What is Local SEO and why does it matter?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a digital strategy that improves your website’s visibility to search engines in terms of search engine result ranks. The goal is to ensure your website is one of the first few links on search result pages. However, when it comes to businesses who service local areas (which is most of us in Ballina), Local SEO is arguably even more important. It is a strategy that uses location-based information to provide online users with relevant and meaningful search results. In doing so, your business can rank more highly on Google, resulting in more traffic to your website and boosting your brand awareness.

 

How it works

When you search for a service or product using location terms like “Ballina” or “near me”, Google will serve you a map of your local area with the top 3 business listings relevant to that search. This is called the ‘3-pack’ and it appears before all other search results (and it’s free!).

Local SEO starts with creating a Google My Business account. It’s a very simple process. All you need is a Google account. Add as much information about your business and business offering in this profile. Include contact information, opening hours, images, videos, links to your website and social media profiles etc. All this information will help Google understand who you are so it can serve your business as an option to someone who is looking for your services or products.

Google search of Barefruit Marketing
Find customers when they need you

The beauty of Local SEO is that it is incredibly timely. According to Google, 76% of people who made a local search using their smartphone visited a business from their search within 24 hours. Of those people, 28% made a purchase. Why? Because local SEO engages potential customers with your business when they are really interested in your offering. When customers are in this state of mind, they are far more likely to make a purchase. Local SEO executed properly can be more powerful than many other short-term marketing activities.

 

Google search Barefruit Marketing
Reviews

The criteria Google uses to select businesses for the 3-pack are relevance, distance and prominence (how well-known Google considers your business to be). Google reviews are extremely important in establishing your business’s prominence as they indicate to Google that your business is well known and well liked. Potential customers also heavily rely on Google reviews to determine which business within the local industry they want to make a purchase with. Reviews will help you compete against competitors, and they can give you a great advantage. So, once your Google My Business account is set up, make an effort to collect reviews from customers.

 

The movement to buy local is stronger than ever before and Local SEO capitalises on it. Go and set your Google My Business account up so people can find you when they really need you.

 

Check out what we've been up to

Lismore City Council
Lennox Centenary

Rugby Palooza – Branding and Website

Rugby Palooza - Branding & Website

 

Rugby Palooza logo

Background

We were approached by Andrew Fraser

The work

We started the process with a brand naming brainstorm and the client arrived at using Rugby Palooza Conference. Using this our goal was to create an easy to use identity that was both sporty and professional with the aim of the conference attracting some of Australia's, if not the world's best rugby coaches.

The final logo concept utilised the rugby ball shape into an abstract pattern with different colours to represent the meeting of different teams from all over the country. The joining of the shape was a nice way to create a networking concept for the identity. We created stacked, horizontal and badge logo designs that could be easily applied in a cool fun way to merchandise as well as other marketing collateral such as the website. The identity was also adapted and considered the location placement of the conference as the conference location will change each year, so we created a simple logo lock-up to accommodate this.

We also designed and built the Rugby Palooza Conference website, a simple one pager site that could drive traffic to a ticketing platform as well build upon as the conferences continue in the future.

 

Rugby Palooza logo 2
Rugby Palooza website

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    Miss Midgley’s Website & Brand Direction

    Miss Midgley's Website and Brand Direction

     

    Miss Midgley's Website

    Brief

    We were approached by a mother and daughter tag-team architects Lisa White and Izzie White about their new build project in Brisbane. After purchasing a highly sought-after piece of real estate in James Steet, Brisbane, the duo approached us about creating a new website and alongside some brand direction for their new boutique accommodation in the heart of New Farm called Miss Midgley’s. The name derives from the building previous use, as it used to be school which was run by driven women called Miss Midgley – this was the inspiration for the duo’s build project, re-visiting the school theme of the past and bring it forward and up-to-date to use for accommodation. The rooms have been repurposed and re-imagined using the unique school room names and features for the apartment/rooms.

     

    Output

    To reflect the build and logo design, we helped Miss Midgley’s with creating and applying the brand elements and features into their website. We guided them on finessing some font, colours options to use online and logo-lockups.

    The website was a custom design that we built in-house with the primary goal for customers to find out more and book accommodation or make enquiries. The finished website reflects the personality of the brand on both desktop and mobile, and we made sure site was easy for admins to be able to edit the website content.

     

    Miss Midgley's Website - mobile
    Miss Midgley's Website - mobile
    Miss Midgley's Website - mobile
    Miss Midgley's Website

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      Vivid Powder Coating – Ballina

      Vivid Powder Coating - Branding and Website

       

      Vivid Powder Coating - logo

      Background

      Vivid Powder Coating is a new business and service in the heart of Ballina, NSW. Barefruit was approached to come up with the brand name, branding, marketing collateral and website to launch this new service.

      The work

      This was a very fun project that started by researching naming options that work and tie in with their business, "Vivid" was the preferred naming option, the word suggests the perfect finish, clear, bright, vibrant the sort of finish you would expect to see if your respraying your Harley Davidson!

      With the business name decided we proceed on creating the identity for the brand, starting with mood boards to develop our initial concepts, the client loved the exploded powder of colour idea we presented and so this was to become the main feature of the branding on the Gold Coast and Ballina. We saw the direction for the branding working with a matt black to allow the colours to really pop, this allowed us to quickly concept how the brand elements were going to be applied. Choosing a typeface was a bit of a process, pairing a font that works with the personality of the word "Vivid" and the exploding colours, whilst staying professional looking meant the best route was a Sans Serif font. The final result was creative identity that tied in with what the business does. We also developed a strapline that really tied in with the logo and business service - "A brilliant coat of colour every time" and this has been applied consistently to their marketing.

      The website was a fun process, prototyping the structure and thinking about the website goals. Styling, adding the video of the exploding powder on a black background became the website theme and we used the "hot pink" as the primary call to action and feature colour. We added in some subtle transitions to finish it off, including another brand feature which was the "Swoosh" animation added under the titles and strapline, this became a feature brand element that we used throughout the brand application to emphasis specific words and services.

       

      Vivid Stationary
      Vivid brand guide
      Vivid-Website mock
      Vivid-Website -desktop
      Vivid-Website-mobile

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        Kerrect Re-brand & Website

        Kerrect - Re-brand & Website

         

        Kerrect Logo
        Kerrect Business card

        Background

         

        Kerrect is a unique service with skilled professional rope climbers and maintenance staff that can access and install safety netting and access points on buildings - they are the go-to experts for working safely at height without scaffolding. Kerrect came to Barefruit with the aim of refreshing their brand identity, website, creating a new strapline to stay ahead of its competitors and to modernise their look and appeal for today’s purposes.

         

        The work

        The new logo evolved from utilising some of the old logo elements to create a stronger concept and brand identity that can be used in today’s digital world and on physical applications such as vehicles, netting on buildings, business cards and uniforms.

        The logo features lines to represent ropes, and uses the primary red and black colours of the brand to stand out amongst their competitors. The lines are positioned above the typeface to represent the safety netting and protection at height. Using a clean geometric sans font the brand identity is modern, approachable and professional.

        As part of the brand process. we also developed a new strapline for the business that really specified what Kerrect is and does - the strapline needed to be unique and ownable for the business. The original strap was “Safety at height” but Kerrect do more than just that, therefore, it evolved into, “Protecting your people and assets at height." The new strap really captures the core value of the business and what the achieve on a daily basis, making sure people and any building or business assets are always safe and protected whilst caring out their height defying work.

        Barefruit also designed and developed a new cutting-edge website that was unique to Kerrect and what they do. We created a slick black themed website which made their primary colour 'red' really pop, and especially when used with unique parallax scrolling effects in the background, Kerrect now have a creative looking website. Parallax scrolling is a special scrolling technique used in website design where background images throughout a site move slower than the foreground image when scrolling. This creates a two-dimensional look and feel to the website and is accustomed to the way users behave nowadays - scrolling through feeds and pages. The whole website is fresh and up-to-date featuring areas for video or image based content with room to grow their portfolio projects. The navigation is also very simple to use on mobile and desktop and focuses on their user goals to enquire for one of their services.

        We are proud that the overall brand re-fresh has given Kerrect a big jump ahead of its competitors.

         

         

        Kerrect brand guide
        Kerrect website

        Guru_of_the_day_winner

        Award winning nomination from Web Guru Awards

        Click here to view the website

        Kerrect Van 2
        Kerrect Uniform

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          Marketing Trends to Expect in 2022

          BFM 2022 Marketing Trends

          2022 is finally here, and January is a great time to prepare for a good year ahead. Marketing trends for the new year have already started to emerge; here’s what you can expect to see in the world of marketing in 2022.

          Have a Purpose

          The focus of 2021 was supporting local communities and businesses through some pretty tough times. This has driven conscious consumerism, meaning people are actively looking to support brands that give back in some way and are willing to spend more with those that do. This year, brands doing something for the greater good are going to come out on top. Having a purpose other than maximising profits – look at brands like Arnhem, who are committed to sustainable fashion – will be the catalyst for growth.

          Have a Purpose
          Social Commerce

          Your shop should be located wherever your customer’s shopping bag is…and that’s on their phone and, more importantly, it’s on social media. The convenience of shopping on socials allows users to use brand messages, user-generated content and reviews to make a purchase decision all in one place. So, if you’re yet to sell your products on social media, now’s the time to try.

          Social Commerce
          The Need for Video

          Over the last two years our appetite for entertaining, engaging content has become insatiable, and with our ever-shortening attention spans, the best way to capture attention is with video. That’s why TikTok and Instagram Reels have taken off. This year, we’ll see video enter the mainstream for everyone, from small business to big brands, so start working on gathering your library of content.

          The Need for Video
          Own your Audience

          This one rings even more true after Facebook was down for several hours on the 5th of October last year. Even though your social accounts may have thousands of followers, that data belongs to Facebook. You don’t own any of your followers, and if Facebook were to disappear, so would they. To own your audience, you must collect email addresses from your customers and potential customers to use in future marketing. Customer data can be collected through newsletter signups and value exchanges, e.g. sign up to receive 15% off your first purchase.

          Embrace Localised SEO

          For local businesses, your Google My Business listing is quickly becoming one of the most important marketing tools in your shed. More and more, people searching online are using Google My Business listings to research, compare and choose a business in their local area. Supporting local is on the rise and the search term “near me” is more popular than ever, so use it to your advantage.

          With these top tips you’ll be on your way to smashing 2022 out of the park. Remember that trends evolve as time goes on, and we look forward to keeping you up to date on other trends as they emerge over the next 12 months.

          Related Tag: Social Media Marketing Gold Coast

          Embrace Localised SEO

          If you're interested in our trend report and would like some help to kick-start your 2022 marketing goals send us a message below


          Avilla Farm: Shopify Website Development

          Avilla Farm: Macadamia Skin Care

          New Website Design & Build

          web design byron bay

          the brief

          An Alstonville based Macadamia farm found an opportunity with a side hustle – to use macadamia oil for skin and hair care products. Ann Leslie (the brains behind this genius idea) engaged us to help her make the switch from her WordPress Woo-Commerce site to an e-commerce website with Shopify. At the same time, she was rebranding from PureNut to Avilla Farm and needed to ensure that the transition was smooth, for her business operations and her customers.

          our response

          We decided to put our digital experts on this project. Ashleigh and Felismina worked on all the technical back end things; uploading and optimising, formatting and organising. Jennica worked with the client on the visual aspect including brand image, content creation and copywriting. Uncovering the correct ‘tone of voice’ was an important aspect to this project.

          Avilla Oils - web design byron bay
          web design ballina

          the fruits

          The result was a gorgeous and functional website that the client was happy with. She can now sell her amazing products, around the world in a more streamlined and efficient way. Because Shopify helps you to organise things like shipping and international fees during the build, order fulfilment is now a breeze for Ann.


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            Reduce Single Use

            Waste Warriors

            Reduce Single Use Campaign

            Reduce Single Use Print Advertisement

            the brief

            Reduce Single Use was first brought to life in the Barefruit office, since then, the local Council has come on board to push the challenge of reducing single use within the Northern Rivers community. The challenge was to challenge yourself or your colleagues for the month of May to; use a reusable coffee cup, use a refillable water bottle and; use a reusable container and cutlery for your takeaway items. 

             

            Reduce Single Use EDM

            Reduce Single Use landing Page

            our response

            Create a campaign identity, and marketing strategy for the Reduce Single Use campaign in Northern Rivers, Ballina.

            We created a logo identity for the RSU campaign, this included the design of promotional cut outs to use at Reduce Single Use events, producing campaign guidelines, which were followed across all creative projects, campaign assets, creating a website landing page and further mock-ups of a potential website, email template design and print ads.

            Reduce Single Use Advertisement

            the fruits

            33 local businesses signed up to take on the Reduce Single Use challenge, each week a print ad was published in the local newspaper, promoting the campaign and listing businesses each week that has signed up.

            "The collaboration between Barefruit Marketing, North East Waste and Ballina Shire Council for the Reduce Single Use project is a great example of community stakeholders coming together to create good things for our community. The project was really well supported with a fantastic brand, website build and marketing advice from Barefruit Marketing. Thanks team!"

            Kim

            Waste Warriors

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              TEBCO Electric Bicycles

              TEBCO Electric Bicycles

              Branding refresh for Australia’s original and leading Electric Bicycle Company

              TEBCO Electric Bicycles

              the brief…

              to redesign logo and establish the brand as the leading (and original) electric bicycle company and use the new branding across all marketing touch points. As well as build a custom website.

              cultivating solution

              redesign TEBCO’s current logo and redesign all flyers, banners, ads with the new logo and branding to create branding unison and to establish a unique custom built website to house all of the range and spare parts, set up a live chat function and a shop to leverage an overall premium brand identity, online presence and utilise this to push purchases.

              resulting fruit

              branding got a total refresh across all touch points. A unique and attractive website was created that appeals to its audience and differentiates TEBCO, the original electric bicycle company from its competitors.

              We here at TEBCO have been utilising the services of Barefruit Marketing for over 12mths and have found them to be fabulously creative, efficient and professional partners in helping us drive our business - I could not speak more highly of the entire Barefruit Marketing team.

              Tony Morgan

              TEBCO

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