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### AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world.
However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with ongoing developments can be challenging, especially considering the relentless pace at which they keep happening.
We’ve prepared this guide to help you keep informed about the latest developments in artificial intelligence so you know what to prepare for. Keep reading for the top AI marketing trends 2025 is already making a reality.
Contents:
AI for Predictive Analytics Is Revolutionising Personalisation
Generative AI for Marketing Keeps Transforming Content Creation
AI-Powered Visual Search Is Gaining Popularity
Agentic AI in Marketing Continues Evolving
AI Video Marketing Is on the Rise
AI Voice Search Optimisation Is Becoming Integral
Other Significant AI Marketing Trends 2025 Has Driven Forward
AI Marketing Trends 2025: How Businesses Can Keep Their Edge
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Marketing Trends in 2025
1. AI for Predictive Analytics Is Revolutionising Personalisation
First things first: what is AI for predictive analytics? AI for predictive analytics is the process of using AI and machine learning to analyse historical data and make predictions about future trends based on that information. During 2025, this has been applied on platforms such as Meta and Google to predict customer behaviour, improve campaign targeting and achieve the highest amount of leads using the lowest possible budget.
What this means for you: Using predictive analytics, combined with specialist knowledge, can help you optimise the way you’re spending your advertising budget by improving customer targeting. Our team at SEM Consultants can use predictive analytics to make sure that you reach the precise audience that your marketing efforts are most likely to be relevant for. One example of how this can be applied is upgrading personalised product recommendations, making them ultra-relevant to potential customers. Retailers worldwide are using this approach, with brands like Sephora offering AI-driven product recommendations:
Why adapting to this trend is important: Not adapting to the way predictive analytics work could mean falling behind while other businesses make educated decisions. Bringing in support to help you utilise the data you have with predictive analytics, on the other hand, will keep you competitive.
2. Generative AI for Marketing Keeps Transforming Content Creation
Generative AI keeps making strides in the content creation process, streamlining email marketing, SEO, social media marketing and more. With the global AI in marketing market size expected to reach $217.33 billion by 2034, businesses are faced with the need to keep up with developments in generative AI while developing skills in the Gen AI area to remain competitive. With tools like ChatGPT, Canva AI, Jasper, and many others becoming increasingly smarter and faster, generative artificial intelligence is allowing marketers to create everything from videos to music to written content.
What this means for you: Generative AI for marketing content creation is evolving, meaning that, when used correctly, it can help you achieve your content creation goals more quickly and efficiently.
Why adapting to this trend is important: The obvious reason is to keep pace with competitors utilising AI to speed up their content creation processes. However, learning how to use these tools is just as important. While AI can accelerate content creation, it’s not a full replacement for human input. That’s why working with experts who understand how to strike the right balance is key.
3. AI-Powered Visual Search Is Gaining Popularity
Visual search (technology that employs AI to enable users to search online using images instead of text) is gaining popularity. This feature simplifies online searches and helps potential customers find the product they are looking for faster, which is especially useful in cases where they aren’t sure how exactly to describe it verbally. Some of the companies that have enabled this include Google, Amazon and Pinterest, with tools like Google Lens and Pinterest Lens becoming a fundamental part of the way customers shop.
What this means for you: AI-powered visual search is changing the way customers discover products online. If your visuals are clear, optimised and properly tagged, your products are more likely to appear in these image-based search results, opening up new pathways for traffic and conversions.
Why adapting to this trend is important: As AI visual search becomes more common, businesses failing to optimise their images risk missing out on goal-oriented customers. By keeping up with visual search technology, you’ll improve product discoverability and stay ahead of constantly evolving search habits.
4. Agentic AI in Marketing Continues Evolving
When it launched Gemini 2.0, Google defined agentic AI as ‘models that can understand more about the world around you, think multiple steps ahead and take action on your behalf, with your supervision.’
Indeed, we’re seeing Agentic AI in marketing evolve from completing simple tasks to collaborating across platforms and managing entire campaigns. Experts are using tools like Smartly.io, for instance, to automate large-scale ad creation, testing and optimisation across Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and other platforms. Google’s A2A (AI-to-Ads) is another example. It uses generative AI to suggest ad copy, create images, generate full campaign structures and match your assets to best-performing formats (Search, Display, YouTube, etc.)
What this means for you: With the right tools, ad specialists such as our team at SEM Consultants can now automate time-consuming tasks like campaign setup and ad testing. Soon, it may even be possible to delegate full campaign cycles to AI.
Why adapting to this trend is important: As these tools grow more autonomous, not utilising agentic AI will mean falling behind. This growing autonomy also raises new challenges around transparency, brand consistency and oversight. That’s why it’s more important than ever to work with professionals who understand how these tools work and can help you stay in control while making the most of AI.
5. AI Video Marketing Is on the Rise
Video remains a top-performing content format and a highly preferred medium in digital marketing with more than 62% of businesses actively using it in their marketing strategies. In 2025, AI video marketing is offering new opportunities to produce content faster and at scale. Tools like Synthesia, for example, allow users to create professional-looking videos using AI-generated avatars and voiceovers without any editing experience required.
What this means for you: AI is making video marketing more accessible even without a massive budget or a camera crew. Marketing experts can now produce aligned, engaging, on-brand video content quickly and at a lower cost.
Why adapting to this trend is important: Video remains one of the most in-demand content formats and AI is transforming the way it’s being delivered. The pace at which these advances are happening, however, means that tools that are currently thought of as groundbreaking may already be out of date in as short as a few months. Forward-thinking businesses need to bring in expert support now to be able to keep pace with AI video marketing developments.
6. AI Voice Search Optimisation Is Becoming Integral
With 30% of internet users worldwide using voice assistants each week, optimising your content for voice search queries is becoming non-negotiable. It’s not just Siri, Alexa and Google anymore. Apps that have rolled out AI-powered voice search include ChatGPT, Amazon, eBay, YouTube and Spotify. These apps impact real-time consumer decisions and are learning to understand the nuances behind an individual’s tone and phrases, making AI voice search results individualised and targeted.
What this means for you: Voice search has started changing the SEO landscape. To help customers who use voice search find you, you’ll need to focus on conversational, long-tail keywords. Think about the questions your customers might be asking and create content that answers them directly in a natural tone.
Why adapting to this trend is important: Speaking to a device is becoming an increasingly popular method to find answers to questions and look for products and services. Failing to optimise your content for voice searches means losing out on an expanding audience of potential customers.
Other Significant AI Marketing Trends 2025 Has Driven Forward
Conversations around ethical AI practices: With the growing prominence of AI in marketing, topics such as transparency and data privacy in relation to how AI is used are gaining traction.
AI-Powered augmented reality (AR): Another 2025 AI marketing trend worth mentioning is the integration of AI with augmented reality. Think virtual try-ons and immersive in-store experiences.
The rise of GEO: As a result of tools like ChatGPT changing how people search for and access information, and Google and Bing now including AI-generated responses directly into search results, GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) has developed into its own discipline. If you want to learn more, check out our blog on how AI is changing traditional SEO here.
Sentiment analysis is evolving: Tools like Brainwatch and MonkeyLearn are making strides in sentiment analysis, becoming increasingly better at identifying and evaluating user emotion expressed in text or speech and guiding marketing decisions based on this data.
AI hyperpersonalisation is taking centre stage: Forget simple name recognition and past-purchase recommendations. Thanks to AI and machine learning, brands can now offer content that adapts in real time based on context and user behaviour.
AI Marketing Trends 2025: How Businesses Can Keep Their Edge
The reality is that AI is no longer optional. Every goal-oriented team is learning to utilise it. However, learning how to use certain tools is not enough: businesses are having to adopt an entirely new strategic approach. Yes, marketing is in the age of automation, but it is still very much human-led automation and balancing AI agents with the ‘human touch’ that’s needed to create impactful content is the key part of the challenge. Have a look at the talk below for a deeper look into what the future of marketing may hold with creativity and technology evolving side-by-side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MwMII8n1qM
Here are our top 5 tips for businesses to keep their edge in the face of the AI marketing trends 2025 has put into motion:
Work with the right experts early: Rather trying to learn to work with every tool internally, partner with professionals who already know how to use platforms like ChatGPT, Jasper and Synthesia. Getting the right support now will help you stay ahead while others are catching up.
Keep the ‘human-ness’ of your content: Make sure to always balance AI input with human oversight and creativity to keep your content empathetic, on-brand and culturally aligned.
Be proactive about managing AI-related risks: Monitor how you’re using consumer data, make sure datasets are free from bias and be careful not to spread misinformation. Keeping your practices responsible will help you maintain transparency and customer trust.
Encourage experimentation: Figuring out what works for your marketing strategy will take some time. Encourage your team to try out different approaches to see what content resonates with your audience.
Watch your competitors: Stay in-the-know of how your top competitors are using AI as much as possible. What tools are they using? Which processes are they automating? Staying informed will help you remain competitive.
Keeping up with all the advancements can be overwhelming, but you don’t need to do this alone. Many businesses are choosing to bring in extra help to make sure they stay relevant and competitive.
We at SEM Consultants can take the pressure off. We’re a leading marketing agency based in Birmingham and can help you make the most of AI automation while keeping strategy and human creativity at the centre of your campaigns. If you’re ready to get started or would like to learn more about how we can help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today. Our friendly team will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Marketing Trends in 2025
1. What is the role of AI in digital marketing?
AI helps businesses automate tasks, better utilise data and deliver personalised customer experiences. The role it plays in digital marketing is constantly growing as new tools are emerging all the time.
Marketers use predictive analytics, automated ad targeting, AI-powered chatbots, image recognition and content generation tools to improve efficiency and ROI. As AI keeps evolving, it will become more and more of a driver of competitive advantage in the marketing industry.
2. How to Use AI for Digital Marketing?
To start using AI for your digital marketing strategies, follow our simple step-by-step guide below:
Evaluate relevant areas: Start by identifying areas in your digital marketing strategy where AI could save time and improve efficiency. This could be ad targeting, content creation, customer segmentation, SEO, etc.
Work with experienced professionals: Partnering with a digital marketing agency like SEM Consultants will help you avoid costly trial-and-error. Our team already understands how to effectively integrate AI tools into a strategy that aligns with your goals.
Communicate your goals: Make sure your marketing team understands what success looks like to you, whether that’s more leads, better engagement or improved ROI.
Monitor your results: To make the most of your AI-driven marketing strategies, track performance and continue working with your team to make alterations to your approach if needed.
3. Can AI Replace Digital Marketing Jobs?
No, AI cannot replace digital marketing jobs. Yes, it is changing the landscape, and yes, it is changing how those jobs are done, but it’s not capable of completely taking over the roles of digital marketers as it lacks the emotional intelligence, strategic thinking and creativity that they contribute.
If you’re not sure how to adapt to these shifts, we can help. SEM Consultants bring expert-led strategies and the latest AI tools together to support the goals of your business. Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can help you reach your goals in the age of AI.
Want to Learn About More AI Marketing Trends to Keep an Eye on in 2025?
Check out our articles below for more insights on how AI is shaping marketing strategies:
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
A-Z of Generative AI
What Is the New AI Label on Instagram?
Can AI Replace my SEO Agency?
### AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as businesses worldwide are forced to change their approach to creating and optimising content.
We’ve created this guide to help you navigate the world of SEO in the context of these ongoing changes. We’ll go over what the rise of AI means for the future of SEO, how exactly it’s impacting it, and what you can do to adapt.
Is SEO Dead in 2025?
Recent changes in the SEO landscape have led to many questions: are AI-driven language learning models going to replace search engines like Google? Is human-created content irrelevant? They all seem to boil down to a single big question, one that every digital marketer has probably gotten tired of hearing: Is SEO dead in 2025?
Simply put: no, SEO is not dead in 2025. Despite having undergone many changes in an increasingly AI-driven landscape, SEO is still very much alive and kicking, and we’ll explain why.
For one, Google still dominates over 83% of all online searches. Despite competitors such as ChatGPT and social media platforms beginning to emerge, Google is still the main method of searching for information online and it doesn’t seem like this will change in the next few years, certainly not according to the titan’s constantly increasing market value.
What’s more, the platform is adapting by actively involving AI in search results, with AI overviews being a clear example of this. This demonstrates that the platform is committed to adapting the user search journey. It also shows that even though SEO might undergo significant changes, it is still relevant, perhaps now more than ever due to the new and improved strategies creators will need to maintain rankings.
Another aspect of why SEO continues to be essential for digital marketing in the age of AI is the fact that the way AI learns, develops and functions as a whole is dependent on high-quality user-generated content. Without it, LLMs like ChatGPT would have nothing to pull information from and reference. This means that original content does need to continue being posted and indexed by search engines in order for AI models to remain useful and relevant.
In fact, this is the case even according to AI itself. We decided to conduct a small experiment by asking ChatGPT whether it thinks tools such as itself will replace SEO agencies in future. You can see the answer for yourself:
The AI Impact on SEO
Growing Number of AI Users
AI platforms are gaining more and more users every day. Take ChatGPT for example: after acquiring a million users merely five days after launching, the platform is now hoping to reach 1 billion by the end of 2025. With over 5 billion visits per month, it currently ranks 8th in the world’s most visited websites!
As users are increasingly turning to AI platforms to search for information, questions arise as to what impact this could potentially have on Google’s market share and what it would mean for the future of SEO.
Optimising Search Engine Results
One significant aspect influencing discussions around AI and the future of SEO has to do with improving search results accuracy. AI-driven algorithms such as Google’s RankBrain, for example, use machine learning algorithms to interpret user intent more precisely. This means search results are not only dependent on mere keyword matches anymore, but also on what the meaning behind those words is most likely to be for the particular user. AI models determine this by detecting patterns and trends having to do with user behaviour, location, cultural context and so on, producing more relevant results.
AI Generated Content
At the start of the AI era, many businesses and professionals who create content on a regular basis resorted to AI generated content, producing articles, blogs and posts quicker and saving a lot of time and effort. However, as SERPs and social media platforms got flooded with a lot of content of similar (many would say ‘generic’) tone and style, user distrust with such pieces began to grow and it started to become clear that the ‘human touch’ in content creation still holds a lot of value. In fact, according to Forbes, 55% of users report feeling uncomfortable with AI-generated content!
What is more, according to recent trends, Google seems to have started prioritising content generated by actual users as opposed to AI-generated content. While Google doesn’t directly penalise AI-content, the platform’s focus on quality writing, genuine insights and original thought leadership often gives human-created blogs and articles an edge. This is mirrored by the rise in popularity of forum-based websites such as Reddit, which has seen an increase in users to about 1.1 billion as of January 2025 from 864.6 million in January 2024. Much of this growth has been attributed to Reddit’s increased visibility in Google search results.
How to Prepare for AI and the Future of SEO
The AI era may feel like a scary and uncertain time in the SEO world, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a great moment to explore new strategies and approaches as you learn to navigate the changing landscape.
One important aspect of such a strategy would be the creation of original, user-centric content. Merely matching keywords is not enough to rank well any longer. Instead, you need to make sure you’re providing true value to the reader. Use tools such as PAA (People Also Ask) to discover what exactly your audience is searching for, and then address user concerns and queries directly, clearly and thoroughly.
This, however, is only one of the factors that you would need to consider when rethinking your SEO strategy in the face of an AI-dominated landscape. What’s more, the way AI is shaping user and search engine behaviour is constantly changing. Staying informed and continually updating your strategy is key.
The topic of AI and the future of SEO can certainly seem a bit daunting, so it's really no surprise that many businesses that do rely on SEO as part of their digital marketing strategy are choosing to bring in professional help. If you represent one of those businesses, SEM Consultants can provide you with the support you need. We’re a leading SEO agency in Birmingham and we use the latest strategies and approaches to make sure you remain relevant and competitive in a constantly changing landscape.
Take a look at our SEO services page to learn more about what we can do to help you increase your visibility and reach your audience. In case you have any questions or would like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team will be happy to help!
### The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as each ad appears in a different ad location.
We’ve put together this blog to break down what the policy update really means, how it relates to other recent Google Ads updates and how advertisers can navigate the new rules.
What’s Changed in the Google Unfair Advantage Policy
At its core, the Google Unfair Advantage Policy is designed to ensure fairness in its advertising ecosystem by preventing manipulative tactics that give certain advertisers an outsized presence on the search results page. For years, Google discouraged advertisers from ‘double serving’ ads, which meant showing more than one ad from the same business or linking to the same destination on a single search results page.
Now, Google is stating that double-serving is permitted as long as the ads appear in separate locations. What this means in practice is that the same advertiser can have multiple ads on a single SERP.
How Does Google Ads Auction Work?
To understand the impact of the updated Google Unfair Advantage Policy, it helps to look at how Google Ads auction works. Each location on the SERP is governed by its own separate auction, meaning advertisers compete independently for each placement. This is what enables the new policy: an advertiser can now appear multiple times on a single page, as long as each ad wins a different auction in a separate location.
This detail about the way Google Ads Auction works was not widely known, however it’s this framework that will determine how often (and where) your ads can appear going forward. Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin recently commented on this on LinkedIn, mentioning that different ad auctions have been run for different ad placements for many years.
Where This Sits in the Latest Google Ads Updates
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy update isn’t happening in isolation. In fact, it’s part of a series of ongoing Google Ads updates that are gradually changing fundamental policies which have been in place since the platform was launched.
For example, back in October 2024, Google redefined what it means for an ad to be in ‘top’ position. Where ‘Google top ads’ were once understood to appear strictly above organic search results, the definition was changed to say that ‘Top ads may now appear below organic listings,’ depending on the query. This has effectively allowed ads to appear mixed within organic results rather than being clearly separated at the top of the page.
In that context, the Unfair Advantage Policy Update, now allowing multiple ads from the same advertiser across different locations on the same page, feels like the next step in a larger shift. Google Ads is clearly evolving, with long-held concepts about placement, visibility and fairness being redefined along the way.
How Will Double Serving Google Ads Affect Advertisers?
Double serving google ads officially being allowed could reshape how visibility is distributed across the SERP, delivering more clarity (and opportunity) to advertisers with large-scale campaigns. Advertisers with the resources to compete across several ad locations on a single results page may potentially increase their overall visibility and presence.
However, the update has raised some concerns for smaller advertisers. Competing in multiple auctions against different ad locations can be resource-intensive. For businesses working with limited budgets, this update may further tip the balance in favour of advertisers who can afford more aggressive strategies.
That said, if you own a small business that does rely on Google advertising, the update isn’t necessarily a reason to panic, rather it’s a reason to restrategise. You can still compete effectively by:
Focusing on Quality Score: Relevance, landing page experience and expected CTR all feed into your ad’s ability to win auctions without necessarily outbidding others.
Prioritising Ad Relevance: Tightly themed ad groups and high-intent keywords can help you stand out even if you’re only competing in a single location.
Using Smarter Targeting: Use audience signals, localised targeting and device-level adjustments to maximise performance while controlling spend.
Monitoring Auction Insights: Keep an eye on overlap rates and impression share trends after this update to better understand where and how bigger advertisers might be increasing their presence.
In some ways, this can be seen as a push for advertisers to be more strategic, not just more aggressive. Smaller campaigns may benefit from focusing on depth over breadth to deliver the most value from a single well-targeted placement.
Google PPC Advertising With SEM Consultants
With constant Google Ads updates and policy changes reshaping the PPC landscape, managing your own campaigns can quickly become overwhelming. It’s no wonder that many businesses choose to bring in expert support.
SEM Consultants is here to take the pressure off. We’re a leading PPC agency in Birmingham and we use the latest techniques and data-driven strategies to make sure your ads reach the right audience, in the right place, at the right time. We handle everything from campaign setup and strategic bid management to ongoing testing, optimisation and everything in between.
Check out our Google Ads management page to learn more about how we can support you. Alternatively, if you’re ready to get started, get in touch with us today! Our team will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
### Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Not only is email marketing for small businesses a great way of promoting services and effectively communicating with your customers, but it also has great potential for growing your customer base. With global revenue projected to reach almost £ 10,600,000,000 by the end of 2025, it’s clear that this marketing medium is not only retaining, but increasing its value.
We’ve put together this guide to help you as a small business owner get started with email marketing, explaining its benefits and why it’s important, as well as answering some of the most popular questions.
How Does Email Marketing Work?
Email marketing involves sending messages to consumers promoting products, discounts or services or providing useful information related to your niche to better connect with your customers. It helps businesses make audiences aware of their latest offers, increase brand awareness and lead generation, as well as keep customers engaged in-between purchases.
It starts with building a list of people who’ve opted to hear from you (often through your website or online store). From there, you can create targeted campaigns or automated sequences using tools that allow you to segment your audience and personalise your content. This helps you create relevant, engaging emails that are more likely to lead to conversions.
There are various types of marketing emails, including:
Welcome emails
Lead nurturing emails
Newsletter emails
Reengagement emails
Why Email Marketing Is Important for Small Businesses
Small businesses have a unique type of relationship with their customers that’s more intimate compared to bigger companies. Email marketing for small businesses is a great tool that can help you cultivate this relationship and build trust.
Benefits of Email Marketing for Small Businesses
There are various benefits email marketing can bring to a small business that can make a genuine impact on growth.
It’s a Cost-Effective Marketing Tool
It only requires a small initial investment, which is often beneficial for small businesses that may not have large marketing budgets at their disposal. Since users must give consent to receive emails, they are also more likely to bring conversions, making email marketing one of the best marketing tools for ROI (return on investment).
It Helps Personalise Your Customer Journey
With mass mailings no longer the norm, high levels of personalisation are now available, such as targeting users by demographic or using segmentation so they only see emails relevant to their interests and preferences. This helps small businesses design campaigns that truly connect with audiences and engage them more effectively, improving overall customer experience.
It Strengthens Customer Relationships
Not every email marketing campaign you launch needs to involve products, offers or services. Some can be purely focused on providing relevant, useful information to your audience. This strategy will prevent you from coming across as too ‘salesy’ and help you position your content as valuable. As a result, your audience will be more likely to see your brand as trustworthy and relatable, making them more open to engaging with your product or service-focused emails in the future.
How to Create an Email Marketing Strategy
1. Consider Your Audience
Before you begin creating your content, you must know who you’re speaking to. Think about your ideal customer. What are their interests, challenges and goals? Defining your audience well allows you to craft your messages in a way that resonates and adds value.
2. Choose the Right Email Marketing Platform
Choose a platform that fits your business size, budget and future marketing goals, and make sure it’s user-friendly enough for your team.
What Is the Best Email Marketing Platform for Small Businesses?
The best platform depends on your specific needs but for most small businesses, platforms like Mailchimp or Brevo offer a balance of ease of use, affordability and essential features. It’s worth trying your hand at a few trials to see which one best suits your goals and workflow.
3. Consider Different Types of Email Campaigns
Your campaign style will set the tone for your communications. Will your first set of emails be focused around promotional offers, helpful tips, or something else? Think about what your audience wants to receive and your brand personality.
Make sure the emails you plan contain a clear call of action for your customers to follow and plan the time period over which you’ll be sending out your set of targeted emails.
4. Create an Email List
To send emails, you need a list of subscribers who’ve given their consent for you to contact them. Start building your list using sign-up forms on your website, social media or in-store promotions. Make sure to follow GDPR guidelines to make sure your list is compliant and high quality.
5. Email List Segmentation
Not all subscribers are the same, so why send them all the same message? Segmentation will allow you to divide your list into groups based on location, purchase history, interests, how they signed up and other factors. This will help you send more relevant emails to each group.
6. Building an Email Campaign
Once you’ve defined and segmented your audience, you can start building your email campaign. Make sure your subject line is attention-catching, your content is clear and engaging and your call to action is obvious and easy to follow. Design is also important: use branding elements, images and a layout that’s easy to skim through.
7. Test and Optimise
Before launching your campaign to your full list, run a few tests. This can clue you in as to what subject lines, designs or send times work best. After your emails go out, review open rates, click-through rates and conversions. Use what you learn to improve future campaigns and make your email marketing more effective over time.
Bonus Email Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Here are some bonus tips to help you get the most out of your email marketing efforts:
Make sure your emails are mobile friendly
Personalise emails by using your customers’ names
Build your list gradually and organically
Avoid emailing too frequently to prevent fatigue
Always include a clear call to action
Email Marketing for Small Businesses With SEM Consultants
Email marketing can be a powerful growth tool for small businesses, but building an effective strategy, writing powerful content and managing campaigns consistently can be time-consuming without the right expertise. If you’re struggling to get results or simply don’t have the time to manage campaigns in-house, it might be time to call in the experts.
An email marketing agency can help you plan, execute and optimise campaigns that speak directly to your audience and drive real results. SEM Consultants provides email marketing services tailored to small business’s needs, helping you increase engagement, grow your list and improve your ROI through data-driven decisions.
If you’re looking for an experienced email marketing agency to support your goals, get in touch with our friendly team online or call 0121 552 6550. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have!
### Top Instagram Updates for 2025 (That You Need to Know)
Instagram remains one of the most influential social media platforms as it constantly evolves to keep users engaged and creators thriving. With over a billion active users, it continues to be a powerhouse for influencers, brands and marketers looking to reach, engage and expand their audience.
As we move through 2025, Instagram has already rolled out several updates that could impact (and have already impacted) the way individuals and businesses use the platform. These updates are already reshaping content strategies and engagement levels, but knowing how to adapt your content to them isn’t always straightforward.
We’ve put together this handy blog to highlight the biggest Instagram updates for 2025 so far and help brands, businesses and content creators navigate them with confidence.
Contents
New Grid Size: The 3:4 Instagram Post
Trial Reels: Test Content Without Followers Seeing It
Commenting on Instagram Stories
The 3-Minute Instagram Reel
The Instagram Edits App Is Now Live
The Instagram Dislike Button
Can You No Longer Follow Hashtags on Instagram?
Instagram Story Highlights to Be Moved into the Grid Section?
Customised Instagram Notes Colours
How to Lock Instagram Reels with the New Feature
The Launching of ‘Storylines,’ IG’s New Story Collab Element
The Instagram Blend Feature Has Been Officially Launched
New Instagram DM Updates
How to Easily Navigate the Biggest Instagram Updates for 2025
New Grid Size: The 3:4 Instagram Post
At the end of May, Instagram announced that it now supports the 3:4 post ratio. What motivated this decision is likely the fact that this is the native format for most phone cameras and the new ratio will now support a more accurate representation of users’ images without the need to stretch or crop them. Instagram announced this update on their Creators channel:
As you can see, users still have the option of sharing square (1:1) and 4:5 aspect ratio images, however introducing 3:4 simply offers more flexibility.
Trial Reels: Test Content Without Followers Seeing It
Perhaps one of the most exciting Instagram updates for 2025 is the new trial reel feature allowing users to post Reels that are only shown to non-followers.
This feature was introduced as a content testing tool, helping creators experiment with new styles, formats or branding without their followers seeing unfinished ideas. Trial reels are a great way to test what engages users (short vs. long videos, polished vs. casual clips) without disrupting your feed.
What’s more, many are using the new trial reel feature as a free growth tool, repurposing their best-performing content to attract new audiences without overwhelming existing followers.
Commenting on Instagram Stories
Instagram has expanded its interactive features by allowing users to publicly comment on stories. While this feature started rolling out in 2024, it has become widely available to users in 2025. By default, only users the story creator follows can leave comments, but settings can be adjusted to allow all followers or disable comments entirely.
For brands and creators, commenting on Instagram stories presents a chance to boost real-time engagement by encouraging responses with prompts like questions, polls, calls for opinions, etc. However, it’s worth noting that story comments are limited to 60 characters.
The 3-Minute Instagram Reel
Having extended the maximum length of reels from 90 seconds to 3 minutes, Instagram is giving users more time to create engaging content. The 3-minute Instagram reel has made it easier to connect with audiences in a more immersive way and has opened up new possibilities for various content formats, including storytelling, tutorials and behind the scenes videos.
If you’re a creator or a small business owner, you can benefit from the longer format through more detailed product demonstrations, Q&A sessions, or mini-vlogs without having to worry about cutting your content short. While shorter videos still perform well for quick engagement, the option for extended content gives creators some refreshing flexibility to experiment.
The Instagram Edits App Is Now Live
On April 22, Instagram officially launched Edits. It’s their new video editing app and has been interpreted as Instagram’s answer to CapCut, the editing app associated with TikTok. Similarly to TikTok, with the launch of this application Instagram is aiming to offer its users the opportunity to create polished, creative videos more quickly and easily.
Since the initial launch, they’ve introduced various updates such as an AI feature that makes still images move, the option to replace backgrounds with green screen effects and cutout tools that can isolate various objects from photos.
The Instagram Dislike Button
Instagram has started testing out a new dislike button. The feature, at this point only rolled out to small groups of users, is only available on comments and not the actual content. There is no dislike count being shown and dislikes are not publicly visible, allowing users to privately express when they feel uncomfortable with a comment. According to a Threads post by Adam Mosseri, the feature will likely be integrated into comments ranking, pushing down ones that have been disliked in hopes to make the Instagram comment section a friendlier place.
For creators, this can be a great way to filter out comments that are offensive or misleading and focus on relevant feedback.
Can You No Longer Follow Hashtags on Instagram?
Instagram has removed the ability to follow hashtags, a change that was initially made live in December 2024. The aim of this update is to reduce spam and low-quality content that in the past would often surface through the excessive use of trending hashtags.
Now that users can no longer follow hashtags, Instagram is attempting to shift its focus to a more personalised content discovery experience driven by its recommendation algorithms. It’s worth mentioning that users can still search for and browse hashtags on the Explore page.
Businesses who used to rely on Instagram hashtags for followers and to improve visibility need to adapt their strategies to maintain reach. If you find yourself in a similar situation, focus your efforts on high-quality content and audience interaction to stay visible in the feed. This could include responding to comments, posting engaging reels and using interactive story features.
Instagram Story Highlights to Be Moved into the Grid Section?
While this is not yet live for all users, Instagram has announced that story highlights may soon move to a dedicated tab instead of appearing as circular icons under your bio.
This update aims to create a ‘decluttering’ effect on profiles and allow recent content to be prioritised, but it may make highlights less immediately visible. If your brand relies on Instagram story highlights, consider mentioning them more frequently in stories alongside clear CTA stickers directing followers to check your Highlights tab.
Since this update is still in testing, we’ll have to wait and see if Instagram makes it permanent, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Customised Instagram Notes Colours
You may have noticed a pop-up on your account stating that you can now ‘Express yourself with a colorful note’. Indeed, some users can now customise their notes by adding a colour and an emoji. Note that the feature hasn’t been fully rolled out yet to all users and is still considered ‘under development.’ Here’s a preview of the feature, as shared by app researcher @varma.adwaith on Threads:
How to Lock Instagram Reels with the New Feature
Instagram is testing out a new feature which allows users to hide their Reels behind a lock code, prompting viewers to ‘Enter secret code’ to view the content. The first official use of the feature was activated by The Weeknd, who posted a clip from his new film ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ that was locked behind a code. However, Instagram first teased the feature back in early April in its Design profile:
Are you already wondering how to lock Instagram reels yourself? Well, the new feature isn’t broadly available at this point, but if it does get officially launched, the way it will work is that users will have to share a reel, then add a secret code with a clue to unlock it. In this way they’ll be able to target specific audience segments. For example, if you’re promoting an exclusive event, you could share a reel only viewable by those who’ve purchased tickets and received the unique access code.
The Launching of ‘Storylines,’ IG’s New Story Collab Element
Instagram is currently testing a new collaborative Stories feature called ‘Storyline’, designed to let users build shared narratives with their friends. If you and your friends are attending the same event, for example, you’ll be able to publish related Stories to a single, ongoing thread.
Only friends who follow each other will be able to link new stories to the original, but if you’re posting publicly, their followers will also be able to view the Storyline and potentially join in.
Instagram’s aim with this update is likely to turn Stories into a feature that’s more interactive and could increase engagement and exposure across users.
App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi posted an example of how the new Storyline feature works on Threads:
The Instagram Blend Feature Has Been Officially Launched
After over a year of testing, Instagram officially launched Blend in the beginning of April. This new feature allows users to create a feed of recommended Reels with another account or group chat.
Once you create a Blend feed, this sends an invite to all members through DM. The reels that appear in the shared feed are then based on the content each of the members tends to interact with on Instagram. It’s essentially a blended feed of all the Reels you and your friends would be suggested individually.
This new feature is likely Instagram’s response to the rise of DM activity and sending Reels being the most common form of communication on the ap
Take a look at this Thread posted by Instagram to see how you can try out the new feature:
New Instagram DM Updates
After giving users the ability to schedule messages up to 29 days in advance at the end of last year, Instagram is continuing to pour energy into DMs in 2025. Some of the new Instagram DM updates include the ability to translate DMs by simply tapping and holding on a message, text transcription of voice messages and sharing music with friends.
Check out some of these new features as shared by Instagram:
DM Translations
How to Share Music on Instagram DM
How to Schedule a Message on Instagram
How to Easily Navigate the Biggest Instagram Updates for 2025
With Instagram rolling out constant updates, keeping up can feel overwhelming, especially trying to balance content creation, engagement and strategy.
SEM Consultants can help - we are a leading social media agency in Birmingham and we help businesses navigate platforms such as Instagram with targeted, fully optimised content that aligns with the latest trends and algorithm changes. If you’re looking to optimise your social media strategy, increase engagement and reach new audiences, our expert team can make that difference for you.
If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, why not have a look at our social media services page to learn more about what we can do for your business? Alternatively, feel free to get in touch with us on 0121 552 6500 or drop us an email at enquiries@sem-consultants.co.uk with any questions you may have. Our team is happy to assist you!
### International SEO in 2025: What You Need to Know
Is expanding your business globally one of your 2025 goals? Or maybe you’re already targeting multiple regions or countries, but not achieving the expected results? If so, you need an effective global SEO strategy. We’ve put together this handy international SEO guide to help you get started.
What Is International SEO?
International SEO is the process of optimising your website or page so that search engines understand which countries you’re targeting and which languages your content should be available in.
This involves adapting the website’s technical structure (such as URL format and hreflang tags) to support localisation, but also creating content that aligns with the culture and expectations of each market. This could mean adjusting tone of voice, using region-specific keywords or even using visuals that better resonate with users in each location.
Local SEO vs Global SEO:
While both local and global SEO aim to increase your website’s search engine positioning and traffic, local SEO focuses on a narrower geographic location, whereas global SEO aims to attract a wider audience. Which strategy is more suitable for your business depends on its unique goals and needs.
For example, if your business largely relies on foot traffic or word-of-mouth referrals, pouring resources into an global-focused strategy would probably not be worth it. But if you’re noticing demand for your services or products abroad, global SEO can help bring the right audiences to you, increasing conversions and helping you grow.
Benefits of Local SEO:
Helps you focus on a narrower geographic area, perfect if your target audience is concentrated in one region
Consistent local listings build credibility and trust with the local community
You’ll come up in results for people actively looking for services in your are
Benefits of International SEO:
By optimising your content to different regions, you connect with target audiences you would’ve otherwise missed
Appearing in global searches improves brand recognition and credibility on an international scale
Tapping into new markets increases your revenue and helps your business grow
Your 2025 International SEO Checklist
Here’s a checklist of the main considerations you need to keep in mind to increase global rankings for your website in 2025:
Language & Localisation in International SEO:
In addition to translating your content to the relevant languages, multilingual SEO involves incorporating any local idioms and dialects, as well as cultural references that might resonate with the target audiences.
Cultural Nuances for International SEO Success:
Buying habits, cultural norms, and holiday seasons that are unique to each market can all influence the way a target audience interacts with your website. Research those to make sure your content is aligned with local preferences.
Audience Profiling for Effective Global SEO:
Demographic insights about each of your target audiences can help you create relevant content. Consider age, location, and common interests. Looking into user behaviour statistics, such as device usage and social media preferences, can also help.
Global SEO and Local Business Listings:
Optimise content for relevant international search engine platforms and online directories.
Keyword Research for Global SEO Campaigns:
Use tools such as SEMRush or Google Keywords Planner, making sure to select the relevant region.
Don’t assume high-volume English keywords rank well internationally. This is not always the case! Make sure to see what searches are popular in the relevant languages.
Terminology can differ across regions as well, even if those regions speak the same language. For example, Canadians and North Americans may use different terms for products/services compared to the UK.
Technical Setup Tips for International SEO:
You have a few options as to what URL structure to choose for your international site. You could use a subdirectory (e.g., website.com/uk) for different languages, as those are generally simpler to manage. Country code top-level domains (e.g., website.uk) are also a great option, but tend to require more resources. You could also choose to place internationalised content on a subdomain (e.g., uk.website.com).
Using IP analysis to adapt the content is not recommended, as it makes it hard for Google to crawl the variations of your website. Have a look at Google’s official overview of international and multilingual site topics for more information on this.
Finally, don’t forget to add hreflang attributes to clarify language/region pages and use the correct currency database so visitors see the correct pricing.
International SEO Legal Considerations
Make sure to stay on top of any local regulations regarding data privacy and website practices. For example, in the UK and Europe, you’ll have to comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), whereas Canada enforces PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).
While there is a lot that goes into global search engine optimisation, the above international SEO best practices are a great starting point for building a good international targeting strategy.
Creating a Global SEO Strategy
If you’ve decided that global search engine optimisation is the right step for you, but aren’t sure where to start, take a look below at some international SEO strategies that can help you lay a strong foundation:
Define Your Markets
Think about where exactly you’re aiming to expand and why. If you’re not sure, look into your current website analytics to see where most of your international visitors are coming from.
Market Research
Get a good understanding of the markets you plan to target. What buying habits do the locals have? What is the average income level? Are there any regulatory specifics you need to consider?
International SEO Keyword Research
If you already have some SEO experience, you’ll know the first step is to identify your keywords. Once you’ve done that, translate and adapt them into each of your target languages. Keep in mind that sometimes, the most popular local searches may not be direct translations.
Creating Localised Content
When creating your content, adapt your tone to align with the relevant culture. This will set you apart from competitors using a ‘copy and paste’ approach.
Building Local Authority and Links
Search engines results are affected by local relevance. To improve yours, try submitting guest posts on local blogs to gain backlinks, or collaborating with local influencers, for example.
How to Do an International SEO Audit
Monitoring how your content performs will help you notice and fix potential issues, as well as continuously improve your strategy.
Using tools like Google Analytics, you can see which countries and regions are driving the most traffic, and whether you’re attracting the right audience in each market.
Another aspect of auditing your international SEO content is reviewing localised keyword rankings. If any of your keywords seem to be stuck, look into how competitors ranking higher are approaching those keywords and use that information to create your strategy.
Comparing your pages to top competitors will also clue you in to any content gaps. Are there any keywords you could be ranking for, but are missing out on?
Common International SEO Mistakes to Avoid
Succeeding in international SEO can be tricky. To help you make sure your strategy works, here a few common international SEO mistakes to watch out for:
Not using hreflang tags: These tags tell search engines which language and region a page is for. Without them, you risk showing the wrong version of your content to users.
Ignoring mobile optimisation: In many countries, mobile usage dominates the market share. An unoptimised site can hurt your rankings (not to mention frustrate visitors).
Skipping local research: Each market is different, so without proper research into local preferences, competitors and search behaviour, your strategy may fail.
Using the same content for every market: Even if well translated, content that isn’t culturally or contextually adapted can fail to engage. Keep in mind that what works in one country may be irrelevant in another.
Assuming one domain structure fits all: Choosing between subdomains, subdirectories or ccTLDs can impact SEO performance in different markets. Instead of sticking to a one-size-fits-all setup, evaluate your international goals to avoid limiting your growth.
How SEM Consultants Can Help You Create a Global SEO Strategy
If you’re new to SEO, creating your own approach to improving global rankings can be overwhelming. We at SEM Consultants work with various businesses based in multiple locations, helping them make sure their services are discoverable by customers worldwide. With our international SEO services, you can rest assured we’ll handle every aspect of your strategy to increase visibility of your website in search engine results across the world.
Click here to find out more about how we can support you, or get in touch with us today!
### Your 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar
With digital marketing becoming more and more of an essential part of any business, having a clear strategy and content calendar is imperative. As we draw towards the end of 2024, it’s time to start planning your 2025 marketing strategy. We’ve pulled together a handy downloadable 2025 marketing calendar which takes you through the most important marketing dates for 2025 month by month to help you create a plan set for success.
Download your 2025 digital marketing calendar here
Why Plan Your 2025 Marketing Strategy Now?
Whilst it might be tempting to plan each marketing campaign as they arise, having a top level digital marketing strategy for the year can help you plan ahead and work around national and international events that might disrupt your best-laid marketing plans. Creating a digital marketing calendar before the start of the year can help you generate ideas and strategies in advance to give your sales, campaigns and marketing content the best possible chance of success. There are a few different types of marketing plans or marketing strategies including a content strategy, social media strategy and overarching digital media strategy.
Planning ahead also allows you the time to work with any current marketing trends such as EGC (employee-generated content) or AI-related marketing trends your company might like to trail in Q1 setting clear plans and expectations to track the effects.
What Should Be Included in Your 2025 Digital Marketing Plan?
There are a few key things that should be included in your 2025 marketing strategy. Your marketing calendar should include key business information such as your industry peak times or usual quiet periods as well as any key dates for product or service launches. This can help you anticipate seasonal fluctuations and activity ahead of time and give your team the best possible start to the year.
By plotting out the most important marketing dates for 2025 alongside your business goals you’ll be able to match the right content to the right audience at the right time and see the results.
Key 2025 Marketing Dates
Whether you’re in a B2C product-based industry looking for some social media content calendar ideas or a B2B or service-based industry, we’ve pulled together the most important dates for your 2025 digital marketing calendar with handy downloadable content calendars you can print out or set as your desktop wallpaper month by month. Alternatively, download the full 2025 marketing calendar for the year here and take a look below for a month-by-month breakdown of the year’s top marketing dates.
January Marketing Dates
January: Veganuary, National Mentoring Month, Dry January, Cervical Cancer Awareness Month
As 2025 kicks off, the world sets off into new-start mode meaning this is a great month for marketing health, organisational or mindset-related products or services. Whether you offer a service that can streamline business processes or sell the latest healthcare gadget, January is a great time for starting afresh with a new, concentrated content strategy.
01 January - New Year’s Day
04 January - World Braille Day
05 January - Twelfth Night
13 January - National Sticker Day
15 January - National Hat Day
20 January - Blue Monday
21 January - Get to Know Your Customers Day
24 January - National Compliment Day
25 January - Burns Night
31 January - National Hot Chocolate Day
Download your January 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
February Marketing Dates
February: LGBTQ+ History Month
The month of Valentines Day and RAOK day, February is also home to LGBTQ+ history month and marks the tail end of the winter months.
02 February - Groundhog Day
04 February - World Cancer Day
09 February - Safer Internet Day
14 February - Valentine's Day
17 February - Random Acts of Kindness Day #raok
27 February - International Polar Bear Day
Download your February 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
March Marketing Dates
March: Women’s History Month, Craft Month, Endometriosis Awareness Month
March is packed full of opportunities to have some fun with your marketing, especially if you are active on social media. With Pancake Day, the first day of Spring and Mother's Day all falling in this month, there are plenty of opportunities to have fun as well as add a more sentimental message to your marketing.
01 March - World Compliment Day
03 March - World Wildlife Day
04 March - Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday
06 March - World Book Day
08 March - International Women’s Day
14 March - Pi Day
15 March - World Consumer Rights Day
20 March - International Day of Happiness & First Day of Spring
21 March - World Poetry Day
23 March - National Puppy Day
30 March - Mother’s Day (UK) & National Doctors Day
Download your March 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
April Marketing Dates
April: Stress Awareness Month, National Pet Month
As well as the ever-present April showers, Easter also falls in April this year offering plenty of marketing dates to add to your calendar.
01 April - April Fool’s Day
02 April - World Autism Awareness Day
07 April - World Health Day
11 April - National Pet Day
13 April - National Scrabble Day
18 April - Good Friday
20 April - Easter Sunday
21 April - Easter Monday
22 April - Earth Day
23 April - World Book Day & St. George's Day
30 April - International Jazz Day
Download your April 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
May Marketing Dates
May: National Walking Month, Skin Cancer Awareness Month
As the weather starts to warm, May kicks into full swing with a whole host of 2025 awareness days as well as the UK's Spring Bank Holiday to centre your marketing efforts around.
04 May - Star Wars Day, “May the 4th be with you”
05 May - Cinco de Mayo & Early May Bank Holiday
09 May - Europe Day
12 May - International Nurses Day
15 May - International Day of Families
21 May - World Day for Cultural Diversity
25 May - National Wine Day
26 May - Spring Bank Holiday
Download your May 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
June Marketing Dates
June: Pride Month
A month for environmental awareness, June is home to World Environment Day as well as World Oceans Day with plenty of ways to show you care. It is also home to King Charles' official royal birthday!
01 June - Global Day of Parents
04 June - National Donut Day
05 June - World Environment Day
08 June - World Oceans Day
15 June - Father's Day
18 June - International Sushi Day
21 June - International Yoga Day, Summer Solstice & King Charles Official Birthday
30 June - Social Media Day
Download your June 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
July Marketing Dates
July: Plastic-free July, Independent Retailer Month
For those with an American audience, marketing will turn red white and blue for U.S Independence Day on the 4th July as well as some fun days such as world emoji day.
04 July - U.S Independence Day
07 July - World Chocolate Day
17 July - World Emoji Day
24 July - National Tequila Day
30 July - International Day of Friendship
Download your July 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
August Marketing Dates
August: Summer School Holidays (UK)
The month of school holidays in the UK can often be a busy one with parents shopping for school supplies for the new year, it can also be a great month for summer-related marketing that has a bit of fun.
08 August - International Cat Day
09 August - National Book Lovers Day
12 August - International Youth Day
19 August - World Photography Day
25 August - Summer Bank Holiday
26 August - Women’s Equality Day
31 August - National Eat Outside Day
Download your August 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
September Marketing Dates
September: Back to School Month, World Alzheimer’s Month, Heritage Open Days (UK), Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Those in the travel industry will mark World Tourism Day in their marketing calendars alongside a number of charitable and literacy-related days.
05 September - International Day of Charity
06 September - Read a Book Day
12 September - National Video Games Day
21 September - International Day of Peace
25 September - World Dream Day
27 September - World Tourism Day
30 September - International Podcast Day
Download your September 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
October Marketing Dates
October: Black History Month, ADHD Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Cybersecurity Awareness Month
The home of Halloween, October offers plenty of spooktacular marketing opportunities to have fun with.
01 October - International Coffee Day
02 October - National Techies Day
04 October - World Animal Day
10 October - World Mental Health Day
16 October - World Food Day
27 October - World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
31 October - Halloween
Download your October 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
November Marketing Dates
November: Movember, National Novel Writing Month ( #NaNoWriMo )
Those in the publishing industry will see the kick off of National Novel Writing Month whilst the country dons their moustache for Movember and one of the biggest sale events of the year, Black Friday, occurs.
01 November - World Vegan Day
11 November - Singles Day
13 November - World Kindness Day
25 November - Thanksgiving (U.S)
28 November - Black Friday
29 November - Small Business Saturday
Download your November 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
December Marketing Dates
December: Universal Human Rights Month
Channel your festive spirit into some Christmas-themed marketing plans for this December in one of the biggest months for shopping in the year offering prime marketing opportunities for those in e-commerce.
01 December - Cyber Monday, World Aids Day
03 December - International Day of People with Disabilities
10 December - Human Rights Day
24 December - Christmas Eve
25 December - Christmas Day
26 December - Boxing Day
31 December - New Year’s Eve
Download your December 2025 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
Need Advice on Winning Digital Marketing Strategy & Tools for 2025?
At SEM Consultants, we’re experts in all things digital marketing. We’ll work with you to identify a clear 2025 digital marketing strategy and utilise the tools you need to ensure marketing success. To find out more about our full range of digital marketing services, contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500.
Alternatively, Download the full 2025 digital marketing calendar now
### What You Need To Know About The Google November 2024 Core Update
Google announced on X and LinkedIn the release of the November 2024 core update last week. This is the third core update for the year and similar updates happened in March and August. This Google algorithm update started rolling out globally on 11th November and will take around two weeks to complete. The effects of this update can impact search results in all languages.
Like previous updates, this core update aims to improve the quality of search results by reassessing how content is evaluated. If this is your first time experiencing a Google core update, here’s what you need to know.
What is the New Google Update 2024
Google can often be quite vague when it comes to its initial core update announcements. In their post on LinkedIn about the November 2024 core update, Google said:
“This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.”
This means that the update is a part of Google's continued efforts to prioritise helpful, reliable, and user-focused content over content that was just written to rank well.
Some of the main things to know about this update are:
This is a Google SEO update that includes big system-wide changes that are broad and not targeted to specific websites or pages.
It’ll take two weeks to complete the update
It will affect all regions and languages
You can find more information about Google Search’s core updates here
What Happens if the New Google Core Update Affects My Site?
Core algorithm updates like the November 2024 core update can affect search engine results in all industries. This can result in a shift in rankings over the coming weeks and months.
If your site experiences a traffic drop during the core update:
Don’t panic! You’ll have to wait until the rollout is completed before you see the full impact of the update. This is typically within two weeks
Check Google Search Console Data to compare data before and after the update so you'll be able to track changes in traffic or rankings.
Look out for significant declines in rankings. While minor position changes (e.g. dropping from position 2 to 4) often don’t require you to take action, large drops in rankings of 20 or more positions will need investigating.
According to Google, as long as site owners continue to focus on creating engaging and helpful content that serves the needs of people and isn’t just for search engines, you won’t need to do much to prepare for the update. If your site already includes original, optimised content that serves the user well, the effects of the update should be minimal. You should continue to make quality improvements to your site.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Google updates aren’t guaranteed to have a negative effect on rankings. However, recovering from any negative impact caused by this latest update could take several months with no guaranteed outcomes.
Tips on Assessing and Improving Your Content
Evaluate whether your site provides helpful, reliable, and user-focused content.
Analyse your impacted pages and compare them with your competitors. This will help you to determine whether your competitors meet searchers' needs better.
Focus on meaningful, sustainable improvements and avoid "quick fixes"
Only delete content as a last resort if it’s unhelpful and cannot be improved.
If you're unsure how to improve your content or need help understanding how Google's core updates might impact your site, SEM Consultants are here to support you. As a trusted digital marketing agency, our SEO services specialise in optimising websites to align with changes to the search algorithm so your content remains fresh, engaging and helpful to your audience.
Contact us today to find out how we can start improving your online presence.
### A-Z of Generative AI
AI has become the talk of the town both within the digital marketing world and beyond it with generative AI taking popular culture by storm. But what is generative AI and what are the key terms you need to know to utilise it within your own business? We’ve pulled together a handy A-Z guide to generative AI with some of the top AI terms you need to know.
Quick Contents:
A-I Terms ¦ J-P Terms ¦ Q-U Terms ¦ V-Z Terms
What is Generative AI?
Whilst you may have heard all of the talk surrounding AI in its various forms, you might not be familiar with the term generative AI. Generative AI, meaning generative artificial intelligence is AI that is capable of generating something. This could be images, text, video, words or other data using generative models in response to a prompt.
For example, Chat GPT, when given a prompt can generate content such as lesson plans, book summaries and more. This type of AI takes its learnings from the patterns and structure of its input training data and then generates new data that has similar characteristics to what it has learned. Now you know the basics, here are the key terms you need to know when it comes to generative AI.
ChatGPT's generative AI tool
A - AI
We’ll start with the main term. AI stands for artificial intelligence. AI is a technology that allows machines to simulate human intelligence and solve problems or queries. AI can be used for a multitude of tasks including when it comes to digital marketing. However, it is important to be cautious when using AI for a website or marketing efforts as it may not be original and always needs a human aspect to quality and fact-check to ensure the proper meaning is shown.
B - Bias
One element that is a side effect from the large amounts of data generative AI tools are trained on is bias. Many AI modals such as ChatGPT can present biases based on the data they have been trained on which can lead to discriminatory or biased output which is also an effect of its lack of real-world understanding and experiences.
C - ChatGPT
Probably one of the most well-known tools in the AI trend that has swept popular culture, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot created by OpenAI that generates responses to a range of queries and can be used for translation, summaries and more. It is designed to be conversational and works by repackaging information it has learned from the internet. There are plenty of ways to train ChatGPT to help with everyday tasks, but a word of caution is advised. Whilst it is a good way to provide summaries or longer texts for examples, it always needs to be fact-checked as it is not always 100% accurate.
D - Deep Learning
Modern generative AI tools use deep learning to absorb vast amounts of datasets for the information it provides. It uses multimodal training to learn the relationships between different elements such as how text relates to an image.
E - Ethical Concerns With AI
When it comes to using generative AI tools for marketing. It’s worth taking a step back to look at the ethical implications before you jump in fully. AI produces responses based on learnings from existing data such as websites and resources available, it is also continuously learning from new information available, including yours.
Generative AI is not an employee so it is imperative that you don’t input any confidential information during use. AI systems rely on vast amounts of personal data with concerns on how it is collected, stored and used. Like the internet, AI can also absorb any prejudices and biases that might appear in the data it analyses, so it is important to review and be aware of any potential biases when using it. Find out more about Gemini’s data collection policy here.
Transparency and accountability can also be issues with generative AI as there is often no clear paper trail for where the information has come from.
F - Formulas
One of the most popular uses for AI is when working with formulas making it a great tool to save time, especially if you are looking a boosting efficiency in Excel for example. Generative AI can generate formulas based on the information you input such as ‘calculate the sum of all values in column A’ and it can also help when understanding or analyzing complex formulas.
G - Generative AI, Gemini
Gemini is Google’s general AI model and is created to be multimodal meaning it works across text, code audio, image and video incorporating logical reasoning with creative collaboration to provide solutions. It also is part of Google Workspace making it an accessible generative AI option.
Google's Gemini Generative AI Tool
H - Human Aspect
When it comes to using AI for marketing, it all comes down to trust and the human aspect. AI-generated marketing content often doesn’t contain the same nuances and personality as human-generated content. This means that whilst it can generate vast amounts of content, the unique voice of your brand could be missing. Pairing AI generated content with a human being whether it is for a social media post, AI-generated marketing strategy or AI-written blog is vital. A human being reading, editing and optimising is essential to ensure originality, affinity to your brand and accuracy, not to mention success out in the world.
I - Image Recognition
AI image recognition works using deep learning models to analyse and interpret images. These are trained on huge datasets of labelled images that are fed into a deep learning model such as a CNN or convolutional neural network which extracts features from images to classify them.
The trained model is constantly tested on a dataset of images to evaluate accuracy so image recognition tools are constantly improving with many featuring on popular mobile devices these days.
J - Use Your Judgement
When using artificial intelligence for marketing, your judgement of what is right for your brand and what looks correct is vital. Whilst AI tools can generate plenty of sweeping statements and generalised fluff pieces, it’s up to the human to decide on what is a good point and can be expanded upon for content and what is just tenuously related words on a page. The same can be said for AI-generated jargon, if you don’t understand what you are reading or producing through your chosen tool, it’s likely your end reader won't do either.
K - Keywords (keep them in mind)
When using AI to create content such as website content or blogs, it’s important to remember that the machine doesn’t know and can’t enforce your SEO strategy automatically. Part of creating SEO-optimised content is optimising with keywords so it’s important that any outlines you create using an AI tool are then reviewed and optimised for SEO using keywords and SEO techniques in order to show up in search engines.
L - Large Language Model
Large language models or LLMs are trained on massive datasets containing billions of words and are based on deep learning to simulate the human brain. They are designed to generate almost human-like text for tasks such as writing stories and translating languages.
M - Machine Learning
Machine learning algorithms are used to train natural language processing models on huge amounts of text data to allow them to learn patterns in language. It also allows artificial intelligence tools to become better at predicting outcomes and answering questions accurately and automatically learn rules previously programmed.
N - Natural Language Processing
Natural language processing or NLP is a branch of artificial intelligence focussed on helping computers to understand and generate human language taking into account things such as grammar, context and sentiment. This method allows AI to create more human-like interactions and text and more accurately undertake tasks such as spam filters, voice assistance and more.
O - Original Content - Reminder
When it comes to using AI for marketing, there is a word of warning. Due to the popularity of generative AI, the internet has become flooded with AI-generated content and Google’s own website crawlers are becoming wise to it. AI content uses information and ideas that already exist on the internet and is limited in the creativity in how it expresses that information. The result of this is generic content that doesn’t entertain or enlighten the reader in any new way and so doesn’t perform as well in SERPs (search engine results pages). Google prizes original informative content above all so if you’re planning on bulking out your website with pages of AI-generated content, you might want to think again.
P - Prompt
Put simply, a generative AI prompt is simply what you enter into the system, whether that is Google’s Gemini, Chat GPT or another AI bot. Some prompts are better than others and there are some useful AI prompts out there for a number of tasks. Some top tips for writing successful prompts include being specific, including context, intent and tone.
Some generative AI examples might include things such as ‘Generate product ideas for my home accessory company based on current industry trends’ or ‘I just opened an Etsy shop that sells trendy customized gift cards. Generate some enticing product descriptions using this information (add information)”.
Using prompts is a great way to generate ideas using generative AI such as Gemini or Chat GPT, it is just important that a human, whether it is an employee within your company or part of the marketing team you hire, is there to review and edit if necessary and bring those ideas to live themselves if it involves creating content such as website copy or blogs.
Q - Quality Review
As with any content you or your digital marketing specialist create, a quality review should always be included when using generative AI for marketing.
R - Reinforcement Learning
Reinforcement learning is a type of machine learning undertaken by an AI tool involving performing actions and seeing the result in a trail-and-error format. In this way, generative AI can perform tasks that usually require a human element such as problem solving or decision-making. In this way, AI is constantly learning and evolving to fit new challenges and become more intuitive.
S - SEO & AI
Now that generative AI is becoming more established, search engines such as Google and consumers have become more in tune with how to spot it. When it comes to SEO there really are no shortcuts and whilst AI tools can help with ideas or pointing out gaps in knowledge, they still have a long way before they can produce SEO optimised content that ranks.
T - Training Data
Training data is the data used to train an AI model so that is can learn patterns in information and make more accurate predictions. This is a core part of how AI works and is able to produce new tips and content.
U - User Experience Through AI
Although you might not see it at first glance, AI has a hand in a number of UX systems and processes. AI can analyse user data to help deliver a more personalised experience based on previous actions or perceived action outcomes, for example showing a customer products they may be interested in. Generative AI can also assist in customer service by picking up on user issues through a chatbot or other method and creating a solution that works for the user.
Another way AI can help with user experience is through accessibility. AI is able to auto-generate captions for images or videos and provide real-time translations, all improving customer experiences on your site.
V - Voice Recognition
Voice recognition AI or speech recognition AI works by capturing the sound waves of the person speaking, converting it into an audio format, using acoustic modelling to map vocal variations such as accents, using language modelling to interpret context and turning this into a transcript that can then be used to issue commands. This is often used for tools such as Google Assistant, accessibility tools or automated customer service lines.
W - Weak AI
Weak AI or Narrow AI is a type of AI that focuses on performing a specific task. Some examples of this could include virtual assistants such as Siri or Alexa or spam filters that use artificial intelligence to weed out spam emails. Online retailers such as Amazon of Netflix use limited AI to suggest products or shows you might like based on your viewing history.
X - XAI (Explainable AI)
Explainable AI is the process of making artificial intelligence’s decision-making process more transparent and understandable to humans. This can help identify issues in data that might otherwise be missed, meet data regulation requirements and build further trust in artificial systems.
Y - Your Brand
When using generative AI, it’s important to keep your brand at the heart of everything you create. Whether you are describing your brand for context as part of the AI prompt or adding your brand voice and language to a piece of content after an AI tool has outlined it, it’s important to ensure your brand identity isn’t lost in the sea of computer generated generic content.
Z - Zeitgeist
ChatGPT & AI have definitely become the zeitgeist of the mid 2020’s and it shows no sign of fading out as a trend. Whilst it may be tempting to jump on board the AI wagon for everything and anything, using it intuitively and for the select tasks it is good at is the best strategy. Whether you use it to organise meeting notes, rewrite your strategy wording or understand some complex code, generative AI has plenty of uses and remains a popular tool.
Talk to the Experts
Need help creating quality content that doesn’t rely on AI? Our SEO content specialists create high-quality, informative content that ranks, so you can be found on Google without taking a chance on low-quality AI content.
Contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out how we can boost your online presence.
### What is the new AI Label on Instagram?
With the rise of AI-generated content online, a number of social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn have created a new labelling system to help users differentiate between real-life and AI generated content on the platforms including a new element you might have spotted when posting on Instagram, the AI label. But what is the new Instagram AI label and what does it mean for everyday and business users? We’ve jumped into a quick run-through of Instagram’s newest feature below.
What is the New AI Label on Instagram?
When posting on Instagram either as a personal user or as an Instagram Business or Creator account, you’ll have noticed a few new options when it comes to posting your images or reels. One of these is the option to mark your post as AI-generated through the new ‘Label as Made with AI’ toggle. This can help users recognise what content has been generated through AI and in some cases is a requirement.
Is Labelling Content as ‘Made With AI’ Required for Instagram?
If you share a photo-realistic video or realistic audio created by AI or digitally altered, Meta requires you to label this as ‘Made with AI’ and you may receive penalties if you don’t label content as required. Labelling wouldn’t be required if, for example, a reel of a forest was created in the style of a cartoon as this would not be a realistic depiction.
Why Should You Label Content as AI on Instagram?
Instagram and other social media platforms are cracking down on AI-generated content and making it easier to spot for users. Marketing content you create using AI as AI-generated can help foster trust amongst your audience and with Instagram and is a requirement in some cases. Some content might be automatically tagged as AI-generated if it contains AI indicators. This includes content created or edited by third-party AI tools as well as content created using Meta’s AI tools, downloaded then uploaded to Instagram.
Using AI-Generated Content on Instagram as a Business
There are a number of reasons why you might want to use AI-generated content on Instagram. For example, you may have created a humorous make-believe image that showcases a product your business supplies. These types of posts can be popular on Instagram but it is imperative that when using AI content as a business you mark it up as such.
Using AI-generated images without altering Instagram users of the fact can cause distrust amongst followers and make your business or brand appear unprofessional or insincere online. If you are considering posting AI-generated content on Instagram, it is best to be cautious and use the AI-generated label on posts. You should also keep in mind that Instagram and Instagram users favour original, user-created content with many younger generations favouring real-life examples and authentic experiences.
What Does the Instagram AI Label Look Like in Practice?
On Instagram, if content is marked as AI, it may be labelled as AI content directly above the content or in some cases as a watermark stating ‘imagined with AI’. Labelling your post as AI should not make any further noticeable changes to your post.
How to Label a Post, Story or Reel as ‘Made With AI’ on Instagram
So not you know all about when to mark content as AI in Instagram, how do you use the new made with AI label? Start off by creating your post, reel or story as normal. In the post or reel editor, an option will appear in the final stage of editing before posting underneath tagging options.
In stories, you can label content as AI by clicking the three vertical dots in the top right corner of your screen once you’ve chosen your content. The option to ‘Label AI’ will then appear and you’ll just need to toggle the label to on before posting to your Instagram stories.
Instagram has a full set of step-by-step instructions on labelling content as AI in their guide here.
How to Turn Off the AI Label on Instagram
Now you've worked out what should and shouldn't be labelled as AI on Instagram, how do you turn off the AI label? To remove the AI label from a post on Instagram, simply click the edit post option, scroll down to the AI label options and toggle the 'label as made with AI' to off. Then save your post. It's as simple as that.
Need Help Creating Content for Instagram or Reaching the Right Audience?
Our social media team is here to help with any questions you might have about social media marketing, including Instagram content creation and sharing. To find out more about how we can help you reach success on Instagram, take a look at our Instagram marketing page here or contact our team now.
### Google Updates Inappropriate Content Policy
In the rapidly evolving digital world, there is an upcoming Google update that could directly impact your small business’ Google ads campaign. Google is set to roll out a crucial update to its Inappropriate Content Policy in February 2024 that will provide a clearer definition of “Sensitive Events”.
To help you understand what this means to your Google ads strategy, we’ll break down Google’s latest announcement and focus on how this updated Google policy could influence your online advertising.
Understanding Sensitive Events and Your Google Ads
It’s always important to understand Google ads policy updates and their impact, so let’s define Sensitive Events in the eyes of Google. According to Google, a “Sensitive Event” is defined as “an unforeseen event or development that creates significant risk to Google's ability to provide high quality, relevant information and ground truth, and reduce insensitive or exploitative content in prominent and monetized features.”
In other words, Google considers an event with a significant social, cultural or political impact that can affect the quality of digital content as a Sensitive Event.
So, why does this matter to your small business? During these types of events, Google wants to make sure that your ads and the information they carry remain high-quality, relevant and more importantly, responsible.
Actions During Sensitive Events and Your Google Ad Strategy
When it comes to marketing a small business, you’re probably wondering what actions will Google take during a Sensitive Event and how it will relate to your Google Ads campaign. The upcoming Google ads policy update will define the actions the search engine plans to take, however, the update aims to minimise exploitative or insensitive content and ensure that your ads align with their vision of a responsible digital space.
Examples of Prohibited Content and Your Google Ad Content
If you’re planning on marketing for small business success, let's look at what kind of content to avoid during sensitive events and how it can impact your Google ads. This list is not exhaustive, but here are some examples of content Google will prohibit.
Google will prohibit any product or service that exploits or dismisses the gravity of a Sensitive Event. Think price gouging, inflating prices, or attempting to use keywords to ride the wave of a crisis.
Google will also prohibit the sale of services and products which may not be able to meet high demands during a sensitive event. Your ad content needs to steer clear of inadequate products or services during these times.
Avoid ad content that suggests the victims of a sensitive event were responsible for their own tragedy. Also steer clear of claims that suggest victims don’t deserve relief or support, ad content that blames victims from certain countries for the event or claims they are deserving of a global public health crisis.
In a nutshell, your Google ads campaign needs to reflect sensitivity and responsibility, avoiding any content that might encourage misinformation or harm your brand image.
How Can Small Businesses Adapt Their Google Ads Strategies?
Understanding and aligning with the updated Google policy is the first step. It's about creating ad content that resonates responsibly, maintaining visibility without exploiting crises. Google's Inappropriate Content Policy update is a call for businesses, especially small ones, to be mindful in the digital space.
If you’d like some support and prefer to leave your Google ad management to the experts, SEM Consultants are here to help. We have a team of Google-certified account managers who can help you navigate the constantly changing digital landscape. We will help you to ensure your ad content meets the requirements of this Google ads policy update and any other Google updates in the future. For more information about managing your Google ads campaign, contact our PPC team who will be happy to help.
### How to Build Your 2024 Content Planner
Are you planning on creating a more strategic content calendar in 2024 in order to drive online growth for your website and business? We’ve put together a quick guide to creating a content calendar for 2024 with some handy 2024 digital marketing calendar dates to include.
What is a Content Planner?
A content planner, also known as a content calendar is a way of forward-planning the content you will be sharing throughout the month, quarter or year. Your 2024 content plan can include things such as the type of content you will be sharing such as blogs, images or videos. It should also include things such as national or international dates that might affect your marketing and content targets such as keywords for SEO.
When using a content calendar you can prioritise important tasks, organise the creation of content and keep track of campaigns running alongside their progress throughout the year. A content strategy defines the logic behind the content, your content plan shows how that strategy will be put into effect.
Content planners can take a number of forms and use any system you prefer to organise. For some, the interactive board format of Trello can be a great way to map out content and keep track of what needs to be posted when. For others, the formatting capabilities and data-based format of Excel or Google Sheets can be the perfect way to organise a content calendar that can be shared with the whole team. If your content calendar will be based around key dates, some might find plotting dates on a traditional calendar whether on paper, in a digital calendar or as a visual computer wallpaper prompt to be the most useful.
Download your free content calendar template for January 2024
Why Use a Content Planner in 2024?
Given Google’s recent updates, having a clear content strategy and plan is more important than ever. Aligning your organic content plan with your business goals is a key way to see success that reflects your business aims. Dedicating some time at the start of the year, calendar month or business quarter to generating a content plan will help ensure your content has a purpose and ticks all of the reader-friendly boxes Google is now so keen on promoting.
Not only that, it could end up saving you time throughout the year. If you can map out what you will be creating and sharing throughout the year based on key industry, company and national trends, you won’t need to spend time struggling for ideas when the day arrives, you could also include links to pre-created content in your editorial calendar that simply need sharing to save even more time.
This is a great way to free up time for short-term trends and give you the ability to react to the market. With pre-created or pre-planned content already to fall back on, you’ll have more time to create additional content based on what is trending to use alongside your already-created content.
What Types of Content Planner Are There?
Whether you are an all-round marketing team of just two people or a whole team of specialists in separate areas of digital marketing, a content planner can help align your goals and see success for 2024.
For example, if you are in charge of creating website content for a travel company and know you will be adding a certain number of new hotels or packages to the website in 2024, a website content planner or blog content planner can help you set the expectations for hotels added and help to support any new pages with related blog content, making the most of your organic content planning.
If you are using your 2024 content marketing plan to go into more depth with your content this year, creating an SEO content planner could be the perfect way to track page changes and improvements with your dedicated keyword targets sitting front and centre in your plan. Search Engine Land has put together a really great guide to creating a 2024 SEO content plan in Google Sheets using some of the program’s many useful functions.
Alternatively, one of the most popular types of content planner is a social media content planner. Social media content planners are a great way to keep track of key industry dates and trends as well as the type of content you will be sharing and when. Whether you are using a dedicated social media planner tool such as Hootsuite to create a dedicated Instagram content planner or manually keeping track of your content plan using another type of software, you’ll be able to create and plan your posts in advance and use the information from your social content plan such as targets to track the performance.
Overall Content Planners
If 2024 is the year you plan to align your content strategy as a whole, an overall 2024 content planner could be just the tool. Multi-platform content plans are extremely useful for marketing teams both big and small and can help to align your brand’s messaging on each platform.
For example, if you have a new offer you will be creating content around for the website, it would be helpful for the information to be included in one place with the same messaging (adapted for the platform) shared on social media, blog posts and website content. When adding a new product to the website, tracking the target keywords in your SEO plan alongside content produced for your blog plan and promotional content shared as part of your social media plan all in one document can help to monitor what has worked best and keep information streamlined for potential customers.
How to Create a Content Planner in 2024 and Use It
Whilst we’ve already detailed most of the uses and steps involved in a content or editorial calendar above, we’ve put together a content planner checklist below with some key things to remember when creating and using your new content calendar.
Creating Your Content Planner
1. Plan a content schedule based on what is realistic for your resources. For example, if you are a one-person marketing team, you might find creating and posting new content every day hard to keep up with. However, once a week might fit your company perfectly.
2. Add this schedule to your content marketing plan along with the types of content you want to be sharing. This could include things such as carousel social media posts, blogs, podcasts or YouTube videos.
3. Add in key business dates such as peak seasons, planned sales or other elements that could affect your business marketing.
4. Add national dates to use as inspiration for social media content creation and trending events. This could include major sporting events, national holidays such as Christmas and Easter or just-for-fun marketing dates such as national cheese day or pet appreciation day. Keep an eye out for dates that are particularly relevant for your business and consumer base. For example, if you are a company that sells beds, Festival of Sleep Day would be the perfect date to add to your content calendar for 2024 alongside hashtags such as #FestivalOfSleep, #SleepDay, #Relaxation or #SelfCare.
5. Using the above, outline the content you will be creating. This can be done in a brief format such as a static Instagram post for Dry January on X date advertising your new alcohol-free gins alongside quotes from happy customers. Alternatively, you could create the content that will be shared and attach it as a link on the calendar so it can simply be checked by the nominated person and posted on the correct date.
2024 Digital Marketing Dates to Add to Your Content Planner
Now you know how to create a content plan and use it, we’ve pulled together some 2024 digital marketing dates for your calendar to get you started.
January 2024 Marketing Dates
Dry January
Veganuary
1st January - New Year’s Day
3rd January - Festival of Sleep Day
4th January - World Braille Day
4th January - Twelfth Night
8th-14th January - UK Houseplant Week
15th January - Brew Monday/Blue Monday
25th January- Burns Night
26th January - Australia Day
February 2024 Marketing Dates
10th February - Chinese New Year
13th February - Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday
14th February - Valentine's Day
20th February - Love Your Pet Day
March 2024 Marketing Dates
1st March - St David’s Day
4th - 10th March - British Pie Week
7th March - World Book Day
8th March - International Women’s Day
17th March - St Patrick’s Day
18th March - Global Recycling Day
20th March - First Day of Spring
29th March - Good Friday
31st March - Easter Sunday
April 2024 Marketing Dates
Download your free content calendar template for April 2024
1st April - April Fool’s Day/Easter Monday
14th April - Garden Day
21st April - National Tea Day
22nd April - Earth Day
23rd April - St. George’s Day
May 2024 Marketing Dates
Download your free content calendar template for May 2024
1st May - May Day/ Early May Bank Holiday
4th May - Star Wars Day
16th May - International Day of Light
17th May - World Baking Day
19th - 25th May Chelsea Flower Show
20th May - World Bee Day
27th May - Spring Bank Holiday
29th May - National Biscuit Day
June 2024 Marketing Dates
Download your free content calendar template for June 2024
8th June - World Gin Day
15th June - Clean Air Day
18th June - International Picnic Day
July 2024 Marketing Dates
Download your free content calendar template for July 2024
4th July - American Independence Day
7th July - World Chocolate Day
26th July - Start of the 2024 Paris Olympics
August 2024 Marketing Dates
8th August - International Cat Day
11th August - End of the 2024 Paris Olympics
13th August - Prosecco Day
17th August - National Cupcake Day
26th August - Summer Bank Holiday
September 2024 Marketing Dates
5th September - International Charity Day
9th September - Emergency Services Day
10th September - World Suicide Prevention Day
27th September - World Tourism Day
October 2024 Marketing Dates
3rd October - Buy British Day
4th October - World Smile Day
5th October - World Teachers Day
10th October - World Mental Health Awareness Day
31st October - Halloween
November Marketing Dates
5th November - Guy Fawkes Night/Bonfire Night
10th November - Remembrance Sunday
14th November - King Charles III's Birthday
29th November - Black Friday
30th November - Small Business Saturday
December Marketing Dates
2nd December - Cyber Monday
13th December - Christmas Jumper Day
25th December - Christmas Day
26th December - Boxing Day
31st December - Hogmanay/New Year's Eve
Need Help Creating a Content Plan for 2024?
SEM Consultants are digital marketing specialists with experts in content strategy and creation from blogs to social media content. To find out more about how we can help bring your 2024 marketing goals to life, contact our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500.
### How To Optimise LinkedIn for Small Business Success
LinkedIn isn’t just a platform for job seekers and professionals; it’s a goldmine for small businesses looking to grow, connect with potential clients, and establish their brand presence. In this fast-paced digital age, a well-optimised LinkedIn profile is no longer optional. It’s a necessity for small business owners looking to gain a competitive edge and capture the power of professional networking.
Since LinkedIn is essentially a search engine for professionals, LinkedIn SEO is the key to making your LinkedIn business page and posts easier to find in searches. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of optimising your LinkedIn profile and provide you with practical ways to do it. Whether you’re new to the platform or you have an existing profile in need of a revamp, these tips will help you make the most of your LinkedIn presence.
What is LinkedIn SEO?
LinkedIn SEO or search engine optimisation, is the process of optimising your LinkedIn business account to increase its visibility in search results on the platform. It involves strategically using relevant keywords in your profile, such as your tagline, about section, business profile and posted content, to improve the chances of your profile appearing when users search for specific terms. A well-optimised LinkedIn company page can enhance your chances of being discovered by potential clients and connections making it an essential element for professional branding.
What are the Benefits of SEO on LinkedIn for Small Businesses?
There are many good reasons why small businesses should optimise their LinkedIn business profiles. Here are a few of the benefits of having an optimised LinkedIn account.
Enhanced Brand Visibility
LinkedIn boasts over 950 million members in 200 countries worldwide, making it one of the most significant professional networks globally. By optimising your business page, you increase your brand’s visibility and reach a vast audience of potential customers and partners. According to LinkedIn, small businesses with complete profiles get 30% more weekly views.
Effective Networking
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking. An optimised profile enables you to connect with potential clients and top talent in your industry. Building a robust professional network can open doors to collaboration, referrals and business opportunities that you may not find elsewhere.
Gain Authority in Your Niche
Positioning yourself and your business as a thought leader in your industry can significantly boost your credibility. Sharing insightful content, engaging with discussions and demonstrating expertise through your profile can help you establish authority and trust among your connections.
LinkedIn Lead Generation
Optimising your LinkedIn profile can turn it into a lead-generation machine for your small business. It provides another platform to showcase your products or services, share client success stories and attract potential customers who are actively looking for the solutions you offer.
How do I Optimise My LinkedIn Business Page?
In just a few steps you can maximise the impact of your LinkedIn company page to attract more traffic and improve your profile’s relevancy in your specific industry.
Add a LinkedIn Profile Picture and Cover Image
Be sure to complete your LinkedIn business page in full by adding links to your website, your company details and good-quality images. Your profile picture is the first impression you make on LinkedIn. Use a professional headshot that clearly shows your face or a high-quality image of your logo. Your LinkedIn cover photo can help your profile stand out and should be a relevant image or banner that conveys your brand’s message. Ideally, your profile picture should be 400 x 400 pixels and should be in JPEG or PNG format. For optimal display, your LinkedIn cover photo size should be 1128 x 191 pixels.
Make Your LinkedIn Tagline and “About” Section Compelling
Your headline or tagline should be more than just your company’s title, it should communicate your unique value. This is also the perfect opportunity to optimise your LinkedIn profile for search by using relevant keywords in your headline and summary sections. Use the “about” section or summary section to tell the story of your small business, share your company’s mission statement, your values and explain what sets you apart.
Use Keyword Optimisation
Conduct keyword research to identify the terms your target audience uses when searching for things related to your business. As well as using keywords to optimise your tagline and profile summary, incorporate keywords naturally in your content.
Make the Most of the LinkedIn “Featured” Section
LinkedIn likes to provide high-quality, meaningful content and the “Featured” section of your LinkedIn profile allows you to showcase your best work. Make the most of this section to share articles, case studies, videos, or any content that highlights your expertise and offerings.
Create an Engaging Content Strategy
Engage your audience with valuable content. Share industry insights, updates about your business and relevant news. Be sure to utilise SEO-friendly content since articles on LinkedIn are crawled by search engines. This means that good-quality, long-form SEO-based content can show up in searches through LinkedIn. Much like other platforms, the LinkedIn algorithm likes videos and since visual content can be especially engaging, be sure to include some in this section.
Start Networking and Connecting
Actively connect with relevant people and companies in your industry. Join LinkedIn groups and participate meaningfully in discussions. Engaging with your connections and groups will increase your profile’s visibility and engagement.
Use LinkedIn Analytics to Measure Your Success
To determine the effectiveness of your LinkedIn SEO, use the built-in analytics to keep an eye on key metrics such as profile views, post engagement and information like how many connections you’ve gained and where they’re from. The insights provided by LinkedIn analytics will allow you to refine your strategy and optimise your profile further if necessary.
Need Helpful Social Media Management?
Optimising your LinkedIn profile can be a game changer for your small business that increases your brand’s visibility, makes networking easier and can even help to generate leads. If you need help making your online presence more visible, SEM Consultants are experts who can help you create a winning social media strategy. To find out more about our social media management, call us on 0121 552 6500 or contact our team of professionals online
### Evergreen Content: Why is it Important for Small Businesses?
The struggle to consistently produce fresh content on a small business blog is real! If you’ve ever tried small business blogging, you’ll know it can be hard to keep up with the demand for relevant content that stands out and ranks on Google. If you’ve found yourself stuck and you want to bring more organic traffic to your small business website, creating evergreen content could be the solution you’re looking for.
What is Evergreen Content?
As the term suggests, Evergreen content relates to SEO content that stays useful, relevant and fresh, no matter how much time has passed. Much like how an evergreen tree keeps its leaves over time, evergreen content keeps its relevance over time.
Producing a constant stream of new content can be tricky for many small businesses as it can be time-consuming. Making evergreen content a part of your digital marketing strategy is a good way to drive traffic to your site long after publishing the content. This means that three-year-old evergreen blog posts can still rank well in search engine results. While Google loves to serve searchers with up-to-the-minute content, it also values solid evergreen articles and blog posts that provide value to the reader - even if they are months old. Bear in mind that fresh content with current events and recent trends or topics specific to the time of year are not considered evergreen. For example, a blog post about the newest fashion trends for 2023 would not be considered evergreen content based on the information being relevant to a single year.
Why is Evergreen Content Important?
Evergreen content is important for small businesses looking to establish their online presence and improve their visibility. A well-written piece of evergreen content with the right keywords has the potential to rank well in search engines thanks to its timelessness. Articles and blogs with themes like “Top 10 Gardening Trends for 2023” may do well in 2023 but will become less relevant over time. Creating evergreen content can positively impact lead generation and the flow of traffic to your website as it will provide value to the reader for the life of your business. Valuable and timeless content is also just the type of content that other sites will want to link to. This is great for small businesses as acquiring quality backlinks can help improve the domain authority of your website.
What are the Benefits of Evergreen Content?
Small businesses will find a lot of benefits to having an evergreen content strategy. Being able to produce evergreen blog posts and articles will elevate your small business blogging efforts and make your site more trustworthy in the eyes of Google. Some other advantages of creating evergreen content include:
It can save precious time - As a small business, keeping up with a regular weekly blogging schedule may not be feasible. Creating evergreen content means you can post an article once and years later it can still be valuable to your audience. Regular updates will ensure it stays relevant for years to come.
Your content will appeal to anyone interested in your business - Evergreen articles are often filled with timeless information and keywords specific to your business. Since the information will always be meaningful to your audience, anyone with an interest in your product or service will value the content, no matter how old it is.
Evergreen content provides a great ROI - One blog writing session can result in countless reposts on social media. This means you can update (if necessary) and promote an old post on social media yearly if you want to and they can continue to drive traffic to your website.
Provides a constant stream of traffic - Some people think that you need to post content daily to get a steady flow of traffic to your website. This is true if your topics focus on news events or current trends like fashion or entertainment. Timeless content with unchanging information like guides to your products or FAQs will attract traffic consistently.
Useful for link building - Reposting your evergreen articles across social media platforms and other relevant sites helps to create lots of links to your content which will improve your backlink profile.
Great for SEO - Good-quality evergreen content should be rich in well-searched keywords that are specific to your business. This will make your content easier for your readers to find and make it easier to rank higher in search results if it provides value to the reader.
Evergreen SEO content helps to build trust and authority - Google recognises and values perennial information that demonstrates knowledge and expertise in your industry.
What are Some Examples of Evergreen Content?
The key to creating effective evergreen content is to ensure it remains relevant and valuable over time. Remember to update your content periodically to reflect any changes or developments in your industry. There are several types of evergreen content that small businesses can create to provide long-lasting value to their audience. Some popular types include:
How-to Guides and Tutorials - these guides or tutorials provide step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish a specific task or solve a problem like our Complete Guide to Link Building for Small Businesses. They can cover a variety of topics relevant to your small business or target audience. These are great for establishing yourself as an authority in your industry.
FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions - When you create a comprehensive FAQ section on your website, it serves as a valuable resource for your audience. You can address common concerns and questions related to your services or products and these questions can be updated as new questions arise.
Resource lists - Create a list of helpful resources, websites or tools related to your industry. These lists can include useful links to articles, podcasts, videos or books that your audience will find beneficial. Sometimes they are titled “Top 10” or “Must-have” lists. Our list of free SEO resources is an example of a resource list that can be updated when necessary.
Glossaries - You can develop a glossary of industry-specific terms to explain concepts related to your small business in simpler terms, like our Social Media Marketing A-Z. This kind of content is valuable for educating your audience and helping them to understand the terminology used in your field.
Case studies and testimonials - Sharing real-life examples and success stories that highlight how your services and products have benefited your customers is a great way to show your audience the value of what you offer. Seeing how much your services or products have helped others can be a persuasive tool for future customers.
Now you have an idea of what is considered “evergreen”, let's look at what is not evergreen content:
Seasonal content - written content that relates to a specific season or events that happen at a particular time of year is not evergreen like, “Best Gifts for Easter” or “Tips for Spring Cleaning”
News articles - time-sensitive articles that focus on current events, trends or developments are not evergreen. The information can quickly become outdated as events unfold or new details become available.
Trending topics - content with a focus on viral sensations, trending topics and fads will generate a lot of interest for a short time but will quickly become outdated as they lose their relevance. Social media trends and meme-based content are not examples of evergreen articles.
Statistics or data reports - While data and statistics can be valuable, they can quickly become outdated when new research is published or as circumstances change. Content that relies heavily on specific data and statistics may not be considered evergreen.
It is important to note that these topics are not bad and shouldn't be avoided completely to make way solely for evergreen content. Topical content should form a part of a successful content strategy as it is a great way to capture the reader’s attention since it is often highly targeted.
Tips for Writing Evergreen SEO Content.
Here are a few tips to help you to create high-quality content for your small business that continues to provide value and supports your long-term content marketing strategy.
Conduct keyword research - This will help to identify relevant keywords and long tail keywords that are often searched for in your industry. This helps to improve your content’s visibility in search engines and attract organic traffic.
Utilise On-page SEO techniques - Apply on-page SEO to your written content by using keywords in the URL, the title and headings as well as the body of the content (avoid stuffing your piece with too many keywords). Don’t forget you can also use alt tags for images and link out to other useful evergreen content within your written piece for added value.
Make your content clear and concise - Write evergreen content that is clear, concise and easy to understand. Jargon and technical terms should be avoided unless necessary so that your content can appeal to a wide range of readers. Your content should be accessible to those who are unfamiliar with our service as well as those who are experts in your industry.
Promote and repurpose your evergreen content - Promote your content across various platforms such as via your social media channels and email newsletters. Your content can also be repurposed into different formats like infographics, podcasts, videos and downloadable content to help reach a wider audience and extend the life of the content.
Evergreen Content Created by SEO Experts
If you’re struggling to come up with small business content ideas for your evergreen content, we can help. SEM Consultants have a dedicated team of SEO content writers who can create an evergreen content strategy that includes a steady stream of blog content to keep your audience engaged and informed. To find out more about our services, contact us today for more information.
### What is PPC Management in Digital Marketing?
If you are thinking about advertising your business online, you may have come across the term PPC or pay-per-click. Similarly, you may have considered outsourcing your PPC to an external PPC manager. But what is PPC all about and what does PPC management entail? We explain the ins and outs of PPC management and what pay-per-click is all about.
What is PPC in Digital Marketing?
PPC stands for pay-per-click and is a type of online marketing run through platforms such as Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and even social media platforms in a multi-channel pay-per-click campaign. The pay-per-click model works to drive targeted traffic to websites and the advertiser, you, pays each time one of their ads is clicked. Hence the term PPC or pay-per-click. Through PPC advertising, your website can quickly appear among the top search results for your industry.
What is a PPC Campaign?
Now that you have the basics down, what is a PPC campaign and how does PPC work? The most obvious PPC campaign example is in search results pages. Through creating a targeted PPC campaign in Google Ads for example, you can purchase different types of ads including PPC ad types such as Search text ads or Shopping ads to appear in different parts of the search engine results page. You can also run PPC campaigns to appear as display ads or social ads so that they appear on websites or social media pages or YouTube, connecting with customers at different stages where they interact most online.
To Build Your PPC Campaign, You’ll Usually Take the Following Steps:
Using your objectives, choose your campaign type
Refine your PPC campaign settings and ad targeting using settings such as location, audience, device etc.
Set your budget and bid strategy
Add your PPC campaign URL destination (where you want to send people)
Build your PPC ad
What is PPC Management?
Whilst there is a world of opportunities when it comes to PPC, there are also plenty of ways it can be used badly and end up costing a lot of money for little return, particularly for those new to the game. Target your PPC campaigns with keywords too broad and you could run the risk of paying over the odds for traffic that has no interest in the products or services you offer once they land on your page. The same can happen with PPC targeting with the wrong search intent. Experienced PPC managers know the best ways to create successful PPC campaigns that perform well consistently and offer a high ROI or return on investment for your industry and business.
What is the PPC Management Process?
Any good PPC agency will sit down with you before any work starts to identify your business goals and the PPC budget you are comfortable with to set pay-per-click targets that work for your needs and advise on the best strategy to reach your business goals. Typically, PPC specialists will conduct thorough keyword research related to your industry and look at how competitors are bidding to work out the best PPC bidding strategy to meet your business goals using your set budget.
A PPC manager will oversee your PPC ad spend to make sure that it remains within budget whilst being used as effectively as possible to maximise your returns. Crafting the perfect ad including natural-sounding copy to optimise ads for voice search is an art and successful PPC specialists know the right way to target your prospective customers on a level that will draw them in.
PPC Strategy
PPC strategy is an ever-changing art and PPC specialists must keep up with near-constant changes from platform providers like Google Ads to ensure the PPC techniques they use are as effective as possible. You’ll want an effective pay-per-click strategy to create the right ads at the right time, targeting searchers when they are looking for a product or service like yours and raising your profile to get in front of more viewers. The best PPC strategies reduce ad spend costs and frequently discover new, targeted keywords as customer search habits develop.
Some key aspects of PPC management strategy are the following:
Optimising copy used in paid ads to make it more engaging and compelling to attract clicks
Tracking the right metrics for your PPC campaigns & using the right tools to learn from them
Researching the best keywords to target with campaigns for the right website traffic and setting up optimised ad groups
Optimising campaigns for the highest ROI
A/B testing CTAs and other ad elements to find the perfect combination for PPC success
What is Better, SEO or PPC Management?
When it comes to successful digital marketing, the most honest answer is both. Whilst PPC is a quick way to drive traffic and conversions on your website, once you stop paying for ads, the traffic will also start to dry up. A well-planned SEO strategy and long-term website SEO improvements on the other hand will take longer to put in place and start performing but will continue to drive traffic to your website through search engine rankings long after the initial investment.
Looking for Help Managing Your PPC?
We’ve spent years honing our craft to become a leading PPC agency specialising in targeted PPC management. We’ll get to know your business and understand your goals to craft successful PPC campaigns that work for you. To find out more about our PPC management services, contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500. Alternatively, take a look at our PPC management page to find out more about what we do.
### What is Instagram Threads?
If you have been on any form of social media recently you will probably have heard of Instagram’s new platform Threads. Whilst we’ve seen the hype surrounding new social media platforms pass quickly before, Instagram seems to be pushing its new Twitter alternative with some force. But what is Instagram Threads and how can you use it for your business? We walk through the ins and outs of Threads from Instagram with everything you need to know about this new platform.
What is Instagram Threads?
Instagram Threads was launched by Instagram and its parent company Facebook on the 6th of July 2023 leading to a mass download of the Threads app across the world. Amassing over 100 million users within its first few days, Threads is a social media platform where you can post ‘threads’ or short snippets of text and more. You can also reply to threads, share threads you’ve found interesting and follow other Threads users on the platform. Threads and replies can also include links, photos, videos or any combination of these to form your post. Currently, Threads only exists in app form so is limited to mobile use. Regulatory problems also mean that although it is available in 100 countries including the UK, it is currently not available in the EU.
How Does Instagram Threads Work?
Instagram Threads is an Instagram-linked platform that works through your existing or new Instagram account. You’ll be able to import any accounts you currently follow on Instagram in order to automatically follow the accounts on Threads if a Threads account exists for that user. You’ll also be able to find and follow new Threads accounts in the app with your central feed pulling up content you might be interested in both from followed accounts and new accounts you may be interested in. If you follow or unfollow accounts on Threads however, this will not affect who you follow or unfollow on Instagram.
Do I Need an Instagram Account to Use Threads?
Yes. You will need to have an Instagram account to use Threads, despite it being a separate app on your phone. When you set up Instagram Threads it will link with your current Instagram account and you can copy over information such as your name, bio, links and profile image from Instagram. If you don’t already have an existing Instagram account, you’ll need to create a new one. If you have multiple Instagram accounts such as a business or creator account and a personal profile, you will be able to create a Threads account for each of these. If you have a verified Instagram account, your Threads account will also display the verified icon next to your name.
When you join Threads, Instagram adds an icon to your Instagram profile with your Threads number, people can then click on the icon to find your Threads account. If you do not want the icon to appear on your Instagram profile, you can hide it in your Instagram settings.
Can I Make My Threads Profile Private?
Threads works in a similar way to Instagram in that you are able to have a public or private Threads profile. Simply go into the settings on your profile and toggle the switch to set your Threads profile to private or make it public from private. Any users under 16 or 18 in some countries will automatically have a private profile on Threads. You can also block other users on Threads as well as restrict threads accounts and report accounts in a similar way to Instagram. Any accounts you have blocked on Instagram will also be blocked on Threads.
When creating a Threads post, you can also limit who is able to interact with what you have posted by setting your Thread to profiles you follow or mentioned only compared to the Thread being accessible to all.
What Can Be Shared on Instagram Threads?
You might have heard that Threads is Facebook’s Twitter and this is a close comparison. Text, images, links and videos can be shared on Instagram Threads with your followers. However, Threads doesn’t yet support hashtags as Instagram and other platforms do and although they can technically be included in your post, they are not searchable and do not extend the reach of your post on Threads. Threads are limited to 500 characters, still higher than Twitter’s 280-character limit. Videos shared on Threads have a limit of 5 minutes in length. Once you’ve reached your limit, you’ll have to add any additional text to a follow-up Thread that can be linked to the original Thread in a similar way to Twitter.
It’s quick and simple to share Threads posts to Instagram stories or other social media platforms and adding a link to a Thread creates a preview of the page for ease of sharing to the Threads platform. Be warned, once you’ve posted something to Threads, you won’t be able to edit the content. You’ll need to delete the Thread and repost in order to make any changes.
Can I Use Instagram’s Threads as a Business?
Instagram’s threads is currently an ad-free platform. However, a number of businesses and organisations have taken to the platform to post organically and create a large following. As a brand awareness tool and customer engagement platform, Threads has huge potential if used correctly.
The ability to share links on Threads means that articles and more can be shared on the platform with ease and many users joining the platform may automatically follow brands on Threads if they have chosen to carry over their follows from Instagram meaning brands need not lose their following when starting out on the platform. Why not create your first Thread with something memorable that captures your essence as a brand?
A number of brands have adopted the platform from Gordon Ramsey to Coca-Cola and Netflix who are all employing successful Instagram Threads strategies to connect with followers.
Creating a Threads Marketing Strategy
As with any social media platform, it is important to have a strategy when using it to promote your business. Right now, any Threads strategy will be organic so not a paid ads strategy and will depend on connecting with your followers in an authentic way. However, this may change in the future as the platform develops.
Quick-Fire Updates and Interactions
As a rapid-fire social media platform, Threads is the perfect platform for quickly-changing conversations and updates and can easily fit into a social media strategy. Threads can help you stay connected with potential and existing customers and brand advocates by responding to Threads and allowing discussions to form on shared ideas in quick succession. You’ll be able to create short-form compelling content or add in humour if that is part of your brand. So far, brands who have embraced Threads have seen healthy levels of interaction with content.
Top Tips for Using Threads as a Business
Remember, you are not just there to sell. A Threads account that only posts links to products with CTAs is unlikely to see much traction on this platform. Try to switch it up with trending topics, shared how-to guides or interesting industry news
Respond to users to spark conversations. Respond to user comments on your posts to start conversations and don’t be afraid of commenting on posts that mention your product or brand with interesting or humorous observations.
Don’t be generic. Avoid having a blanket response to people who comment or mention your brand. Threads is the perfect platform to add some personality to your online presence and users will interact more with brands that have humans behind the account.
Use Threads as a part of your overall social media strategy. Threads is unlikely to become the main part of your online presence or marketing but will work well as part of a multi-platform social media strategy as long as it is appropriate for your brand.
Keep it consistent. As with any social media platform, letting fans know what to expect from you is key to Threads success. Post consistently to gain traction and keep your brand’s voice and personality in mind with everything you post.
Mix up what you post. Threads offers the opportunity to share a range of content so use this to your advantage when posting. Mix up visuals such as images or graphics with text-based quick-fire threads and relevant video content. Feel free to reference current events or funny happenings but be aware of your audience and anything that may be a controversial topic.
Need Help Managing Your Social Media Strategy?
SEM Consultants are the experts in all things social media and can help you take your brand to new audiences. Our social media experts can help you develop a solid social media strategy that meets your goals. To find out more about how we can help contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now.
### Microsoft Advertising Issues Policy Updates
In its ongoing commitment to transparency and user satisfaction, Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a series of updates and policies designed to align with regulatory changes and enhance visibility. These changes to the Microsoft Ads policy aim to provide advertisers and users with a clearer understanding of the platform's guidelines and enable them to reach larger audiences for various products and services. To make this update easier to understand, we’ve highlighted the key points of these updates.
Microsoft Ads Policy Transparency Updates
The upcoming policy updates could bring significant changes to how businesses use their Microsoft Ads account. Effective from the 1st of July a new policy will be implemented, outlining potential impacts on advertising accounts. This policy will provide context on various factors that can affect ads or accounts, including disapprovals of ad components, such as keywords, ad copy, or landing pages. It will also cover store or product disapprovals.
Although a three-strikes policy for repeated policy violations already exists, this update will provide users with more details for greater clarity.
Users will also have a better understanding of serious violations that warrant immediate suspension of services. The policy will specify these violations which will give users additional insight about what fits into this category.
Updates to the Advertising Identification Verification (AIV) Program Expansion
Microsoft is expanding its Advertising Identification Verification (AIV) program to all supported advertising markets. Advertisers will need to complete the verification process by the 1st of August. An email notification will be sent to inform advertisers about the verification requirement, and the status will be updated automatically.
A new Ad Library will be launched in July, enabling users to view Bing Ads displayed within the European Union. Users can search for ads using advertiser names or keywords. Based on the information provided through the AIV process, the library will display the advertiser's name and the individual who paid for the ad.
Additional Microsoft Ads Updates
Microsoft Advertising has made additional policy updates that will mainly affect the health and gambling sectors. Here is a summary of the key highlights.
With some restrictions, Microsoft now allows advertising for vitamins and supplements on the Microsoft Audience Network. Ads must be clear and honest and cannot make claims like “this product cleanses the liver” for example. All related landing pages must be dedicated product pages rather than videos or editorial-style ads known as “advertorials”.
Gambling advertising is now permitted on the Microsoft Audience Network, subject to licensing requirements and compliance with the gambling enablement process.
Starting from the 1st of July, you’ll need to cease targeting Belgium in gambling advertising, if applicable, since gambling ads will no longer be allowed in that country. System enforcement will be implemented accordingly around that time.
Ireland will soon be introducing a watershed period as a part of their restriction on gambling advertising. Although the exact date hasn't been set, Microsoft recommends advertisers targeting Ireland should update their campaign settings to ensure their ads are not displayed between 5:30 am and 9:00 pm.
Across all ad types globally, advertising for clinical trials or experimental treatments will no longer be allowed, effective from the 1st of August.
You can delve deeper into Microsoft Advertising Policies here.
If any of these Microsoft Ads updates affect your advertising account(s) or campaigns, it is essential to make the necessary adjustments ahead of the policy change on the 1st of July to ensure compliance with the updated guidelines.
SEM Consultants have a team of dedicated PPC specialists who can guide you through any policy changes that may affect your account. If you’d like support with your Microsoft Ads account or you’d like more information about our PPC management service, contact our help team today.
### Our Google Partner Badge Has Been Renewed!
For the past 13 years, SEM Consultants have continued to be recognised for maximising Google Ads campaign success for our clients!
Maintaining our status as a Google Partner is a significant achievement for our digital marketing agency. It represents a recognition of our expertise, dedication and success in leveraging the power of Google’s advertising platform.
What is the Google Partner Programme?
Ad agencies and third parties who manage Google Ads accounts on behalf of businesses and brands can join the Google Partner Programme. It was designed to support partners by providing tools and resources to help their clients to get the most out of their Google Ads campaigns.
Agencies and companies that meet the requirements for becoming a Google Partner receive a Google Partner badge that can be displayed on their website. This shows clients and potential prospects that the agency has the latest Google Ads expertise.
The renewal of our Google Partners badge demonstrates that we are leaders when it comes to managing successful ad campaigns as we continually meet Google’s stringent performance standards.
Why Choose a Google Partner?
Two words - Trust and Credibility. When you choose an agency that is a recognised Google Partner, you choose experts who get their certification and information directly from Google so you can trust in their expertise. This partnership also signifies that we meet Google's strict standards and have demonstrated our commitment to managing effective, results-driven campaigns.
Being recognised as a Google Partner means we excel when it comes to helping clients to grow their businesses through successful Google ad campaigns. It demonstrates to our existing and potential clients our ability to deliver exceptional results and maintain the highest standards of professionalism. When you become one of our clients, you can be reassured your advertising budget are in safe and capable hands.
Our renewed Google Partner status is a testament to the expertise of our PPC team and our company’s dedication to the field of digital marketing as a whole. It signifies our commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients time after time.
If you’d like more information about our Google Ads services, contact us to speak to one of our PPC experts.
### Our Complete Guide to Link Building for Small Businesses
The need for an all-encompassing SEO strategy has never been greater. With countless businesses getting their business online every day, competition in the online world is fierce. For those in the know, link building can be a key part of ensuring SEO success, particularly for small businesses. However, it is worth approaching with caution, with Google’s frequent evolutions, link building no longer finds success in the shady backlinking strategies of the past and quality links are now more important than ever. Our link building guide for small businesses is here to answer all of your questions and help you get started building your online presence.
What is Link Building?
Link building is the process of creating and maintaining links to and from your website in order to improve the overall SEO of your website. Link building can be an extremely useful SEO tactic to build up the findability and trustworthiness of your website. Google follows links to and from your website in order to index pages, illustrated in their video here. A high number of good quality links to your website can vastly boost the quality and trustworthiness of your website in the eyes of Google by establishing EEAT.
Whilst some links are not built for the purposes of SEO, such as links on journalistic websites, for this article we will focus on link building for SEO. We’ve put together a complete guide to link building to help your backlink strategy get off to the best start.
How Can Link Building Benefit My Small Business?
One of the clear benefits of link building, especially for small businesses is a stronger SEO presence. Although Google is tight-lipped about its exact ranking systems after previous ranking algorithms were manipulated in the past, linking is a beneficial part of ranking on Google.
A helpful aspect of any link building strategy is that once you’ve established good links to your website, more will inevitably follow. As long as your website offers value, more links and more visits to your website should result in a higher number of links from other websites that recognise your website as a source of authority on a subject. This is an important argument for why link building should be a connected part of your overall SEO strategy for your small business.
Build Your Brand With Link Building
As a small business, link building can also be a fantastic outreach activity. Communicating with like-minded businesses and websites during the process of link-building can help forge industry relationships and connections. Website linking strategies can also help create longstanding relationships with industry influencers and can create genuine advocates for your business. Link building through guest blog writing or other content can be a good way to raise awareness of your small business through the audience of another website, showcasing who you are, what you do and why you are an expert in what you do.
If website traffic is important to you, which it should be, this can be a great benefit of building links to your website. Through new, high-quality links, you should start to see an increase in the amount of referral traffic your website gets. This can be a valuable source of website traffic as you know that people visiting through these links have been recommended by an advocate of your brand or business.
These people have already been on a website looking at content related to yours and decided that they want to find out more. They may not make a purchase or sign up to your mailing list on the first visit but they have been exposed to your small business and what you do.
What Are Some Methods of Link Building/How Does it Work?
Now you know the basics of linking, you may be wondering how to create backlinks for your site. Link building these days is all about providing value. Often, links are built to a business home page or specific landing page that provides value or information such as a useful resource on your website. Creating guest posts on high-quality websites or showing you are the best person for the job on a trusted local business listing website are some examples of how to build backlinks without paying for them through content.
One thing it is important to be aware of when starting link building, especially as a small business, is that links will take time to have an effect on your business and that link building is an ongoing process. You won't be able to simply create a few links and then leave them to do their work.
Where to Find Potential Links for Small Businesses
If you are looking for a way to build backlinks for your website as a small business, there are a number of options. From earning backlinks organically through shareable content to getting your website added to resource pages, we’ve explained the options below.
Earned Editorial Links
One of the best ways to build the online presence of your small business is through earned links. Whilst larger businesses such as international brands may get unasked for links easily, for small businesses, this can be a more challenging part of link building.
For example, when Nike bring out a new pair of trainers, a whole heap of fashion or sports blogs will likely report on and link to their products, without the marketing team at Nike having to do any outreach. A small local business launching a new product however may have to work a bit harder.
In order to earn links such as this, small businesses need to create something one-of-a-kind that provides real insight or value for visitors. For example, a small business may manufacture a new type of product that has never been seen before and that solves a massive pain point for its customer base.
Alternatively, it could create an all-encompassing guide that provides real value as a resource for those looking for information on a certain topic. These are both examples of pages that would be able to earn links from established websites and are more likely to stand the test of time as opposed to requested links to generic pages that offer no real value. The more useful or unique your page, the more likely it will be to be picked up by websites wanting to link to it, without the need for manual link building outreach campaigns.
Requested Editorial Links
Another form of editorial linking is through requests. Similar to earned links, you will need to create something that provides value to the person you want the link from. For example, if you work in the B2B sphere, this could be an interesting study you have conducted that could be shared by an industry news outlet or established blogger. Many small businesses use press releases in order to establish trusted links back to their website, emailing industry contact with key information can help build links from articles and coverage.
When building a linkbuilding strategy it is important to consider the type of content you want to link to. For example, if you are pitching your product to be included in a list of the top ‘x’ products, you will want to include a link to the optimised product page. However, if you are providing case study information for a factual article, you’ll want to include a link to that case study on your website.
If your website includes a lot of informative pieces making you an expert on a given topic, resource pages could be the perfect place to look. Resource pages are pages on websites that link off to a curated list of relevant articles and pages. The best type of resource pages are not simply a massive page full of links but are a carefully selected list of highly-relevant resources and will not be a free-for-all where anyone can submit a link.
Link Building Through Local Listings
One particularly useful link building strategy for small businesses is appearing in local listings relating to your industry or business. There are lots of ways to build links locally including places such as local directories or trade listings. However, be wary of putting your name to any old low-quality listing website out there as this may not offer any benefits. Local citations can showcase your business locally and build on your linking strategy. Monitoring the link strategies of local competitors can be a great source of information for potential local linking opportunities.
Using Link Building Software
There are a number of link building softwares out there to help small businesses and brand build up their backlinks, However, these should be used with caution. Automated link building software can often result in large numbers of low quality links causing your website to be marked as spam. Other link-building software however, can help you to identify backlink gaps in your website and suggest potential links you can then build manually based on things such as your industry and your competitors.
What Are the Pitfalls of Link Building - What Shouldn’t You Do?
One of the main problems with link building activities is that often people go for quantity rather than quality. Whilst this may have worked years ago, Google now has algorithms in place to detect spammy links and having a lot of low quality links can in fact harm your website’s SEO.
Sustainable link building or ‘white hat’ link building is an important aspect of any link building strategy and is the only way to ensure you don’t get blacklisted by Google for underhand tactics.
Page Link Authority
Businesses can often get caught out by people promising hundreds of links to their website in return for payment, not realising that this could in fact be harming their website in the eyes of Google. Page authority or domain authority should be a key factor when looking at links in your backlink strategy. Pages with a high domain authority (you can use tools such as SemRush to check this) are the best types of backlinks as they pass that authority from their page to yours through the link. As an example of this, a link gained from a site such as BBC News’ business pages to your site would hold more authority than one from a small-time blogger writing about a number of different topics.
Link Relevancy
Another element that sometimes causes confusion is finding the right type of website to build links to your website from. Getting links from trusted websites in your industry is far more important than getting links from websites in unrelated, irrelevant fields.
For example, if your business supplies specialist aquatic supplies, a link from a high authority fish care specialist website will have far more value than one from a website that talks about the best places to visit in Wales. Relevant anchor text and baby anchor text (the words surrounding your link) can also affect how Google sees your link. This applies to cases of guest blogging for links. If the purpose of the website is purely to publish guest blogs with links or the site topic is completely unrelated to yours, the chances are Google won’t place much authority on your backlink.
Top Tips for Starting Link Building as a Small Business
Create content worth linking to that provides value to visitors
Focus on quality over quantity
Create clear goals for your link building campaign
Make sure links are from websites relevant to your business
Avoid bulk buying links from cold call ‘experts’ who promise overnight success
Call in the Experts in Small Business Link Building
Our small business SEO experts are well-versed in finding and creating valuable links for your website. Our tried and tested methods will help you find success through a strategic manual link building service in the mindset of a full SEO strategy.
### Everything You Need to Know About Google Business Profiles
If you are looking for ways to improve your website's local SEO or promote your business locally, a Google Business Listing is essential. Taking the time to create a professional-looking GMB profile can help boost your brand's visibility online whether you are a traditional brick-and-mortar storefront or an online-only business.
Whilst optimising Google profiles is simple enough for those in the know, it can often be difficult to know where to start. That's why we've put together our complete guide to everything Google Business Profiles that is ideal for businesses of any size. We've even included a handy free printable Google Business Profile checklist to help get your online presence off to a flying start.
What is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is a business listing that appears on some Google search result pages. These often appear as boxes at the side of the page with images, contact information and text. When searching for businesses, users can find all the contact information they need in one search and are sent to businesses near to where they are searching or the specific area they have searched for.
Google My Business is a free business tool that allows you to connect with consumers by posting updates, adding images, responding to customer reviews and more. You can list your online products and services so that customers can find them easily.
For those who have used Google’s services for a long time, you may notice a name change. Google announced in November last year that Google My Business will now be referred to as Google Business Profiles. So, if you are familiar with Google My Business, you should find Google Business Profiles familiar.
Download our Google Business Profile checklist here
Why Should I Get a Google Business Profile?
Google Business Listings are a great way to access countless local customers and searchers. By not having a GMB listing, you could potentially be missing out on a large chunk of your target audience. Creating an optimised Google Business listing means that you can create a cohesive brand experience across every platform. A good GMB profile creates a good first impression and helps represent your brand properly in Google Maps. What Are the Benefits of a Google Business Profile?
Improve your Local SEO
One of the biggest benefits of creating a Google Business Listing is improving your local SEO. With a GMB listing optimised for local searches, you’ll show up in more searches and help support rankings for local keywords. Doing things such as updating your opening times, adding images and responding to reviews can all help support your local SEO efforts and create a fully-optimised Google My Business profile. By specifying the location of your business, you will be able to reach more local searchers and potential customers who could go on to visit your store or check out a product on your website.
Engage With Customers Using Google Business Listings
Google Business Listings are a brilliant way to engage with potential customers where they will be searching for information. Through Google Business Profiles you can post on your GBP, respond to reviews, talk to customers directly and add helpful action buttons and links such as contact buttons and book buttons. Adding a chat button to your Google listing enables you to talk directly to customers, helping to improve conversions without even having to bring customers to your website or shop.
Setting Up a Google My Business Account
You may now be wondering how to set up Google My Business. The good news is that setting up a Google My Business account is free and accessible for anyone who owns a business. Google Business Profiles are now edited through Maps by searching your business name and city and accessing your Business Profile.
To create a GMB listing, you will need to have a Google account and enter your business name to claim it. You’ll need a valid business address that can be verified and add the service area of your business. Follow Google’s step-by-step instructions to create your account. You can manage account access to allow different individuals within your business or organisation to make edits. If your business doesn’t have a bricks and mortar store, you can hide your address.
How to Verify a Business on Google Business Listings
In order to verify your business on a Google Business Listing, you’ll need to find and manage your business on Google’s verify business page here. You’ll need to meet their address guidelines with a business address that Google can find. If you don’t have a customer-facing business location, you can hide your business address on your listing. You can claim your Business Profile through phone, text, email or video and you might need to verify it through more than one method. You can also verify your business address through a postcard sent to that address from Google. Do however note that if you change some of your business information, Google may ask you to re-verify your Google Business Profile.
Is Google My Business Free?
Yes. Creating and using a Google My Business account is completely free. GMB listings can be a great way to boost your local SEO without the costs you might incur through paid advertising on Google.
What Can Be on a Google Business Profile?
When setting up a Google Business profile, you may have a number of questions such as, do I need a website for a Google Business Profile? Do I need a physical storefront to use Google Business profiles? Or, can I add multiple locations to a Google Business Profile? The good news is that Google Business Profiles offer a whole host of ways to engage with your customers and give them the information they need. Some typical features of your Google Business Profile include things such as your business category and description, both important elements to help your business get found in Google.
In addition to the basic information on your Google listing such as name, address, contact information and description, Google Business Listings also offer a wealth of useful tools to help drive customers and conversions. For example, physical shopfronts can use the “add in-store products” feature so that shoppers in the local area can view your products before they shop. Frequently asked questions can also help answer customer queries at a glance whilst providing any needed information about your products or services to help consumers make an informed decision when it comes to your business.
Top Tips for Setting up a Google Business Listing
If you're just here for the top-level tips on how to get your Google Profile seen, take a look at our top tips below and check out our handy checklist infographic, open or download the PDF for more great links on each of the steps. Without further ado, here are our top tips for setting up a Google Business Listing:
Make sure all information and content is up to date and complete at all times
Add relevant photos to your Google Business Profile
Use the questions and answers section
Choose your business category wisely
SEO your Google Business description with keywords related to your business
Respond to every review, positive or negative to show you are engaged
Download our Google Business Profile checklist here
Need Help Setting Up a Google Business Profile?
Our SEO experts are well-versed in optimising for Google and can help you create a successful Google Business Profile as well as advise on other areas of local SEO. We can hep you to set up a Google Business Listing that is SEO-ready and make it a success whilst advising on all other areas of search engine optimisation. To find out more about how we can help improve your Google Business Profile and provide winning SEO advice, contact our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now.
### How do Small Businesses Improve Local Rankings with Local SEO?
If you’re a small business, knowing how to make yourself more visible online is probably something you wrestle with daily. If your marketing campaign doesn't include local SEO, this could be why you struggle to be seen online. Many small businesses often rely on local customers who look to buy products or use their services in the local area. So with more people than ever using the internet to find the things they need, local SEO should be a crucial part of any successful marketing campaign. Optimising your small business for local search levels the playing field and allows you to compete against larger companies. Since better ranking isn’t something you can buy, knowing how local SEO will improve local rankings is priceless.
What is Local Search?
Like the name suggests, local search refers to how consumers use search engines like Google to find local products, services and businesses near their current location. When you list your business on Google it will appear in local search results called the Google Map pack or local pack. If you’ve ever searched for a restaurant, a mechanic or a hairdresser, you’ve probably been served with one of these types of local search results. Even if you haven’t specified a location in your search, Google can still show you the most relevant local business listing as long as it has a detailed Google My Business profile.
Why is Local Search Important for Small Businesses?
With local searches making up 46% of all searches on Google, not taking advantage of local search marketing equals missed opportunities. As well as improving local rankings and increasing your site traffic, local search optimisation can improve foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar business by helping customers to find your location. Improving local SEO will be beneficial to:
Physical businesses that provide services locally (like a local barber shop)
Businesses with no physical building but who serve the local area (like a plumber)
Businesses with multiple locations
A good SEO strategy needs to include local search marketing so that you can see improvements to your rankings and your visibility in local search results like the Google map pack. Also known as the local map pack, this is that prominent section of a local search results page that shows the top-ranking listings for your current location or a location you’ve included in your search. Local SEO helps your business listing to appear more often and rank higher when searches relevant to your service or product are combined with your location. This is a great way for small businesses to stay a step ahead of the local competition.
How Do I Dominate Local Searches?
When it comes to creating a strategy to improve local SEO, there are a few things to consider. If you want to appear higher in localised searches, the first step is to create and optimise a Google Business Profile (previously known as a Google My Business listing). Creating a verified business profile on Google allows you to manage the way your small business appears in search results and Google maps. Customers also have more trust in businesses verified by Google.
How Does my Google Business Profile Affect Local Ranking?
When you list your business on Google, providing correct and up-to-the-minute information about your business is crucial to increasing your visibility online. You can maximise the frequency of your appearances in local search results by ensuring your business information is correct, informative and complete.
In the eyes of Google, local ranking is determined by three factors, relevance, distance and prominence. Keeping these factors in mind when setting up your Google Business Profile will help to optimise your profile for Google.
Relevance - this means, when your local business profile on Google matches what users search for, you’ll stand a better chance of appearing higher in local search results. Make sure your profile contains all relevant information about your business to give Google a better understanding of what you do so your profile can be matched to specific searches.
Distance - most users perform local searches to find the options closest to their location. Google will use your location to determine how close you are to the location-based keyword used in the search. Even if no location is specified in the search, adding the correct business address to your profile will help Google to calculate distance according to the information they can gather about the user's location.
Prominence - this relates to how well-known you are as a business both online and offline. Very well-known businesses will gain prominence easily since Google tries to factor them into local searches. For smaller businesses, the more relevant articles, links and directory listings you have for your business, the better your chances are of being seen by Google as a prominent local business. Google will also base your prominence on your review count and review score so positive Google reviews and ratings will help to boost your local ranking. Your organic web rankings play a part in your prominence as a small business, so be sure to also improve your SEO efforts.
Simple Tasks That Help to Improve Local SEO
Local search engine optimisation is a type of SEO that focuses on making your website more visible, locally. When it comes to local search, Google may be in control of determining local ranking but improving the on-page SEO of your website is something you have complete control over. Here are a few simple tasks that will help to improve local search optimisation.
Focus on Consistent NAP Citations
The name, address and phone number (NAP) of your business should be consistent across the web. Make sure the details on your GMB listing are accurate and complete. When creating other business listings, make sure your business details appear the same in all local directory listings and be aware of typos like spelling errors, incorrect telephone numbers and missing address details. Your business might not appear in local search results if Google cannot gather correct information about your business. Some places for local citations include:
Yell.com
Yelp.co.uk
BingPlaces.com
Cylex UK
192.com
Improve Your Website’s Crawlability
In order to rank your website, Google needs to be able to “see” every page on your site. Google uses bots called “spiders” to visit each page and the pages they are linked to. This is called crawling and it helps Google to index your site and learn what it is about. Since Google’s spiders visit the pages of your website via links, a good linking structure is essential. If Google is unable to crawl your website properly, this can result in some of your content being missed which will affect your local ranking. Here are some things you can do that can improve the crawlability of your website in a few steps:
Submit a sitemap of your website to Google. Sitemaps give Google information about your website and any updates made to the site. You can use Google Search Console to submit your sitemap and this tool will also help you to monitor the performance of your website and see how much of your site has been crawled.
Improve the internal linking structure of your website. This will help users to find their way around your website as well as Google’s crawl bots.
Add new content to your website regularly and update content when necessary. Your content is how you attract new customers, let them know who you are as a business and turn them into customers or clients. Fresh content is the “meat and potatoes of your website” that also draws web crawlers to your site to crawl it more often to see what's new. This will help your site to be crawled quicker and indexed more frequently, so Google will always have a record of the most recent version of your website.
Avoid creating duplicate content as this can prevent crawlers coming back to your site. All duplicated content or content that shares many similarities with other pages on your site can help to reduce rankings. Be sure to delete all instances of duplicate content.
Improve your page speed. A web page that loads quickly will allow the crawler to fully inspect the content. Since web crawlers only have a certain amount of time to inspect the page, the faster your page can load, the better chance it has of being crawled properly. Google has a tool for testing your page speed. Google PageSpeed Insights is the tool you need to check your page speed and find recommendations on how to improve the loading speed of pages on your site.
Create a Solid Site Structure
The way pages and posts connect together and their organisation on your website is known as the site structure. A well structured site not only provides a better experience for the user, but it’s also essential for helping search engines to understand the content and context of your website. This is done by organising pages according to their hierarchy, so Google can understand which pages are most important.
In relation to improving local SEO, you’ll need to make useful business information easy to find for both customers and Google. Pages like “Contact Us” or “About Us” will usually have information like your name, address and phone number, an embedded map, contact forms and email forms for capturing customer enquiries, and sometimes reviews and testimonials. Linking this kind of information in the header and footer of your website means users can find out more about your business quickly. When it comes to local search, placing those pages with information about your business in the header menu of your website, for example, will be great for local SEO. This is because Google knows links to all of the most important pages on the website should be contained within the header menu
Make Your Website Mobile Friendly
Many local searches take place on a mobile phone so your website also needs to be mobile friendly so you don't miss out on this traffic source. If you’ve ever used your phone to visit a website that isn’t mobile friendly, you’ll know that it is a nightmare to navigate when the page does not adjust to fit the screen. This can be a huge turn for the user. When it comes to mobile SEO, make sure the mobile version of your website is easy to navigate, easy to read and quick to load all types of content including videos and images. Your mobile site needs to be responsive so regardless of the device and size of the screen being used, visitors to your site will always have a good experience. Consistency is important when trying to improve local search rankings so make sure all NAP information is the same on your mobile site as it is everywhere else on the web.
Use Geo-targeting to Optimise Web Content.
SEO geo-targeting is a way of providing localised content to an audience based on their location. Optimising your content with high-volume geo-targeted keywords and phrases gives you another chance to appear in local search results. Make sure elements of your webpages like URLs, headers, meta titles and meta descriptions, images and written content are all optimised for Google as well as the geo-targeted audience. This means creating high quality localised landing pages that highlight your products and services in a specific area. If your business operates in more than one location, make sure you have pages that target those other locations.
Utilise Local Link Building Strategies
Local link building is a useful element of your local SEO strategy that will help to improve local ranking. Building a profile of relevant local backlinks helps to drive traffic to your website and to your physical business which can result in an increase in conversions and sales. Local link building will also help to improve the domain authority of your website. This makes your site more trustworthy in the eyes of Google.
Improve Your Social Media Presence
Use your social media business profile as a tool for building a local following for your brand. Social media is not only great for building brand awareness, trust and authority but it is also the perfect way to connect with your community and create solid customer relationships. You can use your business’s social media account to share relevant local web content so it can reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your site. This also a great opportunity to create some extra backlinks. Make sure your social media posts are optimised with local keywords and search terms as well as a call-to-action in the captions and hashtags.
Gather Reviews and Respond to Them
Google loves reviews almost as much as consumers do so it’s essential to handle them correctly since they can affect local ranking. Managing and responding to reviews is great for customer service and local rankings. Reviews from sources like Trustpilot and Facebook are taken into consideration by Google so use these platforms for gathering reviews in addition to your website and Google Business Profile. When you respond to a review it is visible for anyone else checking out your review section and it can help to demonstrate good customer service. Google’s local search algorithm pays attention to good reviews and the more you get, the more Google will trust your business and so will local customers.
Why Not Leave Your Local SEO to the Experts?
As you can see, there can be quite a lot involved in creating an effective local search strategy. If you need some help optimising your business for local searches, SEM Consultants can help. Our team of local SEO experts can help to improve your local search optimisation so you can sit back and focus on running your business. Contact us today to find out how we can improve local search ranking for your business.
### How to Optimise Product Pages for SEO
If you run an online e-commerce business and are looking for ways to optimise product pages, SEO could help boost traffic and conversions for your site. Search engine optimisation harnesses an audience of people searching for your products in Google, directing them to your website organically. By combining the power of paid advertising such as Google Ads with free promotion from SEO, your product pages will be destined for success. Read on to find out more.
What is an Optimised Product Page?
An optimized product page is a page on your website that is created to be attractive to both search engines and customers. It is optimised for SEO best practices with an aim to convert browsers into buyers. Your product page should be designed to showcase your product’s features and attract buyers. Whilst the aim of some pages on your website may be simply to inform visitors about the ‘who’ behind your business, product pages are designed around a purchase.
Why is Product Page Optimisation Important?
In order to create an optimised website that performs both in terms of organic reach and conversions, optimising your product pages is key. Creating optimised product descriptions can help attract new visitors to your website time and again and help your business appear at the top of search engine results pages.
How to Optimise a Product Page
Creating an optimised product page to turbo-charge your website’s e-commerce efforts starts with a few key points. Any successful website product page should include a clear title, clear images, optimised product descriptions and clear price points.
Optimise Your Product Descriptions
Product description SEO is an integral part of optimising your product pages. However, one of the most important things to remember is to not over-optimise your product descriptions at the expense of accessibility and usefulness. Some of the top SEO product description examples work because they provide value to the consumer. This includes elements such as the size and shape of products if applicable, how they can be used, what products might also be needed to use with the product and any other useful information that might help the customer make an informed decision.
SEO-Friendly Product Descriptions
Once you have established value in your product description, it’s time to look at keywords. Do some keyword research into the ways people might be searching for your product. It’s a good idea to include a mix of broad keywords such as ‘high-top trainer’, for example, and keywords that are more specific to your product such as the name of the exact trainer make and model. It’s also important to consider search intent when looking for keywords to add to your product description. As this is an optimised product page, your keywords will likely be transactional in intent compared to a blog about the top types of ‘x’, for example. In order to provide value to the customer, boosting conversions and visitors, you’ll also want to include any information such as materials in a clear, easily digestible format.
Optimizing Product Pages With Images
When you are trying to persuade visitors to buy your product, both on the Google search results page and once they have clicked through to your website, you’ll want to show customers exactly what they will be buying. Follow product page SEO best practices by adding a selection of high-quality images to your optimised product page. These should be optimised for fast page speeds, so not be too large in file size and have relevant alt-text to tell Google what your image shows.
General Product Page Optimisation for SEO
So, you’ve optimised your product description and images for SEO, what else is there? Now that you’ve got your keyword target for the page, ensure this features in your headings, alt-text and page body. You’ll also want to review your page to ensure the process for conversions or purchases is clear.
Can the customer easily access the page, find out what they need to know and complete the purchasing process without hindrance? Look at your page from the mindset of someone who has never visited your site before, whilst you may know your way around, is it obvious to someone who doesn’t? Is your page clearly linked to and from in a way that makes sense? Is there a clear call to action or ‘what next’ for visitors?
Looking for Product Page Optimisation Guidance?
We’re experts at all things optimisation and can help you create optimised product pages that convert visitors into customers. To find out more about our SEO services for E-commerce, take a look at our SEO service page or contact our team.
### Can AI Replace my SEO Agency?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably heard about the capabilities of text generators like ChatGPT and the potential impact they may have on the world of SEO and digital content creation. The hot topic of AI in SEO has led to questions like “is SEO dead?” and “Will AI take over SEO” as we learn more about what chatbots like ChatGPT can do. AI text generators have been around for a while (Open AI released the first full version of its text generator back in 2019) and although they are becoming increasingly more intelligent, this doesn’t equal the death of SEO and we’ll explain why.
First things first, digital content creators have combined machine learning and SEO and found many time-saving uses for AI text generators like Chat GPT. However, this piece of AI wasn’t created for SEO purposes. ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a large language model that can generate human-like conversational text when prompted so it can’t replace good old-fashioned search engine optimisation.
Can I Leave my SEO Strategy to AI?
The short answer is no and here’s why. SEO is very specific and constantly evolving. Search engine algorithms are regularly updated and improved upon and it may take a while for AI writing tools to adapt to the latest changes as they happen. Human SEO experts keep abreast of the newest algorithm updates and have an understanding of how to adapt moving forward. AI in SEO can have some time-saving benefits, but human supervision is essential when developing a successful SEO strategy. Keyword research, on-page SEO and content marketing all need the human touch and expertise to make sure they are done correctly and are as effective as possible.
Next, let’s address the elephant in the room - AI-written content. With regards to artificial intelligence and SEO, it’s no secret that AI writing tools can create blog posts and articles in seconds but what about the quality of the posts? Currently, tools used for AI article writing can deliver large amounts of written content but they can’t create truly original content. When it comes to depending on artificial intelligence blog writing, text generators have no life experience to draw from and can’t offer unique perspectives, create metaphors or make figurative comparisons like a human expert might.
They work by predicting the next word in a sentence and with enough data they can appear to be producing content written by a human. It's worth noting that chatbots cannot determine whether the information they are generating is accurate or up-to-date since some are based on data from 2021. This is why relying on AI for writing articles is not a good idea if you’re aim is to build trust and authority for your website.
Google has its own AI built to sniff out and penalise AI-written content on websites so yes, you may save time creating the post, but you risk that webpage being disregarded or even penalised if Google detects your content as AI-generated. A good SEO agency would steer clear of using AI-created content to ensure the website puts out good quality content that is tailored to the target audience.
Using AI to replace your SEO agency means you could miss out on important elements that are crucial to your SEO strategy.
Here are a few things to consider:
Current AI text generators lack SEO expertise so cannot advise you in the same way a human SEO expert would. Strategies and practices that work well and are only known to SEO professionals can be priceless to a business trying to improve its search engine ranking.
AI cannot review information so getting analytic data would be difficult if you left your AI strategy to computer software. As a business owner, you want to know how well your SEO strategy is working and clear, concise analytic feedback will achieve this. Human SEO experts will be able to provide you with a jargon-free analysis of how well your website is performing.
Since AI cannot independently perform research, finding new, fresh information, data and keywords to target will be limited. Content writers at SEO agencies perform extensive research to ensure each written piece serves its intended purpose and provides value to the reader.
Speaking of providing value to readers, swapping SEO experts for a text generator won't provide you with content that appeals to your target audience. An SEO agency will not only help you to establish your target audience but will also create content specifically written for that particular set of individuals.
Artificial intelligence like ChatGPT may have captured the public’s attention with its human-like responses but it still needs a person to provide instruction. will never completely replace human content writers since real people are still essential to the practice of good search engine optimisation.
Additional services like creating backlink profiles, recovery from google penalties and technical SEO are all elements of search engine marketing that AI-based SEO cannot provide. From executing tried and true SEO tactics to tracking performance and making alterations for a more effective campaign, human beings will always be needed to ensure the content created is valuable and of a high standard.
So inclusion, SEO agencies are still important for creating effective SEO strategies and content that will improve your website's authority and search engine ranking. Although it seems like AI in digital marketing is something we may not be able to escape, people will always be crucial to the proper implementation of the technology.
If you’d like to speak to real SEO professionals about creating an effective SEO campaign, contact the creative team at SEM Consultants who will be happy to talk you through the most effective strategies for your business.
### Everything You Need to Know About The Latest Google Link Spam Update.
If you’re running an effective marketing campaign, chances are you’ve got a strategy for creating backlinks but how good are those links? Does quantity mean more than quality when it comes to your link-building strategy? If you’re not too discerning about your SEO link building and to you, backlinking means “the more, the merrier”, you may find you have a few spammy links on your hands that could affect your ranking efforts.
One of the latest Google algorithm updates finished rolling out on the 12th of January, 2023. This recent link spam update aims to protect users from spammy content in search results. Link spam refers to the practice of trying to improve search engine rankings by placing backlinks on pages that have no context to the link and offer no value to the user.
Backlinks are a useful way for websites to demonstrate authority to Google, but only when high-quality backlinks are used. So how does the recent link spam update affect your site and what does it have to do with your backlink strategy? We’ve put together everything you need to know about the link spam update 2022.
What is The Google Link Spam Update?
Also referred to as the December 2022 link spam update, this enhanced google algorithm is an evolution of the previous link spam update that was released in July 2021. This update is an upgrade to Google’s AI-based spam detection algorithm known as SpamBrain. SpamBrain can detect and neutralise unnatural links and prevents them from appearing in search results. The purpose of the update was to improve the effectiveness of SpamBrain’s spam detection. This will prove bad news for sites that use spammy link-building tactics.
How Does The Google Link Spam Update Affect My Site?
This is the first time Google is utilising SpamBrain to detect link spam so if you have spammy, unnatural links on your website, they’ll now be nullified by Google. If you have a sound backlink strategy with a stream of natural, relevant links to and from your site, you may not feel the negative effects of the link spam update. However, if you partake in black hat SEO tactics like link buying, and your site has a poor backlink profile, you may see a decline in your rankings as Google neutralises links that are detected as spam. Any previous ranking benefits gained by the spammy backlinks are lost as the links are no longer acknowledged by Google.
Sites affected by the Google link spam update won’t face penalties, instead, links labelled as spam will be ignored by the search engine which could result in you seeing a decline in rankings.
How Can I Avoid Being Affected by the Link Spam Update?
According to Google, following link-building best practices is the most effective way to avoid taking a hit from the link spam update 2022. Bad link-building tactics that may have been effective in the past can no longer slip through Google’s net of spam prevention, thanks to SpamBrain’s recent evolution.
Google states that not only can SpamBrain “detect spam directly, it can now detect both sites buying links, and sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing links.” This means it's more important than ever to have a backlink strategy that provides you with quality links that offer value to the user and are not created to manipulate search engines.
In the Spam Policies for Google Search, the policy states that it covers the common forms of spam which include:
Link spam - Using automated software or services to create links, buying or selling links or posts containing links for ranking purposes are just a few of the activities that Google labels as link spamming and they all go against spam policies.
Cloaking - This black hat SEO practice occurs when the search engines are presented with one type of content or URL and the user is presented with a different URL or content. For example, showing Google a page about Adele concert tickets while showing the user adult-rated content is a form of cloaking.
Hidden text and links - This refers to the act of trying to manipulate search engine results by hiding links or text on a page so that it is visible to Google but hidden from users. Examples of this could be hiding text behind an image, using a white font on a white background to hide content or hiding links within sentences, behind small characters like hyphens.
In short, if you already steer clear of these types of blackhat SEO tactics and follow SEO best practices you won’t need to worry about being affected by the Google spam update.
How Do I Create Good Backlinks For My Website?
If you already have a poor backlink profile, you’ll need to fix that first. Any spammy backlinks need to be removed by submitting a disavow file. It can be time-consuming to fix a bad backlink profile but it is worth the effort to do things manually. Using AI to fix bad backlinks should be avoided, focus on creating natural links. The best way to create high-quality backlinks for your website is to create a linking strategy that focuses on relevance, authority and trust. By only using white-hat SEO tactics and following the content policies for Google search, you can create good-quality, useful backlinks for your website.
If you need help nursing your backlink profile back to health or you think need help to avoid taking a hit from the latest Google link spam update, SEM Consultants can help. We provide a range of link-building services that focus on creating a stream of natural, manually created backlinks that are relevant and help you to build trust and authority with your audience. For more information about building a solid link-building strategy, contact our SEO team today.
### How to Increase Domain Authority on Your Website
If you run or are planning to run a website in either a personal or business capacity, domain authority is key to getting your website found. There are plenty of things that influence search engine ranking but DA or domain authority is widely considered a good indicator of how well your page will rank in Google.
What is Domain Authority?
Domain authority is a metric created by Moz. This search engine ranking score aims to predict how likely a website is to rank in Google’s search engine results page by summing up its relevance or quality according to search engines.
What is a Good Domain Authority?
When you are looking at domain authority, you’ll find that the DA ranges from one to 100. The higher the number of your DA, the higher your chances are of ranking in Google according to this metric. Typically, when working out a good domain authority, a score of between 40 and 50 is considered average whilst a score of 50 to 60 bodes well for your website and a score of 60+ is excellent. It is worth noting however that whilst your DA is a good indicator of how likely your page is to rank and is well respected in the digital marketing world, Google itself does not use it as a ranking factor and will use its own criteria to rank your content.
What is my Domain Authority?
You may now be wondering ‘what is my domain authority’? If you are wondering how your domain authority score is worked out, there are a few different factors. Moz reportedly now use over 40 factors to calculate your DA. Your DA score includes factors such as the quality of your external links, the number of unique backlinks your website has earned from different websites, the quality of your content, the SEO quality of your content and the same social signals Google uses to rank your content. You can work out your website domain authority by using Moz’s link explorer or by enlisting the help of an SEO specialist who can help decipher the results for you.
How to Improve Domain Authority on Your Website
Once you’ve found out what your domain authority currently stands at, it’s time to improve. There are a few key ways to increase domain authority with many of them related to page links.
Using links to Improve Domain Authority
For those just starting out in link building it can be tempting to find links wherever they can, regardless of whether the website linked from is relevant and useful. However, as with Google’s ranking system, thousands of insignificant backlinks will not do you domain authority any good, especially if they are from disreputable sources. When considering backlinks, prioritise ones that are relevant to your website and business rather than considering websites that do not align with your website theme and target audience. Whilst there are many sites that may contact your offering backlinks, these may not benefit your site as untrustworthy site links are not valued by the algorithm.
Quality Content Focussed on Your Core Audience
One of the key factors in getting your website found in Google and increasing your domain authority will always be quality content written with your target persona in mind. If your content topics and quality of content are haphazard, so will your site visitors. Creating high-quality content that serves a purpose and speaks to the needs of your target audience will help your website succeed by boosting your domain authority and stand more of a chance of ranking well in Google. Quality content is also a great way to build backlinks to your site as when visitors read and find your content useful, they will be naturally inclined to link to it from content they publish on their own website and social platforms.
When monitoring your content for quality, take some time to go back through older content to ensure it is at the same high standard and add useful information to pages with a low page authority score to improve its ranking potential.
Study Your Competitors
Your biggest competitors are a great resource when it comes to setting benchmarks for your website as they will show you what is possible within your industry. By looking at the domain authorities of your nearest competitors you’ll be able to see where you DA should be. You’ll also be able to take a look at the quantity and quality of links to their website and see the types of websites they are gaining links from to inspire your own link building strategies.
Optimise Your Website for SEO
Of course, it goes without saying that if you want your website to succeed online, it needs to be optimised for search engines. Optimising your website for SEO includes things such as mobile optimisation, a key ranking factor, and using targeted keywords in your website content among other SEO techniques. Optimising your website using tried and tested SEO techniques will help to increase your website’s domain authority and ranking potential.
Learn From the Best
Searching for a helping hand to increase domain authority on your website? Our SEO and trusted link building specialists are here to help with years of honed knowledge ready to help make your website succeed. To find out more about how we can help your website contact SEM Consultants now online or by calling 0121 552 6500.
### The Importance of Accurate Conversion Tracking in Google Ads: Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your PPC Campaigns
If you're running a Google Ads campaign, you know how important it is to track your conversions. Conversion tracking allows you to see how well your ads are performing and make informed decisions about your advertising strategy. In this post, we'll delve into why accurate conversion tracking is crucial for the success of your campaigns and how it can help you optimize your advertising efforts.
Image Credit: Google Answers, About Conversion Tracking
Why is Accurate Conversion Tracking Important?
Accurate conversion tracking is crucial for the success of any Google Ads campaign. It allows you to see how well your ads are performing and make informed decisions about your advertising strategy. Without accurate conversion tracking, you may be wasting money on ineffective ads and missing out on valuable insights about your audience.
One of the primary benefits of accurate conversion tracking is that it allows you to see which ads and keywords are driving the most conversions. This can help you identify which campaigns are most effective and allocate your advertising budget accordingly. For example, if you find that one of your campaigns is driving a high number of conversions, you may want to allocate more budget to that campaign to capitalize on its success. On the other hand, if a campaign is not performing well, you may want to adjust your targeting or messaging to try to improve its performance.
Accurate conversion tracking can also help you identify areas for improvement in your campaigns. For example, if you notice that your conversion rate is low, you can use conversion tracking data to identify any potential issues that may be causing this. Maybe your ads are not reaching the right audience, or perhaps the landing page for your ad is not optimized for conversions. By identifying these issues and addressing them, you can improve the performance of your campaigns and drive more conversions.
How Can Accurate Conversion Tracking Help Make My Campaigns More Effective?
In addition to helping you optimize your campaigns, accurate conversion tracking is also important for measuring the return on investment (ROI) of your advertising efforts. By knowing how many conversions your ads are driving and how much you are spending on those ads, you can calculate your ROI and determine if your campaigns are delivering the desired results.
Overall, accurate conversion tracking is essential for the success of any Google Ads campaign. It allows you to optimize your campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and measure the ROI of your advertising efforts. By tracking conversions accurately, you can make informed decisions about your advertising strategy and maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns.
In conclusion, accurate conversion tracking is essential for the success of any Google Ads campaign. It allows you to identify which campaigns are performing well, identify areas for improvement, and measure the ROI of your advertising efforts. By tracking conversions accurately, you can make informed decisions about your advertising strategy and maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns. So, don't neglect this important aspect of your advertising efforts – make sure to track your conversions accurately to ensure the success of your Google Ads campaigns.
Contact the PPC Specialists
If you are looking for guidance on how to maximise the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns in Google Ads, talk to the specialists at SEM Consultants. We can help optimise your Google Ads campaigns to enhance conversions and ROI. Contact our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now.
### People-First Content - Understanding The Google Helpful Content Update
In the constantly evolving world of Google updates, a recent update emphasizes the search engine’s commitment to making useful content easier to find. Back in September 2022, Google finished rolling out its Helpful Content Update.* This is a search ranking algorithm update created to help searchers find high-quality content much easier. In short, Google wants high-quality, “People-First Content” to be easily accessible via searches. Similarly to how Google Panda filters and penalises thin, poor-quality content, the Helpful Content Algorithm aims to reward high-quality content that satisfies the user's experience by ranking it higher whilst devaluing content that doesn't meet the expectations of the searcher. With the Helpful Content Update in full swing, what do you need to know about the update and how can it affect your website?
What is People-First Content?
Written content created specifically for a human audience and not search engines is called people-first content. This content should engage the visitor by providing information that meets their needs and provides value. It may be tempting to create content for search engine ranking purposes, but changes like the Helpful Content Algorithm makes it harder for content that doesn’t satisfy real people to rank highly.
What is Google’s Helpful Content Update?
The Helpful Content Update is one of the newest changes to affect the way Google ranks content. Google always aims to improve the experience of the user and this latest update identifies and promotes original, useful and informative content that is written for people rather than for search engines. The Helpful Content Update will target and downgrade content that is not useful or offers little value to the reader while promoting content that provides relevant information and leaves the reader satisfied. Combining SEO best practices while focusing on creating good content provides the best experience for searchers and will help your website to have the people-first focus that Google recommends.
How will the Helpful Content Update Impact My Website?
This Google algorithm update is a sitewide signal, which means if Google thinks your website has a high volume of ineffective content, this will impact your entire site, not just a single page. Websites with content that is not deemed good quality by Google are less likely to perform well even if they contain other useful content. Removing the low-quality content could help to improve the ranking of the other content on your website. However, the impact of having low value content could last for months. You may start to notice a drop in organic traffic as a result of your website being detected by the algorithm. This automated process checks new and existing sites continuously so once Google’s classifier determines that the unproductive content has been removed permanently, your website will no longer be classified as unhelpful.
What is Helpful Content According to Google?
This update to the Google algorithm shines a light on the importance of giving internet users informative, interesting and useful content. You may have an idea of what beneficial content is, but it's worth knowing exactly what Google considers to be helpful. Two of the ways Google classifies content relate to whether the content was created with a human reader in mind, known as people-first content or whether it was created to appeal to search engines, called search engine-first content. People-first content that is trustworthy, demonstrates expertise and meets the searcher's intent is considered practical in the eyes of Google and will be rewarded with better ranking status. Maintaining SEO best practices helps to enhance people-first content by making it easier to find in searches. Search engine-first content is now identified automatically by Google’s systems, thanks to the Helpful Content Update.
How Do You Write Helpful Content?
Google produced a help page regarding their Helpful Content Update that will support you when creating useful, high-quality content with more authority. Google listed some questions you can use to perform a self-assessment and we’ve demystified a few key points to help your website benefit from Google’s Helpful Content Update. If you want to self-assess your content, here are a few things to remember to ensure your SEO content is written for people first and not search engines.
Does Your Site Do This?
With it being 3 months since the Google Helpful Content Update’s debut, if you aren’t creating practical, beneficial content, you may have felt the negative impact by now. Here are some of the questions Google wants you to think about to help you to improve your content and bounce back.
“Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?”
Websites that stick to a particular niche can potentially provide more constructive content than websites that tackle multiple subjects and don’t appear to have a focus. If your content is too varied, users will have a hard time finding valuable content on your website and Google will also struggle to know what your site is about. Stick to one topic on your website and write content that leans on your expertise. According to Google’s guidelines, if you can answer the related question “Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?” with “yes”, then the content of your website may already be productive.
“After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they've learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal? “
We’ve all searched for answers online and there’s nothing quite as frustrating as reading to the end of a page and still not getting the answer you were looking for. With this self-assessing question, Google is asking you to think about how much value your content provides. It’s always useful to think about the reader’s intent and what problem they are trying to solve. Does your content address their pain points? Will your reader need to search elsewhere for further information after reading your content? Keep your buyer persona in mind when creating content so that you can put yourself in their shoes and give them all of the solutions they are searching for. Make sure you give complete answers that give the reader all of the information they’ll need. Google’s guidelines suggest that if you can answer the following question with “no”: “Does your content leave readers feeling like they need to search again to get better information from other sources?” then you are on track to providing invaluable content. Be sure to employ SEO best practices so that your intended audience can easily find your useful content.
“Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?”
In a time where almost anyone online can be labelled “an expert”, the internet is full of articles filled with misinformation from non-experts. From bad medical advice to dishonest product reviews bursting with affiliate links, it can be tricky to spot harmful misformation in a sea of advice-filled content. The Google Helpful Content Update makes it more important than ever to produce high-value, quality content demonstrating your knowledge and expertise in a particular area. Google suggests sticking to topics you know about rather than writing about topics you lack experience in. Stay focused on the subjects you have expertise in that relate to your business and avoid writing about unfamiliar subjects.
For example, use photos and comments about your experiences to support product reviews Google values content that demonstrates in-depth knowledge and offers useful solutions. Consider the following question to make sure your content remains conducive: “Are you mainly summarizing what others have to say without adding much value?”
“Does your content promise to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there's a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn't confirmed?”
Clickbait-style articles that promise exclusive news or information without official confirmation should be avoided if you want to create useful content. This type of information does nothing to build trust with your audience. Google wants you to consider whether your site is honest and reliable and whether the content reflects that. Avoid answering questions that have no definitive answer. If you have unconfirmed information that is relevant to your niche, be sure to make it clear that the information you’re sharing is rumoured, unconfirmed or inconclusive.
Life After The Google Helpful Content Update
It's not too late to make sure you’re creating useful content. Chances are if you stay updated with Google’s frequent changes and you’re already following Google’s core update advice, the Helpful Content Update will have a positive impact on your site.
If you’re struggling with content writing for SEO or keeping up with the demand for good-quality SEO content that best reflects your business, our team of content writers can help you. At SEM Consultants, we offer services for web content creation that align with Google’s guidelines and can help you benefit from the Helpful Content Update. Whether you’d like to know more about our SEO content writing services, our search engine-optimised blog writing services or perhaps you’re interested in effective product descriptions and landing pages, when it comes to creating people-first website content, we are here to help.
Leave it to the experts at SEM COnsultants and contact our SEO content writers today. Let us help your website continue to produce value for your consumers.
*Google finished rolling out the latest Helpful Content Update on January 12th 2023. The new update is now global, meaning it impacts websites in all languages, not just English. Google has also refined how its classifiers detect unhelpful content.
### Your 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar
With the end of 2022 fast approaching, now is the time to start planning your 2023 marketing activity. Creating a marketing plan for 2023 now means that you’ll be prepared for potential marketing opportunities and plan for disruptions caused by national or international events. We’ve pulled together a free downloadable guide to 2023’s digital marketing dates to help you prepare for a new year of marketing success.
Download your 2023 digital marketing calendar here
Why is it Important to Plan for 2023 Digital Marketing Now?
When it comes to digital marketing, having intuitive, relevant marketing is key. Knowing the top marketing dates for 2023 now can help you plan around slow periods and generate fun content ideas that will help your digital marketing campaigns get off to a winning start. The best way to prepare your marketing for the new year is to create a digital marketing plan now containing all of the key dates and content you would like to generate. This can help you to identify areas to capitalize on and make sure any prep for events and seasonal peaks is completed well ahead of time.
Planning for the year ahead also allows you to take into account any recent marketing trends such as influencer marketing and video content lengths. HubSpot, for example, predicts that more brands will test out native ads in 2023 and that influencer marketing will evolve into a common marketing tactic.
Creating a marketing calendar, whether it is a monthly marketing calendar, quarterly calendar, or a yearly digital marketing calendar is key to campaign success. Planning ahead lets you brainstorm topic ideas based on seasonal changes. It also allows you to create a strategic digital marketing plan based on previous data and allows you to anticipate monthly fluctuations. Having a plan allows you to spend less time planning posts each month and more time strategising to make your digital marketing a success.
What Should I Include in my 2023 Digital Marketing Plan?
Your digital marketing strategy for 2023 should be personal to your business. Are there certain times of the year during which your business becomes busier or are there any annual quiet periods for your business? Planning your marketing around these industry or business changes can help your marketing strategy be more successful year-round.
One of the main elements of your 2023 marketing plan should be any yearly key dates that may affect your business. For example, the Christmas period is often a time of change for businesses where they either see a boom in sales if product-focused or perhaps a lull in business if more business-focused. If you are planning to launch any new products or services in the new year, these should also be included in your 2023 marketing strategy to ensure that appropriate marketing content is planned around their launch. Planning for the year ahead means that you can plan the right content at the right time so that it resonates with your target audience.
Key 2023 Marketing Dates
Whatever industry your business is in, we’ve pulled together some of the key marketing dates for 2023 to help you generate marketing ideas and strategy for the year ahead. From Easter Sunday to World Mental Health Day, we’ve included plenty of marketing date ideas for you, whatever your business type. Don't have time to design your own digital marketing calendar? We've done the hard work for you. Find the full year marketing calendar download here or take a look below for a month-by-month breakdown of the year's top marketing dates.
January Marketing Dates
Home to Dry January, Ginuary and Veganuary, January is the month of fresh starts including some fun events to work into your January 2023 marketing strategy.
01 Jan - New Year’s Day
5th Jan - Twelfth Night
6th Jan - National Shortbread Day
11th Jan - World Thank You Day
17th Jan - Blue Monday
20th Jan - National Cheese Lovers Day
22nd Jan Chinese New Year
25 Jan - Burns Night
26th Jan - Australia Day
27th Jan - Chocolate Cake Day
31st Jan - Hogmanay
Download your January 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
February Marketing Dates
Home to LGBT History Month, February also hosts Blue Monday and Pancake Day with some added foodie events to fill your digital marketing planner.
4th Feb - World Cancer Day
5th Feb - World Nutella Day/Yorkshire Pudding Day
14th Feb - Valentine's Day
16 Feb - Blue Monday
20 Feb - Love Your Pet Day
21 Feb - Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day
22 Feb - Ash Wednesday
Download your February 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
March Marketing Dates
Ring in spring with a whole host of marketing dates in March 2023. March is a time to treat mothers as well as celebrate all of your favourite characters on World Book Day.
1st March - St David’s Day
2nd March - World Book Day
8th March - International Women’s Day
17th March - St Patrick’s Day
19th March - BAFTAs & Mothering Sunday
20th March - First Day of Spring
22nd March - Start of Ramadan
25th March - International Waffle Day
26th March - British Summer Time Starts
Download your March 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
April Marketing Dates
April Fools! Celebrate planet earth and host your own tea party on National Tea Day alongside England’s St George’s Day. April is also home to Easter, a brilliant time to market for e-commerce businesses.
1st April - April Fool’s Day
7th April - Good Friday
9th April - Easter Sunday
10th April - Sibling’s Day/Easter Monday
21st April - National Tea Day & Eid al Fitr
22nd April - Earth Day
23rd April - St. George’s Day
Download your April 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
May Marketing Dates
Celebrate Women’s Health Month alongside the royal event of the year, the coronation of Charles III this May 2023. World Cocktail Day offers a fun marketing opportunity whilst World Bee Day seeks to raise awareness.
1st May - Early May Bank Holiday
4th May - Star Wars Day
6th May - Coronation of King Charles III
8th May - Bank Holiday in Honour of the Coronation
13th May - World Cocktail Day
16th May - International Day of Light
17th May - World Baking Day
20th May - World Bee Day
29th May - Spring Bank Holiday
Download your May 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
June Marketing Dates
June marks the start of summer and hosts Pride Month alongside a whole host of fun events to add some life to your marketing efforts such as The Big Lunch. If you're a product-based company, why not plan your Father's day campaigns early to give your 2023 marketing some sparkle?
1st June - Global Day of Parents
3rd June - Bicycle Day
5th June - The Big Lunch
10th June - World Gin Day & National Knit in Public Day
18th June - Father’s Day
21st June - Summer Solstice / International Day of Yoga
24th June - Midsummer’s Day
28th June - Eid ul Adha
Download your June 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
July Marketing Dates
If you’re short on 2023 marketing ideas, July marks a wide range of fun events including International Day of Friendship and UK Thank You Day which are perfect ways to have fun with your digital marketing.
3rd July - UK Thank You Day
4th July - American Independence Day
7th July - World Chocolate Day
14th July - World Emoji Day
30th July - International Day of Friendship
31st July - National Avocado Day
Download your July 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
August Marketing Dates
The school summer holidays are in full swing in August meaning it is a great month for businesses with children and families as their target audience. Parents will also be kitting out for the new year this month meaning targeted campaigns could see a lot of success. Some great August marketing ideas include National Cupcake Day, International Dog Day and more!
8th August - International Cat Day
13th August - Prosecco Day
17th August - National Cupcake Day
25th August - National Burger Day
26th August International Dog Day
28th August - Summer Bank Holiday
Download your August 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
September Marketing Dates
Travel businesses all over the country will get ready to celebrate World Tourism Day this September whilst the World's Biggest Coffee Morning and International Charity Day will offer the opportunity to share more about the behind-the-scenes of your business and team.
5th September - International Charity Day
6th September - Emergency Services Day
10th September - World Suicide Prevention Day
21st September - International Day of Peace
27th September - World Tourism Day
28th September - National Fitness Day
30th September - World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
Download your September 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
October Marketing Dates
Celebrate all things spooky with our October marketing ideas. Some key marketing dates for 2023 include international coffee day which is great for coffee shops, coffee-related businesses and more. October also celebrates Black History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Stoptober.
1st October - International Coffee Day
3rd October - Buy British Day
5th October - World Teacher’s Day
10th October - World Mental Health Awareness Day
25th October - Pumpkin Day
31st October - Halloween
Download your October 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
November Marketing Dates
Raise awareness this November with Men’s Health Awareness Month & Movember. Firework-themed marketing ideas will go off with a bang whilst one of the biggest sales events of the year, Black Friday 2023 opens for business at the end of the month.
1st November - World Vegan Day
5th November - Guy Fawkes Night/ Bonfire Night
11th November - Remembrance Day
14th November - King Charles III’s Birthday
23rd November - Thanksgiving
24th November - Black Friday
28th November - Cyber Monday
30th November - St Andrew’s Day
Download your November 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
December Marketing Dates
Turbo-charge your Christmas 2023 marketing by planning ahead for the festive holiday dates. December is the perfect time to run sales campaigns and product promotions whilst people are busy buying presents for the holidays. December is also home to some fun marketing dates including Christmas Jumper Day and Hot Chocolate Day which are a great way to add a bit of personality to social media posts.
9th December - Christmas Jumper Day
13th December - Hot Chocolate Day
22nd December - Winter Solstice
24th December - Christmas Eve
25th December - Christmas Day
26th December - Boxing Day
31st December - New Year’s Eve
Download your December 2023 Digital Marketing Calendar PDF|PNG
Looking for Advice on Winning Digital Marketing Strategy & Tools?
At SEM Consultants, we’re experts in all things digital marketing. We can help identify a clear digital marketing strategy and utilise the tools you need to ensure marketing success in 2023. To find out more about our digital marketing services, contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500.
Alternatively, Download the full 2023 digital marketing calendar now
### How Much Of My Digital Marketing Budget Should I Spend On SEO?
If you’ve decided that SEO is suitable for your business and you’re ready to add an SEO campaign to your digital marketing strategy, you’re probably wondering “how much of my budget do I allocate to SEO?”. With organic searches being responsible for 53% of all trackable website traffic, having a budget for SEO is a wise investment in the future of your business that can have long-term effects. SEO is a cost-effective strategy with a great ROI, but it can be tricky to figure out how much of your revenue should go toward your SEO budget.
Why Do I Need A Budget For SEO?
An SEO strategy has many moving parts that work together to improve organic search results. But organic doesn't mean results “just happen”. Search engine optimisation requires commitment and consistent attention and analysis from your SEO agency to get the best results. Setting an SEO budget is the best way to make sure your SEO strategy isn’t lacking and has everything it needs to achieve your business goals.
What Will Affect My SEO Budget?
There will be a few factors to consider that will affect the amount of money you allocate towards your SEO budget. Your revenue and your competitors will affect your SEO marketing budget and how you choose to spend it so it’s worth thinking about these aspects separately.
Your Revenue Will Affect Your SEO Budget
Just like all budgets, the amount of money you set aside for your SEO budget will depend on what your business can afford. You’ll need to consider how much money your business turns over monthly and how much you’re willing to spend on search engine optimization. Thankfully SEO budgets are flexible and can be easily adjusted to reflect your needs.
It’s also important to consider your current digital marketing efforts and how they might affect your business. Is your current digital marketing strategy working effectively? Can your current marketing budget be spent more efficiently? Depending on your type of business, transferring parts of your digital marketing budget into your SEO budget could prove beneficial if you are looking to achieve long-term results.
While PPC (Pay-Per-Click) delivers very quick, positive results, the ads stop when your PPC budget is spent. The beauty of SEO is that it continues to positively impact your website long after the first changes are made so it’s often beneficial to combine both types of digital marketing.
Your Competition Will Affect Your SEO Budget
It’s useful to do your homework about your competitors when creating your SEO budget. When your hire an agency to execute your SEO campaign, they’ll get to work at investigating your competitors buy conducting a competitor analysis. The competitor analysis will reveal which keywords your competition are using and how well they rank on google for them. The complete investigation will highlight any gaps between you and your competition and your SEO budget will determine how quickly you can match and surpass your competitors efforts. You’ll find out how often they post content and what content appeals to your shared audience. Your budget will pay for the time and effort needed to complete elements of your SEO strategy like keyword research, on-page SEO and any other types of search engine optimisation you’ll need to stay ahead of your competitors.
Being in a highly competitive market will also mean spending more on your SEO budget to stand out from the crowd. Outranking your competition requires a consistent approach in your SEO efforts with regular reviews and analysis. It’ll take time and effort to see results so you'll need to budget for that. Additionally, if your business fits into a niche where your competitors are websites with greater authority, you’ll need to increase your SEO spend. Government websites, news agencies and information-driven sites may have greater authority with Google and have created more EAT trust. EAT trust refers to the amount of expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness your website possesses in the eyes of Google. If Google views the content of your website and considers it to be reliable, accurate and written from an expert's point of view, this will increase your EAT rating.
The length of time you’ve been in business may also affect how much you’ll spend on SEO. If you’re a new company or you’ve recently changed your domain name, you’ll need to increase your SEO spending to catch up. Businesses that have practiced effective and consistent SEO for a long time can benefit from the longevity of SEO and they may have a head start when it comes to improving rankings on Google. As well as helping you to rank on Google and build EAT trust, your increased SEO budget will help you build brand awareness, which is essential when improving your online presence.
What Will My SEO Budget Be Spent On?
When you hire a digital marketing agency to handle your SEO budget, you can tailor the services to suit your needs. You may need a combination of SEO services or just one, it will all depend on the results you are aiming for. SEO services include:
SEO content writing - Your search engine marketers can create unique, SEO-driven written content for your website in the form of blog posts, articles, product descriptions and landing pages that will satisfy the user's intent and provide value as well as conform to the best practices laid out in Search Quality Rating Guidelines.
On-page SEO - SEO experts will ensure all elements of on-page SEO are implemented on your website like using appropriate headings, keyword research and creating good URLs, all of which will make your website more visible on search engines.
Off-Page SEO - Digital marketers will ensure that off-page SEO techniques like creating quality backlinks and increasing social media shares are being used effectively to build your brand awareness.
Technical SEO - Improving the page speed of your website, creating a site map and making sure your site is mobile-friendly will greatly improve the user experience on your website.
Analytics - A reputable digital marketing agency will provide monthly analytical reports so you can see how effectively your SEO budget is being spent and whether you need to adjust the amount of the services being utilised.
Agency Fees - Part of your SEO budget will go towards paying the agency for the improvements they make. Some digital marketing agencies will charge you by the hour for SEO. You and your SEO marketers will agree on how much time needs to be spent on your website each month and which elements of SEO will be best suited to your business. At SEM Consultants, we offer competitive and flexible monthly SEO packages that are customised to meet your goal objectives. Each month we provide a detailed analysis of how our SEO efforts have affected the organic traffic to your website.
How Much Should I Spend on SEO?
As an experienced digital marketing company, we recommend spending between 5% and 10% of your revenue towards your SEO budget. With a budget of 5% being the bare minimum and 10% on the higher end of the scale, the amount you choose to spend will depend on how much money your business turns over. For example, a small business with an annual revenue of £200,000 would spend just over £800 per month if it used 5% of its budget on SEO.
How quickly you expect to see results will affect the percentage of revenue used for your SEO budget. If you are playing catch-up with your competitors, for example, you’ll want to make sure your website is full of relevant SEO-friendly content. In this instance, you will benefit from using 10% of your revenue so that your site can be optimised and indexed by Google quicker.
If you’d like some expert advice and support on how to leverage your SEO budget, SEM Consultants provide SEO packages that can be tailored to your business's needs and objectives. Contact our team of digital marketing experts to find out more about SEO marketing.
### Top SEO Tips to Get SEO Ready for Black Friday 2022
The biggest sale event of the season is fast approaching and whilst you may have already decided on your offers and marketing activity, have you made sure your website is SEO-ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Don’t lose your leads by avoiding SEO optimisation and follow our top tips for SEO this festive season.
Why Get SEO Ready for Black Friday 2022?
Whilst SEO is important year-round, it is even more important during sale season when every visitor to your website counts. You may have the best Black Friday offer ever but if nobody sees it, or if your site under-performs once customers get to it, you could end up losing out on some valuable sales. Paid marketing is a fantastic tool to push visitors to your website but if you can appear organically, you’ll also be able to harness an additional group of customers who are actively searching for your product or service, all for free.
How Can I Optimise my Black Friday Campaigns for SEO?
When it comes to getting your business SEO-ready for Black Friday 2022, there are some key areas you can focus on. One of these is through creating dedicated landing pages for your sale offers that are optimised for SEO. From this page, you can link to any relevant products or service pages with optimised product images and SEO-optimised product descriptions that wow.
Don’t forget to optimise your product pages for SEO too. Take a look at your product descriptions, are they clear? Do they provide all of the information your potential customers need to make an informed decision? Do the product images clearly display the product and appear to your target audience? Do some keyword research into what search terms potential customers are using to search for your products in your category. Use these strategically in your page content including in the headings and subheadings to help support your Black Friday SEO and Cyber Monday marketing efforts. As with every other page on your website, your product page should have a simple, easy-to-remember URL and an SEO title that describes the product accurately. Finally, ensure your call to action is clear and obvious to encourage customers to make the purchase.
Create a Buzz Around Your Black Friday Sale
One way to help ensure success for your Black Friday 2022 campaign is to shout about it. The more people who know about your sale, the more people who are likely to purchase from you. Create a sense of anticipation before your Black Friday campaign starts by publishing an SEO-optimised blog announcing the sale before it launches and telling customers to ‘watch this space’.
As the holiday season approaches, why not create tie-in gift guides promoting some of the products you will be including in your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales to start driving traffic to the product pages? Teaser posts on social media can help generate interest in your Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2022 sales and help add reminders whilst your BF campaigns are running, all helping to show Google that visitors are finding something interesting and useful on your web pages. Don’t forget to prepare any Black Friday Ads campaigns well in advance to ensure they are live and ready for when you set your Black Friday sale live.
Your Black Friday 2022 SEO Checklist
If you ran a Black Friday Campaign last year, analyse how your campaign performed, what terms people used to find your website and how they performed. Use this information to inform your Black Friday 2022 keyword strategy. Remember longtail keywords may be worth the most to your SEO strategy, particularly in the competitive market of seasonal campaigns.
Ensure all pages have complete and optimised meta titles and descriptions using Black Friday Keywords for sale landing pages and ideally placing keywords at the start of the meta title and description.
Do a walk-through of your website and buying process in the mindset of someone who knows nothing about your business. Does everything make sense? Is the buying process smooth? Optimising your website’s useability can help prevent user drop-off and support your organic rankings. Use analytics to see which pages don’t contribute to the conversion process to see how they could be improved.
Ensure all images have alt-text to allow screen readers and Google to interpret your site images.
Optimise all sale landing pages as a priority as well as any other pages your customers could come into contact with during the Black Friday 2022 sales.
Do a review of your website using the Google Search Console to check your pages are being indexed by google and to spot any website issues such as duplicate content or 404’s that may be preventing your website pages from showing in search results.
Check your site speed using Google's Page Speed Insights to make sure your website is performing properly and find suggestions on how to improve your website site speed and in turn, improve your SEO. Whilst this may be a longer-term fix, site speed is important for search engine optimisation and could help your Black Friday 2023 campaigns perform even better.
Need Help With Your SEO?
If you are new to SEO and looking for ways to help your website perform organically, contact our team of experts who can help optimise your website and keep it performing well after Black Friday has finished for another year.
Contact SEM Consultants online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now to find out more about how to help your website rank in Google.
### How to Find New Ideas When Writing Blog Posts For SEO
It’s a common problem to struggle to find fresh ideas for regular blog posts when boosting your SEO efforts. How do you come up with fresh ideas for blog posts time after time? And how do you make sure those blog posts are going to be found by your audience? Having a process for finding relevant blog topics is an important part of your SEO blog strategy that keeps the creative juices flowing and maintains the flow of traffic to your blog.
Why Have a Process For Generating SEO-Friendly Blog Ideas?
If you want to have a constant, steady flow of original content that is relevant to your brand and target audience, you’ll need a process for generating ideas. Having a defined process saves time on the “thinking stage” as you’ll have all of the blog topics at the ready, waiting to be turned into complete blog posts. Some other benefits to having a system in place for blog content creation include:
Being able to produce a flow of regular blog posts helps to increase overall search traffic and helps search engines successfully identify your niche.
You can uncover new ideas or a new take on an old idea to support your SEO content writing.
A consistent strategy will help to prevent the onset of stress and content fatigue when trying to find new ideas to keep up with your blog schedule.
How Do I Find Blog Post Topics For SEO?
Thankfully, there are a few methods that will help you discover the most relevant blog post topics to suit your consumers whilst enhancing the SEO potential of your content.
Find Out the Pain Points of Your Target Audience
When you know and understand the pain points of your consumers, you can give them the solutions that your business can provide. Think about your buyer persona’s challenges and put yourself in their shoes. Where do they go online for answers, and where are their go-to websites? Content analyser tools like Buzz Sumo boost SEO as they allow you to research your buyer persona's favourite websites and find the most popular content relating to their challenge or query on social media. Usually, the most shared content will give you topic ideas for blogs that your audience will be searching for.
Complete a Competitor Analysis
Taking a look at your competitors gives you helpful insight into ideas for blogs since you share the same target audience. Semrush has a set of useful SEO tools that help you to identify competitor keywords and spot gaps in your own keyword research. You’ll gain a lot of insightful information about how competitors are ranking for certain keywords as well as the keywords your competitors use for paid ad campaigns. During the analysis, you can identify the search terms your competitors are ranking for as well as the pages and topics that are doing well for them and compare these to the search terms you would like to rank for on Google. All of this keyword research can help you to highlight terms that can be turned into blog posts your audience wants to read.
Utilise Q&A Websites
Popular Q&A websites like Quora.com show you the questions your consumers are asking. A simple search of keywords that relate best to your audience will bring up a host of questions that are currently being asked on the site. The Quora search results show the popular questions that contain the keyword and will provide insight into common challenges faced by your potential customers. Use these questions and queries to provide answers in the form of informative blog posts that are optimised for search engines..
Analyse Your Own SEO Efforts In Google Search Console
When it comes to SEO tools, using Google Search Console is a great way to discover which search queries are used to find your website. Find out which topics your site is ranking for (whether you’re ranking highly or not) and reveal the actual keywords people in your niche are searching for to find you. Discover more about Google Search Console here.
Leverage Google Searches For Blog Ideas
Completing a basic Google search of your business services can offer hints into the types of searches that relate to your consumers. The autocomplete function in the search bar will list a few of the most popular searches related to the services you offer. You can use that function to generate ideas as well as the “People also ask” section on the search results page. This helpful box gives you examples of questions you can use as topics for blogs that will answer that query.
Review Your Case Studies for Blog Topic Ideas
Take a look at the things you do well in your business. It’s good to refer to your case studies so you can make a note of all of the pain points that are solved by your business. If there is something you do particularly well, it’ll be worth creating blog content around that aspect of your brand.
Get Ideas For SEO Blog Content From Others
There’s a wealth of fresh ideas to be found within your marketing team that can give you ideas from another perspective. Often, members of your team who don’t write blog posts can see potential blog ideas. A brainstorming session is great for utilising the collective mind of those around you. If you work alone, try a “brain dump” and note all of your ideas on paper. Making a mind map of all of the words and phrases related to your business can help to highlight potential ideas that have been in the back of your mind.
How Do I Make SEO-Friendly Blog Content?
When you have decided on a blog topic, optimise your well-written content to ensure your target audience finds your blog post. Keep these points in mind when writing for SEO:
Research the relevant keywords to be used in your blog post. It’s worth remembering that keywords are the search terms used by your consumers so it’s good to know the intent behind the keywords since it will shape the nature of your blog post. Are your customers performing searches to gain information, to make a decision or to buy something? Knowing the intent behind your audience’s searches helps you create blog posts to serve the user with informational, commercial or transactional content. Use a tool like Google Keyword Planner to find additional keywords that will help your blog content to rank higher on search engines.
Optimise the meta information. Make sure you don’t miss opportunities to enhance the meta description and meta title of your post with relevant keywords to make it more visible to Google.
Ensure everyone can access the best version of your written content by making sure your post is optimised for mobile phones and tablets.
Use images to increase your SEO efforts. Add alt text to the photos being used in your blog posts to make your content more accessible and easier to find on search engines.
Be sure to use style headings like H1, H2 and H3 etc which will aid your visibility in search engines when you use relevant keywords in those headings.
Link out to other related, quality content within your blog post and create links to your own products or other related blog content within the website.
Keep things simple by creating user-friendly URLs. Make sure your URL is short and to the point but also describes your blog topic well.
Find SEO Optimised Blog Writing Services
It can be difficult to keep up with the demand of creating a constant supply of search engine optimised blog posts. We understand how tricky it can be so If you would prefer to outsource your content marketing, the SEO blog writing team at SEM Consultants can help. Our team of writers can help to build your brand awareness online and increase your virtual presence with our high-quality blog writing services. To discover more about our SEO services, contact us online or call us on 01215526500.
### What is Amazon A+ Content?
If you are thinking about selling on Amazon or already sell products on Amazon, making sure your product listing is fully optimised is a must. Amazon offers a wide variety of ways to enhance your Amazon product listing and one of these is through the use of Amazon A+ content. But what is A+ content and how can optimising Amazon listings help turbo-charge your Amazon strategy? We explain all of this and more in our complete guide.
What is A+ Content?
Whilst every listing on Amazon has to have basic information such as the price, images and bullets, A+ content is a way of further enhancing your Amazon product listing with additional text blocks, videos, images and more. Simply put, A+ content on an Amazon listing is a way to further entice your prospective customer to purchase and to give them more information about the product they will be buying.
How is A+ Different to the Product Listing?
In the past, Amazon listings were limited to a simple product description paired with five bullet points and some product pictures. However, there is only so much you can say about your product within these strict confines. A+ content is an additional section of content lower down the page that can include high-quality photos and videos alongside a choice of blocks sellers can use to provide more information about their brand and product in an eye-catching way. A+ content is a standard feature available to all Amazon sellers to optimise their Amazon listings.
Why is A+ Content Important?
When it comes to selling products on Amazon, there is a lot of competition. Amazon’s A+ content allows you to add more information about your product in order to stand out from the crowd and show how your product is superior to others on the market. Giving your customers more information before they make a purpose could both persuade those who are still deciding on the purchase and also reduce the number of product returns or bad reviews from those who have misunderstood the product.
How to Optimise A+ Content
Now that you know the importance of using A+ content as part of your Amazon marketing strategy, how do you optimise it? The first thing you should look to do when optimising A+ content is to provide clear, concise information about the product you are selling. Make sure that product titles, bullets and descriptions all properly describe your product without confusion or misrepresentation. When reviewing your Amazon product listing, pay attention to the feedback you are getting from reviews and the FAQs section. It may be that there is a common confusion point among customers that could be addressed in your product description to clarify.
When adding blocks of content to your amazon content, make sure that they serve a purpose and give additional detail on your product rather than using up space needlessly. This section is your opportunity to really sell your product to potential customers so make the most of it. If you will be selling to different language markets, Amazon also has the ability to create language variations of your A+ content as well as assign it to multiple ASINs (product codes).
Leverage Amazon Search Terms in Your Amazon A+ Content
When planning your product listings and optimised A+ content on Amazon, it is a good idea to implement a keyword strategy in the same way as you would make use of keywords on your website. Utilising top-performing search terms on Amazon can help boost your organic listings on Amazon and make your products appear higher in the search results. Bear in mind though, as with organic website listings, Amazon keywords are always evolving to meet changing demands and sales environments so it is worth reviewing how your products are performing regularly.
Using Different Module Types in Amazon A+ Content
When you are creating enhanced marketing content in Amazon’s A+ content editor, there are a number of block types you can use. Some A+ content modules are purely for text, others allow you to create subheadings, add videos and provide side-by-side image comparisons. You can upload images from your desktop to fit the content modules but pay close attention to the size requirements within the module image sections as these will be different for each block. Amazon’s module-style A+ content also allows you the opportunity to cross-sell products with side-by-side comparisons of products you can add and potentially up-sell customers to. This allows customers to compare to find the product that best fits their needs whilst remaining within your brand’s listings.
Adding Images to Your Amazon A+ Content
One of the ways Amazon’s A+ content works to sell your product on the platform is by allowing the use of numerous images within the content. There are strict guidelines on the images you can use for the different block types but you should also ensure that any images used are relevant to the product you are trying to sell to avoid confusing any prospective customers. Note that if you select a block within the editor that has an image field, an image will be required for publishing, you may also need to add image keywords to any images you upload to describe the content of your image file. You may also need to edit your image before uploading to ensure it meets the size guides for your chosen module.
Use Your Brand’s Identity in Your A+ Content
If you do any sort of online or offline marketing, you’ll know that branding is key. You wouldn’t put out an off-brand social media post or website page so you shouldn’t do this on your Amazon listings. Even if your Amazon storefront is your only online presence, keeping the same branding and tone across each of your Amazon listings and your Amazon storefront will help boost your legitimacy on the platform and instil trust in your brand which in turn can increase sales. Combining good reviews, optimised listings and a strong brand identity is a winning combination for successful Amazon listings.
Contact us for More About Amazon Marketing
If you are looking for ways to optimise your Amazon marketing strategy and enhance your product listings to perform, our Amazon specialists are here to help. We can create winning Amazon listings and manage diverse Amazon marketing campaigns to help your brand succeed. Take a look at our Amazon Advertising page to learn more about our Amazon services.
Contact SEM Consultants online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now to find out more.
### What is User Generated Content?
If you are looking for a way to connect with potential customers online, user-generated content is a great tool to use. UGC can help give your social media presence a personal side and help consumers connect with your brand. But what is user-generated content? And is it useful to your business?
What is User Generated Content or UGC?
User-generated content is any content such as images, blogs, reviews or videos that have been created or generated, by customers. For example, if a person has taken a picture of a new bag they have bought and posted it online, that is user-generated content. Perhaps someone has ordered a new subscription box service and uploaded a video of their unboxing to YouTube, that is UGC. User-generated content can be created by customers or what is known as ‘brand loyalists’, people who vocally support a brand or service and frequently post content supporting the brand. By moving the tried and tested word-of-mouth online, UGC is a modern-day recommendation on a global platform.
Why is User Generated Content Successful?
UGC marketing is successful in part because it is created by ‘real’ people rather than being the product of a marketing department. Customers trust other customers, friends and family’s opinions over industry-generated media and it is for this reason that user-generated content campaigns are so successful. Younger audiences, such as Gen Z are becoming more picky about which brands they interact with. Now, successful marketing is anchored in authenticity and there is nothing more authentic than user-generated content.
What Types of User Generated Content are There?
User-generated content can cover every aspect of online life. From TikTok unboxings to website reviews to podcasts, there are endless types of content that can be brought under the umbrella of UGC. UGC can be harnessed in a number of ways, both organically and through organised UGC campaigns. One well-known example of a user-generated content campaign is Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. In this campaign, customers were encouraged to share a picture of their name on a coke can or bottle online with the #shareacoke hashtag. Aside from creating a huge amount of brand awareness, the campaign was able to be tracked through the #shareacoke hashtag creating a huge amount of brand-centred content and discussion online.
Another example of a UGC campaign which takes customer creation literally is Starbucks’ #WhiteCupContest in which customers were challenged to decorate one of Starbucks’ iconic white cups and share their designs online. This was then repeated with their red Christmas cups and was extremely popular causing a huge amount of online content to be created and shared. These are the main types of user generated content you might come across online:
Product reviews
Live streams
Videos
YouTube Content
Blog Posts
Images
Social media content such as tweets
Testimonials
How Could Using User-Generated Content Benefit Your Business?
If you are looking for a way to appear more authentic in your marketing, user-generated content is a fantastic tool. UGC can establish a brand presence on social media making it a great brand awareness tool. It can also help engagement on your website and social media platforms with visitors likely to stick around and engage with your brand. If your user-generated content campaign is centred around a competition offering discounts to winners, for example, you could see an increase in sales as customers interact with your brand.
If you are a small business, UGC can be a great low-cost or free marketing tool that can help you connect with potential and existing customers. Rather than taking out expensive ads that could get ignored, if UGC is right for your brand, it could help you show up to the audiences you are trying to target. User-generated content can help build an online community that is engaged and supportive of your brand. One example of user generated content for brand awareness is the #CanvaDesignChallenge from the design software Canva. By encouraging users to create their own design using their software and share using social media, they are able to get more visitors to the website to see how their software works and share their brand on social media in one swoop.
Using User-Generated Content the Right Way
Whilst UGC marketing is an innovative tool that gives customers control, there are a few key rules when it comes to using it properly. One of the most important things when it comes to user-generated content is to make sure that it is authentic. It might be tempting to create your own version to look like it has been user-generated but this can go wrong very quickly. Those who use social media to interact with brands, particularly young people who are exposed to social media marketing every day will be able to work out when content is not genuine very quickly and this can drastically damage your online presence and brand reputation.
Another issue many brands and businesses face with UGC marketing is simply sharing customer content to their own website and social media accounts without reaching out to the customer who created the content. It is very important you contact the creator before using any user-generated content on your own platforms as, even if the content contains your product, they are the creator and owner of the content. This could be as simple as commenting on the original post or sending a direct message to the creator.
Having Clear Goals and Messages for Your UGC Campaign
When it comes to creating a user-generated content campaign, it is important that you have pre-set goals and a clear message. For example, what content would you like to see users creating and how does this align with your brand? Will this campaign be led by brand-awareness goals? Make sure your UGC matches your overall marketing goals to give the campaign a purpose you can measure.
Where to Share UGC Campaign Launches
There are plenty of ways to kick your UGC campaign off to a great start, whatever size your business is. If you are a brick-and-mortar store, a simple poster in your shop saying ‘tag us in your posts for x% off’ or telling customers as they complete their purchase is a great way to spread the word. Online, a social media post announcing your competition can help create traction and get people to share your content.
Top Tips for User Generated Content
Always ask permission to use any customer produced content or any UGC you find online
Give the original creator credit when you use their content by tagging and crediting them in your posts
Keep UGC campaigns fresh by switching them up as and when they are needed
Curate content that reflects your brand such as outdoor experiences for an outdoor clothing brand or home improvement projects for a home improvement brand
Keep it simple. When running your user generated content campaign make it clear the type of content you are looking for to make it simple for users to engage
Engage with users by thanking them for their submissions, liking their posts and other genuine forms of engagement
Offer your customers an incentive to get involved. For example, you could launch a competition for the most innovative use of your product or a seasonal challenge that offers some value to your users
Social Media Advice You Can Trust
If you are looking for ways to boost your social media presence, our social media experts are here to help. We’re experts in growing social media channels and using social media to drive traffic to websites.
Contact our social team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out more about how we can help your business succeed online.
### Why Should Small Businesses Consider Social Media Outsourcing?
Social media outsourcing is often thought of as an expensive option only available to big businesses with big budgets. This is a misconception that we would like to dismiss today. Making the investment to outsource social media management is minuscule when compared to the time and money that can be lost as a novice trying to run paid ad campaigns or understand an ever-evolving algorithm all whilst running a business. Thankfully there is a solution that eliminates the stress and frustration that comes with trying to do it all.
What is Social Media Outsourcing?
Outsourcing social media marketing is the process of giving authority to a third-party social media outsourcing company that will manage and monitor your social media marketing across multiple platforms.
Social media outsourcing for small business owners is a useful service as it enhances the scalability of the company while allowing business owners to focus on other aspects of their company.
Here are some benefits of outsourcing social media management to SEM Consultants.
Outsourcing Social Media Marketing Saves Time
Getting to grips with digital marketing can take time, patience and consistency with a lot of trials to see what works and what doesn’t. Paid social media, for example, requires an expert level of understanding in order to achieve the best results and ROI. The learning phase of paid advertising can not only result in lost business hours but can also result in wasted ad spend. When you outsource your social media marketing, you can relax and rely on experts who have years of experience building strong online presences for small businesses. Taking time away from your business to implement the best digital marketing strategies is not always an option for most small business owners. Not to mention the time it takes to learn about the constantly evolving nature of social media. Enlisting the support of social media outsourcing companies prevents mistakes and saves time as you can leave it to the experts to get the job done.
Outsource social media management and save money
When compared to the cost of hiring and training an in-house social media marketing expert, outsourcing social media can be a cheaper option. Outsourcing also allows you to access professionals outside of your local area which could mean a great deal of difference in price. For example, it is more cost-effective to hire a Midlands-based marketing agency to handle your social media marketing rather than a London-based agency because prices are typically higher in London. You get the same level of expertise and professionalism at a lower cost. Outsourcing gives you the option to really shop around for the best deal for your budget without being locked into one location.
Benefit from up-to-date tools and applications
When it comes to social media marketing, there are many tools and apps that can improve your digital marketing efforts. Often, the best marketing tools are out of reach for small business owners and without training and experience, it’s tricky to know how to utilise these professional tools effectively. Outsourcing social media management means you get to benefit from the most current processes without having to spend time getting to grips with new tools and applications.
Utilise Instant Expertise
One of the biggest benefits of social media outsourcing is being able to utilise the expertise of others. When it comes to things like paid social media, learning how to place ads for your business can be a very steep learning curve that can become quite costly while you learn the ropes. Even the platforms made for social media advertising don’t make it easy and they can be difficult to use and master (we’re looking at you, Facebook Ads Manager!). So with paid media outsourcing, having instant access to years of expert know-how will save not only time and money but will save you the frustration that comes with trying to figure things out. With SEM Consultants, you can also trust our expertise to provide you with reports and insights that help you to learn more about your business which can improve the achievement of the goals you set.
Get A Fresh Perspective
It’s easy to become set in one's ways when it comes to how you run your small business and while this is great for consistency when you have good habits, sometimes it’s easy to not realise when you develop unhelpful habits. If you’ve been in business for a while, having someone new see what you do from another angle can be priceless. Outsourcing social media management means your small business can benefit from the perspective of digital experts who are in the world of social media marketing daily. New ideas and a fresh approach will allow you to see your small business the same way a new customer would, which is essential to the growth of any business.
Expect Positive Results With Social Media Outsourcing.
When you outsource your social media marketing, it’s the job of an agency like SEM Consultants to deliver effective results. The success of your business’ paid media campaign is the sole focus of the outsourcing agency leaving you free to concentrate on other aspects of your business knowing your investment is in good hands. When you hand over control of your paid social campaign to a team of experts, you’re more likely to see a higher return on your investment than with organic social media campaigns. The professionals will manage your paid social media account with expertise and a keen focus on delivering results you can see like more brand awareness, more enquiries and ultimately more sales!
With all the benefits of outsourcing social media management, it’s not surprising that more and more small businesses are leveraging its power. If you’re a small business and you’re struggling to make a presence online or perhaps you’d like to start advertising your business but you lack the time (and the know-how) to get started then outsourcing your social media marketing is the solution for you. Get in touch with SEM Consultants today to discuss how you can benefit from our paid social media outsourcing services and grow your business online quickly and successfully.
### Affordable Digital Marketing - Why Choose a Midlands Marketing Agency
Whether you are a business in London looking for a digital marketing company or located elsewhere in the UK and comparing London digital marketing agency costs to other places in the UK, you may be wondering what is best for your business and how to achieve your digital marketing goals with the highest return on investment. We’re here to convince you to choose a Midlands digital marketing agency for world-class expertise at a much lower price than our London counterparts.
What Does a Good Digital Marketing Agency Do?
Wherever in the country, or world, your digital marketing agency is based, they should deliver you qualified results based on the goals you have told them you want to aim towards. Depending on what you want to target, this could be through PPC, SEO, social media or other methods of digital marketing. Some common goals include increased traffic to your website, increased conversions such as phone calls, completed sign up forms or purchases or even increased brand awareness for your brand. A good digital marketing agency will work with you to set out an action plan of what will be targeted, how your digital marketing will play out and the results you want to see from the money you are putting in.
Why Choose a Midlands Marketing Agency?
With the heyday of video calling upon us, location no longer restricts face-to-face (or face-to-screen) meetings, with calls available at the drop of a hat and screen sharing opening doors for specialists across the country able to help their clients remotely. There are some great benefits to choosing a Midlands marketing agency over a London marketing agency and we’ll detail a few below.
World-Class Expertise, Midlands Prices
Anyone who has ever tried to run a business in the London area will know that the high cost of overheads means inevitably customer prices have to go up to match. One of the great things about working with a Midlands digital marketing agency is that the costs, on average, are much lower. Whilst the prices are much lower in general, the skill set isn’t lower.
As a Midlands-based digital marketing agency, SEM Consultants works with brands across the globe and has years of experience creating and managing successful digital marketing campaigns. As a Google partner marketing agency, we pride ourselves on staying ahead of the game with the latest techniques and tools to make your digital marketing efforts a success.
Midlands Digital Marketing Agency Costs
When choosing a Midlands digital marketing agency over a London digital marketing agency, you’ll be getting all of that expertise whilst saving potentially hundreds. With London agency prices reaching around £250 per hour and up, a Midlands-based agency, such as SEM Consultants will typically start at around £40 per hour, depending on the service with no compromise on the quality of the work. You’ll get more for your money meaning you’ll be able to put it towards things that actually work for your business.
Dedicated Support on a Personal Level
Whilst we are in no way saying that you won’t get a fantastic, personal digital marketing experience with a London-based agency, many London agencies are in high demand from such a concentrated area and often have to juggle a larger number of brands all in the same area. By extending your scope over the rest of the UK, you will be able to find a company that takes the time to really get to know the nuances of your business and where you want to take your digital marketing. You’ll get a personalised digital marketing strategy that plots out the best strategies for your individual business and the best platforms for you, with budgets and goals adjusted accordingly. With a smaller, Midlands-based digital marketing specialist, you'll often stay with the same digital advisor throughout your journey with the agency instead of being passed to whichever advisor is free at the time.
Diverse Knowledge
At SEM Consultants, we pride ourselves on thinking outside of the box when it comes to your digital marketing strategy to find a balance that works for you. We’ve worked with a number of brands from across the world, from Australia to Canada to the sunny shores of Spain, as well as a number of local Midlands businesses and London-based brands. By taking learnings from our combined experiences, we are able to kick-start new and innovative digital marketing practices that see results.
Why Choose SEM Consultants as Your Digital Marketing Agency?
As a Birmingham digital marketing agency that specialises in SEO and PPC, we know exactly what your business needs to succeed when it comes to digital marketing that converts. Our knowledge of SEO is considered in every aspect of our digital marketing from social media to website design as we know how important it is to have a website that ranks. We’ve worked with companies in multiple languages and specialities with bespoke digital marketing services that have helped them succeed time and again. As a smaller agency, we are able to focus our energies on helping you succeed. Whatever happens, we’re just a quick phone call, or video call away with expert advice that is personalised to your business needs.
To find out more about our leading digital marketing services in the Midlands, take a look at our service pages for PPC, SEO and Social Media now. Alternatively, contact our digital marketing team now to find out more and allow our expert team to answer any questions you may have.
### Google’s New Skin Tone Schema - Inclusivity in Search
Google has recently announced its new addition of skin tone schema and the innovative way new inclusive schema is leading to more representative machine learning. But what is Google’s new skin tone schema and how will it affect search as we know it? We talk through all of this and more in our guide to inclusive schema and how to use it.
What is Google’s New Inclusive Schema?
Google’s new development in inclusive schema is a new way of looking at colour in search and AI. They have introduced a brand new MST colour scale to enable creators and online businesses to label their content in a way that search engines can better understand. Google’s new schema will allow creators to tag their images with labels such as skin tone, hair colour and hair texture to give more information about the content they are creating.
What is the MST Scale?
The Google MST Scale or Monk Skin Tone Scale is a new type of colour scale that expands on the traditionally-used Fitzpatrick Scale. The Fitzpatrick Scale was created with six broad shades of skin and was a way of medically categorising skin types. The MST Scale, created by professor and sociologist Dr Ellis Monk, has expanded this skin colour scale to include 10 different skin tones in order to better represent a wider range of skin tones. Whilst most AI systems use the Fitzpatrick Scale in order to measure skin tone, Google will now use this new system in order to classify skin tones in its AI systems including in search and Google technologies.
The 10 Monk Skin Tone Scale shades (Source: Google Blog)
Why Have Google Introduced This New System?
When it comes to machine learning and new systems that improve how people search and use google technologies, inclusivity is key. With the new MST Scale, by creating 10 different tones to work with, Google has found a way to give people something they can see themselves in without overcomplicating the system beyond usability. Adding information such as skin colour, hair colour and hair texture to content such as images allows searchers to better filter searches to fit their own needs and gives Google more information to work with when it comes to categorising images, products and websites. By improving the way AI sees skin colour, Google has paved the path for more innovative technologies and services.
How Does the New Inclusive Schema System Work?
By adding tags to images and content such as skin colour, hair colour and hair texture, creators are able to give Google more information about what their website includes. Google can then use that information to better inform searchers and personalise results that better fit what the user is searching for. Inclusive Schema will work to better inform AI and machine learning to create a more inclusive set of technologies. By using this new system, Google has created the potential to reduce bias in the data sets used to train AI in a wide range of applications.
Marking Up Skin Tone in Your Own Schema to Promote Inclusivity
If you are looking for a way to use the new Google schema and appear in the new searches based on skin tone, hair colour and hair texture, now is the perfect time. If your website content shows images of people, inclusive schema could help you show up better in results that include people or where people show up in the results.
How Could Inclusive Schema Affect the Search Experience?
Being able to categorise by things such as skin colour, hair colour and hair texture looks set to completely transform the whole search experience. Content will be sorted by more definable elements depending on what the user is searching for. Those searching for makeup inspiration, for example, will now be able to specify the type of skin tone they are looking for and get results that align better with what they are looking for. Searches such as everyday makeup looks, bridal looks and more could create a more inclusive search experience with results that match up with a more diverse audience.
Aside from affecting a simple google search, improved schema can help improve the machine learning that affects many elements of our day-to-day lives. Using the expanded MST Scale, unlocking your phone screen, a doorbell camera or the way your phone categorises photos by similar faces could all benefit from an enhanced skin colour palette to draw on and learn from. With the new MST Scale, camera and editing apps that automatically adjust things such as the brightness of your images could become much more intuitive.
Future Thoughts on Making the Online World More Inclusive
Whilst this may just be the first of many steps towards a more inclusive online world, inclusive content is set to change the way many technologies learn and adapt. Google is finding more and more ways to go further in making search more inclusive and representative of a diverse society. By creating content labels, Google aims to make search results more representative and intuitive for those using the platform whilst creating a more standardised way to label web content going forward.
Need Some Extra Help from the Experts in Digital Marketing?
If you are looking for help with creating the perfect content for your website or any other element of digital marketing, our team of specialists is here to help. We are up to date with all of the latest Google developments, including Google’s new inclusive search and know exactly how to optimise your website to help you rank.
To find out more about our digital marketing know-how, contact our team now.
### The Switch to Google Analytics 4 - What You Need to Know
You may have heard the rumblings of the new version of Google Analytics and the changes it poses to your marketing. Google Analytics 4 will soon replace Universal Analytics as Google phases out the older property type so it is important that you are your business are prepared for the change. If you haven’t heard of GA4 before, or are curious about what the switch to Google Analytics 4 could mean for your business, our guide is here to help.
What is Google Analytics 4 or GA4?
Google Analytics 4, also known as GA4 is the new version of Google Analytics. This new phase of GA aims to work with the ever-changing digital landscape and adapt to the growing need for privacy with consumers as well as the massive rise in the use of apps. The new property type promises more insights into the customer journey across platforms and devices and seamless integrations with Google’s advertising platforms. Google Analytics 4 will be replacing the previous version of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics once it comes into place.
How is GA4 Different from Universal Analytics?
Whilst it may seem that there is always something new to learn when Google brings in any new changes, there are a few key differences in the new Google Analytics platform. The way that Google tracks and stores your data ready for reports is changing, as is the way that you access that information. This may mean that the key views and goals you are used to using on Google Analytics for things such as organic traffic, e-commerce conversions and more will need to be re-added to the new GA4 and the way you look for information updated.
Do I Have to Switch to GA4 from Universal Analytics?
Yes. Once the new Google Analytics comes into place, it will be the only way to track the information on your website on the Google Analytics platform. As Google announced in March, the old version of Google Analytics is currently in the process of being phased out and will no longer be available once the process has finished.
When Do I Need to Switch to GA4?
If you are wondering when you need to make the switch to GA4, the good news is that Google Analytics 4 is already available for use. All new accounts that are created will use the new Google Analytics platform. This means that you will be able to create a GA4 view for your website and have it running alongside your current Universal Analytics, gathering data on your website. This will give you the chance to view the differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics and find your way around the new GA4 before you make the switch.
After the 1st July 2023, Universal Analytics will no longer gather data. 360 Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on the 1st of October 2023. You will still be able to see reports for a short period after this date but new data will only be gathered and available on GA4. If you have not already set up a GA4 property for your website, you should aim to set one up soon so that your account starts to gather comparative data. GA4 will not backfill your new property with historic data so the sooner you set it up, the sooner your account will start gathering data.
How Do I Switch to GA4 from Universal Analytics?
The way that you switch to GA4 will depend on where you are setting up Google Analytics for the first time or if you are making the move from a Google Universal Analytics account. If you are setting up Google Analytics for the first time, you will automatically be directed to the new GA4 so will not have to worry about running a Universal Analytics property. If you already have Universal Analytics and need to add GA4, we have included a guide below.
If you want to add a Google Analytics 4 property to an account that already has analytics, you will be able to collect data on both properties until the 1st of July 2023. You can set up your new GA4 property using the GA4 Setup Assistant Wizard from Google. You will need to be in an Editor role for the account you are trying to add GA4 to. Google also has step by step instructions for if you are using a CMS that doesn’t already use gtag.js.You’ll then be able to create a new GA4 property in analytics and start processing the data from your site on the new property.
Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics
Whilst many may be sceptical about the new version of Google Analytics, what really is the difference between the two versions of analytics? Google’s Universal Analytics, for those who use the current version of analytics, includes a range of hit types and events that differ in the way that they are recorded in GA4. Universal Analytics hit types include e-commerce hits, social interaction hits, page and event hits whilst every interaction is now classed as an event in GA4. Google has a case-by-case comparison table to compare how events are tracked in GA4. Things such as categories, actions and labels are now a thing of the past with page views translating to the page_view event in Google Analytics 4.
In terms of User IDs in GA4, the ID now represents a cross-platform and cross-device view of how users have interacted with your website or app.
Where Can I Find Out More About GA4?
If you want to know more about the new version of Google Analytics, there are plenty of resources available from Google to shout about the new GA4. You can take a look at their introduction to GA4 on their marketing platform or take a look at their GA4 training. Alternatively, your digital marketing specialist will be able to help with setting up a new GA4 property, moving to GA4 from Universal Analytics and managing your Google Analytics account. As part of our digital marketing services, we use Google Analytics to track the success of all of our activity from PPC to SEO and beyond so are well versed in using analytics to track website activity for our clients.
The Digital Marketing Specialists
Whether you are using the new Google Analytics 4 to track your search engine optimisation practices or recording ad performance on your Google ads campaigns, our team of digital marketing specialists are here to help. We pride ourselves on keeping ahead of the curve when it comes to adapting to Google’s changes and are perfectly placed to offer advice on all areas of digital marketing for you and your business.
To find out more about our digital marketing services, contact our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500. Alternatively, take a look at our SEO, PPC and Social Media service pages to find out more about how we can make your digital marketing efforts a success.
### 7 Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
It's impossible to escape how social media has become a significant part of our daily lives. Living in a pandemic introduced more users to the world of social media for social interaction, gaining information and making purchases. According to datareportal.com, as of January 2022, we have 4.62 billion global social media users*. With figures like this, it’s never been more important for small business owners to tap into the stream of potential customers through social media marketing.
But how can social media marketing benefit small businesses? As experts in digital marketing, we have years of experience in creating successful social media marketing campaigns that consistently result in conversions. In this blog post, we’ve used our expertise to compile a list of 7 key benefits of social media marketing for small businesses.
1. Generate Brand Awareness
When you use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube you create a personality for your business. Strengthen your branding by adding your company logo to your social profile and content. This breathes life into your brand and helps your target audience to recognise and remember you. Need to delve deeper into brand awareness? Read more about the importance of brand awareness here.
2. Build Trust and Brand Loyalty
Regularly sharing useful content that answers a query, solves a problem or educates your audience will help build trust in your brand. Having a trustworthy presence on social media gives consumers confidence in your brand which helps to legitimise your business. When customers trust you, they are more likely to stay loyal and share their good experiences with others.
3. Increased Traffic to Your Website
The more platforms your social media profiles appear on mean more places people can find your small business. Each time you post a piece of content, you can point your audience toward your website. When that content is useful and entertaining enough, people will share it on their profiles which widens your audience and increases the traffic to your website.
4. Improves Search Engine Visibility
When your content is liked, shared and commented on frequently, it helps to boost rankings on search engines, making you easier to find.
5. Increased Sales and Leads
Nowadays, there are so many ways to increase your sales through social media. Here are two ways small businesses can increase sales through social media:
A. Paid Advertising
Services like Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads, for example, allow users to set up paid ad campaigns to promote sales or services on offer. Ad campaign managers direct traffic from social media to your website or to contact forms. A solid paid social advertising campaign helps to show your business to a targeted audience who are more likely to be interested in your product. Many small businesses benefit from localised advertising on social media to target potential customers in the local area. The main advantage of advertising on social media is that it costs less than standard advertising formats.
B. Content Marketing
This is a free and organic alternative to paid ads. The content can be product information, user-generated content like a product review or an entertaining meme connected to your niche. Sharing your expertise helps to establish authority in your industry. Content is certainly King and the more relevant and consistent it is, the more your audience will build a relationship with you.
6. Connect Virtually With Your Audience
Social media enables you to connect personally with your target audience in a unique way. You can seek feedback on products, show behind the scenes footage of your business or even create giveaways to show your appreciation to your customers. This connection allows you to offer better customer service since you’ll be able to respond to queries and requests promptly and personally.
7. Use Analytics to Understand Your Customers
When you’ve launched your small business onto a social media platform, you can measure your performance using online analytical tools. Your chosen social media platform will give analytic insights but third party software such as Google Analytics can be installed on your website so you can track the user journey after social media. Analytic data tracks the performance of ad campaigns for example or they can tell you what type of content gets the most likes. The world of analytics data gets quite technical so thankfully you can assign that task to a social media marketing team. They can produce a report and translate the analytical jargon into easy to digest information with a plan of action.
At SEM Consultants, we understand that running a small business and managing a successful social media campaign is a lot of work. Why not let our team of professional digital marketers devise a social media strategy that is tailor-made to your business needs. We handle everything from setting up profiles and posting content to monitoring progress and translating analytic data.
Contact us or call our dedicated team of social media specialists on 0121 552 6500 to find out how we can elevate the online presence of your business.
*Figures correct as of 20th April 2022 as published in Digital 2022: Global Overview Report - Datareportal.com
### On-Page SEO Checklist For Beginners
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, is the process of improving aspects of a website so that it can rank higher in search engine results.
On-Page SEO refers to the elements of this practice that you can control and implement
directly to your webpage. If you are unsure whether you need On-page SEO, read our general SEO Checklist
If you’re new to On-page SEO, all the factors involved in optimising a website can seem a little daunting. From website structure to keyword optimisation, there are many ways to make changes, so we have put together these easy to follow steps for beginners so you can learn how to improve your on-page SEO.
What is On-Page SEO? (And Why Do You Need It?)
On-Page SEO describes the process of optimising your content to make your website more visible to search engines and human readers. The more optimised, relevant and informative your content is, the more likely it is to rank higher on search engines. Technical SEO is a complex subject, but in this guide, we will focus on a simplified list of tasks that improve on-page SEO.
On-Page SEO Checklist
Here is your basic checklist to support On-Page SEO. Each topic offers explanations and examples to ensure SEO success.
Improve Website Structure
How you display content and how the pages connect is an important step in improving your on-page SEO. A sound website structure helps users find their way around your page and encourages them to stay. It will also help Google to index your site quicker and understand what your website is about.
Your website should also have a hierarchy, highlighting the most important pages. You can find a more detailed explanation of site structure and its impact on On-page SEO here.
Here are some simple steps you can take now to improve your website structure.
Create a menu structure
Firstly, think about the services or products you offer.
Put all of the services or products you sell on individual landing pages and describe them in detail.
Link these landing pages to your main menu and ensure that the menu is accessible from all pages. You can place links in your written content. For example, if when describing your product you mention a related service, you can link it in the content like this:
“We sell flat-packed furniture and we also provide a furniture assembly service if required”. In that example, you would link your assembly service page to the words “furniture assembly service”
Delete old content
Outdated content should be removed to keep your website clutter-free. Search engines crawl your website to understand your site hierarchy so removing old, irrelevant content will give Google the best version of this hierarchy to look at. The user experience is also improved when visitors can navigate through your site and find recent content.
When removing old content, you need to create a redirect link to point your visitors to the new, replacement content. This is a necessary step because although you may have deleted the content on your URL, the actual URL still exists in Google’s index and can still appear in the search results.
Effectively removing old content can be done in a few steps.
First, make a note of the URL you want to remove, then go into your website admin and delete it.
Next, look for your most relevant content to replace the old content and make a note of that URL.
Then use a redirect plugin to add your replacement URL. Redirect plugins are available on WordPress and other CMS (Content Management Systems) software. One example of a redirect plugin is Redirection. Yoast SEO Premium plugin for WordPress also features a redirect manager and you can learn more about how to use it here.
Finally, this new URL needs to be added to your website’s robots.txt file. Accessing this file on a website is usually a web developer’s job. You can learn more about robots.txt files here.
When you’ve completed the steps, the next time someone discovers your old URL and clicks it, they will be automatically redirected to your replacement URL.
Make a sitemap
A sitemap is a file that helps search engines quickly and successfully crawl your website. This file maps out your website and signals to crawl bots (the programmes that search your site) which pages are important and how they are linked on your website. There are several steps to creating a sitemap but using a plugin is a much simpler method.
If you are using a WordPress site, you can use a plugin like the Yoast SEO plugin which will create the sitemap for you. Another alternative is the XML Sitemap plugin, and you can find similar plugins on other CMS.
It is important to be aware that plugins can slow down your site so using too many different plugins can sometimes be a hindrance. This is why multi-purpose plugins are sometimes better.
Some steps to making your sitemap if you’re not using a CMS:
Use a sitemap generator to create your sitemap online. Simply input your URL and the generator will create the sitemap.
Upload this file into your FTP under the name sitemap.xml or similar. This step can become complicated so it is best to leave this task to a web developer or someone with experience with sitemaps if you can’t access a plugin.
Create Headings using HTML Tags
Headings help to organise your content into easily readable chunks and enable the reader to scan your content to get a sense of the theme. From an SEO perspective, using headings in your writing will help Google to identify the relevance of your page based on the HTML tags.
It is good practice to style your written content and use headings to break up the paragraphs and sections. 6 types of text headings can be used. Typically, heading 1 through to heading 6 are defined by font size ranging from large to small.
On the backend of your website, in the source code, these headings become HTML tags as shown in the example below. Google will look at these tags when assessing the relevance of your web page giving the most weight to the H1 and the least weight to the lowest heading level on the page.
Here’s an example of HTML tags based on this page:
On-Page SEO Checklist For Beginners
- (this is the title of the page and the theme of the article)
What is On-Page SEO? (And Why Do You Need It?)
- (This is the subheading)
Improve Website Structure
(This is a lower level subheading)
Although there are 6 levels of heading available, you don’t need to apply all of them to your content. If you have subheadings of equal importance then they can use the same heading.
Note - This rule doesn’t apply to the H1 heading. There should only ever be one H1 title tag on your page.
Here’s an example, on this page the first subheading “What is On-Page SEO? (And Why Do You Need It?)” is most important after the H1 title, so it is written in the H2 text. The next subheadings “Improve Website Structure”, “Create Headings using HTML Tags” and so on are in H3 text as they are all of equal importance. Further explanations of HTML tags can be found here.
Create User-Friendly URLs
A complicated, long-winded URL is more likely to be ignored or forgotten by not only the user but also by search engines.
Your URL (Uniform Resource Locator) represents the address where your content resides online. The URL is broken down into segments: the protocol, the domain, and the sub-folder.
In the example, https://www.awebsite.com/pages
HTTPS - refers to the protocol i.e the way data is transferred over the internet
www.awebsite - refers to the domain name of your website
.com - is the top-level domain, this can look like .co, uk, .org or .net.
/pages - refers to the subfolder. Information located under these subfolders can have additional subcategories for example https://www.awebsite.com/pages/documents with /documents being another subfolder.
A clear and easy to remember URL will indicate what your site is about before the reader gets there and will help them to find the information they are looking for.
What Does A Bad URL Look Like?
A bad URL is too long and therefore has too many subfolders.
Here’s an example of a URL that is too long :
www.awebsite.com/pages/pages1/sectionA/documents/doc1234
In the context of URL structure, a “/” represents the level of your website that contains your subfolder. So, looking at the above example:
www.awebsite.com/pages/pages1/sectionA/documents/doc1234
“awebsite.com” is your top-level, the domain level.
“/pages” is on level 1 of your website.
“/pages1” is contained on level 2
“/sectionA” is on level 3
“/documents” is on level 4
“/doc1234” is on level 5
The content we want to see is “doc1234” and in the eyes of Google, this page isn’t very important because it is found 5 levels deep into your website.
The idea is not to have too many sub levels. The lower the level, the lower the importance of the page with regards to Google.
What Does A Good URL Look Like?
A better URL to highlight the page “doc1234” would be
www.awebsite.com/documents/doc1234.
It is now contained on a higher level of the website and therefore deemed more important to search engines. Read more about URLs here.
Use Keyword Optimisation
The practice of researching and selecting the best and most relevant keywords for your content is called keyword optimisation or keyword research. Keyword optimisation helps you to target the words and phrases that are being searched for most often so that you can use them on your site and drive relevant traffic to your website.
Researching keywords can be time-consuming but it is incredibly beneficial to your on-page SEO. Find out more about how to do keyword research.
Where can I put my keywords?
Once you have selected your relevant keywords, it’s time to plug them into your content. Your use of keywords must be balanced so that your content remains clear and makes sense.
Place keywords in your meta title (another HTML tag - visible in the source code - that tells Google your page title), your heading and subheadings as well as throughout your page. Be mindful that your content doesn’t become spammed with keywords.
Check Your Website Speed
Since Google's Algorithm Speed Update, the time it takes for a page to load is a factor that can affect your on-page SEO. Conducting a website speed test can show you how quickly your website is displaying its content.
Best practices suggest optimal page speed should be 3 seconds or less. A fast loading site will encourage visitors to stay and look around whereas a site that has a slow load time is frustrating and is a hindrance to the user experience.
The way your page is styled, the size and quantity of your images, the HTML coding and the addition of videos and files can impact your site performance. Learn more about increasing page speed here.
Increasing website speed reduces your bounce rate (the rate at which visitors leave a site after clicking it). Users are likely to stay and look around a website that loads quickly. This is great for the overall user experience but a fast website also boosts rankings in the eyes of Google. You can use Google’s own PageSpeed Insights Tool to test your website page speed.
With WordPress or other CMS sites, you can use caching plugins to help you to optimise your website speed. A cache is a piece of software that will store away copies of your files so they can be served up to your visitors quickly. There are plugins available that will do this for you if your website was built on WordPress.
Some popular caching plugins include:
WP Rocket
WP Super Cache
Smush
Optimus
Imagify
Conclusion
The steps detailed in this guide will help you to improve your On-page SEO when you incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Consistency is key to seeing successful results so you’ll need to apply each step regularly. Ideally, you need to do these checks for every piece of content you produce and use the guide to review and update older content.
At SEM Consultants Ltd, we offer a complete SEO package that will manage your On-page and Off-page technical SEO so we do all the ongoing checks for you. We are a PPC and SEO agency and we also provide Social Media Management and Web Design.
For more information about On-Page SEO management, contact us today.
Click here for our handy infographic on how to optimise your content using On-Page SEO.
### 2022 Digital Marketing Dates - Key Dates for Your Digital Marketing Calendar
It’s that time of year again. Time to start planning your 2022 digital marketing strategy. By planning ahead for your 2022 marketing activity, you’ll be able to react quickly to changes and plan campaigns around the biggest events of the year as well as planning for potentially quieter periods. We've put together a handy downloadable marketing calendar for 2022 to help get your new year marketing off to a flying start.
Why Use a Digital Marketing Calendar?
Using a digital marketing calendar to plot out key events during the year lets you plan for important campaigns, such as the Black Friday sales. If your company uses social media, using a social media calendar or content planner allows you to plan content for potentially trending topics ahead of time and use national and international events to connect with your audiences. As one of the most cost-effective ways to ensure 2022 marketing success, a clear content marketing plan is key to making the most out of your marketing content, ensuring a steady stream of optimised content throughout the year, ready to convert. Our free content calendar will help you keep on top of every top marketing date for 2022 and more in order to generate inbound leads that are relevant for your website.
Download your 2022 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here
What Should I Include in a Digital Marketing Calendar?
When creating your marketing calendar for 2022 it is important to include a few key things. In order to sync your digital calendar with your business goals, include key advertising campaigns and social media campaign dates to allow your team to plan ahead with their 2022 marketing activity. One of the main features of your 2022 digital marketing calendar will be key dates across the year that may affect your online marketing plan and business goals. Does your industry experience slumps at particular times of the year? Are there times when business booms and are there any national or international dates that may affect your marketing? These should all be included in your marketing strategy. Whilst you are planning your 2022 marketing strategy, you may already have set content ideas in place such as social media campaigns, blog content and new website additions based around new products, sales or other business developments. Adding these into your 2022 digital marketing calendar will ensure your marketing team is ready for the year ahead and can produce the right marketing content at the right time. This will also allow you to see your marketing plans alongside key 2022 events giving your marketing executives plenty of time to see any clashes or things that may potentially affect your content marketing plans.
Key Marketing Dates for 2022 by Month
Struggling to keep track of all of the digital marketing dates out there? We’ve pulled together the top national and international dates for 2022 month by month in a downloadable PDF calendar to help you keep track and plan ahead for marketing success in 2022. Take a look at our 2022 marketing timeline below for key marketing dates and national holidays to help you plan your content calendar for the year ahead.
January
The month of fresh starts and #newyearnewme resolutions, January is the home of Veganuary and Dry January and offers the perfect platform for health and fitness or wellbeing brands looking to capitalise on the nation’s healthy mindset as we move into the new year 2022.
Sat 01 Jan - New Year’s Day
Mon 17 Jan - Blue Monday/Brew Monday
Tue 25 Jan - Burn’s Night
Wed 26 Jan - Australia Day
Thur 27 Jan - Chocolate Cake Day
February
February is the month of romance and kindness and the home of Valentines day and Galentines day. LGBT History Month spread the message of acceptance and awareness with fun events such as Yorkshire Pudding day and National Pizza day leading the way with foodie celebrations and Chinese New Year celebrations to look forward to.
Tue 01 Feb - Chinese New Year
Sun 06 Feb - Yorkshire Pudding Day
Wed 09 Feb - National Pizza Day
Sun 13 Feb - Galentines Day
Mon 14 Feb - Valentines Day
Thur 17 Feb - Random Acts of Kindness Day
Sun 20 Feb - Love your Pet Day
March
March is the month the UK celebrates two of its Saints days with the yearly event of Pancake Day getting the nation flipping. International women’s day and World Book Day both call March home with Holi taking place, Spring making its start and Mothering Sunday falling at the end of the month.
Tue 01 Mar - St David’s Day
Tue 01 Mar - Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday
Thur 03 Mar - World Book Day
Tue 08 Mar - International Women’s Day
Sun 13 Mar - BAFTAs
Thur 17 Mar - St Patrick’s Day
Fri 18 Mar - Red Nose Day
Thur 17 - Fri 18 Mar - Holi
Sun 20 Mar - First day of Spring & International Day of Happiness
Sun 27 Mar - Mother’s Day
April
Known as the month of April showers, April marks the start of Ramadan along with Easter celebrations and the fun of April Fool's Day and National Tea Day. These are the top marketing dates for April 2022 with some chances to have fun with your marketing activity.
Fri 01 Apr - April Fool’s Day
Sun 10 Apr - Siblings Day
Mon 11 Apr - National Pet Day
Fri 15 Apr - Good Friday
Sun 17 Apr - Easter Sunday
Mon 18 Apr - Easter Monday
Thur 21 Apr - National Tea Day
Fri 22 Apr - Earth Day
Sat 23 Apr - St George’s Day
May
May the fourth be with you! May is home to a number of colour celebrations including Cinco de Mayo, the International Day of Light and Chelsea Flower Show as spring gets into full swing ahead of the promise of summer and nature blooming into life.
Mon 02 May - May Day
Wed 04 May - Star Wars Day
Thur 05 May - Cinco de Mayo
Mon 16 May - International Day of Light
Mon 16 - Sun 22 May National Vegetarian Week
Fri 20 May - World Bee Day
Tue 24 - Sat 28 May Chelsea Flower Show
June
As the weather gets warmer, Pride Month sets into full swing with nationwide and worldwide celebrations all celebrating Pride. This year, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee provides an extra bank holiday whilst world gin day, best friends day, father’s day and more all offer more reasons for celebration.
Pride Month
Thur 02 Jun - Spring Bank Holiday
Fri 03 Jun - The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Sat 04 Jun - National Cheese Day
Wed 08 Jun - Best Friends Day
Fri 10 Jun - World Gin Day
Fri 10 - Sun 12 Jun - Download Festival
Wed 15 Jun - National Beer Day
Sat 18 - Sun 26 Jun - National Picnic Week
Sun 19 Jun - Father’s Day
Tue 21 Jun - Summer Solstice/Beginning of Summer
Wed 22 Jun - National Selfie Day
Wed 22 - Sun 26 Jun - Glastonbury Festival
Mon 27 Jun - Wimbledon Starts
July
July offers a world of summer fun as the weather heats up and a number of key marketing dates for 2022. American Independence day and World Chocolate Day both take place in July as well as Eid al-Adha and the Women’s Euros 2021.
Mon 04 Jul - American Independence Day
Wed 06 - Sun 31 Jul - Women’s Euros 2021
Thur 07 Jul - World Chocolate Day
Sat 09 Jul - Eid al-Adha begins
Sun 17 Jul - World Emoji Day
Download your 2022 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here
August
The month of festivals, August is home to the Reading Festival and the Notting Hill Carnival alongside the summer bank holiday and school holidays for the UK. Whilst this can cause a dip in sales for some businesses, others come into their own with the prime time for selling to sun-seeking Brits.
Mon 01 Aug - National Girlfriend Day
Fri 05 Aug - International Beer Day
Wed 10 Aug - National Lazy Day
Sat 13 Aug - National Prosecco Day
Tue 23 - Thur 25 Aug - Reading Festival
Sat 27 - Sun 28 Aug - Notting Hill Carnival
Mon 29 Aug - Summer Bank Holiday
September
September marks back to school month as well as the International day of peace and other days dedicated to building bridges. International literacy day carries through the theme of education as the last days of summer draw in.
Thur 08 Sept - International Literacy Day
Sat 10 Sept - World Suicide Prevention Day
Tue 13 Sept - International Chocolate Day
Wed 21 Sept - International Day of Peace
Mon 26 Sept - European Day of Languages
October
Double double toil and trouble, the spooky season is here as Halloween sets the theme for October. Black History Month sparks conversations whilst Breast Cancer Awareness Month aims to raise awareness alongside World Mental Health Day.
Black History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Sat 01 Oct - International Coffee Day & World Vegetarian Day
Fri 07 Oct - National Poetry Day & World Smile Day
Mon 10 Oct - World Mental Health Day
Sun 16 Oct - World Food Day
Mon 31 Oct - Halloween
November
Will you be celebrating Movember this year? With bonfires galore and Black Friday offering ample time for treats, Remembrance Day offers a time for reflection.
Movember
Tue 01 Nov - World Vegan Day
Sat 05 Nov - Bonfire Night/ Guy Fawkes Night
Fri 11 Nov - Remembrance Day
Sun 13 Nov - Remembrance Sunday
Thur 24 Nov - Thanksgiving
Fri 25 Nov - Black Friday
December
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! December is prime time for shoppers buying last-minute gifts for the festive season with the nation celebrating Christmas in December. Christmas Jumper Day offers a day of fun with a festive twist.
Sun 11 Dec - Christmas Jumper Day
Sat 24 Dec - Christmas Eve
Sun 25 Dec - Christmas Day
Mon 26 Dec - Boxing Day
Sat 31 Dec - New Year’s Eve
Content Strategy for 2022
Whatever industry your business is in, content strategy is key for digital marketing success in 2022. If you are looking for help and advice to propel your digital marketing to success, contact the team at SEM Consultants to get started. Confused by all of the digital marketing terms going around? Take a look at our A-Z of digital marketing terms for all of the key marketing terms you need to help your business have the best marketing year yet.
Looking for a full 2022 marketing calendar with all the year’s key dates? Click the link below for a PDF marketing calendar 2022 with all of the above dates and more or download your month by month digital marketing calendars. For more help building your digital marketing strategy, get in touch online or call 0121 552 6500.
Download your full 2022 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
Digital Marketing Calendars by Month:
January | February | March | April | May | June
July | August | September | October | November | December
### How Does Facebook’s New HEC Ad Policy Affect Your Business?
As Facebook seeks to meet the demands of audiences seeking fairer advertising, it has brought in new policies to monitor and regulate how advertisers target individuals on the platform. If you are worried about whether Facebook’s new advertising policy, or Meta as it is now referred to, will affect your business, our guide to the new Facebook ad policy is here to help.
What is the New Facebook Ads Policy?
The new advertising rules on Facebook mean that social media ads relating to housing, employment and credit opportunities now face tougher regulations and advertisers falling under these categories will need to declare their advertising effects as one of these special ad categories. Targeting options will then be filtered for these ads to ensure fair practice.
Who Does the New Facebook Ads Policy Affect?
The new Facebook advertising policy aims to regulate the advertising activity of industries related to credit cards, bank loans, long-term financing, employment opportunities, job fairs, housing sales or rentals and home insurance. These new categories are classed by Facebook as ‘Special’ categories and include credit, employment, housing and social issues, elections or politics and aim to protect users from exploitation or discrimination through the platform. You can view the full list of categories over on the Facebook help website here.
How Might the New Rules Affect My Business?
If your business is advertising in one of Facebook’s new ‘special’ categories, you may be affected by the new ad rules. The new restrictions on special Facebook categories will affect how you target potential customers on the platform. Targeting options such as age, gender or postcode can no longer be used for ‘special’ HEC audiences. Lookalike audiences and exclusion targeting are also restricted under the new rules. If your business relied on these targeting options, as many businesses do, it may be time to rethink your targeting options or ad copy to fit the new social media advertising restrictions.
What is a Special Ad Audience?
In order to reach the people you would like to target under the new rules, you will be able to create a ‘special’ ad audience. As with previous lookalike audiences, this type of Facebook ad audience will allow you to create an audience based on those with similar activity and online behaviour without using elements such as age, gender or postcode alongside any other restricted targeting elements.
How Do I Create a Special Ad Category Campaign?
In order to create a special ad category campaign, simply go to Ads Manager and either create a new or open an existing campaign. Then, select Special Ad Categories, under Categories choose which category applies to your campaign and under Countries choose the country or countries where you would like to run your Facebook ads campaign. These campaigns will then be marked as ‘Special’ and follow the appropriate advertising policy.
What if My Ads Get Rejected?
If your business falls under one of the previously mentioned categories and you do not adapt your targeting or ad copy to fit the new guidelines, your ads may get rejected by Facebook’s automated systems. If this happens, you have a few options. If your ad is rejected by Facebook, you should receive a notification of the rejection with a link to the account quality guidelines which will explain the reasons your ad was rejected. You should then be able to edit your ad to comply with the changes and republish it on your account. If you believe that your ad has been unfairly rejected, you can also request that it undergo another review. It is important to take the review process seriously as repeated violations of Facebook’s ad policy could lead to them disabling your account.
Where Can I Find Additional Help With Facebook Advertising?
When it comes to social media advertising, we are experts. We have worked within a number of different industries and across a number of Facebook updates to ensure our clients are ahead of the crowd when it comes to Facebook advertising. If you are looking for help making your social media marketing a success, our team is here to help.
Contact SEM Consultants online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now to find out more.
### Planning for Black Friday 2021 - Creating a Winning Strategy
Black Friday 2021 promises sales galore and even more festivities. When it comes to Black Friday marketing strategy, this year is more important than ever. With the pandemic putting a halt to much celebration last year, more people are pushing the boat out to make this year special and Black Friday 2021 is a massive part of their festive season. After the clear shift to online shopping last year, digital marketing will be the main player when it comes to Black Friday marketing strategies, here's how to create one that's memorable.
When is Black Friday 2021?
Black Friday 2021 falls on Friday 26 November 2021. However, as always, many big stores start their Black Friday sales and marketing activities much earlier with some having weeks-long teaser campaigns for their sales and starting the sales on the Monday or even the weekend before Black Friday to really make the most of the date. Black Friday social media campaigns often start weeks before sales launch with marketers planning their campaigns well in advance. If you are still working on planning for Black Friday, the time is now to shore up your marketing efforts and start working on some Black Friday promotion ideas to make your sale stand out.
What is Black Friday All About?
Black Friday has become known as the sale of the year for many businesses. Previously popular mainly in the USA as the day shoppers hit the shops after Thanksgiving celebrations, Black Friday has boomed in popularity in the UK to become a key event in many marketer’s calendars. There are many different opinions on what Black Friday means from the day shops go from being in the red to being in the black and turning a profit for the year to a term to describe the manic traffic conditions of the day following thanksgiving. One thing has stuck though, its association with one of the biggest shopping events of the year.
Planning for Black Friday
As with any marketing event, the key to making your Black Friday 2021 a success is all in the planning. There are some key parts of building a Black Friday marketing strategy that should be put in place to ensure all resources are ready well ahead of time.
The first part of your Black Friday strategy should be research. If your business or organisation has run Black Friday campaigns in the past, analyse how they have performed and what marketing strategies were used. Filter this down to platforms used and Black Friday marketing designs to see what worked and what didn’t in order to inform your 2021 marketing strategy. At this point, it might also be worth looking at what your most popular products are. Which products create a buzz online and might be particularly sought after were an offer put on them?
Next, do some competitor research. What have comparable businesses in your industry done before that you could take some ideas from? Have you received any Black Friday marketing in the past that has really resonated with you, regardless of industry? Compile your findings with past performance to fuel your Black Friday 2021 campaign ideas.
Set Your Black Friday 2021 Goals
No marketing campaign is complete without goals. By setting your goals before forming your deals and marketing you’ll have a better idea of what you want to achieve from your Black Friday 2021 marketing. If slow sales at the start of the year have led to a backlog in stock, one of your goals may be to shift a certain amount of products, perhaps by promoting some BOGOF BF deals. If one of your goals is to bring back some previous customers, your marketing may be more bespoke to customers, offering unique discount codes on products they have viewed, for example.
On this note, what will you include in your Black Friday offers? Will it be a site-wide sale or on a custom collection of products or services? If you are creating a dedicated landing page for your Black Friday sale, make sure the offers you are featuring are present on the page. Another option that has gained popularity is creating ‘offer bundles’ for popular combinations of products or services as part of your BF campaign.
Ensure Everything is Optimised
There is nothing worse than a Black Friday campaign gaining massive traction and driving huge amount of traffic to a site that is malfunctioning. Take some time to optimise your site for visitors and ensure every step of the purchasing process is smooth and hassle-free. If you have noticed a pattern of users getting stuck at a particular part of the buying journey, make sure this is examined and fixed before the sale launches. Any issues with site loading or lagging should be solved before the sale to avoid putting off any new visitors who won't want to wait around. You may also want to invest in some updated product images or graphics to really wow site visitors and secure sales as part of your Black Friday marketing activity. Virtual browsing is here to stay so a fully-optimised website is a must. Make sure your website is optimised for both users and search engines for the best results.
Decide on How You Will Promote Black Friday 2021
Whether you are going big with a full-scale Black Friday 2021 campaign or simply testing the waters with a Black Friday-themed email, decide on your campaigns in advance. Will you be creating Black Friday social media campaigns? Will you be promoting your offers through email or print marketing? What marketing channels will you be promoting on and do you have branded marketing materials ready to fit each? The most important thing to remember about online marketing is that each platform is different, so it is key you adapt your designs and messaging to each platform’s needs whilst maintaining your brand’s tone and image.
If your offers will only be valid for a limited amount of time, like many Black Friday offers are, abandoned cart emails can be a useful tool to remind those who have added products to their cart on your website to complete the purchase. You may want to implement countdown timers or push the ‘limited time only’ message to create a sense of urgency and push customers towards making a purchase. Any marketing emails should be designed and created well in advance to allow customer journeys to be mapped. If they are not already present, install any tracking codes on your site. These will remain useful long after the Black Friday sales have ended.
How Long Will Your Black Friday Campaigns Last?
Whilst the main event for Black Friday is clearly the day itself, brands have been stretching out their sales for a long time. Competition for attention on the day can feel like promoting your needle in the haystack with inboxes bombarded with Black Friday promotions galore. By promoting your Black Friday event over a few days or a week, you’ll give your customers more chances to snap up a deal and find your voice among the crowds. Teaser campaigns can tempt your potential customers weeks before the sale launches to build up momentum before launch day. However, avoid extending your Black Friday offers too long after the day, as this can work to undermine your campaign.
If one of your aims is to promote return customers, why not use Black Friday Purchases to work towards this goal? By sending a ‘thank you for purchasing, here’s x off your next order’ emails or free gifts when visitors sign up to your mailing lift, you’ll be promoting return visitors and future purchases even after the sale has ended.
Combining Black Friday with Cyber Monday 2021
If you have never heard of it, Cyber Monday is the usually online version of the Black Friday sales that takes place on the Monday following Black Friday. Many marketers take the opportunity of extending Black Friday momentum with Cyber Monday deals and marketing that makes the most of the event.
Whilst many people combine Black Friday and Cyber Monday into one big sale, some brands treat them as two separate events, each with individual offers and marketing activity to support them. If your business has both a physical shopfront and an online store, you may want to promote offers both in-store and online.
What Happens Once Black Friday has Ended?
It may seem a little while off now but it is important to have a process in place once the Black Friday Sales have ended to ensure success in future marketing campaigns. If you have been running ads for Black Friday, ensure that all have ended along with the offers and take some time to analyse the performance of any ads that have run along with any other Black Friday marketing activity you have.
Break down your analysis on a case-by-case basis. Did social media campaigns see much traction? Which posts performed particularly well? Was there anything that really didn’t perform well at all? Were there any common complaints about supply or the sale process that should be considered for any future sales? Compile these findings into teachable lessons and future goals for your marketing efforts.
Making the Most of Your Digital Marketing Efforts
If you have big ambitions for your digital marketing but lack the manpower or digital marketing specialisms to bring your ideas to life, contact the experts at SEM Consultants now to find out more about how we can help. We have experts in a number of digital marketing fields and are perfectly placed to understand industry nuances and how to make your digital marketing campaigns a success. Contact our team now to find out more.
### How Does EAT Affect SEO?
If you are looking for ways to improve your website’s SEO, you may have heard the terms EAT and YMYL. EAT SEO, now E-E-A-T SEO, is a brilliant way to improve how your content ranks and how visitors view your website. However, if these terms leave you scratching your head, our guide to EEAT SEO is here to help.
What is EAT SEO?
EAT stands for expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness in relation to how Google views your website and website content. Google also recently updated their guidelines to include an extra E. In order to demonstrate a more authoritative and knowledgeable aspect of content, 'experience' was added to Google's quality rater guidelines. EEAT is one of the ways Google evaluates the overall quality of a page according to its Search Quality Rating Guidelines. Raters give guidance to Google on whether their algorithms are providing good results and are trained to see if websites have ‘good EEAT’. Each of the elements experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness are not individual ranking elements, however, each is important for EEAT SEO. EAT aims to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of content on a website to ensure it is written by a subject expert.
Why is EEAT SEO Important?
Depending on the subject matter, EAT SEO can monitor unreliable or inaccurate content that could be both misleading and potentially dangerous. For example, there may be a stream of ‘medical’ websites giving information on a given topic, but if the people writing this content are not subject matter experts, that information could potentially be accessed by someone who takes it at face value. That inaccurate information could then cause serious harm. EAT aims to root out this information and only display expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness in content it ranks. Learning how raters establish EAT for web pages can help you improve the quality and usefulness of your content and in turn affect how you rank in search engine result pages.
How Are EEAT and YMYL Linked?
Potentially harmful information that is identified by Google’s EEAT guidelines can fall under something called YMYL or ‘your money or your life’. These are pages that could potentially harm someone’s well-being or future by promoting inaccurate or false information. This could be a page detailing debt advice, information relating to laws or even medical advice. Each of these would be closely monitored by google to ensure its expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. The emergence of ‘fake news’ has put more pressure than ever on Google to ensure its information is accurate and to pull the plug on websites generating cheap and unreliable content for clicks. YMYL content has been particularly hit by the Google Search Quality Rating Guidelines since the Medic update in 2018 leading many SEOs to pay even closer attention to how Google is ranking their content.
How Does Google Establish Expertise in Content?
In order to evaluate the expertise of a piece of content, Google seeks to establish that the content is written by a subject matter expert. Some subjects will, of course, require more formal expertise than others but it is important that the author of the piece of content is knowledgeable about the subject matter. For YMYL subjects, Google looks for ways the writer is qualified to write about the topic. A qualified lawyer for example would be the appropriate person to discuss legal matters whilst a medical professional should be the person writing about medical matters to establish a level of expertise in the content. Other topics might not require formal qualifications such as the best ways to organise your home or experiencing arthritis written by a person experiencing arthritis.
How Does Google Establish the Authoritativeness of a Page?
The second element of Google’s EAT SEO ranking is related to the authoritativeness of a page. Google establishes the authority of a page through looking at the reputation of a given page. If that website is the go-to destination for people looking for information on that topic, the page will be seen as an authority on that subject by Google. This may involve looking at things such as recommendations by experts, reviews or credible information written about the website by an external entity. This authority is of course relative to the topic as it must be related to the subject matter. Some websites can be uniquely authoritative in a particular topic for example an artist’s website on information relating to their work.
How Does Google Measure the Trustworthiness of a Page?
When it comes to EEAT and Google, trustworthiness is one of the key identifiers of a website. The trustworthiness of a website can be an important indicator of how reliable the information on a website is. This is measured by looking at how legitimate and transparent the website information is to ensure a clear, accurate message is being conveyed. YMYL content requires a high level of trust so Google looks for accountability for publishing and sufficient contact information for queries to show transparency and indicate a trustworthy presence behind the content. The factual accuracy of the content must also be extremely high to build up a high trust score for the website in search engines, particularly for YMYL topics.
How Can EEAT Help Your SEO Strategy?
When it comes to improving your website SEO and improving your chances of ranking in Google, EAT can be a deciding factor. Whilst there is no EEAT algorithm, improving your EAT SEO can help improve your rankings in Google by making your page an authority on a given topic. EEAT optimization ensures that your website content is seen as packed full of expertise, has authority on the topic you are writing about and is trustworthy. All of this can help attract and gain a following of organic traffic for your website.
How Can I Use EEAT SEO as Part of my Content Strategy?
There are a number of ways to implement EEAT as part of your search engine optimisation tactics. Each of these methods can help build your website credibility in the eyes of Google. One of the first ways to build up the credibility of your website is through high-quality backlinks. Do some research into where your website links come from and aim to build links to your website from credible sources. Whilst this can be done by requesting a link, by creating authoritative content that approaches a topic from a new angle, websites may link to your website as an authority on a topic simply due to the quality of your content so it is worth approaching link building for SEO from both angles.
Improving Page Authority Using EEAT SEO
Gaining ‘mentions’ on social media or web pages from industry experts is also another way to establish EAT in your website SEO as the followers of that industry-leading organisation or individual will be referred to your website and become familiar with your content through the recommendation of the industry professional, boosting the trustworthiness and authoritativeness of your content on a topic.
Build Trust in Your Website
When it comes to building up the trustworthiness of your website, reviews can influence the decision. Negative reviews on a number of sites can all work to bring down the reliability of your website and bring your reputation into disrepute. By focusing on achieving positive reviews across the internet, your website and brand will both benefit from a boost in reputation and trustworthiness for potential customers.
One thing that is incredibly important when implementing E-E-A-T in your SEO strategy is fact-checking. It goes without saying that the information you include on your website should be accurate, this is particularly true for YMYL content where any error could have serious implications. Fact-checking your content religiously will help build trust with your audience as well as credibility as an authority in your industry. Asking yourself Google’s Content and Quality Questions can also help ensure your content is the best it can be.
Ask the SEO Experts
If you are looking for advice on how you improve your website SEO and make your website content rank as an authority in your field, our SEO experts are here to help. From link building to authoritative content, we have dedicated experience in optimising websites for search engines. Contact SEM Consultants now to find out more about our SEO strategy and how we can help your website perform.
### Key Dates for Your Autumn 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar
Packed full of prime marketing dates such as Halloween and Black Friday, Autumn is the perfect time to ramp up your digital marketing efforts. Whilst the current pandemic and an uncertain summer may have seen your marketing efforts slump, an autumn digital marketing strategy is now even more important than ever to get your goals back on track. We’ve put together some key autumn digital marketing dates for 2021 to keep your autumn 2021 marketing efforts flying ahead.
Why is a Seasonal Marketing Calendar Important?
When it comes to making the most of your digital marketing efforts, capitalising on seasonal events that might be celebrated or observed by your target audience can be a great way to make your marketing topical and connect with your target audience on a more personal level. Planning your digital marketing strategy in advance can also allow you to plan ahead for potentially quieter times or national events that may disrupt your marketing or sales efforts.
Our key Autumn marketing dates highlight all of the most important dates in the upcoming season so you can have some fun targeting your digital marketing content using events that will strike a chord with those engaging with your content.
Key Marketing Dates for October
The Autumnal season kicks off with Black History Month in October, a time to consider how your company has helped support BMEs and celebrate and spark conversations about black history, heritage and culture. One of the biggest events of October 2021 will undoubtedly be Halloween with plenty of scope to have some fun with your marketing to create spooktastic content.
Fri 01 Oct: World Vegetarian Day
Sun 10 Oct: World Mental Health Day
Sun 31 Oct: Halloween
Download our October digital marketing calendar now.
Key Marketing Dates for November
Remember remember, the fifth of November. Bonfire night is just around the corner as November kicks off with chilly mornings and the buildup to the festive season. Diwali offers the chance to light up your online marketing whilst the unmissable Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be the biggest sales of the year for some retailers.
Thur 04 Nov: Diwali
Fri 05 Nov: Bonfire Night
Thur 11 Nov: Remembrance Day
Sun 14 Nov: Remembrance Sunday
Fri 26 Nov: Black Friday
Sun 28 Nov: Hannukah
Mon 29 Nov: Cyber Monday
Download our November digital marketing calendar now.
Key Marketing Dates for December
Christmas is fast approaching as the month of Christmas shopping kicks off and customers head to the shops to purchase last-minute gifts for the holiday season. December is a key time for digital marketers with shopping on the mind for many and the peak season for some industries.
Sat 04 Dec: Small Business Saturday
Tue 14 Dec: Christmas Jumper Day
Tue 21 Dec: Winter Solstice
Fri 24 Dec: Christmas Eve
Sat 25 Dec: Christmas Day
Sun 26 Dec: Boxing Day
Fri 31 Dec: New Year’s Eve
Download our December digital marketing calendar now.
Spring 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar Free Download
Looking for a full Autumn 2021 marketing calendar with all season’s key dates? Click the link below for a PDF marketing calendar with all of the above dates and more or download by month. For more help building your digital marketing strategy, get in touch with our team of digital marketing professionals now.
Download your full Autumn 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
October PDF | PNG
November PDF | PNG
December PDF | PNG
### The A-Z of Social Media Marketing
When it comes to social media marketing, we know our stuff. Our experts have been seeing results for years and are always honing their techniques to improve the ways social media works for the businesses we work with. If you are just getting started with social media marketing, you may be wondering what all of the terms and expressions mean. After all, what is the difference between native advertising and other types of marketing anyway? We’ve pulled together our A-Z of key social media marketing terms to help you know your meme from your DMs and more.
Why Use Social Media Marketing?
When it comes to advertising in 2021 and beyond, social media is key. Most brands these days have some form of social presence so those not moving with the times run the risk of being forgotten by a generation of smartphone users. Social media can offer fantastic brand visibility with social media marketing working in new and dynamic ways to share your message, and products, with the world. You may be wondering, ‘how can social media marketing help my business?’. With the pandemic causing a shift to online purchasing, over 87% of the UK using a smartphone and the average UK user using social media for around 110 minutes a day, social media should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
Key Social Media Marketing Terms
If you want to make social media marketing a key part of your digital marketing strategy, our a-z of social media marketing is here to help with the key terms and ideas you need to make your marketing a success.
A: Ads Manager
Ads manager is a Facebook tool that works as your starting point for advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger or the Audience Network. By using Facebook Ads Manager, you’ll be able to create wowing ads, manage how and where they run and track how well your social media ads are running. It’s your one-stop shop for social media marketing and can offer actionable insights that will allow you to make the most of your social media marketing efforts.
B: Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is all about how aware your target audience is of your brand and what you do. Social media marketing can be a great way to increase your business’ brand awareness and create a personality for your brand that speaks to potential customers on a personal level. After all, they are carrying your marketing around in their pocket, the more they see, and like, of your brand, the higher their chance of converting into paying customers. Check out our guide to brand awareness to find out more.
C: Cross-Channel Social Strategy
When it comes to social media marketing, each platform is different. In order to see success, it is important to work with the social media platforms that fit your industry in the way that works best for them and not spread your marketing efforts across each and every one of them simply because they exist. Cross-social media strategy harnesses targeted strategy and creates an action-plan that works across the platforms, targeting potential customers in different ways that work cohesively together.
Bonus: Chatbot. Social media chatbots are the automated chat system that works to answer your audience’s questions and allow 24/7 access to shop products and information for your customers.
D: DM or direct message
Direct messages are a key part of social media and allow individuals and companies to talk in a private setting. This enables discussions about order or problems the customer may be having without cluttering up comments sections and having details broadcast on a public stage.
E: Engagement Rate
The engagement rate monitors how users are interacting with your content on a given social media platform. In contrast to vanity metrics such as followers, engagement rates reflect how much people are actually interacting with your brand and engaging in your social content by commenting, sharing and other ways of active actions.
F: Feed
A social media feed is a constantly updating list of content from a given social media platform. Many social media feeds are curated based on user activity such as social media ‘friends’ they regularly interact with. Social media feeds can include links, videos, images, status updates and more.
Bonus: Follower. Social media followers are a metric often used to show the popularity of a social media page on a given platform.
G: Geotargeting
Geotargeting is the process of targeting social media users by location. This can be an incredibly useful tool, particularly if you are a small business trying to attract customers in the local area.
H: Hashtag Strategy
Hashtags are words or phrases following the ‘#’ symbol on social media platforms that allow posts to be tagged with other related topics. This allows posts on similar topics to be grouped together for findability allowing people with similar interests to easily find the content and potentially increasing impressions. Hashtag strategies utilise this and organise campaigns to directly target a set of hashtags that are relevant to the brand. Finding popular hashtags that are relevant to your brand and monitoring how much engagement they receive are a key part of a successful social media hashtag strategy.
I: Impressions
Impressions are calculated by the number of times your content has appeared in front of someone. Social media impressions are different to social media reach which is the total number of people your content has appeared in front of. Facebook also offers two types of impressions, served impressions and viewed impressions, depending on whether the ad entered the viewable screen space or not.
J: Join the Conversation
Social media is all about just that, being social. An engaged brand enters into conversation with consumers, posting content that engages and sparks questions rather than simply a call to buy. Brands who join conversations offer a more personal brand experience and a way for consumers to engage with them.
K: KPI
Social KPIs or key performance indicators are a way to analyse how your social media marketing is performing. Social media KPIs should be SMART goals that match your company’s overarching goals. These could include things such as reach, follower counts, likes, engagement rates or any other metrics that are specific to your company’s goals.
L: Leads
One of the main purposes of social media marketing is to create leads. Leads are potential customers who interact with your social media and perform tasks such as clicking through to websites and hold the potential to convert into paying customers.
M: Meme
If you haven’t encountered a meme yet, where have you been? Memes have the potential to go viral as many have and are often humorous with text overlaying an image such as the many Bernie Sanders memes that circulated after the inauguration or the salt bae meme.
N: Native Advertising
Native advertising is making use of the advertising tools of a specific social media platform such as Facebook. Native ads take the form of whatever social media platform they are hosted on and could appear in-feed as content rather than an offer or sales pitch. Native ads are designed to blend in with the platform they are hosted on and could be posted in groups or popular channels.
O: Owned Media
Owned media is the online tools that are owned and operated by your company. These include things such as your company’s website or social media profiles of which you have control. Owned media can be invaluable ways to promote your brand online and done well can expand your business’ reach far quicker than other methods.
P: PPC
Social media PPC or pay per click is paid advertising using social media. Social PPC can target users based on demographics, location and more and is an effective way to market your company on social media. Social PPC is not only brilliant for click-throughs, likes and related metrics but also brand awareness as ads can be displayed to a wide yet targeted audience.
Q: Quizzes
Quizzes or polls can be a fantastic way to boost engagement on social media and offer a fun element for social media page visitors as well as acting as a form of informal market research. You may have seen quizzes such as ‘which holiday fits your star sign’ or ‘can you correctly name each of these famous books’ but quizzes can be tailored to your industry and create a fun way for potential leads to interact with your brand without selling to them.
R: Relevance Score
Social media platforms such as Facebook aim to show people the ads that are most relevant to them. In order to do this, they provide a relevancy score on potential ads based on the feedback they receive from users. Relevance scores go from 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest and show ad creators how relevant their ads are to their chosen audience. The higher an ad relevance score, the lower the cost it will be to deliver it.
S: Shareable Content
One of the key aims of social media marketing is to create shareable content. Shareable content is content that users want to share with their own followers which in turn widens the reach of your produced content, wider reach means more people seeing your brand and the potential for more people to engage and become customers and loyal fans.
Bonus: Social Listening. The act of 'listening' to social discussions about your brand to discover how your brand is seen and discussed by potential customers online. This is a useful tool for working out what is working for your brand, how you are perceived and what potential customers are looking for from your brand.
T: Target Audience
The key to any successful social media marketing campaign is a properly targeted audience. Whilst traditional marketing such as billboard marketing marketed few messages to the many, newer online marketing aims to personalise marketing efforts to target people who will be interested in their message making them more likely to turn into leads.
Bonus: Trending. By creating trending content, you’ll get your company name out there in front of more people. By keeping an eye on current trends you’ll be able to keep track of what is popular and mirror them in your own social media campaigns.
U: User-Generated Content
User generated content is content created by people rather than brands which is shared on their own special media pages. User generated content is particularly popular on platforms such as Instagram where Instagrammers post content related to products or brands they have loved. This could be in relation to an event or experience and brands often repost things such as Instagram stories to further promote this content. The key element of user-generated content on social media is that it is organic, i.e. not paid for.
V: Vanity Metrics
When it comes to social media marketing one of the key terms you may encounter is vanity metrics. Vanity metrics and metrics that look impressive to others, such as the number of followers you have on a given platform, but offer no value to marketers looking to analyze the performance of their social media campaigns.
W: What is Your USP?
In the noise of online marketing, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd of businesses trying to promote their brand using social media. That’s why identifying and using your USP (unique selling point) is so important. What makes your brand different from the others using that social media platform? Identify your unique selling point and make sure it carries across in every piece of social media marketing you do.
X: EXtensions
Browser extensions can be an incredibly useful tool when it comes to social media marketing and organising your marketing efforts. From tools that check your spelling to avoid embarrassing mistakes in posts to organisational extensions that help you schedule your social media marketing campaigns at the time that works for you and your targets.
Y: Your Brand Image
You may have heard before that branding is key but this is particularly true for your social media marketing. Whether you are creating social media graphics or simply posting a tweet, make sure that every element of your social media presence is on-brand. A cohesive brand experience on social media and beyond ensures that your message is clear and every marketing effort works to promote your brand without causing confusion.
Z: Gen Z
Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen z is a driving force of social media having been born during its boom time. Depending on your business, Gen Z could be the largest section of engagement on social media so it’s important your marketing considers them. With unique online behaviour, Gen Z puts the focus on short-form sharable content with those aged 16-24 spending around 7 hours a day on average online and accounting for around 40% of global consumers over the past year.
When it comes to social media marketing, offering a unique and engaging experience is key. By creating memorable, shareable content that fits with your brand’s image, you will be well on your way to social media success. For more social media marketing tips, check out our top tips.
Whilst the social media terms detailed in our A-Z of social media marketing are a good starting point, if you need extra help making your social media marketing a success, get in touch with our team of social media experts now to find out how we can help turbo-charge your social media marketing efforts.
### What is GDPR? A Guide for Small Business Marketers
If your company does business anywhere within the EU and the UK, GDPR laws will affect the way your business collects and uses data. GDPR guidelines aim to control the privacy of consumers and how businesses use their personal information but what exactly is GDPR and how could it affect your business’ marketing efforts?*
What is GDPR?
If you are new to the party, you may be curious about what GDPR is and wondering, what does GDPR stand for? GDPR stands for general data protection regulation. It was put into place in May 2018 to govern the use of consumer’s personal data for marketing purposes. Under it, the way that businesses collect and use personal information such as names, addresses and other identifying data is regulated by law. Any businesses that fall foul of breaking GDPR guidelines could face prosecution with fines in the millions.
How Does GDPR Affect My Business?
Under the data protection act, any companies or organisations that operate within the the UK and EU in any way will need to follow GDPR guidelines. Following the rise in businesses turning to online marketing during the pandemic, awareness of GDPR best practices is now more important than ever. One of the key ways that GDPR affects businesses and marketers alike is in the control of how things such as names, email addresses and postal addresses are collected for the distribution of marketing materials such as marketing emails or flyers.
In the past, businesses have been able to buy up lists of emails in order to send marketing emails to, this inevitably led to inboxes peppered with spam emails from companies hoping to win trade from new customers who have had their emails shared. Under new GDPR guidelines, this is now (mostly) a thing of the past with companies now having to heavily control and monitor how information is shared and used with large penalties for and data breaches.
Why is it Important for Marketers to Know About GDPR?
Whilst many marketers may have assumed that when the rules came into effect, it was something for other members of their business, such as the legal department, to worry about, as individuals that are part of the collection and use of information, marketers need to understand the implications of GDPR in their marketing activity.
If your business sends marketing emails or is planning on doing so in the future, it is important that those on your mailing list have given their express permission for this to happen. Automatically opting-in customers to marketing emails is now banned under GDPR and customers must know what they are agreeing to when they sign up. When this first came into effect, many businesses found themselves having to re-verify emails to gain the express consent of the recipients leading to a mass purge of email lists. You may remember receiving a wave of ‘do you still want to hear from us’ emails at the time.
What Are the GDPR Requirements for Businesses?
When it comes to collecting the data of your customers, transparency is key. Customers now have the right to request all of the information your company holds on them and to opt-out of receiving any further communication from you. All data must be stored securely with limited access within the company and must be completely secured against external access. If you have a data breach, you have 72 hours to tell the data subjects involved or face a penalty. In addition to this, customers must expressly opt-in to receive any marketing from your business. We explore this further below. How your website collects information via website cookies is also governed by strict new GDPR rules. You can find out more about GDPR and cookies on the official GDPR website.
What Does Opting-in to Marketing Mean?
Under GDPR legislature, businesses must be able to prove that customers have willingly opted in to receiving marketing content with consent ‘freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous’. It is important that the consent isn’t hidden through pre-checked boxes or buried under other information with the guidelines stating
‘If the data subject’s consent is given in the context of a written declaration which also concerns other matters, the request for consent shall be presented in a manner which is clearly distinguishable from the other matters, in an intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language’
Providing information for the use of a service, for example giving an address for a delivery of an order, does not constitute agreement to receive marketing materials and the customer could form a complaint under GDPR if they are sent marketing materials without their consent. Age is also a factor with children under 13 unable legally to give their consent under GDPR compliance rules.
Allowing Customers to Opt-Out of Marketing
As part of GDPR compliance rules for businesses, customers must be able to opt-out of marketing at any time and with the same ease as they were able to opt in. For email marketers, for example, this often includes the use of a clear unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email. This is often a requirement for many email marketing service providers.
What Could Happen if My Business Doesn’t Follow GDPR Guidelines?
If your business does not follow GDPR then you could be liable to strict penalties from the enforcing agency. Not following General Data Protection Regulation guidelines when marketing to customers could cost your business millions in terms of fines and cause a lack of trust from prospective customers. The maximum penalty for GDPR breaches is €20 million or 4% of global revenue, whichever is higher, so could be a costly mistake to make. Those who have had their data shared can also seek compensation for damages and breaches could mean a mass loss of customers.
What Are the Benefits of GDPR?
Whilst it may seem a looming beast in the restriction of marketing activities, GDPR could actually help the way your company markets itself. If your email list, for example, only contains email addresses of those legitimately interested in your business, the chances of them opening that marketing email and converting rise dramatically. Instead of sending out countless emails to thousands of uninterested consumers who probably won’t open them, GDPR allows you to create a bespoke list of interested customers who may take action when targeted by your marketing.
When it comes to direct mail marketing, the rewards can be even higher as you will only be sending marketing materials to those who have expressed an interest in your business or organisation saving on printing and sending costs and boosting your return on investment and potential success rate.
Starting Marketing Online
If your business is taking its first steps into digital marketing, it is important to follow the correct GDPR guidelines from the start to protect your business and your customers. Whilst you may already have a data protection officer in place to monitor how data is processed in other parts of your business and it is important that you approach digital marketing with the same care and attention. From the data captured through your website to email marketing to the storage and updating of customer records, everything should be covered with the same high level of scrutiny.
How Do I Market Online Safely?
If you are planning on marketing your business online and need some guidance on how to promote your business online, the team of experts here at SEM Consultants are here to help. We provide a range of digital marketing services from content marketing to paid search and always stay up to date with the very latest marketing guidance to ensure complete compliance. Contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out more about how we can help.
*This blog does not constitute legal advice and cannot replace the services of a professional legal advisor.
### Google Remarketing and PPC - What is it?
In the world of online advertising, standing out from the crowd is more important than ever. Making your mark on visitors who access your website can mean the difference between a sale and fading into obscurity. But how exactly do you grab the attention of people who have visited your site and keep it? SEO has already done the job of attracting interested people to your website but can do little to remind them of your product once they have left. Google remarketing is a way to turbo-charge your brand’s presence online, bring back past visitors and transform them into converted prospects. If you struggle with bringing repeat visitors back to your website, remarketing could be the way to boost return visits and convert more prospects.
What is Google Remarketing?
Simply put, Google remarketing is an advert online that targets customers who have already visited your website in the past. This could be visitors to your website who have had a quick look around or even customers who have added a product to their cart but somewhere along the line have left before completing the purchase. More specifically, remarketing collects the cookie ID added to a visitor’s website visit and uses this to add them to a remarketing list to target with future ads. Doing this can add value to that targeted list as those included within the group will include people who you know were at least interested enough in your product to visit your website. Remarketing allows you to stay with your customer even after they have left your website by following them to other websites and displaying your ad.
What Does Remarketing Have to Do With PPC?
Google remarketing is a key part of your PPC efforts and can be a fantastic tool to use in order to draw interested customers back to your website. Whilst also available on platforms such as Facebook, Google Remarketing display ads offer a way to implement and track your retargeting efforts in one place and analyze the results as part of your overarching Google ads strategy. Google AdWords allows you to create highly targeted remarketing ads that achieve high ad relevancy and attract the right people to your website.
How Can Google Remarketing Help My Business?
If your business is struggling to get visitors to remember your brand after they have left your website, Google remarketing can help. Consider your customers as busy individuals who need a quick reminder of what they liked about your business as they buzz around the web. Google’s retargeting system works to follow your website visitors around the internet giving them occasional reminders as they get to know your brand and reminding them that, when they are ready to purchase, your company is there. By utilising the brand exposure Google remarketing and the GDN provides, your brand awareness and affinity with your audiences will increase. This provides a good platform for businesses looking to extend their reach and bring in repeat visitors with click-through rates improving as your brand affinity grows.
How Effective is Google Remarketing?
In terms of conversions and success, google ads retargeting is a fantastic tool that actually increases over time. Compared to some other google advertising features, remarketing ad conversion rates actually improve in conversions the longer they run. This is because, in contrast to expected ad fatigue of other methods, the more times a customer sees your brand around the web, the more likely they are to return to your website as a familiar feature when they become ready to purchase. Whilst search ads target people searching for key terms online, remarketing ads appear on websites your customers are visiting outside of the search engines giving them a broader reach.
In terms of the numbers, Google ads retargeting services see continued success and outperform a number of other methods frequently coming in second after search ads in terms of conversion rates and for some industries such as travel, for example, they can even offer better conversion rates. With cost-effective rates, Google remarketing is also an affordable way to gain returning customers online.
How Does Remarketing Work?
If you already use Google advertising, the good news is that it is relatively simple to get started with Google remarketing. The setup simply involves adding a short piece of code known as a remarketing pixel to your website. These visitors, using their user cookies are then added to a retargeting audience through Google Ads. This then works to track visitors after they leave your website and display your ads to them as they surf the web. When starting off in the world of Google remarketing it is a good idea to target all visitors who viewed your home page as an initial campaign. However, once you have become comfortable with creating campaigns and ads, you can start to get more granular with your retargeting efforts.
For more bespoke remarketing ads, you can even sort your remarketing groups by page, for example, if a selection of people look at steam mops on your website, you can gather all those who viewed that page into a ‘steam mop’ group in order to display a certain ad to them around the internet, perhaps for a free accessory with purchases or free shipping. You can even adapt your campaign audiences to differentiate between customers at different stages of the buying journey, for example, those who have added a product to their basket or have bought from your company before. Google also offers a wealth of other remarketing options such as mobile app remarketing and video remarketing. Remarketing ads can be served on the GND (Google Display Network) or Youtube to capture your visitors' attention and bring them back to your site when they are ready.
The Remarketing Journey
What is Dynamic Remarketing?
Dynamic retargeting is an intuitive method of advertising on the Google platform that uses information gathered on the user to personalise the user’s ad experience and offer them more bespoke ads related to things they may be interested in. It is a more custom version of google remarketing that offers more customised user journeys. Dynamic retargeting can use information such as products the user has in their shopping basket, pages they have visited previously, geographical location and more to display things such as the items they have viewed before and more as they visit other pages on the internet.
Top Tips for Remarketing With PPC
When it comes to remarketing using Google Ads, there are a few key ways to get the most out of your digital marketing efforts.
Up-sell or cross-sell to existing customers. These are people you know are interested in your products, show them something that would go perfectly with a product they have bought or remind them to restock on a product they may be running out of.
Showcase different product categories on your website. Create dedicated remarketing lists to promote your products with dedicated ads.
Use dynamic remarketing to customise your visitors' experience.
Use the frequency capping option to control how many times website visitors will see your ad during a given period. Match this to your business’s specific goals and needs.
Create custom audience groups based on the customer journey stage visitors have hit to customise their ad experience.
Where Can I Find Help With Google Remarketing?
For help with google remarketing, look no further than the Google advertising experts at SEM Consultants. Combining intuitive techniques with extensive knowledge, our paid search specialists can turbo-charge your remarketing campaigns to bring in repeat visitors to your website and encourage conversions at every level.
Contact our team now to find out more about how we can help make your remarketing campaigns the best they can be.
### Does Google Ad’s New Financial Services Policy Affect Your Business?
New verification requirements for financial services ads are set to be introduced by Google’s ad platform later this year meaning countless financial advertisers will need to verify their services with Google or risk being banned from the platform. We walk you through what exactly Google has changed and how the new verification process could affect your business.
Google Ad’s New Financial Services Policy
If you are a financial services provider in the UK and use Google Ads to advertise your products or services, new rules brought in by the platform could mean that you will need to change the way you advertise your business online. New rules on who is allowed to advertise financial services on Google mean that unless you verify your account using Google’s new finance verification system, you will not be able to advertise on Google.
When Does the New Google Update Happen?
Google’s financial services policy update will be updated on the 30th August 2021. Users will then have 7 days to ensure their account is properly registered before the new rules are enforced. Those who have not registered by this point may run the risk of having their account suspended and any finance-related ads will not be displayed past this point without verification.
Why is Google Changing its Financial Products and Services Policy?
As part of its process of cracking down on harmful or deceitful services, Google has implemented the new financial services verification process to ensure that users have better access to the information needed to make informed financial decisions and to ensure the services they access are legitimate. Part of this includes proof that the financial service is accredited by the UK Financial Conduct Authority or is exempt under one of Google’s strict financial service exemptions.
Who Will be Affected by the New Google Financial Services Update?
Anyone who advertises on the Google Ads platform for financial service, personal loans and related products will be required to verify their account under Google’s new guidelines in order to target users who are looking for financial services and show financial service ads of any kind in the UK. Any legitimate financial businesses who are registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority should see little change once they have verified their account with Google as the aim is to root out online financial scams which may have been taking advantage of the system.
How to Verify Your Google Ads Account As Part of the New Financial Services Verification Process
To register your account as part of the new UK financial services verification on Google, simply complete your account details on the financial services verification form here detailing whether you are a UK FCA-authorised financial services advertiser or fall under one of the list of exemptions such as a service that is not promoting a financial service but still wishing to target those searching for such a service.
You’ll need to show evidence that you are registered with the FCA and applications must be submitted by an authorised representative. As part of the Google finance policy, you’ll also need to verify your identity with Google to prove you are who you say you are. Any advertisers who fail to complete the second step of the verification process have their accounts paused by Google.
Why Must you be Registered With the FCA to Verify your Google Account?
As part of their cracking down on financial fraudsters using the Google Ads platform, Google now works closely with the UK regulatory body to ensure any advertisers using their platform to promote their services are legally verified and follow UK guidance on financial activity. Under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000, the Financial Conduct Authority is required to monitor any financial activity in the UK. Any firm carrying out regulated financial activity in the UK such as banks, insurance companies and other finance-related organisations must be registered with them unless exempt and an authorised representative must submit an application to the FCA for authorisation and show that they are willing and able to follow out the required regulations. You can find out more about registering with the FCA on their website here.
Up until recently, Google offered no way to regulate whether a company advertising on Google Ads was authorised by the FCA which led to a number of fraudulent ads only combated by paid ads for anti-scam warnings. However, under changes in post-Brexit laws, the FCA has now warned Google that it may take legal action if it doesn't do more to combat scam advertisements targeting those looking for financial services. If you continue to run ads targeted at these ad groups once the changes come into place, your ads and account may get banned by Google.
What to do if Your Ads Get Banned Under Google’s New Finance Policy
If your account has not completed the financial services verification process by the 6th September Google may have cause to suspend your Google Ads account. However, all is not lost if this happens. Google will issue a warning 7 days before it actions any account suspensions to allow you to fix the issue yourself. If you complete the registration and verification process before this time your account should not be suspended and you will be able to carry on promoting your ads on Google Ads. If your Google Ads account has any ads that fall within the scope of financial services and you do not intend to verify your account, it is vital these ads are removed before the 6th September 2021 to avoid issues.
If your Google Ads account has been banned from advertising, the first thing you should do is check to see if you have had an email from Google warning of the impending ban. Google will not ban an account without informing the owner and will specify what has caused the ban. If you have ads targeting those looking for financial services and have not verified your account with Google under the new financial services rules, for example, Google should have notified you that this is in breach of their guidelines and removing these ads should allow you to regain the use of your Google ads account.
If your company is not registered with the FCA and does not fall under the exemptions listed by Google, there will not be a way to continue advertising your financial services on the platform and any attempts to do so will see a ban enforced by Google. See the above section on 'Why Must you be Registered With the FCA to Verify your Google Account?' to see how to register your business with the FCA.
Google Ads Specialists
Our team of PPC and Google specialists are dedicated to staying up to date with every one of Google’s updates and have experience managing a wide range of account types. We are experienced in a number of challenging Google ads issues and campaigns so are perfectly placed to make your online advertising efforts a success.
If you have any questions on how we can help manage your Google Ads account, or are looking for a way to start advertising on Google, get in touch now to find out more.
### "We're No Longer a Photo Sharing App" Instagram Makes the Switch to Video
On the 30th of June, Instagram's head Adam Mosseri declared that Instagram is "no longer a photo-sharing app" in an announcement of Instagram's new shift to video content for creators. But what does this mean for those who use Instagram to market their business? We jump into a quick analysis of what the new Instagram changes may mean for you.
Is Instagram Switching to Video?
Throughout 2021 Instagram changes have tried to reevaluate how Instagram is used by creators with the new updates looking to focus on four key areas, creators, video, shopping and messaging in order to compete with the viral popularity of other platforms. In his announcement, Mosseri gives a nod to sharing platforms such as TikTok and YouTube leading the way in the rise of using video online to entertain.
Changes are coming to video on Instagram
At Instagram we’re always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience. Right now we’re focused on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging. pic.twitter.com/ezFp4hfDpf
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) June 30, 2021
Coming after Instagram made feed and story insights available on desktop, much to the relief of social media managers everywhere, Instagram has announced the switch to video-focused content in place of its traditional static image focus. Changes to the Instagram algorithm mean that video will soon be the de facto method for advertisers to share their products, services and news with the world.
What Will the New Instagram Update Mean for Advertisers?
Whilst it is unclear exactly how the new Instagram video updates will affect advertisers, one thing that is for sure is that those using video-based advertising will benefit from the new changes. Instagram has announced the switch to showing users full-screen, recommended videos in their feeds.
With the option to share 15 and 30-second video reels or longer live videos, Instagram video may be a regular feature in user’s feeds with the potential to follow sponsored content trends set by other platforms, a double-edged sword when it comes to user’s potential attention span and the willingness to watch longer content from brands they do not yet follow.
Creating video ads on Instagram could be more time-consuming but advertisers needn’t worry about creating videos that fill the full 120 seconds Instagram video allows as studies have shown that shorter video ads of around 26-30 seconds could actually perform better than the longer form Instagram ads. In terms of engagement, average engagement for video posts has shown to have increased by around 10% more than comparable photo posts on Instagram meaning it could be worth incorporating video into your social media strategy as Instagram evolves in order to catch the eye of potential prospects.
Instagram has made clear that they believe their users visit the app for entertainment and has begun implementing changes that lean towards video content that will lead users to engage more. In terms of brands and influencers hoping to profit out of the platform, these new changes will hopefully mean more opportunities to reach new audiences and individuals outside of their current networks and monetize Instagram to greater effect. This combined with the new Reels and Live insights may mean it is easier than ever to create winning social media campaigns on Instagram.
Does Instagram Want to Be the New TikTok?
There’s no question that TikTok is an immensely popular app that has exploded onto the scene and is particularly popular among younger audiences. The video-based app allows users to view new video content each time they enter the app with streams curated based on their viewing habits. In the words of Instagram head Adam Mosseri, “TikTok is huge”. With the introduction of mobile-optimised video viewing, it may seem like Instagram is attempting to lean into that rapid access video craze to bolster its popularity.
However, this has lead to a number of users questioning whether this is taking something away from what Instagram has become known for, the sharing of square-shaped beautifully-curated static images. Instead, could this lead to a blurring between apps with a collection of similar apps competing for the same niches?
What Next?
Whilst Instagram has been reasonably vague about what their new video-first ethos might entail, they have announced a number of other features to help influencers and sellers profit from Instagram.
Part of this includes their new affiliate tool which will allow creators to share products with their followers easier and earn commission on purchases they drive. Creators will be able to tag products from brands or use Shops to sell through their Instagram profile and tease new product launches. Combining this with Reel and Live insights along with Instagram’s already existing tools may give Instagram advertising a boost with actionable insights that make it easier than ever to monetise the Instag platform.
Looking for help with your Instagram marketing? Contact our team of social media experts now to find out more about how we can help.
### What Does Good Web Design Have to Do With SEO?
We know the problem, your company is taking a leap into the digital world with a brand new website to drive online sales and show your customers who you are. You have a design you love and set it live only for... nothing to happen. Whilst visually attractive website design might be able to win your customers over once they arrive on your site, SEO is what will bring them there in the first place and a lack of SEO in your website design could cause it to stumble before it can run. If you want a website that gives you results such as high conversion rates, SEO must be part of your web design process.
What Do SEO and Web Design Have to Do With Each Other?
Both web design and SEO aim to provide users with a good experience in different ways. When it comes to good web design, involving SEO expertise from the start is integral to your website being a success. Without SEO guiding how your page will function and how you could be ranking in Google, you could be throwing away a large portion of your website visitors and causing issues that will need to be fixed further down the line with a lot more work. SEO web design services take the expertise of website development and pair it with the knowledge of customers and google of an SEO to help your website find success from the start.
With many businesses, SEO is something only considered once a website is up and running leading to costly website updates and time-consuming content reviews. Using SEO from the very start of your web design process ensures all elements of your new website, such as site structure are SEO optimised the first time around and any content is already SEO optimised ready to be tweaked in the future if needed to reflect industry changes.
What is SEO Web Design?
SEO web design is the process of designing and building a website by looking beyond simple visual website elements into how your website will be viewed by search engines. It’s no secret that the majority of clicks in Google come from the first search results page with the lion’s share going to the top three ranked search results. A website that works with Google’s algorithms has to be more than simply a combination of website copy and design.
SEO-friendly web design helps boost your website’s chances of ranking highly and harnessing the free organic traffic that comes along with a website that performs. It takes into account every part of your website from the structure down to even how your images are displayed to ensure every element works seamlessly together as a visitor-friendly website that outperforms your competitors when it comes to search engine rankings and conversions.
SEO-Driven Design Practices
By following SEO best practices such as mobile-first design or responsive design, quick loading speeds and optimised URLs, your website will appeal to both search engines and users alike. Part of how Google now ranks websites is to do with how ready it is to meet the needs of those surfing the web. With the number of people visiting websites on their mobile phones ever on the rise, Google prioritizes and relegates websites based on how mobile-friendly their design and function is whilst loading speeds mean fewer people will get bored waiting for your website to load and leave. Incorporating SEO best practise as part of the web design process allows all of these search engine niggles to be picked up and actioned before they become issues for your website.
Why is SEO Website Design So Important?
Whilst paid advertising and social media offer efficient ways to bring visitors to your website, only optimising your website for search engines can ensure a continuous stream of free, relevant visitors to your website. SEO considers everything from navigation to content to meta descriptions to ensure your website is the best it can be for both search engines and your target audience. Website design elements such as mobile optimisation and website speed both work to improve your website’s performance, enhancing user experience and your website’s chances of ranking in google.
If your website isn’t designed with SEO in mind, it runs the risk of not getting seen by potential leads as well as struggling to rank on Google and even affecting your conversion rates if uninterested visitors are visiting your site because of poor optimisation. Fixing these issues in the future is a much more long-winded process and could end up costing your company in the long run.
SEO Content
Part of any website design process is the addition of content, after all, this is what will drive visitors to your website, inform and entertain them whilst they are they are visiting and hopefully convert them into paying customers through the art of persuasion. However, simply adding a few words to a page and setting your website live, isn't going to do this. Incorporating SEO-driven content to your website from the word go is imperative to your website gaining traction as it takes its first steps into the online world. SEO content involves the images, media, words and even structure of your website text to attract both people and search engines to your content and allow your product or service to shine.
SEO content allows the information on your website to be clearly accessed by your audience reducing bounce rates and increasing the time spent on your page and the likelihood of those leads converting. Having SEO input to the layout and design of website pages, as well as the website structure can save time redesigning the website pages later on as it will be formed with content creation and organic traffic in mind from the start. Combining SEO content, design and website design best practices is a winning formula for your website's success and online prowess in the world of Google search.
Web Design and SEO Services
Whatever your website design queries, we are here to help. Our web design and SEO specialists have the knowledge, expertise and experience to bring your search engine optimised website to life. Our team combines specialist web design knowledge with SEO expertise to create a website that represents your company and most importantly, performs. Contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out how we can help.
### What is Duplicate Content?
If you are taking the plunge into the world of SEO content and online marketing, one term you may have come across is ‘duplicate content’. If the terms thin content and duplicate content have you puzzled, our guide is here to help with everything from what is duplicate content to what you can do about fixing it on your website.
What is Duplicate Content?
Duplicate content is where the same content appears in more than one place across the internet or on more than one URL. Google can also flag a page for thin content when duplicated content on a page indicates to Google that a page is of low value or quality. When repeated content occurs, it could be due to an exact copy being found or it could be that two pieces of content closely resemble each other. Duplicate content is often flagged as an issue on websites and can be discovered by either Google or through a website review.
What Are Some Causes of Duplicate Content?
Duplicate content is not always the result of malicious intentions. A number of websites find that they have duplicated content on their website for entirely innocent reasons however, this makes the issue no less harmful. For example, sometimes the URL tracking parameters for a page may cause this issue or some other technical problem with how your website content is stored and displayed. Whatever the reason for your website displaying duplicate content, it is imperative the problem is fixed in order to avoid any further problems with your site and how it ranks in Google.
What Are Some Examples of Duplicate Content Curation?
In the vast majority of cases, website owners haven’t intentionally created identical content and for the most part, it has happened by accident. Just so you are aware, here are some key examples of duplicate and accidental duplicate copy that you might not have even considered:
Generic supplier product descriptions used by various suppliers on a number of websites
Printer only web-pages
Products linked or displayed on multiple URLs
Discussion forums whereby the original post would be quoted a multitude of times
Using the same service or product information across multiple website pages
If the website owner has published the same content across a number of pages, for example a governmental body has published duplicates of press releases in multiple places or in the case of the above examples, fixing duplicate content issues should be simple.
However, in more sinister circumstances the website owner may not be aware of the situation, plagiarism could be at work. There are a number of duplicate content checkers available online, where you can easily see if the content on your website appears anywhere else on the internet. Our team of SEO specialists can also help identify duplicate content issues that may be harming your website.
Why is Duplicate Content Bad for My Website?
There are many reasons why duplicated content is bad for websites and these fall under duplicate content SEO as well as general user experience. When creating content it is always important to offer your readers something new and of value. If content has simply been copied and pasted from another website, it offers no new value to your consumers and could cause readers to leave your website and damage the reputation of your website. In addition to this, plagiarism of content from another website could lead to action from the original owners of the content. Duplicate content is also bad in terms of SEO and can harm your website in a number of other ways.
Duplicate Content and SEO - Is Duplicate Content Bad for SEO?
When it comes to duplicate content and SEO, having copied or repeated content on your website could be working against any other efforts you are taking to improve your website’s SEO and performance. If Google finds that you have duplicate content on your website, for example, particularly if it seems deceptively done, google may take action against your website. If there is duplicate content stored on two URLs, google may struggle to decide which page to rank for the topic and the result may be that both URLs are ranked lower with the higher ranking spots given to other websites and content.
Even if it is not intentional to have duplicate content on your site, for example in the case of technical problems causing the duplicated content, having this on your website can cause all manner of problems when trying to improve your website’s SEO. When you've spent time, effort and resources on creating content for your website, such as a blog post, posting it on multiple websites or URLs could be undoing all of your hard work and destroying your chances of ranking for important keywords.
How Can I Avoid Duplicate Content on my Website?
By being proactive about duplicate content you can help to avoid it affecting your website’s ranking potential. By identifying existing replicated content, you will already be on your way to avoiding duplicate content on your website. Some main ways to avoid copied content on your website is to always create unique and useful content on your website, by staying on top of how your pages are indexed and ‘thinking like a google bot’, you will also be able to spot any potential problems with duplicate content to help your SEO.
Finding Duplicate Content on your Website
Many online tools allow you to ‘scan’ your website for duplicate content whilst an SEO advisor should be able to help identify duplicate content through a site analysis. There are also online tools available to check if your content has been used elsewhere on the web without your permission. Many of these require you to simply add the URL of your own content and will search the internet for websites containing very similar content to yours.
A good area to identify this type of content which isn’t always obvious is for product descriptions. If, for example, your site sells a luxury lawnmower with a long, detailed description of all of the features and things you can do with this product, have you ensured it is not simply copied and pasted from another retailer’s website?
Another example might be a travel company showcasing hotels on their website. Whilst the description from the supplier might conjure up images of sun-soaked beaches and cocktails by the pool, how many other websites could have potentially copied this same content with that same description appearing in numerous places around the web?
Original, unique content not only saves your website from being marked up as duplicate content by Google, it also provides your website visitors with an informative, enjoyable experience where they don’t simply have to scroll through pages of content they have seen a million times before. This above all else is what will draw visitors back to your page and build up a unique brand experience.
Avoiding Duplicate Content in the Future
One of the key ways to avoid duplicate content in the future is simply to not create any duplicate content yourself. By focussing on key and different areas in each part of your website you will be less likely to create very similar content to what already exists. Whilst other websites may be finding success with a particular article, avoid trying to cash in on that success with a very similar article. Instead, use the unique tone and features of your business or organisation to create a brand new piece of content that speaks to your readers as only you can.
Another simple task to avoid blog content being duplicated on your website is to make use of excerpts. Instead of displaying the whole of a blog post on your home page or blog-holding page as well as the blog page itself, these provide just a snippet of the blog allowing readers to click into the blog to read the full article. Ensuring unique title tags and meta descriptions for each page will also help avoid duplicate content issues. There are a number of processes you can put in place on your website that can help avoid content issues and improve your website’s overall SEO to ensure higher ranking in Google and put your website content in front of the people you want to see it. The help of an SEO expert will be able to guide you through the process with ease and identify areas of your website that may be causing issues.
Looking for Advice on SEO and Duplicate Content?
If you are looking for more advice on duplicate content, SEO or any other digital marketing query, our team of friendly and experienced digital marketing specialists are here to help. Contact us now to find out more about the types of services we offer and how we can help your website rank in Google.
Alternatively, visit our SEO page to find out more about the types of SEO services we can offer your business or organisation.
### What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do
If you are new to digital marketing and looking for help in making your business a success online, you may have been looking at the services of a digital marketing agency. But what exactly does a digital marketing agency do and how can they help your business succeed in the online world? With years of experience in our field, we take you through the ins and outs of digital marketing agency services and how to find the perfect one for your business.
What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do?
When it comes to providing digital marketing services, reputable digital agencies usually contain specialists in their field who have a number of years of experience helping businesses promote themselves online. These digital marketers may provide services such as PPC services, social media marketing services, content marketing services, web design services and more. A good digital marketing agency will take the time to get to know your business and discuss your goals and future online ambitions to find the right services for you. They will work alongside your existing team to help support any processes you have in place currently and use their expertise to generate new ideas to help your business succeed.
Typical Digital Marketing Agency Services
So, what do a digital marketing agency do day-to-day? Many small businesses know that they need to promote their business online but may not know where to start. In this case, they may be wondering what sort of digital marketing services and agency can help them with. Whether it is creating a new SEO-optimised website packed full of converting content for your business or building up your company’s brand on social media, digital marketing agencies can supply everything you need to help your business boost its presence in the online world. Typical digital marketing services include things such as Google Ads strategy and campaign management and website optimisation as well as digital services such as social media growth and marketing.
Digital marketing agencies can work with companies of all sizes and scales. Whether your small team handle customer service and marketing all in one role and are looking for a team to outsource to or you have your own team of marketers and are looking for specialist skills and advice from experts in their field, digital marketing agencies can work with your business to find the solution that fits you and help get your digital marketing efforts right where they belong, in front of potential, converting customers.
Do Digital Marketing Agencies Work?
If you are looking for a way to improve your digital marketing or even start using digital marketing for your business for the first time, a digital marketing agency could be the ideal way to go. Digital marketing agencies know exactly how to expand your brand’s reach online and are experienced in the tools needed to help your website and business thrive in the online world. They can let you know things such as how much of your budget you should be allocating to SEO to meet your organic targets, for example. They should also be able to help you expand your marketing efforts using tools such as brand awareness or Amazon A+ Content.
Our digital marketing services have seen website visitors boom and built thriving social media presences for the companies we work with whilst our successful PPC campaigns have seen phenomenal results in a variety of industries. By picking the digital marketing agency that’s right for your business, there is no limit to what your company can achieve online, particularly in this time of massive online growth.
How Much do Digital Marketing Agencies Cost?
At first glance, especially for those taking their first steps into online marketing, digital marketing agency costs can sometimes seem quite high. After all, you may be thinking ‘can’t I just do all of this myself’. The fact is that broken down, marketing agency costs pale in comparison to what it would actually cost to hire an extra person in your business, hope they have a fully-rounded knowledge of all the digital marketing nuances and potentially run loss-making campaigns. Choosing a local digital marketing agency or a regional agency could even save you money compared to a national digital marketing company or London-based digital marketing agency.
Digital marketing agencies provide specialist teams who are experts in their own specific fields and can often be the ideal match for businesses not wanting to go through the massive additional costs and time hiring and paying an additional member of staff would entail. Put another way, marketing agencies provide social media marketing specialists, PPC specialists, SEO specialists and more, fully trained and qualified and all in one place. Professional digital marketing as a resource can offer a fantastic return on investment with improved conversion rates and countless more leads than other types of investment making it the perfect resource for businesses wanting to grow.
No matter what your budget, a quick conversation with a digital agency may help you find a solution to fit you as services can be adapted to fit your current and future business needs. So, whether you are just getting started in the world of online advertising with a small budget or a multi-national looking to outsource to skilled specialists, an agency can find the perfect service for your budget.
Finding a Dedicated Digital Marketing Agency for your Business
When it comes to using the services of a digital marketing agency, it is important to find one that really understands the problems your business faces and can advise on the best strategies and campaigns to fit your business needs. If you are looking for a digital marketing agency with the expertise and experience to help your business grow, SEM Consultants is here to help. We have a range of digital marketing services from social media marketing to SEO and pay per click marketing.
We pride ourselves on taking the time to understand the nuances of every business we work with to ensure we match them with the right services for them and have experts in a range of fields ready to take your business marketing to the next level. We also ensure we're always up to date on the latest Google updates to make your digital marketing a success.
If you are looking for a trusted digital marketing agency to help guide you through the nuances of online marketing and find the perfect digital solutions for you, contact SEM Consultants now to talk to our team.
### Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Around 83% of the UK population and 64% of the world’s population uses some form of social media, in terms of numbers, that equates to around 56 million active social media users just in the UK, all ready and waiting to be engaged with. But how effective is social media marketing for small businesses?
Social platforms can help get your local business seen and harness untapped audiences. With the rise in social media as a search engine, not being social could be costing you precious footfall and website traffic. However, when it comes to social media for small business, preparation is key. Our guide to social media marketing for small businesses takes you through all of the key steps to creating a winning social media marketing strategy, social media advertising and social media costs for small businesses.
What Are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses?
When starting out with social media for business, you may be wondering, how important is social media marketing for small businesses? The answer is, very. Brands and businesses without any social media presence in this day and age run the risk of questioned legitimacy and getting lost in the non-digital void.
Social media presence and advertising can be even more important for local businesses who depend on footfall in a physical shopfront. Platforms such as Instagram or Facebook for business can help you show up better in local searches and connect with customers who are close to your location. For businesses who sell online, social media advertising can help drive traffic to your online storefront with even organic social media strategy for small businesses, effectively free promotion, leading to an increase in potential customers both in-person and online.
Social media marketing can also help your business retain customers who have already purchased through building an online community and promoting new offers or products to an engaged, relevant audience.
Build Your Brand Through Social Media
When it comes to small business marketing, social media can be one of the most accessible tools out there to spread the word of your brand. Creating a social media profile for your company is free and advertising on social media platforms can be relatively low cost. Social media marketing can help build brand awareness for your business allowing more potential customers to hear about what you do and engage with your company on their terms. Social media can be a great way to listen to what is working, or not working for your small business and attract new customers to visit both your in-person store and online.
Core Benefits of Social Media for Small Businesses
Drive traffic to your website through links in posts and bios. Increase traffic to your website and build its authority to help support your SEO efforts.
Generate a higher number of leads and potential conversions through tools such as TikTok shopping, Facebook shops and click-to-contact buttons.
Increase brand awareness. As a small business, brand awareness is key and building a loyal following on social media is a fantastic way to raise the profile of your brand in the online world.
Humanise your business through showing up authentically online. Interacting with your customers and potential customers on social platform is a great way to make your brand seem more human and approachable, particularly if you use real-world imagery in your content.
Build relationships with customers and develop a loyal following through channels such as Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and more, reaching and interacting with your target audience through something they use every day.
How to Get Started With Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Now you know the benefits of small business social media marketing, it’s time to get your business out there. If you don’t yet have a social media presence for your company, now is the perfect time to start. Meta for Business has a great guide to how Facebook could help promote your business and can answer questions such as 'what is social media marketing' and 'what is SMM? '.
The first thing you’ll need to consider before putting any social media plans into action for your small business is who your target audience are and where they show up online.
If you are primarily a B2B business, are your target audience more likely to be present on LinkedIn as a business networking platform? If you are a small ecommerce business with a vibrant product base, are you more likely to connect with customers through the more visual platform of Instagram? Are your target audience Gen Z and more likely to be active on platforms such as TikTok? Thinking about this early on can help feed into your small business social media marketing strategy.
What is a Social Media Strategy?
A social media strategy for small business is, simply put, a plan of how you will use social media to benefit your company. It will detail which social media platform you will be using, what you will be posting and any budget or resource considerations. It will also detail your social media marketing goals, what you would like to achieve through promoting your small business on social media.
How Do I Create a Small Business Media Strategy?
Creating a social media strategy for small business is an essential step to success online. When it comes to creating your social media strategy, it is important to take everything we have mentioned so far in our social media guide for small businesses and use it to inform your social strategy. We’ve outlined the core steps to creating a social media plan below so be sure to align these with your business goals and personality.
Step One: Set Social Media Goals That Align With Your Business Goals
The first step is to choose some social media goals that really align with your company's aims. Remember that they should be SMART goals. So, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. For example, you may want to use social media to increase the number of website visitors who click through from a specific platform by a certain percentage over the next quarter. Other goals include things such as customer retention through monitoring social media sentiment or growing your brand by increasing brand awareness on social media.
Step Two: Do Your Research
We’ve already mentioned how important your target audience is to marketing on social media, this step of building your social plan builds on that initial thought process.When creating a small business social media strategy, take some time to create a detailed buyer persona for your target audience.
Taking things such as age, interests, location, career, disposable income and other demographic features into account will allow you to better target your social media marketing towards those you actually want to hear your message and will be more likely to be interested in your brand or product. You should also include some research into how your target audience uses different social media platforms as this can affect how you map out your small business social media strategy.
Step Three: Audit Any Existing Social Media Accounts
If you don’t yet have a social media account for your business, you can skip this step. However, if you have ever created a social media page for your small business, now is the time to really look at it critically. Does it align with the business goals thought about in the first step? Does it match what your audience from the previous step will be expecting? Does it match the way you want your brand to be perceived online?
A social media audit is key to laying the groundwork for a good social media marketing plan as it can help you work out what is already in place, what has been done before, how that performed and generate ideas for where to take your social media plan going forward.
Whilst you are doing your social media audit, take a look at your closest competitors. How are they using social media to promote their business? Is it seeing engagement? What trends have they jumped on board with or avoided? Are there any ideas you could put your own spin on to create unique content that aligns with your brand?
Step Four: Create a Social Media Marketing Calendar to Fit Your Business and Audience
One of the biggest benefits for small businesses starting social media marketing for the first time is the creation of a social media marketing calendar. This is a brief outline of your posting schedule for any given social media platform. Your social media marketing calendar should include information on what you will be posting and when as well as variations for the different social platforms.
This is an important step as you will need to factor in your team’s resources and working hours to ensure you have the capacity to regularly post to a schedule that works for your circumstances.
You’ll want to create a mix of content for your social media marketing to ensure your customers are not just hit by a constant tirade of sales pitches. Try to include a mix of website traffic generators, shared posts, company culture updates and lead-generation goals such as sign-ups for a newsletter. If one of your social media goals is growth, can your business hold a giveaway for engaged followers or perhaps try your hand at a popular trend that you think would particularly resonate with your target audience? Think about the types of hashtags your audience might use and incorporate these into your plan.
Based on everything you’ve done so far, take some time to come up with social media marketing ideas for your small business. If you’re struggling to get started, Hootsuite has a great list of social media marketing ideas for small businesses. You may want to undertake paid social media marketing as part of your strategy so keep this in mind when plotting out your content calendar and strategy. You’ll also need to assign time to platform engagement to interact with your potential customers online.
Step Five: Review and Revise Accordingly
No small business social media marketing strategy will be completely flawless the first time and a number of economic and topical changes can take place throughout the year that may affect your social media marketing, It is important that you are able to react to this and notice when your social media marketing is seeing an impact.
An established social strategy should include the core facts you know about your audience such as platforms used and content types they engage with. It should also include analytic insights that will inform your ongoing strategy such as audiences reached, best times to post on social media platforms and any other insights. Using an inbound approach, it should include the types of useful content you will create with what you've seen success with and how it creates value alongside your content strategy. This should all reflect your brand identity and how you want your audience to feel when they view your social content.
Depending on your resources, you may want to set up monthly or quarterly reviews of your social media marketing performance, perhaps more regularly if you are approaching social media marketing for the first time and still seeing what works for you. Social media marketing costs for small businesses can be a deciding factor when getting started and your strategy will adjust as you find out more about what types of marketing are successful for your company. Consistency is key so if you find your current strategy isn’t working due to time constraints, it may be time to reevaluate.
Download your small business social media marketing checklist for free >
Social Media Marketing Ideas for Small Business
When it comes to creating content for social platforms, creativity is key. There are plenty of ways to have fun with your posts whilst staying on-brand. By creating a wide variety of content types including still imagery and video content, you can keep your content engaging. Whilst your core aim when using social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram might be to promote your business, it's important not to constantly post salesy content as this can easily bore and put off users. We've included some small business social media marketing ideas below to get you started.
Behind-the-scenes Lives or video
Product or service-related how-to's or top-tips
Story polls or interactive quizzes
Industry or company updates that might be of interest
Carousel-type posts showing your product in use
User-generated content that showcases your brand or product
Giveaway or sales-related posts
When to Call in the Experts
Whilst social media can be a world of opportunity for small businesses, the reality is that it takes time and effort in order to be effective. If your small organisation is struggling to grow on social or is struggling to find the time or resources to post engaging content and be present on your chosen platform, it may be time to bring in external help.
A social media marketing agency for small business is ideally placed to build your small business social media profile and activity, driving awareness and traffic through time-honed strategy and creative content. SEM Consultants provides social media marketing services for small businesses and can personalise your service to fit your business needs, big or small.
If you are looking for affordable social media marketing for small business, contact our specialist social media team online or by calling 0121 552 6550. Alternatively, take a look at our social media services page to find out more about our social media for small businesses services.
### Key Dates for Your Spring 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar
Spring is the perfect time to refresh your marketing calendar for the season ahead. The time of the spring clean is here with the approach of warmer weather and sunnier climes ahead. As ever, planning your digital marketing strategy is key to ensuring a successful spring marketing campaign and a digital marketing calendar is the ideal way to keep your marketing campaigns on track and current. Our spring digital marketing includes our top March marketing dates, April marketing dates, May marketing dates and key June digital marketing calendar dates to help you make an impact this spring.
Why Do I Need a Spring 2021 Marketing Calendar?
We previously discussed the importance of building a digital marketing calendar in our recent post, ‘Your 2021 Marketing Calendar’ here. But to recap, a digital marketing calendar helps you plan out the quarter, or season’s key digital marketing dates and ensure any national or world-wide dates that may affect your marketing activities are planned for. By keeping your digital marketing activities topical, they are more likely to grab the attention of potential customers and introduce them to your brand whilst keeping current customers engaged.
For example, February’s Valentine’s Day is one celebrated in a number of western countries and draws in a wealth of revenue for companies capitalising on its popularity to enhance their marketing around that time. By planning dates such as these into your spring digital marketing calendar, you will be highlighting potential opportunities to have some fun with your brand’s marketing efforts and planning for dates where your marketing plans could be potentially disrupted or lead to quiet periods for your company.
Key Marketing Dates for March
March is the first step in your spring 2021 marketing calendar journey as the official start of spring arrives on the 20th March. The home of Mothering Sunday and St David’s Day on the 1st, March leads the way when it comes to spring cleaning and a shakeup after the winter months with clocks going forward at the end of the month. Here are some top March dates to add to your spring 2021 marketing plans:
Mon 01 Mar – St David’s Day
Thur 04 Mar – World Book Day
Mon 08 Mar – International Women’s Day
Sun 14 Mar – Mother’s Day
Wed 17 Mar – St Patrick’s Day
Sat 20 Mar – First Day of Spring
Sun 28 Mar – First Day of Passover
Download our March digital marketing calendar now.
Key Marketing Dates for April
Welcoming the chocolate-fueled celebration of Easter and the inevitable April showers, April offers a wealth of marketing opportunities to focus your digital marketing campaigns on, here are just some of the key dates for everything from social media planning to email generation.
Thur 01 Apr – April Fool’s Day
Fri 02 Apr – Good Friday
Sun 04 Apr – Easter Sunday
Mon 05 Apr – Easter Monday
Sat 10 Apr – Siblings Day
Sun 11 Apr – National Pet Day
Tue 13 Apr – Ramadan Starts
Wed 21 Apr – National Tea Day
Thur 22 Apr – Earth Day
Fri 23 Apr – St George’s Day
Download our April digital marketing calendar now.
Key Marketing Dates for May
Wish your social media connections #Maythe4thBeWithYou this Star Wars Day as May introduces key events from the May bank holidays to Cinco de Mayo and more and introducing the start of the wedding season. May offers a wealth of digital marketing dates to add to your 2021 calendar as well as some fun international dates to add some colour to your marketing.
Mon 03 May – May Day
Tue 04 May – Star Wars Day
Wed 05 May - Cinco de Mayo
Thur 13 May – National Cocktail Day
Mon 31 May – Spring Bank Holiday
Download our May digital marketing calendar now.
Key Marketing Dates for June
From the Queen’s birthday to Father’s Day, June sports a number of months ideal for incorporating into your spring digital marketing efforts. June also welcomes the hope of slightly warmer weather and preparation for summer marketing plans. From the start of Wimbledon to world environment day, there are a number of key marketing dates for June 2021 to add to your diary.
Sat 05 Jun – World Environment Day
Sun 20 Jun – Father’s Day
Mon 21 Jun – Summer Solstice
Sun 27 Jun – Tour de France
Mon 28 Jun – Start of Wimbledon
Download our June digital marketing calendar now.
Spring 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar Free Download
Looking for a full spring 2021 marketing calendar with all of the season’s key dates? Click the link below for a PDF marketing calendar with all of the above dates and more or download by month. For more help building your digital marketing strategy, get in touch with our team of digital marketing professionals now.
Download your full Spring 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
March PDF | PNG
April PDF | PNG
May PDF | PNG
June PDF | PNG
### Why Brand Awareness is Key for Your Digital Marketing Strategy
When it comes to creating a household name, brand awareness and brand recognition are key. Whether you are a multinational corporation or a local shop just starting out, getting your business seen by new customers and recalled when it comes to purchasing time it imperative to keeping your business going. When building a digital marketing strategy, many businesses can be tempted to focus purely on metrics such as clicks and conversions. However, in order for your business to thrive online, brand awareness, or brand recognition is key to making your business known online and out in the world and attracting new leads. We’ve put together a guide to all things brand awareness including why brand awareness is key to any good marketing strategy and ideas on how you can boost your business’ brand awareness.
What is Brand Awareness?
One of the first questions you may be wondering is what exactly is brand awareness? Brand awareness, simply put, is how your brand is perceived by the general public. Part of brand awareness includes how a brand or business distinguishes itself from its competitors and the general marketplace in which it sits. Your customers and consumers will want to know what exactly makes you different and what makes you stand out against other businesses offering similar services or products to yours. Brand awareness fosters trust, one of the key elements of drawing in new customers and establishing a loyal following.
Why is Brand Awareness Important?
One of the most powerful elements in a buyer’s mind when considering purchasing a product or service is the ability to recall the brand that they are purchasing from. A good level of brand awareness can not only help your website and company get found by more potential customers, it can also help reinforce the trustworthiness of your brand in the eye of the consumer. If a customer remembers having seen your company around before, they are more likely to put their trust, and therefore money into your hands. Brand awareness ensures that when your target customer is looking for a product or service, they automatically think of your company each time.
How Can I Build Brand Awareness for my Company?
Now that you understand the importance of brand awareness, the next step is to take a look at how you actually go about increasing brand awareness. One of the important things to do when embarking on boosting brand awareness is to focus your campaign strategy and ensure any campaigns are correctly monitored. If you are launching a brand awareness campaign, brand awareness itself needs to be the set target of that particular campaign, rather than building a campaign focussed on another metric and hoping awareness will happen. For example, running a product ad in order to establish sales may aid click-throughs to your website but will do little for your company’s brand awareness whereas collaborating with a known influencer to offer your customers exclusive content it directly aimed at raising brand awareness and engaging with your consumer base.
Some good ways to establish brand awareness include:
Engage with customers on social media without trying to sell them something first
Tell a story with your content. Craft a narrative around your brand to enhance authenticity with details such as the history of your company or events your company has attended.
Give your brand a personality. Inject some personality into your marketing efforts to create a brand personality your consumers can connect with and identify as something uniquely ‘you’.
Create shareable content. Whether it is a ‘how to’ list, insightful infographic, dream-worthy video or hilarious meme, create content that your audience will want to share with their connections.
Promote your business across multiple channels. Use a variety of platforms to keep your audience engaged based on the platforms they use. Whether that is tying in an email marketing campaign with a Facebook campaign or sharing aspirational images on your Instagram page paired with a Snapchat story.
How Do I Measure Brand Awareness?
Whilst it is true that brand awareness can’t be measured in the same way as other key marketing metrics, brand awareness is not something that should be forgotten when it comes to reflecting on your marketing efforts. There are a few ways for you to measure your website and business’s brand awareness.
One way in particular which is relatively simple is to take a look at your website metrics in terms of how visitors visit your website. When embarking on a brand awareness digital marketing campaign, take a look at the number of ‘direct’ visitors you have visiting your website in google analytics. After a successful brand awareness campaign, you should see that number rise as more visitors search for your company’s name directly as opposed to being directed to the site through a paid campaign, for example.
Another way to measure brand awareness is through social listening. This involves using social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter alongside any other online channels where organic conversations about your brand may be happening. Thirdly, surveys are also a good way to gather information about how your company or brand is seen. This can be done through email or online with a short series of questions to ascertain firstly, whether consumers have heard of your brand and then how your brand is perceived by your audience.
What Metrics Can I Track to Measure Brand Awareness?
When it comes to setting campaign targets, the ability to measure a campaign value is key. Whilst measuring something like brand awareness and sentiment may seem difficult, there are few different metrics you can monitor as part of your online marketing to understand how your marketing is being received. One set of metrics in particular is engagement. How is your audience interacting with your content and brand online? Has there been an increase in comments, shares, likes? These are all engagement statistics that can inform your brand awareness strategies and can be monitored through native social media marketing platform tools.
Where Can I Find More Help With Improving my Company’s Brand Awareness?
If you are looking to increase your brand awareness this year, why not get in touch with our team of digital marketing experts? We have a number of years experience building up an online presence for companies big and small and can help answer any questions you may have.
Call SEM Consultants on 0121 552 6500 or contact us online to find out more about how we can help you.
### Your 2021 Marketing Calendar - Key Dates for the Digital Year
Whilst nobody can fully predict what 2021 will bring, planning out a year’s worth of marketing activities from website content to social media posts can give you a kick-start on your marketing efforts and let you plan ahead for key dates that might affect your digital marketing strategy. Creating a marketing calendar that works for you is key to making your digital marketing strategy a success in the challenging year ahead. If 2021 is the year you want to give your marketing plans a makeover, why not download our ultimate 2021 marketing calendar. We’ve packed it full of key dates in the online marketing calendar so you'll be in the know and ready to go for the year ahead.
Why Should You Create a Marketing Calendar?
When it comes to creating effective, compelling content and marketing materials, a detailed marketing plan is your friend. By tailoring your marketing to events throughout the year you will be able to make your marketing plans relevant and capture the attention of your audience and make the most of every stage of your buyer’s journey. Doing this also allows you to identify periods or events that may affect your marketing campaigns such as holidays or other perhaps busier or quieter times for your business.
What Should a Marketing Calendar Include?
In order to be successful, your 2021 marketing calendar should include some key elements. These elements will all be based on your businesses goals and resources and lay the groundwork for your marketing plans for the years ahead.
Key Events Across the Year
Advertising Campaigns
Social Media Campaigns
Email Marketing Dates
Download your 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
Key Marketing Dates for 2021 by Month
Your customers’ buying patterns can be affected by a wide range of things, just like your business. National and international events can pay a key part in how your customers spend their money, that’s why we have included some key dates for your 2021 marketing calendar below by month.
January
This year will be quite different from the typical post-Christmas slump and Blue Monday (18th January this year). The new year is often a time of personal resolutions and may be a key time for those looking for a fresh start after the events of 2020. Those hoping to win the attention of spenders at the start of this year may face stiff competition and will need to shore up their marketing strategies ready for 2021. Here are some of the key marketing events to look out for in January 2021:
Fri 01 Jan - New Year’s Day
Mon 18 Jan - Blue Monday
Mon 25 Jan - Burn’s Night
Tue 26 Jan - Australia Day
February
Known for the romance of St. Valentine's day and the hype of the Superbowl, February delivers chilly temperatures and a return to normality after the post-Christmas slump. We've made it past 'quitter's day', the day in January people are most likely to break their new year's resolutions and are heading towards the promise of spring. Here are some of the top marketing dates to add to your 2021 marketing calendar for February:
Fri 12 Feb - Chinese New Year
Sun 14 Feb Valentine’s Day
Tue 16 Feb - Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day
March
Home to two patron saint’s days and Mothering Sunday, March marks the first day of spring and a shakeup from the winter gloom. Here are some top March dates to add to your 2021 marketing plans:
Mon 01 Mar - St David’s Day
Thur 04 Mar - World Book Day
Mon 08 Mar - International Women’s Day
Sun 14 Mar - Mother’s Day
Wed 17 Mar - St Patrick’s Day
Sat 20 Mar - First Day of Spring
Sun 28 Mar - First Day of Passover
April
April showers may be drip drip dropping but April heralds the welcome celebrations of Easter and chocolate galore. April offers ample marketing opportunities to focus your digital marketing campaigns on, here are just some of the key dates for everything from social media planning to email generation.
Thur 01 Apr - April Fool’s Day
Fri 02 Apr - Good Friday
Sun 04 Apr - Easter Sunday
Mon 05 Apr - Easter Monday
Sat 10 Apr - Siblings Day
Sun 11 Apr - National Pet Day
Tue 13 Apr - Ramadan Starts
Wed 21 Apr - National Tea Day
Thur 22 Apr - Earth Day
Fri 23 Apr - St George’s Day
May
As the start of the wedding season and host to the spring bank holiday, May offers a wealth of digital marketing dates to add to your 2021 calendar as well as some fun international dates to add some colour to your marketing.
Mon 03 May - May Day
Tue 04 May - Star Wars Day
Thur 13 May - National Cocktail Day
Mon 31 May - Spring Bank Holiday
June
A month of iconic sporting events and a day to celebrate dads everywhere, June ushers in the hope of slightly warmer weather. From the start of Wimbledon to world environment day, there are a number of key marketing dates for June 2021 to add to your diary.
Sat 05 Jun - World Environment Day
Sun 20 Jun - Father’s Day
Mon 21 Jun - Summer Solstice
Sun 27 Jun - Tour de France
Mon 28 Jun - Start of Wimbledon
July
Home to Canada day and the American Independence day, July is summer in full swing and sets the tone for a number of fun dates to add to your marketing calendar. Here are some of the top marketing dates for your digital marketing calendar 2021.
Thur 01 Jul - Canada Day
Sun 04 Jul - American Independence Day
Wed 07 Jul - World Chocolate Day
Sat 17 Jul - World Emoji Day
Fri 23 Jul - Olympics Opening Ceremony
Download your full 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
August
Taking its name from the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, August is home to Yorkshire Day, national smile week and more as well as a holiday time for most schools in the UK. Here are some of the key 2021 marketing dates for August.
Mon 09 Aug - Book Lover’s Day
Thur 19 Aug - World Photography Day
Mon 30 Aug - Summer Bank Holiday
September
Synonymous with 'back-to-school' week, September an ideal time for pushing anything school-related and this is a heavy feature in September digital marketing efforts across a wide range of industries. As well as being home to the International Day of Peace among other notable days, here are some of the key September dates to add to your 2021 marketing calendar.
Thur 02 Sept - Back to School
Tue 21 Sept - International Day of Peace
Mon 27 Sept - World Tourism Day
October
Fire burn and cauldron bubble, October is the month for all things spooky. If you are looking for ideas for your 2021 marketing calendar, take a look at some of our most important dates below.
Fri 01 Oct - World Vegetarian Day
Sun 10 Oct - World Mental Health Day
Sun 31 Oct - Halloween
November
As the winter chill sets in, November sees some key digital marketing dates take hold with one of the biggest sales of the year as well as Bonfire Night and Día de Muertos adding to the festivities.
Tue 02 Nov - Día de Muertos, Day of the Dead
Thur 04 Nov - Diwali
Fri 05 Nov - Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night
Thur 11 Nov - Remembrance Day
Sun 14 Nov - Remembrance Sunday
Fri 26 Nov - Black Friday
Sun 28 Nov - Hannukah
Mon 29 Nov - Cyber Monday
December
After a slightly different Christmas in 2020, many shoppers will want to make Christmas 2021 one to remember. December is the crown of the festive season, if you are looking to catch the last-minute shoppers, December marketing is key, here are some of the main dates to keep in mind for your marketing calendar 2021.
Tue 14 Dec - Christmas Jumper Day
Fri 24 Dec - Christmas Eve
Sat 25 Dec - Christmas Day
Sun 26 Dec Boxing Day
Fri 31 Dec - New Year’s Eve
Looking for a full 2021 marketing calendar with all of the year's key dates? Click the link below for a PDF marketing calendar with all of the above dates and more. For more help building your digital marketing strategy, get in touch.
Download your full 2021 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
### How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy for 2021
It’s that most wonderful time of year again, the time to forward plan your marketing efforts for the new year ahead. A strong, well-thought-out content marketing strategy could be the perfect way to boost your business in 2021 and make your website shine. But what is content marketing and how do you build a content marketing strategy that really works? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to all things content marketing strategy to see how your 2021 content plan could turbo-charge your new year digital marketing.
What is Content Marketing?
If this is your first step into the world of content marketing, content marketing is a type of marketing is the creation and sharing of relevant, valuable and consistent online material such as blogs, videos or social media content. The aim of content marketing is to attract and engage a defined target audience in order to drive customer action such as website visits or purchases. Content marketing aims to add value and give information to solve a problem or answer a question which the customer will hopefully reward with their business.
What is Content Marketing Strategy?
A content strategy, or content marketing strategy, is the planning, creation, management and upkeep of content in order to meet a certain goal. This goal could be something such as building a dedicated audience for your business. So the content marketing strategy could be focussed on creating and publishing relevant and consistent content to educate, inspire or entertain individuals online to create a dedicated following which will hopefully convert into paying customers.
How to Create a Content Marketing Strategy
Creating a content marketing plan contains some key steps to ensure your content is targeted and relevant for your business’ audience. We’ve created our list of steps towards creating a successful content marketing strategy that will take you into 2021 with a bang.
Ask Yourself Some Questions Before Starting your Content Strategy
Some key questions to ask yourself when building a content strategy are things such as, who are your users? What are their needs, their pain points, the questions they have? What platforms do they use to access information? Who are your competitors? What platforms are they seeing success on? Additionally, you should take a moment to think about what you offer to your target customers, what questions can you answer and what services can you supply to meet the needs of your target audience?
The next stage of planning a content marketing strategy should include thinking about the purpose of your content plan. What do you hope to gain from creating and distributing your content marketing? This should be a key element of your content strategy as it will inform the type of content you produce and give it a purpose.
Evaluate your Resources
When planning for creating a content strategy, take a minute to evaluate your business’ capacity to create content. What content do you already have that could be included in your plan or optimised for SEO content marketing? Consider who within your business will be creating and managing the content. If there will be just one person covering all aspects of content marketing, which is often the case in smaller businesses, then the regularity of publishing content may need to be adjusted accordingly.
For example, a very large company or content marketing agency may publish several blogs a week. However, that would be a lot of work for one individual who also has to manage other areas of the business, so perhaps one per month would be more achievable. If you take some time to evaluate the resources available to you for content production and upkeep, this will make it much easier to form and stick to a successful content marketing strategy.
Conduct a Content Audit
If you are planning on ramping up your content marketing strategy for 2021 one of the best places to start is by conducting a content audit of any content you have already produced. Using the questions you have asked in the previous sections, create an inventory of any website content such as landing pages on your website or blog posts and review them to check that they still match with your goals and target audience’s needs. Using analytics tools, take a look at which pieces of content you saw success and engagement with or pieces of content that perhaps fell short and use these learnings to inform future content as well as updating past content to fit with your new content strategy. One of the key things to look out for when reviewing or updating content is whether is it search engine optimised, also known as SEO.
Create an SEO Content Strategy
One of the key ways to optimise both past and future content is to create an SEO content strategy. An SEO content strategy should form part of your content marketing strategy to ensure that any content you produce is capable of ranking in search engine results pages such as Google. Creating ranking content is a great way to generate organic, or unpaid, traffic to your website and can help attract customers looking for your particular product or service. Your SEO content strategy should include things such as topics and keywords you would like to rank for related to these and should be used as an interweaving part of your content plan to ensure success. If you are new to SEO, take a look at our basic SEO checklist as a starting point.
Choose Your Content Marketing Platform
As part of your audience research, you should have taken a look at the types of content marketing platforms used by your target audience. As part of this, it is also a good idea to investigate the types of content marketing platforms used by your competitors and whether these have been successful. By choosing a platform your target audience engages with, you will be able to reach them where they feel comfortable and see more success with your content. Include this information in your content marketing strategy as well as mapping out the types of content you will be publishing on each platform and how often you will be publishing it.
For example, will you be publishing content on social media daily? Will you be blogging weekly? Your content marketing strategy should map out the frequency and type of content you will be producing according to the resources you have available to you.
Need Some Help With your Content Marketing Strategy?
If you are ready to turbo charge your content marketing strategy for 2021, or have any questions about how we can help your digital marketing efforts. Get in touch with the experts at SEM Consultants online or by calling 0121 552 6500.
### How to Increase Traffic to your Website
If your website visitors have seen a slump recently, or if you have a brand new website you want to help take off, digital tools are a fantastic way to increase website traffic and get more people viewing your page and using your services. Here are some of our favourite ways to get traffic to your website and how best to use them.
How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Using Digital Tools
With everything from social media to your very own website offering a way to attract traffic, digital tools are one of the best ways to directly target customers looking for your product or service. In a world where the shift to the online marketplace is here to stay, digital tools can help increase web traffic and raise awareness of your brand in the online sphere. But how do you increase traffic to your website using digital tools?
How to Increase Website Traffic Through Social Media
Social media is a fantastic source of traffic to your website as well as a great way to build up your brand’s presence online. Depending on your target audience, harnessing social media to get traffic to your website could be one of the best digital tools for you. Social media targeting can focus your digital marketing efforts on specific audiences and demographics that fit your company to make sure your spending efforts are hitting the right place and driving converting traffic to your website.
Top Tips for Increasing Traffic Through Social Media
Choose the right social media platform for your business
Research how your target market uses social media
Personalise your social media activity to your target audience
When using social media to increase website traffic, be sure to look at the types of social media that fit your business and the type of customer your serve. For example, a high-end B2B consultancy may find Linkedin a good social media tool to increase site traffic but someone selling clothing or novelty gifts may find Instagram or Facebook to be more accessible to their customers. Do some market research into the types of social media your customers use and the types your competitors are using to access them. Social media marketing such as targeted adverts are a fantastic way to promote your product or service to prospective customers and boost traffic to your website in the process. Check out our blog on top tips for social media marketing for more.
How to Increase Website Traffic Organically
When it comes to increasing website traffic, you may have a low budget to work with. This is where organic website traffic increases can help. Organic traffic is website traffic that does not come directly from paid advertising online. When deciding on how to get traffic to your website, organic searches should not be left off your list.
Create Engaging Content to Attract Customers
When looking at building content to attract visitors to your website, you should always consider your target audience. What type of things are they interested in? What are the issues they face that your product or service could help solve? These are all elements that should work their way into your content in order to produce content that resonated with the type of people you want visiting your website. Doing this will create a good experience and naturally bring more people to your website, therefore increasing website traffic and your standing in search engines.
Use SEO Techniques to Increase Website Traffic
If you are looking for a way to drive site traffic from Google, there are a number of ways optimising your website for SEO can help. On-page SEO factors such as image alt texts, meta descriptions and internal links can all help boost your website’s visibility in Google and therefore increase website traffic. If you want to go further into the world of SEO, optimising your technical SEO as well as looking at off-page SEO techniques can also help increase your website traffic even further and attract relevant leads to your website.
Create a Website that Works
If you are looking for guidance on how to increase traffic to your website, one of the main things you should do a review of is your website itself. If your website isn’t up to the right standard, it can put prospective visitors off before they have even had a chance to look at what you offer or explore the website properly.
Some key things to look at when reviewing your website to increase site traffic are to make sure that your site speed is fast enough (we’ve talked through how to do this here), and to make sure that your website visitors can find all of the information they are looking for easily. If your website displays products then ensure these are logically arranged and the product descriptions contain all the information a customer could need, as well as being optimised for SEO.
Advertise Online to Increase Website Visitors
When it comes to seeing a clear and measurable increase in website visitors, paid advertising online is a clear winner. Creating dedicated campaigns targeting customers looking for a product or service like yours online can help increase the number of relevant visitors to your website. By creating optimised, high-quality online ads that wow, you could gain hundreds if not thousands of clicks through to your website.
When advertising online, be sure to create targeted campaigns based on specific audiences. Use data from previous visits to see where your website traffic is coming from and to inform how you set your google ads up for targeting. A well-targeted and memorable advert can turbo charge your website traffic and lead to a higher conversion rate on your website.
If you are looking for more ways to increase traffic to your website, our team of digital marketing experts is here to help. We have years of experience in a range of digital marketing fields with proven results. Get in touch now to find out how we can help your business website traffic increase.
### How to Improve Website Page Speeds for SEO
When it comes to website optimisation, one of the most important elements is your website speed. A poor site speed can see your customers leave your website immediately and put off new customers who could have been potentially willing to convert on your website. The longer visitors have to wait for your page to load, the less likely they are to convert, even milliseconds have been shown to reduce conversions. Improving your website page speed not only improves the experience of customers on your website, it also works perfectly to support your other SEO efforts and bring new customers to your website. We’ve pulled together a complete guide on how to improve your website speed and why page speed is important for SEO.
Why is my Site Speed Important for SEO?
The main target of SEO, or search engine optimisation is to bring customers to your website. One of the key ways this is done is by improving the ways your customers interact with your website, find the information they need and hopefully convert into paying customers. If you are looking for a way to be more visible in Google, one of the first things you should look at is optimising your website’s performance and more specifically looking at website speed optimisation.
Google lists site speed as one of the factors involved with ranking websites in search engine results pages, so a slow website could mean that you are missing out on appearing to customers looking for your services. Pages that have a lower or slower load time often tend to have a lower average time on page by visitors and a higher bounce rate, meaning potential customers will leave your website. For any given search, one of the main things that top search engine results have in common is website speed so optimising yours is essential.
How to Test Page Speed on your Website
Whilst there are many websites out there claiming to tell all on website speed, the main website speed test tool is PageSpeed Insights by Google. One of the main reasons we look at how to improve website speed is to boost SEO and perform well. As the biggest search engine in the UK, optimising for Google is key so using their tools to tell you how your page is performing and how you can boost your website speed is a no-brainer.
How to Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights Tool to Measure Your Website’s Speed
Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool allows you to measure the performance of your website on both desktop and mobile. The mobile page speed test is particularly useful as it allows you to make adjustments to your website in order to improve the site speed and accessibility of your website for mobile users, one of the biggest groups when it comes to website searches. Improving your website’s mobile page speed is a good way to further optimise your website for SEO as Google’s ‘mobile first’ indexing means that it now uses the mobile version of your website for indexing and ranking. Therefore, boosting website speeds on mobile can mean your website ranks better overall.
As well as simply telling you your website speed, Google’s PageSpeed Insights also give you suggestions on how to improve your site speed and lists issues for you to improve on in order to raise your site speed score.
To use the page speed test, simply visit the Google page insights page, enter your URL into the search bar and click ‘Analyze’. You will then be presented with the results of your page speed test with tabs for both mobile and desktop results. A page speed score of 0-49 is lower than it should be, a speed score of 50-89 average and 90-100 means that your website speed is fantastic, well done! Scrolling down the page you will find further information on how your page was scored as well as information on opportunities or ways to improve your website page speed and diagnostics on how your page speed met certain criteria set by Google. Use this feedback from Google PageSpeed Insights to influence your website changes and you will be well on your way to improving your website page speed and improving your website speed SEO.
How to Improve Website Page Speeds for SEO
So you have put your website through Google’s page speed test and read up on the results but your page still isn’t the best it can be. There are a few other ways website owners can improve website speed for SEO, here are just some of them.
Compress Images to Improve Page Speeds
When it comes to how to improve website page speed, one of the simplest ways to improve is to take a look at the images you are using on your website. You probably already know that optimising website images is important for your website SEO but when loading a page, large, high-resolution images can take a long time to load, therefore slowing your website down and putting off potential site visitors. In order to combat this, take a look at optimising your site images for faster site speeds. The key to optimising images for page speeds is to reach a balance between low image sizes and acceptable image quality. If your images are too compressed or low quality, it will make your site seem unprofessional, but if your images are too big, your site speed will suffer as a result.
If you use WordPress to run your website, one of the easiest ways to improve website speeds in terms of images is to use a plugin dedicated to optimising images for web use. This will be able to automatically optimise your images files without much loss in quality. However, it is important that you don’t use massive files in the first place to avoid taking up too much disk space.
Another method of optimising your images for site speed and SEO is to compress your images to a smaller file size before you upload them to your website. This can be done through a number of online tools as well as software such as Affinity, Gimp and Photoshop among others. Using the best file type for your image can also help to reduce file size. For example, PNG may create higher quality images, but it also has a much higher file size then formats such as JPEG or JPG.
Switch to a Better DNS Provider for Faster Page Speeds
Although your hosting may come with a DNS, this may not always be the fastest option for your website. If you have never looked at your website’s DNS it may be worth checking whether it is the best one to help your website speed. A good DNS is like a phone book. It keeps a list of domains with a cached image of your website ready to show site visitors when they visit your page whilst your site is loading, once it has finished, your visitors will then be swapped over to your site. The reason for this is that these cached images of your web pages generally load faster to avoid visitors waiting around. DNS servers such as Cloud Flare offer fast loading speeds and can often hold a copy of your site in the country that has visited it with multiple different security options to improve your site.
Choose the Best Hosting Option for your Website
You can read all about why good hosting is important here but having poor hosting is one of the factors that can affect website speed and therefore SEO. Whilst a cheaper website hosting option may sound appealing, once your site begins to attract more traffic, this can affect your server response times. This is obviously not a good option if you want to keep leads coming into and staying on your website. Some hosting providers use a scalable hosting system which grows according to your traffic needs to avoid affecting site speeds. Good hosting can also reduce the risk of website 'down time' from website hosts neglecting website upkeep which can affect your website SEO.
Monitor your Website’s Redirects
When a visitor to your website hits a redirect, they then have to be directed from one page to another therefore using up page loading times. The best port of call for your website speed is to have as few redirects as possible in order to keep your website running smoothly and to avoid having to change where customers are being directed to too frequently. However, sometimes redirects are necessary so it is important to recognise the different types of redirects and how they are used on your page. The types of redirect include 301 and 302s. 301s are permanent redirects meaning that if you set this, the user browser will always remember this redirect exists and will cache that redirect and automatically use it when visiting the site in the future. 302s are temporary redirects meaning that they will not be remembered by the browser and the original page will need to be hit every time someone visits your site before they are redirected. This can slow your site down considerably if you have too many of them so it is important for you to check to see if your website really needs them.
It’s worth noting that if you are using your redirects in order to direct mobile users to a mobile-only site, it may be worth creating a responsive website instead that caters to both desktop and mobile users to avoid overuse of redirects and improve your website speed.
If you are looking for more ways to optimise your website to improve site speed for SEO, our team of experts is ready and waiting to help. Get in touch online now or call 0121 552 6500 to find out how we can help improve your website or offer other ways to improve SEO.
### How to Use Digital Marketing to Promote your Black Friday Sales in 2020
Whilst 2020 has been a truly unusual year, one thing we can count on is the festive shopping season arriving once again. Black Friday sales have seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years with the likes of Amazon launching wide-spread digital marketing campaigns to push their Black Friday deals with success. With the approach of Christmas, the right Black Friday campaign could see your sales figures boom as the world turns to online shopping during the lockdown. But how do you promote your Black Friday offers online for the biggest draw with the lowest cost? Luckily, our team of digital marketing specialists is here to help with a range of Black Friday marketing tips and tricks to help turbo charge your 2020 holiday campaigns.
Why is Black Friday Important?
Black Friday has become the start of the Christmas shopping period with customers flocking to online and physical stores to purchase gifts for the festive period. As such, Black Friday has become essential for driving online sales with discounts continuing throughout the weekend culminating in Cyber Monday, an online extravaganza aimed at capturing online shoppers. Black Friday falls on Friday 27th November this year and as with any seasonal campaign, it is important you start work now in order to create a successful Black Friday 2020 campaign.
How to Optimise PPC campaigns for Black Friday 2020
Whilst you may already have a number of ads running for your business, optimising your google ads for Black Friday 2020 marketing is imperative if you want to see results. Your competition will be making their ads their best during this period and scaling spend so it’s important you don’t get left behind during one of the busiest periods. Don’t know where to start? Our PPC specialists know their stuff when it comes to marketing for Black Friday so have a few suggestions to help you on your way.
Tiffany, one of our Pay Per Click Account Managers recommends using a promotion extension in Google Ads to up your Black Friday marketing. Using a promotion extension on your Black Friday sales ads can help catch your audience’s eye as they stand out for other ads. Adding an extension can display an end date on your BF ad and mark it as a specific offer, for example, ‘Black Friday sale - 10% off 1st November - 2nd December’. Tiffany recommends,
“I always like to put the sale in the extension and the ad just for good measure, but you still want to promote your business and services/products in the ads. So still make sure you are highlighting USP's and adding in ad variations.”
When it comes to creating ads for your Black Friday 2020 marketing campaigns, it can be tempting to simply reuse existing ads with an update to mark them as Black Friday deals. However, PPC Manager Shafiq cautions against this and recommends creating separate text ads for promotional campaigns dedicated to the sale you are promoting online. Our PPC team recommends raising new ads and labelling them specifically as Black Friday deals. During the sale, you can pause previously existing ads in order to focus spend on your Black Friday marketing. Then, once the sale has finished, you will be able to pause the Black Friday ads and reenable your usual business ads to ensure your company is still visible online.
PPC Managers Shafiq and Jason’s Top Tips for Black Friday 2020 PPC marketing
Create separate text ads specifically for BF 2020 and switch back to normal business ads once your sale has ended
Add prices and percentages into the heading to entice clicks and improve your click through rate
Use price extensions on your promotional ads to showcase your business’ Black Friday deals and make them stand out
Promoting Black Friday 2020 Through Social Media
When it comes to running Black Friday marketing campaigns through social media, it helps to know your audience. Social media is a fantastic tool for interacting with your customers on a personal level and can help to keep your ear to the ground with how your product is being received. For your social media Black Friday marketing ideas this year, why not think outside of the box when putting together your campaigns? Creating a Black Friday social media campaign that stands out is a fantastic way to draw attention to your brand and get people clicking through to your website. Use high-quality visuals to catch the eye of prospective buyers with value-giving content that will make you stand out from the crowd.
When using social media to prompt your Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, take some time to update each of your social media profiles including profile pictures, banners, bios, and links to promote your Black Friday deals. A stunningly-designed visual as your cover photo can be a perfect way to promote your seasonal offers, just ensure that all visuals are on-brand and consistent with the rest of your Black Friday marketing materials.
Once your promotions start, make sure to follow through with fantastic customer support through social media for any potential customers getting in touch to show the value of your business’ knowledge. Even if Black Friday isn’t usually your thing, this can be the perfect time to boost impressions on social media using seasonal marketing to support.
SEO for Black Friday Marketing - Give your Content a Refresh
Whilst SEO is important year-round, having content dedicated to your Black Friday sales is key to making your seasonal promotions successful across the board. If your potential customers get drawn in by a creative Black Friday ad but land on a website with no mention of a sale, the chances are they are going to leave. Similarly, during the Black Friday sales period, more and more people will be searching for products and services online. If you can get your page to rank in Google for related terms, you stand a good chance of people seeing and visiting your website and potentially converting into paying customers.
Support your other digital marketing tools with a Black Friday marketing strategy that incorporates all areas of digital marketing this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Some good ways to give your website an SEO boost this seasonal period is to research specific and relevant keywords related to your products or services and Black Friday itself. These can then be used within your content to give an SEO boost. Similarly, optimising your product and category pages to ensure clear, optimised information can help with both seasonal sales conversions and improve your page year-round. If you already have a business blog for your company, use this to create SEO-focussed content that drives traffic to your purchase pages and gives extra information on any offers or promotions you may be running using Black Friday and Cyber Monday-related key phrases. If your company sells anything gift-related, a sale-related gift guide can be the perfect way to add value to your customers through ideas as well as promoting key products you may sell.
Top Tips for Black Friday 2020
Now you have heard from the experts, here are some general top tips for Black Friday 2020 marketing to make your campaigns a success:
Keep it personal. Personalise your ads, targeting and content to reach the right people
Know your audience. Find out what makes your audience tick and incorporate this into your Black Friday marketing ideas
Create a sense of urgency. Let your customers know these are one-time-only deals with ‘ends-soon’ messaging to encourage sales
Stand out. With many businesses seeing Black Friday as the final push for 2020 be creative and let your campaigns stand out
Optimise for mobile. As always, make sure your Black Friday content is accessible and optimised for mobile to harness that large portion of online shoppers
Capitalise on Cyber Monday. Give your sales a second boost by promoting for Cyber Monday to boost online sales this BFCM 2020
Need some help shoring up your digital marketing efforts for the season ahead? Why not get in touch with our expert team of digital marketing specialists to find out more about how we can help you make the most of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing ideas with long-term results.
Get in touch now.
### Regaining Your Organic Traffic From Google
Whilst useful for those wanting quick answers on a topic, the rise of the 'zero click' results is a growing problem for those looking for ways to improve organic search traffic to their websites. Google's featured snippets take up a large section of SERPs detracting from other website results and can cause an issue for those looking to gain organic traffic from search engines, particularly if they have not previously been appearing in the top few results.
What Can I do to Regain Traffic from Google?
Something we see time and again from our clients is a desire to see real growth in Google rankings. If you are looking for a way to regain traffic from Google lost to ‘zero click’ results without constantly increasing spending on advertising, organic traffic is key. But how do you drive organic traffic to your website from Google? Our Regaining Your Organic Traffic From Google guide will show you how to generate organic traffic and how SEO can help regain traffic to your website.
What Are ‘Zero Click’ Results?
The term ‘zero click’ results is often used to descripe search engine results that do not require a consumer to click on a result in order to access the information they have been searching for. This is often the result of Google’s ‘featured snippets’ which display information relating to the question that has been typed into the search engine. An example of this could be a maths problem or something such as ‘what was the name of William Shakespeare’s wife’. Featured snippets allow the searcher to access the information they were looking for directly in the search engine results page, without having to visit another website. This leads to zero clicks from the page, hence the term ‘zero click’ results.
What is Organic Traffic?
You may have heard the term before, but what does organic traffic mean? Organic traffic, simply put, is traffic or visitors to your website as a result of unpaid search results. Organic traffic differs from paid traffic in that it is not driven by paid ads so can potentially keep earning revenue long after an ad campaign would end.
Why is Organic Traffic Important?
Organic traffic is important because it is how you will generate site traffic and potential conversions without a continuous cost. Once it is established, content that brings in organic traffic can keep bringing in quality leads far into the future. Because of this, organic traffic is the most important type of traffic to your website.
Organic web traffic increases website trust and authority, improving your website's position in search engine results pages (SERPs) and more. Traffic from social media, for example, can often have a high bounce rate due to the nature of the referral. Organic leads, however, will find your site through an active search. They know what they are looking for and your well-optimised page has been matched with their needs by Google's algorithms.
How Do I Measure Organic Traffic?
Using site analysis tools such as Google Analytics, you can measure the number of visitors you have to your website. If you have the correct tracking in place, you should be able to see exactly where your website visitors are coming from and how many of them you have. When doing this, it is worth looking at the number of unique visitors you are receiving to your website, this can help you to work out how large your audience base is and how many sessions are repeat customers.
When you break down the number of organic sessions your site is receiving by page, you will be able to measure which pages are doing well and which are not. Using metrics such as the bounce rate and time on page will also allow you to see if your visitors are finding what they were looking for on your site. Make sure that you are excluding any traffic that has come from paid keywords, email marketing or any other paid channels when measuring organic traffic to get the true figure.
How to Increase Organic Traffic
If you are looking for ways to drive organic to your website, it all starts with SEO. Optimising your website for search engines is the first way you can increase organic traffic and help combat any decrease in sessions you might be experiencing organically. You can improve organic SEO by, among other things, making changes to the functionality or structure of your website, optimising content including images and text for search engines and improving usability for visitors to your site. Here is our simple SEO checklist you can do from home to get you started.
How Can SEO Help Organic Traffic?
When you create relevant and engaging content, Google will reward you with a better search engine results page ranking. But what happens when your amazing article isn't getting the attention it deserves? This is where SEO comes in. SEO (short for search engine optimisation) techniques can take your brilliantly-written content and put it in front of the people most likely to find it useful.
On average, the top three Google search results will get around 75% of all clicks, with the number of organic clicks dropping with each position. If you are looking for a way to improve organic search traffic, SEO techniques can help your page rank on Google and bring in visitors who will be best matched to what you have to offer.
Pay Attention to the Metrics
One thing that is key when working on ways to regain traffic lost on Google is to keep a close eye on your key metrics. Are you targeting a particular location either nationally or internationally? If you are a local business running a bricks-and-mortar store, you should be targeting and attracting that audience. Analytics can help you to work out where in the world your traffic is coming from and where you are not getting traffic from.
A key element to put in place when looking to gain organic traffic from Google is a keyword strategy. Do you have a keyword strategy in place? Type your target phrases into Google and see where you rank. If you can't find yourself on the first or at least the second page, you probably need to work on improving your organic traffic for that key phrase. You should continue to measure your performance over time to ensure a steady flow of organic traffic to your website. Search engine rankings continuously update so it is worth keeping a log of how you are performing on a regular basis.
Need some guidance on how your website is performing or not sure where to start? Get in touch with the team now or try our new website SEO audit tool for an instant response on how your page is performing and what you can do to help your rankings and regain your organic traffic from Google.
Why not try our website audit tool for free now?
### Paid vs Organic Search, What is the Difference?
If you are new to the world of online marketing and have just got to grips with how your customers are finding your website, you may have discovered the terms paid traffic and organic traffic. But what do these two terms mean? And how do they affect how you conduct online marketing or how a digital marketing agency conducts your digital marketing on your behalf? Read on for our quick guide on what the difference is between paid and organic search or traffic.
What Do the Terms Paid and Organic Search Mean?
Put simply, Organic Search is created from people finding your website on the internet organically i.e without an ad taking them directly there any traffic that results from this natural appearance in search engines is known as Organic Traffic. Paid Search, however, is when you or someone on your behalf has paid for that search result to appear and as a result, paid for any traffic that has resulted from that advertisement, this is also known as PPC.
What is the Difference Between Paid and Organic Search?
Now that you know what organic search means, what is the difference between paid and organic search? When it comes to comparing Paid Search and Organic Search, the main factor involved tends to be cost. Paid Search, of course, relies on PPC (pay per click) or CPC (cost per click) frameworks. This means that in order to get results, you will need to pay for them. Depending on your industry, the price for this can vary greatly so it is important that you do your research before setting a campaign live. Organic, on the other hand, is a ‘free’ way to appear in search results. However, it is important to note that whilst it is free traffic, it may require time and resources in order to action. Organic traffic is driven through SEO rather than paid advertising and this can be a difficult mark to hit with a number of people aiming for the same thing.
Short vs Long-Term Gains - Paid Search vs Organic Search
When choosing between Paid and Organic Search, it is worth considering what exactly you want to get out of them. When it comes to seeing results from Paid Search, the results can be nearly instant if you have a well-handled campaign. After all, you are paying for the clicks and traffic that are coming through to your website. When it comes to search engine results pages, Paid Search results will always appear at the top. Therefore, they are more likely to gain a high percentage of click traffic from searchers, particularly from those on mobile, as it takes a lot longer to scroll past the paid results on a smaller screen. This makes Paid Search an incredibly popular choice for those looking to target customers searching for their product who want instant results.
Organic Search, on the other hand, relies on the creation of SEO-focussed pages and content. This content can take time to create as well as time to gain rankings within search engine results pages as your pages gain attention and authority. Whilst it can take time to rank organically, doing so can improve your page’s standing fantastically over time and continue to pull in traffic long after the initial cost in terms of building and optimising. This makes it a brilliant long-term tactic for businesses wanting to capitalise on an audience already searching for their product or service in search engines, without continuing to pay for traffic. It is also a brilliant place to start for smaller businesses who are taking their first dip into the world of search engine marketing.
Paid Search or Organic Search - Which Should I Choose for My Business?
The short answer to the question of whether to choose Paid Search or Organic Search Optimisation is to choose both. When it comes to online marketing, there is no one-size-fits-all approach, potential customers will be attracted to your site in a number of different ways to it is important to have a rounded approach when it comes to promoting your business online.
In terms of ROI (or return on investment), Paid and Organic Search optimisation techniques can complement each other beautifully. Whilst ROI may seem hard to measure initially when it comes to SEO or Organic Search, the returns are something that will improve over time and build an authority for your business online, attracting customers from a wide range of different areas. ROI is much easier to measure when looking at Paid Search but can decline over time if not managed effectively so organic traffic can help support this when your PPC campaigns need an update as well as improve the quality of the clicks you do get.
Using a combination of Paid Search and SEO as part of your online marketing strategy can help you appear more in search results and instil a higher level of trust in your brand and make you an authority in your given area. If you are appearing in both the Paid results section and at the top of the organic search engine results section you are even more likely to gain quality clicks through to your website than appearing in just one of these sections.
Effective PPC and SEO Management
Managed well, both PPC, Paid Search and SEO, Organic Search, can be powerful tools to drive traffic to your website and boost conversions. If you are just getting started with digital marketing, take a look at our guide to getting started with digital marketing for a run-through of how to start.
Alternatively, if you are getting serious about making the most out of your SEO or PPC efforts, why not get in touch with the team here at SEM Consultants? We have been experts in all things digital marketing for a number of years and know how to get the best results out of the wide range of digital tools that are out there and save you money on your marketing efforts. Take a look at our PPC services and SEO services pages to find out more or get in touch online to talk to our team about what we can offer you.
### Using Paid Search to Boost Sales this Winter
As we move into the winter months, your business may be feeling the brunt of reduced sales during the seemingly endless COVID-19 lockdowns. Many businesses are turning to digital marketing to shore up their efforts and boost sales in winter. Whilst the world of paid digital advertising may seem daunting, paid search is a fantastic way to attract new customers and improve conversion rates of people searching for your products. Whether now is peak season for your company or you are looking to recoup lost sales after a slump, here’s how you can use paid search to boost your sales this winter.
What is Paid Search?
So, you are ready to start paid advertising online and have set aside a budget to start with. But what exactly is paid search? Simply put, paid search is the method of placing a digital advert in a search engine results page. Two of the most popular methods of paid search are through Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. Paid search results are ads placed at the top of the results page, above organic search results in order to attract the attention, and clicks, of people searching for specific search terms or related topics. Paid search aims at driving traffic and conversions on a bidder’s website in order to increase revenue or goals for a business.
What Does a Paid Search Ad Look Like?
When looking at a SERP (search engine results page), you will typically see an advert at the top of the page related to the keywords you have been searching for. Depending on what you are searching for, you may see a number of them. For example, when searching Google for Google Ads, Google’s own advert will be placed at the top of the page, followed by a number of other services that have bid on ads related to that search term. These ads will then be followed by any organic (non-paid) search results. Paid search results are easily identifiable through the word ‘Ad’ in bold next to the online ad.
How Effective is Paid Search?
If this is your first step into online advertising then you may be asking, is paid search worth it? For many businesses, paid search is one of their top-performing digital marketing tools. Utilising paid search to boost your online sales this winter could be a brilliant move for your business. Paid search can put your business right in front of people searching for your product or service right when they are searching for it. When building winter marketing campaigns, for example by creating ads for Black Friday sales, paid search can be incredibly effective in capturing additional traffic flooding to search engines during the festive period.
Why is Paid Search Important for My Seasonal Marketing Strategy?
When optimising your online marketing in order to boost sales as part of your seasonal marketing strategy, paid search offers one of the quickest ROI (return on investment) of any online tool. Paid search is important because it can give you access to a large number of new customers and site visitors who may not have previously heard of you or your business. These people are specifically targeted based on what they are searching for so you know that they are interested in topics related to your product or service. This benefit of paid search compared to other, less targeted marketing methods creates a higher conversion rate and more chance of your seasonal marketing adverts connecting with those you want to see them.
How Can Paid Search Help my Winter Sales?
If the pandemic has taught digital marketers anything, it is that online shopping is definitely here to stay. More people than ever before are searching for and buying their products and services online. From meals to loft conversions and everything in-between, customers are searching for what they want and need online. With the approach of the winter sales, this trend is only set to increase and those who don’t have a strong online presence run the risk of being left behind.
When it comes to online marketing, one of the key differences is that you do not have a shop front to attract passers-by who may not have heard of your product before. In this case, your website acts as your shop front and search engine results pages act as your updated local directory. A more prominent, attractive position in this new, modernised directory can mean a larger share of the traffic looking for products and services like yours and this is where paid search comes in. By utilising pay per click marketing and placing a paid ad towards the top of the page your customers are searching on, you can attract the lion’s share of clicks and visits and boost sales during the winter months, some of which could convert into paying customers.
For those who see the winter months as their peak sales season or who hope to utilise seasonal offers to attract new customers, paid search is something really not to be missed out on. With winter ad campaigns designed around seasonal sales such as Black Friday sales or Christmas shopping, you can boost your sales’ reach, bringing in customers ready to view or buy your product.
How Do You Optimise Paid Search for Sales?
If you are looking at paid search to boost sales this winter, be sure to review your AdWords account and ensure it is perfectly primed to deliver on results. Optimising your paid search campaigns can mean the difference between paying out a high amount in ad costs for very little return and seeing converting customers driven to your website from a well-managed cost-effective winter campaign.
To optimise your seasonal paid search campaigns, you should first take a look at which ones are actually already working for you and why and compare this with seasonal data. If any paid search campaigns are under performing, you should look into why this may be happening. Next, take a look at where you are repeatedly defending your brand’s keywords and where you are converting, take a look at where you are allocating your budget and see if it is working for your campaigns. When do your customers most often convert? If you often see poor performance during certain times of the day or week, why not exclude those from your campaigns to shore up your paid search performance ready for your winter marketing campaigns? This can also apply to locations where your campaigns see the best performance. Maybe your campaigns are being targeted at too wide a location and you need to shrink the radius around areas that perform better than others. A Google Ads audit can help identify areas where your paid search advertising could be performing better as well as help you to identify areas to develop moving forward.
What is a Paid Search Specialist and How Can They Help?
A Paid Search Specialist is an expert in paid search or PPC (pay per click) advertising. Usually, they have a number of years of experience in creating and maintaining successful paid search campaigns. Often they are Google accredited with demonstrable examples of using paid search to increase traffic and conversions for businesses and individuals they have worked with. A paid search specialist can audit your AdWords account or set one up if you do not already have one to ensure that it is running as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. They will use data insights to avoid overspending on ads that are not converting for your business and search for new opportunities for advertising your business in search engine results pages. If you are looking for ways to boost sales this winter through seasonal offers and campaigns, a Paid Search Specialist could be the answer.
Our Team of Paid Search Specialists
Having been experts in paid search for over 15 years, the team here at SEM Consultants specialist in highly-optimised paid search campaigns as well as a range of other digital marketing tools to help your business thrive in the online world. Our team of PPC specialists are fully-certified with Google and experienced in building and managing challenging paid search campaigns for a range of industries.
To find out more about paid search and what the team here at SEM Consultants can do for you and your business get in touch online or by calling 0121 552 6500. Alternatively, take a look at our PPC page to find out more about our paid search management.
### Getting Started With Digital Marketing for Small Businesses
The online world is rich with opportunities for large and small businesses alike. Whilst navigating its ample waters for the first time may seem daunting, digital marketing is one of the best ways to spread word of your small business and connect with new customers as well as maintaining likes with your already existing customers. If you are looking at getting started with digital marketing as a small business for the first time, here is our whistle-stop guide to what is out there and how you can use these digital marketing platforms to promote your small business and connect with a whole new audience online.
What is Digital Marketing?
If your small business is just getting started online, you may be asking, how is digital marketing different to traditional marketing? Or even, what is digital marketing? Digital marketing is the use of digital technologies, such as the internet, to promote your brand or business. Digital marketing is different from traditional marketing in that, apart from simply being online, digital marketing campaigns allow you to reach a much broader audience but also, a lot more relevant audience. Whilst traditional marketing methods such as billboards have you shouting one message to lots of different people hoping that it will generate relevant leads, digital marketing allows you to tailor many different messages to individual people. In effect, to personalise the marketing journey using learned behaviours and relevant statistics and reach people who are actually interested in your product or service.
Why Should I Get My Small Business Online?
One of the shortest and simplest answers to that question is because by not being online, you are missing out on an entire globe-full of people who could be using your service or buying your products. When searching for a new service or product, a high percentage of buyers will either find the product online or use it to inform their purchasing decision. COVID-19 has seen a massive increase in online shopping and with many physical shops remaining closed to the public for the foreseeable future, this is only set to increase.
By providing information on your products and services online and using digital marketing to promote those goods and services. You will be able to access customers actively looking for those things in a way that traditional marketing, for example in the case of billboards and flyers, simply can’t. Getting your small business online allows you to target your customers and optimise the amount of money you spend on marketing to reach the people you want to reach most.
What Digital Marketing Platforms are Available for Small Businesses Like Mine?
When getting started with digital marketing for the first time, it is understandable to be a bit overwhelmed by the amount of choices out there in the digital world. The great news is, if you already have a functioning website for your small business, you are already part of the way there. Here are some of the main areas of digital marketing available to small businesses and how they can help you to connect to your audiences and create online sales and leads for your small business.
Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
When taking your first steps into the online marketing world, one of the most accessible tools is social media. Social media marketing is key to engaging with current and future customers and is often seen as a more approachable way for your customers to interact with your business. Around half of the global population use some sort of social media and by advertising and engaging with customers on this platform, you are accessing a large, dedicated audience and forming a brand identity that will be visible to anyone searching for your business or service online.
Word-of-mouth endorsements are key to generating leads for your small business and social media is an excellent way to get your customers to share your business with friends and connections online. As a familiar platform, it is also a great way to get started with digital marketing as a small business and a fantastic way to send traffic to your website and share sales and company updates to a wide audience. Why not take a look at our top tips for social media marketing to get started?
PPC or Pay Per Click Advertising
One of the biggest tools in digital marketing used by individuals and digital marketing agencies alike is PPC or pay per click advertising. Pay per click advertising for small businesses is a fantastic, cost-effective way to target potential customers online who are actively searching for a product or service that matches yours. Using the Google Adwords or Microsoft Ads platforms, pay per click advertising allows small businesses like you to target audiences that are relevant to their business and only pay when a user clicks through on the ad to your website. This makes it a great way to increase conversions on your website as they will only target people who are actively looking to purchase or engage with what your website is offering. If you are looking for help getting started with PPC, why not take a look at our pay per click management page.
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO for Small Businesses
If you are looking for a way to get seen online, SEO or search engine marketing is the perfect way for your company to appear organically (not through paid sources) in the search engine results page. Optimising your website for SEO as a small business is a fantastic way to get your website seen by those who are searching the web for similar services. As a small business, local shoppers may be key to keeping your business thriving so optimising your website for local SEO is a key way to promote your small business online. This can be done through on-page SEO and off-page SEO, each of which involve ways to optimise your business’s website for search engines in order to be found online. Our basic SEO checklist contains lots of suggestions you can complete from home for teams still working remotely or those starting SEO for the first time.
Content Marketing
On the vein of SEO for small businesses sits content marketing. Primarily focussed on attracting organic traffic, content marketing aims to attract, engage and delight your customers. Creating a steady stream of content marketing as a small business can create brand recognition with customers learning about your product and reinforcing your place as an expert in your field. As a small business, one of the best ways to incorporate content marketing into your digital marketing strategy is to create a company blog. No matter what industry you are in, whether that be travel or even manufacturing, a well-maintained, search engine optimised blog can attract a large amount of organic traffic to your website. Take a look at why now is the best time to create a business blog for more. These visiting users often then convert into paying customers so content marketing is a brilliant way to add value to your website and online marketing efforts.
How to Get Started With Digital Marketing for Your Small Business
When getting started with digital marketing there really is no time like the present. Countless people search the web for products or services like yours every single day. If you are not using digital marketing as a small business that is a large chuck of potential customers slipping away. If you have seen a slump in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital marketing and advertising online could be the perfect way to gain new customers and attract old customers back again. Creating a loyal following online is the perfect way to sustain the income of your business no matter what the world throws at you. If you are looking at taking your first steps into digital marketing, our A-Z of digital marketing terms is a great place to start.
If you are ready for help getting started with your business’s digital marketing, why not get in touch with the team here at SEM Consultants? With several years of experience, we are experts in all things digital and one of the most trusted digital marketing agencies in the Birmingham area. We have worked with a number of small businesses to help them get seen online and have proven results in getting companies the conversions and customers they are looking for.
Get in touch on 0121 552 6500 to talk to a member of the team about what we can do to help your business get online and seen. Or, contact us online for more.
### Google's Search Term Update in Google Ads - What Does it Mean?
If your company uses Google Ads to spread the word of your business online you may have noticed a recent change in the way that you see results in the search terms report. Google recently announced that they would be updating the report to only include terms that were searched by a “significant number of users”. But what does this mean? And how does this change the way your business conducts its online marketing? Read on for our guide to Google Ad’s latest change and how you can adapt your online marketing strategy to fit this new change.
What has Google Ads Changed?
Anyone who has worked with the Google Ads platform will know that it is not unusual for them to consistently roll out updates to change the way businesses and individuals advertise online. This latest change is one that has caused some controversy in the online world of digital marketers and those who use the platform on a day-to-day basis. In their own words, Google Ads’ most recent change has involved
“updating the search terms report to only include terms that were searched by a significant number of users. As a result you may see fewer terms in your report going forward.”
Put another way, Google has reduced the visibility of advertisers for which search terms trigger their ads. This has reportedly been done as part of Google Ads’ ongoing efforts to maintain privacy and security for users and their data and came into effect in September 2020.
What is the Search Terms Report in Google Ads?
If this new change in Google Ads has you confused about what exactly the search terms report is, the easiest explanation is that it is a report for you to see how your ads have performed when triggered by searches. You can then use the search terms report within the Google Ads platform in order to identify terms that may have a high search potential and those that you would like to add to a negative keyword list. Using this report is a way to optimise your Google Ads campaigns to ensure they are running the to the best of their ability. Google explains here.
What Does the Search Term Reduction in Google Ads Mean?
Put simply, this change in Google Ads means that some search terms with a lower search volume will no longer show up in the search terms report within the Google Ads platform. This means that you may not be able to use the search term report within Google Ads to see all of the search terms that trigger your online ads, particularly those with a lower search volume as these have now been removed from the report.
How Will the Google Ads Update Affect My Google Ads Campaigns and Strategies?
If you, like many other digital marketers rely on the search terms report in Google Ads to optimise your Google Ads performance, this change may affect the way you identify the best keyword match type for your business’ keywords, the way you create negative keywords lists for your campaigns and even how you identify new search terms to add to your campaign’s keyword lists. For example, if you are a business or agency that makes use of keywords with low impressions or clicks, you can expect that this information will no longer be available to you with the new Google Ads update. The update may also give you less clarity about which queries have triggered your ads and whether they are relevant to your business or need adding to a negative keyword list.
How Can I Adapt My Google Ads Campaigns and Reports Using the New Search Terms Report?
One of the ways you can adapt your Google Ads campaigns to fit the search terms report update is to use dynamic search ads to find new keywords that you may have been missing or by using smart bidding to optimise for hidden search terms. One thing however is key, now more than ever it is vital to continue optimising your Google Ads campaigns to run as efficiently as possible. Using tools such as the Bing search query report can help you to find new keywords that may no longer appear in Google Ad’s new, more streamlined reports whilst using other areas of digital marketing to help support your Google Ads campaigns can higher your chance of success in the online world.
Where Can I Find Help with Google Ads Management?
As experts in PPC and the many nuances of Google’s services, the team at SEM Consultants are fully-certified by Google and always watching for any updates or changes that may affect the Google Ads platform. We have plenty of experience adapting campaigns to fit the ever-changing world of online marketing and are experts in making business’s PPC and online advertising strategies the best that they can be. If you are looking for advice or guidance on how best to optimise your online advertising, get in touch with our specialist PPC team to find out how we can help.
Call us now on 0121 552 6500 to talk to the team or get in touch online here. For more information on our PPC services take a look at our pay per click management page.
### Top Tips for Social Media Marketing
If you are making your first step as a business into the online world, social media marketing is a fantastic place to start. With a large portion of the world’s population spending their time glued to their phones, social media allows you to interact with your audience on a personal level and create an online community based around your product. Done well, social media marketing can help your business flourish online and boost brand visibility massively. If you are getting started with social media marketing, take a look at our handy top tips for social media marketing.
Know Your Audience
One of our top tips for social media marketing for business is to know your audience. The success of any social media marketing you create will depend entirely on how your audience reacts to it. What type of customers are you looking to target? Professionals looking for a business solution? Young people who travel a lot? Families looking to buy a product to fit their needs? How marketers use social media to interact with their audiences and learn more about their audiences speaks volumes about their digital marketing strategy.
Before you get started with social media marketing, be sure to do some in-depth research on your customer base to find out as much as you can about them and how they use social media. If you will be marketing in another country or to a different type of demographic, it is worth doing some research into what those audiences value, any society or cultural influences and what types of things they value. This will help inform the type of social media marketing you use and how you target it. Using the right social media platforms and social media strategies can help instil trust in your brand online and form an online community based around your brand where customers speak positively about your business and their experiences.
Choose Your Platform Carefully
With a number of social media platforms to choose from, what is the best social media for marketing? If you are looking for the best social media for your business, your industry and audience are key. Take a look at some of your main competitors to see what social media platforms they are using and how. Are they seeing any success from these platforms? Whilst there are a number of social media platforms out there, not all will be suitable for your business and having a social media account that is not optimised will do nothing to promote your business or display it in the best light online.
For example, a B2B business that mainly deals with professionals looking for a service might see a lot of success on Linkedin but a Pinterest account may do nothing to boost their image or find new customers. On the other hand, an interior designer may find a lot of success on visual platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest but not much movement on platforms such as Twitter which favours more continuous, quick-fire interactions.
Take a look at how your target audience interacts online and how your competitors harness the various social media platforms successfully. If your company has previously been active on social media, see where you have seen successes or where posts have received little or no interactions. Use this to inform the types of social media marketing you use in the future.
Define Your Social Media Goals
So you have researched your audience and know what type of social media platforms they react best to. The next step in getting started with social media marketing is to define your goals. What do you hope to achieve through marketing your business on social media? Social media is a great way to boost brand recognition and perfect for interacting with your target audience on a personal level so one of your goals could be to boost brand recall, perhaps by extending your audience reach. Some social media marketing goals could initially be to hit a certain number of followers to your brand’s page. This could be followed by statistics such as number of comments or shares from posts added to your company’s page. Positive mentions and shares are also brilliant ways of extending your brand’s reach on social media.
If one of your goals is website traffic, tracking visitors going to your website from your social media pages or posts is a great way to monitor this, monitoring clicks on posts can help monitor how many people are reacting to your content in a proactive way. Work out what your business goals are and how social media marketing can help achieve them. This will help inform your social media strategy and make sure that everything your post to your page, tweet or share is aligned with your business goals.
Build a Social Media Strategy
When starting to use social media marketing for your business, it is important to have a clear plan of what you will be doing and how you will be achieving your goals. Use the above goal examples are a starting base to consider your company goals and set out a concrete plan of how you will achieve these goals through social media marketing. Use S.M.A.R.T goals to set realistic and measurable goals that will form the base of your social media strategy.
Some important things that should be included in your social media marketing strategy should be:
Who you are planning to reach with your marketing
Why you are using the platforms you have chosen
What types of posts or content will you be sharing
How this content is unique to your brand
Your social media marketing strategy should then be broken down further by platform. These sections should detail what you will be sharing on each different platform and be planned around the unique nature of each of the different types of social media. For example, which hashtags will you be using on Twitter or Instagram? Will you be sharing blog articles on Facebook? What sort of images will you be sharing on platforms such as Instagram? Will you be publishing articles directly on Linkedin or will you be creating infographics for sharing on the platform? Part of your social media marketing strategy may include a set posting schedule detailing what will be posted when. Be sure to leave room for variation as posts are often inspired by trends to stay current.
Keep an Eye on Trends
As detailed in the previous social media marketing tip, trends are something that can affect and enhance every social media business strategy. Remember the blue and white striped dress image that went viral? Many brands capitalised on this with their own versions of the viral post and keyed into what people were talking about on social media to push their own name into the spotlight. Keeping an eye on trends helps brands stay current and shows that they are aware of things away from their own brand. Getting involved in a trend and putting a unique spin on it can help grab the attention of people using social media as it is something they are familiar with that is current.
Be Consistent
Whilst moving with the times and remaining is current to social media marketing success, you must ensure that your messaging and visuals remain consistent. In order to improve brand awareness and recall, that brand must appear in the same way consistently. As you will have formed a brand voice in your website’s copy, this voice and identity must also follow through on other platforms, including in your social media marketing. Brand colours, font styles and logos are all elements that should be uniform across all platforms, even after you have adapted content to suit the needs of each platform.
If you have highlighted information on your social media pages, you should also make sure that this same information is included on your website and in any communication with customers to avoid confusion. If you have a separate team answering enquiries in your social media inboxes, for example on Facebook, make sure that they are aware of the same information so that whether someone calls your business, visits your website or messages your company on social media, they will always receive the same answer. Doing this improves the amount of trust a consumer will have in your brand and keeps you looking professional however your customer accesses your brand.
Measure, Analyse and Reflect on Results
When getting started with social media marketing it is important to start as you mean to go on. Any good social media marketing agency will tell you that measuring the results of your campaigns is key to making the most of them. When running paid campaigns on social media, or setting out a content posting schedule, keep a running log of what has been posted when, what the goals were and what the results of those campaigns were. This will help you see how social media marketing works for your company.
By doing this you will be able to see where your efforts would best be focussed on and what past attempts have worked, or not worked. When researching how your audience reacts to different types of social media marketing, it is often useful to set up an A/B test. To do this, you can set up two different versions of the same post, for example, changing one element of the post to see how it performs. This can help you see common patterns in how your customers behave and react to your marketing and can help inform future campaigns and post types going forward. By doing this, you will also be able to set some benchmark figures of what your posts should be achieving at different times of the day, week or even year. For example, if you know that an average post will receive around 90 clicks and your most recent post receives only one, it might be worth looking into what went wrong with that particular post.
Getting the Help of a Social Media Marketing Agency
If you are looking to expand and improve how your business uses social media marketing, a social media marketing agency can be an ideal way to optimise this platform. As experts in social media, they will have past knowledge of the types of campaigns and styles of posts that do well. They will make informed decisions based on bespoke targeting and will be experienced in creating set ad groups that fit your target audience. With the help of a social media marketing agency, you will be able to work alongside the experts to map out what you would like to promote, what your end goals are and how you will reach your ideal audience.
If you are looking to get started promoting your business using social media marketing, why not take a look at our dedicated social media services? Alternatively, get in touch now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out more about how we can help your business get started with social media marketing.
### Why Now is the Best Time to Create a Business Blog
The past few months have been a challenging time for many of us. Businesses and individuals have had to completely change how they go about their day-to-day lives, adapting how they shop, how they live and how they conduct business. Many businesses have had to temporarily close in order to follow government guidance and keep their staff safe and may now be thinking of ways to give their business a new lease of life in the post-lockdown age.
If you are looking at how to improve your business’s online presence and attract more people to your website or business premises in order to purchase goods or a service, you may not have considered the benefits of a business blog.
Why a Business Blog is Good for Business
Whilst many online tools such as online ads are brilliant for generating traffic to your website, they do cost money in order to work. If you are new to online marketing, you may be hesitant to invest a lot of money in this tool, or you may simply not have the budget at the minute. Creating a business blog for your website is a free or low-cost way to attract people to your website organically (i.e without directly paying for advertising). Creating and adding to a business blog is one of the best ways to boost your company’s visibility online and get noticed by your target audience.
Boost your Business’ Visibility
Creating an SEO-optimised blog can also help your website rank in search engines, the place many of your potential customers will be searching for a solution to their problem. Recent studies have shown that blogs are responsible for around 434% more indexed pages than websites without a blog, a clear marker that creating a business blog on your website can make all the difference. As the online world constantly changes, so should your business. Adding new, relevant content to your business blog gives google, bing and other search engines the chance to index your pages whilst enabling you to incorporate more findable and relevant keywords into your website content through engaging blog posts.
Show Your Audience You Are an Expert
Aside from driving more traffic to your website, creating a business blog is a brilliant way to show your customers why you do what you do and why you are the best option out there. A business blog can demonstrate to your customers that you are a leader in your industry with expert knowledge they won’t find anywhere else. Writing a blog on problems your customers may be facing, for example, is a great way to connect with your customers and show that you understand their needs. You can then use your blog and connecting website pages to show how you can solve their problem and provide a service to them whether that is a product, advice or a business service. Blogging as a business is a great way to build up trust with your customers and clients through a less (but not always entirely) sales-driven approach.
Boost Online Sales
If website visitors and a boosted brand presence haven’t swayed you to start a business blog yet, did you know that you could get over 50% more leads on your website compared to a website with no blog? Creating a business blog allows you to talk directly to your audience about your product or service as well as related topics to help your customers make an informed decision. By keeping customers on your website for longer, you stand more chance of generating valid leads and converting those into paying customers. For those simply searching online for a product or service, an engaging blog post could mean the difference between remembering a brand and returning once they are ready to purchase and your company simply falling into the cracks of the world wide web.
Access a Captive Audience
As the world starts to reopen, prospective customers are spending more time than ever researching and buying products online. Creating a blog for your business talking all about your product and related topics can take advantage of an audience looking to find out more about what is on offer whilst sat at home. Google’s algorithms match people searching for exactly what you are offering meaning that the people reading your blogs are people who have been actively searching for related topics. An in-depth blog about the best types of pipes for each purpose, for example, could see your customers clicking through to purchase or remembering the name of your business when looking to purchase in the future. Harnessing the power of the internet to reach your customers in new and informative ways is one of the best ways to engage with potential and existing customers. A well-run and optimised blog can keep them visiting your store again and again and ensure they remember your name when the time comes to purchase.
What Makes a Good Business Blog?
When it comes to creating a blog for your business, you may be wondering what makes a good business blog. The answer to that can largely depend on the industry you are creating a blog for. However, there are some key things you should bear in mind when creating a business blog.
Value
One of the key elements of your business’ blog should be value. In order for your blog to succeed in its purpose, to entice viewers, drive conversions or add to your mailing list, you will need to provide value to your audience. This could be through solving a common problem a number of your customers face, outlining a how-to guide relating to your product or service or even just providing an interesting topic and exploring unique ideas relating to your business within your business’ blog posts. This is important as, without value, your site visitors have no need to read your blog and discover what your business has to offer.
Frequency
If you are planning on creating a successful blog for your business, something that you should consider is creating a blog post schedule. Take a look at the resources and man-power available to you and work out how frequently you will be able to reasonably plan, write and publish a blog post as a business. Once you have worked this part out you should stick to it. Whilst some businesses may see success from posting daily blog updates, for a lot of companies, this just isn’t feasible. Working out how much time you can dedicate to creating a blog post for your company will allow you to set up a regular posting schedule and let your readers know when to expect new content. This will ensure a steady flow of content to your site and, if done well, a steady flow of visitors.
Make it Personal
When looking at what makes a good business blog, something that can help your company blog stand out from the crowd is to make it personal. That is not to say you should write about what you had for lunch and what the weather looks like out of the office window today but it should closely align with your company’s online profile and talk about some of the things that are important to both your company and your customers. By building up a familiarity in your business’ blog, you will keep it relevant and on-brand and become something your customers recognise as part of your business.
Optimise Your Business Blog for SEO
We wouldn’t be doing our job as a digital marketing agency if we didn’t add this point into our guide on how to make a good business blog. SEO should be present in all elements of your business website but one area where you can really incorporate your SEO strategy is within your business blog. By implementing a keyword strategy in your blog you will be harnessing the organic traffic accessed through those search terms resulting in more click-throughs to your site and more potential customers seeing what it is your business does.
If you are looking for guidance on how to start a business blog, or perhaps your business already runs a blog that isn’t performing as well as you had hoped, our specialist SEO and content writing team are here to help. Get in touch now to see how we can help.
### Online Marketing in a Post COVID-19 World
Few world events have had such an effect on the way businesses and society is run as the recent pandemic. Whilst families have stayed home to stay safe, businesses have pulled back their offline marketing efforts and many have reduced the amount of in-person services available to protect their customers and staff.
Whilst in-person sales have taken a hit, online marketing and digital sales have skyrocketed with a passive audience at home ready and waiting to take advantage of the online world on offer from companies such as Amazon and Asos who have seen massive spikes in their online sales.
Aside from the multi-national companies, smaller, local businesses have made changes to adapt to the new environment, harnessing online marketing and e-commerce platforms to keep in touch with their existing customer base and find new customers. Moving online has seen the difference between flying and falling for some businesses who have turned to platforms such as Facebook and Google Ads to promote their services.
A Whole New Online World
At the peak of the pandemic, online sales grew by nearly 50% with customers turning to the internet for everything from clothes and groceries to DIY tools and safety equipment. Many businesses feeling the pressures of being unable to offer a physical shop floor for their customers turned to online marketing and sales for the first time, diving into the world of internet marketing to get the word out about their products to find the newly-captive audiences of those working from home or remaining at home during furlough or isolation. Online marketing has never been so important with techniques such as SEO online marketing and Google digital marketing tools helping to match would-be consumers with the services and goods they are searching for.
Harnessing Digital Tools During COVID-19
We’re sure you’ve all at least heard of Joe Wick’s live exercise classes but this is just one example of how businesses or brands have adapted to the changing challenges of the pandemic. Many businesses have turned to the world of social media to create online content that engages and attracts new consumers. From sports brands streaming live yoga classes on Instagram to Gordon Ramsey’s 10-minute cooking challenges at home and closed theatres streaming their shows online, businesses and brands, whether personal or professional have changed the way they interact with their audiences to suit the new needs of the COVID-19 world. Tools such as social media platforms, blogs, videos and Google’s ad platform can all help access a new type of audience online as well as adding real benefit to your existing customers by giving them a new way to interact with and learn about your business.
The Need for Local Online Marketing
With online marketing on the rise and the reduction of footfall on our high streets, the chances of a local independent business gaining visibility from passing trade in the street have reduced. Customers are increasingly researching their products to ensure they can get what they need from their trips out. Local online marketing can help spread the word for your small business and target local customers looking for a specific product or service in their area. Online marketing tools such as Google display ads targeted at specific areas can help your local business get found online whilst optimising your website content for local SEO can help draw in people searching for services and goods in your area when they head online.
The Importance of the Online Marketing Agency
In the world of online marketing, the globe may be in competition, but there are a few key tools to help you stand out from the crowd and make the most of the new online boom post-coronavirus. The key to harnessing these tools to the best of their abilities? Tactical practice and knowing the best ways to use these remarkable tools to produce the greatest return without overspending needlessly on input. If you are taking your first steps into online marketing, or looking to invest in upgrading your online digital marketing, an online marketing agency could be the tool you need to make your digital mark and gain exposure to countless new customers online. If you are looking for ways to make the most of your online marketing budget then an online marketing agency could be the best way to capitalise in the new surge of online marketing and sales.
If you are looking for one of the West Midlands top online marketing companies, SEM Consultants offers a wide range of digital services from SEO to social media, Google adwords services to website content production. Why not get in touch with our team for a free website audit and expert advice on how our team could help you make the most of your digital marketing.
### How to Audit a Google Ads Account
If you are reading this, then the chances are that you have already found out that the Google Ads platform is a key part of any modern marketing strategy. We mentioned previously why now if the perfect time to shore up your digital marketing strategies so with this blog we will be going into more depth about how to audit a Google Ads account and why an AdWords audit is important for your ongoing marketing and business.
Why Should You Conduct a Google Ads Audit?
With any type of marketing, online or offline, it is important to constantly revisit your work, focus your tactics and check what is and isn't working for your business. A Google Adwords audit is a key part of this. Auditing your Google Ads account allows you to keep your Adwords account running smoothly for years to come, allowing you to fine-tune your efforts in order to potentially generate more revenue with less time and money invested. Auditing your Google Ads account allows you to uncover possible hidden issues that need to be fixed to allow your account to run smoothly.
How Will a Google Ads Audit Benefit Your Account?
Conducting a Google Ads account audit can have a number of benefits for your marketing efforts, both short and long term. When you audit Google Ads, you are consciously evaluating the performance of your campaigns, identifying any issues with your account, resolving them and creating a plan of action moving forward the help improve both current and future AdWords marketing campaigns. This can identify where ad spend is wasted, potentially saving you money and generate new campaign ideas for where things are working well for your business.
How to Conduct a Google Ads Audit
Conducting a full Google Ads review requires a number of important steps to get the most from your AdWords account. Here are some of the most important steps to carry out whilst auditing Google Ads.
1. Review Your Google Ads Goals
When auditing a Google Ads account one of the first steps you should take is to review your current Ads goals. Since you first set your account live and added in your ads, your main goals as a business may have changed. Doing a review of the current goals of your Adwords account allows you to align these with what you now want to achieve from these ads. This could be more focussed on website traffic or conversions. Do a quick review of your ad goals to ensure they are working for each of the campaigns and their purpose. If not, take this time to reassess your goals to fit what you want to get out of your Adwords account.
2. Review Your Account Structure
Your next stage in auditing your Google Ads account should be to review the structure of your account and its organisation. Having an organised and structured Google Ads account can help you analyse campaigns more effectively and prevent overlapping of things such as keywords between Ads. Review each of your Google Ads campaigns and ad groups to ensure a streamlined structure. If you have been managing your Google Ads account for a while, the overall structure of your account may have become quite complex. Take some time to review how it is organised and streamline your approach for clear data.
3. Conduct an Account & Campaign Settings Audit
Once you have organised your account structure, the next step in your Google Adwords audit is to take a review of your account and campaign settings. Are these optimised for your needs? Your Google Adwords settings audit could include things such as checking the geographical settings on your campaigns to ensure you are targeting the correct locations. This is also a chance to review your bidding strategy and ad delivery methods as well as your ad budgets.
4. Analyse Your Ad Groups
In order to create focussed and relevant ads that convert, your ad groups themselves need to be focussed and relevant. Creating ad groups that work can lower your costs and improve conversions, so this is an important step in auditing your Google AdWords account.
5. How Effective Are Your Keywords?
Your next step in your Google AdWords audit is to analyse and evaluate your keywords. For example, are negative keywords being used in your campaigns? Are you using the right keywords? Take a look at conversion rates and your CPC to see which keywords are working for you and which are not generating any leads.
6. Audit Your Ads
Had the same test running since the dawn of time on your AdWords account? Now is the time to reassess those A/B tests to see what is actually working. Have you used the appropriate calls to action in ad headlines? How effective have these been? Weed out any ads with medium to low-quality scores and asses their effectiveness and why they may not be working. Doing this regularly as part of your Google Ads audit can help prevent your account from running on a less-than-optimal autopilot.
7. Are Your Landing Pages Working?
A landing page can make or break a PPC campaign. If a customer clicks through on your ad but doesn’t find what they are looking for on your landing page, they are likely to leave the page immediately, costing you money with no conversion or genuine lead generated. Review each of your landing pages to ensure they are relevant and user-friendly.
What Now?
Once you have conducted your Google Ads audit it is important to take these findings and create a plan of action going forward. What was working well within your account? What didn't work? Did any ideas catch your eye whilst conducting the review that you could put in place and test going forward? Compile all of these findings into a detailed report and a fine-tuned Google AdWords strategy to help your online marketing thrive going forwards.
Need Some Help?
Our PPC team here at SEM Consultants are experts in their field and are perfectly placed to help make the most out of your Google AdWords account. We have worked with clients from a range of industries over the years so know the best way to target and optimise your Google Ads account to work for you. Why not get in touch to see how we can help?
### Why Your Digital Marketing Efforts Shouldn't Stop Because of the Lockdown
You've built up your online business empire, put time and effort into optimising for SEO, found the perfect PPC combinations and suddenly, that nation goes on lockdown. Whilst it may be tempting to freeze your online campaigns and scale back your digital marketing efforts, we're here to tell you how continuing with digital during the epidemic could be the best option for your business. For those of you just starting your digital marketing journey, here is how digital marketing can help your business during the self-isolation period.
Why Should I Continue Digital Marketing?
Whilst physical stores are taking a massive hit right now with the high street closed until further notice, moving your business online is easier than ever. Whilst customers turn to the internet for everything from toilet roll to home improvement tools, online sites are taking on the traffic usually heading to the traditional bricks and mortar stores.
During the next few weeks, you may be thinking of pausing your digital marketing during this time, particularly if your business is not operating 'business-as-usual'. However, now could be the perfect time to improve your digital marketing and online presence ready to capture a brand new audience and remind your customer base you are still there for them when the time is right. With online spending on the up, your digital marketing your help out you in the right place at the right time for those looking to buy or quote online.
Improving Your Business' SEO During the Lockdown
Whilst some businesses may be scaling back their advertising budgets, SEO is a tool you should never compromise on. Optimising your website for search engines is something that will benefit you long into the future and will match those searching for the products and services you provide with your website.
Allowing your rankings to slip in the short term can mean a lot of work later down the line when businesses begin to open again and can mean that the competition is even more fierce if your competitors have held on to their rankings through careful SEO work during the lockdown.
Running PPC Campaigns
Unless you work in one of the designated 'key' industries, it is probably the case that customers will no longer be present at your physical stores. However, they will still be searching for the products and services they need online. This is when you want to be there for them to find. Working on your PPC campaigns during the lockdown ensures that even if you have had to temporarily pause your business efforts, people will remember seeing you online and be more likely to revisit once your business is up and running as usual. Working on your PPC account in the background during the lockdown also means that your PPC account is clean, organised and optimised ready for when you are ready to start spending your ad budget again. There are several ways you can work on your PPC strategies before it gets to setting them live with a budget and a good advisor can help guide you through this process making your PPC efforts a success.
Improving Your Website Content During COVID-19
Now is the perfect time to work on your website's content. A passive audience is ready and waiting at home to read what you have to say and will be visiting online sites now more than ever so it's important that your website has the best content possible to draw visitors back time and again. If you are looking to grow organic traffic to your website, SEO-optimised content is the way to do it.
One of the easiest ways to utilise content marketing as a tool is to set up a business blog. Whilst you may not think your business is worth blogging about, business blogs are a key part of digital marketing and driving new and returning traffic to your website. We've worked with a number of clients over the years who have seen the fantastic effect building their content and creating a business blog has had on their website visitors and quality leads.
With the absence of bricks-and-mortar shops in the current climate, more and more people will be turning to blogs and other online sources for information and guidance. This is where your quality content will shine whilst other businesses may be neglecting their content during the lockdown. If you can attract visitors and give them useful, informative content, their chance of returning to your website once they are ready to purchase rises dramatically.
Social Media Marketing
Your social media profiles have taken a lot of hard work to get to where they are and a dedicated following will expect to continue to receive digital content from you during the lockdown. With the majority of the nation at home currently, more and more people will be scrolling through their phones in search of engaging content.
Abandoning your social media marketing during the lockdown is a certain way to undo sometimes years of hard work with audiences losing interest and a lower chance of brand recall once your business is back up to full capacity. Most importantly, if your customers see you failing to respond, this can negatively impact your company's trustworthiness and may lead to complaints.
If this is your first step into social media marketing, now is the perfect time to craft a social media presence for your brand and entice new customers to your website. Social media platforms help you connect and interact with your customers and are a great way to built brand loyalty in tough times. Billions of people use social media every single day and it is the perfect place to inject some of your brand's personality on a global platform.
Need Some help Handling Your Digital Marketing During the Lockdown?
One of the most important things to know when managing your digital marketing during the lockdown is to have a contingency plan in place. If you are expecting staff to be absent during the outbreak, make sure you have someone you trust taking care of things such as PPC, SEO and social media to keep it running smoothly. Your digital campaigns may need to adapt and change to fit around new situations and industry changes so scheduling too far in advance should be avoided.
If you are looking for ways to streamline your digital marketing efforts and manage budgets during this uncertain period then pulling the plug should be avoided in order to avoid harming your rankings and industry standing. Instead, consult a specialist who can talk you through the best way to make your digital marketing a success during the lockdown, without going over budget.
Are you looking for a team of specialists to guide you through the digital minefield of the lockdown? Why not get in touch with our team for a free website audit and expert advice on how our team could help you make the most of your digital marketing.
### Basic SEO Checklist You Can Complete From Home
As COVID-19 takes hold of the nation, many businesses small and large have been moving to a remote working from home model to help with social distancing. But working from home shouldn't mean that your website rankings and SEO efforts suffer. If you are one of the many newly-remote workers keen on optimising your business online, here is a list of basic SEO checks and improvements you can do from the comfort of your own home.
What is SEO?
For those starting from the very beginning in their SEO journey, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your website and content for search engines. Doing this means that your content and therefore your website may rank higher in Google's search results page.
SEO involves several different areas. From on-page SEO checks to technical SEO. Our basic SEO checklist will cover off some of the more simple SEO checks you can conduct on your website to make use of those extra hours at home.
1. Conduct Keyword research
The first step of our SEO checklist involves the use of keywords. What are SEO keywords? SEO keywords are words or phrases that define what your website content is about and help visitors to find your site. Keywords are added to content to help boost search engine rankings for the things your audience will be searching for.
What are some keywords that you would like your website to rank for? Conduct a basic on-page SEO check to see if you have used these words within your content. Do you have an SEO keyword strategy in place? If not, it will be worth spending some time researching keywords used in your industry. What keywords are your competitors using? What are the themes of your website content that you would like to rank for? Building a simple keyword strategy based on research is one of the first steps towards good SEO and a basic SEO check you can do from home.
2. Optimise Your Website for Those Keywords
Once you have conducted your keyword research, the next step in your SEO checklist involves auditing your site's content to ensure it follows the strategy you have laid out in step one of the website SEO checklist. Some simple keyword checks you can action involve analysing which words or phrases come up the most in each page of your website, do these match with your chosen keywords from your research? If not, optimise your content using these keywords used naturally throughout. Does your keyword feature within the first 150 words of a page? If not, refresh your content to make sure that it does.
Check out some great free SEO tools here »
3. Run a Website Speed Test
How fast does your website load? A basic SEO check you can do from anywhere is a website speed test. This will check how reactive your website is for users and how long it takes for everything on the page to load. If you have a quick load speed, your customers will be more likely to revisit your site and stay on your website for longer. If your site speed is slow, your visitors may leave your site in search of one of your quicker-loading competitors.
Fast websites are also easier to crawl by Google's bots so they will crawl your site quicker and more frequently. As a ranking factor for mobile searches, quicker site speeds can enhance your website's SEO and improve your chances of ranking in search engine results pages. To get started with improving your website loading speed, run your URL through Google's page speed test here.
4. Are Your Images Optimised?
Optimised images are an extremely simple SEO optimisation method but still somehow often get overlooked. Image sizes can significantly affect your site's load speed so a quick check of your site's image sizes can help improve your SEO quickly and easily. Some basic image SEO checks can include things such as checking you have used images on pages that have a lot of text, checking the images are relevant to the page's content and checking your images are in the right format for use.
Behind the scenes, some simple image SEO checks include formatting the image title correctly and using alt text on your images. Image titles should reflect the content of the image itself rather than a nonsense title such as 123hdvsj.jpg. Your image file name should contain a keyphrase so that Google will be able to know what the content of the image is without looking at it.
An image alt-text of alt-tag is information added to an image when you insert it into your website's content. Alt-text should be included for every image on your website as it is a way to identify what the image is if it does not load on your page. This could be because there is an issue or because a visitor has images turned off in their browser. Alt-text also helps identify image content for those using a screen reader due to a visual impairment ensuring that no functionality of your website is lost.
5. Check Your Links
Google crawls websites through links. If your site has no links or is not linked to or from another website, your content will not be found. A quick review of which links are included in your website is a basic SEO check you can do from anywhere.
A good linking structure will ensure your website makes sense to visitors and website crawlers as well as making sure that all content you want to be accessed can be found. This is one of the most important points on your website SEO checklist so shouldn't be taken lightly. A good linking structure can help improve your SEO dramatically.
If your website has a blog, a good SEO check to conduct is the quality and quantity of your links. Are the links within your articles or content relevant? Do they link to credible sources that relate to the topic? Have you included a mixture of internal and external links within your content? If not, make a note on your SEO checklist to add some.
6. Conduct a Full SEO Audit for Free
Whilst there are many simple fixes, sometimes SEO requires us to really dig under the surface of how your website is performing. If you would like a quick and easy way to see exactly how your website is performing, use our free SEO website audit tool and get the results sent straight to your inbox. You'll receive a free full breakdown of how your content is performing with some useful suggestions on how you can combat any issues highlighted.
Why not try our website audit tool for free now?
Need some extra help getting started with SEO? Take a look at some of the SEO services we offer now »
### The A-Z of Digital Marketing: Key Terms for Digital Marketers
Digital Marketing is a vast and varied field. We know that there are multiple nuances to the Digital Marketing sphere, from Social Media Marketing to Pay Per Click, Content Marketing to Search Engine Optimisation and everything in between. If you are taking the first dip into the world of Digital Marketing or have been in the industry for years, there are some key marketing terms you should know. We've rounded up some of the most important in our A-Z of Digital Marketing glossary.
A: Alt Text
What is Alt-text? Alt-text or alternative text is the information given for an image on a website that tells viewers the contents of that image. This is inserted into the HTML of a page and helps screen reading tools for the visually impaired describe what is in the image.
Why is alt-text important? Alternative text also helps viewers to know what the image should be if your page fails to load for any reason. This is important for SEO as it helps to improve user experience and accessibility as well as providing more accurate relevance for your content to search engines, thus helping to drive more traffic to your website.
B: Bounce Rate
One of the most important key terms for Digital Marketers is bounce rate. Bounce rate means the percentage of people who land on your website page and leave without clicking anything or visiting any other pages on your site. A high website bounce rate may cause poor conversion rates as visitors to your website will not be on your site long enough to engage with the content or convert by purchasing a product or service.
Alternatively, email bounce rate is the rate that emails are unable to be delivered to a recipient. This could be because the email entered is incorrect or out of date. There are also two types of email bounces. Hard and soft bounces which means that the email has bounced for either permanent reasons (a hard bounce) or temporary reasons (a soft bounce).
C: CPC
One of the most common terms in digital marketing is CPC. But what does CPC mean? CPC stands for cost per click. This term is most commonly used when discussing paid digital advertising such as display ads or Facebook retargeting. This is the cost you pay for every click through to your website using PPC advertising. Whilst the CPC for each industry will vary based on how competitive your industry is, a good CPC ensures that you are not overspending on your campaigns. It will also ensure that the return you receive on your campaign outweighs the money you have put into it(see ROI below).
D: Duplicate Content
Duplicate content is any content that appears in multiple places across the internet. This could be content that exactly matches or is an extremely similar version of the content. Duplicate content can harm your digital marketing efforts resulting in both poor user experience as well as (if it appears maliciously or deceptively done) could result in action from Google against your site. You should review your website carefully for any duplicate content as it can cause your pages to compete against each other and harm rankings for both of the pages. Google details some key guidelines here. or you can read our guide to what is duplicate content here.
E: Email Marketing
Email marketing is, simply put, marketing that your business or organisation sends out to prospective customers through email. The aim of this could be more visitors to your website, or it could be to encourage more purchases on products you would like to push.
Email marketing is an incredibly useful tool for Digital Marketers as you have an audience who have already shown interest in your brand by signing up and are more likely to interact because of this.
F: Facebook Advertising
Millions of people use Facebook every day. It is one of the main social media platforms and a great way to build a brand image, with important interactions with your consumer base. Facebook advertising can tap into this key audience using your target demographics to achieve your digital marketing goals.
G: Google Analytics
Google Analytics is Google's own platform for measuring website traffic and conversions. It is an extremely useful tool for Digital Marketers as it can track how users interact with your site, where they came from and where they leave your website. Google Analytics contains a number of stats that are important KPIs for your site.
H: Hashtag
No digital marketing glossary would be complete without a mention of hashtags. Hashtags are tags used on social media platforms to tie content, be that visual or written to a topic. Using hashtags on social media allows your communications to show up more easily in searches as well as being more easily found by individuals interested in that subject. Having a well-thought-out hashtag strategy can propel your content into the spotlight, boosting engagement and interactions with your brand.
I: Infographics
You may have seen an infographic before on the web and not known the name or heard the term but not matched it to the topic but what is an infographic? An infographic is a visual piece of content that can communicate larger ideas such as how-to guides or competition guidelines in a fun and accessible way.
J: JavaScript
Javascript is a programming language used to control dynamic website content. It is the information that goes into everything on your website and is key to users experience of your online brand. JavaScript can be used for everything from pop-ups to check forms and much more so is an important part of any digital marketing strategy.
K: KPIs
In our A-Z of digital marketing, one of the most used terms used by Digital Marketers is how to measure KPIs or key performance indicators. KPI stands for key performance indicators. These are the main ways of tracking your digital marketing campaigns. These could be things such as the number of quality leads you have in the sales funnel or the number of weekly sessions on your website.
L: Landing Page
Landing pages are the dedicated website pages a person lands on after clicking a marketing call to action or link. This might be through PPC or email marketing among other digital marketing methods. A well-optimised landing page can boost conversions dramatically and is a powerful digital marketing tool.
M: Metadata
Metadata is data on your website that explains all of the other data for the page. Your page metadata includes the page title and meta description, a short description of what your page contains. Search engines such as Google use this information to figure out what your page is about so that it can display the correct results on a search engine results page.
N: No-follow
What are no-follow links? No-follow links are links that have a rel=”nofollow” HTML tag attached to them. This tells crawlers from search engines not to follow them. These can be useful for things such as comment threads on blogs to prevent spam.
O: Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is any search traffic to your website that is not the result of paid advertising. Organic traffic is important because it can continue bringing traffic into your site long after you have created the content, without a continuous cost to you. As a key part of your digital marketing strategy, organic traffic helps to build up domain authority and consumer's trust in your brand.
P: PPC
PPC or Pay Per Click advertising is a type of advertising most commonly used through search engine marketing in which you would pay per click on your online advert. PPC advertising can target specific keywords to make it easier to reach customers looking for your product or service.
Q: Quality Score
Your quality score is a metric used by search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo that measures the quality and relevance of your ads and keywords. This can influence the cost of your CPC advertising which in turn can affect your ROI for your digital marketing efforts.
R: ROI
The digital marketing term ROI stands for Return on Investment and is an extremely important term for Digital Marketers. ROI aims to measure the returns of particular marketing efforts in terms of how much revenue they have brought in compared to their cost.
S: SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. The process of optimising your website and content in order to rank in search engine results pages and increase organic traffic to websites. This excludes traffic gained by paid advertisements.
T: Tracking Code
A tracking code is something that is appended to your URL in order to track user activity through that link. It can track things such as where the person came from or whether they met conversion goals.
U: Unique Visitors
A unique visitor is a way of defining how many different people have visited your website as a separate measurement to the total number of visitors to your website. This is because the total number may contain people who have visited your website multiple times, bumping up the total numbers. This can give you a sense of the total size of your audience.
V: Viral Content
Viral content is content that rapidly spreads across the internet. This could be through shares on social media channels or multiple links to a piece of content. A common form of this is a meme as this is a very 'shareable' piece of content.
W: Web Crawler
A web crawler, also known as a spider, is an online bot that 'crawls' your website through links in order to index it on search engines such as Google.
X: XML Sitemap
What is an XML sitemap? An XML (or Extensible Markup Language) Sitemap is a text file that details all of the URLs on your website. This acts as a sort of map of navigation for how your website works and ensures that Google is able to crawl and index them easily.
Y: YouTube Advertising
If 'content is king' then video is the popular prince when it comes to digital marketing. The most popular YouTube channels to date have more than 28.4 million subscribers which makes for a huge market for those advertising on the platform. In combination with Google Ads, Youtube Advertising allows you to target the people you want to reach through various criteria and allows for a range of ad types depending on your needs. In some cases, you will only be charged when someone shows interest in your ad, for example by watching it for more than 30 seconds or clicking a call to action.
Z: Don't be a Digital Marketing Zombie.
The key thing you should take away from our A-Z of digital marketing is that there are a number of different ways to engage with your audiences and a number of tools to help you do it. If your digital marketing efforts get switched to auto-pilot your audience will notice, so make sure you engage your digital audience with campaigns that will engage and inform them. The stats will then speak for themselves.
Have more questions on digital marketing or looking for a professional service to give your digital presence the recognition it deserves? Get in touch with our team on 0121 552 6500. We'd love to help.
### Your 2020 Marketing Calendar - Key Dates for the Digital Year
Creating a marketing calendar is key to making your digital marketing strategy a success. Planning out a year’s worth of campaign activities gives you a kick-start on your marketing efforts and lets you plan ahead for key dates that might affect your digital marketing. If 2020 is the year you want to kickstart your marketing plans, why not download our ultimate 2020 marketing calendar. Packed full of key dates in the online marketing calendar, you'll be in the know and ready to go for the year ahead.
Why Should You Create a Marketing Calendar?
If building a marketing campaign calendar is new to you, you may be wondering why you need to create a digital marketing plan. Creating a marketing calendar should be at the top of your list when considering your digital strategy in 2020. Using a content calendar allows you to map out a year's worth of marketing based on key events that could affect our buyer's decision-making. This is why it is important to plan your 2020 marketing schedule early.
Download your 2020 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
What Should a Marketing Calendar Include?
In order to create a digital marketing plan, your marketing calendar should include some main things. These may vary depending on the marketing tools you use and your client base.
Key Events Across the Year
Advertising Campaigns
Social Media Campaigns
Email Marketing Dates
Key Marketing Dates for 2020 by Month
Like your customers, your digital advertising plans should pay attention to key dates throughout the year. Major national and international events that might influence buyer patterns should all be considered when creating a 2020 digital marketing calendar. Here are some of the key events for 2020 by month.
January
A month of the post-Christmas slump and Blue Monday (20th January this year). The start of the year is often a time for personal resolutions and new habits with the peak time for people booking their holiday's. Here are some of the key marketing events for January:
Wed 1st Jan - New Year's Day
Sat 25th Jan - Chinese New Year
Sun 26th Jan - Australia Day
February
Known for Valentine's day and the Superbowl, February promises chilly weather and recovery from the post-Christmas slump. We've passed 'quitter's day', the day in January people are most likely to break their new year's resolutions and are working our way towards the promise of spring. Here are some of the top marketing dates to know in February:
Tue 14th Feb - Valentine's Day
Fri 14th Feb - Start of London Fashion Week
Tue 25th Feb - Pancake Day
March
Home to National Pi Day and National Puppy Day, March marks the start of spring and thawing from the winter gloom. Here are some top March marketing days to look out for:
Thur 5th Mar - World Book Day
Sun 8th Mar - International Women's Day
Tue 17th Mar - St. Patrick's Day
Sun 22nd Mar - Mother's Day
Sun 22nd Mar - FA Cup Final
April
April showers may be rife but April heralds the celebration of Easter and chocolate galore. April offers ample marketing opportunities to direct your digital advertising towards, here are some of the key dates.
Wed 1st Apr - April Fool's Day
Sun 7th Apr - World Health Day
Sun 12th Apr - Easter Sunday
Thur 23rd Apr - St. George's Day
May
The start of wedding season, May offers a wealth of digital marketing dates to add to your calendar as well as national bank holidays to bear in mind.
Sun 4th May - Star Wars Day
Tue 5th May - National Teacher's Day
Fri 8th May - Bank Holiday (VE Day)
Mon 25th May - Spring Bank Holiday
June
A month of iconic sporting events, June ushers in warmer weather. From hug your cat day to world environment day, there are a number of key marketing dates for June 2020 to add to your diary.
Fri 5th Jun - World Environment Day
Sun 21st Jun - Father's Day
Mon 29th Jun - Wimbledon Begins
July
A month of independence days and summer evenings, July is summer in full swing. Here are some of the top dates for your digital marketing calendar 2020.
Independent Retailer Month
Wed 1st Jul - USA Independence Day
Mon 13th Jul - Amazon Prime Day
Wed 22nd Jul - School Holiday Starts
Fri 24th Jul - Summer Olympics
Download your 2020 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
August
Named after the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, August is home to Yorkshire Day, national smile week and more. Here are some of the key 2020 marketing dates for August.
Wed 19th Aug - World Photography Day
Thur 27th Aug - National Burger Day
Mon 31st Aug - August Bank Holiday
September
Synonymous with 'back-to-school' week, September is prime time for pushing anything school-related and this features heavily in September digital campaign efforts. Also home to the International Day of Peace, here are some of the key September dates to add to your 2020 marketing calendar.
Thur 3rd Sept - Back to School
Tue 8th Sept - International Literacy Day
Sun 13th Sept - Great North Run
Mon 21st Sept - International Day of Peace
October
Double double toil and trouble, October is the month for all things spooky. If you are looking for ideas for your 2020 marketing calendar, take a look at some of our most important dates below.
Thur 21st Oct - National Coffee Day
Sat 10th Oct - Mental Health Day
Wed 21st Oct - Autumn Half Term
Sun 31st Oct - Halloween
November
The weather is turning colder and Bonfire Night is in full swing, November is king when it comes to key digital marketing dates for 2020 with some of the year's biggest sales happening.
Movember month
Thur 5th Nov - Bonfire Night
Sun 8th Nov - Remembrance Sunday
Fri 27th Nov - Black Friday
Mon 30th Nov - Cyber Monday
December
The crown of the festive season. If you are looking to catch the last-minute shoppers, December campaigns are key, here are some of the main dates to keep in mind for your marketing calendar 2020.
Thur 24th Dec - Christmas Eve
Fri 25th Dec - Christmas Day
Sat 26th Dec - Boxing Day
Thur 31st Dec - New Year's Eve
Looking for a full 2020 marketing calendar with all of the year's key dates? Click the link below for a PDF marketing calendar with all of the above dates and more. For more help building your digital marketing strategy, get in touch.
Download your 2020 Digital Marketing Calendar for FREE here.
### 7 Automated Bidding Pitfalls To Avoid
Like it or not, Google’s smart bidding feature is here to stay. Having dabbled with the smart bidding feature with my fair amount of successes and failures, I had the pleasure of being invited to Google’s Automation Summit in October 2019.
So, I'm not going to bore you with all the details of smart bidding, how each one works and best practices for implementing. (that is maybe for another post with some real-world examples - nice idea!) Instead, I'm sharing a nice table to outline when, how & why to implement the four main automated strategies. In a nutshell, if you are collecting revenue stats then its max conversion value followed by target ROAS. If you’re doing lead generation, then it is advised to go with maximise conversions and then getting yourself to target CPA.
So, once you’ve decided and gone “all in” - you sit and wait (for 72 hours) expecting to see an avalanche of sales or enquires, however, this does not happen. After a week or two, you lose patience and quit. This makes it quite hard for automation to “do it’s thing” as it needs more time and also the correct setup. Therefore the main takeaway from the automation summit was these six common pitfalls that are guaranteed to lead you to failure in your good intentions of welcoming smart bidding into your arms.
The Seven Pitfalls
1. Using Too Aggressive of CPA or ROAS Goal
Remember, you need to be realistic with your automated bid targets. If your account has been converting consistently at £10 per conversion and you set a target CPA of £5, this will surely kill the campaign as you are asking the robot to do something that it doesn’t know how to do. Instead, make sure the Target CPA or ROAS is realistic! Use the Google Ads-UI recommended CPA/ROAS goal to start. Once this is performing consistently, then look to move your bids to squeeze better performance.
2. Analyzing performance when the strategy is still in the learning period
Let’s now forget that this is a machine learning algorithm, so the more stable, long-term data points it has, the better it can form predictions and optimize for conversions. It cannot do this overnight and will be learning and experimenting with bids on your behalf. So, in this learning phase, it really is pointless looking at the performance during this period.
Keep an eye on the bid strategy report to see how the bidding is performing and starting to fall in line.
3. Overlooking high conversion delay when analyzing the performance
Ever looked at your conversion delay/lag reports? Especially if you are in the lead gen field this can sometimes be quite a long delay of days even weeks.
Long conversion delays can make it seem like Smart Bidding is performing poorly when measuring a recent time frame. Factor in this conversion delay when you finally get down to measuring the performance.
I like to segment my data within the main table by conversion delay to give me a good idea and from there get a % of conversions that take place after the first 24 hours. This helps me to determine the best time frame to be looking at once smart bidding is enabled.
4. Looking at the wrong metrics
Google Ads is full of metrics that you can look at and analyse until there is no more oil left in your lantern. When considering automation it is quite easy to get sidetracked and start looking at the wrong metrics and start to make panic adjustments, and the road from there only spirals downwards.
If a campaign is using Smart Bidding, you should look at conversion-based metrics to determine success. Forget about looking at CTR, impression share, etc. Instead look at conversions, cost per conversion, conversion value, conversion value/cost, etc.
I like to create a set of conversion based columns in my reports and only determine success or failure from these stats.
5. Making constant changes to campaigns
This is one pitfall that many PPC marketers tend to fall right into. Your reasons may be legitimate as the board are needing answers right now and can’t comprehend why performance has deteriorated. This is where your experience should kick in and you have to assure your board that the strategy is learning. If you have done your maths correctly then this is something that the board would have expected anyway, hence no dramas!
Major changes may set the Smart Bidding strategy into the learning period and you will never see the light of day from the bidding strategy.
So, control your emotions and DON'T MAKE ANY RASH CHANGES
6. Hoping to achieve a high impression share
This one kind of ties in with point number 4 where you may be looking at impression share stats and getting puzzled as to why your impression share has gone down!
The reason is simple. The automated bidding will be looking to maximise your conversion metrics and not your impression metrics. Your ad will be showing in auctions where Google predicts that a conversion may be likely.
Given enough time you will not even be looking at impression share as you are achieving your desired CPA or ROAS goals!
7. Budget is not 5-10x the Target CPA
This is one that gets overlooked time and time again. Many advertisers don't leave enough headroom in the budget for the AI to learn. Not having this headroom will not allow the algorithm to bid high enough when a conversion is extremely likely due to constraints on the budget. When setting up make sure that your campaign budget is ten times the target CPA.
And there you have it, follow the above guidelines and you will be well on your way to automation success. Remember that automation in PPC is here to stay and should be embraced. I certainly don’t want to spend all my time on bidding, there are so many other facets to look at within PPC like ad testing, audiences, conversion optimisation, search term refinement.
Happy bidding!
### Ways to Boost your Website Phone Call Conversions
With digital and social platforms dominating the world of business, many companies are entirely overlooking phone calls as part of their broader marketing mix.
In reality, phone calls are generally more valuable conversions than KPI's such as a social media share or like which can be completed so flippantly. A phone call takes more thought, more effort, and therefore the caller is generally more enthusiastic and serious than the serial social liker.
This theory doesn't denounce digital in any way; it just pays to know how to merge the two to achieve maximum results. So, here are some of the most effective ways you can optimise your website to increase your phone call conversions.
Visible Phone Number Throughout your Website
Let's start with the most obvious. Well, we say most apparent, but it is often not done most effectively. Your phone number should be a noticeable feature on your home page, as well as at the top and bottom of your landing pages.
If your web user cannot find your number, they won't be able to call you; this could be the difference between their custom, or them heading to your competitor.
A study found that 68% of people will search for a company's phone number for LESS than two minutes before moving on. So, your phone number should be an emphasised feature on all of your web pages. While your phone number should be prominent at the top of your pages, it can be more subtle at the bottom of the pages and placed in your website's footer.
Optimise your Website for Mobile
Optimising your website for mobile should be at the top of your priority list if you haven't already got round to it. With mobile browsing slowly but surely overtaking desktop browsing, you run the risk of losing a lot of customers if your website can't perform for mobile users.
But how can mobile optimisation specifically aid the number of calls you receive? Well, you can add clickable elements such as click-to-call. Rather than finding your phone number, typing it out and calling, the mobile user can easily click your phone number, and their handset automatically starts the call. This ease of use highly encourages users to make the phone call.
Use A/B Testing to Optimise for Calls
Another aspect of website optimisation that is often overlooked is the simple act of testing what does and what doesn't work. You could have a colourful and creative strategy in place, but if it doesn't perform well, it is a waste of time and potentially, money.
Using A/B testing is beneficial for monitoring all aspects of your website, not just phone calls. You can use the A/B testing on your home page and your landing pages and reorganise and prioritise different elements to find out what works best for your website. Remember, what works best for one site won't necessarily be what works for somebody else.
It is worth using A/B testing to experiment with different phone number placements, button layouts, click-to-call designs, images, colours etc. until you find the most successful combination.
Use Content to Influence Calls
Your website copy is another method of influencing and encouraging phone calls from your website. Using specific trigger words or pusher words can play a big part in your user wanting to pick up the phone and give you a call. You can also inform them of what they will gain from a phone call as opposed to web browsing only. Gains and benefits of a phone call could be specialist information, guided assistance, discounts or on the spot quotes.
### How to Use Passwords Correctly to Secure Your Business
Making sure your business is secure is very important, and therefore password strength and security is very important.
If you are someone who uses the same passwords for everything then you immediately put yourself at risk. All it takes is for you to use that password on one website that maybe doesn't have great security, or even worse isn't a legit website. From this cyber criminals will take your password and try it on everything that might have important details on you or anything valuable to them, and take advantage. This can include accessing emails, banking, and social media accounts.
There is also the fact that often cybercriminals will sometimes randomly try some popular passwords, so it is a good idea not to have these. So if your password is something like 123456, password, qwerty or abc123 consider changing them now
Now, the most secure password is a long string of letters, numbers, and symbols something like Ad33&mNf-z28B9%@4. However, this is difficult to remember, and even if you could remember the one you would never remember a different one for every website, so what do you do?
One option is to have a password-protected file on your computer, or use a password manager with all your passwords in, and make a difficult to guess the password for that, generating your own code. So you could come up with a sentence such as “The first house I ever lived in was 613 Fake Street. Rent was £400 per month“ This can be transformed into TfhIeliw613FS.Rw£4pm. Now, this contains all the key characteristics of a strong password while remaining memorable to you.
The final thing to note is that changing passwords regularly amps up your security. If someone is trying to access your data, the longer you have the same password the more likely they are to eventually get in.
So in order to keep your information safe from cybercriminals, keep these points in mind as good rules of thumb to follow.
### Use Google Reviews to Boost Your Business
One key trick that businesses can sometimes miss in the world of Search Engine Optimisation is the power that reviews yield. For example, if you googled 'mechanic in Sandwell', then the top businesses listed would all have their google review rating included, and obviously, Google favours businesses who use their services. Moz even states that reviews count for 8.4% of Google’s ranking factors, which may sound small but it’s such an easy chunk to gain.
The first step to this is registering with Google My Business, this then allows you to verify your business on Google. Google has a bias towards verified businesses, so make sure you do this if nothing else.
Once you've done this it's important to ask your customers to leave you feedback. Data says that customers are more likely to leave a review of a negative experience than a positive one, with 95% of customers surveyed saying they've left bad reviews, and only 87% leaving good ones, so provide some encouragement to get that five-star review and boost your reputation.
As well as just boosting your search engine rank, you're also receiving valuable feedback from your customers, which can only be a good thing. When you do get reviews, it's important to respond to reviews. In doing this you build relationships with the customers, and potential new customers can see that you care when they look at reviews.
It has been shown that 88% of customers consult reviews before making a purchase, and 63% of consumers are more likely to buy from a business with customer reviews. It should be obvious that an unbiased third party saying that your business is great is much more trustworthy to a consumer than you saying it yourself.
This is a simple way to tip the google algorithm bias in your favour, so get out there and push for reviews.
### 6 Fail-Safe Techniques to Increase Website Conversion Rate
If you have a website, blog or even a social media platform that you run for business, it is likely that you will be aware of ‘website conversions.’
For website novices who aren’t so familiar, a website conversion happens when a visitor to your website completes a specified action, this could be an action as minor as signing up to your newsletter or as significant as purchasing your product or service.
In today’s competitive markets, even the smallest of website conversions such as a social media share can have the most significant impact on a business’ success, especially for the smaller local and independent companies out there.
A steady influx of traffic to your website might be fantastic in hindsight, but the fact of the matter is this traffic is somewhat worthless to your business if it doesn’t convert. We have compiled our six tried and tested techniques that, through the elimination of distraction and honing in on the user experience, will give your website visitors the smattering of encouragement they need to complete a conversion.
Keep your Processes as Simple as Possible
First and foremost - and of highest importance – your conversion processes must be as clean and as simple as possible. If there are too many distractions on the page or if you require too many actions from the user, they won’t fill out your form, questionnaire, call-to-action or whatever your specified goal conversion might be.
You should keep the design of any forms crisp and clear, provide minimal options and entry fields, only include necessary text and ensure fonts are easy-to-read. This design should also translate well, if not even better, on mobile devices as the majority of your website users are now likely to view your website on a mobile device than a desktop.
Improve Page Speed Load Times
The loading time of your website and its pages will have a significant impact on your website bounce rate, page views and more importantly, your goal completions, website conversions and ultimately, your sales. A half a second difference in loading time can have a dramatic knock-on effect, so it is every bit crucial that you master your website optimisation and keep loading times as low as physically possible.
Place Eye-Catching Call-to-Actions in Obvious Positions
You should always position call-to-actions in plain sight, directly in the eye line of anybody and everybody who lands on your website. Call to actions in plain sight motivate web users to complete response within seconds, decreases the chance of them closing the browser and also dramatically reducing the likelihood of them heading to a competitors site – all of which help to improve your website conversion rate.
Make Use of Visuals, such as Infographics and Videos
Another, often overlooked, way to increase conversions on your website is through the use of creative visuals such as images, videos or infographics. When a webpage is dominated by text, it can often become a bit tedious and boring, causing users to become bored and leave the website. However, adding visuals helps to break up that text and help to keep the audience engaged.
Providing information to a user through the use of infographics is another tried and true method of keeping audience attention. Infographics provide facts and convey messages in bitesize chunks, allowing the audience can find out exactly what they need, in a fraction of the time.
Run A/B Testing
…on absolutely everything.
A/B testing is the act of creating an A version of a webpage or specific function, and also creating a B version and monitoring each of their performances and deciphering which is the most successful with web users. By running adequate A/B Testing, you can see what resonates with your users the most, what motivates and what initiates conversation or conversions. The process also allows you to keep fine-tuning your website and its functions until you have a finalised website with an impressive conversion rate.
Brag about your Reviews and Testimonials
It's 2019; the likelihood is that whatever product or service your website is offering, there are a fair amount of competitors providing the same goods. Potential customers love knowing they are investing their time or money in a company that they can trust, and where they can guarantee they are going to receive EXACTLY what is advertised... what's the best way of reassuring future customers that you are the real deal, I hear you ask? That would be customer reviews and testimonials!
Bragging about a glowing review and placing them on your website for the world to see shouldn't be seen as showing off, it's the reassurance they need that you are worth their interest and custom, and they will no doubt encourage some extra website conversions.
### Free SEO Resources to Help You Understand Your Impact on the Digital Market
Imagine being a market trader selling scarves, and being at a market where everyone is selling scarves and scarf-related products. Not only that, but it includes everyone in the world that's selling scarves and scarf-related products, now that's what it's like on a search engine. The stalls that will sell the most are probably the ones that attract the most attention and have the best footfall, and that's what SEO is all about.
Here we have a quick guide to eight free SEO resources to help you understand what SEO is, and how you can improve your market share. We're not including jargon-heavy tools that those who are already in the game use, but tools to give an understanding of the importance of SEO, and how you can up your game.
1 - Answer the Public
(https://answerthepublic.com)
As a beginner in the world of SEO, Answer the Public is a great tool to help you understand why it's so important. It's extremely simple, all you have to do is put in a keyword and it will tell you the most common google queries relating to it. The premise being that if your website can answer these questions, and include some of this vocabulary in headings, then you can increase your chances of appearing in certain internet searches.
2 - Browseo
(http://www.browseo.net)
This is a great representation of why SEO is key. This presents your website in the way that a search engine will see it, so you can see the difference between how an algorithm will look at your website as opposed to a human looking at it. This kind of x-ray vision should highlight why engaging with services that help you with SEO and SEM is vital for your business.
3 - Yoast
(https://yoast.com)
This one is only for WordPress users since it operates as a plugin. It offers advice for each page about how to better optimise the page for search engines. It is not comprehensive, and it does not have all the answers. However, if you are just getting into SEO it can offer some nice pointers to get you started.
4 - Keyworddit
(https://www.keyworddit.com)
This one is great for finding out the sorts of conversations people are having surrounding a particular topic. It works within Reddit, you simply enter a term and it will give you some of the most talked about subjects within subreddits with that term. Knowing what people are talking about is key to SEO, and this includes a great little context tool where you can see not only what people are discussing, but how they are discussing it.
5 - The Wayback Machine
(https://archive.org/web/)
This one may be a little left field. This allows you to view archives of the internet. So let's say your website has dropped off in traffic a lot in the past 6 months, here you can see what your website used to be like, and then it can be a kind of spot the difference as you identify what potential issues might be.
6 - Google's SEO Starter Guide
(https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide)
Let's face it, when actioning SEO on your website, Google is the one you want to sit up and take notice. Where better to get advice on how to do that than from the horse's mouth itself? Google's SEO started guide is packed full of tips, definitions and resources to help you get started with SEO.
7 - Semrush
(https://www.semrush.com/)
Whilst the free option of Semrush does have its limitations, it is still a fantastic free SEO tool to use. With Semrush you'll be able to perform keyword research, track keyword rankings and more with plenty of SEO tools to get to grips with. You'll also be able to use this tool to analyze competitors and see how your pages and website should be performing in your industry.
8 - Moz
(https://moz.com/)
As one of the most respected tools in the industry, Moz is a key part of your SEO toolkit. Use Moz to check your website's domain authority, analyse backlinks and conduct keyword research all in one tool. Moz's site audits can help you identify weak areas of your site and set targets for SEO improvements on your website.
Contact the Specialists in SEO
There we have it, five useful tools for getting started in SEO. If you use these and want to know more, SEM Consultants are specialists in this field and can deep dive into the more technical aspects of SEO and SEM to make sure you stand out in a crowded market space. Contact our SEO team online or by calling 0121 552 6500 now.
### Why Joining the Inclusive Leadership Pledge Will Help Your Business
The Inclusive Leadership Pledge has been set up by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to rebalance boardrooms. This means inclusive growth with women, people from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, people with disabilities, and those from the LGBT community.
By involving your business in this, you are showing your interest in social action. You can also join the list of companies already signed up, this proves that you are keeping up with competition and taking affirmative action to better the world. Campaigns such as this bring's positive attention to your business. In a world where businesses are often scrutinised heavily for any missteps,
it is now more important than ever to be a socially conscious business. The Inclusive Leadership Pledge is exactly the sort of thing that is easy to get involved in, and therefore is not only a good thing to do for a fairer society, but is good business sense too.
Being inclusive to all obviously widens the net when it comes to employment, and gives you the best opportunity to get the best person for the job, but that should go without saying. The barriers that have prevented this in the past include a tendency to promote and employ in one's own image, a lack of role models and mentors, and the usual suspects of stereotyping and an 'old boys club' mentality in some leadership roles. As a business you can sign up here, this will enhance your profile and get you noticed amongst a different audience that you might not have accessed yet as a business.
### Is a digital revolution on it's way in the Black Country?
At current, it is estimated that around 25% of Black Country residents don't use the internet regularly, or have never used the internet, which is one of the highest rates in England and Wales. However, efforts from councils and education establishments are looking for all that to change.
Just down the road is Leamington Spa, now colloquially called 'Silicon Spa' due to it's rise in the media and gaming industry. Taking inspiration from them, the Black Country is now looking to be a leading digital region by 2020.
The infrastructure is there, 97.8% of Black Country premises have access to superfast broadband should they want it, which is the highest in the UK.
The local councils are pushing forward with plans to improve ICT skills in primary, secondary and further education so that local residents have the required skill sets to fill local job vacancies, contributing to the innovation and growth of the region.
The University of Wolverhampton produces many ICT graduates, however there is a need to attract graduates to return back to the Black Country as ICT skills are wide ranging. There is a need to ensure that the region’s businesses are able to tap into digitally competent employees through internships, graduate recruitment, apprenticeships and links with schools. In addition, there is a need to support graduates to start up their own businesses so that their skills are retained in the area, opening up further opportunities for them to access, such as gamification and Building Information Modelling (BIM) skills that are used in local businesses.
When the influx of internet users hits, businesses need to be ready and optimised for the digital age. Only 1/3 of small and medium sized enterprises have a website, which will be insufficient when the Black Country becomes a leading digital region and relies on these technologies to win business. Getting left behind is now a real danger for businesses in the area, and one which is so easily avoided. By using SEM and SEO you can prepare your business for the future and the now. Long gone are the days of yellow pages, and you now need to climb the Google ladder in order to win clients. This doesn't have to be expensive, and some knowledge and expertise can go a long way towards putting your business firmly on the digital map.
### How the Digital Passport will keep you ahead of the game – Key Advice for Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton Businesses
Digital Passport is a scheme aimed at Black Country businesses to help them adapt to the online world.
If you are small or medium sized enterprise (SME), then you are eligible for this scheme. An SME is categorised as a business with less than 250 people, been operating for more than one year, and has a turnover of less than €50 million.
The project will conduct a digital skills assessment to identify the key issues facing your business. Following this they can offer advice regarding web design, social media management and e-commerce, as well as cyber crime and cyber security enhancements. As the Black Country is looking to be a leader in the digital landscape of the UK in the next few years it will be vital to keep your business up to date, and using services to help you stay ahead of the curve could be the way to do this.
The Digital Passport project offers a minimum of 12 hours of specialist support drawn from; access to free targeted workshops and events, 1 to 1 advice, digital review outcomes leading to a comprehensive research driven Advisory Report. Also, the project will offer broadband connection vouchers to enable the take-up of superfast broadband by supporting up to 50% of the cost (to a maximum grant value of £1000). On top of all of this the project will offer the opportunity to take on a placement to help support the implementation of any new products or services identified through the project by supporting up to 50% of the cost (to a maximum grant value of £1475).
Changes are coming to the Black Country regarding the use of digital technologies both in business and social life, so whether you sign up for Digital Passport or not, make sure you are prepared for the near future reshaping of the digital landscape.
### Culture Hacking: How Campaigns Can Help Online Businesses
We all know that one of the difficulties of a new business is getting consumers to see your name. Obviously, search engine optimisation (SEO) is one way to do this, but how exactly does that work. Here we look into one way to boost your online ranking by CBD content campaigns.
Working with a campaign means that you arrive on search engines not only when people search for your business, but when people are interested in a campaign you can appear in those searches too.
High profile cases
For example, in 2018 there were two high profile cases involving children with severe epilepsy and how cannabis oil helped them enormously. These two cases resulted in a change in the law, allowing prescription in exceptional circumstances. If you have a business in CBD or hemp, which are growing UK business trends, being involved and vocal in these campaigns will raise your profile. Having terms like the names of those involved, or Home Secretary Sajid Javid who was involved in the law change, high up on web pages will increase the amount of search terms that your business appears in. Local cases are also important, although they don’t get as much coverage, often the people involved are more passionate. Having your ear to the ground on these issues and engaging with them online will encourage interaction from local business, communities, influencers and journalists, as well as the public. Signing petitions/linking them from your page is a great way to this also.
Give your perspective
People like stories, and although you might not necessarily be directly selling your product, being vocal through stories and about campaigns happening in your field will connect with people. If you have an article about the new legislation regarding medicinal cannabis, people interested in this will now find your website, hear about your brand, and then immediately you open yourself up to more potential customers. Also social media activism can really help you engage here. Short videos and infographics are great ways to do this, and using hashtags is vital for people interested to find you. Then from being found they can engage with your business and you can engage back.
High profile faces
Influencers are the new celebrities, with passionate followers that can be vital to tap into. By engaging influencers you automatically can alert their followers to your presence. There are even people known as cannabis influencers, such as Dr Sanjay Gupta on Instagram, who has 27,000 followers, who if handled correctly could endorse you without even realizing. Finding celebrities involved in campaigns is also an excellent way to do this. As an example, Richard Branson has long been an advocate for legalisation of medicinal cannabis, and is even interested in investing in such businesses. Just by mentioning him there's another search term that you will crop up in. You may even be able to garner an interaction with him on social media, there's another way to become visible to potential customers.
Influential groups
Also, familiarising yourself with major campaign organisations is worthwhile. In the cannabis industry a big player is the United Patients Alliance (UPA), and knowing what they do, and maybe even collaborating if your company has similar values to them could be great for your business. Where many online business fall down is by underrating the value of building relationships. There show humanity and personality over a corporate side. Think about your favourite restaurant or bar, the reason you might go in is the service is always friendly rather than they’re simply the cheapest. Competing on price can be hard, so it’s important to not focus solely on that, and working with lobbyists and campaigners can give you can edge in the online world. SEM Consultants want to help its clients overcome the difficulties in a competitive market show how businesses can stand out and get ahead.
The bigger the net, the more fish you can catch, and by being vocal around cbd campaigns you will start to increase the size of that net. Have you thought about how to best capture the market share your business deserves?
### How Hacking the Real World Can Help Online Businesses – Tips to CBD Oil Businesses
As specialists in all thing search related, we are exposed to a range of industries. Within the health and wellbeing ecosystem, there is a fast-growing sector around cannabis by-products for health or medical needs. From Cannabidiol (CBD) oils, to foods infused with CBD, the consumer demands for these products will be high for decades to come. In recent times SEM Consultants’ clients in these industries have been sharing their thoughts and needs with us. They are weighing the pro’s and cons of attending exhibitions, even if their businesses are focused towards online retail.
Our advice to them is based on listening to their needs. We thought about how they can dip their toes in the water at relatively low costs and how to take advantage of the infant phase of their industry. We wound one event to base our guidance on and gave them the following guidance to shape their thoughts. On the 2nd and 3rd March 2019 the Hemp and CBD Expo is coming to the NEC in Birmingham. With B2B and B2C options, this is a vital opportunity for your growing business to engage with the industry.
Hemp & CBD Expo - Birmingham
As the first convention of this kind in the UK, it is a great place to optimise relations between the business and customers. As a new and exciting industry in the UK, brand loyalty hasn't been established to a large extent which creates excellent opportunities for new businesses to get in there early.
How to make an impact at the Hemp & CBD Expo
By being involved in this exhibition immediately forms an aura of credibility about your product, which is incredibly important to customers. Although obviously competition will be strong with so many other competitors around, if you can make your business stand out it can leave lasting impressions on people.
Presence is obviously the most important part of marketing your business. If you are not known of, then no one will buy your product. This applies both to online and offline aspects of your business. Being in front of your customers and offering your product or service to them face-to-face can the best way to show how your product is superior to competitors. It's like if you suddenly deleted your website, no one will find you online. A visible business will always triumph over a superior product with no awareness.
Freebies can be a great way to stay in a potential customers mind after the event, things like badges, pens, lanyards, and all of a sudden they’re carrying around an advertisement for your business. Maybe also special offers for those in attendance, to enhance your chances of acquiring a customer, and then hopefully the product will keep them.
What About CBD Competitors?
With hemp and CBD now exploding on to the market, and new uses being found for it all the time, it's also a great opportunity to learn about other businesses in your sector. Cosmetics, clothing, superfoods, are all going to be present at the expo, and all vying for market share. Knowing the competition can be almost as important as knowing the customers. Expos help you understand where you are in the bigger picture. Even for those on top of their game, this is a chance to stay that way.
Meeting new people will invite new innovative ideas to your company. This leads to building stronger relationships with the other businesses within the community. Engaging with the new competitors in the market will benefit your company in the long term. You may spot something you hadn’t thought of being done by someone else. Whether you think it is a good or bad idea really doesn’t matter, all the information you can glean from this event will invite new insights into your own business.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn and grow as a business. We are only a phone call or email away.
### Is Your Cannabis Business Prepared for 2019 & Beyond?
With 2019 set to be the year for a lot of social, political and economic change, it is time to think about whether your online cannabis business is prepared for 2019 & beyond. There are some exciting changes ahead in the world of cannabis products in the UK and it is important for your business to be ready to embrace these changes.
New legislation means
that you can look forward to some pretty exciting changes over the coming year.
This means that you need smart approaches to navigating greater success as a
business that deals with CBD products. However, in order to reap the rewards of
multiple changes, you need to ensure you stay a step ahead of the competition
when it comes getting exposure for your cannabis business.
Marketing Your CBD Business
Effectively
If you want your
cannabis business to be prepared for 2019, it is important to ensure you take
the right steps. This means that you need to think about vital factors such as
your marketing strategy and the proper implementation of SEO. Both of these can
help to gain exposure for your cannabis business, and this naturally equates to
greater success particularly when it comes to changes in legislation.
The good news is that you can use simple and achievable tactics to both promote your business and gain greater exposure. Digital marketing has become a key part of marketing any business in today’s digital era and this includes cannabis businesses. You can use a wide range of marketing methods and solutions, many of which do not cost much in terms of time or money. This includes social media marketing, which is a valuable way of reaching out to a wider audience.
Making sure you have a
strong cannabis SEO strategy in place is also vital if you want to gain maximum
exposure and compete effectively with rival providers. You will find
professionals that are able to construct and implement a solid SEO strategy for
your CBD business, which means that you can benefit from greater exposure
without the risk of being penalised for the use of black
hat methods – something that search engines won’t tolerate these days.
Credible Cannabis Content is King
One other valuable
method you can look at is creating your own blog if you do not already have one
in place. This is a great way to educate your target audience about your
products and your business as well as your industry as a whole. You can also
add links to your blogs on social media, which will help to drive more traffic
to your website.
For those with a few existing blogs, it is important to remember that search engines love to see fresh, new content added to websites. Blogs that educate, inform or educate have more impact and are likely to be shared – meaning more people beyond your website can discover you. As long as you add blogs and content that is of high quality, you can be rewarded with higher rankings, which then means greater exposure. Blogs documenting first-hand experiences are still rare in this industry so an authentic voice can go a long way.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
Due to the changes
that are coming our way, there are many larger corporations and brands that
will be looking for ways to enter this market. By thinking ahead and getting
your marketing and SEO strategies into place, you can ensure you are in a
position to stay one step ahead of these rivals.
Searches for CBD products range from the luxurious to the essential due to medical needs. Being search engine ready is a key strategy to compete with the larger brands coming into the market.
New businesses face a range of challenges and
opportunities. Partnering with experienced organisations is valuable for
smaller or emerging industries so resources can be shared and help with
reducing costs which affect the business survival. Furthermore, connected organisations
with relationships and networks can expose you to good practice which is an
essential competitive advantage for an emerging industry.
Passionate businesses with great products need to be discoverable and need to have access to global markets. Smart SEO and SEM across the industry will serve your brand’s reach and survival. It’s time for British brands to face the world and trade. We’re committed to helping our clients and the business community to reach new heights through digital marketing.
SEM Consultants have over 10 years experience in marketing cannabis derived products online. Speak to one of our digital marketing experts for the best way to market your cannabis business online.
### Google Launches Integrated WordPress Analytics PlugIn
A new WordPress plugin has been introduced by Google that will pull insights from Google tools to a user's WordPress Admin panel. A plethora of Analytics plugins have been available for the web-building platform for quite some time. However, this is the first of its kind that has been created by Google themselves.
Named 'Site Kit by Google,' the first edition of the plugin will extract insights from Google Analytics, Search Console, AdSense and PageSpeed Insights, and display them in one handy hub on your WordPress dashboard.
The integrated Google tools help users optimise, monetise and more importantly, grow their WordPress websites:
Site Kit by Google
Google Analytics
Discover how users navigate your site, notice patterns and see if they complete your specified goal conversions
Search Console
See how many people found your site in search results and for what queries they discovered your site
AdSense
AdSense allows you to monitor the earnings from your website
PageSpeed Insights
Discover the performance of your website and see advice on how to improve critical performance issues
Google has emphasised ease of use for the end user, and the plugin has been programmed as an easy to use tool regardless of your WordPress skillset, meaning even the average WP layman who is running their website to view Google insights with ease.
Insights for Individual Posts or Pages on Site Kit by Google
You will have access to Google insights for every page and blog post on your website, simply by navigating to your desired page or post, clicking the Site Kit button in your admin panel and WordPress will then display the insights you require for your chosen page.
WordPress will also notify the user when they hit publishing milestones, such as a publishing a certain number of posts, or receiving a certain amount of site impressions, as well as publicising combined statistics for your recently published posts or pages.
Celebrate Milestones with Site Kit by Google
Site Kit by Google will begin to phase out Beta testing from early 2019, and for those of you who are keen to get your hands on this invaluable plugin, you can sign up for early access to the Beta release here!
Or, if you much prefer, you can leave all of your WordPress efforts to the professionals here at SEM Consultants. Whether you need management of an existing WordPress website, SEO optimisation or your visions of a new website brought to fruition, we at SEM Consultants have the teams to make this possible. Call us today on 0121 552 6500 to discuss your requirements, ideas or business goals today and we will tell you how we can help! Alternatively, complete the contact form below and one of our experts will be in touch.
### THE ESSENTIAL 2019 RETAIL MARKETING CALENDAR
National Holidays and Observance Days are incredibly influential on the spending habits of consumers the world over.
Easter approaching? Buy an Easter egg! Here comes Christmas; let's go crazy on Christmas presents. Oh and don't forget Valentine's Day, must buy some chocolates and flowers.
International Holidays, National Celebrations or even significant sporting and music events can generate millions of pounds for retailers, transport companies, hospitality industry plus many most industries, so it is worth really worth altering your marketing strategy and honing in on these events to accelerate your business successes and stay ahead of your competition.
Whether you choose to host a sale, promote extra discounts and offers, or highlight to the world how fabulous your product or services are and how they complement upcoming holidays, it all makes a big difference and ignoring the fact altogether could mean missing out on a valuable opportunity.
Aside from helping to magnetise extra customers, holidays and events can be a fun driving force behind some amusing and exciting social media campaigns and digital marketing content, so it's worth your while to get involved.
Our ultimate 2019Retail Marketing Calendar is to make sure YOU don't miss any opportunity for marketing marvel, content-worthy, money-making campaigns throughout the year; including all of the lesser-known celebrations and UK events as well as the most public and much-loved international holidays.
Download your 2019 Digital Marketing Calendar here.
### Why You Should Use an SEO Agency to Design Your Website
Picture this; your business spends thousands on cutting-edge modern design, a sci-fi platform with all the bells, whistles and widgets and your management team are excited about the modern masterpiece that is your new company website. It’s light years ahead of the competition in terms of technology and at the pinnacle of modern website design and the expectations of the website are clear; to dominate the industry and be the “go-to” company for your products or services.
Launch day comes and goes and that excitement has turned into concern. Sales or enquiries have remained the same or even worse, declined. Confused, you question the geek squad that built your modern day marvel but all you get is shrugged shoulders with finger pointing at the designer, who then points the finger at the programmer, who then points the finger at you for signing off on the design!
You then check your rankings on Google and find that you are nowhere near the first page for your core products or services. Cue: sinking feeling.
Desperate to kick-start this project to fruition you bring in an external SEO agency with years of experience and they turn your beautifully designed website on its head. They recommend a wrath of changes that will make your website look like Frankenstein's monster. This may bring a resurgence but not the game changer you were hoping for.
Welcome to a familiar “worst nightmare” that is often encountered often at SEM Consultants.
So, what is the best way to avoid the mid-table mediocrity that has cost an arm and a leg?
You should commission an agency with proven SEO skills that also design and build websites to do the job correctly. The design may not be cutting edge, but it will be functional and built for two core audiences; your model customer and search engines (Google being the most popular).
Here are the top 8 reasons why you should use an experienced SEO company to design, build and market your company website.
Site Structure - An SEO company will think about the structure of your website. Internal linking, navigation, keyword density, keyword semantics etc. to build the best possible structure that will be appealing to your target audience and make it easy for Google to spider (This ease of crawl-ability will no doubt help your SEO).
Research - The execution of a perfect SEO plan comes with detailed preparation, an SEO agency will carry out keyword research to recommend the keyword targets for your website. Armed with this knowledge, a company like SEM will collaborate with you to ensure these keywords are being used in the content, structure, linking etc. Boosting the overall theme of your website. This important task is often overlooked by web design agencies and worryingly some *cough* “competent” SEO agencies.
SEO Optimised Web Copy - You know your product or service better than us, that is a given. However, giving your content a few sprinkles of SEO dust can increase the relevancy of your content whilst keeping it easy to read. Top tip: Make sure that you listen to the content writers about how to write the best content about your subject geared for SEO.
Mobile - There's that “M” word again! Yes, all web gurus will preach the fact that catering to mobile traffic is key and that your website needs to be “responsive”. A true statement, but an agency that is at the forefront of SEO will be looking to design & build your website with mobile indexing in mind. With a “mobile first” approach to the design and user experience, expect to sign off on a mobile layout before desktop/tablet versions are shown to you.
Speed - With the Google mobile index and recommendations on mobile first design and build, expect a website that is built to load ultra fast. Don’t expect heavy images, hi-res videos & external scripts. There is a little trade-off here between design & user experience but you should be thinking with your head, not your heart! A stunning website that loads super quick can be achieved with a little know-how and page speed trickery!
Technical SEO - The bread & butter of SEO; Title tags, content optimization, URL structure, 301 redirects are a handful of technical requirements for any new website. When you have an SEO company in charge of your website build, it will never go live unless the techies are happy with it. Period. Far too many times we have witnessed Google rankings collapse due to rushing through a website launch. The damage this does to your rankings can take months to recover.
Conversions - Getting your website to the first page of Google is one thing, but making sure that your visitors buy or enquire is another ball game entirely. Consulting user experience professionals and conversion specialists, making sure your website is “sticky” is an often overlooked task. An SEO company with search engine marketing skills is an absolute must in this day and age.
Updates - With an “all under one roof” approach to website design and marketing, your SEO agency will be super quick to make changes to the website if required to boost rankings or conversions. Gone will be the days of waiting for a half-baked response from a developer who incidentally took 3 days to respond to you! In the end, it could take you a week to do something that should only take the best part of an hour.
All the above points lead to a website build & marketing project that has less confusion and miscommunication between all parties involved. Nothing is lost in long email trails from an SEO company, design agency, UX expert, programmers. As good communication is key to a project that is successful and runs on time, (and within budget) meetings are a whole lot easier to set up and manage. In one meeting you can liaise with all relevant areas of expertise. Ongoing meetings are just as easy & productive.
Ultimately everyone on your project is working towards one goal - producing a website that is beautiful, functional and delivers with a high Google ranking, which in turn transforms your website visitors into customers. With this one goal in mind, it seems logical to hire a company that is able to deliver on Design, Build, SEO & Marketing all under one roof.
### FRESH FEATURES FOR GOOGLE ADS PREVIEW & DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
Google is consistently looking for ways to make the Google Ads experience more informative and functional for its users, and with that, algorithm updates or the introduction of new and improved features are rolled out throughout the year.
The two latest refined and enhanced Google AdWords tools are the Ad Preview and Diagnostics tool!
The Google Ad Preview and Diagnostic tool is pivotal for the regulation and management of a fruitful AdWords campaign. Ad preview allows you to readily see which ads and extensions are appearing for your keywords and the Google tool will also give you a preview of the Google search results page will look to users for specific search terms.
The handiest feature of AdWords preview and diagnostic tool is its ability to highlight and diagnose the reason why your ads aren’t showing, should that be the issue.
Google’s latest alterations have been implemented to enhance your pay per click advertising and take your ad management to the next level. Both AdWords managers and novice users will have greater insight into who is seeing their PPC ads and be able to take instant action to get your ads to appear.
Filter Ads by Audience
In the past when using the Ad Preview and Diagnostic Tool on Google Ads, you had the ability to preview an ad or extension based on various search queries, as well as filter by location, language and device.
The recent overhaul of the Ad Preview Tool allows you to now filter your ads by the audience, providing a far more precise insight into who is actually seeing your ads.
Sub-categories on the 'Audience' widget allow you to explore niche audiences from your Customer Match, Remarketing List, YouTube Users, Customer List, Similar Audiences and Custom Combination.
AdWords managers and users with the ‘Targeting’ setting in their pay per click campaigns - formerly known as ‘Target and Bid’ – will be able to see which of their ads are showing for their specified audience.
Whereas those using the ‘Observation’ setting – previously known as ‘Bid Only’ – also have the capacity to see the position of their ads in a Google search result, based on a specified audience. For example, do they appear higher or lower on the page for set bids for a specific audience?
Take Immediate Action to Fix Google Ads Issues
One of the most beneficial Ad Preview and Diagnostic Tool attributes for smooth PPC management is the ability to see why an ad isn’t appearing.
In the previous version of Ad Preview and Diagnostic Tool, users would have to navigate through various sections of their AdWords PPC account in order to make the necessary changes for the highlighted problem.
Since the fresh update of the Google advertising function, it is much easier to fix any difficulties related to the display of your ads. As well as indicating the suspected reasons for any issues with your PPC ads, the revised Ad Preview & Diagnostic Tool will allow you to fix any problems immediately, without the need to steer your way through Google AdWords.
An example being, if your PPC ads aren’t showing due to an issue with budgets, the AdWords tool will now display an ‘Edit Budget’ widget, allowing you to make any necessary alterations to your ad budgets without needing to exit the overall Ad Preview & Diagnostic Tool.
To some, the newest changes to the tool might seem fairly small and insignificant. However, for frequent and professional users of Google AdWords, an account manager at a PPC agency, for example, such alterations will be a great time-saver whilst providing users with greater and more accurate insight to who is seeing their ads.
The productivity and workflow of PPC management will be more seamless, organised and overall Google advertising will be that little bit easier.
If an overwhelming wave of confusion washes over you when you so much as look at a Google Ads account, you would greatly benefit from the professional management of your PPC advertising campaigns. SEM Consultants have a specialist team of qualified PPC managers, ready to direct your AdWords campaigns and wider PPC marketing efforts to success. If you want to hear more about what we can do for your digital marketing, contact us using the form below, or give us a call on 0121 552 6500 and we can walk you through our process.
### EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE MOBILE-FIRST INDEX
Google first announced their mobile first index initiation back in 2016 and issued a detailed plan of how they intended to make future algorithms index pages using the mobile version of a website and its content.
The mobile first approach was the next logical step in Google’s consistent advancement, due to the vast number of internet users who now browse the web primarily using their mobile phone or a tablet at home and on-the-go.
Studies in 2017 found that 63% of internet visits came from mobile devices, which is still up a significant 6% on 2016 when only 57% of visits were on mobile devices, so now that mobile is the considerable majority of internet usage and expected to continue rising, it is easy to understand the importance of the Google mobile-first index strategy.
But what is mobile-first indexing exactly? How can you prepare for the change and what can you do to ensure you have a mobile-friendly website design?
What is the mobile-first strategy and how will it affect me?
Since the dawn of time (or the beginning of Google, at least) Google’s website crawlers, ranking techniques, and indexing systems have crawled a website specifically using the content from the desktop version.
However, in 2016, Google decided to change this in an effort to echo the projection that mobile users would soon far out-weigh and out-perform the number of desktop users, a forecast that has proven to be accurate.
The latest mobile-first development to be introduced will mean that Google will eventually use the mobile version of EVERY website to carry out indexing and to influence rankings and desktop will be left behind. This is to ensure that the majority audience – mobile device users – will be able to find exactly what it is they are looking for. With this in mind, if you do not have a mobile optimised website, the latest change in Google’s ranking algorithm will be very detrimental to your success in search engine results.
If you don’t have a mobile responsive website, through ranking and indexing issued you inadvertently leave yourself at risk of missing out on traffic and conversions, which also results in a loss of sales and revenue.
When is the initiation to prioritise mobile websites beginning?
Google began trialing and scrutinising the mobile first approach back in 2016 and a number of websites have been experiencing the switch ever since. However, a much greater roll-out of mobile first indexing began in March 2018 and now vast numbers of business have been subject to the change, especially smaller, local businesses.
You will be pleased to know, however, that it is not just a guessing game as to whether you have been hit struck by the mobile first bolt or not. As Google target your website migrates it to the mobile first indexing, website owners have been receiving emails to inform them of the change allowing users to act accordingly, whether this is to make any necessary alterations yourself, or to approach the digital marketing agency that manages your website and/or your digital campaigns.
Here is a screenshot of the email you should keep an eye out for when looking to see if your website is now being indexed under the mobile-first strategy:
How do I find out is my website mobile friendly?
Gone are the days where you need a completely separate website built for mobile usability. Google’s latest indexing algorithm will take into account desktop websites, but in order for them to rank under the new mobile-first strategy, they must be fully mobile-responsive.
You can use Google’s mobile friendliness test to determine whether or not you have a mobile-friendly website, but bear in mind, this is the absolute minimum requirement.
There is a difference between mobile-friendly and mobile responsive websites and you should put in every effort to make your website as responsive as possible to ensure that you don’t undo all of the hard work you put in to achieve your organic rankings.
The two only appear to have minor differences, but these are differences that can be quite impactful on the performance of a website, especially the organic performance of a website under Google’s latest ranking algorithm.
In short, all mobile responsive websites are mobile-friendly, but not all mobile-friendly websites are responsive – don’t take the risk!
Should I convert website to mobile friendly? If so, how do I do this?
The answer in one word: YES!
For many years, businesses and website owners, in general, have been putting the mobile version of their website on the backburner, but this can’t be the way anymore. Even if we ignore Google’s mobile-first indexing change, the shift in today’s technology means the ever increasing rate of internet users who view websites on mobile devices only is a statistic that cannot be ignored.
The easiest, quickest and most effective way to achieve a full-functioning and fully-responsive mobile website is to take it to the experts.
A website design and development agency will know exactly what it takes to create the optimum mobile-friendly website that will help to keep your website reaping the organic rewards and keep your competitors off the top spot. Not only this, you won’t have to lift a finger throughout the process.
The prospect of losing all organic traffic to your website should be enough reason for you to WANT to invest in and develop and fantastic mobile-responsive website that your website visitors - potential customers – can thoroughly enjoy and have a pleasant experience every time they visit.
Having a mobile optimised website must become a huge focus for your business, your marketing efforts, and your website development if you wish to continuously drive organic visitors to your website.
SEM Consultants has the appropriate in-house teams to develop your website to become fully-mobile responsive, or if you prefer a fresh start, we can build you a new mobile responsive website from scratch.
Our website developer and SEO experts work cohesively to ensure we don’t miss a trick and to be certain that your new or existing website is fully mobile optimised and ready to keep the organic traffic flowing… even under Google’s latest mobile first approach!
If you want us to help you get ready for the mobile first indexing initiation, contact us today using the form below and one of our team will be in touch. Or, if you prefer, you can call us now on 0121 552 6500.
### New Instagram Feature: How to use IGTV for Business
As we know, with each and every Instagram update comes a brand new social media feature for us to get excited about. And the latest is a big one! Introducing IGTV, or Instagram TV: a service, available either through the IGTV app or Instagram itself, that allows you to upload and view videos in vertical mode.
This is great news for many people as it combines a couple of things that we all love: watching videos and content that’s optimised for our smartphones (which most of us are addicted to anyway). But what does IGTV mean for business owners? Here, we give you a first look as some potential ways in which this new Instagram TV feature be utilised alongside your current Instagram for Business strategy…
Think of your IGTV Channel as a ‘premium’ version of Instagram Story Highlights: A chance to make a great first impression!
In our guide to Instagram Story Highlights for Business, we discussed the importance of using your Insta story highlights to primarily keep viewers up to date, but also to tell a story about your company or brand - your highlights should give your followers an ‘exclusive’ insight into the true ‘authenticity’ or ‘behind the scenes’ of your business. And your strategy for using Instagram TV for business should be very similar - after all, your IGTV channel will be one of the first things visitors to your profile can see. You can use IGTV to shape the first impression that your business makes on people - so it’s a very powerful tool! Try uploading a kind of introduction/trailer for your business as your first IGTV video.
Create a call to action by using links from your IGTV videos
Another great thing about IGTV is that you can add multiple links in the video description, which means you can use it as another way to drive traffic to your business website! This is huge of course, especially if you can create some great content that promotes a certain call to action - users can follow the link from your Instagram TV video straight to wherever you’d like them to go - hello conversions!
Always make sure your IGTV business videos are of value to your customers
Whether it’s interesting news updates from within the industry, tips or step-by-step tutorials on how to use your products, or just some helpful advice or insights, you should always aim to create IGTV content that’s genuinely interesting and valuable for your customers. Though it’s great to incorporate a call to action into your videos, remember that it can be alienating to always take, take, take. Make sure you also prioritise giving. Giving useful content to your customers will make your brand sentiment a positive one, and it will keep viewers coming back to see what’s new!
If you’re looking for further advice on using IGTV, any other Instagram feature, or even any other kind of social media channel for your business - just get in touch with us at SEM Consultants Ltd! We are a local SEO agency in Birmingham with dedicated Social Media Managers that are ready to help you.
### SEO Blogging: The Do’s & Don'ts of a Business Blog
Why should your business have a blog? How do you run a blog for your business? And what’s the difference between a standard blog and an SEO blog? Fear not, all your questions will be answered, as we take you through the dos and don’ts of blogging for business...
Do: have faith in the ‘bloggability’ of your business.
(Don’t miss out on the many benefits of a business blog!)
So many times we know of businesses going without a blog simply because they feel that their market is too niche or their product isn’t ‘bloggable’ enough. Though it’s true that blogs on some topics will get more views than others, a blog of any size is always worth giving a go! If you have customers, you have potential readers, no matter what it is that you are selling. To run a business blog has so many benefits that you really can’t afford to miss out on - even just the new content pages it will generate can give your website a massive boost in term of SEO and Google ranking. So have faith in your business and its capability to be blog-worthy! You might just surprise yourself…
Do: position yourself as an expert in your field
(But don’t bombard your readers with jargon)
The majority of the time, when readers visit you’re blog, they’re usually trying to ‘suss out’ whether you know what you’re doing or not. If website visitors can see proof that your business is an industry leader and is confident in talking about news and updates from their field, they are more likely to feel secure when considering purchasing your products or services. You should, however, avoid using vast amounts of complicated technical jargon - you want to look like experts but you don’t want to confuse anyone! It’s often far more impressive to be able to translate your expertise into digestible blog content that appeals to a wider audience than it is to just spew out lots of fancy words.
Do: promote your products
(But don’t OVER-promote them!)
Of course, you want your readers to enjoy your business blog posts, they should be prioritise being genuinely interesting and helpful for your audience. Don’t be shy though - you’re allowed to use a blog post as a call-to-action or a means of converting your customers! We’d never recommend overselling (don’t make every single blog post an obvious plea for sales) but if your blog article is relevant to a product that you make or a service that you offer, there’s no harm in letting your readers know and providing them with a link to more information if they are interested. At the end of the day, people know when they are visiting a business blog, so while they don’t want to be bombarded with sales, they don’t mind coming across a soft-sell as long as it’s nestled amongst some great content!
Do: Consider SEO Best Practices
(but don’t alienate your customers)
Let’s face it, the difference between a blog that flops and a business blog that does well is all in the way you set up and practice SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Really, you should be looking to create and run an ‘SEO Blog’, not just a blog. This means carefully considering all SEO best practices, whilst simultaneously being mindful to not alienate your customers and readers. Striking the perfect balance between content that appeals to humans and content that search engines love is a difficult one, we know. It can also be a very timely process and one that you may not be able to focus all your efforts on when you’re busy running a business! So if you do find you need a little help, be sure to get in touch with a great SEO consultants that can do the job for you… yep, you guessed it - that’s where we come in!
Do you see what we did there? In this blog post we demonstrated our expertise, and managed to promote our services whilst also providing you with some really helpful tips. That’s right, we know what we are doing! If you want to know more about running a business blog as good as ours for your own company or brand, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Our team of friendly local SEO experts would love to hear from you!
### Who Reigns Supreme – In-House Marketing vs. Marketing Agency?
Unlike the flat-pack furniture you can pick up in Ikea, marketing campaigns never take a one-size-fits-all approach.
Every individual company has unique aims, objectives and outcomes that they would like to achieve from their marketing campaign, and so campaigns need uniquely crafting, tweaking and moulding to achieve success.
To create an award-winning, goal-smashing, money-making marketing campaign, you can use a specialised marketing agency, an in-house marketing team, or if you see fit – why not use a combination of the two?
If the options are still a bit foggy for you, or if you are not sure who can benefit your company the most, here are some advantages and disadvantages that come with using an in-house marketing team and an external marketing agency.
External Marketing Agency
An external marketing agency is where you go to if you want all of your marketing requirements outsourced to a team of professionals, all under one roof. A marketing agency will commonly comprise of smaller teams, each specialising in a niche area of marketing, such as social media, content marketing, PPC, graphic design, website build and so on…
Having these smaller teams’ means that when you let an agency get their hands onto your marketing campaigns and let them take the reins, you will receive nothing but professional-standard work, the end result being a superior flourishing and most importantly, successful, marketing campaign.
Advantages
Save yourself some money!
When potential clients request a quote from external marketing agencies, they are often deterred by the initial outlay for the proposed work. However, what they sometimes fail to recognise is that this is actually the cheaper option by far! Carrying out your marketing efforts in-house means you have to also fork out the salary for a team of marketing professionals – this comes with quite the price tag.
Your work will be managed by experts in all areas
A bona fide digital marketing agency won’t be made up of only one team. The optimum marketing agency should have a number of niche teams, all working together and bouncing ideas off each other to achieve a victorious 360 marketing campaign for their client as a consequence.
Rather than one or two people trying to learn a bit about a lot, external marketing companies have dedicated departments that have each become fully-qualified masters in one smaller, focused aspect of digital marketing, meaning when they work in sync, they have intense specialist knowledge across all areas.
Fresh, innovative and creative ideas brought to the table
Working with a digital marketing agency, or a good one at least, means you will have a constant influx of fresh and innovative ideas for your marketing campaigns. When working on the same client or campaign day-in-day-out, like you would on an in-house basis, ideas can stagnate quickly or you could repeatedly create similar campaigns. Choosing an agency eradicates this problem as there are often a number of different brains contributing to your marketing campaigns. Different brains means new ways of thinking, fresh eyes and different personal tastes and your campaigns shouldn’t plateau.
Disadvantages
Lack of specialist industry knowledge
Although an agency has teams of marketing specialists who have no doubt created a number of outstanding marketing campaigns, sometimes you might just be missing that insider industry knowledge. An in-house team means your team members are exposed to the workings of your industry every day and they will hold specific industry knowledge and experience in your field that an agency will lack.
Is working with an agency a loss of control?
Outsourcing your marketing to an external marketing agency means not everything is going to be happening under one roof and you need to be okay with that. Some people might feel like this is a loss of control over their campaigns and work-in-progress, but not only this, if an agency thinks about the money more than their client, communication may not be instant and you might struggle to form a good rapport and personal connection with the people completing your digital marketing campaigns.
We could not stress more that if you do chose to send your marketing efforts agency-side, you must wholeheartedly trust and have full confidence in the marketing company that you select and more importantly, your assigned direct account manager.
Get to know the people working for you
Some companies might have had a bad experience with marketing agencies in the past and rightly so, this may have put them off going down the agency route again. I can assure you, the vast majority of us are not so bad! Before paying any fees or signing any contracts, you should have a face-to-face meeting with the agency so you get to know them not only on a business level, but a personal level, too.
Meeting in person gives you the chance to dig deeper and really understand what their specialities are, can they do it all? Or do they focus on one area and quickly brush over the rest, therefore neglecting you campaign? Is it multiple teams or one all-rounder account manager?
VERSUS…
In-House Marketing
In-house marketing is what it says on the tin.
A business can hire one, or a team of, expert marketers to work exclusively for the brand. All marketing initiatives for this business are then carried out by the team that has been hired and no work is outsourced to a traditional marketing agency.
Advantages
Fast communication and regular campaign updates
When in-house teams are managing your marketing, communication between yourself and the teams is often swift, usually immediate. You are able to see what is going on and the progress that is being made on your campaigns, as well as stay fully informed as and when events are taking place. Another benefit is that any issues or concerns you take with the work can be solved almost instantly which can save time having to completely re-do a campaign upon completion.
Full business understanding
In house teams will (or should) have a unique and personal understanding of the business in question, allowing them to put a unique and intimate spin on any marketing campaigns that an external marketing agency just would not be able to achieve. In-house teams will also have a more in-depth knowledge of the brand and the company’s mantra, allowing them to perfectly encapsulate and represent the company to the best of their abilities.
You have the teams undivided attention
In-house marketing teams are dedicated to one business and one business only. Account managers at an external agency will often be managing a number of projects and will have a limited amount of time per week to focus on your account. However, in-house teams are specifically hired for a company’s marketing efforts, thus giving that business and the project their undivided attention. This is beneficial for a few reasons, such as quicker turn-arounds, faster project completion, more consistent upgrades or tweaks and all new ideas that are brought to fruition do not have to be spread between a range of clientele.
Disadvantages
Lacklustre work is a possibility
Although one creative focusing solely on your campaign has its benefits, it also has its drawbacks. If the dedicated account manager or creative teams become stuck in a rut, the end delivery can become lacklustre and thus less effective. Working on the same campaign day-in day-out can become quite tiresome and that will have an effect on the quality of work and they could end up churning out campaigns that are similar to previous.
In-house teams are a significant expense
Hiring an in-house marketing team comes at a significant cost to a business. If you have a larger scale business or want your campaigns to be the best they can be, you will need a diverse group of people, each who specialise in a different area of marketing. Both of these instances require a team of people and not just one, running your costs up to thousands every month.
People can sometimes be perturbed by the initial outlays and running monthly costs of a marketing agency, but these monthly and overall fees are extremely minimal when compared with hiring an in-house marketing team, ESPECIALLY in the long run.
Do you have good staff retention?
It is one thing hiring your dream team of marketers, but retaining them is another. We all know this day in age that people like a change, but if a staff member is to leave, this will have a significant impact on the progression and success of your marketing campaign. You might struggle to find a new team member that meets your standards or you might struggle to find any new team members at all.
Whereas at a marketing agency, if your account member resigns, there is a whole bunch of other qualified and specialist marketer’s ready to chip in and take control of your marketing campaign until a new team member is found… you would never realise they have left!
There is no clear answer as to whether you should choose in-house or an external marketing agency and every business will have a different preference. However, when weighing up the pros and cons, it is clear to see that if you want to save money, while also having some of the best people in the field working on your marketing campaigns with fresh eyes, new ideas and the professional advice and input from other industry specialists at their disposal, choosing an agency for all of your marketing initiatives is the way forward.
If you are looking for a young, focused and creative team of digital marketing experts to lead the way on your digital marketing campaigns, contact SEM Consultants today and see how we can help you!
### FOOLPROOF SEO CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS
There are so many individual components that are crucial for the makings of a successful SEO campaign; it is often hard to know where to begin… especially if you are a novice.
An effective SEO strategy must incorporate on page and off page SEO, technical seo and in a 2018 state of affairs, social media inclusion can also have a big impact on best seo efforts.
SEM Consultants have compiled a fool proof checklist guaranteed to make your SEO campaign skyrocket ahead of your competitors.
Set Up Google Search Console
The first step on our SEO audit checklist is to set up Search Console.
Formerly Webmaster Tools, Search Console is a free Google tool that allows you to monitor the performance of your website and receive data showing the organic performance of your website in Google’s search engine.
You should check Google Search Console regularly as Google will use this medium to highlight issues with your website that can seriously hinder your sites performance if they go unnoticed.
Search Console monitors a variety of on page SEO and off page SEO factors, some of which are:
MANUAL ACTIONS
HTML IMPROVEMENTS
CRAWL ERRORS
ROBOTS .TXT EDITOR
LINKS TO YOUR SITE
SITEMAPS
DUPLICATE META DESCRIPTIONS AND DUPLICATE META TITLES
Install Google Analytics
Second on our hit list for a stellar SEO strategy is to install Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is another free Google instrument, possibly the most widely used and most reliable of all the analytics websites and it allows you to monitor various insights such as how much traffic finds your website organically, bounce rate, average time on site, revenue, average order value, goal completions amongst many other metrics.
Don’t forget to be Mobile Friendly!
With the majority of website traffic now coming from mobile devices, your SEO campaign and general website success will seriously suffer if you neglect the responsiveness of your website for mobile devices.
Having a mobile-friendly or responsive website is to ensure your website is fully functional and aesthetically clear and visible, even on the smallest of devices.
Optimise Page Speed
Page Speed is one of the most crucial aspects for a providing a positive user experience and for keeping a respectable traffic flow on your website, but there is also a correlation between page speeds and ranking that shouldn’t be ignored. Plus, Google did state that page speed was considered as one of their ranking factors so optimising your site speed and page speed should definitely be a top consideration for SEO optimisation.
Examine Redirects
Accurate redirects are almost “make or break” for a successful and flourishing SEO website. The standard redirect with regards to proper off page SEO techniques is a ‘301 redirect.’
301 redirects are a way of telling Google that a permanent redirect has happened and thus all of the SEO power and value from one page is transferred to the new page.
If a permanent 301 redirect should be in place but a 302 redirect has been mistakenly set up, you could be seriously losing out in SEO terms. A 302 is a temporary redirect and therefore when a 302 is implemented, the power from the old page is not passed to the new one. It is vital that you check and double check that all of the appropriate redirects are in place for effect SEO campaigns.
Descriptive URLs
When Google crawls your website, each URL should be an indicator as to what the page is about and allow the bots to understand what content is on the page. URLs are a big ranking factor for Google so you should try to include the main keyword of the corresponding page and its content to allow the website to be crawled effectively.
Don’t go overboard and begin keyword stuffing, though. Shorter URLs religiously rank better than longer URLs, the recommended URL length is actually only 3 to 5 words! Short and snappy is the game…
Keyword Research
If anybody tries to tell you keyword research isn’t important for best on page SEO, tell them they are wrong and direct them to this SEO audit checklist!
Google’s requirements for on page and off page SEO has changed more times over the years than you have had hot dinners, but the one thing that remains is the need for quality, keyword rich (but not spammy) content.
Firstly, you need to understand what terms people are using when they search for your product or services, then you need to carefully select the most effective primary, secondary and related keywords.
As well as including a range of keyword variants into your body text, you should try to incorporate your primary and secondary keywords into your page headings and image names.
Persuasive Title Tags and Meta Descriptions using Keywords
People underestimate how productive it is to include a keyword in your meta descriptions and title tags. Although it is not directly a ranking factor, it could seriously help or hinder your CTR as this is the content that will show on your Google snippet when you appear at the top of Googles search engine results page! (…thanks to this handy SEO checklist)
Internal Linking Using SEO Text
Another of the on page SEO factors that is often overlooked is the presence of internal linking.
When done correctly, internal links are an important on page SEO technique needed for a successful SEO campaign. You must ensure all links are naturally place and relevant to the page that it is linked from and you should also use related anchor text, preferably a keyword related to the page in question.
Check for Duplicate Content
With page content at the height of importance, you don’t want any bad SEO practices on your website that will affect the authority and purpose of your otherwise well-written, keyword-rich content… a presence of duplicate content on your website will do just that.
Duplicate content often goes unnoticed because it doesn’t always come from the main body text of a page or even from the same website. Duplicate content can be the same service or product descriptions, page titles or headings, manufacturer content that has been directly imported from the manufacturer’s website; it can be a whole host of problems. Therefore, the most effective way to detect this is using Google Search Console.
Create and Submit an XML Sitemap to Search Console
An off page SEO technique not to be ignored is to create an XML sitemap and submit it to search console. An XML sitemap allows a search engine to comprehend your websites structure and understand all of the pages on your website that you want to be indexed by a search engine.
It’s safe to say this is pretty critical for a prosperous search engine ranking position!
Create and Submit a Robots .txt File to Search Console
A robots .txt file goes hand in hand with an XML sitemap, so don’t forget about this!
A robots .txt file determines what activities a search engine crawler is permitted to carry out on your website and this can be altered for different types of crawlers as you see fit. You can set different rules and protocols for varying search engine bots.
So, here we have it. This is the main bulk of the on page and a few off page SEO techniques that are critical if you want to run a successful SEO campaign!
Whilst this SEO audit checklist will go a long way to helping you get to the top, SEM Consultants still have many tricks up our sleeve to really give your SEO campaign the boost it needs to knock your competitors out of your way.
If you want more information on our SEO, PPC, Web Design or Social Media services and packages, complete the contact form below and one of our digital marketing specialists will be in touch!
### 6 Reasons Why Good Web Hosting is Important
Any successful business will have a successful website at its foundations. In this day and age, you can’t skip out on good website hosting services for this very reason. How are you to have a successful, profitable online presence, if you have a poor website that suffers downtime? It’s a no-brainer. There are plenty of ways that you can gain good web hosting, but why should you bother?
Here are the reasons why you should invest in good web hosting for your business:
Increase website load time
It is not a good idea to allow your website to be slow and amateur. A fast website offers a better user experience overall for the user, which is imperative to how they feel about your site and your business. This is important because a sluggish website will put visitors off, and make them less likely to stay, thus increasing your website’s bounce rates. But with a fast website with good web hosting, visitors are more likely to convert. They will be pleased with how responsive the site is, and therefore they will stay longer and are more likely to convert into customers (or whatever the means for the website is).
Less likely to have website down time
A poor web host will mean your website it more likely to suffer by being unavailable or disrupted. It is common knowledge that a site with poor web hosting is likely to suffer issues because the host will not protect the website. If your site goes down then you can lose customers, lose revenue, and lose their trust.
Better security (https)
Hosting with a secure IP address and good web hosting company means you are on your way to enabling HTTPS on your site. This offers a more secure site where sensitive information is protected. This is also known as SSL (Secure Socket Layers). What this all means is that any information that passes through your website is automatically encrypted, thus hidden from the wider web. Hackers won’t be able to get their hands on the sensitive, personal, or private information from your site.
Frequent website backups if anything were to go wrong
A professional web hosting platform that has a reputation will protect your website because they will back up your data. This means that you can restore your information after an attack or issue by using these backed up files from your web host. It’s the secure, responsible thing to do.
Better support if anything were to go wrong
The issue with poor web domain hosting is that if anything does go wrong, you won’t be properly supported through it. You could lose your information, your stats, and your business, generally, if something goes wrong with the site and you can’t fix it. Any website downtime or disruptions can mean very bad things in the way of stats, search engine rankings, and conversions, so get ahead of the issue.
Get good web hosting beforehand and they can support you. This is with technical support, back-ups of your data, and knowhow and tools when something is disrupted.
Search engine rankings & SEO
If your website is down often when search engines are trying to visit and analyse it, then your ranking will be badly affected. Alongside the downtime affects, it is believed that a slow site can also harm your rank on search engines. So, it is in your best interest to invest in professional website hosting platforms in order to ensure you get accurate and the best possible search engine rankings.
So, how much should good website hosting cost?
Affordable web hosting is out there, you just have to search for it. Website hosting companies offer different hosting packages and cheap website hosting isn’t always best. Our advice is to find out your exact requirements needed for your type of website, for example do you need My SQL, PHP or (S)FTP hosting? How big is your website database, how much traffic does your website receive? The answers to these questions will decipher whether you need a managed dedicated server hosting or whether a shared hosting package would provide the best web hosting for your domain and website.
We at SEM Consultants can help you with your website design, web hosting, and maintenance if you are now ready to take your website and your business to the next level. It doesn’t make any sense to go with a cheap provider and poor web host that will only result in issues for you and your business. So, make the right choice and get in touch with our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to learn how good web hosting and a great website can take you further.
### How to reduce bounce rate: your questions answered
When browsing Google Analytics, you may have noticed a little statistic called ‘bounce rate’. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about some of these common questions: What does bounce rate actually mean? Why is it important? Do I need to reduce my bounce rate? If so, how do I do it? Luckily for you, we are here to share with you our expertise, hopefully answering all of your bounce rate related questions along the way….
What is bounce rate?
When someone lands on a page on your website, then leaves without visiting another page or clicking on anything else, this is called a ‘bounce’. In other words, a bounce is just another word for when someone leaves your website after viewing only one single page. The ‘bounce rate’ of a page is the percentage of people that visit your page and then bounce away from it.
Why is bounce rate important? And what is a good bounce rate?
In summary, your website bounce rate, or page bounce rate, tells you how many people landed on your content, checked it out, and left. This is important because it allows you to find out whether your website is retaining visitors or not.
It is very important to remember, however, that the standard for an ‘acceptable bounce rate’ will vary depending on the type of business or website you run. If you’re hoping that visitors landing on your site will stay and browse other pages for a while, eventually leading them to respond to a call-to-action (CTA) and become a converted customer, then monitoring your bounce rate should be important to you. On the other hand, if your site and content aims to be informative, you might expect that visitors could find all that they are looking for in just one visit, and as such, your average bounce rate won’t mean so much to you.
On average, bounce rates from 25%-35% are the lowest (best) bounce rates you could ever expect whilst everything is working properly. Bounce rates lower than 20% usually mean you may be experiencing Google Analytics problems, perhaps indicating a tracking code error. Again, very broadly, bounce rates under 40% are good, and what you should be aiming for. Bounce rates between 40% and 50% are ok, but anywhere above 50% is usually a tell-tale sign that your website or content has much room for improvement. Bounce rates of 90% or over again indicate that perhaps something is not working as it should!
Be aware though, that bounce rate benchmarks vary greatly between different industries. In general, blogs and content websites tend to have much higher website bounce rates than other businesses do – it isn’t unusual for even very successful blogs to have bounce rates of 60%-90%! This is because sites that prioritise content creation tend to show up more in google search results, meaning that they can often appear for irrelevant keywords, causing the user to bounce. The most efficient service sites and retail sites that have something to sell, concentrating on conversions, generally set a benchmark for lower bounce rates, around the 10%-30% mark.
How to reduce bounce rate:
Now let’s look at some tricks and tips to lower bounce rate. A good first tip is to start with identifying why bounce rate is high on your website or content specifically. Google Analytics is a great tool for this as you can view which search terms or traffic sources are bringing people to your site, as well as viewing the demographics of your visitors. From here, you can sort these groups by bounce rate, and as a result you can decipher what it is that is making visitors bounce. For example, perhaps a certain irrelevant keyword is causing many people to bounce from a particular page, or a link from an external traffic source is bringing audiences in that were expecting something very different, so they leave.
Researching bounce rate causes like this can be timely and seem a little complicated, but it is worth the effort because it then makes decreasing bounce rate so much easier! Once you’ve pinpointed what is going wrong, some of the fixes are self-explanatory. Its most likely that with a little keywords and terms alteration and some content optimisation, you will correct a lot of the problems you’re having.
After fixing any specific high bounce rate causes, here are some other great ways to improve your bounce rate in general:
Create a clear, easy-to-navigate menu/path. An often overlooked website feature for improving bounce rates is a clearly navigational menu and path. If your menu path is set up clearly with easy to follow breadcrumbs, users will stay to browse content in similar categories rather than exiting your site.
Add relevant internal links to your site content. Choose some pages that will be relevant and interesting to people visiting each piece of content: if they liked one page, it’s likely you’ll have another page they will like too! By creating internal links, you can redirect users around your site instead of away from it.
Remove pop-ups! They aren’t just annoying (making your visitors frustrated is a sure way to get them to bounce), they can also be damaging in terms of search rankings, as non-user-friendly pop-ups can result in penalties.
Improve your product pages. Customers don’t often want to just find a product and buy it – more often than not they are just looking for information about a product first. If your product pages include thorough product descriptions, instructions, guides to using the product, and customer reviews instead of just generic sales copy, it is more likely to keep the visitors interest long enough for them to feel ready to make a purchase!
Have an enticing sidebar. Your sidebar is a great place to add other interesting links that perhaps wouldn’t be so relevant to add into the copy itself. Why not include an ‘About Us’ page link, letting people know what your business is about? Other ideas include links to your top pages or most popular products.
Make external links open in a new window. Including external links to relevant websites is a good practice in terms of SEO, but it could have a negative impact on your bounce rate if the links are ‘stealing’ visitors. Making external links open in new windows is an easy solution!
If you’d like to know more about implementing some of these strategies for improving your bounce rate, as well as other optimisation options and how they can improve your business, don’t hesitate to contact us – our team specialises in content marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media, and Web Design!
### A Guide to Instagram Stories & Story Highlights for Business
Thanks to consistent Instagram updates, ways to use Instagram for business are ever evolving – there is always a new Instagram business idea to put your brand on the social media map. We've already talked generally on the blog about utilising Instagram for business, but there's a mistake many businesses are still making, and its to do with Instagram stories and story highlights. Many brands consider their Instagram story as a place to publish any random content that isn’t quite post-worthy. In reality, there are much more effective ways to use Insta stories, and with the latest addition of Instagram story highlights you have more opportunity than ever to make the most of such great features. First, we will run through our guidelines for making the most of your business Instagram story, then we will talk about how Instagram story highlights work, and how these story highlights are perfect for increasing engagement with your brand.
Instagram Stories for Business: Guidelines
When planning to post something to your Insta story, you should consider what you will post as a form of Instagram marketing that should be in keeping with your Instagram brand. As we’ve mentioned, many businesses post to their story without much careful consideration, but in order to optimise your story and take advantage of the benefits that come with it, we recommend only uploading an Ig story that is doing one of these 6 key things:
1. Telling a story
Instagram stories are called ‘stories’ for a reason. If your story has a simple narrative that you know your audience will enjoy, your followers will associate positive feelings with your business and therefore will be more likely to support your brand. A simple yet effective story narrative example would be following a product’s journey from start to finish e.g. from the manufacturing process right through to when it arrives with the customer, including their reaction.
2. Keeping viewers up-to-date
Using your business Instagram story to share relevant, interesting updates such as business news, local news, and events taking place in your location boosts your image as an expert in your field and shows your audience that you care about the industry. Sharing relevant news instead of constantly promoting your own brand will make your audience feel like you care about their interests too, not just your own, and it will consolidate your brand within the community.
3. Entertaining or challenging your audience
Competitions, games, and challenges entertain and stimulate your followers in a way
that conventional posts don’t. As people are naturally curious, presenting them with a quiz, contest, or treasure-hunt style challenge will tempt them to rise to the occasion and engage with your business, especially if you include some kind of incentive!
4. Giving viewers an “exclusive” insight
If your business can feature authentic and organic ‘behind the scenes’ content
that is happening in the moment rather than just recycling content from Instagram or Facebook feeds, story viewers will feel they are getting more of an ‘exclusive insight’ into the day-to-day life behind your brand. Exclusivity allows your community to feel more connected will ultimately increase audience engagement.
5. Creating a sense of urgency
Making the most of the 24-hour time limit with Insta Stories to promote limited-time opportunities (such as special offers that are only available that day) creates a sense of urgency, encouraging a reaction from your audience.
6. Promoting a Call to Action
Using ‘Swipe up to see more’ ads on your Instagram Stories is a great way to make your
audience take action by immediately acting on their first impulse. In order to enable clickable ‘Swipe up’ story links, you must have a business profile with over 10,000 Instagram followers. Start your story as normal by taking or adding your selected photo or video, then simply click on the ‘chain link’ icon at the top of your story. Here you can add in the destination link, and once posted, viewers can swipe up from your story to visit the URL – if possible, link to a page on your site with a high conversion rate!
Instagram Story Highlights for Business: Guidelines
As the Instagram app has developed, it has recently introduced an Instagram Story Highlights feature, which allows you to mark some stories as ‘highlights’, essentially ‘pinning’ them to your profile. Optimising your use of these story highlights for business Instagram requires the consideration of the following four aspects:
1. Permanency
Unlike regular Instagram Stories that vanish after 24 hours, Instagram Stories Highlights are
curated clips grouped together (that play as stand-alone stories when tapped on) and they live permanently on your profile until you delete them.
2. Location
Due to their permanency and where they appear (directly under your bio and above your Instagram feed) your Insta story highlights feature at the front and centre of your profile and will most likely be one of the first things new visitors discover.
3. Categories
As such, it is important for your business Instagram that you establish four or five specific categories for story highlights (only four or five are visible at once on most mobile devices, but there are no limits to how many you can create). We suggest you think of each of these categories as representing a different principal element of your brand. For example, making sure to still the previous story guidelines in mind, you could use one story highlight for brand values, one for latest offers, one for recent events, and one for weekly quizzes or contests. This gives structure to your profile and your business, allowing newcomers to immediately understand the layout of your business and the ways in which they can interact with it.
4. Story Highlight Covers
Lastly, the Instagram story highlights thumbnail or ‘cover’ is more important than you’d think, especially if your business or brand has a particular aesthetic to uphold. Using a cover for each highlight category that is visually appealing and consistent with the aesthetic of the rest of your Instagram feed will make your brand is instantly coherent and recognisable.
By using these guidelines, you will transform your Business Instagram stories and story highlights into powerful Instagram marketing tools. Marketing on Instagram is a piece of cake, and made even easier when a dedicated social media manager can handle it for you. We at SEM Consultants have excellent in-house social media managers who can keep on top of your Instagram for you, ensuring your content marketing strategy never slips and your audience just keeps on growing. Contact us below for more information.
### Help! A competitor is bidding on my brand terms on AdWords!
Is a competitor bidding on your brand name or brand terms in paid search? This can be a very frustrating situation to find yourself in, especially since Google (unfortunately) does allow paid search bidding on a competitor’s brand terms, effectively permitting them to take away a large chunk of your search traffic. But don’t worry, all hope isn’t lost as there are plenty of things you can do. In order of suggestion, let’s look at the best ways to deal with a competitor bidding on your brand terms….
1. First, take back control of your own brand terms.
First things first, before any interaction with a competitor is necessary, we’d suggest that the best thing to do is defeat the competitor on your home-ground. If you aren’t already bidding on your brand terms, now is a perfect time to do so! There is nothing more relevant to your brand terms than your brand itself, so cleverly investing in pay per click advertising should easily be able to land your ad in position one on Google and Bing.
As a result of your high position, as well as the fact that many search engine users searching your brand names will probably be looking specifically for you anyway, your CPC (cost per click) will be significantly cheaper than that of your competitors. In turn, this increase the CPC for your competitor, making it much more unappealing to bid on your brand terms, and hopefully even encouraging them to remove the ads altogether.
2. Then, try getting in touch with your competitor.
If your competitor’s AdWords bidding strategies are still causing you trouble, there really is no harm in reaching out to them. It may seem like the last thing you’d want to do, but you really have nothing to lose – in the worst possible scenario they will just ignore you or reject your request.
In the best possible scenario, however, they might just surprise you! Sometimes all it takes is a simple, polite, and friendly email to request that the competitor withdraw their PPC advertising on your brand terms or brand name.
3. If necessary, submit a trademark complaint.
If you’ve got your PPC management in order and made your brand’s PPC campaign the best it can be, AND you’ve contacted your competitor but still to no avail, it could be time to take more serious action. Should your competitor be using your trademark brand name in their online marketing, you may be entitled to submit a trademark complaint, which will tell Google to disapprove their PPC ads. You can also easily authorise a PPC agency like us to do this on your behalf.
After a trademark complaint has been launched and resolved, there is a chance that your competitor won’t even notice that their ads have been disapproved. The other option is that they continue to run ads but without featuring your brand’s trademark, which is still good news, because it will lead to a decrease in their quality score and therefore an increase in their CPCs.
Please be aware that it may be worth contacting your competitor once more (in a non-threatening way) before taking this route, as they may not have realised at first how willing you were to take the issue seriously. Though a trademark complaint is possible, sorting out the situation amicably would always be preferable, and less risky.
4. If all else fails, consider bidding on their terms (but be warned!)
If you’ve exhausted all other options, the last possible strategy could be to bid on your competitor’s terms. However, we must warn that it is unlikely to turn out very well for either party, as it can quickly spiral in to somewhat of a brand name bidding war. Here, we will break down the specific advantages and disadvantages of this method…
Advantages of bidding on a competitor’s brand terms:
By bidding on their terms, you may persuade your competitor to remove their original ads.
In the process, increase your brand awareness by appearing in google searches for their terms, which could increase conversions (taking them away from the competition)
Disadvantages of bidding on a competitor’s brand terms:
You would essentially be starting a vendetta against your competitor by retaliating against them
Just as there is nothing more relevant to your brand terms than your brand, the same goes for the other side. This means that while others may see your ads on competitor brand terms, not many are likely to click, resulting in a very low CTR and in turn a decrease in quality score. (Your ‘retaliation’ bidding campaign could become a very expensive one)
As you spiral into a bidding war, CPCs will increase on both sides, so while you fight for control over your terms you will just be putting more money into the large pockets of search engines like Google – which isn’t doing much good for either you or your competitor!
As with taking up a trademark complaint, if you resort to this method you may again consider contacting your competitor, especially seeing as they will probably have noticed a rise in their CPCs once you begin bidding on their terms. Again, this should be to very politely inform your competitor why it may be best for both parties to withdraw their ads.
As you can see, though the world of competitive digital marketing and PPC advertising may seem pretty ruthless at times, there is always something that can be done. If a competitor is bidding on your brand terms, hopefully you won’t even have to go past steps one and two to get it resolved, but if you do, at least it is good to know that the options are there! At SEM Consultants, we have expert, dedicated PPC managers who will be able to give professional guidance on these situations, as well as strategically managing and improving your AdWords campaigns and other forms of PPC marketing. Contact us below to speak with one of our helpful team, who are ready to help you with anything you need.
“Together, we’ve got this!”
### 5 Important SEO factors to consider when creating Web Content
Whether you like it or not, understanding the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the key to ranking success when content writing, or creating any other web content. Tackling SEO marketing can seem scary at first, especially when you find out that Google considers around 200 factors to rank a site! But don’t worry – not all these factors are as important as one another.
To make things easier, we’ve narrowed down all the information for you, gathering the five most important SEO factors to consider when creating web content. Plus, these SEO strategies are fairly simple, so you don’t need to be an SEO expert to implement them!
If you get these right, your content will already have a great head-start in the world of search engine marketing.
SEO factor categories
Before we go through the most important SEO aspects, we first need to introduce you to these categories: on-page, off-page, and site-wide. You’ll need to consider factors from all three categories, because if one gets left behind it could undo all your hard work in other areas. For example, even if you’ve carefully crafted perfect on-page content SEO-wise, if your overall site is having problems, it may have a detrimental impact on the Google ranking of your content.
On-page SEO factors to consider
1. Content freshness, content quality, and content layout.
You’ve probably already heard that ‘content is king’, but what methods can help make your content better? We suggest focusing on the three most important characteristics of SEO content marketing:
Freshness is fairly self-explanatory: make sure you’re always putting out new, updated content and avoiding duplicate content. In other words, don’t put out content about very similar topics, or that includes identical copy.
Quality, on the other hand, is more complicated to determine. What is good quality content, exactly? Well, according to Google, high-quality content always matches the purpose of the page to the user’s intent. So, whether your content is based on text, images, games, or anything else, its priority should always be to meet the user’s needs. This means that even though you want to make content that’s search engine optimised, you still need to make pages primarily tailored to human users, not search engines. Always keep this question in mind: “is this valuable to users? Will it help them?” Don’t forget, high quality content should also be well-written and coherent.
Layout shouldn’t be overlooked when creating content. Even if everything you’ve created is fresh, valuable, and well-written, if it is presented in a way that is unclear or unfriendly for the user, it could undo all your hard work! Your page doesn’t have to look ‘aesthetically pleasing’, but it should be laid out in a way that’s clear & easy to navigate. A top SEO tip when considering your website layout is to avoid positioning main content too far down the page – users shouldn’t have to scroll past lots of ads to reach the main content of the page!
2. Keyword research, keyword distribution, and keyword relevance.
Keywords are one of the most important influences on your Google pagerank potential and website ranking overall. Our recommended SEO techniques for keyword optimisation focus on these areas: competitor keyword research & keyword analysis (Research), keyword quantity & usage (Distribution), and relevant keyword variations (Relevance).
Research: First things first, before even starting to write, you should do a lot of research surrounding keyword competition and search rates. If you try to optimise your content using keywords that are too broad, it will get lost in an ocean of similar content, undetected by Google. On the other hand, if your keywords are too niche, no one will ever search for them! Ideally, you need to find a middle ground – your keywords should focus on a topic that is widely searched for, but from your own, more unique and specific angle.
Distribution: Once you’ve selected the perfect keywords to concentrate on, there’s a checklist of places where you need to include them. The meta title has the strongest relevance, so the closer to the beginning of the title your keywords are, the better. But you also need to focus on including keywords in: the meta description, headings (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 title tags), URL slug, image alt text and captions, and of course, the main copy of the content. Stuffing the page full of keywords, however, isn’t a good idea! Increasing the number of keywords won’t result in ranking success if the keywords aren’t placed carefully – so only add them where they are applicable and helpful.
Relevance: Similarly, just repeating the same few key terms won’t work. As well as your main key words, you should include as many variations, synonyms, and other relevant terms and phrases as possible. If search engines can see that your content includes keywords surrounded by other words relevant to the key topic, it will be more likely to rank it higher.
Google AdWords Keyword Planner is a fantastic keyword tool that can help you by suggesting related terms, along with useful information like keyword rankings and search volumes.
Off-page SEO factors to consider:
3. Backlinks
The number of backlinks to your site can drastically affect how your content is ranked. But again, number isn’t everything. You can’t rely on a large number of external backlinks if they are low-quality, because the link relevancy and the trustworthiness of the referring domain is also important. When promoting your content, only consider reaching out and building links with high quality backlink partners (never buy backlinks, because they are usually of a spammy nature!) Also, monitoring your links carefully and remove any that are of low quality.
As well as being an off page SEO factor, this counts as an on page SEO factor too, as the outbound and internal links on each page have a big impact on your search engine ranking. Each of your pages should have at least one relevant link to other content from your website – internal linking is a great way to keep traffic on your site. When linking out, only direct readers to very relevant pages, but avoid linking to pages that may have a far higher SEO ranking for your keywords than you do!
If you’re looking for a backlink tool to use for analysing the quantity and quality of referral links to and from your website, you should check out MOZ free backlink checker.
Site-wide SEO factors to consider
4. Mobile optimisation
An extremely important issue to consider when creating web content is whether it is mobile-friendly. If not, you’re missing out. It’s becoming impossible for content to rank highly on Google if the site isn’t optimised for mobile device users, as they now make up such a large portion of browsers. In order to optimise any content, you need to make it available within a mobile friendly website design.
To check up on how well your mobile website is working, try this free mobile friendly test tool.
5. Integration with Google Search Console
Lastly, consider verifying your site with Google Webmaster Tools. As well as helping with how your site gets indexed and ranked, integrating with Google Search Console and getting to grips with Google Analytics can really help you with some of the points we’ve already mentioned. Take for example, links: utilizing Google Webmaster Tools is a great way to monitor and manage the inbound, outbound, and internal links on your site. You can also use Google Tools to verify a mobile version of your website!
Focusing on these five aspects will give you a great head-start to content optimization and improving SEO. And if you’ve worked hard but don’t see results right away, remember that benefits from improving Search Engine Optimization strategies can often take a long time to show. Have patience, we can assure you it will be worth it!
SEM Consultant’s have a team of Search Engine Optimisation specialists on hand to assist with any SEO queries or services you may need, this includes the writing and editing of content and meta content. If you require any of our SEO, PPC, or Social Media Marketing services, please call us today on 0121 552 6500, or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch!
### Are Bing Ads Worth Applying to Your PPC Campaign?
It is no secret that Google overshadows Bing as far as search engines go. Everyone has heard of and uses Google, right? No one uses Bing! Wrong. Bing is becoming increasingly more popular and we as search engine marketing experts would like to share with you a few reasons why Bing Ads are a good investment on your part, alongside your Google Ads.
Less competition
When using PPC campaigns, many people will naturally use Google, that means that less people are using Bing Ads, thus causing less competition for you to fight through. This will work in your favour for the reason below…
Cheaper CPC
With less competition, less money will be spent on bids for keywords. This will mean a cheaper cost per click for you, which is a win. Your competitors will be overpaying on Google, whilst you may be the sole bidder on Bing Ads, paying a very small amount. There is a “25% lower cost per lead and a 35% lower cost per click using Bing Ads compared with AdWords.”
PPC campaigns in Bing Ads are likely to be more effective as they get higher click through rates (CTR) with a lower cost per click (CPC). This usually becomes a better ROI.
Better device targeting options available
The mobile search advertisements are more focused with Bing Ads, and so you can dig into the granular level of your PPC campaign. With Bing, you can target specific devices based on their type and OS. If your target demographic favours a certain mobile OS, or if your product is focused on a specific mobile device, you can dedicate highly targeted ads to them.
Longer description text
With Google AdWords, you are only allowed two description lines which are limited to 35 characters each. However, with Bing their text ad offers one longer line with a limit of 71 characters. Bing text ads gives more information to the user, thus encouraging them to click.
Flexibility
Unlike with Google AdWords, Bing allows you to assign different ad campaigns to different time zones. This makes it a lot easier to manage your ad scheduling strategies in Bing. Bing Ads opens your options at the ad group level, allowing you to quickly adjust a setting for a specific ad group. Plus, Bing also has intelligent tools that will help you understand your search ads, and keywords.
Further your reach
By using both Google AdWords and Bing Ads, you are putting your eggs into more than one basket, so to speak. This means you are more likely to get a favourable return on investment. Bing has three search engines while Google has only one; so, when you use Bing ads, your advertisement is seen on Bing, Yahoo, and AOL.
It’s easy
Once you have created an account with Bing, it offers you the opportunity to import your AdWords campaigns from Google. This means you won’t have to recreate any campaigns that you have successfully run on AdWords – how easy is that!
Measuring and analytics
Bing is useful when it comes to sharing details about the performance of their search partners. It can provide you with detailed reports on the performance of each of the search partners in your campaigns. These Bing reports would contain details on all their metrics, starting from impressions to conversions. With this knowledge, you can better understand your ads, how they perform, and how to go forwards in the future. You can only manage what you can measure.
As you can see, there are many benefits to using both Google AdWords as well as Bing Ads. Don’t limit your possibilities by only using the one method. Bing may not be as popular as Google, but as we have demonstrated, this can work well in your favour. Contact us at SEM Consultants if you want a professional, dedicated PPC account manager for your Bing Ads.
### What to do now Google has Extended the Length of Snippets
In December, it was announced by Google that the length of a snippet had increased, to allow for more descriptive and informative snippet text.
For those who are wondering, a snippet is the short description that appears below a URL in an organic search result. The purpose of a snippet is to provide the user with a brief description of the contents of the page, allowing the user to select the most relevant page to their query.
Snippets are deemed important as they play a big part in the click-through rate for a specific page, as users will read the text and use it as a deciding factor of whether they want to view your page or not, and now, Google have increased the allowed character count.
Google have been phasing out the update sporadically, but now it is becoming increasingly apparent to users that snippets have become significantly lengthier. In fact, the character count has grown to 160 to 230 characters on average, based on findings from Rank Ranger, but Google pronounced that snippets can reach 320, should the users query necessitate that.
But wait…
Don’t drop everything and run to optimise all of your meta descriptions just yet! The process takes a far more dynamic approach than that and it is not guaranteed that you will be granted all 320 characters worth of precious SERP’s space!
As we all know, Google doesn’t necessarily display the meta description that you have manually entered on all of your web pages; they might not show your description at all. Therefore, going away and lengthening all your meta’s to 320 characters is time wasted that could be better spent focusing on your greater SEO campaign.
Only when Google deems it absolutely necessary to a user’s query, will it dynamically generate a longer snippet using the existing content on your website.
A Google representative told Search Engine Land, “We recently made a change to provide more descriptive and useful snippets, to help people better understand how pages are relevant to their searches.
“This resulted in snippets becoming slightly longer, on average.”
So should extended snippets change the way you write future meta descriptions?
Again, the answer is no. The fundamentals of writing a description tag should remain as they are.
A description won’t necessarily hinder you rankings, but used as encouragement for users to click on your website. This means descriptions and their content should be informative, concise and highly relevant to the contents of a specific page.
If your page unreservedly necessitates a longer description then use the extra characters, otherwise if it’s possible to fit all of the essentials into 160 characters, keep it like that, descriptions don’t need to be increased for the sake of it.
SEM Consultant's have a team of Organic Search specialists on hand to assist with any SEO queries and services you may need, this includes the writing and editing of meta descriptions, titles and tags. If you require any of our SEO, PPC or Web Design services, please call us today on 0121 552 6500, or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch!
### How Switching AdWords Search Attribution Will Benefit Your AdWords Campaign
Why Switch AdWords Search Attribution?
Most AdWords Campaigns measure by “last-click”, this means they give all the credit for a conversion to the last-clicked ad and the matching keyword. However, this ignores the other clicks that customers may have made along their way. We know that this isn’t the most effective way of measuring your ad clicks. This is why you need to switch your Google AdWords Search Attribution Model.
AdWords Attribution helps to assign an importance to each point within a conversion path. You need to consider the whole funnel to the conversion in order to gain the best understanding. With our help, we can use Google AdWords Attribution for Search to read, understand and allocate meaningful attributions on intricate conversion paths.
When on the path to conversion, a customer may conduct many searches and interact with many ads from the same advertiser. This is where Attribution Models come in – they let you choose how much credit each click will get for your conversions. Attribution models can give you a much better understanding of how your ads perform compared to the normal “last-click” method; it can help you optimize across the user's conversion path.
Benefits of Attribution Models
(According to Google)
Reach customers sooner in the purchase sequence: gain opportunities to impact customers sooner in their path to the conversion.
Specify to your business: pick a model that works best for your business, what you offer, and how people search for what you offer.
Advance your bids: optimise your bids after gaining a better understanding of how your ads are performing
“79% of consumers use their smartphones to do product research
60% of the ads that consumers identified as being ‘influential in making a purchase’ were viewed on a mobile device
75% of online adults start an activity on one device, but continue or finish it on another”
Some other benefits when you switch your AdWords Attribution Model
You can increase your mobile bids because you can now more accurately measure your mobile performance.
Some of your non-branded keywords are likely to gain more credit. Alter Max CPC bids, in order to increase those driving the most value.
You can use “Smart Bidding” to have Google’s algorithms analyse hundreds of variables and optimally set your bids in every auction. Different bidding strategies need different conversions counts.
You can use the “Opportunity” tab to find an AdWords campaign’s recommended budget. If a campaign is limited by the budget, use “Bid Simulator” to lower your bids but get more clicks at the very same cost.
Generic keywords gain customers from their very first search and help you to attract new people to your business. AdWords Attribution helps you to see the impression these generic keywords are having on your account.
Attribution Models available:
(Sourced from Google)
Last click: Gives all credit for the conversion to the last-clicked ad and corresponding keyword.
When using the last click model, you might notice a slight time lag between what's reported in the "Conversions (current model)" column and the "Conversions" column for recent time periods. This lag eventually corrects itself.
First click: Gives all credit for the conversion to the first-clicked ad and corresponding keyword.
Linear: Distributes the credit for the conversion equally across all clicks on the path.
Time decay: Gives more credit to clicks that happened closer in time to the conversion. Credit is distributed using a 7-day half-life. In other words, a click 8 days before a conversion gets half as much credit as a click 1 day before a conversion.
Position-based: Gives 40% of credit to both the first- and last-clicked ads and corresponding keyword, with the remaining 20% spread out across the other clicks on the path.
Data-driven: Distributes credit for the conversion based on past data for this conversion action. (This is only available to accounts with enough data.)
We know that PPC campaigns and AdWords attributions can sound complicated, that’s where a professional PPC Ad Manager comes in. At SEM Consultants, we have expert, dedicated PPC managers who will be able to implement the changes to your AdWords campaign in no time, and continue to strategize and alter as needed along the way. Contact us to speak with one of our helpful team, who are ready to help and can ensure you get the best out of your AdWords campaigns with these excellent Attribution Models.
### WHY WEB DESIGN AND SEO MARKETING SHOULD COINCIDE
When businesses, bloggers and organisations approach a web design company, they often think that communicating their point, projecting a sales pitch and the aesthetics of the website design are the fundamental factors of web success.
Whilst each of hold a significance in the web design process, does any of this matter if users aren’t landing on your website to begin with?
Search engine optimisation, SEO, is more important than ever in todays saturated internet. A credible SEO strategy is there to optimise your website for the purpose of a search engine, the better it is implemented the better you fare in search engine rankings.
A superior ranking is essential for two reasons. The first being that users are more likely to click on one of top five results, so YOU need to appear to guarantee an optimum influx of website visitors. The second reason is quality; an outstanding SEO web design will be furiously fast, easy to navigate and extremely user friendly.
But what does web design have to do with SEO?
SEO marketing is so much more than stuffing a lot of keywords onto a page and hoping for the best, it’s about forming and moulding an entire campaign. A website is at the heart of all digital marketing campaigns so SEO starts at web design and everything else merely slots into place around the SEO friendly website for ultimate impact.
£££££
Neglecting on-page SEO at the design stage is a costly mistake, therefore you should always carry out research to ensure your chosen agency for web design services is well educated on SEO best practices.
Quite often, people will approach an SEO agency because they have a pretty website but it does not rank. This is usually due to their initial lack of awareness on the importance of SEO and thus chosen the best website design based on aesthetics alone, but this is sometimes the worst regarding search engine optimisation. In these instances, structural changes to your website are usually needed, an expense that could have been avoided by choosing a designer and website developer that are well versed in SEO.
SEO Web Usability
A key ingredient to be considered in the design of your SEO website is its usability, this is also the most important.
Usability concerning SEO is a website with an obvious site navigation, a menu with a straightforward structure, a secondary menu if necessary, easy homepage access and breadcrumbs on all pages.
Strong SEO web designs have prominent call-to-actions scattered tactically across the home page and throughout the site, ensuring they are both bold and obvious, yet non-demanding and simple to complete.
You must create a website with a systematic hierarchy, preferably with no more than seven categories and its important to try and maintain a harmonious balance, with a comparable number of sub-categories under each top-level category.
Your website design should have a methodical URL structure that coincides with your organised hierarchy. Your site navigation should be a clear and simple menu with the primary categories on display at all times and subcategories only appearing when necessary and required, i.e. a user hovering over its parent category, for example.
Do you have a responsive web design?
Any good SEO website is also a responsive website.
In 2016, mobile accelerated ahead of desktop for internet browsing for the very first time and in the time that has since passed, mobile has only gone from strength-to-strength.
Google has a plan in place to make their search engine a mobile-first initiative, something that has never been done before. This is to be reinforced in phased-out stages to give everybody ample opportunities to switch to a responsive site... and if you don’t, you could be on the receiving end of a detrimental Google penalty, thus affecting your SEO rankings and hindering your successes.
Google aside, responsive SEO websites are crucial for usability and retaining users after landing on your website. Responsive designs guarantee that users will have a supreme experience on any device or screen resolution.
If your website is difficult to navigate, tricky to read or sluggishly slow on a mobile, it is almost guaranteed that the user will leave your website almost instantly and head to your competitors legible, mobile-friendly, user-friendly website. A website design company will put this effort into desktop, but an SEO agency will also put this effort into mobile and since its clear the future is mobile – make the investment now!
SEO Websites and Page Speed
In an age where website visitors are often running of mobile data than Wi-Fi or a speedy desktop internet connection, SEO elements such as page speed and mobile-friendliness need to be a top consideration when designing a website.
Some ways to achieve peak page speeds are, to ensure your responsive web design is concise, the build and images well-optimised, enabling compression, avoid landing page redirects and use browser caching. Basically, you must merge website and SEO at the first possible instance to achieve the optimal page speeds without inconvenience down the line.
Having a speedy functionality is key to success as us users tend to have little patience. In fact, Google found that 53% of all mobile users would abandon a webpage, your website, if the page fails to load within three seconds.
At SEM Consultants, our SEO experts, web designers and website developers work hand-in-hand to ensure all client's websites are fully SEO optimised, responsive and ready to storm ahead in search engine rankings. If you are need a new responsive website or a refresher of your existing SEO website, we have the skills to help. If you are unsure of what you are looking for, contact us today on 0121 552 6500 and we will be happy to help, advise and get to work!
### Maximising Your Efforts for Mobile Site Visitors
The majority of people are using mobile phones for everything these days, even to conduct business. This means you need to ensure that your website is optimised for mobile users – otherwise you will lose a large amount of your audience. The best way to get the most out of your mobile site is to consider the following.
Speed
You will need your mobile site to be fast, otherwise people will lose interest. In order to get the best speeds, you will need to ensure your images aren’t too big. Don’t have too much content for the site to have to load, too. This includes text; don’t go overboard. You will also need to minimise coding and reduce redirects where possible.
Simplify
Keep things simple if you can, so that the site is fast and easy to consume. The layout shouldn’t be complicated, and should fit on the screen. People don’t want to have to scroll left or right in order to read all of the text. You will want the layout to work fluidly for many sized mobile phones, so don’t design for only one size. Use compression tools in your code. Script compressors such as HTML compressor or Gzip compression will automatically get rid of unnecessary comments, white space, or code.
Avoid flash
This plug-in may not be on the user’s mobile phone and therefore it will restrict what they can see. Avoid this issue by not using flash at all where possible.
Navigation
You will need simple navigation on your mobile site, in order to provide the best user experience for visitors on mobile. This means you will need to have easy to find navigation bars, menus, links, search bars and “back to top” buttons. This will aid user experience, speed and understanding – encouraging them to stay on the website.
Think Scroll
People will be using touchscreen phones and scrolling when using your site. Think about this when designing the site, in order to get the best out of it. Don’t put buttons in the line of the scrolling, otherwise they can be accidentally clicked and cause frustration or bounce rates. Allow for "fat fingers" when scrolling, too, for some people may not be able to click small buttons or type very well with large fingers! Accommodate for them.
Titles, Content and Metas
Your titles will look poor on a small screen if they are really long. The same goes for text. If it goes on endlessly on mobile, people may not want to read it at all. Keep things short if you can, but try not to lose the information of the content in the process. This includes URLs and meta descriptions, too, in order to get the most out of your mobile site.
Don’t allow pop-ups
You should not allow pop-ups in general, and especially not for mobile. This will cause users to feel irritated and potentially exit the site. Get rid of pop-ups to ensure the site works fast, efficiently and doesn't cause anyone to leave.
Optimising your mobile site is in your best interest, so don’t cut corners. Allow your business to succeed. Maximise your efforts by following the information above and ensuring your mobile site works wonders for your visitors. If you need any more information, or want to find a professional web designer to do it for you, get in touch with our team at SEM Consultants.
### How to Best Utilise Instagram to Market Your Business
Marketing your business on Instagram is a great idea, but how do you do it? Why should you do it? Well, Instagram's over 700 million users answers that question. It should be a part of every business's social media marketing strategy to use Instagram to the fullest. If you want to reach a massive audience of people, that is.
Here, we have composed a guide to getting the most out of Instagram and optimising your efforts for a successful Instagram marketing campaign.
Varied, strategic images
Instagram is based around visual content. In order to succeed on Instagram, you need to provide high-quality images and videos consistently. However, you will need to keep these relevant to your business or brand. Randomly posting content that has nothing to do with what you do, is a good way to lose followers or gain them – only to later lose them again when they realise you don’t consistently deliver that kind of content. Keep it relevant.
Similarly, you need to give them something worth their time. Give your audience something special. It benefits you to develop a style that people instantly recognise as yours. They can look at it and think “yes, that is SEM Consultants” for example. They will trust you, know you and constantly come back for more from you. This is building a noticeable brand.
In your images, ensure you show who you are and what you do. However, vary the content. Don’t share the same image of promotions again and again that offers no value. Creatively find new ways to show what you do, where you do it, and how. Give your audience exclusive insider views behind the scenes. Vary what you post, keep it fresh, but keep it consistent and relevant. Have a schedule, a strategic schedule that makes sense for what you're offering and what you aim to achieve.
Share videos
Not only should you post great images for your visual content marketing on Instagram, you should also vary it with videos. These don’t have to be a certain kind of video, just ensure you use them. Speak to your audience like a vlog; or share a mini trailer-like video about your business; or share relevant videos made by others. Continue to add value through your video content, too.
Gain a focused following
You should start off by following people who are a part of your community or industry. This will alert them to your presence, and hopefully encourage a follow back. Follow people back who seem like they have good content, too, as it's only fair. It builds a mutual partnership. Post frequently using relevant hashtags and overtime, the right people will be drawn to you. Don’t aim to get any and all people to follow you. You want people who will actually want to see your content, who will engage with it and hopefully convert into customers.
Hashtags & trends
Hashtags are what makes your images noticeable on Instagram. People will find you by your hashtags because they can follow hashtags that are of interest to them. People in the industry or who are interested in engaging with your content will use hashtags to find your content – so don’t skip out on them. Find hashtags that will work well for your images and your brand.
You will also need to keep up with trends relevant to your business and brand. These are a great way to get your content seen and trending, too.
Include Instagram content in your website's blog
People will need to see links to your site. Social media marketing works well when it is integrated with your other content marketing campaigns. Link your website to your Instagram, and link your Instagram to your website. A great way to do this is to include images and videos from Instagram into your website. Use the embed feature on the desktop version, extending your posts’ reach. This connects the two and shows people on your website that you have an Instagram, as well as helping you gain more likes, comments, followers, shares, and hopefully loyal engagement.
Promotions and discounts
You should reward your followers by giving them something that non-followers wouldn’t get – exclusive promos and discounts. This will vary depending on what your business is, but offering 15% off for one day only is a great way to get people excited and reward followers/encourage loyal followers on Instagram. Share an image with a promotion on it, and you’re well on your way.
Competitions
Similarly, you could run competitions. This encourages engagement, followers and shares. Here’s a post about running Instagram competitions to help get you started.
Engage and network
Social media is supposed to be social, and this includes Instagram, too. Don’t just post and post with nothing else. Instead, give back. Like and comment on other people’s content that is relevant to your own brand. Share, too. You can even direct message anyone who follows you, so utilise this freedom by speaking to people and gaining a friendship. Network, engage, share. Be social with your social media.
Optimise your profile
Before you do anything, your profile will need to be up to scratch. Your profile is your introduction to the world of Instagram, so make it a good first impression. Have an apt name – your business name, ideally. Include a well-written, relevant, stylistic bio that explains who you are and what you do accurately, and in an interesting way. Your profile image should be something appropriate to your business, like a logo. And you must definitely include links to your website. You could also link to your latest blog post in your bio, seeing as Instagram doesn’t allow links in your posts.
Collaborate
It is a good idea to collaborate with others in the industry. Post shared content or @mention users who are relevant and may wish to engage with the content. This draws people to your content who may follow those you collaborate with, helping you both to gain engagement and followers.
Instagram stories
An easy way to share something that may not be post-worthy is to use Instagram stories. This is similar to Snapchat, where you can share something you’re doing or a quick update that will show at the top of your follower’s feed. They can see the story and do further things from there – but it draws their attention in an easy, less spammy way. For more information, see our in-depth guide to using Instagram Stories and Instagram Story Highlights for business.
Analyse
When doing all of these things, you will need to analyse what works and what does. Regularly check your Instagram Insights for information on who is engaging with your content, when and how. This will help you to know what content works best and when is best to post to optimise engagement.
When you encompass all of these things, your Instagram marketing will flourish. Marketing on Instagram is a piece of cake, and made even easier when a dedicated social media manager can handle it for you. We at SEM Consultants have an excellent in-house social media manager who can keep on top of your Instagram for you, ensuring your content marketing strategy never slips and your audience just keeps on growing. Contact us today for more information.
### ELEVATE YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC WITH AN ORGANIC BLOG
Blogging is one of the most effective and modernised ways to drive traffic to your website, regardless of the nature of your business and website. Blogging works not only because it aids your SEO marketing campaign, but also because a company written and unique blog will help to humanise your brand, allowing consumers to relate.
Blogging half-heartedly will likely prove to be ineffective and essentially a waste of company time. For the most significant impact, your blog writing must be of a high-quality, useful for your audience and posted regularly to ensure your website doesn’t appear neglected.
Accomplished on-site blogs or engaging posting on external blog websites can generate inbound links to your website tenfold, and website blogs specifically will produce more pages for Google and other search engines to index, and also heighten keyword and long-tail phrase usage on your website, both of which can enhance your search engine rankings.
But, after you create a blog, what are the best ways to make sure your blog continually drives traffic to your website?
Selecting the biggest impact keywords and phrases
Carrying out thorough keyword research before you write your post is one of the most important components of a successful SEO blog.
Writing a blog post that is generously filled (but not overcrowded) with keywords and long tail phrases that have high significance to your product, service or business, you are increasing your organic keyword density, improving your search engine rankings and therefore attracting higher volumes of traffic to your website.
Google Analytics and Keyword Planner are two online tools that will help you analyse your current website traffic to see what keywords are leading people to your website, and to also identify the keywords that have the highest number of Google searches per month that you can include in your content for the largest impact.
A number of blogging platforms also have a function that allows you to enter a number of keywords that are relevant to your blog post, without the need to try and squash them all into your blog post and accidentally over saturating the post with keywords.
Publishing content on a consistent basis
For your business to experience the full benefits of blogging, you must try to post superior quality as often as possible. Posting in high frequencies is much more realistic for some businesses than others. Two posts per day are achievable for some, whereas once a week is far more logical for others. The frequency at which a business should post is often debated, but to show reliability and dedication, once weekly should always be your minimum.
Repeatedly publishing blog posts also means the number of indexed pages will be constantly increasing and you will be creating a number of trustworthy entry routes to your main website.
Encourage consumer engagement on your blog
Brand and consumer engagement has never been more crucial than today and instigating conversation and interaction on your blog will only work in your favour. Communication with readers of your blog can be prompted in a number of simple ways, including interactive polls and surveys, responding to comments or the slightly more complex addition of a guestbook or a forum.
A routine posting schedule for your blogging platforms will allow regular readers or customers to know when they can visit your blog and read your latest edition. This will prompt more consistent engagement and thus bringing your blog to the attention of a wider audience, particularly if readers have the capacity to share the post across their social media profiles.
If you are unable to post unique content for whatever reason, built in guest books or interactive forums will produce user generated content which will still be acknowledged as fresh content by search engines, helping to increase traffic.
Show and tell what your business can do
Loyal and returning customers are wonderful for any business and you should always make every effort to maintain and enhance these customer relationships. However, to take your business to the next level and keep your web traffic on the incline, you will need a steady influx of new visitors as well as returning.
Finding informative and useful information about a product or service will undoubtedly heavily influence where a consumer will make a purchase, your blog can be this space! A blog can include ‘How-To’ guides, reviews, detailed product descriptions that can’t be included on your website or can be used as an online portfolio or gallery.
People like to know EXACTLY what they are buying and it has been proven that products with multiple high-quality photos see higher numbers of sales. Not only will product descriptions, photos, instructions and reviews act as useful resources, they are again a great way of consistently adding fresh content and creating more pages to search engines to index.
Video, video, video
Even today, many brands overlook video because it seems time consuming or just not that important, but video is fast becoming a necessity for a successful brand.
Recent surveys have found that 80 percent of consumers prefer to watch videos than read a written post and video interactions also outperform all other content posted on social media platforms.
If you have a video on your blog highlighting the functionality of your service or product, you are guaranteed a higher click through rate to the product or service in question, resulting in higher web traffic and increased conversions.
### WINNING SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS TO PERFECT THIS YEAR
2017 was a big year for social media.
Instagram dominated over the big guns, including Facebook and Snapchat, 'Salt Bae' taught us all a lesson in the art of going viral, and of course… THAT Beyoncé pregnancy announcement that broke the internet.
Brands the world over utilise social media platforms as a powerful marketing tool due to the sheer global reach the platforms attain. But, falling behind in an ever-changing industry is easy. Here are FIVE social media trends you should be taking advantage of and perfecting throughout 2018!
ORGANIC INSTAGRAM STORIES
The biggest and most significant update to Instagram in recent years is the addition of Instagram Stories. Insta Stories allows users to upload ephemeral content; content that disappears for good after 24 hours. This seems to be a particularly profitable social media strategy for businesses as it prompts followers and potential consumers to take action within this short period.
Instagram stories breezed its way into the lead position for ephemeral content. Instagram became a dominating social media platform some years ago, but user engagement was taken to the next level in August of 2016 with the launch of the 'Stories' feature. In just over a year, Insta Stories has gained over 250 million daily users, overtaking Snapchats 173 million daily users that had been accruing over many years.
Successful social media for business has a lot to do with reaching out to users where they spend a lot of their time, and Insta Stories seems to be that place! A recent survey found that 1 in 5 organic stories produced by a brand or influencer receives one direct interaction from a viewer.
THE POWER OF THE INFLUENCER
Next up on our social media trends for 2018 is the power of the influencer and the micro-influencer. Businesses and brands regularly target big celebrities to be the face of marketing campaigns or paid social media promotion. The price tag for celebrity exposure can be quite astonishing and one that smaller brands cannot fathom… welcome the social media influencer!
Social media influencers are now a key component to a triumphant social media strategy, and this will be tenfold throughout 2018.
During 2017, traditional advertising avenues failed to strike a chord with social media users. Whereas modern-day influencer content, such as YouTube videos, Instagram stories and photos and blogging had a much more significant impact on what products and services users were investing in. Millennials and Generation Z are more influenced by social media advertising than regular sales tactics. The two generations combined make up most of the world's population, so they should always be a target for your social media marketing strategy.
What's more, on typical influencer platforms – including Instagram – users don't need to leave the app to make a purchase, thanks to built-in features such as Instagram shopping. Your audience can make an instant purchase and Instagram accounts with over 10,000 followers can now also include product links in their Instagram stories.
AUGEMENTED REALITY IS ON THE RISE
Augmented reality comes in many forms, and it allows users to connect with a brand and its products on a whole new level. Business marketing strategies somewhat made use of the technology in 2017, but the high levels of user interactivity mean we should all be utilising augmented reality in 2018.
The most recognisable use of augmented reality on social media platforms today is the use of artificial intelligence lenses. 'Face filters' as we know, started on Snapchat and have filtered the way through to Instagram Stories and iOS and Android operating systems.
Face filters are not just something you should shrug off as a 'bit of fun,' they double up as a great interactive marketing tool. Snapchat allows social media advertisers to design and create a unique filter that will appear for all users for a set time. Recent examples of social media advertising through Snapchat filters include campaigns from 'Crème Egg' and 'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.'
More complex uses of augmented reality by a business is the Dulux Visualizer app. The video visualisation allows you to select a colour from just about anywhere, and see how that colour would look live on the walls of your home thanks to augmented reality technology. Ikea also has a similar with their 'Place' app, where you can see precisely how a piece of furniture would look in your home.
PERFECT YOUR BRAND / CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Although helpful brand and consumer engagement should already be a big part of your ethos, 2018 is all about using social marketing strategies and taking it to the next level. Brands are slowly beginning to realise the impact of social media engagement and are extending the conversation with their customers on a more personal level than a sales pitch.
Past, present and potential consumers look for a platform where they can connect with you for advice or concerns. Therefore, it is imperative that you humanise your brand, initiate genuine conversation and offer your customers the best possible experience.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat are popular networks for customer engagement due to the effectiveness of real-time features including Facebook Live or Instagram Stories. But, in 2018, you can expect instant messaging to take off and help build those strong and loyal brand-consumer relationships.
Instant messaging including Facebook Messenger, Twitter and Instagram Direct Messaging or apps such WhatsApp give customers the chance to communicate on a personal one-on-one level. Not only is this beneficial for the speed that the customers will receive their reply, but also helps businesses cut costs.
In 2018, don't just wait for an assistance query before you engage. If somebody tags you in a photo when wearing your clothes, compliment them. If you have been told of successes of using your product, congratulate them.
A little goes a long way in customer engagement.
LIVE STREAMING AND VIDEOS
A survey found that 82 per cent of consumers prefers to watch live videos over regular social media updates and written blogs. This is expected to increase even further during 2018, meaning live streaming is not a social marketing tool you should be neglecting.
You don't need to invest in modern technology and fancy video cameras to get involved. Facebook and Instagram support live streaming, in outstanding quality, too. As the demand for live streaming continues to surge, the technology supporting this service will keep improving. Live streams and videos are now an expectation of your brand, rather than an option.
Statics for live streaming and its positive effects on social media marketing campaigns blew up in 2017, and regular video posts outperform all other content by a country mile, so make sure you get involved in this social media trend ASAP.
Don't get left behind.
### 10 Small Web Errors You Can Fix for Big Changes
Considering making website changes that will have a lasting affect on your engagement can be daunting. However, there are a number of small web errors that you can fix in no time that will have a big impact on your conversions. These small things can go a long way in bringing in users and sales, so what are you waiting for? Fix these small web errors today with help from SEM Consultants.
Images
Large images will contribute to slow page speeds on your website. Slow page speeds make for a really big website error. However, by optimising your images, you can help your page speeds as well as usability.
Image file types include:
JPEG is best for photographs and images with many colours or complexity, and they are popular for web images
PNGs can handle transparent backgrounds where JPEGs can’t; good for logos, graphics or text-based images; they’re also popular for web, but are restricted to 256 colours
GIFs are small, animated images restricted to 256 colours
Knowing these file types will help you to decide what you should save your files as. You are probably better off with JPEGs for your website, but you need to alter the size of your images. This can be done easily on things like Photoshop, where you can view the exact size before saving. The image quality is also important. Set image to High Quality only (a middle level) to keep the size correct. Product photos should aim to be a maximum of 80-150KB and homepage images to be a maximum of 250-350KB.
Heading structures
Start with Heading 1(H1s), then H2s, H3s and so on. This gives a structure to your titles. The first, most important umbrella title should be the H1. The subtitles that come next should be H2s, then so on and so forth. This will tell Google and your readers what each point is about.
Names of headings
Incorporating the right names for your headings will go a long way. You need to include keywords here in order to let Google know what the page will be about (as well as your users). Keywords need to be implemented appropriately throughout the website, too. Name your headings aptly, not with witty, confusing names. Instead, describe what the page is actually about in a descriptive but concise way.
Metas
Your meta titles and meta descriptions are a simple thing for you to fix that will go a long way to optimising your website. Meta titles should be 50-60 characters long, and the meta description should be between 135-160 characters long in order to fit well on Google snippets. The meta title and meta descriptions are a way of communicating directly with search engines, saying “this is what this page entails, so make it appear on the search results page for these phrases.” This is exactly what you want, to be appearing in front of the right people for the right reasons.
URLs
Your URL is how search engines get an idea of what is in your site. This means that your URL needs to be optimised for SEO purposes. Your URLs should make sense to the user and Google, with an accurate description of the page topic; e.g. “…/how-to-groom-your-dog/” which is an accurate, human-friendly URL that says exactly what you’ll find when you click the link. You should also try to make the URL unique, where possible, and easily memorable so that people will share and link to your URLs. You should also have a good, logical URL structure (domain name-category-subcategory).
Landing Page Redirects
If you have any old webpages, you will need to implement landing page redirects in order to avoid bounce rates from users leaving the site when they can’t find what they were looking for. You should aim to have no broken links or old pages left unattended – instead, add in redirects so that you don’t lose users. This will make for a better user experience, and take them back to where they intended to be.
Rich Snippets
Rich snippets are what is highlighted in your code as important information on your page. This then communicates to Google that the piece of information is key to the page's content. This rich snippet will then appear on the search results page (SERP), adding more information alongside the meta title and meta description. This information is things like ratings, addresses, phone numbers, or anything at all of key importance. They will improve upon the SERP.
Call-to-actions
Not including call to actions throughout your website is a big mistake. How are you going to expect visitors to interact with you if there are no call to actions? They are really easy to add and will increase the likelihood of user engagement.
Call to actions include the following:
Social media buttons
Phone numbers
Email address
Contact forms
Addresses
These are not something you can skip on, and they are a really small error that can make really big improvements when added.
Enable Compression
You will need to enable compression in your code in order to optimise your website. By doing this, you will improve page speeds, be on Google’s good-side as well as optimise the site for mobile users. All win-wins. When you enable compression, you are simplifying your code (getting rid of unnecessary text and blank spaces etc). If you are using a CMS like WordPress, it should do this for you. For more on page speeds, check out this article on Website Page Speeds.
File Names
If your files are named incorrectly, this can damage your Google visibility. Images should be saved under accurate and perhaps keyword-based names. This will help Google to know what it is, and it may even rank on Google Images. Let's not forget ALT tags, either, which is the text companion to an image; it should be aptly named. Other files like PDFs on your site should also be named and saved correctly, for optimum results.
If you want to know more about what professional web design can do for you business, don't hesitate to contact us, and you can find out more here on our web design page.
### How to Optimise your Search Engine Marketing
By now, most businesses will be aware of search engine marketing (SEM). In case you’re new to the marketing world, we’ll explain. Search engine marketing involves marketing your business with a focus on ranking on search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.). In this day and age, most people are online, and therefore your business must be, too. It isn’t enough to have a really good website and maybe a Facebook Business Page, though, instead you need to consistently optimise your marketing strategies online towards the search engines, so that your target market can find you when searching.
How do you do that, we hear you say? Well, we’re here to help as search engine marketing professionals at SEM Consultants.
Keywords
For some time now, keywords have been the biggest strategy for gaining attention from search engines. Keyword optimisation through SEO (search engine optimisation) is a way of saying to search engines that you are “this business that deals with this area”. Keywords will be implemented throughout your website, so that when potential customers search on Google “wedding cake shops in Birmingham”, your website will rank at the top of the search results page (SERP).
Be careful, though. Overuse or poor use of keywords will lead to a Google Penalty that restricts your site from appearing on Google. This is Black-hat SEO and should be avoided. Instead, neatly implement keywords where appropriate in your site’s content, that doesn’t take away from user experience and the genuineness of your content.
Keywords can be used in the following areas:
Titles: on blog posts or web pages
Descriptions: your meta titles and meta descriptions should try to include keywords (and these will be highlighted when they appear on Google)
Headings: titles and subtitles within pages or blog posts
Content: within page content or blog posts, without ruining user experience and appropriate context
Images: images should be aptly named and ALT tags could include keywords
URLs: the weblink should include the keywords for optimum results
Pay Per Click
With good use of SEO, you will hopefully organically rank on the SERP of Google, but in order to ensure this happens, you can use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. You can use the search engines for paid ads that work through keywords. You bid for these keywords, and this will lead to ads that will then appear on the SERP when that keyword or phrase is searched for. Then, when the user clicks the ad, you pay.
This brings your website right to the top of the SERP, putting you right in front of potential customers. In order to do this well, you need: excellent ad copy, knowledgeable bids and keyword research, correct demographic targeting, and constant analysis and adjustments. This is where a professional PPC campaign manager will come in.
You can use Pay Per Click in these ways:
Google AdWords
Google Shopping
Google Remarketing
Bind Ads
Bing Product Ads
Bing Remarketing
Yahoo Native Ads
Link building
Link building is becoming one of the biggest factors that leads to attention from search engines. A link is a way of directing Google’s bots around your site, and also building credibility for it. If your site has a good number of appropriate backlinks from other sites, especially credible/authority sites, then Google will pay attention to it and recognise that it is in association with the right industry (etc.)
Good link building practice includes:
Anchor text: the anchor text is the writing imbedded in the content that the link is attached to, so both Google and the user will know what the link and page is about.
Guest blog posts: you can guest post on other people’s blogs in order to gain traffic for yours, as more often than not, at the end of the post, they will link to your site on the author bio.
Organic links: hopefully your content is relevant and of a quality that encourages organic links from other sites (without you asking them to).
Linkable content: in order to get these organic links, you will need link-worthy content. This means accurate, informative, engaging, and easily linkable content. Include images, a catching title and share links.
Ask relevant people: ask people in your industry to link to your site on theirs, showing Google that you, too, are in that area of business.
Submit to industry directories: this will lead to your site being linked to on the right directories in the right industry where the right audience will be looking.
Navigable website
It will kill your search engine results if you have a poor website. If your site is unnavigable then not only will users be put off, but search engines will be, too. It is becoming important in search marketing for your website to focus on user experience above all else. This means no spammy ads, or keyword overload, or unnecessary pages, or poor content. Put the user first and make your site easy to understand and get around.
How do you do this?
Appropriate links to other pages on the site
A menu with keywords or appropriately named titles
Call to actions
Relevancy
Good page speeds
Mobile optimisation
Social media marketing
When optimising your search engine marketing, you can’t forget about social media. Social media marketing is a very popular method of online marketing, and it is also good for search engines. If you put your business on various social media platforms – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus, etc – then you are doing a few positive things in the way of marketing...
You are gaining credibility for your business, as you are showing you have more presence. You are able to gain links to your site, through sharing your site’s blog posts or putting the link to your site on your social media bios. Social media is a tool that allows for easy sharing and engagement, which is very good for search engines. And you are able to say to search engines that "this is who we are, and here’s the proof."
Metas
Don’t skip on the meta titles and meta descriptions for your content. These are displayed on the SERP on Google when someone makes a search. Not only does this help a user decide whether or not to click on the link to your site, but it also tells Google what that landing page is about. This will help Google to know where to place you, so a good meta title and meta description (try to use keywords, where appropriate) will help you to rank.
Measuring
Good search marketing will involve a lot of measuring. It is poor practice to make changes or put out content without taking a moment to analyse how you’re doing. This is through Google Analytics, social media analytics like Twitter Analytics, and more. Making use of the plethora of data given will help you to know what works and what doesn’t, and what search engines are liking. Then, you can go forward and make informed adjustments. Plus, Google is ever-changing, so analysis and alterations are crucial in order to keep up and keep ranking.
Landing pages
When linking to pages, sharing pages/posts, or creating a page, you will need to think about what the landing page is saying to the user upon entry. If the landing pages are inaccurate, uninformative or just plain poor, then you will see recurring bounce rates (where a user will leave the site without using it). If Google can see that a landing page doesn’t fit its descriptions or links, then it will see your site as not credible and therefore you won’t rank. Don’t “clickbait” by writing an engaging title that doesn’t fit the landing page or content. This is bad practice and will cause penalties. Instead, always think about what a user gains when they reach a landing page (user experience).
Content
Ultimately, your site will rank on the SERP if you have quality content. Simple as that. If your content is poorly written, riddled with keywords, includes block text, and is incorrect or rife with ads, however, then you are likely to loose your audience - and search engines, too.
Quality content encompasses:
Blog posts
Rich page content
A variety of content (videos, images, infographs and text)
Links
Keywords
Targeting
Call to actions
Meta titles and descriptions
Optimise content by producing blog posts that are user friendly, informative, relevant to your industry, engaging and rich in SEO. When using videos, be sure to use YouTube and place the link in your content. This is so that Google understands that they go together, and so that when someone is searching, your YouTube video will appear at the top of the SERP. Similarly, if your images are aptly named and include the right ALT tags, they will appear on the Google Images results page. This means that attention to relevant, diverse and quality content will lead to appreciation from search engines, and thus lead to rankings.
If you want to dominate the search engines, then you will need a helping hand from our experts at SEM Consultants. We have content writers, web designers, social media management and PPC management to help take you to the top of the SERP. For more information, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
### Online Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid
There are quite a lot of mistakes that businesses make on a regular basis when it comes to online marketing. However, these are all avoidable. We at SEM Consultants have devised a list of marketing mistakes that you can avoid in order to help your business do better and thrive. With our help, you can be getting a better ROI with every move you make. So, what marketing mistakes are you making…
Overloading your readers
Sometimes we worry so much about our readers forgetting us that we overload them with information. It is called spam when you are constantly hounding your audience with content like emails or blog posts or the like. This is a poor marketing strategy as they will start to distrust you and become annoyed by your content – no matter how good they actually think it is.
The same goes for your content; don’t put too much into one blog post or in your email marketing, otherwise the reader may be put-off by the amount of text or information. Instead, find a middle ground and tailor your content. Try not to exceed 1,500 words.
Not putting your audience first
When putting out content, remember that you are trying to engage with real people, not robots. When thinking about SEO, sometimes you forget to put the customer first, and instead write to suit Google’s algorithm. This is bad practice.
Remember to show personalisation in your work; speak human to human. Don’t constantly try to gain new users, you should also focus on keeping existing customers and maintaining a relationship with them. When your audience trusts you, they are more likely to come to you again and again and convert into customers. It is a good idea to engage with customers (or your audience in general) to show that you are a real person/business with personality. It will make them feel more comfortable with you and build a lasting relationship with your company.
Social media regularity
We all should know by now that social media marketing is a key part of our online marketing campaigns. However, poor or irregular use of social media can be unproductive for you. You should try to be regular with your social media strategy, posting frequently but without overloading your audience. You should vary your content and make use of links. If you post at the same times each week, this can help, too. Your audience will know to expect something from you at a set time this way (by using social media analytics, you can see the best time to post).
Also, the use of a social media scheduler or social media automation service can really help you to keep on top of things. Or, better yet, outsourcing to a professional social media manager, so they can do all the hard work for you.
Forgetting to actively market content
Sometimes when it comes to content marketing, you can focus too much on the content side, and not on the marketing side of things. It’s all well and good to produce excellent content, but if you aren’t marketing it, then what was the point? Not enough people will see it. You need to share the content, pay for promotion on it and actively ensure that it is seen and engaged with.
The same goes for your website. A brilliant website is a great start, but SEO won’t bring all the traffic that you need to your site. You need to market it, too, by sharing links to your site within your content or on social media, and invest in PPC management (Pay Per Click) to ensure your site is found. All these things need to be properly targeted, too. Don’t make the mistake of just sharing everything with everyone and paying out a large sum of money to target every demographic. Instead, target your content strategically.
Skipping on promos and offers
Everyone loves a good deal, so by not offering deals to your audience, you are losing out on potential conversions. Even if they don’t buy, a good deal can still raise interest in your site and encourage a click through. By offering promotions and exclusive offers, you make someone feel like they are getting such a good deal that they would be a fool to miss out on it. It’s better to get a small sale than none at all.
Unvaried content
Producing content that is the same every time, becomes very boring for your audience. They need something fresh and exciting. They need variety. This means a use of varied marketing strategies as well as a variety of content marketing. The use of blogging, social media, email marketing, paid marketing and more is the best way to reach more people, as well as spice things up. People like to know you’re there in a variety of ways.
Don’t write-off email marketing or blogging. They are both crucial elements of online marketing strategies. A blog is an excellent way to draw your target audience to your website and make use of SEO. Don’t skip out on gaining emails for specialised email marketing; and ensure you have a blogging section, as both are proven methods for gaining much more website traffic.
Not analysing data
It is imperative that you analyse any data in terms of marketing that you can. This means analysing website traffic through the use of Google Analytics. Analysing our social media strategies through Twitter Analytics, Facebook Insights, and Instagram Insights (etc). Through analysing the plethora of data provided, you can begin to understand your audience and what is working versus what is not. Then, you are in a better position to go forwards in an informed way that should produce more results. Without information, you can’t know what to do next for the better.
Poor website
A colossal marketing mistake to make is having a poor website. It is not excusable these days to have a poor site, as things like WordPress make it so easy to create one. Even better yet, you should invest in a professional web designer, because a bad website will mean little to no conversions and thousands of bounces. You need to ensure that your website is fast, easy to navigate and optimised for mobile use. Mobile optimisation may be the most important thing, for in this modern age, more people do most of their internet exploring on mobile.
Make sure your website is simple to follow, has a search bar and has aptly named menus and drop-downs. This will make it easier for your users, ensuring they don’t leave the site due to being confused about how to use it.
Poor use of SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an important part of your website and content marketing. This is basically communicating with Google to say "this is what we are" and "this is what we want to say to our audience". The use of keywords will help you to appear on the search results page in front of the right people who search for a phrase. By not implementing SEO into your site and content, you are missing out on ranking on Google and being seen.
On the other hand, though, don’t overdo it. This is called Black Hat SEO, when you overload your site with keywords. It is bad SEO practice and it could lead to a Google Penalty. You need to find a middle ground, where you accurately use keywords to enhance your ranking but don’t lose that human-touch. Remember that your audience are real people.
No call to actions
You audience needs to know what you want from them. They may find your content and enjoy it (whether they are on your site/blog or on social media etc) but they need to know what to do afterwards. This is a call to action. It includes things like “click here to find out how social media marketing can work for you,” with providing a link for them to click to go to another part of your site. Similarly, on social media you should provide links to your site with a casual, gentle call to action like, “browse our selection of shoes today to get your 5% off”. Lead them somewhere by providing an appropriate call to action.
No plans
When it comes to online marketing, you need a strategy. A plan. Goals. A budget. If you are just posting willy-nilly, without really thinking about the engagement and what it means for the business, then you will likely not do as well. Devise a list of goals and then plan how you aim to achieve them. Set aside a sensible budget, focusing on what you need to pay for and how it will help your goals.
Doing it alone
You shouldn’t try to do all of this alone. You will definitely fall short if you do. Hiring a professional marketing team or outsourcing jobs, like managing social media, can really take the load off and ensure every part of your online marketing strategy is done right. We at SEM Consultants can be the team that you look to in order to get the job done right and avoid these marketing mistakes.
### How to Use Twitter for Marketing Your Business
By now, everyone will have heard of Twitter – but did you know that it can be an excellent online marketing tool? Frequently using Twitter as a whole can take your business much further, and help to put your content in front of the right people. Your target audience can stroll through their Twitter feed, see your content, and engage with you and build a trust. This can then lead to a conversion and their custom. So, what does Twitter have to offer in the way of marketing your business? What does this social media network have that you can utilise in order to go further? And why is it important? Let’s find out…
Instant messages
With Twitter, you are able to relay a message instantly to millions of people who may be interested. Twitter provides the ability to make a short, snappy statement that conveys a message quickly to a society that has a short attention span. The speed of social media is what makes it so great, alongside the networking and community encouragement of it. You and your brand can find a space to engage with like-minded people and find the right audience. The simple use of a short, prompt Tweet can help you to achieve this.
Reputation through “word of mouth”
The youth these days use social media platforms like Twitter to “review” their experiences. Whether it’s a coffeeshop, restaurant, or other, people are known to take pictures of where they are or a product they’ve received and write something about it using either the relevant hashtags, or using the @such-and-such (the business’s name) to let people know where it came from. This is modern day “word of mouth” marketing, where people are talking about your business with their friends and followers. This is great for you and allows them to build a reputation for your business that you can also engage with.
News and updates about your business
You can use Twitter as a way to quickly update your audience about news in your business or your industry. This shows that you are actively involved in the community and care about sharing information with your audience. Instead of updating them on your website, you can do it much quicker and to a wider audience using Twitter.
Conversational promotions
Similar to updates, you can also share promotions with your followers. This is a great tool, as it encourages people to follow you in order to be notified about promotions that may be of use to them. Everyone loves a good deal, after all! However, be careful with this. No one wants to feel like they’re being bombarded with promotions, so much so they feel as though they are watching irritating TV ads. Instead, keep it friendly, conversational and persuasive in a real way – not a robotic, business style that doesn’t suit Twitter’s community.
Personality and brand building
Twitter is a great social media platform for building a brand. It gives you the space to connect with others in your industry, and be a part of the conversation. Your bio, tweets and engagement will say to your audience, “this is who we are, this is what we do, and this is how we can work for you.” This is crucial for any business, as a website alone isn’t enough to draw their attention, and let them know who you are and the values you encompass.
Credibility for your business
You should make sure that all your online platforms line-up with one another. Your Twitter, website, Facebook, Instagram, blog or other, should all try to have the same name or title, with similar bios and descriptions, too. This helps to build a reputation, brand and credibility. People will be able to find you more easily, too, and therefore are more likely to follow or engage across multiple platforms. Your logo, lingo and more will then show what your business’s brand is and how it differs in the industry. When people happen to find you, or search for you, they are more likely to trust you and your business if they can see a lot of activity from you in multiple places - and even better when others are talking about you, too.
Interaction with customers
Twitter, like other social media platforms, allows you to engage with your followers. You can tweet regularly, and start a conversation; or you can instant message your followers using Twitter’s Direct Messaging. Allowing your audience the space to speak directly with you can go a long way to gaining their trust and their custom.
Strong Twitter bio
As aforementioned, your Twitter bio (description of who you are) is really important. This is your introduction to the world, and therefore it needs to be apt, well-written and optimised. It needs to say what your business is, what your USP (unique selling point) is, what you’ve done that’s notable or unique, and include the right links to your website or another appropriate landing page. Don’t overfill it with useless nonsense, instead only include what is relevant and will make you stand out.
The use of keywords for SEO (search engine optimisation) could go a long way, too. When people are searching on Twitter or Google for “coffeeshops in Birmingham,” you will need to put this in your bio to help your account appear on the search results page.
Build relationships
Building relationships on social media is the central ideal to which these platforms were made in the first place. Twitter is a good platform to help you build relationships with potential customers, gaining their trust. If you engage with content in the industry, connect with the right people and engage with them, too, you will see that they begin to trust you with certain topics and end up coming to you time and time again. When you’ve done this, they will then seek your business out for your products or services too. This is a simple, effective social media marketing tool that involves no promotion, just a conversation or two.
Tweet regularly
You can’t allow your followers to forget you’re there. This is why you need to tweet regularly – not once a month, or once a week, but multiple times a week. Most people on Twitter will tweet more than once a day, and if you’re able, this could be beneficial to you, too. Sites like Hootsuite can help you to schedule your tweets, so that you can keep on top of things.
Engage; retweet, comment, favourite
It’s not enough to just tweet on Twitter. Instead, you need to show people that you are engaging with their content, too. This will then, in turn, make them aware of you, but also show that you’re not out to just shove your business in people’s face – which isn’t appreciated on Twitter. You can easily engage through the use of retweeting (sharing) other people’s tweets; commenting on their tweets, starting a conversation; or simply favouriting their tweet, to show that you like their content, thus drawing their attention to you.
Hashtag etiquette
Hashtags on Twitter can go a long way in bringing the right people to you. The use of hashtags in your tweets will draw the right people’s attention to your tweets, for users will follow a hashtag at times due to their interest in that kind of content. Therefore, the right hashtags for your industry will be beneficial to you and your content on Twitter. However, it is poor hashtag etiquette to overuse them or use popular ones just so that your tweet will be more popular, when in fact the hashtag has nothing to do with your tweet or your business.
Images and videos
The use of visual content on Twitter, such as images and videos, goes a long way in grabbing your audience’s attention. People are easily drawn to an image, and sometimes a picture can say a thousand words. Therefore, you can’t skip out on your visual content. They are an easy way to keep your content fresh and intriguing, ensuring that your audience comes to you again and again.
Links to articles
It is ever so important to share content from your website or blog on your Twitter feed. Good social media marketing always includes sharing links to articles on your Twitter, whether it’s your content or other content that’s relevant to your business. Twitter doesn’t allow you to ramble on, due to the character limitations, and that’s why the use of links can be handy. Accompany the links with a colloquial but appropriate message and the right hashtags and you’ll be on to a winner.
Twitter analytics
Lastly, you must make use of Twitter’s analytics – in order to know how your tweets are doing and what your user engagement is like(etc.) This kind of feedback can work wonders and any Twitter marketing expert knows that you need to analyse how your content is doing, then adapt and change where needs be. If you are constantly putting out content on Twitter, but you have no idea how people are interacting with it, how are you to move forwards and know what your customer wants? A good business person will regularly check Twitter analytics, and adjust accordingly in order to produce effective Twitter marketing results.
If you want to make your business more successful, and draw in more website traffic, then Twitter can be an excellent marketing tool. Twitter marketing is very much about socialising with your target audience and establishing a brand, a voice and a style. Use Twitter to share your other content, too, and engage with people in the same industry. Twitter marketing is a key part of any social media marketing strategy, so why not speak with us at SEM Consultants, where we have a great social media manager who can keep on top of things for you.
### How to Optimise your Google Shopping Feed
If you are selling products on your site, then it will really help your conversions to ensure your products are optimised for Google shopping in your Google AdWords or Google Merchant Centre. Google shopping is dedicated to products related to a specific search term. For example, if you type in “black coat” on Google, a number of related products will appear at the top of the search results page that are listed in Google shopping.
Google shopping is powered by Google AdWords and Google Merchant Centre. Your product listing’s ads will only show up on the Google shopping search results when Google recognises that it is suitable. Google will use the product feed, your site and your bids to determine which search queries should bring up your ads.
It can be really useful for your sales if your products appear in the Google shopping section, as it adds credibility to your merchandise and brings your items to the front of the line. But how do you ensure your products appear on Google shopping? How do you optimise your Google shopping feed? Here’s a few ideas for your Google shopping campaign…
Title optimisation & structure
It is proven that a good, working title will help increase the likelihood of sales. If you skip-out and use a poor, non-specific title, then it will not encourage a conversion. This means that titles like “black coat” are much too vague to help you appear on the Google shopping results. Instead, the use of SEO (search engine optimisation) through keywords and search terms is best for your title.
Google suggests that our titles should include the brand, product name and basic product features like model, colour and size. This is the best way to specify what your product is and therefore help it to appear on Google shopping, in front of the right customers.
It is encouraged that you lead with the brand (if appropriate and significant), followed by colour, size, style or application. How best to structure your title will depend on the qualities of the product and what is most important about it. Remember, put the key points first in the title. Go for more rather than less, too, as long as it is specific and relevant.
Price
The price of your product will affect how it appears on Google shopping and whether or not a potential customer will click on the ad. We all like a bargain, so the right price (not too cheap, nor too expensive) is key to conversions. Plus, you need to be smart with bids versus profit through sales etc.
Images
Potential customers are swayed by the images shown of a product. They aren’t likely to click on a product ad that is of poor quality or doesn’t fit the description (etc.) Instead, it is in your best interest to invest in quality, appropriate images. You’ll need more than one image, too, as this really helps a customer know what the product is really like; for example, seeing the product from all angles, or on a model.
The images shouldn’t feature any logos or promotional messages across it, as Google will see these as spam products and therefore is less likely to list your item on Google shopping feeds.
Sales and promotions
Every one of us loves a good bargain, and so you should remember this when it comes to your customers. List sales and promo codes often to keep them intrigued and have them more likely to click through to your site.
Keywords and search terms
As aforementioned, it is best to use keywords in your title, but it is important to use it in your descriptions, too. Your product listing will benefit from search terms being included in the Ad description. These keywords communicate to Google as well as your audience that your product is such-and-such. You want to opt for appropriate, relevant and high-in-search-volume keywords/terms. Think about what your product actually is and what makes it unique to a customer.
The descriptions won’t likely be seen by anyone other than Google, but it helps to show that your product fits a certain specification and search term. Words that you couldn’t fit in the title can work in your description (possibly). The description may not be the most important part of the process, but it can’t hurt to ensure that it too is optimised.
Categories
It gives Google a helping hand (and in turn yourself a hand) if you categorise your products well. It helps to define the product and help your target audience to find it. Although some believe this won’t affect clicks that significantly, again, it can’t hurt to give yourself the best chances, by optimising your Google shopping feed as much as possible.
GTIN
Without a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) Google is likely to reject your product and therefore it has no chance of appearing on Google Shopping. Therefore, ensure your item has a GTIN, to give it credibility and help Google recognise what it is.
We at SEM Consultants are AdWords professionals and seasoned search engine optimisation experts. These are but a few ways to optimise your Google shopping feed, but as time changes, so does Google; therefore you will need to keep up. With our help, you and your products can go much further. Click here fore more on how we can help you with your Ads.
### Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
There are a lot of people who think that the most important thing about content marketing is simply putting out content regularly – and sometimes at the expense of quality. This is a big mistake and there are many more that people are making without even realising it. Don’t fear, though, because we at SEM Consultants want to help you do better and take your content further, so here is a list of content mistakes to avoid.
Poor grammar and punctuation
Writing content that is subpar is not OK. You are putting out a message to the world that says “unprofessional”, “rushed”, “unintelligent”. These aren’t things that you want your audience to think about you. It’s OK to not have the perfect written skills, but lack or proofreading or investing in a professional writer can be a big content mistake.
Writing about irrelevant things
It is a mistake to post content that has nothing to do with your business. Just because something is popular or trending, doesn’t mean you need to talk about it. It will seem like a cheap ploy to get people to your site when really you never usually talk about that topic. Stick to what’s relevant and beneficial to your target audience, otherwise not only is it a waste of their time, but it’s a waste of yours, too.
Irregular posts
People like consistency. They like to know that every Monday and Thursday they will be receiving new content from you. This will bring them in regularly, and give some routine to your schedule – which goes a long way. Irregular posting means people won’t look for your content as much, and you will look like you have no strategy. Plus, you will lose their attention if you post consistently, then leave a big gap, then post again. Do yourself a favour and post at a set time, instead, encouraging your audience to anticipate your content. You could schedule posts in advance to ensure you adhere to a schedule that suits all.
Boring your audience
If you find that people aren’t finding you, or clicking on your posts, or liking them, or sharing them, or whatever have you, then there might be a chance that your content isn’t interesting to them. Not everyone will be interested in your content, but the right people might not be draw to your content because it is too dull.
Taking some time to think of interesting, engaging, insightful content will go further than simply putting out bad content again and again. You should vary your content, too, with visual content mixed in with written content. You can use images, infographics, videos, memes and more to convey a message and draw in your audience instead of simply using articles that feel very “same old, same old.”
Personal gain over audience
Having the mindset of “the sale over useful content” is very counterproductive. Your audience isn’t stupid, they can tell when they are being coaxed into a sale rather than receiving useful content. Give them what they need, and they will trust you enough to seek your business, don’t attract them purely for your gain at the expense of good content marketing.
Poor use of SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is key to any content marketing strategy. If you aren’t ensuring your content is SEO rich, then you will continue to fall short. SEO helps to put your site on Google’s map, encouraging it to rank in organic search on Google search results page. This means that more people will be able to find your content and therefore bring traffic to your website and sales to your business (potentially).
On the other side of things, don’t go crazy with your SEO by overloading your content with keywords and phrases that you want to rank for. This is called Black Hat SEO and it can damage your site and cause a Google Penalty. Therefore, you should find that healthy middle-ground.
Writing without real purpose
If your heart isn’t in what your writing, you audience will be able to tell. If you are writing something just to write it, it will come off dull, poor, and pointless. Instead, you should have a real content strategy that produces real results. Write with purpose. Write with a goal in mind. For example, “this article is to educate my audience on ______” or “this article is highlighting what we have on offer this season” and so on. Give your content some purpose.
Not sharing it
A big mistake that many people make is putting out quality content, but not sharing it across any social media channels. Even if your content is riddled with SEO, and does bring in an audience, it will always go a long way to share it further so that it reaches even more people and is even more likely to rank on Google. There is not harm in quickly sharing your blog post (for example) on things like Twitter and Facebook, too, and bringing it onto your audience’s news feeds.
If you avoid these content mistakes, you will start to see a shift in your website traffic and audience engagement. Don’t sell-out or rush, take time to get your content strategy up to scratch and soaring. We at SEM Consultants can help, too, so browse here for more.
### How to Use Google Analytics for Your Site
Do you think you are optimising your use of social media, website creation, and web content updates? Do you feel like your content is up to scratch and doing its job in bringing in website traffic? Well, how can you really know for sure? Without checking over the analytics of your site, you can’t truly know whether your content is working or not.
With the use of Google Analytics, you can find a wealth of information to help you better understand who’s visiting your site and what they’re doing there. This information can then highlight what is in need of change. But how do you use it? What is the information telling you and why does it matter? Let’s find out…
Sessions
It’s not enough to just know how many visitors are reaching your site, because this number could give false impressions – visitors to the site doesn’t mean that they actually engaged with it. What you need to know is how many people visited the site, stayed, and used it in some way. If the number is low, you know that your site is seriously lacking in something a visitor wants or needs. Google Analytics is great in giving these figures, and you can even adjust the time period that you wish to analyse.
Bounce Rates
Bounce rates show the amount of people who came to the site and instantly left again. This means that the person landed on a site page, but didn’t engage with it in any way before clicking off the site again. Google Analytics gives you this information so that you can know that something is making people find you, but what they find isn’t eye-catching, engaging, or worth their time.
If you have a high percentage of bounce rates on Google Analytics each month, you have a problem and need to make site changes right away.
Page Views
Page views on Google Analytics means the total number of views of the pages on your site (including repeated views). Again, if your page views during a monthly period are low, you will know that your content isn’t organically pulling people to the right pages. Your pages need to be rich in SEO (search engine optimisation) in order to get the best results from your website.
Mobile
In this day and age, a site can’t afford NOT to be mobile friendly. This means that your website should be able to work well on mobile, desktop and tablets. If not, this could be why you are losing visitors. Using Google Analytics, you can see what you audience is doing in regards to mobile, tablet and desktop.
Google Analytics will show you which device is bringing the most sessions, new users, bounce rates, longest session durations, and conversions. This insight will then let you know whether your mobile site needs work, or whether your audience prefers a certain device (etc).
Session Duration
You can use Google Analytics to find out how long people are on your site. This is vital information because if this number is consistently low month on month, that means people aren’t finding anything of use on your site. They are landing, but not converting or finding any relevant information to then. This means a site rewrite or remake will go a long way.
Goal Completions
Goal completions on Google Analytics are the total number of conversions. This is whether people are filling out forms, signing up, or clicking through to contact forms etc. When potential customers convert this way, you are getting their interest and hopefully their custom. Therefore, keeping an eye on goal completions will really help you to know if your site and its content is drawing your audience in enough.
Landing Pages
The landing pages are the pages that a visitor “lands on” when they click a link through to your site. The landing pages section on Google Analytics shows you which pages are doing a good job of bringing people to your site, and how people are then engaging with that page. It shows how many sessions that page has had, new users, bounce rates, session durations and conversions rates along with goal completions. This information is brilliant as it gives a real insight into what pages are bringing people in.
Demographic
Lastly, it can be really useful to know who is visiting your site and whether or not they are the people you actually intended to target. Your website’s target audience may be missing your content due to poor targeting, which would be the reason why your site gets so many bounce rates, too – the wrong people are landing and not wanting to go any further. Google Analytics will tell you the age and gender of your visitors, and you can then determine whether this is best for you.
There is plenty more information available to you on Google Analytics, these have been but a select few. When you are a skilled and expert user of Google Analytics, like we are at SEM Consultants, this information is easy to digest, analyse, and gain insight from. We use Google Analytics to ensure our clients are progressing in various ways and that we know what is working and what is not. Use Google Analytics today, in order to get the most out of your site and your business.
### How to Recover a Facebook Business Page
If you have a Facebook Page that is inactive, and has been for some time, but you wish to retrieve it, we at SEM Consultants can help. With a Facebook Business Page, you can reach your audience in the appropriate space, knowing that those who see the content are people who are actually interested and likely to convert into customers. However, some people make Facebook pages and leave them dormant. And Facebook doesn’t like this! If you finally want to give your Facebook Business Page your all, but you have found that you’ve lost access to it, don’t worry – it can be recovered.
This process can be quite arduous, though, which is why it is beneficial to get a professional to do it for you. Failure to follow the appropriate steps can mean a failed recovery and lost access. Therefore, our social media manager is here to help you. Below is a guide to how your Facebook business page can be recovered…
STEP ONE: Speak to a Facebook rep using their Facebook chat
A team member of Facebook will be able to speak to you about the issues you are facing with your account. They will then be able to determine what the best course of action will be, and guide you through it.
STEP TWO: You can use their https://www.facebook.com/business/resources page for more information
This page provides you with a variety of information that will help you along the way, and help you find others who have experienced a similar problem.
STEP THREE: Send a link to your Facebook Business Page
The Facebook rep that you speak to is going to need to see your page in order to assess the situation. If they can see that the administration is lost for your Facebook page, then they will advise you on what to do next.
STEP FOUR: Potential course of action
There are a few ways that Facebook may be able to grant you access again. The likely course of action will be a long one, though. This is to file a disputed admin case. This is Facebook’s way of determining who you are, what your relationship to the Facebook page is, and whether it is in fact yours to admin.
STEP FIVE: Gather the documentation
Below is a guideline sent by a Facebook rep, with regards to the documents you will need to send to them in order to open the disputed admin case:
A copy of a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a current driver's license or a passport, of the individual signing the statement. See the different kinds of IDs we accept in the Help Center: https://www.facebook.com/help/159096464162185?ref=cr
A notarized and signed statement from a person with sufficient knowledge and authority over this matter that includes all of the following:
A description of your relationship to the Page (and authority to request a change in the person(s) who manage the Page, as applicable);
The name of the current person(s) who manage the Page, as applicable;
The relationship of the above person(s) to the Page;
An explanation of your request, and whether there has been a termination of the employment and/or business relationship with the named person(s), as applicable;
All documentation supporting your request including death certificate OR including a declaration from legal counsel on transfer of Page ownership rights];
The Facebook account or email address associated with the Facebook account (or Timeline) that you wish to have added as the new admin of the Page; and
A declaration under penalty of perjury that the information you have provided is true and accurate (your statement must include this language).
Once you have provided this information, we may follow up with additional requests for information or documentation to evaluate your request. Providing the requested information does not guarantee that we will be able to fulfil your request. Keep in mind that if we are able to process your request, only one admin will be added to the Page, and it will be the admin's responsibility to take action and manage the people who work on the Page.
Please understand that if we do not receive a notarized statement with all of the requested information we will consider the matter closed.
Finally, if the statement is not notarized and/or does not contain a declaration under penalty of perjury attesting to its truth and accuracy, we will not be able to proceed.
And from there, it is in Facebook’s hands, but you should regain access to your Facebook Business Page in no time.
PLEASE NOTE: The email address you provide Facebook with in the statement should have a Facebook account set-up, as this is the page Facebook will be adding the admin to, (if there isn’t – just set a new Facebook account using that email address before sending all the information over to Facebook, or it will take longer).
For more information about social media, click here. Alternatively, contact our team online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out more. Good luck!
### How to Set Up a PPC Campaign with Google AdWords
Is your business suffering some dry-spells in regards to website traffic or online sales? Do you get frustrated because your competitors seem to be getting all your customers, whilst you continue to go unnoticed? Well, if so, you have probably come across the giant that is Google AdWords. Google AdWords helps a business to appear at the top of Google’s search results page when a certain keyword or phrase is searched for. This means that you are right where you want to be – in front of the right customers.
But how does it work? How do you set up an effective PPC campaign with Google AdWords? Here at SEM Consultants, we have a list of things to help get you started, and get you earning again – tenfold…
Find Your Keywords
Google AdWords is, of course, centred around the focused use of keywords. When a customer is searching for your business, they will Google certain words or phrases, and it is in your best interest to ensure your webpage(s) appear at the top when those customers search for products or services that you provide.
For example, they may search for “shipping companies in Birmingham”. If you are a shipping company in Birmingham, then you will want to appear on the Google search results page, right? Well, a lot of companies won’t, even if they fit the description, because the competition is just too fierce. With Google AdWords, however, you can ensure you are right there at the top with a paid Ad. Your Ad will detail what you have to offer and entice a click.
Before all of that, though, you will need to gather the right keywords. What do you sell? What can you provide? What do people search for? You will need to know the answers to these questions so that you can use effective keywords and phrases as Ad Words and bid for them. Other competitors may bid for the same words and phrases, but with a keen eye, the right focus and continuous adjustments, a professional AdWords Account Manager can ensure this isn’t a problem.
Set a Budget
If you have a good list of focused keywords that you would like to bid for, you will then need to know how much you are willing to spend a day. When your Ad is clicked, you will pay. This is the Pay-Per Click (PPC) part of the AdWords campaign. Bidding for keywords will not be the only thing you have to do. This means you will need a realistic daily budget, and know that what you put in, you get out.
Write your Ad
Once you have a budget and the keywords, you will need to write your Ads. These are important because they can mean the difference between an Ad click, and a lost customer. The Ad copy should be succinct, informative, human-friendly and relevant. Anything otherwise will only confuse, bore or trick a customer, meaning a lost sale. The Ad Copy is what appears underneath your Ad (appearing as a meta description and meta title).
Know Your USP
Knowing your business is, of course, the best way to market your business. You will need to know what makes your business stand out. What is your Unique Selling Point? This will be key in defining what can help you beat your competitors and what you might be able to focus on in your Ad copy.
Know Your Customers
Knowing what you customers want; knowing what they search for is so crucial to success. This will determine who they are, what they want, how they want it and where they can get it. If you can provide all of that, then you’re on to a win. However, you need to be able to show your customers that you can provide that. It’s all well and good to be an excellent company, but if no one can find you, it’s pointless. Track and use the data that shows you how your target audience behaves, and then you can start to focus an effective AdWords campaign.
Correct Landing Pages
Once an Ad is clicked on, you will need to ensure it directs your customers to the right landing page. Is it relevant? Is it informative? Will it keep your customer on the page, or scare them off? It’s great to have an effective PPC campaign with AdWords, but if your customers are landing on a poor webpage, then they are likely to leave.
Accurate Location Targeting
Targeting your Ads to only appear for the right demographic is an effective use of your PPC campaign. If it appears in front of anyone and everyone, then it will only cost you more money and be less effective. It is better to focus you AdWords campaign to the right customers who actually have reason to click your Ad and desire your custom.
Use Google Analytics
Once you’re up and running, you will need to watch the analytics to see if it is working. If not, adjustments will need to be made. If so, you will still benefit from seeing what is working and how you can make it work even better! Google Analytics helps you to see how your Ads and PPC campaign is doing.
But setting up your PPC campaign is the easy part. The hard part is maintaining and adjusting your account so that you always gain from it, and don’t lose money. This can be a very time-consuming task, which is why investing in a dedicated, professional AdWords Account Manager can go a long way for you. Luckily for you, we at SEM Consultants have dedicated PPC Account Managers ready and willing to do all the heavy lifting so you don’t have to. We will monitor, adjust and care for your PPC campaign, to ensure you keep making money.
“Together, we’ve got this!”
### The Importance of Visual Content Marketing
Words are great; we use them everyday to express ourselves. In this modern age, however, you are able to convey a message with a lot more than just words or text online. From emojis and memes to videos and infographics, there is a multitude of ways to express ourselves, and they often work a lot better than written text.
Moving with the times is even more important if you are a business. Good online marketing means you need to be able to convey a message to your target audience through a variety of means. Content marketing is something that every business should concern themselves with, and by making a few changes and additions, it will help to raise engagement with more people.
It isn’t as hard as you may think to use quality images and videos in your content marketing campaign. Video content marketing, when done correctly, can be so powerful. You can use how-to-videos, animations, explanations or even a vlog (video blog) for your video content marketing, and your target audience will engage.
Still not convinced that it’s worth your time? Well, check out these reasons why visual content marketing is so important.
Sharing
It is easier to share an image or video than a whole article. It allows for more social media platforms, like Instagram or Twitter, to share it - where a person can consume the content quickly rather than having to click a link and be directed elsewhere. Providing easily shareable visual content will take your traffic to new heights, because it is simply easier to share and therefore likely to "go viral".
Time
No one has “enough time” anymore. They will take one look at a long article and change webpage. It has been proven that our attention span has become shorter and shorter over the years, meaning a large amount of text and time-consuming content, will result in less interest. Instead, if you vary your content, where possible, and make use of visual content, a person who is hard-up for time can still get the information from you in an easily consumable way. Plus, it may save you time to make use of video content marketing, because recording a quick 2-minute video is a lot easier than writing a long article.
Younger Generation
The younger generation have been raised on technology, so they are accustom to fast-action and image-driven content. They want a certain thing, so if you aim to attract their attention, you will definitely need to make real use of visual content marketing for your content strategy. Animated things like gifs or video go a long way with a younger audience, too, so if you can work it into your visual content, you are on to a winner.
If you have articles that do require text, though, don’t worry. You should still use images to break down the article and offer a more consumable structure that looks less intimidating. It's just good strategy.
Emphasis
Sometimes, something as simple as an image or two can help to emphasize your point. It can be beneficial for you to provide written content as well as information in video form, as it will give your audience a choice of how to get the material they need. Plus, a fun or insightful image can add that emphasis to your content strategy and your initial point. Back yourself up with evidence that's simple and visual.
Understanding
Sometimes, writing an article may not be enough to deliver a message in your content marketing. Infographics are an excellent way to aid understanding in a simpler, visual way. It encompasses facts, figures and images to demonstrate how something works. They’re colourful, focused and you should use the perfect font to correctly convey the message in a fun but educational way. Some people are simply visual learners, and so they will need this kind of visual content in order to understand and engage with your content.
Variety
People are bored easily. Consistently consuming the same long, text-based content from you will soon become a bit dry. Good visual content marketing can really boost interest by offering that variety within your posts or your site as a whole. The use of visual content will show you are human and not just a business-focused robot who is trying to sell, sell, sell all the time.
You can add variety your content strategy by using any of the following:
Infographics
Gifs
Memes
Illustrations
Presentations
Images
Videos
Slideshows
Screenshots
Now do you see how using something as simple and fun as visual content marketing can really change your user engagement? Your business will see the difference when people are coming to you time and time again for good, inviting content. For more on good content and how we can help, click here.
### How to Advertise on Facebook
Facebook is such a giant that there isn’t a person out there who hasn’t heard of it. Better yet, most of us have (or have had) a Facebook account. For this very reason, it is in your best interest to utilise Facebook marketing to your advantage. It will be a means of reaching millions of people with your business. Facebook’s algorithm will help the right people to find you, and using its tools, you can manipulate your posts or pages to appear in front of your target audience. So, what magic does Facebook marketing have? How can you best use it? Well, let’s find out…
Facebook Pages
Facebook pages are often used by businesses as a way of putting out their brand. You can create a Facebook business page, which will detail who you are, what you do, how a person can get in contact with you, and be a platform for Facebook posts relevant to your brand.
When Facebook users “Like” your Facebook business page, they are opting in to your posts. They will see your posts on their Feed, and can then like and comment and share further – which in itself is added marketing for you. However, getting a following can be difficult. You would have to promote your Facebook page, which will cost you per day, although it is definitely beneficial to some.
With a Facebook page, you will benefit from:
Having a Facebook following – and potential customers constantly seeing your news and updates
Having more credibility to potential customers
People getting to see who you (your business) are in a less professional setting
Being able to put out consistent, relevant content
Gaining engagement from Facebook followers
In order to use Facebook pages effectively, you will need to ensure your profile, about section and posts are up to a professional standard. Our social media marketing manager can help you with that.
Facebook Ads
Facebook advertising is now a very popular and powerful method of online marketing. Therefore, not taking advantage of Facebook advertising would be a huge missed opportunity on your part. You can use Facebook ads to bring your content right to the forefront of a potential customer’s feed. Content of interest will pop up on their feed, inviting them to act on a call-to-action (likes, follow, offers, sales etc.)
How it works:
You pay for the Facebook ads
You select who you want the ad to appear in front of – by location, age, interests, everything!
You select how long you wish the ad to run
The ad will be promoting a Facebook page, post, offer, or website etc., which you will create yourself
The only downside is Facebook ads can end up costing quite a lot if it’s not used correctly. You would be better off with a professional who knows how and when to best use Facebook ads, and target the best people in order to actually achieve something substantial from the ad. Facebook ads can target precisely the right audience when used properly, and the right customers means you are getting a real return on investment.
Facebook Promoted Posts
When you post something on your Facebook business page, you may wish to promote the post as well. Facebook boosted posts, or Facebook promoted posts, will get significantly more views than one that isn’t boosted, as it ensures your followers see it, as well as their friends who may not follow you. This will then give way to more views, Facebook likes and follows – and perhaps even sales if you link it to your website with a call-to-action.
There is no point wasting time on posts that no one is seeing, therefore it may be in your best interest to promote Facebook posts – at least until you get a big following and social media presence.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are slightly different but can be great for some businesses. They are a means of directly getting your content to a certain group of people. This will be a closed group that has people interested in your particular brand or service (etc.) and they can engage with your content and discuss ideas. This can be brilliant for putting out specific content and delivering offers straight to people who you know will be interested.
However, this can be very time consuming.
Facebook Contests
You may not be aware, but you can actually host contests and promotions on Facebook. Facebook promotions are fantastic ways to gain intrigue from potential customers. Everyone loves a bargain, or something that is exclusive to them, and so Facebook contests go a long way. If done correctly, you can use call-to-actions tied to the contest in order to gain followers or likes. For example, you could say “like this page to be in with a chance to win _______”. From this, your Facebook contest is ensuring your following is boosted. However, these contests can not be hosted on Facebook itself, you will have to use third party sites or apps.
Our social media manager is used to hosting Facebook promotions, among other things, so you can be sure she will get you the results you desire.
Remember that marketing is a key part of business, and in this modern age, things like Facebook advertising just can’t be forgotten when it comes to online marketing. Therefore, our social media marketing manager will be happy to help get your business thriving on Facebook.
### HOW WEBSITE PAGE SPEED MIGHT BE KILLING YOUR CONVERSIONS!
Page speed is becoming an increasingly important factor that ought to be taken into consideration during the process of any website build, no matter how big or small the website may be.
Page speed is the length of time it takes for a specific web page to fully load and it can be affected by a vast number of matters, such as hosting, website design or the coding, to name a few. But you have already managed to get the user onto your website, so this doesn't really matter, right? …WRONG!
Websites with a faster page speed have significantly higher chances of completed conversions, for two reasons. The first reason being users are more likely to abandon a slow website, and the second reason is Google and other search engines will also reprimand and penalise slow websites.
Google and other search engines such as Bing are now starting to make your websites page speed a ranking factor, as they understand the importance this has on quality user experience. They analyse your website and compare it against your competitors on a particular segments. If yours is the fastest, you will be rewarded. If your competitors continually prove themselves to have a much faster website, it will gradually begin to afflict many aspects of your SEO campaign.
Whilst page speed is important for Google rankings and SEO, we believe user experience is of much higher importance. You need to provide your website visitors with most pleasant user experience possible and in doing so you naturally increase your chances of a conversion and customer retention.
In a number of surveys carried out by Akamai and Gomez.com, they discovered that 79% of web shoppers who have trouble with a websites performance will not return to complete another purchase and 44% would then tell a friend if they had issues with a website.
Much to our shock, we also discovered from findings in the survey that almost 50% of web users expect a website to fully load in just TWO seconds and would abandon a site that hadn’t loaded in only THREE seconds!!
Don’t give your users the chance to leave before they can see how great you are!
In the busy world we live in now, if people want something, they want it now and you could be flushing lots of potential sales or conversions down the drain just for the sake of one second. Not only are you losing conversions from users currently on your website, word of mouth is a powerful tool so that loss could well be magnified to their friends, family and colleagues.
So, how do you check your page load speed?
There are many web testing tools out there for you to try. However, SEM Consultants believe we get the most accurate and true to life site speed results from Google PageSpeed Tools.
PageSpeed Insights, a subsector of PageSpeed Tools, is a free Google tool that analyses your page speeds and provides you with a fully listed breakdown of the factors it believes are affecting your website and causing diminished page speeds.
Pingdom Website Speed Test similarly analyses the load speeds of your site and offers helpful information on what could be the root causes for your slow speeds.
Web Page Test has a slightly different feature that allows you to select a location where you would like to test your website and also the specific browser which you would like to load your site. This is great for website optimisation in different locations and on various devices.
What factors could be hindering your page loading speed?
The true list of factors that can affect the loading speed of your website is extensive. Therefore, we have listed a few of the most common influences we stumble across when working to improve our client’s website speeds.
YOUR HOSTING: When it comes to, hosting you really get what your pay for. Although you might find a bargain deal, bad hosting really can wreak havoc on your website speeds.
LARGE IMAGES: Although large images might look nice on your website, they will undoubtedly have a knock on affect to your site speed which will be detrimental in the long run. The same can be said for averagely sized imaged that haven’t been compressed.
YOUR THEME: Having a ready-made theme might save you or your developer a lot of time, however they contain a lot of coding and are commonly slow to load. It IS possible to have a website with aesthetically pleasing design and still fast loading speeds!
TOO MANY ADS: A website with TOO many ads will result in slow webpage speeds, but they will also become an annoyance and nuisance to the user. Don’t go overboard!
EXTERNAL MEDIA: External embedded media is seriously damaging to how fast your website loads, but at SEM we are also fully aware how valuable external media can be! To keep loading times to a minimum, make sure to host external videos on your server.
Websites with fast loading speeds provide a high-quality user experience and a good user experience leads to higher conversions. It’s that simple.
SEM Consultants have a talented team of web experts that know the precise ways to shoot your website up to speed, literally. So get in touch today on 0121 552 6500 to see how we can help you. Be quick!
### What You Need to Know About Google Penalty Removal
Some website owners are hit with Google Penalties without even knowing it. Others know that it has happened, but feel powerless against it. Well, we’re here to say that you are not powerless. With help from SEM Consultants, you can remove the Google Penalty and get on with making money and reeling in website traffic. But what is a Google Penalty anyway? What does it mean for you? Why have you got one? And what can be done to remove a Google Penalty? Here’s your answers…
What is a Google Penalty?
Put simply, a Google Penalty is a very bad slap on the wrist from Google, because your site is riddled with things outside of Google’s guidelines and what’s considered “user-friendly” content. Most people these days make use of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to increase organic search results, but “Black Hat SEO” is when these have been overused.
The Google Penalty will cause traffic to your site to decrease and it will drastically affect your Google rankings. This is where the Google recovery stage comes in, because without it, your site will continue to suffer – as it is seen as poor in Google’s eyes.
Why was your site hit with a penalty?
There could be a few reasons why your site was targeted. It would either be from a Manual Review or changes to Google’s Algorithm. You will need to understand the difference between these before moving forwards.
Manual Reviews:
When a human reviewer finds something distasteful about your site
It will appear on Google Webmaster Tools
Your site doesn’t follow Google’s Guidelines
Could be down to: Hacked Site; Spam: Redirects: Keyword Overuse; Hidden Text; Poor Content; Unnatural Links; Freehosts
Mainly due to content or link issues
Link-based issues: sites have too many links to yours; links from bad sites; links that are irrelevant; links added right before the Google algorithm update
Content-based issues: poor content; slow website; lack of mobile optimisation; duplicated content
Google’s Algorithm Changes:
This is when Google has an update to its algorithm that your site no longer suits
Characterised by a drop in Google rankings
Check when the update was done and when your site’s traffic dropped to determine which update affected you
Google Panda and Google Penguin updates are usually the culprits
Google Panda Updates would mean content, ads or the layout are at fault
Google Penguin Updates would mean overuse or poor links
How can we remove a google penalty?
Luckily for you, we at SEM Consultants have expert knowledge in Google Recovery. We can survey your site, find the problem using Google’s tools, and make the necessary amendments. We keep up to date on the Google algorithms and their changes. We have content writers and link building experts who know how to properly use SEO and recognise when it’s an issue. We use Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Google Algorithm Change History, Majestic, and Google’s Disavow Tool to complete the penalty removal process.
It is in your best interest to sort out a Google Penalty as soon as it hits. You’re only going to lose money when Google isn’t on your side. With our help, however, we can save you time and money by sorting the issue out for you. We will remove the penalty and get you going again in no time. When you know how, like we do, it’s a piece of cake – so leave it to us. Visit our Google Penalty Removal page for more information on how we can sort it out.
### Key Pages Every Good Website Should Have
When creating a website, or better yet investing in professional web design, you should ensure that the following web pages are included. These pages are not only basic website necessities, but they are also crucial for business and search engine optimisation. Search engine marketing should be at the forefront of your plans for your web design. Your website is the key part of your online presence, and so you can’t cut any corners. Instead, if you implement these key web pages, then you are off to a great start for your web design.
Landing Page
This is the page that the visitor sees first when finding your website. Also known as the home page, the landing page can be a variety of things but it is in your best interest to ensure it features some key elements. If you lose their interest from the first page, it’s safe to assume that you will also lose their business.
Right from the start, it should be obvious what your business is and why you are relevant to this potential customer/client. Therefore, your company logo and tagline should be featured here. Your site needs to be navigable and show how a person can get into contact with you. Whether this is a phone number or social media links or a form to fill out, you need a call-to-action on the first page to encourage their engagement.
There should be some information about the business on the landing page, so that people know who you are – it’s your introduction to customers. They should know what makes you special; what your unique selling point might be. And it will also be an opportunity for added SEO.
Information Page(s)
These are the most important pages on the site, as they will have all the information about your services. Your kind of business will determine what your information pages should consist of. You will need a navigation bar or menu for these pages so that people can navigate your site effectively.
The information pages should describe what you do, how and why. If you sell goods (products), then you will need to set them out on your site, or at least describe what you sell in detail. If you offer services, then you need to really communicate that service to your audience using your website, in order to inspire a query. There should be a lot of appropriate audience-focused content, which is rich in SEO. The products on your site need to be well described and use the appropriate search terms. Featuring a variety of content – written, images, videos – on your site will work in your favour, as your website will be more user friendly and interesting, not to mention easier to digest.
About Us
The ‘about us’ page is for speaking about yourself and your business. This is another great opportunity for SEO, because you can use keywords in your content here. It is good to use images, perhaps of your team, so that there is a personal touch to your website that can make your target audience feel more comfortable with you. You can place testimonials here, too, and generally convince potential customers that you are someone they can put their trust in.
Contact Us
If a customer can’t contact you with any questions or queries they may have, then they may lose interest. Some people prefer going straight to the source and getting their information that way. A ‘contact us’ page should feature a form, or various contact details and links to social media (where possible). Don’t overload this page with information, keep it simple and definitely use call-to-actions and SEO where possible.
Blog
Not everyone thinks to include a blogging section on their site, but it can really do wonders for your business – it is a way to show your professional knowledge about your industry. Plus, blogging is a great way to reel in customers without seeming like you’re selling anything. When your blog posts are riddled with keywords, too, you are able to draw the right audience to your site. Once they are on the site, and enjoy your blogging content, they are likely to then browse the rest of your site. This is why we feel that a blogging page on your website is crucial.
With these things in mind, you will have the foundations of a great website. It is always better to hire a professional to do your web design, as they will ensure that these pages and more are done accurately, optimising your website as much as possible – in a genuine way. If you need anymore advice, don’t hesitate to get in contact with our team.
### Online Marketing Glossary
We at SEM Consultants want to ensure that you don’t get lost in the massive world of internet marketing. Sometimes you are given a lot of information that doesn’t help and only confuses you. Well, allow us to help. Here we have created an extensive list of words and phrases often used in online marketing. You’re welcome!
404 Server Error: The HTTP 404 Not Found Error appears when a webpage you’re trying to reach can’t be found on a server.
AdWords: Google AdWords is for businesses to advertise on Google with a focus on keywords.
Affiliate Marketing: online retailers will pay commission to another website for traffic directed to their products or services advertised on the site.
Algorithm: A set of rules or calculations that a site or program operates by on computers.
ALT Tags: This is an ALT attribute within the IMG tag, which gives a clear text alternative to the image.
Anchor Text: This is the clickable text in a hyperlink, the blue underlined text.
Analytics: The analysis of data or statistics to determine results.
Blog: A website or webpage that is often an informal written article about anything at all, regularly providing information, guides, or personal thoughts.
Black Hat SEO: It is search engine optimisation that goes against natural SEO, where a person targets content to search engines in order to rank higher on search result pages rather than to real people.
Brand: A defining characteristic or mark that is notable for a certain business.
Bounce Rate: This is the number of website visitors who leave after viewing one page only.
Business to Business (B2B): Where a business will market products or services to other businesses.
Business to Consumer (B2C): Where a business will market products or services directly to customers.
Cost-Per Sale (CPS): also known as pay-per sale, is online advertising where a business pays a publisher or website when they receive sales from ads.
Conversion Rate (CR): the percentage or number of visitors who do a desired action
Content Marketing: creating material for online marketing on websites, social media and the like; consists of written and visual content.
Cookies: is data from a website that is saved by the web browser, remembering information for you.
Cost-Per Click (CPC): The amount you pay for every time someone clicks on your paid Ad that aims to drive traffic to your site; also called PPC.
Cost-Per Action (CPA): where someone will pay for an action, and they pay when the action is taken.
Cost-Per Lead (CPL): is the cost of generating leads (sign-ups or interest in your product or service).
Crawler: a program that browses the web in order to gather and connect data.
Curated Content: is content that is gathered and shared which is specific to a certain subject area.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): is the use of strategies, information and actions to analyse customer interactions in the hope of improving customer satisfaction and the relationship with the business.
Conversion Rate Optimisation: is strategies and actions taken to help improve the percentage of visitors to a website that become customers.
Call-to-Action: This is a word or phrase that encourages a person to do something and navigate towards where you want them to be; e.g. click here for more or buy now.
Content Management System (CMS): is a software/system to create and organised content.
Click-Through Rate: the number of visitors to a website from a link.
Display URL: is the webpage address name that appears with your advertisement.
Domain Name: This is essentially the address name of your site.
Direct Messaging or Direct Mail (Twitter): is an instant message that you send to people you follow on Twitter and who follow you back.
eCommerce: commercial transactions electronically done on the internet.
Facebook: a social networking site to add your friends, share things and interact.
Feed: this is the frequently updated content on the news, social media or a website.
Forum: is an internet space or medium where ideas are shared and discussed about a particular topic.
Google Analytics: is a web analytics service with Google that tracks website traffic (visits) for you to them analyse.
Hashtag: is this symbol ( # ) which is used on social media to highlight keywords that other users can then find relevant information.
HTML: Hyper-Text Markup Language is the language used to create webpages and the tags used to define what a webpage is.
Hyperlink: a connection (link) between documents or pages.
Instant Messaging: a message that sends directly to recipient(s) within social networking sites.
Internet Marketing: also known as online marketing, these are any marketing strategies done by businesses to attract sales that are done online using the internet.
Impressions: is when an ad is fetched from its source, and is countable
IP Address: identifies each computer using internet protocol over a network.
JavaScript: a computer programming language (code) often used to create interactive effects within web browsers.
Keyword: A word that is used to search for your business by other people.
Key Performance Indicator (KPIs): used to weigh up success within a business or organisation in terms of meeting performance goals/targets.
Landing Page: the first webpage that a visitor sees when they arrive on the website (the entry point) or a certain section on a site.
Link Building: is the exchanging of links with other sites to optimise your own site’s backlinks and quality.
Meta Title: It’s the title of your page as seen in search engine results.
Meta Description: A description of your webpage as seen in search engine results.
Organic Search: Achieving ranking naturally on search engines.
Paid Search: is advertising within sponsored listings of search engines or partner sites and paying when it is clicked (PPC, see below) commonly.
Pay-Per Click: is an advertising technique where you pay every time your ad is clicked on Google or other search engines when keyword terms are searched.
Pay-Per Sale: (see cost-per sale above)
Public Relations: building strategic, beneficial connections and relationships between businesses or organisations and their public.
Push Notifications: is a short message on a mobile that is tied to an app alerting the user of updates and interactions within those apps.
Rank: this is where you appear, for example on search engines, within a set context amongst others doing the same or similar things.
Retweet: when a Twitter user or re-posts something someone else posted on their own Twitter feed.
Return on Investment: a measurement of profit that analyses performance of businesses by dividing the net profit by the net worth.
Robots.txt: a way for websites to communicate with web crawlers and other web robots; it will tell the robots which parts of the site shouldn’t be scanned or processed.
Search Terms: Keywords used by consumers to find your business.
Search Engine: An online Yellow Pages! Where all information can be found using words or phrases imputed into the search bar. Google, Bing, Ask etc.
Search Engine Marketing: is a form of internet marketing that aims to increase the visibility of websites on search engines like Google – SEO and paid search, commonly.
Search Engine Optimisation: a strategy used to gain more visitors to a site, by enhancing the sites visibility in search engines due to keywords and links. (Organic search).
Social Media: websites and apps where users create and share content in order to be social and create a social network.
Social Media Marketing: using social media websites and apps to share ideas and information about a business, interact with potential customers and create brand awareness.
Social Networking: connecting with others who share your ideals via the internet.
Search Engine Results Page: the page that appears after a search term or keyword(s) is searched on a search engine. The list of results from websites that feature the search term.
Spam: irrelevant or unwanted messages sent via the internet, often to large numbers of people.
Target Market: this is the ideal person(s) that a product or service is suitable for, and therefore who a business aims to reach.
User Interface: how the user (web visitor) interacts with the website or software. How information appears and how a user uses it.
Unique Selling Proposition (or Point): the thing that makes your brand or business different from similar markets. What makes you better or standout.
URL: Also known as the web address
Usability: how easy it is for web visitors to use your website or software etc.
Website traffic: the number of visitors coming to your website.
Webinar: a seminar that is held over the internet.
White Hat SEO: organic search enhancements that use strategies to focus on a human audience rather than overdoing it to reach search engines. Considered good practice.
WordPress: A self-made website and blog making platform.
World Wide Web: Where the web resources are found.
Word of Mouth: A marketing tactic that involves your customers spreading the word about your business for you, making recommendations to friends and family.
### 4 Ways to Boost Your Website Traffic
There are many techniques to bring traffic to your site, but here we have listed the 4 main ones. These should be a no-brainer, but some people don’t realise just how important these techniques can be. There are some things that are crucial to your business, and all of them are needed to put you on your audience’s radar. But how? Why? Well, we’re about to tell you! Don’t lose out on potential sales, instead ensure you invest in these key ways to boost website traffic.
Blogging
A brilliant, low key way of bringing traffic to your website is blogging. It is a simple way to communicate with potential customers in a less formal way, that doesn't give the impression that you’re trying to sell something – which can be off-putting. Instead, blogging gives you the ability to speak about your products or services in a non-advertising fashion. You can answer customer’s questions; engage with potential customers and build topic-specific relationships; and lastly, give tips, tricks and insider information to help build trust between you and potential consumers.
Having a blog section on your website is crucial; it will bring people to your site who are searching for “how to guides” or information about your business’s area of expertise. Then when you give them the information they need through blogging, time and time again, they will soon see your products as trustworthy and exactly what they need.
PPC (or similar)
By using some kind of Pay Per-Click service, you are able to put your website at the top of the search results page. Search engines like Google are any business’s best friend, because if you rank highly on Google, that means potential customers can actually find you. If your site appears on the third, fourth, or fifth page on the search results, then you’re probably not going to be getting much business at all. But with PPC, you can ensure that you appear at the top of relevant searches each time. By investing in keywords, you can ensure that the right people find you when searching for the appropriate things that mean something to your business. This is crucial because the right keywords, brings the right people and gets the right return on investment. This is how PPC can increase your website traffic. Simple!
SEO
Good Search Engine Optimisation tools will help to put your website near the top of the search results page through organic search. Organic Search optimisation should be at the top of most web developer’s to-do list. This means that your website is rife with the relevant keywords and topic-specific information, which will bring people to your site when using these search phrases. By creating content that features human-friendly information and keywords, your SEO will be rich in order to rank on Google as well as help customers find your wesbite.
Social Media
This is a fantastic way to engage with potential customers, as well as let them know about any discounts or promotions that you may have on. You can use the relevant hashtags, follow suitable people or engage with relevant content in order to say “I’m here.” Ensuring that your customers are aware that you even exist is the first step to success – a crucial step at that. After that, you will reel in the relevant followers on various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These followers will trust you to provide certain information about their topic of interest, and then they are likely to convert into customers when they need something or something is on offer.
Social media is all about connecting with others socially, and this is exactly the same when it comes to social media marketing. It is important that you connect with your audience using this less formal method, to engage, find out what they want, and deliver - leading to website conversions and sales. Social media ads are a brilliant way to appear in front of the relevant people, too, thus leading to more conversions.
Bonus!
Ensure that you monitor all of these things. There is no point in just putting out content, or paying for a service without understanding what is and isn’t working. Website traffic analysis is imperative. Without analysing your website’s traffic, you are working blind and wasting time and money. It makes no sense, right? Instead, using certain tools you can ensure that you monitor social media impressions, site traffic, blog reads, and Google Analytics.
However, if you want all of this done right, then leave it to the professionals! This way, you can invest your time in what matters to you – the rest of your business. Good luck, and don’t forget to browse the rest of our site!
### 5 Top Tips for AdWords Success from the Professionals
When you decide that it is high-time your business started to flourish, Google AdWords becomes a must-have marketing tool. In this great modern age that we live in, Google is the king and at the centre of everything. Therefore, it is imperative that your business shows up on Google searches – and at the top of the list, too. This is where AdWords comes in. Using AdWords isn’t enough though, you have to use it well in order to thrive. There are thousands of other businesses using AdWords, too, so you need to learn how to do it better than your competition. But how, I hear you say? Well, we have 5 top tips to succeed with Google AdWords here for you.
Make sure you measure as you go
One of the most common problems we see in Google AdWords accounts is the lack of tracking. How can you ever get to grips with the amount you are spending versus the amount you are receiving without an effective way of measuring what works and what doesn’t? Implementing some sort of conversion tracking on your website will enable you to optimise for keywords that actually return a handsome amount to you, and filter out the poor performers.
Don’t rely on a few keywords
Do you have a handsome pay per click budget? Then only use 10 keywords!
Whilst managing a budget in the thousands, in-house seems cost-effective but it can be counterproductive. The product knowledge of in-house “Digital Marketing Managers” can sometimes be lacking in the precise effectiveness of PPC campaigns, this is evident when we come across accounts with only 5 – 10 keywords!
Let’s say you sell iPhone accessories, you don’t want to target just iPhone Accessories, iPhone 8 Accessories, iPhone X Accessories, and iPhone Chargers but rather target hundreds or even thousands of keywords – especially when it comes to iPhone accessories. For example, iPhone Accessories, iPhone Cases, iPhone Leather Cases, iPhone Chargers, iPhone 7 Chargers, iPhone 8 Cases, iPhone 8 Leather Cases and so on. I would advise using the AdWords Keyword Planner, this is a great place to start for identifying keywords to target your search ads.
Analyse your search terms report
Regularly mine your search terms report for new keyword ideas, and keep an eye out for negative keywords. Identifying these golden nuggets of return on investment can be the single most important optimisation tip that we can give you. By adding negative keywords, you restrict your ads from displaying only to your correct audience. Overtime, the less you show up for irrelevant searches and instead show for relevant searches, the more you will see your return on ad spend shooting up!
Use match types and avoid the broad match lottery
Broad matched keywords can trigger Google searches that are highly irrelevant if you haven’t analysed your search terms report on a regular basis. This means that by using only this match type can be catastrophic to your marketing budget. Selling only iPhone accessories? You could be wasting £££’s on people searching for Samsung accessories. Use the AdWords match types to tighten the net on your target audience; use phrase match to target searches that utilise your keyword in the middle of their query. Use exact match for your “money keywords” and ensure maximum coverage of these. Use broad match keywords as your insurance policy to catch the one hit wonder Google searches.
Use highly themed ad groups
Wherever possible, without going overboard, break your campaign up into highly themed sets of keywords. Using the example of iPhone accessories, try and keep ad groups to cases, holders, earbuds etc. If the search volume warrants it, you can go even further like photo cases, red cases, leather cases etc. Remember not to get too carried away as you could spend a lot of time breaking out for searches that may never happen! You may have a situation where you save single keyword ad groups – this is fine and very granular... well done you!
There you have it, our top tips for succeeding with Google AdWords. It is simple when put this way, but it’s even simpler when you let the professionals handle it for you. We have done this for years, and understand how to measure and implement the necessary changes to help you go further. We know search, so let us help you get noticed.
### Top Tips for a Fresh Content Marketing Campaign
Content marketing is now one of the most important components of your greater marketing campaign and it really could mean the difference between a marketing win and a marketing fail.
So, aside from the customary MUSTS of excellent content creation such as proofreading, perfect grammar, including images with your text and the likes, we are going to take a look at some hints and tips for you to follow that will instantly vamp up your content marketing campaign that you may not have thought of:
PINPOINT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Identifying and understanding your target audience is the most important aspect of any campaign whether that is content marketing or not, yet it seems to be where so many people slip up and fall at the first hurdle. You must remember what you enjoy writing about is not always what your audience enjoys reading about.
It will take a fair bit of delving to fully get to grips with who your audience are and what they want from you. Content that is not aligned with your users interests will not create the traction, conversation and engagement that you intend, whereas writing fully tailored content will help you reap the rewards tenfold and your hard investigation work will all be worth it.
CREATE A FOCUSED CONTENT PLAN
To hold a viewer’s attention and full focus, content should be precise, snappy and not wandering off on a tangent. Creating a well-structured content plan before you begin writing will help keep you on track and maintain your focus. Planning also aids the ability to identify and write copy catered to your audience’s interests, whilst ensuring you have included all of the critical points that your article or blog post requires.
DON’T LIMIT YOUR CONTENT PLATFORMS
When people hear the word content, they often think of written copy but thanks to advances of the 21st century, podcasts, eBooks, voice clips and visual content such as infographics, photos and videos are more important than ever for making your content marketing campaign current.
Visual content in particular is now the prime focus on a number of social media channels including Instagram, snapchat and YouTube - three media platforms a business cannot afford to be missing out on in 2017. Even traditional ‘text’ based platforms, such as Facebook, now has video components as a centre of attention with their Live Video feature. It was found that Facebook users spend 3x more time watching live streamed videos than pre-recorded clips.
Visual content provides bitesize snippets of information that are easy for the user to digest and consume. The click-through-rate on an email marketing campaign containing a video is 300x higher than those without and a product page that contains a video will have, on average, 64% more sales than a product page without a video.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF USER GENERATED CONTENT
Letting the customers take the reins on your marketing campaigns might seem a bit daunting at first, but it can be very powerful. UGC (user generated content) is a new lease of life for content marketing and it is most definitely the way forward. For example, some 85% of people trust UGC over potentially biased content published by the brand itself.
One of the most original, successful and quite frankly exciting UGC campaigns was the “Share a Coke” with Coca-Cola campaign, which I’m sure doesn’t need much introduction. Coca-Cola cleverly printed popular names from all around the world on their bottles and asked consumers to share a selfie of them with their bottle on social media. This spread like wildfire around the world and created such a buzz in just about every country, with excited individuals now on the frantic and eager hunt for their name on a simple bottle of coke… they changed the UGC game forever!
Naturally, we would imagine Coca-Cola had a pretty high budget for this innovative idea, but you do not have to focus your entire campaign around UGC for it to work. UGC content can be customer reviews, brand and customer engagement, social media shares, tweets, blog posts or YouTube videos from influencers just to name a few.
COMBINING CONTENT MARKETING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
If you have taken the time to produce great content, whether this is written, video, podcast or otherwise, you want it to have the widest audience reach possible. What is the most effective way to do this? By creating highly targeted paid social media advertisements.
Some businesses believe they shouldn’t be paying for social media advertisements as the platform itself is free to use, when in reality, organic Facebook posts reach a very small number of users. Paying a small fee for an ad will help catapult your inspiring content into the hands of mass audiences, bringing about more conversions and new followers to your brand – it would be silly not to, wouldn’t it?
DON’T BE SCARED TO SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY
You would assume such a tip belongs in the realms of “obvious advice,” along with grammar and proofreading but you wouldn’t believe how many people let this slip through the net.
Much too often, companies lose their character when creating content because they are too focused on maintaining high levels of professionalism. Of course there are certain do’s, don’ts and standards that must be upheld, granted in some industries more than others, but injecting character into your content doesn’t mean neglecting professionalism. We don’t believe any industry is TOO formal where you can’t include a bit of humour and personality here and there.
Your target audience are not robots, whatever industry you are working in the viewers of your content are human too. Showing a warm and funny nature will draw in a larger audience base and help you to stand out in the minds of consumers, more so than your competition. Humour often helps to spark social media conversation and engagement, creating the convincing user generated content we mentioned earlier.
You don’t have to take it to extremes, you could post an occasional humorous tweet, an April fool’s Day Facebook post or include a punch line in one of your blogs; it’s the simple things that take your content from lifeless to personal!
SEM Consultants understand the key components needed to create an award winning content marketing campaign, from the flamboyant ideas to the simplicity of perfect grammar. We are not limited to content; you can have your wider digital marketing campaign created all under one roof by the same dedicated and creative teams at SEM Consultants. Call us now to get your show stopping campaign underway.
### How Social Media Marketing Can Boost Website Traffic
Social media refers to all of those sites and apps that people use every day. It is believed that 2.46 billion people worldwide use social media in some form or another, so doesn’t it make sense that your business uses social media marketing? It may seem odd to use things like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for marketing, but when all of your potential customers are there in one place, it is crucial to optimise the use of these social media networks in order to gain conversions.
As I’m sure you know, there are a few social media giants that dominate the social media world. These are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. However, they aren’t the only websites that you should consider when coming up with a social media strategy. There is also Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Snapchat. Choosing which social media site to go with will wholly depend on your company and its target market. Different customers can be found in different places.
Professionals can be found on Google+ and LinkedIn whereas a younger audience are likely to be on Snapchat. With this in mind, it is safe to say that the social media trio – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – are perhaps your best investments because their user base is wider and more diverse. If you’re even more invested in your social media marketing, then it could be impactful to post videos on YouTube as they have over 1 billion users each month, and you can put the videos on your website.
All this may be well and good, but what should you post and how do you reach people? Being in such a big pond can be daunting, but with the right techniques for social media marketing, you can reach the right people directly. This is through the strategic use of features like appropriate hashtags, video tags, descriptions, titles, and keywords. If you implement keywords into these things, you are likely to attract the right people. From there, you will need good content, links to your site, and call-to-actions.
You can’t post any old thing, instead a good social media manager (like ours) will know how to tailor content to your target market and use the tone of your business. Visual content is a big must in good social media campaigns, because the sites’ users scroll through a lot of content, so an eye-catching image can be the difference between scrolling past you or stopping to read the post. The image or video needs to be relevant to who you are. Authenticity goes a long way. For products, promotional codes and discounts or “must-see new ranges” are things that catch customers’ attention. A well-taken picture of a sofa, for example, that is on offer and looks great in well-designed room, may at least inspire a click to your website. These are the conversions from social media that you want.
Social media marketing business features are a must in order to reach the right people faster and more directly. These are things like Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, and Instagram Ads. By setting up Ads on these sites, you are able to select who you want to see the post, page or other. You can boost a posts visibility and set it to target people who are a certain age range, location, or even have certain interests! Sounds great, right? With a good strategy, analysis and audience building on social media, you will start to see results.
In addition, a good social media following will help to authenticate your website, so Google is more likely to rank it highly. The higher the ranking, the higher the sales. And don’t forget, it’s called social media for a reason – so get social with potential customers!
With all this in mind, there is no question that a good social media strategy can boost website traffic, thus boost sales. At SEM Consultants, we have a fantastic social media manager who is ready to manage social media accounts that you have, ensuring you get the conversion rates you need and an increase in sales.
### How Good Content Can Take Your Site from Amateur to Pro
Investing in good content marketing for your business could not be more important. Any site that is a poor read can discourage potential sales because they give the impression of “start-up”, “amateur”, or “unprofessional”. You don’t want to seem like any of those things, even if you actually are a start-up company – especially if you are a start-up, in fact. If you are a new business, the right online content can be the difference between putting yourself on the map, and keeping yourselves in the dark.
What makes good content, though? Well, we at SEM Consultants have a great SEO content writing team who can ensure your content is flourishing. In order to get an idea of what we believe makes great content, we’ve listed a few ideas for you here:
Accuracy
This should be a no-brainer, but you need to ensure that your site has the right grammar, spelling and punctuation. It may seem like we’re back in school, but something as simple as a slightly misspelled word or the wrong use of a comma can really put off a customer. By neglecting to consider these things, you are giving off an impression of unprofessionalism in your website content. That’s not good!
Target Audience
A website should consider its target market before writing any old, potentially irrelevant content. Taking into account your target audience will affect the tone of the written content, the style and how it is structured. For example, a site that aims at young people would benefit from colloquial language, easy to read text, the use of visual content like images and videos, and concise explanations. By understanding who your consumers are, you can make sure that their experience of your content really meets their needs and encourages the sale.
Variety
Your site should try not to be too mundane. If your content writing is long lists or lengthy paragraphs and sentences, your customer will get bored and skip through it or even leave the site. Instead, aim to really grip them. Give them what they want straight away. Embellish the content with attention-grabbing words and linguistic explanations that don’t come across as too “standard”. They need variety, readability and fluency. Think of a book, you’d be bored if it was just long sentences, long paragraphs, and no chapters for breaks! So, don’t bore your consumer; give them some pizzazz in your web content.
SEO
We at SEM Consultants are an expert SEO company and we know how it can make or break a business. Search Engine Optimisation helps to get your business on the map. We understand that Google friendly content is what will help you to become the top search result when potential customers are looking for your products or services. Our content writers know how to make content read well and be SEO-rich. This is what you should aim for and we can help you achieve it.
Links
A potential customer needs to be able to navigate your website content with ease and little effort. Direct them where it is logical or beneficial for them to go with useful links within your online content. You should also use call-to-action phrases like “learn more here” or “browse our selection today” in order to direct them where you want them to go. It encourages the sale. For example, a link to the contact-us page for them to get in touch, or links to products that are mentioned in other parts of the site. This creates a call-to-action for the user and an easy way for them to then act. It’s all about good content strategy.
Content is an imperative part of search engine marketing, reputation, link building and bridging a relationship between you and your customers. Our experts are SEM Consultants can help get you on the right track in no time, providing content marketing that will inform and impress. In no time, we will have your website ranking, conversion rates rising and customers engaging. Trust in our content writing services today, amongst many other online marketing services like social media, web design and PPC.
### Why is Web Design So Important?
Imagine you’re a customer, as I’m sure you have been many times before. When you are viewing a product or service online, your conversion choices are affected by their website content. A bad site does not encourage you to invest your money in the product or service, does it? This is why you, as a business person or individual, needs to put the right care and consideration into your web design.
Don’t worry, SEM Consultants are an expert web design company because when it comes to website creation and rebranding, our trusted web designer, Daniel, cares about consumer needs. Still don’t believe us? Well, here’s a few key things to bear in mind that we guarantee will get you thinking about our web design services very soon!
Aesthetics
Let’s start with the obvious – your website design needs to look professional. If a potential customer lands on your website and they are pleased with how it looks, they are more likely to browse the website content. This means that your products or services page needs to have well-taken pictures; fonts that fit the tone of the site and the company, along with being set out correctly; and you need to make sure that the theme and colour scheme works well to fit the business. Opt for an eye-catching, professional looking website design that doesn’t scream “amateur” to potential customers!
Usability
The second most important thing is how the website works for your customers. Remember, not everyone is the same and so the site needs to be easy to understand and navigate for the majority. There needs to be clear titles, subtitles and navigation menus that link to the appropriate pages for the relevant information that the consumer is seeking. When doing website creation, you should aim to achieve a fast, responsive and well-structured site in order to provide the very best user experience.
Content
The website’s content should never, ever be overlooked. It is the wealth of information about what you have to offer that could make or break a deal with a potential customer. If the content is riddled with spelling mistakes, inconsistencies and poor grammar, then expect to scare off prospecting customers. Plus, any business who wants to be found on search engines needs to have online content that is SEO-rich. This helps sites like Google to know who you are and therefore help your customers to find you through keywords. With all this in mind, it is in your best interest to invest in a good content writer, if you don’t feel you possess the right skillset yourself. Our content writer, Alice, is a great wordsmith ready to tackle any content related task; big or small!
Links
Lastly, a good website is well-linked. This means that the necessary links are available in the right places so that customers can find what they’re looking for with ease. This relates back to the usability of the site, where navigation is key. For example, at the end of a product page, you could link to a contact form for your customers to use to get in touch without any extra effort on their part. Plus, this key thing in web design will also help Google to pick up your site.
Now do you see how a brilliant website design can work in your favour? Whether it’s website building, rebranding, updating, web design, or website analysis, our web designer can do it all. Put your trust in SEM Consultants if you want all of the above done by leading search engine marketing experts. Get more for your business and your customers by giving us a call today.
### 5 Good SEO Practices for your Online Business
If you are serious about marketing your business and gaining valued customers, then you need to take a moment to think about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO optimises your chances of being noticed on search engines. We all know that Google is at the centre of everything, so if your business were to appear at the top of the search results page when searching on Google, then you’re more likely to get those much-needed conversions.
But how do you get to the top? Well, we at SEM Consultants are SEO experts, amongst other search engine marketing tools, and so we know how to get you those site rankings.
Here are some top tips that we use when working on your SEO:
Content
Every business that hopes to succeed in this day and age needs a website – and a good one at that. Your website will be filled with SEO content and if that content is not up to scratch, then you will lose customers. Online content includes written and visual content, meaning images and videos. These things work together to catch your audience and essentially sell your product or service to them.
Website content should be on-topic, fresh, easy to read and riddled with keywords…
Keywords
Keyword marketing is crucial. When you understand what search words or phrases your target market is searching for on Google, you will then be able to implement these on your own site. When doing this, you are increasing your chances of ranking when these words are searched. This is the aim for search engine optimisation.
Search Engines
As aforementioned, Google is the centre of our online world. This search engine is the big dog but there are others that are important, too. These search engines need to understand who you are and what your business’s aim is. You can’t just have a website that is filled with irrelevant information. Instead, you need to tell Google, and other search engines, what you do and build a lasting connection with it. SEO will do all this and more. Don’t worry, we at SEM Consultants can achieve this for you, as search engine marketing experts!
Link Building
Every website will use links, and yours should be no different. Links help customers navigate your site and find what they need within your content. Google does this in a very similar way, so effective link building is key. Links help to verify your website content and confirm to Google that you do what you say you do, thus optimising your chances of ranking on Google search results.
Blogs
Blog creation can be a key tool for driving traffic to your site. It’s a great way to include more keywords and bring people to your site in an inviting way, rather than trying to sell them something right away. It builds trust between you and a potential client, which could lead to more conversions.
So, this is why SEO integration is so crucial for your search engine marketing strategies. At SEM Consultants, we can do all this and more for you, ensuring to bring you reports detailing the results frequently. Check out our other services, such as web design, social media and PPC, too.
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### It’s time for tech and biotech to unite — here’s why
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### 5 questions every biotech CISO should ask software providers
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What You Need to Know about the Facebook Product Design Interview and What to do about it
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### Mysteries of the human genome using CRISPR
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Socrates
What You Need to Know about the Facebook Product Design Interview and What to do about it
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### Brand Design
B2B Branding Agency
Business Branding Services Trusted by Industry Leaders
Functionalities
Trusted by
90K Scientists
We Create Business Branding That Drives Results
SEM Consultants is a B2B branding agency based in Birmingham that works closely with our clients to understand what makes you unique. We combine strategic thinking with creativity to help you build your identity and narrative and communicate those to your target audience to drive results. Whether you’re a smaller business or a larger organisation, well-established or new in the game, we’ll help you develop a forward-thinking brand that pushes you and your business ahead of competition.
Tailored Business Branding Services To Help You Reach Your Goals
Understanding your unique ideas, values and target audience is our absolute priority. This helps ensure that the brand design services we provide correspond to the results you’re looking to achieve. Contact our team to see how we can help you today!
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Our Business Branding Services
Creating a Brand Strategy
Think of creating a brand strategy as the ‘brain’ behind your brand identity. This is where we work closely with you and your team to define the core purpose of your business, your values, your target audience and how you want to be perceived. All of this will later work as the foundation of your brand messaging and the way you position yourself within the market.
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Building Brand Identity
We work alongside you on all aspects of building a brand identity, including creating a brand name, establishing a brand tone of voice and choosing a colour palette to develop a consistent presence both verbally and visually. We also conduct thorough competitor research to provide you with relevant business brand examples and see how similar businesses position their brands, analysing any strengths and weaknesses.
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Sub Branding and Dual Branding
Brand design plays an essential role in both sub branding and dual branding. Whether you’re launching a new company under an established parent brand or looking to collaborate with a partner business on a product or service, it’s important to make sure both are represented in a way that’s distinctive, but at the same time cohesive. SEM Consultants creates flexible sub branding and dual branding design systems that protect your identity while supporting creative growth.
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Campaign Identity Design
We develop creative campaign identity solutions specifically for marketing campaigns making sure they’re in line with your core messaging and any relevant brand guidelines. If you don’t yet have such guidelines developed, we can also support with brand guideline creation to make sure your brand stays consistent with its messaging across all touchpoints.
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Event Identity Design
We create custom branding for events, launches, shows, etc, including providing support with corporate literature such as brochures and print assets to make sure your event identity is aligned with your overall brand strategy. Events are powerful touchpoints and when event design reflects your brand, it turns into a powerful way to increase recognition, trust and impact for your business.
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Launch Design
How you bring your brand new or refreshed brand to market matters just as much as the process of designing it. SEM Consultants can support your brand launch design with everything from brand art direction to landing pages to social media campaigns to make sure your brand design is applied consistently across every moment of brand contact.
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How Does Branding Add Value to a Business?
A strong brand helps your business stand out from competitors, attract customers, build trust and ultimately increase revenue. No matter your industry, most markets today are crowded. By communicating your values clearly and effectively, you’ll differentiate yourself and attract the right target audience which in turn will help you increase retention and customer loyalty.
Increased Brand Recognition
Increased brand recognition is one of the greatest benefits of a strong brand as it creates a well-known image that will be easier for customers to identify and engage with. Sales and revenue will also increase since customers are likelier to choose a brand that’s familiar and trusted.Get in touch with our team today to see how we can help you increase brand recognition!
Increased Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Repeat customers are loyal to brands that represent who they are and what they care about. By effectively communicating your values and reinforcing them across multiple touchpoints, we at SEM can help you reach the right audience and build an emotional connection. This is what will make your customers come back time and time again.Contact us now to learn more about how our brand design services can help you improve customer satisfaction and loyalty!
Case Studies
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Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
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No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
B2B Branding Agency FAQs
What is branding in business?
In business, branding refers to establishing a company’s core values, unique ideas and selling points, their purpose and their target audience. All of this then serves as a basis for creating a brand strategy (tone of voice, logo, personality, etc.) which aims to communicate those values and create a reputation around them. Good branding helps businesses improve customer loyalty, increase brand recognition, improve revenue among many other benefits.
How can a small business use branding to add value?
Small businesses can benefit from good branding even if they don’t have a big budget or haven’t yet built a well-known reputation. Strong brand design can have a huge impact on first impressions and building trust, and it can also position a business as more professional and improve credibility, which will increase the chances of customers choosing you.If you’re a small business owner looking for support with brand design, get in touch with our team today to see how we can help you!
How to brand a new business?
To brand a new business, you need to start by thinking about this business’ core values, unique ideas and selling points as well as target customers. Once you’ve established those, they’ll serve as a base for your brand identity and branding strategy like brand name, logo, story, voice and personality, etc.If you’re a new business owner and unsure where to start when it comes to branding your business, SEM Consultants is here to support you. Get in touch with our team today to see what we can do for your business!
What types of industries do you work with for business branding?
We’ve worked with a range of different industries for business branding for a number of years, both Birmingham-based and worldwide. We’ve provided brand design services to shipping businesses, real estate agents, companies in the healthcare industry and various industrial and B2B businesses from metal supply to injection moulding.
What makes SEM Consultants the best B2B branding agency?
SEM Consultants puts the emphasis on really getting to know your business and what makes it unique. We combine decades of experience with creativity and genuine interest in what you do and what makes your business one-of-a-kind, which we then communicate to your target customers.To see how we can help your business, get in touch with our team today!
### Email Marketing
Email Marketing Services
A UK Email Marketing Agency for B2B & B2C Businesses
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
Trusted by
Countless Brands
[client_logos_carousel]
A Full-Service Email Marketing Agency
SEM Consultants is an experienced, results-driven email marketing agency in Birmingham pairing a full-service marketing experience with bespoke client packages. We can help build, maintain and grow your email marketing strategy, whether you are starting from scratch or have been running email marketing campaigns for years and are looking to take the next step.
Tailored Email Marketing Campaign Services and Management to Help Reach Your Business Goals
We use the best email marketing tools to create and manage successful campaigns. Whether your business already uses a platform such as Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), Mailchimp or Klavio or is looking for a new way to manage its email lists, we’re fully-certified and ready to help.
Contact Our Team
Meet The Team
Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.
Our Email Management Services
Email Marketing Copywriting Services
Messaging is everything, and our experienced copywriters can help you craft the perfect message to drive traffic to your website, ready to make those all-important conversions.
Our writers strike the perfect line between sales and conversational to ensure spam-free and successful email campaigns that align with your business goals.
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GDPR Email Marketing
We run a tight ship when it comes to our email marketing services to ensure they conform to all legal requirements of the country both you and your customers are based.
Whether you are an EU or UK-based company needing to comply with GDPR for email, CASL for Canada or the CAN-SPAM Act for US-based email marketers, we have you covered. Regulated email marketing means more success for your business long-term, and we can help manage your email lists to ensure complete optimisation and compliance.
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Expertly Managed Email Marketing Journeys
Successful email campaigns don’t just involve sending a message out into the void and hoping for the best.
Our email marketing experts can manage every step of your customer’s email journey. From optimising the sign-up process to crafting user email journeys to analysing results and building on your success, our specialists can help optimise and oversee every step. We’ll craft a bespoke strategy including the best day and time to send email marketing to your customers, using the latest AI marketing tools paired with expert knowledge.
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Full Service Email Marketing
As a full-service digital agency, we have all the tools you need in-house.
Whether you need SEO-minded content writers to craft the perfect landing page, a social media expert to help promote your new email signup form or PPC experts to help support website traffic alongside, our team is here to help.
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Contact Us
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
What Are the Next Steps?
We're passionate about creating effective and successful email journeys. Therefore, we highly recommend that with our help you:Identify clear aims & objectives that you want to achieve through email marketing.Be prepared to ensure your email list is GDPR compliant, as well as making any necessary changes to your landing pages and signup processes to comply with related legislation. Provide our email specialists with as much information about your business, product or service as possible.Be prepared to react to an increase in sales or enquiries, and ensure your business is able to fulfil all of these new orders or queries.You or one of your representatives should also be willing to take an active role in your email marketing campaigns to ensure they align with business goals. This may include creative approval or offer inclusions.
Contact Us
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Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
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July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is the process of sending targeted messages and promotional material to an owned list of emails. It is not transactional messages such as confirming orders or delivery. Email marketing can be a fantastic way to reach out to new and existing audiences who you know are interested in your brand and can involve both informational and sale-based content.Email marketing management encompasses all stages of email marketing from idea creation and list building to creating customer journeys, reporting on successes and growing a strategy from strength to strength to align with your business goals.
What Are the Best Email Marketing Platforms for My Business?
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to email marketing platforms with many of the top software offering different levels to fit different business budgets. Our team works with all the main email platforms including Mailchimp, Brevo and Klaviyo email marketing.
What Are the Benefits of Email Marketing?
When it comes to promoting your business, email marketing is one of the most effective ways of connecting with your audience. After all, these are people who have already heard of your brand and taken that extra step to sign up to your mailing list. Email marketing is also one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing as it doesn’t rely on a pay per click or visit model and any costs associated come purely from software licensing or email management costs. Email also offers a huge range of personalisation options, from addressing your customers by their first name to personalised customer journeys and content blocks based on what your customers are most interested in.
What Are Some Email Marketing Examples?
Some of the best examples of email marketing come from campaigns that connect with audiences and don’t feel like a hard sell. Some types of email campaigns could include offer emails, such as those promoting black Friday sales. They could include an exclusive discount code for subscribers to prompt them to take the final action of purchasing your product or service. Emails could take on a more informational theme with a travel company, for example, promoting their favourite destinations or guides to areas. A customer journey using email marketing could involve automated emails such as subscription confirmation, offers based on products they have purchased or added to their shopping cart, special discounts or freebies on their birthday and more.
### Web Design
Web Design
Website Design & Development
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
SEO-focused website design & development
SEM Consultants is a top-rated web design agency in Birmingham which creates SEO-optimised websites built to convert. Our websites are designed with major search engines in mind, even before a single line of code is written.The key objective of any website is to convert its users into delighted customers. That’s why first impressions count when it comes to your company website. Well-crafted websites can have a powerful influence on the success of your business. An informative SEO website with an eye-catching design can transform how your business is perceived. It shows you as a reliable and trustworthy business who invests time into their customer experience.We are a creative design and web development agency in Birmingham which understands the needs of your business. Let us make your vision a reality with a beautifully crafted website that is geared up to rank highly on Google.
Contact Our Team
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
SEM have been looking after our SEO & PPC accounts for a numbers of years now. There professionalism and attention to detail has been second to none throughout and we've noticed our rankings, traffic and conversions have all increased because of the work they've done in the background, the results speak for themselves!
Ben Greenway
Sales Manager at Badges Plus
SEM and Bobby Bhogal in particular have helped our company massively with SEO and Google Adwords over the last 6 years. Our Online sales have grown over £1,200,000 due to the proper implementation of Google Shopping campaigns and it enabled our business to grow.
Brian Cormell
Managing Director at The Headset Store
I have been working with SEM for the last few years, brilliant team that really take the time to get to know you and your business before offering solutions. No job too big or too small, and always there to assist me whatever the problem. Overall Excellent service provided by SEM Consultants. Would highly recommend
Aaron Osborne
Regional Sales Manager
We have been working with Sem Consultants now for around 5 years and in that time they have changed our Business immeasurably. Our online presence has gone from nothing to now a really strong presence in our trade. They never stand still and are always coming up with new ideas to make sure our Business grows and is relevant and up to date.
Samantha Pearce
Director at RB Windows
Our Web Design Services
mobile-first design
Data from Statcounter shows that almost 50% of website traffic is from a mobile device.
In some industries, this figure is much higher at more than 70%. The increasing number of mobile traffic underpins our ethos as a website design agency of creating responsive websites focused on the mobile user with responsive website design for optimal performance.
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website content
Having someone write all the content of your website is a key part of the web design process.
We have in-house copywriters ready and raring to give the content on your website an exciting refresh or a distinguished start. Writing engaging website content encourages your audience to stay and browse your website making it more “sticky”. Thoroughly researched and planned SEO content helps to attract that audience from the offset by influencing how high up in Google your website is positioned.
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search engine optimisation
Search engine optimisation is a key part of your marketing campaign if you want a presence at the forefront of Google.
SEO website design is the act of optimising your website in order for it to perform well and rank at the top of any search engine for the most relevant keywords and phrases relating to your business. We are an SEO web design agency that doesn’t waste any time and begins implementing the most effective on-site SEO strategies before you even go live!
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personalisation
Personalisation is already becoming a big phrase in digital marketing and to have a web design company that understands the concepts of personalisation is a key requirement.
Programmed to display different content variations each time your site is viewed, the date, language, location and a whole lot more can be shown to your target audience.
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landing page creation
Having expertly crafted digital campaigns is key to achieving success online. Our digital marketers are always looking to improve your experience of your own brand.
Creating high converting landing pages that are aligned to your digital marketing campaign is essential to delighting your potential customers once you have attracted them.
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Get In Touch
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Get In Touch
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost for a new website?
The age-old answer of “it depends” is relevant here. As each project is different it is very difficult to offer any ballpark figures here. However, our web developers design and build websites at an hourly rate of £40.
Do you outsource any work overseas?
We pride ourselves on having all the expertise in designing, building and launching a new website using talent here in the UK. Most of this is located in-house in our office where our Birmingham web design specialists have honed their expertise.
Do you use templates for your design?
It is fairly easy to use a template to build a website, however, it is not the direction that we go down here at SEM. Templates are full of plugins, widgets and code that can really bloat a website leading to many problems for SEO optimisations, that’s why our midlands website design specialists create a bespoke website that fits your needs exactly with the benefit of our industry-renowned SEO knowledge.
What CMS platforms can you work with?
As with most web design agencies, we can work with all the major content management systems like WordPress, Joomla, Magento & Shopify to build a successful website that reflects the needs of your business.
Do you maintain and keep websites up to date?
Maintenance of your website is an often-overlooked factor by many small businesses. Over time, popular CMS’ like WordPress go through many updates. Sometimes, these updates can cause other parts of your website to stop functioning. Therefore, it is advised to keep your website maintained, even for a small monthly fee to ensure everything is running as smoothly as the day that you launched your website.
### Social Media
Social Media
Social Media Marketing Agency Birmingham
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
Expert Social Media Management in Birmingham
With over 2.91 billion Facebook users, 217 million daily active Twitter users and over 1 billion Instagram users, social media advertising is the way forward for many businesses looking to monetize the online world.Not only will an active social media campaign achieve brand awareness and conversions, Social media profiles also have a strong presence on search engine results pages. This means social media could play a key role in achieving those top keyword rankings in the future. At SEM Consultants, we work with you to create a dedicated online presence with content that connects with your consumers and optimised paid social campaigns that maximise awareness and ROI.SEM Consultants are a leading social media agency in Birmingham, see how we can help your business today!
Paid Social & Advertising Services
Paid Social Media Advertising
Internet advertising revenue has swept into the limelight in recent years and experienced steady growth ever since.
With most people using a smartphone and engaging in some form of social media these days, a captive audience has formed ready to engage with your content and services. Paid social advertising is often overlooked by businesses due to the belief that because it’s social media – it should be free. But with people spending more time on social media than any other place online, we would say it’s pretty important to invest a little money. We work with you to plan a cost-effective strategy that will suit your brand to a tee. We analyse your data and audience to ensure our targeted paid ads reach the relevant audience at the best time, enhancing your conversion rate and ROI and creating successful paid social media campaigns.
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Facebook Ads Management
If you are looking for a trusted Facebook ads agency who can take your Facebook advertising to new heights, SEM Consultants is here to help.
We can help create, manage and optimise Facebook business accounts and content to share your business with a wider audience and convert visitors to your page into potential customers. Find out more about the area’s leading Facebook Ads management agency.
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Instagram Ads Management
Our innovative Instagram ads management harnesses up-to-the-minute data and insights to channel customers and enquiries to your page. We can help you build your page from scratch or jump in to turbo-charge your existing strategy for effective advertising on Instagram.
With most people using a smartphone and engaging in some form of social media these days, a captive audience has formed ready to engage with your content and services. Paid social advertising is often overlooked by businesses due to the belief that because it’s social media – it should be free. But with people spending more time on social media than any other place online, we would say it’s pretty important to invest a little money. We work with you to plan a cost-effective strategy that will suit your brand to a tee. We analyse your data and audience to ensure our targeted paid ads reach the relevant audience at the best time, enhancing your conversion rate and ROI and creating successful paid social media campaigns.
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Multi-Platform Social Media Management
Like you, your customers like to use more than one social media platform and a diverse customer base means different customers may be using different platforms to access your business. We can help align your social ads across multiple platforms for the optimum success.
We can help create, manage and optimise Facebook business accounts and content to share your business with a wider audience and convert visitors to your page into potential customers. Find out more about the area’s leading Facebook Ads management agency.
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Social Media Strategy & Content Management Services
Social Media Management & Setup
Part of our dedicated social media marketing services includes the setup and management of your social media profiles. We work closely with you to plan a robust social media strategy that closely aligns with your business goals. Our social media management review starts by finding out what you want to achieve from your social media campaign. We then decide on the techniques and plan the best course of action to help you achieve these results, setting out a social media plan to track your progress. We take the lead from the initial set up of the accounts and social media management tools and handle every aspect of the social media management from there on in. Your social account manager will continually conjure up innovative and creative ways to keep your campaigns fresh, compelling and one step ahead of your competitors.
Multi- Platform Social Media Management Services in Birmingham
Like you, your customers like to use more than one social media platform and a diverse customer base means different customers may be using different platforms to access your business. Whether you are a B2B company looking to connect with clients on LinkedIn, a B2C business looking to share company news on Facebook or a premier consumer business looking to promote your product on Instagram, we have the expertise to help bring your brand into the social media spotlight. Our social media management specialists in Birmingham create targeted content and campaigns across Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn to ensure brand awareness and return on investment. Our complete range of multi-platform social media services allow us to design, develop and manage your social media accounts and content in order to maximise your business’ growth.
Content Marketing & Social Media
As the saying goes, ‘Content is King’ and we don’t disagree. Content marketing is the most direct way to spread a brand’s message and reach a wider audience. But, it also builds a bond with potential customers, which increases your chances of more transactions and conversions. Clever, huh? Our social media managers create all content in a tone of voice to suit your target audience and that will appeal to new and existing followers or customers. Your account manager will only create targeted and fully optimised content to ensure we are consistently working towards gaining first-place rankings. Yes, even on social media channels. Our copywriters have the skills and creativity to curate optimum content for any social media channel, whether that is a tweet, a Facebook post or for your blog. And because a successful social media strategy and targeted content go hand in hand, you have yourself a winning combination to help improve your website’s SEO.
Brand Management & Reputation
In the age of the internet, a business is nothing without a good reputation. We use the power of social media management tools, a variety of social media sites, blogs, cross promotion and everything in-between to take your reputation beyond average and make it flawless! Our clients don’t come to us with a bad reputation; it is usually no reputation at all which is just as detrimental. Effective brand management includes tactics such as acknowledging and rectifying negative reviews or complaints rather than shunning them. This can flip a situation 360° and leave the customer happy and satisfied. Another tactic for a glowing brand reputation is cross-promotion. Your account manager will liaise with you to brainstorm fun competitions to run across your social networks. Giving your audience the chance to win a free product or service shows them that you have the customers at heart. Moreover, competitions are great promotion when ran correctly as your brand could come to the attention of thousands of new potential customers.
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What Can a Social Media Agency Do for your Business?
With most people using some form of social media these days, you may be wondering what a social media agency can do for your business. Every social media campaign we work on includes expert advice from our social media specialists to ensure your success. We run campaigns across Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Twitter, LinkedIn Ads & TikTok Ads to fit your target audience but here are some of the main things social media management can do for your business. Create a social media page for your business on the right platform for youConduct competitor & industry research to create a winning social media planGrow your audienceEstablish your online brandGenerate shareable contentIncrease website trafficPromote website & business contentReview social media goals & achievements & outline future goalsHelp support & improve your website’s SEOOffer blogging & copywriting services for shareable content
What Do We Post to your Social Media Profile?
When it comes to grabbing your audience’s interest, variety is key. As a leading social media management agency in Birmingham, there are various ways we can increase the engagement of your social media audience with posts created to fit your brand. Some examples of the types of posts we run include: Personalised content such as successful projects, before and afters & customer storiesAnswers to common FAQsHoliday posts such as Christmas & national interest daysTrending topics & memes/GIFs – if it suits the audienceCompany blog postsShared curated & created infographicsSocial posts showcasing company culture & eventsIndustry news & pro tips from your industryContests, questions & pollsRe-sharing other people’s content including UGC such as customer postsVideosReviews
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
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July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
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July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
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July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
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Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Social Media Agency FAQs
Why is Social Media Marketing Important?
When it comes to the online world, the majority of the adult population now has some form of a social media account with many using social media platforms every day. If you are not targeting your customers through social media advertising, you could be missing out on a huge chunk of your customer base with many potential customers engaging with brands on social media before making a purchase. Paid social media marketing puts your brand right in front of your target audience with dedicated targeting that matches potential customers to what your business provides.
What Social Media Platforms do you Work With?
Our social media specialists work across a range of social media platforms depending on the industry and available platforms of our clients. We currently provide cross-platform social media marketing for the following platforms:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTikTok
How Much Does Social Media Marketing Cost?
We work closely with each of the businesses we provide social media management services for to create a budget they are happy with and will work to help their social media presence grow. We work with small businesses and large businesses alike to create a dedicated social media plan that fits their budget and needs. Contact our team to find out more about our pricing options.
Can You Source & Create Social Media Content Such as Graphics?
We create all of our social media posts in-house with graphics created where needed. We also source graphics and content from trusted sources for sharing as well as curating brand blog posts and updates for our social media posts.
Can You Help Set Up My Business Page on Facebook & Other Social Media Platforms?
Of course! We’ve worked with a number of small businesses trying social media marketing for the first time and will do thorough competitor and industry research whilst walking you through the steps to setting up your social media business profile. We can help set up your social business page on all of the main social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn. Contact our team now online or by calling 0121 552 6500 to find out more about trying social media marketing for the first time.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing involves using social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, LinkedIn and others to build brand awareness, increase conversions, and drive more traffic to your website. A successful social media marketing strategy starts with social media setup and management, where businesses establish and optimise their presence on key platforms. It can also include paid social media advertising to reach targeted audiences through Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Twitter ads, LinkedIn ads, and TikTok ads.
What Is a Social Media Marketing Agency?
A social media marketing agency is a professional service provider that specialises in creating and managing effective social media campaigns to improve a brand’s online presence. They utilise various social media platforms to engage with current and potential customers, increase brand visibility and drive overall business growth.
### Microsoft Ads Management
Microsoft Ads Management
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Your Birmingham Microsoft Ads certified agency
We have been managing Microsoft Ads (also known as Bing Ads) accounts for many years, during which time our client portfolio has covered a range of business industries, locations and sizes. All of our staff undergo a full training programme to gain a Microsoft-certified status that they maintain through intermittent exams. Rest assured that your Microsoft Advertising campaign is in the hands of an experienced account manager who has demonstrated they can effectively run everything from small Microsoft Ads accounts all the way to large complex accounts.
why is Microsoft Ads management important?
“This must be easy, gather a few keywords and we’re done…” Unfortunately, running a successful Microsoft Marketing campaign takes more effort than that. Many businesses assume that accumulating a list of keywords and writing a few ads means they are on to a winning campaign, but this is not the case. SEM Consultants has a team of fully-qualified Microsoft Ads professionals who know how to effectively organise your keywords into manageable and precisely themed groups and this initial optimisation greatly increases the chances of your keywords achieving an optimum click through rate.
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Performance based Microsoft PPC management
We focus our attentions on conversions and ROI. Our Birmingham Microsoft pay per click management service consists of us taking a thorough look into your campaigns and making alterations to continually improve key metrics such as conversions, conversion rate and return on ad spend. Our aim is to help you achieve an upturn in online sales, so it makes sense to concentrate on improving these key metrics and delivering the results that matter.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Microsoft Ads campaign management
Create optimally themed ad groups for PPC campaignsSet up conversion tracking & Microsoft Ads reportingConsistently research and build upon negative keyword listUse the most precise keywords for your products or serviceTrial various ads to improve key metricsManage keyword bids for target metricsWork with you to improve conversion ratesAssist with optimising your keyword landing pagesImprove your quality scoresConsistently help drive sales or enquiries from your websiteGive you direct access to your Microsoft Pay Per Click account manager
Case Studies
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Our Microsoft Ads Services
Microsoft remarketing
Microsoft Remarketing gives you that second, third or maybe even fourth chance to secure that conversion. Microsoft Remarketing is a smart advertising strategy that holds more power and influence than you may realise. As Birmingham Microsoft Remarketing specialists, we know the most effective ways to target your Bing Ads to launch them back onto the computer, mobile or tablet screens of users that have previously viewed your website. Your remarketed Microsoft Ad could display almost anywhere, from an advertisement on a YouTube video, within a news article, on social media networks or even on a music streaming website that the user is browsing. Microsoft Ads Remarketing allows users to soak up your brand information once more, and whether they are doing so consciously or subconsciously, this is great for your business as the potential buyer is more likely to return to your website for your product or service instead of your competitors. In doing this, you will gain more website interaction and increase the chances of an additional conversion. If you are looking for Microsoft Remarketing in Birmingham, please don’t hesitate to contact SEM Consultants today!
Microsoft product ads
Microsoft Product Ads are an aesthetically interesting and engaging method of showcasing your product range to potential customers, in advertisement format. Modern day internet shoppers are drawn to photographs of products, rather than relying on deceiving or inaccurate text descriptions that could leave the shopper with a product they are dissatisfied with. Customers are more likely to purchase online when they can see what they are buying, although a text description is still useful, of course. SEM Consultants has a team of Microsoft Ads experts, ready and waiting to put a creative spin on product titles and descriptions that can often be quite drab. We like to curate interesting text to accompany the visuals to really propel you ahead of the competition. We have been running Microsoft Product Ads in Birmingham for some years now, so you can trust that our seasoned and knowledgeable account managers have the skill and technical know-how to nail the perfect Microsoft Product Ad as part of your wider Microsoft Ads marketing campaign.
Microsoft expanded text ads
Microsoft recently became more generous with the character allowance for text ads so before long, Microsoft ‘Expanded’ Text Ads will be the norm, all the more characters for us to be creative with! Microsoft Expanded Text Ads consist of an ad title, ad text and URL and our account managers consistently work to ensure ad copy is enticing and fresh each and every time. We only use key information to ensure we preserve those precious characters. Microsoft Expanded Text Ads have recently been modified to align with today’s society, so they are now fully optimised for viewing on mobile devices. This means that with our original ad content and clever account management, we can place your Microsoft Bing Ads in the hands of potential customers whether they are on a mobile, tablet or computer; widening your scope. Through broadening your audience reach, you will have more ad interactions, additional website views and increased conversion rates and conversions. At SEM, we provide specialist Microsoft Ads Management in Birmingham with teams of Microsoft-certified account managers handling and monitoring your campaigns at all times. Contact us today to see how we can utilise our knowledge and experience to create or enhance your Microsoft Expanded Text Ads campaigns.
Microsoft Ads FAQs
How Does Google Ads Work?
Google Ads works by showing ads to customers who are looking for your services or products online. Whether that be on mobile devices, desktop, tablets and tv screens.Google Ads helps to drive highly relevent traffic to your website and encourage potential customers to take action. That action could be increasing online sales, driving phone calls or generating leads.Depending on your objectives, there a few different campaign formats you can use to help increase traffic to your website.The expert PPC team at SEM can help you to decide on the best Google Ads campaign for your business.
What Types of Google Ads Are Best For My Business?
When we set up your Google Ads account, we’ll discuss the types of Google Ads in the format that best suits your business goals. Many of our clients use text ads that appear in Google search results and shopping ads that appear as product listings on Google. We also utilise Performance Max Campaigns that allow us to access all ad spaces from a single campaign. This means your ads can be displayed across all Google channels. This a great option that allows clients with smaller budgets to get the most out of their ad spend.The nature of your campaign and your objectives will determine which type of Google ad format is best for your business. The types of Google Ad campaign include:Search campaignsDisplay campaignsShopping campaignsVideo campaignsDiscovery campaignsPerformance max campaigns.
How Much Does Google Ads Cost?
With Google Ads, you have the freedom to determine the maximum price you pay for a click on your ad. This is done by setting a max CPC (cost-per-click) when using a manual bidding strategy. This kind of bidding strategy gives you more control of how much you pay for a click.Google Ads gives you the flexibility to pause or stop ads/ campaigns whenever you like and you can set a marketing budget that will suit you. There is also the option to use Google’s automated smart bidding strategies. With this strategy, Google will automatically set bids for each individual auction and users can benefit by saving time. It also allows the AI to help deliver a better performance.
Is Google Ads Worth it With a Small Budget?
A small Google Ad budget can still be worthwhile since there is no minimum requirement for the amount you spend. Small businesses often have smaller budgets than large-scale businesses but a small budget can allow you to compete with businesses with similar budgets.To start with, a small budget will help us to gather data about the type of campaigns that work best for your business but bear in mind that an increased budget is likely to deliver better results like more clicks and business calls. A bigger budget also allows you to compete on a grander scale.
What are the Benefits of Google Ads?
Using the Google advertising platform has a host of benefits for small businesses. As well as being able to set a flexible budget, you’re able to turn your ad campaigns on and off at your discretion to suit the needs of your business. This is because when you set up your Google Ad account you’re not tied to a contract. Here are some other benefits of using Google Ads:You can use keywords relevent to you services & products to show ads to potential customers.You can use negative keywords to filter out search terms which are irrelevant or not suitable to your services or products. This helps to reduce wasted spend.You can target customers by their location.You can use demographic targeting to help target the right customer for you (age, gender, income).You can set an ad schedule to run your ads on specific days or a specific time of day.You can control which devices your ads show on (desktop, mobile, tablet & tv).You can use audiences to target customers by their interests, intent & demographics.The success of your Google Ads campaign can be tracked and with each interaction, you‘ll know what type of action took place, i.e calls, clicks or forms completed.Google has a massive amount of reach with over a billion searches taking place every day. Google Ads allow you to be seen by searchers across the globe.You can see the results very quickly with paid search. This allows you to know where to focus your investment to maximise your advertising efforts.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Amazon Advertising
Amazon Advertising
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Amazon Advertising from Birmingham’s Leading Digital Agency
Amazon has rapidly grown to become the biggest online retailing platform. Amazon stores bring together sellers from across the world in one central place with big brands battling alongside small businesses for customer purchases. Optimised Amazon product listings and an innovative Amazon marketing strategy are key if you want to succeed with the platform constantly evolving to fit a changing market. If you are looking for an Amazon advertising agency to handle your AWS marketing, content and strategy, our Amazon experts are here to help. We’re experienced in creating winning Amazon product listings and successful Amazon advertising campaigns, using specialist knowledge to help our clients succeed in the online marketplace.
Book A Free Audit
Optimising Your Amazon Ads Strategy
According to recent studies, 88% of consumers report engaging with ads that are relevant to them. Our innovative Amazon advertising services use informed targeting and strategy to ensure success. We create product ads to attract more customers to your Amazon listings in order to convert. Amazon marketing meets your customers where there are already actively searching for products like yours. As well as driving customers to your product listings, Amazon ads can help improve the organic rankings of your products through increased sales. Amazon insights help us to keep your marketing campaigns informed with a digital marketing strategy that will help your brand grow on Amazon with relevant campaigns offering ROI and enhanced customer acquisition. We go beyond top-level demographics and deep-dive into user buying and browsing habits through audience snapshots. Using Amazon sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored display ads on Amazon DSP, you’ll be able to engage shoppers on and off Amazon to share your products both in the UK and internationally.
Amazon A+ Content Optimisation
A key part of any Amazon advertising strategy is optimised product listings. Amazon listing optimisation covers a few key areas but one of these is the all-important Amazon A+ Content. You can find out more about what A+ Content is in our blog, but the key point is that this is a way to enhance and showcase both your product and your brand on Amazon.Optimised A+ Content can bring more people onto your product page and help to convert them into paying customers once they get there. We follow Amazon A+ content guidelines to ensure Amazon best practices and get your products seen by the right people. Optimised product listings have a number of benefits including reducing customer confusion and reducing the number of returns or complaints by giving more information in a visually-pleasing way. This in turn improves Amazon reviews and your brand presence on the Amazon platform.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
How Our Amazon Advertising Services Work
Our Amazon specialists can help with the whole process from brand page creation to optimised product listings, Amazon sponsored ads to full Ads account management. Here’s how our Amazon Advertising services work:A full Amazon account audit to ensure your account is optimised or help with account setup if you’re advertising for the first timeWe’ll create a bespoke Amazon Advertising strategy that works towards your business goalsAn optimised Amazon Storefront and A+ product listings will be created to enhance conversions and represent your brandAdvertising on your account will commence with fully-optimised campaigns that drive traffic and increase salesWe’ll continuously optimise, scale and expand your Amazon store to keep up with current market trends and buyer behaviour
Case Studies
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Amazon Advertising FAQs
Who Can Advertise on Amazon?
As long as you sell a physical product that customers can buy online, you can advertise on Amazon. Amazon has a range of options depending on how you will fulfil and delivery your product and a range of advertising options to fit businesses of any size. Amazon advertising can not only send customers to your product page, but it can also help your Amazon products rank organically by boosting sales figures, a key ranking factor.
What is Amazon Ads?
Amazon Ads is the paid advertising section of Amazon’s platform. It serves a variety of CPC and PPC ads such as sponsored products ads, video ads, sponsored display ads and more. Amazon ads can be served at any part of the customer journey to help customers find what they are looking for as they browse online. To find out more about how you can advertise on Amazon, contact our team.
How Much Does Amazon Advertising Cost?
Amazon advertising costs can be surprisingly cost-effective when compared to other PPC advertising platforms such as Google Ads with many working on a cost per click basis. As an Amazon Advertising agency, we’ll take the time to get to know your business goals and the size and scope of your online presence in order to create an initial Amazon advertising strategy that fits your business needs. We’ll work with your budget to create an Amazon marketing plan that benefits your business meaning that any business large or small can benefit from our AMS ads services.
Can You Create My Amazon Storefront & A+ Content?
Our Amazon content specialists can work with you to create an Amazon Storefront that wows. We can create optimised product listings using premium A+ content that converts. We can help with listing a new product on Amazon and conduct a content audit to ensure your existing pages are as optimised as possible on the Amazon marketplace.
Can Amazon Marketing Help Improve Organic Product Rankings?
Yes. Amazon marketing is a great way to boost your brand’s visibility on the platform. Sponsored ads and other forms of Amazon advertising can help drive traffic to your product listings and increase sales of your products. As Amazon puts a good deal of importance on sales figures in its ranking system, as well as the reviews that usually result from happy customers, this can help improve the organic ranking (non-paid position) of your Amazon products.
I'm a Small Business, Can You Help?
Of course! No matter what your business size, we have the expertise to help and the experience to get you on your way. We’ve worked with businesses selling on Amazon for the first time to create bespoke Amazon advertising campaigns and optimised content to fit their unique needs and help them compete in the online world. Whatever your size, location or expertise level, we’ll take the time to get to know your business and create dedicated Amazon campaigns that help your products convert.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Link Building
Link Building
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
SEO Link Building
Link Building is a key component of any victorious SEO campaign and we put the time and effort into the task that it deserves. First, let’s look at what link building really is and why it’s so important.SEO link building is a fundamental part of any successful SEO strategy. SEO linking improves the SEO performance of your website with backlinks (the incoming links from one web page to another website).In order for any kind of search engine to crawl the internet, links are necessary. This is because they create the ‘bridges’ between pages and these bridges form a link profile. By analysing your website’s link profile, search engines like Google can determine how important your page is in relation to other pages. But having lots and lots of links to your website isn’t the easy answer to getting a high Google ranking – it’s a little more complicated than that. Search engines have created and refined many complex algorithms to evaluate things such as the trustworthiness and relevancy of links to and from a site.This means that when link building for SEO purposes, a whole lot of time and consideration has to be put into researching which links will be most effective for your site, and where they would be best implemented. Fortunately, that’s where we come in!
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What is a Link Building Service?
Our link-building service connects you with a steady and dependable source of high-quality backlinks to help improve the SEO performance of your website. We create a reliable backlink strategy aimed at enhancing your search engine rankings. We provide a range of SEO link-building services like website link building, fixing bad backlink profiles, broken link building and off-page SEO services. Our link-building strategies form a part of a complete SEO strategy that will increase your domain authority and improve your online presence.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
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The Off-Page SEO Process
Off-page SEO is the term we use for all of the things we do behind the scenes that are “off” or away from your website. Creating backlinks is a part of our off-page SEO process. At SEM Consultants we apply off-page SEO techniques that make your site more trustworthy and help search engines know how authoritative your website is. Backlinks are important but off-page SEO is more than backlink building. Branded search optimization, monitoring product or service reviews and social media marketing are some of the other off-page SEO strategies we use to get more attention for your website.
How Does Backlinking Help?
Backlinks in SEO are an important way for your website to demonstrate its authority to search engines like Google. Think of a quality backlink as a “thumbs up” from one site to another. As a part of an SEO strategy, successful backlinking creates a backlink profile that can improve your expertise,authoritativeness and trustworthiness, otherwise known as your E.A.T status.As helpful as backlinking is, poor backlinking is incredibly harmful to your website. Automated backlinking techniques fall under the category of “black hat SEO” and will only generate a poor-quality backlink profile. Performing black hat SEO can lead to a Google penalty which will harm your website’s ranking efforts. To rectify the effects of black hat techniques on your domain, you must make an effort to remove poorly created backlinks by submitting a disavow file (you can read more about disavow files here.)Fixing the problems caused by black hat SEO can be time-consuming so thankfully you can leave this to the experts. At SEM Consultants, the link-building specialists never use any form of automation or software to fix poor backlink profiles. The human touch is what makes the service we provide superior. With our link-building packages, our SEO specialists will fix bad backlink profiles manually to avoid problems in the future. The team also offer a Google Penalty Removal service so if you’ve been penalised for bad backlinking, we’ll help you to recover.At SEM Consultants, the link-building experts only ever use white hat link-building techniques to create a healthy backlink profile that only links out to high-quality, relevant blogs. The dedicated SEO team only use manual backlinking techniques and never automated processes, so you’re guaranteed a premium backlink service. After a lot of research specific to your industry, your business, and your audience’s search habits, we manually create trustworthy and powerful links that have a positive impact on how your website ranks and how trusted your site becomes by Google and other major search engines. As we’ve explained, quality over quantity is always the rule with link building, so we never waste your time with spam links of little relevance.At our local Birmingham SEO agency, we have a friendly team of SEO experts dedicated to these high-quality methods of link research and link building. Whether you’re a marketing agency looking to outsource or a small business owner, the SEO team can support your link-building efforts. By implementing the team’s knowledge, your website can go from strength to strength, building up trust and relevancy online which will ultimately allow it to move up in position when it comes to search engine rankings.
Case Studies
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Link Building FAQs
How Much Should I Pay for Link-Building?
When it comes to link-building services, essentially, you get what you pay for. At SEM Consultants, our link-building packages start at £500. An effective link-building campaign focuses on manually creating good-quality links that are relevant to your niche. Cheap link-building services from unreliable SEO agencies often only lead to creating bad linking profiles which can harm your website and cost you time, money and business. Our high-quality link-building packages include all aspects of a well-rounded link-building campaign so you can be confident that you will see positive results over time.
Does Link-Building Still Work?
Absolutely! When done correctly, link building makes an important part of your SEO strategy. It is a way to build brand awareness and increase your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. Creating backlinks is most successful when done manually and preferably by experts who will only use white-hat link-building techniques.
How Long Does it Take for Link-Building to Work?
Link building is a slow process that requires a consistent amount of work before you start to see results. Typically, it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to see the results of your link-building efforts but the actual length of time it takes will depend on a few factors. Websites that have low authority and a bad backlink profile will take longer to see positive results. Your link-building budget will also affect how quickly results occur as well as how competitive your niche is. When we create your link-building campaign, we will outline all of the link-building strategies to be implemented so you can have an idea of how long the process will take.
What are Link-Building Mistakes?
Mistakes in link-building can lead to a poor backlink profile and even Google penalties. Some bad link-building practices include:Buying or selling linksLink SpammingLinking to irrelevant websites or sites with low domain authority Creating low-quality content that isn’t worth linking to Having only one link-building tactic in your SEO strategyIgnoring broken linksHaving a poor internal linking structureAt SEM Consultants, our professional link-building experts don’t cut corners and only employ white-hat SEO techniques.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Google Ads Management
Google Ads Management
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Your Google Ads Certified Agency
Since 2008, we’ve managed Google Ads accounts in Birmingham for a portfolio of clients, covering a wide range of industries and business sizes. All of our team members complete a thorough training plan and attain a Google-certified status that is maintained through intermittent exams. At SEM Consultants, every Google Ads campaign is managed by an account manager who has proven they are capable of running everything from small Google Ads accounts to large, complex ad accounts.
Performance-Based Google Ads Consultancy
We speak conversions and ROI. Our Birmingham Google Ads account management process involves looking deeply into your campaigns and making changes based on key metrics, such as conversions, conversion rate and return on ad spend. After all, we want you to have an upturn in your online sales, so it makes perfect sense to solely focus on delivering results that matter and improving these key statistics.
Book A Free Audit
Why is Google Ads Management Important?
Generate a list of keywords and throw them into the Google paid ads fire, right?Wrong! Many businesses make this common ad management mistake when trying to build and run their Google Ads accounts themselves. We manage your Google Ads account with a clear campaign structure that groups your keywords into manageable, highly themed groups. This initial stage of optimisation gives your keywords the best chance of achieving a high click-through rate. Poor Google Ads management could mean countless pounds of wasted ad spend without a return on investment. That’s why our highly-targeted approach works to meet your business goals with a high ROI and a strategic mindset.The right type of professional Google Ads management means your ads find the right people for your business, turning them into converting and paying customers. Whether you are looking for remarketing ads, search ads or any other types of ads on the Google Ads platform, results-driven ads management is key.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Google Ads Campaign Management
Create highly themed ad groups for your PPC campaignsSet up conversion tracking & Google Analytics reportingResearch and build on an extensive negative keyword listUse the most relevant keywords for your products or serviceTest different versions of PPC ads to improve key metricsManage your Google Ads keyword bids for target metricsConsult with you to improve conversion ratesHelp optimise your keywords & landing pagesImprove your quality scoresHelp generate a flood of sales & enquiries from your websiteGive you direct access to your Google Pay Per Click account manager
Case Studies
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Our Google Ads Services
Google Text Ads
With Google text ads looking increasingly similar to search engine results and sitting at the top of results pages, it has never been more important to create the perfect text ad. We’re trailblazers when it comes to managing Google Ads in Birmingham, so you can trust us to create superior text ads and expanded text ads. Since the start of 2017, Google Expanded Text Ads have been gifting us with an increased character limit to express our creativity and be more innovative with ad content than previous Google Text Ad styles permitted.The new mobile optimised Expanded Text Ads consist of two title fields, both of 30 characters each, a description field of 80 characters, a display URL and two optional path fields for your display URL if you wish. Thanks to many years of experience, we know how to write clear and precise ad copy to communicate all necessary information to audiences that will encourage them to visit your website. We’re able to add a creative flair and write original text ads that will further captivate users.Our experienced team of Pay per Click account managers are ready and waiting to get their hands on your text ads, so if you are looking for Google Ads campaign management in Birmingham, look no further than SEM Consultants.
Google Shopping
Google Shopping is possibly the most convenient way for shoppers to quickly locate the products they are looking for, with very minimal effort. There are thousands of products on the internet, but online shoppers are more inclined to make the purchase if they can see what they are buying. Rather than relying on inaccurate product descriptions that could leave them a dissatisfied customer, shopping ads show the product in image form in their results. In today’s saturated digital age can you really afford to pass up this Google service?Google Shopping ads are fully optimised and compatible with mobile devices, meaning your products can reach potential consumers whether they are at home on their computer, or on-the-go browsing their mobiles or tablets, vastly widening your audience reach.Our seasoned Google Ads experts are well versed in setting up and running Google Shopping accounts, a task they complete day-in-day-out, so know the best ways to make your products instantly visible to a mass of future buyers. SEM Consultants is a primary service provider of Google Shopping in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area, so contact us now to see how we can help you!
Google Remarketing
Google Remarketing is a clever method of advertising that displays your advertisements to users that have previously accessed your website whilst they are browsing the internet. This could be on a YouTube video, scrolling Facebook, reading a news website or even in the sidebar of a clothing website. This then becomes a rather powerful advertising tactic. Whether they are knowingly doing so or subconsciously, your potential customer or service user is absorbing your ad and it will stay in their mind. This makes them more likely to return to your website which could well result in a further conversion.With an abundance of experience in Google Remarketing in Birmingham, our account managers have the knowledge and skill to propel your targeted ads to the phone or computer screen of the most relevant audience. So, if you are looking for Birmingham Google Remarketing and PPC specialists, don’t hesitate to contact SEM Consultants today!
Google Ads FAQs
How Does Google Ads Work?
Google Ads works by showing ads to customers who are looking for your services or products online. Whether that be on mobile devices, desktop, tablets and tv screens.Google Ads helps to drive highly relevent traffic to your website and encourage potential customers to take action. That action could be increasing online sales, driving phone calls or generating leads.Depending on your objectives, there a few different campaign formats you can use to help increase traffic to your website.The expert PPC team at SEM can help you to decide on the best Google Ads campaign for your business.
What Types of Google Ads Are Best For My Business?
When we set up your Google Ads account, we’ll discuss the types of Google Ads in the format that best suits your business goals. Many of our clients use text ads that appear in Google search results and shopping ads that appear as product listings on Google. We also utilise Performance Max Campaigns that allow us to access all ad spaces from a single campaign. This means your ads can be displayed across all Google channels. This a great option that allows clients with smaller budgets to get the most out of their ad spend.The nature of your campaign and your objectives will determine which type of Google ad format is best for your business. The types of Google Ad campaign include:Search campaignsDisplay campaignsShopping campaignsVideo campaignsDiscovery campaignsPerformance max campaigns.
How Much Does Google Ads Cost?
With Google Ads, you have the freedom to determine the maximum price you pay for a click on your ad. This is done by setting a max CPC (cost-per-click) when using a manual bidding strategy. This kind of bidding strategy gives you more control of how much you pay for a click.Google Ads gives you the flexibility to pause or stop ads/ campaigns whenever you like and you can set a marketing budget that will suit you. There is also the option to use Google’s automated smart bidding strategies. With this strategy, Google will automatically set bids for each individual auction and users can benefit by saving time. It also allows the AI to help deliver a better performance.
Is Google Ads Worth it With a Small Budget?
A small Google Ad budget can still be worthwhile since there is no minimum requirement for the amount you spend. Small businesses often have smaller budgets than large-scale businesses but a small budget can allow you to compete with businesses with similar budgets.To start with, a small budget will help us to gather data about the type of campaigns that work best for your business but bear in mind that an increased budget is likely to deliver better results like more clicks and business calls. A bigger budget also allows you to compete on a grander scale.
What are the Benefits of Google Ads?
Using the Google advertising platform has a host of benefits for small businesses. As well as being able to set a flexible budget, you’re able to turn your ad campaigns on and off at your discretion to suit the needs of your business. This is because when you set up your Google Ad account you’re not tied to a contract. Here are some other benefits of using Google Ads:You can use keywords relevent to you services & products to show ads to potential customers.You can use negative keywords to filter out search terms which are irrelevant or not suitable to your services or products. This helps to reduce wasted spend.You can target customers by their location.You can use demographic targeting to help target the right customer for you (age, gender, income).You can set an ad schedule to run your ads on specific days or a specific time of day.You can control which devices your ads show on (desktop, mobile, tablet & tv).You can use audiences to target customers by their interests, intent & demographics.The success of your Google Ads campaign can be tracked and with each interaction, you‘ll know what type of action took place, i.e calls, clicks or forms completed.Google has a massive amount of reach with over a billion searches taking place every day. Google Ads allow you to be seen by searchers across the globe.You can see the results very quickly with paid search. This allows you to know where to focus your investment to maximise your advertising efforts.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Facebook Ads Management
Facebook Ads Management
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Facebook Ads Management from Birmingham’s Leading Facebook Marketing Agency
It’s no secret that Facebook Advertising is a wildly successful marketing tactic that helps brands connect with users and potential customers. At SEM Consultants, we know the value of Facebook marketing and how it can help businesses large and small to fulfil their business goals. From brand awareness to website conversions, Facebook advertising is a fantastic tool to harness and our Facebook experts are well-versed in how to make your Facebook campaigns a success.
Book A Free Audit
What Facebook Advertising Services Do We Provide?
When it comes to running paid Facebook Marketing campaigns, we are experts. We provide a range of services customised to fit your exact business needs to ensure the best ROI and growth. We provide the following services as standard as part of our paid Facebook marketing services:Social Media Ad Preparation & Sign-OffConversion Tracking SetupAudience Tracking & SegmentationCustom Monthly ReportingRotation of Social Ad CreativesOptimised Campaigns to Ensure Optimum ROI
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Why Use Paid Facebook Advertising?
Many businesses make the mistake of approaching social media as a free platform for organic posts. However, there is a limit to how much a social page and following can grow organically and there comes a point where paid advertising needs to step in and extend the reach of your business. The high engagement rates of social media marketing mean that the ROI makes it well worth the investment giving your posts an added boost that organic posts just can’t match.Impressive ROIEnhanced Brand VisibilityImproved Engagement RatesOur Birmingham Paid Social Media Marketing specialists are experts at crafting winning social campaigns that align with your business goals and the unique benefits each social media platform provides.
What Can a Facebook Marketing Agency Do for Your Business?
Every paid social media campaign we work on includes the following services along with expert advice from our social media specialists to ensure your success. We run campaigns across Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Twitter, LinkedIn Ads & TikTok Ads to fit your target audience. Grow your audienceEstablish your online brandGenerate shareable contentIncrease website trafficPromote website & business contentReview social media goals & achievements & outline future goalsHelp support & improve your website’s SEOOffer blogging & copywriting services for shareable content
Facebook Analytics
At SEM Consultants, we deliver results-based Facebook marketing campaigns. Part of this involves using Facebook analytics to analyse how campaigns are performing and using this information to improve the performance of future Facebook advertising campaigns. We take out the complicated jargon to create monthly reports that show you exactly how your Facebook marketing campaigns are performing. Dedicated monthly Facebook marketing reportsClear updates, without the jargonInformed Facebook strategy based on clear statistics
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Case Studies
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Facebook Advertising FAQs
What Type of Facebook Ads Do You Create?
When it comes to paid Facebook advertising, we have the experience and know-how to make your Facebook campaigns a success. As part of our Facebook advertising services, we incorporate styles such as Facebook dynamic ads, Facebook carousel ads, Facebook business ads and much more with expert ad targeting to ensure the highest ROI and campaign success.
How Effective are Paid Ads on Facebook?
Paid ads can be very effective in increasing There are 3 key metrics we look for to measure the success of your campaign; the level of engagement, the amount of traffic to your website and the number of followers of your social media profile. All of these indicators have a long term effect on sales and are easy to measure. Our social media marketing team track the progress of all 3 metrics monthly and evidence the increases in regular reports.
How Much Monthly Traffic Can Facebook Advertising Bring to my Website?
The amount of monthly traffic you can expect will vary depending on the size of your Facebook advertising budget. A bigger advertising budget will net you greater results in the long run because it will allow us to spend more time on your campaign to generate more results. When the number of followers on your social media profile increases, you will naturally see an increase in the traffic to your website but it is the paid advertising that will generate a faster increase.
How Dong does it Take to See the Results of Facebook Advertising?
By following best practices consistently, the results of a Facebook campaign could be seen instantly. This is one of the key benefits of investing in paid Facebook advertising for your business.
How Much Does Facebook Ads Management Cost?
When it comes to the question of how much do facebook ads cost, the answer is, it depends. When you advertise on Facebook with SEM Consultants, we will work with you to decide on a budget that fits your needs and budget. Your Facebook advertising cost will be influenced by things such as how competitive your industry is and what your business goals are and our Facebook specialists will talk you through every step of the way to find a budget that you are happy with.
Do Facebook Ads Work for Small Businesses?
Yes! Facebook advertising is a great tool to use whatever your business size. By using Facebook to promote your business and products, you could drive important traffic to your website and boost conversions. Our social media specialists will work closely with you to understand your business’ needs and goals and formulate a Facebook marketing strategy to fit you.
Are Facebook Ads Worth It?
In terms of engagement and conversions, Facebook advertising is a brilliant way to increase your social engagement and grow your brand online. Whilst organic Facebook growth has its merits, paid Facebook advertising can give your social media marketing the boost it needs, providing quicker growth than organic social media can offer. Our Facebook ad specialists will work with you to agree a social marketing budget that works for you and optimise your FB ad spend to allow for the highest amount of growth. Contact our team to find out more.
How Long is the Campaign Contract for Facebook Ads Management?
At SEM Consultants we think the proof of our worth lies in the results. That’s why we do not tie you into a set contract when you use our Facebook marketing services, as our emphasis is on the success of the paid advertising campaign. We know that the results of your campaign will determine how long you stay with us and our focus is on producing consistent positive results for our clients month after month, year after year.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Paid Social Media Advertising
Paid Social Media Advertising
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Paid Social Media Marketing from the Specialists in Digital Marketing
From small businesses just starting out in the world of social media marketing to multi-national companies looking for high-scale paid social media campaigns, we have created and managed countless social media ads with fantastic ROI and high-level campaign success. Your paid social media marketing strategy is more important now in the age of online than ever before, why not give it a boost with a social media agency that works for you?
Book A Free Audit
What Paid Social Media Marketing Services Do We Provide?
When it comes to running paid social media campaigns, we are experts. We provide a range of services customised to fit your exact business needs to ensure the best ROI and growth. We provide the following services as standard as part of our paid social media marketing services:Ad Preparation & Sign-OffConversion Tracking SetupAudience Tracking & SegmentationCustom monthly reportingRotation of Ad Creatives
Multi-Platform Paid Social Media Campaigns
Like you, we know that different people interact with brands through different social media platforms. That’s why we provide paid social media marketing strategy and management for a variety of platforms and cater content and audiences to each. We currently provide paid social media marketing services on the following social platforms:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTikTok
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Why Use Paid Social Media Marketing?
Many businesses make the mistake of approaching social media as a free platform for organic posts. However, there is a limit to how much a social page and following can grow organically and there comes a point where paid advertising needs to step in and extend the reach of your business. The high engagement rates of social media marketing mean that the ROI makes it well worth the investment giving your posts an added boost that organic posts just can’t match.Impressive ROIEnhanced Brand VisibilityImproved Engagement RatesOur Birmingham Paid Social Media Marketing specialists are experts at crafting winning social campaigns that align with your business goals and the unique benefits each social media platform provides.
What Do Our Paid Social Media Services Include?
Every paid social media campaign we work on includes the following services along with expert advice from our social media specialists to ensure your success. We run campaigns across Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, Twitter, LinkedIn Ads & TikTok Ads to fit your target audience.Social Media Ad Preparation & Sign-OffConversion Tracking SetupAudience Tracking & SegmentationCustom Monthly ReportingRotation of Social Ad CreativesOptimised Campaigns to Ensure Optimum ROI
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Paid Social Media Marketing FAQs
What Social Media Platforms Do You Run Paid Campaigns on?
As social media specialists, we provide a range of services to make the most of your social media advertising efforts. We can create, run and manage bespoke social media campaigns to fit your budget and business goals and pave the way for your business’ success online. As part of our Social Media paid advertising services we run ads on the following social media platforms:FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInTikTok
Is Paid Social Media Marketing Worth It?
In terms of engagement and conversions, social media marketing is a brilliant way to increase your social engagement and grow your brand online. Whilst organic social media growth has its merits paid social can give your social media marketing the boost it needs, providing quicker growth than organic social media can offer. Our social media specialists will work with you to agree a social marketing budget and optimise your spend to allow for the highest amount of growth. Contact our team to find out more.
How does paid advertising on social media work?
Business brands pay money to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn etc in exchange for their content to be displayed in front of a target audience of new, potential consumers. The audience is targeted based on certain demographics so they’ll be more likely to be interested in your brand.
How effective are paid ads?
Paid ads can be very effective in increasing There are 3 key metrics we look for to measure the success of your campaign; the level of engagement, the amount of traffic to your website and the number of followers of your social media profile. All of these indicators have a long term effect on sales and are easy to measure. Our social media marketing team track the progress of all 3 metrics monthly and evidence the increases in regular reports.
How much monthly traffic can paid advertising bring to my website?
The amount of monthly traffic you can expect will vary depending on the size of your advertising budget. A bigger budget will net you greater results in the long run because it will allow us to spend more time on your campaign to generate more results. When the number of followers on your social media profile increases, you will organically see an increase in the traffic to your website but it is the paid advertising that will generate a faster increase.
How long does it take to see the results of paid social media?
By following best practices consistently, the results of a paid social media campaign can be seen instantly. This is one of the key benefits of investing in paid advertising for your business.
What type of paid social media advertising would be would be best for my business?
This depends on which platform your target audience uses. If your target audience of new customers predominantly uses Facebook for example, then it would be useful to advertise using Facebook Ads. Image ads are great for promoting products and on some platforms, video ads are very popular and often preferred over other types of ads. Your paid social media campaign manager will be able to advise you on the best type of advertising for your business.
How long is the campaign contract?
At SEM Consultants we do not tie you to a contract as our emphasis is on the success of the paid advertising campaign. The results of your campaign determine how long you stay with us and our focus is on producing consistent positive results for our clients.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
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AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
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### Google Penalty Removal
Google Penalty Removal
Get In Touch
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Our Long Standing Clients
Why Choose SEM for Google Penalty Recovery Services?
SEM Consultants are experts at Google penalty removals, with proven success across a wide spectrum of business industries and sizes. Our daily jobs require us to study and understand Google’s ever changing algorithms, Google’s Quality Guidelines and how to adhere to these boundaries when planning and executing an SEO campaign. Our accomplished teams of SEO Account Managers find it extremely easy to pinpoint any ‘Black Hat’ SEO techniques that may have been used by another agency, that could well be causing your Google penalty. Google introduces a new tweak to one of its many ranking algorithms almost on a weekly basis, for some this can be a difficult concept to grasp; not for the professionals at SEM Consultants. We fully understand all the twists, turns and updates of all Google algorithms from Panda, Penguin, Possum, Pigeon and everything in-between. Algorithms happen instantaneously, and while some believe they can be a lot to handle, SEM feel this makes it easier to respond to and eradicate Google penalisations.
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How Do I Know if I Have a Google Penalty?
There are a few key, telltale signs that will help you to distinguish if you have been hit with a Google penalty, this could either be a manual action or algorithmic penalty. A manual penalty from Google is very easy to spot by logging into your Webmaster Tools account. You will receive a notice from Google, informing you whether a page or your entire website has been struck with a manual action. Although they are easy to spot, they are notoriously hard to counteract, with some people even suggesting to cut your losses and start a new domain. Algorithmic penalties are much harder to detect, although if you notice an unforeseen and substantial drop in traffic or rankings, it is likely you have fallen victim to Google’s algorithm changes.
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Why Have I Got a Google Penalty?
Many people assume that using spam and disingenuous SEO techniques are the only reasons for a penalty. However, providing a substandard user experience for your audiences can also be reason enough for Google to penalise your website.Receiving a manual action penalty means a Google employee has personally reviewed your website and uncovered one or more violations of Google’s guidelines and therefore issued you with a manual action. Algorithmic penalties transpire when your website triggers a safeguard that is built into Google’s ever-changing algorithms. Common Google algorithmic penalties are Panda and Penguin penalties. They don’t sound so threatening, do they?Panda algorithms are rolled out on a monthly basis, unannounced, meaning they can be hard to keep up-to-date with and therefore people are not aware they are in breach. Penguin penalties materialise when your site is over-optimised. These updates are less frequent and usually announced by Google; however, it can still be tricky to rectify a penguin penalty since the knock-on effects do not appear instantly. Issues could include using unrelated keywords, hiding text or links, duplicate content, linking from spam website or irrelevant sites; the list is extensive, this is why you should bring in the professionals!SEM Consultants use our years of critical thinking and SEO analysis to swiftly and accurately pinpoint the error or breach and conjure up a solution to have the penalty overturned as quickly as possible. Taking advantage of our Google penalty removal service will mean minimal disruption is caused to your business.
How Do I Fix a Google Penalty?
Through many years of practice, we have mastered a number of strategies on how to remove Google penalties quickly and with minimal disruption for your website and also your business. Our Google penalty removal service is uniquely tailored. This is because every individual penalty will require different methods and approaches to eradicate the problem. At SEM Consultants, we use a combination of tried and tested google penalty removal techniques:On-site fixes such as content inspection and improvementManually removing any bad links that we detect in our link analysisFollowed by submitting disavow files for links we cannot manually removeWhen you choose SEM Consultants for Google penalty removal in Birmingham, you can have full confidence we will have your rankings recovered in no time!
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Google Penalty Removal FAQs
What kind of Google penalties can you get?
The types of Google penalties you can get can either relate to one URL or your entire website. Google implements manual and algorithmic penalties which have different levels of severity. Manual penalties are issued by a real person employed by Google who has reviewed your website and this type of penalty is more severe since it demonstrates direct action taken by Google. Algorithmic penalties are automatically issued and are less devastating as they are issued indirectly by Google often after a major algorithm update or change.
How long do Google penalties last?
The duration of a Google penalty depends on whether you were issued with a manual penalty or an algorithm penalty. Manual penalties can last between 10 days and 30 days but it is dependent on how swiftly you take action to fix the issue and apply for a reconsideration request along with how long it takes Google to accept your reconsideration request. The damage caused by algorithm penalties lasts significantly longer, sometimes up to six months.
How do you recover from a manual link penalty?
To recover from a manual link penalty, firstly you’ll need to identify the pages that violated Google’s linking guidelines. Using Google Search Console will help point out which pages Google has been penalised for so you can remove the bad links that triggered the penalty. If you’re inexperienced in removing bad links, we recommend leaving this to experts. A professional Google penalty removal agency will ensure all of the links have been deleted so you can avoid further issues.
What happens when you get a Google penalty?
One of the first signs that you have received a Google penalty is a drop in web traffic. This is often because your site is no longer appearing in search results or you’re not ranking for your targeted keywords anymore. As a result, your targeted audience won’t be able to find you. Employing “black hat” SEO tactics and duplicate content can result in a Google Penalty being issued.
What would result in a Google penalty?
Google penalties can be issued for a number of reasons. Some of the things that lead to Google penalties include:Publishing duplicate contentHaving too many low-quality linksCloaking images or links. Cloaking refers to the act of showing pages or images that differ from the page or image shown on GoogleKeyword stuffingFailing to follow rich snippet guidelinesUser-generated spamThin, low-quality content
What is a manual penalty in Google?
Google employs human reviewers who evaluate websites and issue manual penalties if your website violates Google’s webmaster quality guidelines. Most manual penalties are a result of attempting to manipulate search engines and they result in pages and websites ranking lower in search results or being omitted from the results altogether.
How do you avoid a Panda penalty?
The Panda algorithm’s primary goal is to filter out poor-quality websites as a way to improve the quality of search results. This algorithm updates roughly on a monthly basis and looks at things like the speed of your website, how much duplicate content you have and whether the content on your website has been created with a human reader in mind or written for search engines. The best way to avoid a Panda penalty is to:Improve your website’s speedRemove all duplicate content from your website and rewrite fresh, people-first content that doesn’t resemble the originalReplace poor-quality content that is over-optimised, uses outdated SEO practices or contains bad links
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
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### Local Citations
Local Citations
Get In Touch
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Our Long Standing Clients
Local Citation Building & Management
Thanks to location tracking on most smart devices, local SEO is more important than ever. Accurate local citations are an important element that works hand-in-hand with Google My Business to order businesses in local search results.
What is a Local Citation?
A ‘local citation’ is any kind of mention of your business name, address, or phone number online. These can be present on apps, websites, social platforms, or online business directories. Via these citations, internet users are able to discover relevant businesses that are local to them. They can also use citations to discover vital information, like hours of operation, geo-coordinates and directions, and alternate phone numbers. There are many different types of local citations, each affecting your business ranking on Google differently. Some citation types include geo-specific citations, industry-specific citations, major local business data citations, and wider web citations. These may sound confusing, but don’t worry, we are here to help!
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How Do Local Citation Services Work?
Whilst there are many websites out there offering paid spots on their websites, many of them offer no real value. Our team of SEO experts have powerful and extensive lists of sites to submit valuable citations. That’s why we can ensure the highest levels of accuracy and consistency to maximise your website’s citation flow and ranking – meaning that more customers than ever will be discovering and visiting your business via local searches. Local citations tell Google about your business and let it know that it is legitimate by providing consistent information from multiple sources.
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Does Building Local Citations Help With Local SEO?
One of the main benefits of local citations is how it affects your local SEO. Ranking locally for your business type and services is an important part of online marketing and can be integral for bricks and mortar stores looking for additional foot traffic. Getting your business seen in local SEO results through local citations can be a great way to gain trust in your business and get it seen online.If you’d like to talk to us about what we can do for you in terms of Google My Business and Local Citations, we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch today and we can discuss how these great tools could work wonders for your business.
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Local Citation FAQs
Can Citations Help With Local SEO?
Local citations are a great way to help improve your local SEO. Building valuable links in local listings can help your business get found online and in-person by local searchers. Our SEO specialists are experts in improving local SEO so can advise on the best course of action to improve your local ranking potential.
What Types of Local Citations Are There?
Our team of local SEO experts will use a range of local listing types to help support your local business listing. We’ve listed a few below. Major directories & platforms such as Facebook & YelpSearch engines such as Google or BingPrimary data aggregators such as Factual, Acxiom, Infogroup and FoursquareUnsctructured citations such as blogs, news sites, apps & moreOwned properties such as your websiteGeo-specific and industry-specific platforms such as chamber of commerce websites or professional guilds as well as locally-based listings
How Can I Check My Local Citations?
When you use SEM Consultants for your local citation management, we’ll work with you to review any existing citations and identify potential future opportunities for local citation building.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### Google Business Profiles
Google Business Profiles
Get In Touch
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Our Long Standing Clients
Google Business Profile Creation & Management
A Google Business listing is crucial for any company wanting to compete in a local market. By listing your business on Google, you’ll be able to take charge of how customers view you, and what they see when they search for you. GMB (Google My Business)profiles are particularly useful if you are looking for a way to target local customers who are looking for a product or service like yours in your area.Our Google Business Profile creation and management service uses expert SEO knowledge to create a listing that helps promote your business and in turn boost your SEO efforts. We utilise everything this Google tool has to offer for all of our clients, as we consider a Google Business listing to be essential when it comes to presenting all of your current and future customers with the information they need. Once our team of SEO experts have set up your Google Business account and listing for you, your business details will display on Google Search, and even Google Maps results. With Google My Business, we can also ensure that all of your glowing client reviews are showcased in one easy-to-find place.
Book A Free Audit
Why Create a Google Business Profile?
For any business that wants to have an online presence or appear in local search results, a Google Business listing is essential. There are many benefits to creating and maintaining a GMB profile including ensuring customers can easily discover the correct information and details for your business. This can improve the overall customer experience and impression of your brand from the word go. Appear in Google Search & help local customers find your business online & in-personDisplay your business information in one easy-to-find placeShowcase positive customer reviews to potential new customersAttract customers to your websiteHelp support your local SEO efforts
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
What Do Our Google Business Services Include?
Our GMB service provides everything you need to create and maintain a successful Google My Business Listing to help improve yourlocal SEO. Google My Business Account CreationGoogle Business Profile BuildGoogle Business Profile ManagementAdvice on how to make the most from your GMB profile
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Google My Business FAQs
What is Google My Business Used for?
Google My Business is a Google profile that appears in Google’s search results and Google Maps. GMB profiles are used as a way to promote your business and allow your business to show up in local search results and searches related to your business. They can work as a way for potential customers to find key information such as your website, phone number and address with one quick Google search. They are also a way to gather positive feedback on your products and services.
Why Do I Need a Google My Business Account?
If you would like to create any sort of presence online for your business, a Google Business Listing is essential. Google Business Profiles are a key tool to help your business appear in Google searches, particularly if you are looking for a way to target local customers. Google listings can help direct potential customers to your website, storefront and phone lines helping them to convert into paying customers. GMB insights can also help you track how you are performing in local searches making it a valuable tool.
Is Google Business Worth It?
Google Business Profiles are a worthwhile tool to use as part of any marketing strategy. As well as including key information about your business and a CTA, Google Business listings can also include photos of products that can ultimately lead to sales, as well as the option to chat with customers or encourage them to leave reviews. Both of which go a long way in terms of building customer loyalty making it a great lead generation tool.
How Do I Access My Google My Business Page?
When we create your Google Business page, we’ll make sure everything is optimised to showcase your business in its best light. We’ll also make sure you have access to your GMB account when you need it to keep your business profile up to date and talk you through how to access your Google Business account if needed.
Can I Still Use Google Business Profiles if I Don’t Have a Physical Store Front?
Yes. As long as you can provide a valid address to Google to prove you are a real business, you do not need a physical storefront to use Google Business Profiles.
Can I Add Multiple Locations to My Google Business Account?
If you are a business based out of multiple locations, it is simple to add these multiple locations to your Google Business Profile. Get in touch to find out more about how we can help.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### SEO Blog Writing
SEO Blog Writing
Get In Touch
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
SEO Blog Writing from Birmingham’s Leading SEO Agency
Content creation has always been of the utmost importance in the world of SEO. Recently it has become more important than ever to drive clients and customers to your site and keep them there. One very effective way to create natural yet relevant content about your business is to set up and maintain an SEO blog. So, what’s stopping you?Many businesses lack the time to write optimised blog posts or may just lack experience regarding what performs successfully in terms of SEO. Fortunately, that’s where we come in. After researching and learning all we can about your business and your industry, we produce high-quality relevant, interesting, and engaging posts so that your blog has the most positive impact possible on your audience.We also ensure all content is optimised and keyword-rich to ensure articles are successful in terms of SEO. As a local SEO agency in Birmingham we have a dedicated team of SEO writing professionals that can chat with you about everything you need to know when it comes to SEO blog writing, optimised content creation, and how SEO in general can benefit your business. If you’re interested in specialist SEO blog writing, get in touch today, we’d love to discuss the possibilities with you!
Book A Free Audit
How Can SEO Blog Writing Help Your Website Get Found?
Creating consistent, informative SEO articles for your website is one of the best ways to attract free organic traffic to your site. Not only can your SEO blogs help to draw in people searching for the new and exciting topics you will be writing about, it can help improve the overall ranking of your website for key terms related to your industry and elevate your website domain authority through SEO posts. Here are some of the ways SEO blog writing services could help your website succeed:Enhanced sharing potential to attract new visitorsBetter ranking opportunities to help your website get found in GoogleImprove your website’s overall SEO by targeting keywords through focussed blog SEO strategyHelp your business become an industry authority online through specialist topic selectionDrive more traffic and leads sustainably through SEO-centred content strategyHumanise your brand by solving consumer problems with dedicated content
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Why Should I Partner With an SEO Blog Writing Service?
There are plenty of reasons why you should partner with a blog writing service that specialises in SEO. If you want content that converts and attracts new leads to your website, generating organic traffic through SEO-optimised blog content is the way to go.Talk to an SEO specialist who knows exactly what it takes to make your blog succeedBenefit from specialist-level content from writers who understand your industrySave money on hiring an in-house writerTake the responsibility of generating content ideas away from your team, freeing them up to focus on your businessBenefit from data-driven keyword research and blog content planningNative English blog writers who understand your company’s tone and language styleHigh-quality content that engages your reads and attracts new readers
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SEO Blog Writing FAQs
Is My Business Suitable for SEO Blogging?
Some businesses believe that their product or services wouldn’t be suitable or relevant when it comes to blog writing – but you’d be surprised! Search engine optimised blogging can be adapted to suit so many different industries. No matter what you sell, there’s always an opportunity for SEO blog writing to create a positive impact on your audience, whether that’s promoting a product, or simply showcasing your business’s expertise within a certain field.
What Platforms Do You Use for SEO Blog Posts?
When establishing your SEO Blog, we will use or encourage you to use SEO-friendly blogging platforms such as WordPress, Joomla and Blogger. These are all very useful tools and also very easy to get used to once we show you how. We have experience with a wide range of CMS and website systems used to produce content and can offer specialist advice on a range of platforms.
What Can Blog Writing Services Write About?
As industry experts in blog writing for SEO, we have worked with businesses from a wide range of industries. We take the time to learn our client’s specialisms inside out to ensure our SEO copy holds weight and have created content for every type of industry from specialist metal suppliers to holiday homes, travel and removals companies. We also have experience in writing for a number of international companies including the nuances of North American content writing and writing for expats.
I'm a Small Local Business, Can You Help?
Of course! No matter what your business size, we have the expertise to help and have plenty of experience to get you on your way. We’ve worked with a number of businesses getting their business online for the first time to create bespoke SEO blog content and SEO blog strategy to fit their unique needs and help them compete in the online world. Whatever your size, location or expertise level, we’ll take the time to get to know your business and create local SEO blogs and SEO friendly articles that help bring in leads.
How Much Does a SEO Blog Writing Service Cost?
When you first contact SEM Consultants, we’ll take the time to get to know your business goals and the size and scope of your online presence in order to create some initial SEO blog strategy. We’ll work with your budget to create an SEO blog plan that benefits your business meaning that any business large or small can benefit from SEO-focussed blogging.
How Does Outsourcing Blog Writing Work?
When it comes to outsourcing your blog writing to SEM Consultants, you know that you will be in good hands. We always take the time to get to know each of our clients and how their business works through face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails and video calls where our specialist blog writing team will talk through your goals and make sure they align with our SEO strategies and blog plans. Each piece of blog content our team produces is search engine optimised based on keywords that align with your business goals and industry and we are able to either send the finished content to a dedicated person to post on your own platform or schedule the blogs ourselves along with optimised metadata for optimum performance.
Do Your SEO Blog Posts Include Images?
Yes. All of our search optimised blog posts will include a relevant image to enhance the piece as a feature image and images will be included within the post if needed. All of our images are hand-picked to ensure they are suitable and legal to use for the piece in terms of copyright as royalty-free or client-provided images.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### AI SEO
The AI SEO Agency That Thinks Ahead
Unlock Your Full Potential Online with Expert AI SEO Services in Birmingham
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
Strategic AI SEO Services That Get You Seen
SEM Consultants is a Birmingham AI SEO agency that uses the latest in automation and machine learning to help businesses climb rankings and stay ahead. Whether it’s AI driven keyword research or content optimised for both organic rankings and AI overviews, we apply smart tools combined with expert strategy to drive growth.With our Visibility Vault you can quickly get a free AI SEO audit of your website while our Smart Search Pro suite includes expert AI SEO services driven by real-time data, predictive analysis and AI performance tracking to improve your website’s visibility.Contact our team to see how we can help your business today!
Contact Our Team
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Our AI SEO Services
AI Optimisation (AIO)
As AI is shaping the future of search, AI optimisation of your content is becoming more and more integral.
Making content readable and understandable by AI now plays a big role in remaining relevant to the way users interact with search results. SEM Consultants can help you stay in the game and even use these developments to your advantage. We structure content in a way AI can interpret, make sure to keep your brand consistent across platforms and build various trust signals to position you as a reliable source.
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Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
Since more and more people are using tools like ChatGPT, Google SGE and Perplexity to search online, maintaining your visibility means optimising your content so it’s cited and/or summarised in AI outputs.
This has resulted in an entirely new branch of SEO called GEO, or generative engine optimisation which SEM Consultants have vast experience in.We focus on creating high-value, well structured content, adding relevant schema markup to your website and aligning with user intent, all while continually adapting to changes in the algorithm to help you stay on top.
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Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)
The growing focus on how to optimise for AI overviews, featured snippets and voice search has formed another new SEO branch known as Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO).
What it aims to achieve is to position your website as providing an authoritative answer to a question, not just another opinion. SEM Consultants are experts at optimising content for this type of search results and we do this by applying various techniques including optimising for conversational search, using FAQ and how-to schema and making sure your content provides direct, actionable answers.
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Search Experience Optimisation (SXO)
Helping users find your website through search engines is only the first step of the process.
Making sure they have a positive experience once they do is just as important. Search experience optimisation is an approach that combines both SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and UX (user experience) to expand on the focus on getting a webpage to rank on top of search engines by creating a satisfying user experience to increase conversions.SEM Consultants helps you achieve this by combining important SEO elements like keyword optimisation with user experience factors like site speed, mobile friendliness, clear navigation and engaging content to make sure your site is not only discoverable but effective at converting.
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AI Driven SEO Services & Free SEO Site Audit Tool
Visibility Vault: Get a Free AI SEO Audit
Visibility Vault is SEM Consultant’s free website SEO auditing service. You can use it to get a quick glance at your website’s current online presence, PPC visibility, how you measure up to your competitors and your visibility on tools such as ChatGPT. Get your free audit today!
AI-Powered SEO Solutions with Smart Search Pro
Our Smart Search Pro solution is a collection of AI-powered full-stack marketing services including everything from automated competitor tracking to landing page audits. We also optimise your visibility for platforms like ChatGPT which are quickly gaining traction in the way people search online.Get in touch with our team to learn more!
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Get Your Free Audit Today
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
AI SEO Agency FAQs
How Is AI Impacting SEO?
AI is drastically impacting SEO by changing the way users search for information as well as the way search engines rank content. With AI overviews changing the organic traffic landscape and AI being integrated into SEO tools to automate processes like keyword research for example, SEO is progressively moving from a reactive approach towards a more predictive one that requires continuous optimisation.SEM Consultants is an AI SEO agency with years of experience in the field of search engine optimisation. To see how we can help your business, get in touch with our team today!
What Is the Best Free Online SEO Audit Tool?
SEM Consultant’s Visibility Vault is one of the best free online SEO audit tools currently available. It lets you quickly get an accurate, free AI SEO audit of your website and shows you insights into your website’s online presence including visibility on tools such as ChatGPT. Get your free AI SEO audit here!
How to Optimise for AI Overviews?
Optimising content for AI overviews involves creating content that’s high-quality, aligned with user intent and structured in a way that directly answers users’ questions and is easy for AI to understand. If you’d like to be one of the businesses not only remaining relevant in AI overviews but even surpassing your competitors, get in touch with our team today to see how we can help you!
What Types of Industries Do You Provide Your AI SEO Service to?
We’ve worked with a range of different industries for AI SEO optimisation for a number of years, both Birmingham-based and globally. We’ve provided AI SEO services to shipping businesses, real estate agents, companies in the healthcare industry and various industrial and B2B businesses from metal supply to injection moulding.
What Makes SEM Consultants the Best AI SEO Agency?
SEM Consultants puts the emphasis on offering the latest AI powered SEO optimisation strategies combined with decades of experience in the marketing field, originality and creativity. AI SEO tools are revolutionary, but to get the most out of them, businesses need human oversight from experienced professionals. This is what SEM offers. We’ll get to know your business and your goals to create a bespoke AI SEO strategy that helps you grow.
### AI Marketing
AI Marketing Agency, Powered by Insight
AI Digital Marketing Services in Birmingham for Smarter Growth
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
Results-Driven AI Marketing Services to Maximise Your Brand Impact
SEM Consultants is an AI Marketing agency based in Birmingham and we specialise in using AI to drive creativity, efficiency and conversions. We know creating campaigns that effectively represent your brand and connect with your audience can take countless hours and we’re here to help you make better use of this time. Our AI marketing experts help businesses create content at scale while using accurate predictions to find the strategies that would drive the best results.Contact our team to see how we can help your business today!
Contact Our Team
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Our AI Marketing Services
AI SEO Optimisation
AI has dramatically changed the way SEO works over the last few years and its impact only continues to grow.
With more and more AI users, it’s changed not only the way results appear in search engines but also the way users search in the first place. Our AI SEO optimisation service at SEM Consultants can help you adapt to these changes and make sure your content strategy stays relevant.
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AI PPC Management
AI has been changing PPC advertising significantly over the past few years.
AI PPC management improves campaign performance, ad spend and audience targeting in real time allowing our PPC team at SEM Consultants to focus on your ad strategy and quality control and achieve the best possible results for your campaign.
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AI Social Media Marketing
We use AI powered tools to analyse audience behaviour, personalise audience experiences to individuals’ preferences and ultimately increase engagement and brand awareness.
Applying AI in social media marketing allows us to create content that is more relevant to your customers and, as a result, more productive for your business.
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AI for Predictive Analytics
At SEM Consultants, we use AI for predictive analytics combined with specialist knowledge from our expert team to analyse vast amounts of data and make predictions based on that information.
We do this to help you optimise the way you spend your advertising budget by making sure your efforts reach the audience most likely to respond and lead to conversions.
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Get In Touch
An AI Marketing Agency That Helps You Leap Ahead of Competition
There has never been a better moment to outperform your competitors than right now. Recent developments in AI marketing are currently offering unprecedented opportunities to gain advantage over competition provided you have the right skills and tools.
Expert AI Marketing Consultant to Step Up Your Strategies
It’s likely you’re already aware of the ways AI can boost your marketing strategy. But with so many tools available, deciding which ones would benefit your campaigns the most and upskilling your team to use them can seem complicated. So why not leave your AI marketing in the hands of experts?SEM Consultants is an AI marketing agency with decades of experience in the industry. We have the latest AI marketing tools at our disposal that, combined with our vast experience, give businesses a leg up in their respective fields.
AI Digital Marketing Services Driven by Human Creativity
AI digital marketing can give your business an immense advantage, but this is only the case if it’s combined with expert human oversight, originality and creativity. At SEM Consultants, we offer AI digital marketing services driven by a human approach. We understand how to spotlight what makes your business unique and help you connect with the right audience.
Contact Our Team
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Get In Touch
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
AI Marketing Agency FAQs
What is an AI Marketing Agency?
An AI marketing agency is a marketing consultancy company such as SEM Consultants that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to improve and optimise marketing campaigns. We combine professional experience with AI tools to make campaigns more effective, achieve higher engagement and ultimately increase conversions.
How Are Companies Using AI in Marketing?
Companies are using AI in marketing to personalise their advertising campaigns, improve targeting and automate repetitive tasks to focus on creativity and strategy. If you’d like to improve your company’s marketing campaigns using AI, get in touch with SEM Consultants today to see how we can help your business.
How Many Companies Use AI for Marketing?
Many companies use AI for marketing, with about 78% of global companies using AI in their business and 92% having reported planning to increase their investment in AI over the next 3 years.Getting on board with AI nowadays can make the difference between being left behind and staying relevant with your marketing efforts. If you’d like to be one of the businesses not only remaining relevant but even surpassing your competitors, get in touch with our team today to see how we can help you!
What Types of Industries Do You Work With for AI Marketing?
We’ve worked with a range of different industries for AI marketing for a number of years, both Birmingham-based and worldwide. We’ve provided AI digital marketing services to shipping businesses, real estate agents, companies in the healthcare industry and various industrial and B2B businesses from metal supply to injection moulding.
What Makes SEM Consultants the Best AI Marketing Agency?
SEM Consultants puts the emphasis on offering the latest AI solutions combined with decades of experience in the marketing field, originality and creativity. AI marketing tools are revolutionary, but to get the most out of them, businesses need human oversight from experienced professionals. This is what SEM offers. We’ll get to know your business and your goals to create a bespoke AI marketing strategy that helps you grow.To see how we can help your business, get in touch with our team today!
### SEO Content Writing
SEO Content Writing
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Our Long Standing Clients
SEO Content Creation In Birmingham
SEO content writing is at the heart of every successful digital marketing campaign and at SEM Consultants, we know how to turn words into results-driven, engaging content. Our team of website content writers follow SEO best practices to research, create and post high-quality content that organically appeals to both search engines and human users alike.Potential customers are using search engines to find products and services every day and a dedicated content creation strategy that targets your brand’s audience is a great way to build brand awareness and authority online. Whether you want landing page creation or specialised article writing, our savvy SEO content writers develops targeted seo friendly content that speaks directly to your audience.Creating dynamic SEO content that appeals to its users is the most effective use of digital content creation. It can be a struggle for small business owners to play the role of website content writers and run a successful business.Why not take advantage of our SEO copywriting services? We create captivating, entertaining and informative website content that targets your audience while using your brand’s unique voice. See what SEM Consultants can do for your small business today.
Book A Free Audit
How Does SEO Writing Improve Your Website?
Outdated SEO practices are damaging to your website and brand and search engines are too sophisticated to be “fooled” with tactics like keyword stuffing. These days, purposeful SEO writing that solves problems, answers questions and is relevant to your target audience is how small businesses improve rankings in search engine results. Our specialised SEO content writers optimise your website content in the following ways:We write SEO content with real users in mind as well as search engines. We focus on searcher intent means our written content answers the questions and solves the problems of targeted users.We perform in-depth keyword research and use targeted keywords that are placed logically throughout the content we create. We optimise meta descriptions, H1 and H2 headings and other relevant areas of written content.We consider the user experience (UX) throughout and ensure the website performs flawlessly. Any issues are reported and rectified immediately to maintain premium UX.We build useful and relevant links within your content that enhance the domain authority and improve the brand’s reputation.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Your Bespoke Content Strategy
Today’s search engines demand more than just cleverly placed keywords. Modern SEO content must serve searcher intent before it can rank highly on search engines like Google. We will work with you to create an SEO content strategy that combines the best elements of seo based content writing to suit your business and brand. As well as SEO blog writing, our content writing services also include :
Ghostwriting Services
Do you have a vision for your web content but just can’t find the right words? Our clever ghostwriters can create bespoke content that speaks to your target audience in your authentic voice. Our content writers apply search engine optimization techniques to ensure your written content ranks on SERPs while maintaining the tone and persona of your brand.
Landing Page Creation
Do you need service pages or product pages created for your website? Our approach to landing page creation focuses on getting the attention of potential customers and turning them into loyal customers who trust your brand. Using SEO writing and captivating images we can create additional web content that fits your business brand and your existing content.
SEO Product Descriptions
We use SEO copywriting to create enticing product descriptions that make your products stand out on search engines and amongst the competition. Using your brand’s unique tone our SEO copywriting services help to maintain brand consistency across your website.
Website Content Writing
Our expert content writers create seo optimised content that not only engages and informs your target audience but is also rich in meta information that enhances the authority and authenticity of your website in the eyes of search engines like Google.
Find Out More
Ongoing SEO Content Management
The dedicated SEO content writing services we provide at SEM Consultants ensure your content aligns with your business goals, outshines the competition and remains relevant to your brand. We combine on-page SEO techniques with off-page SEO practices that holistically make up a crucial part of your entire digital marketing strategySEO-friendly content needs to be maintained continuously to stay relevant. A constantly evolving algorithm can render content useless if it is not updated to meet Google’s and Bing’s requirements. We keep up with latest algorithmic advances and updates and create detailed analyses of any changes and recommendations. Regular updates and reviews ensure your content continues to overshadow the competition and lead in search engine results. Every month we provide detailed analytics reporting and jargon-free breakdowns to give you a full understanding of how well your SEO-based written content is doing online.
Case Studies
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SEO Content Writing FAQs
Why do I need SEO Content Writing For My Website?
Consider SEO content writing the “gift that keeps on giving”. This type of marketing technique will continue to do its job as long as your website is active. SEO content writing works excellently in combination with paid advertising but is also a successful way to organically rank in search engine results. Engaging written content also improves the click-through rate of your website and keeps the user interested in your website.
Do You Offer Images With Your SEO Content?
Yes, our services for digital content creation include sourcing high-quality, relevant and copyright-free images that compliment your written content. We can either source new images or use the images provided to us by clients for product descriptions, creating new landing pages highlighting new services or for blog content for example. We ensure that all images are appropriately optimized with relevant SEO tags which also improves the accessibility of your website for users who use screen readers to access the content.
How Much Do SEO Content Writing Services Cost?
The cost of SEO content writing services will vary depending on which elements of our service you require. We can tailor a plan to suit your needs, so if you want to optimise the existing content search engines or if you need fresh SEO-based written content, our talented SEO content writers can work with you to fulfil your requests. Our packages are flexible so you can choose which content best fits your business.
My Small Business is Technical and Fits Into a Niche Market, Can Your Writers Create Content For the Services I Provide?
For all of the content we publish, our team of content writers perform thorough research in a specific field, ensuring the content is fact-based and derived from a reliable online authority. Where possible, our content writers will work with you to gain an understanding of the services you provide so that your website is filled with, correct and up-to-date information.
I Want The Content to Look and Feel Like my Brand, Can You Write to Suit My Audience?
Yes, ghostwriting is a part of our SEO content creation services. We have talented writers who study your website and its original content to gain an insight into the tone of your business as well as the persona of your ideal customers. Our SEO content writers then create their SEO-based written content with your ideal end user in mind in a voice that matches the tone of your business. From authoritative and professional to fun and quirky and everything in between, our ghostwriters will create the content you want in the tone you choose. We can even attribute author credentials to your website or business in true ghostwriter style.
Can You Write Content for Amazon?
As part of our Amazon advertising services, we can create successful Amazon product descriptions and premium A+ content for your product listings. We work to best practice guidelines and optimise for keywords to ensure content that builds your organic presence on Amazon and converts visitors into paying customers.
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Book A Free Audit
### PPC
PPC
pay per click management agency
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
A totally transparent approach to pay
per click marketing in the wider Birmingham area
SEM Consultants is a leading PPC agency in Birmingham with connections across the world. Our PPC management services harness up-to-the-minute ads management techniques to ensure your PPC campaigns are a success. From our billing to our management, transparency is in our genes. As part of our PPC management, we’ll agree a set monthly PPC fee to fit your business goals and expertly manage your budget to get you as much business as possible within it. This way, you’ll know exactly where your money has gone at the end of the month, we have our set fee and you know exactly how much budget you have allocated to click spend. Our Birmingham PPC specialists create easily digestible reports free from over-complicated information with jargon-free conversations that are just the tonic for you, our valued clients.
PPC Strategy & Campaign Setup Services
keyword research
The key to success is only targeting the most relevant searches in the right match types.
Many businesses run PPC advertising campaigns with the wrong choice of keyword and match types. This results in wasted Google paid search budgets. At our agency, Google certified PPC account managers analyse your website, your marketplace and advertising goals to ensure that the appropriate Google PPC keywords are utilised in our paid search services. We’ll also conduct detailed competitor analysis to identify any potential keyword gaps in your industry.
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campaign setup
Our Google Ads agency creates killer pay per click advertising campaigns that deliver on three main areas of quality score
– Ad Relevance, Expected Click Through Rate & Landing Page Relevance. The aim is always to have a much more superior click through rate than Google recommends.
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multilingual search advertising
Do you have an international business or are you selling into other countries?
Our multi-lingual team are well versed in Spanish, German, Dutch, French & Polish. Multilingual PPC campaigns can generate sales at much cheaper costs than their English counterparts (provided you know the audience), all as part of our Google Ads management services.
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text ad copywriting
Ad copy that resonates with your audience and results in cheaper click prices is the ultimate goal for any PPC marketer.
Our clever ad copy technique ensures maximum PPC campaign impact. Our paid search experts craft highly-relevant ads in line with the keywords in your PPC ad campaign. We combine the copy with powerful CTA’s and targeted ad extensions to make your business “pop” from the search listings, which maximises the chances of achieving a lower cost per conversion on AdWords.
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Get Your Free Audit Today
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
PPC Optimisation & Performance Management
traffic analysis
One of our mantras is; “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”. We believe in the power of traffic and data analysis. Therefore, we utilise Google Analytics when managing any AdWords campaigns. This helps us gain valuable insights into how website visitors use your site and identify potential pitfalls in their customer journey. Arrange a one-to-one consultation with our Midlands-based Google Analytics conversion experts to discover how your website can be improved based on your current web traffic behaviour.
strategic bid management
In the dawn of automation, as a seasoned PPC agency, we are still dedicated to launching paid search campaigns with a human bidding on your keywords. Over time we transition these campaigns to automated bid strategies, keeping a close eye on performance. This ensures that your keywords are initially manually reviewed by human beings who can spot wasted spend better than any algorithm.
campaign testing
Testing new ads, keywords and targeting options for your audience is where all the optimisation takes place. With the use of draft campaigns & split tests with Google Optimise, our PPC specialists will show how PPC performance can improve with even minor changes. Our optimisations never stop at the click which is why we always list recommendations for your landing pages and conversion funnel. By continuously testing and improving PPC campaigns, your business will be well on its way to reaching the pinnacle of Google Ads success.
reporting
As honest providers of PPC services via Google & Microsoft, we adhere to third-party guidelines set out by the major search engines. Receive a simplified monthly report on the pay per click activities of your campaigns and obtain meaningful insights into the key paid metrics that matter to you, be it revenue, PPC keyword cost, conversions, clicks or new users. Talk to our specialist PPC reporting team to find out what information they can provide you with on a month-by-month basis that helps you to make management decisions.
Get In Touch
Meet The Team
Bhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorBhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorJason LewisSenior Pay Per Click Account ManagerOur Senior Pay Per Click Account Manager Jason is the strategic brain behind our Google Ads & Bing Ads management, creating and actioning winning paid ads campaigns every time.Jason LewisSenior Pay Per Click Account ManagerOur Senior Pay Per Click Account Manager Jason is the strategic brain behind our Google Ads & Bing Ads management, creating and actioning winning paid ads campaigns every time.Jordan BatemanSenior Paid Ads & Paid Social SpecialistAn expert in all things paid advertising, Jordan manages complex PPC & social media campaigns and strategy for our clients.Jordan BatemanSenior Paid Ads & Paid Social SpecialistAn expert in all things paid advertising, Jordan manages complex PPC & social media campaigns and strategy for our clients.
What Are the Next Steps?
We really want your business’ PPC Google advertising campaign to get off to a flying start. Therefore, we highly recommend that with our help you:Identify clear aims & objectives that you want to achieve within the first 3 months of your PPC campaign.Provide our paid search specialists with as much information about your business, product or service as possible.Set a realistic budget for the first 3 months of your AdWords PPC campaign. Our Google AdWords campaign managers can help you ascertain the best starting amount.Be prepared to react to a surge of sales or enquiries, and ensure your business is able to fulfil all of these new orders or queries.You or one of your representatives should also be willing to take an active role in your PPC marketing campaigns. Without your help, we can’t help you. Together, we’ve got this!
Contact Our Team
Why your company needs PPC advertising
PPC is one of the most powerful methods of advertising today. No other medium has such an engaged audience in the buying phase of a purchase cycle.Get in front of people who are actively searching for the products & services that you offer.Get fast results from your campaigns. It takes a very short amount of time to determine how well or poorly your audience is reacting to your product or service offering, giving you actionable insights within hours.The best return on your ad spend, period. No other marketing medium is going to get you a higher ROI on new user ad spend. Not Facebook, Native or any other. Search will always be the king here.Spend as much or as little as your business will allow. Google Ads allow you to control your budget so you are always in control.
Book Your Free Audit Today
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
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Our PPC management services
Google Ads
Outgrid customers discover and develop breakthrough innovations faster, accelerating workflow cycle time by 38%.
Google Shopping
Outgrid customers discover and develop breakthrough innovations faster, accelerating workflow cycle time by 38%.
Social
Outgrid customers discover and develop breakthrough innovations faster, accelerating workflow cycle time by 38%.
Microsoft Ads
Outgrid customers discover and develop breakthrough innovations faster, accelerating workflow cycle time by 38%.
Amazon Advertising
Outgrid customers discover and develop breakthrough innovations faster, accelerating workflow cycle time by 38%.
Contact Our Team
Interested in working with us?
Get In Touch
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PPC?
Whilst you may know that you need to advertise on Google Ads to get your business seen online, you may be wondering, ‘what is pay per click advertising and what is PPC’. PPC or pay-per-click is a mode of digital marketing where the business or ads agency acting on their behalf pays a fee each time one of their ads in clicked. What PPC is in digital marketing is essentially a way of paying for targeting visits to your website as part of your digital marketing strategy. PPC ads can appear in all sorts of shapes and sizes with text and images used and can appear across the web such as on search engine results pages or websites.
Where Can I Advertise With PPC Ads?
The most common form of PPC marketing is through search engines such as Google through the Google Ads platform with Bing and Yahoo also being popular options. Our Google PPC experts will handle your campaigns from account setup to ad creation and campaign management to make your PPC advertising a success. PPC advertising can also be run through social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.
Do People Really Click on PPC Ads?
Yes! PPC ads are an extremely successful way of getting visitors to your site and boosting conversions. The convenient position in search results of PPC ads means they appear right before customers who are searching for your product or service making them very clickable and a good way to drive traffic.
How Much Does a PPC Campaign Cost?
The cost of a pay per click campaign all depends on your industry, targets and the number of clicks your ad receives, hence the phrase pay per click or PPC. Your dedicated account manager will help you to establish a PPC budget for your campaign and put spending caps in place to ensure you stay on budget whilst getting the most from your campaign. Additionally, the platform you use such as Microsoft Ads, social media PPC or Google Ads will have its own pricing structure.
What Types of Businesses Can Advertise Using PPC?
Most businesses will be able to advertise using PPC. If you are providing a financial service or anything that relates to financial advice, you will need to verify your business with Google ads first. Take a look at Google’s business ad restrictions here to see if your industry is included or ask one of our team.
How Long Does it Take to See Results from PPC?
One of our most frequently asked questions is how long does it take for PPC to work. Whilst some other forms of marketing may take some time to see a return, PPC advertising is very quick to show results. Once you’ve created your ads and set the campaign live, your ads will almost instantly appear with searchers able to click through to your landing pages. PPC results such as Google ads results all depend on the level of PPC management or campaign setup and the amount of money you are willing to invest in PPC over time. Whilst PPC ads can benefit your website through increased traffic, ads require consistent use in order to generate a reliable traffic source.
What is PPC Management?
Whether you are looking for e-commerce PPC management or want to drive visitors to your site for information, our PPC management covers every aspect of PPC account setup, ads campaign management and analysis. As a specialist Midlands PPC agency, our PPC management services take care of your PPC ad spend to make sure you remain on-budget, we’ll also monitor industry and ads account changes to identify possible improvements to ensure your ads remain efficient and profitable. Our team will optimise ad placement for higher ROI and keep you updated on how your PPC campaigns are performing.
Can You Help Setup My Adwords Account?
If you’re completely new to advertising using Google Ads, we can help with your AdWords account setup and build AdWords campaigns around your business needs and targets. When we setup your Google Ads account, we’ll work with you to provide any verification needed to get your ads account moving. Our experienced team are here to help with any questions you may have about the PPC account setup process or how PPC works and are always just a phone call away if you need to discuss your Google Ads account setup, campaign management or ads performance.
How Much Does Your Agency Charge for PPC Marketing?
We charge a flat monthly fee for our PPC management services, which is based on the number of hours that a Google Ads or Microsoft Ads expert will spend on your campaigns.
How Quickly Can I Start Showing on Google?
In a literal sense, it takes around fifteen to twenty minutes for your PPC ads to start serving impressions once they have been posted (provided you aren’t in a restricted niche). Realistically, we need to spend some time putting your keywords, Google campaigns, and ads together. On average an account build will take a week. Once live, we would recommend that you run for at least three months to see the effect of account optimisations. You would, of course, wait three months on a flighted campaign!
### SEO
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation Services
Get In Touch
Trusted by
90K Scientists
Tailor-made SEO services in Birmingham to
enhance your brand
SEM Consultants is a Birmingham SEO company that believes in working WITH you, not for you. We take the time to understand your business ambitions and create the most effective SEO strategy to reach and exceed your goals. In an ever-evolving digital landscape, we understand the unique challenges that small businesses face and our strategies are crafted with you and your business in mind. Our search engine consultants not only offer targeted solutions to help you navigate in the online arena but will also help your small businesses to compete effectively.When it comes to choosing the right search engine optimisation consultants or seo services in Birmingham for your small business, you need a team that can elevate your online visibility and make you stand out in the digital crowd.Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is about reaching a global audience, increasing your visibility on major search engines to heighten your profile both locally and across the world. Digital platforms are dominating business and eCommerce, so organic search is more competitive than ever. Mastering your SEO marketing and building long-lasting connections with search engines could mean the difference between success and failure. The better search engines understand your business, the better your relationship will become and the more success you’ll see online. Contact our team to find out more.
Contact Our Team
Meet The Team
Bhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorBhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorLaura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Manpreet KaurLink Building SpecialistManpreet Kaur is a results-driven digital marketing strategist with a passion for search engine optimisation (SEO).Manpreet KaurLink Building SpecialistManpreet Kaur is a results-driven digital marketing strategist with a passion for search engine optimisation (SEO).
On Page SEO
SEO Content Writing
Fresh content captivates the visitors on your website, but high-quality and technical SEO content drives clients to your site in the first place.
Before we begin SEO content writing for your website, blog or socials, we carry out extensive SEO keyword analysis to help us write copy in-line with topics and phrases that potential customers are searching. This helps generate optimum and relevant traffic through searches.
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SEO Blog Writing
SEO Blog Writing is more important than ever for your overall campaign.
A blog creates original yet relevant SEO content about your business or website; it also provides a platform for promoting your brand. We produce keyword-rich content to ensure blog posts are successful in terms of SEO and we will also use or encourage you to use SEO blogging platforms such as WordPress, Joomla and Blogger for the best SEO content marketing.
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Site Migration SEO
Moving a website can be a daunting prospect, as it often leads to decreased search engine visibility and lost visitors.
However, with the right SEO migration services in place, it can be a catalyst for improved online visibility. Our site migration SEO experts meticulously plan and execute the process, ensuring minimal disruption to your website’s performance. From detailed checks and redirects to ongoing monitoring and optimisation, our comprehensive website migration SEO process will protect your online reputation and hard-earned search engine rankings while enhancing your website’s performance and user experience.
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International SEO
Are you expanding your business globally or already competing in a global environment?
International SEO is the key to unlocking new markets outside your home country. With our international SEO services, we can implement a robust international SEO strategy to optimise your website for different regions and languages to ensure maximum visibility in search engine results worldwide. From international keyword research tailored to specific countries to localising content and building international backlinks, we’ll help your business conquer the wider digital landscape. We can tailor our international SEO to support any industry, for example, we’ve helped shipping companies ensure their services are discoverable by international customers. Our global SEO experts understand the cultural nuances and search engine algorithms of different markets, such as EMEA and APAC, to create effective online presences.
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Contact Our Team
Read Our Reviews
SEM have been looking after our SEO & PPC accounts for a numbers of years now. There professionalism and attention to detail has been second to none throughout and we've noticed our rankings, traffic and conversions have all increased because of the work they've done in the background, the results speak for themselves!
Ben Greenway
Sales Manager at Badges Plus
We have been working with Sem Consultants now for around 5 years and in that time they have changed our Business immeasurably. Our online presence has gone from nothing to now a really strong presence in our trade. They never stand still and are always coming up with new ideas to make sure our Business grows and is relevant and up to date.
Samantha Pearce
Director at RB Windows
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Off Page SEO
Local Citations
Thanks to location tracking on most smart devices, local SEO services are crucial for success in your local area. Accurate citations are an essential element for Google when ordering businesses in local search results. We have an extensive list of sites to submit our citations to, and we ensure the highest levels of accuracy and consistency to maximise your websites citation flow and ranking.
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Google Penalty Removal
If Google issues you with a penalty, your SERP’s rankings will suffer and they usually won’t recover until you submit a manual review. You could be struck with a Google Penalty for the use of black-hat SEO techniques or as a by-product of an algorithm update; either way, it is extremely detrimental to your rankings. SEM can rectify your issues without the need to stress. We have successfully removed a number of Google Penalties for a number of confused business owners who have sought us out to help!
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Link Building
Link Building is a vital component of any victorious SEO campaign, and we put the time and effort into the task that it deserves. We manually create trustworthy and authoritative SEO back-links that have a positive impact on how your website ranks and how trusted your site becomes by Google and other major search engines. Quality over quantity is the rule with any SEO back-link service, so we don’t waste time with spam links of little relevance.
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Site Migration SEO
Moving a website can be a daunting prospect, as it often leads to decreased search engine visibility and lost visitors. However, with the right SEO migration services in place, it can be a catalyst for improved online visibility. Our site migration SEO experts meticulously plan and execute the process, ensuring minimal disruption to your website’s performance. From detailed checks and redirects to ongoing monitoring and optimisation, our comprehensive website migration SEO process will protect your online reputation and hard-earned search engine rankings while enhancing your website’s performance and user experience.
Contact Our Team
Why Choose SEM Consultants For Your SEO Consultant in Birmingham?
A Client-First, Data-Driven Approach
As a client-first company, our website optimisation services can be tailored to the unique needs and goals of your company. With a flexible approach, we can accommodate varying budgets and provide custom solutions that focus on successful local search engine optimisation. Our Birmingham SEO packages are successful due to tailoring the process to suit your business needs. Our targeted campaigns attract the most relevant audience who are genuinely seeking your services.As a local SEO company, we pride ourselves on eliminating the technical jargon and speaking to you in terms everybody can understand. That way, you know what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how it benefits your business. Transparency is at the heart of what we do and we are committed to keeping you informed every step of the way.
Contact Our Team
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Get In Touch
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What Types of Industries Do You Work With for Search Engine Optimisation?
We’ve been providing SEO content and strategy for a number of years and have worked with a range of different industries across the world. We’ve provided SEO for education, healthcare SEO for long-standing clients and SEO for B2B and industrial businesses from metal supply to injection moulding. We’re also specialists in SEO for shipping services with a number of successful campaigns under our belt. Whether you are looking for advice on real estate SEO or optimising your local café’s website, we can help.
What Type of SEO do you Help With? Content SEO, On-Page or Technical?
As a specialist digital marketing agency, we have a team of trained and experienced experts who can advise on every area of SEO. We’ll conduct a technical site audit to help identify areas where your website SEO could be improved whilst an on-page SEO audit such as a content review can help identify areas for improvement such as keyword targets or content/website design improvements. We provide on-page SEO and content writing services, technical SEO advice and off-page SEO advice to ensure your website’s success from every angle.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is the process of optimising your website and website content to improve its chances of ranking in Google and other search engines. Optimising your website using SEO tactics can help to generate free, organic traffic to your site, getting more eyes on your site and increasing your chances of conversion. Check out our on-page SEO checklist for some quick tips.
I Need an SEO Audit, Can You Help?
If you are unsure of what SEO tactics your website needs help with, we can do an SEO audit of your website to highlight key areas to include in your new SEO strategy and inform future SEO content production or activity. We’ll conduct a full website SEO audit for new clients and conduct a thorough SEO analysis of your site’s on-page and technical SEO. Whether you are just starting out in the online world and need some advice on what SEO can do for you or want to give your website a refresh after a number of years of gathering dust, we can help. Contact our team to find out more.
Can You Improve My Local SEO?
Are you a local business or a business with physical branches looking for a way to bring local people to your shopfront through online marketing? Local SEO is the perfect way to do this and our local search specialists can help get your business seen by people near you, no matter what size your business. We create locally targeted content and can help optimise your Google Business profile to capture local searchers. Whether you are local to the West Midlands or located nationally or internationally, contact our team to find out more about our local SEO services.
Do You Offer SEO Blog Writing Services?
As part of our dedicated SEO content writing services we can create search engine optimised blogs that help support your website’s overall SEO strategy and get found in Google. We’ll run an SEO content audit to identify content and keyword gaps and inform your new blog strategy. No matter what your industry, we can create thoroughly researched and optimised blog content that fits your brand.
What Makes SEM Consultants the Best SEO Company?
SEM Consultants put the emphasis on providing a personal, informed SEO service that really understands your business. We provide honest advice that we know will help your business’ online marketing succeed. We’ll get to know your business and marketing goals to create a bespoke SEO strategy to help your website rank.
Do You Provide Monthly SEO Reports?
As part of our SEO advice and services, we provide each and every one of our SEO clients with a monthly report to let them know how their SEO is working. We break our reports down into the finer details for those who like looking at the data but also provide clear explanations with the key points for those who might be newer to digital marketing or just want the key facts on how their SEO content is performing.
Do You Provide International SEO?
We’ve worked with a number of international SEO clients over the years and turbo-charged their online presence with a dedicated SEO strategy. We’ll tailor your SEO strategy to target keywords in your own country to ensure SEO success at home and internationally.
Can You Help With SEO Strategy?
No SEO campaign can be successful without an aim. That’s why we’ll get to know your business inside out to create a custom SEO strategy that fits your business aims and industry. We’re well-versed in creating successful SEO campaigns for both e-commerce and service-based websites and can create optimised product pages that convert. We’ll work with you to create an SEO strategy you are happy with and provide expert SEO advice to help your digital marketing efforts succeed.
What is International SEO vs Local SEO?
International SEO focuses on reaching a global audience by optimising your website for different countries and languages. This involves tailoring your content and website structure to specific international markets and implementing strategies like EMEA SEO. Local SEO, on the other hand, is about improving your website’s visibility for customers in a specific geographic area, like a city or county.
How Can I Migrate My Website Without Losing SEO?
Migrating your website without negatively impacting your search engine rankings requires careful planning and execution. This is where our site migration SEO expertise comes in. We’ll carefully perform your website migration to protect your search engine rankings. By creating an SEO migration plan that includes handling the technical details and closely monitoring your site’s performance, we ensure a smooth transition and continued online success. Let us take care of the website migration SEO so you can focus on your business.
### Careers
Digital Marketing Careers
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Who We're Looking For
Contact Us
Content royalty
Are you a keen writer? Whether you’re interested in getting started as a junior content writer or have years of experience, we want to hear from everyone. Send us your CV to get the ball rolling…
SEO gurus
It’s rare to find individuals with a passion for SEO, which is why we are always on the hunt! Send us your CV, no matter your experience level a fellow SEO guru will get back to you!
PPC heroes
Have you got an interest in PPC but don’t know where to start? or tons of experience and are looking for a new challenge? Send us your CV and we will be in touch!
Come work with us
### About Us
About Us
Birmingham's Premier Digital Marketing Agency
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
SEM Consultants – Digital Marketing Specialists
SEM Consultants are a digital marketing agency specialising in pay per click advertising (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO), social media marketing and web design. We offer a holistic, personal approach to digital services and are specialists in our field with combined expertise honed by years in the industry. We take the time to understand your business and the unique challenges you face and work closely to ensure sustained growth and results, time and again.
Contact our team to find out more
Why Choose us
What we can do for youAs an experienced digital services agency, we acknowledge that every client and their business needs are completely different. To accommodate this, we have fully adaptable teams that can pinpoint the best course of action and work to achieve and surpass each client’s individual business goals.We build tailor-made marketing strategies, through which we can generate a specialised digital consultancy plan to cater to your business needs.Our Birmingham digital marketing specialists forensically research your product or service to ensure that we are targeting the most profitable keywords and phrases.As Google Partners & Microsoft accredited experts, we target your PPC marketing campaign to specific geographic regions, so you don’t waste money advertising your product or service in areas that you don’t cover.Adjust keyword bids accordingly based on the device that is being used, as many people will search differently on smartphones as opposed to tablets and desktops.Analyse the best time of day to maximise exposure and minimise your wasted spend by using day parting and advanced script level bid adjustments.
how we work
Our process is simpleTransparency is imperative to SEM Consultants’ ethos.Your accounts are set up in your name using an email address and contact details provided by you. A dedicated account manager will always manage your digital marketing campaign, whether you require PPC services, web design services or SEO content writing services. They will always be willing to help, whenever you require.We appreciate and emphasise the importance of client relationships at SEM Consultants. Therefore, we always encourage frequent communication between our outgoing account managers and you, our client. Our Birmingham-based digital marketing account managers keep you informed of the latest developments with your marketing campaigns, just as we encourage clients to ask questions or call for a chat.Through customer rapport, being involved with your marketing strategy and informing us of changes in your business objective, we can produce the most formidable 360 digital marketing campaign worthy of our Google Partner status.As well as ongoing support, SEM generates a detailed monthly report for every client. We highlight the monthly spend, targeted keywords, the number of conversions, overall revenue, campaign reach and the frequency of ads in simple terms to help you monitor your digital marketing success.You are never left in the dark when you work with the digital marketing specialists at SEM Consultants.
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Our Story
Our managing director Mark Hickman has been involved in websites and online marketing for over 15 years. Hailing from a background in website sales and maintenance, Mark decided to set up his own company in 2008 specialising in SEO & PPC and hence SEM Consultants was born.Humble BeginningsAs a new startup in 2008, we shared an office with another tech business and began to flourish quickly. In the space of two years, our small but close-knit team were ready to have their own office space.Our First Office Space2010 was the year when we finally had our own office space. In a small room space, our talented team focussed on their skills and started to see some impressive growth for all the clients under their remit.Our collective expertise widened to more industry sectors than ever before and we helped our partners in both e-commerce and lead generation sectors. It was during this time that we added some key members of the team who are still with us today. We also achieved official Google Partner status, an accreditation we are still proud to hold.The First RebrandHaving seen continued growth in the years from 2008 to 2012, we once again outgrew our cosy office space. Luckily, we only moved 100 yards from our previous space to a more plush setting.Our team swelled massively and we now have specialisms in Link Building, Content Generation, Search Ads and Shopping Ads to name a few. The added expertise in our family enabled us to achieve a Premier Google Partner status as well as becoming an accredited agency in the Microsoft Advertising Partners platform.During this time we oversaw our first re-brand. Aligning our brand with design trends at the time ensured our “freshness” was preserved.Our Team is Our StrengthAppreciating that growth comes at a price, the executive team decided to put our valued team first and relocate once again – this time at a location that ticked many boxes for our team. Close to shops, bars & restaurants, our new office location allows our team members to have a more relaxing and leisurely surrounding to do what they do best, create and execute the very best digital marketing campaigns.Appreciating the many facets of digital marketing, we decided to add more specialisms to our repertoire:Web Development & DesignSocial MediaBy adding these services to our arsenal we have several different digital marketing specialities covered under one roof.The Future – A New DawnIn 2020 senior members of the management team, Bhupinder Bhogal & Mike Woodcock joined the board having steered SEM in a new direction. Steering the way for SEM Consultants to become the industry-leading digital marketing agency it is today.“We went back to basics and put some thought into our core values and identified our five core values being proactive, passionate, caring, trusted and taking ownership. These five core values, in turn, became our new mission statement which emphasised our values over the last decade”By being proactive and passionate we deliver the most caring and trusted service by taking ownership of our client’s campaignsAs a result of our new mission statement, we welcome you to re-brand number two! With a clear motto that underpins the above mission statement. Our focus is solely on you, our most valued partners, without whom we wouldn’t be where we are today. Together with your help, we can help you grow into leaders in your industry.Contact our team now to find out more.
Our Expertise
Organize, oversee, and monitor interrelated tasks while having a real-time overview of the entire program's scope.
Request a demo
SEO & Content Marketing Agency
Driving organic traffic to your website is key. Our SEO specialists create optimised website content, SEO blogs and more combined with technical SEO strategy to ensure your online. success.
SEO Content WritingGoogle My BusinessLink Building
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Website Design & Development
We create user-friendly websites build with SEO in mind and designed to have instant impact and drive sales.
Website DesignWordpress Development
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Social Media Marketing Agency
Our social media specialists create successful social media campaigns that drive traffic to your website, raise brand awareness and increase conversions to drive high ROI.
Social Media MarketingFacebook Ads ManagementInstagram Ads Management
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very tested
The solutions we offer have been tested and recognized by experts, so they can maximize the work of scientists and biotechnology.
Meet the team
Mike WoodcockSales DirectorSales Director Mike Woodcock is a digital marketing strategist with a passion for helping businesses grow their online presence.Mike WoodcockSales DirectorSales Director Mike Woodcock is a digital marketing strategist with a passion for helping businesses grow their online presence.Mike WoodcockSales DirectorSales Director Mike Woodcock is a digital marketing strategist with a passion for helping businesses grow their online presence.Bhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorBhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorBhupinder BhogalTechnical SEO & PPC DirectorJason LewisSenior Pay Per Click Account ManagerOur Senior Pay Per Click Account Manager Jason is the strategic brain behind our Google Ads & Bing Ads management, creating and actioning winning paid ads campaigns every time.Jason LewisSenior Pay Per Click Account ManagerOur Senior Pay Per Click Account Manager Jason is the strategic brain behind our Google Ads & Bing Ads management, creating and actioning winning paid ads campaigns every time.Jason LewisSenior Pay Per Click Account ManagerOur Senior Pay Per Click Account Manager Jason is the strategic brain behind our Google Ads & Bing Ads management, creating and actioning winning paid ads campaigns every time.Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Laura SargeantSenior SEO Content WriterAs Senior SEO Content Writer, Laura is an expert in all things organic and along with the SEO team at SEM Consultants helps businesses turbo-charge their search engine optimisation and get ranked on Google.Jordan BatemanSenior Paid Ads & Paid Social SpecialistAn expert in all things paid advertising, Jordan manages complex PPC & social media campaigns and strategy for our clients.Jordan BatemanSenior Paid Ads & Paid Social SpecialistAn expert in all things paid advertising, Jordan manages complex PPC & social media campaigns and strategy for our clients.Jordan BatemanSenior Paid Ads & Paid Social SpecialistAn expert in all things paid advertising, Jordan manages complex PPC & social media campaigns and strategy for our clients.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Adriana AleksandrovaSEO Content WriterMeet Adriana, our SEO content writing specialist and an experienced wordsmith with a flair for traffic-driving narratives that connect with audiences.Manpreet KaurLink Building SpecialistManpreet Kaur is a results-driven digital marketing strategist with a passion for search engine optimisation (SEO).Manpreet KaurLink Building SpecialistManpreet Kaur is a results-driven digital marketing strategist with a passion for search engine optimisation (SEO).Manpreet KaurLink Building SpecialistManpreet Kaur is a results-driven digital marketing strategist with a passion for search engine optimisation (SEO).
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Join over 200,000 scientists using Outgrid to power their biotech R&D
Request a demo
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
### Case Studies
Case Studies
Trusted by
Our Long Standing Clients
Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
SEM have been looking after our SEO & PPC accounts for a numbers of years now. There professionalism and attention to detail has been second to none throughout and we've noticed our rankings, traffic and conversions have all increased because of the work they've done in the background, the results speak for themselves!
Ben Greenway
Sales Manager at Badges Plus
SEM and Bobby Bhogal in particular have helped our company massively with SEO and Google Adwords over the last 6 years. Our Online sales have grown over £1,200,000 due to the proper implementation of Google Shopping campaigns and it enabled our business to grow.
Brian Cormell
Managing Director at The Headset Store
I have been working with SEM for the last few years, brilliant team that really take the time to get to know you and your business before offering solutions. No job too big or too small, and always there to assist me whatever the problem. Overall Excellent service provided by SEM Consultants. Would highly recommend
Aaron Osborne
Regional Sales Manager
We have been working with Sem Consultants now for around 5 years and in that time they have changed our Business immeasurably. Our online presence has gone from nothing to now a really strong presence in our trade. They never stand still and are always coming up with new ideas to make sure our Business grows and is relevant and up to date.
Samantha Pearce
Director at RB Windows
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around…
Read More
July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
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July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
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July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
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July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
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July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
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July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
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May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
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Your single source of truth for biotech R&D
Biotech R&D is transforming the world, but better technology is needed to keep up. Outgrid R&D Cloud, built on a trusted and open cloud platform, helps scientists accelerate their work with data, collaboration, and insights throughout the R&D lifecycle.
Request a demo
Join over 200,000 scientists using Outgrid to power their biotech R&D
Request a demo
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of healthcare does Outgrid focus on?
Outgrid specializes in a diverse range of healthcare fields, including oncology, neurology, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. Our focus spans across various therapeutic areas, enabling us to address unmet medical needs and develop innovative solutions for different health challenges.
How does Outgrid ensure the safety and efficacy of its therapies?
At Outgrid, safety and efficacy are our top priorities. We adhere to rigorous scientific and regulatory standards throughout the drug development process. Our therapies undergo extensive preclinical and clinical studies to ensure their safety, efficacy, and quality before reaching patients. Additionally, we collaborate closely with regulatory agencies to meet and exceed all necessary compliance requirements.
Does Outgrid collaborate with other organizations or researchers?
Yes, collaboration is integral to our approach. Outgrid actively collaborates with leading academic institutions, biopharmaceutical companies, and research organizations worldwide. These partnerships foster innovation and allow us to leverage diverse expertise, accelerating the development of transformative therapies and technologies.
How can I stay updated on Outgrid's latest advancements and news?
To stay informed about Outgrid’s latest breakthroughs, advancements, and news, you can subscribe to our newsletter on our website. Additionally, follow our social media channels for real-time updates, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog, where we regularly share insights, articles, and announcements about our research, partnerships, and achievements.
### Contact
Contact
Outgrid R&D Cloud is designed to enhance productivity and collaboration for Discovery and Development teams by providing an integrated and flexible scientific platform.
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Outgrid R&D Cloud is designed to enhance productivity and collaboration for Discovery and Development teams by providing an integrated and flexible scientific platform.
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Trusted by
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Read Our Reviews
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Adam
SEO Expert
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Karl
Designer
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Maria
Developer
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Michael
Manager
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Lena
CEO
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Jennifer
Consultant
Our Services
SEO
Capture structured and unstructured lab work with the first cloud-based notebook built for biotech.
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PPC
Efficiently oversee in vivo studies using modern software specifically designed for data collection, collaboration, and analysis.
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Paid Social
Outgrid sample management solution gives you lab inventory management that’s intelligently connected with your R&D data.
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Email Marketing
Create and distribute dashboards and reports, monitor metrics, and gain insights from your data with Insights.
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Gather, systematize, and consolidate R&D information.
Efficiently handle vast, interconnected datasets spanning a diverse range of biological molecules such as DNA, RNA, amino acids, proteins, and cell lines.
Collaborate with diverse data formats including experimental data, operating protocols, and observations.
Reduce potential hazards and offer data governance tools to regulate accessibility and ensure adherence to regulations.
Facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing among R&D teams.
Speed up sequence design, oversee experiments, record outcomes, and monitor samples using a unified, comprehensive platform.
Organize, oversee, and monitor interrelated tasks while having a real-time overview of the entire program's scope.
Rapidly verify data and information across teams.
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Join over 200,000 scientists using Outgrid to power their biotech R&D
Request a demo
Latest News
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of healthcare does Outgrid focus on?
Outgrid specializes in a diverse range of healthcare fields, including oncology, neurology, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. Our focus spans across various therapeutic areas, enabling us to address unmet medical needs and develop innovative solutions for different health challenges.
How does Outgrid ensure the safety and efficacy of its therapies?
At Outgrid, safety and efficacy are our top priorities. We adhere to rigorous scientific and regulatory standards throughout the drug development process. Our therapies undergo extensive preclinical and clinical studies to ensure their safety, efficacy, and quality before reaching patients. Additionally, we collaborate closely with regulatory agencies to meet and exceed all necessary compliance requirements.
Does Outgrid collaborate with other organizations or researchers?
Yes, collaboration is integral to our approach. Outgrid actively collaborates with leading academic institutions, biopharmaceutical companies, and research organizations worldwide. These partnerships foster innovation and allow us to leverage diverse expertise, accelerating the development of transformative therapies and technologies.
How can I stay updated on Outgrid's latest advancements and news?
To stay informed about Outgrid’s latest breakthroughs, advancements, and news, you can subscribe to our newsletter on our website. Additionally, follow our social media channels for real-time updates, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog, where we regularly share insights, articles, and announcements about our research, partnerships, and achievements.
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Top-rated solution trusted by the FDA, USDA, NIH & 90k+ scientists in 100+ countries.
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Our Long Standing Clients
Birmingham’s leading Digital Marketing agency
SEM Consultants are a results-driven digital marketing agency based in the Midlands. We take the time to understand the nuances of your business in order to help you succeed in your industry. Housing a range of digital marketing specialisms under one roof, we provide a selection of digital marketing tools from SEO content writing and link building services to Amazon advertising and Google Adwords management with a focus on results-driven performance.
Contact Our Team
Read Our Reviews
SEM have been looking after our SEO & PPC accounts for a numbers of years now. There professionalism and attention to detail has been second to none throughout and we've noticed our rankings, traffic and conversions have all increased because of the work they've done in the background, the results speak for themselves!
Ben Greenway
Sales Manager at Badges Plus
SEM and Bobby Bhogal in particular have helped our company massively with SEO and Google Adwords over the last 6 years. Our Online sales have grown over £1,200,000 due to the proper implementation of Google Shopping campaigns and it enabled our business to grow.
Brian Cormell
Managing Director at The Headset Store
I have been working with SEM for the last few years, brilliant team that really take the time to get to know you and your business before offering solutions. No job too big or too small, and always there to assist me whatever the problem. Overall Excellent service provided by SEM Consultants. Would highly recommend
Aaron Osborne
Regional Sales Manager
We have been working with Sem Consultants now for around 5 years and in that time they have changed our Business immeasurably. Our online presence has gone from nothing to now a really strong presence in our trade. They never stand still and are always coming up with new ideas to make sure our Business grows and is relevant and up to date.
Samantha Pearce
Director at RB Windows
What Make Us Different From Other Digital Marketing Agencies
Results You Can See, Not Just Promises
Our focus is always on delivering measurable, bottom-line results — not vanity metrics.
We track every click, lead, and sale to ensure your marketing investment is generating a clear return. Instead of vague reports, you’ll receive transparent performance data that shows exactly how our work is impacting your business growth. From improved conversion rates to increased revenue, our results speak for themselves — and they’re always backed by hard numbers.
Many businesses run PPC advertising campaigns with the wrong choice of keyword and match types. This results in wasted Google paid search budgets. At our agency, Google certified PPC account managers analyse your website, your marketplace and advertising goals to ensure that the appropriate Google PPC keywords are utilised in our paid search services. We’ll also conduct detailed competitor analysis to identify any potential keyword gaps in your industry.
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Specialists, Not Generalists
We don’t believe in “jack of all trades” marketing. Our PPC campaigns are managed by certified paid media experts, SEO strategies are crafted by experienced search specialists, and our creative assets are built by professional designers. This ensures each part of your marketing is handled with precision, knowledge, and up-to-date best practices, so your campaigns outperform those run by generalist agencies.
– Ad Relevance, Expected Click Through Rate & Landing Page Relevance. The aim is always to have a much more superior click through rate than Google recommends.
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Strategies Built Around Your Business
Your business is unique — and your marketing strategy should be too.
We never rely on cookie-cutter templates or one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, we take the time to understand your goals, industry, audience, and competitive landscape before crafting a campaign strategy from the ground up. This means every keyword, ad, and creative element is designed to work together toward your specific objectives, maximising ROI and long-term success.
Our multi-lingual team are well versed in Spanish, German, Dutch, French & Polish. Multilingual PPC campaigns can generate sales at much cheaper costs than their English counterparts (provided you know the audience), all as part of our Google Ads management services.
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Partnership, Not Just Service
We work as an extension of your team, not just another agency on your invoice.
From the start, we prioritise open communication, transparency, and collaboration. You’ll always know what’s happening with your campaigns, why certain strategies are in place, and how they’re performing. Our goal is to create a partnership where your success is our success — which is why we’re proactive in bringing you fresh ideas, spotting opportunities, and continuously refining campaigns to deliver even better results.
Our clever ad copy technique ensures maximum PPC campaign impact. Our paid search experts craft highly-relevant ads in line with the keywords in your PPC ad campaign. We combine the copy with powerful CTA’s and targeted ad extensions to make your business “pop” from the search listings, which maximises the chances of achieving a lower cost per conversion on AdWords.
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Contact Our Team
Our Digital Marketing Agency Services
PPC
Innovative PPC campaigns and strategy to drive traffic and conversions on your website.
SEO
Results-driven SEO services to help you appear at the top of search engine results.
Social Media Marketing
Paid social media advertising tailored to your brand and business needs.
Email Marketing
Email marketing strategy and management the amplifies your brand's message.
Web Design
Intuitive and SEO-friendly website design optimised for conversions and unique user journeys.
Brand Design
Business brand design and creation that matches your business story and builds on your unique success.
Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch
Latest Blog Posts
July 8, 2025
AI Marketing Trends 2025: What to Look Out For
AI is changing every aspect of marketing at supersonic speed and its impact on the industry clearly isn’t going to subside anytime soon. In 2025, adapting to this new landscape is not optional, but a key part of remaining competitive in the digital marketing world. However, for businesses relying on digital marketing, keeping up with…
Read More
July 8, 2025
AI and the Future of SEO: What’s Next?
No one can deny that the SEO landscape has been dramatically changed by AI models such as GPT-4, and there seems to be no question about the fact that this process will continue into the future. AI and the future of SEO is an especially significant topic to anyone who relies on digital marketing as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
The Google Unfair Advantage Policy Update Explained
Last month, an update to the long-standing Google Unfair Advantage Policy was quietly rolled out, and while the enforcement date isn’t until April 14th, the PPC world is already considering its potential impact. The update seems to formally allow advertisers to show more than one ad on a single search results page, as long as…
Read More
July 8, 2025
Email Marketing for Small Businesses
Discover how email marketing for small businesses can boost engagement, build customer loyalty, and drive growth with our step-by-step guide.
Read More
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas of healthcare does Outgrid focus on?
Outgrid specializes in a diverse range of healthcare fields, including oncology, neurology, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. Our focus spans across various therapeutic areas, enabling us to address unmet medical needs and develop innovative solutions for different health challenges.
How does Outgrid ensure the safety and efficacy of its therapies?
At Outgrid, safety and efficacy are our top priorities. We adhere to rigorous scientific and regulatory standards throughout the drug development process. Our therapies undergo extensive preclinical and clinical studies to ensure their safety, efficacy, and quality before reaching patients. Additionally, we collaborate closely with regulatory agencies to meet and exceed all necessary compliance requirements.
Does Outgrid collaborate with other organizations or researchers?
Yes, collaboration is integral to our approach. Outgrid actively collaborates with leading academic institutions, biopharmaceutical companies, and research organizations worldwide. These partnerships foster innovation and allow us to leverage diverse expertise, accelerating the development of transformative therapies and technologies.
How can I stay updated on Outgrid's latest advancements and news?
To stay informed about Outgrid’s latest breakthroughs, advancements, and news, you can subscribe to our newsletter on our website. Additionally, follow our social media channels for real-time updates, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog, where we regularly share insights, articles, and announcements about our research, partnerships, and achievements.
## Portfolio
### Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates
Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca.Welcome Estates work with multiple nationalities and languages with SEM Consultants helping target Dutch markets in the Netherlands and Belgium, France, Belgium and the UK & Ireland as well as targeting audiences in Spain.Since starting work with Welcome Estates in 2021, we’ve turbo-charged their digital marketing efforts, combining strategic PPC campaigns with SEO-optimised blogs and innovative social media campaigns as well as working alongside them to create a physical magazine for their clients.In the last 6 months alone, we have helped to improve click-through rates for PPC by a massive 224% through strategic account management and optimisation. We worked with the team at Welcome Estates to understand their goals and business needs and channel this into a superior digital marketing strategy that works for them.
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help Welcome Estates?
Our team of PPC specialists, SEO professionals and social media experts have helped ensure success across the board for Welcome Estates since they came on board in 2021. By working with them to achieve their goals through strategic campaigns and activity, we have increased conversions and enquiries by 324% during the last 6 months alone with the click-through rate increasing by 224% and a 563% increase in the conversion rate for PPC.Organically, we work with Welcome Estates to create SEO-optimised blog content that has increased sessions by 418.24% year on year from 2021 to 2022 with a 391.79% increase in new users to the blog. The creation of optimised content has also led to a marked increase in engagement on the site with a reduced drop-off and more time spent on the page by visitors.In addition to our online content writing for Welcome Estates, we also created content for a print client brochure including area guides and more to attract and inform potential customers and existing customers and provide a reference point when the team attend events such as A Place in the Sun Live.By combining PPC prowess, social media strategy, search engine optimised blogs and gripping print content, we’ve helped Welcome Estates go from strength to strength in the online world and in the Spanish property market at home and overseas. By using our international marketing know-how and getting to know the Welcome Estates brand, we’ve created winning digital marketing strategies that perform month after month. The exceptional stats speak for themselves with incredible performance across the board and fantastic engagement from customers new and existing. It has been a pleasure to work alongside Welcome Estates with whichever new challenge comes along and to help ensure their continued success.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Welcome Estates
Targeted Digital Marketing Strategy With Welcome Estates Welcome Estates is a specialist Spanish Property agent located on the Costa Blanca. With over 25 years of experience finding dream properties for sun-seekers, the team at Welcome Estates are experts in their field, particularly for golf course properties on the Costa Blanca. Welcome Estates work with multiple…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around…
Read More
July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
Read More
Load more
### Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride
Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival and smaller venue events. With a focus on audience building using targeted social media marketing strategies, Brighton Pride has benefitted from improved cost per conversion which is a desirable outcome for any company.We are extremely proud of the successful relationship we have developed with Brighton Pride, and in a relatively short time and we anticipate the next 12 months to be just as fruitful. For over 4 decades, Brighton Pride has been the symbol of inclusivity and celebration within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. Their commitment to campaigning for equality and fundraising has enabled them to support local LGBTQ+ charities and organisations which continue to make a positive impact in the lives of people in Brighton and Hove.
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help Brighton Pride?
Our work with Brighton Pride over the last year increased the visibility of the brand online through dedicated social media ad campaigns. PPC and Social media marketing strategies were implemented and along with accurate analytic tracking, Brighton Pride continues to reap the benefits of increased ticket revenue. The services we provide for Brighton Pride include:Facebook AdsTwitter AdsSocial media consultancyThe organisation of Facebook Business ManagerOngoing technical supportThese impressive statistics mean that the PPC and Social media strategies initiated by SEM Consultants successfully assisted Brighton Pride in achieving the goals of elevating the sale of tickets for the Pride festival and smaller events. With over 2 million accounts reached, the social media efforts applied by our digital marketing team vastly increased the online presence of Brighton Pride and in addition, the cost per conversion was improved. Custom advertising campaigns on Facebook and Twitter resulted in putting the charity in front of a wider, targeted audience and enhancing the Brighton Pride brand.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Brighton Pride
Impressive Social Media Reach With Brighton Pride Over the last 12 months, SEM Consultants has successfully worked with Brighton Pride, the organisers of the UK’s most popular LGBTQ+ event on the calendar. With the implementation of bespoke campaign builds we have increased the number of website users resulting in increased ticket sales for the Pride Festival…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around…
Read More
July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
Read More
Load more
### Gogna Schoolwear
Driving E-commerce Growth and Organic Visibility for School Uniforms With Gogna Schoolwear
Gogna Schoolwear is a leading manufacturer and supplier of school uniforms in the UK. They approached us with a goal of improving their online presence, increasing product sales and improving search visibility for their products. With our expertise in digital marketing, SEO and PPC, we devised a comprehensive strategy to help Gogna Schoolwear achieve these goals.This proactive approach not only increased Gogna Schoolwear’s visibility in search engine results but also attracted customers actively searching for quality school uniforms. As a result, Gogna Schoolwear saw a boost in e-commerce sales, particularly for key unbranded product categories. This demonstrated the success of our collaborative efforts in aligning our digital marketing strategies with their growth objectives.
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help Gogna Schoolwear?
Gogna Schoolwear faced stiff competition in the school uniform market, particularly for specific products like boys’ school trousers, girls’ school skirts and school jumpers. To improve their online presence and drive both organic search visibility and e-commerce success, we implemented strategies that focused on keyword targeting, product page optimisation, on-page and off-page SEO enhancements and local SEO targeting.Extensive keyword research allowed us to identify and target new, high-performing keywords which helped Gogna Schoolwear rank in the top 10 for a significant number of relevant search queries. We then revamped product descriptions by integrating the relevant key phrases associated with the specific school uniform items. We reviewed and optimised the technical aspects of their website and focused on improving meta descriptions and page titles to help bolster the organic performance of key product and category pages. Gogna Schoolwear also identified some schools they would like to target so we optimised some of their individual school pages to rank for local searches. This ensured that the brand appeared at the top of search results for specific school uniform requirements from local secondary schools.The first 12 months of our collaboration with Gogna Schoolwear have been an e-commerce success. Through our strategic SEO efforts and targeted keyword optimisation, Gogna Schoolwear achieved a remarkable increase in organic visibility and sales. By focusing on both product page and local SEO improvements, we were able to significantly boost their e-commerce performance, solidifying Gogna Schoolwear’s position as a leader in the school uniform market.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Gogna Schoolwear
Read More
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around…
Read More
July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
Read More
Load more
### Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus
Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, to being the UK’s largest custom badge manufacturer – what exceptional progression! Over the years, Badges Plus has had to relocate more than once to accommodate for their expansion. In the 5 years that they have been with us at SEM Consultants, it has been a privilege to see how they’ve grown again and again.Badges Plus have become experts in all things badges, bespoke or otherwise. Alongside this, they custom make lanyards, ID badges, wristbands, cufflinks and keyrings, too. This is why they are succeeding so exponentially. They provide merchandise for charities, corporations, schools, the public sector, trade unions, and clubs. Whatever your badge needs are, we’re sure Badges Plus can supply! It has been proven over and over again.
Visit their website
What did we do to help Badges Plus?
For over 5 years, we have worked with Badges Plus, helping to drive visitors towards their website through extensive search marketing techniques. Our team of professionals are spread across PPC Management, SEO, Web Design, and Social Media. When working together, our team achieves success time and again for various businesses – which has definitely been the case for Badges Plus, too. The work we do for Badges Plus includes:Google AdWordsGoogle ShoppingSEOBing AdWordsGoogle Remarketing Blog managementEmail marketingThese search marketing services have worked together to help bring people to Badges Plus and put them on the map. PPC is a brilliant way of putting you right in front of your customers, and our team has successfully done this with Badges Plus’ PPC account. All of these techniques have been effective in drastically changing Badges Plus’s website visits over 5 years.Over the years, we have helped Badges Plus to increase their website traffic, page views, and goal completions remarkably. Our excellent, dedicated PPC accounts team continuously analyse and adjust Badges Plus’s accounts in order to keep in line with trends and changes from Google and Bing.Our SEO team have ensured that Badges Plus’s website is rich in SEO and keywords in order to support organic traffic to the website. We also manage their blog. With a regular, focused blog, we have been able to help Badges get the attention of their target market and bring in regular visitors to the site. In addition to this, we have worked with Badges Plus to create, launch and analyse email marketing campaigns to drive traffic to site products and services with fantastic success.It has been a wonderful experience working with such a brilliant company that hails from our hometown. We at SEM Consultants are excited to see what the next 5 years will bring, and we are sure it will be years of even more growth and progression. Our motto, “together, we’ve got this,” has never been truer, because working together with Badges Plus has helped them to soar.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Badges Plus
Unparalleled Progress Over 5 Years with Badges Plus Our friends at Badges Plus have been growing in their industry for over 40 years now. After all this time, there is no question as to how they have become the leading manufacturer for bespoke badges. Badges Plus has gone from a small family business in Birmingham’s…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around…
Read More
July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
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May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
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May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### Barney’s Amsterdam
Incredible Social Media Advances with Barneys Amsterdam
We have worked closely with Barney’s Amsterdam since 2017. Using bespoke social media and SEO techniques, the brand now dominates search engine results and has garnered a large and interactive following across its social media platforms. Spread across four locations and an online store, Barney’s Amsterdam now has a dedicated following around the globe. With a 30-year history, Barney’s Farm has won countless awards, going from strength to strength in recent years. Through the creation of countless creative campaigns paired with a fresh approach, our specialist team at SEM Consultants has caused a substantial increase in social media followers and an impressive rise in user interactions over its time with Barney’s Amsterdam, increasing consistently month after month. Going from strength to strength, the brand now has a dedicated following across the world and has cemented its place as a public favourite.
Visit their website
What did we do to help Barney’s Amsterdam?
Working to closely monitor Facebook, Instagram and Twitter guidelines, our Social team at SEM Consultants has fuelled a significant increase in follower counts and user interactions over its time with Barney’s Amsterdam. Since we started working with Barneys Farm in 2017, the company’s presence on social media has skyrocketed in the years since. The brand’s Instagram has particularly benefitted from our specialist help. Going from around Instagram 12,500 followers in 2017, a combination of quality content and customer interactions has seen follower figures rise to over 158,000 and counting. This has all helped to develop Barney’s online presence and encourage organic growth. Our promotion of their many popular events using video and website updates has also supported web user and page view goals, as has the use of competitions and other campaigns aimed at increasing user interactions.Following viral tweets and in-depth hashtag strategies, our team has used impressive results to fuel consistently engaged campaigns. This boom in social media interaction has seen a knock-on effect of visually increasing Barney’s SERP position. SEM Consultant’s social media management team has worked closely with Barney’s to create organic growth unparalleled across the market and we look forward to many more successful years working alongside them.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Barney’s Amsterdam
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July 24, 2025
QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM 8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada. By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
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May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### QMM
Enhancing Visibility and Sales for Premium Moving Specialists, QMM
8 years ago we partnered with QMM and have significantly contributed to QMM’s online growth and success in the competitive moving services market across Canada.By developing and implementing a multifaceted SEO strategy, we have increased the volume of inquiries for QMM’s diverse range of moving services.Our approach combined a solid with a targeted focus on enhancing the visibility of regional service pages in organic search engine results. By creating targeted, area-based landing pages, we ensured that QMM’s services were easily discoverable by potential customers in key regions, which boosted engagement and conversions.
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help QMM?
As a Canadian-based international moving company, the goal was to increase the number of cross-border and local moves and enhance QMM’s search engine ranking performance in Canada and the US.By analysing the existing content we identified areas of improvement and opportunities for optimisation through keyword research.We leveraged this information and built dedicated landing pages targeting those moving across borders between the USA and Canada. In addition, we created a successful cross-border moving page to increase the visibility of inter-provincial moving services and target regional searches.The SEO team created monthly blog content focusing on the types of cross-border services offered and locations. This increased enquiries significantly while improving the website’s organic performance in search engines.In Canada, the article https://www.qmm.com/best-places-to-live-bc-2023-article generated 69,203 sessions since being published (June 2021 – June 2023) with 63,474 new users visiting the page.Between Jan 2021 and June 2023 46.16% of users visiting the Cross Border movers page converted. This page currently ranks on the first page of Google and drives healthy traffic to the siteOur successful partnership with QMM has undeniably produced impressive results and highlights the effectiveness of our laser-focused approach to digital marketing.By enhancing their online visibility and regional targeting, we have not only increased the volume of enquiries and conversions but also improved user engagement stats across their website. As we look to the future, QMM is well-positioned to continue thriving in the competitive moving services market. The success of this collaboration demonstrates our commitment to driving positive results for our clients.
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July 24, 2025
QMM
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high…
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### Anglo Pacific
Incredible Lead Generation in the Removals Industry with Anglo Pacific
Anglo Pacific are pioneers in the UK removals industry having cemented their place over a 30-year history. With over 20,000 people trusting them to ship their goods every year, they have grown to be the UK’s largest shipping and removals company with an incredibly high reputation within their industry. We have worked alongside Anglo Pacific for over 10 years, running bespoke campaigns through a range of digital platforms to ensure success.Whilst the competition has grown within their industry, they have maintained a strong presence, with increasing conversion rates and some impressive goal conversions. Over our time managing Anglo Pacific’s online presence we have generated more than 350,000 HOT lead opportunities.
Visit their website
What did we do to help Anglo Pacific?
Combining targeted PPC services, SEO techniques, in-depth website analysis and bespoke content creation we turbo-charged Anglo Pacific’s digital marketing efforts combining detailed research, specialist knowledge and innovative techniques to boost website performance in all areas. Our bespoke SEO content creation allowed website visitor number to skyrocket whilst website conversions have risen dramatically ever since. By truly understanding Anglo Pacific’s target audience and crafting a website that nurtures the customer journey, we managed to improve customer experience, engagement and conversion metrics across the board, particularly in terms of visitor numbers and bounce rates.With a business model completely dependant on online advertising, it was important to find the perfect combination of techniques to draw in leads. We coordinated a combination of techniques using PPC, SEO, website analysis and bespoke content creation to add value to Anglo Pacific’s site, thus increasing rankings and making the most out of their expertly-managed online ads.
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July 24, 2025
Anglo Pacific
Read More
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing
We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals has really made a name for itself when it comes to brush strips, garage door seals and rubber sealing solutions. Having established itself in 1997, with over 40 years’ of manufacturing experience, JA Seals prides itself on being an avid member of the brush strip and rubber seal manufacturing community. There’s a reason why they are the number one manufacturer of brush strips, garage door seals, hygienic cladding trims, industrial and commercial door seals, and more!
Visit their website
What did we do to help JA Seals?
For over 10 years, our expert team has been able to take JA Seals to new heights through search engine marketing techniques. This includes Social Media, SEO, and PPC. Our team of search marketing specialists are consistently working on JA Seals’ PPC campaigns, their social media updates and any SEO implementations in content that is needed (like blog posts and webpage written content). We have also worked on their Google Shopping and Bing PPC accounts, too. Not only that, but we also worked in conjunction with their web design team in the way of SEO design on their new website “garagedoorseals.co.uk” which has helped with the sales of their key product, garage door seals. The use of our new area of expertise, Social Media Marketing, has helped to boost JA Seals’s visibility dramatically. The regular announcements of promotions, new stock and blog posts make sure that JA Seals has a presence in their industry, leading to recent growth as an Amazon seller under our Amazon advertising management.JA Seals has seen a strong increase in a number of areas as a result of our digital marketing services. User levels have increased dramatically with bounce rates dropping causing an influx of revenue since they started with us. They have also seen an increase in some key goal completions, such as: Contact Enquiry Forms, FAQ Forms, Made to Order Forms, and Blog Enquiry Forms. This means that more users are landing on their site, staying, and actually engaging with it or converting into customers.The inclusion of a blog section on their website has helped increase organic traffic to their site. With the rewriting of product categories and product descriptions, we have also helped to make their site rich in keywords, thus improving the SEO and ranking potential. Alongside this, our social media management has ensured that extra traffic is also directed towards JA Seals. This is why they have seen an increase in users, sales and goal completions. In the time we have been working with them, JA Seals has seen a great turnaround, leading to growth in various areas. We are excited to see how much further JA Seals can go in partnership with us as their online presence goes from strength to strength. We will continue to work on their business and maintain a lasting, strong friendship. Because at SEM Consultants, “together, we’ve got this.”
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
JA Seals
JA Seals Just Keeps on Growing We at SEM Consultants are proud to have been a helping hand in JA Seals’s growth since June 2012. JA Seals has been able to improve business on an innumerable scale, resulting in relocating to Telford to further their expansion. As a leading company in their industry, JA Seals…
Read More
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
Read More
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 10, 2025
Fugiat et qui molestiae rerum ullam perferendis
Alias consequuntur. Hic.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
Read More
May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
Read More
May 4, 2025
Tempore hic at et repudiandae repudiandae distinctio
Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business!
RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had a small warehouse, but now they have had to move twice in order to accommodate the influx of stock. RS has been with us at SEM Consultants since 2009, and over this time period, it has been an honour to watch them develop. At SEM Consultants, we have the motto “together, we’ve got this” because we believe that when we work with our clients, closely, we can go further. We like to get to know our clients on a deeper level, understanding their wants, needs and vision as a whole. This helps us to tailor our work to suit them, and has helped us deliver results time and time again. RS Electrical has been supplying electrical equipment since 1990, and subsequently, they have really made their mark in the trade. They have even diversified with the use of other brands. They provide stock from leading brands like BG Electrical, Schneider Electric, Scolmore, ESP, NVC, and Flexicon.
Visit their website
What did we do to help RS Electrical Supplies?
Our expert team of PPC account managers and SEO specialists have helped RS gain a crescendo of excellent conversions over the years. We have even worked with their web design company, advising them on web changes that will increase conversions. We have aided RS Electrical Supplies’ PPC accounts and website traffic through:Google AdWordsGoogle ShoppingGoogle Text AdsGoogle RemarketingBing Text AdsBing Product AdsNot only have we provided PPC campaigns that have helped their conversions, we have also implemented Search Engine Optimisation. Our specialists have gone through the site, frequently, to include accurate SEO that will help RS Electrical to appear organically on the search results pages.What all this means is that there has been a massive increase in the amount of people visiting their site, the money made, and the goals that are completed. Goals are things like filling out Contact Forms, Add to Cart clicks, Mobile Sales, Email Links clicked and more. There has been a steady increase in all of these areas, and user activity in general. Through our intervention, we have been able to encourage website traffic and conversions that have been crucial for RS Electrical. During their time with us, RS Electrical Supplies has really grown into a thriving, leading electrical company. Through the expert use of PPC and SEO, SEM Consultants has helped take RS Electrical to the top. Working together with RS Electrical has been a pleasure, and we can’t wait to find out how much further RS can go, with our team at their side.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
RS Electrical Supplies
RS Electrical Supplies Has Booming Business! RS Electrical Supplies is a valued client, who we have witnessed achieve great success over their time with us. In partnership, we have been able to implement changes that have helped RS Electrical grow from a small store, in to an industry giant. Once upon a time, they had…
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July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
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May 10, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 4, 2025
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Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education
We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region.Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused on search engine optimisation SEO and user-friendly website enhancements, we successfully boosted First for Education’s visibility in search engine results.Our efforts resulted in a significant increase in the number of online registrations, effectively connecting more qualified educators with fulfilling teaching opportunities across the West Midlands.
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What Did We Do to Help First for Education?
The goal was to improve the visibility of First for Education as a leading agency in education recruitment for the West Midlands and increase the number of online registrations.Through thorough analysis of the existing web content we were able to establish targets in regional areas and dedicated landing pages were created specifically for teacher recruitment in a specified location.By creating region-specific content, we were able to focus on the most relevant locations which helped to reduce ad spend while maximising conversions.Our collaboration with First for Education demonstrates the impact of targeted digital marketing strategies in achieving substantial results even on a limited budget. By focusing on search engine optimisation and creating region-specific content, we successfully elevated First for Education’s profile as a leading education recruitment agency in the West Midlands. The notable increase in online registrations and conversions highlights the effectiveness of our approach, demonstrating the value of precision marketing in driving growth and delivering measurable outcomes.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
First for Education
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July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 17, 2025
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Dolores accusantium voluptatum unde. Expedita voluptatem ad dolores deserunt animi labore quibusdam quidem. Architecto dolor eum ullam quod necessitatibus Dolorem architecto Voluptates Qui et a at qui non Vitae molestiae quia quam nihil. Voluptatem pariatur adipisci in voluptatem enim. Eligendi quidem sed voluptatum Beatae molestiae et blanditiis et ut Aut laboriosam porro quo sunt est…
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May 10, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 4, 2025
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Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group
For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home job roles, we successfully increased traffic to their website.This proactive approach not only increased visibility in search engine results but also attracted qualified candidates seeking rewarding careers in healthcare. As a result, Select Healthcare experienced a significant rise in care home recruitments, demonstrating the effectiveness of our collaborative efforts in aligning digital marketing strategies with their recruitment goals
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help Select Healthcare?
Analytic research revealed how potential care staff searched for job opportunities and how searches varied across job types. The outcomes of keyword research established the impact organic search improvements have on recruitment efforts.We identified opportunities for SEO and content development and dedicated optimised landing pages were created detailing career types and targeting specific job seekers. Additionally, monthly career-focused blog posts were created with dedicated care home blogs highlighting the various care home services.SEO and PPC efforts significantly increased job application levels which rose to 152.41% year on year from 2021 to 2022. The specifically targeted blog content and search engine-optimised landing pages led to an increase of 19.60% in organic page views with the number of sessions improving by 16.87%. This approach helped to establish Select Healthcare as an authority in care home recruitmentOur partnership with Select Healthcare continues to be a resounding success as the results speak for themselves. Our collaboration has not only strengthened Select Healthcare’s online presence but also cemented its reputation as a leading authority in care home recruitment. The significant increase in job applications confirms the successful impact of our targeted approach and proves how a well-executed digital marketing strategy can drive meaningful results and support important healthcare services. We look forward to continuing our partnership and further amplifying Select Healthcare’s success in the years to come.
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July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 17, 2025
Nemo sed et corporis id sit
Dolores accusantium voluptatum unde. Expedita voluptatem ad dolores deserunt animi labore quibusdam quidem. Architecto dolor eum ullam quod necessitatibus Dolorem architecto Voluptates Qui et a at qui non Vitae molestiae quia quam nihil. Voluptatem pariatur adipisci in voluptatem enim. Eligendi quidem sed voluptatum Beatae molestiae et blanditiis et ut Aut laboriosam porro quo sunt est…
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May 10, 2025
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Alias consequuntur. Hic.
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May 8, 2025
Quaerat exercitationem voluptas natus qui rerum quo
Labore voluptates tempore.
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May 8, 2025
Rerum quae et fuga eaque sit
Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
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May 4, 2025
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Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM!
For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have assisted Mercers’ development, ensuring their stats show positive growth month on month. There’s a reason our motto is “together, we’ve got this.” We work with you, and together we go further. As a Spanish property estate agency, Mercers works in an exciting industry, but it is an ever competitive one, too. With our help, our trusted client has been able to keep ahead of their competition, so much so they now have a solid reputation in Spain.Mercers has won the International European Property Award for Best Spanish Estate Agency in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015! On top of this, in 2008 and 2009 they won the CNBC award for the Best Spanish Estate Agency. Not only that, but in 2010 they won the OPP (Overseas Property Professional) Awards for Best Estate Agent (Spain). These are amazing achievements for Mercers, and we pride ourselves on having been a friendly helper in the background of these achievements. The multilingual team at Mercers has helped them to get business from all around the world, and we at SEM Consultants helped them develop websites for other countries/languages: German, Dutch, Spanish, French and English. Their expatriate villages are very popular, as they are quaint, practical and bathed in Spanish sunshine – no wonder they are so successful!
Visit their website
What did we do to help Mercers Spanish Property?
Our dedicated team have been managing Mercers’ PPC campaigns (Pay Per Click) for years, making the necessary alterations regularly to ensure that Mercers is always growing. We believe that “you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” and that’s why we are constantly using Google Analytics to see how our clients are doing, so that we can make sure we change what needs changing for you. Their PPC account managers have handled Text Ads, Display Ads and the Google Remarketing of Mercers, ensuring that the figures, and therefore the sales, at Mercers kept increasing. Over the last two years alone, Mercers has seen a rise in: New Website Users, completion of Property Request Forms, Facebook Visitors, Conversions and other Goal Completions. The increase in New Users is thought to be an organic result, however it was likely the PPC campaigns that influenced this.What all this means is that Mercers’ stats are up, and the work we’re all doing together is working well to bring more business to them. They have many new site visitors compared to years previously, meaning they have a lot more people globally who are interested in purchasing their properties. The Goal Completions include things like how many people are filing out their Contact Forms, Property Request Forms, Request a Call Back Forms, Make an Offer, and Arrange Viewing Forms. These things are important for sales, because they show an interest in the business and are a stepping stone towards a sale. Aside from PPC campaigns, we have worked on Mercers’ website and content as well. We have ensured that the site works effectively and that they have websites for other languages, too. Our SEO team has enriched the content, including Search Engine Optimisation techniques, meaning Google will pick up on the site and it will organically appear on the search results pages – thus encouraging the site to appear in front of the right customers. With PPC, SEO and more, we have been a friend to Mercers and they have been a friend to us. We are excited to see where Mercers goes from here, developing even further to achieve more and more. Knowing that we have helped Mercers progress for so long feels ever so rewarding, and this is the kind of care and passion we put into all of our clients’ campaigns. The decade that Mercers has spent with us has been a privilege and has encouraged a lasting relationship. Their journey has been a great one, and we can’t wait to see what the next 10 years has in store.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
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July 24, 2025
Elementor #2594
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
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May 19, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
At quae maxime est eveniet Pariatur necessitatibus illo porro ut et id Omnis dolor et id quod et Dolor eveniet Quibusdam iure est blanditiis labore praesentium laudantium rerum. Qui ullam et quae Quasi modi ad facilis et qui Et aut molestiae veritatis aut Error et dolorem doloribus Fugiat Eos harum recusandae omnis. Eveniet pariatur quis…
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May 17, 2025
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May 10, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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May 4, 2025
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Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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### Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd.
At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy designed to elevate their online presence and credibility. By focusing on high-quality, informative, search engine optimised blog content tailored to the needs and interests of homeowners considering loft conversions, we effectively positioned Alvaston as a trusted expert in their field. This approach has significantly enhanced their reputation, attracting a broader audience and driving business growth.
Visit their website
What Did We Do to Help Alvaston Loft Conversions?
Initial content analysis gave us insight about the products and the target audience. By creating dedicated blog content focused on targeting relevant long-tail keywords, we were able to attract new users to the site while increasing the authority of the brand.Organically, we created blog posts that attracted new visitors to the site and increased sessions by 48.70% year on year from 2021 to 2022.By implementing a monthly blogging schedule with targeted and engaging content, we saw a 56.45% uptake of new users on the site. By adding content geared towards the target audience, we were able to see a 15.88% increase in page views for all website users.Our positive collaboration with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. has demonstrated the power of strategic SEO content writing in transforming online presence and driving brand awareness. By implementing a focused and data-driven blog content strategy, we successfully increased the authority and trustworthiness of Alvaston within the home improvement sector.Our positive collaboration with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. has demonstrated the power of strategic SEO content writing in transforming online presence and driving brand awareness. By implementing a focused and data-driven blog content strategy, we successfully increased the authority and trustworthiness of Alvaston within the home improvement sector.
Related Case Studies
July 24, 2025
First for Education
Maximising Conversions on a Limited Budget in the Education Recruitment Sector with First for Education We partnered with First for Education, a prominent education recruitment agency in the West Midlands, to elevate their online presence and position them as the go-to source for teaching jobs in the region. Through a comprehensive digital marketing strategy focused…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Select Healthcare Group
Boosting Care Home Recruitment in the Health and Social Care Sector with Select Healthcare Group For more than a decade we have worked alongside the team at Select Healthcare Group, and during that time, we embarked on a mission to enhance their care home recruitments. Through targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns and a robust SEO strategy centred around care home…
Read More
July 24, 2025
Mercers Spanish Property
Mercers’ Decade of Growth with SEM! For an outstanding 10 years, Mercers has been aided by our passionate team at SEM Consultants. Within this decade, we have seen Mercers grow exponentially, and it has been such an honour to be with them on their journey to such great success. In our time together, we have…
Read More
May 24, 2025
Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd
Increasing Authority and Trust in the Home Improvement Sector with Alvaston Loft Conversions Ltd. At SEM, we pride ourselves on crafting compelling content that not only informs but also establishes trust and authority in competitive industries. For Alvaston Loft Conversions, a leading player in the home improvement sector, we implemented a targeted blog content strategy…
Read More
May 17, 2025
Nemo sed et corporis id sit
Dolores accusantium voluptatum unde. Expedita voluptatem ad dolores deserunt animi labore quibusdam quidem. Architecto dolor eum ullam quod necessitatibus Dolorem architecto Voluptates Qui et a at qui non Vitae molestiae quia quam nihil. Voluptatem pariatur adipisci in voluptatem enim. Eligendi quidem sed voluptatum Beatae molestiae et blanditiis et ut Aut laboriosam porro quo sunt est…
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May 10, 2025
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May 8, 2025
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Labore voluptates tempore.
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May 8, 2025
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Aperiam magni et iste rerum Aliquam perspiciatis in voluptatem dolores ab molestiae quidem. Debitis aut ducimus corporis adipisci. Aut et quis ipsum aut quas Autem molestiae impedit sed dignissimos exercitationem perspiciatis. Debitis voluptates ea quis aspernatur. Quam occaecati voluptas provident cumque. Placeat sed molestiae iste consequatur ullam. Iste ratione quos at ullam. molestiae aut ducimus…
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May 4, 2025
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Placeat nihil Unde minus ullam est et Ipsam iste sint alias ut Deserunt impedit quidem aperiam qui Ea tenetur veritatis perspiciatis accusantium enim qui. Quo quis recusandae maiores ullam qui Consequatur enim minus ducimus voluptas rerum nisi Qui quisquam placeat Totam et minima earum impedit Voluptas voluptatem quidem ab ut Iure et aut cupiditate laborum…
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