Category: News

Optimising for Voice Search in 2023: Future-Proof Your Website Today

The Rise of Voice Search: How to Prepare Your Website for the Future

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

In the digital era, the way we access information is continuously evolving. From typing queries into a search engine, we have moved to simply asking our questions out loud, thanks to the advancement of voice recognition technology. The rise of voice search has significant implications for businesses and their web presence. In this blog post, we’ll explore the growing prevalence of voice search, its impact on SEO, and why it’s crucial for businesses to optimise their websites for this trend.

Understanding Voice Search

Voice search refers to the action of using voice recognition technology to perform a search on the internet. Users can ask their smartphones, computers, or smart speakers a question out loud, and the device will return an answer from the web.

Devices like Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri have made voice search increasingly popular. It’s not just these devices though; people are utilising voice search more on their smartphones too. According to a PWC report, 71% of respondents would rather use their voice to search than traditional typing.

The convenience and hands-free nature of voice search make it especially attractive. It’s easier to speak than type, especially when multitasking or on the move. As voice recognition technology becomes more advanced and accurate, the usage of voice search is expected to rise further.

Impact on SEO

The increasing use of voice search has significant implications for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Voice searches differ from typed queries in several ways:

Long-tail Keywords: People tend to use more words when speaking than typing. Consequently, voice searches are usually longer and more conversational. They often resemble how people naturally speak, which is typically in complete sentences or questions. This trend suggests a greater importance for long-tail keywords in SEO strategy.

Question Phrases: Since many voice searches are phrased as questions, your website should be optimised to answer those questions effectively. This means creating content that matches the conversational tone and question-oriented phrasing of voice search.

Local Searches: Voice searches are often locally focused. For example, users might ask, “Where is the nearest coffee shop?” Businesses, especially those with a local presence, need to ensure they are visible in these local search results.

Preparing Your Website for Voice Search

So, how can businesses optimise their websites for voice search? Here are some strategies:

1. Use Conversational Language: Since voice searches are more conversational, your website’s content should reflect this. Write in a natural, engaging tone and try to answer the questions your target audience may ask.

2. Optimise for Local SEO: If you have a local business, ensure your website is optimised for local SEO. This includes having a Google My Business listing, using local keywords, and including your address and opening hours on your website.

3. Leverage Long-Tail Keywords: Incorporate long-tail keywords into your content. These are more specific and can help you rank for voice searches.

4. Use Schema Markup: This is a type of microdata that helps search engines understand your content better. It can help your website stand out in search results and increase the likelihood of being chosen as the answer for a voice search.

In conclusion, voice search is not just a passing trend; it’s an evolving reality of digital search habits. Businesses must adapt their SEO strategies to remain visible and viable in the voice search era. By understanding and implementing these practices, businesses can future-proof their online presence and stay ahead of the curve.

Rank your website

Boost Your Website’s Visibility with These Proven Ranking Techniques

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

In today’s digital age, having a website is not enough. It’s crucial to ensure your website is visible to potential customers online. Search engines like Google and Bing use complex algorithms to rank websites based on various factors such as relevance, quality, and authority. In this blog, we’ll cover some proven ranking techniques that can help improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.

  1. Keyword Research: Start by researching the keywords relevant to your business and incorporate them into your website’s content. Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to identify high volume, low competition keywords.

  2. On-Page Optimisation: Ensure your website is optimized for search engines by making sure your website has a clean, simple design, is mobile-friendly, has fast loading speeds, and includes meta tags and descriptions.

    Note: What is mobile-friendly?

    Mobile Responsive Design: A mobile-friendly website is a website that has been optimised for viewing on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This means that the website design and layout adjusts to fit the smaller screen size and is easy to read and navigate on a mobile device.

  3. Quality Content: Creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience and incorporates the keywords you researched is essential for ranking higher in search engines. Use a variety of formats, such as blog posts, videos, and infographics.

  4. Link Building: Building high-quality backlinks to your website is crucial to improve your website’s authority and ranking. Reach out to relevant websites and ask them to link to your content.

  5. Social Media Promotion: Promote your content on social media platforms to increase your website’s visibility and traffic.

  6. Analytics: Use analytics tools to monitor your website’s performance, including traffic, bounce rates, and time spent on site. Make adjustments to your strategy as needed to improve your ranking. 

By implementing these proven ranking techniques, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors to your site. Remember, the key to ranking higher in search engines is to provide valuable content to your audience and consistently optimize your website for search engines.

Digital Marketing Trends in 2023

The best practices in Digital Marketing for 2023

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

As we go through 2023, the world of digital marketing continues to evolve and change at a rapid pace. To stay ahead of the competition, it’s essential to keep up with the latest trends and best practices. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most important digital marketing practices to implement in 2023.

Video Marketing

  1. Video marketing has been growing in popularity in recent years and is expected to continue to be a dominant form of content in 2023. Consumers are more likely to engage with video content than any other type of content. As a result, it’s important to incorporate video content into your marketing strategy to increase engagement and improve your reach.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a game-changer for many businesses, particularly in digital marketing. It can help automate certain tasks, improve data analysis, and offer personalization to customers. In 2023, expect more businesses to incorporate AI into their marketing strategies, particularly in areas such as chatbots, customer service, and predictive analytics.

Voice Search Optimization

  1. With the rise of voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, voice search has become more common than ever before. In 2023, optimising for voice search will become essential for businesses. This means creating content that answers common voice search queries, using long-tail keywords, and improving website speed and mobile responsiveness.

User-Generated Content (UGC)

  1. User-generated content (UGC) has been growing in popularity over the past few years and will continue to be a trend in 2023. UGC can help improve brand awareness, increase engagement, and build trust with customers. To incorporate UGC into your marketing strategy, consider using customer reviews, social media posts, and user-generated images and videos.

Privacy and Data Security

  1. Data privacy and security continue to be a concern for consumers, especially as more businesses collect and use personal data. To build trust with customers, it’s essential to ensure that your business is transparent about how you collect, store, and use customer data. Make sure that your business complies with data protection regulations and is transparent with customers about data privacy.

Omnichannel Marketing

  1. Omnichannel marketing is the practice of using multiple channels to reach customers and create a seamless experience across all channels. In 2023, expect more businesses to focus on omnichannel marketing to improve customer experience and engagement. This means using a mix of channels, including email, social media, and mobile marketing, to reach customers at different points in their buyer’s journey.

In conclusion, 2023 is set to be an exciting year for digital marketing, with new technologies and practices emerging. By incorporating video marketing, AI, voice search optimisation, user-generated content, privacy and data security, and omnichannel marketing into your strategy, you can stay ahead of the competition and build better relationships with customers.

Tools For Content Creation Ireland

The Best Design Tools for Content Creation and Their Benefits

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

Content creation has become an essential part of any online marketing strategy, and visuals are a crucial aspect of content creation. If you want to create visually stunning and engaging content, you need the right design tools. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the best design tools for content creation and their benefits.

Canva

Canva is a versatile design tool that can help you create stunning graphics, presentations, and social media posts. With a user-friendly interface and a vast library of templates, you can easily create professional-looking visuals for your content. Canva also offers a free plan that provides access to thousands of templates and images.

Benefits:

Easy to use, even for non-designers

A wide variety of templates and design elements

Affordable pricing, including a free plan

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud is a suite of design tools that includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and more. With these tools, you can create professional-level designs for your content, including images, graphics, and layouts. While Adobe Creative Cloud is more complex and expensive than other tools, it provides a wide range of options for experienced designers.

Benefits:

Advanced design capabilities

Wide range of tools for all design needs

Integration with other Adobe products

Piktochart

Piktochart is a design tool that specializes in infographics, but can also create other visual content. The tool offers a range of templates, icons, and images, making it easy to create engaging and informative infographics. Piktochart also offers a free plan with access to limited templates and designs.

Benefits:

Easy-to-use infographic templates

Customization options

Affordable pricing, including a free plan

Visme

Visme is another design tool that specializes in infographics, but can also create other types of visual content, including presentations and reports. The tool offers a range of templates, graphics, and fonts to help you create engaging and professional-looking content. Visme also offers a free plan with access to limited templates and designs.

Benefits:

Easy-to-use infographic templates

Customization options

Collaboration and sharing capabilities

Conclusion

Creating engaging and visually stunning content is essential in today’s digital world. By using the right design tools for content creation, you can streamline your workflow, improve your results, and drive engagement. The tools mentioned in this blog post, Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, Piktochart, and Visme, are just a few examples of the many options available to content creators. So, find the right tool for your needs and start creating stunning content today!

 

Digital Marketing Ireland

Facebook Introduces Meta

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

Introducing Meta:

A new evolution for Facebook:

CEO Mark Zuckerburg recently announced the change of the Social Media Platform Facebook to Meta. 

The thought process behind this is to combine all apps and technologies under one new company brand. 

Meta is a real gamechanger for the growth of business going forward. It will change the way people connect in the future with the introduction of more augmented and virtual reality experiences. 

Have a read of this article from Meta themselves. 

Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company

 

Organic versus Paid Advertising

Organic Reach Versus Paid Advertising

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

Organic Reach versus Paid Advertising?

What is Organic reach?

Organic reach is the number of people who have seen your post without using paid advertising.

What is the benefit of using organic reach?

  • You can post content for free.
  • Builds Brand Awareness
  • Helps you to engage with your current audience.
  • Builds trust
  • Helps with Search Engine Optimisation for your website to be discovered.

When people research your company they will find your company website but they will also look at your latest posts on your Social Media platforms and that too factors into their opinion on your business.

I always say when it comes to business online we can’t run before we can walk. Begin by posting content on your chosen platform and when you feel you have added value to your brand, I would then take it to the next level and begin using paid advertising.

What is Paid advertising?

Paid advertising is a method of displaying information about your business products and services where an individual clicks on your advert and you are charged for that action.

What is the benefit of Paid Advertising?

  • Reach a wider target audience with ad campaign optimisation.
  • Much faster option to generate leads for your business for potential sales.
  • Remarketing techniques mean your brand is at the forefront of your customer’s minds.
  • Budgets can be adjusted at any time.

Remember when a potential customer is looking at your business they are at the “Consideration Stage.”  The Marketing Rule of 7 states that a potential customer needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before they consider taking action and buy your product or service.

 

 

Worldwide Outage

Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram Outage

Posted on | by Annette O'Sullivan

Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram are back online after a global outage turned us all on our heads this week! Being locked out of our accounts for hours caused great concern. In one way, it can be sometimes good to have a break from our phones and social media, but from a business perspective not so much!

When it comes to business, having all eggs in one basket may not always be the wisest decision.  In the online world, we can become quite dependant on various platforms to help us to advertise our business. I would not advise using only Facebook/Instagram and running all of your business from these platforms. For example, if you are running an eCommerce business, and solely reliant on Facebook as your only platform to run your shop, this can be risky. Your entire business is dependant on Facebook continuing to do business as they do at the moment. Government intervention and regulation could force Facebook to change and this could severely impact your business.

On days like yesterday when we have no access to our business accounts, this can be dangerous.  You can grow your business quite successfully using these platforms but it is always safer to consider other options also.

On a more positive note, Facebook and Instagram are excellent options for online business with the use of ad campaigns, thus increasing sales.

Here is a list of other options to help you open your business to the world: 

1     Owning your own website and hosting your website with a reputable company

2.    Shopify is a great option for online stores or WordPress (WooCommerce)

3.    Blogging

4.    Twitter

5.    Tiktok

6.    Linkedin

7.    YouTube

8.    Google My Business / Google Ads

This week’s outage also locked people out of any website which they had used “Log In With Facebook” to access. Thousands of websites use the log-in options (known as SSO, Single Sign-On) of Facebook, Google, or Apple, which is convenient but can result in your users being locked out when those major players go offline, as we saw yesterday. This 2020 report from Wired points out why you should think twice before using Facebook, Google, or Apple to Sign In Everywhere: https://www.wired.com/story/single-sign-on-facebook-google-apple/

Ecommerce: The basics

Posted on | by AOS Admin

We all know that Covid-19 has really accelerated the online shopping revolution. Even those that are usually not so keen on buying online found themselves buying their weekly groceries online as a safety measure. Ecommerce platforms like Shopify soared in popularity.

Ecommerce has surpassed levels not expected until 2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, expected to bring in over $843 billion in sales this year.

Read more about our ecommerce work here.

Finally… our new website!

Posted on | by AOS Admin

It has been a very busy twelve months for us at AOS Marketing, lots of client’s advertising campaigns getting amazing results and clients loving the transformation we can give their business online. As a result, a long-term project that we had been working on for ourselves has been put on hold but we have finally achieved our goal to finish our Marketing Website. The website that you are looking at now features pages for just some of our recent case studies as well as more detail on the core services that we offer in the area of Digital Marketing.

Over the next few months, we plan to write a lot of useful blog posts on how to go about improving your online presence. Stay tuned for more!