Still Focused Exclusively on Search Engine Rankings?

 For much of recent history, it’s been the norm to focus on SERP rankings above and beyond everything else. Which of course makes sense, given the way in which a high position in Google or Bing can result in the most enormous traffic boost for any website. 

But here’s the thing – rankings never have been the be and end all of things.

What’s important to acknowledge is the way in which your current position in any search engine doesn’t accurately indicate the success of your wider campaign. There are three primary reasons why an unhealthy fixation on rankings is exactly that – detrimental to your business and your marketing strategy:

SEARCH RESULTS ARE PERSONALISED

First up, it’s becoming extremely difficult – impossible even – to accurately measure your own SERP performance. The reason being that search results have never been more meticulously personalised. From location to browser to device to language to personal preferences and so on, thousands of different search results are delivered by the hour for the exact same search terms. You cannot look how you perform for one or two specific terms and interpret this as a constant for all searchers across the board. It might show one thing for you, but could show something totally different for someone else. Particularly in the case of local businesses and local search, personalisation has never had a greater influence on both exposure and performance.

RANK FLUCTUATION

No matter what you do and how much you do it, you’re never going to hold onto the same ranking indefinitely. It just doesn’t happen. One day you’re third, the next you’re second, then you fall to page 5 and jump back to the first page once again. Why? For any number of reasons – being outperformed by competitors, algorithm changes at Google, flaws in your own SEO strategy etc. In any case, your position is always going to change on a fairly regular basis. As such, and given the fact that there’s often nothing you can do about it, you cannot gauge your overall performance by rankings alone. There are so many external influences that can affect your ranking – it isn’t all nearly as within your control as you might think.

RANK DOESN’T ALWAYS CORRELATE TO SUCCESS

Last but not least, traffic represents just one contributory element to wider success in business. Without exception, a solid Google ranking for a competitive keyword is going to win you a lot of traffic. But what then? What if just 5% of these arrivals stick around and less than 1% convert? You’d perhaps have been better-off with a tenth-place position and greater focus on improving conversion rates. If you focus all your time and attention on rankings, you cannot focus sufficiently on the quality of your website. Even a number-one ranking is all but useless if it isn’t backed-up by an outstanding user-experience. The problem being that far too many businesses seem unable to strike the ideal balance between the two, in terms of their own efforts and investment.

So if you are still focusing somewhat obsessively on rankings above all else, it’s worth asking:

What might you be allowing to suffer in the background?

Why PPC and SEO Campaigns Should Be Run Simultaneously

It is common to come across a debate regarding which is better – PPC or SEO. In reality, you can do with bringing both of them into your marketing strategy.

But the question is still there – which one should you prioritise? For some businesses, it is a case of bringing an SEO marketing strategy underway, wait some time until it starts generating traffic and then move on to PPC. For other companies, it is the other way around.

Both PPC and SEO have the potential to generate Internet traffic in generous volumes. Nonetheless, anyone trying to maximise their ROI may want to consider running both SEO and PPC campaigns at the same time.

Here is why:

SEO Will Take Time

For starters, even an outstanding SEO strategy takes time to reach fruition. What is more, it’s fundamentally impossible to predict how much time it will take for an SEO strategy to reach a certain result. It will simply take as long as it takes. Meanwhile, there might be a little to no difference when it comes to the traffic your website is able to pull in.

By contrast, PPC is about immediate impact when you happen to need it most. Rather than sitting and waiting to see what happens, your PPC ads will be published both instantly and prominently. While your SEO marketing strategy is working hard to get the job done, your PPC ads deliver a steady and strong stream of traffic.

Paid Ads Will Appear More Prominently

No matter how great your SEO strategy is, you will always play second fiddle to the paid ads. In fact, you are unlikely to reach the top of the search rankings for the most popular keywords. It is important to bear in mind that above all else, Google is out there to make money – that’s a fact. This is precisely why Google gives those businesses who hand over cash priority in the search result listings.

With a PPC marketing campaign, you have the chance to position your ads at the very top of the search results page. If the best you are managing so far with your SEO campaign is tenth position, you may find PPC ads very useful for boosting the traffic to your page. That is also something that can help your SEO marketing strategy – Google considers page hits and visitor numbers into its indexation algorithms. So again, a combination of PPC and SEO wins the day.

Lessons Learned

Lastly, PPC campaigns could be used to learn important lessons for your SEO strategy, and vice versa. By monitoring their respective progress, you will tap into a world of invaluable data for the improvement of both campaigns.

Especially when it comes to keywords data and analytics, a PPC campaign could be worth its weight in gold. Google usually reserves the most valuable insights and data for those businesses willing to pay for it. Therefore, your PPC ads can teach you more about your business audience than your SEO strategy alone.

How the Internet of Things will Impact Digital Marketing

Right now, it’s probably pretty safe to say that the Internet of things really isn’t having an enormous impact on your life. You’ve read about it, you’ve been aware of its existence for quite some time and you are continually told it will be the biggest revolution since the Internet itself. But at the same time, you don’t see a great deal of evidence of it actually happening.

But what makes this particular subject different than the usual chatter is one simple thing; it really is going to happen. The simple fact of the matter is that the reason the Internet of things hasn’t yet taken over is the way in which the consumer public in general doesn’t seem quite convinced for the time being. But they will – you only need to look at the way technology has become a part of everyday life to know this is the case. It might be a while before the Internet of things becomes the new standard, but it absolutely will happen – sooner or later.

And when it does happen, there are going to be quite spectacular changes for those who work in digital marketing. In this instance for sure, it could indeed turn out to be the biggest thing to happen since the Internet itself came about.

So with this in mind, what follows is an outline of four ways the Internet of things will alter the world of the digital marketer once and for all:

1. Conversational Queries Take Over
First of all, we are slowly but surely entering an era where conversational queries are gaining ground on standard text search standards. Rather than simply using one or two obvious keywords, we are now telling computers exactly what we want, in order to get more accurate and targeted results. The simple fact of the matter is that if you have ever interacted with Siri or Cortana, you are well on your way to becoming dependent on conversational queries. Even if it seems a little clumsy and far from perfect for the time being, it really won’t be long before you forget that conventional search engines ever existed. Suffice to say, a pretty important development and transition from the perspective of the digital marketers.

2. SERPs Disappear

Given the fact that it is entirely possible traditional search may no longer exist in the future, this would effectively mean that SERPs would be wiped from the face of the Earth. Right now, millions of marketing professionals the world over are embroiled in the constant battle to hit the highest of high levels in SERP rankings. It’s an industry worth billions, but one that technically could soon be worth absolutely nothing at all. Well, that’s not true entirely, as rather than investing heavily in topping visible results rankings, it will instead be a case of focusing on how to top the invisible rankings behind the scenes.

3. Google May Be Forced to Share
Given the way in which approaches to search and web interactions are set to change so radically due to the Internet of things, there’s a very strong possibility that Google will face new competition. Of course, they have the power and indeed the buying power to snap up and capitalise on the kinds of opportunities few others can hold a candle to. But at the same time, the way we find videos, products, information and so on will be so radically different than it is now, that the Google we know today may be in at least some capacities obsolete.

4. Personalisation Will Be Everything

Last but not least, location services and cookies may have worked wonders for personalisation, but we really have only just seen the very tip of the iceberg. When the Internet of things takes over as the new standard in our lives, chances are everything we do on a 24/7 basis will be monitored, tracked and used for a variety of purposes – marketing included. Even the way we drive and our sleeping habits could potentially be transformed into the kind of data marketing teams will be crying out for.

Top Tips For A Strong SEO Strategy

We’ve all read the articles telling us that SEO is dead and we should be looking at other ways to promote our businesses online. The truth lies somewhere in the middle: yes, it’s becoming increasingly important to create high-quality content rather than playing the keywords numbers game.
But SEO is still an important part of your online marketing strategy – you just have to think about it in new ways.

Here, to give you some idea of what this might involve, are some of keys to successful SEO in today’s marketplace:

Headlines: You may have a well-written post, but it’s useless if the headline doesn’t make people click through to it. It has to strike the right balance between being interesting and truthful at the same time: people are getting more savvy about click-bait headlines these days so if they go through to a link and the article isn’t actually about what the headline suggests it is they will quickly navigate away from the page. So pick the most salient points, make the headline snappy, clever if possible and ensure the phrase appeals to your target audience.

Original Content: SEO is no longer just about getting any content at all up there as long as it contains your keywords: the aim is to create original, engaging and entertaining content. Remember that to build your brand you want people to share your posts and they won’t do this is if they’re read it all a thousand times before. Thinks of new ways to present your information, use images and present answers to common problems your target audience may have. That’s the way to get a post to go viral.

Inbound Links: Creating your own content is important, but you should also have plenty of other tools in your online marketing arsenal. Bear in mind that there are plenty of other ways to get inbound links to your site and you should be exploring these. Guest blogging has been a popular thing to do in recent years, although you need to be picky and find someone who adds value to your brand. You can also try using content delivery networks such as Taboola, which can also be instrumental in bringing in more traffic. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, this is a kind of automated service that places your content on sites that reach your target audience. Some companies like to share content with links to their site on community platforms such as Reddit.

How To Save Time In Online Marketing

There is only so much time in the working day and most companies – especially smaller ones – have limited resources to spend on online marketing. But nobody could deny that it’s a vital part of business development today so the most logical thing to do is employ some time-saving methods. You don’t have to spend hours and hours a day to implement an effective marketing strategy.

Here are some things to bear in mind:

Automate: You may think it’s cheaper to try to do everything manually rather than invest in software, but you may be pleasantly surprised to find out how affordable it can actually be – particularly when you factor in the savings to your manpower. To give just one example, if you invest in software for essential weekly and monthly market reports to be generated you will soon notice the difference. Many software programmes can even compile lead generation reports and carry out competitor analysis.

Hold Onto Customers: It’s no secret that it takes far less time to develop ways of building up long-term customer relationships than to start from scratch every time. There are many ways you can ensure clients don’t stray: for example, send them regular emails with special offers tailored to their individual needs, or surprise them now and then with free gifts. Also, make sure your website is always easy to navigate and works perfectly so customers have a positive experience every time they come back to buy something.

Organise: When you’re running a business there are so many different balls to be kept in the air that sometimes communication between your marketing department and other areas can break down. This is a problem, because in order for your online marketing strategy to be effective, everyone in the company has to know what is going on so they can promote your key objectives. The best way to keep things organised today is to use Google Drive, which allows documents to be viewed and edited from multiple devices. Even if you are on the move you can keep an eye on what’s going on and everybody else can stay up-to-date too.

Updating Content: To keep your online marketing strategy fresh it is essential that you keep updating the content of your website on a regular basis. But sourcing content can be time-consuming so you need to come up with a workable system. There are platforms available, such as Buzzsumo, with tools to help you find the most popular content and highlight influencers on social media sites. Well worth investing in if you want to stay ahead of the trends when it comes to content generation but don’t have much time to invest in it.

Marketing Challenge: Can Tesco Restore Its Customers’ Faith?

In the UK the horse meat scandal has knocked several of the big retailers sideways, and Tesco is one of the most high-profile names to be caught in the fall-out. Indeed, unfairly or not it seems to have become ‘the face’ of the horse meat scandal. The revelation that horse meat has been found in many of its beef products has seen customer trust in its products fall to the lowest levels yet. Its marketing experts are going to have an uphill struggle to restore its reputation and brand image to its previous levels.

Whilst the horse meat issue is not the only problem to have rocked the food industry in recent months it is certainly the most incendiary one. According to Canadean Customer Solutions, which recently spoke to a cross-section of 2000 consumers, nearly 40 per cent of shoppers are less trustful of their main supermarket in the light of the ongoing scandal. More than half, meanwhile, are sceptical about the quality of their supermarket’s meat. Downing Street has insisted that it is now the responsibility of the retailers to restore consumer faith.

So what steps has Tesco taken so far? To begin with, it has sent letters to its customers, and its chief executive Philip Clarke gave a talk at the National Farmers Union conference in February. It has also run national press advertising to discuss the scandal and reassure consumers that it is taking the issue as seriously as they are.

Clarke said: “I know that the discovery of horse meat in products sold in several major retailers, including Tesco, has shaken your trust in food retailers and the products we sell. You’ve told us that you want to buy British. And that the journey from farm to fork should be far less complicated. I’ve listened to what you have said and we’re making some real and lasting changes.”

This last issue is a key one: maybe what Tesco needs to do is actively show itself to be in control of the supply chain. The length and sheer complexity of the chains needs to be shortened in order to give consumers more confidence that they know where their meat is coming from. It should now be the job of marketers, not just buyers, to understand the supply chain and find ways to make it clearer to the average consumer. This will also aid them in their task to position products correctly.

Using the Internet and social media will be an important tool in aiding Tesco’s recovery, because it promotes a real dialogue between retailer and consumer. This means the consumer is more likely to feel their concerns are being taken seriously. It has already made a step in this direction with the setting up of Tescofoodnews.com to address some of their fears. The aim of these marketing efforts should be to create greater transparency, rather than shying away from controversial issues, but also in some way to remind consumers what it was about Tesco they trusted in the first place.

How To Use Keywords In SEO

SEO is the process of increasing the online visibility of a website by improving its search engine rankings. This incorporates a number of elements, but as any internet marketing company will tell you, using the right keywords effectively is the cornerstone of any SEO strategy. Once you have identified the right keywords to suit your company you are on your way to boosting your online presence.

So how do you go about choosing these all-important keywords? The first step is to do some keyword research within your target market. Find out the kinds of terms potential clients are most likely to type into search engines, and then whittle these down to which are most suited to your own company.
Also, consider whether you are going to use broad or targeted keywords, or a combination of the two. Broad keywords will tend to describe what your company does as a whole so they are likely to net you in more visitor overall. However, targeted keywords may get you higher percentages of conversion rates (when a visitor is ‘converted’ into a paying customer) because they are relating to more specific products and services. A customer has to actually be searching for a certain product to find your website so they are more likely to buy it.

Once you’re worked out which keywords are likely to work best for you, think about where you will need to place them. The most obvious place is in the keyword Meta Tag which can be found in your website’s html head section. Your keywords should be placed here in the order of importance, from largest to smallest.

Keywords should also be distributed throughout your web copy. Bear in mind that search engines tend to pay the most attention to the first 200 words on a page, so make sure the words are used here.  They can also be used within headings and anchor text (link text) to help boost search engine rankings.

There are certain ‘don’ts’ when it comes to keywords as well. For one thing, you should always use a keyword density checker to make sure you are within the appropriate boundaries. ‘Keyword stuffing’, as the over-use of keywords within a website is known, is frowned upon by search engines and you can be penalised for it. Also, if you decide to place your words in anchor text, such as an image link, do make sure it is relevant and appropriate to the context.

Learning to use keywords effectively can be difficult at first. If you need help getting started, it could be worth using the temporary services of an internet marketing consultant. You will be able to find plenty of these in online business directories, but just make sure you check their credentials thoroughly and get recommendations before you hire them.

Simple Steps to a Successful Business Website

Internet marketing is fast becoming, if not already become, one of the most powerful tools to businesses around the globe. Some companies are now the largest in the world and rely solely on the internet as its source of business.

The marketing of companies over the internet is now part of our everyday life, spanning from banner adverts to emails filling our inboxes on a daily basis. Search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimisation (SEO) are common phrases that are now regularly considered when setting up a website or beginning an online marketing campaign. Getting onto the first page of a Google search is a giant step to getting the attention desired. It is this visual status that will see a business grow and a vast rate of knots. How often have you looked beyond the first page of results produced by a search engine? Rarely, is often the case.

The problem most people have is where to start. We find ourselves in a continuously changing technology based world with new expertise needed all the time. However, there are some easy solutions to making internet marketing simple.

Make them find you.
Search engines will direct people to your website. The easier you make it for them the more likely they will find you. This is quite simply done through the use of specific titles, and arguably more importantly using keywords. Labels for images and descriptions are best off kept simple and specific and hence easier to find. SEO techniques are often complex and involve the help of trained professionals but if you keep your website regularly updated and linked to other high reputable websites it can make noteworthy progress in rankings on search engines.

E-mail – more than just electronic mail.
Although no exact figures are known, well over 1 billion people in the world today are the owner of an email account. Companies who already have a client base of some form have hundreds of emails at their disposal which they can use, if permission is given, to send newsletters with updates on offers, discounts and news.  Just be sure that they have selected or acknowledged in some form that they desire to be part of this marketing technique, or risk upsetting them and losing their business.

Social Media is a powerful ally.
As long as used correctly the likes of Facebook and Twitter are significant tools in taking your business forward.  Just be sure to keep advertising related to business matters as the risk of alienating a client base through sharing your opinions or beliefs on subject matter are substantial. Facebook has recently surpassed over 1 billion subscribers making it clear to see why so many small and large companies are endearing to its use.

Five Ways To Spot A Bad Online Marketing Consultant

More and more people today are turning to the Internet to buy products, find local services or get information. Sadly, the number of people looking to exploit this fact has also grown. With this in mind, beware that if you are looking for an internet marketing consultant there will be a lot of dishonest people amongst the genuine professionals. The bad consultants will have very little real knowledge of the world of online marketing and will very likely charge you a lot of money but give you few results in return.

To help ensure you find the best service, here are five tips for avoiding the bad consultants:

Vague About Services: If a consultant uses vague terms to describe what they can do for you, be very wary indeed. Using ‘technical’-sounding language to talk about their services without actually telling the potential client in clear terms what they can do for them is a classic tactic of the charlatan. Another way to spot a chancer is that they will be reluctant to set concrete goals so it is hard to quantify what they have actually achieved for you. It’s a good idea, before you talk to them, to read up a little about internet marketing first so you can be ready for them if they try to blind you with impressive-sounded terms.
Wild Promises: If an internet marketing consultant tells you they can guarantee you number one search engine rankings, never hire them. It is extremely difficult, particularly in highly competitive markets, to achieve this position and it is never certain that you will be able to do so. True, it is easier in some niches where there is very little competition, but even in these cases it would be foolish and unprofessional of a consultant to make any such promises.
Cagey About Their Past: Be on your guard if the consulting company you are talking to is reluctant to give you any information about past clients. A good firm should be happy to provide you with references and also to show you examples of their previous work and where it has succeeded. If they can’t offer you this, how do you know if they have ever had any successes at all?
They Are Always Right: A good consultant will be keen to sit down and listen to what you want to achieve from using their services. Rather than tell you what you need without first finding out what your company does, they will want to adapt a marketing strategy to suit you. If they are reluctant to discuss any concerns you have, or make changes if you want them to, they are not providing you with the service you deserve.
They Won’t Talk Prices: This is so important: always, always agree on a fixed price for services before you sign any contracts. If, during early talks, a consultant keeps avoiding the issue of what their services will actually cost, run a mile! You can be pretty sure they are trying to avoid the issue and get you hooked so they can charge you over the odds and add plenty of hidden clauses to the contract so you end up paying far more than you should be.

How Quickly Can You Get My Website Onto Page One Of Google?

It’s possibly the most frequently asked question of every internet marketing company.
Hardly surprising really when you consider how valuable a spot on Google Page One can be for the vast majority of businesses.

For those who achieve success in reaching this seeming illusive territory the rewards can be enormous.

It’s important to realise that optimising your website for the search engines is not a quick fix, but rather a medium to long-term objective. That said, dependent on the competitiveness of the keywords and phrases you want to rank highly for, you could begin to see notable results as early as 6-8 weeks’ time.

Do not be tempted by any internet marketing company which promises you overnight success or instant results. Unless these people possess some kind of magic powers the rest of us mortals don’t have, then their processes will be at best dubious and like many before you, you will almost certainly find your website plummets in the rankings suddenly, or even disappears altogether, along with the so-called internet marketing company hopefully!

Another trick of the unscrupulous agencies is that they will promise you will achieve Google Page One status for a keyword or key phrase, which turns out to be irrelevant. Let’s say your widget manufacturing company is called ABC Widgets London.

Now do you think you’d be impressed by an agency that claimed they could get “ABC Widgets London” onto that exclusive first page?

Well I sincerely hope not:

1. Because there is no competition for that particular phrase
                and
2. 99% of people searching for your type of business won’t be aware you exist, that’s why they are searching, so the likelihood of someone actually typing your company name into the search box is pretty slim.

What you need is to rank highly for those terms your customers will actually use to find you. In the case of our example you would be aiming to attract rankings for search terms like: “widget manufacturing”, “widget manufacturers”, “widget production”, and the like.

This is where the knowledge and skills of your internet marketing advisor will come to the fore. The aim of every competent internet marketing company will be to get its clients’ websites to the top of the rankings . . . and to keep them firmly fixed there.

Clearly, in the world of internet marketing, you cannot do much better than to rank top of the pile every time someone searches for what your business offers.

Want Web Design That Works? A Professional Internet Marketing Company Will Help Deliver The Results You Deserve

Do you think a good website design should be based around your business? In other words, all about you? ‘This is us. We have been established for 6 years. These are the products we make. Here’s a selection of our press releases.’


Not desperately inspiring is it?

Or do you firmly believe the essence of great web design begins by looking at the process from the prospective customer’s point of view? What are they searching online for? What are their ‘wants’ right now? How might you fulfil those requirements?

Sadly many websites are produced without a thought for the ‘customer experience’. Oh let’s see . . . we’ll have a Home page, an About Us page . . . a Testimonials page, because that’s what everybody does isn’t it? It’s the norm. It’s expected. It’s almost like selecting items from a takeaway menu.

What it boils down to is this: who are you designing your website for? If it’s simply to provide information about your organisation, then possibly a very basic website that can grow alongside your business might do the trick.

However, for the vast majority of business owners, they require a website that will do more than look pretty and provide information. They desire a website that will actively sell their products and services to a hungry audience. Therefore, the content must be exclusively designed to appeal to that target audience. This is absolutely vital.

And once your website is up and running, your chosen internet marketing company will teach you what you need to do in terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Google AdWords and Social Media Marketing, if these are aspects you wish to carry out in-house.

Having a bad website design is like trying to run a marathon with sprained ankle. You might make it to the finish line eventually, but you’ll have done a whole lot more damage in the process.

With an internet marketing expert on your side, getting a bespoke website that does your business justice is easy.

Businesses Of All Sizes: Internet Marketing Consultants Can Help You Maximise Your Potential

Does your report for this term’s sales and marketing results say “could do better”?


If so, you’re far from alone.

Even taking social media out of the equation, many business owners are overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the Internet and the constant time demands marketing their business online entails.

As a business owner, it could lead you to believe that the options for marketing your business used to be a lot simpler before the Internet came along and complicated everything. But looking on the bright side, cyberspace has given us a lot more marketing opportunities too.

Providing we know what we’re about.

Little doubt that there is potential for companies of all sizes to benefit from the extensive marketing power of the Internet, although there is by no means a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for all businesses.

This is where capabilities of your chosen Internet marketing consultants can have a significant bearing over how successful your business ultimately becomes. So it’s vital to select your advisors wisely.

You see, anyone can call themselves a ‘consultant’, whether they’ve had fifty years experience in business, or five minutes. Or more worryingly, none at all. Perhaps you’ve been put off using marketing agencies or consultancies by a bad experience in the past. Maybe you were charged too much for the consultancy seemingly doing too little. And at the end of the contract you didn’t get the results you were promised.

It’s hardly uncommon, unfortunately.

By contrast, a professional marketing consultant – one who knows his stuff inside out – will have built up a solid reputation over many years. He will have worked alongside many different businesses and will have marketing experience across a variety of industries.

Above all, he will have the credentials to prove his worth: through results generated from previous marketing campaigns and glowing testimonials from many satisfied clients.

Quite simply, the right Internet marketing consultants for your business will be able to combine the right marketing elements so that you get the right marketing mix – with guaranteed results. They will add value to your organisation and become a trusted ally to your sales team.

If you know your business could be performing better with professional help, then don’t delay – talk to your friendly Internet marketing specialists today. Normally you’ll qualify for a free marketing consultation with no-obligation to take things further. And you could come away with lots of great ideas to make your business thrive.

Is Your Website Costing You Customers?

You might have a superb business model with bags of money-making potential, but if your website isn’t up to scratch it could be costing you vital custom. Perhaps you could do with some help from an experienced Internet marketing consultant.


Although it’s considered something of a necessity for businesses these days to have a web presence, having an ugly or dysfunctional website can be worse than no website at all.

Just imagine for a moment that your website exists as a bricks and mortar shop. What if your shop front was run down, with paint peeling everywhere? You could have the most tremendous products inside, but it’s all to no avail if nobody comes through your door.

Here are several of the worst offenders:

Bad design

To a degree, design is a subjective thing defined by individual taste. It can also be dictated by the type of industry you are in. Generally speaking, the more conservative your industry, the more sober your website is expected to be, whether we like it or not.

Websites with colours that clash are a no-no, flashing images can be disturbing to some people and as for poor quality images or clip art – let’s not even go there.

Lack of quality content

Too many businesses think it’s enough to fill their website with content from a brochure say, rather than specifically-written, high quality content that will engage and involve their visitors. Is your content enticing enough? And does it contain a ‘call to action’ where you prompt your reader on what to do next?

On average, your visitors will look at four websites before making a purchasing decision. Inviting them to ask for a free quotation or consultation could be the difference between them contacting you, or a competitor.

Aiming At The Wrong Market

Your web designer should have installed an analytics programme which means you can track and monitor the visitors to your website. How often do you check the data produced? Hopefully, at regular intervals, because you could find that the keywords used by visitors who arrive at your website are not the same ones you were expecting when the website was commissioned. This is because sometimes your online market can differ from your offline market.

This valuable information can help you make sure that the keywords you use in your content remain in alignment with your goals. Also, uncovering the keywords used by your visitors can prove a great help when planning future online marketing campaigns.

If you need some help getting your website into shape, or building a new one, then try asking some Internet marketing consultants.