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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

We specialise in providing bespoke website design and digital marketing for OMBs and SMEs. Winners of the Somerset Business Award Small Business Of The Year 2021, we are enjoying a period of business growth. In response to increased client demand, we have recently expanded the marketing team with Marketing Manager, Kim Barnard who oversees the marketing team and Amy Scriven, in the role of Digital Marketing Executive. Combining their skills and enthusiasm will help take Cognique to the next lev...

In May 2020, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Facebook Shops. Since abandoning the development of a stand alone Instagram shopping app in 2018, Facebook has been developing what they claim will be 'a top tier shopping destination'. The Coronavirus pandemic has created a surge in online shopping and in reaction Facebook have brought forward the development of their Facebook Shops platform. So, is it something businesses should be embracing as part of their social media strategy?  What ex...

You've dived into your Google Analytics and you know where your website visitors are coming from and how they find and use your site. You also discover that your bounce rate is really high. Is this a problem and if so, what can you do about it? What exactly is a bounce rate? A website bounce occurs when a user visits your website, views just one page and then exits immediately. They essentially 'bounce' off your website. Your bounce rate is calculated by dividing all single page sessions by all...

Since the UK lockdown, time spent online has increased exponentially. In fact, UK daytime internet usage has more than doubled. Consumers spending more and more time online will, and has, created opportunities for some businesses, notably ecommerce businesses. The key for these businesses is retaining new customers in the short term and beyond the lockdown period.  Email marketing Email marketing is an effective and cost effective channel for retaining new customers. There are a variety o...

In these challenging times, it’s essential that businesses keep talking to their customers; this really is not the time for marketing 'radio silence'. While cashflow may be a concern for many businesses, the great news is that marketing doesn't have to involve big budgets. In fact, there are lots of highly effective and impactful, low cost marketing activities businesses can (and should!) utilise.  Email marketing  Mailchimp offer free email marketing up to 2,000 subs...