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What March’s Google Core Update Means for Your Business

Posted on April 29, 2025

Decorative graph representing the March Google Core Update

When you’re absolutely certain you have something figured out, it’s probably time to check in on it again, especially if that something is tech-related. Because in this age of ever-accelerating technological change, there could easily have been a rapid shift somewhere out there in the ether that has the potential to affect how you do business. Which brings us to the Google March 2025 Core update. If your website has seen changes in traffic lately, it’s likely due to this latest Google Core update, which brings with it broad and impactful changes to how websites are ranked in search results. It can have major implications for businesses, from affecting visibility to changing how customers find you online. Here’s what this update means and advice for staying competitive.

1. What Is a Google Core Update?

In a nutshell, Google Core updates are major changes to how Google evaluates and ranks content. Unlike smaller updates that target specific issues like spam or page speed, core updates look at the overall quality and relevance of websites across the board. These updates—like the Google March 2025 Core update—are designed to improve search results by rewarding helpful, trustworthy content and reducing the visibility of pages that may not provide the best value to users. They don’t target individual sites, but if your rankings change, it means Google’s understanding of your site’s content has shifted.

2. Key Changes in the March Google Core Update

The Google March 2025 Core update was one of Google’s more substantial algorithm adjustments in recent years. It places a strong emphasis on content quality, originality, and trustworthiness—this is an attempt to further build on the search giant’s EEAT framework. We hear you asking: What is EEAT? EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. Here’s what this awkward acronym is trying to get at:

  • Devaluation of Low-Quality and AI-Generated Content
    Google is cracking down on unoriginal, low-effort, or automatically generated content that adds little to no value to the things readers are searching for.
  • Improved Identification of Helpful Content
    Website pages with well-structured, user-focused content are being rewarded more than ever with higher rankings on search pages.
  • Changes to Link Signals
    The importance of certain backlinks has shifted, focusing more on relevancy and less on sheer volume.
  • Industry-Specific Impacts
    While this Google Core update applies broadly, sectors like health, finance, and e-commerce may have experienced sharper changes due to the obvious need for high-authority content in these subject areas.

3. How It Could Impact Your Business

Depending on the quality of your site and content, this update could lead to either a rise or a drop in search rankings. Here’s what you might notice and what it might mean:

  • Decreased Visibility
    If your rankings have dropped, you could see lower organic traffic and fewer conversions. This can be particularly noticeable for key pages that previously performed well.
  • Increased Traffic
    Conversely, if your site already prioritizes helpful, authoritative, user-centric content, you may see a nice boost in traffic and engagement from this update.
  • Volatile Rankings
    Some businesses may notice fluctuations over several weeks as the update settles in across the World Wide Web. Keep calm and carry on, at least to start.

4. What You Can Do About the Update

If you’ve been impacted, don’t panic (see above). There are steps you can take to bounce back and potentially come out ahead.

Check Your Analytics and Rankings
Dive into Google Analytics and Google Search Console to see which pages were affected. Identify trends, traffic drops, or keyword-ranking shifts.

Focus on High-Quality, Helpful Content (EEAT)
At this point, do you find yourself still asking, “What is EEAT?” Us, too. One more time, then: EEAT=Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. Make sure your content is accurate, original, and valuable to your audience. Show expertise through blog posts, case studies, and thought leadership pieces. Avoid fluff or rehashed content.

Improve Site Performance and User Experience
A fast, mobile-friendly, and easy-to-navigate site helps users—and search engines—find value. Audit your site for usability issues, technical SEO gaps, and performance snags.

Stay Active and Relevant
Continue updating content, publishing new material, and maintaining a consistent online presence. Google rewards sites that stay fresh and authoritative in their field.

The Only Constant Is Change

The above statement is attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. It highlights the idea that everything in the world is in a constant state of movement and transformation, making change a fundamental aspect of reality. People love to pull this infuriating aphorism out and drop it high handedly on others going through something unpleasant they themselves aren’t going through, like a Google Core update. Once your anger subsides, remember this: while updates like this can be initially disruptive, they can also present opportunities to refine your digital presence and stand out. If your business has been impacted by this update and you’re unsure how to respond, working with SEO professionals, like the fine folk here at ArachnidWorks—can make all the difference.

Team Member Spotlight: Dillon Miller

Posted on April 4, 2025

ArachnidWorks Account Manager Dillon Miller

Not to be confused with Earned Media Specialist Dylan, Dillon is an Account Manager for many of our clients. There always seems to be a smile on his face (except for that one time), and it’s not a facade. He’s an approachable team member, whether you need to discuss work or just chat for a minute. In addition to that, he takes account management to the next level by going the extra mile to make sure our team  has what they need for a project. 

Okay, okay. He’s standing behind me as I type this, begging me to get to the good stuff. I’m going to let him take over before he steals the keyboard from m— 

The Interview

How have you seen things grow and change since you started at AW?

Marketing strategies and best practices are always changing and our team at ArachnidWorks constantly stays on top of the latest trends—using a data-driven approach to drive results for our clients. 

What are your account management goals within the agency?

The team is everything. My goal is to build a team of Account Managers who excel at understanding our clients’ pain points in a wide range of industries, and who support our creatives to deliver their best work. 

If you could have lunch with any person in the world—living or historical—who would it be and why?

Anthony Bourdain. His storytelling capacity for people, places, food, and the human experience in a normal conversation was inspirational. 

What does the ideal Friday night look like to you?

At the beach, after a good homemade dinner and a couple of beers, riding our beach cruisers down to the waterfront to watch the sunset. 

What’s your personal idea of success?

Success to me is empowering those around me. I feel like I’ve had a lot of life experiences and I am always excited to share that with others. Helping others avoid learning things the hard way is when I feel successful.

What’s your favorite movie, TV show, and/or book?

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the best movie and you cannot convince me otherwise. I think we can all relate to Walter at some point in our lives, and it’s when we break from the norm and take risks that life becomes the most vibrant and exciting. 

Frederick is home to some great local eateries. Which one is your top choice?

Sabor de Cuba has the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever had. Fifty Fifty is also really good. 

What are you most looking forward to over the next year?

Everyday, I get up excited to make cool sh*t.

Give us a weird fact about yourself.

I’m friends with Brett.

A little bird named Dillon told me you like shooting and editing videos. What kind of videos do you make?

Evoking emotion with my videos is one of the most fulfilling experiences. I love bringing someone’s vision to life in ways that they couldn’t have imagined. Growing up, I’d take every opportunity to turn a school project into a video instead of a presentation. These days I shoot and edit for nonprofits, real estate agents, weddings, and of course for myself!

You use a gaming chair instead of an office chair like the rest of us. Are you too good for an office chair? Do you think you’re better than us?

I am not better than you, but in 10 years, my back will be. 

That’s All For Now

Despite spelling his name incorrectly, Dillon is a great part of the team. His easygoing attitude and account management expertise keep the stress low when the pressure is high. Thanks for taking the time to tell us a little bit about yourself, Dillon!

The Importance of CRM Implementation in Your Sales and Marketing Process

Posted on March 24, 2025

graphic representing crm implementation

Running a business is complicated, to say the least. You have to offer a quality service or product, manage inventory, field customer inquiries, create budgets, pay employees… The list goes on and on. It’s a no-brainer, then, to implement systems that can streamline as many tasks as possible for you without sacrificing quality. Not only that, but you want to take advantage of every tool at your disposal to improve your marketing efforts rather than just use them for administrative tasks. That’s why Customer Relationship Management—or CRM—is so integral to your business. CRM implementation can be the difference between a business failing or thriving.

What is Customer Relationship Management?

Before we get into the nitty gritty, it’s important to establish an understanding of the subject matter. So let’s answer the question: What is customer relationship management, exactly? Basically, it’s a system meant to organize the customer information you’ve collected that can help you build rapport with each customer and increase sales. It encompasses not just existing customers but prospective ones, as well. With technology devoted to keeping everything in order, you can stay connected to your customers and streamline many of your processes. And it all revolves around data.

Centralized Customer Data for Targeted Campaigns

Customer information comes from innumerable sources—spreadsheets, emails, notes, transactions, and so on. But what if there was one single place where all of this information was placed for easy reference? That’s exactly what CRM implementation services can do. This centralized database keeps records of customer interactions, contact details, and transaction histories, helping your sales team segment your audiences and track sales effectively.

But what can you use this data for? Aside from the large benefit of plain convenience, it allows you to identify high-value leads with precision and craft targeted campaigns across various digital, social media, and email spaces. You can then keep an eye on these campaigns and fine-tune your findings to achieve even better results the next time around.

Data-Driven Marketing Strategies

CRM tools have the potential to enhance your marketing strategies not just by centralizing data, but also integrating with paid campaigns and optimizing lead management. With these tools, your marketers can easily achieve what used to be exercises in tedium:

  • Track lead behavior and engagement metrics in real time.
  • Create lookalike audiences using CRM data, a powerful strategy for improving ad targeting.
  • Streamline the process of campaign performance analysis. This is a crucial part of making sure your marketing efforts are in line with your business objectives.

Once you have relevant data pertaining to your leads and other parts of your audience, you’re ready for the fun part: Actually connecting with them.

Personalized Customer Experiences

A common mistake many businesses make is expecting their customers to “come to them.” While in-store sales are still relevant, we’re not really talking about actual travel. No, we’re discussing the mistake of telling customers what you think they want rather than listening to what they actually want. You’re trying to connect with them, so why not meet them on their turf and appeal to their interests? With CRM implementation, you can achieve this by:

  • Automating and tailoring email marketing campaigns to specific segments of your audience based on their preferences
  • Delivering custom content recommendations while avoiding attempts to sell them something they won’t be interested in
  • Implementing automated follow-ups, which gives them gentle reminders and keeps your brand in the front of their mind.

There’s a lot more to that last bullet, so let’s dive a little bit deeper…

Improved Lead Nurturing and Conversion Rates

Getting leads is only part of the journey. If we compare it to fishing, a lead is the hook (though thankfully, this one is metaphorical). Now it’s time to “reel in” the customer through careful—and thoughtful—nurturing. But what does that entail? It’s all about sending the right messaging at the right time. You don’t want to barrage your potential customers with demands that they buy what you’re selling. You want them to know you respect their boundaries and care about their interests. CRM implementation can make this process more manageable than it’s ever been though:

  • Effective lead nurturing strategies through automated workflows
  • Prevention of lead “leaks” thanks to harmony between sales and marketing teams
  • Higher conversion rates as a result of expertly timed, personalized messaging.

Of course, relationships with your customers aren’t the only important connection you need to maintain. It’s also advisable—if not downright mandatory—to have a good connection between your own people.

Better Collaboration Across Teams

Unless you’re an operation of just three or four employees, chances are you have different departments. While each department has its focus, the business as a whole will suffer if there’s little to no communication between them. By providing a shared platform for collaboration, marketing teams can follow leads, sales personnel can reference customer histories, and customer service departments can resolve issues promptly. Thanks to the seamless integration of CRM, everyone is on the same page, with team cohesion becoming an invaluable strength. If that strength translates to sales, you’ll see your business start to mature.

Scalability for Business Growth

When a business is successful, it grows. The team expands, the customer base increases, and the company may even expand into a bigger, better location. So why shouldn’t your technology grow with you? A CRM is meant to scale with you while you expand, so take advantage of it! It can accommodate an increasing amount of leads, team members, customer interactions, and more without the need to start anew when you get “too big.”

In addition to that, any good CRM platform can integrate with other tools your business likely uses—email software, e-commerce platforms, and customer support systems, to name a few. This makes these systems comprehensive solutions that stick with you through long-term growth.

Our Favorite CRM Implementation Services

After all of this hubbub about CRM implementation, you’re likely wondering where you can actually find these tools. While there are plenty of options out there, there are a few that our team personally prefer.

  • HubSpot: Our CRM tool of choice, this has it all—tracking, automation, project management, sales pipeline functionality, and more.
  • Monday: Who knew a Monday could be so likeable? If you want to focus on project and sales pipeline management, this is the platform for you.
  • Pipedrive: This platform specializes in sales tracking and automation.

Boost Your Marketing Through CRM Implementation Services

Phew. Okay, we know that was a lot to take in, but trust us. It’s worth it. By streamlining data management, connecting with your audience, and fostering collaboration across your teams, you’re positioning your business marketing to go into overdrive. But if you truly want to focus on your business, why not entrust the marketing to a team who lives and breathes it? At ArachnidWorks, we know all these tools inside and out, and we can achieve flawless CRM implementation that enhances your business in ways you didn’t think possible. Get in touch today!

ArachnidWorks Is Getting a Brand Refresh … And You Should, Too!

Posted on February 14, 2025

decorative graphic that says "We Gave Ourselves a Refresh"

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our social media pages, you may have noticed a few changes. We’ve infused some personality into our typefaces. Some colors have been added to our palette—and some have been retired. While those are the more apparent changes, we’ve implemented more subtle shifts that you’ll notice if you keep up with us going forward. What you’ve seen is an ArachnidWorks brand refresh, implemented to reflect not just our internal culture, but a commitment to our clients.

This was a necessary and exciting step for us to take, and it could likely work wonders for your business, as well. But why? What purpose does a refresh really serve? Let’s dive in.

What Is a Brand Refresh?

Before we go over the “why,” we need to explain the “what.” What is branding, and how does a refresh fit into it? Many people are familiar with a rebrand, in which the look and presence of a company gets a massive overhaul—Think Sierra Mist rebranding to Starry or Twitter changing to X. Refreshes those were not. What we’re talking about today is less of an overhaul and more of a, well, refresh—an update that incorporates small yet noticeable changes to a brand’s identity.

Take our color palette, for instance. The “AW Claret” color—which most people probably just call “maroon”—is still the star, but we’ve made a few updates to other colors. The green secondary color is a thing of the past, and we’ve added Burnt Sienna, Earth Yellow, and Sea Green.

graphic depicting ArachnidWork's new brand refresh colors

There’s been a similar shift in our typefaces. Our previous fonts were appealing, but safe. We wanted to add more personality to them without sacrificing readability, and we think the new ones achieve that perfectly! Our headline font stands out more and our body copy offers a nice, sleek look. And, because we like to have a little fun, we’ve added a decorative font! You’ll see it make small but noticeable appearances in our ads and social media graphics.

graphic depicting ArachnidWork's new font styles

Those are just examples of our biggest changes. A refresh entails fine-tuning of various elements that help you keep up with the latest trends and remain relevant. It could mean making tweaks to your logo, taglines, or general tone.

Signs It’s Time for a Brand Refresh

Okay, now that you know what a refresh is, it’s time to decide whether you should take the plunge. If you’re having trouble deciding, consider the following key factors. Is your brand suffering from any of these?

  • Outdated Design Elements: Do your logo, fonts, and color scheme remind you of the 80s, 90s, or any other decade of the past? That may scratch a small nostalgic itch, but it’s doing you no favors in keeping up with your audience.
  • Misalignment with Business Goals: Ask yourself if your brand truly reflects the services you offer or your mission and growth goals. If not, consider that refresh!
  • Lack of Emotional Connection: If your target audience is showing waning interest, it may be due to a lack of emotional connection. You need to offer them something meaningful!
  • Decreased Engagement or Recognition: If you’ve seen dips in engagement across multiple platforms—social media, website, or even in your physical place of business—stagnation is likely a factor. People like new stuff and innovation. Time to give it to them!

Benefits of a Brand Refresh

Knowing the signs to recognize is only part of the process. No smart business person makes a decision without knowing what they can expect out of it, so let’s take a look at the benefits. Before we do, though, know that it’s not a magical solution to waning sales. It’s an investment in building a relationship with your customers, and that doesn’t happen overnight. With that in mind, here’s what a refresh can do for you!

  • Improved Visibility and Recognition: When your brand is fresh and gives off those modern vibes, it can attract the right kind of attention in a crowded marketplace. 
  • Increased Customer Trust and Loyalty: Credibility is a huge factor in the way customers view you. People notice typos and messy ads more frequently than you may think, and having a solid brand keeps your messaging consistent and clean. It tells your customers that you care about getting it right, and that you mean business. 
  • Enhanced Ability to Target New Markets: As time goes on, new demographics will emerge, which means they could be your customers … with the right tactics. A brand update can let them know that you’re a business to watch.
  • Renewed Excitement Internally and Externally: Customers and team members alike will feel energized by a refreshed brand. Trust us. We just went through the process, and it got everyone on the team excited!

Steps to Refresh Your Brand

We’ve outlined the things that are often included in a brand refresh, but making changes with reckless abandon can be a recipe for failure. A refresh requires a thoughtful, strategic approach. Here’s what you can do to implement is effectively:

  1. Start by assessing the current state of your brand. What’s working and what isn’t? Take into account customer feedback, industry trends, and the branding and marketing of your competitors. You want your refresh to outshine them!
  2. Many efforts that involve change are anchored by a set of clear goals, and a refresh for your brand is no different. Create a list of goals, be it targeting a new audience, achieving a more modern look, or refining your messaging. They’ll help you stay focused in planning this update!
  3. We know this whole process is a big undertaking, and you can’t exactly halt operations to focus on it. Luckily, our team is more than capable of planning your refresh and letting you stay focused on your business!
  4. Have a launch plan! Knowing what your refresh will entail is important, but equally crucial is how you roll it all out. Thoughtfully implement website updates, social media announcements, and marketing materials. When you cover all your major bases, you can maximize the impact of this important update to your business.

We Can Help!

Luckily for you, we specialize in branding and marketing solutions that will help you stay relevant. Side thought: Is there a marketing-specific phrase for “keeping up with the Joneses?” In any case, our branding experts can effectively guide you through all the steps involved in this process—from brand evaluation and pain-point identification to planning and rollouts.

We’ve seen increased success for several clients who have trusted us with their brand refresh efforts. Our innovative designs, compelling messaging, and careful campaign planning have maximized the impact of the whole process. If you’ve made the decision to refresh your brand, we’re ready to help you make it happen. Get in touch with us and let’s improve your branding and marketing!

2025 Marketing Trends to Watch

Posted on December 31, 2024

two female marketers looking at a clear white board discussing upcoming marketing trends

We’ve all spent the last month celebrating some of the biggest holidays of the year—spending time with family, enjoying feasts, opening gifts, and more. Very soon, we’ll be counting down to midnight and wishing each other a happy new year. And with every new year comes change. In the marketing world, we know that change is the only constant, and we can expect that to ring true with exciting marketing trends that are taking hold. Are you ready for them? Let’s take a look at what’s up-and-coming!

Emerging Marketing Trends for 2025

AI-Driven Personalization

Love it or hate it, AI in marketing is here to stay. It’s no longer a novelty, but a valuable technology that, when handled correctly, can be an asset to your day-to-day operations. This isn’t the Terminator we’re talking about. It doesn’t target John Connor for eliminations. It targets your ideal audience for leads. From personalized ads to product recommendations that are highly tailored, you can foster a strong connection with your current audience and bring even more customers into the fray! 

Voice and Visual Search Optimization

When we hear the name “Alexa,” we no longer mentally classify it as a human being’s name. We subconsciously bring up that smart home device who plays music for us while we cook and tells us about the weather. She’s only gotten more popular as the years have passed, and it’s because she’s so helpful! More consumers are discovering what she and other devices like her are capable of, and it’s shaking up the way they shop in big ways.

That’s why including these platforms in your marketing strategy is becoming so important. Ensuring your website uses conversational language that helps search queries is vital. Equally important is incorporating high-quality imagery that has proper alt text that will help search engines with visual searches. It can seriously boost your company and product visibility!

Interactive and Immersive Content

Heading into 2025, it’s more important than ever to keep your audience engaged. Simply put, static ads on websites and in print pieces will no longer cut it. Don’t get us wrong; those still have their place, but people also require immersion these days! Interactive content like polls, quizzes, and even augmented reality (AR) experiences are set to dominate the landscape.

Say your business is all about selling sunglasses. You’re probably familiar with the rotating rack that allows customers in a physical store to try on those sunglasses and use a mirror to see how they look wearing them. What if you could give your customers the ability to “try on” any pair they want without even being in the store? This gamified marketing approach is already making waves and captivating audiences of businesses who have embraced it.

Sustainability-Centric Branding

The environment started to creep into consumer minds years ago. That creep eventually became a crawl, became a walk, became a—you get the picture. In 2025, it’s so prominent that it could be the difference between a sale and a lost customer. This planet-first mindset continues to shape the marketing landscape and, in turn, business strategies. More often than not, brands that prioritize sustainability in their products and practices stand to gain a competitive edge. This could come in plenty of forms:

  • Transparent sourcing
  • Eco-friendly packaging
  • Support of environmental causes
  • Reduction of paper waste

Sustainability has become more than just a buzzword or a hashtag. It’s become a core value of countless businesses around the globe.

Influencer Marketing Evolution

Don’t be fooled by the word “influencer.” They’re not all drama-courting pranksters who pick fights with famous boxers. Plenty of them have a focus and a fanbase that is perfect for your business and products. And we’re not talking about the huge megastars who have millions of followers. They still hold sway, but the micro-influencer is swiftly becoming a great way for brands to strut their stuff. In the new year, authenticity will be in the driver’s seat, with consumers being drawn to genuine, down-to-earth messaging from their favorite online personas. Keeping those personas top of mind when creating your marketing strategy could translate to several new customers and even lasting partnerships.

Tools and Tech

When you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need the right tools to do it. A great mind for business is crucial, of course, but it goes to waste if you don’t have a way to connect with your customers. Consider investing in solutions that enhance automation, data, and customer engagement. This could be an advanced Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, AI-driven content creation, or any other platform that drives customer engagement. With the right technology, you can amplify your results more than you ever thought possible!

Strategies for Staying Ahead

Being aware of these marketing trends is one thing, but you still need to act on them. Here are a few short tips for taking action:

  • Stay Educated: The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to excel in your business ventures. Attending industry events, webinars, and training sessions is a great way to achieve this.
  • Embrace Analytics: Pay attention to data so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t—and adapt to the results in real-time.
  • Partner with Experts: We know this is a lot for one business to handle, which is why it’s important to collaborate with other agencies—like us—who can help you navigate the shifting landscape like it’s your job (which it kind of is).

Keep Up With 2025’s Marketing Trends

The future has arrived with exciting technologies and marketing trends. 2025 is going to be packed with opportunities for you to innovate and level up your engagement—through AI in marketing, sustainability, authenticity, and interactivity. Ready to take advantage of those opportunities? We can help you navigate this weird world of marketing shakeups. Get in touch with us and we’ll take on 2025 together!

Holiday Marketing Tips for Your Business

Posted on November 21, 2024

cafe owner and staff determining a holiday marketing strategy

What’s the busiest time of year for your business? Chances are, most businesses would answer that question with, “The holidays!” Despite this season of wonder, joy, and deals, it can be tough to stand out. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling the best custom mugs on the internet; if you don’t have a holiday marketing plan for them, your seasonal sales might be as disappointing as a stocking filled with coal. Take some time to strategize and offer your customers something to be jolly about!

Leverage Holiday-Themed Content

Does creating holiday advertising content take a lot of work? Yes. Can you make it fun? Absolutely! The holiday season affords you a chance to do some creative things with your brand and products. 

  • Gift Guides: Create short, tailored guides by category. “Mugs for the nerds in your life” or maybe “Tea accessories for your fancy loved one.” And then there’s the “Last minute stocking stuffers” guides for the procrastinators out there.
  • Themed Social Posts: Share a digital advent calendar countdown, offer “Daily Gift” promotions, and decorate your graphics with the colors and symbols of the holiday—just be sure to keep your brand recognizable.
  • Holiday Newsletters: Curated content sent out via email is the starting point to many a gift giver’s shopping journey. Make yours stand out by offering them deals they can’t refuse.

Here’s a nice little bonus tip: Why not deck the website? It doesn’t have to be boughs of holly, but you could always hang a little Santa hat on your logo, or maybe change some icons to candy canes and gifts. It’s a pleasant reward for the customer when your content does pull in clicks, and we would be happy to make it happen for you!

Offer Special Deals and Promotions

Holiday advertising isn’t complete without a plethora of exclusive deals. Discounts are welcome by all, while free shipping can entice customers to spend a minimum amount! Flash sales and last-chance reminders are also an effective way to grab the attention of all the right customers and create urgency.

If you’re intent on selling those custom mugs, this is a great chance to offer gift packages that offer more value than purchasing each item individually. You can even throw in some more incentives! Why not include a packet of hot chocolate and a candy cane stirring spoon with the purchase of each mug? After all, who doesn’t love hot chocolate?

Optimize for Mobile Shopping

Holiday marketing isn’t just about advertisements! This one applies year-round, but it’s crucial at a time when you’re seeing heavier-than-usual web traffic. Make sure you optimize your website for customers who shop using their mobile devices! Here’s what you should prioritize:

  • Responsive Design: Is your site fast and easy to navigate? Is it pleasing to the eye on mobile? Is the text legible?
  • Streamlined Checkout: Simple, efficient checkout processes can make or break a sale. Many people may back out of a sale if they’re required to create an account, so consider adding a “Guest Checkout” option.
  • Mobile Payment Options: Fast, simple methods of payment are becoming more and more popular—you’re probably all-too-familiar with the involuntary eyeroll when you realize you need to go fetch your credit card and enter all the info. Adding Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and other quick solutions can help reduce cart abandonment.

Still skeptical? These insights from HubSpot paint a picture of just how important mobile optimization is.

Run Targeted Social Media Campaigns

We can’t stress enough how important your social media marketing strategy is during the holidays. It’s a way to connect with potential (and existing) customers and provide interaction they’ll remember. Consider running paid social media campaigns to target specific audiences that you determine based on interests. Be sure to utilize the themed visuals we touched on earlier. A holiday-themed graphic keeps your customers in the holiday spirit and lets them know that your content is fresh. It also keeps your product or service fresh in their minds, ensuring they don’t forget that amazing gift idea!

With that in mind, be aware of which platforms you’re running your campaigns on and craft your content accordingly. On Facebook, you may take a traditional ad approach, with that custom mug front and center, filled with hot cocoa with twinkling lights in the background. But on Instagram? A photo of someone cozied up on the couch next to the fireplace while holding their mug to their lips might be the more effective route.

As for LinkedIn, it’s probably not going to sell as many mugs as the other two platforms. It’s good to know when you don’t even need to include certain platforms in your campaign!

Personalize Customer Experiences

Have you ever walked into your favorite cafe, bookstore, or other establishment to be recognized and greeted by the staff? It probably made you like the place even more. These people know you and like serving you! That’s the feeling you’re trying to spark with your holiday marketing. When they know you want to make their experience an enjoyable one, they’re more likely to support your business. Here’s what you can do:

  • Data-Driven Personalization: Utilize data on the buyer’s browsing history and past purchases to make recommendations on products that are relevant to them. 
  • Exclusive Offers for Loyal Customers: Do you have a customer who has spent a significant amount of money on your custom mugs? Consider rewarding them with an exclusive discount—and ask them how they find space for all those mugs.
  • Holiday-Themed Loyalty Programs: Offer your customers additional loyalty points or holiday bonuses to encourage them to make future purchases. We know we would love to get a coupon that says, “Thanks for your purchase! Enjoy 15% off the next time you shop with us!”

Focus on Customer Service

This is another one of those things that applies year-round—not just your holiday marketing efforts. When stress is high for many customers, making their experience as pleasant as possible is vital! So how do you deliver that pleasant customer journey and handle inquiries with a genuine smile? It’s all about timeliness and being proactive!

This is your chance to be flexible. Offer your customers multiple support channels—chat, email, and phone support. All kinds of customers exist, and they don’t share the same communication preferences. Of course, none of that matters if you don’t answer your phone or respond to messages in a timely manner. Leaving customers hanging is a surefire way to sour their experience.

Want to take your customer service a step further? Have a system in place to notify buyers of updates to their orders, shipping deadlines, and any delays. A late package with no communication is the perfect recipe for a Grinch.

Plan for Post-Holiday Engagement

You thought the holiday rush was over once the holiday itself ends? Think again! While it may not be nearly as busy, there will likely be a handful of gift returns or other inquiries—such is the lifecycle of the holiday shopping season. Maybe a customer received a misprint or has to make a return because they finally ran out of cabinet space. Whatever the reasoning, it’s best to be ready for:

  • Walk-in gift returns
  • DMs on social media accounts
  • Comments on your posts
  • Calls with questions

When it comes to social media, engagement is key here. Hopefully you’ll be getting nothing but comments saying how much your customers love drinking their coffee out of their new custom mug, but the opposite is a possibility (some people are hard to please). Responding to positive and negative feedback shows your customers that you really care about their satisfaction, and could be the factor that encourages them to return.

A Holly Jolly Marketing Strategy

This season can bring plenty of fortune to your business, but only if you put some work into your holiday marketing strategy. By leveraging holiday content, optimizing your website, running great campaigns, and practicing effective customer service practices, you’re letting your customers know that they matter to you. If you need a little help with managing all of it, our designers and developers are happy to craft a holiday plan for your business. Let us do the work while you sit back and enjoy some hot cocoa.

A Guide to the Website Development Process

Posted on October 24, 2024

web developer working through the website development process

On the modern mainstreet, the digital one, a website is your storefront. Where your customers interact with you and what you have to offer. As such, a well-structured website is essential for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence and engage with their customers effectively. However, creating a successful website isn’t a one-step process. It involves multiple stages, from initial planning to design and development to launch. Today, we’ll walk you through the essential steps of the website development process, ensuring you understand all the elements needed for the kind of site that serves your business needs and draws people in.

Step 1: Planning and Research

Like with any other part of your business, the foundation of a successful website development project lies in thorough planning and research.

  • Define Your Business Goals and Target Audience
    Start by identifying what you aim to achieve with your website. Are you looking to increase sales, generate leads, or provide information? Understanding your business objectives will help you tailor the site’s design and functionality. Equally important is defining your target audience. Who are they? What are their preferences? Knowing the answers to these questions allows you to create a site that speaks to their specific needs and desires.
  • Conduct Competitive Research
    It’s important to know what’s out there, what other companies are doing. So analyze competitors’ websites to understand not just industry standards but to identify areas for differentiation. What do others do well? Where do they fall short? This basic research can both inspire ideas for your site and help you avoid all-too-common pitfalls.
  • Create a Sitemap and Wireframes
    A site map is a visual representation of your website’s structure, showing how different pages will connect. Wireframes are low-fidelity sketches of the layout of your pages, focusing on placement of elements without getting caught up in design details. Together, these tools help you visualize the user journey and ensure a logical flow of information.

Step 2: Design and User Experience (UX)

Once you have a clear plan for the website development process, it’s time to bear down on the design and user experience.

  • Visual Design and Branding
    The design of your website should reflect your established brand identity. This includes color schemes, typography, and imagery that resonate with your target audience. A consistent and appealing design enhances brand recognition and trust.
  • Design With Mobile in Mind
    Have you ever visited a website on your cell phone and found it essentially unusable? With text too small to read and links too tiny to interact with? Frustrations like these are the hallmark of a site that wasn’t optimized for mobile devices. But with a significant number of users accessing sites on such devices, this kind of optimization is crucial—ensuring your site will look and function well on screens of all sizes.
  • UX Considerations
    Prioritize intuitive navigation and easy access to information. Users should be able to find what they need without frustration. Functionality should be as intuitive as possible. Consider implementing clear calls to action (CTAs) to guide users toward desired outcomes, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.

Step 3: Development and Coding

With design and UX thoroughly thought out and in place, your next step in the website development process is to focus on development and coding.

  • Front-End Development
    This involves using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the user-facing elements of the website. Front-end development focuses on translating design mockups into a functional website, ensuring that it not only looks great but operates as intended.
  • Back-End Development
    What happens behind the scenes on a movie isn’t the most exciting part of the process, but without it you wouldn’t have a movie. Back-end site development is like that. It’s responsible for managing how your site works behind the screen—managing databases and server configurations, and ensuring data is securely transmitted and stored.

Step 4: Content Creation

Content is increasingly king when it comes to websites, making this next step in the website development process critical.

  • Create SEO-Optimized Content
    SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a well-understood way to organically boost visits to your website. By using relevant keywords in blogs or almost any other part of your site, crafting engaging meta descriptions, and structuring content for readability, people generically searching the web for a product or service you provide will be directed to your website. This costs nothing, in the sense that it’s not paid advertising, just expertise. Website development services companies worth their salt will have this kind of expertise.
  • Use Engaging Media
    A picture is worth a thousand words. So incorporate images, videos, and infographics to make your content more engaging. Multimedia elements can help convey complex information and keep visitors on your site longer, which is always a good thing. And don’t forget to show people actually using the product, rather than just the product itself. A little humanization can go a long way when it comes to presenting a good or a service.
    One word of caution here regarding the use of all this engaging media: Make sure file sizes are optimized for all screen sizes, big or small. There’s no surer way to get someone to give up on visiting your website than slow load times. More on this in a bit.
  • Plan Content Updates and Regular Maintenance
    Like any other part of your business, your website needs upkeep. Establish a plan for regular content updates to keep it fresh and relevant. Ongoing maintenance is essential for optimizing performance and ensuring all information is accurate and up to date. 

Step 5: Testing and Debugging

Before launching your site, thorough testing is crucial and is another aspect of website development that must not be ignored.

  • Conduct Usability Tests Across Different Browsers and Devices
    Ensure that your website works flawlessly on various browsers and devices. Chrome. Safari. Edge. iPhone. Android. Etc. Usability testing helps identify any issues users may encounter and allows you to make necessary adjustments before your site goes live.
  • Fix Bugs, Test Functionality, and Optimize Page Speed
    You never want to have gone to all the trouble of optimizing your content, to bring people to your site, only to have them abandon the effort because your site was taking too long to load. Think of how many times you yourself have done this. So address any bugs and optimize your site’s performance to ensure fast loading times. A well-functioning website not only enhances user experience but also positively impacts search engine rankings.

Step 6: Launch & Post-launch Maintenance

With the testing and debugging of your website complete, it’s time to launch it.

  • Final Review and Go-Live Process
    Conduct a final review of all content, functionality, and design elements before going live. Make sure everything is in order and ready for users. Again, an agency that knows its way around website development services won’t let you down at a time like this.
  • Ongoing Maintenance, Updates, and Security Patches
    After launch, your website requires continuous maintenance not just in the content sense but in the technical sense. Regular updates, security patches, and performance optimizations are necessary to keep your site secure and running smoothly.

Websites That Work in Every Aspect

Brick-and-mortar storefronts are designed to pull people in off the street and into your shop, so you can sell them all sorts of great things that they really, really need. The same goes for your digital storefront, i.e., your website. Following each step in the website development process is essential for doing just that. From planning and design to development and maintenance, every stage plays an important role in creating a website that helps your business succeed. If you’re looking for professional website development assistance—an agency that won’t let you down on any of the above—look no further than ArachnidWorks (speaking of websites that do their jobs).

If You’re Not Blogging, You’re Missing Out (Blog Examples and Tips)

Posted on September 25, 2024

woman on her laptop researching blog examples

Before we begin, we’ll address the elephant on the page. Writing a blog about writing blogs seems pretty hilarious, but how else are we supposed to tell you about best practices and great blog examples? Through social media posts? That would take a whole long thread on X Formerly Known as Twitter. Through the postal service? That’s obviously not practical. So we have to be really meta about it.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Have you noticed a dip in web traffic recently? Maybe you can’t quite pinpoint the cause. Your social media posts are performing well and your paid ads are proving to be worth the investment, but what about your blog? Having one is a great start, but if you aren’t updating it regularly you’re missing out on some important opportunities.

There really is a lot to be said about the importance of writing blogs to help give your business a boost. It can increase traffic, educate your audience, generate leads, and even support your efforts elsewhere! Let’s get into all the benefits of blogging and even take a look at some well-crafted blog examples.

Boosts SEO and Organic Traffic

Search engines are always hungry, and content is their food. A consistent blog provides a steady stream of fresh content for those search engines to feast on (and readers to feast their eyes on), which helps your website rank higher in search results! But it’s not just about writing with reckless abandon. These search engines essentially reward the proper use of things like keywords. For example, if we want this very blog to help our SEO efforts, we would try to utilize a popular keyword related to the subject we’re writing about—a keyword like “writing blogs.” 

Turns out Google really likes that last sentence.

The thing is, we have to be careful not to overuse keywords when blogging for business purposes, otherwise it’ll be considered spam. For now, though, we’re in the clear. We’ve only used the keyword mentioned above three times, so we’re far from getting dinged. As long as SEO best practices like this are followed in your blog, you’ll likely see an increase in your search rankings.

The content still has to be valuable to the human user, though. Make sure you’re writing organically and including information relevant to your target audience. Otherwise, people will see through it pretty easily, and you’ll likely lose out on valuable organic traffic.

Establishes Authority and Expertise

A blog that’s well-maintained is a great tool for showing your customers you know what you’re talking about! If they visit your site and find a treasure-trove of write-ups about the very thing your site is selling, they’ll likely be more confident in your abilities. Would you even still be on our website if we just had basic service descriptions and nothing else? Probably not. 

By sharing relevant industry insights, tips, and trends, you can position your business as an authority in your industry. This trust you establish with your customers through consistent knowledge and resources goes a long way towards turning one-time customers into loyal ones. Keep up that credibility-building, and you’ll be recognized within your industry for all the right reasons!

Not sure how to convey all that knowledge in written form? Get some inspiration from our list of blog examples later in this post! Don’t have time to learn SEO and write blogs every month? Let a team of experts take this task off your hands and see your website traffic increase drastically!

Engages and Educates Your Audience

We know you can’t spend your days chatting on the phone with each customer like they’re your high school crush, but that doesn’t mean you can’t maintain communication with them. By writing—you guessed it—a blog, you can engage your readers in several ways: 

  • By presenting them with the blog content itself
  • Through comments on the blog post
  • Social media shares
  • Emails/periodic newsletters

All these things can present interlinking opportunities with your content, which is just one of several benefits of blogging. It serves as a source of education for anyone who wants a few extra slices of knowledge. When you’re constantly keeping their attention, you’re constantly keeping their business! 

Generates Leads and Conversions

Writing blogs is an opportunity to generate leads. How? By engaging with and encouraging your customers! This could take the form of a call-to-action (CTA) to get in touch (see our “Team of Experts” link above), sign up for a newsletter, request a quote, or plenty of other things your customers will find valuable. A thoughtfully constructed blog encourages site visitors to take the next step. This turns them from casual readers into potential buyers and, hopefully, loyal customers. As time goes on, your continued nurturing of this relationship with potential customers helps to increase conversions and foster business growth!

Need help crafting that sales language to entice your prospects to work with you? Reach out to ArachnidWorks today!

Supports Social Media Strategy

How did you find yourself on this page? If it wasn’t through a web search, it was likely through a social media post that linked here. Every blog you write can be turned into at least one social media post, but you’ll often have the opportunity to craft several. Take this very blog, for example. We’ll probably make a general post saying, “Read this great new blog!” and include a link, but our Social Media team will likely see the potential for more content than that. Maybe they’ll make a post covering each section we cover, or they might possibly find a high-value tip somewhere here that our followers on social will find value in.

Disclaimer: I don’t actually know if that’s exactly what they’ll do, but you can bet they’ll create some great social content from this blog!

Thanks to this steady flow of content you’ll be able to share with your social following, you’ll keep engagement high and drive traffic to your site. If that content is valuable enough, your readers may even spread your content across their networks and get you welcome exposure!

Our Top Blog Examples

Writing about blogs and leaving it at that may be effective enough, but we want to do you one better. We want you to see what the end result should look like. We’ve gathered a small list of blog examples that you can take some SEO inspiration from!

#1: ArachnidWorks

Do we have a great blog full of marketing tips and well-optimized for SEO? Did we just put ourselves at the top of this list? Yes, but that’s what you can do when you write great blogs!

#2: HubSpot

HubSpot knows marketing, and their expertise really shines through in their blog. They’re bound to show up in your search results if you’re Googling things like “blog examples” or “social media tips.”

#3: Ahrefs

This is a site we visit every day, and not just because they have a great keyword-research tool. Their blog is filled with invaluable tips and tricks for anything and everything SEO. It’s updated nearly daily. They sure have a lot to say, and the impressive part is that there’s value in all of it.

#4: Mailchimp

Mailchimp’s blog is chock full of useful tips for budding marketers and full agencies alike. You’ll find insights on email best practices, networking, and much more.

#5: Serious Eats

Serious Eats knows food. They also know how to connect with their audience. They can relate to them with posts that touch on everything from the latest industry news to weird thoughts we’ve all had while cooking.

Reap the Benefits of Blogging

There are plenty of undeniable benefits to writing blogs for your business—boosting SEO and traffic, engaging your audience, generating leads, supporting your social efforts, etc. It’s an invaluable resource if you’re looking to grow your business. And on the opposite side of the coin, neglecting it could be hurting you. If you’re just now discovering the power of blogging, no sweat! It isn’t too late to start, and we’ll be happy to help you stay competitive, build your internet presence, and grow your relationships!

Thanks for reading our blog blog. We can’t wait to see your business grow!

The Importance of Color Theory in Graphic Design

Posted on August 30, 2024

color swatches of various colors to help showcase color theory

Think of your favorite sports team. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? For some of you, it may be their star athletes or a particular game you went to. But for many people the first thing that comes to mind is the team’s colors. It’s tough to think of the Washington Commanders without imagining their defining burgundy and yellow. Likewise, the deep purple of the Baltimore Ravens is easy to conjure up. But why are these colors so recognizable? Why do they stand out so starkly when there’s so much more to their brands? It all comes down to color theory.

What is Color Theory?

This crucial aspect of graphic design is a framework that’s used as a basis for selecting harmonious colors for a brand that will help it resonate with the intended audience. It’s built on the relationships between colors and how they can be used together. What purple looks best with the gold I’ve selected?

There are a couple systems that have become influential in the design world when it comes to choosing effective colors.

The Munsell Color System

This system breaks down colors into three dimensions: hue, value, and chroma.

  • Hue: This refers to the base color itself—red, blue, yellow, and so on.
  • Value: The lightness or darkness of a color. Light orange and dark orange share the same hue, but differ in value.
  • Chroma: This refers to the intensity or saturation of a color. How vibrant or muted is it?

If this system sounds a bit familiar, it’s probably because it’s the basis for color selection in several popular software programs. Whether you’re a designer or not, you’ve probably had to choose a color from a selection menu at some point. Maybe it was a list of presets, categorized by hue. Or maybe you used an eyedropper tool for a more precise selection.

The Color Wheel

The Munsell Color system may be wildly popular, but it’s not as recognizable—at least in name—as the classic color wheel. Organizing the colors into primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, it easily conveys the relationships between colors. The more you understand of these relationships, the better you’re likely to be at creating color schemes that have visual cohesion. Here are a few different kinds of those relationships.

  • Complementary: Colors that are opposite of each other on the color wheel. Their high contrast can make for a great pairing. We’ve lost track of how many brands, movies, and more have utilized a blue-orange color theme.
  • Analogous: There are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. One example of analogous colors is blue and green, exemplified by this client of ours. 
  • Triadic: This refers to three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel. The primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) offer a great example of this relationship.

Psychological Impact of Colors

Choosing good brand colors is about more than just looking pretty or creating contrast, though. They can have a big impact on our emotions. Different colors are often tied to certain feelings, making your choice of color a powerful tool in design. Let’s take a look at the emotions and feelings evoked by the primary colors:

  • Red: Passion, energy, and urgency. Red is the defining color of love, and it’s also used to represent vitality and health. As for urgency, the color choice behind the stop sign was quite intentional.
  • Blue: Calmness, professionalism, and trust. When you want to calm down, you may imagine blue skies or still water. From the professionalism and trust standpoint, many financial institutions utilize blue because their business is built on those two things.
  • Yellow: This can stimulate appetite and attention. This explains why yellow (and its neighbor, orange) are frequently used in food marketing.

Despite everything we just walked you through, it’s worth noting that these psychological associations with color aren’t uniform around the world. Here in the West, we often associate white with weddings and purity. Be careful wearing it in certain Eastern cultures, however, as it can represent death and mourning. Understanding these cultural differences can help you design a fitting theme for a company or event—and even save you some embarrassment.

Using Color Theory in Graphic Designs

As we dive deeper into the color theory rabbit hole, we discover that in addition to aesthetics and emotion, it serves a functional purpose as well. A well-utilized color palette can enhance readability, accessibility, and overall user experience. Blue and orange might make for a striking logo, but placing blue text on an orange background could give the reader a headache in an impressively small amount of time. More than that, if you want your website, app, or other software to be ADA compliant, ensuring readability is paramount to that goal.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should stray from a good color combination entirely. If that orange and blue combination looks great and speaks to your brand, use it! Just be sure to set a dark blue text against a light background so it goes easy on the eyes.

You can elevate or detract from a design depending on the colors you choose. One important thing that’s often overlooked by amateur designers is the difference between the RGB and CMYK color spaces. Does your palette look good in both? Creating harmony in a design usually involves analogous colors or monochromatic schemes, while complementary colors can achieve contrast. Here are a few tips for finding that design sweet spot with color:

  • Limit your palette. If you use too many colors, you run the risk of overwhelming your customers.
  • Help important elements in your design stand out by utilizing contrast.
  • You likely won’t know exactly what colors to use without testing them out. Experiment with the relationships between different colors to find the perfect balance for your design.

Conclusion

Mastering color theory is a crucial skill for any designer, because color itself plays such an important role in the creative process. By understanding these principles of color and how they play into psychology and perceptions, you can create designs that truly resonate with the right people. When you’re making any design—brand identity, a website, marketing campaigns, etc.—commanding these colors will be a powerful tool in communicating your intended message.

Of course, we don’t expect you to master color theory overnight. There’s a lot to it, and this blog is just an introduction. We’re happy to lend our expertise to help you create effective designs—from brand colors to full websites—that will turn heads and convert leads. Get in touch with us, and let’s strike up a design conversation!

SEO for Small Businesses: 5 Best Practices

Posted on August 2, 2024

male small business owner using seo for small businesses best practices

Search engine optimization is important for most businesses, but SEO for small businesses is absolutely critical. But what is SEO and how do you implement best practices? Let’s use a small business as an example. 

So you own a business, and you’re looking to sell a new product or service that your company has just launched. You know that people or businesses need this offering, but how do they find you? Well, if you’re a local business, you may put up some signs or billboards in your town, similar to the “yard sale” signs we see on the side of the road with big arrows and possible misspellings. Now people know what a yard sale is, that is common terminology that sellers and buyers agree upon. But with the new product or service you’ve just launched, do people know how to find it? Do you call it the same thing they would? Is it a technical term they may not be aware of? 

SEO for small businesses is all about marrying your technical expertise with what people are searching for based on their needs. Not to make things more complicated, but Google and other search engines update their algorithm constantly, changing the weight of how important some factors are in your success. So, how do you get started?

1. Conduct Comprehensive Keyword Research

We’ll start with two words: Keyword optimization.

Keyword research is determining how much search volume certain words or phrases have, typically on a monthly basis. This also changes based on the country you’re looking to get more traffic from. Back to the point about marrying your technical expertise with what people are searching for, this is step one. There are several tools you can use that provide insight to how often keywords are searched and how difficult they are to land on the first page of Google (Search Engine Results Page [SERPs]). When it comes to SEO for small businesses, this step is especially crucial as it helps identify niche markets and local search trends.

A few tools that help out with this process (and a bit more than just keywords) are:

  • Ahrefs.com: Keyword research, website audits, backlink analysis, and more.
  • Google Keyword Planner: Keyword research and PPC (pay-per-click) ad campaign planning.
  • SEMRush: SEO, content marketing, and competitive analysis.

So what is the difference between a keyword and a keyphrase or “long tail keyword”? To break it down to its simplest form, it is one word versus an entire phrase. These each serve a different purpose when it comes to ranking for various search terms. Long tail keywords should be used when businesses are trying to target a more focused audience, perhaps one that is further along in your sales process and close to making a purchase. These long tail keywords often have less competition, higher conversion rates, and are more specific, but they have much less search volume than a basic keyword.

Effective keyword optimization is key to ensuring that your website ranks for the terms most relevant to your business.

So you’ve done your keyword research and determined what you think you should rank for, but how do you put that research into an action plan? If you’re using a tool like Ahrefs or SEMRush, it will be easy to determine what pages should rank for what keywords—but if you want to understand how to do this without a cost incurred, we explain the process below. 

A website is an extension of your business, just like any employee that speaks about your business in any capacity. It should let prospective customers know that your business offers what they’re looking for. Stronger websites will go above this and explain what it’s like to work with your business. The best websites will take this one step further and show you proof of customer success via case studies or reviews ( depending on the type of business). A restaurant will certainly favor reviews from their customers, but a B2B company should boast successful case studies.

Just like employees in a company each play a specific role in the business, each page on a website should do the same. Let’s take a service based business, like ACME, and see how they have implemented their keyword research into an ongoing strategy. The first page anyone thinks of when viewing a website is the homepage, where information on most, if not all, services or offerings are discussed. As this article is being written, ACME’s homepage ranks for over 7,000 keywords 🤯. These include basic searches like “local grocery store” or “acme market,” as well as location-specific searches like “acme new jersey” and even more service based searches like “acme delivery”. 

The homepage of a website is often more of a cluster of search terms that prospective customers may be searching for, but as you get deeper into a website, each page will try to rank for a specific keyword or phrase. The intention is to make sure the categories are the actual keywords or key phrases that prospects are searching for. These can be seen by the categories listed on ACME’s website:

  • Baby Care
  • Beverages
  • Bread & Bakery
  • Breakfast & Cereal
  • Canned Goods & Soups
  • Condiments, Spice & Bake
  • You get the point…

Each of these categories have their own page, and each of those pages ranks for a different keyword based on the page content. This is proper organization of keyword and page structure. 

Now that we have covered how keywords or keyphrases alone affect SEO, let’s dive into the next element, on-page SEO (keywords are a part of the puzzle here, but we will focus on the other pieces).

2. Optimize On-Page SEO Elements

So what is “on-page SEO”? If you can imagine your website is a book in a library, then on-page SEO is like positioning your book so it’s easy to find and enjoyable to read. You use a catchy book title (title tag) and a compelling summary on the back cover (meta description) to attract readers. 

Clear chapter titles and section headings (H1, H2, H3) help organize the content and make it easy to navigate. Descriptive labels (URLs) guide readers to the right chapters, and helpful illustrations with captions (images with alt text) make the book more engaging and accessible. By optimizing these elements, you ensure your book (website) stands out and is easy for readers to discover and enjoy.

For SEO for small businesses, mastering on-page elements is essential to compete effectively in local markets. So what are the factors we’ve discussed above?

  • Title tags
  • Meta descriptions
  • Header tags (H1, H2, H3)
  • URL structure
  • Image alt text

When reading your book, changes in font are used strategically to draw your attention to a new section or indicate something of value. This is the same as having effective on-page optimization. So how do you implement effective on-page SEO strategies?

  • Title Tags: Ensure your title tags are unique, descriptive, and include relevant keywords. Keep them under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results.
  • Meta Descriptions: Write concise and compelling meta descriptions that summarize the page content and include a call to action. Aim for around 150–160 characters.
  • Header Tags: Use header tags (H1, H2, H3) to create a clear content hierarchy. Your primary keyword should appear in the H1 tag, and subheadings should use H2 and H3 tags appropriately.
  • URL Structure: Create clean, descriptive URLs that reflect the page content and include keywords. Avoid using long strings of numbers or irrelevant characters.
  • Image Alt Text: Add descriptive alt text to all images, using relevant keywords where appropriate. This helps with accessibility and can improve image search rankings.

What may be the biggest piece of the puzzle is content, so what should you keep in mind when writing blogs or new copy for your website? Quality.

3. Create High-Quality, Relevant Content

Content quality is crucial for SEO. High-quality content is original, relevant, and engaging. It should comprehensively cover the topic and provide real value to your audience. Google’s goal when determining how pages rank is providing the most useful information for their end user, the consumer, on any topic they are searching for. This means that there are several things to keep in mind (original content, relevancy, engagement, and accuracy).

Originality is paramount. You must ensure your content is unique and not duplicated from other sources. Original content not only engages your audience but also helps in establishing your authority on the subject. Relevance is another key component, is your content relevant to what the end user is searching for? Make sure your content aligns with the interests and needs of your target audience. Understanding what your audience is looking for and addressing those needs directly can significantly improve your content’s effectiveness.

One aspect that may be tough to understand at first is engagement. To put it simply, this means keeping your readers interested. Write in a way that captivates your audience and encourages them to interact with your content. Interactive and engaging content can lead to higher retention rates and more shares. This can be measured by average engagement time scores on your website.

Next, it is important to have comprehensive coverage of the topic. Cover your subject matter thoroughly to provide valuable insights and answer potential questions your audience might have. This thoroughness not only adds value but also helps in ranking better in search results. Especially with new developments in how ChatGPT and similar tools are utilized on the web, Google now provides an AI summary for a majority of search results that is directly pulled from what they consider to be the top resource for the query. 

For SEO for small businesses, creating high-quality content that addresses local needs and questions can significantly enhance visibility and engagement.

How can you make sure you’re covering things comprehensively? Research your topic thoroughly to make sure you are answering all relevant questions. Gather reliable information before you start writing to ensure your content is accurate and informative. Good research forms the foundation of high-quality content. Write clearly and concisely, avoiding industry jargon and complex language when possible. Your goal is to communicate effectively, and make your content easy to understand for a wide audience.

Do you have pages on your site that have been up for a while and are starting to lose their rankings? To enhance your SEO content strategy, it’s important to not only focus on new content but also to refresh and update existing pages to maintain their relevance and ranking potential. Revisit and revise your content periodically to ensure it remains up-to-date and continues to provide value to your audience.

Next, we’ll cover how to enhance your prospects user experience by working on page load speed.

4. Improve Website Loading Speed

Page load speed is aptly named, as it refers to how quickly your page loads when a user is browsing your site.

Think of your website as a storefront. If it takes too long for the doors to open, potential customers may just walk away. This is why website loading speed is crucial. Not only does a fast-loading site enhance user experience, but it also significantly impacts your SEO. Search engines like Google prioritize websites that load quickly because they want to provide their users with the best experience possible. A slow website can frustrate users and cause them to return to the search results, which signals to search engines that your site might not be the best answer for their query.

So, how do you know if your website is fast enough? There are several tools available to measure your website’s speed. Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix are popular choices that provide detailed reports on your site’s performance, including what might be slowing it down and recommendations for improvement. If you’re savvy enough, you can also utilize Google’s Lighthouse scoring by inspecting your page and running a test on performance. 

Now, let’s talk about some actionable tips to boost your website’s loading speed:

Optimize Images: Large image files are one of the most common culprits of slow loading times. This can be an image you’re using in your blogs, or the headers on your homepage. Make sure to compress your images before uploading them to your site. Tools like TinyPNG or Image Compressor can help reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality. 

Remember, a fast website is like a well-oiled machine—efficient, reliable, and ready to serve your customers at a moment’s notice.

5. Build High-Quality Backlinks

Think of backlinks as the word-of-mouth recommendations of the internet. Just like you trust a friend’s advice on a good restaurant, search engines trust websites that are recommended by other reputable sites. Backlinks are links from one website to another, and they play a heavy role in SEO. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more credible your website appears to search engines, which can boost your rankings. If you’re a small business reselling products from a larger brand, a strong tactic is to have those larger brands link off to your website (just as we’ve linked to TinyPNG or ImageCompressor above). 

But how do you acquire these valuable backlinks? Here are some effective strategies:

  • Guest Posting: Writing guest posts for reputable blogs in your industry is a great way to earn backlinks. Not only does this provide a link back to your site, but it also exposes your brand to a wider audience. When crafting guest posts, ensure your content is valuable and relevant to the host site’s audience. This increases the likelihood of your post being accepted and shared. Test out platforms like Quora or Reddit where users are constantly looking for useful information and drive those users back to your website.
  • Influencer Outreach: Influencers in your industry have the power to sway opinions and can be instrumental in building backlinks. Reach out to influencers and offer something of value, such as a free product, an exclusive piece of content, or a unique insight that they might find useful. When influencers mention or link to your site, it can drive traffic and enhance your SEO.
  • Content Marketing: As discussed in section 3, creating high-quality, shareable content is one of the best ways to attract backlinks. Think infographics, research reports, and comprehensive guides that provide value to your audience. When your content is informative, engaging, and easy to share, other websites and blogs are more likely to link to it. For example, an infographic that visually explains a complex process can be shared across social media and referenced by other websites.
  • Building Relationships with Industry Bloggers and Websites: Networking within your industry can open doors to backlink opportunities. Engage with bloggers and website owners by commenting on their posts, sharing their content, and collaborating on projects. Building genuine relationships can lead to natural backlink opportunities. When these bloggers see you as a valuable resource, they’re more likely to link to your site.

Now, it’s important to remember that link quality is far more important than quantity. A single backlink from a high-authority site like a major news outlet or a well-respected industry blog can be more beneficial than dozens of links from lesser-known sites. Focus on acquiring backlinks from sites that are relevant to your industry and have a good reputation. Back to our example, ACME has over 23,000 backlinks to their website but realistically only the top 40 of these links drive more than 100 users to the ACME site on a monthly basis.

Now let’s summarize all of this information to the basic points that you can reference when working on your SEO content strategy or keyword strategy and how to implement it. 

  • Conduct Comprehensive Keyword Research: Understanding what terms your audience is searching for and incorporating them strategically into your content is the foundation of effective SEO.
  • Optimize On-Page SEO Elements: By optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, URL structures, and image alt text, you make your website more accessible and engaging for both users and search engines.
  • Create High-Quality, Relevant Content: Content that is original, relevant, engaging, and comprehensive not only attracts visitors but also helps establish your authority and improve your SEO.
  • Improve Website Loading Speed: A fast-loading website enhances user experience and is favored by search engines.
  • Build High-Quality Backlinks: Backlinks from reputable sites act as endorsements for your website, boosting its credibility and SEO. Focus on quality over quantity and use strategies like guest posting, influencer outreach, and content marketing to acquire valuable backlinks.

By taking the time to implement these practices, you’ll be well on your way to achieving better SEO results and driving more traffic to your website. Remember, SEO for small businesses is an ongoing process, and staying updated with the latest trends and best practices is key to maintaining and improving your search engine rankings.