Marketing Frequency Asked Questions
Should I publish the reviews people leave on Google My Business or Facebook on my website?
I do not recommend re-publishing the reviews your customers leave on external sites on your website. This creates duplicate content and will dilute the reviews. Having unique reviews on Google My Business is very valuable for your Local SEO. I suggest that add reviews on your website from customers who have not reviewed you on external sites, for example, if a customer emails you expressing appreciation for your service - ask them if they are happy to have those words published.
Do you have any advice for adding content to a business Facebook Page.
In 2018 Facebook significantly changed their algorithm for how often your Facebook Page for small business content appears on someone’s wall. You may have noticed a decrease in the number of people viewing your content on your business Facebook page. I suggest that you occasionally boost some of your Facebook content with a paid advert.
Here are some tips to get the most of your organic reach when adding new content.
Some tips on how to post your blog content to your Facebook Page for small business
- Don’t use auto-post straight from your website to all your social media channels. I understand that you want to save time by having your blog post automatically appear on Facebook or sending your Twitter feed through to Facebook. But the reality is the different media have different audiences and you will leverage your content more if you take the time to share on each platform tailoring it to the audience.
- Consider using a service like Buffer. This allows you to schedule posts on Facebook. This means the post will appear at a time most of your audience might be on Facebook and you can set up several postings at once to be published in the coming week/month.
- Consider paying for a boost on Facebook every now and again.
- Remember you can re-post content from previous years if it is relevant and helpful. For example, if you wrote a great post about setting goals at the beginning of last year, you can reshare that at the beginning of the next perhaps with some reflections.
- Look at your statistics. Are there any particular posts that get more comments or get shared more often? Consider posting more content around those topics and dropping anything which is not getting a response.
- Respond positively to comments
- Keep it positive. If you are having an issue with negative commenting then set your page to moderate all comments.
More Content Tips for Facebook
For sharing content on Facebook, take a few moments to write something to introduce the blog post or page
- Invite a response
- Add a clear call to action
- Ask a Question
- Keep the introduction short
- Always have a good image. If you are sharing a blog post make sure your featured image is of sufficient size so the thumbnail on Facebook is not pixelated.
After publishing, check the link is working properly. Bear in mind that over 50% of Facebook users are on a mobile device so double check your landing page not only for mobile responsiveness but also if you have something that will grab someone attention. Don't put your best content where someone has to scroll several times.
Most importantly, have something to say!
You started a business because you had skills and a passion. You worked hard to build it up. All of that matters. Your education matters. Your expertise matters…
Being a thought leader isn’t always about giving a TED Talk; it’s about influencing people around you. Mainly — your customers. ~Bridget Willard
If your influence is only a small number of people, that’s OK.
What is Mobile First Indexing on Google mean?
Mobile-First indexing means that Google will look at the mobile version of your website as a priority over the desktop version of your website to decide where to rank your pages.
Some key points to making sure your WordPress website is Mobile Friendly
- You can check if your site is mobile-friendly here: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
- Use image compression
- Use a caching plugin.
- Get rid of intrusive pop-ups, ie, pop-ups larger than a small screen.
What is voice search?
Voice search is when a person uses Alexa or another app to talk to their phone to search.
Google reports that 55 percent of teens and 40 percent of adults use voice search every day. And, according to a 2017 study by VoiceLabs, 33 million voice-first devices (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Home) are now in circulation – up from 8 million in 2016. from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/must-know-seo-concepts/
Local businesses probably stand the most to gain from voice search. It highlights the importance of your Google My Business listing and answering questions customers might have on your blog.
How do I create an seo friendly website design structure?
An SEO friendly website structure is also one that makes it easier for visitors to navigate your website. It helps with the customer experience and the usability of the website. If a visitor can use your site well, they are more likely to become repeat visitors and perhaps customers. Therefore, the first place to start is to think about the most important content for your customers.
Having a good structure helps Google "understand" your website, making it clear what is your most important content and prevents content from competing with each other. One example is the use of child pages.
Child Pages
By using child pages, you can help organise your content into groups. For example, by making my articles child pages of the parent article index page, we help create a structure that is both helpful for SEO and visitors, for example, www.buildyourwebsite.co.nz/articles/why-pay-for-web-design/. The URL includes /articles/; this lets Google know this is an informational webpage.
Not too many clicks
All pages on your website should be reachable within 2-3 clicks. Therefore the ideal site structure should be like a pyramid. Use the internal link structure, i.e. linking from one page to another, to enable users to move through your content. Cornerstone articles should have many links going back to them, ideally in the same category. Cornerstone articles are usually more detailed, thorough articles that cover what is core to your business. So, for example, web design blog posts link back to the main web design page. This also lets Google know what related content as well as what page is most important is. Yoast's plugin has a link counter which you can use to help.
Main Navigation
Think carefully about what will be on the main navigation menu. Be customer-focused in your selection. If you are organised a great deal of content, it can be helpful to use post-it notes and move things around until you are happy. Remember also that people can only hold in their short-term memory 3-5 items. So if you have a large menu, group items together.
Your Blog
Use categories for your blog and have similar amounts of posts in each one. When a category on your blog becomes too large, divide it into two categories. You can also use tags to group posts together across categories. Remember that a new tag creates a new page, so don't go overboard on creating tags.
Technical Issues
Always do redirects when you make changes to your site structure. Check that the Yoast sitemap is generated and you have submitted it to the Google Search Console.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a page on your website where people first visit. We can also help you will the creation of landing pages. You can read more here: Why landing pages are important.
Can I add people to my mailing list?
Yes! When a person requests to be added to your list either by your contact form, email, on the phone or in person, you will want to add them to your list.
Here are instructions showing you how to add a subscriber to your MailChimp List.
You can do this manually to avoid having to direct them to your subscription form. If they have asked to be added then you have been given permission and you can, therefore, use the add subscriber function on MailChimp. And you will also avoid losing anyone who does not get around to filling in the form or has difficulty confirming their subscription.
The Steps to Add a subscriber to your MailChimp List
- Login in to your MailChimp Account
- Navigate to the Lists page
- Click on “Lists” on the top Navigation on the right.
Then either
- Click the Add Subscriber icon
- Fill in the form. Make sure to check the “This person gave me permission to email them” checkbox.
Or you can collect new subscribers in a list and use the import subscriber functionality to import a CSV file.
Welcome Emails for New Subscribers
MailChimp offers an Automated Welcome Email. You can read more about MailChimp’s automation services here.
Make sure that your welcome email is set to trigger with “Immediately after subscribers join or are imported to your list“. This way, your subscribers will receive your welcome email whether they sign up using your subscribe form or if you manually add them through MailChimp.
You can check this by looking at your automated email report. It will show who has received the email as well as anyone in the queue. If you have just added a new subscriber, they should be in the queue or at the top of the list who have just been sent an email.
What should when I am getting lots of visitors to my website but I am not getting sales
That is fantastic that you are getting lots of visitors to your website. But...
Once visitors leave your site, they're gone forever - unless you have a way to drive them back there. ~Aweber
One way to connect with those potential customers is through Email Marketing. Email marketing is a cost-effective way of staying connected with current and potential customers. Remember Marketing is not about beautiful creative or catchy slogans. It is about drawing customers into long-term relationships with your business.
Email marketing gives you an opportunity to connect with your potential customers. When that customer is ready to make that purchase, they will know where to find you. If they have questions, perhaps they will find the answers in your newsletter, or because they know you a little better through your newsletter, they feel happy to ask. Perhaps they are a little nervous about buying over the web. Having people sign up for a regular newsletter helps convert visitors into customers.
What is an Abandoned Shopping Cart?
An abandoned shopping cart is when a potential customer puts items in their shopping cart but does not complete the sale.
It happens frequently. For example, I'm interested in buying a certain widget. I decide to do some research on the computer to compares prices and what is available. I find a great website. I'm not ready today, to make that purchase, so I make a mental note to come back later. It was a big-ticket item. But when I return to the web a month or so later, I don't seem to have bookmarked that page. And I can't remember the exact name. So I do another search and I find someone else's website and I buy a similar product from them.
MailChimp and Abandoned Shopping Carts
MailChimp is now offering automatic abandon cart emails. When you connect your E-commerce shop to Mailchimp you can automatically follow up with customers who leave items in their cart.
Research shows that 67% of online shopping carts are abandoned before the customer completes a sale. With our powerful abandoned cart automation workflows, you can remind your customers what they’ve left behind and encourage them to complete their purchase. Abandoned cart messaging makes it easy for online sellers to reconnect with customers who navigate away from their shopping carts, recapture sales, and generate more revenue. from https://mailchimp.com/features/abandoned-cart/
The plugin that connects your Woocommerce shop with MailChimp also offers additional functionality including the ability to track and segment customers based on purchase history and purchase frequency.
Contact us to book a strategic planning meeting for your Online Marketing. We offer a range of services that we will tailor to your particular business.