HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR BLOG’S VISUAL DESIGN

Everyone likes a bit of eye candy. Good visuals and visual design complement great blogs and really can make a difference.

But visual design should be left to graphic designers, right? Well, although it’s true that graphic designers can create amazing visual content from scratch, you don’t have to!

You can take your blog’s visual design to the next level just by adding visual content that your readers will love! Keep reading to find out exactly how visual design can give your post that extra little boost it needs!

 

 

Images

Let’s start with the basics. You’re probably not a professional photographer so why do you have to use photos? You’re a great writer, but unfortunately, words are not enough.

Of course, this has less to do with you and everything to do with your audience (or any audience, for the matter). People love shiny things and pretty visuals, which is why marketers invest so much in visual design.

Images can help you tell your story better by supporting your text in a way that no other visual can.

90% of the information sent to our brains is visual and 65% of people are visual learners. We see and experience the world with our eyes. Images evoke strong emotions and can help get your point across.

It’s easier for people to connect with your content if they have something that visually represents the words on paper.

 

 

88% of marketers say that they use visuals in more than 50% of the articles that they publish. So what exactly do pictures do, other than remind us that we’re emotional beings?

 

• They break up the text, making it easier for readers to understand and digest it. It doesn’t matter if your blog is 300 or 3,000 words long. If you type it all as one big paragraph, it will look ugly—No one likes a huge wall of text.

• They effortlessly spell out your topic’s main theme. While cute orangutans may just do the trick every time, before choosing a photo for your blog, you should also take into account your brand’s identity, tone of voice and style.
• They make your posts more shareable. Social media are here to stay, and if your goal is to get your posts liked and shared, you’ll need to make sure that visual design is on point.

 

You can get inspiration from the huge free library of photos available on Pixabay and Unsplash, but you can also use your own photos if you like.

Make sure you format and optimise your images correctly for SEO. Don’t over-size them and remember to use alt tags!

Creative Visuals

You can try out something different by including illustrations or even hand-drawn images in your blog. We realise that you may want to stick to stock photos due to time constraints and tight deadlines, but hear us out.

If you can get a graphic designer involved, you can create blogs with custom illustrations. Bright and distinctive illustrations do more than just add aesthetic value to your blog post:

 

• They help with brand identity (think Etsy or Slack). When you see how well these brands utilise illustrations to make a lasting impression and define their identity, you can’t help but admit that they’re doing something right.
• They are more subtle. Big photos and eye-catching visuals are great, but in the world of visual design, less is really more. Illustrations can get a point across without requiring users to dedicate all their attention at a single focal point. They work in the background and blend in well with the rest of the website’s assets and elements.
• They run better. You want your website to load fast and illustrations usually contribute to faster loading speeds.

 

 

For that extra-unique feel, you could try hand-drawing your illustrations or images. This old-school approach is original and shows dedication. Stick to minimalist visual designs and text-based images that can separate sections or subheadings in style.

Statistics and Infographics

How can we talk about visual design and not throw statistics and infographics into the mix? According to a reliable source, 100% of articles could benefit from better stats and infographics. We made that up, but you get the point.

Did you know that data-driven blog posts and infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than a text-only article? Infographics are liked and shared on social media three times more than any other type of content.

Data-driven content tells your reader that you have authority in your industry and know what you’re talking about. Infographics can make a long and otherwise boring post interesting and exciting.

Great infographics:

 

• Offer unparalleled visual power. We’ve talked about the power of visual design already. Combine good visuals with interesting and data-driven information and you have a recipe for success.
• Can replace generic and stock images to give your blog a more professional and sophisticated look. Don’t get us wrong. Stock images are great, but ask yourself: How many posts have used the same image before? Custom-made infographics are unique and will help your posts stand out.
• Provide readers with concise information. Long and detailed articles are OK, but most people don’t have the time to go through everything that you write. Maybe they’re drawn by your title or think that they’ll find something interesting in your post. 81% of people skim through content when reading online and the average reader reads just 20-28% of words during a visit. Infographics make a long story short and keep your readers happy and engaged.
• Increase brand awareness. Again, consistency is the key. Build your brand’s identity from the ground-up by identifying visual designs that help define and express your brand’s values and personality.
• Are shareable. Blog posts are shareable too, but on social media, people desperately crave attention and recognition. A good infographic will be liked and shared, time and time again. An article that contains the same information will likely not receive the same attention.

 

And you don’t even have to be an expert or experienced graphic designer to create a great infographic that will have an impact.

Online visual design tools like Canva offer many free templates and assets that you can use to create your own designs and infographics.

Great infographics strike a good balance between attractive, clean visual design and factual information. They are beautiful, but also pleasantly, and often times, unexpectedly smart.

They’re based on solid research and contain minimal text.

Videos

Ah, yes, the masters of engagement. Videos don’t just look good in a blog. They have a tremendous effect on engagement rates.

Video content makes up more than 74% of all online traffic and more than 500 million people watch video on Facebook every single day.

So, how exactly can you use video content to engage your audience and skyrocket engagement rates?

 

• Create compelling social videos that tell a story. Turn your blog posts into interesting videos by using online video tools, such as Lumen5 and Renderforest. You only have to paste your text and/or images into one of these platforms to create the perfect social video with minor editing—no expert video editing skills required!
• Create video tutorials to go along with your guides. People love tutorials because they offer easy-to-follow content that they can use to solve real-life problems. They’re quite easy to make, especially if you already have the source material ready.
• Create an original ‘about us’ video. Linking back to the importance of having a clearly defined brand identity, it would make sense to follow up with an interesting ‘about’ page that captivates and inspires your audience. Actions speak louder than words and a video is worth a thousand pictures (it only takes about 40 seconds for a video to reach the 1000 frame mark).
• Share video reviews. If an influencer or another important content creator has video-reviewed one of your products positively, you could include their video on your main website. Create strong links between different partner websites to increase organic traffic.

 

Keep your videos nice and short. The average attention span is lower than ever so you need to make sure viewers are hooked on your content as fast as possible.

According to Wista, the first few seconds of a social video are the most important. Grab your viewers’ attention quickly by using interesting visuals and catchy headlines.

Keep in mind that video content in most social media platforms is viewed with the volume off. Make sure that your video says what you want it to say without having to use sound; Subtitles work great in this case.

Bonus – More Ideas

 

• GIFs: Most marketers wouldn’t use GIFs in their posts. They’re seen as too informal, sketchy and unpolished. But if your brand’s identity and style allow it, you can stand out and show your brand’s human side by creating visual content that helps convey emotion.
• Gifographics: These infographics combine static and animated images to create compelling and engaging visuals. Adding movement to your graphs and statistics can really take your blog’s visual design to a whole new level. Before investing time into creating the perfect gifographics, make sure your website can support them.
• Memes: No, this is not a joke. If you want to go for a lighter, more fun approach (and you think that your readers will appreciate it), you could consider adding a meme or two to your blog post. Just don’t go overboard. You don’t want to scare your readers away by trying too hard to sound funny.

 

That’s all for today! Compelling visuals can really bring a post to life and with so many image and video editing tools available online, it doesn’t have to be that hard (and it isn’t!).

Remember: Great visual design starts with a killer brand logo. Find out how you can create a unique logo that will make a long-lasting impression here!

 

Article first published here: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR BLOG’S VISUAL DESIGN

SEO TIPS FOR YOUTUBE MARKETING 2019

FREE GRAPHIC DESIGN SOFTWARE 2019

Graphic design is necessary for effective marketing. Did you know that people can retain 65% of information three days after when it’s paired with an image?

Premium software and exclusive memberships are usually costly, meaning it can be hard for professionals to invest in the best software out there (especially if they’re just starting out).

Fortunately, you can create your own amazing graphics, illustrations and infographics without having to spend a fortune! We’ve compiled a list with the best free graphic design software for 2019.

Keep reading it to find out everything you need to know about each and every one of them!

1. Inkscape

Inkscape is an open-source graphics software that comes with a consistent and stable interface. The editor runs smoothly on Windows, Mac and Linux.

It comes with a huge array of advanced tools and effects and can easily compete against Adobe’s Illustrator.

With Inkscape, you can create stunning vector art that no one will be able to tell was made using a free, open-source program.

Here are some of Inkscape’s main features:

 

• A wide range of pen tools, including pencil, brushes as well as drawing and calligraphy modes.
• Perfect for designing SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).
• Compatible with multiple file formats, making it so much easier to import graphics from your own library without having to worry about compatibility.
• Node editing functionality that allows users to manipulate vector images, graphics and objects.  With Inkscape, you can move, edit or delete nodes with ease.
• Maximise creativity with a multi-functional object creation tool. Combine the pencil and pen tools to alternate between freehand drawing and intricate line and Bézier curve designs.

 

That being said, the program is slow at times as processing slows down editing.

While it’s true that Inkscape doesn’t run as smoothly as its premium competitors, it’s still impressive that it manages to do the things that it does for free.

Definitely give this one a try. You really have nothing to lose.

2. Canva

Canva is an online graphic design tool that allows for extensive customisation, allowing users to create unique and distinctive designs.

You can choose from a range of preset layouts and dimensions to create the perfect design. Canva features:

 

• A rich collection of layouts, uniform graphics and vectors.
• A plethora of graphics allow users to quickly create unique designs from zero; makes it easy for non-professionals to come up with interesting and professional-looking designs. There are literally hundreds of templates to choose from.
• Intuitive UI that’s user-friendly and extremely easy to use. Canva is an amazing tool can help businesses cut down on budget and design time by creating graphics in-house.
• Cross-platform compatibility makes it easy to come up with designs on the spot. You can create a first draft on your phone using the mobile app and add the finishing touches later using the web version.

 

However, Canva’s free plan comes with some restrictions that may annoy some. Custom resizing is only available on premium plans and the majority of graphics are not available for free.

Paid plans open up further customisation capabilities that free users don’t have access too.

It’s also impossible to filter image and graphic searches so that the free options appear on top.

This is frustrating and inconvenient, especially if you’re using Canva as a free alternative to other premium graphic design tools!

3. GIMP

We can’t talk about free graphic design software and not mention GIMP.

GIMP is an incredible tool for any designer or marketer that works with photos.

It is another open-source image editing application that’s completely free but is fitted with professional-quality features.

You can start with a blank template or import your own photos and images for fine-tuning.

Some of its features include:

 

• Photo enhancement. After Photoshop, GIMP is probably the best choice for photo editing. It comes packed with tons of customisation options.
• Creation of original artwork. GIMP is known for its retouching and editing capabilities but can also act as a well-rounded creative design tool.
• The software runs smoothly across all platforms. The web version has its issues but has been running better with the new updates.
• It’s community-developed, meaning you have direct input as a user. It can also be manipulated and re-purposed by users who know how to code.
• It’s easily expandable and regularly updated. You can add plugins and scripts to help you perfect your creations and designs the way you envisioned them.

 

GIMP is one of the best free graphic design software out there but suffers from poor UI design.

The interface can be inconsistent at times, which might slow you down during work.

Photoshop is still the king of editing, but if you’re looking for a free alternative that will get the job done, GIMP may be the best option for you.

4. Blender

Blender is an amazing design tool for animators, designers, scientists and artists who work in 3D graphics.

This computer graphics suite is intuitive and feature-rich.

It can be used to create 3D models and applications for video games, animated films and video ad campaigns.

When you look at its tool set and features, you’ll find it hard to believe that Blender is open-source and completely free:

 

• Blender does animation flawlessly and is highly customisable. You can replace its base theme to suit your needs.
• Comes with a large number of hotkey commands, meaning you don’t have to navigate through the interface, which can drastically increase your working speed.
• The software is lightweight and runs well on all platforms. Blender boots up in just a few seconds and does not struggle even when multiple assets and graphics are loading and interacting with each other.
• As with other open-source tools, Blender is constantly improved and updated based on immediate user feedback.
• Blender’s community is helpful and always quick to help users solve problems.

 

Although Blender comes with many features and can do a lot of things well, it’s not often used professionally.

It’s unnecessarily complex and users have to rely on the community to resolve common issues.

Autodesk Maya is still preferred by most major studios.

Blender, like most open-source and free software tools, suffers from poor interface design.

Users are often put off by the amount of information that’s on the screen that often times doesn’t seem to serve a specific purpose.

Artists without a developer background may have a hard time navigating through Blender’s confusing interface.

5. Krita

Free graphic design software can get the job done, and Krita is a testament to that.

Krita is great for both amateur and professional artists looking for a drawing and sketching platform to transform their ideas into art.

Krita is a powerful program that comes with many advanced drawing aids and templates.

It was created by artists for artists, with the idea that top-notch drawing software should be accessible to all graphic designers.

It’s especially useful if you’re interested in illustration or comics.

Here are some of its features:

 

• A great number of masks, filters and layer styles that help you create the perfect drawing.
• Highly intuitive UI that makes navigation easy and drawing a pleasure.
• Several animation features that can help breathe life into your creations. Krita uses frame-by-frame raster animation.
• The software is highly customisable, meaning users have the ability to change most of the shortcuts to improve workflow.
• Included vector tools. You can also import and edit vectors that you’ve created with the help of other programs (e.g. Inkscape).
• Wrap around and canvas only modes allow for more detailed fine-tuning and versatility.

 

Krita seems to eat up a lot of memory, which can slow your computer and negatively impact your workflow as a result.

It also has a steep learning curve and takes some time to get used to, which might scare some graphic designers away.

Other known issues include buggy text tools and a hard-to-control smudge brush (blending may be challenging for beginners).

Free graphic design software may not be perfect but can help graphic designers get things done. Because all these programs are free, anyone can download and try them out.

Unless you’re willing to invest in premium graphic design software, you’ll have to combine and utilise different free tools.

Different tools are good for different jobs: Some are better for designing raster images while others specialise in SVG or 3D designs.

Want to know exactly what a graphic designer does? Find out why graphic designers are the backbone of every successful marketing campaign by clicking here!

Article first published here: FREE GRAPHIC DESIGN SOFTWARE 2019

HOW TO OPTIMISE VOICE SEARCH SEO

When was the last time you used a voice search app such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant?

Probably not too long ago.

40% of adults now use voice search at least once per day, but according to a U.S. study, just 4% of businesses are actually ‘voice ready’. There’s an evident disconnect between companies and customers.

As the number of people who utilise voice search increases, many more companies will begin utilising voice search SEO to optimise their websites.

Keep reading to find out why voice search SEO is so important and what you can do to optimise your website for voice search.

What Is It?

Voice search utilises advanced voice recognition technology that allows people to perform searches just by speaking into their device. You can find voice recognition technology in most smartphones, tablets, laptops and of course, home assistant devices.

Voice search is all about convenience. People can use Google and look for answers even when occupied with other things (e.g. driving or cooking). It’s also a great solution for people with disabilities.

Voice recognition technology has been around for some time but has only recently reached a point where it can be reliably used. Mind you, it’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting there.

If that’s not enough to convince you, perhaps now would be a good time to take a look into some of the major voice search statistics. Almost a third of the 3.5 billion searches that are performed on Google every day are voice searches. 71% of people between the ages 18-29 use voice search and it’s predicted that by 2020, 50% of all web searches will be voice searches.

Why Does It Matter?

Voice marketing affects digital marketing, and digital marketing has a direct effect on your company’s success. Long story short, voice search trends affect your business. Whether voice search will have a positive or negative effect depends on how well you can adapt your strategy and campaigns to the technologies of the future.

Voice search is convenient. Convenience translates to an improved user experience, which, as we all know, is Google’s number one priority: people should be able to find what they want fast. If you’re able to optimise your website for voice search, Google will reward you with higher rankings.

Voice search is bound to change SEO and digital marketing for good. This is because people search differently when typing to search than when speaking to search.

Voice searches are usually longer and much more conversational. This is one of the main reasons why long-tail keywords are helping websites rank higher and higher.

Let’s say you’re looking for a restaurant in Sydney. If you’re typing in Google, you may search for ‘best restaurants in Sydney’ or ‘best restaurants around me’ or something along those lines. If you’re using voice search, you’re much more likely to form a complete question: ‘What are the best restaurants in Sydney?’

This is why you need to create content that sounds natural and conversational. It’s also been proven that websites that are optimised for voice search appear as featured snippets much more often than websites that aren’t.

Adding a few keywords here and there will just not cut it. You need to incorporate short and long-tail keywords in an understandable and readable context.

How Do I Optimise My Website for Voice Search?

Voice search SEO techniques are not different from regular SEO tactics and strategies. The basic principles are the same and particular focus is placed on delivering meaningful content to the right people.

Make sure you are using natural-sounding language. Gone are the days where you could rank higher just by stuffing a bunch of keywords everywhere. Of course, you still need to use relevant keywords, but focus less on density and more on meaningful delivery.

In fact, it’s believed that increased repetition of keywords can mark your content as low-quality and hurt your rankings, even if the information you provide is otherwise accurate and insightful.

Try to form queries into question phrases. Think of how your topic could be phrased into a question by a reader. Your answers should be concise and to-the-point. Think of what you would like to see if you were asking the same question. What is your user’s intent and how can you best help them?

Target long-tail keywords when you can. Most SEO experts will tell you that long-tail keywords just perform better. They help you reach niche markets and people who are looking for something very specific.

Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly, fast and secure. Nowadays, everyone has a phone; the same is not true for desktop computers. Your website needs to be fast and optimised for mobile.

Voice searches are action queries. People using voice search are not just simply looking for information. They’re actively looking for places, products and services around them. Stand out by taking the users’ needs into consideration: offer prompt and effective services.

Home Assistants and Voice Search

Voice search technology may not be something new, but home assistant devices have taken the market by storm. Amazon has sold the most devices, but Google assistant seems to have the highest percentage of general knowledge among Siri, Cortana and Alexa.

Google Home is relatively new in Australia but has been in wide use in the U.S. since 2016. Ranking on Google Home is all about creating relevant and concise content that can answer a specific question.

If a user is looking for a particular piece of information, Google Home simply pulls content based on what it thinks best suits the user’s intent. However, if a user is looking for a local service or product provider, results are focused on:

 

• Relevance – How well the listing matches what someone is searching for. This is why it’s extremely important to have a complete and detailed profile on Google’s ‘My Business’ page.
• Distance – Self-explanatory: How close a business is to the user who’s performing the search.
• Prominence – Refers to how well-known a business is, even if they’re not that prominent online (e.g. famous museums, landmark hotels and notable sights).

 

Companies with the most optimised local SEO profiles rank higher with Google. Optimise your Google My Business page to ensure that all displayed information is accurate and updated regularly.

Your local SEO strategy doesn’t need to change much, but you need to understand how people use voice search and phrase queries to create content that will drive more traffic to your website.

Voice Search and The Future of SEO

Numbers don’t lie. 20% of searches in the Google app are now done by voice, and this is just the beginning. SEO strategies will shift as people begin to change the way they perform searches online.

If you want to come out on top, you’ll have to be ready to adapt to a marketing landscape largely shaped by new voice recognition technologies.

The reality is that as a marketer, you have nothing to worry about, as long as your strategies focus on delivering quality and meaningful content, products and services to your audience. With minor adjustments and minimal effort, you’ll be ready to face any challenge that comes your way!

For some easy SEO copywriting tips that will put you on the road to success, check out this post!

Article first published here: HOW TO OPTIMISE VOICE SEARCH SEO

TOP GOOGLE ADS MISTAKES YOU SHOULD AVOID

Have you put your heart and soul into SEO but still struggle to rank high with Google?

Chances are you’ve done something wrong.

The reality is that good SEO will only get you so far.

Sooner or later, you’ll have to invest in paid advertising as well.

Cost-per-click (CPC) or Pay-to-click (PPC) marketing is a great way to promote your product or service.

But that’s not too simple either.

Sure, setting up a Google Ads account and running your first campaign looks easy enough, but are you doing it right?

Keep reading to find out what you mistakes to avoid when setting up a new Google Ads campaign.

Generic Keywords

With SEO, you can afford to try many different keywords, analyse traffic data and figure out what works best.

When you run an ad campaign on Google Ads, you should be a bit more careful.

Investing in the wrong keywords could cost your company thousands of dollars.

So what do you do?

Well, you first need to perform keyword research to find keywords that rank high on Google’s search engine.

Once you identify a few keywords that you think may work well, take a step back and think about your marketing campaign as a whole.

Investing in generic keywords that rank higher may seem like a good idea at first…

… but such practices usually only work for brands that are already well-established in their respective industries.

Paying more for highly-competitive keywords will not necessarily increase traffic and sales (despite what Google says).

Just like keyword research in SEO, you need to find keywords that are less competitive but still generate good amounts of traffic.

Focus on keywords that are more likely to lead people to your product.

Don’t just pick the most competitive and expensive keywords thinking you’ll gain more in return.

Keep your ad groups nice and tidy.

If you have different irrelevant keywords in the same ad group, consider splitting those keywords into more ad groups.  

Stick to keywords that describe your product as accurately as possible:

Even if they don’t rank as high as other more generic keywords.

Wrong Keyword Match Type

What’s up with all those different match types anyway:

broad match, phrase match, exact match…

… Google offers many different keyword match types and doesn’t offer any in-depth information on how they all function.

Broad match types show your ads in more searches, while exact match types will only show ads when users search for the keywords you’ve specified.

The truth is that Google wants you to use broad match…

which is exactly why broad match is set as the default match type when you create a new ad group.

Broad match modifier is a bit better than regular broad match as it only shows your ads on search terms that you designate with the + sign.

It’s still dangerous if the keywords you’ve used are still very broad.

Keyword order matters, which is where phrase match comes into play.

Phrase match is great for when you want to run a targeted campaign that’s focused on smaller audiences and select keyword groups.

Some marketers don’t ever use phrase match in their campaigns, but it does have its uses.

Exact match is the go-to match type for most campaigns, and marketers love it.

Exact match works only if you spend a significant amount of time researching the best keywords for your product.

It’s the most cost-effective match type when utilised correctly as it allows you to reach audiences that you know will be interested in your product or service.

Also, keep in mind that exact match is not true to its name.

Exact match may trigger ads for searches that match the ‘intent of the keyword’.

Your ad may trigger for a search that doesn’t match your keyword word-for-word but is, according to Google, somehow semantically related.

This includes misspellings, plurals, as well as implied words and paraphrased words.

Utilise negative keywords to exclude Google’s engine from showing your ad when a specific, unwanted term is searched for.

Too Few Ads or Ineffective Ad Copy

For Google to properly prioritise ads that will do better, you need to have more than one ad in each group (Google recommends at least three).

When you add more ads, you give Google’s machine learning technology the chance to focus on those ads that are expected to perform better.

You may trust Google to display your ads, but Google can’t really write the ad for you.

Your ad copy needs to be short, clear and compelling.

Make sure you include a CTA and that you know your audience well.

You don’t have too much space to work with.

Make an impact by using emotional triggers and by emphasising why users should choose your brand over others.

If you’re not sure what your ads are supposed to look like, you can always do a few quick Google searches to see what your competitors are doing.

What are they offering and what language are they using?

If something’s working well for them, don’t be afraid to adjust your ad copy accordingly.

Not Taking Advantage of Extensions

You may have created your ads, but you’re certainly not done!

Google offers many extensions that make your ads stand out:

 

• Callouts: Additional descriptive text that can help your brand highlight important features or benefits. Free shipping? Fast Service? Include it here!

• Sitelinks: These are links that lead to other relevant pages on your website (e.g. contact page or pricing information). Getting people to click on your main link and end up on your landing page should be your number one priority, but sitelinks provide people with much-needed relevant information.

• Call: This one’s great if you want people to call your business and works really well on mobile (people can click on the link and call your right away).

• Location: Connect Google ads with My Business to include your location in your ads. Users will have access to your address, phone number and opening hours. They can also click on your location to view it on Google Maps.

• Price: This is a controversial and much-discussed topic. However, if price offers your brand a competitive advantage, you may want to include it and make it visible right away.

• Promotion: Highlight any offer or promotion by letting users know what’s on sale and for how long.

• App: A really useful extension that’s unfortunately not used often enough. If you have an app make sure you use this extension to let users know they can click on the link to download it from the play store.

 

 

Setting up your ad extensions shouldn’t take long:

But make sure you review and test different functions and extensions to find out what works best for you!

Google Ads Bonus Tips

 

• Google will keep the ‘Include Google Display Network’ checked when you set up a campaign. That’s good for them; not so good for you. If you include display with search you’ll be sacrificing control. You’ll also only be showing text ads on the network (image ads perform much better).
• Don’t just set your campaigns target location and leave it at that. Always remember to click on ‘Location options’ to gain access to an important feature that can save you money. If you don’t want people outside your targeted locations to be seeing your ads (which is most likely), click on the ‘People in your targeted locations’ option under ‘Target’.
• Don’t forget your landing page. It doesn’t matter how good your ad is, if your landing page is not easy to read or is cluttered with useless information, no one will convert and your ROI will be low. Focus on an easy-flowing design that keeps things simple and accessible. Your CTA should be effective and the page itself must load fast and be mobile-friendly.
• Track your conversions and do it correctly. Don’t track page views and other actions that don’t make you any money as conversions. Without conversion tracking, you can’t know which keywords work and which ones don’t, which means you won’t be able to optimise your campaigns.
• Be wary of ‘recommended’ settings. Just because Google says it’s the best choice, it doesn’t mean it is! Do some research and test out different options yourself.

 

And that’s it!

If you’re just starting out with Google Ads or have not used Google’s ad platform (formerly known as Adwords) in a long time, you’ll definitely want to check out our Ultimate Google Ads Guide!

Article first published here: TOP GOOGLE ADS MISTAKES YOU SHOULD AVOID

WRITING STYLES: CHOOSING TONE OF VOICE

What does your tone of voice tell about you? Probably more than you think.

It’s important because it’s something people recognise you by.

Imagine that you’re sick or have a sore throat.

Your voice is not the same and everyone can tell.

It’s almost as if you’re a completely different person.

We use our voices to express our character and identity.

Brands do the exact same thing, albeit a bit differently.

Finding a tone of voice is crucial since it helps a brand communicate and engage with its audience in a much more meaningful way.

What Exactly Is It?

Your brand’s tone and voice are all about expression:

How you sound, what language you use, how you say things.

People know it’s you, not because you tell them but because your style gives it away.

And it’s not just about the words that you use. It’s about personality.

What are you saying and why are you saying it? What are your motives?

A brand’s voice tells a story and makes you sound more human.

Companies with a clear voice stand out from the rest.

Brand voice matters because it helps audiences identify and connect with your company.

Your messages may change, but your voice should be consistent throughout.

Take Apple as an example:

The world’s most valuable company. Their designs are clean and memorable.

Apple’s front page currently features the all-new iPhone XR.

The name is on top and the product appears on the lower half of the screen.

The only text in between reads: ‘Brilliant. In every way’.

You’d know it’s Apple without even having to see the actual product.

Everything about the design, colour and choice of words screams Apple.

You get more information about the product as you scroll down the page, but you’re probably already sold.

Finding Your Tone of Voice

You may have not found your brand’s voice yet, and that’s ok.

Your brand’s voice is part of your brand’s identity, which usually takes time and effort to develop.

You’ll first have to do some research:

 

• What are your competitors doing? What tone of voice do they use? Is it effective? Learn from other people’s mistakes. Your industry may be connected with a specific tone but that doesn’t mean you have to stick to it 100%. Carefully examine how your competitors position themselves through writing.

 

• What do your employees think about the brand? Interviewing your own team could give you a sense of what your voice actually looks (or sounds) like. Employees are the company and they often play a big role in shaping the brand’s tone of voice, many a time without even realising.

 

• What does your content look like? Review your existing (and most successful) content and try to figure out recurring patterns. Do you sound serious, playful, sincere, bold? Make note of what works well so that you may repeat it in the future. Are there any bad examples that you want to avoid? This may be a good time to write everything down on paper and create clear guidelines that you can use as reference points.

 

• Can you get away with a big change in tone? Maybe you found out that one of your competitors uses a very different tone of voice to yours, albeit successfully. Don’t just copy their voice hoping it will work for you too. Your customers may think it strange and, as a result, lose trust in your brand. Before making any drastic changes, start with a small campaign to test the waters. If all goes well, you can begin to incorporate more significant changes in your marketing campaigns.

 

If you’re just starting out, make sure you can strike a good balance:

Find a tone of voice that is promising but also honest and realistic at the same time.

You need to sound excited, inspired and motivated but don’t go overboard.

Talking about your business in a way that doesn’t ring true is not a good idea.

And remember:

Tone of voice is not just about your customers and marketing.

It also affects your staff.

Make sure you differentiate between style and tone.

The former refers to technical aspects (grammar, use of vocabulary, syntax and sentence construction.)

The latter relies on emotive and persuasive language and techniques to get the job done.

Creating Your Tone of Voice Template

You’ll need to create your own tone of voice handbook.

Having everything clearly written out will make everyone’s job easier.

Make sure the handbook includes:

 

• Some general information about your audience: Any personas created or psychographic data collected that will help your brand better identify your target audience’s needs.
• Necessary advice about different use cases: What kind of language will be used in marketing, website, newsletters, blog posts etc.
• A strong and unique voice: What is your voice and what how would you like your customers to respond to it? What does this voice know? What emotions does it evoke?

 

• Consistent Language: Is it formal or relaxed? Serious or playful? What are some key-words that you’d think may define your brand’s tone of voice? Are there any words that should be avoided?

 

 

Your brand’s tone of voice may not be your first priority if you’re just starting ou.

But you should start early if you want to build loyalty among your customers.

Consistency is good. It makes you stand out and brings people back.

A handbook will ensure that your brand’s tone of voice remains consistent throughout.

As your company grows, you’ll need to have guidelines in place to ensure everyone is on the same page.

A confused or inconsistent tone of voice that’s the product of varying content from different authors may scare people away.

 

The Next Steps

Creating your brand’s tone of voice handbook is only step number one.

You also need to make sure that everyone understands and refers to it.

You may also have to train your writers to write content that conforms to all set standards.

Ensure that your style is consistent and error-free as well:

Spelling, syntax, punctuation etc.

It’s always a good idea to proofread everything before publishing it.

Avoid mistakes and inconsistencies by proofreading content in-house or by using a professional proofreading firm.

Find a distinctive voice that will help you stand out.

It’s okay to keep an eye on what other companies and your competitors are doing, but don’t imitate their tone of voice.

Be different. Be you.

Article first published here: WRITING STYLES: CHOOSING TONE OF VOICE

FILLER CONTENT – WHY IT’S NOT YOUR SEO FRIEND

Captivating your audience with exciting headlines is step number one.

Keeping them interested with content that’s current and relevant is step number two.

Anything that’s not necessary to your blog’s message… well, it really needs to go.

Content is king, but that doesn’t mean you should bombard your reader with irrelevant information.

But what exactly is filler content and how can you get rid of it?

How can you ensure that you’re always publishing valuable content for your audience?

Keep reading to find out now!

Filler content?

Back when black hat SEO techniques reigned supreme, many content creators would add filler content with keywords that were irrelevant to the main topic.

This would then help their websites rank higher with Google’s search engine as they’d appear in more searches.

Much has changed since then…

Google’s algorithm has got better.

Being able to distinguish the high-quality websites from those with excess filler content means people spend less time searching and more time reading good content.

Filler (or thin) content has less to do with the actual word count and more to do with the black hat SEO tactics that often accompany it.

Google will not penalise you for just adding a few lines of text or going off-topic.

If you’re writing about the best books of 2019 and then add a keyword-stuffed paragraph about fidget spinners at the end… Google will know something’s up.

Stick to content that’s relevant to the topic and useful to the reader.

Thin Content Breaks Hearts

Thin content is not good for SEO!

Search engines may be able to detect pages that serve thin content, but it’s not just about that.

Consistent and repeated use of black hat SEO techniques to rank higher will eventually:

 

• Reduce the quality of a website. Thin pages filled with filler content are easily detectable by Google Panda. Google will know if a website that is repeatedly publishing thin content.
• Drive users away. Even if you do manage to trick Google, you won’t be able to fool real humans. SEO is important, but remember that content is written to be read by humans. A temporary boost in ranking aided by black hat SEO will not last long.
• Incur penalties. If you’re found to be guilty, Google will most likely remove your pages from the index completely. Your website will be penalised and it’s an uphill battle from there. We don’t need to tell you why that’s a terrible thing for your business.

 

OK, so what can you do to keep Google’s detective bots happy?

Look to publish content that will satisfy the intent of the searcher.

Create content that you would happily read and engage with yourself.

High-quality content:

 

• Is original and informative.
• Is focused and to-the-point.
• Is properly structured, formatted and optimised.
• Is thorough but comprehensive.
• Puts the reader’s needs first.

 

Try to come off as authoritative but maintain a friendly and conversational tone.

Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and really try to connect with them.

How they ended up on your website? Why are they reading your content? What are they trying to learn?

Identifying and Fixing Low-Quality Pages

Google’s algorithm is complex.

When it comes to the evaluation of a page, however, several things stand out:

 

• Is it original? Needless to say, pages with duplicated content and exact copies don’t sit well with Google. They are of little value to users and Google is well aware of the fact. Anyone can copy and paste a few lines of text.
• Is it well-formatted? What about headings and subheadings? Pages that are not structured will make for a bad read. Users value information that is delivered neatly.
• Is it infested with ads? Ads are important, but if a website is filled with ads and annoying pop-ups, chances are users will press that back button ASAP, never to be seen again.
• Does it take forever to load? We’ve all been there. Waiting for a page to load is infuriating. You’ve piqued your reader’s interest. Everything worked so well up to that point; the captivating headline and the perfect meta description. But the page took longer than three seconds to respond. Better luck next time!

 

If your page ticks all the boxes, then Google will check how well it satisfies the user intent.

You may have great content, but still not rank high if you’re not providing users with what they want to see.

Well okay, but what can you do about that?

Identifying thin pages that Google has deemed as low-quality should be step number one.

The process of identifying weaker pages is referred to as a content audit.

Useful Tools

There are many tools that can help you with that (e.g. SEMRUSH) and they all have similar functions.

Content audit tools check for:

 

• Pages with little to no content. Remove old pages that contain no meaningful content. If you’re reselling products, try to come up with unique and new descriptions.
• Pages with auto-generated content. Robots will write like robots. Don’t rely on auto-generated content that’s hard to read and hardly makes any sense.
• Pages that were published a long time ago but still fail to rank or drive traffic to the website. It sometimes takes weeks or even months for a post to rank high. In the meanwhile, be patient and try to use tools such as SEMRUSH to track everything.
• Pages and landing pages with duplicate content. Duplicate content is never a good sign. To stop diverting traffic from one page to another, avoid similar titles and text even if the content is similar.
• Pages with an increased bounce rate. A high bounce rate indicates lower engagement. It means that people likely found your website but were out before they had a chance to visit a second page. Make sure you give users what was promised in the title and meta description.

 

The Yoast SEO plugin can also perform content analysis checks.

This and other WordPress tools can help you with SEO while maintaining top-quality content.

Among other things:

 

• They make sure that the post contains more than the minimum of 300 words.
• They perform keyword research and look at keyword density (around 2% for optimal results).
• They check for links and backlinks.

 

The content audit process takes time but is necessary for the SEO health of your website.

Identify the pages that need fixing and act accordingly.

Don’t be afraid to remove pages that are no longer serving a purpose.

Filler content is bad content.

If your goal is to rank high, then know that having a website with 50 top-quality pages is better than having a website with 500+ low-quality pages.

Put your reader first and only write content that you’d happily read yourself.

To create top-quality content that reads well and ranks high, proper keyword research is key.

There are many keyword research tools out there, some better than others.

Check out our list of the 10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools for 2019 that you don’t want to miss!

Article first published here: FILLER CONTENT – WHY IT’S NOT YOUR SEO FRIEND

BEST BUSINESS NAME IDEAS – EASY 2019 GUIDE

Business names define businesses. Coming up with business name ideas is probably one of the most challenging parts of your brand building strategy.

If people can’t recognise and remember your brand, how will you ever manage to stand out?

You want people to remember and talk about your brand: 

90% of people trust product or service recommendations from people they know…

…while only 33% trust messages from a brand.

There’s something powerful about a good brand name (think Google or Apple).

It’s original and memorable, at times clever and playful.

But it’s not rocket science!

Keep reading to find out how you can build business name ideas that will make branding easy.

Who Are You?

Coming up with a good business name shouldn’t be too hard, right?

You’ve got 26 letters and around 170,000 words to choose from… Well, you’d be surprised!

Finding a name may not be that hard, but coming up with the perfect name is actually quite complicated.

Online business name idea tools can help, but do you really want to trust a machine with something so important?

Before you start getting creative, you need to develop a brief that clearly outlines your brand’s identity.

What would a name do for you and how would it help you express your brand’s identity better?

Needless to say, articulating your core identity is crucial to the strategic process of finding the best business name ideas.

Now is a great opportunity to show how unique or different you are.

Ask yourself these questions:

 

• Why does your company exist? What exactly is your vision?
• What does your company do? What is your brand’s mission?
• How does your company do what it does? What are your values?

 

Building out personas could help with the business name ideas  process.

Don’t forget that your name shouldn’t just define your brand. It should also speak to your target audience.

If you don’t know who your target audience is, you won’t be able to come up with a compelling brand name: 

So how will help you connect with them and become memorable?

Brainstorming Your Business Name Ideas

Only once you’ve identified your brand’s core identity should you proceed to the next stage:

Discovery and brainstorming for business name ideas.

Being creative and original is necessary, but remember to stick to your plan and guidelines.

There are many ways to do this and the best way is the one that works best for you.

That being said, you can start by:

 

• Writing down some adjectives that you believe accurately describe your brand, products and services.
• Describe in a few words what you want your consumers to feel and think when they think about your company.
• Ask your staff and other people to share a few words that they associate with your establishment.

 

Feel free to explore different possibilities: but make sure that all suggested names are in line with your brand’s vision, mission and values.

To make the process easier and to make sure you remain focused and organised,  try creating a list of different suggested brand names based on common brand name types.

Some names are descriptive, meaning that they tell your audience what it is that you do or make (e.g Toys R US).

Others are suggestive, barely hinting to their function through a metaphor, analogy or association (e.g. Twitter).

Empty Vessel brand names (e.g. Apple, Starbucks) have nothing to do with the product or service:

Or the name itself might be meaningless usually making them difficult to pull off.

Under these categories, one will find countless brand name types, including family names (e.g Colgate), acronyms (e.g. KFC), mythical names (e.g. Nike), compound words, real words and invented words and even misspelled words (e.g. Tumblr).

Refining Your Business Name Ideas

So you’ve listed several potential names for your brand.

It’s now time to move on to the refinement stage:

picking out the names that you think will resonate the most with your audience.

First, you’ll have to do some research.

Positioning charts will tell you what your competitors are doing:

How do they use their names to define themselves?

What does their name tell about them?

What works and what doesn’t?

You can then choose whether you want to go with something safe or try out something different that will make you stand out.

There’s always a bit of risk involved:

What works for one business may not necessarily work for another.

Also, keep in mind than a name that’s too bizarre / different may not work too well in your sector / industry…

… so choose carefully.

Use evaluation charts to score suggested names based on certain criteria.

You may end up with more than a few good names, but you can only go with one in the end.

Here are some things that you may want to consider:

 

• How does the name look? Is it visually appealing?
• How does it sound? What kind of emotions does it evoke?
• Does it have a meaning?
• Does it fit with your brand personality?

 

The naming process should be an open process, especially if you’re just starting out.

Involve as many people as possible and don’t leave it all to the directors and managers.

Your name will later be used to create a brand logo.

It will also shape your brand’s tone of voice.

Any input is good input, so try to access as many brains as possible.

Put Your Business Name Ideas to the Test

By now, you should have narrowed down your business name ideas to a select few.

Time to put your suggested names to the test.

Make sure that your new name ticks all the boxes:

 

• It’s memorable. A name that’s too long or hard to spell may not be the best choice. If it’s a made-up name, ask around to make sure people can pronounce it correctly without you having to tell them.
• It can be translated. Long or complicated names don’t translate very well. Keep it short and simple, even if you’re not planning on going global anytime soon.
• It’s not trademarked. May not sound like a big deal, but you’d be surprised. Trademarking can pose a challenge as It can take up to a year to get everything sorted. Seek legal advice in due time and plan ahead.
• Is the domain name available? Your domain name needs to match your brand name so that customers can easily find you. While you’re at it, grab any social media or profile names and usernames that you think may come in handy in the future.

 

Is your brand name original? Inspiring and original names work best.

Nike is the name of the ancient Greek goddess of victory, while Google is a typo of Googol.

The best names have multiple layers of meaning and help you better tell your brand’s story.

You need a name that will express your individuality and instil trust and confidence in your customers.

Getting your brand name right is the first step to a successful branding strategy.

Don’t be afraid to take risks. Stand out by being original and creative. Be you!

Article first published here: BEST BUSINESS NAME IDEAS – EASY 2019 GUIDE

IMPROVE GOOGLE RANKING – SIMPLE GUIDE 2019

All brands and businesses want to improve their website ranking on Google.

The ranking algorithm is updated every year:

which means that SEO tactics need to be regularly revisited and revised!

Some SEO techniques disappear as quickly as they appeared… while others have stayed with us since the beginning.

Keep reading to find out all about the must-know SEO techniques that generate quality leads and organic traffic.

High-quality Backlinks Help Google Ranking

The number of backlinks needed to land on Google’s first page is well into the 1000's, but don't let that put you offClick To Tweet

Backlinks are of great benefit to SEO and can drive organic traffic to your website.

The truth is that it takes years to build a sufficient number of backlinks that will help you rank higher.

However (and despite popular belief), you don’t actually need to be popular with users to develop a working backlink strategy.

Hiring a black hat SEO agency to build backlinks for your website may sound like a good idea… but won’t necessarily help your rankings.

Black hat SEO tactics will link your website to a number of low-quality domain websites, many filled with spam or inactive.

Instead, try to build backlinks the right way:

Get active on social media and work on PR to ensure people know your brand.

No one will be linking to your website if no one knows your brand even exists.

Write competitive content that people will want to read and link to authoritative and well-established websites in your industry.

To secure a high Domain Authority…  you need to avoid linking to websites with a high spam score!

Aim to acquire high-quality backlinks from websites that already have a high DA if you reaaly want to improve your Google ranking.

Gotta Go Fast

 

 

No one likes a slow website!

According to Google, 53% of mobile users will hit the back button if it takes longer than three seconds for the page to load.

Desktop users won’t wait much longer either!

Google knows that, which is exactly why it takes page speed into consideration when ranking websites.

You’ll never see a website that takes 40 seconds to load on Google’s first page— and for a good reason.

There’s always things you can do to improve page load time and your overall Google ranking.

First, evaluate the speed of your website:

Head to Google’s Page Speed Insights page and enter your website’s URL on top of the page.

Google will analyse your website’s speed and will also offer some tips on how to improve it.

Recommended changes are prioritised based on priority: low, medium and high.

Focus on those changes that will have the biggest impact on your site overall.

So what can you do?

It really depends, but the biggest culprits that affect your Google ranking usually are:

 

• Large images, which make up most of the information needed to properly load a website. It’s been shown that most websites go well over the 500 KB recommended threshold.
• Messy Javascript and CSS, which most websites ignore. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it but if you have the time and resources, it’s always a good idea to try and clean up some loose code.
• Too many redirects, which confuse browsers and make for a slooow website. Google’s Page Speed Insights can tell you more about the active redirects on your site, but it’s up to you to check and simplify them.

 

Consider using a cache so that browsers won’t have to dynamically generate the page every time a user visits your website.

Don’t get too caught up trying to achieve supersonic speeds.

Google is a harsh judge, and even the most popular websites that receive the most traffic usually don’t score more than 80/100 on Google’s speed evaluation.

Strong UI

 

 

Speed is important… but a website also needs to be functional.

If your page is cluttered and navigation is difficult, users are likely to get frustrated and won’t hesitate to press their home page button.

A low bounce rate means that people visit your website, but quickly leave without engaging with your content.

Bounce rate is also part of Google’s complex ranking algorithm!

You need to strike a good balance between visuals that are pleasant to the eye… and structure that’s not too heavy on the browser.

You want to captivate users with an interface that’s both beautiful and functional:

that’s the real challenge—and art—of UI and UX design.

Your users should always come first.

So you need to design both for and around them.

Design a website that looks good, but also helps users get things done.

In most cases, less is usually more!

Minimalist approaches keep things nice and clean, while also helping with website loading speeds.

Important things should be nice and FAT.

Less important things should be smaller but still clearly visible.

There’s no place for unnecessary information and useless clutter.

Add a search bar for easier navigation.

The more time you spend on improving your website’s UI and UX, the better your Google rankings will be.

More Ways to Rank

 

 

When it comes to honest white hat SEO, new techniques are utilised as Google’s ranking algorithm gets more complex.

However… some SEO tactics, such as keyword optimisation, will always be relevant and important for your Google ranking efforts.

We are all familiar with the power of keywords.

But did you know that regular head keywords will not get you too far anymore?

The competition for short head keywords is too strong, which is why you should consider utilising more long-tail keywords.

Use long-tail and conversational keywords to target niche audiences and gain traffic from less competitive queries.

Search volume is not important if the competition is too high.

Make use of tools, such as Keywords Everywhere or Google’s Keyword Planner, to find keywords that will help you rank.

Google says that 20% of mobile queries are voice searches.

Consider optimising your website for mobile and voice search.

Voice-activated solutions (e.g. Alexa, Siri, Cortana) are on the rise: meaning that it won’t be long before people start looking for websites that incorporate similar technologies.

And of course, content is still king! Always has been, always will be.

Optimising your website is important, but if your content’s not top-quality, you won’t be ranking any time soon.

Create content that people will want to read.

Achieving a higher website ranking doesn’t have to be hard.

Focus on engagement and regular interaction with your audience on social media.

Don’t forget the importance of video content.

Going viral is one way to receive much-needed attention. Here’s how to do it!

Article first published here: IMPROVE GOOGLE RANKING – SIMPLE GUIDE 2019