With the year 2020 nearly behind us we can all let out a sigh of relief but with digital marketing, there is always loads of planning & work still to be done for 2021. The Corona Virus pandemic has forced us to all think out of the box when it comes to enhancing and advertising our businesses on digital platforms such as websites and social media platforms.
Intuitive website design.
In the land of digital marketing Web Design has experienced many an evolution since its inception such as going from using tables for the structure to HTML & CSS. Currently, for most businesses and companies the focus is purely on Search Engine Optimization or SEO for their websites. Web Designers & UX Designers who like to stay current with web design trends and coding techniques are essential in today’s digital marketing. Without having either active in your digital marketing will definitely hinder your business and will have a negative effect on your online sales and with generating leads. Ensuring that your website is easy to navigate will put you in favour of search engines such as Google as they are incorporating UX (user experience) & the website’s page load speed to determine page ranking.
Get Google local listed!
When a user is searching for a service such as a plumber or an electrician locally only the relative businesses near the user’s location will show in the search results. Improving your local ranking will help increase your business to show up in local results.
Claim and verify your Google My Business listing to reap the benefits of local search. Be sure to complete all business information such as hours, location, and contact details, Google does have a “plan” that pops up to the right of the screen displaying what still needs to be completed. Remember to be active and post regularly with covid19 updates, specials, promotions, and general news.
Image Search
Mobile is huge and here to stay, Accessing the internet via mobile is quick and at your fingertips. Also, Google crawls and test your website (with page speed test) with a mobile-first view. Searches have become way more intuitive than before especially with the likes of Google lens, Pinterest Lens which makes your camera a search bar. Ensuring that your images are of high resolution packed with keywords in the ever so important alt tag or alternative text and have descriptive titles will leverage image search in your favour.
Social Media
A staggering 97% of marketers use social media and 78% of salespeople outsell their peers by using social media to their advantage. While that is impressive 50% of small businesses do not use social media to help promote their business and over 25% not plan on using social media in the near future.
Most importantly Social Media should be used to develop brand recognition as consumers are more likely to purchase from brands they recognize and trust. Ensure that your social media profiles are complete and have clear high-resolution profile pictures and cover art.
Conversations about your brand’s products, services, and partners are the best way to increase your brand’s recognition. While a conversation is imperative you must be able to do social listening. This is achieved by monitoring conversations on social media around relevant topics to your brand which helps you understand what’s important to your target audience.