All businesses today should recognise the importance of having an effective cybersecurity policy in place. Data breaches seem to be constantly in the news. Whilst those tend to be high-profile cases like TalkTalk and British Airways, small businesses frequently suffer data breaches too. In recent years, Virtual Private Networks (“VPNs”) have become quite common for home use — so can a VPN improve small business cybersecurity?
Well, yes — but let’s cover the basics before examining the business benefits of a VPN.
What is a VPN?
A VPN is a private network (within the public internet) that enhances your online privacy by:
Giving you a temporary IP address when you go online
Encrypting data transfers between your computer and other online resources
Wrapping that data inside other data to keep it even more private (called “tunneling” or “encapsulation”)
An IP address is the numeric address of your computer on the internet.… Read the rest
Video marketing has become very popular in recent years. Yet there’s no denying that it’s a bit more complex than text or image ads. So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth the effort, the infographic below explains why your business needs video marketing in 2019. Click on the image for a full-size version.
…and if you still assume video marketing must be complex and costly, scroll down to see how I can make it easier than you think!
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Video Marketing for Small Businesses
Getting started with video marketing in 2019 doesn’t have to be complex. There are many ways you can benefit from it without even getting a video camera out.
Customers love video, but do you know what they love even more? Being in control. So today I’m proud to launch another new service — interactive video marketing for small businesses!
Ask your audience what they want to see. Then offer it to them and let them respond — all in one video.
Check out the example on this page. Then read on to see how you can be one of the first to use this amazing new technology in your digital marketing.
N.B. As this is only a demo, it won’t save your email address or send you a coupon — but your video could!
N.B.: This demo won’t collect your email address or send you a coupon — but your video could!
Marketing moves fast, but marketing myths die hard. It’s common to copy “traditional marketing wisdom” without realising that risks copying traditional marketing mistakes.
The web gives digital marketers masses of immediate audience feedback to learn from — far more than traditional marketers have ever had.
So whatever you’ve learned may well be outdated already. Times change, competitors learn and update their strategies, and marketing evolves. What worked a few years ago may not work now. Or perhaps it never worked, but was based on false, yet popular, assumptions. Yet many people still spread these myths as if they’re in the know.
Many useful lessons in marketing have been twisted by misquotes and false assumptions over the years, too. Here are seven of the top marketing myths that I still see today and why you should think twice before falling for them.… Read the rest
Planning to launch a new website for your business? There’s a lot to consider when designing a small business website. Have you thought about how its design may affect visibility on Google or how people perceive your business?
Gone are the days where a free Geocities or WordPress template could do the job for you.
The competition is tighter now, with 71% of small businesses already operating a website of their own. Your site has to stand out amidst the sea of competitors. Get started the right way with these 5 top tips to create a good small business website:
1 .On-Site SEO is a Must
First and foremost, make Search Engine Optimization a priority for everything you do on your site. Whether it’s designing how the site looks to the content you post on the pages and blog, SEO should be a part of the design philosophy.… Read the rest
Now that it’s 2019, the question on every small business’s mind is “How can I better prepare for the new year?” Taking advantage of the latest trends is an effective way to grow your business and reach a wider audience. So here are a few of the top marketing trends that you need to consider.
1. Content is still king
The growth of ad blockers has made traditional advertising tougher for small businesses. Paid ads simply aren’t as effective any more. It’s also a slow and passive form of marketing that you have little control over.
In any case, customers generally prefer to buy from people they know, like and trust. So even without an ad blocker, most people are pretty good at ignoring anything that looks like a traditional paid ad.… Read the rest
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that brings visitors to websites. It helps businesses by increasing website traffic in an organic (unpaid) way. However, it keeps evolving, so it can be hard for stakeholders to keep up with the many updates. That can be frustrating for those who rely on Google’s traffic to drive sales, so hopefully the SEO infographic below will help.
SEO is also a huge topic. Factors that affect search positioning include the quality of backlinks and content, SSL security, page speed, click-through-rate, and more. However, one factor that remains constant is the extra value that customers bring when they find your business via organic search.
Visitors from unpaid, organic search are actively looking for what you provide.… Read the rest
Search Engine Optimisation can make a big difference to your bottom line, but as I’ve mentioned on my SEO Plans page, it isn’t rocket science. Some of it can be quite technical or labour intensive, but with expert SEO advice, a bit of DIY can make useful progress on the basics.
The trouble is, there are a lot of factors affecting your site’s search positioning, so even expert SEO advice will vary from one site to another. So, you need the right tools to identify which bits need work in your case.
That’s where my new SEO Audit Tool comes in. Think of it as your own automated SEO expert. Give it a page URL to scan, and within a few seconds, you’ll have a nice report showing you what you need to work on.… Read the rest
If you own a local business, you may be wondering whether to start a business blog. Perhaps you aren’t sure how it could help you, or you lack the time to create quality content consistently.
On the other hand, you’ve heard that content marketing can take your business to the next level.
So, is starting a blog worth it? How could it help your business? Let’s review a few of the best reasons to start a business blog.
1. Drive Website Traffic
The most obvious part of running a business online is that low traffic to your website means low sales. That’s why many business owners spend lots of money each month on PPC ads to boost site traffic.
Here’s the good news: starting a local business blog is a very cost-effective way to increase traffic to your site.… Read the rest
Why do marketers focus on digital content so much? They all seem to agree that content marketing works — but how? What is “content marketing” anyway? How does it fit into online marketing strategies — and how can you get it working for your business?
Well, the short answer to most of those questions boils down to one long-established fact: content is king. Quality content attracts, convinces and converts visitors into customers. Weak content does not.
Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that. So, let’s start with what’s so special about digital content?
Why Digital Marketing?
Well, did you know that the UK is the world’s fourth biggest advertising market? In 2016, UK firms spent 21.9 billion GBP on advertising, and that figure is expected to keep rising.
