Copywriting tricks that boost click-through rates in banner ads

Copywriting tricks that boost click-through rates in banner ads

Alright, digital wordsmiths and click-hungry marketers, strap in! We’re about to embark on a wild ride through the world of banner ad copywriting. We’re talking tricks so slick, they’ll make your click-through rates higher than a cat on catnip.

But first, let me regale you with a tale from the trenches of banner ad warfare. Picture this: It’s 2013, and I’m working with a client who sells… wait for it… artisanal, hand-crafted banana slicers. (Yes, that’s a thing. No, I don’t know why people can’t use a regular knife, but here we are.) We crafted what we thought was the perfect banner ad. It had a picture of a sad-looking, unevenly sliced banana and the headline “Tired of Asymmetrical Fruit?” We thought we were geniuses.

The result? Our click-through rate was lower than the chances of winning the lottery while being struck by lightning… twice.

Turns out, nobody was lying awake at night worrying about the symmetry of their sliced bananas. Who knew?

So, how do you write banner ad copy that doesn’t just get ignored like a vegetarian at a barbecue, but actually gets clicks? Well, grab your favourite caffeinated beverage (or a glass of wine, I don’t judge), and let’s dive into some mistakes to avoid and copywriting tricks that’ll boost your click-through rates faster than you can say “You won’t believe what happens next!”

  1. The Power of ‘You’: Make It Personal, Baby

First things first, let’s talk about the most magical word in advertising: ‘You’. It’s like the secret sauce in a Big Mac, the extra shot in your espresso, the… okay, you get the point. It’s important.

Using ‘you’ and ‘your’ in your copy makes your reader feel like you’re talking directly to them. It’s like making eye contact in a crowded room. It grabs attention and creates a connection.

Read more

7 Services Every Reputable SEO Agency Should Provide

One thing you should be aware of is that each SEO agency is unique. Each will have its own levels of experience and skills and provide different types of SEO services—and, we dare say, competence. There will also be a sliding scale of their reputation based on their results and previous client reviews. When choosing an SEO agency, one of the best ways to assess their expertise is by reviewing an SEO case study from their former clients. An SEO case study offers insights into how an agency has delivered measurable results, allowing you to evaluate their effectiveness and track record before making a decision.

One issue arising from these differences is business owners not being sure how they should assess any SEO agency they may employ. Thankfully, according to trusted SEO agency seoperthexperts.com.au, there are several ways to judge how suitable an SEO agency is, and one of the most fundamental is checking whether they offer specific services essential for a successful SEO campaign. Here is an outline of seven core services all reputable SEO agencies should provide.

#1 – SEO Audit

An SEO agency will have no idea what is required to help you if it does not know the current circumstances relating to your rankings. For this reason, they should be carrying out a comprehensive SEO audit as their first task. This will highlight what is currently working and which optimisations require the greatest amount of work.

#2 – Analysis Of Competition

Just as knowing as much about your opposition as possible is required to win a football or rugby match, the same principle applies to SEO. Analysing your competitors to see how well optimised they are and what keywords they are targeting, provides a raft of information and data that can be used to ensure the campaign they create for you is capable of beating your competition.

#3 – Bespoke SEO Strategy

SEO is a marketing channel where there should never be a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Given the huge number of differences between each business, their websites, the markets they compete in, their competitors and their budget, any SEO agency worth employing will create a custom SEO strategy for each client.

Read more

What are the Steps Involved in NetSenses’ Website Development Process?

What are the Steps Involved in NetSenses' Website Development Process?

In East Virginia’s busy digital world, NetSenses is a bright nebula for companies trying to make their mark on the Internet. NetSenses has been a participant in business life since 1993 and represents the company trying to fill a gap in serving by providing clients with individual web solutions that will suit each one personally. Let’s take an overview of custom website development using services from NetSenses so we ensure no project has been just done for no reason but finished being important.

Step 1: Discovery and Strategy Development

Understanding your Vision: Every great website begins with a dream. 1st session In the first one, we clarify your business objectives and what you want to achieve on a website through this initiative. It’s a mental state where your mind meets knowledge.

Read more

How Does NetSenses Approach Website Design and Development?

How Does NetSenses Approach Website Design and Development

Welcome to the NetSenses world, where we bring your dreams digital. Since 1999, we at NetSenses have honed our skills in crafting sites that are not only visually appealing but strategic assets for your business nestled right here in the heart of Arlington VA. Let us unfold the threads of our peculiar approach to website design and development.

Tailor-Made Solutions for Each Business

Understanding Your Business DNA: Each business is special at NetSenses. So, we begin by knowing your business – its principles, customer community, and competitive placement. We don’t only create websites; we construct your digital presence.

Read more

What Services Does NetSenses Offer in Website Development?

What Services Does NetSenses Offer in Website Development?

If you are a small or medium-sized business located in Eastern Virginia and looking for a partner to develop your online presence, then another company from Arlington, VA, that could help is NetSenses. 1999, this company has been on the cutting edge of designing lively and efficient sites for various customers. But what exactly can NetSenses do for you and your business? Let’s dive in.

Understanding Your Business

NetSenses is special because the company does not just create websites; it builds your business’s digital identity. They begin by thoroughly understanding how your business functions, who you target, and exactly what it is that you require. Your website will be not only a digital brochure, but the true extension of your brand with this holistic approach.

Read more

How Non-Disclosure Agreements Apply To Business Website Designs

How Non-Disclosure Agreements Apply To Business Website Designs

When working with clients, web designers may encounter a scenario where they are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of the contract. The situations in which this might occur include businesses that divulge sensitive information that the web designer might need, such as the background to some of the content created, or it might be commercially sensitive information relating to the company’s marketing that ties in with the website.

Whatever the reasons and whoever the client may be, the first time any web designer encounters a stipulation that they must sign a non-disclosure agreement can be unnerving. Our first advice would be to seek advice from a lawyer to ensure that they are not signing up for something whose terms are too rigid and likely to leave them exposed to legal action.

However, in most cases, the non-disclosure agreement will be standard although it will have some specific references to the client. As such, if you know what a non-disclosure agreement is, then it should come as less of a shock when you are presented with one. To that end, here is all you need to know about non-disclosure agreements as they apply to website designs.

  • A nondisclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal document to protect one or both parties whenever they enter into a formal arrangement. In the case of web design, it will mainly be used to protect the confidentiality of a client’s information.
  • NDAs can either be one-way or mutual. One-way means that just one of the party’s information is subject to the NDA, whereas mutual means that both the client and the web designer are agreeing not to share the other’s information
  • An NDA must clearly define what information is to be kept confidential. This must be concise and specific and leave no room for ambiguity or confusion.

Read more

7 Actions To Avoid If You Wish To Refrain From Exasperating Your Office Removalists

office removals

We sincerely hope if you are a business owner contemplating moving your entire operation to a new office location, you will hire the services of office cleaners. By doing so, you will be taking the one step that can almost guarantee that your office move will go to plan and that there will be no significant calamities, assuming you follow the advice and guidance that the office removalists give you.

There are several ways you can help your removalists to help you. One is what we have just mentioned: following the advice and recommendations your removalists give you concerning matters such as planning, packaging, and so on. On the other hand, were you to take actions that make the work of your removalists more complex, then there could be self-inflicted problems throughout your office relocation.

You might wonder what we mean by ‘actions’ that could cause issues. We specifically mean actions that could, at best, cause frustration amongst the removalist team you have hired and, at worst, do something so unacceptable that the removalists remove themselves as they cannot work safely. Here are seven examples from the professionals at Brilliance Removalists Perth.

Read more

5 Steps To Promoting Your Local Business With Digital Marketing

One of the best characteristics of digital marketing is that it provides opportunities for businesses that range from the largest worldwide brands to small, one-person local businesses. In other words, whether your marketing budget is 100 million dollars or 100 dollars, there are several means of marketing your business online available to you.

As much as we would like to think that the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations might be reading, we are humble enough to accept that our audience is more likely to contain owners of local businesses that operate within specific locations, including towns and city districts. As such, the specific digital marketing strategy that would suit these businesses is going to differ somewhat from that required by the likes of Ford, Pepsi, and Nike.

However, that does not negate the need for your digital marketing to be planned and implemented correctly and for that to occur, you need to follow a series of steps that take you from the decision to start, through to you seeing the results of the campaign. Below we have highlighted five core steps that we recommend every local business follows when seeking to market itself online.

Read more

5 Essential Elements A High Converting Landing Page Must Have

We should start this post by clarifying what a landing page is. It is a term used within web design and online marketing that often confuses because what is a landing page to one business might not be to another. You will find that even within the professional ranks of web designers and online marketers there can be various definitions of a landing page.

For this post, we are defining a landing page as one which is designed to generate leads for a business. It is often a single page in a website that visitors land on (thus the term landing page) having clicked through either from a paid advertisement, from search results on Google or by clicking a link on another website which includes social media pages and other websites within the same business niche.

One thing which every website owner wants their landing page to do is to perform and achieve the objective they have set for it. From our definition we want our landing page to convert the visitor into a lead and that is achieved by them entering their details. This can be their name and email address or telephone number. To ensure that happens the landing page’s design should include these five elements.

One Single Purpose

One of the primary features of a landing page is that it should have one single and clearly identifiable purpose. What the purpose might be for each business will differ, but the key is that whatever it is, that is all the landing page should be designed to achieve. Whether that be to have someone enter their email, call the business directly, or complete a form with all the details of their needs, nothing else should interfere with that.

Brevity

Whilst there may be several pages on your website where it is appropriate to include lots of content with some stretching to over 1,000 words of text, your landing page should not be one of them. It should be uncluttered, and the text should be short and to the point. Look at your landing page and if there is anything on it that is not required, nor contributes to the landing page’s objective, remove it.

Read more

5 Google Ads KPIs You Must Monitor

Google Ads has many features that set it apart as one of the most effective ways of advertising online, and for many who use it, it is the data that Google provides within the advertiser’s dashboard which is the best. That is understandable because it is that data that allows them to turn a poorly performing ad into an exceptional one, due to changes made to the ad based on the performance data.

For some business owners, the Google Ads dashboard can seem like a conundrum of numbers which is why they hire a digital marketing agency to manage their Google Ads campaigns. However, whether that is how you go, or you have the confidence to manage your own Google Ads campaigns, certain pieces of data have greater significance than others.

These key performance indicators (KPIs) are the ones to focus on because it is what they tell you about your ad’s performance that allows you to make the changes that are required. We have selected five of these KPIs and explained why they are so crucial below.

Impressions

Impressions are the number of times your ad has appeared or been displayed. Simple logic tells you that unless your ad appears no one is going to click on it. a further assumption could be that the more impressions your ad has the more clicks it will receive but there is a caveat to that. It will only get those additional clicks if the ad converts well so bear that in mind. Low impressions suggest your keyword targeting is off and that your keyword choices are not being searched for.

Read more

Why Knowing Google’s Keyword Hierarchy Can Help You Improve Your Website’s Rankings

When it comes to improving the rankings of a website, SEO is the usual means to do so. Whether you do this internally or employ outside help in the form of an SEO agency, there will be a huge list of possible optimisations that need to be considered and implemented, some of which are a lot easier to achieve than others.

One of the reasons their so much to do is the fact that when Google’s algorithm is calculating where any single website should rank, it assesses numerous ranking factors. There is some argument over how many there are exactly, but the consensus is that it is at least 200 which are known, and speculation that there are several more which only Google is aware of.

Within the array of ranking factors, Google places a different weight or importance on each one than it does others. Near the top will be backlinks and user experience whilst some of the less important ones include domain age and the number of social media followers.

Integral to a lot of the ranking factors Google considers will be keywords. For every search that is entered, Google will apply its algorithm to each one using the ranking factors we have just discussed. As it does so, it will find keywords in different locations within and outwith a website.

A crucial point to understand here is that Google does not treat each location where a keyword is found equally. It has a hierarchy within its algorithm that gives more weight and thus more ranking juice to some locations than it does to others because it believes it is more difficult for website owners to achieve.

Read more

10 Ways To Improve Your Site Speed For SEO

Whilst no SEO specialist can know 100% every aspect of Google’s algorithm for ranking websites, there is enough research, data, and information to know what factors help a website to rank, and what do not. Some of these are more important than others, and one which you will find on numerous articles about best SEO practices is page load speed.

Page load speed is the time it takes each page to open in the browser of the person who clicked through to that page. Given Google’s focus on user experience, it follows that the quicker your website page opens, the better the experience is for the visitor, and what follows should be better rankings. Any SEO campaign should speed up the time it takes a website’s pages to open and here are ten ways this can be achieved.

Switch To The Optimal Hosting Solution: One basic way to improve your website’s speed is to switch to a hosting solution that can provide the page load speeds you desire. Specifically, moving to a dedicated server rather than using a shared server should manifest a faster page load speed.

Use a Content Distribution Network (CDN): Rather than all your content being stored on and loaded from your hosting server, you should store content on a third-party CDN. This then uses the closest data centre to the visitor to serve up that content on your website, meaning the website loads faster for them.

Reduce URL Redirects: If you use a lot of internal URL redirects within your website, it slows down the page laud speed as there are additional server requests to process the redirect. Carry out an audit on your websites’ redirects and remove those that are no longer necessary.

Read more

How Websites Get Hacked

When any individual or business has had their website hacked, apart from the considerable stress, inconvenience, and in some cases, financial loss, that they suffer, there tends to be a question that they all ask. That question is “How did they do it?”. It gets asked with a sense of disbelief as the person asking was under the misconception that their website was 100% secure.

The sad fact is that of the 2 billion websites that exist in the world a large number will not be completely secure from a hacking attack. Worse than that, the lack of security some of them have will be akin to leaving the front door of their home wide open with a sign above it that says, ‘Come on in and take what you like’.

Thankfully, many websites owners have taken the correct approach and have the necessary security in place that will repel most hacking attempts. Hackers will tend to follow the path of least resistance so if they soon find that your website is behind several layers of security then they will move on to a website whose owner has not to be so vigilant.

Website Hacking Methods

When that website does get hacked it will be done by exploiting or overcoming a website’s security in one of three ways. These are 1) Software vulnerability, 2) Access control and 3) Using a third-party integration. Now, it does not matter whether a website is owned by an individual who sells arts and crafts locally, or a global multi-billion dollar company, if their website is hacked, it will be based on one or more of these methods so let us look at each of them in more detail.

Software Vulnerability

When websites are created and published there will be several individual pieces of software and coding that are required to keep the website live. These could perform functions on the website, be responsible for the structure of it, play a part in creating the visual elements, generate some of the interactive elements and so on.

Read more

SEO Reports – What They Are And Why They Are Important?

If you employ an SEO agency to plan and implement an SEO campaign with the objective of your website securing improved rankings on Google, there must be a feedback mechanism in place so that you can be kept informed of that SEO campaign’s progress. The most effective tool for this feedback is an SEO report.

SEO reports provide you with insights into many aspects of your SEO agency’s work and allow you to see how it is progressing. Each agency might use a different template for its SEO reports, but in general, they will include data and the metrics relating to how your website’s ranking is performing before and after the work the SEO agency has undertaken.

Types Of SEO Report

In most cases, there are two types of SEO reports produced. These are the “Initial SEO Report” and the “Ongoing SEO Reports”.

Initial SEO Report: As you might expect, the initial  SEO report is not used to measure how your SEO agency is performing, but rather how any previously SEO has worked or not. It will outline your current rankings and can be used as the starting point against which any future SEO can be measured.

Ongoing SEO Reports: An obvious title, and as it suggests these are the reports which outline the data and metrics of your SEO campaign as it proceeds. The usual timeframe for these to be produced is monthly, although that can be adjusted in agreement with your SEO agency.

Read more

10 Web Design Mistakes That Diminish Your Website

How Non-Disclosure Agreements Apply To Business Website Designs

If you get web design correct, it can ensure that your website performs to its maximum and in doing so allows your business to thrive. Get web design wrong, and not only will your website fail to produce anything positive, but your business may also be harmed. The solution? There are several, with the first, and most important being you entrust the creation of your new website to a professional web design agency.

Beyond that, if you choose not to use professionals for your web design, you must avoid making some common web design mistakes. These mistakes harm your website and its performance. If you want to know what the ten most common web design mistakes are, continue reading.

Poor Layout: Although the term “web design” covers many aspects of your website, one of its primary goals is to produce a layout that is visually pleasing and gives visitors landing on your website a great first impression.

Low-Quality Content: Great content within your website is essential. If you skip on this or try to save money by hiring cheap content writers you will do more harm than good. Invest in quality content, and the return on that investment will be significant.

Slow Page Load Speeds: Today’s internet users expect instant gratification, and this is why slow page load speeds are a huge problem as visitors will simply click away. In addition, if they click away immediately it is recognised by Google, which becomes a double-whammy as they penalise your rankings.

Zero Or Poor Navigation: Visitors to your website should feel in control and that is achieved by providing them with a simple menu so that they can navigate through your website pages. Omitting this is a huge web design error and another reason why vistos leave your website quickly.

Read more