Make 2021 a year to remember

If 2020 goes down in history as a year that will never be forgotten but known as the year to forget, then lets all work to make 2021 the year to remember for all the right reasons. 

We might have started the year in the midst of another lockdown, with very high new cases of Covid-19 and a horrendous number of daily deaths from the virus but we still have started the year with optimism and hope for the future.

We remain confident that one of the many vaccines that are now being supplied throughout the country will suppress this horrid virus and will enable us all to get our lives back on track.

Now is the time to make sure that you and your business is ready for when the shackles are eventually released and you can get back to what you do best…running and growing your business.

What you should be on top of now to ensure that your on-line business is best placed to hit the ground running and make 2021 the year to remember.

Website Design

Your website is your online shop window. It will be in many instances the first impression of you, your people and your brand. It is essential that it portray the right message in the right way to the right people. Essentially this is the time to ensure that your website is:

1. Mobile responsive
2. Has full CMS control
3. UX designed - Is well designed to consider your customers and their journey through your website
4. Is optimised for conversions (CRO)
5. Is optimised to support lead generation
6. Is fast, secure and safe (hosted with the right supplier and using the right equipment)

Organic SEO

When we refer to organic SEO we are referring to the processes involved in natural (unpaid) search engine optimisation.

Some of the core elements that you can manage now include:

1. Keywords optimisation – This is the process of ensuring that your website is optimised for the keywords that are relevant to what you do but also those that are being used by your customers.
2. Titles (Headings, H1s) – We consider this part of housekeeping when it comes to good SEO. You should ensure that throughout your website you are using a suitable and relevant heading on each page to tell Google and your customers what is important and what the page is all about.
3. Meta elements - This for us is another of the basic housekeeping items that all good webmasters should be on top of. We are referring to getting your meta title and meta description applied and relevant on all your pages throughout the website.

Content Marketing

Good quality, unique, well-written and relevant content is essential to you online business. Done well it will serve you, your customers and Google. Content marketing needs thought and planning. You can use down time to revisit your on-line presence, look at your content, consider how relevant it is and how it stands up against your competition. Finally examine how it represents you and your brand. Does it say what you want about you and what you want your customers to think about you?

Social Media Marketing

There is little science behind social media marketing (SMM). Your brand is likely to have a social media presence in some or all of the following:

1. Twitter
2. Instagram
3. Facebook
4. LinkedIn

When it comes to SMM one of the basics is to consider your tone and voice. This is likely to be similar throughout the channels listed above although the approach will be very different for say Instagram and LinkedIn.   To maintain a social presence you need to be relevant and active but at all times remember to maintain your brand personality (tone and voice).

With all that we have had to deal with over the past twelve months, you could be excused for putting aside the importance of maintaining the day to day. However, history shows as all that today’s disaster will become tomorrow’s history. Or if you like the 70s analogy of todays news will be tomorrows fish and chip paper! With this in mind we must all use these times to ensure that we are all ready for an exciting and prosperous future.

Stay safe, keep well and hold onto that positivity.