There is a myriad of online marketing resources that can help websites in raising their traffic, brand awareness, and conversion rates. One of the best online marketing tactics is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), where the goal is to optimise your website for Search Engines, both on-page and off-page, to boost your organic search results listings. Whilst SEO has proved to be very successful, it takes a reasonable level of knowledge, time, and money to see fruition.

But what if you need to see results as soon as possible? Regardless of whether your website has just been published or you’re a local business that simply can’t rival the marketing budgets of nationwide competitors, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an excellent tool that can assist you by positioning your ads in front of users who are actively looking for your services or products.

In short, PPC is an advertising model used to raise traffic to websites. Website owners develop ad campaigns with specific targeting metrics and essentially pay Search Engines each time their ad is clicked. PPC ads are generally created through Google AdWords or Bing Ads and are positioned on top of SERP listings before any organic results. The benefits that many websites harvest from this sort of advertising is invaluable, so here are the top advantages of PPC advertising for your firm.

Measurable Results

One of the top advantages of PPC advertising is the opportunity to quantify and track your results in real-time. Whether or not you set your daily budget to $5 or $50, there are a selection of high level performance indicators that can be assessed, for example impressions, clicks, cost-per-click, conversions, and ROI to name a few. These metrics allows website owners to immediately determine the overall performance of their campaigns and quickly make tweaks where necessary to maximise performance. Unlike other advertising avenues, PPC gives you the freedom to customise and track metrics in every campaign and monitor success depending on your advertising goals.

Quick Entry

PPC allows any type of company to set up their advertising efforts quickly and conveniently, without presenting too much risk with the capacity to specify a maximum daily budget. Even though SEO is a very powerful strategy, it regularly takes many months to experience results so if you’re a new firm that wants to escalate traffic and brand awareness without delay, PPC is ideal for you. Developing ad campaigns is all done from the PPC platform, allowing websites to cast a wide net to acquire new leads and customers by displaying ads at the top of SERP listings.

Highly Targeted Traffic

PPC advertising enables you to customise your campaigns so they only display to highly targeted customers. Google AdWords allows you to target customers based upon keywords, interests, location, and the times and days you wish to display them, enabling websites to spend their advertising budget only on their niche audience. Websites can then examine the metrics that were used in conversions and strengthen their future campaigns based upon this feedback. Advertisers commonly take a multi-layered approach to begin with and narrow down the specific metrics of a campaign that works best for their particular target audience.

Valuable Data

Being able to export the results of an ad campaign and analyse certain metrics provides websites with valuable data which could be used in other marketing channels. In addition to this, websites can quickly learn about impression, click, and conversion data for every keyword or phrase used in their ad campaigns which drastically assists in their SEO endeavours. PPC also makes it possible for websites to discover data about their competitors by utilising 3rd party tools such as SpyFy and KeywordSpy, allowing them to construct a profile of their competitors and what market share is readily available.

As you can see, PPC is an amazing marketing tool that is suitable for all types of businesses. Not only are advertisers in complete control of their budget, target audience, and ad campaigns, the data acquired from real-time results offers invaluable feedback to bolster future marketing initiatives. The best aspect of PPC advertising is that there is very little risk involved with set daily budgets, so why not give it a go today?

If you require any help in creating your PPC ad campaigns, speak to Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

In today’s hostile environment of online marketing, there’s no doubt that content is king. Content is just about everywhere and people love consuming it! It should come as no surprise that content is at the hub of most marketing methodologies, with about 94% of small companies centralising their efforts on content marketing. Having said that, with so many companies now centralising their marketing initiatives on content, it’s becoming increasingly complex to stand out from the crowd and make your content marketing interesting and powerful.

Have you attempted content marketing only to discover that you’re not getting the desired benefits? Well, you’re most probably one of many businesses that are in the same boat. Don’t give up though, there’s no doubt that content marketing is one of the most useful ways of boosting your customer base. So, here are 4 reasons why your content marketing may not be performing and most importantly, tips on how to fix them!

1. You don’t have a strategy

Like any investment, if you don’t have a strategy and assigned KPIs to measure results, how can you possibly improve? Putting up blogs and sending tweets are terrific, but if you don’t have any plans then you’re merely aiming in the dark. In order to craft stimulating content that visitors will engage with, you must have a clearly-defined strategy that should be aligned with your business objectives.

Regardless if you wish to enhance brand awareness, website traffic, or conversion rates, your strategy should incorporate KPIs alongside short-term and long-term goals. These marketing goals should complement your business goals so you have a clear understanding of your audience, the purpose of your content, and the kind of content that will work best for you.

2. Your content is not unique

With the massive amount of online companies these days, it’s pivotal that your content is distinguishable from others. Too many businesses will craft content without investigating the competition and consequently create content that merely gets lost in the crowd. Your content should be entertaining, enjoyable, and most importantly, deliver value to users by offering solutions to usual pain-points in your niche. In addition to this, different kinds of content suit different communication methods, so take into consideration the best ways you can accomplish this, either through video, infographics, diagrams, or even just thought-provoking or engaging text.

3. You don’t promote your content

Some of the biggest errors that small businesses make with their content marketing is that they don’t actually market it! Even if you’ve constructed the most ground-breaking article the planet has ever witnessed, who will read it if they have no idea it exists? In order to flourish with your content marketing, it’s paramount that you advertise your content through all available means, including:

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google+).

Email newsletters.

Adding internal links to your articles.

Pitching to influencers and bloggers in your sector.

Proposing it as a guest post to bloggers in your market.

Including links to your content when commenting on other blogs and forums.

4. Your content is not search engine friendly.

Content consists of a generous portion of your SEO, so it’s vital that your content is SEO friendly and never use black hat tactics to try to enhance results. Keyword stuffing is a common mistake that companies will make in their content creation, in addition to using the wrong keywords, duplicate content, and not optimising meta tags.

Perform some probing to obtain the most appropriate keywords that your viewers would use to find your content. At the same time, use meta tags to your advantage to draw more viewers to your blog. Search engines always want to deliver the best content to users, so if your content is beneficial then other sites will link to it, increasing the possibility of securing more high-quality, credible links from relevant businesses.

At the end of the day, there might be hundreds of reasons why your content marketing isn’t giving you the intended results, however the aforementioned points should take care of the majority of them. If you’re going to invest in content marketing, you can’t do it half-heartedly. Perform as much research as you can about your viewers, your competitors, and your keywords, and develop intriguing content that your audience will naturally engage with.

If you’re contemplating giving up on content marketing because of poor results, get in contact with Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs who can point you in the right direction. Call 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit our website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

Are you new to social networking sites and want to learn the fundamentals of one of the best platforms on Earth? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Twitter is a social networking service where roughly 330 million users engage with each other through brief messages of up 280 characters. Already there’s close to 6,000 tweets being sent through the net every second, ranging from standard text messages to images, videos, memes, gifs, and so much more. Twitter is one of the most fashionable social networking platforms and is quite different to other social media giants like Facebook and Instagram.

Twitter is a platform where people distribute a medley of information; from jokes, news, politics, or just universal thoughts about odd topics! Rather than having a circle of friends like Facebook, Twitter is based upon followers (not necessarily friends) so not only can you interact with friends, but also your favourite politicians, sport stars, and journalists as well. Anything you submit on Twitter is available publicly for anyone to find, but don’t panic, you can quickly switch your preferences to private if you prefer to.

The initial step in understanding Twitter is to understand the basic terms and slang used. The following lists the most commonplace vernacular:

Tweet – A 280-character message

Retweet (RT) – Sharing a tweet created by another person

Feed – The list of tweets you’ll find on your homepage from members that you follow

Handle – Your username

Mention (@) – A way of mentioning other people in a tweet (e.g. @EAGames). Any person mentioned in a tweet is notified, being an easy way to communicate with other members publicly

Direct Message (DM) – A private message (280 characters) sent to another person. You can either decide to accept DM’s from all users or just members that you follow

Hashtag (#) – A keyword or phrase used to describe a topic or theme in a conversation (e.g. #Vegans). You can find tweets from all users that mention a particular hashtag by clicking on the hashtag itself.

Creating an Account

Creating an account is quick and straightforward, just download the app or head to www.twitter.com and hit the signup tab. The full name you enter will be your display name, but this can be changed as frequently as you desire. Pick a username (or handle) so users can mention you by typing the @ symbol before your username. After you’ve entered your phone number for validation purposes, chosen an avatar, and typed a quick bio about yourself so others can see your passions and interests, you’re good to go!

Joining the Twitterverse

As discussed previously, Twitter isn’t about friending, it’s about following. Not only can you follow your buddies, but also any other identities of which you’re a fan. Once you’ve signed up, Twitter will provide a helpful kind of setup wizard to help you get started, for example suggesting some people that you might want to follow. You can grant Twitter permission to surf your contacts list to look for any of your friends that are already using Twitter. Following friends and other users is incredibly simple, and once you’ve started following certain users, Twitter will continue to offer recommendations for other users to follow based on the sorts of users you’re currently following. All the tweets of your followers will show up in your Feed, so the more you follow, the more Tweets will appear in sequential order in your Feed.

Tweet Something

You can Tweet anything you like, so long as it complies with Twitters rules and guidelines (https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules). This includes mentioning other users (@), promoting a topic or theme (#), or Retweeting other user’s comments (RT). Simply select the ‘Compose New Tweet’ button and you can Tweet text, videos, gifs, photos, images – a complete range of different media that can be uploaded through your device. Bear in mind though, videos can only be up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds long, however photos and images do not count towards your character limit, which is awesome!

Once you’ve gotten the hang of the basics of Twitter, the world is virtually at your fingertips! You can keep up to date with the latest trends, be the first to look at viral posts, and socialise with your friends and favourite personalities in a simple and user-friendly platform.

Once you’ve got started using Twitter, the rest will fall into place easily, so why join the Twitterverse today? If you need any assistance with getting started on Twitter, simply speak to Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

Are you new to social networking sites and want to learn the fundamentals of one of the best platforms on Earth? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Twitter is a social networking service where roughly 330 million users engage with each other through brief messages of up 280 characters. Already there’s close to 6,000 tweets being sent through the net every second, ranging from standard text messages to images, videos, memes, gifs, and so much more. Twitter is one of the most fashionable social networking platforms and is quite different to other social media giants like Facebook and Instagram.

Twitter is a platform where people distribute a medley of information; from jokes, news, politics, or just universal thoughts about odd topics! Rather than having a circle of friends like Facebook, Twitter is based upon followers (not necessarily friends) so not only can you interact with friends, but also your favourite politicians, sport stars, and journalists as well. Anything you submit on Twitter is available publicly for anyone to find, but don’t panic, you can quickly switch your preferences to private if you prefer to.

The initial step in understanding Twitter is to understand the basic terms and slang used. The following lists the most commonplace vernacular:

Tweet – A 280-character message

Retweet (RT) – Sharing a tweet created by another person

Feed – The list of tweets you’ll find on your homepage from members that you follow

Handle – Your username

Mention (@) – A way of mentioning other people in a tweet (e.g. @EAGames). Any person mentioned in a tweet is notified, being an easy way to communicate with other members publicly

Direct Message (DM) – A private message (280 characters) sent to another person. You can either decide to accept DM’s from all users or just members that you follow

Hashtag (#) – A keyword or phrase used to describe a topic or theme in a conversation (e.g. #Vegans). You can find tweets from all users that mention a particular hashtag by clicking on the hashtag itself.

Creating an Account

Creating an account is quick and straightforward, just download the app or head to www.twitter.com and hit the signup tab. The full name you enter will be your display name, but this can be changed as frequently as you desire. Pick a username (or handle) so users can mention you by typing the @ symbol before your username. After you’ve entered your phone number for validation purposes, chosen an avatar, and typed a quick bio about yourself so others can see your passions and interests, you’re good to go!

Joining the Twitterverse

As discussed previously, Twitter isn’t about friending, it’s about following. Not only can you follow your buddies, but also any other identities of which you’re a fan. Once you’ve signed up, Twitter will provide a helpful kind of setup wizard to help you get started, for example suggesting some people that you might want to follow. You can grant Twitter permission to surf your contacts list to look for any of your friends that are already using Twitter. Following friends and other users is incredibly simple, and once you’ve started following certain users, Twitter will continue to offer recommendations for other users to follow based on the sorts of users you’re currently following. All the tweets of your followers will show up in your Feed, so the more you follow, the more Tweets will appear in sequential order in your Feed.

Tweet Something

You can Tweet anything you like, so long as it complies with Twitters rules and guidelines (https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules). This includes mentioning other users (@), promoting a topic or theme (#), or Retweeting other user’s comments (RT). Simply select the ‘Compose New Tweet’ button and you can Tweet text, videos, gifs, photos, images – a complete range of different media that can be uploaded through your device. Bear in mind though, videos can only be up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds long, however photos and images do not count towards your character limit, which is awesome!

Once you’ve gotten the hang of the basics of Twitter, the world is virtually at your fingertips! You can keep up to date with the latest trends, be the first to look at viral posts, and socialise with your friends and favourite personalities in a simple and user-friendly platform.

Once you’ve got started using Twitter, the rest will fall into place easily, so why join the Twitterverse today? If you need any assistance with getting started on Twitter, simply speak to Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

If you’ve just produced your first website and are interested in the ways in which you can enhance your organic search results, then you’re certainly on the road to success. SEO is one of the most effective marketing tools since it allows you to get your message in front of interested consumers that are directly seeking your products or services.

Regrettably, the answer isn’t very straightforward! Google’s search ranking algorithm is essentially its secret to success, so it’s exceptionally elaborate and has more than 200 variables that account for the listings in its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Luckily for you, not all variables are fashioned equally, so you can target the most influential variables that will have the greatest impact on your SERP listings.

It’s important to understand that the weight of each variable is adjusted over time, so Google will place more emphasis on particular variables according to user behaviour and how Google perceives it can maximise the user experience. Having said this, many of the leading organic SEO ranking variables have been in the same position for a number of years now, so understanding these top variables can give you an increased understanding of how you can optimise your organic search results to improve customer engagement, website traffic, and ultimately sales.

1. Content

A great significance is placed on content given that Google wants to rank the most relevant websites at the top of its search results . The latest Hummingbird update helps Google to understand a website’s content structure and how this content adds value to prospective consumers, so forming quality content set in a natural tone will be remunerated with higher rankings. Including articles in your website such as detailed tutorials, guides, and how-to’s is an ideal start. Moreover, the more content you have, the better it will rank in search results. SerpIQ (https://serpiq.com/) has studied the top 10 search results and uncovered that the top positions contain content that is approximately 2,400 words in length.

2. Backlinks

For over a decade now, backlinks have been one of the most significant variables in SERP listings given that the more links there are to your website from reputable sources, the more trusted your website is perceived. The flip side of the coin rings true as well though, so be careful not to generate links on spammy or uncredible websites or your rankings will decline! Matt Cutts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5FDzUh0P4) from Google explains that backlinks will lose value gradually as Google hunts for new ways to appraise websites, but for the time being, link building is still the best indication of relevancy and credibility.

3. Mobile Optimisation

With more users now browsing from mobile devices than desktop computers, there has been a considerable shift towards optimising your website for mobile devices. Google is presently experimenting with mobile-first indexing, which indicates that Google’s index will soon crawl the mobile version of a website as opposed to the desktop version. If your website isn’t presently mobile-friendly, you better get started but be careful not to release it until it’s 100% complete or you may be penalised. Page loading speed is a significant factor for mobile optimisation, so strive to have mobile pages loaded within two seconds to make certain that your website is genuinely ‘mobile-friendly’.

4. Other Technical Variables

There are many other technical factors that will greatly determine your SERP listings, such as security, headings, anchor text, and interstitials. There is a strong correlation between high ranking websites and those that are SSL encrypted (HTTPS), and this is very quick to install if you haven’t already done so. In addition, ensure your landing pages have a H1 or H2 heading in the source code, as this has been found to correspond with higher rankings. Other factors such diverse and organic backlink anchor text and less on-page ads and pop-ups will also boost your organic search results listings.

5. Keeping up to date

Google’s search ranking algorithm is always evolving, meaning that SEO techniques are continuously changing also. Even though there are over 200 variables in Google’s search ranking algorithm, Google has placed great significance in recent times on rich content, quality links, and a smooth mobile experience. Endeavouring to concentrate on all Google’s search ranking variables will prove to be fruitless, but if you concentrate on prioritising the abovementioned variables in your SEO efforts, you will be ahead of the competition.

If you require any guidance in ways to properly execute any of the above SEO methods, don’t hesitate to talk with the digital marketing specialists at Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs by phoning 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit their website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

Online visibility is a critical ingredient to any company’s strategy, however the digital landscape is in a constant state of change so it’s necessary to keep up with these changes to make sure your online presence is optimised. Google releases between 500 and 600 updates yearly, with most of them simply adjusting their secretive search ranking algorithm. With Google being such a dominant force in today’s online world, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become progressively important for businesses to boost their website traffic, customer engagement, and essentially their earnings.

User behaviour is transforming rapidly with new technology, so Google must monitor these changes and improve their search algorithm respectively to ensure the user experience is as smooth as possible. If a website is going to prosper online, they too must remain on top of the changing trends in SEO. As a matter of fact, using old SEO techniques can trigger penalties that lower a website’s search engine results page (SERP) listings, so here we’ll investigate the top SEO trends to bear in mind for your website in 2018.

Voice Search

A lot of users are now wanting to utilise voice searches instead of conventional keyboard searches, so this will organically be a top SEO trend in 2018. Voice searches are faster and more convenient, which is why it isn’t surprising that 1 in 5 online searches arise from voice queries. If the current growth in voice searches continues at the same rate, approximately half of all online searches will be performed via speech by the year 2020!

What this indicates for websites is that they should start incorporating more long-tailed keywords into their SEO strategy, especially those with a natural conversational tone. As an example, if a website has a keyword phrase such as “best Sydney restaurants”, it could also be associated with a phrase such as “Where are the best Sydney restaurants near me?”

Link Building

Link building has always been a treasured tool for SEO, and this will still be a focal component in determining SERP listings in 2018. Generating valuable links to reputable websites is still the most convenient way for Google to identify if a website is trusted, so adding value through quality links that helps you build an authority in your target niche is a terrific strategy.

Despite this, the trend towards link building is now more long-term, so having links from sites specific to your industry and referral traffic will be very worthwhile in the near future.

Mobile Optimisation

Since 2015, online searches through mobile devices has exceeded that from desktop computers, so Google has made it clear that websites that are optimised for mobile devices will be ranked higher in SERP listings.

The reason that mobile optimisation is a top SEO trend for 2018 is because Google has reported that they are experimenting with mobile-first indexing, which clearly illustrates that mobile optimisation will be prioritised in the coming year. If your website hasn’t already been optimised for mobile devices, now is unquestionably the time to start!

Accelerated Mobile Pages

Website loading speeds play a key role in SERP listings, and Google’s search results algorithm will obviously favour those with quicker speeds. In fact, Google has established an open source project that assists websites to load pages faster on mobile devices. The project named ‘Accelerated Mobile Pages’ (AMP) allows individual web pages to load 4 times faster than standard pages, and uses only 10% of the data in doing so!

While AMP is not directly related to SERP listings yet, it will impact other areas closely related to Google’s search results algorithm, including bounce rate and session duration of users. AMP can be simply installed into HTML or JavaScript code, but plugins will be needed for content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress.

How To Work On SEO For Your Website in 2018

Although more traditional SEO techniques like link building will still be productive in 2018, there are other developing trends that Google is targeting in the future which may extensively change the practice of SEO. It’s clear that SEO is already shifting to keep up with changes in user behaviour and to maximise the overall user experience. By understanding the latest SEO trends and employing strategies now, your website will be optimised and ready to acquire targeted consumers from higher SERP listings.

If you have any issues or concerns about how you can optimise your website to adapt to the latest SEO trends, talk with Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs on 1300 595 013, or visit their website for more details: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

The moment has finally come where Twitter users can convey their resentment with the 140 character limit in more detail, since Twitter has officially affirmed that they have inflated the character limit to 280 per Tweet!

The social networking giant, which was launched in 2006, grew aggressively to become one of the most fashionable social media sites globally, however recent drops in growth induced the social media giant to make some modifications. Twitter differentiates itself from other social media networks with its ‘microblogging’ feature, which is greatly dissimilar to equivalent social media platforms like Facebook and Google Plus. Twitter has just over 330 million users that send roughly 6,000 Tweets per second.

Despite the 140 character limit that avidly defined the social networking site, Twitter declared on November 7 that they want every person around the world to ‘easily’ express themselves on Twitter. After conducting a number of tests over the past few months, Twitter decided that they wanted to extend the character limit, but only where necessary. Countries like Japan, South Korea, and China will remain at the 140 character limit, merely because there’s no demand for an increase, as sending messages in these languages can be conveyed in a short amount of characters. Languages like English meanwhile, experience choked Tweets with 9% of English Tweets hitting the preceding 140 character limit.

So, why the change?

After performing a chain of tests to certain users, Twitter gained valuable results and conceived the 240 character limit would be favourable for many users. Given that 9% of English users were hitting the 140 character limit, many would need to spend time modifying their Tweets to ensure they didn’t have to send several messages. Moreover, users would now have the ability to effortlessly fit their opinions into a single Tweet, so they could say what was on their mind and send them quicker than before.

The question is, what effect will this have for internet marketers and SEO providers? Here are a few alterations that they can expect to see.

Increased engagement

Since Twitter broadened the character limit, users have encountered a higher level of responses which generated more followers. Evidently, this has been a step in the right direction, as there has been a reported higher satisfaction rate from content producers in conjunction with more Likes, Retweets, and Mentions.

Improved user experience for followers.

The broadened character limit means that users will have smaller threads of conversations, given that they can fit more content into a single message. Users with long threads of conversations mentioned that it can frequently be problematic to follow and respond to. Furthermore, brands are enjoying the longer Tweets as it enables them to fit more intricate information into a single Tweet which leads to higher engagement rates.

Increases customer communication

With the increase of firms using social media as a channel to handle customer service matters, customers can now express a problem in more detail on Twitter which is worthwhile for both the customer and the business, as communication is sufficiently enriched. Prior to this update, many users would have chosen other social media platforms like Facebook to report customer service issues considering that the character limit was too constricting.

More Creativity

Longer Tweets means that organisations can enrich the creativity of their communication with their audience through storytelling, Q&A’s, and more engaging Twitter Chats. Companies would routinely have to use other social media sites if they wished to get creative, however brands can now effectively use longer text to their advantage by reaching out to their audience on a more personal level.

While some users have claimed that the increase in character limit by Twitter makes them more similar to other social media sites, the clear majority of users appear to be very content with their latest update. Nothing is concrete in social media, as making changes to stay up to date with shifting user behaviour is vital for survival. For the time being though, both users and marketing specialists appear to have emerged the winner!

If you need any assistance about how your firm can leverage the increased character limit to your advantage on Twitter, simply get in contact with Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs by calling 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit their website for further information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

In today’s ever-changing online environment, it’s paramount that businesses Google’s best practices to make sure that they continue being competitive in their relevant online markets. With Google being the most commanding and influential company on the net, it’s vital for them to keep abreast of all the threats and opportunities that the internet generates. Subsequently, Google releases a multitude of updates each year: new features, bug fixes, and the majority relating to the very secretive Google search ranking algorithm.

What is essential though, is that all online suppliers that use Google-related services (literally every online enterprise), understand significant changes that may have an effect on their SEO, performance, and ultimately their bottom-line. The internet is in a constant state of change, so online firms must be flexible and adapt to new Google updates as soon as possible to ensure that they aren’t negatively impacted by these new releases.

The most important Google update that has recently affected online businesses pertains to Google Chrome v62, which was released in October this year. The Google Chrome web browser is utilised by nearly 50% of all online users, so it’s highly important that online providers incorporate the appropriate changes as swiftly as possible if they wish to avoid any detrimental implications.

What has changed in Google Chrome v62?

In the Google Chrome v62 update, Google has changed the way in which it marks non-secured (HTTP) pages. If a non-secured (HTTP) page keeps passwords and bank card information (which is housed in a plain text file), they are vulnerable to phishing sites that can potentially steal this information from users that falsely believe they are providing their personal information to an authorised business. The Google Chrome browser will begin marking any text input field and web address bar as ‘NOT SECURE’ for HTTP pages.

This change will visibly affect millions of websites all over the world. Prior to the change, many non-secured websites weren’t impacted by phishing attacks simply because they didn’t have a public-facing member login, and utilised PayPal or other offsite payment processors to accept online payments. Now, however, all websites will need to start securing their web pages given that users will become frightened of succumbing to malevolent attacks if they insert their personal information into fields marked boldly as ‘NOT SECURE’.

How to make web pages secure?

For online companies that wish to secure their formerly non-secured (HTTP) web pages, they have to encrypt the information being exchanged between their website visitors and their web server by incorporating an SSL certificate. Google are naturally pushing for a more secure internet than ever before, and they’ve picked SSL encryption as a vehicle to do this. For website owners who want to enable HTTPS on their web servers, here is a helpful guide: https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/encrypt-in-transit/enable-https?hl=en. The following link is an additional guide on ways to avoid the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning in Google Chrome which is targeted at web developers: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/10/avoid-not-secure-warn.

What this means for online businesses?

The recent Google update means that HTTPS and SSL encryption will become the norm across all web pages on the net. Eventually, each online business will have to secure their web pages using SSL encryption whether they like it or not, or users will simply find a competitor that does.

What this also signifies is that not all websites using SSL encryption should be trusted, and there will be a consequential increase in phishing sites using HTTPS also. Phishing sites can simply use fraudulent SSL certificates to bypass the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning by Google Chrome and make their websites appear reliable. This will make the differentiation between phishing sites and real websites more complicated than ever. Online enterprises that use an Extended Validation Certificate (EV SSL) will be the most trusted websites on the net due to the fact that it will be incredibly difficult for phishing sites to imitate the authenticity that EV SSL provides.

Making all websites utilise SSL certificates to validate their authenticity will only increase the amount of phishing sites that do the same. At the end of the day, however, SSL encryption will ultimately become mandatory, so if you need any help in securing your website with SSL encryption, get in contact with the digital specialists at Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs by calling 1300 595 013, or visit their website for more information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

So, you’ve got a terrific business idea and you’ve decided you’re going to construct and publish your own website. Well, as you most likely know, there are many factors to take into account. The design of the website, the images you’re going to use, the content, the website architecture, the company logo, the online store – the list goes on. But essentially, what’s most important when constructing a new website is the platform you choose. There’s a variety of website platforms available with an array of different features, targeting the entire spectrum of developers from beginners to professionals. You’ll ask for assistance on which platform to use and developers will argue for weeks on end about why one platform is better than the other.

It can really be confusing to weigh the pro’s and con’s of each website platform and choose which is best for you. So, to save the time and arguments, the simple answer to this question is ‘WordPress’. The following article will provide five strong arguments as to why WordPress is the best platform to use, regardless of your website development skills and abilities.

WordPress is easy to use and manage

WordPress is considerably easy to use so you don’t need to be a specialist HTML coder to construct a practical and powerful website. The installation process is quick and simple, the tools are intuitive and there’s a built-in updater so you don’t need to worry about not taking advantage of all the newest features. There are inbuilt features for blog publishing, RSS feeds, user management, automated backups, revisions and much more. Once installed, you can start making custom configurations without even writing any code!

WordPress is incredibly SEO-friendly

In the words of Google Engineer Matt Cutts, “WordPress automatically solves a tonne of SEO issues”. SEO is an incredibly important factor to any website so having in-built features that seamlessly make your website SEO-friendly is indispensable. WordPress coding is standard compliance, high quality, and produces semantic mark-up which makes your site highly attractive to search engines. There are also a selection of free plugins that you can install which will make your website even more SEO-friendly, but we’ll get onto WordPress’ plugins next.

WordPress is FREE and Open Source

Yes, you read it correctly; WordPress is free to download, install, and use to produce any kind of website you like. WordPress is also open source which means that the source code is accessible for anybody to modify, edit and create different themes and plugins with an assortment of features and publish these to the online community. Already, there are over 2,600 WordPress themes and over 3,100 different free plugins available for use. Considering WordPress is a community software, it is maintained by a large group of volunteers who all contribute to the software by writing patches, answering support questions and updating documentation. If you have any questions or issues about anything WordPress related, there are literally thousands of people ready to help.

WordPress is mobile friendly

As a result of the increasing use of smart phones for internet usage, it’s extremely important that your website is optimised for mobile devices. In fact, one of Google’s latest updates requires websites to be optimised for mobile devices or they’ll be penalised in SEO. Luckily most WordPress themes are designed to be mobile responsive, meaning that irrespective of what device your prospects are using, WordPress websites will automatically change the appearance of your website to fit. WordPress actually allows you to work on both of your mobile website and PC website separately, so you can easily customise both to optimise the user experience.

WordPress is secure

These days, website security is very important so naturally WordPress has high security standards. Approximately 25% of websites are created on WordPress so hackers are continuously trying to find ways to compromise them. WordPress is well aware of this so has created a range of security features which prevents any malicious attacks by releasing frequent updates that neutralises these threats. Keep in mind, it’s also imperative for you to be using a secure device when accessing your WordPress account, so make sure you use standard security tools on your device and only acquire legitimate plugins from trusted providers.

As you can see, WordPress has a series of superb features that simply make it the best website platform on the market today. Though there are plenty of other reasons why WordPress is an excellent choice for your website, this article just focuses on 5 of these: WordPress is highly user-friendly, free and open source, significantly SEO compatible, mobile friendly, and secure. What more could you want from a platform to produce an effective and powerful website? If you have any questions about how you can further optimise your website, speak to the team at Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au

Having worked as a sales rep for a few tech start-ups, I can’t even begin to explain the value of sending email sequences that sell. Automated emails are marvelous because they significantly reduce the workload for a sales rep, nevertheless these days, everybody can empathise with finding an assortment of email sequences lurking in their inbox everyday that just bother us because we have to click 2 buttons to get rid of them!

Not nearly enough business owners spend the time and initiative in designing useful email sequences that actually sell their product. Producing convincing email sequences is both a science and an art, and if done effectively, can lead to superb results. Having hundreds of potential customers on an email list isn’t going to yield any income if you can’t sell your product. So, here’s four tips on how to generate a great email sequence that will convert your leads into sales.

Tip 1 – First Impressions Count

The age old saying ‘make a good first impression’ is very relevant when it involves email sequences. By first impressions, I mean the subject lines of your emails. It’s the very first thing that recipients will inspect so if it’s not compelling enough, they simply won’t open it. Needless to say, the subject lines of an email are paramount when it comes to conversion rates. Here are some statistics which emphasises their importance:

One-third of email recipients will open an email based solely on the subject line

Nearly 70% of email recipients will decide if an email is spam based on the subject line

40% of emails are opened on mobile devices first, and the common mobile screen can only fit between 4 to 7 words in the subject line.

The secret to successful subject lines is solving your prospects problems in as few words as possible. For example, good subject lines include, “Common questions about job interviews”, “Common questions about the housing market”, etc. Consider your prospects problems and target your subject lines to solve that problem succinctly. You can track your subject line performance using HubSpot Sales notification stream (https://www.hubspot.com/products/sales/email-tracking).

Tip 2 – Write Well-Crafted Content

When a recipient has opened an email, it’s vital that you present a value proposition in the context of their problem as soon as possible. Forget starting the email with your name and job title; you want to give your recipients a good reason to keep reading the email. So, begin your email with some info they can relate to, like company news or their reaction to an event via Facebook or an online article, and then get into the value proposition in the 2nd & 3rd sentences.

Your value proposition should be constructed like this:.

I have an idea about [problem/pain-point] and I’d love to have a moment to speak to you about [solution].

Here’s some preliminary information [link to helpful content] and if you ‘d like to chat more about it, let me know.

I recently worked with another business with [positive benefit]. Is this something that would be beneficial for [company name]?

It’s crucial that you get to the point promptly and keep the content targeted to the needs of your prospect.

Tip 3 – Discard the tedious ‘Welcome Email’

If a prospect has shown interest in your service or products, why waste both of your time with a welcome email that has no benefit or offerings? It’s virtually dead-wood and if you’re going to send a welcome email, make sure you incorporate a catchy subject line and value proposition in the content of the email (refer to tip 1 & 2).

Tip 4 – Always Be Helpful

The reality of the matter is that even an excellent first email may not get a response from the recipient. It’s understandable; people are busy and have priorities, so I suggest sending two or three follow-up emails as part of your email sequence. It’s easy to forget about an email that you’re interested in, but a terrific follow-up email will remind them that you’re here to help them in whatever problem they have. You should make sure that your follow-up emails also incorporates your value propositions, and additional information that is practical to the recipient in solving their problems. Again, HubSpot Sales will keep track of which emails are opened and which links are clicked so I strongly encourage using this application to support you with your email sequences.

The value of putting together effective and actionable email sequences can have a dramatic affect on your conversion rates and sales. There are many variables that you must consider when putting together your email sequences, but this article showcases the most important factors that lead to success. If you’re having problems converting your leads into sales with your email sequences, it’s certainly beneficial in consulting with digital marketing professionals that can help you. Contact the team at Internet Marketing Experts Alice Springs today on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsalicesprings.com.au.