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 Organic SEO or search engine optimisation is one of the most powerful online marketing strategies available to webmasters and bloggers. It takes a combination of high-quality content, social media presence and other factors to climb to the top of the search engine rankings for your specific keyword phrases. Without the right ingredients, your SEO strategy can actually backfire. It all starts with the keyword phrases and the theme of your content. Without unique, high-quality content, you will struggle to find your website or blog listed on Google, Bing, Yahoo or any other search engine. According to Optimonster these are the most important SEO ranking factors:
Below, you will find the top five organic search engine optimisation techniques and a few tips to help you gain a larger web presence. SEO is no longer a world dominated by the website receiving the largest number of backlinks. Good content Content matters and it must be high-quality content. Low-quality, poorly written content doesn't rank very well because it doesn't provide the user with a great experience. The goal of Google and all other search engines is to deliver the best possible search results for their users. High-quality, usable content provides the type of experience internet searcher want. Most searchers seek information, such as a solution to their problem or a how-to type of article about something specific. When your content delivers this type of experience, you gain higher ranking on the search engines because they consider your content to be high in quality. Use videos or images Not all content requires a video or an image, but the use of both or at least one can greatly aid in ranking higher in the search engines. Images provide away to break up your content, give the user something to draw them in and give you the opportunity to increase your on-page SEO. Whenever you provide a relevant image with your written content, you can change the ALT tag and the image title to match your theme. By using your main keyword phrase or a secondary keyword phrase as the ALT tag and title of your image, you score extra SEO points. Images also provide a second benefit. Google and other search engines will list the images in the "image" search category. This means, when somebody is searching for an image and they find yours, it could potentially lead them back to your website. However, if you don't provide an image title or ALT tag, you may not get listed. Videos are another very powerful way to deliver content. Providing a video with your written content gives the visitor a better experience, as long as the video fits with the content. This is a very powerful way to build better organic SEO. In addition, videos tend to gain higher ranking on Google than some written content does. We can constantly find out more concerning techniques for organic search through correct searching. Create a blog Websites without a blog can still rank high on Google, Yahoo and Bing, but they are missing out on one of the most powerful organic search engine optimisation techniques online today. Blogging provides the ability to target a broader subject area and cover very narrow topics within the broader spectrum. Every blog post acts as a small traffic engine and provides the opportunity to gain more traffic from the search engines. Think of blogging this way, when you post high quality content to your blog, it's like deploying an army of individuals with a stack of business cards. Each blog post will go to a different corner of the internet and attract a different type of individual to your website. Not only can the blog posts take over first page ranking on the search engines, but they also help you build a community. If your blog post covers topics somebody is interested in, they will subscribe to your blog. When somebody subscribes to your blog, you gain multiple opportunities to sell your products and services to them.  Use social media Social Media is not going anywhere and it is important to be present on all relevant platforms.Google and other search engines track the networks that your business is connected to. Social signals factor heavily into organic SEO and if you want to rank high for your target keywords, you must use social media and social bookmarking. Sites, such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest many others offer great leverage if a business is looking to increase their organic search engine optimisation. By sharing blog posts across these social media sites, gives you the ability to increase organic search and gain social traffic. Meta tag your website
Your META title, description and tags are really important to your overall SEO. Search engines use the meta data to better understand what your page or post is all about. When a search engine creates your listing, the meta data is used for the title and description showing up for your page or post. With the right title and description, you improve your SEO positioning. Now that you know five of the most important techniques to help you get organic search traffic, it’s time for your to take action. This is not an overnight job, it takes a strategy, a plan and then dedication to keep it up regularly. If running your business is taking up all your time and you need someone else to manage your organic search traffic for you, contact the team at Perfect Layout on 01708 578 015.
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 Have you been organised enough to get your loved one a romantic present this Valentines Day? Bought the chocolates, booked the posh restaurant and have the roses on standby? Or are you sick of giving/receiving the bog standard stuff and would like to receive/give something a little bit more special... Then look no further! Show your other half how much you love them by improving their website. Our packages are affordable and highly competitive and will be sure to bring a smile to the face of the one you love, when you tell them about the benefits it can bring to their business. Let us be your cupid on this Feast of Saint Valentine, by calling us on 01708 578 015.  According to emarketer approximately $11.5 billion was spent on online video advertising in 2018. There is no getting away from the fact that there is now an expectation from consumers to view the products and services of a business in a different format. Those in the know, have incorporated some of their advertising and marketing budget to attract customers by using this method in different ways. The reason for the rise in video advertising becoming more popular is its effectiveness. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth much more. Forrester estimates that one minute of video equates to 1.8 million words of text in the message communicated. That’s an amazing statistic!
Research shows that four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product rather than read about it. Video content already represents 76% of all Internet traffic and projections estimate 80% of all Internet traffic by 2019 will be videos. The same study states that using the word ‘video’ in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19% and clickthrough rates by 65%. Video on a Landing PageWhen a visitor lands on your site, you’ve literally got seconds to impress them and get them engaged with what you have to offer. This is the whole point of a landing page. But these days, people are so used to seeing rich media content on the internet that, quite frankly, text content often doesn’t keep them engaged. Embedding a video on your website will not only increase the length of time that visitors stick around, but also, the number of conversions to paying customers, which, ultimately, is what SEO is all about. Cons of using videos on a landing page 1. A low-quality video or poor video execution could possible cheapen your brand and offering 2. A video can be an overkill or a distraction when it's too long 3. An autoplay video might be annoying for users if the website is visited frequently by your prospects and customers. 4. In some instances, an image (meme, infographic, etc.) can be more interesting than a video, especially if your target demographic is less inclined to pay attention to videos. 5. Producing top-quality marketing videos will require hours of learning a new skill set. There are many different types of video content you can use. To give you a flavour of the different types on offer – here is a short list explaining some of them: Demo VideosDemo videos should teach prospects or customers how to accomplish something with your product. It’s not a 1 hour demo caught on camera, but a quick overview of one or more of your features. Keep your demo videos to the point, walk viewers through one action, and do it succinctly. Brands need to create extraordinary video to earn attention, likes, and shares. The video should reflect the business ideology and style in a short and effective way. Event VideosEvent Videos Most event organisers have recognized how important video content is in making people aware of an event. Event videos communicate impressions of the event and transport emotions. Educational VideosEffective educational videos are driven by emotion and backed by facts. Our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster and the use of sound and visual cues increases enjoyment and retention.Video puts us in the room where it happens, which makes it particularly effective in education as it creates context and puts learners at the centre of the action. Explainer VideosObviously, not every business with a website has a product to sell, as some businesses are service oriented. For these, you can increase conversions with the use of explainer/introductory videos. There are varying styles for these videos, and truthfully, there’s no exact science as to what styles work best. It’s more about producing a video that explains/introduces a client’s business effectively and in an engaging way. Animated VideosAnimated video brings concepts to life that text or live videos can’t. Think about it the world really is your oyster where you can make your characters talk all you want, fly, or travel in time. With the help of animation, you can show how mechanisms and processes work in an interesting way. Case study VideosRather than focusing directly on your product or service itself, a good case study tells the story of your customer from their point of view and how your business helped to solve their problems. All of this builds the credibility of your brand. Social proof is another reason why case studies work so well. It’s a psychological phenomenon that means people are more likely to take certain action if they see others taking that action also. Testimonial VideosIf you’re hosting or participating at an event, that means your customers are likely to be there too. Take advantage of the opportunity and get them on camera to create customer testimonials full of passion for your brand. Attendees can also be interviewed on what they are enjoying and learning to get more people to attend your corporate events in the future. This list is just a snapshot of what can be done to help sell your product or service via video. If you need help with incorporating this marketing idea into your digital strategy – give us a call today on 01708 578 015.  If you're finding it hard to get your business off the ground and would like some help getting noticed online, why not give the digital marketing team at Perfect Layout a call? There are many ways to market your business online and finding the path that's right for your company can be difficult to decipher. We can help, our website designers and digital marketer are waiting to accelerate your business. get noticed for the right reasons by getting in touch today!call us on: 01708 578 015. email us at: hello@perfectlayout.co.uk ...or why not find out more by watching our video that explains our digital marketing services.  Online Marketing is the method to deliver promotional content through the internet to the people’s browser or email. Online Marketing can be done by text ads, image ads, video ads, native content or from Apps like Facebook or Twitter and many more. Online Marketing allows you to reach people you may not reach with offline marketing campaigns. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic using various strategies, techniques and tactics to obtain high ranking in organic [Unpaid] search results. In other words, SEO is a process of making web pages attractive to the search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. SEO can be done by editing on-site and off-site elements of the website to improve the chances of showing up higher in Search Engines Results Page (SERP) for important keywords. According to Hootsuite, Google holds 76% of the total Search Engine market share while 93% of people click on the search results in the first page of Google. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)SEM refers to paid search marketing in the search results. We can define SEM as serving an advertisement to a user using a search engine based in their query. For example, for a user who searches for a query, we can bid on certain keywords which match algorithmically to the user query and serve a text ad to them.  Search engine marketing has grown exponentially over the past decade. Google AdWords is the most popular paid search platform used by search marketers followed by Bing. Social Media Marketing (SMM)Social Media Marketing is a method to increase traffic and promote your content, product or service using social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter or other social media apps. We can term Social Media Marketing as the process of using the potential of social media to leverage the value of your business.  Source: Slideshare Out of 4 billion internet users, 3 billion people use social media. So, the power to networking and publishing through social media is high. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)PPC stands for pay-per-click. It is a model of online marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to 'earn' those visits organically. The advertiser pays publishers every time a visitor clicks their ad, hence the model is known as pay-per-click, as advertisers only pay when the visitor clicks their ad. If a visitor sees an ad but doesn’t click it, the advertiser is made aware of the impression but doesn’t have to pay as no click took place. Content marketingContent Marketing is promoting free or additional value to your targeted audience or users that you already have. Good content either should provide information [that the user is looking for to solve the problem], inspiration [So people can get inspired to buy or use the product service to solve the problem.] or entertaining so that user will stick to the content for better click through rates. Writing a blog, making video contents, creating a podcast can be few examples of Content Marketing. Affiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is monetisation of word-of-mouth marketing. It is a way of getting a commission in exchange for referring a product or service to another customer. Affiliate marketing has evolved over the past decade as the internet has evolved and a number of channels such as social or email etc. Basically, it is influencers that are recommending products and services that are not their own, but people go to them to get the information. Email MarketingEmail marketing is a workhorse of digital marketing as you can deliver a highly personalised experience, multiple times on a scale through email. The main advantage of an email marketing is that you precisely know how many emails have been delivered, opened or clicked upon. Tying up these numbers with revenue metrics, the numbers will have a big meaning to your email marketing campaigns. Example of email marketing can be sending promotional emails, email with offers or discount or thanking customers or users for using the product or can be used to provide inspirations to try your product or services. Some of the popular automated email marketing tools are MailChimp, Constant Contact, drip and convert Kit.  Social media should be part of your digital media strategy, if you want your business to grow this year. As with all aspects of life, you can choose two paths: 1) to wing it and hope that the path that you follow will work out OK. 2) Set yourself goals and have a plan in place ,which enables you to carry out those steps that lead you to your goal. For business marketing, goal setting is a must, and within that social media should be included. Sometimes it can be difficult to define what your objectives should be. To help you out, here are some of the most usual social media goals to think about: Raise brand awarenessDo people know about the products and service that you offer. In order to create authentic brand awareness, avoid a barrage of promotional messages. Instead, focus on meaningful content. What questions do your customers often ask? Provide them with those answers in good quality content. If you are the right fit for them, they will remember you and will potentially use your services. You can build a strong brand personality through your social channels and regular content that explains who you are and what makes you interesting to them. Drive traffic to your websiteWhilst you can build your followers within each platform, you may also have a need to drive traffic to your website for them to find out more information, learn about your services, and drive product sales. Using the right tools, you can measure how much traffic your website is getting from your social media posts.
Build your fan baseThe destination in this social media journey is to have a large and regular following, where your fan base interacts with your page in a natural and engaging way. Spending time and effort to create a positive brand persona on social will get you to this point. Higher quality of salesOn social media, use the hashtags and make sure that you are using specific keywords and phrases. Through structured and thought-through social media targeting, you can reach your core audience much faster. Increase in-person salesDo you have a store/office or other in-person location? These businesses use social media marketing to drive in-store sales. Do you have new products to offer? Consider offering a promotion to those who see your posts and come in-person to see you. This way you can monitor what is working within your marketing efforts. Better pulse on the industryWhat are your competitors doing that seems to be working? What strategies are they using to drive engagement or sales? Having a pulse on the industry could simply help you improve your efforts and take some tips from those doing well. To summarise, you can be as involved in social media as you want it to be. However, if you want to get the most out of your efforts, by wanting people to see your social media posts, you have to produce engaging content and respond to your community. By thinking about what you want, will help you decide how to get there. It’s our first 2019 Interview with… and reading about this foundling business is sure to get your mouth watering! If you’re new to this blog, it’s a regular bi-monthly feature that showcases local businesses in the Essex area. The team at Perfect layout believe that sharing knowledge and experiences is a great way to help other local businesses. By offering insights into how we do things, helps us improve our business acumen, which means that we’ll be able to offer more efficient and relevant services to the local community. Attracting customers to the Essex area is paramount if independent companies are to thrive. So read on to find out more about a mum that found her ability to create gravity cakes whilst making one for her daughters’ birthday and has since turned it into a money-making business…
How long have you been making gravity cakes for? For about 2 years now. What did you do before you started Jakes Sweet Bakes? I was a preschool assistant. Have you had any formal training? No, everything I know is self-taught. YouTube and Google have been my trainer. Where do you come up with your cake ideas? Well my son really started it all off. He had an idea of what he wanted as a cake for his birthday and I went off and made it. For other clients, an idea just comes into my head and I then research the theme online. Which type of cakes do you enjoy making the most? Cupcakes! Because I love making different designs and making different buttercreams.
How do you promote and sell your services and products? On social media. Facebook and Instagram. I also look out for companies like Maltesers and Flake that have promotions. Last year, for example, I shared my cake pictures on Maltesers UK and they donated £5 to Comic Relief and my pictures appeared on their website. On Instagram, because it’s public, my son had a paintball party and I shared a paintball themed cake on this platform. This was then seen and liked by a paintball company that now follow me Instagram. For Father’s Day, I created some cupcakes for a church that wanted to hand them out to all Fathers that didn’t have children or had lost a child. Because this was for a good cause I donated half my proceeds to the church. Do you have a website? No. Have you thought about growing your business through having a website, i.e. having a more comprehensive gallery that would allow people to peruse your work easier? Promoting my work through these social media platforms works well and I’ll continue to do that. I don’t think having a website at this point is necessary yet as I’m not quite ready to grow. What other digital marketing do you do to sell your cakes? Nothing, that’s it. How’s business going since you first started out? It’s steady. For other people out there with creative cooking abilities that remain unseen and unused, what advice would you give to get them to get started? Just try it and give it a go. Everything I’ve done has been self-taught.
What plans do you have for 2019?
I’d like to learn how to work with fondant cakes and tier cakes for weddings, birthdays etc. Where do you see your cake business going in the next five years? I’d like to continue having a steady stream of customers as this is something I do part-time and currently I would like for it to continue like this. So, if you fancy a cake that looks great and fulfils all your chocolate/sweet desires look no further than Jakes Sweet Bakes. Melissa’s creations can be found via her Facebook page. Get in touch if you have a business that you would like to feature in this regular slot. We'd love to hear from you!  This week we are delighted to have a guest post written by Chartered Accountants Clemence Hoar Cummings. Read on to find out why businesses should be thinking about getting rid of their paper accounting systems and putting everything online...  Clemence Hoar Cummings will not accept liability for any actions or failure to act based on the information provided below. We consider that the advice contained below is generic and that there is no substitute for advice tailored to the needs and circumstances of the individuals or organisations to which the Making Tax Digital rules apply. Making Tax Digital – The Essentials
- Includes Companies, LLPs, Partnerships, Sole Traders, Trusts, Non UK businesses who are registered for UK VAT and charities
However, for Trusts, Not for Profit organisations that are not companies, VAT Divisions and Groups, Local Authorities, Traders based overseas, Annual Accounting Scheme users, the proposed start date is 1 October 2019 What is my Taxable Turnover?
Points to Consider on Requirement to Register
What do we need to do to comply?
Exemptions
Administrative Receivership Estate becomes vested in any other person as that person’s trustee under a trust deed Software
Can Spreadsheets be Used?
What is a Digital Link?
What is Functional Compatability?
Can I Adopt early?
- a partnership - part of a VAT group - based overseas - Trust of NfP that is a company - Submit monthly or annual returns - Use flat rate scheme - A new business Digital Record Keeping Requirements
Data to be kept – Supplies Made
Data to be kept – Supplies Received
The VAT Accounts – Outputs
- amount owed on acquisitions from other EU member states - Tax required to pay on behalf of suppliers under reverse charge procedure - tax to be paid following a correction The VAT Accounts – Inputs
Scale charge adjustments, partial exemption calculations, are not included in the list of digital records Reverse Charge transactions need care Schemes
Is that it for MTD?
The principles will be the same – requirement to maintain digital accounting records. Who will that affect?
David Belbin is Managing Director of Clemence Hoar Cummings Chartered Accountants who have been providing accountancy advice and services to organisations and individuals in Havering since 1925. He can be contacted on 01708 333 300 or by email david.belbin@chc.uk.com  In online marketing, the conversion rate is the ratio of total visitors to visitors who perform desired actions. Companies will measure successful conversions based on the nature of their business and their goals. An online publisher might consider submitting a form on a subscription page a successful conversion; whereas an online retailer might measure their conversion rate by number of clicks to the "Add to Cart" button. Higher conversion rates typically translates to a greater return on investment. Internet businesses in every industry will use many methods to improve conversion rates. Some of the strategies are listed below:   Testimonials reduce risk and provide social proof. Having satisfied customers express their positive experience will increase trust in your business. Every claim you make should be supported by evidence. It is thought that using customer testimonials can result in more than 60 per cent increase in revenue per customer. It’s the recommendation that helps encourage people to buy your product or invest in your service. Customer testimonials show that other people have tried it. Use them on homepages, product landing pages as well as on your email opt-in landing page. You can ask for testimonials or spot them on social media and grateful email messages you get. It is appropriate to ask the sender if they wouldn’t mind letting you use some of those words on your website. A call-to-action (CTA) is a button or link that you add to your website in order to guide your visitor and tell them what to do next. In inbound marketing, they usually lead to a landing page where the visitor can fill out a form and become a lead. You want your CTA to grab the attention of your visitors and entice them to click. Show your visitors an offer that is visually appealing and contains persuasive content as well. In order to ensure your calls-to-action generate leads, you also need to remember the buyer’s journey. If the call-to-action you’re adding to your site doesn’t fulfil the need of your visitor, they’re not likely to move forward. Here are some tips to have in mind when creating calls-to-action that will generate leads:
Call to action examples:
 Contact form: The contact form is typically the gateway to allow people to submit their information to a company. This is the gateway for the consumer to initiate a conversion with your company. You need to keep your contact form simple. Keeping it simple will allow for minimal perceived risk to the end user. If it takes a long time to fill out a form it could be a potential risk. Visitors could also be questioning whether they are going to get a phone call or email as well as wondering when they’ll get a response. A good contact form will allow a user to feel that there is no risk in submitting their information. Have only the absolutely needed fields that are required. You can add a few more fields into your contact form to help quality or send certain requests to the correct person. But your contact form should never exceed the length of your browser. In other words, keep it above the fold. Tell people when, how and what to expect once they fill out the contact form. Will they get a call, an email, a package in the mail? That also reduces the risk that a user may feel if they know how they’re going to be contacted and by when. In conclusion, when you pair a simple contact form with a great call to action that is clear and defined, you’re well on your way to a higher converting landing page. Don’t forget to test your call to actions. Since some people react differently to certain phrases, always test to see which one works best for your users. Another approach you can take to increase the conversion rate is to create a sense of urgency. For product-based businesses show how the number of stock items is reducing each time a purchase is made. For service-based businesses include time sensitive offers. This will motivate the visitors to grab the offer before it’s expired. Website design should reflect the vision and purpose of the company. Everything used from colours to layout and images should represent your brand. Keep things simple and aesthetically pleasing. Avoid using complicated navigation menus. Make sure your message is clearly written and has an impact in the first few seconds. If you would like help to make this happen for your business, get in touch with the Perfect Layout team today on 01708 578 015.  Wherever you are in the world and whatever you are doing, have a magical and peaceful Christmas!  This year, has been a great year for showcasing businesses in our local area. Regular readers will know that we are big advocates of networking. We believe in the power of connecting with people and forming relationships in order to build up a directory of local people that we can connect to others. We are also a bit nosey and love finding out about how other people work. Do they have any tips on what could be done better or advice on processes to avoid? It’s these nuggets of information that can help build the success of a business and make those all important profits grow quicker. Below are just a few of the businesses that we’ve interviewed this year: Local artist – Shema Ladva Laser design business – Ashare Designs Local photographer – Cyrus Metha New Home Care company – Radfield Homecare, Havering and Brentwood Weekend baby and toddler group – Baby Bears, Upminster Do you own or work for a new or established business that would like to share their successes and lessons learned? If so, why not get in touch with the team at Perfect Layout on 01708 578 015. We’d love to hear from you!  These are true words stated by successful entrepreneur Dan Lok. Have you started planning for the long term success of your business yet? This may be the last month of the year - but it’s not too late to take action and start laying sound foundations for the stepping stones to your success. Need help with that? Get in touch with the Perfect Layout team on 01708 578 015 today!  Who doesn’t like to receive a Christmas card? Whilst I’ve been noticing more ‘merry text-masses’ being sent as opposed to physical cards, it’s a tradition that I love to indulge in. The first commercial Christmas Card was created in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was responsible for thinking up the idea of sending written season’s greetings in a card and it’s a tradition that continues today and is observed by many across the globe. As a result, Christmas Card Day is celebrated every 9th December in his honour. It’s amazing how simple ideas can flourish into long-lasting traditions. By 1880, Prang and Mayer were producing a massive five million cards a year. The ritual of sending Christmas Cards had become a well-established practice. Whilst nowadays there is a huge range of images to choose from, back then, many cards depicted children or cartoon animals. In 2001, one of the world’s first Christmas cards sold at auction for a whopping £22,250!  So what are you waiting for? Remember to include a personalised greeting in your homemade masterpiece. Whilst many reflect biblical verses and blessings, other popular messages written inside a Christmas Card are, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and Seasons Greetings. No more excuses – do something different this year! Your clients, friends and family will appreciate the effort. Seasons Greetings from the Perfect Layout Basenji - hasn't she grown! Have you got a business idea but unsure about what to call your company? Once you have done that you also need to get all the marketing elements in place, such as a website and social media platforms. We can help you get started. We are great at brainstorming ideas, fantastic at drawing out unique selling points and awesome at getting you to truly believe that your business will bring you success...we're also great at registering domains! If you need help with deciding on the right name for your business, or would like help buying a domain for your company - get in touch today.  This is your official Black Friday reminder! Aim to rise above your competitors by accessing our 20% discount today! Hurry - complete the form on this page now. Offer ends this Sunday! Once we receive your form - we'll get in touch. All work secured in 2018 will have the 20% discount applied. *Excludes hosting charges of £30 per month. The offer includes: - *Website build only? Normal cost £800 reduced to £640 - Website maintenance package for 2019 - normal cost £2,400 reduced to £1,920. - Buy a 10-blog bundle and receive two free bonus blogs. Each 800-word blog is worth £100.  The shopping frenzy that takes place on Black Friday is now a well-established date in the English calendar. Prices are slashed beyond recognition in online and high street shops, making many buyers wait for this time of the year to make their Christmas purchases. It’s a practice that originates from America and takes place the day after Thanksgiving and is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas season. PERFECT LAYOUT - BLACK FRIDAY OFFER So, we’ve joined the millions of businesses across the UK and we are offering a Black Friday deal to all company owners. For a limited period only, there will be 20% off the following services! If you are a business owner looking for new leads and extra revenue, perhaps your digital marketing needs a boost? We offer website design services and digital marketing strategies. In need of a new website? We offer build-only and build and maintain packages. We help businesses with search engine optimisation, lead generation and blog writing. *Website build only? Normal cost £800 reduced to £640. Website maintenance package for 2019? Normal cost £2,400 reduced to £1,920. Thinking about starting a blog page? Or do you need extra content for your flagging blog page? We can help create something special for your audience. Buy a 10-blog bundle and receive two free bonus blogs. Each 800-word blog is worth £100. But hurry, as the 20% code is valid for a limited time only! Sign up now so that you don’t miss out. How to get the 20% discount - Complete the form below - only available until 25 November so fill it in now! - We will follow up with a phone call or email. - All work secured in 2018 will have the 20% discount applied. - *Excludes current hosting charges of £30 per month.  Perfect Layout Digital Marketing visits local businesses regularly to talk about how they established their business and how they are getting on. The aim is to acquire knowledge and insights inspired by these business owners’ personal experiences. Perfect Layout believes that sharing knowledge is a way of helping other business owners develop. We are passionate about promoting the fantastically, creative and varied companies that are all around us in Essex. Read our interview with founder of Baby Bears Upminster – a weekend baby and toddler group. Business name – Baby Bears Upminster Owner – Hayley Worton Location – Upminster, Essex Tell us a bit about you? When I went on maternity leave I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to teaching full time. I had done that for 15 years and felt that it was perhaps time to do something different. I thought about running a sensory group or something along those lines. At the end of the first year after my son was born, all the mummy friends that I had met returned to work. I realised that I didn’t see them anymore. They couldn’t take their children to classes either, as they were working. My son also suddenly stopped seeing his friends. My partner Jon and I had a chat about running a weekend baby and toddler group. We have started by running it once a month, so that it doesn’t eat too much into our own family time. How long have you run Baby Bears? Can you explain what happens during a session? We started it in August 2018. We were very lucky in that many of the items we use in the playgroup were donated from a local school and the community. I have a trailer to take things back and forth. My mum makes the cakes for us and does the refreshments. Each session has different toys for the children to play with, so that there is variety each time they come - we even have puppet shows. At the end of the session we have songs, bubbles, parachute etc and we sing happy birthday to anyone who has a birthday that month. They also get a birthday card too. In the new year we are introducing messy play. We are also aiming to bring in other local businesses to showcase their products and services to the parents attending. Companies that we have invited include: Painted Peppermint, Logan’s Plate, The Little Letter Company. In December, all parents will have the chance to get a free neck and shoulder massage.
Where are your premises? It’s at St Lawrence’s Church Hall in Upminster. There are two halls in the building. We started in the smaller hall but have recently moved to the bigger one. It is more practical for the refreshments as it has its own kitchen, as well as allowing us to hold more families in each session – 25 families vs 15 families. How did you come up with your business name? After my son, it’s his nickname. Did you need any formal training? Not specifically for this role, as I am a qualified EarlyYears Teacher I am transferring my skills from that to the playgroup. A recent Facebook post shows that you are fully booked in November and many of your December places are filling up fast; so business is going well. Do people book in blocks in advance? Yes, they book online, which secures their place. Payment is taken on the day. The price is £4.50, and it includes homemade cakes and refreshments. It’s unusual to have weekend groups. Do you find that both parents attend? Or do you find that it’s a chance for the parent that is working during the week to do some one-to-one, baby bonding? I get a lot of families coming altogether although there are some dads who come on their own with their children. Sometimes grandparents and aunties join in as well. I have had some parents comment that they are surprised when we say that the whole family is welcome as there are some groups that only allow one parent. We welcome everyone and we ensure that dads feel comfortable coming on their own. I have also had a group of NCT parents come together too. It’s lovely so see the word spreading and new people attending. Do you have anything special planned to celebrate the Christmas season? We are having a Christmas Party with Father Christmas and have an elf dropping by. We are finding out how old the children are and what they are in to, so that we can buy an age-related present that the children will enjoy. The play session will be all Christmassy too. “I really loved the session. My husband joined us and he didn't feel out of place as there were lots of other daddies there too. It was nice to play as a family and meet other families too!
Setting up a new business comes with its challenges. What would you do differently if you started over?
Storage has been the biggest issue. It would be nice to have a hall with storage. Unfortunately, the one that we are using now, doesn’t. We had to buy a trailer to take things back and forth. The trailer also needs to be stored. So, if we could do things differently it would be to get the logistics more aligned. I also need to find a way to stop the repeat offenders who book and then don’t show up. I’ve noticed some people who book several slots in advance, but then don’t show up. It’s a shame as it means someone else could have used that space. We are not at the point of taking money in advance, as it’s such a small amount, but if we were bigger, it would be something I would investigate. What are your hopes for the business? Continue to be fully booked for every session. I’d like to secure the bigger hall for all of 2019. I want to arrange more themed sessions. As I have done already, I would like to bring other local businesses into each session to give them some publicity. I want to add an educational slant to my sessions by adding numeracy and literacy activities. I have lots of ideas I just need to get them out of my head and action them. Do you have a marketing strategy? Not a structured and regular one, as such. I post regularly on the Baby Bears’ Facebook page and then I post out to other groups on Facebook. I am listed on Mums Guide to Romford. I also have a poster up in the Soft Play in Harold Hill. The business has grown from friends and word of mouth. A few mums have told me that they found me on Netmums. I know I need to do more, but as we have strong numbers at this point, until we upscale, our marketing efforts are working. Your business is doing well on social media, but have you thought about growing your business with a website? Yes and no. I don’t think I have time to manage a website. Social media is more on the go. I don’t know how that will help me at this stage, with the business only running once per month, but when this grows there may be a need for it then. If you would like to find out more about Baby Bears Upminster go to: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/babybearsupminster You can also book places by visiting: https://bookwhen.com/  The end of another year is almost upon us and as a chapter closes, it’s always a good idea to reflect upon the events of the preceding months. At Perfect Layout we regularly work on the business in this manner. It’s a positive way of learning and growing the business – as well as learning and growing ourselves as successful people and business owners. Once in a while we also think that it’s really important to blow ones’ own trumpet. To boast about the good things that are happening in the business and to give each other a cheesy high five! So, read on to find out about our most recent success stories…  Revamped website for Antino and Associates One of our most recent clients came to us seeking help with his current site. It was old fashioned, clunky and outdated. Whilst the content was good, it was too technical, and it wasn't the right tone for their ideal clients. Based in Chelmsford, this Chartered Surveyor wanted a website that highlighted his skills to do with: party walls, injunctions and being an expert witness. The owner works across the UK and wanted his website to reflect this, whilst giving focus to East London, Norfolk, Cambridge and Essex. We worked with him to achieve a website that was attractive to all. It needed clear navigation, relevant images and monthly blogs. His site went live 30 August and all of the keywords we are monitoring are already ranking well. Happy days…  Make-over for RBSS Consulting This client came to us as a result of a networking event. He felt that our services were just what he needed. He wanted to update his website and to be found by more local businesses. His website already had a good amount of content and used video to help draw in traffic from different avenues. Based in Romford, this Business Consultant, was ready to invest in his business. He requested that we write new content that was keyword rich. Our aim was to maintain the language of his profession as well as describing his services in a way that would appeal to potential clients. We also repurposed the blogs that were on his original site. For a site that was relaunched on 1 October, to date his website is doing remarkably well. All of the keywords and keyword phrases that we are monitoring have appeared on page 1 of Google search. We will continue to apply our digital marketing strategies to ensure that his website remains in those top spots. Another satisfied customer… One year on for Arco  Last month, one of our clients reached their one-year anniversary. Arco, run a central heating and plumbing business in Collier Row and have clients across, Romford, Upminster, Gidea Park, Chelmsford, Shenfield, Billericay, Brentwood, Harold Wood and Dagenham. They came to us wanting their site to be more visible. Their previous website had been built by a big, well known, website provider. The previous website did not rank highly and neither did it generate new business leads. This company is now visible on page one for the following search terms: central heating Romford, central heating Dagenham and central heating Upminster. We are still working with them on implementing some basic digital marketing strategies. But what’s holding them back, I hear you ask? Are there actions that we should have taken but failed to do? No. The truth is, that like many businesses, there has got to be time put aside to work on the business. If not, the results just won’t be as they should be. We are passionate about what we do. We get excited when websites we’ve worked on show up on organic search in the number one spot or within the map pack. Our job is to ensure that this continues to happen and by working alongside our clients (however busy!) we know that this will become a reality. Watch this space… We'd love the opportunity to do SEO for your website, our to discuss how we can bring more leads to your door with no upfront costs to you. Call us on 01708 578 015 today!  Recently, I have been motivated to have a clear out. Now, I’m not just talking about having a clear out of my sock draw. I’m talking about a full on, whole house, clear out of everything! Every room in the house has come under my scrutiny. Every area of storage. Every single pen and pencil are being reviewed for ink levels and colouring quality. If it’s not got a use, it’s being offered to family, friends, the local charity shop or being taken to the tip. It was whilst undertaking this manhunt of rubbish that I came across the above inspirational words that I’ve made into this meme…yes, even the storage on my phone is being reorganised and deleted! Now whilst the Perfect Layout memes are usually insightful words of wisdom created by our team – this one was not. They are words that I’d noted whilst reading. Unfortunately, I was careless and forgot to note the authors name. But when I came across these words they really struck a chord. Number one–the words were super relevant to my current state of spring clean and number two–they were super true! As part of our continued professional development, we are subscribers to Audible by Amazon. We don’t have shares in the company (if only!) but I cannot recommend highly enough having access to this resource. It allows you to listen to the minds of great, businessmen and women that have made their fortunes. Whether or not your entrepreneurial path is the same as theirs, their message of how you can change things within you to become a success is relevant to all. From the 26 books that I listened to last year (impressive right 😉!), there were many over-lapping messages that came from the authors. One of these nuggets was about not letting non-essential thoughts get in the way of you becoming a master of your destiny. That by writing a list of all the niggles in your life and resolving each one, it would free up valuable head space to concentrate on what mattered.  My ever increasing tip of rubbish Now whilst I believed in this principle, I never got around to fully doing this as life got in the way. That is until recently. I can now write about this belief and say that it works. I have been amazed at how the deep cleansing process of my home has also given me a much needed mental cleanse. I can actually feel and see a space in my head which was formally occupied by my mad mutterings of how much the garage made me sick. I could never find anything in there! But now, I feel the transformation is happening. I just wished I’d acted sooner! Is it time for change in your business? Have you sat around thinking about what to do but are unsure about which path to take or too fearful about taking the plunge? We can help lighten your burden by offering a listening ear and giving practical advice. Don’t leave it like I did. Act now and set your business transformation in motion today!  This evening, thousands of people across the UK will come out of their homes, go out into the dark and stand in the cold night to watch a fire burn. It’s a tradition that has been observed for hundreds of years following the failed attempt by a group of young men in 1605 to blow up Parliament and King James I. Guy Fawkes is the man that was captured and who jumped to his death to avoid being hung drawn and quartered. Today his name and memory lives on as he sits on top of bonfires across the country, in the form of a stuffed doll. All rather twisted and macabre, but a night out that appeals to the young and old. Add to the night some fireworks, glow sticks, fast food and drinks and it’s a night where profits can be made. Is your business following the family traditions that has been passed down for generations? Or are you offering services and products in a way that is safe, earning you some money, but not the wealth you expected when you started on this journey? Whilst some things are best left well alone, it’s still important to regularly give your business the once over to make sure that it’s working to its maximum capacity. Times change, people evolve and for the clever few that are able to predict the next big thing – big money is waiting for them. Who would have thought that Bonfire Night, for example, would turn into an extravaganza that appealed to schools, sports clubs and parks as a way of making money? They open up their doors and charge an entrance fee, charge local businesses for a pitch and after their costs – make a profit! If you would a fresh pair of eyes to review your online business, get in touch. We are not just good a creating effective websites, we are also excellent at offering ideas on: - how your business could work better - how your business is working amongst your competitors and - how you could expand your offerings to a wider market So, don’t be like these forgotten companies that were slow to respond to change. Aim to be a business with an evolving brand that has real connections and understanding of what their customers want and how. Blackberry - remember this phone provider? This business thought they would stay at the top without having to think about their future customers and competitors, like Apple and Google. Blockbuster – this shop hired out videos and games to an audience that didn't have much choice at the time. The CEO, however, couldn't see how good he had it and was blind to the big future of digital. He turned down an offer from Netflix to sell for $50 million. Kodak – everyone knew this high street brand that sold quality camera film rolls and other products in the shops. It was another firm that played it safe and failed to see the opportunities emerging with the digital times. It's not just established businesses that can get it wrong. According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 start-up businesses fail within the first 18 months. Do not be one of them! Perfect Layout presents at Hornchurch Professional & Business Association’s networking event2/11/2018  Regular readers will be aware of us advocating the power of networking. If you want to grow your customer base, build relationships with local businesses in your area and get your name and face recognised - regular networking should be on your list of things to do. As a consequence of presenting at a recent networking event, Perfect Layout Digital Marketing was invited to give the same presentation at another networking group called the Hornchurch Professional & Business Association. It is open to all business and professional people in Hornchurch and surrounding areas and has been in existence for over 70 years. We felt honoured by the invitation and made to feel immediately at home by the Chairman, Robert Copeland, and Secretary, Ian Gorsuch. We sat down for a delicious three course lunch and got to know the members. It was an informal occasion, with conversation that went from business talk to deep discussions about the current performance of West Ham football club. Our presentation followed. We gave the guests four practical exercises to do on their mobile phone. The aim, to reveal whether their website was visible and working to bring in new leads to their business. Here are the four tests. Check to see how visible your company is. In your browser… 1. Type in your business type and location, i.e. plumber Romford. Where is your business listed? If it is not on page one, you have an issue with the content on your site. 2. Type in your exact company name i.e. Perfect Layout Digital Marketing – is there a Google My Business listing for your company. If you haven’t got one, you are missing a digital marketing trick. 3. Looking at the organic results of this page. Is your business listed in external directories? If they are not, we recommend that you invest time in creating them, they are a valuable asset for your online visibility. 4. Does your company have a blog/news section? If you don’t, you are missing out in enriching your site with new, fresh and relevant content for your audience. These blogs are additional ways of reaching customers via your website. There was mixed feedback following each of these exercises. Participants were: - surprised to see how invisible their company was when searched for locally - happy to view their google my business profile - in the dark about their business being listed on local directories - accepting that they were not posting regular content to their customers If you have just done the same test and found that your business is missing out on some or all of these points, get in touch with the Perfect Layout team today to see how we can help. Interested in joining this informal networking organisation? For £160 per year, you will have the opportunity of mixing with some friendly, local business owners. Membership is for one person, but if you are unable to attend, you are welcome to send someone in your place. In addition to a lavish lunch, once a month, there is the chance to mingle and discuss the outcome of that afternoon’s presentation. For further information contact Ian Gorsuch: IGorsuch@hwca.com  Are you failing to get leads from your website? Does it feel like a ghoul has hijacked business leads? Are you scared about this ever-changing world of digital marketing? Well, Perfect Layout are here to rescue you from your nightmares as we explain how Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) works. If you put in place these strategies, you will see your ranking improve. Are you ready to handle more leads coming to your business? If you’re serious about wanting people to find you through a Google search, Search engine Optimisation (SEO) must be at the top of your priority list. You won’t be able to generate leads for your business if nobody can find you. So, what happens after someone makes a search? Here is the likelihood of someone clicking on a link, depending on their organic positioning. Breakdown of Google Click-Through Rates in by position Position 1 – 20.5% Position 2 – 13.32% Position 3 – 13.14% Position 4 – 8.98% Position 5 – 9.21% Position 6 – 6.73% Position 7 – 7.61% Position 8 – 6.92% Position 9 – 5.52% Position 10 – 7.95%  Be the first to be found in your field That means if you’re not number one on the page, you just missed out on a fifth of potential traffic. Most people won’t even click on the second page of the search results. If you are wondering why other websites are ranking higher than you on Google. It is because they are making a concerted effort to work on their SEO. The good news is that it's never too late to start...you just have some catching up to do. There are techniques and strategies that you can apply to get you going. The following 17 tips will increase your chances of getting ranked higher on Google searches. 1. Optimise your site for mobile devices Long has the tablet and smartphone been around. They have taken over as preferred devices to search on when compared with a laptop. If your website design is not mobile friendly, you are going to be penalised. Why? Because Google recognises whether your site is mobile-friendly and ranks sites accordingly. Your website must be optimised for mobile users. If this means investing in a new web design, it will be money well spent. Ignore this tip at your peril. 2. Make sure your site is readable Is the language that you are using on your site, written with your customer in mind? If you want people to visit your site and spend time there, speak in a way that they will understand. Don’t try to sound too professional. Write your content in clear and simple terms. Use short sentences. If you are not sure if your content is readable, use the Hemmingway App. It highlights where your content isn't working as well as it could be. 3. Format your page When designing your website, take time to think about the layout for each page. Make sure it is neat, logical and uncluttered. Consider things like your font size and typography. Use coloured text, bold font, and italics sparingly. Consider using bullet points and checklists to make it easy to scan through your content. A clean design and format will improve your organic ranking. 4. Encourage people to stay on your site How much time do people spend on your website per visit? If your site has fresh information, it will keep visitors on your page longer and this can be achieved in various ways, as outlined below.  Keep the content on your website fresh 5. Produce high quality content There is no substitute for great content. Quality content created for your audience will increase site traffic. How often do you update your website? To encourage visitors to return you need fresh content. The more traffic to your website the more you will increase its popularity. Your content needs to be high quality, recent, and relevant. 6. Start blogging Blogging is great for your business. It’s an outstanding tool for lead generation and helps you engage with visitors that come to your website. If you can create a group of loyal readers, you can get lots of traffic to your site on a regular basis. Blogs that incorporate good SEO practice, such as links, increased readability, and keywords, all positively impact on your search engine ranking. 7. Use keywords Keywords play a major role in ranking. Brainstorm your sector. How do you think people will find you? 'Plumber in Romford', vs 'Central Heating Company in Romford' or 'Emergency Plumber in Romford'. There are so many ways people may look for your company. Now you need to include these 'keywords' into the content of your site. But do it sparingly. Keyword stuffing is frowned upon by the search engines and you will be penalised. Keywords should fit naturally into sentences: · Include them in your header tags · Include then in image captions · Include the use of long-tail keywords, (three or four words that make phrase) If your keywords match their search, your website will have a greater chance of getting ranked higher. 8. Break up your content with header tags Headings are another way to help improve the user experience. They break up the content and make it easier to read. If your website is big block of text, people are going to click off your website. If you’re not using headers, try and incorporate them within your content now. 9. More than words Your website shouldn’t be only written words. Break up the pages with relevant, high-quality pictures. Consider also adding videos, slideshows, or audio to your site. This improves the user experience, as not everyone enjoys just reading. Also remember what we said about the time people spend on your site. Videos, for example, can extend significantly the amount of time spent on your website. If that happens, it will boost your search ranking. 10. Optimise your images Pictures and other images are not only visually great for your website. But when they are optimized properly they can improve your SEO ranking. Make sure you do the following: Resize your images. Huge images can slow your page loading time, which can hurt your ranking. Use your images to sneak in keywords by naming them accordingly. Add keywords in the title of your image as well as the caption or description. 11. Include internal links Internal links direct visitors to other pages on your website. Not only are you encouraging the reader to find out more about what you do, you are keeping visitors on your site for longer and reducing your bounce rate. 12. Use outbound links When you are writing a blog or have content that researches a topic, link to sites you have used for information or that go into further detail. Connect your facts to the data source with a hyperlink back to them. When you source something, try to ensure that it is the most recent information. 13. Create anchor text properly If you ever type 'Click here for more information'. STOP. Start creating relevant links within the text. 'Click here means nothing to the search engine. “Central Heating Installations” is rich with keywords. It will improve your search engine rankings, as well as the ranking of the page you are linking to. 14. Provide appropriate contact information Have you ever struggled to find the contact information of a business on a website? This should never happen. All your contact information should be easy to find. Make sure you have a footer on every page of your site that includes your Name, Address and Phone number, otherwise known as the NAP. 15. Sharing is caring Every business and website need to be active on social media. Your SEO ranking will improve when people share links to your website on social media. If you encourage social sharing as a regular part of your SEO campaigns, you will see a difference. Include social sharing icons on all your content and share links on your social media pages. 16. Title Metadata Title metadata is the page title displayed at the top of a browser window and as the headline within search engine results. It is the most important metadata on your page. Make sure your site has this section filled in. 17. Description Metadata When you see the results in organic search there will be a title and a description. This description metadata is vital to encouraging visitors to click to your site. Conclusion Search engine optimisation isn’t going away. If anything, it is getting more sophisticated and complex and is an ongoing job that needs focus and attention. This blog contains a long list of actions but don’t be put off! Write these actions on your to-do-list and go through them week, by week. Every improvement you make will stand your website in good stead. Monitor your results monthly. Checking your traffic and search ranking will help validate your SEO strategy. It will also highlight areas on your website that need more attention. Who knows, by working on these elements, you might claim that elusive number one spot! It's all about outsmarting your competition. That’s what we at Perfect Layout Digital Marketing are working on every day with our clients. These are only a few of the many methods for improving your search engine ranking. If you want to learn more, we recommend that you visit: Improve your performance on Google Search or give us a call and speak to our friendly team. Call 01708 578 015.  In short, yes! When it comes to branding and awareness of your company, you should try to be as visually consistent as you can. You want your customers to instantly recognise you. First you must start with your logo and then build out your brand from there. Ensure brand consistency across all your channels Brand consistency refers to your brand identity, brand voice and brand guidelines. Does everything you create follow these guidelines? Doing so is a major step towards letting consumers get to know you as an organisation. When they know you, they will identify with you and your purpose. And when consumers feel like they know you and can trust you, they will be more likely to buy from you. They will also be more likely to recommend you to their peers.
The content on your website, social media channels, newsletters and any offline marketing should all have the same 'feel'. Making connections between the content you own is a great way to maximise your presence. This way you can ensure you get the largest number of eyes on your products and services. When it comes to your website you should ensure that it is consistent with all your other marketing. You should also be mindful of how user-friendly your site is. Can customers navigate around your website easily? Structure: how well structured is the content on your website? You need to aim for a minimum number of navigation layers. Customers want as few clicks as possible to get to what they want. The website section division must be clear, logical and predictable. Minimalism: efficient web page navigation is always simple and user-friendly. Add only those elements to your menu design that are essential for the effective communication. The key to success is a menu bar consisting of a minimal number of sections that goes to what they need. Design: when selecting a design focus on readability, integrity, and harmony. Too many icons, buttons and shortcuts will put visitors off your site. The simpler the web navigation, the likelier customers will stay on your website. Remember that: navigation can affect traffic and how high you’ll rank and how much traffic you’ll get from search. Navigation affects conversions: how easy the site is to use effects what percentage of visitors convert into leads and customers.  Social media icons Social Media Integration Do you want to grow your market and reach a broader audience? Then the key is to integrate your business into social media. Social media channels and your website should work together to promote your online brand. Opening accounts in these platforms is completely free. They are a very good tool to increase your popularity and online presence. Add links to your social channels from your website to increase the chance that search engine users will find your website. Being active on social media channels can help build (or retain) a solid audience. Post regularly and keep your audience updated on your products and services as well as what's new on the market. Unless you are able to do it yourself, marketing requires a lot of time, effort and money. But when it is done correctly and consistently across the various channels, it can be extremely powerful and rewarding. Getting your brand, marketing strategy, website and social media platforms to where you want them to be, takes time and a lot of effort. If you are a small company, it might be worth considering hiring external professionals to help you. If you want to know more about this important topic read our blog How important is branding for my company? You might also like: 50 meticulous style guides every startup should see before launching by Canva. |
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