SEO

SEO - Journey to the top of the search engine

More and more people especially businesses are realising that it is not enough to just have a website if noone can find it. With SEO even the smallest and least known company can be found.

The beauty of SEO is that if you have the time and you do some research, you can do it on your own for free. Most people do opt for the professionals to do it for them. It can be time consuming and can take up to 3 months to see the benefits.

What does SEO entail?

Content is key! Website text and blogs

• The quality and quantity of the content on your website is important. You need to state keywords for your services and location in the text. Websites with a high search engine ranking tend to have more text on the home page. Search engines can pick up keywords from the website when someone searches for the phrases online.

• Get writing blogs relevant to what you do. Be sure to add links to your blog and you will be amazed how many people find their way to your website.

• The Website title should be specific to your main service and location.

Social media

Not only is social media such as Facebook and Twitter great for getting your products out there, it is also good for SEO so get on all of them! Most social media sites are optimised for search engines therefore your social media page may appear on search engines before your website is anywhere to be seen. 

Adding the link to your website on your social media pages is great for SEO and getting more people to your website. The more places your website link can be found the more potential places your clients can come from to get to you.

Links and Directories 

As we have already mentioned, the more online websites that contain your web address, the better. Well directories are places where people may be looking for your specific product or service. Remember to choose the correct category to describe your business in order to get relevant responses.

The more directories and links you have the better for a good online presence and there are hundreds and thousands out there. The content you put in your listings must be unique and relevant to what you do. Content is key! This is clearly very time consuming and tedious but very much worth it!

Alternatives

If you have a bigger budget, less time and want instant results a pay per click option may be for you. The set up of this service can be a bit of trail and error and confusing if you are not very confident with a computer but you can always call in the experts to help.

Pay per click ensures that you are visible on Google as you are paying for your place. It is very competitive to have your ad on the top of the first page, obviously depending on your industry. The highest bidder gets the highest place.

Ensure that you are targeting the specific market looking for our products or services and make sure your ads only appear to the specific keywords. It is easy to get people clicking on your ad who do not want what you are offering if you have a broad match setting.

Set your budget low to begin with and increase it if you are seeing results. It is possible to set a high budget get clicks but no enquirers. It is a very expensive loss if you have no return on investment. If you see no results keep tweeking the settings and ads until you see an improvement or call the provider to set it up for you.

A disadvantage is that once you stop the ads you will usually see a rapid decrease in customer responses.  To get the best results using the paid option, combine SEO with pay per click and see how it goes.

Analytics

Analytics is great to find out how people are finding your website, it allows you to know what is working and what is not. This can save you money on any paid ads which are not offering a return on investment. It also gives you an indication on where you can improve to see greater results. If you use an agency to do your online marketing they can provide a report with this information and you will be able to see an progress made as well as checking your search engine ranking by typing in the relevant key words.

By MetApps

Mobile Apps

Mobile Apps for business

More and more of your customers are interacting with you on their mobiles rather than their PC's. Social media, responsive websites and mobile apps make it easier for customers to access you wherever and whenever, therefore it is important to keep up with your competitors and cater to the mobile market.

A cost effective way to become available on mobile is to get a responsive website which could mean updating your existing site or getting a new one altogether. A responsive site is scaled down to look good on mobiles and it is also easier to use on mobiles.

Mobile apps that have a feature which your website does not have is also a good route to take. More expensive but gives a great brand impression. If you have the budget it is advised to make the app available on all platforms including Iphone/Ipad, Android, Blackberry and Windows. After all you don't want your customers to miss out due to the phone they have. You can add something like a game, social media or something unique to your app to get people coming back. The possibilities are endless and mobile apps can start from £750 per platform depending on complexity and which agency you go to. Metapps Ltd is a very competitive agency.

Mobile apps can also be used in businesses internally. Many restaurants, banks and sales companies use Ipads with their app built specifically for their requirements. Whether it be used for inputting customer data, orders or stock taking for example, a mobile app can increase efficiency in your company.

Social media is another way your customers can interact, this can be included in your website or mobile app. Customer services is even more important in this day and age as it is so much easier to complain publicly via Facebook or Twitter. You will also have to be careful how to respond to customers often it is good to make a public response even to let the customer know that you will contact them directly so that other customers can see that you do take complaints seriously. Also if you get a FAQ (frequently asked question) and respond on social media it can cut down the amount of messages you need to respond to as they can see an answer.

Mobile apps for entrepreneurs

Ever had an idea for a new games, social network or something to fill a gap in the market? A mobile app can go viral and become an instant success with a good concept and good marketing. Whether it is something new or improving existing functionality there are opportunities for everyone to create mobile apps. Usually the basic apps which are simple for users are the best!

Competitive agencies such as MetApps Ltd are great for individuals as they produce low cost apps with great quality, there are also payment plans available to suit all pockets.

Mobile apps can be seen as an investment, the larger the user base the more likely that the app can be sold at a profit. Mobile apps can also be used to gain income from advertising, charging the user to download the app or by containing in app purchases depending on the nature of the app.

Overall, mobile apps will become more popular than websites therefore to keep engaged to your market GET AN APP! For a competitive quote visit metapps.co.uk or call 0121 663 0119.