SEO made easy

What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to all the things you need to do to make it easier for search engines, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, to find, read and understand your website.

There are millions upon millions of websites online and search engine “crawlers” search these pages multiple times a day every day and then feed the information back to the search engines (read our “Website Best Practice” for more information on crawlers). Therefore, the easier you make it for crawlers to find your website, by using clever SEO, the higher you will be ranked in search results and the more visits you will get.

To make this happen you need to establish what keywords you want to be ranking on. A keyword is the word your customers or clients would type in the search box in i.e. Google to find your business. These keywords are extremely important as they tell your search engine what information your clients can find on your website. The crawlers then go and search every single page online to find pages that mention your clients’ search word.

However, if your keyword is very popular you might need to become a bit more SEO savvy to get your business out there. Some techniques involve changes to your website (adding more of your keywords in the content), whereas others might involve going off your site to build backlinks.

Some small things you can do:

• Use anchors to link related blog posts and pages together 
• Use keywords to identify blog or website categories of information 
• Use alt tags to identify your images using your keywords 
• Use anchors to link to other relevant blogs and web pages in your industry, this will enable your site to piggieback off their rankings. 

Use keywords in titles of posts and pages as they show up in a URL which then makes it easier for crawlers to find on your site.

Some examples of backlinks:

• Commenting on others blog posts (and link back to your website or blog) 
• Write articles for other blogs or industry magazines 
• Always link back to your website on any online content 

At Piggieback we make sure that the websites we build have a search engine optimisation module so that our clients can control their SEO themselves! If your business needs assistance with SEO, contact us: enquire@piggieback.com.au.

Have a good week!

Piggieback

How to get email marketing results!

Our last blog post in the Email Marketing mini-series outlines the importance of Execution and Reporting.  The purpose of an email is not to get as many click-throughs as possible, but to trigger an action, such as: item purchase, increase of web traffic or referral of your product or service to a friend. Email Marketing is one of the most trackable and accountable forms of direct marketing. The best reporting metrics are the ones that can justify the use of email marketing and the role it plays for your companies brand awareness, purchase facilitation and identify the value of your marketing dollar! Two ways of generating results include paying particular attention to your execution and reporting.

Execution:

• Smart execution of an email campaign is vital to the success of your message.
• Ensure you have tested how your campaign renders in different browsers and email accounts (Safari and Yahoo mail vs. Internet Explorer and Gmail).
• Seed (include) yourself in the final send-out to see the final result.
• Use a check-list to tick off what needs to be done to ensure seamless execution. This is great quality assurance!
• If your list has a good sample size, then segment it and test different time-of-day and day-of-week strategies on less relevant campaigns to know when your email campaigns are likely to be the most successful.
• Use data insights from your current campaigns to establish what is relevant to test. Do you have enough data to test different strategies all at once? Do you need to test over multiple campaigns to see results?
• Try different ways of testing your email campaigns. For example, test different subject lines, different call-to-actions, different design layouts to see which ones are most successful.

Reporting:

• Remember: when looking at your report don’t just focus on the click-through rate. Your email usually drives people to some of your other channels, like your social media pages. 
• It is impossible to measure the entire impact your email campaign has had, however there are a few things your email campaign can trigger: higher brand awareness, “forward to a friend” email, non –related email purchases, direct contact, membership, increased web traffic, and visit to a retail location. 
• Most activity happens in the first 7 days, although usually a report trails back 30 days. 
• Pay attention to active subscribers (clicking through), passive (never click-through) and inactive (don’t open and don’t click-through). 
• Always remember quality before quantity when looking at the open rate. It is better to have a shorter subscribers list with a high open rate, than a long list of passive or inactive subscribers. 

Tracking your email campaigns can give you great insight into your customers and your prospect database. Once you have identified what metrics and testing methods are best for your brand, your campaigns will shine!

Have a nice week!

Piggieback 

Email Marketing: Functionality and Design

This week’s blog post is all about the significance of good functionality and design in your email campaigns and newsletters.

Functionality:

• Always have an unsubscribe function. 
• What is the purpose of the email? Use HTML for commercial newsletters as it can be customized to look like a catalogue. You can also use text-based email, however it doesn't allow images. 
• Use clear navigation. 
• Mimic the functionality of your website, i.e. if the navigation is at the top of the page on your website keep it at the top of the page in your email. 
• Allow for click-throughs to your website. 
• Allow view in browser functionality. 
• Allow text-based view if HTML doesn't render in their browser. 
• Make it mobile device friendly. 
• Allow links to social media. 
• Allow “Share this” functionality. 
• Allow “Forward to a Friend” functionality. 
• Don’t make the email too long. If you include long articles, use a “read more” functionality which links back to the article hosted on your website. This way you can also track how many people read your articles. 
• Have a clear call to action. 
• Include contact information. 
• Don’t use JavaScript as many Email Service Providers (ESP’s) recognizes Java as SPAM. 

Design

• Make sure your email design is “on-brand”, meaning the voice, look and feel of your brand matches your emails. 
• Carry the website theme throughout your email, but make sure it renders well on email which uses a smaller width. Try seasonal theming – different designs for different events or holidays. 
• Have a good balance between text and image. 
• Many of us use preview options in our personal and professional email accounts. Make sure your top 300 pixels have enough information for your subscribers to want to download the rest of your email. 
• The email shouldn't be more than 600 pixels wide. 
• Don’t clutter your email with non-essential text. 
• Use an email friendly font that is universally supported such as Arial, Helvetica and Times New Roman. 
• Remember: HTML coding is different from website coding in that you have to use inline styles, not cascading style sheets (CSS). You will therefore have to cross-test your email in as many browsers and email providers as possible to be sure it looks the same. 

Next week’s blog post will be our last in this mini-series on Email Marketing. We will cover the topics of Execution and Reporting – two very important elements in your email marketing!

Until then, have a great week!

Piggieback

Data, data, data...

When using email marketing it is very important to have a clear and accurate database. This will enable you to segment your data more easily, as well as keep a correct measurement of open rates and click-throughs on your links.

1. Use double opt-in when signing up subscribers. A double opt-in is when a subscriber initially signs-up on your website, but then needs to give a second opt-in action such as clicking on a link in a subscription confirmation email. Double opt-in enables you to verify that the subscriber’s email is valid and it is easier to prove the subscriber has specifically opted-in in case of spam complaints, and it prevents fake opt-ins (such as a from a friend or a computer virus). It is also email marketing best practice according to Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), CAN-SPAM and ISP guidelines.

2. Never download or buy a list of emails. Sending email campaigns to a purchased list is a fast way to get black listed by a domain and affects your email deliverability in the future. Always approach email marketing with a “quality before quantity” mindset. It is better to have a shorter list with subscribers that are genuinely interested in your business, than a purchased list of subscribers who haven’t opted in to your communication. The open rate and click-through rate of your campaign will be much higher if you concentrate on a quality list. The likelihood of your email being reported as spam is also significantly slimmer, especially if you ask your subscribers to double opt-in.

3. Read, and follow, the Australian SPAM laws. Any commercial email requires the prior consent of the recipient.

4. Use segmentation. Only capture the information you require, i.e. don’t ask for a subscriber’s date of birth if you don’t plan on using the information to send them a birthday card. A clear and concise database also enables you to use information provided by subscribers to send out your campaigns at different times, to help you estimate when your campaign’s most successful times and days are.

5. Have a personalised database. Make sure your database at least captures the recipient’s name. You can then personalise your email and address your subscribers with their first name. Personalised email marketing is proven to get a higher open rate and more link click-throughs.

If you capture your data correctly your email marketing campaigns will shine!

And remember, quality before quantity!

Piggieback

Email Marketing – Do's and Don’ts

At Piggieback we know how challenging it can be to set up email marketing from scratch. So, we have therefore decided that this month’s blog posts will be dedicated to all the Do's and Don’ts of email marketing. We start off with a summary of what to look out for when using email marketing. In the next couple of weeks we will be focusing on each point, starting with DATA next week!

1. DATA

a. Make sure you have accurate data.
b. Make sure you understand the spam laws under SPAM Act 2003.
c. Don’t send the subscribers information they have not requested.
d. Personalise your database list.

2. FUNCTIONALITY

a. What is the purpose of the email?
b. Try and mimic the functionality of your website for consistency.
c. Have a clear call to action.

3. DESIGN

a. Be “on-brand” – match your brand voice, look and feel with your email design.
b. In the top 300 pixels, make sure you have enough information so that the subscriber downloads images    and scrolls through the rest of your email.
c. Have a good text-to-image ratio balance.

4. EXECUTION

a. Make sure you think about what time of day you send out your emails – this affects results.
b. Seed (include) yourself on the final email so that you know exactly what it looks like.

5. REPORTING

a. Make sure you always track opens and clicks of your email campaign.
b. Pay attention to active subscribers versus passive and inactive.
c. Make sure your open rate is high; quality is important, not quantity!

Piggieback offers monthly management out-sourcing packages for social media and email marketing. If your business needs assistance to manage your social media or e-newsletters then please get in contact to see what we offer!

Stay tuned for our next blog post which will be all about DATA and SEGMENTATION in relation to email marketing!

Have a great week!

Piggieback.