September 16, 2015
Ever wondered what makes digital marketing successful? This infographic might explain exactly what you are asking. 5 tips that can prove to be useful when starting off a new digital marketing campaign.
September 15, 2015
Google has always recommended a responsive web design and rolled out an important update earlier in April this year. This updates works to rank mobile-friendly sites higher based on web design. The secret behind the updated is, it doesn’t specify you use responsive designs, more that your site be accessible from mobile devices, with a good user experience and performance. Keeping that in mind what are the options available to those who are looking at starting their own site? We have already spoken about responsive design in a previous series of post – which if you haven’t read, we suggest you do to find out more and you can find them here!
September 10, 2015
The responsibility that rested on keyword density has shifted. Over 5 years, Google has changed the importance they give to keywords and the search engine algorithms now prefer we-written and relevant content. This is down to the fact that, after many studies about keyword density in on-line content, web pages with an exaggeration of keywords being repeated, were generally to be considered poorly written.
September 8, 2015
When it comes to social media for charities, they are generally in a better position than normal commercial brands. They have an enthusiastic, emotionally connected supporter base readily available, prepared to sing their praises. However, that does not mean success is to be taken for granted. With organic reach squeezed and a large number of brands scrambling for space on your news feed, it is getting increasingly hard to draw in the individuals that actually matter. That said, charities do have a hidden weapon up their sleeve. Here are The Island’s top suggestions for social media charity campaigns. 1. Create content without forgetting your followers. It happens time and time again, charities market their new efforts while forgetting about their core supporters. Your social presence is down to their approval so they need to be treated with added care. What do we mean by this? Make sure each mention, post, photo, video, pin and so forth is noticed. The simple gesture of liking and commenting will be enough. Pair this with a quick reaction and you will guarantee yourself a very satisfied supporter. Don’t get us wrong, content is still essential for social media, but your audience is out there and needs to be engaged. 2. Tune in and listen. Increasing your data metrics is part of the goal but in most cases it doesn’t actually pay off. Listening to your audience does. Gain knowledge by observing what your audience and supporters are doing. In the long run, analysing user generated content or accumulating mentions, will turn out to be beneficial. 3. Measure it. It goes unsaid in 2015, nonetheless there are many brands that don’t take advantage of their ‘social’ pages and what they can do with them. Actual in depth analysis goes a long way compared to just counting re-tweets […]
September 3, 2015
The attention social media is receiving is going to last a long time, today we will focus on Twitter. If your ultimate aim is to grow your business, and overtake your competitors, then now is the right time to master the social media platforms out there. 5 Tips to Boost your Business Using Twitter Interact with your followers Marketers have the tendency to forget that Twitter and other social media platforms are not like old school tools like TV broadcasts. You don’t need to sell every time you publish something. If you only post links back to your own website with the intent of selling then most people will just unfollow as they will find it annoying. The ‘trick’ is to engage as much as possible with other users. Follow influential people that are in an industry that is relevant to yours. Talk to people and interact with those who decide to follow you, start a conversation. Offer Twitter exclusive promotions If prospective clients find out that you offer exclusive deals, to those who follow you, then be assured that they will soon follow suit. Social marketing is about giving your customer the added value that they seek. By giving out discounts during certain periods you are sure to attract attention and therefore create value. Create an identity for your brand Make sure that your profile encompasses every little detail of your business to maintain the identity that you have created. Create a ‘persona’ that is interesting and appealing to your ideal customer. If you follow these steps people will recognize your brand and start to have ‘feelings’ towards your company. The objective of doing so is to create a long lasting relationship. Send people to your site. Provide your followers with little snippets of longer content that links directly […]
September 1, 2015
In this day and age things have changed when it comes to engaging with customers. Long gone are the days when in order to build a relationship with customers there had to be a face-to-face interaction. All of these encounters have been moved to the on-line marketplace. This said relationship building is still a core business need. Here are The Island’s 5 suggestions on how to gain customer trust in the digital era. 1. Use social media to reach customers The best place to connect with fans. Consumers are getting to the point where they are used to reaching their favourite brands through social media. People value others opinions and where best to find them? In a recent study Deloitte, proved that 75% of on-line Americans say social media channels influenced their shopping behaviour. In the same study 84% of people report using digital for shopping-related activities before or after their most recent trip to a store. Not having a social media presence can make a consumer wary of your brand. 2. Customer service can take place on-line No matter what happens, consumers will always want to have a say in what businesses are doing whether that be through reviews on third party websites or on the official website of a brand. A business should invest in on-line customer service to avoid people being unhappy with waiting on the phone to talk to an operator. An FAQ section can save you some of the customers enquiries. In the same way, a customer service chat or forum can help those who need assistance. Most people prefer on-line customer service to talking to an operator. 3. Introduce a loyalty program Loyalty programs are maybe one of the most common tools out there that brands use and this may come as an obvious statement, but […]
August 27, 2015
Marketers are continuously looking at taking advantage of the newest search engine algorithm, and search engines are implementing these changes to make it an even playing field. This creates an ever-changing environment. Mobile plays a big role in this and impacts SEO more than one would think. How does mobile impact SEO strategy? 1. Loading time plays a key role Smartphones and other mobile devices don’t have the same hardware power as a laptop or desktop computer. The next factor is that the internet connections are as fast. This all translates to the fact that a mobile website needs to load fast to get a good search engine ranking. A good suggestion for this is to limit the amount of heavy images used on the website. 2. Size matters Generally people using a smartphone for a web search tend to search for shorter phrases. This means mobile SEO, can be improved with short, keyword rich content. An overload of text means that users will find it hard to find the exact information they are looking for. 3. Local results are better off When a mobile search is performed, certain information is shared implicitly, such as location. An example of this is for example when you perform a search for food, your chosen search engine will imply you are looking for somewhere to eat nearby. Mobile SEO can be improved by providing content that meets the high number of daily searches that are performed while people are out and about. 4. Social media can drive extra traffic Mobile users are keen social media users, meaning they are more likely to engage through social media. If your website has social sharing features and you are active on social media and you share original, relevant and interesting content people on the move will be prompted to […]
August 25, 2015
If you were not aware of this yet, social media has a fairly important impact on how your SEO rankings work. The best solution to run your campaigns in the best way is to run them together in an integrated manner. In the past year Google’s algorithm updates have forced website owners to focus on producing content to earn a better ranking. Relevant and interesting content will certainly get you up in the rankings and give you decent on-line exposure. a great article, some images for an infographic will cause people who follow you to share the content and in that way increase your on-line presence. How do Social and SEO work? By managing to gain an engaged group of followers and fans on the many social platforms out there, you are able to push out content on a regular basis and engage with an already receptive audience. When you promote your content from your own website onto social media platforms you are able to gain a few bonus SEO points. It works like a cycle that keeps spinning and gaining more and more awareness. Are you managing your SEO and Social Media together? Do you increase your on-line reach in this way? If you want to discuss it further, get in touch by filling in the form below. [contact-form-7 id=”400″ title=”The contact form”]
August 20, 2015
An email newsletter is a message that is sent out to subscribers typically on a regular interval. Email newsletters may be sent daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or even annually. The content of email newsletters varies with each edition. Does your business send an email newsletter? Are you stuck with getting unsatisfactory results? It could be down to the design. Today The Island will be taking you through a short list of suggestions that could improve the turnout of your email campaigns. 1. Use a familiar ‘From’ name The key to success here is to use a name that is familiar with your subscribers. Someone or something they will recognize. The sender and subject lines are the first impression a marketer can leverage on for people to engage with their newsletter. 2. Break your newsletter down into chunks It may seem fairly straight forward but most people will read emails by just skimming over the content of it. Long emails with lots of text for newsletters don’t work at all. The best solution is to break your email down into smaller chunks of content. Breaking it down allows subscribers to quickly identify any information and content that meets their interest. The key notion is to not overload readers with text, rather spark their interest with creative titles and images. 3. Use segmentation and target your subscribers There is no need for your users to receive the same content when it is a really easy process to target what they see. This means that the campaigns you send out will appear to be more relevant to the receiver and consequently it will improve chances of click-through activity. So take your time and go through your list of subscribers and tailor your newsletter as much as possible for the best results. 4. Use […]