Effective website copy which is informative, persuasive and compelling will not only help to convert sales and enquiries, but also greatly assist your SEO efforts. However, in our experience it's often one of the biggest stumbling blocks during a new website project. A combination of resource, time and experience can leave a new website ready to go but with no content.  Who are you writing for? Writing effective website copy is not the same as writing effective print copy. In general, website ...

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a pretty simple phrase for what is, in reality, a huge area of digital marketing. Generally speaking, when people refer to SEO they're talking about making sure their website appears high in a search engine's listings. So what on earth is technical SEO?  What is technical SEO? Technical SEO is just one part of SEO (which also includes content marketing, keyword optimisation, link building and UX design); it's the process of ensuring your website functionalit...

In these uncertain and changeable times, businesses staying connected with their customers is critical. The Government's latest advice calls for longer periods of self isolation and increased social distancing, so the challenge of reaching your customers is only going to become more difficult. However, social media can help and now is the time to embrace all the functionality that each channel offers.     Facebook  Facebook Live is an ideal way of broadcasting to your customers in real time...

What are Google search ads?  Before we get into the nuts and bolts of how to write effective Google search ad copy, let's start off with the basics and look at what Google Ads paid search (previously called AdWords) is. When you type a search query into Google, you're presented with a list of results displayed on the the search engine result page (SERP). This list is often a mix of organic and paid results. The results that have been paid for will have a green box with the word "ad" before th...

The digital marketing landscape is continually changing, making it difficult to know where to focus your time. So here's a round up of the digital marketing trends we think everyone should keep an eye on during 2020.Google's speed addictionYour website needs to (ideally) load in under 3 seconds! Any longer and less pages can be crawled by Google, which can have a negative affect on your search rankings. Check your website loading speed and if it needs to improve, look at compressing fil...

The festive selling period is now well and truly underway and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. But don't panic - even if you've left your marketing planning out in the cold, there's still time to make the most of your Christmas sales!Be present in the right placesConsumer interaction with brands and products are typically quite complex. We live in a fast moving, communication-led world with information and conversations possible in a variety of ways across multi...

Basket abandonment rate for eCommerce websites can be frustratingly high. The average rate for abandoned baskets sits around 65%, but for some sectors it can be as high as 80%!Costly delivery and the customer not being ready to purchase top the list of reasons for basket abandonment. However, website UX design is also a major influence. According to Invesp 11% of abandoned baskets are attributed to a complex checkout or basket process and 24% of shoppers are saving selections and deciding l...

If the first bite is taken with the eye, then high quality food photography that tells your brand's story, should be at the heart of your marketing campaign. To get the most out of your food photography it really is worth spending time to clearly define your brief and think carefully about where and how your images will be used.What type of food photography do I need?Before commissioning a photographer, think about the different types of images you may need. As a minimum we would sugges...

B2B ecommerce is seriously big business. The global B2B ecommerce sector is forecast to be worth £5.2 trillion by 2020. As digital savvy Millenials take over senior buying and procurement positions, businesses need to be ready to meet and service their needs.  Historically, B2B digital marketing has been slow to evolve, falling behind its B2C counterpart. However, in recent years there's been rapid growth in B2B ecommerce sales, so it's a proposition that deserves serious conside...

Social media is supposed to be free, right? Isn't good social media simply creating engaging content and watching it go viral? Why then would you want to pay for social media advertising?What is social media advertising?Social media advertising comes in many forms. There are three main types of advertising:boosting a specific post digital display advertising remarketingBoosting a postOn a crowded platform with a lot of accounts making a lot of 'noise', boosting a p...

Yes, we know that summer has only just arrived, but if you want to capitalise on the Christmas gift market you'll need to have your Christmas packaging wrapped up very soon.   Ideally, your Christmas packaging will be completed and include pack shots, pricing and samples, by the end of June.  Why so early? Several of the big retailers have large media Christmas gift launches in the summer and #ChristmasinJuly has gained a lot of traction over the last few years. In fact, there is...

So you’ve launched your brand spanking new website and it's received fantastic feedback. But does a website have a 'shelf life' and if so, when should you start thinking about developing a new one?Let’s be SMART about itIn principle, the success of a website can be measured against its intended purpose. Was it developed to attract new customers? Is it an eCommerce site that needs to deliver a specific ROI? Maybe it adds credibility to your business or service? Or perhaps it's purely...

It's a question that we're asked a lot and the answer is unequivocally 'yes!'. Our client data tells us that yes, people do click on Google Ads. But don’t just take our word for it: when AdWords first launched in 2000 it had 350 advertisers, now there are estimated to be over 1 million advertisers spending tens of billions of dollars in ad revenue. 1 million advertisers certainly must think they’re onto something! People often have a 'Marmite approach' to Ads – they either love ...

As you scale up your food and drink operation, have you thought about how you will manage your food waste?Often, the food and drink businesses we support and help grow have either just scaled up their operations, or are at the point of doing so. As manufacturing grows so too can food waste volumes. Somerset based, waste equipment and processing experts, PRM Waste Systems, have written a superb guest blog for us, detailing the management of food waste and ways to reduce the amount that enter...

“Social media isn’t rocket science and we’ve got a graduate who’s a dab hand with Instagram.” Sound familiar? It's true, social media isn’t rocket science! However, like all marketing activities, it is truly effective when utilised as part of a wider strategy. Whilst the office junior may have a great following on Snapchat or perhaps even be an emerging YouTube star, running, managing and growing social media channels for a business requires planning, quality content and t...

You’ve been on the food market circuit for a while and perhaps even have a couple of local retailers stocking your products, but how do you grow your stockists and reach new retailers potentially hundreds of miles away? The time might be right for you to start talking to food and drink wholesale distributors.Working with food and drink wholesale distributors can be an effective way to reach a wide network of retailers and can significantly aid your business growth. However, there are several...