News Archives - Page 6 of 13 - Barefruit Marketing®

Meet Ollie! Work Experience at Barefruit

Posted on December 10, 2020February 1, 2022 by fruityadmin

What I learned at Barefruit

Since I arrived at Barefruit Marketing I have learned a lot about the marketing world. The amazing staff at Barefruit have taught me so many areas of marking including, but not confined to; SEO (search engine optimisation), SEM (search engine marketing), how to write a creative design brief, the importance of social media profiles for your business and how to run one effectively. I also learnt how to understand Google Analytics and use data to improve website traffic. Our social media marketing Gold Coast experts can help you establish your online business.

My experiences during my time here

In my time at Barefruit, I have been to some meetings where I had the opportunity to listen and learn a lot. These meetings were great in helping me understand how the ads that we see on TV and the internet get from an idea in someone's head to being on your screen at home. As well as how much time and money needs to be put into making the right ads to suit your business and demographic.

I have had the chance to work with heaps of different people who specialise in different areas here at Barefruit. Such as working with Fliss, Digital Account Director, who has explained a lot to me over my first two days. She explained what SEO is and how to increase your websites credibility. She explained how Google Ads work and how we can use the data from Google Ads to improve your SEO and monitor whether the ads are effective or not.

I spent some time with Lucy, an Account Executive, who has taught me how to run and schedule a social media profile. I wrote various types of posts and completed some research tasks. Then, using the information I gathered I wrote posts for social media and newsletters.

I have worked with Charlotte, Account Executive, who has shown me how important the look and ‘aesthetic’ of a social page is to a business in this day and age. I have been making some creative posts and preparing client Christmas presents, as well as writing this blog.

Album cover Concepts for our new song

Last week I had the pleasure of doing work experience at RockingHorse Studios in Coorabell in the Byron Hinterland, with four other year 10 students, thanks to Taryn McGregor. We had an amazing time working with Paul Pilsnenics, a professional Sound Engineer who showed us our way around a recording studio and helped us write and record a song.

Our song is called ‘Feel It’ by Hula Hands and it is now on Spotify for the world to hear. We thought 'Feel It' could use a good-looking album cover so Alex, Barefruit’s Creative Lead, has been showing me the creative process of making a cover for our song. He showed me how he would use the design brief to create an on-brief design. The product was a professional album cover which conveys the feel of the song from a glance.

Marketing trends you can expect to see in 2021

Posted on November 20, 2020February 8, 2023 by fruityadmin

2021 is just around the corner which means it’s time to get ahead of the game. As we approach the end of each year, marketing trends for the next start to emerge. So, we’re going to take a look at what you can expect to see in the world of marketing in 2021.

User Generated Content

Since the rise of influencer marketing, user generated content (UGC) has become a highly effective marketing strategy for brands all across the world. As such, the value of UGC has increased exponentially due to consumers’ inclination to trust messages from fellow users over those from brands. The main appeal of UGC is the increased level of authenticity and reliability it provides consumers – essentially, it’s the new-school word for ‘word of mouth’.

Due to lock-down and social-distancing restrictions, 2020 saw a HUGE increase in UGC. Photoshoots and filming were put on hold and so brands had to get creative. And so, they adapted to the evolving digital landscape by looking to their customers to create content they want to see. We’ve seen more collaborations, influencer take-overs and real-life consumers using products on brand profiles on social media than ever before. In 2021, expect to see the trend continue because, let’s face it, there is nothing more trusting and enticing to see someone using and enjoying a product or service.

Branded content

High quality branded content has also been on the rise in 2020. Although, it’s no longer a one-way conversation when it comes to branded content. When brands communicate messages across any channel, consumers are increasingly expecting an experience. They don’t want to be told that something is on sale. Consumers want to connect emotionally with brands and get to know the brand’s personality and values in order to establish a relationship which aids purchase decisions.

And so, branded content in 2021 will be about creating a unique, unforgettable experience for customers. Jen McKinnon, Video Marketing Specialist and Envato says,

"With businesses, brands and individuals creating new content by the second, it's becoming harder and harder to stand out, which is why the quality of what we publish is so important.”

Some brands are using AR features of Instagram filters to give users branded experiences. Below are a few examples we love. Gucci jumped on board with a filter to help 2020 high school and uni graduates celebrate, which was extremely popular as graduation ceremonies were cancelled around the world. We MakeUp has used filters to give users the opportunity to 'try before thy buy'. And Taco Bell ...well we aren't sure if we love it, but it's certainly an experience for the user! You've likely seen brands engage on Instagram filters with games as well, and all of this is high quality branded content that creates memorable experiences for users.

Social commerce

Social media is now the biggest and most beneficial platform for digital marketing, and makes up a large part of marketing budgets. With the introduction of Facebook and Instagram shops, product tags and Pinterest shopping ads and catalogues, social commerce has made its mark in 2020. 55% of online shoppers making purchases through social media channel and a whopping 71% of us turning to social media for shopping inspiration.

As we move into 2021, its more important than ever to make your brand, product and services are shoppable on social media. Additionally, consumers are starting to expect a more streamlined shopping experience, so having products shoppable on social media channels delivers on their expectations.

Brand activism

With everything that has happened in 2020, people have turned to social media to share their viewpoints on political, social and environmental issues around the world. It is no surprise that we are now seeing a big increase in brand activism, especially on social media. Today’s consumers are no longer out to get a good deal, instead they are becoming loyal to brands that aren’t afraid to stand up for what’s right, are committed to making change and have values aligned to those of their own.

In 2021, to help consumers feel connected to your brand’s personality, to build trust and loyalty you need to share your brand’s view points on certain issues in the world. Not all of them, of course! But the main ones that resonate with you and your brand.

Nostalgia Marketing

Described as the ‘advertising-equivalent of comfort food’, nostalgia marketing has really taken off in the last year. And this is probably because we are all craving familiarity, comfort and safety in 2020. Additionally, in a fast-paced world, looking back on the good-ol’ times always a welcome comfort.

Nostalgia is incredibly powerful, and it’s been proven to make consumers more willing to spend money on products and services, making it a perfect fit for any marketing strategy. When you combine nostalgia and marketing together, you get a force that cannot be reckoned with. Mixing emotions and connections to brands from people’s childhoods with persuasive messaging has a strong effect on purchase decision-making. Nostalgia Marketing forces us to focus on the things we already know and uses the familiarity of the old to sell the innovation. Its familiar, comforting and safe, and who doesn’t want a bit of that right now?

SERP Position Zero

SEO will remain an integral part of a digital marketing strategy in 2021, especially now that we are witnessing one of the biggest shifts in the industry in the last decade. Due to the increase use of mobile and voice search, the way in which people use search engines is changing. Think about how you use your phone to search on Google, versus how you use a desktop computer. As such, to rank first on Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is no longer the ultimate goal. There is now a Position Zero to aim for. Position Zero is when text from a website is shown above search results. This snippet is pulled from Google’s algorithm as it is believed to be the most accurate answer to a certain query. Position Zero is what Google uses to answer voice searches, which is why it is becoming increasingly important.

In 2021, ranking first in search results will still be essential to a successful SEO strategy, but being featured in Position Zero will be just as important, if not more so.

Getting Your Brand Ready for Christmas

Posted on November 17, 2020December 30, 2021 by fruityadmin

It’s that time of year already…finally! After the Melbourne Cup, the festive season hits and with the longer days, daylight savings and warmer weather, Christmas is well and truly on its way. If you’re a small business, Christmas and the holiday season can be one of your busiest times of the year. So let’s make sure you’re ready.

Promotion, Sales and Discounts

Whatever you’re selling, this is the time of year when the market is saturated with promotions, deals, discounts and sales. It all kicks off with Black Friday on 29 November and Cyber Monday on 30 November in celebration of Thanksgiving. Although Australia doesn’t necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving, we’ve jumped on board anyway – any excuse for a sale! Then we’re into the Christmas rush, swiftly followed by Boxing Day and January sales. Choose which promotional method best suits your brand and make sure you give people plenty of notice. Utilise your social media channels, website and email lists. If you are Lennox-based, you will reach most of the community with the Lennox Wave. What's more, over the holiday period Helen’s bumper issue reaches locals and the many visitors to our town!

Consider Shipping Delays

With COVID-19 and the huge increase in online shopping, Australia Post and other couriers are struggling to keep up. Keep an eye on possible delays! Communicate the cut-off dates for Christmas deliveries to encourage early purchase.

Christmas Gifts for Business Partners and Loyal Customers

The festive season is a time for giving and it’s important to make sure your brand is also. Recognise the people you work with, partnerships, clients and loyal customers with a little-something-special to show they’ve made a difference to your year. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive…a card in the mail goes a long way. Again, don’t forget lead times on merchandise could be very soon.

Shop local!

Choose to shop local to support our community and local business owners. With everything that has happened this year, they really need all the support they can get. Plus, gifts are so much more special when there is a story behind them – a personal touch that cannot be matched.

Schedule your Socials

Being a business owner and wearing all those hats is full on at the best of times, so get ahead of yourself and organise what you can in advance. Batch your content and spend a few hours getting your posts created and scheduled, all the way to the beginning of January if you can! There is an in-built scheduling tool in Facebook called Creator Studio (make sure you link your Instagram and Facebook together!) and multiple scheduling apps, such as Hootsuite or Later.

2020 has been a huge year, and as a business owner we have all felt pushed to our absolute limits at times. This Christmas make sure to give yourself a break. Get refreshed for the new year, think about your goals moving forward and appreciate the fact that you made it!

Related tag: Branding Gold Coast

Make your Facebook Ads perform like never before

Posted on November 6, 2020February 8, 2023 by fruityadmin

When people talk about how to set up Facebook Ads, they have previously attributed success to targeting (that’s your audiences). Yes, nailing your Audience is very important as you should always be communicating with consumers who are interested and in need of your product or service. But, with Facebook comes something no other advertising channel allows: Conversion Optimisation. AKA, targeting people who are most likely to take actions in the consumer funnel.

Facebook doesn’t show your ad to every person on your audience. Your ads are only shown to a small segment of that audience. Knowing this, you’d want that segment of the audience who are shown the ad to be the most interested, and actionable consumers… so you can make more sales. With Conversion Optimisation, you can make sure your ads are served to these people.

So how does it work?

Essentially, Facebook has so much data on each individual user, that it is now possible to target people based on how they are predicted to act when served your ad. When you set up a Facebook ads Gold Coast, you can now tell Facebook to optimise your ad for ‘Add to Cart’ clicks or ‘Initiate checkout’ clicks, even ‘Purchase’ clicks. So, with a defined, targeted audience, and optimisation for conversion you’re well on your way to a successful Facebook ad campaign.

We've seen Conversion Optimisation work before our very own eyes!

Trust us, we have seen how tweaking conversion optimisation has completely turned a Facebook campaign around. We ran a Facebook campaign for a client whose aim was to make more online sales. In setting up the campaign, we initially selected the goal ‘Traffic’ and directed consumers to the product page on their client’s website. We’d selected this goal, because we wanted to drive much traffic to the website as possible. But we didn’t consider if that traffic would be likely to purchase. After a few days, we’d only had one sale, and so we investigated what we could do better. Then we found this article about ad optimisation. After tweaking the campaign to have the goal ‘Conversions’, and to be optimised for the ‘Add to cart’ conversion event, 70+ orders were placed within a week. We were amazed with the result of a simple tweak.

So, now that you’re convinced Conversion Optimisation is going to be your new best-friend, let’s dive into how to set up ads that will make your money well worth it.

Set up your Campaign with the goal ‘Conversions’

If you’re selling product online, then set up your Facebook campaign with the goal ‘Conversions’. This is the very first decision you make about your campaign, and you’ll need to make sure your Facebook Pixel is connected to your website in order for this type of goal to work. On a side note, here is how to create and add a Facebook Pixel to your website.

If you’re looking to reach a lot of interested people (and especially if this is your first-time advertising on Facebook), choose either ‘Leads’ or ‘Add to Cart’. If you are running a retarget ad, you’ll want to choose an event further down the Consumer Funnel, because you know they already are interested in what you are selling. Facebook’s rule of thumb is that you need to select an event that is being completed at least 15-25 times a week. Why? Because Facebook uses the data from goal completions to help place your ad in front of consumers who are predicted to act in the same way.

How to Nail your Organic Social Media

Posted on October 9, 2020December 30, 2021 by fruityadmin

Social Media. Everyone has it and everyone is always on it, so as a small business, you probably need it. But once you’ve set up your account on Facebook and Instagram, what do you actually do? There is an art to creating an engaging profile that entices your audience to buy, so lets run through it.

Aesthetic Instagram Profiles

Your brand has a personality, and on Instagram you need to make that personality shine. One way to do this, is to use a colour palette that reflects your branding. Choose between 3-4 colours, and make sure at least one of those colours is in every post you make. Another way to get consistency in your posts is to use the same filter for your photos. Don't feel locked into your aesthetic though! You can change it up every 20 or so posts (so maybe a new colour palette every month) if you wish. All you need to do is ensure is that visitors to your Instagram profile can get a feel for your branding from simply being on your page. But why are we making a fuss about good-looking profiles? With more and more people turning to Instagram to research brands, you need your profile to look as sleek as your website.

What to post

When it comes to choosing what to post, think as if your brand was a person. What would they post and share? It shouldn’t all be photos of your product – post inspirational quotes and images, videos and behind the scenes’ content. Give people the opportunity to get to know (and like!) your brand's personality. Share reviews and other brand’s content, introduce your staff and talk about the community. Do a shout out to another brand, show people enjoying your product and tell people about an upcoming market. And the ideas can go on forever. The main takeaway – make sure your content is varied!

Where to find content

Make it yourself! Use a free online editing tool like Canva to edit, add text and graphics to your photos, making them more engaging. Don't be afraid of using other people's content either, just make sure you tag them! And if you’re stuck, you can download free images on pexel.com or unsplash.com.

Post, and post often

When we are talking Instagram, generally speaking the recommendation is to make a post once a day. But do consider your target market when making decisions about post frequency. Young people who are always on their social accounts need new content all the time, and so you may need to post on your feed twice a day just to keep up. If your target market is skewed a little older, perhaps they won't appreciate being overloaded with your brand's content. Again, it all depends on what your target audience prioritises and how they engage with social media. Just make sure whatever your strategy is, it suits their interests and behaviour. When we talk Facebook, you don't need to post so often. This is because the platform has shifted its focus away from the content feed to Facebook Messenger and Facebook Groups (which is where most people find value in Facebook). Maybe post once every two or three days - but don't go too long without saying anything!

Stories are awesome

With more Instagram users turning straight to stories and ignoring their feed, this is where you need to be! They give you the opportunity to be super authentic and real with your audience. Imagine them as a little window into your life as a business owner. Share updates on what’s happening within your business and use GIFs and text to make them more engaging. Talking directly to camera is on trend for 2020, as is sharing the ups as well as the downs of your day-to-day life. Generally speaking, you can't really over-do it on stories, as they only last 24 hours and Instagram users can simply swipe past you when they've had enough. I'm sure you've seen many "Influences" with hour-long stories about nothing, yet people still watch it! Keep in mind, you don't want to be sharing absolutely everything all the time, make sure you are always keeping your branding top of mind when you share wiht your followers. Barefruit Marketing provides the best social media marketing on Gold Coast.

What about the other social platforms?

Good question! There are so many other social media platforms out there; Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Whatsapp to name a few. We consider these the 'nice-to-haves'. Instagram and Facebook are the big players, across all demographics in Australia. The rest might be more suited to certain industries or age groups. YouTube is probably next in line after Facebook and Instagram, and is highly recommended if you're interested in long-format video (5 minutes +). You could use this platform to show people you what your product can do, explain the production process or talk in-depth about specifications. If you're wanting to tap into today's teenagers, then you'll need Snapchat - maybe more so for advertising within than posting. And there is Pinterest, where you can find all your middle-aged women with 71% of users being female and a median age of 40 years old (Omnicore, 2020).

The main message is to keep your audience engaged on social media by sharing varied content in different formats with them… often. Be creative and experiment – you can’t really go wrong as long as you are true to your brand, kind to others and have fun.

We donated trees to Replant Byron

Posted on October 2, 2020 by fruityadmin

Barefruit is first and foremost a full-service marketing agency, but one of our core values is giving back to our local community. And we like to do so whenever and however we can. We all live in the Northern Rivers, known for it’s stunning landscapes and beautiful beaches. We have subtropical hinterland that meets the ocean, untouched beaches and abundant rainforests that surround us. With such an amazing environment on our door step, at Barefruit we are passionate about doing everything we can to care for it.

We donated and planted trees!

Apart from our everyday eco-friendly habits, Barefruit recently donated 20 trees to Replant Byron! This is an initiative brought to life by Zero Emissions Byron. Replant Byron has committed to planting 1.8 million trees to create a community forest in the Byron Shire by 2025! What’s really cool, is that back in 2018, we worked with Zero Emissions Byron to develop the Replant Byron logo. This was back when the initiative was still in the works. Nat, our wonderful graphic designer, designed the logo on a pro bono basis.

More about Replant Byron and our trees

In September, Replant Byron had a push to raise $10K of tree donations in two weeks. Amazingly, and thanks to the supportive community in which we live, they passed their goal, raising $15, 506. When the team at Barefruit heard about the fundraiser, we agreed that it was something Barefruit needed to be involved in. And so, we purchased 10 trees and donated them to Replant Byron. The Farm Byron Bay, has donated land for the community forest that Replant Byron is building, and during the fundraiser, The Farm was matching donations. So, we were able to contribute 20 trees to the community forest. What’s more, donators were invited to plant the trees they had donated on 19 September 2020. Evan and his son, Cian, were very eager to get their hands dirty, and went to plant our 20 trees at The Farm, on behalf of Barefuit.

Where Barefuit’s passion for the environment all began

In 2018, The Barefruit team watched a documentary called ‘A Plastic Ocean’, and it hit pretty hard. We were shocked and saddened by what we learned and deeply inspired to reverse the impact our society has made on our precious earth. As individuals, we all led lives with eco-friendly habits, but as an organisation, we weren’t taking much action. It was time to walk the walk. And so, the office set new rules, banning single-use-plastic and encouraging eco-friendly habits at work. These included carpooling to meetings, composting food scraps at work and taking crockery and cutlery to local cafés when getting lunch out. Staff who broke the rules paid penalties in the form of burpees. It’s great to say that the rules have worked very well.

Even our clients are penalised – it’s all good fun!

After the initial shock of these new rules, which saw quite a few staff members getting their burpees on, it was only recently that we had some more culprits. Luke from NBN Group and Geoff from Westlawn Finance brought disposable coffee cups into the office for meetings last month. Little did they know they would be paying a price! I can say their burpee form has been approved by Evan, our very own exercise-fanatic.

We’ve worked on other environmentally-focused projects too!

2018 was the year of change for Barefruit. We worked with Waste Warriors on their Reduce Single Use campaign to promote making sustainable choices at home and in work places. As part of their brief, we built a marketing strategy for the campaign and created a logo identity. This identity was rolled out on designs for promotional cut-outs, campaign collateral, a website landing page and print ads. The Ballina Shire Council heard about our project, and jumped on board with us, promoting the importance of the campaign. The result was 33 local business pledging to Reduce Single Use plastic in their workplaces.

Colouring-in for a Creative Mind

Posted on September 22, 2020December 10, 2021 by fruityadmin

Remember when you were at school? When recess was the best time of the day? You were let free from class to run around until your heart was content, to climb on the monkey bars and play made-up games. You were completely present in the moment and gave your mind a break from the hard work that goes into learning. Why don’t we do this anymore? When we talk about creativity, it’s so important to relieve your mind after critical thinking and reset focus. This essentially turns over a new page in your mind, making room for new ideas and connections to be formed. It’s essential for productive creativity, yet we never allow it for ourselves.

Until now! You need to get your hands on some colouring-in material because it’s not just for kids anymore. It may not be as physical as running around on the playground, but colouring-in will help you reset your mind, leading to enhanced creativity.

Colouring-in to express yourself

As an artistic practise, colouring-in lets you express yourself in way that you cannot in your daily work and life routine. It encourages experimentation which leads to new ideas. Ever had a great idea that just hit you out of the blue? It’s very likely you were being creative and present in the moment, helping your brain make new connections and pathways. What’s more, you can strategically use specific colours to enhance this effect on the brain. As you may already know, colours have a measurable impact on how we feel and how we think. Studies have shown the using blue and green in a situation or environment helps the brain to think creatively and open it to new ideas.

Colouring-in to detox from the digital world

As creative professionals, we are being drawn into the digital world more and more. Keyboards and screens have become our new normal, so putting a pencil to paper may be the best thing you could do for you creativity all day. Your eyes will be grateful for the time away from the screen too. Colouring-in is also highly effective to wind down after work or before bed. It can give you that distinction between your workday and being at home, especially important with so many Australians working at home at the moment. As reading or walking does, you’ll feel more refreshed after some colouring-in, instead of groggy and tired from staring at the computer all day long.

Colouring-in for stress relief

Feeling overwhelmed, running out of inspiration - life is stressful, and it’s even more stressful in the current climate. Give yourself the opportunity to zen out and focus solely on what’s happening right in front of you. Colouring-in will do this for you. Studies have shown that colouring-in relieves stress and helps reduce anxiety. Colouring within the lines means you don’t have to think about screwing up the drawing, boosting self-confidence and trust in your own ability. And what happens when you feel confident within yourself, and less stressed? You’ve got more room for creativity and new ideas!

Colouring-in to practise mindfulness meditation

Sitting still is not your thing? Traditional meditation is hard to practise, but that doesn’t mean it’s not for you. Meditation is often misunderstood for a crossed-legged yogi, sitting still for hours on end. This is unrealistic for pretty much everyone, and there are plenty of other ways to practise mindfulness meditation. The essence of practising mindfulness is to be 100% present in what you are doing. When you are colouring-in, you are focused only on the drawing in front of you. This helps to block out all distractions, declutter your mind and transport you into a meditative state. This break from the demands of everyday life creates space for creative thinking to thrive and helps improve mental health.

Before you rush out the door to find the closest colouring-in book you can find, Rafiki Mwema have some gorgeous free downloads to get you started. These three colouring-in sheets are part of the colouring-in book ‘Rafiki Mwema - Colours of the World’, featuring illustrations from artists all around the world who donated their art for this book. And if the three sheets aren’t enough, you can buy the whole book! Use the code FRUIT25 to get a 25% discount. Proceeds go towards helping some of the most vulnerable children in Kenya. It's a guilt-free, creativity enhancer that you need!

Related Tag: Advertising Gold Coast

Take Amazing Photos for your Brand at Home

Posted on September 15, 2020February 1, 2022 by fruityadmin

This is for all the small business owners who have their fingers in many pies; who are the finance, the marketing, the logistics, the production and the sales team all in one. When it comes to professional, and sleek branding, ensuring your products are photographed professionally is a biggie. You want your product to look as desirable to the consumer as possible, while providing them with an opportunity to evaluate the material, quality, design and features of your product.

It’s expensive to get have your products photographed by a professional, especially if you’re a small business. So, let’s take a look at how to take amazing product photos yourself, at home.

Plan your photo shoot

As you would do if you were planning anything, you need to do your research. Spend an hour or so looking at competitors, brands you aspire to and, of course, Pinterest to get some inspo. Save it the images you love so you have something to reference when you are behind the camera. Make sure you take a good look at your inspo photography, noting how someone has used light, what sort of light it is (warm or cool), and how they have laid out their studio space.

Set up your studio

Find an area with the best natural light in your home. This where you are going to set up. Usually having a blank wall behind you is ideal, although you can easily hang up a sheet to create a plain, yet soft background. Then you’ll need to decide how you’re going to display your product. Do you have a nice desk you can move into your studio space? Or maybe a rustic stool? Or maybe you need a model? Anything that will give you a nice aesthetic, that matches you branding of course! We can’t forget about props. These are especially important to communicate your brand aesthetic and for zhooshing up your shot. Leafy greens always go down well. Try experimenting with mirrors and flowers too. Have a friend wear, hold and/or use your product – this helps the others see themselves with your product.

Your smartphone is all you need

iPhone or Android, today’s phones have incredible cameras and, when you know your stuff, you can take some gorgeous photographs. First step is to check the settings of your phone. We highly recommend iPhone’s Portrait mode when photographing products and details up.

Now you’re all set to get stuck into it. Snap away, reviewing your photos as you go to see what works, what doesn’t and where you could improve. It might be handing to have a lamp nearby. You can experiment with this by holding it above your studio space at different angles. Don’t forget to keep referring back to your inspo photography as you go too!

Photo credit: @goldentimetay

Blogging for Search Engine Optimisation

Posted on September 9, 2020August 28, 2021 by fruityadmin

Search Engine Optimisation. It opens up a whole can of worms. There are so many ways you can approach an SEO strategy, but let’s talk about Blogging. This is one of the easiest ways to boost your website’s SEO quality and the best bit, you can do it right now…for free!

A bit of Background for your first

Let’s start with a bit of background to get the bigger picture. Google’s number one priority is providing the people performing searches with the most relevant and up-to-date information to answer their questions. This ensures people using Google have a good experience and come back again (Google is a business, afterall). So, in order to get your website to the top of a search result page, you need to work with Google’s main goal. And having a regularly updated blog on your website certainly helps achieve this.

Why Google loves blogs

Now that we understand Google’s purpose and goal, let’s take a look into how blogging will work wonders for your website’s SEO quality. Search engines love websites that are updated frequently – this shows that the website’s information is relevant and up-to-date for people searching. You probably won’t be regularly updating your home page, which is why having a blog on your website is highly recommended. The more content you post on your blog, the more pages your website will have for Google to index, which helps the search engine better understand your business offering. Putting it simply, imagine if you spoke a lot about your business, going into detail about your products or services. People would have a good understanding of what it is you do. Now, imagine if you spoke about your business all the time, as well. People would not forget about your business and its offerings. This is essentially how your blog posts communicate with Google – giving the search engine more information about you (and doing it frequently) helps Google understand who you are and ensures it doesn’t forget about you.

What to write about

Yes, you need to write content for your blog. But it shouldn’t be about anything and everything. We are talking SEO, so we need to make sure blog posts are optimised for keywords. And these need to the same keywords that you have used to optimise your website pages. Optimising blog posts for keywords is not about incorporating as many keywords into your posts as possible. Nowadays, this is actually harmful for your SEO quality as Google picked up on this little trick. Plus, it doesn’t make for a great reading experience for the audience which is also important for SEO quality. Google isn’t going to recommend a website a reader won’t understand easily.

The perks of long-tail keywords

Having a blog on your website also gives you the opportunity to start implementing long-tail keywords into your content. These are longer and more specific keyword phrases that people use when they are closer to a point-of-purchase (also very effective for people using voice search!). For example, our Barefruit Marketing website is optimised for keywords such as ‘advertising agency, and ‘marketing agency ballina’. However, by having a blog we are able to optimise posts for keywords such as ‘organic and paid SEO services in ballina’ and ‘newspaper advertising in northern rivers’. By doing so, we boost the SEO quality of our website and in turn, Google is able to rank our website much higher on the search results page. In turn, we have visitors to our website who are more interested, more focused and more committed to purchasing our services.

Backlinks are important

Lastly, we’ll touch on using social media to create backlinks to your website. Backlinks are links from other places on the internet that refer readers to your site. Google sees backlinks as a measurement of credibility and authority. If people are referring others to your website, then they must have found your content helpful and so, your SEO is boosted and Google improves the ranking your website. Use your social media profiles to post about your blog posts, informing your audience, creating backlinks and boosting your website’s SEO quality all at once.

Well, if you aren’t thinking about setting up a blog on your website after reading this, you’re crazy! The benefits blogging can bring to your website’s SEO quality and thus, ranking in Google, are invaluable. And you can get started right now. Or, if you are feeling a bit lost, drop us a line and we’ll get in touch to talk about how we can help you in your journey to boosting your website’s SEO and, in turn, attracting more online visitors searching for your product or service..

Related Tag: Seo Gold Coast

It’s time to talk Search Engine Marketing

Posted on September 7, 2020July 28, 2021 by fruityadmin

Spring has sprung! While we’re relieved that the Northern Rivers hasn’t experienced a second wave in terms of increasing COVID cases, it’s hard to hear that local businesses are still copping the brunt of the economic slow-down. It’s time to put on your "adapt to survive” hat and look for opportunities in places where business is growing. And one of those places is online!

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is one of the most important marketing channels to generate web traffic to your website. It’s the process of increasing website visibility on search engine results pages though paid search advertising. If Google Ads, previously known as AdWords, rings a bell, this is what we are talking about. With millions of businesses out there vying for the same eyeballs, online advertising to promote your products or services has never been so crucial.

Bidding on keywords

Google Ads is a platform which allows you to bid on keywords to have your ads shown when people are doing searches on Google. You bid against other advertisers for the right to have your ad shown in several places on the Google Search results page. You only pay, however, when a user clicks on your ad. By setting a daily budget, you can cap the amount that you spend each day. You could set a budget of $5 or $10 per day and know that you are only paying for those who click on your ad (and hence visit your website).

More than just search

While SEM is great for attracting those who are searching for particular keywords, Google Ads also provides the opportunity to show your ads on other platforms. Advertising on the Google Display Network means your ads have the opportunity to be shown on millions of sites such as YouTube, eBay, Amazon and Gumtree.

Catch them looking

Everybody knows the experience of looking at a product and then suddenly getting those ads shown to you again. This is a technique called remarketing that allows Google to show your ads to people who have previously shown an interest in your brand. This works on the old marketing “rule of seven” that people need to be exposed to your message 7 times before they take action.

SEM is focused on converting

While traditional advertising works to grow your brand awareness, SEM reaches people actively searching, people who are ready to buy. When someone clicks on your ad your landing page should guide them through the sales process… and voila! You’ve made a sale, gathered new leads, subscribers or sign-ups.

Now that you’ve got an idea of the potential for online advertising Gold Coast, set up your Google Ads account. There are heaps of tutorials on YouTube to help you get going. Google even has a free online course on Google Skillshop to get you started.