Google Introduces Country-Specific Fees

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Google Country Specific Fees

Last week, Google announced that it is introducing extra charges, also known as country-specific fees, for advertisers in the UK, Turkey and Austria. These charges are effective from the 1st of November 2020.

But why? And what does this mean for advertisers in these countries? We’ve delved into it for you, so read on and learn what these fees could mean for your business or your clients.

How much are the country-specific fees?

Google has said it will introduce the following:

• Ads served in Turkey: a 5% Regulatory Operating Cost added to your invoice or statement
• Ads served in Austria: a 5% Austria Digital Services Tax Fee added to your invoice or statement
• Ads served in the United Kingdom: a 2% UK Digital Services Tax Fee added to your invoice or statement

Why are these being introduced?

In Turkey, the Government have introduced tighter controls around data processing, permission and international data transfers since 2016, similar to the EU’s GDPR ruling. However, since 2016, these regulations have become increasingly difficult to comply with, and as a result, Google has announced it will be opening a Turkish office.

In the UK and Austria, the introduction of the Digital Services Tax means that advertisers will be charged an extra 2% and 5% respectively on their invoices.

The UK’s DST has been in the works for a couple of years and was announced in March. The tax is aimed at collecting revenues from digital companies with at least £500 million in global revenue and £25 million in U.K. revenue, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook. Unfortunately, it is the advertisers who will feel the pinch.

How will the Google country-specific fees affect advertisers?

These additional costs will not affect the CPC advertisers pay or anything related to any bids in the Google Ads auction. The extra charge will be listed on each invoice.

For example, if you are a UK advertiser who spent £1,000 on clicks for the month, your DST fee from Google would be 2% of that, which is £20. That would make your final invoice (exclusive of VAT) £1,020.

What is the best way to handle this moving forward?

Factoring this into your advertising budget will be crucial, so make sure you make the adjustment in time for the November launch. As this is a percentage charge, it is wise to make the estimate based on the upper range of your monthly account spend.

To create or edit a budget, you will need an Admin, Standard, or billing-only access to the paying manager account and the manager account needs to be linked to the payments profile.

Again, all charges will be listed on your monthly invoice, so make sure to check in on your billing documents to ensure the spend is within your allocated budget.

If you are a company based in or partly-based in the above countries and have questions relating to Google’s country-specific fees, feel free to contact us here at WebResults via email or contact form to discuss this further.

Enterprise Ireland Online Retail Scheme

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Enterprise Ireland Online Retail Scheme

What is the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail Scheme?

The Enterprise Ireland Online Retail Scheme is a grant to businesses that meet the specified criteria to help them develop or enhance their online trading capabilities.

The grant covers 80% of the costs of the proposed activity. So for example, if your proposed activities are quoted as costing €12,500, Enterprise Ireland will cover €10,000 (which is the minimum cost and grant allowed. The maximum grant is €40,000).

So what does this mean for your business?

It means that, from as little as €2,500 investment, your business can enter into the world of eCommerce and online marketing. Activities carried out by WebResults that would be covered by the grant include:

Research:

This includes analysing your current and potential online presence and opportunities. We will explore your market and learn about your brand, target audience, products or services and more. We will also present you with options in terms of the tools, applications and platforms you can use to drive your business forward. This will help you make informed decision in regards to how you want to proceed.

Strategy development:

  • Development of a written digital strategy and a roadmap for implementation including resource and business process considerations
  • Identifying how the company’s value proposition should be demonstrated online, what aspects should be emphasised and how best to present this
  • Ensuring that your business’ online presence is being fully utilised / optimised to fulfil its overall potential, supporting the overall business strategy
  • Consideration of omni-channel offering (including marketplaces and social media)

Implementation:

  • Optimising the company’s online presence to ensure domestic and international visibility (e.g. web enhancement and localisation, associated business process enhancements, search engine optimisation etc.)
  • Enhancing related “back end” systems (e.g. product presentation, supply chain management, systems integration to improve consumer experience etc.)

How can WebResults help you?

We have been involved in the world of digital marketing for over 20 years. In that time, we have learned what methods, tools and channels work and more importantly, what does not. Put our expertise to work for your business. If you want to survive and thrive during this COVID-19 crisis, talk to us today about your application. Call us or fill out our callback form and we will reach out to you.

What Is The Digital Mentor Programme?

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webresults digital mentor programme

Over the last 15+ years, we have designed and redesigned our Digital Mentor Programme to meet the ever-changing needs of businesses. 

The Digital Mentor Programme is plan of action that consists of four pillars:

  • Support
  • Structure
  • Accountability
  • Results 

WebResults works with your business to devise a relevant digital marketing strategy based on your business objectives and market. We then identify KPIs that are aligned with the results you want to see from your business’ marketing activities. We work with staff within your business to execute the digital marketing tasks, with agreed timelines and build the roadmap to achieve success.

webresults online coaching

 

How long does the Digital Mentor Programme last?

The Digital Mentor Programme runs for a minimum of 6 months, though many of our clients are still with us after several years. You stay as long as you are getting results and learning.  It involves setting out clear daily/weekly tasks and having phone or email support as you work through these tasks. We then schedule regular calls to track progress, monitor performance, set out tasks and next steps ensuring progression for the individual and growth for the organisation.

How does it work?

The programme commences with a fact-finding session over the phone where we set out to understand your business objectives and your team’s goals. We look at your existing profile on the web, establish what needs to be done in order to achieve your objectives and set out an action plan and roadmap to ensure we see success within the given time frame. We then go through this with you in detail and agree realistic timelines with you.

 

Our programme management system ensures you have full visibility on all tasks and time spent by both us at WebResults and your team, and it is always clear what tasks remain outstanding and what is completed, including the time each task took. It ensures that the time is being best spent on where you can get the best results. The latest versions of all shared files and information are also stored in this same system, providing easy access to all materials all the time.  

What areas will I focus on?

The programme focuses mainly on SEO, social media marketing and analytics, but is adapted to use the activities that are most relevant and important to achieve your digital marketing business objectives and your market. Google Ads is not included as part of the programme, ask us about our Google Ads Management services if you would like more info.

Digital Mentor Programme

This structured, measurable and transparent programme brings the digital marketing skills and expertise your business needs, in-house, to deliver ROI and the best results in your marketplace.

 

The Covid-19 pandemic presents huge challenges for many businesses, not just to drive revenue but also to manage teams remotely. The digital mentor programme is adapted to enable your business to build your profile, drive new leads or sales where your best revenue potential exists, using a proven structure. We have over 20 years business experience and digital marketing experience and will help you rethink your digital marketing strategy and put the most effective measures in place for your business to survive and thrive. Talk to us today and give your business a kick start through our Digital Mentor Programme.

Web Analytics Explained

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Web Analytics can be defined as the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimising Web usage. In essence, it is all the information gathered from your website, to be used as a basis for future optimisation. 

Web analytics tracks so many different types of website data and analysing these will help you to make informed decisions on website design and optimization, and ultimately maximises your return on investment (ROI). 

Some of these are:

Page Views: Called ‘hits’ or impressions a lot of the time. This metric will show you the amount of times your site has been viewed within a certain timeframe.

Entry and Exit Page: This will show you what page a visitor landed on and what page they left your site from. It is a good metric to look at as it may help you understand why people are leaving your site.

Bounce Rates: This is the percentage of ‘single-page’ sessions, which refers to the amount of people that visited your site but left without interacting with it.

Locations: This shows where the users are viewing your site from. It can be very useful for marketing and strategic purposes.

Device usage: This shows whether a user is viewing your site on a desktop or mobile device. Again, this can be very useful for marketing purposes, and can also indicate whether your site is mobile friendly, which is critical to modern-day internet businesses and websites.

Organic vs. Paid Sessions: This metric will show you how users got to your site, whether they clicked one of your ads or just simply found you through the Google search. This is important in terms of developing your channels and identifying where you are getting the most return.

Search Queries: This shows what people are words people are searching that bring them to your site, it is very useful when adding keywords or negative keywords. 

Users by gender or age: These metrics are both very useful for marketing as it will help you design your ads appropriately.

 

Web analytics takes out any guessing you may have done in the past and shows you exactly who is visiting your site, what they do when they are there and how they ultimately got there. Keeping track of your web analytic is so important to stay relevant and on top of your respected sector. 

How Do SEO And SEM Work Together?

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SEO SEM Searches

We are often asked by clients, “If I am already paying for ads, why should I bother with SEO?”. It’s a fair question, as is the reverse; If you are ranking very strongly in organic search results, is it really worth paying for Ads?

However, investing in both SEO and PPC advertising (also known as SEM) simultaneously can dramatically increase your business’ revenue, traffic and conversions.

First of all, it is important to highlight the differences between organic search (SEO) and paid search (SEM/PPC).

Google Ads and SEO services

SEO/Organic Search:

Search Engine Optimisation is all about the long-term health of your digital presence and strategy. If you follow SEO best practices, your site is more likely to appear in organic (unpaid) searches.

SEO is the foundation of good SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and when you have them harmonising perfectly, you will drive high-quality traffic and leads as well as improve your site’s conversion rates. SEO incorporates everything from using keywords throughout your site to the User Experience and performance of your site on mobile.

Once you have an SEO-friendly site and sponsored ads that are using the right keywords, you have a better chance of showing up at the top of paid searches. But you need to have your SEO in place in order for Google to see you as a credible website.

SEM/Paid Search:

One of the biggest strengths of SEM is that it can deliver success and growth quickly. If your website/business is reasonably new, you can prioritise your paid search efforts first, as it can take a while for SEO rankings to become established. However, do not ignore your SEO during this process. Think of SEM as a platform to launch your search efforts, and SEO as a way of maintaining a strong and healthy digital presence.

It is important to note that having PPC ads running does not do anything for your site’s SEO. However, by improving your SEO, you can make your PPC costs more efficient.

How Do SEO And SEM Work Together?

In very simple terms, if your organic rankings are strong and your paid efforts are optimised, you will dominate Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

For example, if your business sells hammers as its main product, prioritise hammers (and associated terms such as “claw hammers”, “mallets” etc.) in your keyword strategy, both in an organic and paid context. What that means is, make sure your site pages are built with your priority keywords in mind. This includes everything from your page content to your alt, image and meta tags, captions, URLs, etc. This will improve your organic search results.

But what’s the point in appearing twice on a search engine page?

Paid search ads help you recover any missed opportunities. A study by Google found that when search ads for a keyword were paused, approximately 89% of traffic generated by these ads were not replaced by the organic rankings. That means that, even if your site is ticking all of the SEO boxes in terms of keywords, it’s very possible that you will be missing valuable traffic and thus, potential customers.

By relying on PPC, you’re recovering clicks and interest from searchers that you might have otherwise missed. Even if you aren’t ranking #1 naturally, PPC can help you draw in traffic from those looking for your products or services, often at a small cost.

Remember, by the time a person is conducting a search on a product, they have more than likely reached the “intent” stage and are asking to be converted. That is why search marketing is so important and so valuable.

Conclusion

While SEM can help deliver fast results, SEO is imperative to building and maintaining a successful digital marketing strategy for your business.

By following SEO best practices, you will not only enhance your chances of ranking organically in search engine results (thus driving free clicks to your site), but it will also lend your site credibility in the eyes of Google (which is the primary search engine used by approximately 81% of the entire web population). This means you will see higher levels of valuable traffic on your site and thus, bring your business to the next level.

Are you interested in Google Ads, SEM or SEO services? Contact us today at info@webresults.ie and talk to our team.

5 Top Tips to Convert Your Website Visitors into Paying Customers

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Here are some of the basic elements required to turn your website traffic into paying customers. Read more

5 Top Tips to Convert Your Website Visitors into Paying Customers

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Following on from our last article ‘How to Increase Website Traffic’ we will Website Conversionsexplore some of the basic elements required to turn this traffic into paying customers.

The primary goal for any website is to convert visitors into customers, it is also essential to raise brand awareness, improve your search rankings and drive traffic to your website through your social media channels.

However, once on your site you have a short timeframe to capture the user’s interest and make the conversion. Follow our five step formula to increase your websites conversions.

  1. Know Your Target Audience

Research is the key to any successful online venture and this is required to build a clear understanding of your target audience. Through your research it is very beneficial to develop a profile of your target customer and include their demographics such as age, gender, marital status, income and location. Now the focus shifts to their underlying motivations; what is the major problem they are experiencing and how does your website solve this. It is essential for you to understand how you can solve their problems and highlight this on your website.

  1. Make Your Website User Friendly

Internet users generally have a short time frame to conduct their search. They also have a short attention span, therefore if you have managed to get them to click onto your website it is imperative that your site is clear and they can navigate to the page they want with ease.

Some basic features that should be on your website include a logical menu, clean design, clear calls to action and simple functionality e.g. add to cart features, request a call-back etc. The primary goal is to make your site so user friendly that your users become customers in the shortest space of time. It is also worth researching why your customers are visiting your site and in turn giving them what they want in a clearly designed format.

  1. Focus On Your Customers’ Pain Points.

Back to research, through effective research you will understand your target audience’s pain points. You must then use your website to present the ideal solution to their problem. Using this approach can help direct your overall marketing strategy and keep you focused on the needs of your visitor knowing that when they land on your site, they feel like they must take action and have your product or service to resolve their issue. By understanding your customers pain points and integrating this into your marketing strategy your website will attract customers and answer their most urgent needs.

  1. Use Clear Language.

Regularly assess your marketing campaigns, look out for poof talk or buzzwords in your ad copy or technical lingo on your landing pages. If this is the case it’s time to rework your marketing strategy. The best advertisements and landing pages present a clear, concise message about your products that encourage customers to click through.

A simple question to ask at the beginning of any marketing campaign is “what does your product do, and for whom?” then provide a simple call to action.

  1. Make Sure Your Products or Services Are Competitively Priced.

Where you are selling products online clearly communicate your unique selling points. This brings you back to research, make sure that your products or services are competitively priced. The chances are that visitors coming onto your website will be comparing you directly to your competitors. Ensure your website clearly communicates why your products or services are better than your competitors. This will help you convert visitors to customers.

Driving traffic to your site is the first step towards converting them into customers. Don’t lose them at this point, follow the steps above to improve your conversion rates. Is your website driving conversions? If not, contact us now at WebResults on 01-2071872 or visit our website and fill out a contact form to get more information or a FREE WEBSITE REVIEW at www.webresults.ie.

Filed under: Ecommerce, Website Conversions, Website Usability Tagged: advice, Converting Site Traffic, digital marketing, internet marketing, Online Marketing, online web presence, web marketing, Website Conversions