6 Reasons Why you Should Get a Blog for Your Website
Posted on

6 Reasons Why you Should Get a Blog for Your Website

When you opt for website development services the first thing that should be on your mind is the fact that your website should be an active one, not a static platform that is lost in the Internet’s timeless limbo. The best way to make your website stay alive is to power it with inbound marketing techniques like business blogging, the benefits of which are manifold. Here is a look at 6 reasons why you must opt for a blog when getting a website developed.

  • Blogs generate traffic

Blogs are a cost-effective way of driving traffic to your website. All major search engines show a strong affinity to fresh, relevant and original content and they throw up search results based on this affinity. So your website has a greater chance of being indexed owing to its blogs. Moreover, insertion of industry- relevant keywords in blogs helps drive relevant traffic to your website.

  • Engage with customers

Engagement with customers online is a very crucial part of online marketing and branding. Blogs are one of the most interactive and engaging mediums of information dissemination and connecting with old and new customers. People on the Internet are hungry for relevant information written conversationally and your blogs can be a free gift of information to them. Moreover, if customers respond in the comments section, you can reply to their concerns and queries.

  • Build your brand

Every product or service has to have brand value in the market for it to sell. Building your brand and having a brand story is as important as selling your product or service because customers tend to prefer brands they can trust. Blogs help you spell out your core business values, what you essentially stand for, the nature of your products and services and how you value your customers and clientele. They serve as the book ends to your business.

  • Demonstrate expertise

Blogs are an excellent medium to flaunt your domain knowledge and expertise in your field of operation. You can write blogs on the production process or touch on topics related to your product’s market and trends – anything that catches the reader’s eye. And the more original and relevant the content, the more will your customers, clients and even competitors trust you.

  • Market Digitally

Blogs, if they are interesting, information-rich and unique, can find wide traction on the Internet and even beyond with people sharing the blog through phones and social media. This in turn helps market your brand widely and inexpensively. It can also lead to conversion to leads if people choose to click on your call-to-action buttons in the blogs they have particularly taken a liking to.

  • Pen down your thoughts

Blogs are a great way to express yourself and communicate to the world what you really believe in and stand for. It is a great medium to help you assert your individuality and stand apart from the crowd that is the Internet.

Now that you have a fair idea about the importance of blogs to your website, you should try to generate blog ideas and content regularly for visitors and search engines to know you are alive and kicking. Sprout Road, a premier website builder in Kolkata, recommends you enlist the services of a professional content writer for your blog section so you can put out quality content regularly.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE READING:-

Four Reasons Why We Need To Do SEO in Times of COVID-19
Posted on

Four Reasons Why We Need To Do SEO in Times of COVID-19

You are probably reading this from your computer system at home, with most private and government institutions declaring work-from-home arrangements to be made in the wake of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. As of Thursday, March 19, the COVID-19 has affected over 220,000 people and caused the death of over 8,800 persons across the globe.

As a result of the pandemic, countries have suspended flights into their respective geographies and asked citizens to self-isolate in case they fall ill. Trade has been affected and businesses hit. In such times, it is best not to panic and instead think up ways to brace against the emergency upon all of us.

Keep Calm and Optimize

While it is true that businesses across the spectrum have taken a hit because of coronavirus, it is not wise to withdraw your contract and put a complete stop to marketing operations in what is best termed as a knee-jerk reaction to the crisis. The move will put your business in trouble and force it into an unnecessarily long term struggle to recover.

“Organic search is a zero-sum game” – your gains or losses are balanced by the gain or losses of other companies listed on SERPs (Search-engine Results Pages).  People might not be actively seeking to pay for as many products or services as they used to earlier, but they are certainly searching them online and it is best you be visible and up and running in the market to give a sense of normalcy than be off it.

Budgeting for Marketing & SEO

Around 7% to 8% of your gross revenue is the bare minimum you should spend on marketing and SEO activities, even in times of an epidemic like coronavirus. People are making purchases, despite the lockdown and you do not want to stay behind in terms of paid advertisements, especially on the internet.

If you cannot, however, afford it (because of employees staying back home or a slashing down of business operations), then cut on paid advertisement. But do not compromise on SEO and inbound marketing, both of which are long term plans.   You have taken months to build quality marketing strategies and a loyal customer base. Do not desert them in times of an emergency.

Four reasons why you must continue doing SEO in times of an epidemic

  • Those businesses that are cash rich are the ones that will survive this downturn. To stay ahead of the game, the best practice is to have a competent SEO strategy in place. And if you choose to go a step forward, you should generate Opt-in Emails for prospective clients. This depends on a robust SEO strategy which ensures customers, who are spending more and more time on their phones and computers because of the lockdown in their respective countries, take note of your products or services on the internet.

  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) helps you reach customers with immediate buying intent, something that you would want to achieve in these times of a slowdown which has in all probability forced a budget crunch at your end. Moreover, SEM shows you whether or not your strategy is successful and effective. All you have to do is look up the sales or leads in your analytics. Since buyer behaviors is sure to undergo change in the next few weeks, it will become important for you to concentrate your services and advertisement strategy on the changes in buying patterns.

  • A scarcity of products has been reported from markets across cities with allegations of consumers hoarding essentials like toilet paper and sanitizer and even food items triggered by the scare caused by the pandemic. In such situations, more and more people are searching the internet for online purchases of essential items or important services. In case they cannot find those, they are searching for alternatives. But searches are going up for sure. So it is best you be visible on the internet in full force.

  • Even if people are self-isolating, it is only temporary and they will need products and services in the near future. Though things are looking bad currently, the situation is bound to improve in the future and we must be prepared for that and wait for things to get to normal. SEO is the most effective way to market your business in downtimes.

Hope this helped calm you and hope this finds you well. Best, Sprout Road.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE READING:-

Sacred Games Meme Carnival: See How Netizens Die Laughing!
Posted on

Sacred Games Meme Carnival: See How Netizens Die Laughing!

“Balidaan dena hoga sab kuch” because the Sacred Games 2 is here and trending as never before.

About Sacred Games

Sacred Games released with an all-star cast of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte and Pankaj Tripathi among others and became an instant hit. Since its premiere on 6th July, 2018, people all around went crazy!

It is quite significantly, the first ever Netflix original series in India. The directors, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Neeraj Ghaywan had truly devoted all of their time and resources to make this series a roaring success.

Besides the thrilling plot and stunning performances, not only from the lead actors but from the entire cast and crew, the witty dialogues and one-liners crafted cunningly and delivered delightfully, has reigned all over the internet.

Sacred Games 2

“Kabhi Kabhi Lagta Hai ki Apun Hi Bhagwan Hai” iterated the Directors and the Producers of the film and released the sequence of Sacred Games on Netflix on 15th August 2019.

Though the speculation, trending terms, clouding rumors and rambling ruminations kept the social media engaged all the time, the release of Sacred Games – Season 2, on 15th August 2019, multiplied the frenzy!

“Aap dharam me nahi mante na sardar ji, to aage kya hoga aapko main batayega!”

With netizens all over the globe, involving in myriad memes and biggies diving in the race of warping the dialogues into ingenious marketing campaigns, Sacred Games 2 has satisfyingly seized the spotlight!

Here we bring you the top 5 promotional memes and advertisements that are ruling the Social Media:

Dushman ka bhi pata hai, aur jung bhi jaari hai – Nicotex

 

 

 

Sacred Rains – Durex

 

 

 

Balidaan dena hoga – Pulse

 

 

 

Safety ka Sartaj, kal bhi aaj bhi, 15th August ke baad bhi – Godrej

 

 

 

Sacred Biscuit – Parle-G

 

 

You may also like reading:

Social Media Strategy: How to Devise an Extraordinary Business Strategy on Social
Posted on

Social Media Strategy: How to Devise an Extraordinary Business Strategy on Social

Currently, 2.46 billion people are regularly active on social media. By 2019, the number is expected to swell to 2.77 billion.

As rightly put by Howard Shultz, “Social media is a bullet train, and it’s not going to slow down any time soon”, more than 80% of businesses are seeking refuge under social media for unabashed digital marketing success, and we can’t agree more.

Each day, something new is being launched. Innovation is at its peak. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, SnapChat, Foursquare, Instagram, Pinterest – are some of the scene stealers for now, because we don’t know what’s coming the next! A constant buzz about new platforms is resulting into a lot of commotion among marketers. New trends coupled with increasing audience strength are adding more bedlam to the mix.

To break the back of the beast, your business must be empowered with a powerful social media strategy. And for that, we are here. Let us help you get started:

Dream Big or Go Home

Know your purpose well. Before starting strategizing social media campaigns, give a thought to your purpose. What is the main goal of your company? Set the priority of the day, regarding your business. Once you know these, you can start off with aligning social media with these goals, and walk towards achieving brand success and overall improvement for your company.

Remember, the goals of businesses vary. To start with, a startup firm may have a goal to build a brand’s identity. A second goal may hover around establishing a strong customer base. And thirdly, the business might be aiming to launch a handful number of products at the end of the year.

Now, comes the big question– how can social media help you in branding your business?

With billions and billions of users on social media, partnering with a famous social media influencer can help you establish your business online and reaching out to the masses. It will help you in expanding your customer loyalty base. Social media also suffices to be a fabulous platform to launch new products. Create campaigns and target niche audience.

Hit the Right Tip: Be Precise

After establishing a purpose on social media and calibrating your business goals, it’s about time to give attention to develop specific marketing strategies.

The most important marketing goal would be to enhance brand awareness. This falls in line with your company’s objective of nurturing a brand identity and harnessing a good customer base. The second goal would be to boost brand engagement – it will help in luring new customers and retaining old customers, while keeping absolute focus on building brand identity. Lastly, your company may be in dire need of some research and know more about its user base. As a result, you will get the perfect opportunity to know your customers well and understand which customers to tick, what products will serve their needs and in what ways to reach them for better impact.

Social Media: Not Just Impress People but Impact Them

Now, that your marketing goals are perfectly integrated with your business goals, let’s see how social media is doing its job of creating brand awareness.

Nowadays, each social media platform comes with its own search engine, making it easier to find answers, discussions and conversation threads for specific products and services. Sit with your marketing team to scour through numerous platforms, especially the ones that have the highest number of potential viewers. Build an engaging profile that is in congruence with your brand’s services and character. 

Then strike conversations with your users on the site. Register in consumer forums and discussions. Mind it, social media is now the new-wave word of mouth. Use good content to back up leads and start building brand engagement.

Ask the Right Question and Analyze

After all this, it’s time to start with the process of analyzing your site performance. Several analytic software tools, like Buffer, Google Analytics, Hootsuite and Crowdbooster help you determine whether your social media strategy is up to the mark or not, and how well is it working. Through these tools, you can track conversion rates, traffic generation and total number of customer leads. Also, they will provide crucial insights about how to utilize paid versus organic social media, along with devising great product launch campaigns for your business. But above all, analytics will make you understand the importance of well-conceived social media strategy, as your business evolves with time. Moreover, it will nudge you if your social media schemes are working, and illuminates about ways to adapt.

As parting thoughts, hopping on the bandwagon of social media is not as intimidating as it may seem in the beginning. The crux lies in making a place of your own on the solid ground, before you take the big leap. What’s more, social media is going to evolve, as always, your strategies should also never stop growing. Keep these in mind and pop onboard!

READ ALSO OUR NEW UPDATES

How to Feature Your Site Content with Google’s Feature Snippets?
Posted on

How to Feature Your Site Content with Google’s Feature Snippets?

Google is exhibiting answers for several search queries right in its search results.

Are you curious to know how to feature your website content there? Yes? Then you are at the right place. We are just going to explain the process of doing that.

In a rush to land on the front page of Google, people resort to the most pertinent and useful tool – featured snippets. The fragments of text at the beginning of several informational searches in Google, featured snippets grabs a lot of attention to your site, hence can be used as an ultimate weapon for digital marketers.

A pool of marketers thinks that only million-dollar budgeted SEO brands possess the ability to implement featured snippets, while the reality is somewhat different.

19% of searches using a question result in a featured snippet on the first SERP, says @stonetemple. #SEO

In fact, you can easily rank featured snippets with the organic content itself, but you must know the procedure.

What do you mean by featured snippets?

Featured snippets are content loaded with information that pops up in Google’s SERPs just after the sponsored and ads posts.

Here, you get to catch a snippet from Marketing Mo.

5 tips to make your content fit for featured snippets

Here are a few easy steps to develop content suitable to rank in the snippets:

Create in-depth content to basically answer questions

Originally, featured snippets are content full of information.

As per Neil Patel, “If your content doesn’t answer questions, it won’t get into the featured snippet. That’s all there is to it,” which is indeed true.

If your #content doesn’t answer questions, it won’t get into the featured snippet. @neilpatel #SEO

Decipher the tentative questions your readers may ask beforehand 

19% of searches using a question result in a featured snippet on the first SERP, says @stonetemple. #SEO

Make sure, you know well the questions your targeted audience can search, and accordingly customize your content to answer the questions.

They may also encompass “why” and “what” questions – for e.g. “what is the life expectancy of humans?”

The best way to tackle this situation is by extending the keyword to the long tail, instead of just concentrating on the exact keyword. Suppose, your target keyword is ‘marketing’, tailor it to the long tail ‘how to do marketing research’ – the latter is more likely to earn a place in the featured snippets box.

Or just type your search question on the Google search box to get an idea from search results. Select a particular topic from all those great topics so that the content can be structured on that topic to get ranked in the snippets.

Content is the king

No matter, how clichéd it sounds, it’s true. The primary focus needs to be given to creating high-quality content. You have to keep in mind that featured snippets cannot supersede Google’s complex ranking system. Therefore, it’s crucial to be in line with all the standard ranking requirements, while creating flawless content.  

.@AnswerThePublic site is a great way to find questions your audience might be asking, says @JuliaEMcCoy.

Your content has to be:

  • High quality
  • Comprehensive
  • Entertaining (to engage the reader)
  • User-focused

Be the BEST at responding

Hitting the featured spot is no mean feat. You need to work to curate the best answers for a given question.

Be the best at responding to a given question to land a @Google featured snippet, says @JuliaEMcCoy.

The readers will always want answers filled with detailed facts, relevant phrases and of course keywords. The best way to do the job is by giving emphasis on these three points:

  • Cover all questions related to the content’s topic
  • Use visual content, like videos, screenshots or infographics
  • Target beginners in your niche

The best part of this is that the readers who find your content through featured snippet are more likely to return to your site again, as they now recognize you as a distinguished platform in your industry.

Create value for users through Question and Answer pages

Q&A pages on your website enhance your probability to make it to a featured snippet. By designing a good Q&A page, you will help your readers find everything at a single place. Don’t make your answers too short or long; maintain a uniform length to provide valuable information without sounding boring.

Now that Google’s focus is on improving user experience, featured snippets will garner a lot of recognition. Useful, convenient, accessible and relevant on almost all virtual platforms, featured snippets are now the key to content concerns across the globe.

READ ALSO OUR NEW UPDATES