When creating a mobile-friendly site you have three options:

• Responsive Design - Google recommends Responsive Web Design because it's the easiest to set up and maintain.
• Dynamic serving - Uses the same URL regardless of device.
• Separate URLs - Serves different HTML to each device, and on separate URLs.

Because most of the indexing on your site comes from the mobile site it’s important you ensure that both versions of your website contain the same content! You also need to remember to put the same metadata (title and meta description) on your mobile version and desktop version of your site.

The use of video content on the internet is becoming more and more popular and Google indexes videos from millions of sites. Videos can appear in several different places on Google, including the main search results page, Video mode, Google Images, and Discover.

Best Practices for Images on your Website

To help Google find and index your images:

• Use HTML image elements to embed images
• Use an image sitemap
• Responsive images
• Use supported image formats
• Optimise for speed and quality

To optimise the image landing pages:

• Check your page title and description - avoid vague descriptives such as ‘home’ for homepage, don’t make titles unnecessarily long and avoid using too many keywords.
• Add structured data
• Use descriptive filenames, titles, and alt text
• Opt out of Google Images inline linking
• Optimise for SafeSearch

Best Practices for Videos on your Website:

• Ensure your video can be found by Google by making sure they are available on public web pages. Include an HTML tag and create a video sitemap.
• Make sure your videos can be indexed.
• Include a high quality thumbnail - BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, and SVG and minimum 60 x 30 pixels (larger is preferred).
• Describe your video using structured data.
• Use stable URLs.

Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design ensures your site is optimised to work across all devices. It automatically adjusts to fit on the device and browser, ensuring all the content is displayed properly. For most businesses, a responsive website is the perfect solution to ensure your site can be accessed on all devices. It’s a cost effective solution and easy to maintain.

• Save your business money long term
• Positive user experience
• Increased visibility in search results
• Faster site loading

It makes most sense to opt for a responsive web site from the outset - Google favours responsive websites in search rankings as they provide a better user experience than sites that are not mobile friendly. More importantly, you will be less likely to miss out on potential leads - visitors to your optimised site will be able to view all the content regardless of the device they are using.

Need help developing your business website that is responsive and mobile friendly? Contact Creative Remedy for a free consultation.

​Building the right strategy now will help your business through the year. It’s particularly important to plan and allocate budgets to the right place- creating a marketing plan can help you to do this.

​The main points to consider when creating a marketing strategy are:

• SWOT - identify your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

• Decide what you want to achieve - your marketing plan should be linked to your business goals, both short and long term. Have your business objectives in mind when writing your marketing plan.

• Know your customers - to gain an insight into your business and where it stands try asking your customers their opinions.
  
• Research the competition - find out who your competitors are, look at their strengths and weaknesses. It’s always worth knowing what your competitors offer that you don’t.
• Strategies - determine how you can best reach your target customers covering all marketing channels to achieve your plan.

• Budget - it’s important to have a budget set aside for your marketing and you need to stick to it.
  
  
  

There are a number of marketing channels you can cover in your strategy including:

• Email Marketing - newsletters/e-bulletins
• Website Content - Home page design, landing pages, products & services
• Blogs - Case studies and blogs
• Social Media - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc
• Print Collateral - Stationery, folded leaflets, flyers
• Vehicle livery and exhibitions stands
  
  
  

If you’re pressed for time, a 12 month plan seems like too much to tackle, then you can try a 3 month plan. Here you would focus on short term goals and then branch out from this once you’ve completed it.

You could also consider hiring a marketing team- they will be able to advise you on the right strategy for your business and come up with creative solutions for your business marketing. Read our blog ‘Digital Marketing - Why you need a Marketing Team’ to find out more.

If you need any help or advice Creative Remedy are here to support you, so please get in touch if you have any questions.

We’ve avoided saying it for as long as we could, but it can’t be denied any longer - get ready, Christmas is coming!

It comes around so fast every year, I won’t even tell you how many shopping days you have left. But don’t panic, you still have plenty of time to get your business ready for the festivities, but you need to act now! Christmas is a great time to make meaningful connections with your customers and clients as well as a fantastic opportunity to show off your amazing brand with some top-notch Christmas inspired marketing.

We’ve done some of the hard work for you (we can’t help with the Christmas shopping, sadly) and put together a festive filled guide to get your business in the Christmas spirit!
 
Christmas 2023 Marketing Strategy
If you haven't already reviewed your marketing strategy for Christmas then you need to act now:

• Think about how your customers have changed the way they do business with you. If you’re finding they are more likely to interact with your business online then focus your marketing on those online platforms. However, if you’re finding your customers are embracing being able to do more face-face business then you should turn your attention to printed festive marketing materials that will entice your customers.
• Don’t forget to set a budget when you’re devising your plan. It’s so easy to get carried away but be realistic and stick to your budget.
• Market Research - what are your competitors doing? What do your customers expect and how do you plan to meet those needs?
• If you sell products, do you want to provide a wrapping service? Will you need branded/promotional wrapping paper?

Dec the Halls...
If your business has a physical premises where customers visit then you need to be thinking about festive marketing materials such as boards, banners, posters and decals for the windows. Don’t forget twinkly lights, Christmas tree and, if appropriate, music inside.
 
…and the Virtual Halls
Don’t forget the online window dressing:

• If you have a website with an online shop, then make sure you have a Christmas themed online shop front. You could temporarily change your colour scheme to more festive colours, add a Christmas banner to your landing page or some festive decorations to your brand logo.
• Give your newsletter/email marketing campaign a festive flourish. Include lots of details of any Christmas offers/sales you have planned, consider a Christmas countdown and make sure you include links to your social media channels.
• Run a series of Christmas themed social media posts (don’t forget the appropriate Christmas hashtags!)
• Change your profile pictures/backgrounds to a Christmas themed image.
• Create Christmas inspired content.

 
Get Personal
To say thank you to your customers and to wish them well for the new year, why not send a branded calendar, stationary or Christmas card? Handwritten for that extra personal touch.
 
As always Creative Remedy are on hand to help with any of your branded printing materials including calendars and cards as well as your Christmas digital marketing. Don’t forget the more notice the better, we can’t change print lead times unfortunately!

Creating a brand identity takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. Designing a great logo and website are important first steps but how do you establish your brand to make it recognisable, trusted and credible?

There are a number of steps you need to take when building your brand from researching your competitors to communicating your story, message and values to your target audience and then applying these to your marketing strategy.

Be Seen - Grow Your Sales - Build Your Brand
Business directories make your business easier to find online with a direct link to your unique search engine optimised business profile. Your business profile featured on online directories allows you to target your audience and build brand awareness. It is an affordable alternative to improve your online presence and digital footprint. Quite often Google Ads campaign or other paid for ads are unattainable to small businesses. Just think your brand is being promoted on all social platforms, on a regular basis and it is something you don’t have to directly manage yourself.

Local Online Business Directories
Our heart is with two local online business directories that have a support local ethos. If you understand back links and the impact of linking to credible websites to your own website, then you will appreciate the value of driving traffic to your website to again more enquiries, more leads and in turn more sales.

A great way to find prospective customers is to sign up to a local online directory, such as The Local View and Peterborough Business Directory. Our online directories give you access to potential new suppliers, advertise your business across a number of social media channels and allow you to promote your products, services, courses and events to a wider audience through, online articles, banner advertising, our own email marketing and paid for ads.

Here are just some of the benefits;

• Search engine optimised business profile.
• Business description, opening times, contact form, photos of your products, services, courses or events.
• Your profile is shared on all of our socials.
• Links to your website, email and social media platforms.
• One minute video* created for you, posted bi-monthly on all our social media channels.
• Get quarterly stats on our online performance and social awareness/reach.
• Support for you and your growing business.
• Digital and print services as and when you need them.
• Opportunities to promote your products, services, workshops or events through all our marketing channels.
• Publish your news, articles, achievements, events and press releases on our directory for FREE.
  
  

Design, Print & Distribution
So you have got a website, what else can you do to promote your business and get your brand out there? Did you know The Local View provides design and printing services? We can design and print marketing materials such as brochures, compliment slips, banners (great for local expos), business cards and more. We also offer a leaflet design, print and distribution service- perfect for your next marketing campaign!

Articles & Spotlight Articles
If you have some exciting news or developments to share, a spotlight article includes Search Engine Optimisation, chosen key phrases, an advert and video to promote your product, service, course or event.

Articles are a great way to spread the word about what’s happening in your business, create a buzz and engage with your audience.

Do you have a story to tell?

• A local community project or initiative
• A local business event or conference
• Innovation of a new product or service
• Maybe you have recently had some PR and want to maximise your online exposure
• Are you a winner of a business award?

Please request a copy of our article submission guide. Contact us >

Being part of a local online business directory is more than advertising, it’s also about supporting local and your local business community. The Local View and Peterborough Business Directory fully support the shop local ethos with a focus on small independent businesses and focused business owners like you. We understand the challenges SME’s face out there but within our local directories you become more visible, supported and learn about what is happening locally in terms of grants, funding, business support courses, local news and events, share knowledge and network with other like minded businesses. All of this will help strengthen your brand and improve your online presence.