4 Top Tips To Help Increase the Reach of Your Blog
The key to the success of any blog is ensuring it reaches as many people as possible. Getting readers to share your content in the form of RT’s, Facebook shares or links on LinkedIn and Google+ can make a huge difference to the number of people read your blog articles and to help you along the way, we have drawn up a list of 4 top tips designed to help further the reach of your blog content.
No. 1 – Use a Compelling or Catchy Title
One of the most important parts of any blog or article is the very first thing potential readers will come across – the title. Choosing the right title for 
your content is not only likely to have a profound effect on the drawing people to actually read on, it can also impact the number of shares that you receive.
No. 2 – Make Sure To Include Meta Data
Taking the necessary steps to include META titles and descriptions for each blog will help to ensure that it is as easy as possible for those looking to share your content to quickly identify the pertinent information about your blog.
The good news is that adding these details has never been easier and through the addition of a free plugin such as Yoast WordPress you will quickly be able to add these short snippets of information.
No. 3 – Make Sharing As Easy As Possible
If you want to encourage people to share content they find interesting on your website, make sure that they do not have to work hard to do so. We live in an impatient world and as such, people are unlikely to do anything that will take more than a click or 2 of their mouse.
Thankfully, with WordPress plugins such as Shareaholic, you can quickly and easily add a section under each article which will let readers share your content to their chosen Social Media channel with a simple click of a button.
No. 4 – Make Sure Your Blog is Optimised For Mobile Usage
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the balance is beginning to tip in favour of mobile internet browsing when compared to the use of 
desktops and laptops to visit websites. As spare time becomes less and less, internet users are now becoming far more accustomed to browsing ‘on the go’ by using their smart phones and tablets as opposed to waiting until they get home to load up their pc.
Therefore, taking the steps needed to ensure that your blog is optimised for mobile browsing is absolutely essential if you wish to make your website as user friendly as possible.
Many WordPress designs are now designed to be responsive (display to the required specifications of the device on which it is being viewed) but if you feel as though your website has been left behind, simply give the Footprint Web Design team a call and let us run though your options with you.
Further Information
Footprint Web Design have been at the forefront of web design and development for nearly 20 years. If you are looking for a website that truly represents your business, or advice on how to make your site stand out, then contact us today on 01883 372 488, or via email at info@footprint.co.uk.
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3 Reasons Your Business Must Have Social Media
Have you registered your business with Twitter and Facebook? To some business owners, social media marketing is something to be embraced but for others it is still something that they find difficult to understand and just a little too complex.
We are always here to help promote your business via Social Media channels but should you still need a little convincing, we have drawn up a list of 3 reasons we believe that your business must embrace Social Media.
No. 1 – It’s a Free Advertising Platform
The beauty of nearly all social media platforms is that they are free to set up and use. Whilst you can opt for paid options in the future should you wish
(such as Facebook post boosts), all of the major Social Media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn offer their standards services for free.
Twitter for example is completely free to use and offers possibly the fastest and most user friendly method of contacting your customers and building up a large number of followers.
If you have not already created a Social Media presence for your business, there is every chance that you are already lagging behind your competition.
No. 2 – Social Media Can Drive Traffic To Your Website
Taking the time to be active on your chosen social media channels is very likely to help increase the amount of traffic being received by your website.
As a business, targeting the right people via Social Media and offering well thought out content can help you to grow your audience and help to encourage them to visit your website to find out more information.
No. 3 – It Offers a Great Method of Sharing Content
Until relatively recently, finding methods of distributing content to a widespread audience was a costly and time consuming process. However, thanks to the creation of the various Social Media channels, it is now easier than ever before.
When using your Social Media channels for business, you have the perfect opportunity to share it via your chosen channels.
Just in case you are still a little unsure, check out some of the following statistics relating to Twitter users.
With approximately 190 million unique visitors using Twitter every month and 2.1 billion Twitter search engine queries every day*, you would be crazy not to enhance your presence on this hugely popular Social Network.
Here are some interesting business facts and stats about Twitter that are worth checking out**:
- 33% of Twitter users follow a brand
- 79% of Twitter users are more likely to recommend brand they follow
- 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from brands they follow
- 85% of people say they feel more connected to the business after they follow them
**Source – http://www.statisticbrain.com/twitter-statistics/
4 Tips To Help Get The Most From Your Google Maps Listing
Have you ever wondered how to get your business to appear in the Google Maps listings which appear at the top of many search results?
The image below highlights just how visible Google Maps listings can be in Google’s search results and now often appear above all of the organic listings.
These listings offer the ideal opportunity to provide potential customers with easy access to important information about your local business at the precise moment they are searching for the products or services that your business can provide.
In a previous blog we offered details relating to setting up a listing on Google Maps and in the article below we aim to take things a little further by offering our 4 top tips for getting the most out of the platform.
Tip No. 1 – Follow Google’s Quality Control Guidelines
The first step in ensuring that your listing is geared for success is making sure that you have not cut any corners with the listing and taken the time to meet Google’s quality control guidelines.
Fortunately, Google takes the guess work away from this by offering in-depth information for anyone looking to optimise their listing via the business quality guidelines in the help section of the Places site.
The waffle is kept to a minimum and it is very easy to follow. To help you along your way, we have picked out 3 key pieces of information for any listing.
- Represent your business as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding.
- Make sure your address is accurate and precise.
- Choose the fewest number of categories it takes to describe your overall core business.
Tip No. 2 – Ensure Your Listing Is Fully Completed
If you are going to create a listing for your business, make sure that you fill out all of the fields. There is no point just providing the basics such as name and address, if you are not going to volunteer any more information.
It is Google’s constant aim to ensure that users of its search engine receive the best possible experience and to do this it needs to generate the most accurate results possible.
Whilst no-one is 100% of everything factored into Google’s ranking algorithm, it is widely believed that given a choice between two similar Places listings, Google is far more likely to display the more complete listing more prominently.
With this in mind, it is hugely important to ensure that you provide every snippet of information that you are asked to submit, including:
- URL
- Contact Details
- Hours of Operation
- Etc
Tip No. 3 – Choose The Most Accurate Business Categories
Along with a number of other factors, there are a number of very strong indicators that point to the fact that Google uses the category information of each listing to help decide how relevant your listing is to any particular search.
With this in mind, it is essential that you choose the right categories for your business from the options provided by Google when setting up the listing.
Tip No. 4 – Be Descriptive
Business descriptions are not always displayed (in part due to the device on which the search is being made) but you should always assume that your business description will be shown in full.
The description of the services available from your business may prove to be the difference between a potential customer clicking on your link and choosing to go with a competitor.
