I have lost count of the amount of posts I have come across hooking me in with an incredible title promising an increase in traffic and leads, but with little to none visible proof available. I feel that transparency is incredibly important when your are trying to back up your theory, especially when using a title such as ‘ How To Double Your Traffic’! Because of this, I have included our data taken from our google analytics over the last 6 months since we started our business blog back in the beginning of May 2016.
Might I just add that this was all done without any paid traffic or google adds!
A more in-depth look…..
We also managed to DOUBLE our targeted London Audience!
AND our UK traffic;
When it came to increasing our social media presence, we saw a 3,000% PLUS increase!
As for organic traffic, once again a fantastic result;
But HOW did we manage such an extraordinary increase in traffic?
This is how we achieved it;
Created a business blog
Posted valuable content 3 times a week
Created highly shareable Infographics
Created ‘How To’ content rather than trying to cold sell
Joined relevant Facebook business groups and Google Plus groups to share our content
Tweeted 3 x a day
Our leads have been steadily increasing thanks to these marketing procedures and we are currently more than doubling them on a monthly basis (although some info we will keep to ourselves when it comes to our clients!)
Do you want to know more? How to create a business blog? How to double your Pinterest following? What about the 5 biggest content marketing mistakes?
Everything we have learnt to create such incredible results can be found in our popular small business blog!
Designated PA is an award-winning virtual assistant company based in Mayfair London – Please visit their website for all your startup and small business needs!
3 Critical Signs Your Startup Is Going Under
by Sian Day
Despite the rather dismal figure that 90% of startups fail, this doesn’t prevent over 100 million businesses from launching each year.
I have hands on experience working for a startup, who recently let multiple staff members go and used the term ‘restructuring’. Whereas deep within the team, we could see issues arising at least a year before the cut backs.
So what makes a successful small business? Look to the entrepreneur.
A successful entrepreneur has the ability to realise when it’s time to walk away from a business. They will not pour more money, hours and resources into it, rather learn from their mistakes and rise again with a different venture.
So what are the 3 most important signs your startup is going under?
1. LOW SALES – The most obvious signs would be low sales. We’re not talking about a quiet quarter through the summer holidays here (which can be expected ) but rather an all round annual slump. Without sales, it will become impossible to invest in future ideas and more importantly, to pay your employees.
To try to rectify it, it’s vital you research the issue as soon as possible. Do not underestimate the knowledge of your own customer service team. I don’t think I have EVER worked with an employee that was transparent enough to walk over to the customer services team and simply ask, what do you think? What are the customers saying? when we have signs of a drop in figures. In general, a company will hide this uncertainty from their employees thus to avoid any discomfort and try to continue along seamlessly….. while the sales continue to drop. ASK your staff!
NO ONE TALKS ABOUT YOU – If no one is mentioning you on social media, then it simply goes to show you are not interacting with a huge amount of customer potential.
We can only avoid social media for so long before we realise it’s an integral part of our business. Facebook alone can provide small businesses with up to 50% of it’s customers when used correctly, so it would be foolish to underestimate the dramatic benefits a digital marketer can bring to your business. Designated PA brought in digital marketing support 6 months ago and now we have more than doubled our UK target audience.
YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT UNIQUE – Every business will have their competitors, but when it comes to releasing a product that has already been in the market for over 10 years, with recognised global brands, then it’s a completely different ball game.
Hopefully you would have conducted market research before launching to see if this is an already saturated market. If not, try to jot down all the things that make your business unique. This could even be something as simple as we are a green company as we use recycled produce. Use this as your marketing strength.
How To Start a Successful Business Blog
by Sian Day
There are multiple benefits of starting a blog for your business. According to Hubspot, 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers. Need I say more?
Whether it be to increase your traffic, improve your SEO, engage with customers, market your product or to tell your brands story, here are a few basics of blog writing that will get you up and running.
Blogging Basics
- Decide the topic of your blog. For example, there are literally hundreds of blogs on Paris alone. So how do you stand out? Find a niche. I found a blog on Paris for seniors. This targets a specific customer base, rather than competing against similar blogs. New York? Once again, sensory overload, hundreds of Big Apple blogs, but wait, I can see only ONE for ‘the best coffee in New York blog’. Get the idea?
- Use Plug Ins – On WordPress for example, there are hundreds of great plug ins whether it be to improve your SEO, to add Paypal buttons or how about some social media share buttons on each post? Would you like to know the top 10 most popular plug ins for WordPress?
- Craft Incredible Headlines Here’s a few examples from my favourite viral blogger Jon morrow. It has been proven that educational posts with a small splash of sales are the best for acquiring new customers. Here’s another tip, 70% of posts on Facebook are either positive or negative. Either way, they inspire EMOTION, and emotion influences us to buy. Here’s a few examples – ‘ How to’, ‘5 Things To Remember’, ‘The Ultimate Guide To’, ‘5 Tips For Improving’, ‘Danger! The Reason You Do NOT Want ‘
- Write Useful, Original Content You obviously felt there was a need in the market for your service or product. So what sets you apart from the rest? Why should they use you? How can your product BENEFIT their lives? Engage with your customers through your social media channels. What are their concerns? What is the most commonly asked question? ANSWER it!
- Use Incredible Visuals Humans are 65% visual. This is one of the reasons why Pinterest has been such a massive hit. Pinterest uses stunning visuals to draw the reader in to click on the image. the image in turn takes the potential consumer through to website where they can view the post or item. The reading part. To create your visuals with text, try using the free graphic design website Canva.
Don’t have the time to post at least 2-3 highly engaging content pieces a week? Would you like us to create relevant brand content and post it to your social media channels?
Then get in touch with our social media experts and hire a Virtual Assistant for a few hours a week today!