digital

5 reasons every brand needs a responsive website

Posted on January 30, 2019May 11, 2020 by Vicky Drew

When considering the digital part of your business the first thing you will probably think of is your brand’s website, or lack of. A great responsive website is the most tangible digital asset a brand can have whether your business model is B2B or D2C, and if you offer ecommerce or have a more traditional bricks and mortar set up. Two of the most common questions we receive from clients are:

1. Do we need a website?
2. Should we invest in a new website?

The answer to question one is easy: yes, you definitely do – 86% of UK adults (aka your potential customers) use the Internet daily. Our answer to question two depends on your current website: is it a responsive website? A responsive website automatically adjusts the webpage content being displayed to the device, such as a laptop, tablet or smartphone, which the user is browsing with. Today every website should offer an intuitive user experience to each user on every device. If your brand’s website isn’t responsive then we recommend you invest in a shiny new one to create a ‘wow’ first impression with your customers and, provide a great user experience with all users.

Below are five reasons every brand and small business should have a responsive website:

1. You’re missing out on mobile and tablet customers
Depending on your industry 25-75% of traffic to your website will be via a mobile device, that’s a huge pool of potential customers wanting to know more about your brand. If you invest most of your resources into your social media channels your traffic will be weighted to mobile and smartphones. If your website doesn’t work for these users, they’ll find a brand website that does in just a few more clicks.

2. Without a website your business is not easily discoverable to customers
Users searching for your brand name or your products/services locally and/or nationally will not find you in a search engine – 77% of UK adults use the Internet to find information about goods and services*. Google is arguably most people’s best friend so if you’re not on Google how are potential customers going to find you? Google loves responsive websites and lists them higher in organic search rankings too giving your brand more exposure.

3. You’re creating a negative impression of your brand
We’ve all had negative experiences trying to make a purchase on or even browse a website via our smartphone, many of us get frustrated and leave after a few seconds. Having to pinch and zoom to read text, buttons not working, and endless scrolling are just a few of the common bugbears from bad design and UX (user experience). Don’t be that kind of website! Treat your website like your shop window and create a first impression that wows on all devices. Engage users instantly and help them choose you over the competition. Impressing the digital savvy consumer of today is tough but get it right with a fantastic browsing experience on each of their devices and you may have a loyal customer for many years.

4. Your competitors may not have one… yet!
Stand out from the crowd and give potential customers another reason to choose you. If your competitors already have one don’t stand out for the wrong reason, create your own and do it better.

5. It’s not as hard or expensive as you think
Responsive websites are easy for talented designers and developers to create and build. We offer end-to-end responsive website packages which ensure your brand has a website that is fit for purpose to deliver your business goals, easy to update and delivers a ‘wow’ first impression. Our great value service includes project management, content planning, copywriting, design and development – we always adopt a collaborative approach and welcome your team to be involved at every key stage. We charge a clear one-off fee which varies depending upon the brief and once your website is live there are no on-going maintenance fees.

If it doesn’t have one your brand needs a responsive website. What next? Whether you have a dated website that you have haven’t refreshed in years or you’ve never had one, we’d love to help you create the website your brand and your customers deserve. Please email us info@hidigital.co.uk or get in touch to schedule a free consultation with us.

Hi Digital are a boutique, digital agency dedicated to helping start-ups and small businesses to fulfil their goals, with a winning digital presence and effective use of digital marketing. Find out more about what we do and how we can help your unique brand.

5 practical ways your small business can improve it’s Instagram strategy

Posted on December 17, 2018May 11, 2020 by Vicky Drew

Facebook bought Instagram back in 2012, back then it only had 30million users and now Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users and 500million daily active users*. The growth in popularity of Instagram has been incredible and its a great social media network for raising awareness of your brand – if your target audience are known users and your brand has a visual story to tell.

Facebook is still the most popular network, but they’ve made it increasingly difficult for small businesses and brands to build an engaged community without investing serious advertising budget. Which is why many brands are choosing to focus more time and resource on their Instagram strategy. Instagram provides a great platform for creative expression and has huge reach potential. Below are 5 practical ways your small business can improve its Instagram strategy.

1. Tell your brand story
Every brand has a story, define yours and create a clear brand proposition using words, hashtags and images. Is it clear to new users who land on your profile page for the first time what your brand is about? Utilise your Instagram profile bio section and create story highlights that tell your brand story as you want it to be known. Define your tone of voice and list the content you intend to create and share. Going forward, everything you do needs to tie back to your brand story and proposition.

2. Identify your audience
Who do you want to talk to? Who are you talking to? Your social media content needs to resonate with the audience you are trying to engage with your brand. Create a persona for each of your target audiences and describe their demographics, TV they like, where they shop, where they eat etc. Next think about how your brand can communicate effectively with them. What will grab their attention and drive a result? Once you’ve done this a whole wealth of content ideas will transpire.

3. Make time to plan ahead
When creating content always do it with one of your audience segments in mind and define what it is you want them to do. A variety of content is key, pushing the same messages a day in day out can get boring very quickly and interest may tail off. The amount of content ideas you may be overwhelming so try grouping them into themes and then plot them in a calendar for the week or month ahead. As long as your content fits your brand story don’t be afraid to try new ideas – finding your winning Instagram content formula takes time, and a lot of test & learn.

4. Be active
Communication is a two-way street and pushing out content is not enough in the algorithms of Instagram. All social networks reward their most active users with higher exposure. Start conversations, find conversations, join conversations, follow hashtags, and always interact with/respond to your followers and fans. Spend five minutes a day diving into Instagram you might be surprised what you find.

5. Test, learn & measure
What does success look like for your brand on Instagram? What do you want to achieve and why? Success on social media is not just about the number of followers. How engaged are your followers? What do your followers look like? How engaging are your posts? Do you want to drive traffic to your website to then generate sales? Only you can define this. Benchmark where you are now and set targets to help you achieve your goals. Monitor your progress at least monthly and pick out your best and worst posts. Listen to your audience. When they love something – tweak and repeat. When a post drives high CTR – tweak and repeat. And so on.

Social media is not rocket science, there is no one size fits all formula to drive success and every brand needs a tailored approach. The above steps will set you on the right path for a winning Instagram strategy and if you would like to discuss your brand’s Instagram or social media with Hi Digital please get in touch with us.

Already on Instagram? Follow our Founder Vicky Drew.

*Source: TechCrunch – Instagram hits 1 billion users

3 reasons to rethink your digital strategy

Posted on December 17, 2018May 11, 2020 by Vicky Drew

As a small business owner you probably have a website and you post some content on social media but, are you maximizing the potential that an effective digital strategy can add to your business? Consider your brand mission and your business goals. Whether you want to raise awareness amongst your target audience or, increase sales of a specific product or, build a steady revenue stream across the year; improving your digital presence and implementing the right kind of digital marketing activity will help you realise these goals.

To succeed in a competitive marketplace a small business needs to incorporate digital into their overall growth strategy and they need to do it well. Often small businesses face the biggest challenges and below are 3 reasons to rethink your digital strategy:

1. Digital evolves quickly
The digital world is complex and evolving quickly. It’s also a world full of acronyms and emerging trends. In 2018 Instagram launched IGTV and Google released their EAT algorithm. And we’re constantly hearing about voice search and the importance of video. You might also be wondering if you need a responsive website – hint: yes, you do! When did you last sit down and review the digital trends that are relevant to your business? It’s difficult to know where to start and most importantly why but you should not sit still or ignore the changes.

2. We live in a constantly connected era
Your customers are more digitally engaged than ever before and want to discover brands wherever they are and whenever they find the time. We check our phones on average 28 times a day*. We browse multiple websites and use multiple apps, we have our favourite social media channel and Google is arguably our most knowledgeable friend. It’s time to improve your brand’s discoverability amongst local audiences with a winning digital presence and make it easy for customers to choose you over the competition.

3. First impressions are everything
Just like in the real world first impressions are everything online. Each of your brand’s digital destinations only has about 3 seconds to impress, if a user doesn’t like what they see they will either hit the back button or the X top right of their screen. You’ve more than likely put in a lot of effort to get that user to your Facebook page, maybe even paid for that visit to your website, so make sure you are showcasing your brand effectively and guiding users swiftly to what it is you want them to do e.g. make a reservation. Look at each of your digital destinations and imagine you are discovering your brand online for the first time Do you get a consistent brand experience? Do you understand the story and proposition of your brand?

If the above has inspired you to rethink your digital strategy and you want a personalised service for your business, please get in touch with us. Hi Digital are a boutique, digital agency dedicated to helping start-ups and small businesses to fulfil their goals, with a winning digital presence and effective use of digital marketing. Find out more about what we do and how we can help your unique brand.

Tag: digital

5 reasons every brand needs a responsive website

3 reasons to rethink your digital strategy

*Source: Independent – Average Briton checks their phone 10,000 time a year UK study, 2017