Having a well designed website is essential, but equally as important is getting people to visit your website. There are thousands of companies that promise instant SEO results based on so-called shortcuts. In reality, companies like Google hire the world’s best and brightest minds to determine the engines algorithm. These people dedicate their professional lives to ensure people don’t cheat the system in place. So, if a company offers you instant SEO results on a modest budget, you can be sure that they are not entirely honest. The best way to achieve results is by putting in the hard work and following certain SEO best practices. In this article we reveal the ‘16 Essential SEO Techniques for your Website’.
Your website hosting service is very important in achieving a high SEO ranking. It is recommended that your website hosting server should be working 24/7, with a least a 99.9% uptime. If your website has too much downtime it can be de-indexed and that will hinder your ability to rank higher on search engines.
Having broken links can be detrimental to both the SEO and user-experience of your website. There are hundreds of online tools that can help you locate broken links. We use Google’s own Search Console as our main broken link finder. This tool will tell you which links are broken and provide a clear pathway to relinking each url.
Webmaster tools all you to add and verify the ownership of your website. By using Google Webmaster Tools you can analyse all your on-page validations.
It is recommended to keep your title tags no longer than seventy characters.
Google has stated that that this tag doesn’t impact your websites ranking, but other search engines still use this practice. So, it is recommended that you target your five most competitive keywords in this tag.
It’s very important to create an Xml Sitemap for your website. By doing this and submitting this sitemap to the various search engines webmaster tools, you will have your website indexed faster.
By having social media integration on your website you all people to share your content on the various social media platforms. This allows more people to view your content and can result in getting a better ranking in the major search engines.
The robots.txt file is created by developers to instruct search engine ‘bots’ how to crawl and index pages on your website. Without this file your website runs the risk of not ranking on all the major search engine platforms.
Heading tags are essential in allowing search engine bots to filter your websites content. Heading tags are known as H1, with all other heading sizes ranging from H2, H3, H4, etc. By using your keywords in the H1 tags you can boost your websites ranking through highlighting the relevant content.
It is paramount that your websites navigation menu has the ability to be crawled by every major search engine.
Having a clear, concise ‘under the hood’ webpage helps increase site speed, convert traffic and engage users more frequently. Organising your websites functionality and specific design options into external documents helps facilitate this practise and means that your website will always bee running at optimum capacity.
Linking your content to extremal links (off-site content) is good practise in terms of Keyword affiliation. If you are discussing an item that you feel is relevant to an external source then feel free to link to that content. This helps Google understand content more, and how it relates to your own content. If you are in a position to request your content be referenced in other web pages then do so also. You will often see websites with a ‘links’ page that practises this method to engage a more organic flow of content.
Positioning yourself as an authority in your field may also lead to reference material and links. You’ll often see articles online, or indeed in news publications, with ‘source’ material – whereby the author of said blog piece references another article in his/her topic. This of course, creates a link back to your content and is generally how good content propagates through the internet.
Internal links are an important part of your own website. Your web pages, content and blogs should all have the shared focus of promoting your business or organisation. With services, motivations or ideas being linked internally through internal links. A good example of this is our own website; in this article we are discussing SEO practises, however I may want to share with you some tips on blogging [*internal link], as SEO/Content are directly relate and a good blog post can boost your SEO presence dramatically.
Geo Tagging identifies content by location, and is mainly used in social media whereby photo’s and people can be pinned in relation to their location at the time, helping provide context to the imagery. Geo Tagging can also be used to inform search engines of your location in relation to products or a service, helping organise results by proximity.
Original and engaging content is absolutely essential to ranking highly is every search engine. As a rule of thumb we strongly recommend at least three hundred words per article/per page.
Using ALT and Title tags in each image is essential is fully optimising the image for each search engine.
Make your website’s URLs as short, easy to read and clean as possible. By avoiding spaces and symbols your URL will come across more genuinely and avoid being seen as spam.
For any more information regarding the ‘16 Essential SEO Techniques for your Website’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Have you ever looked at something completely differently based on a new piece of information? Logo design is brimming with undiscovered meanings and well executed messages to help persuade the viewer to engage with the brand. In this article we explore ‘Famous Logo Designs with Hidden Messages’ and decode these messages.
1. Toblerone
Toblerone is a famous manufacturer of chocolate owned by Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods). Toblerone was originally conceived in a small city in Switzerland called Bern. Bern is famous for its association with bears. The logo mark, the mountain has a hidden illustration of an upright bear to communicate its close association with Bern.
2. FedEx
FedEx is one of the world’s most recognisable shipping companies. The logo itself is famous for it hidden message in the form of an arrow shape in between the negative space existing between the uppercase E and X. The logos designer Lindon Leader described it with the following quote. “The arrow could connote forward direction, speed and precision, and if it remained hidden, there might be an element of surprise, that aha moment.” The FedEX logo has won over forty major awards worldwide with Rolling Stone Magazine describing it as one of the eight best logos of the last thirty-five years.
3. McDonalds
McDonald’s golden arches are one of the worlds most recognisable brand identities. In the 1960’s McDonalds were considering changing the logo, but were convinced to retain the famous golden arches by design consultant and psychologist Louis Cheskin. According to an article from the BBC, Cheskin said that the golden arches unconsciously recognize the logo as “symbolism of a pair of nourishing breasts.”
4. Amazon
Amazon is the world’s largest online retailers and synonymous with selling almost every product a consumer can possibly want. The logo itself has a clever hidden message. It communicates having very product desirable with its arrow going from a to z. This arrow is also in the shape of an inviting smile make representing the brand as both friendly and having a comprehensive amount of consumer goods.
5. Unilever
Unilever are a Dutch-British multinational consumer goods company. Unilever produce a vast catalogue of products including food, beverages, home care products and personal care items. The logo itself is made up of a selection of products from these four main sectors that make up the letter U.
6. NBC
NBC is an American commercial television and radio network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company is famous for logos hidden meaning. The logo was first used in 1956 and became known as the Peacock Network due to iconic logo mark. Since it’s inception the company has embraced the peacock associated and evolved six tail-feathers that represent each its departments including the News, Sports, Entertainment, Stations, Networks, and Productions. The peacock is also depicted facing the right to symbolise the company looking towards the future.
7. Beats By Dre
Beats by Dre is a headphone and electronics manufacturer endorsed by celebrity music mogul Dr Dre. The company has recently been acquired by Apple in a deal worth three billion dollars. The logo itself portrays the b to represent the word beats and also uses that b to represent a set of head phone from a side profile.
8. Cisco
Cisco Systems Inc is an American multinational technology company. The company designs, manufactures and sells networking equipment. The logo itself has a double meaning. The shape is meant to both communicate the company’s inception in San Francisco through the iconic Gold Gate Bridge and the series of blue lines represent an electromagnet.
9. MyFonts
MyFonts is an online provider of typographic fonts for online and printing purposes. As a font provider, the company decided to design a custom font to best represent what the company do. The custom script font shows the ‘My’ represented as a hand.
10. Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium
The Pittsburgh Zoo is one of only six zoo and aquarium combinations in the USA. The zoo was founded opened on June 14, 1898. It was originally known as Highland Park Zoo, eventually rebranding to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The logo itself is utilises negative space in the design in the contest between the tree and the white gorilla and lioness.
11. Pinterest
Pinterest is world renowned digital pin board site. The website allows its users to take images from the web and place them on a digital board for future references. The logo mark, the P acts as both a letter and a physical pin.The co-design of the logo, Michael Deal, said: “For most of the project, I had avoided making visual reference to the image of a pin because it seemed too literal. But the “P” started to lend itself too well to the shape of a map pin.”
For any more information regarding ‘Famous Logo Designs with Hidden Messages’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Ever wonder how much a sought after domain can fetch on the open market? In this article we give you a comprehensive list of ‘The Most Expensive Domain Names Ever’.
36. Social.com
Sold for $2,600,000 in 2011
35. CreditCards.com
Sold for $2,750,000 in 2004
34. Shopping.de
Sold for $2,858,945 in 2008
33. Wines.com
Sold for $2.9 million in 2004
32. Loans.com
Bought by Bank of America for $3.0 million in 2000
31. Candy.com
Sold for $3.0 million in 2009
30. Whisky.com
Sold for $3.1 million in December 2013
29. AltaVista.com
Sold for $3.3 million in 1998
28. Mi.com
Bought by Xiaomi for $3.6 million in 2014
27. Yp.com
Bought by YellowPages.com for $3.8 million in 2008
26. GiftCard.com
Bought by CardLab for $4 million in October 2012
25. Marijuana.com
Sold for $4.2 million in 2011
24. IG.com
Sold for $4.6 million in 2013
23. Medicare.com
Sold for $4.8 million in 2014
22. Clothes.com
2008 for $4.9 million
21. AsSeenOnTv.com
Sold for $5.1 million
20. Toys.com
Bought by Toys ‘R’ Us by auction for $5.1 million in 2009
19. Slots.com
Bought for $5.5 million in 2010
18. Casino.com
Bought for $5.5 million in 2003
17. iCloud.com
Bought by Apple for $6 million in 2011
16. Beer.com
Sold for $7 million in 2004
15. Diamond.com
Sold for $7.5 million in 2006
14. Business.com
Sold for $7.5 million in December 1999
13. Fb.com
Bought by Facebook for $8.5 million in 2010
12. Porno.com
Sold for $8,888,888 in 2015
11. Porn.com
Sold for $9.5 million in 2007
10. Hotels.com
Sold for $11 million in 2001
9. Sex.com
Sold for $14 million in November 2014
8. Fund.com
Sold for £9.99 million in 2008
7. Insure.com
Sold for $16 million in 2009
6. 360.com
Sold for $17 million in 2015
5. Internet.com
Sold for $18 million in 2009
4. PrivateJet.com
Sold for $30.18 million in 2012
3. VacationRentals.com
Sold for $35 million in 2007
2.Insurance.com
Sold for $35.6 million in 2010
1. richsaudi.com
Listed for sale at $40,000,000
For any more information regarding the ‘The Most Expensive Domain Names Ever’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Your business card says a lot about you and your company. It is often the first impression that a potential client or business partner will gain from you. In order to leave a lasting positive impression we have compiled the ‘6 most common business card mistakes to avoid’.
A lot of businesses use a glossy finish for their business cards with the intention of standing out from their competitors. However a gloss finish on business cards is the most common type of finish provided by most printers. This results in your cards feeling exactly like your competitors. A gloss finish also does not allow you to write any personal notes on cards you may hand out.
A common mistake made by some companies is deviating form the standard business card size (90mm x 55mm). By making a card larger than this size you risk not being able to fit it in any standard wallet, purse of business card holder. This can lead to your details getting lost by a potential client through bastardised sizing.
Using an excessively small font size is a very common mistake in business cards. By being excessively small, you run the risk of clients being unable to comfortably read your details. As a rule of thumb body text should be no smaller that 7 to 8 points in size.
Maintaining a consistency in branding is vital in order to make a good impression on potential clients. It is vital that the logo, fonts, colours and design remain constant across all mediums, both online and in print. A good way to maintain this consistency is hiring the same agency to handle all of the branding or produce brand guidelines for other agencies to where too.
Keeping your business card as simple as possible is a certain way to ensure that people can clearly read your contact details. Explaining what your business does in detail or listing services should be reserved for your website or printed brochure. In order to give off a high level of professionalism, your business card should only have your essential contact details. This should include your logo, name, position, email address, telephone number and website address.
White space is a design term for empty space that should be present on your card. Cramming too much information in to a card does not allow the eye to take in relevant information. The use of white space helps you create a hierarchy of information that is relevant to a potential client.
By not using one side of your card to save on printing costs reflects badly on your business. It tells the prospective client that you are cheap. If they think that you would spare costs on a business card, it might indicate that you would do so on the quality of your products or services.
For any more information regarding the ‘6 most common business card mistakes to avoid’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
The most common destination of visitors on to your eCommerce website is the homepage. Your homepage is the first port of call from which to inform your audience who you are and most importantly to convert views into sales. In this article we give you 13 Tips To Make Your eCommerce Website Homepage More Effective.
One of the most important features of every eCommerce website homepage is the search option. By locating this search feature prominently throughout the website you enable a client to find your products or services very easily. This ease of use cuts out any unnecessary hassle for a client looking for something very specific.
Image Source: Nike
The shopping cart is where potential product purchases end up when chosen. This section allows the customer to view what they have chosen and pay for these items. It is estimated that up to 25% of all eCommerce users leave the website without purchasing these items, only to return at a later date to complete the purchase. Through the use of cookies these items are saved in the shopping cart. It is vital that the viewer is able to find this list at all times to facilitate purchases.
Image Source: Nike
Statistic Courtesy of Practical eCommerce
One of the main cause of a poor bounce rate (people leaving the website without visiting other pages) is the lack of a coherent navigational menu. By presenting your services or product categories into an organised structure of hierarchy you are making it easier for the viewer to browse what interests them. It is recommend that the navigational menu is positioned along the top or on the left of the page in order to avoid any confusion.
Image Source: Nike
Gaining the trust of visitors is vital in being able to successfully sell products online. The existence of fraudulent websites has made the public more cautious when making online purchases. In order to gain a visitors trust it is highly recommended that you provide an address or phone number prominently on the site. This tells your audience that you can be contacted in the event of any query and gives the consumer confidence of your websites legitimacy.
Image Source: Enibas
Sliders are a useful way to display numerous products on your website homepage. However in most cases they have been proven to annoy the viewer rather than help sell specific products or services. Continuous movement, distracting flashes and long loading times are proven turn offs to viewers. In most case it is recommended to display one main slide instead of several alternating slides.
Image Source: Enibas
Displaying well know brands as partners, clients or suppliers is a proven method to increase your businesses credibility. By associating your business with trusted brands you are essentially telling the viewer that you are important and most importantly you can be trusted.
Image Source: Life Style Sports
According to an E-tailing Group study, 47% of online shoppers only buy discounted items. The same study also pointed out that 62% of all online shoppers look for a sales section on each eCommerce website. With this information it is recommended clearing your stock by having a visible sale section on your homepage.
Image Source: Life Style Sports
Displaying payment methods on your website is a helpful indicator of payment options for the consumer. This display will save any confusion that the consumer has regarding making purchases and also heightens the websites validity through payment brand association.
Image Source: Life Style Sports
One of the leading causes of consumers abandoning online transactions are high shipping costs. By being able to provide your clients with free shipping where possible you improve your chances of converting a visitor into a customer.
Image Source: Nike
A great way to ensure visitors return to your website is by using a pop-up newsletter subscription form. By getting contact details off the viewer, you can contact them again via email leading to return visits and potential sales. The best way to get these details is by offering something in return .ie enter your details and get 10% off your first purchase, etc.
Image Source: Elegant Themes
Using a high quality large image at the top of the homepage can prove to be a clutter free alternative to numerous product offers or information. It helps communicate the brand’s message clearly and the design portrays the website as high-end.
Image Source: Brown Thomas
By having the most popular items sold displayed on the homepage you can emphasise this demand and create a public hunger for these popular items.
Image Source: Brown Thomas
Giving your online the opportunity to share information on items purses through their social media is a fantastic way to promote future sales from their online connections. By having a like or share option you are encouraging the consumer to promote your website.
Image Source: Nike
Having an FAQ (frequently asked questions) option on your website is a great way to clear up any confusion potential consumers might have about purchasing your products or services. Usually the FAQ is located on the footer and present through out the website. This option saves having to explain the process via email, chat function or over the phone.
Image Source: Enibas
For any more information regarding the ‘13 Tips To Make Your eCommerce Website Homepage More Effective’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Where you ever curious about how much some well known brands logos cost? In this article we shed some light on ‘Famous logo design and branding costs’. Before we get into the costing of each project, it is important to note the difference between logo design and branding. Logo design is exclusively the design of a company visual identity or logo. Branding involves logo design, brand guidelines, stationary, brochures, social media design, websites, signage, etc. So branding can sometimes take years to complete for large companies given the amount of research and work that needs to be carried out.
In 2016 one of Ireland’s largest telecommunications company, Eric became known as Eir. The launch included a full range of branding across as platforms and mediums in both print and online. The company wanted the new brand to “reflect the dynamism and confidence of our company – one of Ireland’s most recognisable brands”. It is the most expensive branding project that has been carried out in Ireland.
Re-branding cost €16,000,00
The British Broadcasting Agency is a state funded multi-media company that reaches hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In 1997 the company undertook the rebranding in order to make the brand more legible on screen.
Re-branding cost €16,700,00
The Nike “Swoosh” is perhaps one of the most iconic logos in the world. Another little known fact about the logo is it was also one of the cheapest identities to have survived from its original inception. In 1971 co-founder of Nike Phil Knight commissioned graphic design student Carolyn Davidson to design a logo that would embody the aerodynamic movement often associated with sports. Virtually unchanged since 1971, Phil Knight is rumoured to have given Davidson an undisclosed amount of stock in the company as a thank you for the iconic design – rumoured to be worth over $600,000 today.
Logo cost €32
Located in Australia, Melbourne is a wealthy city famous for its artistic community, roaming trams and thriving economy. In 2009 this massive branding project was undertaken by Landor to support Melbourne’s new corporate identity strategy.
Branding cost €580,000
ANZ (Australian and New Zealand Banking Group) is a bank located in Australia and New Zealand. It is the third most popular bank in Australia and the number one bank in New Zealand. Beginning in 2010 the company undertook a massive rebrand including a whole new marketing campaign. The campaign took a whopping two years to complete and was seen in many quarters as a resounding success for the bank group.
Re-branding & marketing cost €13,900,000
In 2001 oil industry giant British Petroleum, known simply as BP today, replaced their old logo with the new ‘Hellios’ logo. The logo was completely overhauled with only the green and yellow colour scheme kept. BP commissioned Landon Associates, PR consultants Ogilvy PR and advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather to handle the re-brand. The new design incorporated a more environmentally conscious image and the new tagline “Beyond Petroleum”. The re-brand was widely criticised in many quarters as a cynical attempt by the oil company to appear more environmentally friendly. In the wake of the 2010 BP oil spill, Greenpeace set about mocking the logos design with the Helios symbol parodied.
Re-branding & marketing cost €196,000,000
The Coca-Cola logo is one of the worlds most iconic identities. Design in 1885 by the founders bookkeeper Frank M.Robinson, it is made up from an elaborate Spencerian script. Not only did Frank Robinson come up with the logo, but he also thought up the company name – suggesting that the alteration of the two C’s would work to the company advantage in advertising.
Logo cost €0
One of the most hated logos of the last decade, the 2012 London Olympic logo and branding was designed by Wolff Olins in 2007. The logo itself was supposed to reflect London’s multi-cultural, modern and edgy persona as a city. Instead the logo was derived by the design community as a weak attempt at being trendy and looking unprofessional.
Branding cost €580,000
PepsiCo are one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of soft drinks. In an attempt to make up lost ground with Coca-Cola, Pepsi commissioned the New York based Arnell Group to re-brand the company identity in 2008. The re-brand was criticised as being very similar to Barrack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign logo.
Re-branding cost €928,000
For any more information regarding ‘Famous logo design and branding costs’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Increasingly sales are being directed online by a lot of busineses. Consumers are now flocking to online stores to purchase a variety of goods. This new found confidence in online purchase has led to an increase in the number of commerce startups. In this article we give you the ‘5 helpful tips for your eCommerce startup’.
When starting up an eCommerce business it is vital that you have an idea of how your business model will work. Ask yourself if your business is truly providing an original product or service. As with most cases, you might find that you have a lot of competition who provide similar products or services to your own. The best way to come out on top is to find a unique selling point or angle that only you can provide.
Often eCommerce startups look to their competitors as a carbon copy template form which to model their business on. This approach is detrimental to a startup and often hamstrings you from offering something unique to potential clients. A sensible way to approach a startup eCommerce website is to take note of all the positives from a competitors site and an even more comprehensive list of the bad features. This information along with the advice of a skilled UX (user experience) designer is vital in helping your website to be user friendly as possible.
One of the biggest mistakes eCommerce startups make is to rush the launch. Being impatient with the process usually ends up reflecting negatively on your brand. Ecommerce websites are complicated projects that demand expertise in design and development. Every top web design agency will always emphasise the importance of realistic deadlines. A realistic lead in time, dictated by a professional brief is essential to every eCommerce website. A well thought out brief and design process eliminates the possibility of impulsive design decisions. Unrealistic deadlines and added functionality lead to skipping time on design and development resulting in a bad user experience. This can terminally harm your startup before you have had a chance to get off the ground!
Every eCommerce website should be thoroughly tested before launch and at least once or twice a month. Having an eCommerce website that doesn’t work is a bad reflection on your business. Regular testing insures your site is secure, working and most importantly that you retain consumer confidence.
Converting visitors to sales is a scientific process in itself. Firstly you need to get people on your site. This can be done through a mixture of SEO, advertising on social media and Google ads, blogging and marketing. Getting a significant amount of people to visit your website is a challenging task, but keeping them on site is even harder. Ensuring that your website is user-friendly, communicates your business well and your call to actions work effectively is vital in converting visitors into sales. Simple things like cutting down the amount of steps one has to make to purchase, offering sales, free shipping, etc can be the difference in getting a viewer to purchase your product or service.
Over 30% of all Irish internet users exclusively use mobile devices to browse the internet. This means up to a third of every website’s audience, view the site on a tablet or mobile device. If the website being viewed is not mobile friendly then there is an extremely high likelihood that the viewer will leave. Having a website that is not mobile friendly can also hamper a sites ranking in on search engine giant, Google. As of early 2015 Google has introduced a new ranking structure on mobile and tablet devices. This new system means that websites that are not mobile friendly will rank lower than mobile friendly websites when search on all mobile devices.
For any more information regarding the ‘5 helpful tips for your eCommerce startup’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
At a certain point in the life of every business, it is time to evolve, update or simply goes in a different creative direction. In this article we explore the ‘Top five reasons you need to rebrand your business’.
As your business evolves, so does your businesses message that you wish to communicate to your existing clients and new target audiences. Communicating new values and practices call for your brand to reflect those principals. As with the recent Google rebranding, the company evolved the logo to work better on mobile devices and to appear more legible than its predecessor. This evolution is mainly driven by new technology demanding it to elvolve.
Unfortunately not every logo design can stand the test of time. Relying on design trends and the ever evolving landscape of new media platforms can make your brand look dated. As with the Manchester United redesign during the naughties, the brand had to become more adaptable. By simplifying the existing design, the new logo was less complicated and more versatile in small to large sizes demanded by the brand on printed and online formats.
Simplifying your brand accomplishes two major goals. Firstly it reduced the amount of information that the viewer has to process, delivering the message promptly to its audience. Secondly by reducing the logo aesthetics to its base form you are making your brand more memorable. By taking away unnecessary information from the logo, you are making it easier for the audience to take in.
When a brand wants to target a high-end audience, the best way to communicate this leap is through branding that reflects the higher quality of the product or service. By communicating a high level of quality, the brand most produce one clear message of quality. This is often achieved by stripping out an unnecessary written or visual content. A prime example of this is the Apple brand. Apple’s main brand strategy is to present its high end products in a minimalist format. This reduces the clutter and focuses on the high-end nature of the products.
When launching a major new product or service, most successful companies have turned to rebranding. Rebranding gives the company a fresh perspective to a sometimes jaded public opinion. It makes the brand appear new, exciting and appealing. A prime example of this rebrand was US entertainment company WWE. To launch their new family online platform, the company updated the brand considerably. The new brand appears cleaner, less edgy and more family friendly.
One of the most practical reasons to rebrand a business is a company merger. Mergers often lend to renaming to combine the best elements of the merging companies. This process is vital in order to show the public the combined benefits of the merger in order to dispel any reservations clients have with the change.
For any more information regarding the ‘Top five reasons why you need to rebrand your business’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Email marketing is crucial for every business to connect with their existing client base. This form of marketing is vital to every business to gently remind your clients that you are active and offering goods, services or offers that might be attractive to your client. In this article we explore the ‘Top five email marketing mistakes’.
A major irritant for most recipients of marketing email is the inability to read the email coherently on a tablet or mobile device. In Ireland alone over thirty percent of all internet users solely use their mobile devices to read their email. It is counter productive to only cater to seventy percent of your audience.
The subject line of every email is the gateway to a viewer opening or deleting the mail. Having a short, honest and energetic subject line is essential in getting the viewer to read your email. The secret to a good email subject line is summing up the email content honestly in less than fifty words. Being dishonest, off point or too long winded is a sure fire way to make sure the viewer doesn’t read your email.
A call to action is a button, telephone number, website address or email address that is designed to give the viewer somewhere after reading your message. By not having an obvious pathway for the viewer to follow, you are essentially not seeking any client interaction. A clear and concise call to action can help you continue the interest peaked by the emails message.
Having too much text in an email can be off putting to any reader. Due to people’s attention spans being increasingly lessened by the availability of numerous technological distractions, it is vital to deliver you message as quickly as possible. The best way to do this is to give very brief distraction with a link to a more detailed account through a call to action link. Having engaging, short and snappy content allows the viewer to digest the message more effectively.
A major mistake made by most businesses is ignoring the email analytics that are provided by most email marketing platforms. By finding out what emails are most successful and contrasting them against the least successful, you are giving yourself an excellent indication of what works.
Sending too many emails is a very quick way to cause your subscribers to abandon you. Getting the frequency of emailing is very important in gaining continued business or referrals. The industry rule of thumb is to email a client once a month. Being consistent with the timing of emails builds more trust with your subscriber and leads to them looking forward to your content.
For any more information regarding the ‘Top five email marketing mistakes’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
Social media is crucial for every business to connect with their client base as well as attract new business. In this article we explore the ‘Top five social media mistakes made by small businesses’.
It is crucial that your business makes a good impression on potential clients on your various social media platforms. Pixelated logos, images that don’t appear to be relevant to the brand and amateur looking graphics can make your business appear unprofessional. It is vital that all your social media platforms have a constant and professional appearance in order to attract new clients on social media. A good first impression can make the difference in gaining or losing a potential client.
In order to gain new followers and keep existing ones engaged, it is vital that your business has a plan regarding your social media platforms. Engaging content that is relevant to your business, topical and creates a positive conversation amongst your viewers. It is important that you have a strategy in place and know the content that you will be posting for at least a month.
Due to the instant nature of social media, prompt responses to peoples queries are expected. Recently Facebook has introduced a response time feature on all of its business pages. This feature tells the audience what the average response rate is by the company. Having quick response times tells the client that you are reliable.
One of the most important aspects of successful social media pages is consistency. Posting engaging content at optimal times for your target audience helps you build an audience and maintain the interest of existing followers. Being consistent ensures that your business is strongly present in each followers subconscious.
On the flip side of being consistent is over-posting. Pages that don’t post for a month and then publish a seres of articles in a short amount of time is irritating to the viewer. If the viewer’s timeline is flooded with one companies posts, the likelihood that the viewer will unfollow your business is significantly increased. Also consistently posting too much content greatly diminishes the impact of each post. Publishing quality content at least once a day gives more credence to the informations worth.
There is a fine line between advertising your business and over selling it. People on social media want to be entertained and intrigued. Selling a product or service as opposed to communicating interesting facts about the product or service can be the difference between gaining or losing a client. Most people don’t want to be confronted with direct sales information. Businesses need to entertain the viewer and in doing so create an awareness for their brand. This awareness will lead to the viewer seeking out the sales the information.
For any more information regarding the ‘Top Five Social Media Mistakes Made by Small Businesses’ or to avail of our services call Opus Creative on +353 (21) 242 8689 or email us on hello@opuscreative.ie
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