These days everyone and everything has a blog – it’s an integral part of an online presence. Blogs can be valuable marketing assets for businesses large and small – they are easy to create and maintain, and offer all sorts of benefits. In this article, we take a look at what blogging can do for you, and how you can do blogging, in more detail. Blogging has evolved from its rudimentary beginnings (when the internet was still in its infancy) as a sort of online journal to become a ubiquitous platform that provides a voice for not only writers but companies, organizations, products and even cute animals. As a marketing tool, blogging can be one of your greatest assets. Blogs are great for the SEO  For a start, blogs are great for the SEO of your website. They ensure fresh, regularly updated content – which Google and other search engines love. Each blog can also give you an extra indexed page on your site, increasing your chances of ranking in searches. Within the blogs there are opportunities to highlight keywords, further bolstering your SEO strategy. At the end of the day, it is about drawing more traffic to your website, the underlying aim of any inbound marketing tactics. Visitors will land on your site via your blogs – especially if the content is informative and relevant. While you can, of course, promote your services and products in a hard-sell, direct manner on your blog, many companies find it more effective to take a softer, more indirect approach. This means that they publish blogs which meet visitors’ information needs and then work to convert those visitors into leads by offering added extras like free eBooks or other perks. Direct Marketing Funnel  From there, more direct marketing can take place. We often encounter the terms top, middle and bottom of funnel – these refer to the level of “sell” a blog or other text is doing, with the top being the broadest and most general. You can think of it as thought leader stuff; material that engages readers and piques their interest – getting them thinking about the services or goods on offer in a roundabout fashion. Having a blog can lend your company credibility, positioning you as a source of authority in your field. If it is a really good blog, you might even get media practitioners or people looking for experts approaching you for comment and advice; this can mean publicity gains. Content is still King Another way in which blogging can be an asset for your business is through the generation of content for your social media platforms – every time you post a new blog, you can spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and so on. These posts have a lot more substance and tend to get better reach and interaction than generic posts that don’t provide a strong link to your website. Blogging can be done in-house or easily outsourced – many companies offer professional services as part of a marketing package. It tends to be affordable and is a worthwhile investment in your business. The East Rand Chamber of Commerce can help with your blogging aims – contact www.hublink.co.za to find out more.

A company’s website needs to be functioning smoothly at all times, or visitors may become frustrated, with potentially negative consequences. Effective website maintenance is a vital part of the business, but unfortunately, it is misunderstood in many ways. Here we dispel 14 popular misconceptions. 1. Website maintenance is quick Website maintenance is quick In some instances, such as when working on very small, simple sites, it may be. However, because it is often an involved, complex process, maintenance can take a lot of time. That is why it is important to be understanding of your website design team and their workload. 2. Website maintenance is optional Some people are under the impression that once they have paid for web design and had a site, that is all they need. They do not see the benefit in additional financial outlays. But if you have a website, maintenance is a necessity – without it, the site will slowly break down and disappear from search results.   3. Your website is complete This is a myth. A website is a continual work in progress. It is always in need of monitoring, updates, tweaks and fixes. 4. New content is not maintenance If you want to be found in the upper ranks of search engine results, then adding new content to your website is crucial. It is also necessary to keep visitors interested. In this way, updating your content can be seen as part of what keeps the site going. 5. Analytics is not maintenance Looking at your website statistics to determine traffic numbers, visitor patterns and trends falls under the monitoring aspect of website maintenance and is important to determine strategies for the success and growth of your site. 6. It doesn’t need fixing until it’s broken Some feel that maintenance work can wait until there is a big issue. However, websites constantly need attention to prevent issues arising. 7.Maintenance schedules are not necessary The idea that maintenance can occasionally be performed, without a regular schedule, is problematic. Setting up and sticking to a set schedule is a reliable and effective way to ensure necessary maintenance happens and your website always functions smoothly. 8.Malware is something that happens to other people The reality is that malware can stealthily infect any website, so regular checks need to be performed. The presence of malware can have very damaging effects on your clients and your reputation. 9.  Hacking is something that happens to other people Again, any website can be hacked. Hackers take whatever opportunities they can get. You might not even know that you have been a victim if you are not performing regular maintenance. 10. You need to perform maintenance yourself It is not necessary to undertake this on your own. Maintenance work can be outsourced to dedicated website design departments. 11.  Backups are only necessary occasionally Making a backup of your website should be done according to a fixed schedule, to minimize the risk of loss and damage should a server crash – which is unpredictable. 12. Website speed is constant Speed can fluctuate, so it needs to be monitored. If your site becomes sluggish, visitors may become frustrated, and traffic could decrease. Speed tests and fixes need to be done as part of routine maintenance. 3. You can leave old entries up forever It is important to take down or archive outdated information, such as on events that have already happened. Keeping content fresh and relevant means more satisfied visitors and better search rankings. For any further queries visit www.hublink.co.za

There are numerous ways and means of really bringing out the very best in an online marketing strategy. Understanding how online marketing works is very important. Online marketing gives business owners the opportunity to advertise and promote their product or services while receiving an immediate response. Business owners can reap the benefits of this method of marketing, as it is economical and easy to start. All you need to do is to choose an advertising medium that works for you as well as your business objectives. Your site will eventually receive more traffic and thus more sales. The online marketing strategy you choose will increase your site’s visibility so that you get visitors that are more feasible. Notably, the following types of online marketing strategies are tractable, using marketing tools such as Google Analytics and enable marketers to increase their return on their investments (ROI) ultimately. Types of Marketing Strategies used Search Engine Optimization Organic Search Social Media Advertising ( Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) Blogging Email and Newsletter Marketing Webinars – Interactive media The Benefits of Online Marketing Convenience: Internet marketing enables you to be open for business around the clock without worrying about store opening or overtime payments for staff. Offering your products on the internet is also convenient for customers. They can browse your online store at any time and place orders when it is convenient for them. Cost Effective: Internet marketing involves less or no start-up capital. You might start blog marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing with less investment compared to traditional marketing, which lies on the factors of production Personalization: The Internet enables you to personalise offers to customers by building a profile of their purchasing history and preferences. By tracking, the web pages and product information that prospects visit you can make targeted offers’ that appeal to their interest. The information available from tracking website visits also provides data for planning cross-selling campaigns so that you can increase the value of sales by customer. Relationships: You can help to maintain the relationship and provide a personal touch by emailing clients regularly with special offers that are customised for them. You can also help build a sense of community on your website by inviting these customers to submit product reviews for the items they bought. Online marketing allows statistics to be measured more effectively: Virtually all elements of an online marketing campaign can be traced and tested in some way. Tracking and measuring can be done almost instantaneously since online marketing encourages interaction by clicking on the ad and visiting the website, as well as other target actions. Reporting on website traffic, leads, and conversions is an essential part of online marketing. And when it comes to reporting, especially about inbound marketing, there are essentially two platforms that are most commonly used: Hubspot and Google Analytics. Between the two platforms, there is a definite overlap because both offer similar reports. However, if you want to dig deep into conversions and see the entire path someone took on your website, you will want to use Google Analytics and work with a developer or company who can set up proper tracking codes such as www.hublink.co.za. On the other hand, while Hubspot provides easy-to-read traffic reports while giving you the ability to see traffic month over month, year over year and compare custom date ranges. It doesn’t offer all of the same analytical data such as new vs. returning visits, what types of devices your website is being used on, and site stats such as page load speed such as Google Analytics. With the assistance of Hublink, you can take your business to the next level. By using their unique Online Marketing Project plan, it will help simplify the process and prove as an investment to your business. All you need to do is visit https://prezi.com/view/ERX1W21Fo23QuY0Oa9PC/. Let us do your Marketing

Search Optimization is an extremely dynamic field that continues to evolve more and more rapidly with each passing day. With that being said, it has never been more important to keep up with innovative changes as well as Google Search’s ranking algorithms. Positioning your website on the first page in Google ought to be your first chance to guarantee the success of your online business. Obviously, Google’s algorithm is continually changing which may seize to make ranking your website challenging. Fortunately, not all ranking factors are created equally, you can maximise your SEO efforts by focusing on a few specific ranking factors. Here are your top three ranking factors: Content is King Today we live a different world. We tend to diversify more. As with the internet, we use Adwords and Bing Ads. We create identities cross social media platforms, and we promote via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. No longer are sites living and dying based on their Google rankings. Organic is longer one of the cool kids. Content is the most important of all SEO ranking factors. The reason behind this is because how you communicate to the user determines how search engines will then view you. What is considered great content? From a search engines perspective, it has to meet a need, answer a need, answer the search query and it must be likable. As Google and other search engines evolve, the most successful take a general attitude to their content. They incorporate the correct elements such as keywords and internal links but never at the expense of producing content that is of serious value to the reader, to answer the query, encourage a click-through and keep people on the page. Are Backlinks really needed? The external links directed back to your own website, known as backlinks, are one of the principal aspects of SEO. The volume and quality of these backlinks help search engines to determine the authority of your site which is a major determinant of where it will be placed in the SERPS for keyword queries. Ranking without their presence is next to impossible. A high volume of backlinks may seem optimum, but quality will always take first place over quantity. Search engines use sophisticated analytical methods to establish which links should be taken seriously and which can be ignored due to their forced intentions to help rankings, or worse, penalized for. You can build on that information using the various available techniques, while always keeping in mind that if you build a great website that provides a solid user experience, and has valuable, informative and relevant content, then it will grow in popularity and recognition. From there, good backlinks should naturally follow. The world wants a Mobile Experience With more people now accessing the internet through mobile devices than traditional PCs (and the ranking disadvantage for sites that aren’t mobile-friendly after Google’s mobile update), it shouldn’t be a surprise that pages that use responsive design correlate with higher rankings. Having a mobile responsive website is becoming the norm. Some companies are still maintaining a separate mobile website from their main site. You’ve probably guessed that this is an old practice on its way out. With the help of HTML5, mobile-responsive themes are now a must-have when redesigning/ re-launching a website to ensure your website ranks on Google Get your free SEO analysis here

In an ever-more competitive business environment, success depends on standing out from the crowd, and these days, that means the online crowd as well. A website is the best way to get digital feet through the door, but not all websites are created equal. Here, we look at the importance of elements like UX (User Experience) design, customization, landing pages, calls to action, color and branding in making sure that your company’s website makes a lasting impression on your customers. Contact us for your assessment Why you need good UX UX, or user experience, is possibly the most important element of any website, and all the other factors we discuss here contribute to UX. A smooth, pleasant user experience is crucial to creating a positive online customer experience — and consequently it can influence the first impression a customer has of your brand. Good UX builds brand loyalty, and this is why making sure that all the elements of your website mesh together to make up a frictionless customer experience is very important. Customization builds customer loyalty like nothing else, because customers want to feel like the company they’re dealing with, knows them and knows what they want. From offering only relevant items — we have all experienced the annoyance of sniffing out a good deal on the product we’re after, only to find it’s not available in our area — to remembering previous purchases and timeously offering a special, personalized offer, customization makes for a good UX and, as a result, increases sales. Build your Company identity before you can offer customization, potential customers must like the look of your site, and this means putting some thought into creating consistent branding. This doesn’t just mean using your company’s logo, but also choosing a (limited) colour palette, a layout, images and typefaces that can tell the customer, in subtle ways, what your company is about. Colour palettes are helpful here, as different colours mean different things. Black and silver, for example, can mean precision, professionalism, or technology, while orange can be fun but also prompt an urgent purchase. Customers on a budget, or older customers, seem to prefer cooler colours. Text-heavy websites do best with neutral backgrounds and dark text. Strategically selecting a colour palette goes a long way to ensuring customers feel at ease on your website, which means they’ll stay for longer and are more likely to make a purchase. Craft brilliant landing pages Landing pages are another key element. They are the first page a visitor to your site will see after clicking a search-engine link. A landing page is intended to meet a specific need the customer has — to get a quote, see more information, or take advantage of an offer. Well-designed landing pages with smooth UX and clear branding is a great asset. Closely linked to landing pages are calls to action, which are a website’s major way of turning a browser into a buyer. A call to action prompts action from the customer, whether it be adding something to their cart, giving you their contact information, or downloading a brochure. Calls to action are hard to miss—they are often large and Contrast-coloured to make taking the next step as easy as possible. Crafting excellent landing pages and calls to action are a surefire way to create value from your website. Use strategic Call to Actions Once the action is taken, give customers a chance to tell other people about your product, service or offer with a share button. These are important whether or not you use social media. A ‘share by e-mail’ button still counts! Sharing via e-mail or social media platforms is a quick and relatively easy way to get your brand out there, and there’s evidence that the more shares something has, the more it will get. More shares, of course, equals more value. Websites that are properly designed offer smooth UX, and this can increase sales. Professional website design ensures that your site ends up looking good and working well. Your website is your best chance at making a good first impression on potential customers in an ever-more digital business environment, so it pays to make sure it’s done well. To get an assessment of your current website, or to build a new one, contact us today at marketing@hublink.co.za