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 It's a new year, and most of us are hoping for better things in 2021. Are you seeking to improve the SEO for your online business this year? Whatever your answer, it's wise to update your search engine optimisation (SEO) knowledge because the way SEO works means that it’s a constantly changing entity. Keep reading to see how one or all of these tips could form part of your strategy for improving your SEO.
 Wishing all our wonderful customers, past, present and future, a magical Christmas and wonderfully, 'back to normal' 2021!
 SEO Stands for Search Engine Optimization and basically refers to the processes that are followed when it comes to optimising (getting the most out of) a website to be ranked by search engines. The most popular search engines on the internet are Google, Yahoo, Bing and Microsoft.
When a website is designed and developed, it should represent more than just a portfolio of your products and services. After all, what’s the point of having a website that looks awesome, but goes unseen by the people that would like to buy your wares? SEO is the technical part of marketing online as it helps your website get promoted to the correct location – right in front of buying customers. There are various techniques used to get more traffic to your website from search engines, which can be broken down into two categories. Off-page SEO, is the work undertaken externally to a website and on-page SEO are the changes made on the actual website.  If you read our last blog, you would know that it covered some important reasons for being on social media. Whilst it can be a great way to get more traffic to your website, it can also be an overwhelming element of digital marketing to understand and implement.
If you're unsure about how to get to grips with social media, not sure about what you're doing, or simply feel confused about which platform is right for your business - then keep reading. This weeks blog outlines some of the pros and cons of the most popular social media platforms around.  There are several ways that a company can use SEO to improve the rankings of a website. One way that this can be done is through the use of social media. You may think that when you post your comments or blogs that only a few people see what you’ve written. However, it’s the sharing element of your creations that creates the magic - it increases visibility, improves traffic, and generate backlinks. Let’s take a deeper look at how social media can help improve your online visibility…
 If you are struggling with your online presence and aren’t quite sure about how to improve things, one positive action you can take is undertaking a review of your Google My Business (GMB) profile. But what’s a GMB, I hear you ask?
They are the short lists that pop up when you search for something generic like “cafes near me” or when you enter a specific business name, the GMB listing can appear. Businesses registered with a GMB can also appear on google maps. This platform can improve your online presence because it allows your business to be seen by the right people searching for you and could ultimately lead to you getting more leads. Setting up an account is easy. Google will send you a postcard with a verification code which helps them confirm you are located where you claim to be at and not across the sea. Once you have been verified, you can go about optimising your profile. Has Covid-19 allowed you to pivot your business in a direction that you never thought possible? Or are you yearning for inspiration to give your business a much-needed boost? Whatever your situation, we wish all businesses our best as each day brings forth uncertainty for so many. October is Black History month, providing us with a great opportunity to recognise positive actions taken within Black communities. It’s a pleasure to undertake an interview with this month’s guests, new authors, Telena Longmore and Chanel Kennedy. Their children’s book, ‘Ava’s Magical Hair Adventure’ positively tackles an issue that many girls, teenagers and women of African and Caribbean descent will be able to relate to. Keep reading to find out how this one-of-a-kind book hit the shelves recently…
 Have you considered starting a blog for your business but you’re not quite sure if it would be of benefit? You're aware that creating a regular blog will take up your precious time and you aren't sure if it is worth the effort? Well today, we’re hoping to dispel your worries and explain to you how a regular blog can help your business in a number of positive ways.
 As the internet continues to accelerate into an ever-growing marketplace, it means that your competitor's websites are becoming as frequent as stars in the night sky. They sell the same goods or services as your company does online and the question is, what will set your company apart?
With increased competition, your website must impress customers when they visit. An impressive site can help your brand to stand out from your competition and great web design will seize and keep a customer's attention. So, what are the elements that make a good website? Here are four areas that we recommend you consider. If you have a business based in the Brentwood area, get in touch so that we discuss the requirements for your new website. We offer affordable websites that will improve your online presence and have customers knocking on your door. So don't delay in finding out how we can help your Brentwood business target the right people - call 01708 578 015 now.
 Over the years, email marketing has become an art form. There are so many variables that it is almost impossible to scientifically pinpoint what works or does not work. This blog discusses 5 major areas of concern one must be aware of and offers 5 tips on how you can negotiate around them.
 If you are considering a pay per click campaign to drive traffic to your site, PPC is a viable method that can be used for this purpose. But like with many ways of doings things, it does have its drawbacks. This weeks blog discusses some of the pros and cons of a using PPC before you embark on launching a campaign. What is PPC? PPC has been present in our lives for some time now, even if it’s something that you may not have noticed before. on search engines at the top and bottom of pages. On search engines, such as Google or Bing results page (SERP), the search results for the item searched will be displayed, but at the very top of the page on Google and the top and bottom of Bing, PPC adverts appear. Say you search for "summer sandals" you will probably see ads for shops that sells summer sandals. Those ads were placed in those positions where you would see them through a bidding process. The entire concept is an auction system; the highest bidder wins. With that fact plainly in view, let's take a look at the pros and cons of PPC. The Pros of PPC It gives swift results If your inbound marketing needs a quick lift; using PPC ads are the fastest way to achieve your goal. SEO often takes months to yield any results. By contrast, PPC starts working as soon as the ad is posted. It informs you of what works and what does not The analytics you receive with your PPC ads let you gauge your strategy and make adjustments as needed. It allows you to make adjustments to improve your next campaign. It also tells you who your core customers are so that you can re-target them in future ads. It reaches your customers specifically Clearly, when a person enters a goods or service your company offers, they are a potential customer. Just by virtue of searching for what your business does the user is in your target demographic. It brings customers who are ready to make a purchase It only makes sense that a customer who has clicked on a PPC ad has a greater interest in a product than those brought randomly through an organic search. You control the budget PPC lets you set the price per click on your ad and set a total daily cost you don't want to exceed. In this way, it gives you significantly more control than SEO or other marketing sources. You only have to pay for the customer's your reach, which is enough of a benefit in itself. Cons of PPC You can drain your budget in an instant One of the true dangers of using PPC is that you can set a bid price that is too high. If you own a high street shop, you may believe you have to spend £20 a click to compete with a massive company such as Tesco, but you will quickly run out of money if that is your strategy. Many a company has fallen into financial trouble because of overbidding; it remains the chief pitfall of using PPC. A click may not mean a conversion Another obvious issue with PPC is that when a user clicks on your ad, they don't always convert to a paying customer. Some may be curious about your product and then decide they don't need it. Some may click on your ad accidentally. Some may even click on your ad with malicious intent such as a competitor hoping to run up your costs. Be aware that every click does not equate with a sale. If you would like help improving your inbound traffic, contact us today! This week we are delighted to have a guest post written by the Secretary of Kubatana, an association working towards Charity status. Read on to find out more about their plans to provide primary health care services to communities of Zimbabwe and beyond...
Perfect Layout, are committed to share the experiences of businesses across the country. Are you currently thinking about starting a business? Ready to get your idea up and running or are you at the point where you would like to expand your offerings to other areas? Whatever your stage of entrepreneurship, this regular blog feature will give you something to think about. We wholeheartedly advocate promoting businesses, to help raise awareness about them and share their highs and lows so that you – our readers - can feel enriched, empowered and encouraged to do better. This month’s interview is with Natalia Nicholson, multi-preneur, founder and trainer of Straight Talk to Success.
 You don’t have to be a website designer or developer to know that when lots of people visit your website, that’s a good thing. It means that you are offering potential customers services and/or products that they want to buy or hire.
But (yes, there’s always a but…) getting people to your site and opening doors for them to peruse is not an easy objective to attain. The online market is saturated with services like yours and finding unique ways to stand out gets increasingly difficult, year on year.  Website maintenance is every bit as essential for your business development as other policy revisions. These days, far more business flows in through the internet, hence, making your up-to-date online presence more essential than any other process. Lack of consistent website updates can gradually cause your online presence to fade away.
Website maintenance services include things like: · website changes · content updates · illustration or photo modifications · exchanging outdated images · email maintenance · PDF file development and a lot more  Watch our short video to find out more Let the team at Perfect Layout help you register the name of your business. Don't keep banging your head against a brick wall - we're here to help! Consult with us to mull over ideas, brainstorm and decide on what names best suit your business ideas. We look forward to working with you! It’s a new decade and the team at Perfect Layout, are committed more than ever to share the experiences of businesses across the country. Are you currently thinking about starting a business? Ready to get your idea up and running or are you at the point where you would like to expand your offerings to other areas? Whatever your stage of entrepreneurship, this regular blog feature will give you something to think about. We wholeheartedly advocate promoting businesses, to help raise awareness about them and share their highs and lows so that you – our readers - can feel enriched, empowered and encouraged to do better. This month’s interview is with Andy Smith, author and proprietor of Sober in Seven.
 Nowadays, it is very common for people looking to purchase a service or product to find out more about it by using the internet and Googling it. Anyone who wants to grow their brand, no matter how small their business is, needs a website.
Having a website for your small business is not just about selling your products or services online. Creating an optimised website provides value to customers and is a form of free advertising. Still need convincing? Then keep reading these 7 reasons of why a website would work wonders for your business…  During this period of lockdown, it’s important to keep busy and let your customers know that you are still open for business. Whilst how you are delivering your services and products may have changed, what should remain intact is your hope for the future and keeping your customers informed about your service/s.
One way of doing this is by writing a blog. We come across many businesses that have started doing this, but that have somehow not kept up with creatively writing about what they do. This comes as no surprise as regular thought is required, along with commitment of time and some level of planning.  Back in 2017, we wrote a blog that outlined actions that would result in your website bringing in more business. Three years on and those principles remain the same…
To ensure that your website delivers more business to you, here are 10 effective steps that you can take. 1 - Mobile Friendly Design In April 2015, Google announced that it would favour websites that are “mobile-friendly”. Companies that are not investing in new websites, could see a decline in their business leads as their websites fall down the rankings. A responsive web design ensures that no matter what device someone uses (i.e. tablet, laptop, mobile phone) your website is displayed on the screen in the most effective way. No longer should mobile phone visitors see a website that is used for standard desktops, like a laptop, which can make viewing content, navigating menus and clicking on links difficult and awkward to use.  The UK is in lockdown and has officially been so since the evening of 23 March 2020. What have you been doing this past week? Have you been spending the time reflecting on your present and future situation? With much of the world working from home, it's important that you maintain as much 'normality' as possible and continue to schedule tasks while committing to your daily schedule. Some of the greatest businesses in the world, were borne out of the most difficult times in history by people who believed in themselves and were committed to their own success. It's time to get resourceful! You might want to take this opportunity to maintain your efforts and stay engaged with your plans, so that you can look towards a better future. Remember:
This isn't time to spend your days sleeping in and binge-watching TV, or scrolling up and down your social media accounts. It's the time to seek out new opportunities. Here are some suggestions that you might like to think about:
 Please know that the Perfect Layout team are here to support your business and offer any assistance you might need for your website and digital marketing.
We encourage everyone to remain calm and look past the current situation, knowing that we will recover and that prosperity is on the other side. Stay safe, stay inside, and enjoy this time of reflection that has never before been possible. Take care.  There is a lot of information going out to businesses and employees at the moment about financial support. The information isn't static and is evolving daily. Many businesses will be frustrated and concerned. One of our clients, RBSS Consulting is available to help you find the best way to keep your business afloat during these challenging times. At the time of writing this, 23 March 2020, the operational mechanisms for delivery and implementation are still being worked on. Here is what we know so far: Money will not come directly from Government to businesses. It's a wholesale process and it's the Government British Business Bank that will be liaising with selected banks. It is expected that by Tuesday 24 March, it will be clearer on how to get money out to businesses suffering now. Key highlights however are: 1. The CBILS is being disbursed through the banks and even this is evolving with time 2. The schemes are taking time to set up and they think it will start to become available from Tuesday the 24th March 3. Some of the information is still changing rapidly 4. No matter how big or small you are, the government is saying that schemes will become available ranging from Universal Credit for Self Employed to Grants and Loans for SME's 5. Look at your insurance policy under the business interruption section to ensure that this is not covered as the Government will not double fund 6. Government will pay up to 80% of salaries of staff who are kept (where it can be proved that these staff are about to be let go due to the crisis) covering wages of up to £2,500 a month. Does that mean the employer still has to pay the balance? Probably, yes 7. Please note that GRANTS only relate to business rates and you will be contacted directly by the local authority and not vice versa if you are entitled to this 8. Relief for Statutory Sick Pay available 9. Mortgage Holidays even for Buy-to-Let properties 10. IR35 tax reforms postponed for a year  Are you facing Cash Flow problems right now? If yes, then patience and forbearance is what is requested, local authority, trade bodies, banks and brokers are all getting operational mechanisms in place. The key thing to note is Grants are all rate related and Loans will be through banks most likely through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) More detailed information is available from the Government website. Here are the participating banks and partners.  TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR SUPPORT VIA CBILS, THE SMALL BUSINESS MUST:
To apply for an CBILS-backed facility, businesses may wish to consider approaching one or more participating lenders to discuss their borrowing needs. There is a lot that is changing and information becoming obsolete in a matter of days. So please keep listening and reading, or contact RBSS Consulting directly on 0333 355 1696.  There’s no getting away from the fact that the latest leader of news, Covid-19, is having a massive impact worldwide. The World Health Organisation has declared the Coronavirus, a global pandemic. There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19 and existing prevention measures of the infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus. Easier said than done for so many businesses where contact with people is part of the service they provide. Yesterday, I was in London and a taxi driver told me that he was going to have to talk to his Financial Advisor soon as he couldn’t afford to make the repayments on his cab. He said that business had reduced by 80%. Many businesses are changing how they work by making remote working the default for employees. In a short space of time, presenteeism culture that was so highly regarded in many industries, has been replaced by home working, staggered hours and redundancies. The knock-on effect of this has been immense. Airlines have been heavily affected as domestic and international flights have been grounded. Recently, the chairman of Virgin Group was said to be in the process of urging the government to provide up to £7.5bn of emergency state support to rescue the UK aviation industry. The economy is coming to a standstill. So what can businesses do to adjust their strategy? Communicate to customers in a clear, concise and accurate way current positions, on what changes have been made and how. This can be done via a website, advertising or marketing campaign. Advice from gov.uk is to: 1 cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze 2 put used tissues in the bin straight away 3 wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available. 4 try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell 5 clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces 6 do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean At Perfect Layout Digital Marketing, we are lucky enough to be able to work remotely on all our client’s projects. Whilst we love meeting up face-to-face to get to know more about the work that our client would like us to do, we have always offered (and continue to do so) the option of communicating via Skype, Zoom or regular phone calls. Email discussions are also part of our normal working pattern. Don’t let the Coronavirus stop your online business from moving forward. We can help you! |
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