Are You Regularly Updating Your Website with Fresh Content?

13th January 20237th January 2023 by driveby

Having a regularly updated website is crucial for businesses for several reasons

First and foremost, an up-to-date website helps to establish credibility and trust with customers. When a website is outdated, it can give the impression that the business is also outdated or inactive. On the other hand, a regularly updated website shows that the business is active and attentive to its online presence. This can be especially important for small businesses, as they may not have the same level of brand recognition as larger companies.

AI in Website Design – A Few Lincolnshire Examples

11th November 2022 by driveby

It’s been a while since I first acquired access to OpenAI’s DALL·E 2, so I thought I should come back and report on how this tool has been helping Drive By Websites clients.

Outpainting Website Images

By far, the most useful feature for me is outpainting. This is where new image is ‘painted’ by the AI to fill spaces outside of the initial image or blank spaces inside the image. With a feature like this we can extend images that would otherwise be very difficult to use as well as remove and replace spaces of the image that we feel are inappropriate. The first times I was able to use this successfully came only a day after the feature was introduced. This was no surprise though, due to how commonly I encounter this particular opportunity. Many clients will take portrait photos of their work using their phones, which is great for social media but not ideal for a website. Banner spaces are typically covering the width of a website, but they don’t have much height. So if we will the available space with the portrait image, we lose much of the top of bottom of the image. Let’s look at an example…

Design Experiments with DALL·E Artificial Intelligence

1st August 2022 by driveby

a-giant-ice-cube-melting-into-a-feild-in-the-lincolnshire-countryside-with-the-sunrise-in-the-background

My invite to DALL·E has arrived!

DALL·E is an AI system developed by OpenAI that can create original, realistic images and art from a short text description. DALL·E was trained by learning the relationship between images and the text used to describe them.

Design is where many people felt AI would struggle to compete with human creativity. However the reference material for the AI is the manmade connection between words and images.

Here's a few examples of the prompts and AI generated images from my first experiments with the software...

Dispelling SEO Myths – SEO in Lincolnshire

28th June 2022 by driveby

Today’s blog and accompanying video is aimed at dispelling a few myths! We have been providing SEO in Lincolnshire for years and feel it’s time to forget these myths once and for all.

I often explain to clients that as far as we are aware, there is over 250 ranking factors in the google search engine. The purpose of explaining this is to demonstrate that SEO needs to be taken very seriously. Over the years people have often asked me to take care of ranking factors that do not exist. Often based on a misguided understanding of out of date SEO techniques, or perhaps assuming that Google Analytics metrics are all ranking factors.

Bounce Rate

A good example of these mythical ranking factors would be the bounce rate of a website. This An important metric for analysing visitor activity, however not a ranking factor. This is the percentage of visitors that leave a web page without taking an action such as clicking a link or ordering a product. If this were true that google had made this a ranking factor, we would have to believe that Google can analyse this data across all of the websites ranked in the search engine but we know this not to be the case. As an experiment I could build a website and attract many organic visitors and track their visitor on visitor data on the server but Google has no access to this data until provided it and even if we were then to provide access for google analytics, the search engine still wouldn’t be able to compare that data as a ranking factor against many other websites, because they simply won’t all use google analytics.

Website Visits & Visit Duration

Another example would be directly visiting the website to boost SEO or even spending longer periods of time on the website to boost SEO. This idea suggests that more people doing these things would increase the ranking of the website when of course again that information would only be available to google if we provided it. Even this, would still exclude most of the internet not using google analytics, and people accessing their websites directly.

SEO in Lincolnshire – It’s all local!

Now for a quick reminder of the REAL SEO ranking factors. For example mobile friendliness, good social media coverage and consistent optimised content updates. Many businesses will find it beneficial to write their content around a keyphrase that includes your service/product and location. This has often proved to be a helpful search term recipe for Lincolnshire based businesses. For a visual recap of some of the content above, watch the video below. If you aren’t sure where to start, contact us. I’ve got lots of tips and tools to help but also often the most important thing is just knowing who to speak to and where to get the right advice.

Ethan’s Update: Learning Web Design, Graphic Design and Videography

26th May 2022 by driveby

Website Design

Graphic Design

Videography

Website Reports and Analytics – Data Matters!

17th March 2022 by driveby

If website reports and analytics go straight over your head, we want to tell you about some of the valuable information you can track and why it matters. Monitoring and analysing your website traffic is often surprisingly revealing, and free!

Key Data and Functions

Social Visitors: For a start, if you need to know what social media platforms generate the most traffic, you can track the source of your visitors. If you don’t see many social media sourced visitors, it might be time to start posting more frequently. This is particularly valuable if you are paying for advertising campaigns.

Product/Service Performance: Perhaps you are selling products on your website. For Ecommerce websites, you can check your ecommerce product performance for poor converting products. Writing additional relevant content for your lower performing products could help competing for search engine rankings. The same applies to product/service based websites without a checkout facility. The same analysis will allow you to determine lower performing pages.
Annual Benchmarking: Compare performance with previous years. This is a great way of determining if you need to step up your search engine optimisation. The date selector contains a ‘compare’ option to simplify the process.
Context Annotations: Keep a timeline of key events using report annotations. Key events could include press releases, advertising campaigns, holidays, blog updates and other significant changes in the business/website. This gives context to changes in viewership that can allow you to better judge changes in your marketing strategy.

Valuable Projections: Add value to your business with historic analytics data. Supposing you wish to sell your business or attract new investors, a record of growth in your historic analytics data can add to the strength of your projections for business growth. The data also demonstrates an otherwise difficult to value google ranking and organic traffic.

Where to start with Website Reports and Analytics

To get started, give us a call on 01775 761512 or visit Google Analytics to setup your integration. We recommend this service to all of our clients. Since its launch in 2005 by Google, this free analytics service has become the most used on the internet.

Search Term Trends – SEO You Need To Know

21st February 2022 by driveby

We recently featured a video on our social media profiles to show our customers a great trick for simply finding the best search terms for their SEO and content.

In this blog, we are going to go even further to explain what to do and why this matters for your business.

Analysing a search term for SEO is easy!

Let's get started by considering what search terms you believe you would expect people to type into Google to look for businesses like yours. In the video, I used the example of a bookshop. Four terms stood out as being the most expected search terms:

Bookshop
Book shop
Bookstore
Book store

We also analyse the popularity of terms in our own industry. It has been important for us to compare terms like 'Logo design' to 'Graphic Design' or 'Website Design' to 'Web Design'.

Now compare the terms using the Google Trends website (trends.google.com).

With this data, you can easily determine the most popular search term. This may not actually represent the highest value search term for your business however. If the search term is highly popular but there are significantly more search results for that term than others, it may be possible to find an easier route to the top. This can be done by comparing search results with the next most popular search term.

In the bookshop example it was quickly discovered that 'bookshop' is the most popular search term, and conveniently this happens to be the least competed for search term. The results below show the term followed by the number of results in the search engine:

This is the best result possible for SEO and content marketing, as it will now confirm that 'bookshop' is the highest value search term. The next step for many people will be to analyse every possible combination of terms that could be interchangeable in the search engine. Perhaps you need to compare your service terminologies or even a common misspelling/American spelling?

It's important to understand that without analysis like this, you could be spending time and money on the wrong content and keywords. If you need help taking your content and SEO to the next level, we can conduct more in depth analysis for your business or even put some of this valuable data into practice with your SEO. For more support contact us.

Struggling to write content for your new or existing website?

If you're happy with your keywords but struggling to write new content, you should check out our other recent video on writing hundreds of words of content quickly and easily.

Social Videography – Quality Social Marketing

26th January 2022 by driveby

There is ever increasing demand for video content on social media. High quality social videography can help provide your followers with the content they want in a form that separates you from your competitors. Video content encourages social media engagement far more effectively than a static image. Further, your message can be far more easily and effectively communicated in detail.

For a time, one of the downsides of video content is that people would not be able to view it from anywhere like other social content. Requiring audio would make the video less effective than an image for example. This made it very important for social videography to include captions and headings that make the content less convinient to produce.

Today, social videos recieve the benefit of automatic captioning that makes watching content without audio an option. These captions have long been improved by advances in automated speech recognition (ASR) and AI technology. Find out more about Meta ASR.

Not only does it make your social content more accessible for average users, but hundreds of millions of people in the world who are deaf or hard of hearing are now able to follow every word. The convinience of social videography continues to be another benefit to businesses since live video also includes automatic closed captions for Facebook Live and Workplace Live. The live content can be translated into six languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and French.

Does Your Social Marketing Include Videography?

So if your business hasn’t found a space to start filming and producing your social videography content, get started today. For more advanced projects or less technology savy businesses, we can help produce high quality videos for your website visitors and social media following. We work across Spalding, Holbeach, Boston and wider South Lincolnshire for various sectors. We also take on projects for businesses across the rest of the UK and are available for remote and in person appointments to discuss your project.

Advert Landing Pages – Website Design Tips

30th December 2021 by driveby

Did you know you should be creating a specific landing page for every ad campaign?

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at why landing pages are so important for your adverts.

Many advertisers only focus on the ads themselves when creating campaigns. Many businesses focus on ensuring that their ads comply with advertising policies. However if you create and engaging enough ad, you will generate visitors to a page on your website. Never miss the opportunity to take advantage of being able to create a perfect website landing pages, registration pages, squeeze pages, sales pages, or whatever you might call it.

You can create highly targeted ads that quickly build your mailing list, offer free consultations, coupon codes, events, giveaways/competitions, and many other incentives but the process has to be clear. You have guided customers to a page, now you must guide them through their next steps.

To avoid a low conversion rate, don’t force customers to search for the product or content they are looking for. Don’t use generic website pages or irrelevant landing pages that are specifically targeting your ad visitors.

A good website today is not necessarily one that is well planned or has a trendy design. The focus has shifted to clarity and content. You can draw inspiration from the latest trends, but make sure your design choices are based not only on your preferences. The focus should be on decisions that positively influence your customers’ behaviour.

So, What Is A Good Landing Page?

– A video that explaining the product/service
– A simple and prominent call to action button (buy, get a quote, contact us etc)
– A live chat function with an on hand sales representative
– A selection of reviews, partners and awards

Website Ads Support – Find us in Spalding

Give us a call if you’re still struggling. Drive By Websites Ltd can help you build website landing pages, create Pay Per Click campaigns, design bespoke graphics, and send mailshots. Whatever you need, we’re here to help. Give us a call on 01775 761512, contact us online or visit us at 14 Bear Lane, Pinchbeck, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE11 3XA.

Cryptocurrency For Ecommerce – What You Should Know

13th December 202113th December 2021 by driveby

A growing number of companies in a variety of industries are using cryptocurrencies, allowing some customers a more convinient way to pay for their goods and services. While still only a few payment gateways (and even fewer POS terminals) process cryptocurrency payments, we are still a long way from the peak of mainstream adoption. This has never been more obvious than in 2021 and we want to help you get ahead of your competition.

Although Bitcoin (BTC) is the most famous cryptocurrency, there are many other types of digital currencies available under the name Altcoin, a generic term used for all alternatives to Bitcoin. Bitcoin is by far the most popular currency. In simple terms, it is a digital currency that is not controlled by any bank or government, but instead uses sophisticated cryptographic techniques that allow it to be exchanged between users for goods and services.

Despite price volatiliy, large companies like Amazon and Facebook (Meta) are investing time and money to adjust their platforms so that they can pay in these currencies. Major e-commerce platforms like BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and even Shopify already support cryptocurrency payments using crypto wallets like Coinbase, BitPay, GoCoin, and CoinPayments.

How Do Crpytocurrencies Benefit Ecommerce Sites?

Let’s see why you might want to add Bitcoin to your website payment options. Using cryptocurrency payment gateways can help your business expand its consumer base between local and international buyers. By this same logic, existing international retailers/brands that start accepting bitcoin can reach more remote buyers and get established in a growing future-proof marketplace.

Adopting cryptocurrency as a payment method will give you access to a whole new market of tech-savvy consumers who have built a community in the cryptocurrency market. This still applies in 2021, but it won’t last forever. As global brands like Etsy, Starbucks, PayPal and others announce the adoption of cryptocurrencies, other companies are forced to compete and move towards cryptocurrencies. If you’re late to the game accepting cryptocurrency payments you will not find yourself attracting a community of followers. In fact, US merchants integrated with PayPal are already accepting cryptocurrency from consumers, and we think you will be able to accept cryptocurrency from customers in the UK soon. It will not take long to get left behind with the current rate of adoption in crpytocurrencies.

You can also make transactions easier for customers by offering more annonymity. Cryptocurrency allows you to make anonymous purchases using encrypted wallet addresses. Unlike credit or debit card transactions that require multiple fields at checkout, customers use their digital wallets to complete cryptocurrency transactions. This could be beneficial for certain goods and services or even for any retailer in the run up to Christmas.

Getting Started with Cryptocurrencies for Ecommerce

One gateway can provide payment options for over 100 cryptocurrencies. It can be tough getting started, so whether you are an e-commerce seller new to cryptocurrency or are convinced of the idea of cryptocurrency payments and ready to accept them, give us a call on 01775 761512 or contact us online.