Blog

Depending on how observant you are, you make have noticed websites use HTTP or HTTPS preceding their to the web address. The S stands for secure and denotes that data captured is encrypted, shielding it from being intercepted by third parties.

Using the https protocol has always been a pre-requisite for any website catching sensitive details such as credit card numbers. Until recently the secure sites were mostly online shopping carts and bank websites, basically any website where you were required to enter credit or debit card details.

Google has been undergoing changes this year, marking websites requiring passwords and logins that haven’t been loaded over https as insecure. From October, any websites that have info request form fields requiring users to enter their details to also be added to https—otherwise they too will be marked as not secure.

What this essentially means for those who have their own websites, is that unless your website has been added to the https protocol, it will be displayed as non-secure.

Why this could be detrimental to your website
In a world where cybercrime, hacking and scamming are steadily on the rise, assuring users their details are safe is paramount. Unsecure sites may result in visitors bouncing from your site or shopping cart for fear of having their identity and details captured by a third party.

An unsecure site will also affect your SEO rankings. Now is the time to move to https. October 2017 is merely weeks away. Don’t wait until your site is adversely affected. With the installation of an SSL/TLS certificate, a green padlock will display—giving users peace of mind when they visit your website. To learn more about how to make your website secure and ensure your website stays ranking in search engines, contact XDesigns Advertising, We’re here to help every step of the way.

One of the biggest challenges for both new and established business, even corporate conglomerates who have a lion’s share of the market, is social media advertising. Ideas you thought were golden may not have generated as much interested as you anticipated.

If your Facebook campaigns aren’t eliciting the results you hoped, it’s time to re-evaluate and try these tried and tested methods.

We’ve worked with a huge range of clients, helping them demystify the world of social media advertising with great results. Going forward to 2017, we thought we’d share a couple of ways you can try out. It’s exciting once you start to see the campaign taking effect.

If your business sells a service – you might be a tiler, a masseur, a nutritionist or a real estate agent, the advertising method that’s proved the most successful is some sort of voucher offer. Ever wonder why Groupon or coupon-based websites are so popular? It’s because people can’t resist a bargain or a free offer.

Let’s say you’re a personal trainer – why not offer the first consultation and training session free? Don’t think of it as missing out on 30 minutes you could be paid for, but as an investment on free word of mouth advertising. What happens if that one client decides they were so happy with the consultation and training program, they sign up with you for a year? Even if they don’t utilise your service, they’re bound to tell their friends about you who may be more serious about their fitness.Perhaps you could training sessions and bring a friend for free? The options are endless.

Just keep it simple with no strings attached. Ask yourself what would make you click on the link.Branding ads with a daily presence of Facebook is a basic way of getting your name out in the community. It only requires a small spend each day. You might boost an educational video or an interesting blog. So when you do have a big promotion you need to hit a home run, you can build up an audience of people who already know what your business is about. Use this straightforward strategy and you have a receptive audience.Lead magnets designed to glean customer details are invaluable. Offer tangible rewards for opting in. As a nutritionist, in exchange for providing email details or subscribing to regular updates you could reward your prospect with a 7-day meal plan for clean eating. A real estate agent might offer advice on how to sell your home at auction or the opportunity to opt in to an informative webinar.

Try putting these three advertising methods into practice. If you need assistance, we’re only a phone call or email away. Our clients are located throughout Australia, Sydney, Castle Hill, Norwest, Parramatta, Ryde and Seven Hills.

It’s still surprises us how many people have the misconception that developing a your business brand only requires a new logo and matching office stationary. Renowned big names like Reebok, Sony and McDonalds have a whole team of creatives strategizing and designers working full-time on evolving their brand. It takes time and investment. Not every company has access to those types of resources and when whether you’re starting out or rebranding, it can be all too easy to overlook some of the common aspects of branding.

1.Thinking it’s just about having a new logo
A new logo added into a new flash website and office stationary does not constitute a
brand. Branding encompasses every aspect of your business, the way people think and feel about your people when they see your logo, hear your name, use your products.

2. Not having a call to action
A call to action is an instruction that prompts a response from a potential customer or client, whether it’s picking up the phone, signing up for an email newsletter or purchasing a product. Without a call to action, how are your customers to know what you expect from them?

3. Not asking for the sale.
Knowing how and when to ask for a sale and how to ask for the sale is imperative. It’s
easy for a customer to say no if you ask for the sale too early or go about it the wrong
way, but it’s a bigger sin, not to ask for the sale at all.

4. There’s no consistency
How do potential customers learn to identify your brand? It’s through consistency. The public is often dubious about trusting brands they don’t recognise. A unified look from your website, to your print ads, to your brochures and social media networks is vital for brand recognition.

5. Not having a branding strategy session
A branding strategy session is practical discussion session with the objective of
producing a consistent and persuasive brand. Branding Agencies help you eliminate
the common branding mistakes, identify any pitfalls and provides tools you can take
away and help ensure your company is portrayed in the way you intended it to be.

To avoid making these common branding mistakes, book a branding strategy with
XDesigns Advertising today. Our clients are located throughout Australia, Sydney, Castle Hill, Norwest, Parramatta, Ryde and Seven Hills.

I’ve got a website. It works…sort of, so why bother getting it revamped?

In this day and age, you don’t just need a website – you need an awesome website that will help you reach your sales targets. Did you realise the longer your website is in a state of disrepair, the more money you are losing from potential customers who bounced from your page in search of one of your competitors because a) they couldn’t find what they wanted b) they couldn’t easily find your contact details or c) your website didn’t even rank in their search engine results because your page is not mobile responsive or optimised for the web.

There’s more to an awesome website than just being redesigned. Here are the top elements you need to take into consideration.

Website Copy

A new look website provides the opportunity to re-evaluate and refresh the text on each webpage. Ask yourself does the headlines and body copy add anything of value to the page. Does it represent your new branding? Is it easy to read? Have you answered all the questions a potential client may want to know?

Evaluate your Analytics

Your analytics from your old website can reveal a lot. What pages and content were the most popular? Where were visitors to your website spending the most time? How long did they spend visiting each page? This can help give guidance on what to add or delete from your new website.

Discuss with your designer what you want to achieve with the new website. Where do you intend people to land when they click your website link and which page will they link to next?

Optimise your website for search engines

Keep in mind you will need to redirect all of your former website pages to the new website, if you wish to keep your current search engine optimisation (SEO) rankings. If you’ve never had SEO on your former website, then making sure your new one is optimised, is not negotiable.

How does the future look?

Once the graphic designer and website team have published your website, what happens next? Will the design elements be able to be modified as your business evolves? Do you have the capabilities to change content yourself or will you be reliant on contacting a specialist, every time you need to update it. Have an idea of how you might see your website changing in the future, so your designer is aware of your future goals.

Define your website’s main goals

You need a more defined goal than just wanting a pretty website, that’s fast and mobile response. Think about what you want your website to achieve. Do you want to capture leads, unplanned sales or repeat customers? Do you need lead magnets to get users to subcribe to regular updates.

Getting your website redesigned can be a daunting task, but XDesigns Advertising can talk you through each of the above steps and help you create a website to take your business to the next level.

Wonder why your website is under performing after you’ve got to so much trouble to ensure you have excellent content marketing? It’s likely because your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is not up to scratch.

You might have an amazing website with great content, but what’s the point if no one can find you on the internet.

Don’t believe the rumours that SEO is now obsolete now Google has updated their algorithms.

So let’s take a look at the five ways SEO could be ruining the potential of your website.

Not using SEO at all

The biggest mistake you can make is to believe that with Google’s upgrades to new algorithms replaces SEO. Having your website optimised still counts and unless you incorporate SEO.

Trying to skimp on costs of SEO

Don’t use a friend that’s volunteered to optimise your site for free, or opt for just any company that promises you the cheapest deal. In life, you get what you pay for, so this is one area you don’t want to cut corners on. There’s no point having killer content if no one can find you on line.

Expecting SEO to generate results overnight

It takes time, you can’t expect to update your SEO practices and see the results in Google Analytics the very next day.

Believing SEO is magical

SEO is important, it’s not like waving a magic wand and suddenly there’s so much traffic trying to get to your website, it breaks the internet. All components of your website combine with SEO. If your site is not mobile responsive, doesn’t look professional or have great content, then SEO is not going to miraculously save your business.

Having a non-responsive website

Unless your website has been optimised for mobile devices, Google’s new algorithms means your site won’t show up in search results for smartphone and iPad.

If your website is underperforming or you’re not sure whether your SEO is up to scratch, contact the team with the know-how – Xdesigns Advertising. They will answer all your questions openly and honestly. Call them now on 1300 881 204 and ask for a website overview. Get the SEO Checklist for your Website Today.

Marketing trends come and go, but there’s one marketing tactic that has proven itself time and time again to be a winner. It’s suitable for your entire client base, it’s been tried and tested for over a decade and still delivers the biggest impact for your buck when it comes to digital marketing.

Studies conducted by Marketing Sherpa revealed over 90 per cent of adults enjoy receiving promotional emails from businesses they’ve subscribed too. Three quarters of those surveyed like receiving special promos monthly, while over half said they would be happy to receive them even more frequently.

So why does email marketing remain so effective?

Email is a great way to back up social media advertising

Paying for Facebook advertising has proved to be more efficient when the ads are reinforced by sending an accompanying email campaign.

Email is perfect for split testing

Email marketing software allows you to try several different concepts for the same campaign and analyse the results so you can perfect your approach.

Email marketing helps you build relationships with your clients

Regular correspondence with your client base will help them feel a connection with your company.

Email marketing is the fastest way of contacting your clients

The second you press the send button, delivery to your client’s inbox is instant, no need to wait for Australia Post to deliver it and since 91 per cent of people check their emails daily you should start to see results within 48 hours.

Emails are mobile

With the invention of smartphones, most users have access to their email wherever they are. It doesn’t matter if you clients are overseas or out of town, they will still receive your email.

If you would like to learn more about refining your email campaigns, want professionally designed templates or need to know what email marketing programs will meet your needs, contact the team at XDesigns Advertising today.

If you don’t have a clear, succinct message when you advertise, you’d be better off using your money to start a fire. How are you going to convince anyone to purchase your product or service, if you’re not even sure what you’re trying to communicate?

There is a proven way to make people pay attention and get your message across clearly. It’s the same formula best-selling novelist and blockbuster movie screenwriters have been using for decades.

Think about the last book you stayed up reading until the ungodly hours of the morning because you had to know what happened, or the last TV series you binge watched on Netflix. What was it about the plot that kept you turning pages or glued to the screen?

All movies and books start with a main character – someone you relate to (or you’ll stop watching or won’t keep reading). This character has a problem that needs solving – a murder case to solve, to find love, to save the world. In the case of branding the main character is your target customer who has a problem that needs a resolution.

In every book or a movie there is a guide, someone to help the main character solve their problem. In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker looks to Yoda to teach him how to use the force. In the hit TV show Prison Break, Michael Schofield looks to Dr. Sarah Tancredi to help him escape Fox Worth Prison. Applying this to branding, your company is the guide and will provide a solution to the customer’s problem. But will the solution be successful or fail? This is what keeps people page turning or watching the next episode of a show.

TV commercials use cliff hangers a lot. Take for instance Napisan. The main character is a busy mother with active children, who get messy, making getting rid of stains on clothing tough. Vanish stains is the guide, it provides Napisan as solution for getting rid of stains. Then there’s a cliff hanger as you wait to see whether the product really worked.

The message is clear and succinct – if you are a busy mum with kids who are rough on clothing, using Napisan will ease the frustration and save time doing laundry.

Customers are looking for two things – Firstly they want to know that you understand their dilemmas. Secondly, they are looking for authority, someone that can say ‘Hey, I have exactly what you’re looking for and this is how it will fix your problems’.

This type of marketing needs to culminate with urging the customer to take action. Many people are quite happy to be bystanders and even though they might think your products sounds good, they won’t do anything unless you include a specific call to action. Customers need to be motivated to pick up the phone or head to their local supermarket to seek out your product. Money-back guarantees or two for one offers for a strictly limited time are great ways to inspire motivation.

Why not change up your marketing strategy today? If you need help in finding your clear, succinct message, talk to the team at XDesigns Advertising. Our clients are located throughout Australia, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth.

Marketing research has revealed that 98 per cent of first-time visitors to your website won’t engage your services or buy your products. You may be shocked by these statistics, but there is a marketing strategy you can try called retargeting.

Without getting too technical, think of a Hollywood blockbuster – usually an action or thriller – where the main character has had a tracking device inserted into their body without them even knowing. The tracking device in the case of retargeting is a code, often referred to as a pixel. So when a person visits your website, they automatically end up having their website movements traced and are exposed to advertisements for your business when triggered through selected searches and keywords, without them even knowing.

A good example of this is Facebook. You might have posted about eating too many donuts and needing to go on a diet, or visited a website on weight loss products and next minute, it’s like Facebook is a mind reader, and you’re seeing Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig ads pop up in your feed. This is called retargeting.

Visitors who are retargeted have already seen your name and are likely to be familiar with your products or services. It’s almost like brand exposure through subliminal messages. The idea is, the more times they see your brand, the more likely they are to remember it and associate it with your products, even if they have been trawling through your competitors websites.

While retargeting may get visitors returning to your website, it won’t necessarily convert those visitors to commit to a sale. You will need to use this strategy in conjunction with compelling content, an easy to navigate, mobile responsive website and some of the other innovative marketing strategies we’ve discussed in earlier blog posts.

To learn how retargeting could work for your company or to start the ball rolling, talk to the team at XDesigns Advertising. Our clients are located throughout Australia, Sydney, Castle Hill, Norwest, Parramatta, Ryde and Seven Hills.

A lead magnet is a freebie or special deal on your website, which captures your website visitors’ email addresses. It turns browsers into subscribers with a better success rate than most other email gleaning alternatives.

Think of a lead magnet as a fishing lure. It has to be an attractive offer to reel in the big fish.

In other words, what you’re offering has to entice visitors to your page and make the effort of actually entering their email address worthwhile.

It can be a tough ask in a digital world where sometimes just clicking like or share seems to be like a big effort and spamming and scamming can be a concern.

Simply using a newsletter or offer subscription box isn’t going to bait customers into divulging their details. Location, design, relevance, simplicity and compelling copy are all important components to creating a persuasive lead magnet.

A lead magnet needs to be concise about what the customer will receive in turn for giving you their email details. Use bribery, something a customer would normally expect to pay for, but will get free by simply providing their email address. For example: A weight loss companies might offer a week’s long menu plan or an eBook on the 10 Foods You Should Never Eat.

Ensure you follow-up and each lead receives their free offer or deal in a timely manner, otherwise you’re likely to end up with customers who feel like they’ve been duped into joining your email list. Generally, website visitors who are duped into parting with their contact details will end up feeling discontent with your company,

and unsubscribed next time they see an email from you. Captured email addresses can be added to your contact database (sometimes referred to as a sales funnel). However most visitors to your website won’t buy anything on their first visit and an eye-catching lead magnet will only get you so far.

You need to put in place a great follow-up strategy to foster your leads and transform them into sales. For more information on setting up lead magnets for your website or blog, contact the team at XDesigns Advertising. Our clients are located throughout Australia, Sydney, Castle Hill, Norwest, Parramatta, Ryde and Seven Hills.