The UK's economy has encountered persistent challenges since the pandemic, intensifying worries for businesses amid uncertainties in the economic landscape, further exacerbated by increases in living costs, material expenses, and the ongoing repercussions of Brexit. However, there are ways to help your business prepare for whatever is around the corner and completing a full marketing audit (assessing all marketing activity, benchmarking effectiveness and developing new st...

What is often the first thing you do when checking out a new business online? You Google it. Businesses make themselves visible online using targeted ads and SEO, and by setting up and optimising a Google Business Profile. But what is this and how is it optimised? What is a Google Business Profile? Google Business Profile is a tool that allows you to create a free Profile for your company on Google. Once created, you can amend and optimise this Business Profile to better attract people to your...

Strategic content marketing is the backbone of any successful business. When coupled with a targeted SEO strategy, content marketing becomes a powerful tool for getting your website to rank highly in search engines. Weaving impactful, clearly written content throughout your website goes beyond improving SEO. Unique content creates the personality behind your brand, setting you apart from your competitors. People-led content marketing also humanises your business, allowing customers to see beyon...

These days, LinkedIn is a lot more than just “Facebook for business”. Used in the right way, this social media platform becomes an asset to your business and its ongoing success. If you’re wondering whether you should be including LinkedIn in your business’s social marketing strategy, there’s a few things you need to work out beforehand. Firstly, ask yourself: "What are the goals for your business?", "Is LinkedIn a place that your clients, customers, and competitors tend to occupy?" I...

Back in June 2022, Hannah joined the Cognique team as our first ever in-house copywriter. A huge enthusiast about all things to do with reading and writing, we chat to Hannah to find out more about life outside of work, her role at Cognique, and what it takes to write great content. What's your role at Cognique? I’m the first and (currently) only in-house Content Writer. I write any and all content that our clients need, which can be really varied. Blog posts, case studies, email marketing �...

Someone clicking on your website and leaving straight away is never good news. It's especially bad news thanks (or rather no thanks) to Google’s RankBrain, an artificial intelligence system operating behind the scenes. In essence, RankBrain uses machine learning to determine what results are most relevant to any Google Search query. The end goal is to provide better search results, as RankBrain learns what users are and aren’t clicking on. The problem? Google are now paying closer attention...

Amy joined Cognique in 2021 adding more expertise to our growing marketing team. Bringing her skills from two previous digital marketing roles, Amy helps clients get the most out of their marketing strategy and achieve their business goals. Almost a year on from her first day, we find out more about Amy and the part she plays in taking Cognique to the next level. What’s your role at Cognique? I'm the Digital Marketing Executive, a role which involves a lot of different elements – my special...

In this day and age, answering a query is as simple as grabbing your phone and typing a few words into Google. Understanding how keywords work in conjunction with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) has never been more important for your business and its website. But what exactly are keywords, why are they so important, and how do you use them to your advantage? What are keywords? In a nutshell, keywords define what the content of your website is about. When we’re talking about SEO, keywords are...

After a year at Cognique, we speak to Kim about her first year working agency side, her love of people, storytelling and building relationships.  Have you always been interested in marketing? That’s a very good question and the answer is 'yes' (there’s a bit of a story)! When I was in Year 10 at school, doing my GCSEs I had a business mentor who worked as a Marketing Manager in a local business. It was such a great initiative and I ended up doing work experience with her and just found som...

Google Search Console (GSC) is a must for any business hoping to get more website traffic from search engines. But what exactly is it, and how do you use it?  At Cognique, we’re clued up on all things SEO. Explore our step-by-step guide below for everything you need to know about Google Search Console – and how we can help you start using it to your business’s benefit. What is Google Search Console? Google Search Console – previously called Google Webmaster Tools – has alway...

Investing in our people and their development, is something we continually support. Kim & Amy headed to brightonSEO for two days, their first in-person conference since they joined Cognique last year. Here’s what they got up to in the fun packed city of Brighton… brightonSEO here we come We’d booked our tickets, found an Airbnb with a seaside view, figured out the tube to get across London so we didn’t miss our connecting train. We were ready… As we headed down to Brighton, cracke...

Nige joined Cognique in 2008 as a Graphic Designer and has been MD since 2016. Nige talks about the power of business networking, his hopes for the future of Cognique and what he loves about his role.What’s your role at Cognique?I’ve been Managing Director since Dave, Jim and I took joint ownership of Cognique in 2016. I have a variety of roles, including new sales, business development and the strategic direction of the business. I’m often the first point of contact for new clien...

Now that there’s so much content online (over 4.4 million new blog posts are published every day!), writing a good blog post is key if you want it to have any traction. Want more people to find your blog posts via Google and other search engines? Here’s what to do... 1. Answer questions The easiest way to optimise your blog for search engines is to research what questions people are already asking that relate to your business. Once you’ve found a question to answer, Google it yourself and...

Celebrating 15 years at Cognique this year, Jim is our talented Technical Director and website developer specialising in bespoke WordPress websites.Here we find out more about Jim and his love of Star Wars, API integrations and of course website development!What’s your role at Cognique?My official role is Technical Director and I oversee all our website builds, data & API integration, email and DNS configurations. I work closely with our Creative Director, Dave Rice and bring ...

A digital marketing strategy details how a business can achieve its goals using marketing – giving the business focus and helping it achieve buy-in from key stakeholders. Almost any business can benefit from a digital marketing strategy, but it can be particularly beneficial for businesses that are:Looking to grow Seeing a decline in sales Launching a new product or service Moving into a new market Looking to target a new audience Seeing increased competitor activityMarketing can be highl...

Outsourced marketing is exactly as it sounds – outsourcing your business marketing activity to a third party. An outsourced marketing team can be used in addition to an in-house team, or it could replace the need for in-house staff entirely. In this blog post we cover the following:What is involved in outsourced marketing?Why outsource your marketing?What marketing activity can be outsourced?How much does it cost?What is involved in outsourced marketing?A good marketing agency wil...