Month: September 2020

SEO vs. SEM – 4 things you need to know

If you are new to digital marketing, you may be wondering – what is the difference between SEO and SEM? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves using specific techniques to bring in organic traffic to your website through search engine results. For example, if you sell vegan makeup products in Singapore, you should use SEO tactics to rank high in the search results when one searches ‘vegan makeup products Singapore’ in Google, or other search engines. 

SEM is Search Engine Marketing and it involves using paid tactics to bring eyes to your page through paid search. This is most often done through Google Ads, but Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines have their own advertising platforms that may be beneficial to your business. 

When you google something, you may notice the first results that come up at the very top are sponsored (advertisements). 

Those advertisements are a result of SEM strategy. The organic search results after those are showing up near the top due to good SEO techniques. 

As a business owner, tapping into SEO and SEM in a combined plan can result in more traffic to your page, and if you’re selling something, it can result in more sales.  There are amazing and innovative digital marketing consultants in Singapore that can help you maximize both SEO and SEM in your business.  We will get to that soon. 

First, let’s begin with 4 things you need to know when considering SEO vs. SEM.

1. Both SEO and SEM require you to know your target audience well.  

A quality Search Engine Marketing campaign will include SEO strategy in addition to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. It’s important to create a comprehensive marketing plan that will organically bring traffic to your website while using PPC methods to bring in traffic through google ads or other search engine advertising opportunities. 

A good strategy will include both SEO and SEM. For the strategy to work effectively, you need to really narrow down your target audience. Get to know your customer, demographic, location, and what they are looking for when they search. When it comes to SEM, your target audience and ability to identify them accurately, will determine the success of your campaign. The more targeted your SEM campaign, the better the results. If you’re having trouble narrowing down your target audience and customer, take the time to meet with a digital marketing consultant in Singapore. 

They will help narrow your target audience to ensure both SEO and SEM tactics are reaching your target audience – the ones likely to buy or stay on your website. 

2. SEM costs money – SEO is free. 

This is an obvious differentiator between SEO and SEM. SEO is completely free.  There are hundreds of free techniques you can use to improve your organic traffic through search engine results.  Typically, SEO techniques are grouped into 3 categories:

  • On-page SEO (optimizing web pages to improve search results – involves tactics including HTML tags, headlines, publishing high-quality informative content)
  • Technical SEO (improving the technical aspects of your page so it performs well – faster website ranks higher)
  • Off-Page SEO (what happens off your website to improve ranking – link building is an example)

By incorporating all 3 categories into your SEO strategy, you can see results over time that do not cost you anything. When done correctly, your organic traffic will increase, and your website can slowly rank higher in search engine results without spending a dollar on advertising – that’s a pretty great strategy! 

SEM on the other hand, requires an advertising budget. SEM is usually Pay-Per-Click, which means you only pay when someone is interested and clicks on your link. Traditional marketing/advertising techniques would mean you pay for anyone who hears or sees your ad (such as radio or television), and not just those that are interested. 

This is why SEM is such an effective strategy that all businesses can benefit from, even with a small budget. Only those interested will click on your link, reducing your overall spend. 

Businesses small and large can benefit from working with a digital marketing company in Singapore that will work with you and the budget available to create a comprehensive strategy that includes both SEO and SEM. 

3. SEM can bring results quickly – SEO takes more time. 

SEO is a long-term strategy that takes time, consistency, and effort. It is not an overnight solution to drive traffic to your website.  SEM is an option if you’re looking for fast-results and a way to drive traffic. 

A successful SEM campaign can result in an increase in traffic nearly immediately. To create a comprehensive SEM strategy that will drive traffic, and ultimately increase sales, we recommend that you consult with a digital marketing company in Singapore. A digital marketing consultant Singapore firm will meet with you to understand your website, product, and customer and create an amazing campaign that is cost-effective and produces the results you are looking for. 

4. SEM can be time-consuming and your SEO may suffer

Search Engine Marketing strategies can be time-consuming. You need to thoroughly research, test, and evaluate your campaigns. When you are paying for advertising, watching your campaigns closely and adjusting accordingly is important when looking to achieve amazing results with little spending. 

If you are running SEM campaigns, it can take away time and resources from your SEO strategy. This is important because SEO contributes to the long-term success of businesses by providing organic traffic for years to come without requiring an advertising budget.  By hiring a digital marketing company in Singapore, you will have the necessary support and resources to ensure both SEO and SEM strategies are maintained for short-term and long-term success. 

In Summary

The important thing to take away is SEM and SEO should be a combined effort. Both strategies bring value and can be leveraged to provide immediate, paid traffic and long-term, organic traffic to your website. 

By hiring a digital marketing company in Singapore, you will make the most of your time and advertising budget. Too often businesses seek out immediate results through SEM, while forgetting the long-term and free benefits of SEO. Hiring a professional digital marketing consultant in Singapore will provide you with resources and the know-how, leading to better results, more targeted campaigns, and can ultimately improve the success of your marketing strategy. 

Digital Solutions is a full-service digital marketing company in Singapore. Set up a free meeting with their digital marketing experts to understand how they can help you create a working strategy that will bring your business to the next level. They are committed to delivering data-driven results to their customers by using SEO, SEM, and social media marketing.

By working with Digital Solutions, you can expect to work with talented digital marketing consultant Singapore specialists that take the time to understand your business. They are there to support you and your business every step of the way.  If you’re ready to grow your business through effective marketing strategies, contact us today for more information!

Mark Zamuner and The New Style Virtual Pitch

For CEOs like growth consultancy agency CEO Mark Zamuner, one of the biggest challenges of the lockdown which we have been through over the course of the last 5 months has been not being able to meet clients and customers face to face, which has had a big impact on pitching. The inability to take clients out, showcase the business through events or simply to have a chat in their offices has forced ad and media agencies to get creative and to switch the focus around what they are doing when it comes to pitches, and here is how they have adapted. 

Back to Basics 

The ad pitch has become incredibly creative over recent years and more and more agencies are trying to be as novel as possible in order to get the better of the competition. As Mark Zamuner rightly puts it however, businesses aren’t looking out to be entertained and as he has stated “There is a greater focus on specifics, deliverables, case studies, capabilities and providing examples of output”.This has seen ad agencies take things back to basics with less razzmatazz and more focus on action and high speed performance. 

Touches of Sparkle

Some ad agencies are still recognizing the need to add a smattering of creativity with their pitches, be it changing the background on their screen or sending a drink to the client which they can share on the call. The important stuff is what Mark mentioned but many agencies are still aware of the fact that there is a competition on their hands. There is a need to do something to make up for the lack of body language and feeling which you can convey when you are in a room with someone, something that just doesn’t come across through a computer screen. 

Graphic 

More and more companies are looking to create great content such as pre-made videos which they can use as part of their pitch, and this has now taken on far more importance than it ever has. Previously videos and graphic displays were still used but not in the way that we are seeing them presented at the moment. This now forms a far larger percentage of the pitch. 

Sentiment 

The conditions around how we go about getting more business has changed, much in the way advertising has with regards to the sentiment and the mood of any pitch. The last thing a struggling business which has just furloughed staff needs is a pitch which is trying to make light of the situation, so gauging mood is something far more important than it has ever been. A slight misjudgment and the essence of the whole pitch could be lost, this requires more careful planning and more empathy within the pitch than anyone would normally have considered. 

Sentiment analysis is contextual mining of text which identifies and extracts subjective information in source material, and helps a business to understand the social sentiment of their brand, product or service while monitoring online conversations. There are many sentiment analysis website out there.

The changes which have been made around pitches could very well be something that we see continuing into the future, rather than a click of the fingers and everything back to normal, as the truth is there is no definitive end to all of this. 

Brian Ferdinand: What You Should Know About Extended Stay Hotels for Traveling Employees

Your new assignment is to head to a new market to build relationships and boost sales there. And although you’re excited by the opportunity, you’re wondering where you’re going to live for the next several weeks. According to a recent article on travel, multiple housing options are available for today’s business traveler, with extended stay hotels being one of them. This housing option poses some challenges, according to business expert Brian Ferdinand, but it also offers a number of perks worth considering.

Extended Stay Hotel Challenges

If you choose an extended stay hotel for your next business trip, you should be prepared to deal with areas featuring high levels of foot traffic by fellow guests. These areas include elevators, fitness centers, laundry rooms, vending areas, restaurants, and hotel lobbies. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, this can unfortunately increase your risk of developing COVID-19, according to Brian Ferdinand. 

Another drawback to extended-stay hotels is that they may not be as comfortable or feel as luxurious as furnished apartments are. So, if you value comfort over efficiency during a business trip, an extended stay hotel may not be the best option for you.

Extended Stay Hotel Perks

A major benefit of an extended stay hotel is that you will receive convenient housekeeping services each day if you need them. In addition, this type of accommodation comes with reasonable rates, according to Ferdinand. You also don’t have to worry about signing a lease.

Another reason to consider extended stay hotels is that they can often be found in prime locations. You may have a hard time securing short-term rentals near downtown or mall areas. However, extended stay hotels generally offer wonderful locations. As a result, when you’re taking a day off from work, you can easily paint the town red, as you’ll be right where the action is.

Extended stay hotels additionally offer the perk of providing rewards programs. Therefore, you can earn valuable points for your business trip stay. You can these use these points toward a vacation in the future. You can’t take advantage of this type of program when you’re renting an apartment during a business trip.

Final Words

All in all, extended stay hotels do present some real challenges for business travelers, according to Brian Ferdinand. However, an extended stay hotel still offers the key comforts you depend on to maintain a healthy and balanced wellbeing during even the most chaotic business trips. And the additional perks that come with them are like icing on the cake.

Will Smart & Non Touch Appliances Be the New Norm?

The pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives quite considerably, and with new restrictions in place to keep our health and wellness intact, it’s imperative we continue to adhere to the social distancing rule, to wash our hands regularly and to limit contact with people who aren’t in our ‘bubble’. However, as pubs, bars, restaurants, and your favourite local shops re-open, sometimes it becomes very difficult to strictly follow these rules. If you’re treating yourself to a nice little Italian, the waiter has to deliver food on your table, and the 1m and 2m rule is obsolete. The cutlery laid out on the table must be clean for use, and you are placing your faith and trust in this particular establishment to have followed the rules given out by the government. While these situations may sound daunting and increase our racing thoughts of anxiety, the one positive to come out of the pandemic, is the introduction of new products and new technology that has been demanded of covid19. 

Delivery robots to deliver your Hawaiian pizza from Pizza express to limit physical touch and contact? Sure. You no longer have to travel 1 hour and 35 minutes to one of your biggest marketing clients, and therefore use Zoom for virtual meetings that go even better than the real thing and are better for the environment? Who would’ve thought – brilliant!

The question is, will non touch appliances be the new norm, as we try to navigate through this pandemic. We know where possible, we need to reduce physical contact with our friends, family, and objects too. With advanced technology in the market, it’s no surprise we have appliances that require no touch, from our cars locking system, to our kitchen refrigerator, bathroom taps, showers, and plenty more. While it may seem like we live in a technological advanced world that seems to be only digital, non-touch appliances work in favour of the covid19 pandemic, because we don’t need to use our touch to operate an item or object. 

The most important place in our homes, and in public, are washrooms. They are home to plenty of bacteria and fungi that can contribute to our overall health and wellness. The bathroom should be the most hygienic room in the home, and residential and commercial property owners have now decided to invest in hygienic, non-touch solutions to promote health and hygiene, while at the same time promoting green tech and sustainability. 

Sensor Taps

The elite of all the taps to ever exist. Many bathrooms and washrooms across the UK, have the ordinary, average taps where you twist them and water comes rushing out. Well, as we work towards climate change and global warming goals to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, this means one way to do this, in conjunction with other things, is to reduce our water usage. Manual taps mean we use more water than we actually need. Do you leave the tap running while you brush your teeth and walk around the bathroom? Do you switch the shower on 5 minutes before you get in it for it to ‘warm up’? We are all guilty of these things, but for modern bathrooms and washrooms now, automatic sensor taps are kings. Thy are activated by the user, and they are amazing for saving on water and energy.

Although those are the two main selling points: they save on water and energy – another is that they are more hygienic. How so? They reduce the spread of germs around the washroom, because you don’t need to touch them for water to be released whenever you wash your hands. Pretty neat, right?

Paper Towels

We won’t get into the paper towels vs hand dryers debate, we think this feud will go on for the rest of time, but anyway, the majority of public and workplace washrooms will use paper towels, or have a hand dryer (hopefully not an old, clunky one). If you are using a hand dryer that still has a button you need to push to activate it, you should really consider. Remember the purpose of sensor taps which was to not have to touch the taps in order for it to be activated? The same applies with however you dry your hands too. Non touch electric hand dryers are proving to be popular, but they deserve to be widely adopted across the globe because of their hygienic and UV-C technology. 

As we all start to head back to work, it’s our mission to minimise contact points and to only touch and use what is necessary. Washrooms are of course hotspots, because this is something we have to use, but there is plenty of solutions to tackle this issue, with the use non touch technology, such as sensor taps, non-touch dryers, paper towel dispensers and of course, regular sanitation and disinfectant cleaning.

Sensor Soap Dispenser

You don’t need to touch a soap bottle again! Soap dispensers that have a sensor, allow you to put your hand under the sensor, and dispenses the soap for you. It prevents bacteria from spreading all over your room, whether it’s the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom or anywhere. 

Benefits of Implementing a Hybrid Cloud Strategy for your Business

Hybrid cloud refers to a cloud-computing infrastructure that merges a public cloud environment with a private cloud system by facilitating seamless sharing of data and applications between them. This allows businesses to scale their on-site private cloud infrastructure to the public cloud to manage the additional data processing and computing demand at any point in time.

Using a hybrid cloud allows companies to make use of the flexibility and computing power of the public cloud environment for non-sensitive and routine tasks. At the same time, they can continue managing their business-critical applications and data on their private cloud infrastructure secured by a robust company firewall. From superior control and flexibility to better cost savings, there are a lot of advantages of choosing a hybrid cloud strategy. Below are 10 benefits that make the hybrid cloud a productive solution for businesses across all industries.

1. Business Continuity

Business continuity is one of the vital aspects of a company’s business operations. Having a reliable business continuity plan not just means backing up all the company-sensitive data on the cloud servers, but also adopting the right measures to ensure that the data management processes will not be affected in any way in case of an emergency. A hybrid cloud can help not just to keep the critical data safe, but will also allow you to run the operations as usual by using the public cloud resources in case a disaster hits your business operations.

So, how can businesses make the move to the hybrid cloud for business continuity?

Determining which applications will bring the most value in a move to the cloud should be the starting point. From there you move on to address the technology trade-offs, such as selecting the best approach to migrate the application and deal with important issues such as security, governance, and disaster recovery. In this way, you can modernize your application development processes and technology to make the most out of your newly deployed hybrid cloud.

This is where businesses have to pay a custom software development team providing cloud services for a while.

2. ecurity

Many businesses are still skeptical about implementing a 100% public cloud strategy and cite security concerns as the reason. A hybrid cloud environment can help to bridge the gap here by allowing you to keep the sensitive data on a dedicated private cloud infrastructure. However, major players in the enterprise cloud industry employ high-end security measures to protect their servers in top-tier facilities. So, you can also go the other way around and keep your sensitive data on the public cloud, while running routine business operations using the private cloud resources.

3. Network Performance

Latency and network issues are common cloud computing problems that often lead to slow and inadequately performing applications. This can have a severe effect on the user experience and harm the reputation of your business. In most cases, finding and fixing the network and latency problems can be quite difficult as well. Adopting a hybrid cloud strategy keeps you free from such issues by allowing you to enjoy enhanced network performance. As a hybrid cloud balances the load, distance-based latency can be reduced as well by delivering services from a location that is close to the end-user.

4. Scalability

Scaling on-premises cloud infrastructure can be very difficult for rapidly growing businesses. Aside from addressing the current situation, you will need to project your resource utilization for future endeavors and make the right investments to meet those demands as well. This can be very expensive, and sometimes, inefficient too. By choosing a hybrid cloud environment, you can scale the computing and data processing resources on your own terms to deal with your growing business needs. You can even implement automation rules within the cloud infrastructure to scale the resources up and down as required by your business.

5. Control

Another advantage of implementing a hybrid cloud strategy is that it gives you more control over all the aspects of the IT infrastructure. You do not need to entrust everything to a third-party cloud service vendor as it is with public cloud solutions; instead, you can customize the private end of your hybrid cloud model to meet your specific needs and modify the rules as required to fit your business demands. You can also have your internal IT staff continue managing the critical operations as well as routine maintenance and updating of the servers and other infrastructure.

6. Reduced Costs

A hybrid cloud strategy can be a cost-effective solution for businesses looking for robust security and scalability options to meet the rising operational demands. As migrating to the hybrid cloud option allows you to continue running the core operations and business-critical data on your private servers, it does not require investing any huge capital to expand the current IT infrastructure. Off-loading day-to-day business tasks and non-sensitive data and applications to the public cloud helps to keep the costs manageable, as you only need to pay for the cloud resources you use.

7. Increased Agility

You need to be able to respond quickly to the changes in demand to remain competitive in the market. A hybrid cloud model can help your business to boost the speed to market by optimizing IT performance and ensuring that you have the agility required to meet the changing industry demands. As you are not limited to your on-premise infrastructure, you can easily extend your workload on the cloud when there is a spike in demand. This helps you to quickly develop, test, and deploy new applications and services in the market.

8. Risk Management

A hybrid cloud gives you the best way to test your business capabilities around different kinds of workloads and plan your cloud strategy effectively. It is known that the cloud environment can be a bit complex to navigate at times, which is why you should plan your risk management policies well to make sure that things will always remain in the favor of your business. You can test non-sensitive workloads on the cloud environment before moving more critical applications. This way, you can understand how to make the most of deploying the hybrid cloud model.