Marketing

The Role of Backlinks: Building an Effective SEO Strategy

seo

Backlinks are one of the most important measures of success for any SEO strategy. These powerful links from other websites not only help to generate more traffic and leads to your website, but also contribute to search engine rankings. Let’s talk about why backlinks are essential for SEO, how they work and how you can build a successful link profile.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink is an incoming link from another website to your own. By establishing these links, search engines are able to analyse the relevance and authority of a page. When a website has a high number of quality backlinks, it shows that the content is valuable and can be trusted as reliable, leading to higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

How Do Backlinks Improve SEO?

Backlinks play a key role in SEO, as they help search engines determine the quality and relevance of a website’s content. The more inbound links a webpage has, the higher its authority will be. Moreover, these links act as signals to tell search engine algorithms that other websites value this content and deem it worthy of being recommended to users. The result is improved visibility for the page on SERPs, allowing them to attract more visitors organically from search engines.

Types of Backlinks

There are many types of backlinks that you can use to boost your SEO efforts. “DoFollow” and “NoFollow” links, for example, can help improve a website’s search engine rankings in different ways. DoFollow links pass on “link juice” from one web page to another and in turn, can be used as a direct ranking signal for SERPs. On the other hand, there are those links that you can insert and not have it pointing back to you.  A large number of NoFollow links demonstrate to search engines that your content is of great value and relevant to the discussion at hand — even if it doesn’t really adhere to their link building policies.

Strategies for Building Quality Backlinks

When it comes to backlinks, not all are created equal. Quality is more important than quantity, so focus on creating valuable content and relationships with other webmasters that can result in backlink opportunities. To ensure you’re building quality backlinks, ensure you’re building them from the right sources. Use social media platforms and forums for gaining visibility, as these are great starting points when looking for users who are likely to link to your content. Make sure your content is keyword-rich and contains valuable information in order for people to be interested in linking to it — this will help boost your rankings naturally.

The Benefits of Developing a Quality Backlink Strategy

A well-thought-out backlink strategy can bring a range of benefits to your website, including increased visibility and improved search engine rankings. Quality backlinks will help establish you as an authority in your industry which in turn will lead to more organic traffic and conversions for your business. Additionally, by spreading the link authority around multiple sources, you’ll benefit from a stronger presence across the web and additional referral sources for continual growth.

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Marketing

How to Get Seen & Heard: Google Ads & Paid Advertising

google ads

If you’re new to the world of digital marketing, Google Ads may sound like a whole lot of gibberish to you. And while it is a little on the complex side as a marketing tool, it is incredibly powerful in boosting your brand presence, brand awareness, and in turn, your business sales. If you’re curious about how it all works and either want to explore its marketing benefits yourself, or want to understand it so you can trust a marketing agency like us to do it for you — you’ve come to the right place. Read on! 

What is Google Ads?

Considering how enormously popular Google.com is, you almost certainly will have come past Google Ads in your lifetime. And if you haven’t, we’ll have to assume you’ve been living on some sort of desert island. Google ads is a paid advertising platform where you, the business owner, pay per click on your ad (PPC) or pay per impression your ad has. It’s one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your business and increase your brand visibility, which is why it’s so highly rated by its users. It encourages people to go to your website, contact you, and in many cases, can increase your in-store visits.

Search Ads: What are they?

Let’s break these terms down. Google search ads are used to target people that are already looking for a solution to their problem. They use keywords and a bidding strategy, a bit like an auction, where they compete to show above and below organic (not-paid-for links) content on Google search. The aim is to get your ad in amongst the first three results that come up when someone searches similar keywords to what you’ve included in your ad on Google. Search ads have three main components — a headline, display URL, and description text. Ad extensions can also be included to provide users with additional information. How often search ads appear, how they rank and the cost per click all depend on the bid amount and the quality score of the ad. 

Display Ads: How they’re different from search ads

As for display ads, they’re used to target people that have attributes, values and characteristics similar to your existing customers or your target audience. These are different to search ads in the sense that search ads are only visible to people who are already searching for your product or service, while display ads are paid placements that can appear in various places. In fact, millions of different sites. Think of times when you have seen an ad pop up on your Facebook or Instagram feed, or even when you’re reading an article on your daily news — those are display ads. 

The two main things to consider when it comes to deciding whether or not to run search ads or display ads is the difference in cost per click and their conversion to sales rate — these can vary quite significantly. If you’re looking to boost your brand visibility, get people to engage with your marketing and then turn that into a return on investment, we can help!

 

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

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Marketing

Social Media Advertising: Go Where Your Audience Is

social media advertising

It’s the golden rule — social media advertising really is all about being where your audience hangs out. From Facebook to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and everywhere in between, there are so many platforms nowadays to promote your brand on, it just depends on who your demographics are. For example, if you’re trying to reach the younger generation, you’re more likely to have success if you’re using Instagram to market your products or services. This is based on the fact that it’s been proven to be more popular with that particular age range, and the same goes for other platforms and the types of people who use them most. So why is it a good place to advertise you might ask? For starters, social media has over 4 billion users. Finding a way to share your message with those kinds of numbers is going to be pretty tricky to do elsewhere, let’s talk more about the power of social media advertising. 

Brand Awareness

If you haven’t delved into the world of social media advertising yet, you could be missing out on a whole lot of opportunities to reach more people, increase the amount of conversions you’re making and build your relationships with your customers so they want to keep investing in your brand. One of the best parts of social media advertising is that it works to increase brand awareness — a necessity for any business. Put aside the idea of getting sales and new page likes and think about simply getting your brand out there. Even if people might scroll past your ad and not fully engage with it, they’ve seen your logo, your brand colours, and the imagery you’ve used to grab attention. The more they see this, the more they are going to associate these factors with your brand and be more likely to look into it the next time they go to scroll past.

Build Audience Trust

Believe it or not, social media advertising is more than just about making instant sales. When you get your brand into the places where people most commonly spend their time, it opens up doors for building stronger relationships with your target audience, which in turn, can lead to more sales. When your customers trust your business, they feel a deeper sense of connection to it and their loyalty can grow with time. To ensure you’re marketing is reaching people on social media, you can also try your hand at remarketing, where you target your ads towards people who have shown some form of interest but haven’t gone through the whole process to end with a sale being made. It also helps to build that connection with your customers so they feel they haven’t gone unnoticed or been forgotten about.

Increase leads and conversion rates

Unlike a lot of marketing platforms, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to advertise through social media. Because of this, it’s even easier to increase the number of leads you receive and up the conversion rates. You can use lead generation ads on sites like Facebook to do things like encourage people to sign up for your event, gather customer information and feedback for future marketing, and even add to your email newsletter recipients list ahead of a big announcement. As for conversions, most social media platforms allow you to create detailed audience-targeting metrics so you can get a better handle on exactly who you want to be reaching and how to do it better. 

Retargeting people through your marketing also gives potential customers a bit of a push in the right direction — all of which is possible thanks to the advances in social media technology. We do have to remind you, the best way to catapult your business into the social media spotlight is to create content your audience wants to see. When you make content engaging and then shareable, you’re more likely to drive more traffic to your website and get that sale across the line.

While social media advertising is relatively straightforward for business owners to navigate, it can be a bit of a struggle for some people to get their heads around. The other thing is that it can be time consuming when you’ve got so much else on your plate. If you’re wanting to learn how to utilise these tools or need someone to do it for you, you know where to find us.

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

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blogs and articles
Marketing

How to Hook Your Audience: Blogs & Articles

blogs and articles

The art of writing is a bit of a niggly one. If we could describe it simply, you’re either really good at it or it’s just not your thing. That’s not to say you don’t know what you want to communicate, it just means it’s a little harder for people who are more hands-on or technical to put their ideas down on paper. In marketing, copywriting is one of the best tools to have when it comes to gaining interest in your product or service from your target audience, keeping them there, and then convincing them that investing in what you have to offer is worthwhile. Whether you’re a start up business or a seasoned entrepreneur, if you don’t have the right messaging in your marketing, your voice is going to fall on deaf ears. 

Copywriting

This is tricky, because so much of business marketing relies on good copy. From the information you write on your website landing page to your social media posts, blogs, email newsletters, brochures and so on, writing is one of those things you’ve just gotta get right. Fortunately, marketing agencies like us exist for that exact reason. We get that running a business is a huge amount of work (trust us, we’ve been there), and finding the time to either teach yourself how to write for marketing or even just conjure something up when it’s needed, is often at the bottom of your list of priorities.

The good news is, we’re here to help. There is no doubt in our minds that you are good at what you do. Whether you’re a clothing designer, an accountant or an all-round handyman, if you’re a business owner, you’re going to know your stuff. We want you to focus on that, so we can focus on how to help you grow your business and get that return on your investment from your marketing efforts.

Writing for Marketing

If you need an ad campaign written, a personal profile for a magazine feature, or a story about your journey as a business, we can do all the writing for you. Our process might involve re-doing something you’ve written and making it more enticing and SEO friendly, or it could be that we start from scratch by talking to you about what it is you’re wanting to say and communicating that for you. Whatever you want written in order to increase your brand awareness and convert that to sales, leave it with us.

Articles & Blogs

There’s no doubt about it, articles and blogs are not only a great way to give your customers a more in-depth look inside your brand, but they’re also a game changer for SEO. When you have the right keywords scattered throughout your website, you’re going to gain way more traction on your products and services because it drives traffic right there. Tell us what you want to write about, and we’ll do the rest for you.

Social Media

Posting consistently on your social media platforms is one of the best methods to get your target audience to turn their attention to you, engage with what you have to say, and give you a bit of control over the algorithm. Knowing how to write social media copy and how to carry out those marketing techniques is a bit of a fine art, and it’s something we’re more than happy to help you with.

Websites

Having a website and something for customers to Google search is a super important one. If your website doesn’t have the right keywords on it, the copy isn’t informative and it doesn’t show your uniqueness as a brand, it’s not going to be effective. We help to boost your website’s SEO and appeal through writing team bios, eye-catching landing page copy and can work with you to tell your story in the most impactful way.

Advertising

Whether it’s an ad campaign, an event poster or a brochure, your advertising needs to make a statement. A huge part of that is the messaging that’s on those marketing materials. We work with you to come up with the best way to communicate your story through words, so you can promote your business on every piece of collateral you have.

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Marketing

Creating Killer Promotional Material for Your Marketing

promotional material

If you’ve got a website for your business, you’ve set up your social media accounts and you’re running Google Ads, first of all — give yourself a big old pat on the back. These marketing must-haves are hugely beneficial when it comes to connecting with your audience, building trust, and then convincing them that what you have to offer is exactly what they’re missing in their lives. While we don’t want to take away from that and how pleased we are that you’re onto it in that department, we do have to talk about promotional material. Let’s just say it’s a big one.

Whether you’re a start up business or an established entrepreneur looking to have a bit of a rebrand, having the right promotional material is the best way to keep your business in the back of people’s minds and at the front of them when they need a service or product you can provide. The bottom line is, your brand isn’t complete until you have the tools to sell it. 

Business Cards

They’re one of the most used types of promotional material on the planet and there’s good reason for it! Having your logo on a business card works to legitimise you as a business owner, it creates brand awareness, and of course, it’s a great place to put your contact details for whenever you’re at a networking event or meeting a client for the first time. While it may very well end up at the bottom of someone’s handbag or briefcase, we guarantee by the time they find it again it will act as a little reminder of the meeting or encourage them to give you a call and reconnect. 

Notepads, Invoices and Envelopes

There’s nothing more professional than having all of the above stamped with your logo. Whether you’re sending information out to people, thanking them for doing business with you or handing out a notepad for a client’s fridge, having your brand displayed loud and clear on the front is a great way to make your mark and become a business that is memorable. 

Business Flags

If you’re a business that loves getting out and about in the community, attending industry-related events or need something a little extra special in your building’s foyer, a flag with a promotional purpose is a fantastic way to build brand recognition and get noticed. Especially if you’re in a position where you need to stand out from the crowd (and your competitors!). 

Brochures, Posters and Flyers

Again, if you’re a bit of a sucker for an industry event or show, having information presented in an eye-catching and enticing way that people can take home with them really is a must. You might have had a good chat with someone and they want to take something away from that to read in their own time, or you’re wanting to build momentum for an upcoming event or deal — brochures, posters and flyers are the way to go. They also come in handy when kept at your reception desk for customers who want to know more about your services.

Car and Shopfront Signage

Nothing stands out quite like some bold signwriting. We’ve all seen that same fleet of vans driving around town that have a logo on them you just can’t get out of your mind — and that’s exactly why we do it. The same goes for a shopfront, how are people supposed to know where you are if you don’t have your branding on the building to lead the way?

You get the point. Promotional material is crucial to establishing your brand and getting seen among the sea of businesses in your industry. The good news is, we can design and organise all of the above for you. We also work with a whole bunch of amazing local businesses to bring your ideas to life. Just ask!

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

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logo design
Marketing

The Big Why: Designing Your Dream Logo

logo design

Whether you’re an entirely new business that needs to make a strong statement with your image or an existing business wanting a little brand freshen-up, rest assured, you’ve come to the right place.

Brand Awareness

At Elm, we’re all about helping your business grow. Our slogan says it, so we sort of have to be. As a growing business ourselves, we’ve been on the rollercoaster that is gaining brand awareness and have learnt a thing or two we want to share with you. After all, you can’t be good at everything! Our team has a whole host of groovy talents, but when it comes to design, we reckon we’re not too shabby at it.  

One of the first steps to establishing yourself as a business or re-claiming your place in the market is to have a logo that sticks in people’s minds as much as a painfully tacky radio jingle. While some people may think that making a logo is just about being good at drawing, it’s got a bit more depth to it than that. Well, actually, a lot more. 

Tell A Story

When people look at your logo, they’re not just seeing the lines, the colours and the curvature of the letter or icons — they want to know what it means. That’s why we knock all of our heads together and pull on our individual strengths to come up with a logo that not only sticks out like a sore thumb in the best way possible, but also tells a story about you. 

We take the time to learn about your brand, the people behind it, its history and where it sees itself being projected in the future. It’s sort of like an interview, but with less sweat and nerves. We’ll walk and talk you through the whole process, step by step, to get to the guts of what it is you envisage for your logo, and work with you until you’re absolutely infatuated with it. 

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product packaging
Marketing

The Power of Product Packaging: Positioning Yourself in the Market

logo design

When you think of product packaging, it’s likely you’re going to turn your mind to its purpose. Of course, packaging is necessary to hold whatever you’re manufacturing or selling. Maybe it needs to be airtight to prevent moisture from getting inside or the product from getting out, or it could be that it needs to be durable and won’t damage during delivery — whatever it is, the functionality of your packaging is a biggie. However, what you’re packaging looks like is arguably just as important when it comes to making it desirable enough for people to want to buy it. 

Logo Design

Before you even think about what your product packaging is going to look like, you need to have settled on your logo design. If it’s not consistent or doesn’t come with a set of brand guidelines, you’re going to struggle to get any recognition in the market. Consider that step one. Once you’ve got that set in stone, the next step is to incorporate that into your product packaging. Having design material that represents your brand and reflects your business’s values means you’ll have far more chance of establishing your brand identity and encouraging customer loyalty.

Digital Marketing

Another thing to keep in mind with product packaging is the type of environment you’re putting it into. Nowadays, you’d struggle to find a retailer that doesn’t have its products online, showcased on one form of e-commerce website or another. Just in case you haven’t noticed, pretty much everything has become digital. While this might be not so great for those who don’t consider themselves to be very tech-savvy, it is great for business owners. The benefits of being able to sell your products online include more marketing opportunities, little need for contact between the buyer and seller, and of course, a wider reach in terms of your target audience. But! If you don’t have the right product packaging, you’re not going to get the traction your pining for. Think of it like a present to your customers.

Packaging Type

How you display the product imagery, copy and even the fine print are crucial, but it’s also about the finer details of your packaging. For example, with an increasing focus on sustainably sourced and created products, the types of packaging you choose to use matter. While a lot of consumers actively seek out sustainable products, it doesn’t mean yours has to be (but we do encourage it!), it just means that you have to consider these kinds of elements of your packaging — as well as its functionality. 


Need help with your product packaging? We’ve got you covered! Contact us here.

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website
Marketing

Building The Perfect Website for Your Business

It’s not enough to just rely on word of mouth anymore. While this method of marketing was once the best and in some cases, the only way to do it, the business world has evolved so drastically over time — so much so that a lot more is required to market effectively. In fact, even in the last 10 years, it has become even less common for people to look for a business’s phone number if they want to find out more about what it is that they offer. This is where the power of the website comes in. 

Brand Awareness

One of the largest benefits of building a website for your business is that it creates an online presence for your brand. Plus, it’s available around the clock. Whether someone is wanting to book a holiday in the early hours of the morning or to buy your products from a different time zone, having a website means having the ability to reach a global audience, whenever and from wherever. It also takes the pressure off your customers. When they can search for what they’re looking for in their own time, from the comfort of their own home, and they don’t have to talk to someone if they don’t want to, they’re going to be more inclined to engage with your business than if you were to, say, door knock them and tell them about it.

Becoming User-friendly

The next big bonus is that it acts as a way to exchange information seamlessly between the seller and buyer. By using informative and entertaining copy, as well as images and videos, you can explain to your customer what it is you’re presenting them with and hook them in that way. It’s also a place to list your opening hours, contact details, social media links, the latest business news and events, and provide a section for any enquiries people may have. When you can’t interact with your customers face to face, it’s as easy as a few clicks to do it in the online sphere!

Building Trust

Having a website also goes a long way toward legitimising your business. With so much false information out in the world and the feeling that scams are following us wherever we go, customers want to know that they can trust your brand. When you have a website with your logo plastered all over it and they can see who or what kind of people are behind it, they’re more likely to invest in you. Even better, if your website is easy to use, it’s going to appeal a whole more to your audience.

Advertising and Reporting

Last but not least, websites enable the use of tools like Google Ads to further market your business, and everything can be monitored. Whether it’s at the end of the month or the end of the year, you can look back on how your website has performed in terms of how many people have visited it, added to their cart and made purchases. This will act as a guide for what approaches you need to get rid of and those you need to improve on for future success.

Website Building

There’s a whole heap of web developers out there, and if you’re game enough to try and build one yourself, platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Shopify are great places to start.

 

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

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brand design
Marketing

Make an Impact: Designing Your Business Brand

brand design

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and when it comes to marketing design, it’s really no different. How you communicate your brand through visuals is everything, which is why it’s so important to have someone with the right design skills to walk alongside you when building your brand image. We start with the basics and work all the way up to an all-encompassing brand package that tells your business’s story and sets you apart from the rest. Want to know how? We’re about to give you a bit of an idea.

Brand Development

In a nutshell, brand development is the process of distinguishing everything from your products or services to your imagery and tone of voice. It’s about figuring out the ways in which you want to come across to your audience, and whether or not this aligns with your business ethos and what you want to achieve. A lot of this also has to do with how you position yourself in the market and how you stack up against your competitors. We work with you to help you through this development stage so that you can walk away with a solid understanding of who you are and what your mission is as a brand. 

Website Development

Marketing your business well has a lot to do with how accessible you make your brand to people. One of the best ways to do this is by having a website people can be directed to when they search for your business or keywords relating to what is that you are offering. There is a huge emphasis placed on online presence in digital marketing, and having a website is definitely one of the first things we recommend you do, which of course, we can help with!

Packaging Design

Thought of, designed and created an incredible product but don’t know how to make it marketable? That’s what we’re here for. Having clean, modern and sophisticated product packaging can take a really impressive product from the safety of your home and onto shelves worldwide. Unless you’re design-inclined and have the skills and tools to do it yourself, working with a marketing agency to make your vision for the brand a reality is the best place to start. We can’t stress enough how key it is to get your product or service design right — we can make it happen.

Logo Design

Much like packaging design, your logo absolutely has to hit the nail on the head when it comes to telling your story and selling your brand. When people look at your logo, they’re not just seeing the lines, the colours and the curvature of the letter or icons — they want to know what it means. That’s why we knock all of our heads together and pull on our individual strengths to come up with a logo that not sticks out like a sore thumb in the best way possible. 

Promotional Material

From brochures to business cards, branded envelopes, invoice templates, flyers and everything in between, you’re almost always going to need some form of promotional material to market your business. Having your logo stamped on paperwork might seem a little insignificant, but trust us, it doesn’t go unnoticed. The more people see your brand, the more they identify it and the more they begin to build trust with it. We do all types of design for promotional material and will have you armed with everything you need to market your business.

Are you ready for us to lend you a hand? Contact us here.

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grow your business
Marketing

Elm’s Seed Pack: Grow Your Business from the Ground Up!

At Elm, we’ve been where you are — let’s face it, everyone has to start somewhere. Growing your business can be overwhelming when you don’t know how, which is why we’re taking our years of experience in the marketing industry and helping others do just that. 

The Business Idea

Whether you’ve got an established business that needs a boost or a pretty crash-hot idea for a product or service, the Seed Pack is a first-steps marketing plan that’ll have you hitting the ground running. In this bustling digital age, it’s a lot harder to get seen. Gone are the days of being the only one in town doing what you do best — having a point of difference and then turning that into success is far more difficult than having a shop front people can see from the road. The Seed Pack has everything you need to get set up and start seeing that return on your investment. 

Marketing Setup

The Elm team will work with you to develop your vision and create a logo that highlights exactly who you are as a business and what you’re all about. In addition to this, we’ll build a single-page website that reflects your brand and acts as a launching pad that’ll grow as you do. The pack also includes setting up your Google My Business, as well as Facebook and Instagram accounts to increase your visibility, educate customers on the problem you can solve for them, and encourage them to want to find out more. And to really get you cooking with gas, we’ve included our ebook to help you “Grow Your Business From the Ground Up”. 


You’ll learn how to build a brand, communicate your message and gain an audience that wants a slice of what you have to offer.

Are you ready to plant those seeds? Reach out, we’ll get you growing. Contact us here.

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