Tag: website

Your Business Website is Your Foundation for All of Your Digital Marketing

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successful digital marketing

Any smart online digital marketer will tell you that your website is the most important aspect of any successful online business.

And any successful website covers every angle when it comes to the customer’s journey on finding exactly what they need, whether that be a product or service that the business is offering. Do it wrong, and that customer will go to another website where that business is doing it right.

So what are the things that every successful digital marketing hub has? Well for starters, this is the place where the business begins to build its’ brand and reputation. And everything that involves the brand should be here such the core message or mission statement of the company, the source of the business information including the location, the management, the employees, and the expertise of the business team that is building this brand.

Of course, your business might be different, and you may have a small team offering products or services. Or it may be just you offering a product

In this case, you would build a case on why your product is better, or where your service is better than ‘company-x.’ Building your brand all starts here on your web property.

But this is just the beginning of having a solid foundation for your ‘digital marketing hub’. A good way to look at this is from a customer or visitor standpoint. Does your website have everything that the customer needs including answering questions about the product or service that you offer?

Do you have complete product or service guides online, and are those guides being regularly updated? And do you have product guides and tutorials setup for buying customers?

Many online businesses have different products or offer different services, and those could include customer education, or supplying how-to guides.

Having lead generation is another important aspect along with being able to find that business on social networks. This is important because many businesses use these social networks like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to keep their customer base updated on new products or services that the company offers. And there is so much more.

If after reading all this, you must feel overwhelmed, don’t worry. We can guide you through the process of making sure your website is fully utilized for your business, and it’s optimized to increase conversions.

Contact us today to let us know how we can help you.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

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5-Minute Website Workshop

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website review

Time for a website review.

Your website is a vital piece of your business, and we want you to have the most traffic possible going through it every day.

That’s why we put together these “Must-Haves” that you need to be checking on a regular basis in order to ensure you are gaining the most customers possible.

While working through this list we suggest pulling your website up next to this window so that you can properly analyze your site.

First, we will take a look at whether or not the website is correctly designed.

Your website…

  • Must be user-friendly
  • Must set a clear path for customers to make a purchase
  • Must have trust signals
  • Name of the Business Owner
  • Address, Phone
  • Must have security
  • Use HTTPS or Secure Sockets Layer
  • Must have customer support contact information

Now let’s take a look at the answers that the customer is looking for when they get to your website. No matter what point the customer is in the buying process, they are going to have questions and concerns.

You need to have the answers to these questions readily available to them or they will quickly move on to another site that does.

  • Why should they buy from you?
  • What benefits your product/service will give to them?
  • What Features does it offer?
  • What are the technical details and specifications?
  • Where are the guides and tutorials?
  • Do you have any testimonials from real customers?

These are all things that you need to have on your website to ensure the steady flow of customers coming through your site. Even addressing one or two issues that you noticed while reviewing this list can have a major impact on the number of customers you see moving through your website.

If you need help redesigning your site, or creating a new one, contact us.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Google is Crawling Towards You, Are You Ready?

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google

Have you ever searched for anything on Google? Of course, you have!

Think about how often you click on one of the first few links that are shown, see what you were looking for, and then move onto something else. Now think about how often you keep going all the way to the sixth or seventh page of search results (if you ever did) and then decide to make a purchase there.

You do NOT want your website to be on one of those high numbered pages when your potential customers are searching Google for the services that you offer!

You have spent many hours making sure that your website looks perfect, the conversion process is streamlined, and all of the information that your customers could ever want is right there waiting for them. So how do you get your awesome website onto that first page of results so that searchers will actually see it?

Become Google-Friendly!

Every website that exists is crawled by Google so that they can check out the content, the structure, and the intent. They take that information and index it so that when someone conducts a search they can offer the most relevant site. SEO ensures that your website is ready for Google to do it’s crawl so that your site will be visible when potential customers are searching. Finally letting the world see your great website and your great business.

For more information, or for help setting up your SEO, give us a call or drop us an email.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Get More Customers! Make Sure your Website is Mapped Out Along the Customer’s Journey

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get more customers

Want to know how to get more customers?

Your customer’s journey goes through these stages: Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. There’s no telling how long they stay in one stage until they jump to the next. Sometimes, the progress takes months, and sometimes the jump is immediate.

Many websites concentrate on the ‘Awareness’ and ‘Interest’ stage without signals toward a purchase, while some focus more on the ‘Action’ stage without providing sufficient information.

At Agapi Marketing, we ensure that your website talks to your visitor relevant to their stage in the buying process. Does your website’s navigation and content address all of the needs of your potential customers in every step of their journey?

Navigational cues such as menu buttons, bread crumbs, overview of next steps, suggested readings, and calls-to-action must guide your visitors from wherever buying stage they are and on whatever page and content they are currently onto the next logical and intuitive step.

This strategy requires a deep understanding of your customer about what they need, and how you meet that need; what information in certain media formats they need to absorb to learn more about your offerings that will also resonate with their motivation. This strategy also requires getting rid of all possible barriers to buying, making the actual purchase process as smooth and satisfying as possible.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, please reach out to us.

If you like the information you are receiving, please share this post.

Understanding Analytics – Part 5

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time on page

Interpreting “Time On Page”.

What exactly does it mean?

Another analytic that can be difficult to interpret is that of “time on page”.  At first glance, it may seem obvious, however if you look a bit deeper, you will find that the numbers can be misleading.

Our final instalment of this series will help you understand what this analytic does and doesn’t tell you about visitors to your website.

Watch today’s video to learn more.

Please join us now, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our upcoming tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Understanding Analytics – Part 2

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exit

Ready for Part 2?

Then let’s reveal Question 2.

Our last video addressed bounce rates; what they are, and what they mean. Today, we explain how to interpret the analytics that show where visitors are exiting your site.

What does it mean when people leave your site at a certain point? How can you fix it?

Watch today’s video to learn more.

Please join us now, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our upcoming tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube.

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Time For A Website Facelift?

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update your website

Does your website still matter?

Maybe it’s time for a facelift…

Gone are the days of publishing a website and then forgetting about it except for updates.

Your site visitors need to be engaged.

And by that, we mean that they must find the information on your site interesting enough to keep them there – and keep them coming back.

Our Marketing In A Minute video today talks about why and when you should review and update your website.

Please join us now, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you won’t miss any of our upcoming tips.

Watch our video now, or watch on YouTube.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Avoid Google Penalties

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google penalties

Don’t get caught making these simple mistakes that could incur penalties and affect your traffic.

You don’t have to be a search engine optimization specialist to know that there have been some big changes in how Google ranks sites over the past few years.

Nearly anyone who has a website has heard of the Panda and Penguin updates Google made in the past few years.  And of course, Google continues to make changes to its algorithm to ensure it maintains its position as the top search engine. But be aware that these changes can affect how your site is seen by Google and you must do your best to stay on top of them so you don’t incur a penalty.

In the early days of search engine optimization, the “experts” would dump keywords heavily into content, often delivering something that might attract a higher ranking but certainly would not engage the reader. Another tactic was to build links with other sites that may have been low-quality links from directories and other spamming sites that few people ever really clicked on.

The changes that Google has made to their algorithms has actually resulted in better quality. These old tactics no longer work, thank goodness, and the trend has been toward content marketing. Providing people with content that is relevant and valuable to them has also proven to work well to assist with rankings.

But there are still some ways that you can inadvertently end up with penalties from Google while engaging in content marketing.

Avoid the following and your site is likely to stay safe.

1.  Lack of unique content: Another area where you can run into difficulty is by providing a lack of content that is unique. Duplicating other content in a copy and paste fashion is like playing Russian roulette and it is likely only a matter of time until your site is penalized. If you are an affiliate marketer, do your best to avoid the simple copy and paste method as well, as this will be seen as not providing value and may end up causing Google to penalize your site by lowering your ranking.  Do NOT plagerize!

2.  Over-optimizing or low quality internal content: What of the things that Google algorithms search for is the quality of your content within your website. Make sure you are providing unique, new content to your website on a regular basis and avoid rampant repetition of your content throughout your site. This not only will help you avoid incurring penalties, but also will significantly boost your organic rankings. Use different types of content as well, like podcasts, video as well as written blog posts. Google will notice and you should be rewarded.

3.  Keep current: I have often heard people say that they have finished their website. Now, I know what they mean by this, but keep in mind that your website is never finished. It should be seen as a living, breathing entity that requires some attention. Ensure that your website is kept current, removing content that is no longer valid, updating content, and making sure that all your links are working properly. If you don’t have current information on your site, not only will visitors not want to return but Google will also lose interest in your site.

The biggest penalty is to lose your ranking.  It is a difficult and never-ending job to stay on top of your optimization.  Don’t risk your reward by cutting a few corners.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Ignore The Homepage

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homepage

Reports of the death of the homepage have been greatly exaggerated.

Once upon a time, the homepage was a valued part of the website. It served as the gateway to the company’s brand and was the driver of client engagement. In fact, it was so important that some companies had designated employees to manage their homepage.

Then everything changed. Along came our new best friends, “search” and “social”.

For several years now the way information is found over the Internet has evolved dramatically. Google, the dominant search engine, has continued to create more and more intuitive ways for information to be searched online.

Let’s add in the rise in social. Hundreds of social sharing platforms now exist, with the major players maintaining a stronghold on users and engagement. Indeed, in some instances, these social platforms have created entirely new ways for brands to engage with clients and prospects without them ever having to visit company’s homepage.

Thanks to leaked data from the New York Times in 2014 that showed a plunge in its homepage visitors, it soon became a commonly accepted belief that the homepage had lost its value.
Based on recent data, it has been found that as little as 5% of website visitors actually enter through the homepage, with the other 95% landing on specific pages that are mentioned via search or social media postings. This has led to marketers focusing their efforts in these areas, and rightfully so. However, ignoring the importance of the homepage can be a detriment, as it still serves an extremely valuable segment of your client and prospect pool.

Check out the following three reasons why you should not ignore the homepage:

1. Visitors to your homepage spend more time on your site.

Visitors who enter your website through the homepage signify loyalty to your brand. Based on some recent research, although only 5% of visitors come through the homepage, they actually account for 50% of all page views. This same data shows that visitors entering from search and social only view an average of three and 1.8 pages respectively per session, while visitors who enter from the homepage are more likely to view 10 to 30 pages per session. Research has shown that the longer people engage with the brand’s content, the higher the conversion rates, the larger the purchases, and the better the loyalty.

It’s true that “everything old is new again”. Companies are now starting to recognize that their homepage offers the opportunity to improve engagement with occasional visitors and convert them to loyal users. A corporate homepage is easy to personalize to provide visitors with content that will encourage them to engage, based on their interests.

2. Homepage visitors are interested in a wider range of information and offerings.

It makes sense that those visitors to your website who entered through social media or search results are there for one thing: to check out that article or product that was shared via social media postings. The visitor drops in to check out the article and then immediately leave your site.

When a visitor enters through the homepage, it is generally because they are looking for a number of articles pertaining to a specific issue. They usually have a broader scope of interests, making it easier for companies to showcase their content. Viral content, such as that shared on social media platforms, is most likely clicked on because of a compelling headline, whereas articles found on a homepage are more likely to be clicked on because of the topic.

Many publishers are beginning to recognize and knowledge that the homepage has been ignored and is largely an untapped resource. By curating content on a homepage, your business can provide visitors with the most recent and relevant articles, making it easy for them to find those topics that interest them. While search and social can deliver a visitor to your website, a compelling homepage can encourage an ongoing relationship.

3. Check your website statistics. Homepage traffic indicates your marketing successes.

There are three things to focus on when it comes to your website: developing an audience, acquiring new users, and existing client engagement.

Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges today is getting the one-time visitor to return to the website for more information after they checked out that article that they found on social media. Measuring the number of visitors who end up on the homepage after finding the site via search or social is a good indicator of how well those campaigns are performing.

Investing in a well-designed, thoughtful homepage is simply good business. Although it may not pull the traffic numbers, there are other ways to measure its value. And experience has shown that a great homepage experience can deliver an extraordinary result that search and social simply can’t produce.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

Four Ways To Ensure Your Website Is A Reflection Of Your Brand

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Brand website

Some companies are still under the assumption that their corporate brand is simply a matter of a logo, corporate colors, and a font style.

I’ve written articles and produced videos in the past that point out that corporate branding has evolved. You may have already seen or read this information.

In today’s business environment, your brand is far more inclusive. Think of it as your company’s personality.

Branding in this day and age includes every aspect of how your company is perceived by clients and prospects in the marketplace. So, yes logo, colors, font style; all these do matter. But it is far more than that. It is much more about the customer experience.

Rather than rehash the elements of branding that I have discussed in previous posts, today I want to focus on how your website affects your brand.

Although your website is simply one tool for communicating with your clients and prospects, it can be an extremely powerful one. Your online presence is more important than ever, now that most consumers shop and compare products and services using the Internet. Therefore, take the time to create a website that is a true reflection of your corporate values and communicates this important brand messaging to your clients and prospects.

Review your website for these four key elements to ensure that it is properly reflecting your brand identity:

1. Include information that is valuable to your clients and prospects.

First and foremost, be sure that your company’s website is providing content that matters to your clients and prospects. Yes, you want to tell them about you and your services, but remember that what will attract them is what you can do for them. Failing to give visitors what they need and want will only result in a high bounce rate, and you may as well not even have an online presence. Know your target audience, provide information that is relevant to them, and presented in an organized and easy to consume fashion ads a huge amount of value.

2. Include calls to action to engage your site visitors.

Let’s face it, the purpose of having an online presence is to help drive business. And in order to do this, you must include statements within your site that will not only capture the attention of your visitors but will also elicit a response. Using phrases such as “visit us today” could entice a prospect, especially someone on a mobile device, to drop in. Or, perhaps you would like them to sign up to receive notifications of specials that you run from time to time. Be sure to include a simple to use call to action button that will entice visitors to click. And make the form simple, as statistics show that the more information you are soliciting, the lower the opt in rate will be.

3. Make sure your website is interactive.

We have all received brochures or pamphlets that are jam-packed with information. And we all know what we do with those-we throw them out. Poorly designed information, regardless of how valuable it is, will ultimately be discounted and discarded by your prospect. Make sure that your website isn’t cluttered with information. Back to our point about making information easily accessible to site visitors, tried to ensure that you have interactive features for them as well. This can not only make a more individually tailored experience for your visitor, but it can also help to build loyalty to your brand. For example if you are a financial professional, consider including an app such as a calculator that gives your clients and prospects the opportunity to get a clear picture of the services they are seeking.

4. Consider the design of your website.

How your website looks and feels to visitors should reflect the true essence of your brand. Ensure that the logo, colors, font choices are consistent with your overall brand. Your site design should speak to your visitors about your corporate “personality”. Remember what I said at the beginning of this article, and make sure that are everything that you are providing on your website gives clients and prospects a sense of the integrity of your business.

These four tactics are crucial to ensure that your website will optimize your brand identity. As a business owner, you need to take seriously how you project your online presence and how this creates the type of experience you are providing to clients and prospects.

Until next time…

Are you ready to grow your business now? If you’re ready to take the next step and make your business more profitable, contact us today.

If you like the information you are receiving, please consider forwarding this post.

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