Latest Digital Marketing Trends Dominating Coming Year

Digital marketing has undergone a substantial transformation over the last few years – not that anyone expected it would be any different! Here are some of the latest online marketing trends you will see in 2016;

• The continued growth of Content Marketing

With the growing awareness of the need for professional content marketing, companies are paying more attention to the quality of their website content. Websites with blogs are predicted to generate 67% more leads as compared to companies that don’t. The key to successful online marketing will be relevant and high-quality content written by professional copywriters. Web copy that has been poorly written through bad grammar and syntax, whether via a novice writer or someone with English as a second language, will only turn customers away. It creates distrust and exhibits a lack of attention to detail.

• Stop depending on Google

That is by no means to say don’t optimize for Google – you definitely should! Marketers spend considerable time looking to Google to promote their products and services to achieve effective Search Engine Optimization; but for truly effective marketing, learn some techniques to optimize for Bing and Yahoo also. Any relevant web traffic you receive via these channels will improve your relevancy and rank in Google’s eyes anyway, so indirectly, by optimizing for other search engines, you will simultaneously be doing the same for Google.

• Adwords / Pay Per Click will become more expensive

The cost of advertising through Google or Bing PPC will only accelerate with increased competition. The way to keep this down is either by gaining a full understanding of how you can reduce spend by improving the quality of your landing pages, or hire a digital marketing company who has Adwords Certification.

• Information Hierarchy

When you land on a page, there is only a certain amount of information you will be able to see, based on the size of your viewing window and font. Here, you need as much of your important content as possible, before a user has to scroll. This is called placing information “within the fold”. Anything that is “below the fold” may not always be seen, depending on whether the user is engaged from what they have seen so far.

Looking to gain further brand awareness? At Five Rivers, we adopt the latest online marketing trends, to help take your business to the next level by considering your main business objectives, and translating that to a web page that engages your web traffic. Contact us today - http://www.fiverivers.net/contact-us.aspx and see how we can help.

What to Consider when Choosing a Web Development Company?

Choosing the right web development company can be time consuming. How do you know which is the right fit for your business, who has the most experience, or who keeps up with the latest in website technology? A good website can either make or break a business, so it is crucial to choose one that can help define and deliver your business goals. Before you settle on a website development company, it is important to understand how they approach a project, their methodology, and their accreditations.

It’s also important to spend time identifying your real business aims, in order to be able to create a website that reflects your brand’s personality, and your business culture. Here are 3 areas where the choosing the right web designers will allow your website to stand out for all the right reasons;

• Strong Brand Identity

If you want a unique brand identity, think about what logo would best represent your business – such as colour, font, size and image (if applicable). It should also reflect the personality of your business. (Think of brands such as Innocent, Crusha and Pepsi Max).

• Engaging web design

Web design is the first thing that grabs the user’s attention. The website will be representing the professionalism of your business, and will be acting as your senior salesperson, based on the fact it is created to engender trust, be informative, and encourage customer growth and retention.

• Enhance Search Engine Visibility

Any website should have the basics of search engine optimisation (SEO) actioned. For example, Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools should be set up, and some keyword research should have been conducted to help identify the most searched words for that product or service. Two sitemaps – both html and xml – should have been created, in order to be read by search engine spiders. This ensures that it boosts traffic to the website from the outset.

If you are seeking to increase your customer base and enhance your online presence, Five Rivers can help. We’re an IT Consultancy that offers a range of services including software development, website design and development, digital marketing and IT Support services - without burning a hole in your pocket, nor compromising on quality standards. Contact us today for a free consultation to see how we can benefit you. Dial 0203 397 7545.

How to Make an Effective Blog Post

Trying to write an effective blog post? Blogging is one of the best networking tools in order to improve online visibility. It's simple, free, informal and it contain relevant and helpful information, so it's pretty fun! You can write on different topics and publish on your own official or personal blog. There are several blog sites such as Blogger, Wordpress, Tumbler which are free and easy to use. By following a few simple guidelines, you can keep readers' attention and ensure repeat visits to your blog.

• Write your post with a purpose. Writing that is informative, interesting and has a motive beyond getting the rank.
• Before you make to post, understand your target audience. What do they want to know about? What are the latest trends?
• Before you even write anything, pick a topic and title for your blog post. Choose your post title carefully, because a title can make or break your post.
• Include primary keywords in your post that will help readers find your content easily when they make query in search engines.
• You might have great information but to make your post most effective you need to present in a way reader can easily grasp and use.
• Try to keep your post short and to the point. Organise your content in different forms such as sections, lists, tips, whatever most appropriate.
• A blog can reflect your personality and professionalism, so avoid misspelling, use proper grammar and punctuation.
• Make your content easy to read. Break up your post using paragraphs, subtitles and bullets that are easy to read.
• Add some relevant images to your post to make it more eye-catching. Quality images can enhance your content.
• Hyperlinks your primary keywords to only quality sites. It can provide quality back links and also increase blog traffic, do it carefully.
• Call to actions is a primary key to bring in more conversions. So, write your copy, so write strong, compelling call to action as well.

Are you blogging to build or grow your business online? You need each blog post to pull its weight. Providing relevant and helpful information isn’t enough to get your posts noticed online. To get faster success, make your post easy to read and engage. If your posts aren’t getting the enough traffic you might think you’re not doing it in right way. We can help you. Visit on our website – www.fiverivers.net or give us a call on 0203 397 7545.

Finding Time to Market your Business

Online advertising is a necessary evil for many business owners, many of whom are just too busy looking after their day to day operation. Ordering stock, invoicing, posting products, customer contact, dealing with company finances – just when should you find the time to do your marketing as well? Advertising your business online takes time and consideration, and an effective digital marketing campaign needs you to spend time learning about the many facets that can be applied, and the best ways in which to approach it. Failure to do this means that you could be wasting your time.

It’s no surprise therefore, that many businesses owners turn to professional Marketing companies to do this for them. Typically, the equivalent of an hour a day would propel your business up the search rankings, thereby improving your online profile and increasing your visibility. This in turn, will provide more website traffic and, potentially, more customers.

However – it doesn’t just stop there. Marketing only drives visitors to your website. It is then up to the website to act as your senior salesperson. Take a minute to look at your site and ask yourself –

• Is it user friendly?
• Is your key information easily found?
• Are there links within the written content to other pages of the site?
• Is the website mobile friendly? That is to say, does it resize to fit a smartphone or tablet, and allow for a good mobile user experience?

If the answer to any of these is “No”, then you need to be looking into the possibility of redesigning your whole website. The good news is that most Marketing companies also offer Web Design services.

Five Rivers is currently offering a FREE one hour consultation – whether to discuss digital marketing, website development, or mobile app development.

Dial 0203 397 7545 or visit http://www.fiverivers.net/our-solutions.aspx to find out more.

How to increase traffic to your website or blog using YouTube

If images are meant to speak a 1000 words, then imagine the power of videos. Writing great content about your business will generate good traffic to your website, but combining it with a video marketing strategy will boost your visitor engagement further.

One of the main reasons why YouTube is such a powerful medium, is because over 3 billion people watch videos on YouTube every day. This presents a fantastic opportunity, whereby your message has the potential to reach a significant amount of prospective clients.

How to Promote your Content

• Once your video is uploaded to YouTube, ask a web developer to embed it into your website. This is especially useful if the video is a “How To” guide, as it helps to promote you as an authority figure in your industry.
• Promote your video through all other social networks – give your video the best possible opportunity of being viewed, liked, and shared

Engage with other YouTube users

• Build a following - Liking and subscribing to other YouTube accounts will persuade others to follow your account
• Respond to any comments posted, making sure to answer questions in detail to give the impression that you are approachable – they may be willing to engage further, or even employ your services

With the scope that YouTube provides for businesses, it should really form an integral part of any business’ strategy.

Don’t forget to check Google Analytics to review the traffic obtained from this source – you may find the user behaviour is different to other methods of driving web traffic to your site, and you can then evolve your overall strategy accordingly.

If you’re looking to implement this strategy into your online marketing campaign, contact Five Rivers at http://www.fiverivers.net/. We can also create an animated video which can help to increase engagement further.

To discuss your ideas, dial 0203 397 7545 today to find out how we can drive traffic to your website.

Mobile App Development - Bring the World to Your Fingertips

Are you looking to build your own mobile app at an affordable price? We have a qualified team of software developers who are equipped with the latest technologies, enabling them to provide intuitive software solutions.

If you’re planning to hire a mobile app development company for your project, here are a few key pointers to consider before you make an approach;

• Get a clear idea about your app. Why do you need it? For example, do you want to improve web traffic or do you want to enhance your customer experience.
• One you have decided the relevancy of your idea, prepare a blueprint. Understand the application's navigation, flow and features.
• Keep your app clean and easy, so review your entire plan and remove all unnecessary features. Users want their app to be as easy as possible to understand and use.
• Your app should not be dull or uninspiring. It should be simple but engaging. Make it eye-catching with attractive colours and designs, to match the theme and concept.
• Hire a mobile app development company such as http://www.fiverivers.net
• Once your app has been developed, register a developer account in the respective app stores.
• You can track the quantity of downloads, retention, user behaviour and engagement for your mobile app with an analytic tool.
• Gather feedback from app users, because it will inform you about how well your app is being received, and whether there could be improvements to their experience.

Five Rivers is committed to building innovative, feature-rich applications which can help you become a part of the mobile revolution.

For detailed information about our software solutions, visit – http://www.fiverivers.net/software-development.aspx . Alternatively, you can call us on 0203 397 7545.

SEO in 2015: How to Prepare for Google’s Upcoming "Mobilegeddon" Update

Mobilegeddon — another iteration of Google’s algorithm made to make websites more mobile-friendly — will hit on April 21st 2015. On this day, a Google mobile algorithm update will increase the ranking of sites that are mobile-friendly. All websites which fail to perform well on mobile devices will be more difficult to find on those devices in the search results. However, they have stated that it will take a week to be fully rolled out.

How to Prepare for the Update

To prepare, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check your site’s mobile compatibility. It also provides suggestions on how the site could be further optimised. Google Webmaster Tools also contains a convenient Mobile Usability Report where you get a detailed report of the mobile user experience. If you find any errors or discrepancies in your report, you have roughly two weeks from now to get them fixed.

If your site is already mobile-friendly, you won’t have much to worry about with this upcoming algorithm. However, if you’ve not yet optimised your site, now is the right time to get it done. Some recommended actions to prepare for upcoming algorithm update are;

• Be mobile ready – contact a web developer such as http://www.fiverivers.net to make the site responsive. Also make sure Google’s mobile bots can crawl your website correctly.
• Understand your mobile traffic - use Google Analytics to evaluate mobile traffic volume and quality. It will help to understand the proportion of traffic comes from mobile.
• Review behaviour metrics - analyse how your mobile traffic performs. Understand which pages need improvement using segments in Google Analytics e.g Bounce rate and time spent on the website.

To learn more about how to get your site optimised for upcoming Google's update, read this more in depth report - http://fiveriversdigital.co.uk/2015/04/is-your-website-mobile-ready/ - or contact us at – http://www.fiverivers.net/contact-us