Category: Digital Agency

You might find this hard to believe but a large percentage of phone calls that we receive are from business owners that are seriously frustrated by the fact that they are ranking on Google but they are not getting any decent leads. They simply cannot understand why they have paid all this money to an SEO agency and yet their sales and revenue hasn’t increased. They tell me they are ranking on Google but the phone is simply not ringing.
This is far more common than you would think and the answer to this is simple; they are not getting any qualified leads because their website is flawed and not converting site visitors into customers. Called conversion rate optimisation, websites are floundering online badly and customers are deserting theses sites (even eCommerce sites) because they have simply not adhered to fundamental web design principles.

We find that these business owners have not been properly educated at the outset of their SEO campaign regarding the implication of having a sub standard website and the ensuing damage it can and will cause as the ranking begin to rise. It is essentially the fault of the SEO agency for not pointing out the issues on the website and for not fixing these.

For the sake of ease I am outlining some issues that many websites have in common that should be immediately fixed before starting any SEO campaign. I know when people come and see me for their SEO, the first thing I do is go through a check list of things that a website must have and look at any issues with their current site that needs immediate attention. I make sure I tell the client about these at this meeting and look at ways of addressing them promptly. I clearly explain to them that we can certainly drive traffic to their website but this will be pointless unless the changes are done. In 99.99% of the cases these are implemented by us quickly and we see immediate improvements in their websites conversion rates. You’d be amazed by

So, here are some critical ‘ on page’ issues that are killing your inquiry rates.

# 1: There are simply no call to action buttons on the website. You will be surprised by how many people do not even have a phone number on their site. The most important thing you must have on your site is a buying path where visitors know how to contact or phone you. This is mandatory and if your number is not front and centre, then it needs to be.

# 2: I find that a lot of websites have been left untouched for many years and they still carry the excess baggage of what was in vogue 5-10 years ago. This includes lots of animation, sound and over the top graphics that are now not relevant.

# 3: There are a ton of websites out there that still have out dated services that are completely irrelevant to their business and when they start to rank on Google and get inquiries for this they are a complete waste of time. Ideally, you need to be updating your website regularly with your services and pruning the redundant ones.

# 4: I still see sites that have content that has been purely written for the search engines pre Panda update. There is a whole lot of gibberish and waffle that makes no sense and is stuffed with as many keywords on the page in order to try to trick the search engines. The only outcome is that it just annoys people and contributes to lower conversion rates.

# 5: Some websites are still not mobile or responsive. There is so much literature about this online that I’m still amazed by people who still refuse to make their website compatible with mobiles. This is the death knell for any site and owners need to wake up and get on board with modern day technologies if they are to remain competitive.

# 6: You are stuck with a really bad CMS that doesn’t allow you to make any changes or edits – this is really common as many web design agencies con and scam people into using their own proprietary CMS systems – we make sure that the first thing we do is transfer the site over to WordPress.

# 7: Slow loading sites with heavy graphics that were designed by an agency and have never been optimised for speed. Slow loading sites as we all know are a real pain and waiting for them to load simply allows more time for people to exit the site. We make certain that site speed is lightening fast. We also look at the hosting to make sure it’s within Australia and that your not locked into some out dated hosting plan – with excessive monthly fees.

Basically the formula works like this: great content plus top graphics combined with a clever user interface and customer experience will lead to higher conversion rates. Add some decent SEO here and you are on a winner.

The issue with low quality websites is that Google will devalue them and place them lower in the rankings. The more relevant and more Google compliant the websites are the chances of them ranking will be far higher as will the conversion rates.

If you feel that you are missing out on your piece of the pie and you site is doing well on Google, then it’s time to do something about it. Obviously, you current SEO agency is not doing their proper job by telling you’re the bare facts and truth about your website. So my advice is to make the switch and get on board with a proper digital design agency that can handle, web, SEO, design as well as conversion rates. Call the team at Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514 and stop giving your competition the advantage!

The best online marketing strategies all take time and effort. As a business owner you must look at all components of the digital space when starting your online marketing campaign. Stuff it up now and you will end up paying dearly for this by loosing customers and giving your competition the advantage. Get it right the first time and you will see some serious profits.
This is how it works with Google, social media and other digital platforms. You have to know what your doing to make it work effectively for your business.
Following are 5 really important that you need to consider  before you even think about cracking open the champagne and thinking you’ve nailed it.

1. You must have a well thought out Online Marketing agenda.
Before you even consider engaging the services of a digital or SEO agency you need to have your online agenda firmly fixed. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or overly complicated but you should have some firm goals in mind as well as a monthly marketing budget. Too often I get phone calls from people who know what they want in terms of an end goal but they haven’t even thought about a budget. When I ask them how much they would like to invest in SEO or social media they have no clue. As a business owner you should have these kinds of numbers at your disposal and be ready to commit when you are ready. Umming and erring and not having a decent marketing budget is the wrong first step.

Your digital marketing company should be able to help you with this by customising a digital marketing solution that fits nicely with your marketing budget and goals.
Your marketing agenda should be mapped out clearly where you examine your customers, your competitors and where your business fits in the market. Following are some great questions that you should really know the answers to.
.How many sales do you need to make per week to pay all the bills – basically break even?
.What percentage would you like to see your business grow by annually?
.Who are your customers, where do they come from and how are they going to find you?
.Are you competitive in the market and if not, why? Also, what plans have you got to turn this around ( we can really help you with this point).
.Are you looking to be local, state wide or national? Perhaps global?
.How do you communicate with your customers?
.What is your best selling point? What do you do better than your competition?
.What marketing platforms are you currently using, where do your competitors play online and what are your plans to dominate the online space?

Once you have answers to these questions you will be in a much better position to work with your digital agency in achieving your goals. It’s really important that you partner with the right agency that doesn’t just give you answers your want to hear. You want to be challenged and be given honest, constructive advice.  Not sweet talked into signing up to an agency that has no clue about the digital landscape.

At Hopping Mad Designs we pose serious question like:what marketing channels do you feel you need to develop and nurture to attract those juicy new big clients? Also, once they find you how do you intend to convert them into paying customers? What marketing investment do you intend to make to achieve these outcomes? How may potential leads do you need to start at the top of your sales funnel (newsletters, subscribe now, social media) to make that sale? What percentage is your conversion rates? Do you have Google analytics and if so what are the site visitors and have they gone up or down over the last couple of months?

If these answers are not at your finger tips we will be able to help you figure this out. We will make certain that you consider and completely understand all components of your online strategy such as : SEO, content marketing, web design, user interface, conversion rate optimisation, social media, blogging and email marketing.

All of these individual channels come together to create the framework that will be your online marketing. You might think that all this sounds easy and you might like to have a go at it yourself, but from our experience this only ends up with really poor results and consumer engagement. Leave it to the pro’s like us at Hopping Mad Designs and you will see the benefits within a few short months.

2. Digital partners you can Trust
Your online marketing is like a jigsaw puzzle; it all has to fit together neatly if it is to succeed. You need the right people with the right experience and maturity working on your side. Unfortunately in the digital space there are far too many cowboys looking to earn a quick buck at your expense.

The real advantage of working with a partner like Hopping Mad Designs is that all your digital marketing is handled by 1 team in 1 office. Nothing what so ever is outsourced and we have the experience and maturity of over 20 years to handle any type or size of company.
Whatever you decide to do and how much of your internet marketing you decide to outsource the following are mandatories that you need to consider.
Website design development
Adwords campaign management
SEO
Email marketing
Content marketing, especially blogging and the power of blogging for your business.
Social media marketing
Conversion rate optimisation and UX design

For each of the above areas, having the support and expertise of digital specialists will as stated above be the difference between success and failure.
I want to make a point here and really emphasise it here, never and I mean never go with an agency based on price. Why? Because many shonky operators will quote very low prices to get your business and make the sale without any regard for the work they will do. We have seen far too many good businesses get burnt because they have based their decision on getting the cheapest price. Watch out for this and know the signs that you are being scammed. Go with your instinct and look for partners you feel comfortable with and who can show you a solid track record.

3. A decent budget is important
Yes you may have a great plan and yes you may have some really achievable goals but to get there you do need to have a healthy, workable monthly budget to invest. All digital campaigns ( whether SEO, social or content) take time; as you must measure their performance and ROI. Ideally you need to give any campaign 6 months to really give it a fair chance of succeeding. From that point you need to measure the results and overall ROI.
This means you have to be committed to spending the monthly budget on your digital campaign and be comfortable spending this every month. In some cases we find businesses start off all gung ho and full of energy for these campaigns, but after a couple of months the shine wears off.

This happens all the time with SEO campaigns and all we can say to our clients is that you need to be prepared to stick it out, wait and see the results. Eventually, once Google indexes the fantastic work we have done, you will start to see how good being patient is. My advice is is you are not prepared to do this for the long haul and be 10% totally committed then don’t start anything. having said that, there are really no other avenues so you do need to give it a go.

Many business owners want instant results for their marketing budget but this is not how it works online. Quick results, especially when it comes to SEO can prove fatal as the only way you can rank a website is through a slow organic campaign. Try to perceive your budget as an investment in your business. If it makes this easier to digest then all the better.
Be open to what your digital agency tells you. If they feel you need to move your marketing funds to another channel or platform then try to be flexible and open to this. If they feel you need to scale up and invest more money then based on their reporting and case for this give it a try. Remember this is an investment not an expense so there will be positive benefits. So if they feel as though you should be spending more money on say Facebook ads as these are delivering a better ROI, then listen to them.

Marketing spend should be about 5% of your annual turnover. With the digital space this should probably grow to roughly 10% if your industry niche is very competitive. Think about it for a moment. If you want to rank on Google and you are say a cosmetic surgeon, then to really make an indent in this  highly competitive area you will have to be very realistic about your budgets.

4. Monthly reporting
You need reports and a detailed analysis of these results to determine what is and what’s not working. Some agencies will swamp your with unnecessary data to the point where you start to feel overwhelmed. Following are some important stats that you should be privy to.

Website
You should have set up Google analytics and be able to monitor website traffic and monitor conversion rates. You should find out where people are going to on your site and see if they are hitting the right conversion hot spots. If they aren’t then you need to make on page improvements. Armed with this information you will be able to track and improve overall conversion rates which in turn will drive revenue. You need to know what’s exciting your visitors and need to know what is stopping them from buying from you. If your in the ecommerce space, this type of information is vital….think shopping cart abandonment as a prime example.

Adwords
When it comes to Adwords you can spend a small fortune. This is why you must be on top of all your statistics and be prepared to make adjustments immediately. Wasting money of paid ads is a common problem, don’t let this happen to you. There is the temptation to focus only on the number of clicks your getting when in fact you should be looking at site conversions. Sure you may be getting hits, but is it worth the money? Are they actually buying form you?

5. Pick the right channels to reach your audience
There is no point spending your marketing dollars on the wrong channel. Know where your customers are hanging out and be in that space and be there aggressively. If for example they are on Facebook, be there posting regularly. If they are on Instagram then make sure your posting images daily. I know this may all seem hard to do but its the best way to get a loyal following.

As my last piece of advice, be sure look at your strategy every 6 months. Make sure that you are serious about getting regular reports and using these to measure your ROI. The internet landscape is always changing and evolving and so should your online marketing efforts. Be dynamic and be prepared to adapt to new technologies as soon as they become popular. Nothing remains constant nor should your internet marketing.

Every business wants more customers but some businesses are better at getting them that others. It doesn’t matter what your industry niche is; tradies right through to health professionals, cosmetic surgeons, lawyers, architects even travel related online businesses all want one thing and that’s more clients. In the online obsessed world the best way to get new business leads and clients is becoming increasingly difficult, so following are some fantastic tips all businesses should know about for getting those juicy new business leads.
Killer Tip # 1: Get your website professionally designed. If you have an old outdated website that was last revamped more than 2-3 years ago, then you really need to start thinking about a revamp. I know there are all these free websites out there online such as Squarespace and Wix, but please try to avoid using these as they are simple templates and you will end up looking like every other site out there. Investing in professional, quality customised web design is the first step in establishing your websites own personality. This in turn should differentiate you from the rest of the market and is a critical factor is helping you get better quality leads, more often. Also those cheap, free website are really bad for SEO and will make life extremely difficult for you if you intend on ranking your website on Google. This is why and I really want to emphasise the point here….you need a web agency that knows how to prepare your website for the internet and Google if it is ever going to have any chance of getting customers.

You may end up saving a few dollars at the beginning but it will end up costing you dearly in lost sales leads and revenue. Basically those free websites just don’t work and they are there for really tiny, small business start ups that do not want to get any online traffic.

Let Hopping Mad Designs handle all your web design & seo.

Killer Tip # 2

: Start writing great content for your website and blog. If you can’t think of anything to write about or just don’t have the time to do it, them employ someone. Content is really important in establishing your online credibility. Also what ever your do, never consider this a chore and post articles that are less than 300 words. If you write online make sure you are passionate about it and create content that you know people want to read. Compelling content will get ranked by Google and these web pages and blog articles will get read.

Killer Tip # 3: Start to get active in the social media space. Know where your audience or customer base is hanging out, sign up to that platform and get social. I know this may seem hard, especially if your a small business and a bit time poor, but 1-2 hours per week is all you need to kick things off.

It’s really easy. Let’s say you have a eCommerce website and are selling things online or you are a plumber or lawyer and don’t know what to do. Well why not post an interesting fact about your business or perhaps post an item that you have on sale. All you need to do is be a bit creative, think about what your customers would want to see and cater to this.

In the eCommerce space this is incredibly important as you need to drive as many people as you can to your website and if you have a new product, platforms like Facebook and Instagram are going to really help you get your brand out there.

Killer Tip # 4:  Stop wasting time with SEO agencies that have no clue about what they are doing. If you have been working with an SEO agency for the past 6-12 months and your not getting the kind of results you were promised or anticipating then it’s time to pull the plug and ditch them. So many businesses make the mistake of choosing the wrong SEO partner. Don’t you be one of them. Look for some other agency that can actually perform, which leads me straight into point # 5.

Killer Tip # 5: Start an SEO campaign with an agency that can prove to you what they are able to achieve. Make sure you look for a company that can rank it’s own website on Google before you even pick up the phone. Look at the image below and you can see that Hopping Mad Designs has been able to rank 2 of it’s pages (NOT ONE BUT 2!!) on page 1 of Google for a seriously competitive and hard to achieve keyword: ‘web design sydney’. Try to use an SEO/web agency that can show you examples like this. Remember, the techniques we use to get great results for our own website will be used for your website.

The advantage of using our agency to handle your web design, social media, content marketing and SEO is that we know every trick in the book and have done it all before for other businesses. We know what to do to get more online traffic to your website and have been doing this for the past 18 years.  So if you follow these tips and are prepared to invest in a marketing campaign that will increase your online visibility by 2, 3 even 4 times, then get in touch with us today.
All you need is 1 hour and we will show you exactly what we will do to radically improve sales leads, calls and revenue. This is no gimmick or cheap sales pitch….we follow the same tried and proven formula for each client and it WORKS! Call 02 9360 8514.

This is particularly vital for small to medium sized businesses in Australia that rely heavily on Google and the internet to generate new business leads. There is really no point what so ever sitting around and waiting for things to improve by themselves cause they won’t. You’ll end up going bust. You need to start evolving with the times and being proactive.

Don’t make the mistake of choosing an agency based on price.

Cheap deals are a recipe for disaster.

There are a lot of players in the market all saying pretty much the same things. They are all promising that they can get your website to page 1 of Google, they say that they are experts in user interface design and have the ability to make your website conversion focused. They basically talk the talk, but can they actually do what they say.

Unfortunately, we see far too many businesses spend way too much money with digital agencies because they believe the hype and stories they are told about how they are able to turn their business around, get their phone to ring and increase sales leads…..ALL THIS IS FAKE AND YOU WILL GET ABSOLUTELY HAMMERED ONLINE if you choose the wrong type of agency that is simply looking out for the next sucker to come along.

So, I thought I would detail in point form some errors of judgement businesses make when selecting their digital agency.

Most businesses want to be on page 1 of Google. Let’s face it. It’s the best place to be. The issue here is that most businesses when searching for an SEO agency type the words “SEO” or “SEO Agency’ into Google and they quickly click on the first 3 businesses they see. The error with this is that those first 3 SEO companies are the ads and choosing any of these companies is what I would consider an extremely grave mistake. Why? Because they have paid money to be in this position and this is not what SEO is about.

SEO is all about getting your organic rankings NOT paid listings. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of SEO and these guys know how to play the game. They put really catchy, too good to refuse, attention-grabbing headlines in their ads like: ‘ PAY WHEN YOU REACH PAGE 1’ or ‘ SEO FOR 1 MONTH FOR FREE’ or ‘PAY ON PERFORMANCE SEO’ or the very worst one ‘ PAGE 1 GUARANTEED RANKING’.

Forbes reinforces these pay on performance scams by telling us Why The Best SEO Firms Don’t Offer Guaranteed Results. They go on to say that “SEO & Guarantees Have an Abominable History” – Scams offer guarantees, which by itself means you should be on your guard about any firm offering a guarantee. So you have been warned not only by me but by other credible sources about these scams.

All these headings are right there in your face (Google designs it this way), and most people click on these ads. They are in a hurry and they click the first thing they see. Once they are in contact with the SEO agency they are then handled by seriously good salespeople that will promise anything to get the sale. It’s a real con job and they even lock you into 12-month contracts which are really hard to get out of. Fancy a legal battle? Then go with any company that has PPC or paid ads when it comes to SEO agencies. These guys will do nothing once you sign up and will use the money you pay them to refinance their ads. It’s a scheme and it works really well. Most people cannot see the difference when they are looking quickly online and this is the trap this is what you need to be aware of so you avoid this.

As soon as you complain or try to get out of the contract, they will start proceedings against you. How do I know this? Because I have to take phone calls from so many people who have been ripped off in this fashion.

All I can say is make the right decision when choosing your SEO agency; DON’T EVER go with companies that have paid adverts there. Golden rule = if they cannot rank their own website they are going to do nothing with yours. They will swear blindly that they prefer to be there as paid ads as it’s too expensive and too much time and hassle to rank their own website What a load of rubbish. They would kill to be there. See what Google has to say in their article Do you need an SEO? Here they tell us about choosing the right type of SEO agency.

They choose a so-called digital agency that talks about customer conversion rates and being able to get customers to buy from your site better than anyone else. Don’t fall for this. Most of these agencies do nothing more than change a banner on your home page and make you believe they have moved a mountain. It’s complete and utter rubbish. If they talk about conversion rates and increase in site traffic make them show you examples. remember it’s easy to throw these terms and buzz words around to try to fool you into thinking they are experts in this field.

Also Read: How to Increase the Sales Conversion Rate of My Website?

My advice here is to work with an agency that can show you an extremely strong web design portfolio. Given there are so many free website templates out there it’s important for the success of your business to partner with an agency that will design your site from scratch based on a brief. NOT some crappy free template or a recycled template that they have used before. If your website is going to work for you then it must be a fully customised design that takes many online digital variables into account.

You base all your decisions purely on cost. If I had a dollar every time someone said to me: ‘ we are starting our business and we are on a very limited budget’ or ‘ the other guy is charging me $x for this, what can you do?’ or ‘ what types of cheap SEO packages do your offer’, I would be a rich man.

Basing your marketing decisions on cost, especially when it comes to Web and SEO factors is a really bad start for your business. Why? Because there are too many people out there who are more than happy to cut their rates to buy your business and in turn deliver absolutely nothing. THAT’S RIGHT. They will take your money, do nothing with the SEO and if you are lucky you might get your website ( which will all be done offshore) in 6 months’ time.

Cutting corners, reducing marketing budgets and going with the agencies that are prepared to do your work for next to nothing is another serious error. I totally agree when businesses are looking to shop wisely for the best value on offer. But bear in mind that there are sharks out there circling looking to make as much money as they can. They know all the tricks and shortcuts and you’re business will be the one that loses.

You get cold-called by an SEO or digital agency that says they have gone through your website and can see a lot of mistakes. They assume you must be doing some form of SEO and will fabricate an issue with your site or in your SEO strategy that is complete BS. I personally have had other SEO agencies contact some of my clients and tell them the most ridiculous stories and lies when it comes to their SEO, backlinking and on page compliance. All lies, all bull, designed to trick you into believing them. Once they have you locked into their contract you are stuffed – this is why at Hopping Mad Designs we never lock you into any type of contract.

OK, you have read these 4 mistakes that most people make and yet you may still be a bit confused about the role a digital agency can play in your company, and what can go wrong if you choose unwisely. If so, please give me a call at 02 9360 8514 and I will be more than happy to show you what a credible, reliable, established and proven digital agency with a strong focus on web design can do to generate more sales leads for your business through our online marketing capabilities.

Have you launched a website or recently revamped a site and it’s been a huge flop?

As the saying goes failing to plan is planning to fail and it couldn’t be more accurate when it comes to your website and online digital marketing.

Following are some helpful tips to help you improve the health of your website, increase sales and customer conversion rates. So now there’s absolutely no excuse for complacency and blaming the performance of your website on someone else. It’s all in your hands and you can easily do something about it. And, the best news is; that it’s not all that difficult.

Make sure you do your keyword research when it comes to SEO

Keyword research is really a no-brainer when it comes to hiring an SEO company. Obviously, you need to be targeting the right type of keywords that will bring in the most amount of website traffic. No point in going after keywords that might be easy to rank on Google but will have little or no impact of quality leads. Know your customers and what they would most likely type into Google to find your product or service. Once you have established this, ask your SEO agency to check if these keywords have enough traffic, and then go for it.

Targeting the right keywords is not an exact science. Consumer behaviour does change and so will their search criteria. So don’t be afraid to add more keywords to your SEO marketing mix. You might be pleasantly surprised by the impact this one small change could have on the level of inquiries.

I have personally seen businesses land huge new jobs by targeting a different set of keywords that they never thought would generate this type of quality lead.

Look at your on-site SEO

There are still so many businesses that call me and for the life of them cannot work out why their website is still not performing well on Google. They have used numerous SEO agencies in Sydney and the results are still really disappointing. The culprit is the ‘on-site’ SEO. That is, their website is not Google compliant. Issues like: titles, descriptions, thin web copy, slow load speeds, flash animation, and use of heave graphics are still being completely ignored by many and the results speak for themselves. If you are serious about getting a better online ranking then make sure you speak with a digital design agency that can look at the perfect combination of web design and SEO. Once they have the mix right, then your Google rankings will immediately improve. Search Engine Journal has a great article called 12 Essential On-Page SEO Factors You Need To Know, which will help you understand better the importance of on-page SEO and what you can do to fix any non-Google compliant issues on your site.

I know I am giving our agency Hopping Mad Designs a bit of a plug here, but when it comes to knowing how to get your website ranking on Google and turn visitors into customers, I would say that we are on top of our game. This is what we do best and we can take your underperforming website and turn it into a powerful sales tool. All you need to do is call us and I’m sure that I will be able to point out issues with your website within 30 seconds.

Don’t forget about local SEO

A strong focus on local SEO helps your small business really stand out in Sydney. Register your business with a few of the better-known and more respected online directories for some quick wins. Registering with hundreds of the free online directories available to you, in the hope of improving your local rankings is not a good idea as it will appear spammy and will do more damage than harm. I always choose 5 of the main directories and leave it at that.

Start Blogging and do it regularly

I know this may seem like a hard task, but Blogging is a great way to establish your business as an authority in the industry. Whilst it will not have a huge impact on your main core SEO keywords, it will position your business as a useful resource of information. People will come to your website whenever they need information about your niche and this traffic, in turn, will eventually lead to more business. It’s a long-haul marketing tactic, but it does work. Plus adding pages to your website allows us as web and SEO agencies to optimise these blog pages, which gives your SEO campaign a more natural backlinking profile. This is what Google is looking for and if this strategy is implemented consistently, your overall web traffic number will grow month after month. This is the best thing that one can do for your business. That is, increase the number of people coming to your site.

Choose your Digital Agency wisely

Many businesses make this choice on price alone. They are offered great web design & SEO deals that are just too good to pass on and in 99.9% of the time end up in disaster. A good percentage of calls I get every day are from businesses that are at the mercy of dodgy agencies whose only goal is to get as much revenue as they can without any regard to the needs of their paying customer. If you think this can’t happen to you….think again. Fabulous-sounding offers, with promises of guaranteed Google rankings and more customers than you ever imagined possible, are a gimmick. Making the wrong choice now is a recipe for failure. Be smart and base your decision on what they can realistically offer – NEVER ON PRICE alone.

Love your Social Media

For some businesses out there, social media is like second nature. They thrive on social media and in some cases use platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for their entire marketing. For the rest of us, social media marketing (as it is known) can be a chore a task and an extremely daunting. But, in today’s digital environment, you must start to engage your customer base through these marketing channels. If you have never done this before, start off slowly and build up from there. As a minimum, you should have a Facebook business page. Post 1 article or news item a week and measure the number of followers you start getting. If this seems too hard or you are just far too time-poor – get in touch with us and we can look at managing your social media on a monthly basis. We do it this way for many businesses and the results are incredible.

Website overhaul

Have a good, long hard look at your website and ask yourself these questions.

• does your competitor’s website look so much better?
• do you like the look of it?
• when was the last time you updates it?
• has it got the latest add-ons and must-haves such as being mobile-friendly / responsive?

The list is endless, basically, if your website looks bad, no matter what you end up doing in terms of marketing, the results will never be as good as they could be. Old, stale, cheap-looking template websites are slowly killing your business via poor customer conversion rates. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW!

My advice for any business wanting to succeed is that they now have to start embracing technology and throw away the chains that have been holding them down for the past years. The things that you can do to make the necessary changes are at your disposal. All you need to do is know what a digital agency can do for your business and the difference between the good and bad ones.