In other words, Eddy’s presentation can help us all! It is full of information that ranges from website content, email marketing, Google analytics, Facebook advertising, SEO and more. It was a gallop through the subjects due to the time allocated to him but with a very practical approach, he covered it all and used the audience’s websites so also lively and interactive. He spoke about:

• How to use https://www.google.co.uk/trends/
• How to use the key areas of Google Analytics and the need to monitor website stats ie bounce rate shows the website pages that viewers land on but immediately leave.
• How to compare your monthly and yearly stats via Acquisition option on Analytics and how to measure the drive to your website via social media.
• How to optimise each page on your website. Use 300 – 500 words and use key words multiple times on each.
• Use simple Captcha contact forms to at least obtain email addresses
• Statistics show that viewers prefer to read an ”F” shape visual so websites with information displayed in this format tend to get more views / better feedback.
• To look into A/B testing and create a higher conversion rate

Eddy went on to break down the areas and offer top tips such as:

• Keyword Google Planner
• Create a title tag of 8 – 9 words for each website page
• Do not use “Welcome to…” as the first words on your home page!
• Use “Control F” to bring up a search box to check the frequency of each key word. These should ideally be used 4-5 times per page of text.

How to optimise using Social Media to drive traffic to your website
Facebook
• Facebook grew by 2% in the UK last year and now has around 1.6 billion users. There are more video views on Facebook than on YouTube.
• Use targeted advertising to boost your posts and regularly check the breakdown of the Facebook stats to focus on gender and age, etc.
• Run a competition which only works if you ask for comments (no likes or shares). This can have phenomenal results but requires advertising to promote it…
• Try pop-ups… Although these can be annoying at times, they are very effective at getting customers to subscribe. If interested, a reputable website is www.optinmonster.com

Twitter
• Twitter is great for promoting your product / service, researching your competitors and advertising
• Follow companies that will help you get to where you aspire to be. Tag their twitter name in to your tweet and who knows where that will lead. Be professional but use the opportunities which are right in front of you.
• Although each individual tweet has only 140 characters, tweets using under 100 characters tend to get more attention.

TopTips #SocialMedia

Add social media to your email address and via a plug-in on your website.
Use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to schedule your social media and blogs.
Have you also tried LinkedIn and other social media platforms to send traffic to your website? Think about which platform is most relevant for your target customer.

Email Marketing

Be creative with your subject lines, for example, keep them short and direct and use questions. Announce an award / landmark in your business.

According to recent market research, the top three registration processes to help grow your email list are:
• Registration during purchase
• Web registration
• Online events

Write powerful headlines of 6 words maximum. 8/10 read the headline whereas 2/10 read the rest.

Further Keypoints: Digital Marketing

Post media rich content with multiple images. In Facebook, you can now create videos from your still photos… Use tools such as www.tryspruce.com to add text to images.

If you run A/B tests when you have over 100 unique email addresses, it will monitor subject headings, content and open rates in email marketing.

Have a deep understanding of your customer base. Monitor your google analytics and Facebook to ensure the stats are the same as your current targeted customer.

Weekly updates to your website and Facebook page can help increase your SEO.

Ask your potential customers to engage. Ask questions and for their feedback… Bring the social into social marketing but stay focussed and remember it’s a promotional tool to raise awareness of your product / service (but have fun too!)
Choose just 2 or 3 social media platforms to work on and use to their full potential. Choose the platforms that work best for your product / service and also, what you feel comfortable with. If you are a visual / creative person, you may want to try Instagram.
Optimise any visuals with Instagram before posting.
The InSynch website has an amazing range of digital marketing information on it and if you sign up, there is also an invaluable free e-book to help you on your digital marketing journey. Thank you Eddy for sharing so much information with the Growth Hub and OBB audience.

 There continues to be a vast amount of free information on the OBB website: www.optimisingbusinessbroadband.co.uk

With 26 free downloads, a series of webinars focussing on The Cloud and a great
deal of information in our blogs.

If you aren’t already connected, be prepared to take up the benefits of superfast broadband. Make sure you’re ready! Check to see if fibre broadband has arrived:
http://connectingshropshire.co.uk/when-and-where/