In a world where digital marketing is becoming increasingly important, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest trends and strategies. But, having a plan in place can help you stay ahead of the competition and make the most of your marketing efforts.
With this in mind, here are 12 essential digital marketing tips to help you get the most out of your marketing efforts in the coming year. From SEO to your website, these tips will help you maximize your reach. So, whether you’re just starting out or an experienced digital marketer, this blog will help you work smarter.
Give your website visitors a great user experience by implementing sticky headers.
A sticky header is a fixed header on your website. Also called persistent headers, it’s a website menu that stays at the top of your webpage and remains visible as a user scrolls down the page.
It keeps the visitor’s attention on the most important elements of the page and helps guide them by providing quick access to key information including other pages on your website, your phone number, and calls to actions (CTAs) such as “schedule an appointment” or “contact now.” Sticky headers help engagement and encourage users to stay on your site longer. This can also increase your conversion rates by encouraging users to take action in order to view more information.
It seems like a simple thing, but with today’s short attention spans, it's in your best interest to make it as easy as possible for someone to find the information they need and to contact you as they're browsing your website.
How fast does your website load? Does it “feel” fast? Your website may load slower than you think, especially if you haven’t checked it lately using a website speed test tool.
Factors that can affect the load speed of a website include:
By optimizing these factors, it’s possible to improve the load speed of your website.
Website load speed is important for a number of reasons:
There are a multitude of website performance tools so it can be hard to choose which one is best to use. The website speed test from Dotcom-Tools enables users to test their web pages for free and from up to three worldwide locations.
Here are additional tools that you can use to test the speed of a website:
Because website speed can be affected by various factors, it’s recommended to test your site from multiple locations and under different conditions to get a more accurate picture of its performance.
Did you know that the majority of internet traffic occurs from a smartphone or other mobile device?
Checking your website speed on a mobile device other than your own is important so that you can evaluate how your site loads and performs on mobile:
Checking your website on a mobile device that isn’t your own is crucial. By doing this, you're able to see - and assess - the mobile version “fresh” (not cached or stored). This helps you to quickly identify any potential issues and make the necessary improvements to help your site’s performance and search ranking.
If your website isn’t designed to be easily viewed and navigated on a small screen, users may have a difficult time accessing and interacting with your website, creating a poor user experience and leading to a higher bounce rate. Poor user experience and high bounce rates also negatively impact your search engine rankings.
Because of this, Google now gives more importance to how your website performs on mobile devices first using mobile-first indexing as a primary ranking factor for search results.
This means that if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, it may rank lower in search results. The better your website performs on mobile devices, the better you show up in search results! By checking your website on a mobile device, you're looking at the version of your website that Google weighs first compared to how your website performs on desktops and laptops.
Overall, it’s important to have a website that is optimized for both desktop and mobile devices in order to provide the best user experience and rank well in search results on both types of devices.
The internet has had a significant impact on digital marketing by providing new channels for businesses to reach and engage with their customers. Some of the ways in which the internet has changed digital marketing include:
The internet has greatly expanded the scope and reach of digital marketing, and it has become an essential tool for businesses to connect with their customers, increase their online presence, and convert leads into new customers.
We get asked Frequently - Should my website have a FAQ page?
A: If it doesn’t - it probably should!
A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website provides quick and easy access to information that is commonly sought by your website's visitors. A FAQ page can be a useful tool as it allows visitors to find answers to their questions on their own and can help your business:
FAQ pages help demonstrate the value and relevance of your website to search engines, as it shows you have taken the time to anticipate and address the needs of your audience.
If you’re a business that serves local customers and clients, then you need to do everything you can to let Google and other search engines know where you’re located.
This includes making sure your online directory listings are correct and you have better Google Reviews than the competition. Here are several additional reasons why it’s beneficial for your website to have dedicated location pages:
Location pages help increase the visibility and credibility of your business, and can also improve the user experience for your website visitors. Pages that have content relevant to a physical location information in the URL help you show up better in local search results.
If your business provides services and solutions, then you need to do everything you can to let search engines know what you offer! Additionally, having the name of your service or offering in the URL of a page can give Google additional insight into what you’re all about. Your website should have dedicated pages to provide useful information to your visitors about how your business solves your customer’s problems.
Your services page on your website is beneficial for a number of reasons:
Having dedicated service pages with quality content optimized for SEO will help your website show up better online, higher in search results, and bring you more business.
You may have heard the phrase “content is king” quite frequently. But is this still true?
Content helps inform and engage your website visitors. It's the way consumers prefer to research and learn about companies today. The content throughout your website needs to be helpful and relevant to visitors searching for the services you provide. Good website content can help to establish the site's credibility and authority on a subject, and can also help to build trust with visitors. Additionally, well-written and informative content can help to keep visitors on the website longer, increasing the chances that they will take a desired action, such as filling out a form.
It’s important to have a mix of different types of content on a website in order to keep visitors engaged and interested. This can include text that provides information and context, images and videos that help to illustrate points or demonstrate products, and interactive elements. The specific type of content that is most effective will depend on the goals of the website and the audience it’s trying to reach.
Further, written website content is a critical factor in SEO. To best rank in search, your content needs to be written with first with users in mind and also Google as one of the ways Google decides how your website ranks in search is by evaluating the value of written content on your website.
Overall, good content is a key component of a successful website, as it helps to attract and retain visitors, and ultimately helps to achieve the goals of the website.
For potential customers and clients to contact you, your telephone number on your website needs to be as easy for your visitors to use as possible. It needs to be visible all the time, regardless of what page a visitor is on, and it needs to remain visible as the user scrolls, which is why a sticky header is important.
Also, make sure someone viewing your website on a smartphone has the ability to "click-to-call" or the ability to place a call just by touching the number. This requires your website to be coded correctly!
99% of consumers surveyed by Brightlocal used the internet to find local businesses in the last year. Google Maps provides a HUGE benefit not only to users looking for businesses, but also for businesses looking to attract customers. It’s one of the best - but often overlooked - SEO strategies to drive local traffic to your business.
Google Map Pack listing can help improve the visibility and credibility of your business, and make it easier for potential customers to find and visit your website:
The Map Pack section is a highly-sought after section of google to appear on, because it makes it easy for potential customers to choose you as a solution for their needs. Appearing in the Map Pack requires consistent SEO, the generation of positive Google Reviews, and more, depending on how competitive your local market is.
Even though we live in a digital world, the term “digital marketing” can mean different things to different people.
In today's digital age, customers expect businesses to have an online presence, and digital marketing helps businesses meet that expectation. Digital marketing is important because it allows businesses to reach and engage with customers where they spend so much of their time: online. It also provides a more cost-effective and measurable way to reach more customers than traditional marketing methods. It also enables businesses to target specific groups of customers, track the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, and make adjustments as needed in real-time.
Digital marketing is a crucial part of any business marketing strategy, as it helps companies reach and engage with their customers, generate leads, and drive sales.
When HLM helps companies gain new business through digital marketing, we're usually providing services that consist of SEO, online ads, blog writing, website design, and overall digital strategy.
While every business and industry is unique, we’ve found these tactics are the most important items for bringing in new leads and customers and helping businesses grow!