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For small businesses especially it has become a fact of life and an incredibly helpful tool in developing brand awareness and loyalty. Fact is, there are many benefits of having a website for your small business. Here’s why yours could do with one too:

• Increases credibility. Everyone likes transparency and your customers are no different. Today, consumers expect companies to have a web presence and might be turned off by businesses that don’t. Additionally, professional contact details are often a customer’s quickest way of vetting a company’s legitimacy at-a-glance. With a website, you can create your own custom email addition a touch of professionalism to your address.

• Extends your reach. Studies show that, in 2017 over half of humanity will be online. That means that your website has the potential to reach billions of people, some of which are potential customers. Especially if you have products to sell, a brick and mortar shop just can’t compare to the power, accessibility and visibility of a digital storefront. Your website can extend well beyond the local market and appeal to clients on a global scale.

• Cost effective. Unlike a physical retailer or print advertisement a website is always open, always available, and can be updated with the click of a button. Considering its reach, websites are endlessly more cost effective, especially if you use a website concierge service, which can save you both precious time and money, turning your website into an affordable commodity instead of a large investment.

• Great communication tool. Think of your business website as an online brochure or catalogue. You can use it to keep your clients up to date and informed about your company. Yet, in contrast to other media, you are able to use many different ways of communicating and engaging your customer base including videos. Plus, websites are great networking tools and a way for others to get in touch with you.

• Effective customer service. Since most customers nowadays expect you to have website, not having one is doing them a disservice that might drive them to the competition. In addition to that, you can create a lot of extra value for consumers by providing additional information such as FAQs, press releases, tips on how to use your products and much more.

As you can see, there are endless reasons to have a invest a little in building a site. What is a website if not the communication tool the 21st century?  Businesses who are not present online are sure to miss out on a lot of opportunities, visibility, and ultimately, customers.

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Market yourself ahead of the competition: According to a recent study, a whopping 60% of small businesses in the UK don’t have a website. Allow your current customers and prospective clientele to get in touch with you easily. The site can be an elaborate platform or a simple explainer website, highlighting the key aspects for your business and opening the door of communication between your business and the public. A polished, user-friendly website will provide you with a competitive advantage.

Better customer service: Information about your business on a public platform and aspects to a website such as FAQ’s will save you time as a business owner and prospective customers will be able to answer their own questions. Provide information for your growing client bases. Even local companies and small businesses can benefit from maintaining an active and appealing web presence.

Gain valuable credibility: With over 2 billion people using the Internet nowadays, it is inevitable that your future customers will Google search your business’s name. Boost your site’s potential with regular SEO updates and maintenance. The first search result would be your business’ website, demonstrating that you are up to par with the basics of contemporary business models and particularly if your website is optimised for SEO.

Key to your PR strategy: Show off your specialities and allow your potential clients to understand the core of your business. Build your own professional portrait. A user-friendly website with clear branding is a PR tool in itself – investment in your web presence can change the way you do business forever.

Open 24/7: With a comprehensive website, your business will be a source of information for your customers around the clock. A well-rounded web presence including a detailed and itemized section can help your customers during off-hours.

The Reality of Managing Your Own Website

Time-Consuming: Creating and managing your own website is more than just making a pretty interface with some basic options. The technical expertise needed in order produce a website that will not only enhance your online presence and boost your company’s SEO, but will also drive your sales and ultimately, the success of your business.

Unprofessional Look: After spending endless hours following do-it-yourself guides to making your website, you may find that your end product will lack the professional and sleek look that you desired. The various pages, images, and text may not match from one part of the website to the other. The absence of customisation options and the difficulty of website management upkeep can be a major obstacle for business owners. It is important to keep in mind that the appearance of your website will critically impact the buying decisions of when a prospective customer discovers your online presence.

Lack of Technical Support: A website is a fantastic and essential part of a marketing and sales strategy, however, good quality, professional website management does necessitate a significant amount of support by technical professionals. There are various aspects of a website that could fall into disrepair that an experienced IT support team can assist with.

Possibility of Making Mistakes: On the surface, website management for a small business seems easy. It is a common misconception that basic HTML and CSS skills will successfully launch a website. The reality of taking the do-it-yourself route is the possibility of faulty buttons, dead links, thin pages, and much, much more. Moreover, a do-it-yourself approach will most likely not contain the details needed in order to create a user-friendly and mobile-responsive experience. 

How Website as a Service Works 

Business owners may find it more amenable to leave their website hosting needs to the professionals. Tech companies strive to provide website as a service (WaaS) to customers that cannot afford a designated IT department. The benefits of WaaS include a live responsive website that features key, in-built SEO techniques as well as strategies that will boost rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs). Other benefits include the integration of design and development, breaking down the usual obstacles and barriers involved. Another significant feature that is included in website management is the consistent maintenance and upkeep of your web presence. Overall, the assistance of an external IT partner will result in the sleek and professional website your business necessitates and more money in your pocket.

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Design & Branding

Branding a business properly is essential to building s successful brand and implementing an effective marketing strategy. The brand will become a symbol and represent the image of what a business does. The imagery, designs, and phrases associated with a brand can help a business gain, and maintain a loyal clientele. Our WaaS packages provide the support of a graphic designer as well as a brand expert that will assist with the visual details of your website. Customers tend to stick to what they know and expect consistent and unique branding that will make your business memorable.

Colour: The colours that are selected to represent a brand typically come with subconscious undertones from the perspective of the consumer. Think of some popular brands and what their colour schemes represent and the message the brand is trying to convey. Companies such as Virgin and Coca Cola exert a sense of energy, passion, and confidence through their bold, red logos. Other companies like The Body Shop, Lacoste, and Starbucks utilise green in their branding to exemplify a feeling of balance, growth, and equilibrium.

Consistency: Consumers generally like to see consistency in a brand, and a memorable sequence of imagery such as logos or certain designs is an effective method. The repetition of important details on a website as well as any key phrases or slogans will reinforce the strength of the brand’s power.

Mobile Responsiveness

According to a recent forecast, the number of smartphone users worldwide will reach 2.4 billion by 2018. In the UK, approximately 76% of adults have a smartphone and over 32 million smartphones are purchased annually (source?).As a result, the need for a mobile-friendly website is key to maintaining a steady pool of clientele. Mobile responsiveness has now become an essential feature and a definite expectation for smartphone users throughout the world. Google and other search engines heavily penalise websites that are not mobile responsive meaning that those which are not, risk falling behind the competition and loosing business. WaaS provides the ability to effortlessly adjust the page from desktop to mobile.

SEO Readiness

With WaaS, your website’s Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will be updated on an on-going basis. There are certain strategic aspects of SEO that should be incorporated right from the start when developing a website in order to create a successful SEO and online campaign.

Keywords: Selecting suitable and appropriate keywords to place on your website are also crucial to a successful SEO strategy. The right keywords will not only drive traffic to your site but also increase the amount of prospective customers. SEO- friendly keywords can be added to various places on your website including anchor texts and links, page titles, or captions related to multimedia content. Choosing the right keywords will increase the amount of relevant traffic that will reach your website and ultimately, the fluctuation of sales.

Meta descriptions: A key aspect of your description should be on your business’ competitive advantage and unique selling point(s). What differentiates your business from your competitors? From an outside perspective, why would they click on your site in Google search as opposed to many others? What makes you stand out? Are you a non-profit? Keep in mind that a value proposition simplifies SEO. Are you an exceptionally user-friendly e-commerce site? Do you provide top-class customer service? Do you offer high quality products discounted prices? Free shipping? These are examples of important details to include in keywords and meta descriptions.

Maintenance

One of the most important aspects of a successful web presence lies in the maintenance and upkeep of the relevant technology. The Website as a Service model allows for regular maintenance and updates to be included in the overall package. With the fast-pace of technology in today’s world, it is often difficult for business owners to keep up with the ever-changing cycles of technical innovations, updates, and changes.

Website Hosting

The foundation of a website lies in the server that it will be hosted on. Our Website as a Service model boasts Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud hosting as our partner. AWS offers secure, reliable services to a multitude of clientele including Expedia, Unilever, Airbnb, and many other large companies.

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Consumers are steadily leaning towards more straightforward buying processes. In recent years, there have been numerous examples of the success and increase in subscription-based business models across a wide of array of industries. Fewer and fewer people buy movies, instead they have a Netflix subscription, they no longer buy physical data storage, they use Dropbox, and consumers no longer buy music singles or albums, they pay a monthly subscription for Spotify. These are amongst the most successful companies to adopt the subscription-based model, but are by no means the only ones. Recurly is a San Francisco-based company that guides companies through the process of offering subscription services to their clientele. CEO and co-founder of Recurly, Dan Burkhart, says, “For businesses, it’s peace of mind; for customers, it’s a reprieve from worrying about this stuff themselves.”

In the world of business-to-business (B2B) consumption, it important to be well informed of the changes and trends that occur in the sphere of subscription-based models. While it is currently a popular trend, with an ever-increasing amount of companies adopting the model, it may be especially beneficial to consumers looking for tech-related services. Amongst the most prevalent are Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud-based packages Platform as a Service (PaaS), and most recently, Website as a Service (WaaS).

Key Factors

Cost-effective Solutions: Premium and tailored services catering to businesses and consumers have become increasingly costly. Upfront costs for various services and products can be overwhelming for the budget of a small to medium sized business. However, subscription-based services are certainly a more economical solution. The lack of upfront costs allows customers and businesses with varying budgets to reap the benefits of a consistent subscription service. As a potential consumer of web development services for example, it’s simpler and much more manageable to process that you will only pay from £79 to £200 per month for services and is certainly more gratifying to hear than an upfront cost of £4-5,000 for a typical project.

Boosts Customer Service: The old saying “the customer is always right” is particularly true with subscription-based models. These businesses are designed to provide long-lasting and supportive customer relationships. The idea of the subscription-based business is to create an efficient workflow in which customers can expect steady and dependable maintenance coverage. For instance, a website management project can be particularly daunting for a business owner that lacks technical experience, or that simply needs more time to dedicate to the many other tasks involved with running a successful business. However, the usage of a subscription-based service and website as a service (WaaS) can guarantee that the latest technology and appropriate updates will be implemented. Naturally, a supportive customer service team backs these services.

Hassle-Free Maintenance: The nature of the subscription model allows a business to gradually grow a stronger relationship with its customers. The structure of a subscription-based service enables the customer to test the quality and experience of utilising the service before continuing with a more permanent commitment. The subscription model is applicable amongst various industries and is cropping up in the daily lives of business owners, marketing teams, and managing directors alike. Many companies are often faced with the challenge of ensuring that their technology is reliable and up-to-date. In this day and age, technology is the perfect example of an ever-changing industry that affects the operations of nearly every type of business. For instance, the subscription model for Website as a Service (WaaS) allows a small business’s web design, web development, digital marketing and indeed every aspect to their online presence to be maintained at the hands of a reliable IT partner for an affordable cost, thus allowing the business to focus on what it knows and does best.

Overall Impact on Business

Over the last several years, the subscription-based business model has become a revolutionary element in the way consumers purchase services and has revolutionised many industries and continues to do so. The subscription model applies to consumers across numerous industries. For consumers, signing up for a subscription model makes services and products easier to use than ever. The lack of upfront costs coupled with the hassle-free maintenance and updates that the subscription model provides allows for businesses to save time and money as well. The introduction of Website as a Service (WaaS) is particularly attractive to small businesses that lack an in-house IT department. The subscription model in the case of website design and management enables consumers to “step away” from their project and let the company do the work. Signing up for the WaaS model provides peace of mind for companies in the long term and delivers the most modern and up-to-the-minute website.

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The process of SEO all begins with a want or a need from the potential customer. Subsequently, this encourages them to use a search engine to find what they are looking for. For example, an individual’s want/need for an Italian restaurant in London will prompt this search: “Italian restaurant London”. As an Italian restaurant in London, you would strive for your business’s website to be the first, if not, then at least on the first page, of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) for these keywords. The world’s most popular search engine, Google, has implemented various algorithms, which are designed to determine the ranking of websites. Here are the 5 tips from our SEO London team to help you optimise your web presence for SEO successfully.

 1. Great Copy & Content

A website should be a credible and reliable source of information on your product or service. A clear and concise structure is vital to your website as well as carefully crafted copy. The objective of creating great content is so that it is shareable therefore increasing your authority and rankings. We advise that every web page has a minimum of 300 words.

2. Social Media & Listings

The integration of social media on your web presence is, of course, interlinked with the best SEO practices. Signing up to some of the biggest social media platforms in the world, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn can boost your rankings. For instance, an active presence on Twitter allows for a search engine such as Google to discover your content much faster, thus getting more organic traffic to your website. Search engines like Google include social media sites in their algorithm. In fact, Google highlights Twitter accounts in their search results. Google and other search engines also have databases of local business listings. Placing your business in these databases is extremely helpful when implementing your SEO strategy. It is advisable to register your company on Google My Business, this listing allows you to post your opening times, social media handles, to enforce trust.

3. Measurement Tools

The best way of keeping track of your SEO progress is through tools such as Google Analytics. Amongst many metrics available through Google Analytics the most used ones include the number of impressions, number of clicks, and the overall position of your website.

Claim your business on Google Webmaster to be up-to-date with aspects of your website that need improvement. Google Webmaster is one of the tools we use for our clients in order to see what needs to be modified and improved.

4. On-site vs. off-site blogging

On-site Blogging: Incorporating a blog on your website provides you with the opportunity to increase your search engine rankings whilst offering useful information to current and prospective customers alike. An on-site blog allows you to showcase your business and act as a resource for information that is up-to-date and relevant to your industry. Additionally, having control over your blog allows you to link internally to your own website.

Off-site Blogging: Establishing a blog presence off-site is especially useful for public relations and publicity purposes. In regards to SEO, posts on external blogs need to be high quality backlinks; having a blog link back to your website will boost your credibility and rankings.

5. On-Page

H1 Heading – The H1 heading is essentially the newspaper headline of your page. The heading should consist of relevant keywords and clearly display the subject of the content.

Page Title – Page titles are especially important for SEO – they are the text that will appear on the tab of the browser window as well as in the search engine result.

Alt Text and Image Description – Optimising SEO for images on your web page involves implementing keywords into the file name. For instance, if you have a photo of Tower Bridge in London, the file name should be tower-bridge-london.jpg instead of IMG4958.jpg.

URL Structure – The website URL should have a clear path and display the content of the page. For instance: https://mbj.london/portfolio/

At MBJ, our professional SEO London team assists our clients every step of the way. We offer a subscription-based package called Website as a Service (WaaS), which is inclusive of the essential design, development, and maintenance required to craft an impeccable web presence. Website as a Service from MBJ also allows for clients to improve their website with extra add-ons such as SEO services, faster maintenance, as well as email and calendar accounts.

Get in touch today with our SEO London team to see how we can begin to help you improve your SEO and get more organic traffic onto your website.

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1. Branding & Design

Convey the brand suitably and creatively. Your website design should reflect the business the way you envisage it and how you would like it to be perceived by the public including prospective customers. Think of your website as a 24/7 public relations representative. Your website design should encompass the mission and vision which can be displayed in the user experience. When designing your website, consider the user journey and what your ideal customer should learn and/or do when they leave your website. Don’t underestimate the importance of good company branding.

2. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Readiness

Keywords: Keywords are an essential aspect of search engine optimisation that you frequently hear about. Keywords are relevant words or phrases that your prospective customer may enter into search engines to find your website. You should consider the incorporation of keywords in your website design.

Body Text: The body of your web page should be informative, describing your product or service with relevant keywords that your website is eligible to rank for.

Page Loading Speed: Slow loading times can highly effect search engine optimisation. Factors such as a low-quality host server and an overload of large images reduce the loading speed. It is also essential to make sure that any media on your website is optimised and has a satisfactory loading speed. You can test your page loading speed on GTmetrix. A good webpage combines fast loading speed with an appealing website design.

Page Titles: The page title is one of the most significant aspects of a website . Every page on your site should have a title starting with a relevant keyword and it is important that the context of the title matches the content of the page. Page titles should help you rank for a keyword and make users click through to your website.
The length of the page title shouldn’t exceed the recommended amount of characters. We usually advice page title not to exceed 65 characters where your focus keyword is at the beginning.

H1 Headings: An H1 tag or heading will usually be the title of a post and the most significant text on the page. The H1 heading is not to be confused with the page title, which is the title that is shown on the SERPS. There should be only one H1 heading per page.

URL Structure: A clear and concise URL structure should be in line with your page title and H1 heading. For instance, https://mbj.london/products/ has a crisp URL structure and clearly displays the content of the link.
Meta Descriptions: A descriptive text explaining and summarising the content of the page. The main purpose of a meta description is to get people to click through from search engines. We recommend meta description to be between 135 and 160 characters. Meta descriptions should be unique, it is better to leave them empty than copy/paste or have irrelevant content. If it is not filled, then Google will pull a snippet from the text containing the keyword used.

3. Social Media Integration

With 2.3 billion social media users in the world, it is safe to say that a thorough social media strategy is essential for businesses. In addition to a well designed website, a social media presence is important when attracting and maintaining customers.

4. Blogging

Bringing your brand name into the blogging world allows you to establish yourself as a credible source and a knowledgeable leader in your industry. Both on-site and off-site blogging are advantageous for SEO.

5. Maintenance

Developing and managing your website through a subscription-based Website as a Service (WaaS) option ensures that your web presence receives ongoing maintenance. Regular upkeep typically includes long-term (quarterly and yearly) updates to your web presence to ensure your website is running smoothly. Other important aspects of web maintenance include fast page loading, fixing any broken links and backlinks, as well as web analysis through Google Analytics and MOZ.

Bonus Tip – Hosting

The quality of your cloud hosting will also determine your website’s SEO ranking. Server Speed: Although the optimal loading time for a website is under 3 seconds, if the loading time exceeds 10 seconds, visitors are more likely to leave your website and go to one of your competitors. Speed and security are vital to the amount of traffic on your site.

Downtime: It is important to minimise downtime and make sure that pages do not become overloaded. This can interfere with potential customers reaching your site as well as search engines accessing it for crawling purposes. Amazon Web Services (AWS): At MBJ, we use AWS as our preferred hosting partner. Popular companies such as Netflix, Expedia, Coursera, and UniLever use AWS. It is the world’s largest and most secure cloud services provider.

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