locally.co.uk

Category: Online Business

  • What changes does Google see in marketing online in 2015?

    (In other words, where are they looking…?)

    As hard as us online businesses try not to be a slave to Google and the other major search engines, the truth of the matter is, we are.

    Just like buying the cheaper supermarket own brand cereal and hiding them in a clear plastic container in a vain attempt to fool the taste buds of the cereal connoisseurs of the household does not work, trying to avoid Google and what it wants from websites is something that businesses cannot afford to do… too much.

    You might think that it is OK to have the same content across all 40 pages describing your services in and around Frodsham, but Google chews it up, spits it out and says that is not building a quality website.

    And so, through the fug of mince pie overload and increased cholesterol from the annual over-indulgence in local cheeses, here at Locally we spent some time sifting through the various online reports and articles about what this mammoth search engine wants from online businesses in the coming year.

    The great news is that it is not complicated and the majority of online businesses are starting to swing in this direction anyway… the writing has been on the wall for some time. Following on from our post ‘your website is a live and kicking thing that needs feeding and nurturing’, we take a closer look at what you need/must/try to with your website during 2015.

    Why please Google?

    Because it is massive. And, its dominance shows no sign of wavering and shrinking just yet. With billions of users worldwide, why would you ignore this search engine?!

    How the Internet, searches and relations between customers and businesses have changed

    Cast your mind back to when there were three TV channels in the UK and having a colour TV was a novelty… actually, we jest, we don’t mean that far back but we thought it sounded dramatic and when you rewind the clock only a few years to the early days of the Internet and compare then to now, you realise the changes have been dramatic, more dramatic than the closing scenes of an EastEnders’s cliff hanger.

    Back then, the run-of-the-mill Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a larger company back then was probably just shy of their 50th birthday, had learnt their craft and art over the years, with the Internet – a recent invention – providing a platform on which business was done to a customer. The thought that a customer had any real power or opinion was not entered into.

    Fast forward to January 2015, and this seems almost ludicrous; a CEO of some massive brands can be whippersnappers with a handful of GCSEs but with a natural ability and flair for seeing what a consumer wants, and giving it to them – with bells on.

    The Internet is now a place of engagement. If your website is all about the sell, sell, sell then no wonder you are no higher than page 102 in Google’s search rankings. Times have changed and we all need to keep up with them (harks back to ‘your website is a live and living thing’ post…)

    Put the textbook down

    Some things are not in those pages and what Google sees happening in 2015 is not in there yet, so sit up and take notice.

    If you learn nothing else from this post, take away this fact: Internet users (your potential customers) are looking for sophistication.

    Hitting customers over the head with information and broadcasts is no longer acceptable; people want information given in a more considerate way.

    Another fact: the Internet is a restless place. Just as one thing is ‘on trend’ it changes, morphs and steals away and this is something that you, and your website, must be constantly alert to. Just because you have always had that bouncing graphic on your home page and no has complained, doesn’t mean it is not damaging your online viewed reputation. Stop harking back to last year and be ready to constantly move forward and evolve.

    So what IS Google predicting?

    • Mobile money will become the norm in 2015

     

    We have talked about making sure your website is mobile ready in a previous post and now it seems this is more than just a must-have for aesthetic reasons. Financially, Google predicts that 40% of online spending will be via mobile devices so you need to be more than just mobile friendly; you need to be mobile active.

    In terms of other financial incentives, Google reckon that coupons, vouchers, gift codes – call them what you will – will become more tailored and specific to customers. And, customers are no longer just searching for the best price, or so it seems.

    Google also suggest that customers will pay a bit more, if the service they get is second-to-none. Cheap is not the name of the game, but customer service is.

    If you have a high street presence as well as an online presence, be prepared for merging these two strands of your business even closer, with mobile payments – for example, using PayPal in store – possibly becoming the norm (although they also suggest PayPal may have a contender by the year’s end… is that a hint?!)

    • Foster community

     

    If you website is still a one-way track, with limited or no interaction between you and your consumer, then your website will, by the end of 2015, if not before, fall into a dark place. So, if you are not harnessing the power of social media to invite comments etc., you are missing a trick; Google predicts that consumers will rely even more on this ‘social branding’ to decide if a brand is the right one for them.

    The local and the personal, suggest Google, will also become a bigger influence in the search engine terms used.

    • Real-time is where it is at

     

    And this means looking at the capability of your website and your online strategy for communicating with customers, quickly – if not, now (that is, real time). Emailing, tweeting or commenting on a company’s social media platform, only to have a delay of hours (or days!) is no longer acceptable. For small businesses this could present a logistical problem – how can you create the bespoke wedding dress with one eye on Twitter?) thus, outsourcing some of these powerful elements will become more important.

    Take away points

    Google is looking for, and predicting, continuous improvement in websites:

    Search will be more location-based – so if you operate in and around a certain area, get this back on your website and optimise you content as such. Add to this real-time – scrolling news feed about your business, price, availability etc. – could see a significant return-of-investment (ROI)

    Don’t be dull, boring and – dare we say it?! – predictable – do something different with your brand and let people know. If you haven’t sponsored a local event before, could this be the year you take a leap into the unknown BUT, don’t just sponsor it, stream it!

    Relevant – you are a local insurance company, a client finds your website online, likes your prices and then ‘clicks to call’; your phone rings and you have a new client. This can work for so many businesses but it does take technical know-how… the great news is that there are people who can help set all this up and make it run without a hitch.

    Your website needs to be working for your business – spending hundreds and thousands on creating a website is all well and god but, if it is not being accountable (working for the business as a platform for business and brand awareness) then it is wasted.

    It all sounds very big and involved, possibly beyond your technical skills but, with some small, but clever tweaks in all the right places, your website could be running at full throttle by the end of 2015.

  • Adding to your website strategy: QR Codes

    A New Year Technological Challenge!

    Online, local businesses are the back bone of the country but, stand still in the online world and you risk being left behind.

    As a forward thinking business, you need to be constantly looking and assessing which of the latest technological innovations are right for you and your business.

    We talked recently about creating to a live strategy for your website; design and launch are just two of the factors in creating a successful, online presence. Your website, as you recall, is a living breathing thing that must be nurtured in order to carry on expanding and thriving so that your business can too.

    And one way of doing this is to link your offline and online presence. But, sometimes we need a handy tool to be able to do this.

    QR codes are not necessarily that new anymore, BUT if you haven’t taken a serious look at them and what they could offer your business, then now is the time.

    WHY?

    We have talked in numerous previous posts about immediacy and the need consumers have about gaining instant access or gratification for whatever they are searching for. QR codes are a way of satisfying this immediacy.

    Like a barcode… but different

    Barcodes are everywhere, from the packet of biscuits we have bought to accompany our morning coffee here at the Locally office to the pods we use in a well-known coffee machine. Essentially, both barcodes and QR codes are the same thing, but the difference between the two is the amount of information that they can hold; barcodes are linear, can hold up to 20 numerical digits but QR codes are two dimensional and can hold thousands of pieces of information.

    And QR codes can also be linked to your website, as well as a whole host of other digital connections. All your consumer needs is a QR code reading program on their mobile – android and iPhones – all of which are available free through various app stores.

    And they came from where…?

    Developed in Japan over 10 years ago, the original creators, a subsidiary of Toyota, have not exercised their right to being the only company to use the patented technology, encouraging its use across the world.

    As a result, there is a huge range of example of QR codes being used by businesses, community groups, schools, colleges and anyone else you can think of!

    QR code is a quick response code and, once read by a smart phone, will install take your customer where they want to be; you can ‘load’ the code with whatever you want from accessing 25% off their order or free delivery or… the examples are almost infinite so let us group the type of applications you can use them for…

    • Sharing – there is no limit to how much you can share with these QR codes. For example, if you have an instruction manual for how your product works, convert it into a PDF and give it a QR code; this way, customers can always access or download their own copy. It saves paper and makes navigating to the section or pages they want, much easier too.
    • Community – customers are social beings and we all like to feel connected to a product or business. Again, we have talked about responding to enquiries through social media platforms etc. QR codes can enhance this liking and sharing feature that businesses and customers love; link a QR code to your Facebook page or to a noticeboard/comment area on your website.
    • Calls to action – essential in any marketing strategy, but also something that can be used throughout your community. Once you have connected with people, why not offer them special offers to reward their interaction, feedback and loyalty. Again, QR codes can carry this type of information.

    From rhetoric to practical applications

    However, QR codes sound all well and dandy but, what are the practical applications for your business?

    We have talked about linking your offline and online marketing strategies in a recent post and this is a perfect idea of bridging the gap between the two:

    Where
    • Back/front/both side of your business card
    • Brochures, flyers, leaflets or whichever printed media works well for your business
    • Posters, outdoor banners, roller banners
    • Tags and packaging on your products
    • Letterheads, compliments slips and other stationery
    • Menus
    • Invoices and receipts
    • Any other printed media you can think of!
    What
    • Manuals or instructions
    • Ordering additional or replacements parts etc.
    • Booking services online (takes you to calendar or contact form)
    • Directions to your business
    • Coupons, vouchers or money off code
    • Free downloads!
    • Feedback forms, comment sheets etc.
    • Anything on your website or social media presence
    Maximise impact of QR codes
    • Tell people what they are and encourage them to use
    • Link with your marketing strategy, both on and offline
    • Allay fears that they are complicated – their simplicity is their power!
    • Experiment with size, location as well as colour of QR codes
    • You can create a QR code ‘treasure hunt’ all across your range!
    • EXPERIMENT!

    Are they here to stay?

    They have been around some time and are a tried and tested technology. However, many smaller businesses associate them with larger, multinational companies and think that the technology is out of their league – never have you been so wrong!

    And so, your technological challenge for New Year 2015 is to tell us how you would use QR codes for your business!

  • De-mystifying the Cloud

    ” Every cloud has a silver-lining…”

    ” I wondered lonely as a cloud… “

    We could go on and on with some delightful quotations about clouds… in terms of weather, emotions, love and our inner soul but, the topic of today’s post is not weather, climate or inner demons and unrequited love.

    The cloud to which we are referring to is cloud computing.

    Unless you have not turned on your laptop, surfed the web on your phone or had a gambol through Internet Land via your tablet for decades, then you cannot have failed to have heard about the cloud or cloud computing.

    However, ask all those so-called ‘experts’ what it is and HOW you can use, and you may find the answer sadly lacking in detail…

    And here’s why: we have a notion that as a cloud, it is floating, mysterious, non-physical, supernatural and a place that only the initiated can access…

    WRONG.

    It is actually a jolly big computer. In fact, it is more than one very big, gigantic, humongous computer; there are several of them and they are all dotted about this planet of ours. The cloud is a physical place. It does not float and they are not mysterious… or it won’t be after you have read this post!

     What you need to access the cloud

    An internet connection.

    And that us really all. Cloud computing is about you, the user, accessing space on a remote server (the cloud). You access this place via your laptop, PC, tablet, phone or any other device that connects to the Internet. You save things to this space, rather than to your device. Thus saving memory. And we all know how slow our smart phones can get when we have thousands of images or video eating up memory space.

    Cloud services

    And in step the services provided by a range of providers. These are all companies – mostly very well-known ones – who have oodles of space on their servers (clouds) at very secure locations that they will ‘rent’ to you for a fee; some offer a small portion for FREE too!

    In exchange for this rent, you can use X amount of storage space for images, videos, vines, blogs, documents etc.

    But, before you spend your money, is cloud computing here to stay?

    Like many technological advances, at the time they were all the rage and seemed like a good idea and then they disappeared, superseded by something bigger and better.

    But, cloud computing seems here to stay. There are oodles of applications and cloud computing packages that have been developed and are being developed to the help individuals and businesses. Just take a look at the online, cloud based accounting packages – really simple to use, and all your data safely stored when plague, pestilence and fire cannot reach it (but, if they did, all your data is securely backed up and in theory, you can still access it).

    Surveys, statistics and data

    These statistics are from a 2013 survey of a rather large proportion of IT-based managers (around 3,500 of them!) and this is what they were saying over a year ago:

    • Over a third of them suggested that the reason they liked and used The Cloud was because they could store and access a variety of information using several different devices – in other words, they could access documents on whatever device they had to hand, whether that was being sat at the work based PC or the tablet on their commute home etc.
    • Saving money, structure and people – cloud computing for some of the larger companies has seen then save around 14% in terms of budget spend on IT people and departments and 87% overall in terms of some project budgets that they swapped to cloud computing services. But, those companies offer cloud services have taking up this mantel by expanding their services as a result of cloud popularity.
    • Increasing in popularity – back in 2013, 65% of American companies adopted cloud computing for some, if not all of their projects. This figure is expected to increase.
    • Improvement – companies suggested that overall, they saw a 90% increase in the efficiency of their IT department since moving some or all of their projects to the cloud.
    • Adaptability and competitiveness – small business felt that they were able to complete better with larger competitors as they too have ease of access to cloud computing services; no longer do they need to invest in expensive machinery, equipment and expensive specialists…

    Do we need to persuade you anymore?

    Which cloud computing services will you use?

    There are oodles of platforms and services that you and your business can benefit from. Here we have rounded up just three of what we think are great introductions to the world of cloud computing…

    • Dropbox

    Heard of Dropbox? Great for personal storage and for business use, although there is a current monthly fee of £11 per user for this service, although it does promise increase productivity as there is minimal training as the platform is so easy to use.

    With over 300 million user worldwide, Dropbox is enjoying huge success. You can sign up for 2GB of storage for free, a perfect way to offload some of those photos from your phone and free up memory.

    Users rate this platform highly and we think it is a great way to experience the cloud without getting in a cold sweat and tizzwazz.

    • Google Drive

    Those of us on Gmail may have already come across the delights of Google Drive; attachments that need saving after you have worked on them can be saved to your portion of Google drive… and if you have forgotten your memory stick or need access without the rigmarole of getting Maureen from accounts to access you email, then Google Drive is rather a handy way of doing it.

    There are also many third party apps that connect with Google Drive so all round, we think this is a winner, as do 190 million users worldwide that use it every month (you can also pay a monthly fee for unlimited storage!)

    • Microsoft SkyDrive… now known as OneDrive

    Cloud. Sky. Get it?!

    Offering 15GB of free storage, you can snaffle more by simply connecting certain devices, and using certain platforms – OneDrive will direct you – and this is made it one of the most popular cloud storage services ever.

    Like other cloud services, they charge a monthly fee if you want a bigger portion of the cloud and this is where people are finding it really pays; SkyDrive’s monthly fees are much, much lower than others, with the basic package starting at £1.99 a month (offers change, so check before you sign up!).

    Simplicity itself

    Here at Locally we love keeping things simple and so, if you are yet to discover cloud computing for you personally, then make it the goal for this month that you take a brows round the three we have mentioned.

    Once you feel comfortable, why not take a look at what cloud computing can offer your business? Secure, shareable with people you want to share with, cloud services far safer than you think.

    In this wonky world of ours where terrorism, weather and general chaos can strike at any time, many of the facilities run by cloud service companies really are bomb proof, with the highest grade military security you could ever possibly imagine…

     

  • The Landing Page – is it ‘fit for purpose’?

    We love posts and articles that make life a little easier especially when it comes to making sure our website is working as hard as possible for us – after all, we have invested time, money and oodles of creativity in it.

    You probably feel this same sense of pride in your website but, we need to talk. It seems that landing pages – the page that attracts and converts visitors to customers – are not quite doing the job they should be doing.

    The problem with creativity is that sometimes, we are just too close to it to really see what we are creating.

    Sounds double-dutch BUT, it means we can’t see the wood for the trees; it is a bit like proof-reading your own article and then re-reading it on the web, months later and realising that you have made huge grammatical gaff in the second paragraph. What will people think?

    But before you take the next plane to obscurity, this is a simple error to fix… You need a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at your creative creation. Whether this is reading your article or taking a look at your website for errors and faux paus, you need a pair of eyes that are kind, yet objective…

    Know anyone?

    It can be difficult, we know and so, out there in Internet Land, is the answer – and we have found it!

    You can now assess your landing page using the alphabet (and various other hints and tips!)

    The Landing Page – what is it and what should it ‘look’ like?

    We are not necessarily talking design when we talk about ‘looks’, but about the content contained here-in the landing page.

    This is the page that any prospective customers see when they visit your website and needs, according to a variety of web design experts to contain the following:

    • Your business’s unique selling point or proposition (also known as USP)

    And so, your landing page needs to have a headline, a supporting headline (or tagline), a statement that reinforces what it is you do/offer/sell and a ‘closing argument’.

    • an appropriate graphic or short video that is directly linked to what you do/offer/sell
    • recommendations – showing customers how other people have benefitted from what you do/offer/sell
    • and finally, a call to action – in other words, what customers need to do in order to access what you do/off/sell, such as
      • “call us NOW and get 10% off!”,
      • “it couldn’t be simpler to order from ABC: fill in the online booking form and return TODAY”

    Take a look at – ‘spa LONDON’ https://www.spa-london.org/swisscottage – their landing page tells you it is affordable luxury in the prefect environment, and restores your body and mind. It also tells you to ‘book NOW’!

    Hush Hair, Birmingham https://hushhair.com/main/ tells you they are a premier salon, there is 25% off for new clients with selected stylists and that they used on the best styling and dye products (well-known and trusted brands listed), and they are independent, employing only the best hairdressers. Their phone number is prominent, as is their opening times.

    The good, the bad and the not-so-good looking ones… we have all come across them, landing pages that tell us nothing, give us the wrong feeling, hence we navigate away to another competitor.

    And so, here we look at the best bits of the Landing Page alphabet…

    E is for engagement – your landing page needs to be creative, sparking an interest and an intrigue in what it is you do. Does you landing page do that? Could the content do with a re-vamp?

    J if for justification – if you making claims on your landing page (and anywhere else on your website), then you need to have the facts to prove it; if you say you are the ‘best at…’ who says? Did you win an award? Beware false claims so try something generic like, ‘one of the leading massage at work companies in…’ etc.

    M is for mistakes – check, check and check again for errors. And then get someone else to check. As we pointed out at the start, when you have written or created something yourself, you can become so embroiled in the content, that you cannot ‘see’ the most obvious and glaring of mistakes.

    P is for performance – how many times – be honest! – have you logged on to a website only to find that waiting X number of seconds is far too long. Fingers drumming impatiently on the desk will not speed it up and, with a harrumph and sigh, you navigate away. Your landing page needs to load, and load quickly.

    Y is for ‘you’ – because you – the writer, author, creator, business owner etc. – are the soul of the whole project but take care with how much you share. When we ring this note of caution, we suggest that you take care with the tone of your landing page. ‘Appropriate’ should be bamboozled across the whole website, not just your landing page…

    Established and new websites need to ensure that their landing pages are working as hard as possible, converting browsing customers into paying ones. For the full landing page alphabet, check it out at Copyblogger.

  • Usability, your website and some hard lessons…

    The festive season is nearly upon us and those of us who do not leave our Christmas shopping to the last minute on Christmas Eve, may have already started to cast about on the web for THE perfect present for him, her and the dog.

    Invariably, you will come across websites that you will quickly navigate away from; somehow this is not a conscious decision, it just seems to happen. And there may have been many reasons why…

    It doesn’t feel, look or sound right.

    We came across a brilliant, frank and comprehensive usability checklist that should you choose to work through it, will ‘catch common usability problems’ on websites. If your website does not strike the right chord with the consumer – trust, authority and security – then you could be losing an awful lot of sales.

    Here, we have highlighted some of the more common aspects that you may need to take a look at on your website in order to answer the question, is it cutting the mustard?

    The checklist

    To publish the whole thing here would be keeping you logged on till Christmas, but all flippancy aside, we believe that the very comprehensive nature of the checklist highlights just how important your website or online presence is to your evolving business.

    Frankly, if it is not sleek and delightfully easy to use, then your website falls way below standard. Here we have summarised the key points from under each heading…

    USER EXPERIENCE

     

    This looks at everything from currency, language as well as pricing being clearly displayed. It also suggests that users are look for measures of credibility. For example, on Locally’s newly designed and launched website, we have several written ‘references’ from people who have been more than happy with the websites we have designed them, along with the service we offer. We do this, like many other business, to lend a sense of credibility and authority to our website.

    It also suggests that in terms of user experience, your website also needs to look and feel uncluttered, with text that can be easily scanned and images that can be enlarged or zoomed in on.

    This section has 7 areas that the checklist suggests that you look at in detail.

    HOMEPAGE

     

    Your homepage invariably is the landing page – the first page – that your website visitors and potential customers see; the feel of this page needs to be spot on! There is no room for error.

    As well as checking for the obvious spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, the checklist suggest 8 additional checks such as a clear to call action (tell your customer what they need or must do!), along with all the important information the visitor needs to know. It also suggests that all images and video used needs to be relevant to the page.

    ACCESSIBILITY

    This section has 4 checks that all play an important part in ensuring that your visitors can access the parts of the website they need quickly and easily. It points to technical aspects of your website that are not immediately obvious and to factors which you think may not be important… but they are! For example, when a customer hovers their mouse over a graphic, what is the caption that is displayed…?

    NAVIGATION

    This section is about how your website is mapped, especially in the case of larger websites; sitemaps are important and that any links are descriptive – the ‘click here’ is no longer sufficient! It also suggests that sorting information is not done along alphabetical lines, unless there is no better way of doing it. Customers, it seems, prefer information to be grouped in sections that are related e.g. items and accessories that are related to ‘kitchens’, and another section for ‘bathrooms’ etc. How is the information navigable on your website?

    SEARCH

    Being able to search your website quickly and easily is important, and it seems that websites that have this function stand head and shoulders above the rest. The search facility needs to be on every page, in the same place. But a common pet hate, it seems, that customers detest are search bars that are too narrow or small, meaning that as they type the words or phrase becomes obscured.

    LINKS

    According to the usability list, important commands should not be links, but buttons such as ‘pay now’ etc. and small details make all the difference; for example, the colour of a link changes once a customer has clicked on it.

    But the most important part of this section is making sure that any links of your website are still active; there is nothing more off-putting for a potential customer when they click on a link only to find that it is broken one.

    LAYOUT

    This is section that looks at more than just the aesthetic appeal of a website; for example, is all the important information a customer needs at the top of the page?

    Is the layout, design, colours etc. and the ‘feel’ of the website consistent throughout the website? And finally, is your website responsive? This section also includes that website should fit the screen of the user – did you know that horizontal scrolling was a non-no?!

    PROCESS

    This section of the checklist looks at the whole practical process of building and testing a website; with the excitement of either a new or re-vamped website taking over, companies and business tend to have a habit of launching it… without really checking every single aspect of their website and hence, the small but important ‘teething issues’ are not spotted and repaired prior to launch. This can not only mark you down with customers, it can also cause problems in the all-seeing eyes of search engines…

    Just like you wouldn’t launch an expensive advertising campaign in the press without intense consideration, launching your website should go through the same process of consideration and goal-setting.

    FORMS

    Increasingly, websites are inviting customers to be part of a newsletter drop or a ‘join’ a website and this necessitates forms. However, it seems that customers are put off by lengthy, complicated forms hence, this checklist has 5 essential must-check factors, from your form supporting auto-fill and being simple, usable forms rather than lengthy version that seem to collect information that feels superfluous (why do you need to know how old you customers are?!)

    CONTENT

    Finally, is the section on content that has 6 must-check factors:

    • Contrast between text and background
    • Content is ‘scannable’. That is, customers and visitors are able to scan down the page, looking for key information they need
    • Written in language that is understandable
    • Contact and company information clearly displayed
    • Content is useful and up-to-date
    • Upper case letters are avoided unless they are in the right place!

    Having the right look and feel to a website is more than just pretty pictures and flashy bits; there is far more to creating a delightful, successful website. Is your website due a re-model?

    Check out the FULL checklist – how does your website do?

  • Creating trust with a blog

    What does your blog really say about you?

    Wherever you turn on the wonderful world of the web, you will be told/encouraged/advised/bamboozled (*delete as appropriate) into including a blog on your website.

    In terms of content generation, creating that all-important authority on the web, this is a great idea. Providing that you regularly create and publish high quality, relevant content with some delicious links to authoritative, relevant websites, you are on to a sure-fire winner (slap thigh, whistle a tune and sit back, basking in the delight of knowing you HAVE done something right…).

    You can feel it coming, can’t you? The word that throws everything is to disarray, the word that dashes a thousand dreams and renders your blogs useless (that’s an over exaggeration for dramatic affect)…

    BUT…

    Does your blog build trust in your company?

    Every blog should be written in a way that shows the customer that you can be trusted as a seller, an online retailer and that what you say is ‘right’.

    NB This confirms something we have been talking about for years… and that is the fact that your blogs, for all the content marketing speak out there, MUST BE WRITTEN FOR YOUR CUSTOMER and not a search engine.

    To help you out with your blogs, we have created a list of 10 words or phrases you could use to enhance your blogs, and make them a more trusted source. Blogs need to have

    • an authoritative tone
    • be consistent in the number of times blogs are published (if you haven’t blogged since November 2009, you may be in a spot of bother)
    • high quality
    • with social signals
    • and also have a good reputation.

    A bit like the blog here at Locally… (blows own trumpet).

    Are they worth it?

    It seems the whole world is blogging and this should tell you something. Content experts often talk about how wonderful content needs to be and, as part of this argument, blogs add credibility to you, your website and business.

    In fact, don’t just take our word for it. Jeff Bullas, a blogging master conducted a survey around what customers thought about blogs that they came across and how they informed their decision to buy, or not.

    To the question “do blogs add credibility to a website?” an astounding 68% of respondents said yes, they did. That’s a BIG proportion of people who use the signals given off by a blog as a positive endorsement of the company, their products and services. It seems if you are not blogging regularly, keeping your online, local business website ‘alive’, then customers may be navigating away.

    When Jeff Bullas looked in to this a little deeper, he found that the factors that added this all-important credibility to a blog were quality content, followed by regularly published content. There were other factor too, from a good social media presence to good design. So you see, blogs are important after all…

    Good blogging words

    If you are writing a blog that is part of your online marketing and selling strategy, then your blogs must have some delightful words sprinkled through them that sub-consciously send signals to your potential consumer…

    Here is Locally’ 10 ‘sprinkle them through your blog’ words or phrases:

    1. Fair

    Ah yes, being fair. We like that. We like to think that by being or playing fair, we have the moral high ground. We love it and your consumers love it. From sayings such as ‘one thing you can say about so-and-so, she is fair’ to ‘fair pricing policy’, by using this word and applying it to your online, local business, you are showing people just how lovely and fair your business is.

    1. Fair treatment

    This is listed as a separate phrase as, according to research, ‘fair treatment’ is very ‘user-centred’. This has an important psychological impact. If people think that you will treat them fairly as consumers, they are more likely to gravitate to your business.

    1. Care/caring

    Yup, an online purchase still needs to have the ability to show consumers you care about them and their purchase. And so, weaving this word into a blog can go a long way in showing the human face to your business. All too often, when things go wrong with a purchase, we find that the company we are trying to contact has an outsourced helpline to foreign climes and it is impossible to make any form of meaningful contact. Dispel these fears with a blog that tells people how much you care… anything from their purchase to the environment is perfectly acceptable.

    1. Trust

    A bit obvious? You would have thought so but apparently being told that they can trust you as an online retailer WILL create the feeling of trust, so use it! Little word, big impact.

    1. Quality

    A great buzzword but one that works. We all like to think that the product we are buying is the highest quality but this is about creating the feeling of quality with a blog, not just saying the word. For example, is it error-free? Does it say what it needs to, clearly? Is it enjoyable? Does the design of the website also ooze quality…? (If not, call us… everything we do is QUALITY driven).

    1. Competent/competency

    A longer word but one that spells out just how much your business can be trusted as you know what you are doing and you do it well, all the time.

    1. Change/changing

    Now, on one hand you would think that this would set alarm bells ringing but, according to various studies, when a company tells its customers it is changing (for the better) – and why – people like it. It shows that you care and want their custom, as well as their experience of buying from you, to be the best that it possibly can be.

    1. Always

    Ah yes, another great word that shows you are committed as a company to do the best for your customers, from always offering the best price to always producing great blogs.

    1. Never

    We would always counsel caution when it comes to using negative words and ‘never’ is one of those words BUT, you can turn this word around to give it a positive connotation. Why not try ‘never being beaten on price’ or ‘never compromising on quality’?

    1. Privacy/private

    People’s information is sensitive. They like to know that their data is kept safe, guarded and private. Sometimes, telling people this is a good way forward.

    And so…

    The next time you blog, think about what it is your blog is ‘saying’ in both an obvious and sub-conscious way. Is it oozing trust? Is it inviting customers to trust you, your business and the content they are reading…?

    When was the last time you blogged?