If you’re here, it’s likely that thought is going through your mind! Writing content that enthrals potential customers and appeases search engines can seem like an overwhelming task. Fortunately, we’ve created a step-by-step guide and broken it down into three easy parts to help you produce thoughtful and targeted content, that will deliver traffic right to your digital doorstep.

So, grab a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit (or two!) and let’s get started with part one!

What is website copy?

In short, website copy is the term used to describe the main body of text on your website. Its purpose is to tell visitors about your brand, advertise your services or product, guide visitors around your site and direct them to what action you want them to take.

Before you start writing your content, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

1. Purpose

Before you begin writing it is essential you understand its purpose. Knowing what you want your website copy to achieve will help you craft the perfect content to support your goals. Ask yourself questions like:

• Are you trying to sell a product or service?
• Is your main goal to attract new clients and generate more leads?
• Do you want to create a community?
• Are you trying to improve customer satisfaction?

Be specific with your aims. The more you can define exactly what information you want visitors to your website to know and what action you want them to take, the more successful your website copy will be and the easier it will be for you to write!

2. Research

Research topics will vary depending on the nature of your website, however, the most basic yet vital research you should undertake is to understand your audience and know your competitors.

Audience:

The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to convert them into customers. Try to get into their mindset and ask yourself, who are the people coming to your website, what do they want or need and what terms are they searching? By writing copy that speaks to them in a way they can relate to or solves problems you know they have, you can create a foundation of trust that will generate loyal customers.

Competitors:

It is almost certain that visitors to your site will be looking at competitors’ websites to determine their best option. To convince visitors to choose you instead, it is key you know what your competitors are offering. Find out what they are doing, what audience they target and what type of content they are producing. This will allow you to make strategic decisions about your own website as well as spot trends you can use to get ahead of the rest.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO can seem like a bit of a scary exhausting obstacle. See what we did there? Yeah, sorry about that. Whilst it may seem daunting at first, writing with SEO in mind is important for helping your website to rank higher for relevant searches.

• Keywords: From researching your audience, you should know what words they are searching for. These are your keywords. Whilst you should avoid keyword stuffing, adding keywords to your titles, subheadings and body text will help increase traffic to your website.
• Metadata: Keeping it to one or two sentences, write clear and enticing descriptions of your web pages to encourage click-throughs.
• URLs: Ensure your URL is descriptive yet as concise as possible.
• Interlinking: Interlinks are links that direct your visitors from one page to another within your website. Including interlinks points users towards other valuable information, (potentially preventing them from leaving your website and looking at a competitors), as well as showing search engines that you have other relevant information.

These are the absolute basics of SEO, but they are a great first step in climbing the search engine ranks and reaping the rewards of more website traffic.

Preparing to write your content may seem like a tedious task, however, taking the time to really understand who you’re speaking to and what your content needs to do will help you get some top-notch content right from the get-go.

Don’t forget to check out part two and part three of our ‘How to Write Content for Your Website’ guide, where we focus on what you need to think about whilst writing and what to do when you’ve finished writing!

If you’re wrestling with your writing and need help, give us a call on 01566 232323 or email us at hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post How to Write Content for Your Website: Part 1 appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Instagram and YouTube have a more varied audience
For most businesses, Instagram and YouTube provide a better target market. TikTok has been dominated by Gen Z since its launch and that is showing no signs of changing. This is great news if your business is targeted at Gen Z but bad news if it isn’t. The limited audience range makes it difficult to promote your business, whilst in comparison, Instagram and YouTube have a varied user base so no matter how niche your business is, you’ll be able to find an audience for what you offer.

Instagram and YouTube are more business friendly
TikTok is widely known for its informal and light hearted content with trends and dances becoming particularly popular. This means there is less scope for selling products and services effectively, particularly when you compare it to Instagram and YouTube which actively make it easier to sell your products/services through features like clickable links. Whilst you can of course use trending audios and take part in challenges, the chances are that very few of these are going to be suitable for your business.

Instagram offers more format options
Chances are when it comes to your products or services, you need to get a certain amount of information across. This is where Instagram and YouTube can reign supreme over TikTok. Both these platforms allow you to post longer format videos, letting you get all the information across whereas TikTok is more geared to short, snappy content. Instagram also gives you more options on how you’d like to present your content, including images, stories, longer captions, reels and videos. This makes it easier to create varied content that will appeal to a wider audience, as some people will prefer image content over video.

Instagram and YouTube deliver better results
Whilst it can be tempting to focus all your energy on TikTok videos because of its popularity, the goal of any business’s social media is to increase brand awareness and revenue. For most businesses, lead generation on TikTok is going to be significantly smaller because the target market is not going to be as wide as Instagram or YouTube. That’s why we recommend focusing social media marketing efforts on Instagram or YouTube, ahead of TikTok.

Whilst there are pros to using TikTok and it does have a large user base, the core issue with it is that for most businesses, their target audience is not going to be on it. You may get video views but if they’re not engaging with your business, endless views aren’t going to help you.

Struggling with social media and need help with your digital marketing strategy? Give us a call on 01566 232323 or email us at hello@mihidigital.co.uk

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But what if we told you that less could actually be more? That you could reach further by posting less? Whilst that’s a slight simplification, the key word we wanted to focus on in this post is ‘momentum’. Without it your social media can struggle; with it, you will undoubtedly thrive. 

Let’s explain…..

The quality vs quantity conundrum

Social media should be about quality and not about quantity. 

Whilst you will ideally be posting on a regular basis (3 – 4 posts per week – if you have enough content – is often considered the sweet spot), you should never *ever* be posting merely for the sake of posting. 

If you’ve sat down and felt like you’re putting something out there just because it’s been a while, or you always do on a Sunday, then step away from the keyboard, plug the mouse in to charge for a moment and have a think….about ‘momentum’.

How do you get momentum?

When it comes to social media, ‘momentum’ is the stringing together of several posts that perform well. Sounds easy, right? In fact, many social accounts struggle to achieve it as they don’t actively monitor, understand, or make the most of what works well for them. 

Two factors largely dictate the performance of a post; content and timing. When the timing is right it puts your post immediately in front of your followers. It’s then down to the content; Is it interesting to them? Does it cause them to engage?

Getting the two right gives you a post that works well…. But then what happens?

Do you keep the momentum up or do you squash it?

The timing was right, the content was right…. Bob’s your uncle, you’ve got a good post and it’s got a lot of engagement. That right there immediately puts you on the front foot for your next post as people that engaged will see the next post earlier in their feeds.

Get the timing and content right again…. Your momentum continues further.

Get either of those wrong, then it squashes that momentum like a brick wall.

So what do you need to do?

Remember when we said at the start that you could post less and reach more? Here’s how you do it… 

Have a review of your previous content – perhaps your last 50 posts.

Make a list of what has worked well – both in terms of content and when it was posted.

Do the same with what didn’t.

The two will usually give you a correlation – the post content and timing that works well, and those that cause the proverbial tumbleweed to make its way silently across the screen. 

From there you’re going to post more of what has worked and less of what hasn’t. The more effective posts that you string together, the better the results you will gain.

So, there you have it – by dropping those posts that aren’t working but are taking time out of your day, you can actually build better momentum and spend less time.

That sounds pretty good to us….

If that sounds like something you need support with, give us a call on 01566 232323 or email Mark at hello@mihidigital.co.uk and we will help build and guide your business through it’s online marketing.

The post The importance of building momentum in your social media posting appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Well, that’s exactly what’s happening right here in the South West! The scientists at Trelonk Wellbeing and the University of Plymouth have been taking crops and plants that have been grown for centuries across our green and pleasant land and putting them to real use; lavender, borage and sunflower (to name just a few) are all being put through their paces in the lab and going on to make a real difference to people’s daily lives.

So where does MiHi come in? Although we probably can’t help you sleep, what we can do is get the word out about this innovative brand. Having previously worked with a London-based agency, Trelonk teamed up with MiHi to build the second iteration of their website, which allows you to understand the right mix of products for you and buy them online.

As with all of our sites, we’ve included plenty of SEO work to enable the brand to reach further, as well as our unique understanding of ecommerce to increase conversion.

We’re looking forward to sampling some of the products in the future, but for now you can take a look at their site here: trelonkwellbeing.com

The post MiHi Digital launches new natural ecommerce website appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Create contact between purchases and decisions

Aside from daily consumables, the majority of products or services sold in the South West will have some level of time period between the first and second purchase action or decision. Think of a website for example; we’d say the average life of your website is going to be between three and five years. If we meet you tomorrow and your site is two years old, you’re not going to be making a buying decision today; you’re potentially going to be making it in a year’s time. We’d want to be in your thoughts when you come to make that decision – after all, we do make nice websites! How do we achieve that? By creating regular contact between today (when you’re not making a decision) and next year (when you are). Local businesses can achieve this contact and dialogue with email marketing. You should be actively creating contact points in order to make sure you’re in their thinking when the time to act comes. Regular contact will ensure you’re at the forefront of their mind when they make their decision, rather than that guy they met a year ago.

Develop long-term relationships and add value

Email marketing shouldn’t all be about sales, although that may well be your end goal (and will definitely be a bi-product if you’re doing it right). Think about ways in which you can create a positive contact point between you as the sender, and the recipient. What would they like to hear about? What can you offer them in terms of value? Remember this doesn’t always have to be a discount on your product or service. It could be useful tips and help, or information that is ultimately going to add value to their business or personal lives. We all get a lot of emails; make sure you are delivering information the recipient wants to hear about, and you’ll strengthen the relationship you have with them. What leads from a relationship that adds value to someone? A longer-term bond which provides more individual and regular purchases (and revenue).

Take advantage of seasonal fluctuations

Most businesses are affected by seasonal demand. Think of tourism as the ultimate example. Although the season continues to extend you have a clear time period in which the majority of us travel during the summer, and as a result, a clearly defined period in which many of us will be making decisions on where we’ll be staying. Don’t just rely on people finding your site or remembering it. Give them a nudge. Make sure your emails are reaching them when they’re making the decision. And remember from the first point I made in this blog post, it may well have been a year since they made their last decision; have you had constant contact with them during the year? Has that content added value (my second point?).

Control stock levels

When we put sales on our website it can often be in expectancy of a stampede of new visitors, rushing to get the latest deals. Unfortunately, life often isn’t as easy as that. If you’re in a business that has stock control, consider emailing promotions to your previous customers, if you don’t already do so. It makes sure they know you have a sale, and also remember that you have more information on what they may be interested in from what they’ve previously bought than on anyone else. Use this information to your advantage. Hitting the right people with the right message at the right time will help you increase sales and get rid of stock sitting in the cupboards.

Create loyalty

Loyal customers are gold dust. How do you create loyalty with your customers using email marketing? By having regular contact (point one), by adding value to their lives (point two), by communicating with them when they’re making a decision (point three), and understanding what it is they want and when (point four). So what are you waiting for? There’s a reason statistics show that for every £1 spent on email marketing in the UK, between £15 – £25 of revenue is generated.

If you’d like to talk to us about generating more revenue from your email marketing or designing a bespoke Mail Chimp or Campaign Monitor template for your emails give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk We look forward to seeing your emails in our inbox!

The post Five ways local business can use email marketing to increase revenue appeared first on MiHiDigital.

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Make sure you know who it is you’re targeting

Your Customer; they’re at the heart of everything your company does and they should also be at the centre of your online presence.
Everything should be about them and how you answer what it is they’re looking for.
You’ll have no doubt heard of content marketing by now and that to a large extent is about adding value to those visiting your website.  In order to do that you’ll need to know what it is they value and what drives them to make the decisions that they do.
Build a picture of who it is you’re targeting and what motivates them to behave that way.

Don’t try to be everything to everybody

You can’t be absolutely everything to everybody and if you’re trying to be then you’ll inevitably be losing out by diluting your message.  It can sometimes be tempting if one person asks you for something specific to think that that request represents the needs and desires of the masses.
By working out exactly who it is you’re targeting you should be avoiding the trap of trying to attract everybody and connecting with nobody.

Make sure you know how to reach them

So you know who they are, with that you should also know what channels are best to reach them.
Is it Facebook? Twitter? Email marketing? Regular blogging?
The answer will be unique to each business and whom it is they’re targeting but make sure you prioritise this list.  Quite often smaller businesses won’t be able to do them all so make sure you’re focussing on the tools at your disposal that will give you the best possible chance of reaching your target market.

Make sure you have a plan

A marketing plan doesn’t have to be a sophisticated document written from a groovy design studio by some trendy young guy in a waistcoat and thick rimmed glasses.
It’s a document that gives you a sense of purpose, a drive towards what it is you’re working toward.  It can be as long or as short and concise as you want it to be.  One suggestion we’d give is don’t try to get too clever, get too intricate and overcomplicate.  There’s room for that once you have all the basics in place.
It’s a bit like building a house; make sure you have the foundations in place then add all the fancy bits later.
No foundation; no house.

Make sure you have the resources

This is a massive one for businesses in Devon and Cornwall.
There are not enough hours in the day! So do you have the resources to carry out the plan? If not, do you need to get some help in and if you do can you afford that help?
Your plan should give you an idea of where external help would be best deployed.  If it’s something you don’t think you can yet afford then concentrate your efforts on those channels and areas that are going to give you the most benefit.
By prioritising and focussing you’ll get the benefits of revenue and you can build and grow with that extra profit.

Make sure you report and monitor your efforts

For the moment forget that the word ‘intangible’ ever existed.  You need to know what’s working and build on it.  If it isn’t working then ditch it (after a period of time; sometimes things do take time to come to fruition!).
By having reporting in place you’ll be making business decisions backed up with business information; always a better place to be than throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks.
That’s definitely not what you want to be doing!

Don’t become despondent

Don’t let yourself get down! Once you have your plan the chances are it won’t be driving huge amounts of revenue within 24 hours!
If someone isn’t yet ready to buy from you or doesn’t yet know that they need to then it will take time.
Remember that nobody ever buys from a business they don’t know exists.  By identifying your customers, where they are, what they want and when they want it they’ll know all about you by the time comes to make a decision.
You’ll find that brings success.
For more information on how we can help you gain more success from your online marketing please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post Seven Tips for Businesses in Devon and Cornwall looking to market their business online appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Let us explain:

Volume

Some words and groups of words (key phrases) on the internet are searched for more often than others.

Let us give an example of this; the term ‘Web Design Cornwall’ gets somewhere in the region of 380 searches per month whereas the search term ‘Web Design Devon’ gets 80 fewer at 300 searches per month.

This is replicated across all industries; some phrases will have more people searching for them whilst others will have fewer.

Which leads us on to competition.

Competition

As you can imagine, most companies want to rank highly for the phrases that everyone is searching for.  This makes sense because they’ll be getting the most traffic and those people will be more likely to buy from them because they’ve seen their website when they otherwise may have not.

Problem is not everybody can rank highly!

This means that pockets of high competition begin to appear across search engines, with companies trying to rank highly for these high volume phrases.  This can include massive international companies who want a good chunk of the revenue pie and who will have more money, resource and size than you.

So how do you compete?

The Sweet Spot

The SEO sweet spot for any company is where they can find volume that will drive traffic and the competition is at a level that makes it realistic to rank highly.

This often will not be slap dab in the middle of the highly competitive large phrase.  For example if ‘web design’ had 200,000 searches a month then everybody would want to rank for it but as we said, not everybody can rank for it

Successful SEO will place you in front of your customers, but it needs to be realistic.  If you can find niche terms off of the central competition and make them your own you’ll enjoy the spoils of your nimble and quick strategy.

We’re looking forward to helping you do just that!

For more information on how we can help you perform better in search engines and rank for the phrases you should be ranking for then give us a call on 01566 784860 – there’s no obligation so what’ve you got to lose!
If you like email then drop us a line at hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post The basics of an SEO Strategy appeared first on MiHiDigital.

The key word is value. What is it that you are getting for your money? What are the associated benefits you are receiving?

The cheapest almost certainly won’t be the best; nor will the most expensive necessarily be either!

Perceived value and actual value become the centre of your decision; understanding what it is you think you need, what it is you actually need and who it is that will deliver that for you.

Remember, when choosing a website designer this is a decision that will be with you for a period of realistically three years as a minimum and many more as a maximum.

It will also be one of the most public you make as a business. Over five years, if you average 1,000 visits to your site per month, the decision and end result will have been seen by more than 60,000 visitors.

How many other decisions you make are seen by that number of people?

How many other decisions you make will affect profitability like this one? Of those 60,000 visits, on average 75% are likely to be new visits. The number of those that you are able to convert into sales will have a massive impact on your business, potentially running into tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds during its life.

So is it worth spending a little extra in order to make much much more?

The answer we think is yes. You find the quality that you are after, you reach a price point at which the value matches or exceeds the price you are paying for it and you enjoy the spoils of your decision making.

Here’s to the future of your business – and your future website decisions!

For more information on our website design in Devon and Cornwall please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk – there’s no obligation and we’re always happy to chat and to help!

The post Why value and not price should be your primary factor when choosing a web designer appeared first on MiHiDigital.

If the answer is no then get thinking, if the answer is yes then have you got them written down and are you regularly measuring your achievements against your goals?

Social media can sometimes be an area of business viewed as something that you know you should be doing but is rarely measured or devised into a plan.

What other area of your business would you do for hours a week without measuring the gain and understanding exactly what you are getting from it?

Once you have your goals and objectives you will undoubtedly have more focus to your activity because you will consciously be working toward achieving them. This benefit can be seen in a variety of means, whether that is monetary gain, time efficiency or a combination of both.

Goals for social media are not always fiscally orientated. Ok, if you are selling online then a significant part of your activity will be geared toward gaining sales but in what capacity does your social media activity drive this sale; is it through creating regular dialogue with a certain stakeholder group, is it reaching new customers that you otherwise wouldn’t have found or is it delivering the sale itself.

The likelihood is that it will be a combination of these but understanding where it fits into your wider sales funnel will be an important part of achieving the goal.

With that we have touched on a wider point, which is that your time on social media should not act in isolation, it should be part of your wider business and marketing strategy planning. Marketing is far better when integrated and social media needs to be in this mix. Thinking about how and where you spread your content, how you create dialogue and how you get people to buy from you.

Your social media plan should provide you with a roadmap to future success; to gain more from your time and more benefit.

For more information on how we can help your social media presence please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk 

The post What are you achieving and what are you looking to achieve from your social media activity? appeared first on MiHiDigital.