Tag Archive for: website development

The Art of Landing Pages and Home Pages

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If you are involved in digital marketing, you’ve often heard the terms “landing page” and “home page.” But what are they exactly? Are they interchangeable or serve distinct purposes in a successful digital marketing strategy? And how can you optimize both to drive customer engagement and conversions? Let’s dive in and explore these topics.

What is a Home Page?

The home page is the digital ‘front door’ of your business. Visitors typically see the first page when they type your business URL into their browser. Its primary purpose is to provide an overview of your business and guide visitors to other sections of your website through navigation menus.

The home page must be comprehensive and appealing, as it serves a wide range of purposes – from informing first-time visitors about your brand and offerings to providing regular updates for returning customers. It’s a general-purpose page that links to all other important areas of your site.

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page, on the other hand, is a more targeted web page crafted with a single goal or call to action (CTA) in mind. It’s where a visitor ‘lands’ after clicking a specific link from an email, advertisement, or search engine result. These pages are often used in marketing campaigns to guide visitors toward a particular action, like signing up for a newsletter, purchasing, or filling out a form.

Unlike a home page, a landing page is designed to limit the options available to visitors, removing distractions and focusing their attention on the desired action. This focused approach can significantly improve conversion rates.

The Key Differences

While both landing pages and home pages are critical parts of any website, their purposes, audiences, and structures are distinct. Here are the key differences:

  • Purpose: The home page gives an overview of your business, while a landing page is focused on a single conversion goal.
  • Audience: The home page caters to a wide audience, including new and returning visitors. In contrast, a landing page is created for a specific segment of your audience who’ve shown interest in your ads or marketing emails.
  • Structure: The home page has a navigation menu linking to various sections of your website. A landing page has minimal navigation to reduce distractions and guide visitors to the CTA.

How to Excel at Both

Here are 3 of the best practices to excel at home pages:

Clear Navigation: Your home page should be easy to navigate, with clear menus that guide visitors to important areas of your website.

Compelling Value Proposition: Showcase your unique offerings and what makes you stand out. Your home page should quickly convey who you are, what you offer, and why visitors should choose you over competitors.

Engaging Design: An aesthetically pleasing design, combined with compelling content, can create a positive first impression and increase the time visitors spend on your website

Now that we’ve talked about the home page’s best practices let’s discuss landing pages:

Focus on One Goal: Each landing page should have a clearly defined goal. Whether downloading an eBook, signing up for a webinar, or purchasing, the entire page should be crafted around this goal.

Compelling Headlines and Copy: Use persuasive headlines and copy to convey the value of your offer. The copy should be easy to understand, highlighting the benefits of your offer and why visitors should act now.

Eliminate Distractions: Remove unnecessary navigation elements and links that could distract visitors from your primary goal. The simpler the page, the higher the chances of conversion.

Wrapping Up

Both home pages and landing pages play crucial roles in your digital marketing strategy. While they serve different purposes, understanding and optimizing these differences can significantly improve your online performance.

If you’re seeking assistance with web design, home pages, and landing pages, or need a guiding hand in sculpting a winning social media strategy, look no further! Onimod Global is your ultimate destination for a plethora of digital marketing solutions.

As proud Google Partners, come and explore our services, don’t hesitate to contact us today!

The Importance of Content Marketing in Building Brand Authority

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In every industry, competition is fierce, attention spans are shrinking, and establishing brand authority has become essential for businesses. One of the most effective strategies to achieve this is through content marketing. 

Consistent creation of valuable and relevant content builds brand authority, fosters trust, and drives business success. In this blog, we will explore the importance of content marketing in building brand authority and how it can benefit businesses in the long run. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing allows businesses to showcase their knowledge in the industry. Companies can position themselves as leaders and go-to sources of valuable information by creating informative and educational content, such as blog posts, social media posts, and newsletters. Content marketing is not explicitly promoting a brand but aims to stimulate interest in its products or services. This helps build credibility and trust among the target audience.

Brand Authority and Why It Matters

Brand authority refers to the level of trust, credibility, and experience that a brand has established in the eyes of its target audience and industry. It represents the brand’s position as a recognized leader, knowledgeable source, and reliable provider of products or services within its niche.

Brand authority matters for several reasons:

  • Trust and Credibility: Brand authority builds trust among consumers. When a brand is perceived as an authority in its field, customers feel confident in its offerings and are likelier to choose its products or services over competitors. Trust and credibility are crucial for building long-term customer relationships and fostering loyalty.
  • Competitive Advantage: Brand authority sets a business apart in a crowded marketplace. When a brand is seen as an industry leader, it gains a competitive edge. Customers are more likely to choose a brand with established authority over others needing a solid reputation.
  • Increased Customer Loyalty: Brand authority helps in cultivating customer loyalty. When customers trust a brand’s knowledge and rely on its products or services, they are likelier to become loyal advocates who make repeat purchases and recommend the brand to others. Loyal customers can become brand ambassadors and contribute to long-term business growth.
  • Pricing Power: Brands with strong authority can command premium pricing. When customers perceive a brand as the go-to source in its niche, they are often willing to pay a premium for its products or services. Brand authority reduces price sensitivity and allows businesses to maintain healthy profit margins.

The Synergy Between Content Marketing and Brand Authority

Content marketing helps build brand authority by establishing its experience, fostering trust, engaging the audience, and amplifying its reach. Simultaneously, brand authority enhances the effectiveness of content marketing by attracting a larger audience, strengthening relationships, and reinforcing brand identity. They create a powerful combination that elevates a brand’s reputation, fosters customer loyalty, and drives long-term business growth.

The Cornerstones of Content Marketing

The cornerstones of content marketing form the foundation for a successful content strategy. These fundamental elements are essential for creating and executing effective content marketing campaigns. Let’s explore the four cornerstones of content marketing.

  1. Strategy and Planning

The first cornerstone of content marketing is well-defined strategy and planning. It involves setting clear goals and objectives for the content marketing efforts. Digital marketers can contribute to creating a solid plan that helps guide content creation, distribution, and promotion, ensuring that it aligns with the brand’s overall marketing objectives and resonates with the target audience.

  1. Audience Relevance and Value

Creating relevant and valuable content for the target audience is crucial. The second cornerstone of content marketing focuses on understanding the audience’s needs, pain points, and interests. Content should address these needs by providing solutions or entertainment. By offering valuable information and fulfilling their desires, brands can establish themselves as trusted resources and build strong connections with their audience.

  1. Quality and Consistency

The third cornerstone emphasizes consistently producing high-quality content. Quality content is well-researched, visually appealing, and aligned with the brand’s voice and style. It should provide value and be informative and easily digestible. Consistency is also vital to maintain audience engagement and building trust. Regularly publishing content, whether blog posts or social media updates, helps establish a reliable and predictable presence.

  1. Distribution and Promotion

Creating great content is only half the battle. The fourth cornerstone revolves around the distribution and promotion of the content. It involves identifying the most effective channels and platforms to reach the target audience—like the brand’s website, social media, or email marketing. Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. Effective distribution strategies ensure the content comes to the right people at the right time, maximizing its visibility and engagement potential.

Additionally, promoting the content through SEO optimization, paid advertising, social media sharing, and email campaigns helps increase its reach and impact. Distribution and promotion play a vital role in amplifying the brand’s message, attracting new audiences, and driving traffic to the brand’s owned platforms.

How Onimod Global Can Help

Onimod Global can play a crucial role in helping businesses with their content marketing efforts. By leveraging the services of our digital marketing agency, you can benefit from a comprehensive and strategic approach to content marketing success. Onimod Global can save time, input our experts’ knowledge, and achieve better brand visibility, audience engagement, and overall marketing objectives.

Final Thoughts

Content marketing is pivotal in building brand authority in today’s competitive landscape. By consistently creating valuable and relevant content, businesses can position themselves as leaders, establish trust, and ultimately drive success.

Contact Onimod Global today for more information on building brand authority with content marketing.

Mastering the Digital Marketing Landscape

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Digital marketing has become an essential ingredient in modern business strategies. With the continually evolving digital space, understanding the different forms of digital marketing has become paramount. 

This blog will explore digital marketing types in-depth and guide you on when to implement each strategy. Let’s get started by unraveling the many facets of digital marketing.

SEO: The Backbone of Online Visibility

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the science of fine-tuning your website to appear on the first page of search engine results. It primarily focuses on improving your site’s ranking on search engines like Google. SEO includes keyword research, link building, content optimization, and technical SEO. 

This strategy is a must-have for long-term online visibility and credibility. It’s the backbone of organic web traffic and essential for brands looking to establish a solid online presence. At Onimod Global, we recognize the uniqueness of your business and the individuality of your SEO strategy. 

Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Immediate Results and Granular Control

If you seek immediate online visibility and granular control over your advertising budget, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising might be your best bet. Platforms like Google AdWords allow you to bid on keywords, displaying your ads to users searching for these terms. 

PPC can offer an impressive ROI as you pay only when someone clicks on your ad. Onimod Global can help you optimize your PPC advertising experience and generate the leads you have been waiting for.

Social Media Marketing: Amplifying Engagement and Brand Awareness

Social media has emerged as a powerful platform for both organic and paid promotions. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter provide a broad audience base for businesses to engage with. Social media marketing is ideal for brand awareness, customer engagement, lead generation, and conversions. It’s particularly effective for businesses seeking to establish a close relationship with their customers.

Working with an experienced social media marketing agency can be an invaluable investment if you’re having difficulty connecting with your audience on social media. Our agency works to provide various digital marketing solutions for every type of business and industry. 

Content Marketing: Nurturing Leads and Establishing Authority

Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage a defined audience, with the ultimate aim of driving profitable customer action. This can include blog posts, ebooks, infographics, webinars, podcasts, and videos. Content marketing is a long-term strategy that helps nurture leads, establish your business as an industry authority, and improve SEO efforts.

Email Marketing: Personalization and Direct Communication

Email marketing is a classic but highly effective digital marketing strategy that offers high levels of personalization. By creating targeted email campaigns, businesses can directly communicate with their customers, offering tailored content based on their preferences and behavior. It’s an excellent tool for customer retention and nurturing leads to conversions. Onimod Global understands the power of email marketing and is committed to helping our clients succeed.

Mobile Marketing: Engaging Mobile-First Consumers

With the rise of smartphone usage, mobile marketing has become a critical digital marketing strategy. Mobile marketing includes strategies like SMS marketing, app-based marketing, and responsive web design. It aims to provide personalized, timely, and location-based information to users on the go.

To Sum Up

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing. Different strategies serve different purposes, and the best marketing approach for your business will depend on your specific goals, audience, and industry. 

At Onimod Global, we specialize in devising tailored digital marketing strategies to help businesses thrive online. We dedicate our time to truly understand you and your objectives before we start working on your campaign. We value the significance of collaborating with companies that possess a clear vision of their desired outcomes from digital marketing endeavors. Contact us today to get started on your digital journey.

Best Practices for Great Landing Pages

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What makes a landing page great? The primary goal of a landing page is to nurture customers who aren’t ready to buy – yet. And show them how your company can provide them value in that area of curiosity. Great landing pages are essential to any business because they help drive sales to your product and services as well as boost customer experience.

Let’s take a look at how you can implement Onimod Global’s tips to make a great landing page.

Crafting Good Headlines

A headline is one of the first things that a user will see when they click on a landing page. With this in mind, it’s important to write headlines that sell. Here’s are a few tips on how to create a compelling headline for your website:

1. Don’t be ambiguous. Your headline should sum up the content of your video in an engaging, concise and eye-catching way.

2. Make sure it conveys the benefits of your offer. This will make users more likely to stay on the page and act on the call to action.

3. Keep in mind that an optimized page title can also help you rank better in the search engines. Having an indexed landing page on your site that is keyword optimized raises its visibility for that particular query.

4. Finally, make sure your headline for your landing page matches the headline of your email, ad, SEO copy, etc. for a seamless user experience

Having Separate Landing Pages For Different Campaigns

Message matching is an important part of a great user experience.  Message matching is defined as, matching the heading of your landing page with the headline of the ad or piece of marketing your visitor clicked. This is especially crucial if you’re a B2C company.

Most B2C’s create and distribute a large amount of content across many different categories and product types, simply sending users to your homepage or a different product page from your promotional pages won’t allow that message to match up properly.

Be Mindful of the Images You Choose

Hubspot estimates that 65% of people retain information paired with relevant images compared to 10% of people who only hear that same information. Because of this, you want to make sure that your images are inspiring, original and eye-catching, but most importantly you want to make sure they inspire your visitors to action.

A concise, educational video can also boost conversion rates if you’d prefer to go that route. But be mindful of the images you choose. Your images should always help you earn conversions, not distract your visitors. 

Implementing Engaging CTA’s

Your call-to-action (CTA) button is the most important part of your landing page because it’s the way that new leads are created in your system. Without this button, you don’t get potential new customers, and the rest of the copy and images on your page lose their importance. Great CTAs can increase your conversion rates, see some of our following tips below:

  1. Having a convincing CTA button. Avoid using terms like “submit”, “get started”, and use terms like “Get my free trial”, or “Send me the eBook”.
  2. Your CTA button should contrast the surrounding elements on your landing page in order to draw attention.

Final Thoughts

Design and digital marketing go hand in hand. Without the two it can be hard to have your campaigns stand out in order to drive engagement and new leads. At Onimod Global, we can help you craft a strategic digital marketing plan to meet your company’s needs.

Whether you need help with your web design and landing pages or your social media strategy, we are your one-stop-shop for all things digital marketing. For more information on our services, reach out to us today!

5 Ways to Improve Your Website’s CTAs

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The CTA is a key element to any effective webpage. It lets users know what to do, helping them move through their buyer journey and ultimately works to increase conversions. Continue reading to learn more about CTAs, as well as 5 strategies to make yours stronger. 

What is a CTA? 

A call to action (CTA) is a prompt on a website that tells visitors to take a specified action. They’re typically written as a command or action phrase, like ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Download’ and generally take the form of a button or hyperlink. 

5 Ways to Improve Your CTAs:

1. Pick the right color and design. 

The look of your CTA has an immense impact on its effectiveness. The main consideration should be visibility. If users don’t notice your CTA, they’re not going to click on it. This is why experts recommend using a button, rather than a text link. After landing on a design, you have to consider color, which also has a large impact on effectiveness. 

Keep in mind that different colors have varying connotations, especially when it comes to marketing. For example, red induces urgency, while blue is considered trustworthy and black is seen as luxurious. It’s also essential to consider how the color fits with your brand identity and how it contrasts with your site’s color scheme to draw attention. 

2. Choose compelling, but careful words. 

What your CTA actually says is just as important as the design. The message should be short, simple, clear and concise. Obviously, the message itself will vary depending on what you want your visitors to do, but it should still follow these rules. Being specific and concise beats out vagueness every time. You should also focus on using positive sentiments and power words to make your copy more persuasive. 

3. Use scarcity and free trials. 

An important aspect of a successful CTA that people often don’t think of is making sure to include the benefits for the user. People are much more likely to click on something when they can see a clear, positive outcome. You can also play to users’ fear of missing out, or (FOMO) by offering deals for a limited time. Whatever strategy you go with, the key is to make the offer clear. 

4. Choose the correct locations. 

The final important aspect to a successful CTA is location. Most users read websites in an F-shaped pattern, according to a study by Nielsen Norman Group. Because of this, it’s best to place your CTA higher up on your web pages. 

While you want users to have multiple opportunities and exposure to your CTAs, they should still be used sparingly. Every CTA should have a purpose. Bombarding users with pop-ups and buttons can confuse them or come across as spam-y. This all could result in a decrease of clicks or increase your bounce rate. 

5. A/B Test

Lastly, it’s essential to A/B test all of the variables we discussed above with different options. You’ll never know what truly performs best if it’s never been compared to other options. 

Final Thoughts

A strong CTA can make the difference between a purchase and a lost sale. Your CTA is where you get the chance to directly influence your visitors to make it to the end of their buyer journey. If you’re struggling to increase your online conversions, sometimes it’s best to rely on an expert, digital marketing agency. At Onimod Global, we are your in-house in-house marketing team, working for you, creating cross-channel digital marketing campaigns driven by machine learning analytics and human intelligence. 

Learn more about who we are, and get started today. 

How to Improve Your Website Copy

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High quality website copy is one of the most effective ways to improve user experience, sell your company and drive more conversions online. If you can create copy that’s engaging and makes you stand out from competitors, you’ll likely see success. 

Here are 5 simple tips to help you improve your website copy. 

1. Utilize the Voice of the Customer

Voice of the Customer is a way to describe your customer’s experiences with and expectations for your products or services in their own language. When trying to persuade your customers, it’s extremely effective to utilize VOC. This focuses on consumers’ needs and wants and prioritizes them into a hierarchical structure of importance and satisfaction. 

You can find examples of your customers’ language in a variety of ways, but reading reviews or conducting surveys are two simple tactics. These provide the consumer with ample opportunity to express problems and experiences in their own words. You can then identify common pain points, wants and needs of your consumers, which will allow you to craft your copy to perfectly solve those issues. This ultimately helps to improve your website copy by showing visitors you understand them and their problems, as well as provide a proper solution. 

2. Conduct A/B Tests 

You will never truly know what elements perform best if you don’t test different variations. While it’s probably not necessary to test every element of your website copy, you might consider testing: 

  • Different FAQs 
  • Statement vs questions in headlines 
  • Short vs long form copy 
  • Point of view (first person vs third person)

To determine which copy performs best, you have to present users with an ask as well. This could be a download, sign up, subscribe, etc. If you don’t have a true call to action, it will be harder to determine which variant actually resonates better with potential customers. 

3. Write from the User’s Perspective 

Different from the voice of the customer, user intent refers to what a given person intends to do when they reach your site. Sometimes this may lead to a clearly defined action, such as making a purchase, but sometimes it may not. While underlying problems users are looking to solve are likely very different, the reasons people visit a website are usually similar. Users are either looking to: 

  • Learn about the your industry 
  • Find out about your services 
  • Compare products, services or prices 
  • To make an actual purchase 

When writing your copy, think from the users’ perspective and ask these 4 crucial questions: 

  1. Is it obvious to see what this company’s product or service is? 
  2. Are the benefits clear? 
  3. Is this knowledge necessary? 
  4. Does every sentence of this copy provide useful information about your products, services or give insight on what you do?

Putting yourself in the shoes of the average consumer and not an industry expert can be difficult. Which is why it can be helpful to also conduct qualitative market research and ask people who are unfamiliar with your business to use your website and provide feedback. The bottom line is that your website caters to what customers want and not what you want.

4. Be Clear and Concise 

When it comes to searching for things online, no one wants to have to work to figure out what you’re offering them or to find information on your product or service. Treat your website copy as if it were the packaging of your product and explain exactly how the product/service would solve a consumer’s problem. 

5. Include Data 

Statistics, quotes from industry experts and original data can be extremely effective in strengthening additional points you’ve made in your website copy. Using third-party data is one of the most effective ways to make your brand more trustworthy and dependable. 

Final Thoughts 

Creating successful website copy isn’t easy, but there are a variety of ways you can work to improve it. By making minor adjustments to how you view and approach the process can provide your target audience with an overall better experience, which ultimately benefits you. 

More from Onimod Global 

Onimod Global releases the latest digital marketing news and essential marketing tips every Tuesday and Thursday! To catch up on the top digital marketing news and trends, click here. To find out more about who we are and what we do, click here.

Simple Ways to Reduce Your Website’s Bounce Rate

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If your website is struggling to generate traffic and leads, it could be due to a high bounce rate. While reducing bounce rate doesn’t automatically mean you’ll increase conversions, it could help. The ultimate goal is to increase engagement, user satisfaction and making it easier for them to find what they’re searching for. 

With that, here are 5 simple ways to improve your website’s bounce rate. 

What is Bounce Rate?

A bounce is a single-page session on your site. Is a high bounce rate a bad thing? According to Google, it depends on what determines the success of your website. For example, if users come to your homepage first but you want them to get to your sales page, then you don’t want a high bounce rate. A high bounce rate can also indicate that your visitors may not be engaged or satisfied with your site. Ultimately, we work to reduce bounce rate because it can also mean you’re making users happier and delivering them what they’re searching for. 

1. Increasing Page Speed

The longer a user has to wait for the site to load, the more likely they’ll leave. So, making your website faster is one of the easiest ways to reduce your bounce rate. Also, speed is a Google ranking factor, so it can help improve your SEO as well. Some simple ways to improve website’s page load speed is through: 

  • Optimizing images and video: Make sure they’re all sized appropriately and compressed. 
  • Leverage a caching, page speed plugin. 
  • Upgrading your web hosting package. 

2. Strong CTAs

No matter what your conversion goal is, the best way to improve your CTA is by including ranking keywords in the CTA itself. To accomplish this, you can go to the Google Search Console, determine what your pages are actually ranking for, take the top keywords and include them into the CTA. For example, if your conversion goal is to get visitors to download a white paper, your CTA would say “Download my white paper.” This is a lot more powerful than using a generic vocabulary. 

3. Use an Inverted Pyramid Writing Style 

If a person lands on your website from a search engine, it’s likely they’re searching for an answer for something. We want to draw them into your content and hook them in as soon as possible. With the inverted pyramid style of writing, you include the most important information in the beginning, then go into more details and give the least important information last. This also helps to create more engaging content that’s clean and has a good flow. 

4. Add Visual Appeal  

Visual content, such as photos and videos, always has higher engagement rates. This is due to videos and images being easier to consume than standard text. If you have a longer piece of content, it’s best to try to turn that into video form. It’s more likely for users to watch a long video than read a long blog, for example. It’s also easier to draw people in with visual content. And hopefully, once you’ve drawn them in, you can get them to convert. 

5. Make Site Search Simple

Lastly, it’s important to make it easy for users to search your site. If you can provide an easy search experience for users, it’s less likely they’ll bounce back to Google to search elsewhere. The longer you can keep them on your site, the more engaged they are and the more opportunity you have to persuade them to convert. 

Contact Onimod Global

Struggling to make your landing page convert or just need some digital marketing advice? Contact us! We are experts in all things digital marketing including SEM, Web Dev, Automation, Analytics, and much more. Learn more about what we do here, or keep up to date with all things digital marketing on our news page.

 

How to Optimize Your Website Structure for SEO

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Not all website structures are favored equally by search engine algorithms. A site that is a disorganized jumble mess of pages is unlikely to rank well against a structure that is rigorous and streamlined. To make your site structure SEO-friendly, it has to appeal to users while guiding them to relevant content across your website. 

Learn more about website structure, why it matters and steps to take to optimize yours for SEO. 

What is Site Structure? 

Site structure refers to the way a site’s content is grouped, interconnected and presented to its visitors. Website structure starts with a foundation, its home page, then splits off into other sections, such as the about page, contact page or blog page.

Why Does Site Structure Matter? 

Site structure is one of the most crucial components linked to SEO performance. A well-executed website structure sets you up for SEO success down the road. It also: 

  • Creates a better user experience. 
  • Helps with crawlability. 
  • Provides you with sitelinks. 

How to Optimize Your Website Structure for SEO

1. Plan your site hierarchy. 

The hierarchy of your site is the system that arranges your pages from top to bottom. A website’s structure is similar to a skyscraper. It would be difficult to revise the foundation once you’ve already constructed the middle floors. Which is why it’s best to establish the organization of your website from the beginning. Here are some tips to keep in mind when planning out your hierarchy: 

  • Make it logical. You don’t want to overcomplicate this process for both your sake, your users’ sake and for crawlability. Each main category should be unique and distinct. Subcategories should somehow be related to the main category under which it’s located. 
  • Keep the number of main categories between two and seven. There should only be a few main aspects of your website. If there’s more than seven, you may want to rethink the structure. 
  • Try to balance the number of subcategories within each category. You want to keep it approximately even. If one main category has a large number of subcategories, while others only have a few, the site can become unbalanced. 

2. Create a URL structure that follows the navigation hierarchy. 

URL structure also impacts rankings in Google. Your URLs should follow your website structure, as well as be simple and readable. So if your hierarchy looks like this: 

The URL structure for the Chinatown location should look like: www.kimsrestaurant.com/locations/chinatown 

More developed sites might contain a longer series of folders and subfolders, but the main idea is to create a concise URL with recognizable words.

3. Select the right navigational depth. 

The structure of your site determines how difficult it is to click to a different part of your site. You don’t want important pages of your site to be buried too deep. Shallow paths perform best from a usability and crawlability perspective. With that being said, you also don’t want to go with a completely flat structure. You want a site that proceeds deeper than a second tier of folders, but you want users to be able to get where they need within a few steps. 

4. Establish a header and footer. 

Headers and footers help enhance website structure by making navigation more seamless. Best practice is to display your main categories in your header, but you can also include dropdown features that show subcategories. When you do incorporate additional features, it’s important they have an easy-to-follow design. Basic text links and corresponding anchors are a reliable way to enrich your SEO strategy. Text links perform well because search engine bots can comprehend them. Although images have ALT text, text links continue to deliver better results when it comes to SEO. 

If you have a footer with menu links, be sure they’re duplicated exactly like the main menu links. Changing the order of links or adding additional category listings will complicate the user experience.

5. Include internal linking. 

Internal linking shows the relationship between pages and content on your website. Search engine crawlers move from one link to the next, on-site links give search engines a better picture of what your site has to offer. Placing links organically throughout blogs, product/service pages and other posts forms a grid for users to explore. If there’s a related page or helpful link on your blog, users can continue to traverse your site and come closer to converting or purchasing a product. Internal link structures also help crawlers understand the content you think is most important, which supports differences in ranking on search results pages for similar content. Try to link back to your most popular or important pages to instill more ranking value in them for powerful SEO optimization. 

Final Thoughts 

Site structure is something that can be easily overlooked if you’re not experienced in site building, but it’s crucial when it comes to SEO. At Onimod Global we specialize in both web site development and SEO. You can rely on us for new project development, website maintenance, and more. We build all of our sites with search engines rankings in mind. We analyze data from Traffic Sources and Visitor Flow to establish the routes people take to reach you, the devices they use to get there and what they do on your website. Utilizing this information allows us to build highly engaging, search friendly websites for your business.

Learn more about us and contact us today!

CMS vs CRM: Which Does Your Small Business Need?

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Customer relationship management (CRM) tools and content management systems (CMS) are two types of software used for sales and marketing. They’re often mistaken as similar or interchangeable tools, but in reality, their purposes are very different. They include different functionality and focus on different aspects of how your business connects with customers. CRM is all about managing customers and clients, while CMSs are for managing websites. If you’re wondering whether your small business needs a CRM or a CMS, the answer is probably both, but when you need to adopt each one may vary. 

What is a CMS and how does it work? 

A content management system is likely the first thing you’ll need when first setting up your business’s website. Your CMS will be the central hub where you create and manage all the content of your website. A CMS provides a graphical user interface to create and publish website content without having to use HTML. They usually have pre designed website templates or themes to choose from, but you can also create and customize your own designs. Many of the best CMSs for small businesses will include content creation and editing tools that allow users to publish blog posts or articles and provide cloud-based storage for managing digital assets, like photo and video files. Some systems have more capabilities than others. It just depends on what you need and the prices you’re willing to pay. WordPress is one of the most commonly used and reasonably priced systems. Ranging from $3 to $25 per month for hosting and premium themes from $29 to $49. More advanced systems typically range from $45 to $79 per month. 

Basic CMS Features: 

  • Custom domain names: Most CMSs allow you to create a custom domain name that’s in line with your company. 
  • Web hosting: You can store your site and site data directly in the CMS or integrate it with a web hosting platform. 
  • Content creation: The core function of a CMS is the ability to create digital content for a website without needing to know how to write code. Most CMS tools include a graphical user interface that includes a content editor. Often times it’s as simple as just using drag and drop for photos, videos, etc. Most tools also have content scheduling and automatic publishing capabilities. 
  • Ecommerce capabilities: Many systems allow you to set up a catalogue of products and integrate a payment portal. There are also ecommerce specific software that include order management tools, as well as integration with accounting software to make it easy to run your online store without the hassle of complicated shopping cart software.
  • Site editors: Many CMSs include different template and style sheets that can be installed, making it easy to change the layout and feel of your site whenever necessary. 
  • Content libraries: Content such as images and videos can be stored directly on the CMS and some even come with additional stock images for free use. 

The Best CMSs for Small Business: 

 

 

What is a CRM and how does it work?

A customer relationship management tool organizes and manages customer data. It allows for sales and marketing teams to keep track of leads, customers, and accounts, while making sure they’re all getting contacted at the right times. For small businesses it’s not whether or not you need a CRM, but when it should be implemented. This can vary from business to business, but the more your customer base grows, the harder it gets to keep track of them without one.

Basic CRM Features:

  • Lead and contact management: CRMs give you the ability to distinguish between leads, customers, and accounts, allowing users to link contacts with the right accounts and deals. It’s the primary place information about customers is kept and should contain all customer history, including past deals, communications, and sales activity. 
  • Sales pipeline management: This allows you to manage the sales process from every stage and assign tasks to specific team members. Most small business CRMs include multiple ways to view your sales pipeline, allowing you to customize the process, activities, and stages included as you work to close a sale. 
  • Email management: Emails can be integrated into CRMs, allowing for campaigns and follow ups to be sent directly from the system. More advanced systems have the capability to set up drip campaigns. Which automatically nurture leads through your sales process, sending a series of emails over time designed to qualify and convert them into customers.
  • Reporting and analytics: Most CRMs have the ability to generate reports on almost every aspect of the sales process, as well as configure dashboards providing analytics the process at a glance. This can be used to identify sales opportunities that need to be contacted, determine valuable accounts, or indicate which salespeople are best performing. 

For small businesses specifically, the most important features to look out for are cloud-based management, pipeline management, and contact profiles. You want your entire team to be able to access your CRM solution from any device at any time. If your business has a sales team it’s important to also be able to control the data that is accessed and shared. It’s equally important to have a process that guides people from lead to conversion without forgetting any steps. This includes sending out automatic emails based on behavior, making follow up phone calls, and offering free trials, which can all be accomplished through pipeline management. Lastly, each lead that shows interest in your business should have their own customer profile that includes full name, email, phone number, social media links, and any other important or relevant information. 

The Best CRMs for Small Business: 

 

 

Final Thoughts 

As previously mentioned, it’s no longer a question of customer management systems OR customer relationship management. A recent survey found 92% of small businesses either already use both a CRM and CMS, or are planning on implementing a CRM within the next two years. Each tool plays a role in attracting users, generating leads, and converting them to customers. Finding the right time to implement one or the other and which platforms to use all depends on your business and your ultimate goal. 

More From Onimod Global 

At Onimod Global we’re experts in all areas of digital marketing from SEM and Web Dev to Social Media and Content Marketing.  Take a look at how we’ve helped other companies, and learn more about what we can do for you!

Test Your Website Speed And Performance

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The best way to improve your performance is to determine your starting point. Your potential customer does not have the patience to sit around waiting for a slow website to show up on their smartphone or desktop; they want everything immediately. This is why it’s so important to recognize where your site is at currently so you see areas for improvement.

The best way to do that you may ask? Onimod Global’s custom-made digital audit.

 

Our team offers complimentary digital audits for your company to determine what areas of your current digital marketing strategy needs improvement. Our digital audits measure your organic, paid search and social visibility as well as identify any errors or issues with the website. The audit is to give you a solid grasp of what issues your online business may be experiencing.

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Account managers at Onimod Global work with a wide variety of clients every day, and there is not a single industry we don’t feel confident in creating a marketing strategy for. Not quite convinced? Check out the dozens of case studies on our site by clicking here!

 

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