beHIVE Design | Websites | SEO

How Custom Website Design and Development Can Help Grow Your Brand

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 08:38:50 GMT

When it comes to launching or maintaining a successful business, the importance of having an engaging and informative website cannot be underestimated. A great-looking website that is easy for customers to navigate can help build your customer base by spreading awareness about your brand and its services. But if you want to get the absolute most out of your website, investing in custom web design and development could be what takes your business to the next level. Read on as we explore how custom website design can help you grow your brand.

What Is Custom Website Design and Development?

When it comes to establishing a strong online presence, having a custom website design and development can make all the difference. But what is it exactly? Custom website design and development involves working with a team of professionals who specialise in creating a website that is tailored to your business's unique needs and goals. The process usually includes

designing the website's layout,
choosing colours, fonts, graphics, etc. that will follow your brand’s style
developing the website's functionality and features,
ensuring compatibility across different devices and browsers.

A custom website design and development doesn't just enhance the overall look and feel of your website; it can also improve the user experience, increase engagement, and ultimately drive more traffic to your site.

What Is Branding and Why Is It Important?

Branding is the process of creating a unique identity for a product, service, or company. It involves much more than just designing a logo or choosing a color scheme. Effective branding requires an in-depth understanding of a company's target audience and what sets it apart from its competitors. A strong brand can create a loyal customer base, increase recognition and credibility, and ultimately lead to increased revenue.

Benefits of Investing in Custom Website Design

Investing in custom website design can set your business apart from the competition and provide numerous benefits. With custom design, every aspect of the website can be tailored to your brand and provide greater flexibility and functionality compared to templates. Let’s look at the specific advantages of choosing a custom website design.

Showing Brand Identity through Website Design

First, a custom website design can express a brand's identity like no other medium can. Each website element, be it a header, footer, or button, should follow the same branding guidelines. Professional designers will gladly help you achieve the desired branded look and make sure that all your website elements are consistent.

Second, a custom website design is an opportunity to showcase not only your products and services but also your company's culture, values, and personality. Thus, a well-executed website design creates a sense of professionalism and credibility, which can be essential in building trust to your brand and loyalty among your customers.

Custom Website Pages Tailored to Your Needs

When it comes to creating a website, it's important to make sure that it reflects your unique brand and message. That's why custom website pages tailored to your needs are key. You want your site to stand out in the sea of competitors and make a lasting impression on potential customers. By working with a web designer to create personalized pages, you can ensure that your site accurately represents your vision and goals. Whether you need specific functionality or just want to make sure that the colors and layout match your brand's aesthetic, custom website pages can help take your online presence to the next level.

When done right, the custom design adds to the user experience , making it easier for visitors to navigate your site and find what they need. Your website must be more than just aesthetically pleasing. Use your custom design to create a clear and concise message that resonates with your target audience, and you'll see the results in increased engagement and business success. Undoubtedly, when visitors enjoy the website look and find it easy to navigate, they will stay longer on your site , which will lead to better conversions.

Unique Look of a Custom Website

One of the most noticeable features of a custom website is its look. The site can be designed with visually stunning graphics, bold colors, and lively animations that immediately capture the visitor's attention. From an immersive design to a clean, minimalistic layout, a custom website can fit the style and vibe of the brand perfectly.

Ready-made website themes often have limitations in terms of customization options. So, you may face difficulties creating your website’s unique look. When you choose a custom website design, you discuss all website details with professionals in advance. As a result, you get a website that looks exactly as you expected.

The Impact of Professional Website Development on Growing Your Business

When it comes to developing a professional website for your business, custom functionality cannot be overlooked. With so many businesses operating online, a generic website simply won't cut it. Incorporating custom functionality into your website can set you apart from the competition and make your business stand out.

With custom functionality, you can tailor your website to fit the specific needs of your business. Such functionality can include:

adding an online store with custom product features,
creating a unique checkout process,
developing a personalized user portal,
adding a booking system,
integrating specific software, etc.

Custom functions can greatly enhance the user experience, streamline your business operations, and drive sales. Thus, investing in professional web development with custom functions can unlock new opportunities for growth and success for your business.

Professional web development services can ensure that your website is not only visually appealing but also highly functional, giving your business a competitive edge in the digital market.

How to Choose the Right Design and Development Team for Your Project

Choosing the right design and development team for your project can be a daunting task, but it's crucial to ensure the success and efficacy of your project. When seeking out a team, it's important to look for one with a diverse skill set and a proven track record of successful projects. You'll also want to choose a team that is open to collaboration and communication to ensure that your vision is understood and executed to your liking. It's wise to thoroughly review the team's portfolio and check references from previous clients to get a sense of their capabilities and work style. Look for a team that has experience in your specific industry, and understands your vision. With the right team on board, you can rest assured that your project is in good hands and will meet all of your expectations.

Summing Up

To conclude, custom website design and development is a crucial tool in brand development. It helps to create a unique website for your business that shows your company’s identity and inspires greater trust from customers. Investing in custom website design and development is an investment in the future of your brand, and it will continue to provide long-term success. With this in mind, make sure to hire professional developers or designers who understand your objectives so that you may enjoy the full benefits of having custom website design and development work.

New Year, New Business

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 17:19:40 GMT

New Year, New Business

The New Year is a time for fresh starts, and there may be no better way to start off on the right foot than by starting that business you’ve thinking about for over the last year or longer. If you're thinking about making the leap into entrepreneurship, now is the time to do it. Don't let fear hold you back from achieving your dreams in 2023. At BeHive design we can help make that dream a reality, with everything from helping to create your new logo and brand, to building you a fully integrated website and running Ad campaigns.

Design Checklist for Startups

Logo Design & Branding

A well-designed logo is an incredibly powerful asset for any business, new or existing. It is the first impression customers will have of the company, and it is what they will visually associate with a brand. A great logo can do wonders for a business’s credibility, image, and marketing potential.

Logos are often the face of a company, creating an instant recognition and connection between the business and its customers. A professionally designed logo can help establish trustworthiness and legitimacy in the eyes of consumers. In many cases, logos become synonymous with the products or services they stand for. This helps to ensure that a business stands out from its competitors while still creating a consistent look that resonates with customers.

When considering a logo for your new business , it is important to consider both form and function. A great logo should be visually appealing while conveying an overall message about the company such as its mission statement or values. It should also be recognisable even when scaled down to small sizes or viewed from far away – this ensures that it can be used across all mediums without losing its impactful visual effect.

The colours chosen are also incredibly important when it comes to designing logos as colour has been proven to influence customers' emotions and perceptions about products or services. Colours such as green, blue, yellow, orange, and red tend to evoke feelings of trustworthiness, happiness, energy, creativity, passion respectively – depending on the context in which they are used these colours can be used strategically to create feelings within viewers associated with your brand.

Logos should aim to be flexible enough so that they can adapt easily over time if needed – this allows them to remain relevant and timeless as trends come and go while still maintaining their effectiveness as a representation of your brand over time.

When it comes to small businesses, having brand guidelines in place can be extremely beneficial. By having a set of guidelines, businesses can ensure that their branding is consistent across all channels and touchpoints. This can help create a strong and recognisable brand identity, which can be key to success in today's competitive marketplace.

Another benefit of brand guidelines is that they can help small businesses save money in the long run. By having a clear set of guidelines from the outset, businesses can avoid costly mistakes such as rebranding exercises down the line. Brand guidelines can also help businesses to avoid wasting money on print and other marketing materials that don't adhere to the desired look and feel.

In addition to creating consistency and saving money, brand guidelines can also help small businesses to protect their investment in their brand. By having clear guidelines in place, businesses can take action if they feel that their brand is being used in an unauthorised or inappropriate manner. This could include taking legal action if necessary.

Overall, there are many benefits that come with having brand guidelines in place for small businesses. By creating consistency, saving money, and protecting their investment, brand guidelines can be extremely beneficial for any business looking to build a strong and recognisable identity in today's competitive marketplace.

Business Cards & Stationery

Business cards are still incredibly important in today's digital age for many reasons. They are an effective and inexpensive direct marketing tool that can be used during in-person meetings, and they make a much more personal statement than sharing your contact information digitally. Business cards are great for providing concise information about what you do and how to contact you without the need for lengthy introductions or explanations. Moreover, having a well designed business card communicates that your startup is serious and professional, and it can leave a lasting impression of your brand among prospects or connections.

Similarly, having well-designed stationery also has the potential to help form positive perceptions of your business. Investing in resources which advocate credibility for your company shows potential customers that you take professionalism seriously. Having consistent branding across both your business cards and stationery can be especially beneficial as it demonstrates your commitment to quality. Additionally, they will remain memorable even after they have been placed in the recipient’s wallet or desk drawer; thus further enhancing the power of first impressions. Furthermore, with the right design and messaging, business cards together with stationery can become powerful assets within any corporate communication strategy.

Website Design

Having a well designed website is essential for any business, but especially for new businesses. It can be the difference between success and failure. A great website conveys credibility, trust, and professionalism that are all necessary to build customer loyalty. Here are some of the advantages of having a well-designed website for a new business .

First, having an attractive website gives potential customers an excellent first impression of your business. This is especially important for new businesses that may be relatively unknown in the market. With a professional, user-friendly design and engaging content, you can show customers that you take your business seriously and offer valuable products or services that they will want to invest in.

Second, a well-designed website allows people who are unfamiliar with your brand to quickly learn about what you offer and why they should choose your company over another one. With visuals such as high-quality images, videos, and animations, you can make it easier for customers to understand what makes your business unique and stand out from competitors in the same industry.

Thirdly, a well-designed website can also help you increase brand recognition since it serves as an extension of your physical store or office. If visitors find it visually pleasing with informative content that is easy to navigate through, then they’re more likely to remember your brand when they need something related to what you offer or if someone asks them about it later on.

Fourthly, having a professionally designed website also helps with SEO rankings since search engine algorithms look favorably upon websites with high quality designs and content structures which help them better understand what each page is about. This means that if someone searches for keywords related to your business then there’s more chance that yours will appear higher up in the results list than those without such considerations taken into account during the design process.

Finally, having a well-designed website can also save time because visitors won’t have to waste seconds trying to figure out how things work or where things are located on the site; everything should be intuitively placed where people expect it so they can get exactly what they need quickly without any hassle or confusion.

Overall, having a well designed website is essential for any new business because it conveys credibility and trust while simultaneously increasing brand recognition and better positioning itself in search engine rankings - all of which can lead to increased sales and profits over time if done correctly.

Social Media Presence

Having a well designed social media presence is a great way for companies to reach their target audiences, promote their products and services, and increase brand recognition. A thoughtful and carefully crafted presence on popular networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help businesses gain an edge over the competition and make them stand out from the crowd. Here are some of the key advantages of having a well-designed social media presence:

1. Increased Online Visibility: Having a strong social media presence increases your online visibility which in turn increases chances of customer discovery. It also allows you to be more visible in search engine results and show up higher in rankings. This makes it easier for potential customers to find you when they are searching online and can lead to more sales or inquiries about your services or products.

2. Develop Deeper Relationships with Customers: With a well-designed social media presence, you can build relationships with customers that go beyond simply providing information about your company or products. You can engage with customers through polls, conversations, and contests to create deeper connections with them that will last much longer than any one interaction alone.

3. Access Valuable Insights: By monitoring your customer's conversations on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc., you gain valuable insights into customer sentiment towards your business as well as what topics interest them most when it comes to industry news or trends in general. This helps companies understand how they should tailor their content creation and marketing strategies accordingly.

4. Expand Your Reach: Social media allows businesses to reach new potential customers who may not have heard of them before or may even be located outside of their traditional geographic area of operations due to its global nature. Being active on various networks can also help build relationships with influencers who have large followings of their own which can eventually lead to greater brand recognition for the company overall.

5. Generate More Traffic To Your Website: Having a strong presence on multiple networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc., increases the amount of traffic directed towards your website significantly because people often click through links posted on these sites that leads back to your own website or blog posts containing helpful information related to what they were searching for in the first place thus leading them one step closer towards conversion into paying customers or potential clients depending on what type of business you are running.

Overall, having a well-designed social media presence is essential for businesses looking to maximize their impact online while building relationships with their customers and expanding their reach into new markets at the same time. Not only does it allow companies greater access to insights regarding customer sentiment but it also gives them an edge over competitors by being more visible in search engine results thus leading more people towards checking out what they have offer first before anyone else does!

Sales & Marketing

Having a well-designed sales and marketing collateral is essential for any business that wants to advance in their industry and reach its target demographic. Sales and marketing collateral are materials used to help promote your product, such as brochures, websites, infographics, press releases, social media posts, advertisements, etc. By having effective material that stands out from the competition you can reach more customers and increase brand awareness. Here are some advantages of having well designed sales and marketing collateral:

First, well designed sales and marketing collateral helps create a strong brand identity. It can set you apart from competitors who might have similar products or services. By having unique visuals associated with your name or logo it can help potential customers remember you better than if they had just seen text or no visuals at all. People tend to be drawn to graphics rather than words alone when making decisions about what to buy or which service to choose.

Second, having great sales and marketing collateral can also improve customer loyalty by fostering trust between the customer and your company. When potential customers see polished materials that demonstrate an understanding of their needs they will be more likely to trust your company enough to purchase from you. Additionally, with regular updates on new product releases or services offered they will be more likely to come back again in the future since they know they can count on your company for interesting content related to your products or services.

Third, great sales and marketing collateral could also lead to increased conversions as well as higher ROI (return on investment). Quality visuals are a great way of showcasing what makes your product special in comparison to others out there. Having engaging images along with comprehensive descriptions of features will give potential buyers all the information necessary for them make educated decisions about what is right for them. Additionally, if people like the content they’ve seen on other platforms such as social media then this could lead them directly back to your website where they can potentially convert into paying customers.

Finally, having effective sales and marketing collateral gives businesses an opportunity for further growth by allowing them to use unique visuals across multiple channels simultaneously without fear of alienating potential customers who may not be familiar with certain platforms yet or might need different types of communication styles depending on their age group or interests. This helps businesses introduce themselves and their products without worrying about limiting their reach due lack of understanding when it comes different demographics around the world which has become increasingly important with globalisation taking place over recent decades.

In conclusion, well designed sales and marketing collateral provide numerous advantages that businesses should take advantage of if they want stand out among competitors while also providing excellent customer service experiences which often leads improved conversion rates along with better customer loyalty over time – both invaluable assets in this digital age!

Email Marketing

Email marketing has become increasingly popular over the years, as businesses look to promote their products and services in a cost-effective way. Email marketing is a great way to reach customers directly with up-to-date information about your product or service, and it can be tailored specifically to meet the needs of each customer. It is also very cost effective compared to other forms of advertising, offering high ROI potential as well as excellent tracking capabilities.

A well-designed email marketing campaign can have a number of advantages for businesses. Firstly, it allows businesses to connect with customers and prospects on a personal level, helping build relationships that will lead to increased sales and customer loyalty. Secondly, it allows companies to target specific audiences with relevant messages that are tailored to their interests, needs and preferences - resulting in higher conversion rates. Finally, emails offer an effective way of staying top-of-mind among customers by delivering timely promotions and content updates which can increase brand recognition and improve customer satisfaction.

In order for email campaigns to be successful, they must be carefully planned out from start to finish. This includes setting goals that are realistic and achievable, designing templates that are attractive yet easy to read on any device (mobile friendly), writing clear subject lines with interesting content that encourages readership, optimizing the message for search engines when possible (SEO), providing valuable content throughout the email such as promotional offers or discounts, testing different versions of the email before sending it out (A/B testing) etc.. In addition to these components, it is also important for marketers to ensure that their emails comply with anti-spam regulations such as CAN-SPAM Act in order to avoid potential legal troubles.

Overall, having a well designed email marketing campaign provides numerous benefits including improved branding opportunities through personalised messaging; increased customer engagement through relevant content; enhanced targeting capabilities thanks to segmentation; improved ROI because of its low cost compared with other forms of promotion; tracking possibilities thanks its analytics feature; better compliance management due its anti spam laws adherence; plus A/B testing makes it even easier for marketers track results which helps optimise future campaigns for maximum efficiency. For these reasons and more - having an effective email strategy in place is essential for any business looking to succeed in today’s digital world.

Print & Signage

When starting up a business, one of the most important elements of your branding package is print and signage . Print and signage provide essential ways to communicate with your customers, let them know what services you offer, promote special sales or discounts, and generally draw attention to your business. It’s also part of how you establish a recognisable brand identity to help differentiate yourself from the competition.

Print materials like business cards, flyers, brochures and postcards are some of the most common tools used for marketing purposes. They can be used in combination to effectively reach new customers and remind existing ones about your products or services. When designing these materials it’s important that they include all relevant information about your business such as contact details, address and website URL. You should also make sure that the design is consistent with your overall branding strategy so that it reinforces rather than confuses your message.

Signage is just as important as print materials when it comes to getting noticed by potential customers. It helps to create a visual impact on passersby and can draw people in who wouldn’t otherwise have noticed you. There are many options available for exterior signage ranging from traditional signs (ie: vinyl banners) to more modern solutions such as LED displays or digital billboards. Interior signage can be equally useful for wayfinding or providing more detailed information about specific products or services.

When deciding on the type of signage that best meets your needs be sure to keep in mind things like visibility (can people see it?), lighting (will it be legible at night?), durability (how long will it last?) and aesthetics (does it match the overall look of your store?). Also consider how much room you have available; large format displays may not work if you only have limited space inside or outside of your store. Finally don’t forget to check local regulations; there may be restrictions on sign size or placement in certain areas which could affect what type of signs you use.

Overall, print materials and signage are crucial elements when creating a successful brand identity for any business venture – whether they are just starting out or well established in their field.. With careful thought put into every element – from content creation to selecting the right format – these items will help ensure that potential customers become familiar with and recognise your company over time.

BeHive Design is here to help get your new business off to a flying start

BeHive design offers comprehensive services that are tailored specifically to entrepreneurs and startups. They specialise in graphic design, branding, website design, SEO , printing and social media services. All of these services are essential when it comes to launching a successful business.

By leveraging BeHive's extensive knowledge of graphic design and branding , you can create a powerful identity for your company. With our unique logo designs and custom branding solutions, we will ensure that your company stands out among the competition. Additionally, by designing websites that are optimised for search engine performance, we can make sure that potential customers are able to easily find your products or services through online searches or social media platforms.

When it comes to creating awareness of your new business, BeHive’s social media marketing solutions can be invaluable. From crafting engaging content for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to developing effective campaigns on more popular networks like Instagram and YouTube – BeHive has the experience to help get your business noticed in the digital space. Furthermore, with our printing services we can provide everything from flyers to banners – meaning that no matter what type of product or service you offer – we have the resources necessary for successful promotion.

Finally, if you’re looking for help with SEO-related tasks such as keyword optimisation and link building ; BeHive is an invaluable asset in ensuring maximum visibility for your brand on all major search engines (Google/Bing/Yahoo). Through our organic search engine optimisation techniques we can rank your website higher in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) providing increased opportunities for web traffic while improving conversions rates over time.

The bottom line is that there are many challenges when it comes to launching a startup business successfully – but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or difficult. With BeHive Design’s comprehensive suite of services; entrepreneurs are able to successfully launch their businesses with ease – allowing them focus on other important aspects such as customer service and product innovation instead of worrying about marketing materials and web presence. So if you’re looking for a reliable partner who will help take care of all those little tasks related to getting a successful business off the ground; look no further than BeHive Design!

Learn and Grow: Understanding the Benefits of Professional SEO

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 15:17:40 GMT

If you’re a business owner, then you know that the success of your company largely depends on how much visible it is to potential customers. That’s why it is so important to invest in search engine optimization (SEO), an essential marketing tactic used to improve visibility on the web. But what exactly is SEO and how does it help businesses?

What is SEO and how does it help businesses?

In a nutshell, SEO is a process of making sure that your website can be easily found online by users searching for specific keywords or phrases related to your business. This means optimising content, increasing link popularity, and other techniques that help to make sure that your website pops up higher in the list of results when someone searches for something related to your business. In this way, professional SEO can give any business an edge over its competitors by helping them appear more prominently in online searches

What SEO strategies should my business use?

So what strategies should businesses use for effective SEO? The most important strategy is keyword research - understanding which relevant words and phrases are being searched by potential customers, and ensuring that those words are properly integrated into all aspects of your website’s content and design. Other key strategies include link building - adding links from other websites back to yours; content optimisation - ensuring that your site has quality content; social media integration and promotion - utilising social networks like Facebook or Twitter to get more exposure; and ongoing analysis - measuring the performance of your campaigns, testing new strategies regularly, and making adjustments accordingly

How can I improve my business's SEO rankings?

Now that you know some of the best practices for good SEO, how can you go about improving your rankings? First off, focus on creating high-quality content for people as opposed to search engines. This will both keep visitors coming back as well as improve organic search engine rankings over time. Additionally, make sure you’re using optimised titles and meta descriptions with targeted keywords when appropriate. Also consider taking advantage of local SEO services if applicable – targeting potential customers in specific geographical locations instead of just relying on nationwide visibility – as well as utilising automated tools like Google Analytics or Webmaster Tools to track progress over time.

How often should I update my website content for SEO purposes?

Speaking of tracking progress over time – how often should you update website content for SEO purposes? It really depends on your industry – some industries require more frequent updates than others do – but ideally you should be updating content at least once a month or so in order to keep up with changing trends in search engine algorithms and user behaviour patterns

Are there any free tools to help with SEO for businesses?

Finally, are there any free tools available to help with SEO for businesses? Yes! There are tons available! Some popular ones include Google Search Console (formerly known as Webmaster Tools), Moz Local Search Ranking Factors Report Tool, Yoast WordPress Plugin, Keyword Planner from Google AdWords, SERPS rank checker tool for monitoring keyword rankings over time…the list goes on! With these helpful tools at hand all businesses now have access to the same level playing field when it comes to optimising their web presence and competing against their rivals

As we’ve seen today, understanding the basics of professional SEO can be extremely beneficial for any business looking to gain more visibility while working within tight budgets. Investing in high-quality keyword research strategies combined with careful management across multiple platforms should ensure unparalleled success with search engine optimisation efforts across all industries!

Are you trying to grow your business online? Search engine optimisation (SEO) plays a vital role in the success of any digital marketing strategy. An effective SEO plan helps your business appear higher in search engine results, attract more qualified visitors, and boost sales. Professional SEO services are the key to getting the most out of your online marketing efforts.

Learning about SEO and understanding its benefits can help you make an informed decision on whether or not to invest in hiring an SEO professional. Here we will look at what SEO is and some of the advantages of engaging with a professional service provider for maximum results

What Is Search Engine Optimisation?

Search engine optimisation is a process that helps websites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). It includes activities such as finding relevant keywords, creating content that contains those keywords, and optimising website structure and code so that it is crawlable by search engines. Professional SEOs use specialised tools, techniques, and know-how to increase visibility in organic search results and drive qualified traffic to their clients’ websites.

How Can I Keep Track of My Business’s SEO Performance?

The best way to keep track of your business’s SEO performance is through regular reporting. A good professional SEO should provide regular reporting with detailed insights on progress made over time, including keyword rankings, website health checks, traffic analysis, link building reports, competitor performance analysis, etc. This will enable you to easily identify areas where improvements can be made for better search engine rankings

Is Hiring an SEO Company Necessary for Success Online?

Hiring a professional SEO company is not absolutely necessary for online success but it can significantly improve your chances of succeeding in the long-run. A good agency has the expertise to optimise all aspects of your website – from content creation strategies to technical optimisations – which may take weeks or even months if done on your own. Furthermore, they also have access to resources that are not available for individual businesses such as advanced tracking software and analytics tools that help pinpoint opportunities for growth faster than ever before

Does Local SEO Matter More Than Global SEO?

Localised search engine optimisation matters more than global when it comes to connecting with local customers who are likely looking for information about products and services within their immediate vicinity. Optimising local content and targeting local keywords helps you reach customers within your area more quickly than trying to appeal to an audience on a global scale. However, both types of optimisation should be employed together as part of an overall strategy since many customers start their research online even if they end up making purchases offline/in-store later on

How Long Does It Take To See Results From An SEO Campaign?

It typically takes anywhere from 6 months up to 1 year depending on how competitive the industry is or how much effort needs put into optimising content versus simply fixing technical issues on site like broken links or missing tags/alt text etc.. In any case it is important to remember that no matter how long it takes; sustained effort over time yields better results than short bursts followed by periods of inaction so patience is key here!

What Are The Most Important Factors In Successful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

There are many factors that go into successful search engine optimisation; however some stand out above others: content quality (relevant topics/keywords used), site structure/navigation (easy usability), page loading speed (takes no more than 3 seconds), user experience (positive interaction with website); backlinks from other reliable sites; optimised alt text images; meta descriptions; page titles; social media presence etc.. All these elements work together towards improving visibility in SERPs which ultimately leads towards improved web traffic from searchers looking specifically for what you offer!

How to Find a Great Digital Marketing Agency, and Why It's So Crucial

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:26:40 GMT

If you're undecided about whether or not to hire a digital marketing agency , if previous " SEOs " have let you down, and if you know people who've wasted money with little-to-no return on their investment (or had their website taken hostage), then this is for you.

We know all of the objections to hiring a digital marketing agency that exist, because we are a digital marketing agency ourselves and have heard these stories from clients.

To ensure that you're prepared to hire a digital marketing agency, we've created this guide! It will explain why hiring an agency is important and how to go about doing it. So let's get started!

3 TIPS FOR CHOOSING A DIGITAL MARKETING TEAM TO HIRE

#1 Not All Agencies Are Created Equal

The most important thing to remember is that no two digital marketing firms are created equal.

The first reason is that some firms will focus on your area of expertise, while others are generalists.

Consider it this way: would you hire a painter who also works as a plumber to do your home repipe? I'd be hesitant to say yes. While their skills are excellent for finishing simple projects, they do not imply that they are competent when it comes to repiping your entire house!

A digital marketing team that is not well-versed in the intricacies of what you do will have to charge more, take longer to complete tasks, and won't understand your industry's unique demands.

Things like:

What your clients care about.
Whom do you want to reach out to, and what are their ages, median incomes, and purchasing habits?
How to speak to your clients through marketing avenues and content
What pain areas does your firm encounter with clients?
High-revenue services
And more

If you hire a digital marketing agency that is aware of this information and can put it into perspective for your company, you will have a better working relationship with them!

#2 The Output of Your Work Does Not Always Reflect the Quality

The second thing to remember is that not all work is created equal!

We're saying that if the marketing agency you are working with doesn't have well-defined procedures to make more money and bring in new leads, their work might not be as useful. Even though it can be tough to measure because you may not know what they're doing, it really comes down to a few basics:

Is it true that the digital marketing firm I'm searching for has increased revenue for other firms similar to mine?

Has the digital marketing agency I'm seeking to employ shown competence in the areas that are important to me?

Are the reviews and recommendations for the marketing agency good?

A digital marketing agency that has helped other companies make more money can be easily found on Google. Furthermore, you can check the company's reviews or how they resolve disputes to get a better idea of the quality of their work.

Contrarily, if you want to hire an agency that lacks a history of the aforementioned in your field, interviewing other similar agencies might be a great plan!

#3 Not every agreement is created equally.

The last thing you want to consider is the agreement you and your agency of choice have in place.

One of the most frequent issues we encounter is companies run by individuals who did not realize the extent of work an agency would be undertaking or what their contract covered, such as content production, website hosting, ongoing work, and so on!

Some things to consider are:

After I (or someone on my team) creates a deliverable for you, do you then own it? This would include your website, media creations, graphics, logos, etc.

What will you receive notification of when I'm working?

Is there a delivery date or just a number of hours to be accomplished?

If you need to cancel your service for any reason, what are the consequences? Are there additional fees or penalties? What process do you need to follow?

Is there a pro-rated refund policy?

Is there any assurance that the professionals will be able to do the work?

The more questions you ask, the better informed you are about how your services are delivered, when they're delivered, and what happens in the event of cancellation. Also, double-check that all information is included on a master service agreement or a terms and conditions page before signing anything!

Positioning yourself as the authority gives you an upper hand when it comes to working with agencies!

Why Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency Is So Important

Most people are unaware of the advantages of enlisting a digital agency – oftentimes assuming they can manage most, if not all, elements by themselves. And in certain circumstances, they very well could!

What if they can't, though? Let's look at a few instances where having a top digital agency on your side is critical!

Saves you time and money! More often than not, people spend too much time and money attempting to learn another trade instead of focusing on their existing skillset. For example, take your current per hour rate then multiply it by 40 hours monthly -- that's the bare minimum amount of time it would take to reach a proficiency level in said field. In most scenarios, you could've just hired an expert for less!

Gives you the ability to focus on your business! We frequently come across company owners who are so preoccupied with how to increase income through marketing that their processes and procedures begin to suffer. As their business has grown, various items have been neglected. Client relationship management, follow-up systems, employee retention, employee training , and other things may be left behind. Other things begin to deteriorate when time is spent away from the company in this capacity.

Helps you delegate work for a healthier life! There's nothing worse than burning yourself out on both ends. When entrepreneurs take on digital marketing work, it's not uncommon for them to become burnt out or their personal life to suffer due to being overly engaged with new subjects that require hours, weeks, days, and even years to master. As you can see, this ties in with the previous point and allows you to reclaim more of your time!

THE LAST WORD ON WHETHER OR NOT TO HIRE A DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY FOR YOUR COMPANY

We've gone over a lot of issues that apply to many cases today, but there are only a few things you should get out of this educational article.

It's essential to avoid wasting time by choosing the appropriate agency and understanding that it will be a long-term partnership. Also, once you've hired an agency, they can help optimise your company for growth and success in other ways while you focus on specialties that benefit your business' expansion.

After all, there is always room for improvement. Therefore, it is crucial that you find a marketing company that strives for excellence in the same way that you do in your field!

Building Your Green Business

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 08:40:12 GMT

If you’re an eco-minded entrepreneur, there are a number of ways you can make your business more sustainable - or alternatively, launch a business entirely focused on sustainable measures. Learning about your potential market and your competition is the first step in planning a successful venture. Behive Design presents you with a guide to establishing your business using sustainable operations.

Have a Green Brainstorming Session

If you’re not sure where to get started, but know you want a business concept that’s sustainable, you likely fall into two camps: a green product or service, or a company that operates with sustainability in mind. For example, a green-focused business might provide products or services that are sourced and made locally, create minimal carbon footprint, or feature sustainable manufacturing processes. If you want your business to “run green,” you might introduce recycled components, minimiSe packaging, and buy and sell locally to cut down on pollution created via air and land transportation shipping. A brainstorming session can point you in the right direction.

Creating Your Business Structure

The first step in launching any business venture is developing a comprehensive business and marketing plan. During this process, you’ll identify your target demographic, narrow the focus of your product or service offerings, analyse the marketplace, and learn competitors’ price points and unique features. You’ll also outline a budget and detail all of your startup needs, from equipment, products and inventory to marketing, office space, or a storefront rental. If you need to apply for small business financing, the business plan will be a necessary part of the application process. According to Simply Business, your plan should be an always-evolving document that serves as a roadmap but should also have the ability to change as circumstances warrant.

In your business plan, emphasise steps that will minimise your carbon footprint , like remote working arrangements and minimiSed waste strategies. Allowing for local deliveries through a robust website can help reduce carbon emissions from long distance transportation, too.

Behive Design can work with you to create a great website and marketing campaign that emphasises the green aspects of your business, like working on the cloud and going paperless. If at all possible, allow your employees to work from home to reduce emissions and the need for more power sources on site.

How to Stand Out

Sustainable productions and operations can cost more than traditional processes. According to Tickled Chili, this makes it important that you’re filling a unique niche with your operation so you can compete and be relevant. You might amplify your approach by collaborating with other green companies, utilising vendors who have sustainable operations, and joining green business coalitions. Banding together in this way gives you all more visibility. You’ll also want to emphasise the eco-friendly elements of your business in your marketing materials. Many consumers seek out businesses that operate in sustainable fashion, so use that to your advantage in your packaging , on your website, and in your social media presence.

Next-Level Green

If you’re already operating your business sustainably, or you currently produce and sell green products and services, look for ways to take your efforts to the next level. Invest in equipment that lowers energy use. Install solar panels on your building(s), go paperless with all of your operational functions, reduce water usage in your company. And always recycle, reuse, and repurpose wherever possible.

If you’re expanding or relocating, build a LEED- certified facility. Get employees involved by creating a committee tasked with coming up with different measures you can collectively take toward protecting the planet. And if you’re a brick and mortar location, try relocating to an area with a high walk score. In other words, plant your new roots in a neighbourhood where many of the shops can be walked to by residents. In this way, you’ll help your customers cut out carbon emissions, too.

Building Your Business Acumen

The world of eco-commerce is continually evolving, and to be on the cutting edge, you need to stay abreast of trends in your industry. Ongoing professional development can also give you new tools and resources to help you grow your business. A master’s degree in business management, marketing, or sustainability can teach you how to apply new concepts, scale your efforts, get employee buy-in, and leverage partnerships to boost your earnings. It can also allow you to make valuable connections that could lead to mutually beneficial collaborations down the line. Join industry associations that focus on sustainable operations, attend conferences and trade shows, and continually look for ways to step up your efforts.

There’s a growing need for more businesses to operate in sustainable ways, as well as an increasing demand for ethically sourced, sustainably produced products and services. There’s no better time to get involved in eco-commerce. Even if you take small steps at first, they can lead to a greener future in more than one way.

Behive Design can help you to create effective marketing campaigns that show off your goods and services, while also highlighting your eco-friendly efforts. Visit us online today to learn more about how we can help your business grow.

Things To Consider When Designing A Website

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 09:58:54 GMT

Essential Elements Of A Great UX Design

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 09:53:51 GMT

The Benefits of Opening a Shopify Shop

Thu, 26 May 2022 19:57:48 GMT

The Benefits of a Shopify Shop

Shopify allows online business owners to set up their shops easily on the internet. It resembles the physical ones, but given how times are changing, people are shifting towards Shopify. In this blog, we will discuss the Shopify shop and list the ten benefits of investing in a Shopify shop.

What is a Shopify shop?

It is known for being an eCommerce platform. It allows business owners to set up an online marketplace to display their services and products in front of the world on the internet. It also allows business owners to put up their shops through various social media platforms and different marketplaces. It is the one platform destination for all business owners where they can set their shop, run and build their shop, after which they can grow their shop or business, its possible to set up a shopify with limited knowledge, but in most cases you will want to use professional shopify development services . We are mentioning below some of the popular benefits of investing in a Shopify shop as a business owner.

Easy setup and quick setup

Without having to incur any development charges and hosting servers. Self-hosting servers, including Magento along with a clean interface and user-friendly. Some structures are installed neatly, with video guides and extensive documents. All you have to do is sell the product and services on the Shopify shop.

No technical worries

Servers and hosting servers are owned by Shopify which is one of the reasons why the servers are faster and more secure. It takes care of all updates that come on the software. This allows shoppers to focus on selling products and services. The platform allows you to note even the traffic that is spiking around an individual’s seller account.

Reliable and Secure

E-commerce owners have online customers who come with sensitive information that includes credit and debit cards. This ensures the website is fast, safe, and always active. One of the biggest benefits of having a Shopify shop seller profile is the reliability it provides when it comes to hosting. The platform will take care of the upgrades, shopping cart, store, and server maintenance along with allowing with having the quick loading of pages.

24/7 customer care support

Shopify shop allows sellers to keep their shops open 24/7. Right from 7 days a week to have quick response time, it allows business to never shut down when it is on Shopify. Shoppers can get in touch via phone, text, email, and even web chat. There are several community forums along with extensive documents through the Shopify help centre along with advanced Shopify university guides.

Mobile ready

Mobile compatibility is one of the biggest benefits of having a seller account on the Shopify shop. There is a built-in mobile commerce shopping portfolio, which implies that an individual’s seller account looks great irrespective of the devices they are swiping.

An app is built for that

Right from adding reviews, customer wishlists, and loyalty programs, to even in-depth analytics, packing slips, and print labels. Right from integrating account software and social media apps to shipping programs, there are over 1000 apps to choose from.

Essential marketing and SEO tools

Search engine optimising tools and marketing tools allows you to have a detailed analysis of how your Shopify seller account is doing on the platform. In addition to that, you will also receive social media integration, email marketing, and product reviews. Along with that, sellers also have the creativity to develop Shopify discount codes. Shopify kit has been designed to help sellers understand digital marketing. Along with acting as a virtual employee, executing and recommending marketing tasks based on performance, audience and products are also supported by the platform.

Unlimited cart recovery

Do you remember putting items in your cart but never making a purchase? Shopify ensures that the carts are tracked, and the relevant information is used to email these potential customers to remind them of the pending payment. It is one of the easiest ways to motivate potential buyers to purchase once they have added products to the cart.

Have your payment gateway

Several payment gateways are being implemented in accounts of Shopify sellers. The installation fee is very low, and the sellers do not require a merchant account to use them.

Given how you are now aware of the benefits of having a Shopify shop on the internet, if you happen to own a business, it is time for you to set up an eCommerce shop on the platform. It’s easy, strategic, and has several features which make it one of the best e-commerce platforms on the internet.

7 Must-Know Tips to Get Visitors to Stay Longer on Your Website

Tue, 24 May 2022 10:28:59 GMT

7 Must-Know Tips to Get Visitors to Stay Longer on Your Website.

As online business owners, we all want to convert maximum visitors into final consumers. Unfortunately, not everyone gets success in it.

We work hard to drive traffic toward our website. But, this is not enough. Making the visitors stick around and consume the complete content is essential. More time spent on the website results in more engagement and more conversions.

Successful marketers use various tactics to increase this engagement time. We can also use these strategies to let our visitors stay longer on the site.

Wondering what they are? Read below to find out:

1. Provide Meaningful Content

The online world is full of information. Why should people choose you when other sites also provide the same material?

Think smartly and try to stand out with unique content . However, knowing your audience is essential. Work on topics they want to learn, research their problems, and see how your content can resolve them.

Here are a few tips:

Do extensive research from journal articles, blogs, and Google books.
Give real-life examples to explain the concept.
Explain every technical data in simple and easy-to-understand language.
Select a tone of voice as per your audience’s style.
Use vocabulary according to the educational level of your readers.
Share recent studies, and don’t forget to cite them.

2. Consider a Website Redesign

Even if your content is valuable, a poor web design can spoil it. We all know people see before they read. If their first glance at a website is unimpressive, they will leave without reading the content.

Like a book cover, website design plays a vital role in creating an image of the brand. Have a look at your site and see which elements need an upgrade. You can also get in touch with a professional website designing company .

When seeking help from a web designer, never forget to communicate the following points:

Target audience
Current bounce rate
Brand’s mission
Complains about user experience

An expert designer will analyse the site, document the findings, and give recommendations.

Communicating about the target audience to the web designer help in picking the right style and colours. For instance, white is a sign of dismay in some cultures, while others consider it a symbol of happiness and peace.

Web designers may change the colour scheme, font, images, and layout. Flashy colours are not an ideal choice. Go for colours that complement the background and make the text easy to read. Likewise, choose an appropriate font size. Too small font size can frustrate the readers.

3. Increase Engagement Through Visual Content

Visuals have the power to boost engagement. You can use several forms of visual content like images, videos, infographics, screenshots, etc., to fill in the visual gap in your content. Since people don’t like reading lengthy paragraphs, visuals keep them engaged for a long.

Here are some standard visual formats:

Create Videos And Get Images

Create short, explainer videos or hire a professional video producer to design one for your brand. The videos will help the audience understand your product/services better and enhance engagement.

Likewise, you can capture original images of your product or services to build reliability around your business. However, taking high-quality pictures is not everyone’s cup of tea. And hiring a photographer is expensive.

Thankfully, stock images are available online. The paid stock images are good in quality and can be customised too. Search online, and you will find many reliable sites offering premium-quality stock images .

Share Screenshots

People love knowing tricks and shortcuts. Learning them becomes easier when you share a screenshot. For instance, if you are creating content on MS Excel, you can add screenshots to display the result of each step. Looking at the screenshots will make the user understand better rather than just reading text.

Apart from it, screenshots build credibility. They tell about your implementation of the same method. Since you are displaying the results of what you are suggesting, users get convinced to read the content in detail. Therefore, add screenshots to help build trust and make the information easy to understand.

Add Infographics and Gifographics

Infographics include pie charts, bar graphs, flow charts, etc. They help explain complex information. Rather than reading detailed statistics, users can get an idea about the data at a glance with the help of infographics.

Gifographics is an advanced and humorous form of infographics. Also known as GIFs, this visual display of data also includes animation. The moving picture creates interest and encourages users to learn more about your brand.

Additionally, it helps in making your brand viral. Many people share GIFs on social media pages. Thus, you can get more traffic and more conversions.

4. Increase Your Website’s Speed

People expect a site to load quickly. Most visitors don’t even wait for the browser to complete loading the page. If they observe a delay, they simply switch back. Therefore, work on increasing the site’s speed.

Here are a few tips:

Optimise Images

You cannot just take any picture and add it to your site. Instead, it is essential to examine and modify the size of the image you are using. This is because large photos take more space and increase the loading time. You can use image compressing tools and compress images to reduce size without compromising quality.

Use a CDN System

Using CDN is another common tactic for boosting speed. This Content Delivery Network system has servers in various geographical locations. It speeds up the content delivery by sending content as per the nearest server location.

Don’t Use Unnecessary Plugins

When you use a lot of plugins, your site will require more resources to run them. As the business grows, our requirement for plugins increases. However, we forget to uninstall the old plugins. This way, the total number of plugins increases and affects the site’s speed.

Use Browser Caching

If multiple users visit the page simultaneously, the server response becomes slow. You can store the latest version of your site and present it to the user through caching until a site updates.

You can go through this guide that tells you the process of enabling browser caching and using a Caching Checker Tool.

5. Earn Credibility

When people visit a site, they analyse if they can trust the brand or not. None of us prefer spending the hard-earned money on something that doesn’t look reliable. Therefore, brands work hard to gain this confidence.

It is the level of trust that helps in maintaining a loyal clientele. Otherwise, consumers are no short of options. Many other websites are available for them. But, once they develop trust, they won’t consider other options.

Here is how you can earn trust:

Share Real People Photos

Instead of just sharing the product’s image, try to share pictures of your staff. Let people know about your team and business culture. It will build transparency, and people will realise how many people work together for a single product.

Besides this, it adds a “human touch” to your brand, essential for developing an emotional attachment. Thus, prospects become more curious about the brand and stay longer.

Add Testimonials

Many people won’t trust what you say until they read testimonials from others who have invested in your brand. Some of them directly read the testimonials before reading the product’s description. If the testimonials look satisfactory, they go back to the product details and check the features. Thus, testimonials are a great source of building trust.

Display Social Work

Today, more and more brands are working hard to develop goodwill. They actively participate in social work and share it on their website. People love supporting such brands. Therefore, they read more about them and easily convert into the final consumer.

7. Create Special Offers for Abandoning Visitors

Do you know about the exit-intent pop-ups? These are special offers made to visitors who are leaving the site without converting. Thanks to the growing technology, we can now track the consumer’s movement and display a pop-up to encourage them to stay longer.

Through these pop-ups, you can offer coupons like percentage discounts, buy one get one free offer, free memberships, etc. These coupons successfully hold the visitors who were otherwise likely to leave the site.

After looking at these offers, prospects may be inclined to spend more time on the website, which increases the probability of converting.

Several plugins are available for creating such coupons within minutes. You can try HubSpot, Sumo, Hello Bar, Optimonk, etc.

8. Add Relevant Internal Links

Internal linking refers to the link of your web page on another web page of the same site. In simple words, it connects the pages of your site with each other. When a reader goes through a single page of your site, the internal link can let the visitor know more about you. Don’t miss this chance.

But make sure to add relevant internal links. For instance, if you are talking about adding images to your site, you can add a link to a post regarding image editing tools. In short, these internal links should add value to your content.

Wrapping It Up

All in all, implementing tactics to boost visitor time on our website is mandatory. Fortunately, these tactics work well and increase conversions. But consistency is the key to success.

So, think no further! Start using all these tips from today and grow your business like never before! Good luck!

What Is SEO Search Engine Optimisation and how can it benefit your business?

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 10:17:47 GMT

SEO is often misunderstood by many, but it's an important part of the digital marketing process. SEO can be defined as "Search Engine Optimisation" and refers to ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPS) for relevant keywords, which will increase your website traffic. It's also a great way to build credibility with prospective customers because they can see that you are who you say you are on Google before visiting your site.

What Is SEO Search Engine Optimisation?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is a very important tool to have in your business. SEO is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO helps businesses to get their websites found by potential customers online.

There are many different aspects to SEO and it can be quite complex. However, at its core, SEO is all about creating valuable content that people will want to read and share. You can then use various techniques to improve the visibility of that content, such as promoting it on social media or optimising it for search engines.

SEO is a great way to get your business in front of more potential customers online. If you're not sure where to start, contact us today for a free consultation. We'll help you get started with SEO and show you how it can benefit your business.

The Crucial Elements of SEO Marketing:

Keyword Planning, On-Page and Off-Page Optimisation, and Google's Search Console.

Keywords

Keywords are an essential part of SEO marketing. They are the words and phrases that you target to rank your website or web page in search engine results pages. When people search for information online, they use keywords to find what they're looking for.

Therefore, it's important to choose the right keywords and use them throughout your website and content. You can research which keywords are most relevant to your business using various tools, such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Once you've chosen your keywords, you need to incorporate them into your content in a way that makes sense for your audience. You should also have secondary and tertiary keywords in your domain name, as they will still provide value to your business. Finally, apply keywords to improve the optimisation of all of your titles, URLs, and other on-page SEO components.

Content

The quality of your content is one of the most important factors in SEO. If you want to rank your website or web page in search engine results pages, you need to create valuable, relevant, and engaging content. This content must be original and of high quality, and it should be updated on a regular basis.

You can promote your content on social media and other channels to help it reach a wider audience. Additionally, you can use various on-page SEO techniques to improve its visibility. For example, you can optimise your titles, URLs, and meta descriptions for search engines. You can also add keywords to your content to help improve its ranking.

Creating high-quality content is essential for SEO success . If you're not sure where to start, we can help. At our Manchester SEO Company , we offer a variety of services and strategies that will help your business succeed online with the use of high-quality content.

Today’s content must be educational, but also interesting, relevant, and shareable. Content comes in a variety of forms, including:

Web page content
Videos
Blogs ( Learn how to write a good blog )
Infographics
Podcasts
Listicles
How-to guides
Whitepapers and e-books
Social media posts
Local Listings

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page through external measures. This involves optimising your website and content for search engines, as well as promoting it on social media and other channels.

One of the most effective ways to improve the visibility of your website is to build backlinks to it from other websites . You can do this by creating valuable content that others will want to link to, or by participating in online communities and forums. Additionally, you can promote your website on social media and other channels to help it reach a wider audience.

SEO is a complex process, but with the right tools and strategies, you can improve the visibility of your website and increase traffic to your site. At Manchester SEO Company, we offer a variety of services and strategies that will help your business succeed online with the use of SEO. Contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about how SEO can benefit your business.

Local SEO

Local SEO is the process of optimising a website for search engines so that it appears higher in the results when people search for local businesses. This involves adding specific keywords and phrases to your website and content, as well as optimising your titles, URLs, and other on-page elements. You can also promote your website on social media and other channels to help it reach a wider audience.

Local SEO is essential for businesses that want to reach new customers in their area. So, for example, if you own a restaurant, local SEO will make sure that when people in your area search for the best restaurants in town, your site comes up. By optimising your website for local search, you can improve the visibility of your business and attract more visitors to your site. Contact Manchester SEO Company today for a free consultation to learn more about how local SEO can benefit your business.

Other major local SEO strategies include claiming local directory listings, building site-specific pages for your business (also known as doorway pages), and creating Google My Business local directories and Google Maps pages for your company.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of online marketing that involves the use of search engines to promote a website or product. It involves the use of paid advertising, such as Google AdWords, to increase the visibility of a website or product on search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEM is a cost-effective way to promote your website or product, and it can be extremely effective in increasing traffic to your site. By using paid advertising, you can reach a wider audience and increase the visibility of your site or product.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool that allows website owners to monitor their website's search performance. It provides a variety of tools and data that can help you improve your website's search engine visibility and ranking.

Some of the features offered by Google Search Console include:

- Search performance data: This data includes information on your website's search traffic, impressions, clicks, and average position. You can use this data to track your website's progress and see where you need to make improvements.

- Index coverage report: This report shows you which pages on your website are being indexed by Google and how well they are performing in search results. You can use this information to identify which pages need improvement and add more content to those pages.

- Crawl errors report: This report shows you any errors that are preventing Google from crawling or indexing pages on your website. You can use this information to fix these issues, which will improve the search performance of your site.

Google Webmaster Tools is another free tool offered by Google for website owners who want to monitor their SEO performance and find out how users interact with their websites in general. It offers a variety of data that allows marketers to see exactly what's working well on their sites and where they need improvement.

Why Is SEO Important For Your Business?

SEO is important for your business because it helps you reach a wider audience and increases traffic to your site. It also helps you build credibility with prospective customers, and it's a great way to reach people who are searching for your products or services. Additionally, SEO is a cost-effective way to promote your business, and it can be extremely effective in increasing traffic to your site.

Visibility and Rankings

One of the main benefits of SEO is that it helps to increase the visibility and ranking of your website. By optimizing your website and content for search engines, you can improve your ranking in the SERPs, which will result in more traffic to your site. Additionally, SEO is a great way to build credibility with prospective customers, as they can see that you are who you say you are on Google before visiting your site.

Increasing your organic page ranking is critical to increasing the number of people who visit your site after seeing it in search engine results.

Web Traffic

SEO can help to increase web traffic to your site by improving the visibility and ranking of your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, SEO is a great way to build credibility with prospective customers, as they can see that you are who you say you are on Google before visiting your site. By using SEO, you can reach a wider audience and increase traffic to your site. Increased web traffic is one of the primary objectives of SEO, and you may improve exposure and ranks to drive more visitors. Consider this for a second: the top spot on Google receives over 32% of clicks , while moving up just one place in search results can increase CTR by 30.8 percent.

Authority

A website's Page Authority (PA) is a metric, created by Moz , that measures the strength of a webpage. Page Authority is calculated using a variety of factors, including the number of links to the page, the quality of those links, and the age of the page.

The higher a page's PA score, the more likely it is to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs). Pages with high PA scores are considered to be more authoritative than pages with low PA scores.

Page Authority is important because it helps you to measure the strength of a page. The higher a page's PA score, the more likely it is to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, pages with high PA scores are considered to be more authoritative than pages with low PA scores. Authority is an important factor in SEO, and it's essential to have a strong website that ranks high in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Creating a Better Visitor Experience

Another advantage of SEO is that it helps your site be more user-friendly. All the time you put into creating excellent content and on-page SEO optimisation improves the usability of your site. This results in a pleasant and positive client experience.

The most common cause of bounce rate is a poor mobile user experience, especially when compared to the overall website. When you improve your site's performance by increasing its speed and decreasing latency, you create a better mobile user experience for all of your visitors, regardless of whether they're viewing it on their phones or on a computer. Similarly, by optimising your page load time, you'll reduce your bounce rate and encourage people to stay longer on your site. Consumers consider a web page to load quickly with an upper limit on loading time so that it doesn't crawl past three seconds! The longer the loading time takes, the greater the bounce rate and lower conversion rates.

SEO can help to create a better visitor experience to your website by improving the visibility and ranking of your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Additionally, SEO is a great way to build credibility with prospective customers, as they can see that you are who you say you are on Google before visiting your site. By using SEO, you can reach a wider audience and increase traffic to your site. Increased web traffic is one of the primary objectives of SEO, and you may improve exposure and ranks to drive more visitors.

SEO Reports

An SEO report is a document that provides valuable insights into the performance of a website's search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. It outlines the strengths and weaknesses of a website's SEO, including keyword rankings, organic traffic, and user engagement metrics. By examining these elements, an SEO report can provide guidance on which areas need improvement in order to achieve better visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).

One of the most important aspects of an SEO report is organic search visibility. This tells you how often your website appears on SERPs under certain keywords and phrases. This helps you understand where you rank relative to your competitors and identify any issues with keyword optimisation or content optimisation. Additionally, by looking at organic click-through rates (CTR), you can determine if your website is appearing for relevant searches but not necessarily getting clicked on

Another element analysed in an SEO report is backlinks. Backlinks are links from external websites pointing to pages on your site; they represent an endorsement from those sites and help boost your rankings in SERPs. Your SEO report will tell you the quality of the backlinks pointing to your site, as well as how many backlinks are pointing to each page — this can help you assess whether it’s worth investing time into building more backlinks or focusing more energy elsewhere

In addition to providing insight into SEO performance metrics like organic traffic, keyword rankings, and backlink profiles, an SEO report may also include technical analysis such as page speed scores. Page speed plays an important role in determining how easily users can access content on your site; if the loading times are too slow, it could lead to a high bounce rate which would then hurt your SERP rankings over time. An SEO report can thus help you identify any issues with page loading times and suggest corrective measures such as minifying code or compressing images so that pages load faster for users

Finally, an important part of any successful SEO strategy is user engagement metrics — these tell you how people interact with and respond to content on your site after they land there from a search result page. This helps inform decisions about what sort of content works best for users and helps guide future optimisation efforts accordingly. A good SEO report should include metrics such as average time spent per visit, bounce rate percentages across different pages, website conversions scored by source/medium/campaign groupings, etc., which all provide valuable information about user behaviour onsite that can be used to measure success across campaigns or initiatives over time.

Conclusion

SEO is often misunderstood by many, but it's an important part of the digital marketing process. By using SEO, you can reach a wider audience and increase traffic to your site. Increased web traffic is one of the primary objectives of SEO, and you may improve exposure and ranks to drive more visitors. Consider this for a second: the top spot on Google receives over 32% of clicks, while moving up just one spot can result in a 95% increase in clicks.

To learn more about SEO and how it can benefit your business, contact the team at behive design today. We're experts in digital marketing and we would be happy to help you get started with SEO for your website .

Affordable Web Design Manchester

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:52:08 GMT

The web design process can be viewed as creating an online representation that is designed to engage with humans. Websites are interactive and vary depending on the input from their viewers through polls or videos, all while being displayed on screens across different platforms like computers and phones.

Advantages of Web Design

They are full of pros and benefits such as:

Impactful

Don't you want your customers or potential clients to have a good first impression of what they are going to see? A well-designed website will give them the professional look and feel that is needed for credibility. An amateur site could make someone think unprofessional thoughts because it doesn’t seem credible, so make sure that your company has an aesthetically pleasing web presence.

Revenue Generation

A professionally designed website will help you reach more people who are likely to buy your products. As they spend time on it, a strategic site is bound to convert these prospects into buyers and generate more sales for yourself.

Trust Builder

Alongside making a positive impression on visitors and establishing a strong first impression, a well-thought-out and well-designed website can build trust in your brand as well as the company's image among people who visit your site. Strong, clear, and captivating visuals that take focus on users' experience and your target customers are just a few ways that your website's design will help build confidence in your customers and prospective customers.

If a site appears outdated or difficult to follow or appears to mislead or confuse the user, trust is diminished and the likelihood of gaining a user's trust and conversion is drastically reduced.

Reliable

When you partner with a professional web design company, not only are their services guaranteed for life but they're always ready and willing to make any changes that might be needed on your end. A completed project is just the beginning of our relationship, it's up to us what we want them to do next.

Less Expense

The importance of having a fresh, professional website design should not be underestimated. A good quality site will save you money in the long run and make your company more competitive on the market with other companies who invest their time into making high-quality sites too. Investing in a new website design is always worth it.

Cost of Web Designing

Website Designing itself does not charge a lot. However, affordable web design Manchester can be achieved, as the cost of web designing is based on these factors:

Type of Website

First, you must determine what kind of site you'll need. It is important to consider what size you need for your company and the goals you'd like your website to achieve. Affordable Web Design can be achieved at most of these levels.

Small websites

If you're a small-scale business seeking to develop a website most likely there won't be a lot of information available on your site. It'll be 5-10 pages and minimal customisation. Let's say that you have 10 pages, with images, some content and not much else with regards to functionalities. Expect an initial cost of £750- £5,000.

Medium-sized websites

For small-sized companies, for example, your site could have up to 75 pages and customised layouts, and a few unique features. If this is the type of website you're trying to build, consider an initial price in the £5,000 to £20,000 range.

E-commerce Website

If you're thinking of developing a website on which customers can browse and buy items? This is an e-commerce site. Based on the number of products you're planning to showcase, you may start with an upfront price that ranges from £5,000 to £40,000.

Large Business Website

If you're not trying to save money A large-scale website can include numerous pages customised images and designs including a CMS, blog integration, data collections, CMR, and more. It could cost anything between £25,000 and £40,000.

Customised Website

The world of eCommerce has changed dramatically in recent years. No longer are websites just about selling products; they must also offer a customer experience that makes visitors want to stay on the site and explore more. Most templates can't provide this customisation factor for companies looking to stand out online. The more the customisation, the greater the cost will be. Affordable Web Design may not include extended customisation.

Generation of Content

Creating and formatting the written content for your website is a time-consuming task. It can also increase costs if you don't know what to include or how much will be needed, so it's the best practice to generate this summarising text strategically. Other types of behind-the-scenes data such as page titles, meta tags & alt images add value in search engine optimisation.

Professional Designer

You can purchase an online site for cheap. However, it will not have the same level of quality as a site that costs £1500. It's the same as the distinction between two bicycles and a Lexus. Both can get you where you want to go, however, one is definitely quicker, offers the most comfortable experience for users, and takes less effort to use over the other.

Designers who cost more generally provide the expertise that you can't get at a lower cost and, in the majority of cases the advantages will definitely exceed the extra expenses. If you decide to choose the most affordable choice, you could be hiring a designer who could lack communication, an inconsistency in the procedure, inconsistent follow-up or no assistance after completion, or a poor or unsatisfactory final product.

The same applies case when using a build-it-yourself website. It is possible to build a beautiful website, but you may spend a hundred hours on it, and end up with a site which is lacking important elements or isn't well-organised, modern, or user-friendly.

Freelance Web Designer Manchester

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 09:31:14 GMT

The internet has made websites an integral part in doing business around the world. Online marketing and fast transactions are now the norm. A responsive website is essential for offering competitive services in any industry. It is recommended that you hire a freelance web designer to understand your needs and deliver the final product quickly and with high quality.

You can always choose freelance web designers Manchester if you are looking for these services. They offer high quality services at affordable rates. If you choose the right choice, you'll enjoy the following:

Lesser Cost

In any hiring decision, price is an important factor. Freelance web designers in Manchester are generally more affordable than those who work for larger companies. There are many reasons for this:

There are many freelance web developers. Free market competition means lower prices because freelancers are competing for your business and trying to outsell each other. They decide their rates and they are flexible. You may not get the quality that you desire if the lowest price is always chosen. Don't let price be your only criterion.

Freelancers don't require benefits. They don't require you to contribute to their retirement savings or health insurance. They don't have to be paid overtime or recognised on statutory holidays. You don't have to provide office space or supplies. The typical costs of employees are not incurred by freelancers.

Freelancers are less likely to waste time. You pay them for what they do, instead of giving them a salary or an hourly rate. They are less likely to waste time in an office setting where they are paid the same.

Consistent Working

Freelancers are often self-employed and can play multiple roles. They also have many skills that span many areas. A website design involves overseeing many elements, including graphics, copywriting, and UX design. These tasks may be divided up by an agency and could affect the consistency of your website.

Working with one freelancer will ensure that your website's tone and design is consistent. They will be responsible for the design of the website , as well as understanding the needs and wants of the customer. Freelance web designers Manchester will be able to see your website from all angles, which is a distinct advantage over working with multiple people.

We are used to communicating via email, text and phone calls. You only deal with one contact when working with freelancers. This simplifies communication and allows edits to be made quickly. Compared to this, phone calls and emails when you work with an agency will most likely consist of speaking to multiple people.

This can lead to crucial information being misinterpreted or worse, even lost. Communication with freelancers is easier. Make sure your freelancer is aware of the need for open communication. You're ready to move forward if your freelancer agrees!

Direct Communication

Most web development companies have an account manager, who will pass your information to the developer about any changes or requirements. They will then implement them, and inform the account manager. This information is then passed to you by the account manager. Freelancers can be contacted directly to request information and make changes. This saves a lot of time.

Quality content

A freelancer's work will often be of a higher quality than work done by an agency. Because each website that a freelancer manages will be a portfolio piece, this is why it is so important. A freelancer will have a unique eye for detail that is not available in a design agency. An agency might offer you a generic version of the website that you want, but they have likely worked on many other projects.

Check out the portfolio of the freelancers during the hiring process. You want someone with an eye for aesthetics and a great sense of design, as well as someone who can be flexible. A freelancer can provide the personal touch only a web designer could.

Effective Rates

Most freelance web designers in Manchester will charge a reasonable rate for their services, as we have already stated. The quality of the final product will not be compromised, which is important. You just need to describe your needs and a freelance web designer will work with you quickly.

By keeping in mind the importance of websites, web designing becomes more important. A web designer can make or break your website. It all depends on the effectiveness of a web designer. One should look for the best web design company in Manchester .

beHIVE Design provides individuals and large companies with a unique opportunity to develop their brands on an individual level. From the initial logo design phase, all of our work is tailored according to your needs. We are the best web design company in Manchester as well as branding for startups or established businesses in order to help them reach new heights they wouldn't be able without us by their side!

Which is the Best Web Design Company Manchester?

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 21:00:26 GMT

A website can be a business’s key to success, but it is only as good if you use it correctly. Websites are traditionally used for many different marketing strategies such as advertisements on social networking sites or forums and through pay-per-click programs that make your company accessible all around the world. Webpages also allow companies to show off their products in detail by listing prices and how they work which helps with sales numbers dramatically. Websites are important for many reasons, but one of the most overlooked is a website's ability to provide visitors with directions and location information. Another great feature that websites offer potential customers is testimonials from previous clients. Websites can also help you build credibility by showcasing how your store or business has helped others in their lives- this will encourage people who visit your site to trust what they see more than ever before.

You should look for the best web design company in Manchester as websites have various benefits such as:

An All-time Online Presence

One of the most important advantages a website has is that it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. Even when you're not around to speak with them in person, your customers don't have to worry about whether or not they will receive service--they'll still get what they need on their own time and at home.

It Sets the First Impression

When your audience visits your website, they make their first impression of the business in seconds. In these few moments, you want to leave them feeling positive about how professional and appealing it is compared to other competitors' websites.

A positive first impression can make or break a business. If your website looks unappealing and outdated, potential customers will leave it within seconds for the competitor's page that has an appealing design. You want to create a lasting impact with creative copywriting on each page of your site so you're memorable in their minds when they need services again.

Advertising Opportunities

A website's green efforts should be defined by how it advertises and markets itself. There are plenty of ways to advertise one's services or products through the internet, such as Facebook ads for example. The best web design company in Manchester can help increase your ranking on Google which will result in a higher number of sales that lead to more profits.

Increase Your Credibility

A modern company needs a professional website to succeed in the marketplace . A well-designed, informative, and up-to-date site will increase your credibility and strengthen your brand. If you want to get ahead of all other competitors on the market today then it is essential that you have an online presence through any form of communication or advertisement available - this may include social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., blogs with posts relevant for what customers are looking for (articles about how different products can be used).

By keeping in mind the importance of websites, web designing becomes more important. A web designer can make or mar your website. It all depends on the effectiveness of a web designer. One should look for the best web design company in Manchester .

What makes a good website?

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 17:03:41 GMT

Building and making a website can be essential for your business or for your personal needs, but making a good website takes a little more effort and time. In this post, we are going to be talking about what specific factors come together to make a better website so hopefully, you can check off all of these points to make sure your website is great in the eyes of Google and the readers.

CONTENT

Having unique, well written and original content on your website is a great way to make your website go from okay; to good as the journey for the reader will be more enjoyable, engaging the viewer in high quality content means they stay longer, tend to browse around the rest of your site and return multiple times, which will lead to more traffic. Having a good website also means putting the reader’s needs first because they are the ones the site is targeted to and they are what will add to the success of the website. One of the biggest things to avoid in a website is errors and broken links. If your website has error after error and broken links it means that the site looks unprofessional whereas if your site has no errors and all the links work correctly then the site is good and actually useful to the readers.

To have a good website you should also have organised and structured content that isn’t full or cluttered. You can use subheadings, images, and graphics to organise your site to break up the text, making it more appealing for the readers. This is also important because it allows Google to easily crawl and index your website and all of its content.

USER FRIENDLY

When we think of a good website we think of being as easy to use as physically possible. This is important because your viewers could range from a high tech computer genius to a slightly older person who isn’t great with technology. Having easy navigation on your site also means that people are less likely to leave your site and find something more user-friendly and it also shows that your target audience appeals to a wider range of people which can increase traffic and views.

VISUALLY APPEALING

Making sure that your website is visually appealing means that it is one step closer to being good. Many people will look at a website and click off right away if the site looks outdated or not appealing but if it looks visually interesting and appealing they will be more likely to stay on and look at all your pages. This can also be done by having a brand/website identity. This means that your whole brand/site fits in with the same designs, colours, fonts, logos and overall aesthetic. This makes a viewer remember your site a lot more and could lead to them re-visiting your site on many other occasions.

MOBILE FRIENDLY

Having a mobile-friendly website isn’t essential but it does make your website appear more accessible to everyone as a lot of people prefer to use their phones for a lot of things or they only have their phone to search when they are out of the house. Having a mobile website linked also widens the ability to get website views as you have people searching on their phone as well as people who only search on computers.

LOAD TIME

To have a good website you need a fast load time . How many times have you gone to search something, clicked on a site, and then proceeded to click off because it was taking too long? Too many times I imagine. Making sure that you have a fast load time means that people get to your site within seconds which means that they are more likely to stay on there. Having optimised graphics, video and audio gives the website the necessary speed it needs to load faster.

WEBSITE SCORE

Having a good website means that it should be built to score over 80/100 on most website health check software, whether thats Ahrefs , SEMRush or MOZ . This means the website is built well, the on-site SEO is of a high standard, and there are no errors. With a high rating it ensures when Google crawls the website to rank it on Google, your website is ranking is positively impacted.

CONCLUSION

Hopefully, after reading this post you have gained some more knowledge on what makes a good website and great B2B web design , you can perhaps adapt your own site in case you missed any of these tips.

What is a backlink?

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:55:26 GMT

Backlinks are a very important necessity when it comes to successful websites but they can get a little confusing and overwhelming, however, in this post we are going to talk about them in an easy way so that you can incorporate them into your website as soon as possible.

WHAT IS A BACKLINK?

A backlink is a link from one website to another website. From the receiving end of a backlink, they can also be called incoming links and inbound links but if they are from the linking side they can be called external links, outgoing links, or outbound links. They allow websites to link and mention other sites directly and easily allow the readers to quickly look at different pages and sites. Backlinks are a great way to improve your website’s chances of getting to a higher placement within search engines, such as Google, as they affect a website’s ranking. Backlinks are also considered the most important factor when it comes to the way websites are ranked , so having good quality backlinks means that there’s more chance of your website being at the top of a search engine’s result page and is one of the most fundamental parts of our SEO Services .

THE IMPORTANCE OF BACKLINKS

Backlinks are important for a lot of reasons because they are an essential part of any successful, highly viewed website. One of the main reasons that backlinks are so important is because they help Google and other search engines determine which of all the pages should rank the highest for the given question or search. So when you Google anything, typically the top website is at the top because Google has decided that it is the most relevant to the search but it also means that it has better quality and reliable backlinks which make the website page appropriate and suitable for the person trying to find information.

Another main reason that backlinks are important is that they can send your website a lot more visitors through referral traffic. This essentially means that when someone backlinks to your site through their site, the people looking at their site may go to your website which results in more traffic on your site which is great.

Backlinks are also great because they allow search engines to discover your page faster which means that there is immediately more chance of people finding your website which then means that there are more visitors on your website.

GOOD VS BAD BACKLINKS

Just because backlinks are really important and essential doesn’t mean that they are all great or beneficial for your website. This is because there is a big difference between good and bad backlinks. Good backlinks are better for increasing the popularity and rank of your website whereas bad backlinks can result in Google or other search engines seeing your site as unnatural which will lead to less traffic and a lower-ranking that doesn’t help your website grow.

Good quality backlinks can include topical relevance. Topical relevance is the way a search engine determines how relevant a web page is to what the user is searching within the search engine. Topical relevance is important because it helps google see the reliability and authority of a website which can lead to more traffic if your backlinks are good and relevant to what your page is about. You should also remember that with backlinks the rule of quality over quantity is really important because one great backlink can be way more beneficial than ten back quality backlinks.

Bad backlinks include things such as sites with a lot of spamming, pages that go against Google’s guidelines, and unnatural backlinks that aren’t cohesive or appropriate for your page.

HOW TO GET BACKLINKS

Getting backlinks can be done in a few ways. The first way is earning them in a natural and organic way. Earning backlinks this way means gaining them through people discovering your pages on their own through searches, finding your sites through social media, or as simple as word of mouth which will then lead to people choosing to link to your page.

Another way to get backlinks is to create them yourself through other sites. This can easily be done by adding links to your site on other websites such as forums, directories, and also blog comments. This is a simple way to get backlinks to sites that have similar relevance and to also be involved in a community of people who have similar sites.

The third way that you can get backlinks is to build them by reaching out to other site owners and editors and ask them to link to your site. Gaining backlinks from sites that also have good backlinks is great because it makes Google link you to other successful and reliable sites. This can be hard as many site owners will want specific backlinks however you have to remember, the harder the backlink is to get, the more valuable the backlink is.

HOW TO CHECK BACKLINKS TO YOUR SITE

Checking your backlinks is a great way to see what sites are involved with yours and also to see what links are popular and working well to get your site higher with Google. You can get a backlink checker within Google Search Console . This enables you to see the pages with the most links and also see the websites that have linked to your site the most. This is important because having a site backlink to yours tells their readers that your site is great and their readers should check you out which results in more viewers and more traffic. Also when Google or other search engines are looking at your sites they are analysing your site and how many backlinks you are getting and they also check the flow of them to see that they are continuously flowing rather than getting a lot all at once.

CONCLUSION

Hopefully, this post has made you more confident with backlinks and you now know why they are so important within websites and you should also know how to get them and use them well!

How to write a good blog

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 20:16:20 GMT

So you have decided you want your own blog but you don't really know where to start. In this post, we are covering everything on how to write a good blog in five easy steps, including a basic blog post template.

STEP ONE - PLANNING AND RESEARCH

Starting a blog can be a fun and exciting past-time, and as such you may want to dive right in and start writing paragraph after paragraph or good content, but the reality is you should take your time to begin with. Starting your blog adventure off in the best way will almost always be positively impacted by researching blogging in general and finding your topic or theme. Finding your topic is important because you will want to keep your blog cohesive as people are typically coming to look at one thing specifically however keeping a cohesive topic in your post also allows readers to see that you are sticking to the point that they want to read about rather than going off on a tangent which could lead to them clicking off of your blog to find another page that is quicker to the point, which is the opposite of what you want.

You also want to make sure that you are researching correct information for your post because you don’t want to be putting incorrect information on your blog as it will quickly give readers a reason to click off. You can gain correct knowledge by constantly checking on things that you find within your research by looking at multiple sites instead of trusting only one.

STEP TWO - CREATING A TEMPLATE

So you have chosen your topic or theme and now you are wondering what to do next. Here's what to do… create a blog post template for your work. This will allow you to keep a cohesive format to your work and also allow you to visualize what your blog will look like. You can create your blog template digitally or on paper, whichever one is easier for you, and it will allow you to have a flow in your posts which will keep everything clean and clear for your readers. You can also look at other blog post examples to get inspiration from others and to also see what is popular and successful.

When creating a basic blog template you want to include an engaging title at the top of your blog to grab attention from the audience as it’s the first thing they will see when they click on your link. Following that you will want an introductory paragraph, short but sweet, to inform your readers on what’s to come whilst also giving them a quick reason to carry on reading. Underneath that, you will want your first subtitle which is discussing what the first content paragraph will include. These subtitles should also be to the point and easy to follow so that the readers know exactly what they are going to be reading.

Next to come is the content that the subtitle discussed where you can go into detail on what you are talking about in your post. You want to make sure that your sentences and paragraphs aren’t too long because it translates to the reader as hard to follow. A great way to prevent a reader from clicking off is to include appropriate linking images as many people are visual learners or using bullet points. You can continue to repeat the subheading followed by content as much as you need as long as you aren’t dragging out the subject being discussed.

After your headings and paragraphs, you will want to finish with a good conclusion that leaves the reader with a question for you or leaves them with a way to answer a question you have asked. This allows communication to happen between you and your audience which can increase the likelihood that they return to your website blog .

STEP THREE - GET TO WRITING

Now that you have your template that you have created you can get to writing your blog information. This is where you get to sit down and get all of your researched information out onto your computer. Within the writing portion of your blog, you want to make sure that you keep your writing flowing and clear. A great way to do this is to stop every couple of sentences or paragraphs and re-read what you have already written. A great tip to create a good blog is to make sure you enjoy what you are writing or else your readers won’t enjoy it either.

Within your writing, you really want to steer away from repetitiveness as it will bore a reader and force them to click of to find something less tedious. You also want to keep the style of writing the same within your posts to keep them clear and easily understandable for the reader.

STEP FOUR - ADD VISUAL ELEMENTS

Adding visuals to your blog means that the writing looks less daunting and imagery is appealing to an audience because it looks more inviting and less boring. As we mentioned earlier many people are visual learners which means that images and infographics can help a lot of people understand what is happening in your post which widens your audience to include visual learners as well as people who prefer text.

STEP FIVE - REVIEW YOUR WORK

Reviewing your work is a great way to see its flaws and strengths which will help you in future posts. This will also help you after your posts have been published because you can review your work in detail before publishing so that you have less post published adjustments to make and you can remove all errors to your work. Another great way to review your work is to have somebody else see your posts before they go live so that you have a second set of eyes to see if you missed anything!

CONCLUSION

With these 5 easy steps you should have a good blog up and ready for everybody to visit and with the easy optional template provided it should be easy to create your own.

How We Optimise Your Website

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:46:17 GMT

Optimising your website is essential.

There's so much involved in having a high ranking site, the platform you build it on is probably only 25% of it - quality of the content and the content writing , inbound links from other sites, age of domain, etc. all play a huge part in how Google will see you.

Our platform for websites is automatically optimised based on most of Google's recommendations and every asset / code snippet is instantly optimised for speed. Google puts a huge emphasis on speed these days. Our network of sites is also lightning fast (based on AWS - Amazon Web Servers) and scales infinitely to any level of traffic your website / business needs.

Can Wordpress be well optimised for SEO ? Of course. But the platform out of the box is massively bloated and there's a lot more work involved in speeding it up, installing plugins to help SEO, etc. In the end, with a wordpress website you might achieve the same result as our platform, however it's a lot more work.

The speed of your WP site is also heavily influenced by the quality of server you place it on. If you swear on using a $1 shared server no matter how much SEO work you do, your site might still be a slow grind. And Google will not look kindly on it, and while WP is also a platform that needs constant updates for security, patching plugins, etc. for our websites our entire network / editor is updated automatically on our end. So you'll never need to worry about getting hacked or falling behind on updates (or plugins conflicting with new code).

At beHIVE Design, we can build an entire well optimised / SEO friendly site on our platform which uses modern software, the fastest servers and ironclad security with seamless eCommerce website .

From Concept to Reality: How to Get Your Marvellous Business Idea Off the Ground

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 09:41:49 GMT

Optimising your website is essential.

Do you think you have a great business idea that you’re just chomping at the bit to launch? Your idea may indeed be brilliant and original, and it may have the potential to solve a problem that many consumers deal with and make a lot of money along the way. However, if you launch your idea too soon, you risk becoming a part of the 50 percent of businesses that fail in their first five years due to the lack of adequate preparation.

To give your business idea a real shot at success, you have to thoroughly plan and strategise. Then, you’ll be in a better position to turn your great concept into an even greater reality. From conducting market research to working with a website and design company like beHIVE Design , here are some steps you can take to lay a solid foundation for your startup.

Perform market research.

The first step is to figure out whether there is actually a big enough market for your great idea. By performing a market analysis, you can check to see that your market is large enough for your idea to produce an income. Plus, you will find out if someone else has already implemented a similar idea and if there’s room for you in the market.

The best way to start your market research is to do a SWOT analysis, which means surveying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This will help you determine whether there is a demand for your product or service, who will buy/use your product/service, and why other companies in the market are successful, among other factors.

Test your idea.

Along with performing market research, it could benefit you to test your idea among your target audience. Set up online surveys and focus groups. Put together a small ad campaign that leads people to a landing page. Activities like these will help you see what kind of interest there is for your idea, as well as ways that you can improve or expand upon your idea.

Make a business plan.

Once you’ve validated your idea, it’s time to develop a business plan. This plan should serve as your roadmap for the coming years, and it should outline the structure, business model, short-term and long-term goals, and a timeline for achieving those goals. It should also include specific tasks that need to be completed, as well as who will be responsible for completing them. Then, you’ll be ready to forecast the financial details, which will help you achieve your goals and secure the funding you need for your startup.

Start putting together a team.

Unless you’re planning to operate as a solopreneur, you will need to start thinking early on about what kind of team you want to work with. These days, more companies are hiring freelancers in place of full-time employees, because it saves money and opens you up to greater talent for a variety of projects and tasks. Whether you need help with writing, IT, sales, or pretty much any other field you can think of, turn to online staffing boards to find qualified freelancers.

Establish your brand.

Finally, building your brand should be a top priority from your company’s advent to its end. Establishing a unique and solid brand will naturally take time, but ideally, you will gain some traction in this area before the launch of your business.

Determine how to communicate your mission and values through the colours, fonts, images, and tone of voice implemented in all of your marketing materials. And make sure you have an attractive website that reflects your branding , is easy is to use, and contains vital information about your products or services. Working with experts like beHIVE Design is a great way to get a top-notch website for your business.

No matter how amazing your business idea, it’s critical to prepare beforehand. Remember to conduct a market analysis, test your idea with your target market, and create a business plan. Then, start assembling your team and building your brand. Any extra time it takes to ensure your business idea is ready to go will surely pay off when it comes to the long term.

Do you need help developing a killer website for your business? Contact beHIVE Design today! info@behivedesign.com

Why We Don't Use Wordpress

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 21:03:15 GMT

We're not hating on Wordpress, we're just realistic.

Let’s put things into context here, WordPress is huge, its the backbone to the vast majority of the worlds websites, it can be used by anyone, it’s cheap (well, until you decide you want your website to perform, then spend a fortune on plug-ins) and you can build some good looking websites. These are all facts… so why did beHIVE Design stop using wordpress?

Well we actually stopped several years ago. We like to think we’re generally ahead of the curve when it comes to small business marketing, web trends, new technologies and all that. When we took a hard look at the WordPress platform we ended up swallowing some reality pills (massive horse-sized reality pills that we had to chew). It was not nice.

The five main reasons WordPress has had its day are security flaws, uninspiring designs messy backends, errors and bugs and above all, the Content Management System - that’s the part our clients really hated. Our favourite quote summing up wordpress is "It's a behemoth of spaghetti code that's written like it's still 2005".

We’re a positive bunch here at beHIVE Design Ltd so let’s not focus too much on WordPress issues (they’ve been well documented all over the internet)… because we found the solution! We moved to a white lable version of Architect Pro and we now host our websites on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) network. Long story short, the sites we build are lightning-fast websites , totally secure and our clients enjoy the best CMS on the market.

WordPress is old tech, it was old ten years ago, and that’s a really really long time in this game. We found something better and we haven’t looked back. So why blog about it? Well, the truth is we get a lot of potential clients assume we use WordPress and are sometimes confused when we say ‘hell no’! So now you know :-)

Top 5 things to consider when designing a new website

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:50:56 GMT

For many businesses, a good strong website is their calling card online. A strong website helps create a sense of brand identity and convey a brand voice to visitors of that website. Web design is something that has become increasingly accessible in recent years with many services such as Squarespace and Wix offering an out the box approach to web design. For those looking to make a basic personal website, these tools can be great. That being said, for many companies, these website builders lack the ability to put their own unique stamp on their website. A strong web design agency with a design-first approach can do wonders for businesses looking to rebrand an existing website or for startups looking to propel their business to new heights.

Designing a new website from scratch can be a daunting prospect. There are numerous aspects of web design that are easy to overlook. Website design is a complex process that involves many different cogs to be put in place in order for a good website to succeed. These pivotal points of website creation range from small and easily overlooked things like meta and alt tags for SEO to more major aspects such as building an eCommerce store or designing a fully responsive design across all devices.

The following list of things to consider when designing a new website is not definitive but mastering each of the following points and incorporating them into your design process will help create some solid foundations for success in your website launch. In addition to learning these aspects of the creation process for your own use, this list is super useful for businesses looking to invest in a web design agency. A better understanding of each of the following points will help you to identify an agency that can deliver on the points that truly make a website a great addition to any business.

1) Branding

A companies brand is its identity, it is the face of their business, it is the logo, the style of writing, the theme, colours, and images on a website and the interactions and posts made on social media. Creating a strong company brand helps businesses to connect with customers and build something that is truly memorable and impactful for those that interact with it. When designed well a brand has a strong impact on the overall appearance of a website. The first thing most consumers will notice when visiting a website is the companies logo. A unique and memorable logo will help consumers to remember a brand and immediately conjure up an image of the kind of company they are interacting with. That initial impression created by a logo can often be the building blocks for continuing to develop a brand across a website. The colours, style, theme, and font from a strong logo can be used further and incorporated across a website to help establish the website’s style and brand. A good designer will appreciate creating consistent branding across all mediums and platforms which is why it is important to have a similar style and design across your logo, website, print media, and social media. A good designer will be able to create each individual aspect of the design process whilst retaining a consistent brand image and impression.

2) Function and features

In recent years the scope and potential for websites has increased massively, websites have transformed from simply being a static page online with key points of information to truly interactive and transformative tools for businesses and consumers alike. These added features can range massively and could be as simple as integrating a booking system or contact form into your website and can scale up to building a whole eCommerce system into a website. With each one of these things, there are multiple challenges that can be faced during the design and creation process. A good web design agency will be able to guide you through this and there are also multiple resources online to help you guide you if you decide to do it yourself. With some of these more elaborate features comes new demands on the functionality of a site so it’s extra important to pay attention to how a website performs and functions with the implementation of these features. Ensuring you have the right host for example to handle a larger eCommerce store is vitally important to the functionality of that particular feature. With good functionality and engaging features on a website businesses have the opportunity to offer unique and responsive experiences. Reach out to a good design agency that specialises in delivering functionality and good features to a website to see how this could help your business grow.

3) SEO

Search engine optimisation used to be a buzzword thrown around by a very niche group of digital marketers but SEO is now at the forefront of web design and an essential requirement for any business looking to succeed online. Search engine optimisation refers to the process of optimising your website for high ranking positions on a search engine results page such as Google or Bing. There are many different areas of SEO but during the design process on-page and technical SEO are the most important. Optimising various areas of your website while designing it can help right off the bat by making your website more favourable to search engines. One of the most important things for SEO is page speed, optimising your website for speed through things like gzip compression, caching and image compression can help massively increase page speed. In addition to this designing a website that is fully responsive across all devices can be a massive help. It is no secret that Google favours websites that are fully responsive and the majority of website visitors now come from mobile so designing your website with a ‘mobile-first’ approach that works on all devices will go a long way. As well as having technical aspects of SEO down you can also do a lot of on-page optimisation when creating copy and designing the layout for your pages by ensuring relevant h1 tags, meta tags and alt tags are in place. As well as this, strong keyword orientated long-form copy can go a long way for on-page SEO. Choose an agency that understands the importance of incorporating SEO into the design process and you will be left with a website that does not only look good but performs amazingly as well.

4) Responsive

Having a responsive website is arguably the single most important aspect of web design today. In a world with so much choice and variety if a website doesn’t perform the way it is supposed to then consumers will simply go elsewhere. Creating a website that is fully responsive across PC, Tablet and Mobile is the cornerstone to good and strong contemporary website design. Many web design agencies will design their websites with a desktop-first view, which is only natural because when designing a website you often use a desktop. To get the most from your website approach your creative process with a mobile-first view, ensure your website looks great on mobile and you will be set up well for winning over your future visitors. That is not to say purely focus on mobile, it is vitally important to make sure your website looks good across all platforms so spend that extra time to tweak your design for all devices. Many website building tools will have options to display and tweak your website based on device. In addition to this CSS can also be set up on most sites using media queries to tweak the look of a website based on the device. Most agencies worth their money will now design a website that is fully responsive across all platforms, so make sure you quiz your web designers on their intention to do so and check your site during the handover period even if you don’t browse on mobile or desktop yourself.

5) Marketing

The final stage in the web design process is telling your story. Marketing or specifically digital marketing is your opportunity to showcase all the hard work you’ve put in during the design process and get your website the attention it deserves. Digital Marketing is a broad term and has many different areas to it such as SEO, Paid Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Marketing Analytics. All of these may sound daunting for those with little experience in digital marketing but you will be surprised how much you are already doing. While creating the content and optimising your website you will have already taken massive steps to optimising your website for search engine rankings. Social Media marketing is a great opportunity to share your website across different social media platforms and use things such as hashtags and community groups to reach your target demographics. Further down the line you can gather more data and make informed decisions about your marketing strategy with your website analytics gathered through tools such as Google Analytics. Finally paid advertising is a fantastic way to start getting some immediate results, Google PPC (pay per click) advertisements will push your website right to the top spot on Google for a price and similarily Facebook Ads will allow you to show your ads to a hyperfocused target audience. A good website design agency will be able to guide and mentor you in the best ways to market your new or existing website.

This list is just a starting point for honing and developing your website's design and identity. That being said getting these 5 points in place will give you a massive advantage over your competition and allow you to create a crisp, clean design that enhances your brand’s identity and allows you to reach customers. A reputable website design agency such as beHIVE is an excellent choice for incorporating all five of these points into your website.

Country Garden Buildings

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 13:24:00 GMT

Full e-commerce website for the Country Garden buildings LTD

www.countrygardenbuildings.com

In December 2018, beHIVE Design were tasked with the design and launch of a full e-commerce website with over 100 garden building products, the client had a live working website for over a year but felt it wasnt performing as well as it should be. They came to beHIVE Design with a number of requests.

Re-design the website
Add more products
Drive traffic to the website
Increase its search engine ranking

Using the brand already in-place, we set about modernising the website and making the whole shopping experience a lot easier to navigate and use. The client was delighted with the results.

Website Launch

www.countrygardenbuildings.com was fully SEO'd and launched in December 2018. Within the first 3 months saw a huge jump in traffic from an average of 60 people per month to 800 in February 2019, 2-3 months after the launch.

Pressplay Fulfilment

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 13:06:23 GMT

Updating pressplay fulfilment

www.pressplay.co.uk

In a busy January month for beHive Design , we launch our second website for PRESSPLAY FULFILMENT at www.pressplay.co.uk

The task for this was huge, taking the older brand and website (created in 1992) and giving it a sympathetic update to seamlessly fit into a modern looking brand.

beHIVE Updated the logo, brand and we also gave the website a complete overhaul.

Pressplay Fulfilment Logo

rollerbanner.co.uk

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:51:52 GMT

Website goes live for Manchester printing company

www.rollerbanner.co.uk

Like all companies dusting off the cobwebs and firing the back up after the festive season, we entered January full of optimism for the new year and it hasn't disappointed.

Early January saw us launch the first website of the year for www.rollerbanner.co.uk , a printers based in Hadfield Manchester , offering print services for roller banners, posters lightboxs and Outdoor banners. We started off by working with their in-house design team to create the logo and brand, then beHIVE took over the reigns and developed the full website with e-commerce shop, Set up the social media channel profiles for facebook , instagram and Linked-i n, as well as a full SEO Package the website and providing external SEO to boost the website up google.

After 3 weeks, the website is on page 5 for "roller banner" in a hugely competitive search word.

Cadishead Cars Website

Sat, 15 Dec 2018 08:09:03 GMT

Company website

CADISHEAD CARS | Wanted a Professional website to advertise the taxi firm to the local area. Taxi Firm offering taxi and mini buses services for Irlam, Cadishead, Eccles, Lymm, Culcheth

Easy Tiger Events Website Update

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 19:52:21 GMT

Company website update

This month has seen beHIVE Deisgn give one of our long time clients Easy Tiger Events a website face lift. Bringing their website onto our new super fast website software.

The website still looks as fantastic as ever and continues to perform extremely well on the google search engine

10 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs a Website

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 21:52:28 GMT

Having a small business website isn’t just about selling your goods and services — it’s also about providing something of value to potential customers.

Unless you’re a small business owner who is not interested in growing your brand, you need to have a website .

These days building a business website or eCommerce store is easier than ever: it doesn’t cost much money, you don’t have to know how to code or design, your online store is not restricted to business hours, and it’s one of the best means of free advertising.

Having a small business website isn’t just about selling your goods and services — it’s also about providing something of value to potential customers.

With so many low priced online services, there’s really no excuse to keep putting it off.

Still not sure how having a website will help you grow your business?

Here are ten reasons every business needs a website:

1. Your customers expect it.

If this were the only reason on the list, it would be enough. Six out of ten consumers expect brands to provide online content about their business on some form of digital property, and more than half head straight to the brand’s website for product information.

If you don’t have a business website, today’s digital-savvy (and impatient) customers may look elsewhere. Take a look at this list of specifics that customers say they want from a business website.

2. It provides social proof.

Ninety percent of consumers claim that online reviews influence their buying decisions .

You could rely on FourSquare, Yelp, and other review sites to host reviews for your brand, but you can kill two birds with one stone on your own website.

Since potential buyers are already looking for you online, including customer testimonials on your site is a great way to impress potential buyers.

3. You control the narrative.

It’s true that you cannot control what others say about you on social media channels , but you can influence public perception by creating your own story via a business website.

A company blog helps business owners get their message, mission, and personality in front of their target audience faster than print ads or snail mail brochures.

Plus, social icons linking to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other networking platforms make sharing your content easier for your visitors who like what they see.

4. More bang for your buck.

When you use a website-building professional to create a website, you position your company to reach thousands more potential customers for less than you would spend mailing ten brochures by traditional mail.

5. You don’t need extensive coding or technical skills.

Because web design platforms offer online tutorials and community-based support, almost anyone can get a basic website up and running in about thirty minutes .

6. Your competitors all have company websites.

Consumers typically start their buying journey with research and recommendations from peers and social network connections.

Studies show that once a consumer has an idea of what they need or want, they start researching, and 72 percent of them go online to find educational material, reviews, and testimonials, according to a recent report .

So if you’re not staying competitive with your competition, you’re giving shoppers a reason to buy from another brand.

7. Never put up the ‘closed for business’ sign again.

Nobody wants to work at 3 a.m., but some people like to shop then. Having a business website or eCommerce store means that you can sell products all the time — not simply between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

An online store can mean a dramatic boost in sales, especially when you factor in additional customers who are not restricted by geography. Your online presence also supports marketing campaigns , customer service, client relationship building, brand recognition, and almost every other element of the revenue stream .

Combining your website with marketing tools, like email marketing , helps you reach new customers and generate repeat business.

8. You’ll show up in Google search results.

Consider this: 81 percent of consumers perform online research before making a purchase . That means they go to Google and type in one or more keywords , like “best leather shoes” or, if they know what they want, “handcrafted Italian leather women’s shoes in Manchester.”

If you don’t have a website for your business, the chances of showing up on the search engine results page (SERP) are zero. But if you have a site, you can optimise it for search engines, thereby increasing your chances of appearing at the top of Google’s results and getting more visibility with potential customers.

Long-tail keywords, meta descriptions, and titles are just some of the things you can customise on your site to improve your search engine optimisation (SEO).

9. Create a resource centre for your staff.

In addition to helping customers, your business website can also benefit your own employees.

Create an orphan page (one that is not visible anywhere on the site so it can’t be found unless someone is given the direct link) with self-service videos, instructional materials, or even internal forms to help your team learn everything they need to know on their own schedules.

10. Showcase your products and services.

Not only can you display your products or outline your services in detail with beautiful images , but you can provide short video tutorials, downloadable PDF or blogs like this instructions to give hesitant customers no reason to go elsewhere to purchase.

UK directory backlinks to boost SEO score and grow online

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 11:08:01 GMT

Optimising your website is essential.

Getting high-quality SEO backlinks for your new or existing website is one of the most important SEO factors you should be focusing on to make sure your site more visible across the search engines.’ When other websites mention you thats only a positive thing in google's eyes because it validates you as authentic and genuine.

The higher the domain rating of the website talking about you then the better the SEO results you will get from that backlink.

Registering on credible directories will boost your SEO backlinks and domain rating over time.

Consistency is key. Search Engines love it when other sites are talking about you so make sure your business name, contact details and description match up exactly across all directories.

To list your website, you’ll typically need the below information. It’s worth having this written out so you’re happy with it and you know it’s the same across the internet.

URL

Title

Meta Description

CHESHIRE HEDGE CUTTING

Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:54:16 GMT

New website goes live!

VISIT CASE STUDY

beHIVE Design has given a facelift to one of our existing client, Cheshire Hedge Cutting

https://www.ch eshirehedgecutting.co.uk/

The original website, built by beHIVE Design , needed refreshing with new content, new images and in a similar modern style. While it already topped google search engines in all the local areas, Cheshire Hedge Cutting wanted a refresh with extra optimisation to boost the popularity on google maintaining a professional look

We set about rebuilding the website in our brand new software and hosted on the fastest and most reliable servers available . Not only that, but the website hits the highest ranking on google optimisation and page speed tests, scoring 99/100 for the mobile site.

ADAPT Ideations

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 09:53:18 GMT

New website goes live!

VISIT CASE STUDY

We're delighted to announce a project we've been working on for the last few months has gone live!

www.adaptideations.com

We worked alongside Adapt to brand the company from scratch, starting with the logo, brand identity to a full website and online presence.

Adapt Ideations successfully transform business ideas into marketable realities. Adapt develop, design, and build in-house, providing customised end-to-end solutions, and importantly, one port of call.

Innovation is key not only for your business to thrive, but essential for its very survival. While some companies learn the hard way, others take steps to proactively face the challenge. ADAPT Ideations specialise in IoT, Blockchain , smart contracts , supply chain and cold chain logistics .

Little Lilby.com.au

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 12:37:06 GMT

New website goes live!

We're delighted to announce a project we've been working on for the last few months has gone live!

littlelilby.com.au

Little Lilby offers a collection of baby bedding fitted cot and bassinet sheets are made of the finest, softest organic cottons that are free of pesticides and ethically produced.

Ecommerce

beHIVE Design produced a full eCommerce online store for Little Lilby to promote their products.

Alongside the store, Little Lilby wanted a blog feature, CMS and a rapid website, all which we were able to fulfil

GOOD LUCK!

We wish Nicole and the team at Little Lilby all the best of luck in their venture

Everything You Need to Know About Ecommerce Marketing

Tue, 07 Aug 2018 19:49:00 GMT

What is ecommerce marketing?

With nearly every marketing operation now taking place online, it can be tough to distinguish between the various types of digital marketing people use today. What about ecommerce marketing? What is it, and how does it compare to practices like social media, content, search engine, and email marketing?

Ecommerce marketing and digital marketing are not mutually exclusive. Ecommerce websites can use all of the above digital channels to promote a product and grow their business.

Let's explore how ecommerce marketing uses all the digital media available today.

What is ecommerce marketing?

Ecommerce marketing is the act of driving awareness and action toward a business that sells its product or service electronically. Ecommerce marketers can use social media, digital content, search engines, and email campaigns to attract visitors and facilitate purchases online.

Ecommerce marketing is just one community of marketers who can use the principles of digital and inbound marketing to convert visitors into customers. However, ecommerce marketers don't necessarily use these marketing channels the same way a traditional brand or content marketer would.

Ecommerce businesses can retain more customers by following this free guide.

To give you a sense of what an ecommerce marketing strategy looks like, here are some common marketing channels and how you'd use them to build an online store.

Social Media Marketing

Brands, publishers, contractors, and growing businesses all launch pages on today's most popular social networks to connect with their audience and post content that audience is interested in. As an ecommerce marketer, you can do the same thing, but the campaigns you run might look a bit different, and not every social network is a fit for your needs.

Ecommerce websites are highly visual -- you have to show off the product, after all -- so your success on social media depends on your use of imagery to drive attention and traffic to your product pages. Instagram is an appropriate platform for ecommerce businesses because it enables you to post sharp product photography and expand your product's reach beyond its purchase page.

An ecommerce business is no stranger to product reviews, either. Using a Facebook Business Page to share product praise is a perfect fit for businesses that already solicit customer reviews across their online store.

Content Marketing

When you hear "content marketing," you might think of blogging and video marketing -- things that are meant to improve your website's ranking in search engines and answer questions related to your industry. But if you're selling a product online, do you really need articles and videos to generate transactions? You sure do.

A product's purchase page should be optimized for search terms that include the name of the product. If you sell wedding dresses, for example, a Google search for "brown bridesmaid dress" is more likely to produce product pages like yours. However, optimizing an ecommerce store for short, product-driven keywords isn't the only way to convert visitors into buyers.

If you manage an online wedding dress store, writing blog posts about "how to plan a wedding" can attract everyone involved in wedding preparations no matter where they are in the planning process. Meanwhile, shooting videos can show people how best to use your product, increasing customer satisfaction and building long-term relationships with website visitors.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a little different than search engine optimisation (SEO) . While SEO relies on your knowledge of Google's ranking algorithm to optimise content, SEM can involve pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, which allow you to pay for top spots on search engine results pages.

On Google, PPC campaigns guarantee that potential buyers will see a link to your page when they enter search terms that match the terms of your campaign. But because you're paying Google each time a person clicks on your result, the payoff to you should be high.

This is why ecommerce marketers often register with Google AdWords and promote their product pages through PPC campaigns. The campaign puts searchers right in front of the business's product when they click on a paid result, increasing the likelihood that the searcher will make a purchase before leaving the business's website.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, and believe it or not, it holds specific value in the world of ecommerce marketing.

In a time when data privacy runs high on an internet user's priority list, not every commercial email is welcome in that user's inbox. Ecommerce marketers need to be careful when and how they add website visitors to their mailing list. Here are two ways an ecommerce marketer might use email marketing:

The Post-Purchase Follow Up

If a user has already purchased a product from your website -- and agreed to receive emails from you during the checkout process -- sending a follow-up email a few days after the product is delivered to them keeps the conversation going and gauges their future interest in your product line.

You might ask them to write a review of your product, or read original content on how to use what they just bought.

The Abandoned Shopping Cart

If, after submitting his/her email address, a website visitor stopped buying a product and bounced from the website, the ecommerce business can send a polite email to the visitor asking if they'd like to complete the checkout process.

This visitor is often called the "abandoned shopping cart," and emails to retain their business can make the difference between a purchase and a lost customer.

Ecommerce businesses have several marketing tools at their disposal. Using digital and inbound marketing just the right way, you can create campaigns that are designed to help your online store attract customers and grow better.

What is GDPR and How Does It Impact Your Business?

Tue, 07 Aug 2018 16:39:33 GMT

Post summary:

What is GDPR?
The business implications of GDPR
The impact of GDPR on customer engagement

The internet has dramatically changed the way we communicate and how we handle everyday tasks.

We send emails , we share documents, we pay bills and we purchase goods by entering our personal details all online and without a second thought.

Have you ever stopped to wonder how much personal data you have shared online?

Or what happens to that information?

We’re talking about banking information, contacts, addresses, social media posts, and even your IP address and the sites that you’ve visited are all stored digitally.

Companies tell you that they collect this type of information so that they can serve you better, offer you more targeted and relevant communications , all to provide you with a better customer experience .

But, is that what they really use the data for?

This is the question that has been asked and answered by the EU, and why in May 2018 a new European privacy regulation called GDPR has been enforced and permanently changes the way you, as a business, collect, store and use customer data .

In a study of more than 800 IT and business professionals that are responsible for data privacy at companies with European customers, Dell and Dimension Research found that 80% of businesses know few details or nothing about GDPR .

But, perhaps worst of all is that 97% of companies are not prepared for when GDPR kicks off ( T weet this! ).

Of course, we can understand if a small brick and mortar store is finding it difficult to prepare for GDPR, but the latest research from The Ponemon Institute found that 60% of tech companies aren’t’ ready either.

So, whether you’re in tech, travel, retail or an entrepreneur, we will explain what is GDPR, how it will impact your business and include practical tips on how you can start preparing for GDPR.

What is GDPR?

On May 25, 2018, the new European privacy regulation called The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect.

This regulation has been implemented in all local privacy laws across the entire EU and EEA region. It will apply to all companies selling to and storing personal information about citizens in Europe, including companies on other continents. It provides citizens of the EU and EEA with greater control over their personal data and assurances that their information is being securely protected across Europe.

According to the GDPR directive, personal data is any information related to a person such as a name, a photo, an email address, bank details, updates on social networking websites, location details, medical information, or a computer IP address.

There is no distinction between personal data about individuals in their private, public or work roles – the person is the person. Also in a B2B setting, everything is about individuals interacting and sharing information with and about each other. Customers in B2B markets are obviously companies, but the relationships that handle the business topics are people – or individuals.

Under the GDPR, individuals have:

The right to access –this means that individuals have the right to request access to their personal data and to ask how their data is used by the company after it has been gathered. The company must provide a copy of the personal data, free of charge and in electronic format if requested.
The right to be forgotten – if consumers are no longer customers, or if they withdraw their consent from a company to use their personal data, then they have the right to have their data deleted.
The right to data portability – Individuals have a right to transfer their data from one service provider to another. And it must happen in a commonly used and machine readable format.
The right to be informed – this covers any gathering of data by companies, and individuals must be informed before data is gathered. Consumers have to opt in for their data to be gathered, and consent must be freely given rather than implied.
The right to have information corrected – this ensures that individuals can have their data updated if it is out of date or incomplete or incorrect.
The right to restrict processing – Individuals can request that their data is not used for processing. Their record can remain in place, but not be used.
The right to object – this includes the right of individuals to stop the processing of their data for direct marketing. There are no exemptions to this rule, and any processing must stop as soon as the request is received. In addition, this right must be made clear to individuals at the very start of any communication.
The right to be notified – If there has been a data breach which compromises an individual’s personal data, the individual has a right to be informed within 72 hours of first having become aware of the breach.

The GDPR is the EU’s way of giving individuals, prospects, customers, contractors and employees more power over their data and less power to the organizations that collect and use such data for monetary gain.

The Business Implications of GDPR

This new data protection regulation puts the consumer in the driver’s seat, and the task of complying with this regulation falls upon businesses and organizations.

In short, the GDPR applies to all businesses and organizations established in the EU, regardless of whether the data processing takes place in the EU or not . Even non-EU established organizations will be subject to GDPR. If your business offers goods and/ or services to citizens in the EU, then it’s subject to GDPR.

All organizations and companies that work with personal data should appoint a data protection officer or data controller who is in charge of GDPR compliance.

There are tough penalties for those companies and organizations who don’t comply with GDPR fines of up to 4% of annual global revenue or 20 million Euros , whichever is greater.

Many people might think that the GDPR is just an IT issue, but that is the furthest from the truth. It has broad-sweeping implications for the whole company, including the way companies handle marketing and sales activities .

The Impact of GDPR on Customer Engagement

The conditions for obtaining consent are stricter under GDPR requirements as the individual must have the right to withdraw consent at any time and there is a presumption that consent will not be valid unless separate consents are obtained for different processing activities.

This means you have to be able to prove that the individual agreed to a certain action, to receive a newsletter for instance. It is not allowed to assume or add a disclaimer, and providing an opt-out option is not enough.

GDPR changes a lot of things for companies such as the way your sales teams prospect or the way that marketing activities are managed . Companies have had to review business processes, applications and forms t o be compliant with double opt-in rules and email marketing best practices . In order to sign up for communications, prospects will have to fill out a form or tick a box and then confirm it was their actions in a further email.

Organisations must prove that consent was given in a case where an individual objects to receiving the communication. This means that any data held, must have an audit trail that is time stamped and reporting information that details what the contact opted into and how.

If you purchase marketing lists, you are still responsible for getting the proper consent information, even if a vendor or outsourced partner was responsible for gathering the data.

In the B2B world, sales people meet potential customers at a trade show, they exchange business cards, and when they come back to the office, they add the contacts to the company’s mailing list. In 2018, this is not possible anymore.

Companies will have to look at new ways of collecting customer information .

Preparations for GDPR-compliance

A key component of the GDPR legislation is privacy by design .

Privacy by design requires that all departments in a company look closely at their data and how they handle it. There are many things a company has to do in order to be compliant with GDPR. If you have yet to to take the next step towards compliance, here are just a few ways to get started.

1. Map your company’s data

Map where all of the personal data in your entire business comes from and document what you do with the data. Identify where the data resides, who can access it and if there are any risks to the data. This is not only important for GDPR, but will help improve Customer Relationship Management .

2. Determine what data you need to keep

Don’t keep more information than necessary and remove any data that isn’t used. If your business collects a lot of data without any real benefit, you won’t be able to do this in a GDPR world. GDPR will encourage a more disciplined treatment of personal data .

In the clean-up process, ask yourself:

Why exactly are we archiving this data instead of just erasing it?
Why are we saving all this data?
What are we trying to achieve by collecting all these categories of personal information?
Is the financial gain of deleting this information greater than encrypting it?

3. Put security measures in place

Develop and implement safeguards throughout your infrastructure to help contain any data breaches. This means putting security measures in place to guard against data breaches, and taking quick action to notify individuals and authorities in the event a breach does occur.

Make sure to check with your suppliers also. Outsourcing doesn’t exempt you from being liable. You need to make sure that they have the right security measures in place also.

4. Review your documentation

Under GDPR, individuals have to explicitly consent to the acquisition and processing of their data. Pre-checked boxes and implied consent will not be acceptable anymore. You will have to review all of your privacy statements and disclosures and adjust them where needed.

5. Establish procedures for handling personal data

As we mentioned earlier, individuals have 8 basic rights under GDPR.

You will need to establish policies and procedures for how you will handle each of these situations.

For example:

How can individuals give consent in a legal manner?
What is the process if an individual wants his data to be deleted?
How will you ensure that it is done across all platforms and that it really is deleted?
If an individual wants his data to be transferred, how will you do it?
How will you confirm that the person who requested to have his data transferred is the person he says he is?
What is the communication plan in case of a data breach?

Conclusion

Data is a valuable currency in this new world.

And while GDPR does create challenges and pain for us as businesses, it also creates opportunity.

Companies who show they value an individual’s privacy (beyond mere legal compliance), who are transparent about how the data is used, who design and implement new and improved ways of managing customer data throughout its life cycle build deeper trust and retain more loyal customers .

When first announced in 2016, it felt like there was plenty of time for new businesses to take the necessary steps. But, this time has flown by and many companies are still scrambling, even after the deadline has passed. So, if you haven’t already started your journey, we urge you to start now.

Dedicate time to understand what you need to do in order to become compliant and use the practical tips shared in this article to help you get started. Then, create a plan of action for your journey to GDPR so you can ensure you and your business are complaint sooner, rather than later.

How will GDPR impact your business?

Let me know in the comment section below.

P.S. If you’re interested to know more about how GDPR affects your customer data, then contact us today .

Disclaimer: The content in this blog post (including all responses to comments) is not to be considered legal advice and should be used for information purposes only.

Kerry's Driver Training | Website Goes Live

Sun, 29 Jul 2018 20:23:17 GMT

www.kerrysdrivertraining.co.uk

We're delighted to announe Kerrys Driver Training website has gone Live!!!!!

Kerry's Driver Training is a professional driving school based in the Warrington area offering the best personal driver training to all ages and abilities.

Kerry came to the HIVE when she had plans to start up her own small business as a driving instructor for the local Warrington area. She had a name, a business plan but needed help giving a look to her business. We spoke with Kerry about what she wanted and how she saw herself positioned in the market, from there, we created a f itting brand to compliment her business plan.

https://www.kerrysdrivertraining.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/KerrysDriverTraining
https://www.instagram.com/kerrysdrivertraining/

beHIVE | Website redesign

Sat, 30 Jun 2018 07:06:32 GMT

It's official, we have updated our website!

Here a beHIVE Design we know the importance of a good website, is the first impression for many first clients.