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Coronavirus (Covid-19) Update

An update in view of the unfolding and fluid situation with regards to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) from all the team at Archer Window Cleaning. 

In common with other companies at this time, we are closely monitoring events around the world and particularly here in the UK.

We are following advice being issued by the UK Government and World Heath Organisation regarding safe working and social distancing.

Our overriding priority at this time is, of course, the health and wellbeing of everyone within our business as well as that of our customers.

We are working with the plans we had put in place, to ensure uninterrupted service and we are trying to help as many of our customers as we can at this difficult time.

As you might expect, this has meant we are busier than normal so we would appreciate if you could bear with us as we try to help as many of you as possible.

We are keeping our business open, and as long as Government restrictions allow, we will continue to support you as best we can.

If you would like to speak to one of our team, please feel free to call or email as usual.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/blog/customer-photos-making-an-appearance-in-google-shopping/

Customer Photos Making An Appearance in Google Shopping

Sometimes when you’re browsing for a product online, you look at the image and go through a series of questions in your head. How big is it? What is the quality like? Does it really look like that?

You’ve probably seen the stories before of people buying a beautiful china tea set online, only for it to arrive miniature size because it was meant for a doll’s house. As customers, we put so much faith in the images that we see online, expecting everything we purchase to be true to the image the retailer has provided.

However, Google has recently revealed they will be rolling out a new feature that will allow customer photos to be displayed in shopping ads. Let’s face it, taking Amazon as an example, you’ll read the reviews for a product but ultimately if a reviewer has left an image to reinforce their review, you’re more likely to trust their opinion.

This will work in the review section, similar to Amazon. Once a customer has left a review for a product, they will have the opportunity to upload a photo of the product. But the question is, will this work for increasing sales in Google shopping?

The retailer will have the choice to display the customer photos, which may encourage more sales due to their realistic nature. As customers, we trust other customers and their experiences with the product. Because they are deemed as unbiased, having customer photos displayed in shopping ads instead of a promotional photo could be very influential to a potential buyer.

However, in order for retailers to be able to display these customer photos, they must work with one of a select number of third-party review platforms. Some of the platforms that are currently participating in this include; Yotpo, PowerReviews and Influenster.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/the-importance-of-internal-link-building-in-seo/

The importance of internal link building in SEO

If you already understand SEO, then you’ll understand the importance of content and link building for increasing the visibility of a website in the search results. However, often when link building is discussed, it is the process of acquiring links from high-quality websites that gives your website more authority.

The process of link building can be time-consuming and lengthy, however, it is very rewarding in SEO as it signals to Google that your website is a quality resource for users. Therefore, when it comes to marketing strategies, you’ll often find that good quality content and link building are key components to improving your SEO.

So how can internal link building help?

Internal link building can be often neglected in SEO strategies in favour of securing links from other websites, however, internal linking is still very important.

Internal linking on your website involves connecting pieces of content throughout your website to form an overall structure. This structure then signals to Google your most important pages that are worthy of linking to. As a result, you can build links to your most important pages with valuable content, which will improve your SEO.

Unlike external link building, with the right anchor text, you can better navigate both search crawlers and users around the website and won’t be penalised for over-optimization.

To get a better understanding of your current internal linking profile, Search Console can provide you with an overview of your top internally linked pages and allow you to identify areas of improvement.

Once you have improved your link building both internally and externally, you are likely to see improvements in your overall SEO strategy and give your website more credibility and authority.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/how-beneficial-is-added-text-on-e-commerce-websites/

How beneficial is added text on e-commerce websites?

When it comes to SEO, the importance of good quality content has been stressed countless times. Good quality content helps to bring more users to your site and increases your visibility in SERPs.

So why would you not implement a good content strategy as part of your overall digital marketing strategy?

If you have an e-commerce website, it is most likely that your main goal is to sell a product or service. However, whilst content may bring attention to what you are selling, it can also potentially deter sales when not used effectively.

To understand how beneficial added text is to your e-commerce website, it is first important to identify the purpose and user intent of those who land on the page. For example, if the purpose of your page is masked with unnecessary content, then it can prevent users from actioning their original objective.

However, if you are providing information that is beneficial to the user and supports their intent, then additional content can help push sales and conversions.

If you are unsure about the level of content to add to your e-commerce site, there are alternative methods of adding content without bombarding the user such as internal linking, which gives the user the option of reading additional content if it supports their user journey.

As long as the call to action isn’t lost on the page you are trying to convert users with and the content is informative and relevant, then you are in a good position for conversions.

In summary, to understand just how beneficial added text would be on your e-commerce website, it is important you first understand the user’s intent. Once you understand this, you will be able to tailor your content to be informative and beneficial to the user, to aid them on their consumer journey. As a result, this will enhance the user journey and increase your chances of conversion.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/google-launches-shopping-ads-on-google-images/

Google launches Pinterest inspired shopping ads on Google Images

Last week, Google announced they were introducing a new feature to Google Images that will present advertisers with more opportunities to engage with users.

The new feature allows advertisers to use sponsored images, that the user will be able to interact with, to receive details of the buyable products within the image.

If you’re familiar with Pinterest, you’ll be aware they rolled out the same concept three years ago and have achieved great success with their product identification shopping tags.

The new feature has stemmed from a rise in visual search with 62% of Millennials favouring visual search over all other new technology. This can also be seen by the success of shopping tags on Instagram, which is very popular in combination with their Instagram stories.

So what does this new feature mean for users?

The user experience is greatly improved by this new feature, by presenting them with items ready to buy based upon their initial image search.

Many users admit to looking for inspiration for their purchases through Google Images and therefore by having the shopping feed present, this can aid their user journey allowing them to reach their desired purchase faster.

Also by combining Google Images with sponsored posts, there is a less intrusive nature about the advertisements as the user has the option to interact with the images for further details.

And how does this impact advertisers?

Through highlighted shopping feeds present on Google Images, image queries can now allow advertisers to promote their products and be able to capture the consumer’s attention at the early stages of their purchase journey.

The shoppable ads on Google Images also create more opportunities for businesses to achieve conversions and engage with the consumer, other than through Google Shopping, Google Ads and their website.

Once the new feature has been implemented for a while, we should be able to assess how beneficial the new feature is to both users and advertisers.

However, following the success of similar concepts on Pinterest and Instagram, it is anticipated that the new feature will be popular on Google too.

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New Post has been published on Aqueous SEO | Professional UK SEO

New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/how-do-you-find-the-right-keywords-to-target/

How do you find the right keywords to target?

If you want to understand what people are searching for and how this relates to your business, you need to understand keywords. Keywords are words and phrases that describe the topics you write about whilst also identifying what people are searching for.

It’s incredibly important to undertake keyword research to be able to bridge the gap between your content and your audience. And we all know just how important a good content strategy is to SEO, so if you’re looking at updating your keywords, you want to make sure you’re targeting the right terms.

The old SEO technique of keyword stuffing is a thing of the past, and now more often penalised than rewarded. So where do we begin?

The first step to targeting the right keywords for your website is to brainstorm the kind of information your user needs. If you are a business owner, you will already have a great understanding of the niche information your consumers will be searching for and therefore have a foundation to begin upon.

Following this, Google Analytics and Search Console are your friends. Through the acquisition section, you can find search queries that will help you refine your keyword list.

A great strategy to refine the perfect keyword list to target is to monitor your user activity. For example, see what hashtags your users are using when they’re sharing on social media or particular topics that frequently arise in your blog comments. By forming a keyword list based on user activity, you are sure to capture relevant and important terms that will bring in traffic to your website.

Now you’ve got a keyword list, you need to understand the competition you have. You want to put effort and time into writing content about the keywords you know you will be able to compete in the rankings for.

Just because users are using a particular search term, doesn’t mean you’ll always rank for it. So to ensure you target the right keywords after forming your list, you should keep up to date with your keyword research every so often to keep up with the changing market.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/how-important-are-featured-snippets-in-seo/

How important are Featured Snippets in SEO?

Even if you know nothing about SEO, it’s highly likely you’ll have come across featured snippets before whilst searching on Google. Featured snippets are excerpts from websites selected by Google that best answer a search query. For example, as seen by the screenshot below, I entered a simple search query asking “can I travel to space?”

    Firstly, you’ll see the featured snippet presented from iexplore which answers my question right away without having to enter any website.

In fact, these results are often referred to as organic zero as they feature after the paid ads at the top of the SERPs results. This was introduced by Google in 2014 in an effort to provide useful information to answer search queries much quicker.

Featured snippets are pretty good if you have a good content strategy to target consumer queries related to your business. However, they also prevent some users visiting a website altogether once their query is resolved.

Following this featured snippet, you can also see a “people also ask” box which provides other queries users have searched for that is related to my initial question. Now in terms of SEO, you may have optimised your website to detail everything about travelling to space. But will it show above or be included in the featured snippets?

The better content strategy you have, the more likely Google will select information from your website to present to the user in position zero. In fact, the majority of featured snippets retrieve their content from one of the top 10 positions in SERPs.

So is it worth targeting featured snippets? If you want to feature above the organic results then yes it is definitely worth optimising your content to be selected for a featured snippet. However, if you provide the user with all the information they need in the snippet, they may be unlikely to seek out more information on your website.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/5-seo-predictions-we-expect-to-see-in-2019/

5 SEO predictions we expect to see in 2019

At Aqueous Digital, search never sleeps, and neither does Google.  Google is consistently reviewing its methods of ranking and how users employ SEO techniques. The result is to provide the best user experience by ensuring the correct information is displayed when searches are made.

2018 saw multiple algorithm changes that impacted SEO such as:

Brackets Core Update: Focused heavily on content quality. Which we discussed in our previous post titled why good quality content is important for SEO.

Mobile First Index: Suggested Google is migrating sites gradually to mobile first indexing.

Mobile Speed Update: Mobile speed became a ranking factor for mobile results.

Chrome Security Warnings: Chrome marks all non-HTTPS sites as not secure.

Medic update: Saw an impact on the ranking factors of health websites in particular.

These 5 updates from Google were very influential to ranking factors and SERPs in 2018 and therefore we are anticipating the next major changes for SEO in 2019.

Here’s our top 5 SEO changes we anticipate to see in 2019.

Optimising content for voice search will become necessary as its popularity grows.

User experience will become a stronger ranking factor.

With mobile first indexing and mobile speed considered an important ranking factor for Google in 2018, we expect to see mobile optimisation as a priority for all websites in 2019.

Featured snippets will become more significant for answering search queries, therefore it may be much more difficult to compete in the rankings.

Search intent could impact the SERP’s ranking meaning keywords are not enough to be shown in search and helpful information in content will be much more impactful.

These are only our predictions for 2019, but of course there are many other changes to SEO we could expect to see – or be surprised by in 2019!

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/why-good-quality-content-is-important-for-seo/

Why good quality content is important for SEO

Firstly, happy new year!

After returning back to business now the festive fun is over, many organisations will be assessing their current strategies and what they can improve to make more of an impact in the new year. One important strategy that has known to be effective for enhancing your SEO is high-quality content. Therefore, we have assembled the reasons why good quality content is important for SEO and why you should implement a good content stratgey.

What is good quality content?

If you have your own business, whether that be small or large, you want to attract the largest audience possible and have people engaged with your site. One of the key ways of attracting an audience is through good quality content on your website.

Good quality content is defined by Google as useful and informative information that is credible, engaging and original. Good quality content has consistent instances of keywords related to your business and provides value to your audience.

Google SERPS

Having good quality content on your website is an important ranking factor for Google. The topics of your content are crucial and it’s important you spend time getting them right as the more content you publish on a certain topic, the higher the content topic will rank in Google SERPs.

You want your content topics to be reflective of what your business offers and as a result improve your chances of conversion. This is very important if you’re in a competitive market and need to be higher up in SERPs to attract business.

If ranking higher in the Google SERPs is not a good enough reason to implement good quality content on your website, then improving the user experience should be.

Consumer Engagement

Every day, users make countless searches trying to find the information they require before purchasing products or services. If you have good quality content on your website, that can be used as a resource for customers to turn to for their queries, you have already captured their attention.

It’s relatively straightforward, provide your customers with good information and receive many site visitors in return! So if you’ve not adopted a good content marketing into your business strategy, it is definitely worth investing in to improve your SEO.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/can-social-media-marketing-hurt-your-website/

Can social media marketing hurt your website?

According to the 2018 Global Digital Report, more than 3 billion people around the world now use social media, which is a 13% increase year-on-year. The popularity of social media has expanded beyond personal use, with businesses using the platforms as a cost-effective solution to their advertising requirements.

There are a lot of articles which detail why you should implement social media marketing as part of your overall strategy for your business. However, there are also negative implications to utilising social media for your website which you should be wary of.

Social media channels are very effective for presenting a consistent brand image to the consumer, but when your channels differ to your website this can be damaging to your website performance.

For example, if consumers are engaged with your social media content and look to your website for more information, the inconsistency in the brand image could navigate users away from your site, increasing the bounce rate. Therefore, if your business information isn’t presented on a single webpage, you are losing out on potential customers.

Furthermore, having social media channels for your business is a great foundation for creating backlinks to your website. The more backlinks your website has, the more important and popular Google believes it to be.

As a result, backlinks are very influential in improving your Google ranking and search visibility. However, if the backlinks you are creating on social media are deemed as low-quality by Google, this will negatively impact the performance of your website in the search rankings. You can find an article we have discussed previously on how important backlinks are here.

Additionally, how you use social media for your business is a decisive factor on whether it will help or hinder your website. A major benefit of social media is how it can be used to handle customer service enquiries regarding your business.

However, delivering poor customer service on social media platforms can have a very negative impact on the customer journey. For many consumers, social media is one of the first places they visit when checking out a business. Therefore, if you deliver poor customer service on your social media platforms, this could deter potential customers away from your business and away from looking for more information on your website.

Therefore, if you are implementing social media marketing as part of your overall marketing strategy, you must understand how to effectively use social media to prevent it from damaging your business.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/will-we-need-websites-by-2030/

Will we need websites by 2030?

The first website launched way back in August 1991 and since then, websites have been a huge contribution to conversions for businesses. But with consistent advancements in how we use the internet, will we really need websites by 2030?

Take social media for example, many platforms allow you to create pages for your business to inform and connect with your target audience. You can even list the products and services you provide with the added benefit of engagement with your customers.

Many small businesses even use social media platforms to conduct their business, taking orders and payments without the need for a website.

Now, with more and more users engaging with social media through mobile devices, it is likely that users will be browsing through an app created for the social platform. Therefore, if social media continues to grow, it could be possible that customers turn to social business profiles through apps instead of websites in the future.

It is also anticipated that in the future, people will be exposed to more Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices such as Amazon’s Alexa. Customers can order items through Amazon, book taxi rides, compare prices and so much more all through voice-control. As AI improves in the future, this could reduce the need for websites as customers will be able to gain all the required information through an AI device and voice-control.

However, on the occasions that you do need to do a Google search, it may not be a website you need that offers the product/service/advice you require. Some services are now be provided through Google without having to access a website. For example, if you are booking flights, Google will detail entries from different airlines and their prices with options to book without accessing their website. Should this continue for other services in the future, this could make websites redundant.

It is therefore apparent that as technology is advancing, this could have an impact on how users use the internet in the future, which may result in a lesser need for websites by 2030.

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New Post has been published on https://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/4-tips-for-using-the-new-google-ads-ppc-dashboard/

4 Tips for Using the New Google Ads PPC Dashboard

In July 2018, Google began updating the PPC dashboard on Google AdWords whilst transitioning to new Google Ads format. The overarching view was that the core functionality was not changing and instead the transition was more of a rebranding.

Google’s approach behind renaming AdWords was sparked by encouraging businesses to exceed words and seek out new opportunities to reach business targets. Previously we discussed Google testing a new subtler AdWords format, but in this instance, Google Ads goes beyond a new format and includes new features to give greater ad insights.

To make the most out of the new features Google Ads has to offer, we have compiled 4 tips for using the new PPC dashboard:

1. The Dimensions feature previously seen in Google AdWords is now presented as Predefined Reports in Google Ads, offering the same amount of information as before. However, a new aspect of the feature allows you to view information graphically, so if you’re looking at analysing trends and gathering insights, this process is now much easier.

2. Smart Ads has become the new default experience on Google Ads. If you are a small business owner, you will greatly benefit from implementing Smart Ads which generates a plan for you to attain your business goals after you have selected the targets you aim to achieve.

3. The Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool allows you to resolve issues that lead to your ads not showing. Previously, this was more complex as advertisers had to navigate through many sections of their account to resolve the issue. Now, you can save time with the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool which details why your ad isn’t showing, allowing you to take immediate action. Additionally, the tool allows you to enter a search term to see which ads are appearing for your keyword without impacting your ad metrics like it would through searching on Google.

4. “New vs. Returning” segmentation is a very useful tool that is now available for advertisers to understand how many visits come from new or returning customers. This insight is very useful for remarketing, allowing you to tailor your messages to your customers. By implementing this segmentation, you can also focus your budget on new or returning customers to achieve a particular business goal.

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New Post has been published on http://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/google-is-attacking-link-building-again-and-pbns-are-in-the-firing-line/

Google is attacking Link Building again and PBN's are in the firing line

It’s been a while.

The last Google Penguin update was officially in October 2016 and since Google folded the Penguin updates into their main algorithm in 2017 we’ve heard virtually nothing about it. Google’s view is very much that this is now ‘business as usual’ and we shouldn’t make a fuss about it.

Wrong.

The problem is that Google still uses links to rank a website. Almost every study you read says the same thing, that links are the number one ranking factor. Here are just two examples from Moz and Search Engine Land.

So, whichever way you look at it, to have a successful website you really do need some links.

But we’ve been saying for quite some time that the issue with link building is that Google is playing ‘whack a mole’. No sooner do they clamp down on link networks something else takes their place. In this case, once the easy link networks were closed down it became content creation and distribution on PBN’s.

PBN’s, or Private Blog Networks, became a quick and easy route to link building and in theory, it wasn’t black hat, only grey hat at best. All you had to do was find a website which was broadly in your niche and ‘reach out’ to see if they would let you place a piece of content on there with a backlink back to your website. The problem was that a lot of these seemingly independent websites were nothing of the sort.

If you want to know why PBN’s are a problem, just read some of the articles written about them.

We’ve consistently told our customers not to use PBN’s because, in our opinion, Google would sooner or later start to clamp down on them.

Why? Because Google is clear about what you should do if you want to gain links. And PBN’s are not it.

Today, if you follow the links from Google Search Console you will find they have some lovely clear advice for Webmasters which looks like this;

We were particularly impressed with 3b, which mirrors one of our own rules “One page, one keyword or topic” but other than that the focus should be point 3a. Google says;

Get noticed by other sites: Have your site mentioned in appropriate places online. See if you can get mentioned on your local news sites or in any other appropriate resources.

This is crucial. It doesn’t say build links it says “have your site mentioned in the appropriate places online” and then encourages you to get mentioned on your local news site.

Of course, this misses the fact that since Google penalised most of the news sites in the UK for the Interflora debacle back in 2013 by reducing their Page Rank (this was important at the time!) then getting a link from a local paper is nigh on impossible.

But maybe that’s the point. Maybe the links are now irrelevant?

We all know that Google now uses Rank Brain on a large part of the algorithm, so what if it’s finally got the measure of co-citation and co-occurrence to the point that it can establish the relevance of a website just by being mentioned ‘on page’ on an authoritative third party website?

If so, then link building as we know it is dead.

And all those who have invested in PBN’s will find that they have waster their money as Authority becomes the biggest ranking signal of them all.

So, although the recent Google updates don’t mention links or PBN’s, from the evidence we’ve seen we are convinced that these are now under attack.

If you want to pursue a true ‘white hat’ policy with your SEO then talk to us.  We’ve been here over seven years now, which should tell you a thing or two about the sustainability of our strategies.

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New Post has been published on http://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/a-simple-guide-to-the-google-mobile-index/

A simple guide to the Google Mobile Index

In 2016 Google implemented its mobile first index, a development that strived to make the web more mobile friendly and keep up to date with online user behavioural trends. This release has been a worry to many business owners who often struggle to understand the importance of SEO on their existing desktop sites.

To help you better understand how this will affect your website and if there are any changes you need to keep you up to date we have compiled a list of FAQ’s.

What is mobile indexing?

Mobile indexing is where the mobile version of your website is used by Google in their index to help determine where it ranks.

This does not mean that it only indexes your mobile site as not everyone has a mobile optimised site. In this instance the desktop site will be included in the index but because it is likely to be a lot less mobile friendly it may negatively impact your ranking. Websites that are more mobile friendly will rank a lot higher and resultantly traffic could be boosted on the desktop site.

What is changing?

Statistically speaking, people are increasingly using their mobile devices to search online and as such Google wants to use its index and search results to reflect these mobile searchers. This means that Google is now using the mobile versions of websites instead of the desktop version as their main search engine index.

What happens if I don’t have a mobile site?

You don’t need to worry just yet if you don’t have a mobile site as Google will continue using your desktop site in their indexing system.

If, however you do have an existing mobile site that is not fully optimised and is simply a version of your desktop site, you may notice that you aren’t ranking as well as mobile friendly sites.

If you choose to leave it without adequate optimisation you may start to notice that your overall ranking for your desktop site and mobile site is decreased as the index will see you site as having a poor user experience.

What do I need to do?

This update isn’t as drastic as you think so there is no need to start panicking.

If your mobile and desktop site are virtually identical you may not have to make any changes, provided you are content where you are currently ranking.

If, however you do have a separate mobile site you will need to consider analysing several areas to ensure you rank competitively. You will need to ensure that your content on your mobile version is relevant and high value – the same as it would be on your desktop site.

Making sure that all your data is consistent on your desktop and mobile sites is vital whether it be titles, descriptions etc. This will also include your social metadata such as your tags, social media data should be the same on both sites.

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New Post has been published on http://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/do-you-know-how-your-kids-use-social-media/

Do you know how your kids use social media?

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to write a piece about how kids use social media as it’s very much in the news at the moment. Barely a day goes by without some headline berating Facebook, Twitter or another online platform for not doing enough to protect kids.

The following, therefore, was written for us to meet that brief. The twist, however, is that it was written by a 12 year old. Quite literally, a first-hand account.

Any spelling and grammar mistakes, by the way, are entirely ours; his grasp of the English language is far better than ours by a long way!

Do you know how your kids use social media?

Parents often misconceive their child’s actions on social media.

General media tends to sensationalise any transgressions by young children on social media, because it creates a good headline or a catchy word-play that will get them tons of hits. This creates the perception that abusing social media is the norm. Essentially, we are judging the actions of the majority by the behaviour of the few.

Millennials are getting a bad rap.

So, what do your kids really do on social media?

Despite what you may have read, they’re not spending all day looking at inappropriate material and sending strange messages to their friends. They are most likely using social media to connect, to gain popularity or to gain more followers.

You see, social media has, over the years, transformed into a popularity competition for the newest generation. Now, children as young as five or six have their parents allowing them to have phones and use social media. The problem with this is that whenever they get a message, or a call, or a new follower, a chemical called dopamine releases and it is highly addictive.

This doesn’t just affect children though – it affects everyone. If you engage with your phone it releases this chemical. And this is the same chemical found in smoking, drinking and gambling.

Here are some of the apps that your children are probably using.

Instagram

Photo and video app to share media. Kids use it to usually see what their friends are doing, or what’s popular.

Snapchat

Another photo and video app, but the photos and videos disappear after a while. Kids use it to communicate.

Facebook

Most kids don’t use Facebook, but some do. They’d probably spend less time on it.

Tumblr

Social Networking app. More commonly found within teen’s phones. Most use it for fandoms, and common interests that they share with others.

WhatsApp

A messaging app, used to send pictures and emojis without costing money, like on Messenger.

Pinterest

‘Discover possibilities.’ Pinterest is a designer/lifestyle app.

Twitter

Social media service. Used to express opinions. Kids can send messages and images.

YouTube

Used to stream videos, can contain inappropriate content. YouTube has restrictions though, so Parental Controls are easy to enable, although you mainly won’t need them.

Whatever your fears are about social media and the way your children are using it, it’s probably not as bad as you think. Always remember that children know wrong from right, and they are sensible in their actions.

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New Post has been published on http://www.aqueous-seo.co.uk/instagram-for-business-why-it-should-be-part-of-your-social-strategy/

Instagram for Business: Why It Should be Part of your Social Strategy

Instagram’s visual nature and huge base of highly engaged users makes it the social media platform that your business won’t want to miss out on.

Facebook-owned, photo-sharing app Instagram is the third most popular social media platform after Facebook and YouTube.  According to Social Media Today, Instagram has over 600 million monthly active users and over 400 million daily active users.  With these figures in mind, you would be foolish not to exploit the platform for all it’s worth to reach new customers and market your brand to the world.

In this blog, we’ll discover what Instagram is, why you should be getting excited about it and how to get started with using it for business.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a social network mobile phone app that allows users to edit and share photos and videos.  Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 for $1bn.

In the early days, Instagram simply allowed users to put filters over their photos before sharing them with followers on their feed.  Now the app offers a whole host of features including Instagram ‘stories’ which allows users to share photos and videos with their following without posting them to their feed (a feature similar to Snapchat) and live video streaming.

Businesses can also take advantage of Instagram’s paid advertising services.

Why should your business be excited about Instagram?

It’s free

Signing up for a business account with Instagram is completely free and with its 400 million daily active users spending on average 25 minutes a day browsing Instagram, there is huge potential to reach new customers with your marketing.

Visual content gets a better response than text

It’s scientifically proven that visual content evokes a better response from humans than text content, giving Instagram an edge over other social networking platforms.  Not only do we process visuals quicker, but we’re more likely to remember them too.

Higher engagement with brands than other social networking platforms

Because of its visual nature, if you get creative with your posts you’re likely to get a much better response on Instagram than on other social networking platforms.

In fact, according to this Infographic by Social Media Today, engagement rates with brands on Instagram are 10 times higher than on Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest and 84 times higher than Twitter!

Less crowded

Despite the standout figures above, there are still less marketers using Instagram than Facebook so the platform is not yet overcrowded and brands are more likely to reach their followers with their posts on Instagram than they are on Facebook. Now is a great time to start taking advantage of Instagram before everyone else twigs on too!

Highly targeted ads

If you’d like to reach more users with highly targeted sponsored posts you can use Instagram’s paid ad service which offers the same extensive targeting options as Facebook ads.

Improve your performance over time using analytics

Instagram’s business accounts allow you to view analytics and insights into the performance of your posts to help you to work out what your followers like and what they don’t, so that you can learn how to get more back from your activity.

How can my business use it?

When using Instagram for business, don’t forget the reason people love the platform.  Users are there not only to share moments from their lives, but also to be inspired by other people and brand’s feeds and lifestyles.  Don’t post for the sake of posting, quality imagery is better than quantity on Instagram.

To get started with Instagram for business you will need to already have a Facebook business page to login via as the two are connected.

Here are a few hint, tips and ideas on how to use Instagram for business:

Turn customers into ambassadors by encouraging them to share photos that include your products with a unique hashtag

Show the human side of your business using behind the scenes and employee posts

Take the time to professionally shoot attractive lifestyle photos that include your products and/or service to inspire and encourage people to buy into the image

Collaborate with influencers

Use paid promotional posts to target new customers and gain more followers

  Want to find out more about social media for business or need some help getting set up with Instagram? Give us a call on 0800 285 1424 to speak with one of our social media experts.

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The True Value of Investing in a Digital Marketing Company

Getting more clicks through to your website, gaining followers on social media and moving up Google’s ranks are all valuable and measurable digital marketing objectives, but the true value of digital marketing isn’t quite as easy to measure.

Theses are the kinds of goals that businesses come to us seeking help with, and whilst each one is a worthy objective, none of them would offer a return on investment if customers didn’t trust your business.

The true value of investing in a digital marketing company is the trust you gain by building your brand’s digital footprint and reputation online.

Many of our customers want to see data that proves their return on investment each month from the services we offer, and whilst we are able to offer this in the form of reports with data gathered from Google Analytics, Adwords or social analytics, it’s important to remember that much of the value gained from digital marketing is not as easy to measure.

How digital marketing nurtures trust and brand reputation

Whilst click through rates, website traffic and followers are counted and discussed in detail, the arguably more important (but less measurable) matter of trust and brand reputation often goes unmentioned.

So let’s take a look at just a handful of ways that digital marketing efforts garner trust.

Your website

A website that looks the part and performs just as well on mobile and tablet devices as it does on a computer will give customers peace of mind that they are about to purchase from a professional and reputable company.

Your blog

Professionally written company blogs about your business or the industry will not only assure customers of your knowledge and experience, but also offer them extra value for their money.

SEO / Adwords

If your business is up there towards the top of Google’s search results amongst other top dogs then potential customers are more likely to feel assured that you’re an established and popular company.

Social media

Just like your blog, social media is a great way of showing off your business’ knowledge and experience to add value and build trust with potential customers.  Social media is also an excellent platform for showing off your business’ human side, which can really make a brand feel more likeable, transparent and trustworthy to its followers.  Social media platforms like Google My Business and Facebook also allow customers to review your business, by encouraging customers to leave positive feedback can give your brand’s reputation a massive boost online.

Overall online presence

Businesses with a strong online presence across a multitude of different platforms including Google’s web search, social media platforms, Google Maps and other local directories and review websites give the appearance of being larger and more established businesses.  Providing you and your digital marketing efforts cultivate a positive and professional image for your business online then a strong online presence is a huge trust indicator for customers.

  Does your brand’s online presence need a boost? Get in touch with our team on 0800 285 1424 to discuss how our digital marketing services can help your business grow online and gain trust.