Articles | Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst

18 Dec

Top SEO Trends In 2018

Online presence is a significant component to any company’s strategy, however the digital landscape is in a continual state of change so it’s obligatory to keep up with these changes to make sure your online visibility is optimised. Google releases between 500 and 600 updates each year, with most of them merely adjusting their secretive search ranking algorithm. With Google being such a dominant force in today’s online environment, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become progressively important for companies to boost their website traffic, customer engagement, and essentially their returns.

User behaviour is adjusting rapidly with new technology, so Google must track these changes and update their search algorithm respectively to ensure the user experience is as smooth as possible. If a website is going to grow online, they too must remain on top of the changing trends in SEO. Actually, using obsolete SEO methods can result in penalties that decrease a website’s search engine results page (SERP) listings, so here we’ll uncover the top SEO trends to keep in mind for your website in 2018.

Voice Search

Lots of users are now preferring to utilise voice searches instead of customary keyboard searches, so this will naturally be a top SEO trend in 2018. Voice searches are quicker and more convenient, which is why it isn’t surprising that 1 in 5 online searches originate from voice queries. If the current increase in voice searches continues at the same pace, virtually half of all online searches will be conducted via speech by the year 2020!

What this means for websites is that they should start combining more long-tailed keywords into their SEO strategy, particularly those with a natural conversational tone. As an example, if a website has a keyword phrase like “best Sydney restaurants”, it could also be associated with a phrase like “Where are the best Sydney restaurants near me?”

Link Building

Link building has always been a critical tool for SEO, and this will continue to be an essential element in determining SERP listings in 2018. Creating valuable links to trustworthy websites is still the simplest way for Google to determine if a website is trusted, so adding value through quality links that helps you establish an authority in your target niche is a reliable strategy.

Having said this, the trend towards link building is now more long-term, so having links from sites related to your industry and referral traffic will be very worthwhile in the future.

Mobile Optimisation

Since 2015, online searches with mobile devices has exceeded that from desktops, so Google has made it very clear that websites that are optimised for mobile devices will be ranked higher in SERP listings.

The reason that mobile optimisation is a top SEO trend for 2018 is because Google has disclosed that they are experimenting with mobile-first indexing, which clearly shows that mobile optimisation will be prioritised in the forthcoming year. If your website hasn’t already been optimised for mobile devices, now is most certainly the time to start!

Accelerated Mobile Pages

Website loading speeds play an intrinsic role in SERP listings, and Google’s search results algorithm will certainly favour those with quicker speeds. As a matter of fact, Google has formed an open source project that helps websites to load pages faster on mobile devices. The project named ‘Accelerated Mobile Pages’ (AMP) allows individual web pages to load 4 times quicker than normal pages, and uses only 10% of the data in doing so!

While AMP is not directly related to SERP listings yet, it will affect other areas closely related to Google’s search results algorithm, including bounce rate and session duration of users. AMP can be simply installed into HTML or JavaScript code, however plugins will be needed for content management systems like Drupal and WordPress.

How To Work On SEO For Your Website in 2018

Even though traditional SEO techniques such as link building will still be effective in 2018, there are other manifesting trends that Google is prioritising in the future which may substantially alter the practice of SEO. It’s clear that SEO is already shifting to stay up to date with changes in user behaviour and to maximise the overall user experience. By understanding the latest SEO trends and employing strategies now, your website will be optimised and ready to enjoy targeted clients from higher SERP listings.

If you have any queries or concerns about how you can optimise your website to adapt to the latest SEO trends, reach out to Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst on 1300 595 013, or visit their website for further details: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsbathurst.com.au

By Charles Articles, blog, Online Marketing, Seo 0 Comments Read more...

12 Dec

Social Media Marketing – Say More On Twitter

The moment has finally come where Twitter users can proclaim their dissatisfaction with the 140 character limit in more detail, since Twitter has formally affirmed that they have extended the character limit to 280 per Tweet!

The social networking platform, which was introduced in 2006, grew quickly to become one of the most celebrated social media platforms globally, however recent declines in growth prompted the social media giant to make some improvements. Twitter distinguishes itself from other social media networks with its ‘microblogging’ feature, which is greatly unique to comparable social media sites like Facebook and Google Plus. Twitter has just over 330 million users that send approximately 6,000 Tweets per second.

Despite the 140 character limit that keenly defined the social networking site, Twitter reported on November 7 that they want every individual around the world to ‘easily’ express themselves on Twitter. After performing a variety of tests over the past few months, Twitter decided that they wanted to widen the character limit, but only where necessary. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and China will remain at the 140 character limit, simply because there’s no need for an increase, as sending messages in these languages can be represented in a short amount of characters. Languages like English conversely, encounter jammed Tweets with 9% of English Tweets hitting the preceding 140 character limit.

So, why the change?

After administering an assortment of tests to targeted users, Twitter obtained valuable results and believed the 240 character limit would be beneficial for many users. Considering that 9% of English users were hitting the 140 character mark, many would have to spend time modifying their Tweets to make sure that they didn’t have to send several messages. Further, users would now have the ability to easily fit their ideas into a single Tweet, so they could say what was on their mind and send them faster than before.

The question is, what influence will this have for digital marketers and SEO providers? Here are a few alterations that they can expect to see.

Increased engagement

Since Twitter increased the character limit, users have encountered a higher level of responses which produced more followers. Obviously, this has been a step in the right direction, as there has been a reported higher satisfaction rate from content producers together with more Likes, Retweets, and Mentions.

Improved user experience for followers.

The widened character limit means that users will have smaller threads of conversations, given that they can fit more material into a single message. Users with long threads of conversations described that it can often times be challenging to follow and respond to. Moreover, brands are loving the longer Tweets as it enables them to fit more detailed information into a single Tweet which leads to higher engagement rates.

Increases customer communication

With the rise of companies using social media as a channel to resolve customer service matters, customers can now convey a problem in more detail on Twitter which is worthwhile for both the customer and the business, as communication is noticeably enriched. Prior to this change, many users would have chosen other social media sites like Facebook to report customer service issues because the character limit was too restraining.

More Creativity

Longer Tweets means that companies can heighten the creativity of their communication with their target audience through storytelling, Q&A’s, and more engaging Twitter Chats. Companies would commonly have to use other social media sites if they needed to get creative, however brands can now effectively use longer text to their advantage by connecting with their audience on a more personal level.

Even though some users have suggested that the increase in character limit by Twitter makes them more similar to other social media sites, the vast majority of users appear to be very happy with their latest update. Nothing is carved in stone in social media, as making changes to stay on top of changing user behaviour is essential for survival. For the time being though, both users and marketing specialists seem to have emerged the winner!

If you need any assistance about how your company can leverage the increased character limit to your advantage on Twitter, just speak to Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst by calling 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit their website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsbathurst.com.au

By Charles Articles, blog 0 Comments Read more...

06 Dec

A Guide To SSL Changes – What It Means For Your Website

In today’s ever-changing online environment, it’s essential that businesses Google’s best practices to ensure they stay competitive in their relevant online markets. With Google being the most dominant and influential company online, it’s key for them to keep abreast of all the threats and opportunities that the internet produces. As a result, Google releases a variety of updates yearly: new features, bug fixes, and the majority relating to the very secretive Google search ranking algorithm.

What is essential though, is that all online businesses that use Google-related services (practically every online provider), understand extensive changes that may alter their SEO, performance, and ultimately their bottom-line. The internet is in a continuous state of change, so online companies have to be versatile and adjust to new Google updates as quickly as possible to make sure that they aren’t negatively influenced by these new releases.

The largest Google update that has recently impacted online firms pertains to Google Chrome v62, which was released in October of this year. The Google Chrome web browser is used by virtually half of all online users, so it’s highly important that online enterprises incorporate the appropriate changes as quickly as possible if they aspire to avoid any harmful outcomes.

What has changed in Google Chrome v62?

In the Google Chrome v62 update, Google has reshaped the way in which it marks non-secured (HTTP) pages. If a non-secured (HTTP) page stores passwords and bank card information (which is housed in a plain text file), they are susceptible to phishing sites that can potentially steal this information from consumers that falsely believe they are supplying their personal information to a genuine company. The Google Chrome browser will begin marking any text input field and web address bar as ‘NOT SECURE’ for HTTP pages.

This change will clearly have an effect on millions of websites across the globe. Before the change, many non-secured websites weren’t affected by phishing attacks simply because they didn’t have a public-facing member login, and chose PayPal or other offsite payment processors to accept online payments. Now, however, all websites will need to start securing their web pages given that users will become hesitant of falling victim to malevolent attacks if they enter personal information into fields marked boldly as ‘NOT SECURE’.

How to make web pages secure?

For online providers that wish to secure their previously non-secured (HTTP) web pages, they must encrypt the information being exchanged between their clients and their web server by integrating an SSL certificate. Google are distinctly pushing for a more secure internet than ever before, and they’ve opted for SSL encryption as a vehicle to do this. For website owners who want to enable HTTPS on their web servers, here is a useful guide: https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/encrypt-in-transit/enable-https?hl=en. The following link is an additional guide on how you can avoid the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning in Google Chrome which is targeted at web developers: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/10/avoid-not-secure-warn.

What this means for online businesses?

The recent Google update indicates that HTTPS and SSL encryption will become the norm across all web pages online. Eventually, each online firm will have to secure their web pages using SSL encryption whether they like it or not, or users will simply select a competitor that does.

What this also suggests is that not all websites using SSL encryption should be trusted, and there will be a significant increase in phishing sites using HTTPS also. Phishing sites can simply use fabricated SSL certificates to bypass the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning by Google Chrome and make their websites appear legitimate. This will make the differentiation between phishing sites and real websites more challenging than ever. Online firms that use an Extended Validation Certificate (EV SSL) will be the most trusted websites on the internet since it will be exceedingly difficult for phishing sites to imitate the authenticity that EV SSL provides.

Making all websites use SSL certificates to prove their authenticity will only increase the amount of phishing sites that do the same. At the end of the day, however, SSL encryption will gradually become required, so if you need any help in securing your website with SSL encryption, get in touch with the digital specialists at Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst by calling 1300 595 013, or visit their website for more information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsbathurst.com.au

By Charles Articles, blog 0 Comments Read more...

15 May

Why You Should Have A WordPress Site

So, you’ve got a terrific business idea and you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to construct and publish your own website. Well, as you most probably know, there are many variables to take into consideration. The design of the website, the images you’re going to use, the content, the website architecture, the business logo, the online store – the list goes on. But essentially, what’s most important when designing a new website is the platform you choose. There’s a variety of website platforms available with an array of unique features, targeting the entire spectrum of developers from novices to experts. You’ll ask for recommendations on which platform to use and developers will argue for weeks on end about why one platform is better than the other.

It can certainly be confusing to weigh the pro’s and con’s of each website platform and decide which is best for you. So, to save the time and arguments, the simple answer to this question is ‘WordPress’. The following article will offer five strong arguments as to why WordPress is the best platform to use, irrespective of your website development skills and abilities.

WordPress is easy to use and manage

WordPress is remarkably user-friendly so you don’t need to be an expert HTML coder to produce a practical and powerful website. The configuration process is quick and simple, the tools are intuitive and there’s a built-in updater so you don’t need to stress over not making use of all the latest features. There are inbuilt features for blog publishing, RSS feeds, user management, automated backups, revisions and much more. Once installed, you can start making custom configurations without even writing any code!

WordPress is incredibly SEO-friendly

In the words of Google Engineer Matt Cutts, “WordPress automatically solves a tonne of SEO issues”. SEO is a highly important aspect to any website so having in-built features that seamlessly make your website SEO-friendly is extremely valuable. WordPress coding is standard compliance, high quality, and produces semantic mark-up which makes your site considerably attractive to search engines. There are also an assortment of free plugins that you can install which will make your website even more SEO-friendly, but we’ll discuss WordPress’ plugins next.

WordPress is FREE and Open Source

Yes, you read it correctly; WordPress is free to download, install, and use to build any sort of website you like. WordPress is also open source which means that the source code is available for anyone to modify, edit and create different themes and plugins with a variety of features and release these to the online community. Now, there are in excess of 2,600 WordPress themes and over 3,100 different free plugins available for use. Since WordPress is a community software, it is maintained by a large group of volunteers who all contribute to the software by writing patches, answering support questions and updating documentation. If you have any questions or concerns about anything WordPress related, there are literally thousands of people ready to help.

WordPress is mobile friendly

As a result of the increasing use of smart phones for internet usage, it’s very important that your website is optimised for mobile devices. In fact, one of Google’s latest updates requires websites to be optimised for mobile devices or they’ll be penalised in SEO. Thankfully most WordPress themes are designed to be mobile responsive, meaning that whatever device your customers are using, WordPress websites will systematically adapt the appearance of your website to match. WordPress also allows you to work on both of your mobile website and PC website separately, so you can easily customise both to optimise the user experience.

WordPress is secure

Nowadays, website security is of utmost importance so of course WordPress has high security standards. Nearly one-quarter of websites are produced on WordPress so hackers are constantly looking for ways to compromise them. WordPress is well aware of this so has developed a series of security features which prevents any malicious attacks by releasing regular updates that neutralises these threats. Don’t forget, it’s also essential for you to be using a secure device when accessing your WordPress account, so make sure you use standard security tools on your device and only install credible plugins from trusted providers.

As you can see, WordPress has a range of superb features that simply make it the best website platform on the market. Even though there are numerous other reasons why WordPress is an excellent choice for your website, this article just focuses on five of these: WordPress is particularly user-friendly, free and open source, significantly SEO compatible, mobile friendly, and secure. What more could you want from a platform to develop a practical and powerful website? If you have any questions about how you can further optimise your website, talk with the team at Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsbathurst.com.au

By Charles Articles, Online Marketing, Seo 0 Comments Read more...

04 May

Top Tips For The best Email Sequences

Having worked as a sales rep for a couple of tech start-ups, I can’t even begin to describe the value of sending email sequences that sell. Automated emails are wonderful because they substantially reduce the workload for a sales rep, however these days, everybody can relate to discovering a range of email sequences lurking in their inbox on a daily basis that just irritate us because we have to click two buttons to get rid of them!

Not enough business owners invest the time and effort in building compelling email sequences that essentially sell their product. Producing compelling email sequences is both a science and an art, and if done correctly, can lead to remarkable results. Having hundreds of potential customers on an email list isn’t going to produce any income if you can’t sell your product. So, here’s four tips on how to generate a great email sequence that will convert your leads into sales.

Tip 1 – First Impressions Count

The age old saying ‘make a good first impression’ is very appropriate when it relates to email sequences. By first impressions, I mean the subject lines of your emails. It’s the very first thing that recipients will encounter so if it’s not appealing enough, they just won’t open it. Obviously, the subject lines of an email are integral when it comes to conversion rates. Here are several stats which showcases their importance:

One-third of email recipients will open an email based completely on the subject line

Approximately 70% of email recipients will decide if an email is spam based on the subject line

40% of emails are opened on mobile devices first, and the average mobile screen can only fit between 4-7 words in the subject line.

The trick to successful subject lines is solving your prospects problems in as few words as possible. For instance, good subject lines include, “Common questions about university”, “Common questions about rental payments”, etc. Take into consideration your prospects problems and target your subject lines to solve that problem concisely. You can monitor your subject line performance using HubSpot Sales notification stream (https://www.hubspot.com/products/sales/email-tracking).

Tip 2 – Write Well-Crafted Content

After a recipient has opened an email, it’s pivotal that you provide a value proposition in the context of their problem right away. Forget starting the email with your name and job title; you need to give your recipients a good reason to continue reading the email. Thus, begin your email with some relevant information they can associate with, like company news or their reaction to an event via Facebook or an online article, and then get into the value proposition in the 2nd and 3rd sentences.

Your value proposition should be constructed like this:.

I have an idea about [problem/pain-point] and I’d love to have a moment to talk to you about [solution].

Here’s some preliminary information [link to helpful content] and if you ‘d like to chat more about it, let me know.

I recently collaborated with another organisation with [positive benefit]. Is this something that would be helpful for [company name]?

It’s crucial that you get to the point promptly and keep the content focused on the requirements of your prospect.

Tip 3 – Ditch the bland ‘Welcome Email’

If a prospect has shown interest in your products or services, why waste both of your time with a welcome email that has no benefit or offerings? It’s fundamentally dead-wood and if you’re going to send a welcome email, make sure you utilise a catchy subject line and value proposition in the content of the email (refer to tip 1 & 2).

Tip 4 – Always Be Helpful

The reality of the matter is that even an amazing first email may not get a reaction from the recipient. It’s understandable; people are busy and have prerogatives, so I suggest sending two or three follow-up emails as part of your email sequence. It’s easy to forget about an email that you’re interested in, but an excellent follow-up email will remind them that you’re here to help them in whatever problem they have. You ought to ensure that your follow-up emails also incorporates your value propositions, and further information that is helpful to the recipient in solving their problems. Again, HubSpot Sales will monitor which emails are opened and which links are clicked so I strongly suggest using this application to assist you with your email sequences.

The value of generating effective and actionable email sequences can have a significant affect on your conversion rates and sales. There are many factors that you have to consider when producing your email sequences, but this article features the most important factors that lead to success. If you’re having problems converting your leads into sales with your email sequences, it’s certainly beneficial in seeking advice from digital marketing experts that can help you. Talk to the team at Internet Marketing Experts Bathurst today on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsbathurst.com.au