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SEO and How to Optimise it for your Business 

SEO and How to Optimise it for your Business 

by | Nov 25, 2021 | Digital Marketing

Let me guess, you want your website to be easily found by customers and don’t want to spend time creating a stunning website if no one can see it, we get it! Have you heard of SEO and how to optimise it for your business?

With the seemingly infinite amount of content on the internet, it can be overwhelming knowing how to start. I mean, what is SEO anyway?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the way you can help customers to find your site through search engines. By improving and optimising your SEO you can drive more traffic to your website and therefore generate more sales. 

1. Use the right keywords 

Firstly, you need to know what your customers are searching for. Are your customers more likely to use formal or informal word/phrases? You need your website to use the same language as your potential searchers. 

Use keyword search tools to research what keywords to use for your business (check out our favourite here). If you input one keyword, keyword tools can show you the amount the term is searched, its SEO difficulty and a list of other similar keywords.  

The information you find can be used to create keywords lists. If you are promoting different products and services, then you can create a list for each to optimise each page most effectively. 

Common mistakes: 

  • Only doing keyword research once 
  • Targeting keywords that are too competitive 
  • Forgetting to update and expand your keyword list. 

Once you have found your keywords, you need to know where to use them: 

  • Title 
  • URL 
  • Throughout the page text 
  • Image alt text 

Link building is when you acquire hyperlinks to your website from other websites. A hyperlink is a word, image or phrase that you click on to travel to a different section of the current document or to a new document.  

Increasing your link building between websites is a great way to build web authority and increase your chances of ranking higher. 

Gaining links organically is ideal, you can encourage this by making your website link-worthy with useful information and interesting products/services which could be featured in a blog.  

You can also build links to your site by asking website owners to carry your link on their site in exchange for you to do the same. Remember, quality over quantity. Links from reputable directories, website and educational websites will be more useful than links from untrustworthy blogs and sketchy websites. 

3. Ensure your website is user-friendly 

Making your website user-friendly will, of course, help your users have the best experience possible but it will also improve your SEO and Google Rankings. 

Site speed is confirmed to affect your SEO, just imagine the impact it could have on your user’s experience! With the majority of websites available with no load time, if your website is slow then it can cause users to bounce out. User behaviour on your site sends signals to search engines which then can impact your ranking. 

Google wants its users to be happy and understand that load speed can have a major impact on user satisfaction. Google’s method to ranking includes using Core Web Vitals; these assess your websites loading time, visual stability and interactivity and the results of this influence your ranking. 

The faster your site speed, the higher your ranking. Simple. 

4. Look at your content length 

How long your content is can affect your SEO and your ranking. Blog posts should contain at least 300 words in order to rank well on search engines but research shows that the ideal length for a blog post is 1,600 words.  

You may be wondering; how do I know how long MY content should be? An easy way to do this is to Google your main keyword and look at the top 10 results on Google. Do these contain more than 1,600 words? If they do then yours should too, if not then look at the average length of other similar high-ranking content. 

Don’t forget, quality over quantity! 

5. Optimise your on-page SEO 

On-page SEO is the way in which you optimise your website content for search engines. Some examples of on-page SEO are headings, slugs, meta descriptions and internal links. 

Here are some top tips to get you started with optimising your on-page SEO: 

  • Meta descriptions: A meta description is the small chunk of text that appears below your page title on a search result. Make sure these are concise, accurate and relevant to your content. 
  • Headings: DON’T use misleading titles. Click-bait titles may give you more initial clicks but will lead to a high bounce-rate when your content is not what is expected. Use H1 headings for your main title to help Google understand your content. 
  • Slugs: No not those slimy things in your garden! A slug is part of your URL that identifies a particular page on your website. Try to include your keywords in your slug and keep it short and sweet! People check to slug to ensure the content is what they are looking for. 

Off-page SEO and technical SEO are also important to consider on your website…luckily for you, we have our very own guide to all things SEO! Check it out here.  

If you want your SEO optimised but you are still unsure how, or maybe you simply don’t have the time, get in touch now! Here at Creative in Time we have a team of SEO experts just waiting to help you. Click here to book a discovery call now. 

Black Friday Marketing Strategies to Maximise 2023 Sales 

Black Friday Marketing Strategies to Maximise 2023 Sales 

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Digital Marketing

Do you sell a product online? If you do, then this one’s for you. Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, and with the aftermath of a global pandemic, more and more shoppers are queuing in virtual stores instead of in brick-and-mortar shops. 

With potential Black Friday shoppers browsing the internet, you want to ensure you are prepared for the craziness and that you can maximise your traffic! 

The expected total spending over Black Friday weekend in the UK is 9.42 BILLION pounds. Crazy right?! 

We’ve put together a few simple marketing strategies you could consider in order to maximise your 2023 sales this Black Friday.  

1. Create your Black Friday Email List  

Our first tip is to create a Black Friday email list. Have you noticed an influx of Black Friday emails in your inbox? We bet you have. Create an email marketing list SPECIFICALLY for people who would be interested in your Black Friday deals. 

Did you know that 25.1% of sales during the Black Friday promotion season has originated from email marketing? If you aren’t utilising email marketing this Black Friday then what’s even the point!?! 

Tip: Create a pop-up on your website asking people to sign up for your newsletter and use an incentive such as early access to the sale. Use a punchy call-to-action to draw people in! 

Once you have created your marketing list, you need to create an enticing email campaign. Use a catchy subject line to intrigue people, include clear CTA’s (call to actions), and try to send out more than one email to remind people about your sale. Don’t worry you’ve still got time! 

Need some inspiration? Check out our EXAMPLE email campaign below!

2. Get creative with timing 

Black Friday is capitalised by businesses big and small; this can get overwhelming for consumers who are receiving the same marketing messages constantly. Try to offset this and grab your customers attention by changing your timing.  

Tip: Try starting your sale early, have you noticed anyone doing ‘Black Thursday’? 

Typically, you will have less business competition for your consumers attention and a head start on sales. Many people use Black Friday to buy Christmas presents at a good value, catching people early ensures they haven’t bought anything yet therefore more chance for you to make a sale. 

3. Extra offers 

Pop-ups draw in consumers attention and even better if they offer an extra discount. Virtual ‘scratch cards’, spin the wheel games (see image below!) and other interactive pop-ups are sure to be an attention grabber.  

Keeping customers on your site longer can help to prevent an abandoned cart and help push sales for people on the fence. 

Tip: Bonus offers do NOT need to be extreme. For example, offer an extra 10% off or next day delivery for £2. 

4. Loyalty programme 

Do you have a loyalty programme or a VIP club for loyal customers? These people are already happy customers and have familiarity with your brand. 

Target existing customers by offering an exclusive discount, existing customers are more likely to buy from your brand than new customers. This also builds a good reputation and encourages customers to continue to purchase from your business. People like to feel appreciated! 

Tip: Create a campaign dedicated to loyal customers. A common offer is early access to Black Friday deals. This can also encourage users to tell their friends about your AMAZING deals! 

5. Social media promotion 

Don’t underestimate the power of social media! Utilise all your social media platforms to get the word out about your involvement in Black Friday. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are firm favourites but don’t fear branching out into TikTok. TikTok was the fastest growing app of 2020 and is no doubt the place to be in 2023!

Tip: Different social media platforms appeal to different demographics. TikTok and Instagram will appeal to a younger demographic whereas Facebook can appeal to an older audience. Who will your product appeal to? Who do you want to target? We recommend you finding this out in order to get the most from your marketing strategy.  

We hope this information has helped you and that our tips will help make this Black Friday the most successful for your business! 

Black Friday is one day a year, but you need effective marketing all year long…that’s where we come in! Get in touch with CREATIVE in TiME to get a free audit!

Planning Impossible Timescales

Planning Impossible Timescales

by | Nov 11, 2021 | Project Planning

Every project plan needs an outline

How do you put a project plan together and keep your head when you are asked to plan impossible timescales? You are not alone, in fact, many of us are asked to achieve miracles every day!

Let’s take a scenario, it’s a Thursday afternoon, you’ve been called into the big boss’ office with no notice. Your boss starts explaining a new ‘thing’ that they wish to launch to win to make the most of a new commercial opportunity. Maybe it’s a new software platform, maybe it’s a new type of electronic widget (you can imagine what you do for a living here to help your imagination).

Then comes the news you expected, your boss wants this whole thing to be ready to go in 6 months! Yes, you heard it, you are now expected to create a project plan for impossible timescales! Your brain is racing, knowing the last project like this took 18 months and you are still firefighting daily issues with the product or service that was launched. 

So, what do you do? Follow these steps whilst taking deep breaths and you will be amazed at the results.

Establishing your stakeholder expectations before creating a project plan

So, when you are being asked to create a project plan for impossible timescales, following this path, and make detailed notes:

Ask your boss for an overview of WHAT needs to be delivered.

Make sure you understand WHY the business wants to do this (so important)

Find out WHERE they intend for this to be done

Ask HOW they think you are going to deliver it

Clarify WHO is going to be available for the project,

Confirm WHEN they want it (6 months in this case)

Finally, and importantly ask HOW MUCH they think it’s all going to cost, (this is where they give you their guesstimated budget). 

So what are we doing here? You are gauging your stakeholders expectations, getting the picture in their head onto paper. This stage is absolutely essential in defining the overall expectations. If your boss tells you she thinks it should cost £0.5m, you have a ball park of what to aim for in planning. You’ll know that going back with a £10m project budget won’t fly, so if you are struggling to achieve the scope (the WHAT) for £0.5m then you can have a far more constructive conversation with her when you go back.

Creating a plan with impossible timescales 

The next stage is now the crucial building stage. You need to now establish all the same answers to the questions above to see if it is going to fly. If you go away and make a project plan that mimics what they asked for without an understanding HOW you are going to actually deliver it, you will likely fail. If you don’t answer the many many unanswered questions of WHAT you are going to have to do, you are walking down the classic project management failure. These are the same failures that blight corporations everyday, but now you can be different!  

Maybe you feel you have no choice, your boss doesn’t care about reality, just that he or she has a Gantt chart and project plan document that echoes their wishes to present to some higher stakeholder. 

But what real value does this have to anyone? A scenario can be that you kick off the project and spend 2 months working with the stakeholders trying to figure out exactly what they want. You gradually realize this is an 18 month project at 5 x the cost of their budget, and now you are seen as the project manager who is failing the company. The project plan with impossible timescales is now running way behind schedule, over budget, and failing. It was you presented the original plans, not your boss, so who is going to get the blame?

The 7Q Approach – a NEW way to project plan

  • You write down your understanding of WHY you are undertaking this project.
  • Then, specify yours and your teams understanding of WHAT they need to deliver, writing down all assumptions, caveats, dependencies, etc.  
  • You specify WHERE the work is going to be done and delivered (maybe multiple locations).
  • You breakdown HOW you are going to do it (break down the big chunks of works into smaller pieces).
  • Then you assume WHO is going to do it, (staff, subcontractors, etc).
  • From here you can figure out a timescale, or WHEN it can all be done.
  • Then sum it all up into a project budget (HOW MUCH).

So, let’s go back and take a different path. Once you have gauged your stakeholders estimates for WHAT, WHEN & HOW MUCH (scope, cost and time), now you can go away and have a real crack at the 7Q approach (7 questions of a project plan).  

This can be done in an afternoon or over a couple of days, run a couple of iterations, from the HOW MUCH you go back to WHY, WHAT, WHERE, HOW, WHO, WHEN & HOW MUCH again, making changes as you see them. 

THEN you can go back to your stakeholders with some genuine estimates, with details, assumptions, possibilities, and so much more. 

So, let’s say your stakeholders don’t like the new WHEN (scope) and HOW MUCH (schedule)! What can you do? If your WHEN and HOW MUCH are out of alignment, you MUST change WHAT you are doing, HOW you are doing it, or WHO is doing it. That’s right, the key steps to meeting impossible timescales is to ‘De-Scope’, find and easier path, or find cheaper resource. De-scoping is effectively offloading work. You can always persuade your boss that the other work can be done at a ‘later stage’. You can even build a roadmap showing the future phases after the initial project has been successful. 

Getting the WHAT (scope) down to an absolute minimum is the GOLD to realising impossible timescales. Work out the bare essentials, the absolute minimum that you could get away with delivering whilst keeping people happy. 

An impossible timescale example!

You talk to a builder and say: “I want a 4 bed house in 4 months for $40k.” The builder may say, “for $40k you can have a 1 bed chalet, not a 4 bed, and I can do that in 3 months.” You say, “ok, how much for a 3 bed?” “A 3 bed will be $140k and take 6 months.” What is happening here? You are iterating, you have your wishes, the builder gives you what can be done, so why do corporations not follow this basic approach, often sticking stubbornly to the original ask.

Its normally because the project manager is ignored by the corporate boss’, who in this example will tell the top brass that you will be delivering the 4 bed for $40k in 6 months, and they’ve forced some poor project manager into showing in documents what is effectively a delusion. 

So, you keep negotiating with your stakeholders, going back and forth to come up with a project plan that is achievable and minimise scope (WHAT) as much as possible, then, and only then, can you deliver to an impossible timescale. 

Want to learn some more about Fred? Check out his LinkedIn here! 

Or check out some more of Fred’s top tips here: How to Create a Project Plan Cost Budget 

How to use Google My Business to Grow

How to use Google My Business to Grow

by | Nov 4, 2021 | Digital Marketing

Wouldn’t it be amazing to know you are getting customers from Google just by following a few steps? Who are we kidding, of course it would be! 

With some guidance, using Google My Business is a simple and effective way to reach potential customers and show off the best parts of your business. Brick and mortar businesses and online businesses can both benefit from the effects of Google My Business. 

Below we have collated our top 5 steps to help you grow using Google My Business. 

1. Share images and videos of your business 

PEOPLE buy PEOPLE (cliché but true), not businesses or corporations. Prospective customers love behind-the-scenes shots of what’s going on at your business. Humans are nosey people! 

Make the most of your images by choosing the right size to fit its purpose: 

  • Profile picture: Your profile picture is what your customers will recognise your company by on Google. Ensure it is memorable, recognisable and high quality. For a profile picture, your image should be 250×250 pixels. 
  • Cover photo: Your cover photo is also set as your listings preferred image to show first, ideally this is where you can showcase your companies personality, this is not a guarantee that it will show first however. An image of 1080×608 pixels should be used. 
  • Other images: Customers like images, it gives an insight into your business and the people who work there. Use images in Google My Business posts to improve your posts and increase chances of a purchase or booking. Use an image of 720×540 pixels for any additional images. 

Videos are rapidly increasing in popularity and effectiveness.  With the amount of choice available to consumers, people are doing a quick internet search to find the best product to fit their needs. Videos are exemplary at giving people an up-close in depth look at what you are offering.  

Did you know that 81 % of businesses are now using video for marketing? 

A video can improve trust in your product and encourage people to make a purchase. After all, 90% of consumers claim a video will help them make a purchasing decision. 

2. Share your products 

A great feature on Google My Business is the ability to add products to your listing. If you have a retail business, adding your best-selling products to your Google listing can boost sales and shows prospective customers your products without even going to your website. 

Use this feature to add best sellers and products that you want to push. Use eye catching pictures to draw attention, ensure your product description is succinct but includes enough information about your product to entice a purchase and make sure your price is correct!  

No one likes going to checkout and noticing a price has gone up unexpectedly, if anything changes regarding your products promptly update your Google listing for it, your customers will appreciate it. 

3. Generate reviews 

Don’t underestimate the power of online reviews, 93% of consumers say that online reviews have influenced their purchase decisions!  

Google My Business reviews are a gold mine for new customers. Don’t be shy to ask for reviews from former and current customers, when prompted most customers are happy to leave a review.  

Did you know that Facebook reviews also show up on Google My Business? Now you do!  

Online reviews allow for your customers to share their experiences with your business and can bring credibility to your product or service. Negative reviews can have a bad effect on your business, but Google My Business reviews are interactable which means if someone did, hypothetically, leave a bad review you could respond and resolve the issue.  

You should RESPOND to all reviews whether they are good or bad by using personalised responses and customer names. Show care and appreciation towards customers as consumers will also be looking for this. 

4. Share your events 

Whether it is a sale, workshop, price reduction or open house, you should share it! Posting events to your Google My Business page will make it known to more people and can allow for more attendance/engagement. Present your event in a fun and engaging manner, no one wants to sign up for an event that sounds boring or uninformative. 

When posting an event, include a link for people to sign up for said event or a link to a product page if there is a sale. Make it simple for customers to get involved, the less steps they need to take the more likely they are to participate. 

5. Monitor your analytics 

Google My Business insights is a great tool to see how people interact with your listing. If you are implementing our previous tips then you need to monitor their analytics too. 

You can view how many people have viewed your photos, how often your business is searched and what actions your customers take such as going to your website amongst many other visibility and engagement statistics. 

Keeping track of your analytics can show you what to continue doing and what needs to be improved. If you notice certain Google My Business posts get significant interaction whilst others do not then be FLEXIBLE and consider changing your plan accordingly. As humans we don’t always like change but it is necessary to improve and thrive. 

Google My Business is a tool that all businesses should be using, whether small or large, to engage with customers and promote their business.  

We hope these tips can allow you to revamp your listing and set your business on the trajectory to success. If you need help getting your marketing on track, just get in touch! Marketing is where we shine. 

Click here to book a discovery call with us now and see what we can do for your business. 

CiT October Roundup of Marketing News & Updates 

CiT October Roundup of Marketing News & Updates 

by | Oct 29, 2021 | SEO

Bad news first, chilly weather is here to stay for a bit, the good news is that the season of festivities is beginning. Yay! Before you don your fancy dress, we’ve got a roundup of the best marketing news and straight off-the-shelf marketing updates for you! 

Not a week goes by without a change to social media or Google, it’s exhausting, we know! It is vital for your business to stay up to date though on all the latest shenanigans so that you and your business can thrive – not just survive.  

First up; 

Instagram Merges IGTV and Feed Videos 

In early October, the Instagram account @creators announced Instagram is merging IGTV and Feed videos into a single format: Instagram Video.  

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has been hinting at a more “simplified video experience” on the platform for a while. By merging IGTV with Feed videos, Instagram has a single destination for longer form video content – providing a clearer distinction between Instagram Reels. To support this change, Instagram is introducing several new features for Instagram Video:  

  • A new Video tab on Profile 
  • Trimming 
  • Ability to upload video captions 
  • People and location tagging 
  • 60-second Feed Previews 

You’ve probably already seen it by now, but the new Video tab will replace the old IGTV tab on users’ profiles, with a new “play button” icon. 

CREATIVE in TiME say:  Don’t know about you, but we likey the sound of this one! 

Goodbye Facebook? Facebook changes name to ‘Meta’

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook is changing its name to ‘Meta’. The parent company will now be known as “Meta”, he said. It will also get a new logo, with a blue “M”.

In a presentation at the company’s annual Connect conference, Zuckerberg detailed how his company aims to build a new version of the internet, he said, “We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, we’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are”.

On Twitter, Meta announced, “The metaverse is the next evolution of social connection. It’s a collective project that will be created by people all over the world, and open to everyone. You’ll be able to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what’s possible today.”

The move comes after a tumultuous time for the social media giant. They’ve been battling criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its services. Not only this, but we cannot forget about the six-hour outage, on October 4th affecting all its platforms. What a crazy month for Facebook. Wait…we mean Meta?  

CREATIVE in TiME say: Things must be bad when you change one of the biggest company names in the World! 

More than Half of Marketing Emails are Threatened by iOS 15 

Apple’s popularity as an email service, and the company’s push into data privacy, means that advertiser’s ability to understand the performance of their email marketing campaigns is being challenged. This is according to data from email marketing company Litmus. 

Apple recently launched iOS 15 and as part of this Apple says the Mail Privacy Protection feature “hides your IP address, so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your location. And it prevents senders from seeing if and when you’ve opened their email”. 

More than half of all emails opened are at risk – the iPhone Mail app is the market leader and is responsible for 40.3% of all email opens, with the Apple Mail app on Mac devices third (11.3%) and the iPad Mail app seventh (1.4%).  

This comes at a time when email marketing has grown in importance for many brands – it can be a cost-efficient way of enhancing first-party data and can allow personalised messaging in the absence of third-party data. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Although e-mail still one of the most effective direct marketing tools out there, do we really need more challenges to getting them past the gatekeeper!? Sigh! 

Facebook tests option for Cross-posting Facebook posts to Instagram 

Users are currently able to cross-post their Instagram stories and posts to Facebook but in this new feature, cross-posting can flow the other way. The feature is yet to be formally announced by has begun to roll out this month to a small group of people. 

Facebook has begun to interlink their multitude of apps in recent months.  Allowing cross-communication between Instagram and Messenger users is one of the ways Facebook is connecting apps. By interlinking apps, they make it more difficult to fully leave Facebook. 

With this new feature, users will be able to cross-post: 

  • Up to 10 photos 
  • Single photos  
  • Single videos  

Currently other imaging formats such as GIFs and text-only posts are not able to be cross shared. This may be in a bid to keep Instagram relevant and popular amongst young users in response to growing popularity of other social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Meh. Not sure this is the best rollout idea ever. We will reserve judgment though. 

Potential Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update between October 15th – October 18th

Google is known for updating its search algorithm ranking frequently and October was no exception.  

A flurry of chatter in the SEO community revealed that within this timeframe, many people noticed changes in their rankings, and most were not positive. Huge ranking changes were experienced with some people revealing 20%, 30% and higher drops in their traffic and ranking for their keywords! 

Did you experience a drop in your SEO within this period? Due to quiet changes in the algorithm, many businesses will feel the negative repercussions. If your SEO rankings and your traffic dropped, this may be why! 

Do you even know where you can find your analytics? Have you got them but don’t know what they mean? Fear not, we are here to help. Get in touch to discuss your analytics with the experts. 

CREATIVE in TiME say: Yup, some of our customers definitely felt this in the gut, some were absolutely fine. Either way we always knew what was happening because we monitor results weekly. #brushesshoulder 

News just in, every Instagram account will now have access to Instagram Stories Link Stickers. Yes, even those with less than 10K followers!

Instagram Stories link stickers were first introduced last month for accounts with 10K followers, replacing the “swipe up” link.

According to Instagram, “We made this decision based on feedback we heard from the community about how impactful it would be for creators and businesses of all sizes to benefit from link sharing to grow in the same way larger accounts do.”

So how do you add it?

  1.  Head to the Instagram Stories sticker tray and select the link sticker (if you don’t have access yet, sit tight. It’s coming don’t worry!)
  2. Paste your link into the link field.
  3. Switch the text and color by tapping on the sticker.

And hey presto! You’ve just added your first story link! You’re welcome.

CREATIVE in TiME say: We’ve been waiting on this one for a looooong time. If you’re a business, you NEED to utilise this feature!

We hope you enjoyed our monthly roundup, check back in next month for our November roundup! You can even have it delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter! Just send your email over to [email protected] (subject to iOS 15 🙈 of course).  

Whilst you wait, does your business need a hand staying up to date? Maybe you’re struggling to keep on track with all of the new marketing changes? We’ve got your back!

Book in now for a discovery call and our marketing business can help you with all the latest strategies and changes. 

CREATIVE in TiME
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