SEO Audit – Why you should do one!

Category: Tips and Tricks
November 8, 2018

SEO Audits are a type of review which is done of your website that focuses on discovering the strengths and weaknesses of your website from an overall SEO perspective. SEO Audits when done correctly can provide you with valuable information such as the following:

  • Gives you an insight into the technical health of your website
  • Provides you with data which will help to inform your planning when it comes to developing SEO strategies
  • Helps you spot issues to resolve which will aid towards generating a better overall user experience for visitors to the website
  • Helps to identify areas for improvement that will lead to improving your search visibility on Google

To compile a complete, thorough and accurate SEO Audit report one would usually focus around examining three key areas which would be Technical SEO, On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO.

Technical SEO is the part of the audit from which the information gained will actually help you to find out just how healthy your website is overall from a technical point of view. The Technical SEO aspect of the audit can also help you to make improvements to the website as while doing it you can end up discovering issues that need to be rectified such as crawl issues etc..

On-Page SEO is the part of the audit where you review how you can further optimize content that is visible on the pages of your website. This literally means everything that you can see on a page on your website so images and text. The information gained from the On-Page SEO aspect of the audit provides us with really helpful information such as information regarding keywords like which keywords you are ranking for. By using this information gained from your in-depth keyword research you can use it to inform your strategy in the future when it comes to incorporating keywords into future content.

Off-Page SEO is the part of the audit which allows us to review how off-site activities can be improved such as link building, anchor text etc.. Off-page SEO primarily is about SEO which can be done outside of your website by you elsewhere on the internet to improve your presence online. Any effective SEO strategy for your website should include at least one element which addresses off-site activities. Strategies such as when you reach out to other websites to develop link building is a perfect example of an off page SEO strategy one can take.

Doing an SEO Audit is something that is a must do for any website who wishes to further enhance and improve their business through using the information gained to develop a robust strategy. By clearly discovering and identifying problems one can form a strategy of actionable steps to take which can help place your business on a positive trajectory which will lead to long-term growth. It’s in your interest to do an SEO Audit today!

To find out more about excellent tools and strategies to use to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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Evergreen Content

Category: Tips and Tricks
November 2, 2018

Evergreen content refers to content that stays relevant all year. It’s forever “green” and fresh. Most content is fresh and popular for a short time after being initially posted and then goes stale becoming less and less popular until it fades into obscurity. Evergreen content by its very nature is the very opposite of this as it stays fresh and relevant all the time. Having evergreen content is great for websites as it keeps visitors consistently coming to the site as they are interacting and clicking on the content available on your website, this in turn is great for their ranking on google as google will look favourably upon them when indexing the website.

You’re probably thinking “Evergreen content sounds great how do I get it?”, well it can be achieved in a number of ways. The best written evergreen content is content which can appeal to as many different types of readers as possible. Content such as how to guides, tips, case studies etc.. will always be relevant info no matter the date published and they also have the ability of appealing to many different people who normally wouldn’t consume and access the same content as each other.

Basically at its core evergreen content is content you have published which contains information that won’t go out of date and cease to be relevant at any time. To ensure that your content is of an evergreen nature make sure that it achieves the following three points:

    • Your content not only provides readers with advice and insight but it also gives them actionable information that they can take with them and put to use. 
    • Your content is easy to understand by all audience. Even if the subject matter is of a complex nature your content needs to break it down and make it simple enough so any and all customers can understand it. Keep the tone and style simple and friendly so it’s inviting to the readers. 
    • Your content is easy to access. If you wish for this content to be accessible make it easy to find. If it’s not on the landing page perhaps have a link to it and also share it through your social media to encourage more users to engage with your evergreen content and visit your website.

If your content can achieve these points then it’s well on its way to being evergreen and will be in a position to get you clicks and views all year round!

To find out more about excellent tools and strategies to use to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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4 ways to successfully integrate social media into your website to increase social media traffic

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 26, 2018

Social media has the power to generate huge amounts of traffic to your website. When social media is integrated correctly your social media traffic can rise significantly if you can establish a strong, steady and consistent flow of traffic from your social media platforms to your website.

To achieve this feat is something that is not always simple but your chances to achieve it can be enhanced greatly if you can do the following things:

Have Social Media Feeds on your page

Having social media feeds on your website is a great way to catch the eye of users when they visit the website as unlike most content on websites which is static such as text and still images, feeds are live and change in real time as they are continuously pulling fresh data and scrolling.

Include Sharing Buttons on Your Blog Posts

By including sharing buttons on your website you give users the chance to share your blog posts on their profile pages on their social media platform such as Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc.. and from these platforms other users can see this and click on the shared post and end up on your website.

Have Social Media Button/Links on your website in header or footer

It should always be easy and convenient for people to find your social media pages, by including them in your header and/or footer they will be clearly visible and will encourage users to check out your social media pages which will help to increase their following.

Engage regularly with your audience through your social media platforms

When people actually take the time to message you or post on your social platform make sure that you engage with them. This shows everyone that you’re a business who cares about their customers and takes the time to answer their questions or queries. This will increase the relationship between your business and users and they will be a lot more receptive to future advertising and linking that you may do through social media to your website.

Social media is free to use, so you have no excuse not to utilize it to its fullest. If you can do the above things mentioned in this article you should be well on your way to successfully integrating social media with your website to increase your traffic generated from social media.

To find out more about excellent tools and strategies to use to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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Email Marketing in a Post GDPR World

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 25, 2018

When GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was announced it struck fear in the hearts of all businesses, it especially struck fear in marketers as they worried about one of their arguably most important marketing tools being compromised or going extinct, that was of course the tool of email marketing. Where they justified in being worried? Well yes if they didn’t adhere to some required compliance’s.

Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. These emails are usually sent with the purpose of to act as an advertisement, request business, or solicit sales or donations. Efficient email marketing at its core is meant to build loyalty, trust and brand awareness. Marketing emails traditionally could be sent to a purchased lead list or a current customer database.

When GDPR came into law it greatly affected the rules and regulations regarding email marketing and email marketing campaigns. A recent study found that there are more than 269 billion emails sent every day and over half (53%) of these 269 billion sent emails were emails of a promotional nature.

GDPR brought in the need for clear consent to be given by people when they sign up to your newsletter. Even if someone was already on your email list you had to run a re-submission campaign to get people to sign up into your GDPR approved mailing list. Seeking out clear consent and permission and keeping a record of it are the cornerstones of GDPR.

Traditionally it was easy for websites to assume that if a user filled out a pop up or a web form that  can could add their email address to a mailing list and start sending them email campaigns. GDPR changed this when it made it clear that users need to clearly give you consent to market to them. This means that the old methods of having a pre-ticked box and concealing your communication policy within your privacy statements. If you want to send emails to a prospect, they must explicitly opt-in to receive newsletters from you.

Despite the challenges GDPR has presented, email marketing still remains as the most tried and tested and preferred marketing channel of use for B2B companies. In fact email marketing doesn’t show any signs of becoming an irrelevant use of communication and as such it’s so important that websites get it right when it comes to utilizing effective compliant email marketing campaigns in a post-GDPR world.

While being compliant with GDPR may seem complicated and head wrecking it’s important to remember that to be compliant when it comes to email marketing you just need to ensure the following:

  • Email campaigns can only be sent to those who have given consent and opted in
  • Always provide subscribers with the opportunity to opt-out of your email marketing
  • Offer subscribers the option to manage the type of content they receive from you.

If you can ensure these three above requirements then you are well on your way to being GDPR compliant when it comes to email marketing. From there you just need to ensure your content is great and engaging!

Email marketing may have been rocked by GDPR but it certainly is not down and out, it’s still relevant and as strong as ever when used effectively.

To find out more about excellent tools and strategies to use to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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Is Using Google My Business Worth The Effort?

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 24, 2018

Google My Business (formerly known as Google Places) is a free online platform that is provided by Google. Google My Business was created with two key purposes in mind:

  • To help business owners increase their online visibility
  • To help users find and review the businesses in their local area

Google My Business acts as a modern super comprehensive and super accessible business directory. Google My Business listings are mainly for but not limited to businesses that serve customers in their local area. When a user searches for something on Google and Google determines it’s something of local interest or intent such as “Mechanics Wexford” or “Restaurants in Dublin”, Google will link to 3 Google My Business listings which will be displayed below in a map of the local area.

When a user clicks on your Google My Business listing they can see the following information about your business:

  • The name of the business
  • The location of the business on google maps
  • The opening hours for the business
  • A link to the website for your business
  • Photos of your business
  • Past Google reviews done by users

Using Google My Business effectively has many benefits. Below are just a few of the many it can provide:

Create Posts

Google My Business grants you the ability to create posts. Users can see and interact with these posts when they see your Google My Business listing. The posts you create on Google My Business act then as an opportunity to advertise your business for free.

First Impressions

First impressions are hugely important. This isn’t just a fact in real life but online also and with Google My Business you will be able to make a great first impression. This is because with Google My Business you will have the ability to choose which images your customers will see when they encounter your business for the first time, in this way your Google My Business listing can act as a storefront for your website and you can ensure that it makes a powerful first impression.

Visibility

Google My Business can help towards improving your business’s visibility. By providing more information about your business through Google My Business Google will have at their disposal a wealth of information from which they can use to categorize your business. This means it’s far more likely that your website will show up for relevant local searches.

Insights

When you use Google My Business you have some powerful tools at your disposal such as analytical data which is called “insights”. This “insights” data shows you how and when customers are finding you and where they aren’t. The knowledge that can be learned from this kind of data can then be used to further inform when tweaking your strategies to improve the visibility of your website or when targeting a specific demographic.

The answer to the question is Google My Business worth the effort is a resounding yes. It takes minimal effort to use effectively, plus it’s free and offers you the opportunity to try and reach new potential customers who you might not reach otherwise. Signing up takes only a few minutes so try it today and see what success it can generate for you!

To find out more about excellent tools and strategies to use to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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The Importance of Text & Heading Structure of Website Content for Optimal SEO Performance

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 18, 2018

Strong website content is the cornerstone of having a successful website. By writing unique rich content that gives value to the user your website content will be strong, couple this strong content with great marketing/SEO and your site should soar up the rankings of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

Most people are familiar with the most common form of SEO for content which is optimising each key page with a unique Meta Title and Description. However there is further SEO that can and should be done to ensure your content ranks highly that many people aren’t aware of such as the importance of text structure and the importance of the successful implementation of a heading structure (H1, H2, H3 Etc..) on your page of content.

Text Structure is important as the structure of the texts on your site is very important for SEO. If your content is clearly structured, your chance to rank well in Google will be much higher. Before people choose to read content they do what is called a quick scan of the content. This is where they will run their eyes quickly over to content to get a quick feel for it before they commit to starting to properly read it. You need to hook the user from this scan to convince them to read it otherwise you have lost them.

This is where text structure becomes ever so important as the main parts that tend to catch people’s eyes when they scan over content is the beginning of sentences as people read left to right and secondly and probably most importantly what catches people’s eyes are headings and subheadings. Headings and subheadings will usually be in bold and also be centered so they really stand out easily, the headings and subheadings should be an accurate description of the content that lays beneath it. If these headings and subheadings are intriguing enough to convince the user to read the article after scanning then they have done their job!

Now that the importance of text structure has been explained, how directly linked the importance of heading structure to compliment it will also become quite apparent. As explained above headings and subheadings should be attractive and should clearly state the content of the paragraph beneath it. Best practice is to put a header above every long paragraph or above a group of paragraphs which are talking about a similar theme or topic.  

Header tags (H1, H2, H3 Etc..) are important for SEO because they communicate to search engines like google what your website and what that specific page is about.Search engines recognize the copy in your header tags as more important than the rest so it understands from this what your page is about. H1 is seen by google as the most important then H2, H3 etc.. It’s important to utilize your header tags however and not just throw them in anywhere and everywhere. To utilize header tags effectively for SEO they should contain your keywords which you hope to rank for. This is so effective as part of an SEO strategy because when search engines routinely crawl the website they will pick up on the header tags and will recognize the keywords you are using are important and are directly linked to what your website is about.

To find out more about the best way to employ effective content writing and other strategies to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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Why Your Website Should Have an Active Blog

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 17, 2018

Virtually every website should have an active blog. To have a blog on your website costs you nothing as it’s a free feature but to not use a blog effectively at all could actually cost you quite a bit in terms of not generating as much traffic and conversions as you could have otherwise to make your website as successful as possible. That’s because using blog posts effectively is an integral part of an effective Content Marketing strategy.

Content Marketing is a marketing strategy that is based on creating and sharing content of value with your community or target audience, thus establishing yourself as an authority in your field. A content marketing strategy helps to build a strong relationship between you and your users and potential customers. When people feel they have a good relationship with a website or business they are a lot more open to purchasing off them. This means that if your content marketing strategy is successful you will have garnered an increase in sales without having to go the length of traditional hard selling to try and get conversions.

Blogs became so popular as part of content marketing because regularly posting great content to your website was a great alternative to traditional outbound marketing such as advertising and cold calling. It’s well known that when customers come to you of their own free will they are a lot more likely to be favorable to purchasing off you compared to when you make the first move by chasing them. By posting great blogs rich in content users are getting something from reading them, they are having a better user experience and there is also the possibility that they will find you on google when searching for a term that you may have done a blog post about.

Another reason blogs are so great is that they can do wonders for your SEO. Blogs are limitless so you can have as many blog posts as you want, each blog post gives you a new opportunity to utilize key terms and phrases you wish to rank for in your SEO title and description. By publishing regular new content on your website, you will receive a further boost in SEO as new published content will cause search engine crawlers to revisit your website and index it. Search engines love to send their users to brand new “fresh” content so by regularly publishing content on your blog you are signalling to search engines that your website is not only very alive but it it still very relevant as it is publishing new fresh content.

Finally blogs give you great opportunities on social media as each blog post you publish can be shared through your social media channels and you can generate and drive this traffic from social media straight to your website where you will have an opportunity to then turn these site visits into conversions.

To find out more about content writing for blog posts and other strategies to improve your website Contact 2Cubed today!

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7 Good Reasons Why You Should be Using Google Analytics Right Now!

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 11, 2018

Google Analytics is an amazingly powerful tool that everyone has at their disposal. Even more amazing is the fact that this powerful tool comes completely free of charge. When used properly google analytics can be an amazing insight into the heart of your website and of how it’s performing.

The metrics that google analytics use when gauged against their compiled data can be great indicators in wish to measure the success or lack thereof of your website in key areas such as number of users, bounce rate, page views, conversion rates etc..

Below are 7 key reasons why you should be using google analytics:

  • Its Free

As mentioned above google analytics is a completely free tool to use. It costs you nothing to use but if you don’t use it at all then it could cost you in terms of making mistakes that you could have corrected had you the knowledge gleaned from google analytics.

  • Automatic Collection of Data

Google Analytics automatically collects, compiles and organizes your data for you. You do not have to perform any action in order to get the data. Google Analytics simply does all the work for you. To get this data all that needs to be done on your end is to initially setup your Google Analytics account by copying a simple piece of code on your website. When applied this code enables Google Analytics to start collecting data from your website automatically and then to generate reports accordingly. The data from these reports will aid you when you decide and plan to implement strategies to increase the performance of your website.

  • Understand Your Bounce Rate

Google Analytics bounce rate is the percentage of traffic that leaves your website quickly after landing on it without looking at any other pages before they leave. Bounce Rate can be a useful barometer in which to gauge how effective or not your SEO is as bounce rate can indicate how accurate the page is targeted towards visitors who are interested in that type of content or indeed in your business and if a page has a high bounce rate it can usually be a signal that something is inherently wrong with that web page whether it’s the content or the design of the page that seems to be frustrating customers so much that they bounce. If your page has a high bounce rate and it’s a key page for you then it’s time for you to reevaluate the SEO on that page and possibly the design also to ensure you are delivering the best user experience possible.

  • Know Your Demographic

Google Analytics provides you with valuable data about your audience which will help you to understand which channels drive most of the traffic to your website. The Audience section provides a lot of information about the people who visit your website like their age, gender, interests, devices used and location.

  • To understand which social platforms to target

Social platforms are a great way to drive a lot of traffic to your website and to engage with potential customers. Google Analytics gives you the access to view what exactly catches the attention of the users and this data will inform you on where to place an ad accordingly. Through google analytics you can not only gauge how successful your social platforms that you use are performing but you can also check exactly how much conversions each social platform is giving you. Based on this data you will be able to dedicate the majority of your time and resources to the best performing social platform.

  • To understand what kind of content you should write

Great written content is a brilliant way to attract new customers to your website and improve the user experience your website provides. This is commonly understood and is the reason why so many businesses have blogs, newsletters etc.. as these pieces of content can drive traffic towards your website and increase conversions. Google Analytics helps you to keep a track of all the content published that receives views and shares. Google Analytics then generates a breakdown of the page views each of your blog posts receive and this data helps you to understand which pieces of content are the best performing for you.

  • To check if you are achieving goals

Google Analytics allows you to set goals which track your website’s success in a certain area such as new users for example. You could set a goal that in the next month you wish to have 1000 new users and by viewing the data you can measure it against your goal to inform you if the current approach you are taking is going to result in you realising this goal or if in fact further strategizing is required.

Google analytics is a brilliant tool to use to help you make your website more successful. The data it provides is invaluable and considering it’s free you have no excuse to justify not using it. If you aren’t using it currently you’re missing out!

To find out more about google analytics and other strategies to improve your website contact 2Cubed today!

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2Cubed Special Update

Category: News
October 5, 2018

In this special update from 2Cubed we will be sharing some important news and information with you. In this update we will touch on 3 things in particular that 2Cubed will be placing a special focus on in the coming weeks and these are as follows:

  • Upgrading all Websites
  • Updating sites who are compatible to PHP 7.0
  • Applying Purchased SSL Certs

2Cubed are committed to always ensuring their client’s success and security. To stay true to this commitment 2Cubed will be working on all of their websites and upgrading them to not only further enhance their security but also their overall efficiency and performance. If you notice any issues during this period please let us know and we will check if it’s related to our website maintenance and improvement works. 

For all sites who are compatible with the newest PHP 7.0 major release we will be updating them to run on this. Up until recently PHP 5.6 was the most modern but with the release of PHP 7.0 this is no longer the case. PHP 7 has many major benefits for websites who have it such as it’s twice the speed of the once most recent version of PHP 5.6 and it was also created with the goal of freeing up space which would lead to improvement on websites. This freeing up of space was done by getting rid of many unneeded functionalities on old and unsupported Server APIs and extensions.

If you read our recent newsletter you will know already about the dire importance of having an SSL Cert. In it we mentioned that from August 2018 Google has flagged websites which have not already gotten an SSL Certificate. This was part of the plan first announced at the start of 2018 by Google in its Speed Update which rolled out in July, that it will mark all sites that have not migrated to HTTPS as “not secure.” This change has been brought in by google whose main goal is to ensure their users can safely and securely browse and purchase on the internet. As nowadays people turn to the internet for virtually everything ensuring that users can trust it to be safe is of paramount importance. Online security like having an SSL Certificate is no longer just a good option for a website to have, it’s a necessity. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. If you don’t have the SSL certificate, a secure connection cannot be established, that means, your company information will not be digitally connected to a cryptographic key. The purchase and application of an SSL cert is a simple but vitally important process that cannot be underestimated as it can be pivotal to the success of your website. To inquire about getting an SSL Certificate for your website to stop it being marked as non-secure please contact 2Cubed today.

If you have any questions or queries about any topic we have mentioned in this update or any other general query please do not hesitate to get in touch with 2Cubed!  

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Website Performance

Category: Tips and Tricks
October 2, 2018

When it comes to creating websites everyone already knows how important it is for it to have a great design and presentation and that it actually functions correctly on a basic level. One thing that can be overlooked though is Website Performance such as how it performs in the backend.

Having a correctly optimised website that performs efficiently has a whole host of benefits, not only for you but also for your visitors to the site. Efficient Website Performance will result in faster load times and reduced hosting costs which in turn can lead to an increase in google search rankings on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Virtually all websites contain images and graphics of many sorts and sizes and they can do a great job of helping to communicate and shape the message your website is trying to present to your visitors. However, it might not be a common known thing but images can usually be one of the leading causes of sites having long load times. Therefore it is vital to make sure your images are optimised correctly before you upload them, if you don’t it can cause your website to have overly long load times which can end up affecting your search engine rankings. Also if you are trying to load from a slow server this may also cause issues.

Website performance optimization is always something that should be top priority, especially when there is so much online competition. It’s also very important when optimizing a website that you don’t forget to optimize for mobile and slower devices as well.

Choosing the right web host plan is a smart business move to boost website performance. Having a fast web host is equally as important as any website performance optimization you can make, as it truly is the backbone of your site. It’s true that a cheap host plan may offer you savings at the beginning, but you will most likely end up paying more in the long run in order to serve your website needs as it grows. It’s a smart move to make sure to choose a trusted web host with a right variety of hosting plans to handle all your website resources and requirements.

2Cubed’s sister site Website Maintenance has some great offers available for excellent hosting and much more packages that can help your site to be a success in every area.

As you can see these are just a number of steps you can take today to optimise your website in order to improve things like your page load times, position in search engine rankings and your sites overall user experience.

To find out more and develop a plan to make your website a success, contact us today!

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