Instagram for business – What is it & why you should use it
Posted byKeenweb inMarketing, Social media on May 30, 2016 with0 Comment
As defined by Wikipedia, Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter
Instagram is not just for people wanting to take a perfect selfie. It is also a great tool for business.
Instagramers are shoppers – for example, they welcome ads, compared to other social media users on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Plus many people look up a brand on instagram and are influenced by what a brand does on instagram. So make sure you are creating content for instagram and reach out to your customers
Instgram can be a powerful sales tool. Lots of people are on instagram and by putting pictures of your products/services in front of them, you can help drive traffic & sales to your site. Instagram is a great tool to grow your brand awareness. For example, are you a florist? Take photos of the new flowers you have for sale that day. Do you manage a clothes shop? Post pictures of your outfit of the day or new collection, etc. Millions of people are on instagram, so don’t ignore them – try to get their attention – you’re competitors wills be.
Tips for using instagram for business:
Create use engagement – Engagement on instagram is often said to be 50 times better than other platforms such as twitter or Facebook. Also, the more you post, the faster you can grow.
Interact with other instagram users – like, comment, tag and mention them. Be apart of the conversation – not only will it help you get noticed and gain more followers, but by engaging with people you will build trust and gain more loyalty from your followers. For example, if you were to acknowledge one of your followers it could make their day—potentially making that person loyal to your brand.
Ask customers to show off their photos – e.g. of them using your product, etc. For example, restaurants can create an instargram hashtag displayed on their menus, and hopefully it will encourage customers to photograph their food – and encourage others to visit the restaurant. Can you do something that will result in your customers promoting your products/services.
Show off your products/services – People come to Instagram for visual inspiration, it allows captivating photos to take centre stage. Show them what you do and inspire them want what you offer e.g. do you run a travel website? Display pictures of beautiful resorts/hotels that customers can book through you. This is a great way to grow your brand awareness.
Create interest in your products – e.g. by showing how your product is made. Photograph the different stages involved with creating your product. For example, if you have a website for a coffeee shop then add pictures on your instagram account showing the journey of the coffee beans you serve.
Grow your email list – People can link to your website via instagram. By having attractive photos you can capture their email by promising them more content – if they visit your website and signup to your list. Use hashtags to get in front of people that are likely to be interested in your product.
Include a call to action in every post – don’t forget the old sales adage ‘Always Be Closing’ (ABC). Have a purpose behind every photo – make your efforts count. For example, encourage them to visit your website – maybe to a specific product page, or to sign up to your newsletter, etc.
Keenweb Hosting Instagram account: @keenweb
How to start on instagram
You will need a smartphone/tablet to start using instagram, since it’s sign-up is app based – download the instagram app, set up an account and choose your username. Then write a bio and start following people.
Begin by following people who are “influencers” in your industry, plus any customers you have who are already on instargam. Send out a newsletter to your email list (if you have one) which tells them you’re now on instragram and recommend they follow you.
Then start taking photos of your own and share other people – they may follow you back if they see you sharing their photos. Make sure your first 6 photos are really good – since when you’re trying to get followers they will review what you have uploaded so far.
Don’t share too many photos though. Think quality over quantity – and always keep in mind that instagram in primarily a mobile platform – which means most people will be viewing your photos on their smartphone i.e. a small screen.
Don’t Forget to Follow us on Instagram: @keenweb
Snapchat for your business!!
Posted byKeenweb inMarketing, Social media on May 25, 2016 with0 Comment
Do you know what Snapchat is? Do you know that thousands of businesses are using Snapchat to connect with their customers? If you answered no to either of these questions, then you are missing out. Snapchat is one of the fastest growing social media tools, even though it’s still fairly new. Snapchat offers fantastic opportunities for businesses. It is a great way to engage with your customers, so it’s an excellent marketing tool for you – so it’s worth checking out.
What is it?
Snap chat is a mobile app that lets you take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. These sent photographs and videos are known as “Snaps”.
Nearly 100 million “Snapchatters” use the app every day. It has 5+ Billion video views each day. With over 60% of people who use Snapchat daily, creating content every day – they are active and engaged on the platform.
User stats
Snapchat is the best way to reach 13 to 34 year olds – it especially appeals to a youthful audience. Its user base is particularly high in 18-24 year olds, with 45% of their users in this age range. When you compare this to other platforms users in this age range, you can see how much Snapchat appeals to a younger audience: Facebook 16% and Twitter 19%.
70% of Snapchat users are female (Source: Wall Street Journal). Many businesses, including fashion retailers know their customers are using it, so they are using Snapchat
Only 2% of businesses using social media to market their business are using Snapchat – so now is the perfect time to get your business involved, and build a user base on Snapchat. So far, most businesses have not caught on to the opportunities Snapchat will have.
Furthermore, only 1% of advertisers are currently using Snapchat (Source: Mashable). Be an early adopter – and don’t end up a Johnny come lately to the party in years to come. Now is the time to get involved.
Your business should be on Snapchat – take part and engage with this massive audience. In addition to your Snapchat you can also pay to advertise on it.
Snapchat introducing 3V Advertising!!
Benefits
Snapchat gives you access to a platform with over 100+ million users. Your customers and potential customers will be there – so make sure you are too. You and your business will have the opportunity to get in front of customers – which in the long run means more sales/leads for your business.
Snapchat gives people the chance to see what they normally wouldn’t. It helps you build a “know, like & trust” factor for your business, which means it will help your audience – and potential customers – to know you better, like you more, and trust you more, which will make them far more likely to buy from you.
One thing that puts some people off using Snapchat – especially creating content for it – is that once somebody clicks on your content e.g. picture, video, etc, it is only going to be available for a very short time period e.g. 24hours. However, you should look upon this as a positive – it means people have to keep on coming back to you if they want more content. They will need to check back regularly, on a daily basis if they want to always see what you’ve been doing. It creates a sense of urgency.
How to use Snapchat
Create valuable, worthwhile content for your Snapchat followers. Engage with them – develop a relationship with them. Be creative – make your snaps fun. Maybe run a competition for your Snapchat followers. Use your other platforms such as your blog, twitter, Youtube, Facebook accounts, etc and tell your followers there, that you are also on Snapchat and they should join you on the platform – this will help grow your followers.
Snapchat is a great way to portray the personality of your business – to share what you are interested in or what the mission of your company is. With Snapchat you have the opportunity to share your message, let people know what you are like and hopefully in time develop a loyal, engaged audience.
While providing images & videos of your products/services is good, it’s highly recommended that you show people behind the scenes of you business. Snapchat’s video function is particularly good for this – just like Snapchat’s images they self-destruct after they are viewed – but they give your follows an exclusive view inside your business – or tease them with a sneak peak at new products, designs, upcoming offers, competitions, etc.
Many Snapchat users will be taking photos of their lunch, at the gym, at the beach, etc – fun things, not serious business “snaps”. With this in mind, your Snapchat posts should be relaxed and fun. Snapchat is used for casual communication – so don’t act all serious – leave that mindset for LinkedIn.
If you want to see how other business people are using Snapchat, then sign up to the app and follow people such as Gary Vaynerchuck, Amy Schmittauer, Chris Ducker, JoesDaily, Casey Neistat, Mashable, Disney, Taco Bell, WWF, GirlsHBO, etc. See how they engage with their audience and learn from them.
Start snapping today – switch on your smartphone and download the Snapchat app and sign up! Search & follow Keenweb if you do…
6 More reasons why you should register another domain name
Posted byKeenweb inDomain Name on May 24, 2016 with0 Comment
More people than ever are wanting to create a website, whether it’s for their business or if it’s just a personal website, such as a blog or a family photo gallery, etc. It used to be the case that people would only buy only one domain name, however that is now changing. Increasingly people are registering more than one domain name.
More opportunities
It is quite common for businesses to register multiple domain names in order to not only protect their brand e.g. their brand name plus multiple domain extension – however, increasingly business register additional domains in order to expand their online reach, and thereby reach more customers. Registering more than one domain name is a wise choice. Below are six reasons why you should register another domain:
1. Enhance your online presence:
Let customers know exactly what it is you do and what you provide. This has been made easier than ever thanks to the new range of domain name extensions that have been released in the last couple of years. For example, you can now register extensions such as YourName.fitness – which is great for personal coaches or fitness related businesses. Also extensions such as YourName.accountants, YourBusiness.deals, YourBusinessName.restaurant, YourBusinessName.support, etc.
2. Expand your brand:
Many business offer a range different products or services – having additional domain names will enable you to promote these in a more targeted way. You don’t have to limit yourself to just one domain. Many people & businesses own more than one domain name. They do this in order to take advantage of the new extensions to promote other products/services that you offer. Don’t limit yourself.
You may also want to promote specific products or services by create a unique website for it – which would require registering an additional domain name. For example, Casablanca Hire is a London based event hire company that specialises in event hire equipment. They have a large stock of marquees, tables and chairs and catering hire equipment.
Their main website is www.casablancahire.com – but in addition to this they have also registered the domain names: www.chairhire.london and www.casablancahire.london These two extra domains (and their websites) help Casablanca Hire get more business from. Firstly by creating a niche site just focusing specifically on chair hire in the London area, and secondly by boosting their online presence for the term “London” online – and area where a lot of their customer will be.
Not only do they increase their chances of being found on search engines such as Google for search terms such as “chair hire London”, but they can also advertise e.g. in wedding magazines, or event organiser industry magazines, etc using the niche web address www.chairhire.london.
We recommend that you have a look at some of the new domain name extensions and consider what opportunities they can offer you.
3. Protect your brand:
You should do what you can to prevent sneaky competitors or dodgy people from damaging your brand. For example, they could register domains that use your brand in them – and try to pass themselves off as you or your business. For example, fraudsters could register a domain with your brand in it such as e.g. YourName.discount or YourName.cheap or YourName.sale, etc and try to trick people into thinking the website is part of your business.
You should identify potential online threats to your brand. What domain names should you own to protect your brand? For the sake of spending a few pounds registering domain names associated with your brand – and thereby protect it – you can avoid huge headaches and legal expenses in the long-run.
If somebody register a domain with your brand in it and sets up a damaging or misleading website on it, then while you may end up being able to shut the website down – but the time & money you will have to spend to do this – not to mention the fact that it will distract you from what you should be working on e.g. growing your business – will be very costly, you will be wishing you had just registered the domain back when you had the chance.
Many companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Coca-Cola, etc register hundreds or even thousands of domain names. They realise the importance of having more than one domain name.
4. Typo errors:
Another reason to register additional domains is cover any potential loss of visitors to your website as a result of type in errors, which are very common. You can register common type in errors and then set up redirects for miss-spelling of your main domain – get them to redirect to your website.
This will result in you getting more traffic to your site, plus prevent competitors from registering & using them. Many businesses do this e.g. Amazon, who have registered numerous common miss-spellings of their main domain name: amazpn.com and amzon.com, as well as many others.
5. Target specific geographical areas:
Many businesses register additional domain names in order to either target specific sectors for their existing product of service. For example, in addition to having a .COM extension, Amazon targets specific countries using different domain names such as: Amazon.de (Germany), Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.jp (Japan), Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom). They can target each country in a way that will result in more business from that market e.g. by having the website written in the local language, etc – all of which will make it more likely people in those areas will want to buy from them.
6. Separate corporate information from customers:
Lastly, you may want to register additional domain names, not necessarily to promote additional products or services, but instead to act as a public place to provide information about your company – such as information for investors, displaying corporate information. This is information that you want to be open about and have available online – but may not be necessary for potential customers to see when they first come to your main website.
For example, some companies have a website dedicated to explaining their sustainability practices, such as the one set up by Nike, who in addition to their Nike.com website, they created a niche site focusing on their sustainability actions, which is: www.nikeresponsibility.com
So, having an additional domain & website could contain information that might not interest you average customer, but for PR purposes may be worth having.
More business enquiries
There are many reasons why you should register more than one domain – the ones listed above are just a few. Having more than one domain name (with a website on it) means additional opportunities to be listed in search engines.
The fact is being found in more places, more often will result in more business for you. Registering additional domain names can pay themselves off many times over in the long-run.
Keenweb sells hundreds of domains names, including all of the new ones that have been released such as .CLUB, .SUPPORT, .ONLINE, etc. Have a think about how you can benefit by owning more domain names and have a look at what is available at the Keenweb domain names page.
How/Why to choose a good domain name
Posted byKeenweb inDomain Name on May 24, 2016 with0 Comment
Your domain name or web address is your shop front to the world. Which means the name you use matters. It’s important.
Why does a domain name matter? It’s the first thing that people will see if you’re online. If you meet somebody for the first time – possibly at a networking event or business conference, then you will want a professional name that appeals to people.
Your domain name has the potential to leave people with an impression about you & your website – your business, or your organisation, or club…. so make sure it’s a good one.
Keep in mind that while a domain name is important, it is not going to make or break your business or whatever online project your planning, so it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get your first choice domain.
There are plenty of successful websites with bad domain names, and there are plenty of businesses that have failed, even though they had great domain names – so don’t let it hold you back. Don’t procrastinate over buying a domain name.
Simply take some time to think of a domain name that will be good for you, do some research and then register one. Just register it and then move on to creating your website for your domain.
Extensions…
There are many different types of extensions that you can now get for a domain name. For example, you can get a .COM or a .CO.UK or .NET, or a .INFO, etc. Recently there have been a lot of new types of extensions being released such as .CLUB, .MUSIC, .RESTAURANT, .SCOT, .WALES, .LONDON
The most popular type is .COM, and if you’re in the UK then .CO.UK is also a popular choice.
Which one you may want to choose will depend on what is available and the nature of your website. For example, if you are planning on setting up a website for your local sports club, then you may decide to register a .CLUB domain rather than a .CO.UK or .COM – it’s up to you.
More than one domain?
Keep in mind that you can have more than one domain name – and many people, especially businesses register multiple domain names. For example, you may want to do this for brand protection reasons – to prevent anybody else registering similar names to you.
Also, you may want to create a niche website for a specific product or service you offer
Many Keenweb customers own more than one domain name.
For example, one of our customers is the business Casablanca Hire, which is a leading event hire company, supplying furniture, catering and event hire equipment for private and corporate clients throughout London and the South East of England. Their main website is www.casablancahire.com
However, they have also registered other domain names and created separate websites for them which promote their services to specific locations or target specific market sectors – helping them get more customers.
One of their secondary websites is www.chairhire.london – so while their main business focuses on marquee hire and everything that goes along with that – if people in London searching on Google for example typing in the keyphrase “chair hire London” and so are only interested in hiring some chairs in the London area – then Casablanca Hire is more likely to be found on Google thanks to their targeted website www.chairhire.london. Having more than one domain name helps them get more business – because they are able to specifically target various market sectors or locations.
Here are a few things to keep in mind before registering your own domain name:
1. If you’re getting a domain name for your business – then choose a domain name which matches your company name.
As you promote your business brand, this will include promoting your domain name – and having a completely different domain name from your business name will cause confusion and your efforts will be diluted.
Having a similar business name and website name on your company stationary, business cards, etc looks professional.
Also, if people know your business name and they want to find your website, but don’t know the actual web address then odds are they will type your business name into Google. So if your domain matches your business name, then you’ve a better chance of people finding your website.
2. Brainstorm ideas
Get a blank piece of paper, or a pad of sticky notes and try to write down 50+ domain names that you would like to have for your new website. Once you have a list of domain names, sort them in order of your most to least favourite and then type them into the Keenweb domain search and see if any are still available to register.
If they are not then consider registering a name with a different extension e.g. if the .COM is not available, then maybe check the .CO.UK, or .CLUB, NET, etc.
Or maybe try combining different keywords from your list – be creative. Keep in mind what your website will be about – for example are their any specific keywords related to the type of website you want to launch? Consider including one of the keywords in your domain name.
3. Make it easy for people to type
You don’t want a name that is hard to spell. For example, if you’re planning on setting up your own plumbing business and create a website for then that’s great, but if you have a long complicated or difficult to spell surname – then maybe don’t use that for your business or domain name.
For example, if you were a plumber and had a Polish surname and your name was Dave Wojcik, then you might consider choosing the domain name WojcikPlumbers.com – But the problem with this is that the correct way to pronounce the surname is so it rhymes with logic – but it’s spelt W-O-J-C-I-K, so it doesn’t sound the way it looks on paper – and odds are if you told somebody over the phone what your domain name is they would write it down incorrectly – so long term you would end up losing a lot of business.
Don’t include lots of numbers in your domain name – if you have a domain name with lots of numbers in it, then when you tell people your domain, odds are a fair number of them will end up confused, and write the wrong name down.
Keep in mind, if you were speaking to somebody on the phone and you told them your domain name is – would they be able to quickly note it down, or would they spend 10 minutes repeatedly asking you numerous times how to spell different parts of it?
4. Unique & memorable
Try to keep it short & simple. Admittedly, getting a short domain name can be difficult, especially if it’s a .COM domain extension you want, since many of the best ones have already been registered.
Fortunately – thanks to the new types of domain name extensions that have been steadily released over the past two years – GTLDs as they are known as – you are now much more likely to be able to register a short & memorable domain name. Obviously it’s dependent on what type of business you or project you have in mind – but you can now register domains with extensions such as .CLUB, .ONLINE, .RESTAURANT, .SCIENCE, .PARTY, .LONDON, .WALES, .SCOT, .IRISH, ….and hundreds of other types.
5. Hints at what you do
It’s beneficial to have a domain which hints or describes what you do. Good examples of this are domain names such as Hotmail.com, AutoTrader.com, Facebook.com, PayPal.com
Imagine you meet somebody and you want to tell them about what you do and your website, then having a domain that matches your business and one that is memorable and hints at what you do, will not only be easy for people to remember, but it will also leave people with a positive impression of you – e.g. “My name’s Dave and my business is Dave’s Cars Ltd and my website is DavesCars.co.uk“.
6. Beware copyright infringement
Don’t choose a name that is trademarked or contains trademarked names. So, avoid using copyrighted names of well known companies such as Coca Cola, Facebook, Apple, etc, in your domain name.
For example, if you own a car garage and you sell second hand BMW cars in Blackpool, then while you may want to have a domain name such as BMWBlackpool.com – the odds are the company BMW will not be happy with you including BMW in your domain name – so you could end up being sued and having your website taken down.
General rule to keep in mind: would a consumer be confused that your website name or business is overlapping with another business?
Are other competitors using a similar name – do a thorough search e.g. on Google, etc
7. Don’t use a hyphen in your domain name
It looks cheap and people will forget the correct spelling – they’ll miss out the hyphen when typing your name and will instead go to the wrong website.
don’t-choose-this-domain.com
Historically a lot of spammy websites have used hyphenated domain names – which has resulted in them getting a bad reputation.
8. Don’t have the name too literal or descriptive
If you are interested in getting a domain name for your business – then your business name can have an effect – this is why choosing your actual business domain name is something that you need to do carefully.
Having a business name which is described in literal terms is one of the biggest mistakes many people make when choosing a business name. The thinking behind this is often the fear that they must have a name which describes exactly what they do. However, this only results in problems, and ultimately a loss of business in years to come.
For example if a business was to name itself “Wholesale Beauty Supplies” – it may at first appear to be a good name. However, what if there is a higher demand from retail customers who will pay more for their products? Having “Wholesale” in their business name may frighten potential customers off. Not only is it a rather dull name, it would be almost impossible for them to get to the top of Google due to the thousands of companies with similar names.
9. Be wary of domain names that are too niche, possibly restricting you in the long run.
Make sure you consider the long term potential of your business and its domain name. Are you ambitions to move into different sectors in future or geographical locations? Will your domain name still be relevant in future if your business ambitions are realised. You may not want to have a domain for your main website that’s too niche. Can your domain name grow as you grow?
For example, if somebody started up a business selling bananas in Blackpool and they decided to register for their main website the domain name: BananasBlackpool.com. Now this would be a good domain name to have as long as they only ever sell bananas in the Blackpool area. But if they decided in future to expand into selling oranges or apples, – as well as bananas, then anyone who sees their website may be put off by the domain name, which may make them think the business only sells bananas.
Also, what if they decide they want to expand their business and supply fruit to the whole of the UK and not just Blackpool? Again, anyone who sees their website may be put off by the domain name, which may make them think they only sell fruit in Blackpool and not all over of the UK – so their choice of domain could limit their sales in future.
10. Personal name included in the web address?
If you want to set up a personal website or family website then using your full name or surname is a great choice. However, again try to factor in the long term consequences of what might happen to your website.
If your website includes your name, then its audience will closely associate the website with you. While this has many advantages, what are the consequences if you grew a successful website and you wanted to sell it? If it includes your name, then this could put off potential buyers.
For example, if you set up a website that provided information and reviews on golfing holidays, and the site became very popular and you wanted to sell it, then do you think it would be easier to sell if the domain for the website was:
www.BarrysGolfHolidayReviews.com or www.GolfHolidayReviews.com ?
If you don’t have any ambitions to sell your website, then go ahead and include your own name in it – it’s great for personal websites & blogs – but otherwise including your name is best avoided. It gives people the impression that the website is just a hobby site or a personal project just for fun. If that’s all you want it for then that’s fine – but if you have ambitions of turning it into a business one day, then drop the name, otherwise it could look amateur.
Choose Carefully
To conclude, when you come to register a domain name then make sure you have thought it through – including the points already mentioned above. Your domain can have a major effect on your website, so take your time in choosing the right one, since it could be with you for years to come.
Keenweb sells hundreds of different types of domain name extensions – visit our Domain Name page to see what’s available. If you have any questions, or need further advice on choosing a domain name, then call our domain name specialists on: 020 3637 5335