Tag: marketing

The colour red is a very powerful and vibrant colour that seems to demand our attention, only one other colour, yellow, holds this much dominance in gaining our attention and we know that the reason it does is that in nature the colour red signifies danger. Some animals display flashes of red to warn hungry predators that they are poisonous and this is where the basis of this colour’s psychological meaning stems from. In this post, I will look in-depth at the meaning of red, how different shades have different meanings to us, how it relates to our spiritual self,  nature and more. Continue “The colour red and its meaning”

Blog post to perfection, learn how to create the perfect blog post with this step-by-step guide.

With the help of this step-by-step guide, you will soon become a master blogger of supreme SEO goodness. The first two stages I have created are for those who just want to get started in blogging and the stages after that are for those who want to take their blog posts that step further and make them super-powered to boost traffic to your website. Continue “How to create the perfect blog post, a step by step guide”

If I see another little 3d white man with a huge spherical head on a website or as a Twitter profile image I think my head will explode with creative madness ! This little man is soooo over used by small businesses that it shows a lack of understanding of just how important branding and graphic design plays in your potential customers decision making.

Why stock images are bad for business

This may sound like I am being extremely harsh on the little white man and please don’t suggest I am bullying him but your business is a unique entity, unlike this little fellow. By using common stock imagery you are : –

1. saying that you are just the same as the next business.
2. you don’t care about your company’s image and marketing message.
3. and worst of all you are also saying that your service is cheap and untrustworthy!

Consistent brand message

Most medium sized to large corporations will have what is called a branding style guide and it must be adhered to at all times. Some of the elements in the guide can include what fonts should be used, their spacing & curning, the exact RGB, CMYK colours of the brand and the typical images and marketing message that should be considered as part of the overall look and feel of any marketing collateral whether digital or offline.

I realise by using stock images that look the same you think you are being consistent but if that image is seen again and again throughout the web on different websites that aren’t your own business then you are damaging the possibility of selling your product or image to the target market.

When I see people using unaltered stock images online it really disheartens me and puts me off using that business service or product, it makes me feel I can’t trust them and I will disregard them from my retail choices.

Alter the stock images

Don’t get me wrong stock images are great in helping graphic and digital designer gather elements you need to create unique graphics but if you use them as the sole way to “picturize” your website you will simply be putting your potential customers off doing business with you as although may you think the images you have chosen look good the majority of people will see an unprofessional website that shows lack of care, does that really reflect your business goal? I doubt it, your business has personality so show it off to the world!

Other stock images to avoid

The little white man doing various activities is my no.1 thing that makes my creative blood boil to see people using on their digital platforms, I mean, why!?!

But it also gets worse, pictures of random actors trying their hardest pretending to be business people standing in line are common place, avoid them or use sparingly and never use them for your main brand image that is simply a big no no!

Hire a designer

It is probably better to have no images at all if you are going to use unaltered stock images that are damaging your online reputation with potential customers. If you need unique images communicate your message verbally through correct use of heading styles, and contextual information and then hire a graphic/digital designer when your business budget can afford it.

It may seem like an extra expense your business doesn’t need and maybe the cost will seem heavy at first but if the graphics communicate your business message in a unique and imaginative way compared to your market rivals then when people are looking for your service/product they will remember you and see that you are indeed a very highly professional business worthy of doing business with as well as increasing the worth of your business.

I am JAWILSONDESIGN a branding, web and graphics specialist that can help you improve your company’s image in a unique and imaginative way if you should need any help updating, improving or creating a new brand image please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I have made many websites for people over the years & the amount of cold calls and poaching emails that they receive trying to take unnecessary money from them claiming to be able to magically improve their seo and reach to their audience is baffling. They prey on the company wanting to get their exposure out to as many clients as possible and the sound of this unbelievable solution is very enticing. I recently received an email from my current manager with 3 points that was raised by the marketing company. I will discuss for and against each point in this blog post

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They said…

1.Your website Migsolv.com is not ranking top in Google organic search for many competitive keyword phrases

My argument : –

SEO is an ongoing process of creating new content ( thus why CMS are so valauble to businesses) and making sure you create more pages that relate to longtail  keyword phrases will increase your reach. It all depends what your company sales target is and what you think your potential clients are looking for. ( Don’t understand longtail keyword? See here ). Any seo company can claim that we are not ranking highly for keywords because every single website on the internet won’t be targeting every area of the long tail keyword for their industry. What interested me most was they informed us “...I found your site using Google search…” so obviously our seo is working, bit of a shot in the foot my friend :-).

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They said…

2. Your company is not doing well in most of the Social Media Websites.

My argument : –

To attract potential new clients through social media you have to select the right social media tools ( as we know ) . Although social media is free if you want to use effectively as a marketing tool you have to spend money with it.

Look at this infographic below it will help you in choosing the correct social media for your target market : –

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I have already spoken about using twitter. Twitter encompasses every industry and every person you can think of so is a useful tool for anyone. Follow people in your industry and with similair interests will create greater awareness of your site. NEVER pay anyone to give you more followers, it is pointless and a waste of money as they are unlikely to purchase your products.

LinkedIn again a great tool for business owners to connect ( I will discuss this social media platform in a future post ) and more likely to create sales for my particulary industry I am working for at the moment.

Pininterest is quite irrelevant for the IT business man as you share things you are interested in and most users are not people who will deal in my industry.

Using Social Media effectively is about selecting the right social media for your needs.

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They said…

3. Your site is not user friendly on mobile devices.

My argument

Most internet users are starting to use their mobile to visits websites more and more and this is a relevant point BUT as most of our audience is over 40 they are more likely to do things the traditional way through a desktop and Google Analytics prooves that.From 4,000 visits this month alone,  3,611 people accessed the website from a non mobile device and 319 from a mobile. This issue they have raised is minor. Even over the last year the stats also proved to be a similar story..

Out of 7,952 visits –  7.341 people use desktop to access the site & 611 people access the site from their mobile. Relevance of mobile sites for our clients? Right now, its minor but it is something I am definitely going to work on as user experience is highly important to me but it won’t make a huge difference in terms of conversion rates of visitors right now.

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It is nice to get feedback from a fellow professional now and again as it does help me to improve on what I am doing and increase my skill set but due to my experience I can recognize when a company is just trying to squeeze a bit of cash out businesses that don’t really know what they are doing when it comes to web design, so when you get one of these emails or phone calls my friend just remember…think wisely and ask for a second opinion from a qualified professional before agreeing to anything.