Local Business Google Search Marketing Frustrations!

A local business owner came into our studio last week frustrated by the cost and level of support being provided by two mass market companies who were contracted to manage his website, Google Adwords (Paid listings) and Google MyBusiness (Local listings) account. 

After a little digging around, I found that his AdWords account was showing adverts with wording not relevant to his business plus they were not covering the full area he covered. Additionally his Google MyBusiness was set up under a service that he actually offered, but it was not the primary term the business should have been listed under. 

In his frustration, the owner had set up his own AdWords account and MyBusiness account resulting in having duplicate accounts! 

This got me thinking... how many other local businesses are being 'supported' in such a way?

One way I have been able to help is by explaining the Google search results page landscape, what each section is and how it is managed (See screen grab): 

1) Google AdWords (Paid Listings) 

I'm sure you haven't failed to notice that a little while back Google changed the layout of its search results page so that the paid adverts no longer sit on the right hand side of your browser. Basically Google have tried to make their paid results look more 'native' by showing up to four adverts above merit listings and three below. This section is managed through Google AdWords or AdWords Express found in your MyBusiness account. Here you can select terms used that your advert will appear under when they are searched for, the wording of your advert and how much you are willing to pay to get higher in the list. 

2) Google MyBusiness (Local Listings) 

These adverts appear when terms are searched for that Google has registered as category's a local businesses fits into. So for example, when looking at the term "roofing repair evesham" the results page shows MyBusiness listings, the terms "roof maintenance" does not. At least three listings are shown here until that category is expanded, so you can see how important it is to set this up correctly. Google MyBusiness information can be edited in your Google + account. 

3) Merit Listings (Search Engine Optimisation) 

On some search result pages you have to scroll down past four AdWord listings, then three MyBusiness listings before you even get to a merit listing! A merit listing, as suggested by the name, is how Google reviews the merit of showing your website page above a competitors in the page results. This is commonly called search engine optimization and is managed through the content and structure of your website and using a technique called back link generation.  

Our aim is to reduce the monthly cost of local business online marketing spend whilst improving their results.  

We can help you fully understand how to achieve this and importantly exactly where and how effective your spend is. 

Call 01386 764747 or email joe@swimminghippo.co.uk if you are frustrated with your Google Search Marketing!

Keep the spam down and the customers returning – Email marketing

Email marketing is an essential, cost effective marketing tool for online businesses to market products to their customers and with email marketing providing the highest return on investment of any other type of marketing, it is likely to continue to be around for a long time.

There are several benefits to using email marketing. Production times are faster than print and customer relationships can be built by improving loyalty through targeting those that are interested. An email campaign can also provide detailed feedback with results being instantaneous, such as email open rate, click through rate and unsubscribe rate.

By including hyperlinks to products, services and news items in your emails, there is a good opportunity for a customer to go from reading your email and finding something they are interested in, to purchasing a product – all within only a few clicks.

By choosing the correct type of email design for your email campaign, you can ensure maximum reach and make sure you spread the right message. Here’s a brief description of the various options available.

Email newsletters
An email newsletter is commonly used by companies to boost their brand, and keep readers up to date with company information and news.

Catalogue email
Advertising products is a great way to use email marketing and are perfect for online retailers. This can be accomplished by promoting specific product categories or a mixed group of products.

Announcement email
These emails are used to promote time critical information, such as a sale. They can also be used to announce a new website launch or product line.

Press release
An email featuring a press release is similar to a standard announcement; however they are usually used to promote customer relations than sales.

Sales and sign-up process emails
These types of email are usually to compliment procedures being carried out over a website, for example the purchase of a product or creation of an account.

With the rise in the use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets has meant that your customers can be targeted anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection. In 2012, 38% of emails were opened on mobile devices according to Litmus, 33% were opened using desktop clients, and the remaining 29% of readers used webmail clients.

If you would like to find out how email marketing could benefit your business, then contact Swimming Hippo on 01386 764 747 or create@swimminghippo.co.uk for more information.

New responsive website and branding

We are pleased to announce our new website, which we launched in the first half of the year.

You may have already noticed our changes to our branding and website, but for those who haven’t you will find it more accessible to smart phones and tablets because of the use of responsive design.

Responsive web design is a way of producing a website that adapts to a users interface. For example if you take a look at our site on your desktop computer and on your smart phone then you will see the similarities between the design, but also how it switches from a 4 column layout to a single column layout. This was an exciting move forward for us, and we hope you find it useful.

Also included is a company profile, our extended list of services including web design and search engine optimisation as well as new services such as mobile design and app development. A range of our latest projects can also be found on our work section.

Take a look at our website to see what’s new and why not contact us to find out more about our services.

Ipsley Academy

We are proud to announce that Ipsley Academy's new website has now been launched. Click the link below to explore this new site. http://www.ipsleyacademy.co.uk/

For more information on how Swimming Hippo may be able to help with your digital marketing, call 01386 764747 or visit www.swimminghippo.co.uk

We have been busy!!

Sorry for the lack of updates, no excuse I know, but wow, have we been busy...

Our new training focussed service the Website Academy now has it's own dedicated site. Why not take a look around www.websiteacademy.co.uk We are running courses that range from 1/2 day SEO training, giving you the basic knowledge to improve your search engine listings, through to the Website Academy course itself - resulting in your bespoke designed website launch.

What about in the studio?

Okay, here's a few projects we have been working on:

- www.winnens.co.uk
- www.rogueelementdigital.com
- www.stacking-chairs-uk.com
- www.alliedguarding.co.uk
- www.parkinsons.co.uk

We have also been helping out our new office neighbours, www.everyclick.co.uk with the front end development of two really interesting projects, all supporting very worthy causes:

- www.giveasyoulive.co.uk
- www.everygreeting.co.uk

Some quite complex jQuery work...

With all of this going on, plus our digital marketing programs - email broadcasts, seo, ppc management and facebook advertising (very effective btw), the run from summer to the year end has been fun - ready for the holidays now though! :-)

Have a great break if I don't manage to update again before the new year, but keep an eye on our Tweets.

Joe