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.

Trading Online Voucher Scheme 2020

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The Local Enterprise Office has set up a scheme to help small businesses trade online, which is so important in this current climate.

The Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers financial assistance of 90% up to €2500, alongside training and advice to help your business grow and trade online. The training and assistance they provide will help you get your site, eCommerce platform or marketing strategy up and running, and send you on your way to selling and advertising online.

The financial support can be used for new payment systems, booking systems, developing an app, or anything you need to begin your online sales journey. If you have already applied and received a Trading Online Voucher, don’t worry! You can now apply for a second one to help with any upgrades you need.

To be eligible to apply, you must attend the online workshop ‘Trading Online Grant Information Session’ on the LEO website. If you have missed your local workshop, you can attend another workshop in a different region. If you would like to attend one of these workshops, click your local office below for information, (please look for the Trading Online Grant Information Session)

Dublin City Council

South Dublin County Council

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council

Final County Council

Wicklow County Council

Meath County Council

Kildare County Council

Louth County Council

Click here to search for your local LEO

 

If you would like some more info on this scheme, please see the Local Enterprise Office website here.

Call or email us today for your free consultation and find out how you can use this voucher to boost your online presence and sales.

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

How to increase Ecommerce Sales and Traffic

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Goals in google analytics, Google analytics goalsDo you want more online sales?

Are you  thinking of setting up an ecommerce store for your business or do you already have one that is not delivering to its potential?

Are you wondering how you should set up your ecommerce site so it can maximise every website visitor, every sales opportunity?

Is your site ready to sell, you just don’t have the traffic you should?

1. Use your Facebook profile to share a link or image back to your online store.
But be creative about how you use it. Link to a tweet from a happy customer. It is proven that sharing images on Facebook outperforms any other type of post. Try to add some sort of text overlay to the image which will get people interacting with the image – “Which Spring trends do you prefer” or some question about the images/products.

3. When you’re selling your products try and let the customer visualise themselves with your product. So if you are selling bikes you could have a couple of people cycling on the bikes through a park or if you are selling mirrors you could use a picture of your mirror on a wall in a house surrounded by a warm family atmosphere.

4. Just like all conventional retail stores try placing similar selling items together so that your potential customer can get an overall feel for your product. Try to recommend related products and upsells. Getting your customers to buy additional products is always a plus.

5. Consumer research has shown that over 40% of Facebook users will like or share something in order to get a discount. So try encouraging your current fans to share your special offers or seasonal promotions by running competitions as this will bring back new potential customers to your page. Running time sensitive offers or limits on the amount of a certain product that will be sold at a discounted price can also work to increase shares and sales. Facebook advertising targeting your current group of fans is also the lowest way of advertising on Facebook.

6. Another great way of increasing shares and likes can be running a caption contest. Simply include a post on Facebook and ask people to come up with a caption that best fits the picture. Including a link back to your online store within this post can also increase visits to your website. You could also offer free shipping to your customers with a time sensitive offer as well.

7. Make sure your product descriptions are descriptive and engaging. It is important to write your own descriptions, as this gives Google a reason to index your site and choosing the right keywords can help you get found in Google search.

8. Did you know the most frequent page people exit on ecommerce sites is the checkout? In order to keep your potential customers at this vital stage, make sure you have your checkout process down to a fine art. Have the cheapest shipping option at default, make it easy for returning customers to sign in, and be honest about shipping costs. Include a handy search feature. Be sure it works to deliver accurate / relevant results. Monitor search queries to ensure you use popular terms to target other potential customers.

Make sure it takes as few clicks as possible to complete a purchase. If visitors do leave, you can use remarketing to target those people who do abandon your checkout.

Carry out regular analytics by closely monitoring user behaviour and navigation paths on your site, and use the results of such analytics to constantly improve the purchase process.

9. Is your site optimised for tablets and mobile?

10. Consider using PPC advertising for your ecommerce site and set up ecommerce conversion tracking.  You can incorporate lead generation conversions to ensure your keywords are working if there is a gap between people who are searching and then purchasing.

11. Be sure landing pages from any campaigns are relevant, compelling and match whatever offer that was promised from the advertising copy or link.

Follow some of the tips above to increase your online sales and share your experiences with us.

At Webresults.ie we identify the best digital marketing strategy for your business, in order to achieve maximum results.

If you would like to grow your business through the web in 2014 contact WebResults.ie now for a Free audit of your website. We will identify any weaknesses that exist and offer some pointers on how you can drive your business to its full potential on the web.