There is a range of internet marketing techniques that can benefit websites in strengthening their traffic, brand awareness, and conversion rates. One of the best internet marketing tactics is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), where the aim is to optimise your website for Search Engines, both on-page and off-page, to grow your organic search results listings. Even though SEO has proved to be very successful, it takes a fair amount of knowledge, time, and money to see fruition.

But what if you wish to see results as soon as possible? Regardless of whether your website has just been published or you’re a small company that can’t contend with the marketing budgets of national competitors, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an excellent tool that can assist you by placing your ads in front of users who are proactively looking for your services or products.

Basically, PPC is an advertising model used to boost traffic to websites. Website owners build ad campaigns with particular targeting metrics and essentially pay Search Engines each time their ad is clicked. PPC ads are usually created through Google AdWords or Bing Ads and are situated on top of SERP listings before any organic results. The advantages that many websites harvest from this sort of advertising is invaluable, so here are the top advantages of PPC advertising for your enterprise.

Measurable Results

One of the top advantages of PPC advertising is the opportunity to measure and monitor your results in real-time. Whether or not you set your daily budget to $2 or $20, there are a range of high level performance indicators that can be measured, for example impressions, clicks, cost-per-click, conversions, and ROI to name a few. These metrics enables website owners to effectively determine the success of their campaigns and quickly make alterations where necessary to enhance performance. In contrast to other advertising channels, PPC allows you the freedom to customise and track metrics in every campaign and monitor success depending on your advertising goals.

Quick Entry

PPC makes it possible for any type of organisation to launch their advertising efforts quickly and conveniently, without delivering too much risk with the ability to fix a maximum daily budget. Although SEO is a very effective strategy, it usually takes many months to see results so if you’re a new enterprise that needs to increase traffic and brand awareness quickly, PPC is ideal for you. Designing ad campaigns is all done from the PPC platform, allowing websites to cast a wide net to generate new leads and customers by showcasing ads on top of SERP listings.

Highly Targeted Traffic

PPC advertising enables you to customise your campaigns so they only show to highly targeted customers. Google AdWords allows you to target customers according to keywords, interests, location, and the times and days you want to display them, enabling websites to spend their advertising budget only on their niche audience. Websites can then analyse the metrics that were used in conversions and develop their future campaigns according to this feedback. Advertisers generally take a multi-layered approach to start with and narrow down the specific metrics of a campaign that works best for their particular target market.

Valuable Data

Having the ability to export the results of an ad campaign and assess particular metrics provides websites with precious data which can be utilised in other marketing channels. Along with this, websites can easily uncover impression, click, and conversion data for each keyword or phrase used in their ad campaigns which strongly helps in their SEO efforts. PPC also enables websites to find data about their comptetition by utilising third party tools such as KeywordSpy and SpyFy, allowing them to create a profile of their competitors and what market share is readily available.

As you can see, PPC is a compelling marketing tool that is suitable for all kinds of organisations. Not only are advertisers in complete control of their ad campaigns, budget, and target audience, the data obtained from real-time results offers invaluable feedback to bolster future marketing initiatives. The best aspect of PPC advertising is that there is hardly any risk involved with set daily budgets, so why not give it a go today?

If you require any support in crafting your PPC ad campaigns, talk to Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for further information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

In today’s challenging environment of online marketing, there’s no doubt that content is king. Content is all around us and individuals love consuming it! It should come as no surprise that content is at the centre of most marketing techniques, with somewhere around 94% of small companies concentrating their efforts on content marketing. Having said this, with so many businesses now directing their marketing efforts on content, it’s becoming progressively tricky to stick out from the crowd and make your content marketing appealing and successful.

Have you tried content marketing only to discover that you’re not getting the desired outcomes? Well, you’re quite likely one of many businesses that are in the same boat. Don’t lose faith though, there’s no question that content marketing is among the most useful ways of boosting your customer base. So, here are four reasons why your content marketing may not be working and importantly, ways to fix them!

1. You don’t have a strategy

Similar to any investment, if you don’t have a strategy and assigned KPIs to measure results, how can you possibly improve? Submitting blogs and sending tweets are great, but if you don’t have any aims then you’re merely aiming in the dark. To construct captivating content that followers will engage with, you need to have a clearly-defined strategy that should align with your business goals.

Regardless of whether you intend to improve brand awareness, website traffic, or conversion rates, your strategy should include KPIs in addition to short-term and long-term goals. These marketing goals should complement your business goals so you have a clear understanding of your target audience, the purpose of your content, and the types of content that will work best for you.

2. Your content is not distinct

With the sheer quantity of online companies nowadays, it’s pivotal that your content is distinguishable from others. Too many businesses will generate content without examining the competition and as a result craft content that just gets lost in the crowd. Your content should be interesting, fun, and most importantly, offer value to users by offering solutions to prevalent pain-points in your niche. Along with this, different types of content suit different communication techniques, so think about the most effective ways you can do this, either through infographics, videos, diagrams, or even just thought-provoking or intriguing text.

3. You don’t promote your content

One of the greatest errors that small companies make with their content marketing is that they don’t actually market it! Even if you’ve created the most ground-breaking article the world has ever seen, who will see it if they don’t know it exists? If you want to be successful with your content marketing, it’s vital that you promote your content through all available avenues, including:

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google+).

Email newsletters.

Adding internal links to your articles.

Pitching to influencers and bloggers in your niche.

Proposing it as a guest post to bloggers in your market.

Including links to your content when commenting on other forums and blogs.

4. Your content is not search engine friendly.

Content comprises a significant portion of your SEO, so it’s important that your content is SEO friendly and never use black hat tactics to try to boost results. Keyword stuffing is a popular mistake that businesses will make in their content creation, in conjunction with duplicate content, using the wrong keywords, and not optimising their meta tags.

Conduct some groundwork to uncover the most suitable keywords that your target audience would use to find your content. Likewise, use meta tags to your benefit to draw more users to your blog. Search engines always intend to deliver the best content to users, so if your content is valued then other sites will link to it, increasing the chances of obtaining more high-quality, reliable links from relevant businesses.

At the end of the day, there may be hundreds of reasons why your content marketing isn’t offering you the intended results, however these recommendations should address the majority of them. If you’re going to invest in content marketing, you can’t do it half-heartedly. Conduct as much research as you can about your viewers, your competitors, and your keywords, and develop captivating content that your users will naturally engage with.

If you’re about to give up on content marketing because of poor results, speak with Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo who can point you in the right direction. Phone 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit our website for further information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

In today’s competitive marketplace of digitalisation and globalisation, it’s critical for organisations to employ online strategies and tactics that enhance their visibility to customers that are proactively looking for their products or services. Search Engines are absolutely the most influential programs that will have a bearing on your online visibility, and hence your website traffic, conversion rates, and inevitably success. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), therefore, is used widely by most websites to enhance their Search Engine rankings, otherwise referred to as ‘Search Engine Results Pages’ (SERPs).

SEO can be an effective investment that will heighten your exposure and conversion rates, or if used improperly, can injure your rankings and exposure, thus having the opposite effect. The challenge with SEO is that its algorithm is constantly changing, and most website owners don’t keep up to date with current SEO trends. SEO tactics that worked last year may not necessarily be effective this year, and prominent SEO tactics from 5 years ago may result in your website being penalised today.

As opposed to focusing on the top SEO tactics that website owners should be investing in, we’re instead going to delve into the top SEO tactics that will actually penalise your website and therefore should be completely forgotten about in 2018.

1. Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is a regular mistake that many website owners make in an attempt to heighten their SERP results. Keyword stuffing is fundamentally the same as it sounds – adding as many keywords/phrases to a websites content or meta tags by any means possible. Search Engine spiders or crawlers can quickly verify how many times a keyword has been utilised and will penalise websites for excess keyword stuffing. As opposed to keyword stuffing, website owners should centralise their efforts on the sub-topics and related information behind the keywords/phrases themselves.

2. Aggressive Link Building

Link building has been around since the creation of SEO, and its value as an SEO tactic has developed fairly quickly since then. Although link building is still amongst the top three SEO tactics in 2018, aggressive link building will certainly result in your website being penalised. Google weighs links genuinely as a ranking signal considering that links are a public promotion which correlates with valued information on a website.

Aggressive link building transpires where links are acquired in a synthetic way. Examples of this is where links are inserted in poor link directories, purchasing links, link schemes, and other spammy tactics. This SEO technique will result in penalties for a website and should be abandoned, instead being substituted with a link building strategy that is more user-focused and marketing based.

3. Excessive Internal Links

One obsolete SEO tactic that lots of folks still believe to be effective is excessive internal links. There is a frequent misconception where websites that contain a large amount of links to other pages within the website will improve their SERP results. The intent in doing this is to increase a website’s backlink profile. This is certainly not accurate, as excessive internal links within your website will do more damage than good.

4. Not Identifying Technical Problems

The backend of a website plays a critical role in SEO, so it’s important not only to pinpoint any technical issues that may hurt your SERP rankings, but also keep up to date with the latest best practices. For instance, Google has just published an update relating to SSL encryption, so if a website doesn’t obey this update now, it will be penalised. The most popular technical problems that affect most websites today are:

Slow loading page times

Mobile errors

Duplicate content

Improper redirects

Unintentional blocked pages

5. Not Optimising Images

One of the most overlooked SEO tactic that will enhance your SERP rankings are related to the images within a website. Optimising your website for image search is a reliable way to enrich your SEO, and this can be done primarily with the image filename and alt attribute. For instance, instead of supplying an image with a filename of home1.jpg, website owners should instead aim to use a keyword that characterises the image. Additionally, a basic mistake with images is keyword stuffing the alt attribute.

There’s no question that a productive SEO strategy will boost a website’s SERP rankings and visibility, however due to many websites abusing SEO techniques in the past, Search Engine’s SEO algorithms are regularly changing and it’s essential to keep up with these changes to grow in today’s online marketplace. If you need any advice with your SEO strategy, or simply haven’t updated your strategy in the last couple of years, phone Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for further information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

Are you new to social media and want to learn the basics of one of the best platforms in the world? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Twitter is a social networking service where close to 330 million users socialise with one another through short messages of up 280 characters. At this point there’s over 6,000 tweets being sent through the internet every second, varying from standard text messages to gifs, memes, images, videos, and so much more. Twitter is among the most in demand social networking sites and is significantly different to other social networking giants like Facebook and Instagram.

Twitter is a platform where people exchange a multitude of information; from politics, jokes, news, or just universal thoughts about odd topics! As opposed to having a circle of friends like Facebook, Twitter is dependent on followers (not specifically friends) so not only can you connect with friends, but also your favourite politicians, journalists, and sport stars as well. Anything you upload on Twitter is accessible publicly for everybody to discover, but don’t stress, you can simply alter your preferences to private if you prefer to.

The first step in understanding Twitter is to grasp the basic terms and lingo used. The following lists the most commonplace vernacular:

Tweet – A 280-character message

Retweet (RT) – Sharing a tweet created by another member

Feed – The list of tweets you’ll find on your homepage from people that you choose to follow

Handle – Your username

Mention (@) – A way of referencing other members in a tweet (e.g. @EAGames). Any person mentioned in a tweet is informed, being an uncomplicated way to connect with other people publicly

Direct Message (DM) – A private message (280 characters) sent to another member. You can either select to accept DM’s from all users or just members that you follow

Hashtag (#) – A keyword or phrase used to describe a topic or theme in a discussion (e.g. #Vegans). You can locate tweets from all users that mention a certain hashtag by clicking on the hashtag itself.

Creating an Account

Creating an account is simple and easy, just download the app or head to www.twitter.com and click the signup tab. The full name you enter will be your display name, but this can be changed as regularly as you desire. Choose a username (or handle) so people can mention you by typing the @ symbol in front of your username. After you’ve typed in your mobile number for validation purposes, chosen an avatar, and composed a quick bio about yourself so others can see your passions and interests, you’re good to go!

Joining the Twitterverse

As discussed earlier on, Twitter isn’t about friending, it’s about following. Not only can you follow your buddies, but also any other characters of which you’re a supporter. Once you’ve signed up, Twitter will offer a standard kind of setup wizard to help you begin, such as recommending some individuals that you might want to follow. You can give Twitter permission to browse your contacts list to uncover any of your friends that are currently using Twitter. Following friends and other users is particularly simple, and once you’ve started following certain users, Twitter will continue to offer recommendations for other users to follow based on the sorts of users you’re currently following. All the tweets of your followers will appear in your Feed, so the more you follow, the more Tweets will appear in sequential order in your Feed.

Tweet Something

You can Tweet anything you like, as long as it abides by Twitters rules and guidelines (https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules). This includes mentioning other users (@), promoting a topic or theme (#), or Retweeting other user’s comments (RT). Simply select the ‘Compose New Tweet’ button and you can Tweet text, images, photos, videos, gifs – a complete range of different media that can be uploaded via your device. Always remember though, videos can only be up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds long, however photos and images do not count towards your character limit, which is fantastic!

Once you’ve gotten the hang of the basics of Twitter, the world is essentially at your fingertips! You can keep up to date with the most recent trends, be the first to see viral posts, and engage with your friends and favourite personalities in a simple and user-friendly platform.

Once you’ve got started using Twitter, the rest will fall into place easily, so why join the Twittersphere today? If you need any help with getting started on Twitter, simply get in touch with Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo on 1300 595 013, or visit our website for more information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

If you’ve just produced your first website and you’d like to know the ways in which you can increase your organic search results, then you’re certainly on the path to success. SEO is one of the most reliable marketing tools due to the fact that it enables you to get your message in front of prospective consumers that are directly searching for your products.

The fact is, the answer isn’t very straightforward! Google’s search ranking algorithm is effectively its secret to success, so it’s extraordinarily convoluted and has over 200 variables that account for the listings in its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Luckily for you, not all variables are constructed equally, so you can concentrate on the most relevant variables that will have the greatest effect on your SERP listings.

It is essential to understand that the weight of each variable is adjusted as time passes, so Google will place more importance on specific variables according to user behaviour and how Google feels it can maximise the user experience. With this being said, most of the leading organic SEO ranking variables have been in the same spot for a few years now, so understanding these top variables can give you a greater understanding of how you can optimise your organic search results to increase website traffic, customer engagement, and ultimately sales.

1. Content

A great significance is placed on content simply because Google wants to rank the most relevant websites on top of its search results . The recent Hummingbird update allows Google to recognise a website’s content structure and how this content adds value to prospective consumers, so generating quality content set in a natural tone will be compensated with higher rankings. Including articles in your website such as intricate tutorials, guides, and how-to’s is a great start. At the same time, the more content you have, the better it will rank in search results. SerpIQ (https://serpiq.com/) has analysed the top 10 search results and identified that the top positions contain content that is about 2,400 words in length.

2. Backlinks

For over a decade now, backlinks have been one of the most critical variables in SERP listings since the more links there are to your website from reputable sources, the more trusted your website is perceived. The flip side of the coin rings true also though, so be careful not to generate links on spammy or uncredible websites or your rankings will decline! Matt Cutts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5FDzUh0P4) from Google clarifies that backlinks will lose value eventually as Google searches for new ways to appraise websites, but for the time being, link building is still the best indicator of relevance and reliability.

3. Mobile Optimisation

With more users now surfing from mobile devices than desktops, there has been a major shift towards optimising your website for mobile devices. Google is currently experimenting with mobile-first indexing, which points out that Google’s index will soon crawl the mobile version of a website as opposed to the desktop version. If your website isn’t currently mobile-friendly, you better get started but beware not to publish it until it’s 100% complete or you may be penalised. Page loading speed is a vital factor for mobile optimisation, so aspire to have mobile pages loaded within 2 seconds to make certain that your website is truly ‘mobile-friendly’.

4. Other Technical Factors

There are numerous other technical elements that will noticeably determine your SERP listings, such as security, headings, anchor text, and interstitials. There is a strong correlation between high ranking websites and those that are SSL encrypted (HTTPS), and this is very quick to install if you haven’t already done so. In addition, ensure your landing pages have a H1 or H2 heading in the source code, as this has been found to associate with higher rankings. Other elements such diverse and organic backlink anchor text and less on-page advertisements and pop-ups will also enhance your organic search results listings.

5. Keeping up to date

Google’s search ranking algorithm is always adjusting, meaning that SEO techniques are continuously changing also. Despite the fact that there are over 200 variables in Google’s search ranking algorithm, Google has placed great importance in recent times on rich content, quality links, and a smooth mobile experience. Endeavouring to concentrate on all Google’s search ranking variables will prove to be fruitless, but if you focus on prioritising the abovementioned variables in your SEO efforts, you will be ahead of the competition.

If you require any help in how to properly execute any of the above SEO techniques, don’t hesitate to speak with the digital marketing specialists at Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo by phoning 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit their website for more information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

Online visibility is an integral component to any businesses strategy, however the digital environment is in a continual state of change so it’s paramount to stay on top of these changes to make sure that your online presence is optimised. Google releases between 500 and 600 updates each year, with the majority of them merely tweaking their secretive search ranking algorithm. With Google being such a powerful force in today’s digital world, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become progressively important for companies to increase their website traffic, customer engagement, and ultimately their sales.

User behaviour is transforming rapidly with new technology, so Google must track these changes and upgrade their search algorithm respectively to ensure the user experience is as smooth as possible. If a website is going to flourish online, they too must remain on top of the changing trends in SEO. In fact, using old SEO methods can lead to penalties that lower a website’s search engine results page (SERP) listings, so here we’ll look at the top SEO trends to consider for your website in 2018.

Voice Search

Lots of users are now preferring to utilise voice searches as opposed to conventional keyboard searches, so this will organically be a top SEO trend in 2018. Voice searches are quicker and more convenient, which is why it isn’t surprising that 1 in 5 online searches originate from voice queries. If the current rise in voice searches continues at the same speed, pretty much half of all online searches will be carried out via speech by the year 2020!

What this means for websites is that they should begin blending more long-tailed keywords into their SEO strategy, especially those with a natural conversational tone. As an example, if a website has a keyword phrase such as “best Sydney restaurants”, it could also be accompanied by a phrase such as “Where are the best Sydney restaurants near me?”

Link Building

Link building has always been a treasured tool for SEO, and this will still be a pivotal component in determining SERP listings in 2018. Generating valuable links to reputable websites is still the easiest way for Google to ascertain if a website is trusted, so adding value through quality links that helps you develop an authority in your target niche is a fantastic strategy.

Having said this, the trend towards link building is now more long-term, so having links from sites relevant to your industry and referral traffic will be very beneficial in the future.

Mobile Optimisation

Since 2015, online searches using mobile devices has exceeded that from computers, so Google has made it very clear that websites that are optimised for mobile devices will be ranked higher in SERP listings.

The reason that mobile optimisation is a top SEO trend for 2018 is because Google has disclosed that they are experimenting with mobile-first indexing, which clearly signifies that mobile optimisation will be prioritised in the coming year. If your website hasn’t already been optimised for mobile devices, now is most definitely the time to start!

Accelerated Mobile Pages

Website loading speeds play a key role in SERP listings, and Google’s search results algorithm will undeniably favour those with quicker speeds. As a matter of fact, Google has established an open source project that helps websites to load pages faster on mobile devices. The project named ‘Accelerated Mobile Pages’ (AMP) enables individual web pages to load 4 times quicker than regular pages, and uses only 10% of the data in doing so!

While AMP is not directly influencing SERP listings yet, it will affect other areas closely related to Google’s search results algorithm, such as bounce rate and session duration of users. AMP can be quickly installed into HTML or JavaScript code, but plugins will be needed for content management systems such as Drupal and WordPress.

How To Work On SEO For Your Website in 2018

Even though traditional SEO techniques like link building will still be productive in 2018, there are other developing trends that Google is prioritising in the future which may noticeably alter the practice of SEO. It’s clear that SEO is already adjusting to stay up to date with changes in user behaviour and to maximise the overall user experience. By recognising the latest SEO trends and implementing strategies now, your website will be optimised and ready to receive targeted customers from higher SERP listings.

If you have any queries or concerns about how you can optimise your website to adapt to the latest SEO trends, connect with Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo on 1300 595 013, or visit their website for further details: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

The day has finally come where Twitter users can share their dissatisfaction with the 140 character limit in more detail, since Twitter has formally confirmed that they have inflated the character limit to 280 per Tweet!

The social networking company, which was introduced in 2006, grew swiftly to become one of the most celebrated social media sites around the globe, however recent declines in growth induced the social media giant to make some modifications. Twitter distinguishes itself from other social media networks with its ‘microblogging’ feature, which is greatly unique to comparable social media sites like Facebook and Google Plus. Twitter has just over 330 million users that send nearly 6,000 Tweets per second.

Despite the 140 character limit that fervently defined the social networking site, Twitter stated on November 7 that they want every person around the world to ‘easily’ express themselves on Twitter. After performing a series of tests over the last few months, Twitter decided that they wanted to expand the character limit, but only where needed. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and China will stay at the 140 character limit, only because there’s no demand for an increase, as sending messages in these languages can be conveyed in a short amount of characters. Languages like English conversely, experience choked Tweets with 9% of English Tweets hitting the preceding 140 character limit.

So, why the change?

After carrying out a variety of tests to certain users, Twitter gained valuable results and deemed the 240 character limit would be favourable for most users. Due to the fact that 9% of English users were hitting the 140 character mark, many would have to spend time modifying their Tweets to make sure that they didn’t need to send several messages. Plus, users would now have the ability to easily fit their views into a single Tweet, so they could say what was on their mind and send them much faster than before.

The question is, what influence will this have for internet marketers and SEO specialists? Here are a few changes that they can expect to see.

Increased engagement

Since Twitter extended the character limit, users have experienced a higher level of responses which brought about more followers. Visibly, this has been a step in the right direction, as there has been a reported higher satisfaction rate from content producers combined with more Likes, Retweets, and Mentions.

Improved user experience for followers.

The broadened character limit means that users will have smaller threads of conversations, considering that they can fit more content into a single message. Users with long threads of conversations described that it can often times be problematic to follow and respond to. In addition, brands are enjoying the longer Tweets as it enables them to fit more comprehensive information into a single Tweet which leads to higher engagement rates.

Increases customer communication

With the growth of companies using social media as a channel to deal with customer service matters, customers can now convey an issue in more detail on Twitter which is advantageous for both the customer and the business, as communication is significantly enhanced. Prior to this update, many users would have chosen other social netowrks like Facebook to report customer service issues due to the fact that the character limit was too constricting.

More Creativity

Longer Tweets means that organisations can heighten the creativity of their communication with their target audience through storytelling, Q&A’s, and more engaging Twitter Chats. Businesses would typically have to use other social media platforms if they needed to get creative, however brands can now successfully use longer text to their advantage by interacting with their audience on a more personal level.

Even though some users have suggested that the increase in character limit by Twitter makes them more similar to other social media networks, the vast majority of users appear to be very satisfied with their latest update. Nothing is set in stone in social media, as making changes to keep up with shifting user behaviour is critical for survival. For the time being though, both users and marketing specialists seem to have emerged the winner!

If you require any guidance about how your company can leverage the increased character limit to your advantage on Twitter, just reach out to Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo by phoning 1300 595 013, or alternatively visit their website for additional information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, it’s necessary that companies Google’s best practices to make sure that they stay competitive in their respective online markets. With Google being the most commanding and influential company on the internet, it’s necessary for them to keep abreast of all the threats and opportunities that the internet offers. Accordingly, Google releases a multitude of updates each year: new features, bug fixes, and the majority pertaining to the very secretive Google search ranking algorithm.

What’s important though, is that all online companies that use Google-related services (essentially every online company), are aware of extensive changes that may bear upon their SEO, performance, and ultimately their bottom-line. The internet is in a perpetual state of change, so online firms need to be versatile and conform with new Google updates as quickly as possible to make sure that they aren’t negatively impacted by these new releases.

The biggest Google update that has recently affected online companies pertains to Google Chrome v62, which was released in October this year. The Google Chrome web browser is used by nearly 50% of all online users, so it’s really important that online providers incorporate the specific changes as quickly as possible if they wish to prevent any adverse consequences.

What has changed in Google Chrome v62?
In the Google Chrome v62 update, Google has reformed the way in which it marks non-secured (HTTP) pages. If a non-secured (HTTP) page keeps passwords and bank card information (which is saved in a plain text file), they are vulnerable to phishing sites that can essentially steal this information from consumers that wrongly believe they are giving their personal information to a genuine business. The Google Chrome browser will start marking any text input field and web address bar as ‘NOT SECURE’ for HTTP pages.

This change will surely have an effect on millions of websites across the globe. Before the change, many non-secured websites weren’t affected by phishing attacks simply because they didn’t have a public-facing member login, and utilised PayPal or other offsite payment processors to accept online payments. Now, however, all websites will need to start securing their web pages given that users will become worried of falling victim to harmful attacks if they input their personal information into fields marked boldly as ‘NOT SECURE’.

How to make web pages secure?
For online providers that wish to secure their previously non-secured (HTTP) web pages, they will need to encrypt the information being exchanged between their clients and their web server by incorporating an SSL certificate. Google are distinctly pushing for a more secure internet than ever before, and they’ve chosen SSL encryption as a vehicle to do this. For website owners who wish to enable HTTPS on their web servers, here is a helpful guide: https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/encrypt-in-transit/enable-https?hl=en. The following link is an additional guide on ways to avoid the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning in Google Chrome which is targeted at website developers: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/10/avoid-not-secure-warn.

What this means for online businesses?
The recent Google update implies that HTTPS and SSL encryption will become the norm across all web pages on the web. One way or another, each online enterprise will have to secure their web pages using SSL encryption whether they like it or not, or users will simply go with a competitor that does.

What this also signifies is that not all websites using SSL encryption should be trusted, and there will be a considerable increase in phishing sites using HTTPS also. Phishing sites can simply use fictitious SSL certificates to circumvent the ‘NOT SECURE’ warning by Google Chrome and make their websites appear valid. This will make the differentiation between phishing sites and real websites more difficult than ever. Online businesses that use an Extended Validation Certificate (EV SSL) will be the most trusted websites on the web since it will be exceptionally difficult for phishing sites to imitate the authenticity that EV SSL provides.

Making all websites employ SSL certificates to validate their authenticity will only increase the number of phishing sites that do the same. At the end of the day, however, SSL encryption will gradually become compulsory, so if you need any support in securing your website with SSL encryption, consult the digital specialists at Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo by calling 1300 595 013, or visit their website for more information: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

So, you’ve got a fantastic business idea and you’ve made the decision you’re going to construct and publish your own website. Well, as you most likely know, there are many things to take into account. The design of the website, the images you’re going to use, the content, the website architecture, the logos, the online store – the list goes on. But essentially, what’s most important when building a new website is the platform you choose. There’s a variety of website platforms available with an array of diverse features, targeting the entire spectrum of developers from novices to specialists. You’ll ask for suggestions on which platform to use and developers will argue for weeks on end about why one platform is better than the other.

It can naturally be confusing to weigh the pro’s and con’s of each website platform and choose which is best for you. So, to save the time and arguments, the simple answer to this question is ‘WordPress’. The following article will provide five persuasive arguments as to why WordPress is the best platform to use, irrespective of your website development skills and abilities.

WordPress is user-friendly and manage

WordPress is exceptionally easy to use so you don’t need to be an expert HTML coder to develop an effective and powerful website. The setup process is quick and simple, the tools are intuitive and there’s a built-in updater so you don’t have to stress over not taking advantage of all the latest features. There are inbuilt features for blog publishing, RSS feeds, user management, automated backups, revisions and much more. Once installed, you can start making custom configurations without even writing any code!

WordPress is remarkably SEO-friendly

In the words of Google Engineer Matt Cutts, “WordPress automatically solves a tonne of SEO issues”. SEO is an incredibly important component to any website so having in-built features that seamlessly make your website SEO-friendly is priceless. WordPress coding is standard compliance, high quality, and produces semantic mark-up which makes your site genuinely attractive to search engines. There are also a selection of free plugins that you can install which will make your website even more SEO-friendly, but we’ll discuss WordPress’ plugins next.

WordPress is FREE and Open Source

Yes, you read it correctly; WordPress is free to download, install, and use to design any type of website you like. WordPress is also open source which means that the source code is obtainable for anyone to modify, edit and create different themes and plugins with an assortment of features and release these to the community. Now, there are more than 2,600 WordPress themes and over 3,100 different free plugins available for use. Considering WordPress is a community software, it is maintained by a large group of volunteers who all contribute to the software by writing patches, answering support questions and updating documentation. If you have any inquiries or concerns about anything WordPress related, there are essentially thousands of people ready to help.

WordPress is mobile friendly

As a result of the increasing use of smart phones for internet usage, it’s incredibly important that your website is optimised for mobile devices. In fact, one of Google’s latest updates requires websites to be optimised for mobile devices or they’ll be penalised in SEO. Thankfully most WordPress themes are designed to be mobile responsive, meaning that whatever device your visitors are using, WordPress websites will systematically alter the appearance of your website to match. WordPress also enables you to work on both of your mobile website and PC website independently, so you can easily customise both to optimise the user experience.

WordPress is secure

Today, website security is critical so naturally WordPress has high security standards. Nearly 25% of websites are created on WordPress so hackers are continually attempting to find ways to compromise them. WordPress is well aware of this so has created a range of security features which prevents any malicious attacks by releasing regular updates that neutralises these threats. Bear in mind, it’s also important for you to be using a secure device when accessing your WordPress account, so make sure that you utilise standard security tools on your device and only install credible plugins from trusted sources.

As you can see, WordPress has a range of superior features that simply make it the best website platform on the market today. Although there are many other reasons why WordPress is a great choice for your website, this article just focuses on five of these: WordPress is remarkably user-friendly, free and open source, significantly SEO compatible, mobile friendly, and secure. What more could you want from a platform to build a practical and powerful website? If you have any queries about how you can further optimise your website, get in touch with the team at Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au

Having worked as a sales rep for numerous tech start-ups, I can’t even begin to explain the importance of sending email sequences that sell. Automated emails are fabulous because they substantially reduce the workload for a sales rep, nevertheless nowadays, everybody can identify with discovering an assortment of email sequences lurking in their inbox on a daily basis that just frustrate us because we need to click two buttons to get rid of them!

Not nearly enough business owners invest the time and effort in creating effective email sequences that essentially sell their product. Producing useful email sequences is both a science and an art, and if done effectively, can lead to incredible results. Having hundreds of potential customers on an email list isn’t going to deliver any income if you can’t sell your product. So, here’s 4 tips on how to develop a great email sequence that will convert your leads into sales.

Tip 1 – First Impressions Count

The age old saying ‘make a good first impression’ is very relevant when it relates to email sequences. By first impressions, I mean the subject lines of your emails. It’s the very first thing that recipients will inspect so if it’s not appealing enough, they merely won’t open it. Needless to say, the subject lines of an email are critical when it comes to conversion rates. Here are some stats which emphasises their importance:

One-third of email recipients will open an email based completely on the subject line

Nearly 70% of email recipients will determine if an email is spam based on the subject line

40% of emails are opened on mobile devices first, and the common mobile screen can only fit between 4-7 words in the subject line.

The key to prosperous subject lines is solving your prospects problems in as little words as possible. For instance, effective subject lines include, “Common questions about university”, “Common questions about interest rates”, etc. Think of your prospects problems and target your subject lines to solve that problem succinctly. You can monitor your subject line performance using HubSpot Sales notification stream (https://www.hubspot.com/products/sales/email-tracking).

Tip 2 – Write Well-Crafted Content

After a recipient has opened an email, it’s important that you deliver a value proposition in the context of their problem immediately. Forget beginning the email with your name and job title; you must give your recipients a good reason to continue reading the email. Hence, begin your email with some relevant information they can relate to, like company news or their opinion to an event via Twitter or an online blog, then get into the value proposition in the second & third sentences.

Your value proposition should be structured like this:.

I have an idea about [problem/pain-point] and I’d love to have a moment to speak to you about [solution].

Here’s some preliminary information [link to helpful content] and if you ‘d like to speak more about it, let me know.

I recently collaborated with another organisation with [positive benefit]. Is this something that would be beneficial for [company name]?

It’s essential that you get to the point swiftly and keep the content focused on the objectives of your prospect.

Tip 3 – Throw out the tedious ‘Welcome Email’

If a prospect has shown interest in your service or products, why waste both of your time with a welcome email that has no benefit or offerings? It’s ultimately dead-wood and if you’re going to send a welcome email, make sure that you incorporate a catchy subject line and value proposition in the content of the email (refer to tip 1 & 2).

Tip 4 – Always Be Helpful

The fact of the matter is that even a wonderful first email may not get a reaction from the recipient. It’s understandable; people are busy and have prerogatives, so I recommend sending two or three follow-up emails as part of your email sequence. It’s easy to forget an email that you’re interested in, but an effective follow-up email will remind them that you’re here to help them in whatever problem they have. You should make sure that your follow-up emails also feature your value propositions, and further information that is helpful to the recipient in solving their problems. Again, HubSpot Sales will keep track of which emails are opened and which links are clicked so I strongly recommend using this application to aid you with your email sequences.

The value of developing effective and actionable email sequences can have a remarkable affect on your conversion rates and sales. There are many variables that you need to consider when designing your email sequences, but this article features the most important factors that lead to success. If you’re having problems converting your leads into sales with your email sequences, it’s certainly worthwhile in seeking advice from digital marketing experts that can assist you. Contact the team at Internet Marketing Experts Dubbo today on 1300 595 013 or visit their website: http://www.internetmarketingexpertsdubbo.com.au.