Google your business | How to use the right SEO words

We all want our blogs, websites and content to get the most traffic possible, and while there are many ways to achieve this, one thing to prioritise is key words and search engine optimisation. It's crucial that you use the most effective keywords throughout your site that connect with the right audience for your business. This is something I've slowly come to terms with while completing my summer internship in a digital marketing agency so I thought I'd share some hints and tips I've came across along the way!

It all begins with words typed into a search engine. Keyword research is one of the most important and high return activities in the search marketing field. Ranking for the right keywords can make or break your website. By researching your market's keyword demand, you can not only learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO, but also learn more about your customers. It's not always about getting visitors to your site, but about getting the right kind of visitors. 

SET AND UNDERSTAND YOUR OVERALL GOALS.

Before you decide which keywords are right for your brand, spend some time thinking about what your SEO goals are. Most companies use SEO to increase website traffic, which in turn, increases revenue, but you’ll need to be more specific than that.

Ask yourself these three things:

• How fast do you want to see results? SEO is a long-term strategy, so it sometimes takes months before you start seeing results. If you want results faster than that, you’ll need to choose lower-competition and higher-volume keywords.
• How relevant does your audience need to be? Are you laser-focused on one specific audience, or flexible with the types of people you have coming to the site?
• What types of traffic are you seeking? Do you want people to buy your products, or are you focusing for now on brand awareness?

THINK LIKE THE AUDIENCE

This may seem like an obvious step but is often one that is overlooked, examining your website as a prospective customer can be crucial in choosing the right keywords. Identify your target audience and put yourself into the shoes of a customer when you create your initial list of keywords. Ask yourself, “If I wanted to find one of these products or services, what would I type into Google?” You can also consult others, such as friends, family members, or even current customers to get their opinion on phrases they would use when searching for your products and services.

UNDERSTAND THE LONG TAIL KEYWORD

Long tail keywords are a combination of three or more words or phrases, and can also be a question. While long tail keywords tend to boast lower search volumes, they generally attract more relevant traffic, are typically less competitive, and easier to rank well on. Choose long tail keywords that help to specify your product or service.

USE KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS

Use Google AdWords Keyword Tool to research your potential target keywords. With these tools you can gather data on keyword volume and trends, keyword competition, similar keywords, and more.

STUDY THE COMPETITION

Make a list of your main competitors and go to their websites to see what keywords they are targeting. Read their content and view their to help identify the keywords they are targeting. Looking at your competitor's keywords will not only help you see what you could be forgetting, but also help broaden your list of ideas.

ANALYSE THE RESULTS

After choosing your keywords don't forget to monitor them and analyse the results. There are often trending keywords or phrases, along with new keywords your competitors may be using. Don't forget to utilise your keywords wherever possible! Insert your keywords into blog posts, social media posts and your website's content. The more you use keywords within your content, the easier it will be for your target audience to find you.

Your first blend of keywords isn’t going to be perfect, but it will give you a solid baseline you can use to improve your level of traffic even further. Pay close attention to how your results develop over time, and don’t be afraid to make changes when you need to!

Have you got any SEO tips that you've came across? Let me know below 

Beth x

HOW TO | Build your social media 'portfolio'

Social media has become such an important factor in how professionals live their every day lives, mastering it can mean improving not only your connections with other PR professionals and agencies, but also your ability to get a job in the field. It's more than just promoting yourself to others; it can also be the perfect way to build your portfolio by expressing yourself and what you are interested in, if done properly!

There are so many social media sites out there now, how are you meant to know which is the best for you? Here are my top choices for building a social media 'portfolio' and how to use them properly to network and promote your personal brand:

Twitter: Twitter is one of the most powerful tools when it comes to developing yourself as a PR professional and connecting with the PR community because you can tailor your Twitter feed to suit you by following, retweeting and liking posts that are to your interest. Twitter is great for engaging in PR conversation whether it be through the #PRStudent hashtag while at uni or #PRTips, #PRAdvice conversations as well as engaging with agencies and professionals you're interested in. One think I'm so guilty of at the minute is following people with my dream job, they're only people! Your Twitter profile can also be used as a portfolio as it's showing your interest in a certain community or topic and shows clearly how up to date you are on what's going on in that field.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the obvious one when it comes to using social media professionally and networking. It's the perfect platform for finding out industry news and easily connecting with industry professionals. You can use this platform to connect with new professionals and keep in touch with old ones. Your profile on LinkedIn is like your online CV/portfolio - add all your best bits to it, both work experience and links to your existing work, you never know what role it could land you! It's the perfect platform to show how professionally connected you are to the community.

Instagram: Instagram is perfect for those who want to get a involved in a career that has a visual aspect, such as the fashion industry or working across social media graphics. Instagram is a great way to show your personality through style and passion for any specific industry. It's the perfect outlet to show yourself doing what you love and your interests!

KEEP THESE 3 TIPS IN MIND WHEN TRYING TO PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD!

1. Read over your social posts before you send them - if you're going for say a copywriter role and your socials are full of grammatical mistakes it won't look great.

2. Things you post about on social media stay with you forever (think Jack Maynard, I'm a celeb situation) nothing is ever 100% private online, so make sure you think before posting a rant about that bad day at work or posting that inappropriate photo.

3. Use your social media to make a positive change!

Click-Plate

Dreamy holidays, make up inspo and even work-out plans... Instagram is showing and influencing us on just about everything these days, even down to how, what and where to eat. I read an article this week that claimed that 'one in five brits have shared a food pic over the last month'. So no the wonder dishes we are cooking and buying are getting brighter and more photogenic just for the gram!

Before the world of social media, people would have chosen where to meet their friends for dinner or go for cocktails by a recommendation or review. Yet people's obsession with pretty food and extravagant looking drinks has resulted in bars, cafés and restaurants completely changing up their marketing and PR strategies to make them as "instagrammable" as possible. Some places will even stretch as far as basing their menus and interiors around how their dishes and environments will look in photos.

A study from Zizzi has revealed that 18-35 year olds spend five whole days a year browsing food images on Instagram, and 30 per cent would avoid a restaurant if their Instagram presence is weak. I'm sure a lot of you can relate when I say eating out has become merely a pastime, a good way of catching up with friends - and when we do, we love to share it on the gram. In fact, it's now normal to sit down in a restaurant having already decided what you're going to order because you've spent a few minutes stalking on Instagram in advance.

So - what are these places doing to make sure they are the chosen location in their city to make in to the gram?

Even starting out with the interiors...

I have definitely been guilty of visiting somewhere for food or drinks purely for the back drop - there's just something about a good flower wall, or even a bath tub in a night club. You can bet if I'm in a cool café or bar with a quirky quote on the wall (especially if it's neon) it'll be featured on my Instagram or Snapchat story... and no one will be surprised.

Take 808 bar and kitchen in Sunderland for example, their interiors are to die for (see below), from a gorgeous bathroom to the most perfect flower wall near the bar, these guys have really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the perfect instagrammable bar - and don't even get my started on their amazing cocktails and food! You can tell as soon as you walk in who they're targeting and if you're from the North East and haven't been already I'd highly recommend (and not just for the photo).

Trying out Stunt Food

The food section on the instagram explore page can be a dangerous, dangerous place. From rainbow donuts to freak-shakes, as we scroll in admiration and think we need to try that - we're falling victim to the world of stunt food. Stunt food is particularly popular within fast food restaurants with the rise of competition means if you don't innovate, you're relegated to the "has-been" pile. People use interest, sales drop, stores close, and that's the end of that.

These items are made purely for the novelty factor. I mean, why else would Burger King make a green burger bun? It doesn't exactly look appealling. Or why would Starbucks think of releasing a unicorn frappuccino? But one thing they know for sure is that millennials will buy it, post and share it all over their social media platforms and influence others to do the exact same, even if a regular product would be much more enjoyable.

Burger King feeding nightmares with their Halloween stunt

The Starbucks unicorn frappuccino

It's all in the presentation

It ultimately all comes down to the food and us milennials love to take a quick snap/insta/boomerag/whatever if it looks the part. A bacon sandwich for breakfast or a toastie for lunch doesn't hit the spot like it once did - now we're all about that smashed avocado with the perfectly runny poached egg and the most aesthetically pleasing salad bowl you've ever seen. Who knew Insta could be good for the diet?

It ofcourse doesn't stop with the food though, that would be far too simple. How are these dishes going to be presented? Plates now have to be aesthetically pleasing, usually large oval plates, rather than circular and have some type of print and even occasionally on a board. Gone are the days of a cocktail in a simple glass - you now have smoking cocktails, rainbow cocktails and even cocktails in mini bath-tubs to name a few, with each place trying to be different and stand out from the competition. Millennials are particularly all about this, the more unique the better at the end of the day. It's exciting and I love seeing the personal little touches each place has and it the perfect outlet for creativity - not even just for the photo!

So - next time you're out for food or drinks, try and maybe resist taking that snap for the gram and just enjoy the moment. I don't know about you but I'm now very hungry!

HOW TO | Use National Awareness Days the right way

For me, there's nothing worse than an organisation using an awareness day for using an awareness days sake. Whether this be content on the radio (it happens, soooo much), or on social media for a client, it should be used effectively! There's no need to be celebrating World Pen Day for your Mattress Client, but there are days which most brands get on board with - International Women's Day, International Day of Happiness and Bring your Dog to Work Day to name a few.

When planning social media content for yourself, your brand or a client it's important to stay relevant, interesting and informative. No matter what platform you're using it's always important to change up the content, a feed that's purely business focussed can seem too salesy and turn people away. Obviously you want to create leads to your business, but it's also important to show some variety by finding that content balance, you're also going to build brand awareness and likability by doing so.

With all this in mind, here's some ideas on how to use awareness days the right way to get the right coverage and interaction for your business or brand:

Plan, plan and plan some more

If you're planning on using a certain national awareness day, week or month in your content, it's so so important to plan ahead - as once it's happened it's gone. Often if an awareness day is linked with a charity, or another organisation, they'll send out suggested themes, socials and graphics which is good in terms of working in collaboration.

When running an awareness day campaign, planning is especially important if you want to target the print media that often work months in advance. Select the dates early that have the most synergy with your brand, as many may be related to your niche, or of interest to your audience. And don't forget to use social media analytics to help you understand what type of content your audience likes and responds well to, so you can do more of what works.

Get creative!

An awareness day is the perfect way to get creative with your PR, rather than just rolling out an unimaginative tweet using the awareness day hashtag, why not be creative and think how you can make it interesting and relevant to YOUR audience. For example, for take your dog to work day, why not try getting the entire office involved, make an infographic with photos and facts about the dogs or make a cute video to share on your socials!

Only take notice of the relevant days

As mentioned previously, there's no point in 'celebrating' an awareness day if it's completely irrelevant to yourself, a client or your brand. Although, they don't need to be directly linked, many can be used to highlight a key message or be used to have some light-hearted fun in the office - showing what you support as a business and adding some personality to your organisation.

Get yourself an awareness day calendar! (Or make one) 

I made one of these myself at work and I'm VERY proud of it, simply buy a cheap calendar from the pound shop (other stores are available), and take some time at the beginning of each month to note the time-worthy awareness days. Not only will this mean you don't miss any, you can also tailor it to each client or theme and it's helpful for everyone else in the office in terms of tailoring social media, articles and campaigns!



What do you think? Are awareness days a handy PR tool or a waste of time? For me the takeaway key point is that while awareness days are not a media story, they can provide an excellent 'hook' for one when used effectively! The more creative, the better. Let me know what you think below!

Beth x

The positive impacts of social media influencers

Is anyone else SO over the constant going at influencers? I do understand that many influencers over recent years have made mistakes - in terms of spreading fake news, not being transparent about ads and Logan Paul for one... but lets not tarnish all influencers with one brush! After scrolling through the #BBCPanarama hashtag during their documentary on influencers a few weeks back and all the Fyre Festival coverage, the amount of negativity concerning social media work was incredible when realistically these cases only concerned a handful of influencers. I almost feel like the mainstream media and potentially the older generation don't completely know how to cope with this new wave of online engagement and content so for most the instant reaction is to heavily criticise.

I can't remember the last time I saw any positive coverage concerning social media influencers, bloggers or vloggers so I decided to write my own and try to balance all of this negativity going around. These people are followed by millions of people - these people aren't going to follow someone they hate or are against for everything they stand for? I think a little perspective is needed in terms of online influencers. Here's a quick look at some of the positive impacts social media influencers can have:

They raise awareness

Bloggers, vloggers and social media influencers have millions and millions of followers across different platforms online and this is often an incredible platform to promote a product, charity or message, to start campaigns and share something they're passionate about and more. I'm sure instead of a news story about 6 or 7 influencers that have broken the rules, we'd rather read a story about how much money influencers have raised for charity and the change they've made (or at least have both).

They create communities

These influencers tend to have a niche, even within the PR blogging community everyone sparks conversation and learns from each other over a common interest. As these influencers are building communities over a common interest, their audience tends to be very niche and is the perfect way for brands to select which influencer to work with depending on their audiences and interests.

They're normally happy to chat!

My undergraduate degree is actually in Broadcast Journalism, and I've found one main crossover with that and PR is that when finding sources and people to talk to, social media influencers are usually happy to talk compared to your standard 'celebrity'. At the end of the day the world is a lonely place when you're working for yourself! The one perk of them working on social media is that they're ALWAYS online, there's always an expert blogger or vlogger on any topic, it's like having a whole host of experts at the click of a button!

They provide FREE entertainment

Free entertainment is often difficult to come by in this day and age. Unlike a newspaper, magazine or Netflix account, you don't have to pay a penny to follow a social media account, watch a YouTube video or read a blog, it's all completely free! There are millions of profiles from across the world providing tonnes of FREE content for us all to consume everything from the latest make up trends to holiday ideas. This is an element of influencer work that should be celebrated and in my opinion more credit should be given to all of those who share their passions online to help and inspire others.

It still to this day blows my mind that I can search a geotag on Instagram for a destination I'm planning on visiting and can plan out where to eat, what to see and where the best photo spots are at the destination, Instagram shows us much more than Tripadvisor or a holiday brochure ever could!

They're normal people

I think the one thing about influencers that most people forget they're actually just normal people (or at least they start out like that). Most 'social media influencers' juggle careers, life AND work hard on their blogs, vlogs and profiles because of their passion for it. I'd love to see more support for everyone and the fact that there are so many people worldwide working their socks off, being proactive because it's what they love to do - don't let a few bad eggs ruin the dozen!


What do you think? Do you think we need to be thinking more about the positive impact of these influencers? Let me know below!

Beth x