The first step to running a business online is to build a website. The second is to promote it! There are many ways you can do this, and digital marketing methods are changing and improving all of the time. Take a look at our guide to find out how you can get your website to the top of Google's search results and in front of more people fast.

1. Choose a concise domain name that describes what you do instantly

Your website address is very often the first thing a potential customer comes into contact with when viewing or looking up your business. By making it clear from your website address what you have to offer, you will experience more clicks, more visits and ultimately more sales. Try to choose a domain name that includes your service or product. For example, a window fitting company might choose www.southendwindows.co.uk, or www.essexglass.co.uk. We can also give you advice on the best domain name to choose and assist you with registering your domain name and hosting your website.

See our guide on the new Generic Top Level Domains

2. Use promotional videos on your home page or landing pages

If you want to get your sales message or point across in a quick, meaningful and impactful way, promotional videos are a great idea. Videos help you to inject personality into your website and to engage with visitors instantly. Videos allow you to show product demos, instructional guides and much more and they could help you to boost sales and conversions. In fact, recent research from market research firm InternetRetailer says that consumers could be 85% more likely to purchase a product after watching a video.

Click here to see an example of one of our video productions

3. Get a Blog - Everybody's doing it!

You may have heard the phrase 'content is king', and it really is! Not only can content help you to explain your brand, your products and services, but it can also make you an authority in your field. When you become an authority (the go to place for particular information), you gain visitor and customer trust and this can only be good for your business. A blog, updated regularly, can help you to build content on your site, improve search engine rankings and give you content to share over a number of different channels, including social media.

4. Submit your site to search directories

Whether you are a local or national company or organisation, search directories should be your friend. By adding your website and information about your business to these directories, you can reach out to a wider audience and ensure you are found and seen in more places. Yelp, TripAdvisor and Google Places are all good examples of the directories you should be targeting. We can help you to identify the best directories to suit your business and your target audience.

5. Add a feed to your website

If you are already using social media to promote your products and services, that's great! Now let's take that one step further by adding a live feed to your website. This is a great way to add content, and display your latest submissions to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms on your website. Adding a feed is easy and you can have as many on your website as you like - perfect if you are engaging with your target audience across different social media platforms.

If search engine ranking is important to your business a good tip is not to hide your services under a generic 'Services' tab. This site is a good example of how this could be done, the key services that Sound Advice offer have their own page and the services are all listed at the top navigation level.

This responsive website has been designed and built for Sound Advice an Audio Visual company based in Brentwood.

The site is fully responsive for both tablets and smart phones. It also features an interactive promotional area on the home page of the site.



Above the Sound Advice home page, below an example of one of the content pages.

If you would like more information on our web design services call us on 01702 482011.

We have recently created this promotional video for Welbeck Solicitors LLP, a firm of solicitors based in London's West End. The video is designed to convey the company's key services and messages in one simple engaging video.

This video was designed, animated and recorded in house by Phuse.

If you would like more information on our web or video services call us on 01702 482011.

Just when you thought all the best website addresses were taken, there are now more than 1,300 new generic top level domains to choose from. These names are currently being released onto the market, and we could be delighted to help you choose the perfect gTLD to complement your existing website or to use to build a new website.

What are Generic Top Level Domains?

The term 'generic top level domain', or gTLD, as it is also known, is really just a fancy industry term for the suffix that follows a website address, for example .com or .co.uk. The problem today is that many domain names using these suffixes are already taken, and this means new businesses are restricted to choosing names that may not reflect their company name or type of business. The good news is that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (they control and maintain domain name publication) is releasing hundreds of new generic top level domains into the public domain. No longer are you confined to choosing a .com, .co.uk or .org domain name. You can now choose exciting domains ending with .london, tech, and even .food! Just think about the possibilities for your business.

These domains are being released right now and registering a new domain name really couldn't be easier. We can help you to choose from the hundreds of domains on offer and with everything from domain hosting to website design and optimisation.

What are the benefits of registering a new gTLD?

There are many reasons why a new or existing business or organisation might want to register a new gTLD. Here are just some of them, and we would be delighted to answer any further questions you may have:

• A gTLD gives you a short and memorable domain that not only matches your business name, but also your industry. This can really help you to set your brand apart from rival brands
• Increase visibility online, build a strong identity and gain customer trust in your brand
• Use a new gTLD alongside your .co.uk, .com or .org domain as a modern and catchy alternative

It only costs a few pounds to register a new gLTD so why not get in before your competitors to register a memorable and sought after domain name that could really take your business further? If you have an existing website, you don't necessarily need to create a new website to accommodate your new gTLD. We can forward your new domain name to your existing website very easily.

Can a new gTLD boost my search engine rankings?

If you are thinking about opting for one of the new gTLDs, you might be thinking that it will have a positive effect on your search engine rankings. Unfortunately, Google won't show preference to a gTLD unless it is optimised in the usual way, but choosing a gTLD could still be very beneficial to your business. These domain names are going to be snapped up very fast and grabbing one today could help you to create a more memorable presence online and capture lots more business. Any domain name, or more specifically website can be optimised to bring you more traffic and ultimately more business. Speak to us today to find out more about the new gLTDs and how you can choose a domain name that will really take your business places.

Which gTLD is right for me?

There are too many gTLDs for us to list here, but we think you will have a lot of fun selecting the right one for your business. Here are just some ideas to get you started:

• Get creative - create a buzz about your brand by choosing gTLDs like .ninja or .rocks
• Choose a name for your industry - if you are a fashion designer, you can now choose a domain name with .fashion as a suffix. If you own a shop, there is a .shop suffix, and if you are running a luxury brand, there is also a .luxury suffix available. The new gTLDs offer so much more when it comes to branding your business and making it unique
• Choose a location based name - if you want to market your business to local business, why not select a gTLD like.london?

We have recently completed this striking new website for Photographer Chris Gardner. The site is to showcase Chris's beautiful wildlife, landscape and flora photography taken from locations all over the world.

The site features a tagging system that allows for all photos to be tagged in multiple categories. Each category can then be expanded to allow visitors to the site can then filter the results down to find specific images.

The screen grabs below show the intro or home page and the main image category search page.

If you would like more information on our services or if you are a photographer in need of a good website call us on 01702 482011.

Search engine optimisation, or SEO as it is also commonly known, is the process of optimising each page on your website so that it can be easily found by Google. There are many ways you can do this, but one of the most effective ways is to use keywords throughout your pages that reflect the services or products you have to offer. This will help Google to return relevant results to users and get you higher up in the search engine rankings than you thought possible.

Here are five tips to improve your websites SEO.

1. Use Google Adwords to find the best keywords

Keywords are essential if you want your website to rank well on Google, whether you are using paid advertising or organic search engine optimisation. Google offers a keyword research tool called Adwords that allows you to find the most relevant and popular keywords for your products, services or industry. Not only can you see the most popular keywords, but you can also see how many people searched recently using those keywords. This can really help you to understand how your potential customers are searching for services or products like yours. Once you have defined which keywords can be used for your business or organisation, you can start using them within your content and also the meta data on each page. It is also a good idea to give your pages the same names as the keywords you select - it all helps when it comes to search engine rankings. When optimised in the right way, your keyword rich content can really start to bring in more traffic and turn those visits into conversions. Use the Google Adwords tool here.

2. Include keywords throughout your website for the best results

Once you have found a good set of keywords to work with, it's time to put them to work. You can do this by writing content that includes these keywords. We recommend a keyword density (that's the ratio of keywords to normal text on the page) of between 1 and 3%. This will make your copy appear natural to human eyes, and also to Google. In addition to including your keywords in your content, place them within the headings of your pages and also link them to other pages on your site. You should also include them in the meta data of your pages- your meta description, h1 and h2 headings etc. We can help you with these areas if you don't have any experience in search engine optimisation.

3. Don't hide your services under a generic services tab

If you offer a range of services, don't hide them away by placing individual service pages under a generic 'Services' tab. Instead, bring them up a level so that it is clear to your visitors what you have to offer. A website that is easy to understand and easy to navigate will be welcomed by your visitors and will help them to make a quick decision on whether to use your services. Very often, you only have a few seconds to make a lasting first impression with your website, and navigation and layout are important. Try to link your pages to other pages as much as possible so that you draw visitors deeper into your website. Include a strong call to action on each page too, including a compelling reason why customers should use your company and how they can get in touch with you.

4. Always make sure that content is unique and relevant

One of the most important rules of writing copy for the web is that it must be unique - that is, you cannot copy content from another website and make it your own. Google looks unfavourably at duplicate content and you will find that the ranking of your website will suffer dramatically if you use any on your pages. It is also important to make your content relevant to your target audience. Give them useful information about your company, products or services, tell them why you are better than the rest and give them clear ways to get in touch with you. Keeping your content fresh and frequent can also work wonders for your search engine ranking, so why not include a blog on your website? Here you can really put your keywords to work for you and give your target audience a reason to keep coming back or to bookmark your website.

5. Include individual pages for each service you provide

You could talk about all of the services you provide on just one page, but if you really want to optimise your website, an individual page for each service can really help. This is because you get another chance to use those keywords to good effect, and also make it clear to your customers what you do. Customers may only be looking for one of your services and by offering them a dedicated page that relates to and which is optimised for that service, you can help them to find you easily. You can also include town names on your services pages to help the process even more. Many people will enter a search such as 'car repairs in Southend' and so it makes sense to include some geographical keywords within your content too.

For more information on search engine optimisation for your website contact us on 01702 482011 or click here to send us an email.