Andrea

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SEO Essentials

Whenever we talk about SEO Essentials it feels that there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. Probably related to the volume of emails we have all received offering amazing SEO services that can – in one click – get you to the #1 spot on Google etc etc etc.

The digital landscape is constantly evolving and changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes… not. Whether or not we like the changes, if we want to grow our businesses online then we need to work with them.

There are many elements to online marketing – web, socials, email, ads, etc. The secret sauce that pulls it all together for significant business success lies in the art of SEO. Search Engine Optimisation isn’t just a buzzword, although it is often used in that way, and it isn’t a push button, click and you’re done solution either.

SEO is, in fact, a powerhouse that can propel your business to new heights. At Coppertops, we’re passionate about helping businesses thrive online, and we believe mastering SEO is a game-changer. Knowledge of search engine optimisation assists in growth on all digital marketing channels. We have also seen for ourselves that it is one of the most misunderstood elements of digital marketing, which is a pity as it works a whole lot better with some understanding of how search works!

So let’s dive into the essentials that will unlock growth for your business using SEO as the key.

1. Keyword Magic: The Foundation of SEO

When it comes to SEO, we use Keywords as the building blocks.

When people search for keywords and phrases related to your business, your use of those key terms is what allows search engines (like Google) to decide to show your content to those. Matching the keywords you use with the keywords that your ideal client is searching for is key (pardon the pun!) to getting found online.

What phrases would (or do) they type into a search engine? Craft your content around these keywords, ensuring it’s relevant, informative, and naturally integrates these terms. Don’t stuff the words in where they don’t fit, Google is too clever and will penalise you for doing that.

Use keyword planning tools like Ubersuggest, ask people who buy from you, or those outside your industry to remove that insider bias, and take note of the words and phrases that you want to build into your content. These can also serve as a menu of ideas for blog posts, emails, and posts for social media.

This not only boosts your visibility but also positions you as an authority in your industry.

2. Quality Content Reigns Supreme

Content is king, and a well-crafted kingdom can attract and retain a loyal audience.

Regularly update your website with fresh, valuable, and relevant content. Whether it’s blog posts, articles, or product descriptions, content is a crucial element that search engines consider when ranking your site.

That said, don’t create content for search engines! Create with your audience in mind to satisfy both your people and the algorithms. The algorithms are thinking more like people with every update, as well, so these are more in line every day.

3. User Experience Matters

Google loves websites that offer a seamless user experience.

Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and loads quickly. A positive user experience not only pleases search engines but also keeps your visitors engaged.

The longer they stay, the better your search engine performance (as Google knows how long they have stayed and uses this as a factor in ranking sites), and the higher your chances of converting them into customers (the more time they spend with you the better chance of building that relationship to the point of a sale.

4. Link Building: Quality Over Quantity

Backlinks are the backbone of SEO. Once they are used with extreme care!

It’s not about amassing a plethora of links; it’s about quality over quantity.

Cultivate relationships with reputable sites in your industry. High-quality backlinks signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy, boosting your rankings. Low-quality backlinks for sites that are not relevant, signal to search engines that you are trying to game the system and will count against you.

5. Analytics: Your SEO Compass

To navigate the SEO landscape effectively, you need a compass. Google Analytics is your guide.

Monitor your website’s performance, track user behaviour, and analyse the impact of your SEO efforts. This data-driven approach allows you to adapt and refine your strategy for optimal results.

In simple terms, use analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t so that you can do more of what works and change what doesn’t.

6. Social Media Synergy

This is one of the most often overlooked elements of SEO.

Social media and SEO go hand in hand. Leverage your social platforms to share your content, engage with your audience, and drive traffic to your website.

The more your content is shared, the more visibility it gains in search engine results. Each share of a link to your site adds to the authority of that webpage and increases the chances of it being seen in future searches.

In conclusion, SEO is not a one-time task; it’s an ongoing commitment to excellence. By mastering the essentials – from keyword magic to analytics – you position your business for sustained growth.

At Coppertops, we’re here to guide you on this exciting, if potentially overwhelming, journey.

Elevate your business, unlock growth, and let SEO be the driving force behind your digital success.

Not sure where to start? Check out our SEO audit, where we review your website and social media to give you a report on where you are ticking the boxes as well as where you may be able to make some changes to improve your performance.

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Do you know the website checks to pay attention to for better performance from your site?

Let’s talk reality checks for your website, with 9 things that you can check to ensure that your site is up to speed (pardon the pun!)

Here are 9 key website checks to get your website performance up to speed

Is your website responsive?

If your website does not display correctly on devices with different screen sizes – including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones – this will hurt your user experience as well as your search results.

Check for any layout or formatting issues on each device.

Does your site have broken links?

Where links on your website point to content that no longer exists on the internet, these are seen as broken links.

These can cause frustration for visitors to your website, and can also affect your search performance.

Regularly scan your website for broken links using tools like Broken Link Checker.

How is your Page load speed?

Again, load speed affects user experience and search performance, so it is critical to make sure that neither man nor machine is waiting too long to read your content.

Because they will not wait, they will be gone!

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to assess the speed of your website.

Optimise images, minimise your code, and use cache to speed things up.

Is your website mobile-friendly?

With an increasing number of users accessing the web on the go, ensuring your website performs well on mobile is non-negotiable.

Test it using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool so that you can make any necessary adjustments to improve the mobile experience for your site.

Are your forms functioning?

Test any forms on your website, eg contact forms or sign-up forms, regularly to ensure they work as they should.

Submit test entries and verify that you receive the data as intended.

Is your website ticking the boxes for Search engine optimisation (SEO)?

Check your website’s SEO elements, eg meta tags, titles, descriptions, and keyword usage.

Make sure they are optimised to give your website the best chance of performing well in search engine results.

How are you rating on Accessibility?

It is becoming ever more important to ensure that your website is accessible to users with various disabilities and additional needs.

Things that will help are proper use of alt text for images, clear navigation, and contrast in colours.

You can check your compliance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards using various online tools.

Have you integrated your website with social media?

If you have links to your social media pages or sharing buttons on your website, it’s important to test them to ensure they function as expected.

When did you last review your content?

Regularly review and update your website’s content to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and engaging.

Check for any outdated information, grammatical errors, or broken formatting.

Changes to content also let search engines know that your website is up to date and that your business still exists, which helps search performance.

A strong-performing website is a powerful tool in your online marketing, it should be working hard to get you found, let people know who you are and what you do, as well as selling your products or services. It’s worth investing the time to make sure that your site is earning its keep.

Too often I see websites that are neglected by owners who feel that they don’t get any benefit from them. A little investment of time and energy can yield great results.

Performing these checks will help ensure your website is user-friendly, functional, and optimised for a positive user experience. Want some help? Get in touch!

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A month on from winning the award, it feels like a good time to reflect, take stock, and give credit where it’s due.

Just in case you don’t know, I have been involved in Network Ireland Louth since shortly after we set up Coppertops. I attended my first event in 2014, and at that time I found it so difficult to go into a room with people I didn’t know, let alone be expected to talk to them! I didn’t know what to expect and I was terrified! As soon as I got there, though, I knew I was ok. The women of Network Louth Meath (as it was then called) made me feel incredibly welcome, supported, and included. That is how I have felt ever since, and I now see Network Ireland as a priceless part of my life.

Networking is a funny word, it can feel forced, hard, full of expectation, and maybe even exhausting. But I have learned over the years that it can be inspiring, motivating, energising, and incredibly supportive.

When you are part of Network Ireland Louth you’re never on your own, we have a group of amazing, strong, inspiring women who meet up at least once a month to chat, share solutions as well as problems, collaborate, and support each other. I see new members join and I know they are quite often nervous, if not terrified, walking into the room. At one of our events a new member came into the venue at the same time as me and said she was on her own, I said not now you’re not. I know she probably thought I was being flippant and/or trying to sell it but I also know that by the end of that event, she saw what I meant.

Last year I was honoured to be asked to take the role of President. I was terrified, again, and then I found, again, that the women rocked in behind me and they had me all the way through. I grew so much in my year and am so proud of the events that we held, including my proudest evening where we had a thoroughly frank and honest conversation about how to support those living with a disability who want to join the workforce, or who would like to set up their own business.

I am a stronger person because of my membership with Network, and earlier this year when the call went out for applications for this year’s awards I decided to have a go and see what happened. If nothing else I could always use feedback on my business, one of the things I find hardest about running it solo! So I submitted the application forms, attended a virtual interview on Zoom which was a really lovely experience, and thought no more of it.

A fellow applicant, Pauline from Kookee, and myself are involved in a group called Support 4 Carers – aiming to support parents who have children with additional needs via monthly coffees and chats. We were in a room together at one of these monthly meetings when the finalists were announced and we realised we were competing in the same category. In typical Network style, we shook hands, wished each other luck, and laughed (very hard!) at the situation.

Our Awards ceremony on the 26th of May saw members along with some friends and family congregate for a celebratory evening. The atmosphere in the room, and it was the same last year, is hard to describe without getting soppy and I am not a soppy person! It is incredible to see a room full of women who are rooting for each other and cheering each other on, genuinely supportive of and happy for each other.

I was a finalist in two categories, and fully convinced that I would win neither. I was sitting with Carmel, who was a fellow finalist for the Networker of the Year award – once I saw she was on the list of finalists it was a no-brainer for me, I knew she would win it. The Solo Businesswoman of the Year, though, was announced first. I was sitting there thinking that’s grand, I don’t need to go up there cos someone else has won this. And then Karen Devine said my name and shock hit. I still don’t think I’m fully recovered!!

I am so honoured and happy to have won this award in our branch, and to go forward to represent this branch at nationals later in the year. This branch that has given me so so much over the years. I get to go with the other winners, Elena and Carmel, and I’m sure we will have plenty of members joining us in Kildare to celebrate as well and we will be cheering each other on. Pauline and Chloe won the 2 branch awards. I am so proud of both of the 5 of us!

Carmel summed it up in her acceptance spech when she said that you get out of networking what you put in. If you get involved, show up, and lean in, then the benefits are there in bucket loads. Fancy joining Network? You can sign up here

This is extra special as it has felt like a very hard slog at times in the past 10 years.

Business wise we’ve gone through a lot – Regina left just before covid, covid threw everything up in the air with a hectic year followed by a very quiet one, I hired a new team member which turned into one of my biggest regrets in the business.

Personally, too, I have gone through 2 house moves, a breakup, 2 diagnoses for my daughter who is autistic and dyspraxic, new schools, and burnout – to name just a few of the highlights!

So this award, the comments that went with it, and even the phrase on the Sarah McKenna artwork specially created for the trophy, mean so very much to me and I am incredibly grateful.

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Let’s look at some Expectations vs Reality for your Digital Marketing

Patience

We are sold on the idea that social media is the best if not the only way to sell your business online, that you can expect spectacular results if you just do it “right” and you only need to post the “right” stuff at the “right” time to the “right” people to earn your fortune.

So it is no wonder our expectations are high when we set out to sell our businesses online. We work hard on crafting the perfect message, the perfect graphics in canva, checking analytics to see when is the best time to post. We tick all the boxes, we publish our stuff and…. nothing. Quite often when we publish on socials we get NO response, which is entirely disheartening and leads many to say why bother, it’s a waste of time, and neglect their online platforms.

The reality is that online selling is more about persistence than it is about getting it “right”. Think of prospecting for gold, which is pretty much what you are doing when you are posting on your social media. You are prospecting for those golden nuggets in your audience who are your ideal person to work with. To prospect for gold you set up your equipment, find a location where you are pretty sure gold exists, and then work patiently until you find what you are looking for.

Digital Marketing is very similar. Set up your platform (web, social media, email), add your equipment (graphics, content, video), and publish your stuff patiently until new business starts to come to you (and then keep publishing your stuff to keep your funnel topped up!)

Keep the rule of seven in mind – it takes an average of 7 interactions with your brand before a purchase will take place (source: b2bmarketing.net). It may take more or less than seven, so be patient!

Perfectionism

We set such high expectations for ourselves, aim for perfection and accept nothing less. High standards are great, once they don’t get in the way of progress. As a good friend told me years ago, “Done is better than perfect”.

So find that line, set high standards and be ok with minor flaws. Minor blips are unlikely to affect your results and in fact, they show your audience that you are human, like them!

Don’t spend HOURS tweaking a design in canva or fine-tuning an email when all of your work after the first 10 mins or half hour is not going to make ANY difference to your customers.

Don’t stress over a typo in a post on social media. Obviously, it’s better to avoid them, but you are only human and your audience will forgive an error here or there as long as you don’t have consistent mistakes.

DO enjoy the process, have fun with it and see where your creativity takes you. That is why people are following and subscribing to you, to hear your individual take on your chosen subject.

Long Content

It is easy to think that we need to write and create TONS of long-form blog posts and content to generate traction online. And while it’s true that long-form content is effective, so are shorter bite-sized pieces.

If you have something useful or interesting to say then put it out there, attention spans are shorter and people are busy so there is an appreciation for information that is quick and easy to consume.

In addition, multiple pieces of shorter content feed into the idea of consistency in a way that is more sustainable than attempting to generate longer-form content on a regular basis!

Come up with ideas, have a place to capture them, and dip into this resource regularly to top up your feeds with tiny gems that your customers will love.

Likes

There’s such a focus on numbers on social media – how many likes and follows do you have on your page or profile – and email marketing – how many subscribers do you have? It’s easy to think that this means that these numbers are the biggest factor in how well we can sell our product or service.

In reality, the most important indicators are whether your audience is interested in purchasing, and whether they engage – like or share your posts, or better still comment. These indicators show whether your audience is taking a genuine interest in your content and is a better indicator as to whether they are a potential customer than counting the people who clicked like on your Facebook page once and never checked in since!

Focus on the quality of your content, and on making it particularly useful and interesting to your ideal client, to increase engagement. Doing this consistently can and will lead to sales, and the likes and follows will, well, follow!

Money

It is easy to think that the only way to succeed in digital marketing is to buy success. Spend on expensive providers, online ads, etc. I have seen so many business owners waste so much money here!

Ads absolutely CAN be successful and useful in promoting your business online, in finding new customers and in selling to those who have already engaged with you. BUT spending money is far from the only way to succeed online.

If you opt for “free” (there’s still a cost, in time and energy!) digital marketing activities you can absolutely grow your business once you have strategy and consistency.

At a basic level, this means knowing what you are trying to do and then posting consistently in line with that goal. Throw in some persistence if things don’t move as fast as you would like and success will come. Spending money may speed up this process if used correctly, but it doesn’t guarantee success.

Big vs Small Business

If I had a euro for every time I’ve heard it said that small businesses just can’t compete online I would be a far wealthier woman!

The truth is that big business DOES have advantages. They have bigger teams so have more ideas and more resources (time and energy) for their marketing campaigns. They tend to have bigger budgets so they can win online ad auctions.

However, small businesses have something that big businesses can’t buy. The personal touch. Chances are you know your customers, and possibly your potential customers as well, personally and by name. You can use this to create genuine connections with your customers which are far more valuable than paying thousands to get an ad in front of them for a brand they have no affinity for.

Nurture that personal side in your small business and you will reap the benefits. People buy from people and in particular from people they know. How many times have you purchased online because you felt like you liked the business? That feeling of connection beats fancy ad campaigns every time!

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DIY website builders seem like the easy option. This is certainly the message you’ll get if you watch a few videos on YouTube, with ads for all of the self-build website platforms out there telling you how simple it is. And I’m not going to lie, building a website is not difficult. Adding text and images to a web page should be a simple task. Shocked that a web developer would tell you that? Let me explain.

The part of my job where I put the content onto each page or post and change colours is not the part where my skills are most in play. That’s the easy bit, let’s be honest, it’s the fun part!

The rest of it is where my clients get the full benefit of my skills and experience. The part where we decide which piece goes where, how the structure and layout of the site will work best and what the aims of your site are in terms of working for your business. The part where we assess whether your site is working for you and optimise it to improve your results. The part where we link your website to the other elements of your business to automate where possible to reduce your admin work.

It’s all about the process

When you do anything repeatedly over a number of years you will naturally develop a process and a system for doing it. It is so important to us here at Coppertops that our clients get the best results that we have an extra incentive to fine-tune our process as technology and people change over time.

Parts of our process are impossible to explain, parts of it are purely based on having done this so many times before. This experience allows us to quickly figure out what will work best for your business or what layout looks best for your customer. This piece is absent with a DIY website builder.

process for web development diy website build Photo by Anthony Shkraba on Pexels.com

To illustrate what I mean here I’m going to give an overview of how our web development process works. We use similar processes for our other services.

Review and Assess

To start we look at what you have. Your business, your website and social media. What you do, how you do it and how online marketing fits into that.

This allows us to come up with a plan for your build. With a DIY website builder, you need to plan the site yourself, too.

Structure

We create a layout for the structure of your website at a wireframe level – pages, functionality, user flow. This allows us to focus on how your site works before getting distracted by how it looks.

Design

We create a mock-up to show how your website will look. This allows us to test out the design and allows you to see and approve the proposed layout, fonts, colours, etc before we start to build the site.

website design diy website build Photo by Format on Pexels.com

Review and Approve

We go through the proposed wireframe and design with you to ensure that you are happy with both.

Build

Once we have an agreed layout and design, we go ahead and build your website. As I said earlier, this is a piece that can certainly be done yourself but in my experience, it will take longer and is less likely to get you the result you want. A good portion of our clients came to us at this point after they tried the DIY route and got too frustrated!

Review and Test

Another review level. I know, but these stages are crucial to make sure we get to the right end result. We review the build and test to ensure that all of the pieces work correctly. We also check to make sure your website is responsive (works on any device).

website review diy website build Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

Publish

Final checks and tweaks as we launch your website and make sure all is working correctly.

Management

Once your site is live you become a management client, we are always taking care of you and your website. With a self build website, you are on your own here.

Post Launch reviews

We come back and check in on your website as well as complete an SEO review to make sure everything is working correctly and effectively. Google Analytics data can help us to fine-tune and tweak your site to make sure it is running well.

So what will it be, DIY website or Website Developer?

So the choices are endless but your first choice is this, do you want to spend the time on a self-build website or would you prefer to go through the Coppertops process while you focus on the rest of your business?

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Recently I heard someone say that nobody uses WordPress anymore and it made me wonder if that is the impression that people have been given. Perhaps because other platforms do A LOT of marketing whereas WP quietly does its thing, people seem to be under the impression that Wix or Squarespace are the most popular ways to build a website now.

WordPress WP

Never one to make assumptions, I did some research to see what the market share is like in 2021 and I have to say I was not surprised by the results I found.

A whopping 64.9% of websites are built on WP. The next most popular is Shopify, the e-commerce platform, at just 5.6%. Joomla is next and then the ones that I mentioned, Squarespace and Wix, are at 2.6% each. That is 8% of the WP market share between the 2 platforms.

Tooltester: CMS Market Share Trends – What’s Changed in 2021? – Jun 14, 2021

Why is WP still so popular?

There are many reasons, but I will go through a few of the top ones (as I see it!)

Price

With some of the other platforms, the pricing is subscription-based. Whereas with WP (WordPress.org, specifically) the only cost for your base website is your domain and hosting. WP itself is free to install and use.

You can spend on plugins, themes and development for extra functionality, but all of that is optional.

Some of the platforms advertise as free but they often cost more than expected when all things are considered.

Flexibility

WordPress is almost as flexible, if not as flexible, as a custom-built website. If you know how, you can develop any functionality linked in with WordPress. The other platforms are more restricted in what you can do, which some people prefer as they feel safer with something that doesn’t let them do “the wrong thing”. However, as your business grows and you want your website to grow with you this lack of flexibility will often get in the way. We see many people who have started with something like Wix and hit a barrier in terms of what they can do at which point they decide to move to WP.

WordPress grows with you from a simple website/blog to a full-on e-commerce site.

Usage

Strange as it may sound, the fact that almost 65% of websites are built on WP works in your favour if you use it too. The high level of usage means that if you run into bother or are trying to figure out how to do something with WP you will pretty much always find someone else who has already been there and figured it out so that you don’t have to!

The high level of usage also means that there are a ridiculous amount of plugins, themes etc that have been developed to customise WP to your exact needs in terms of how it functions or how it looks.

Consistent

Fads come and go but WP has been consistently leading the way for many years and is continually evolving to make sure that it isn’t going anywhere.

Ownership

With WordPress (again, I am referring to WordPress.org, WordPress.com is a different setup), you own your stuff. It is so important to ensure that you have control over your online presence and with a WordPress website it is entirely owned by you. With any of the subscription platforms as well as any of the social media platforms, the content that you add is out of your control as is the platform itself.

This is why we always recommend that you put your website at the core of your online marketing efforts, post your content to your website and share so that everything else is spokes in a wheel and the piece you own is at the centre of everything.

That way if one of the platforms you use is disabled, for whatever reason, it is a spoke in your wheel and not your entire wheel that is taken down.

Is there a case for using another website platform?

In some cases I can see the reasons why people will prefer to use another platform:

  • if they want to do the entire thing themselves and don’t have the technical knowledge to set up a WordPress site
  • if they want to get online quickly and are not too worried about their site design
  • if they want something easy to use and don’t know how to set WordPress up to be as easy to use as some of the other website builders.

Where it makes sense for someone to use another option I would generally recommend Squarespace as it gives the option to migrate to WP later if/when the need arises.

We do have another option available as an alternative for the DIYer

Our WP Starter Kit

We think this is a great compromise – gets you started on WP so there’s no migration later, but keeps the initial setup as quick and easy as possible. In addition, this is a DIY option but you have Coppertops support available if needed so you are not on your own.

With this package, we set up a hosting account, install WordPress with the essential plugins for functionality and design. We include things like a page builder which makes it super easy to add your content and design your own site.

We then provide you with training videos to get you started on building your site, and we are always available to help on an ad hoc basis if needed. Contact us if you would like more information on this offer.