of search results pages, and to ensure that your site is functioning effectively for both the search engines and your users. Down to its nature it’s an ever-changing practice, and can’t be done properly by someone who isn’t up to date with the latest algorithm changes, hacks and sector developments.

You’re a small business and time is literally money, so rather than waste time having your team firefight and make the same old checks, if you get them to at least focus on the tasks that will make the biggest difference, your site will be see bigger results in much less time.

 

With all the big brand names out there dominating the search results, you may be feeling a bit intimidated, which is understandable. Of course a high street shoe retailer isn’t going to compete with Vans, but by addressing some smaller, more local issues with your SEO, you can outrank the big names in your local results, and ensure a much higher and more consistent rate of traffic to your site.

 

Our resident Google Experts are always on the frontline of SEO, so check out their best SEO tips for small businesses to see impressive leaps in your site traffic!

 

6 SEO Tips for Small Businesses

 

Local SEO Optimisation

For sure you can’t compete with the international giants, but you can definitely outrank them in your local search results.
Search engines prioritise users search results based on their proximity, so if you’re the closest organic meat seller in the area to the user, your company will be ranked higher than say, your local Waitrose.

This however, is down to a few requirements:

Google My Business
You need to get your Google My Business page up and running (do it here if you haven’t already!), as this is pivotal to your local search. This free business listing enables your business to show up in searches on Google Maps and in SERPs, as a business, not simply a ranked link. This will include your business name, address & phone number (NAP) and will make your search result far more prominent and likely to receive a click through.

G+ Profile
You should continually update this social business page (your G+ page) with locally focused articles and company updates and events, to ensure that you build brand awareness and reputation in your local area.

 

Mobile Optimisation
Around 52% of the worlds ecommerce traffic comes from mobile devices, meaning it’s too important a factor in your business strategy to just let slip by the wayside. Mobile is current, it’s evolving and it’s pretty consistent as the leader in device usage over the last few years. Making sure your website is properly responsive, and looks and operates just as well on mobile as it does on desktop is paramount for your user experience.

Users want a seamless experience with your business, and with 40% of online transactions now done via mobile devices, you genuinely can’t afford to miss this step.
Make sure your development and design teams are checking and ensuring your mobile sites functionality regularly to keep on top of any issues.

 

Site Speed
This is a super important point to make and check off your list, as from July 2018 page speed is now a ranking factor for mobile sites as well! So a slow site won’t just damage your traffic and conversion rates, but will also crush all that work you did moving your search rankings up to page 1.
The slower the loading speed of your desktop & mobile pages, the less traffic you’ll have and the higher the bounce rate you’ll get, which Google will then translate into a lower search page ranking. Frustrating yet entirely necessary to the success of your site and search.

You can check your site speed with Google’s free Pagespeed Insights too, which analyses the speed of your site and offers helpful insights into how you can fix any problems you might have.

 

Rich Snippets
You see all the extra information under certain search results in Google? The opening times of a shop, any promotions on offer, these snippets are called Rich Snippets. They basically allow you to provide more information to the users in order to get their click through to your site.

The snippet info here for this cake adds information on customer rating, cooking time and nutritional data! Most users would choose this link for this info alone!

 

This small addition to your search results can make a HUGE impact on your site traffic, especially your local SEO traffic; but immediately showcasing your opening times, promotions, NAP details, local users will be more inclined to use your services than a faceless conglomerate in their nearest shopping mall. Make yourself available!

 

URLs & Keyword Targeting
Do your URLs make sense? Is your main category page URL a convoluted mess of hyphens and symbols? This may seem unimportant in the scheme of things to you, but for your users, this can be a huge turn-off.

People like to know exactly where they are, and if they’re left confused and all turned around by unintelligible URL structures, they’ll find somewhere else to spend their money.
Not only that, Google will make indexation a nightmare for your site, as without any coherent signifiers, how will the Google bots know how to index your site pages?
Not for nothing, URLs are often kept simple and short for this exact reason, and by making these changes you can expect to see a definite shift in your keyword rankings.

The keyword targeting is all the more important here then, as by making sure that your site pages are targeting the most appropriate and useful terms for your site (the longer the tail the better), your keyword rankings for your site pages will increase steadily. As a general rule of thumb, smaller businesses work better on the long tail keywords; they’re lower competition and have more scope for higher motivated click throughs. Get some thorough keyword research done and use this as your weapon of choice.

 

Work Smarter, Not Harder

With these 5 steps, you can use your SEO team’s time effectively and more focused on tasks that will get you more results in less time. Firefighting doesn’t work in SEO, you need to make sure you’re taking down your obstacles in a strategic and precise manner.
You don’t need to be a decade-long experienced SEO whizz to see real positive changes on your site, you just need to be able to know which are the smartest moves to make. After all, there are a million and one SEO tactics and hacks out there for experts and beginners to try, but they won’t be successful unless they’re part of a wider, more holistic optimisation plan for your business site.

 

The best option is to save your time for the bigger fish in your business, and work with people who already know how best to make your site a success, both locally and internationally. Flexible, hacker-minded and expert-insight driven, iNS is the agency that thinks outside of the box to get you the SEO results you want faster not simply with more work, just with smarter work.

So stop wasting your valuable time on SEO, because it will never succeed for you in its current state. Collaborate with our SEO gurus to figure out the shortest road to consistent SEO success, and make a real positive change to your online presence today.

It’s a nightmare isn’t it.

Here comes reporting week, and you have to explain to your boss why all the money that’s been spent on social media video marketing that month hasn’t brought in any revenue.

Makes you feel sick doesn’t it.

 

Yeah, video marketing can seem like a quick fix to some companies, another string to add to their content bow. Simply having more content is surely the best way to build more brand awareness and revenue. And definitely videos, you can do those! There’s a guy on the SEO team who makes YouTube videos, he can totally put together some videos!

 

STOP.

I beg of you, just stop and wait a moment! Time is money yes, but trust me when I say if you go ahead and create sub-par videos that don’t give your audience what they want, you’ve already lost.

 

Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll show you why your videos are killing your revenue.

 

Be Human

There is a lot of video content out there. Oh yes, a hell of a lot, and with 72 hours of footage being uploaded just to Youtube every minute of every day, there’s no point in me telling you just how important it is to stand out from the crowd.

And what does that crowd look like? Well, it looks like 80% of the boring, bland, basic marketing videos that you are accosted with on a daily basis on the internet. It lacks value, it lacks engagement, it lacks excitement, it generally just lacks humanity.

And then you get adverts like Mellow Mushroom’s ‘Clinically Proven’ video series, where someone thought it would be a great idea to combine pizza and drugs commercials together.

There’s thinking outside of the (pizza) box, and then there’s just plain common sense; in what world does a delicious pizza go with a cringey TV drugs commercial? Do you suffer from chronic irritability? Try our newest cheese pizza…...doesn’t make you so hungry huh.

 

Your videos need to reflect your business as authentically and as humanly as possible, which means steering well clear of salesy videos that make you sound like the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man from Family Guy. Nobody likes that guy, and definitely no one will buy from him.

Almost 50% of online customers are turned off by adverts that come across as too salesy, lacking humanity and any real reason why people should buy from them. It’s so important that you use your video marketing to convey a relatable & understanding brand persona that builds lasting relationships with your customers. That is if you want to make money….

 

Storytellers Make Sales

 

(Youtube)

 

What’s the last marketing video you actually remember watching?

For me it’s the Nike ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ advert, on-point, hilarious, relatable and gives you all the feels.

It showcases the wide range of Nike products awesomely, and it’s motivating, inspiring, makes you feel proud to be a Londoner; it’s a brilliant example of how using video to convey emotion to your audience builds affection. Which in the long run turns into loyalty which turns into revenue and happy days for you.

And you don’t need hundreds upon thousands of pounds to make your own videos either.

 

Take a leaf out of Dollar Shave Club’s book and make simple, honest fun your main objective.

Their ‘Our Blades are F****ing Great!’ ad is hilarious, primarily down to the leading man, but also thanks to the uncomplicated, well-paced and relatable script that tells the audience more than just what they do. It tells the audience that they are a fun-loving business, who is providing a grooming service like this because they’ve suffered too. They’re human just like you, and that allows the audience to build a connection, relate to the brand and take a chance on them with their money.

 

(Youtube)

 

Quips about Pop-Pop’s beard and spending way too much money on bad-quality shaving gear humanises the brand, evokes emotion in the audience, and this is the key point I want to make;

Emotion is the trigger that wins you a loyal customer base. And by leaving out the emotion in your video content, and skipping straight to the salesly marketing stuff, you’re doing your company a huge disservice.

 

Dr Karen Nelson-Field says in her book Viral Marketing: The Success of Sharing, marketing videos that put across a strong emotional appeal have more than double the chance of being shared over videos that don’t. And before you say it, no emotion doesn’t have to be ‘depressing’ or sad like the charity adverts you see all over daytime TV. The above examples evoke the wider range of emotions, like motivation & inspiration, using these themes to build an affinity that is just as strong as a charity ad.

 

As Spock would say, it’s logical! The greater affinity you have for a brand, the more likely you are to become an advocate for them, and buy their products/services. The more human you make your brand videos, the greater the result will be, because people don’t buy from companies, they buy from People.

 

Creating Your Video Content

So it’s time to take a look at your video content library, if you have one, and reassess what’s going on.

Is it portraying who your business is in a human way? Is it conveying emotion? Is it valuable?

If not, you need to start at the top, and ask yourself these questions:

 

• • Who is your audience?
    Who needs your product/service? You need to make sure that the content is tailored specifically for this group, both in look and language, in order to engage the most people.
  • Budget?
    Like I said before, you don’t need hundreds of thousands of pounds to make an effective video. Only have £300 to play with? See what you and your team can source, use your own office and MacGyver the hell out of it!
  • Do you need outside help?
    It’s much simpler to shoot a video than it is to edit one, so consider the costs of contracting a professional video editor or sound technician before you start.
  • What metric will you measure success by?
    Is this about making more money, creating more brand awareness or driving site traffic?

 

• Where is the video going?
  Is it going on the company website? On Facebook? Instagram? Make sure the format fits the platform you use it on, for a seamless user experience.

 

 

If you’ve got here confidently and are ready to try and make your own videos, hold up! What about editing software? You have an Adobe subscription for Premier Pro, right?

No! Well that’s not a worry, as it is hella expensive anyways, especially for smaller businesses who don’t regularly create video content.

Thankfully, there are some easy to use and free online editor tools, that although they definitely can’t produce the high quality shots you see from the pros, they will give you the means to cut, transition and mould your video to make it fit for purpose.

 

• ClipChamp
  Easy to use and a basic layout that even beginners will find easy to navigate, ClipChamp is a great online video editing tool to use.
• WeVideo
  Winner of the Trendsetter Award 2017, WeVideo is a super handy and functional editing tool that will help you create slick and simple videos for your company.

 

• Magisto
  Leaders of the social video revolution, this chic platform is perfect for creating badass social videos in just minutes.

 

More is not Better

Getting your point across is made much easier with video content, but as you can now see, doing it badly will only do your business more harm than good.

More content does not equal more money!

And while it’s all well and good taking on the challenge of creating your own brand videos with no prior experience, working with professionals who have been creating videos for years, and know how to make the biggest impact will get you the biggest return for your investment. Period.

Smart marketers know this, and with 76% of them confirming that video has increased their site traffic, you can bet it wasn’t through pushy, homemade video content!

Honestly, we don’t think that your brand’s reputation should have a price on it, as nothing is more crucial to your success than your reputation. But this is real life, and we know that there isn’t a magic money tree for you to shake down, which is why iNS aims to be as flexible as you need us to be. Solid experience, expert design skills and years in the industry have confirmed our belief that more money doesn’t mean better results. That’s why we’re the outside-the-box agency that gets you the results you want faster.

 

Your video content is a key part of your success in this digital realm, and half-assing it will only hurt your business in the long run.

Web Design…..the thought of it makes your heart pound as the numbers and ££ signs fall in front of your eyes like the opening to The Matrix. You’ve just opened your business site on your laptop and are once again underwhelmed and more than a little embarrassed by it.

 

You look it over, checking out the CTA’s, the image quality, the links to the contact form…..they’re all still there but your leads are coming in fewer and further between these last few months. You simply don’t have the time, let alone the stupid amounts of money it would surely cost, to overhaul and redesign your website….the way it looks isn’t that bad, it’s not that big of a deal!

 

You go over to the blog….yeah that needs updating more frequently, you’ll get that on the list…...oh, you need to check the site’s responsive, that’s a big deal, yes! Once all these areas are ticked off, and the blog is up and running consistently, those leads will surely come back. Your rankings will be up in SERPs so they can’t miss you!

 

The Value of Design in Business

Yeah, that’s not going to happen. And you know it.

Bluntly, people like to look at pretty things, and if you’re not giving them your good side, they’ll go elsewhere for their eye candy. And when you have companies like GoPro giving people beautiful images, seamless design and a stellar user experience, your site isn’t going to compete with a basic HTML template.

 

You’re not just losing money here either, which inevitably you are; you’re losing essential brand reputation and customer loyalty, which is so hard to build in the first place!

You need to be presenting an on-brand, relevant and high-quality website to your audience, because appearances are everything online. You have a split second in which to engage your users, and a bad web design is the fastest way to increase your bounce rate!

 

The average person has an attention span of around 8 seconds, so considering the absolute plethora of options your potential customers have online, a bad web design will probably send them away in less than half that time.  We’ve all been there, having to create new navigation sitemaps, new wireframes and colour palettes…...and yes it can be time consuming, but in the end, it’s worth the revenue you’ll see coming in.

 

Alike, Yet So Different

Take these two UK landscape gardening businesses, Garden Line and Landscaping & Gardening Services, both working within the same area and providing the same services.

The way they have showcased their businesses, and their brands, online is vastly different;

 

Garden Line

 

• Immediate trust signals

 

• HTTPS secure

• Clean, branded & UX friendly web design

• A welcoming, friendly tone of voice

• Visual snippets of services

• No chunks of text to get through

• High quality images showcasing their work

• Engaging & valuable page content

 

 

 

Landscaping & Gardening

 

• Low quality imagery

 

• HTTPS secure

• Example images lacking description

• Blocks of bullet-point text

• Basic & clunky web design

• Lacking valuable content for user

• No testimonials

 

 

 

It’s pretty immediate the differences between the two, obvious which one is lacking, and apparent which one most users would opt to work with when designing their dream garden.
This is shallow, yes, but you’re working in a competitive and highly critical online arena, and you need to start recognising your website as the brand ambassador that it is.

Landscaping & Gardening may have real creative gardening geniuses on their team, driving award winning designs and breathtaking vistas, but how is anyone to know that if it’s not at the heart of their branding?  Garden Line show that efficient web design doesn’t have to mean complicated or expensive, but it does have to engage, inform and satisfy your users’ needs.

And a good looking web design is one of them.

 

Make the Change

So you’ve got a handle on what needs to happen now, and you’re confident that a new web design will truly take your business to the next level, awesome! It’s a fresh start and a valuable chance to make sure your website is truly aligned with your brand, with a consistent and effective tone of voice, UX & conversion efficient and images that truly reflect your business.

 

But if you still need convincing, here’s some common red flags that your site is in need of a makeover.

 

Low Conversions & Bounce Rate

You’re getting the traffic, but no one’s buying? It’s probably because of how your site looks, and that is a problem that is simple to fix, but a HUGE one to avoid! It’s just not a valid excuse these days, to lose revenue because your competitors have a nicer looking site.
Your Google Analytics dashboard will be your guide here, showing you where your traffic is coming in, where it’s leaving and how long your users are checking your site out for. The higher the bounce rate and the lower the conversions, your site is definitely in need of a redesign.

 

Site doesn’t reflect the Business

Have you won any awards recently? Had any new customer testimonials? Any press coverage you’ve gotten? Perhaps a new company slogan. If not, get cracking, but if you have, these need to be front and center of your site, reflected in a brand that can show people trust it, love its services and is as professional and consistent as the people customers hope to do business with.

Your site and your brand need to grow simultaneously with your business, in order to get that revenue rolling in.

 

Not UX-Friendly

A badly designed site navigation will kill your user’s experience, and will largely contribute to the decrease in revenue you’ll experience. If your users can’t find what they’re looking for when they are the most motivated to purchase, then you’ll be losing out to your competitors with simpler and more ergonomically designed websites.

There are a million options out there for consumers, and they won’t waste their time searching around your confusing site when they can get what they want faster, somewhere else.

 

And that’s it, nothing mind blowing or revelatory, but a much needed rehash on the basics of why presentation is everything these days.

Your business website has to be your brand ambassador in the online world. And it needs to look good to stand apart from the crowd, just as you like to do on a friday night out.

Web design isn’t scary and it needn’t be hellishly expensive, but it does have to be truly reflective of your business, your value and who you are serving. If it doesn’t reflect or work for your target users, then you’ve already lost money.

 

Don’t be that guy who let a badly designed website cost him money and his reputation. It’s too simple a problem to fix! And no, you don’t have to be a millionaire with creative ideas coming out your ears. You just need to work with a team of industry designers and experts who know how to get you amazing results, with bespoke, flexible and conversion-focused web design.

Stay competitive and stay relevant with iNS, and create the website your business deserves.

Insta models, Facebook influencers, tweens racking up the dollars on Twitter, you know there is money to be made on social networks. It’s kind of just how the world works these days, so logically, if individuals out there, from Kylie Jenner to Kayla Itsines to Tyler Oakley can make a damn good living off of social media, then surely the importance of social media in business can’t be overstated, and you need to get your business on all social platforms ASAP!

 

Yes, but not quite.

 

One of the reasons that these insanely-paid social influencers are successful, is because they have mastered their platforms; Itsines uses Instagram to showcase sponsored products, her workouts, client transformations and motivational quotes that her user's love in short, bitesize snippets.

Oakley is a more in-depth influencer, focusing on video content with thinkpieces, conversations and cultural issues that centre around the LGBTQ community and real-world issues.

 

Each has chosen the platform that their target audience regularly engages with, and created content specifically for their given platform, and this is a large part of why they are so successful. Afterall, you can’t post a conversation starter worthy of Facebook on Instagram, and expect it to work out….So out of all of the social platforms out there, how did they figure out which one would be the most profitable for them?!

 

 

Why Should I use Social Media for Business?

90% of marketers give social media two thumbs up, saying it’s increased their audience exposure, so suffice to say if your business still isn’t active on social then you are seriously letting your side down. It’s literally as simple as that.

You can’t expect to see huge increases in site traffic, audience engagement and revenue if you’re not putting your business out there! It’s like dating; if you don’t get glammed up, go out into the world and meet people how are you ever going to build those relationships!

The same logic applies to social marketing, and it’s crucial that small companies who want to see this type of growth put their best foot forward and get a grasp on what social marketing looks like for them.

 

You know what the landscape looks like, you probably have one or two social media accounts yourself, so you know how crowded, loud and noisy it can be! So when it comes to getting your business out there, you need to take a look at a few things:

• Who your target audience is
• Which social platforms this audience engages with the most
• Which social platform can showcase your business in the best light

 

There are a lot of overly complex articles and papers out there about social marketing, how to find niche specialist social networks, how to use psychology to get your audience’s attention, and while that's all great information people should know, that isn’t the point here.

You don’t have the time to be delving into all that research, and I get it. It’s a lot to digest, so instead I’ll break it down, make it a bit more general and a whole lot easier for you to get a solid footing in social marketing, and get your brand off to the best start possible.

 

 

Watch & Learn

But before we get into it, I want to show you a brand that has fully realised their social marketing power, and engaged their customers creatively (and profitably) through killer audience engagement tactics, and epic content marketing skills.

 

AirBnB

Adored by globetrotters the world over, AirBnB have dominated in the travel industry for the past couple of years, and their excellent social game has helped them become a giant in the market.

 

With a profile on 3 of the biggest platforms out there, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they’ve not only created drool-worthy content, they’ve amassed a following of over 17 million followers, giving them heaps of essential brand exposure.

But of all of these platforms, their most renowned is their Instagram account.

(AirBnB)

 

Creating a library of user-generated and inspirational content to make the cheapest traveller in the world hit BUY, they have managed to engage, inspire and excite their target audience in just the right way. And with around 71% of social users saying they’re more likely to buy based on customer referrals, this is a smart, cost effective and consistent marketing tactic.

 

With content that is generated by their customers, they are giving their prospective travellers immediate trust signals, and at the same time showcasing the breathtaking locations they work in.
So why are they so profitable on Instagram?

 

Easy - they knew their audience was consistently engaging with Instagram, and that the best way to inspire people to take holidays, short breaks and adventures out of the norm was to show them, not tell them. Visual marketing takes a fraction of the time to digest and understand than written text, and can create an emotion much more powerfully and quicker than words too which is key when operating in such a competitive and fast-moving industry.

 

They figured out what their USP was (affordable, exotic escapes), the best way to market it (inspirational images & video), and found the most relevant social platform that their target audience loved (Instagram) to market on.

 

 

How to Get Started

Do you see what I meant by ‘general’ earlier?

 

This isn’t a guide for established companies looking for some new tactics to take their social marketing to the next level (though if you want that info, we can certainly show you).

This is for small businesses who are looking to take their first steps into social marketing, and don’t want to waste time stretching themselves thin over all the platforms just to burn out and pack it in before any real results come in.

The old saying ‘a jack of all trades, but a master of none’ is one that springs to mind here, and a warning that should be heeded.

Social marketing is a long-game, played with strategy, psychology and creativity, but you don’t need to start out as an expert. No one does! It does however help to have a general guide to start you off right, so see how best to market your business on social media with our quick guide to finding the most profitable channel for you.

First, you need to start with your 3 top questions:

• Who your target audience is
• Which social platforms this audience engages with the most
• Which social platform can showcase your business in the best light

 

You should already have a grasp on who your target audience is, thanks to that essential marketing strategy you should already have, so from there, you can dive straight into finding out which social platform your audience engages with the most, so check the image below.

(Source: eMarketer)

 

Next, you need to see which social platform suits your business the best so we need to look at which attributes of the several options you have can be the most profitable for your business.

 

Facebook

With over 30 million UK users, Facebook is by far the most widely used social platform, with everyone and their uncle engaging with each other on a daily basis.
Thanks to the various formats you can host on your FB profile, it’s a great space for sharing text, video and image content, and brilliant for building lasting relationships with your potential customers.

Industries like B2B, Healthcare and Non-Profit work brilliantly here, as along with giving brands ample space to develop their brand personality, it enables companies to build on and emphasise their human side, which works well for business-centric companies and traditionally less-humanised organisations.

 

 

Twitter

Immediate and snappy, Twitter is the platform for news releases and on the go reporting, great for Media, News & Entertainment businesses. Historically, it’s been used by most companies as a customer service board, and while this is a smart and time-effective way of answering your customer’s problems, there’s something to be said for going against the grain and becoming a standout brand on Twitter.

Twitter is all about what is happening in the here and now, and if you’re in the business of providing people with instant, breaking news and updates, then there is no better platform in terms of audience engagement, reach and influencer advocacy.

 

 

Instagram

The platform for creatives and dreamers, and the single best place to showcase your brand personality in a well designed and simple way, Instagram is the place to go to build your empire.

Perfect for B2C companies focused on the under 35’s, especially in Fashion, Travel and Lifestyle, with over 80% of Instagram users willingly engaging with brands, users can be inspired, motivated and converted into highly-engaged, active and loyal customers. Just look at ASOS for example; regramming their customer photos, audience-appropriate language, brightly coloured and fun = brand loyalty 4 LYF.

 

 

YouTube

If you’ve got someone with you who knows their way around a video-camera, creating videos around your services or products is the key way to engage, inform and entertain your audience. Especially for SaaS, and Technology industries, with 69% of people saying they would buy software or apps after watching a video, now is the time to invest and get that camera rolling.

Especially when you could be getting up to 49% increases in your revenue!

 

 

LinkedIn

This social platform is primarily used for building professional relationships with your peers and colleagues in the industry, connecting over company groups and industry-relevant news pieces in your feed. But where it excels is for placing your Marketing, IT,  B2B and Lead Generation organisations in front of an active & highly motivated audience who are in need of your services.

Here, they already have your professional information to hand so it’s more a case of showcasing your unique value as the provider on LinkedIn Publisher, rather than winning them over in the first instance.

 

 

 

And Boom! There it is, your most profitable channel.

In an incredibly basic and general way, you have just sorted out the foundation of your social media empire; focusing on the channel that your target audience engages with the most and showcases your services the best, you will create the loyalty and brand inspo needed to bring you that lovely revenue increase. Afterall, there’s a reason PrettyLittleThing makes more money from their Instagram account than their Twitter one!

 

You know why you need social media (because your business needs to be seen!), and you know how other people are doing it (go AirBnB go!), and you even have a clearer idea of where you’re going to start focusing your social efforts (a young lifestyle brand? To Instagram you go!); congrats!

Social Media strategies can be notoriously stressful, so by breaking it down here, you’ve saved yourself a headache!

 

This is you putting your best foot forward on the start of your social media journey; it’s a creative, challenging and ever-changing field to work in, and starting off strong on one channel, puts in you in the best position to go forth and conquer the others.

 

 

Make your social game even stronger & more profitable still with a fully holistic, bespoke and on-brand social strategy when you work with our team here at iNS. We know the industry hacks to get your social audience growing fast and efficiently, leaving you time to focus on growing your business the way you want.