INSIGHTS &EXPERTISE

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12 posts found

10 Ways To Find New Content Ideas That Never Fail
Business
Nov 30, 2022
5 min read

10 Ways To Find New Content Ideas That Never Fail

Have you ever run out of content ideas, or maybe you have some pictures that need to be revised? Unfortunately, this is probably the worst experience regarding your digital marketing. What if I tell you that there are many trusted ways to gear up your content ideas and shine even brighter? Content marketing has a medium through which so many businesses become successful. This alone is enough reason to find insightful ways to develop stunning ideas that never fail on your website and social media channels. Nowadays, there are lots of businesses that operate only online without any physical stores. Therefore, producing the wrong content for such or similar companies can take time to convince people your products are good, even if they are. After looking at why excellent content is essential, let us jump into nine ways to find new ideas that never fail. Peep Into Websites with Content Ideas There are websites you can get free content ideas from. A good example is Quora asks random questions across different industries and topics. Searching for a title or industry name would be best, and many questions and answers will pop up. Then, you can generate content ideas from these results. Create a Huddle of Topics One of the most significant ways that content fails is when made quickly. Although some may be successful, they can be stressful and have a higher probability of failing. The best way to do it is to create bunches of ideas before time. Pictures that will last for a month or two. Brainstorm through them and make the possible adjustments/corrections. This practice will help you reduce multitasking and give you enough time to find engaging strategies. Have a Tour Around Social Media Another excellent source for legit ideas is social media. There are almost limitless chances on social media. Millions of people spend hours online daily, many of whom may be your customers. Social media keeps developing. What works today might not work tomorrow. Also, what’s tending today may go dumb tomorrow. So an excellent way to start is by looking at your followers, what interests them and the people following them. Know who to tag and the hashtags that work. All this information can be vital in generating fail-proof content ideas. Keep an Eye on Competitors’ Websites You aren’t stealing, but yet, you are stealing. In the same way, you can extract ideas from social media, and you can also get ideas from competitors’ websites. Look into their blogs/news section, check for pictures you have yet to think of, check the comments and see what’s working for them. This is important because you are both targeting the same customers. However, it would be best if you did not do precisely what they do. You want to know what works for them and find a way to do it better. Use Suggestions by Google Have you noticed a variety of similar topics popping up when you type something on the Google search bar before clicking enter? These suggestions are based on top searches from the niche of what you ordered. An excellent idea for your next topic may be from Google; give it a try. Connect With Current Events Keep an eye out for events around your community. Find events that you can relate your brand with. This strategy works best on social media. Stick to events around your niche and avoid being controversial. This will help you spot new developments and ideas around your industry and turn them into a blog or news. Use Blog Idea Generator Have you ever tried any blog idea generator for your web content? If yes, check how the content is performing; I’m sure it’s smiles all around. Topic generator platforms help you with blog ideas that people are searching for. They can help you with blog topics for months and even up to a year. However, it may not provide a different issue than you want, but it’s a good starting point to come up with stunning content ideas. Try Interviews and Podcast An interview or Podcast session with enthusiasts in your niche is an excellent way to create content ideas. Short clips can go on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The entire session can be turned into content ideas for several weeks. Do Product Review This is another great way to generate excellent content. Reviewing products vis videos or tweeting praises goes a long way. The best tip for this type of idea is to think about what people use daily, which can be helpful for your audience. You can also ask your followers about products they can’t do without. A monthly product review can turn out to be your most valuable content.

Raven & Macaw Team
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How To Choose The Best Social Media Channels For Your Business
Business
Nov 30, 2022
4 min read

How To Choose The Best Social Media Channels For Your Business

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Tiktok… These come to your mind whenever you hear “Social media!” However, there is something new you should know; there will be more than 150 functioning social media channels in 2022. In 2020, it was advised that you should be able to know about 75 social media channels as a company owner. But then, understanding them is just one thing; more important is “which one do you start with?” and “which one is best for business.” There are a lot of social media channels out there, and it can be tough to decide which ones are right for your business. You want to choose the channels that will give you the most reach and engagement with your target audience. There are a few things you can do to help you choose the best social media channels for your business. First, look at your target audience and see where they are most active. If they’re on Facebook, that’s probably a good channel for you to be on. If they’re on Twitter, then that’s another channel you should consider. You can also look at your competitors to see which channels they’re using and how they’re using them. You wouldn’t want to open a social media channel and shut it down after realising it is not the right one for your business. So whether you are just starting or want to expand your social media channels, below are some questions you should answer to kick you off to a good start. What Business are You Running? First things first! What business are you running? This is important because the type of business you run can decide the content you produce, which will further determine which social media channel best suits your business. Look at your brand persona, products or services, and business type; these should influence your platform choice. Individuals should consider LinkedIn before any other. However, this doesn’t mean you should stick to LinkedIn. Every business has so much to profit from every social media forum. Why are You on Social Media? The initial cause you want to join social media can impact which channel you join. For instance, many channels will work fine if you are in it for striking images and videos of your products/services. Also, many channels will work fine f you are in it for client consent. Where is Your Target Audience? This is among the most crucial questions. If your audience is not on a particular platform, there is no reason to bounce into it. For example, it is comprehended that Facebook has the most active users. However, your audience may be less on Facebook based on your business. This leads to the next question. What Type of Content are You Creating? Different content works better on other platforms. So, knowing the social media channel that suits your business the most is crucial. For example,  short video content that targets young audiences should be more on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. However, if the videos are a bit longer and more mature, there are no better platforms than Twitter and Facebook. In addition, Pinterest is the best for promoting photo-based content for B2C. Where are Your Competitors Hanging? This is not only a step to decide which channel you should go for but also a step that significantly impacts setting up your social media strategy. There are three things to look into under this. First, what platforms are they using? Second, which platform is working best for them? And lastly, what is the number of engagements for each forum? Checking your competitors and what works best for them is helpful, not because you should do exactly what they do and how they do it, but because it gives you an idea of where to start and know what you should do better. Every social media channel needs time and devotion. So the last question you should ask yourself is, “do you have all the necessary resources before opening a new social media channel?” Once you add a new social media channel for your business, try and make content that communicates with the platform’s audience. Having several social media channels doesn’t mean you must publish exact content through all platforms. There are a lot of social media channels out there, and it can be overwhelming to try to figure out which ones are right for your business. However, by taking the time to research and figure out which channels your target market is using, you can narrow down your options and choose the best channels for your business. Once you’ve chosen your channels, stay active and engaged with your audience to build relationships and grow your business.

Raven & Macaw Team
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Expert Tips For Stepping Up Your Social Media And Content Marketing Game
Content Marketing
Nov 4, 2022
5 min read

Expert Tips For Stepping Up Your Social Media And Content Marketing Game

There are over 4 billion active social media users on the earth we live in today. In 2022, Instagram is almost 90% becoming a marketing platform with over 1.3 billion active users. Moreover, many new qualities and tools are regularly stacked up on social media platforms, making them more business-friendly. The mindset of cute and sassy photos on social media is still alive but has only got a little shift because people now check out cute images of what to purchase and sassy videos of how to use or where to find what they require. With the number of individuals on Instagram and how fast it keeps rising, I’m sure you are already considering tapping your business into it if you haven’t. Whether you have or are thinking of doing so, below are marketing tips on Instagram that work well for businesses. Don’t Leave Out Any Social Media Platform Even if your business is small doesn’t mean you should still include some platforms. Instead, start by opening your business account across all social media platforms for effective content marketing. Social media keeps evolving every day. So the platform you’re thinking of omitting today may give you the highest number of clients tomorrow! Use every platform strategy to boost your brand. Different Strategies Work For Different Social Media Platforms Different social media platforms have different strengths and weaknesses. As a result, different strategies work best for each platform. For example, Facebook is great for building relationships and connecting with potential customers, while Twitter is better for sharing quick snippets of information and generating leads. Before you start using any social media platform for your business, it’s noteworthy to understand how it works and what kind of content is most effective on that platform. Know and understand the tactics that best work for every platform. For example, hashtags have been a vital tool for most businesses on Instagram. Also, LinkedIn has been proven not to be for personal use but to go well with companies. Don’t Stick To Only Photos Or Videos Using all possible categories (text, photos and videos). Doing so gives you a greater chance of reaching more potential users. People view different categories daily; you’ll never know where someone new will first see your post before checking out more about your business. Keep An Eye On The Insights This business profile feature lets you know the posts that work best for you. You see the engagements on your posts, impressions, etc. Also, you get to see a stat of your followers, when they are most active, and their gender, age range, and location. The more you know the posts that best work for you and your followers’ age range and locations, the better you can adjust and deliver what’s best. Go For Sponsored Ads An average video or image post is seen only by your followers or people who visit your profile, but sponsored ads allow you to reach beyond your followers. You can target your audience through ads while keeping an eye on how much you want to spend on them. The higher your budget on ads, the more audience your post reach. Another cool thing about ads is that you can do it for both stories and feeds, so if you notice any of your existing post performing well, you can turn it into an ad for more potential engagement. A good hint on ads: run ads for multiple posts and different target audiences concurrently for best engagement. Influencers Lead To Wider Reach A couple of people have built a large audience and trust on the platform. If you partner with these people and let them advertise and promote your products, it is among the easiest ways to reach more potential customers. Moreover, many people buy products based on what their trusted influencers advertise. So if you get along with the right influencers for your product, your brand will be boosted to a new level. In conclusion, social media and content marketing are two of the most effective tools in a digital marketing arsenal. To stay ahead of the game, keep up with the latest trends and best practices. Our blog is an excellent resource for tips and advice on social media marketing and digital marketing. Whether you’re just starting your social media marketing or are a seasoned marketer, we can help you reach more fans, clients, and customers with the right content. Follow us to learn more about how to step up your game in these areas.    

Raven & Macaw Team
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3 Productivity Apps That Every Business Needs
Articles
Oct 31, 2022
4 min read

3 Productivity Apps That Every Business Needs

The success of our businesses can rely on the apps we use. However, there are hundreds of software available, all of which claim to be helpful. Well, the truth is, whether a small or big business, these productivity apps can help your business. Understanding the various business apps and knowing why you want to go for a specific app is essential. But first, why do you need these apps? Benefits Of Productivity Apps Scale your day-to-day office needs Boost productivity Easy to communicate Smooth workflow Minimize paperwork They can be accessed from anywhere with an internet Do not require updates. The manufacturers do all updates They can be accessed via computer and mobile There are three primary reasons why your business needs a productivity app: General productivity– these are more like suites. They are applications that contain other applications in them. Applications under general productivity entail the most-used business applications to provide you with a concrete workspace. Communication – communication is what brings understanding in and outside of your business. Without communication, a company will hardly survive. There are productivity apps that make it easy to communicate within and outside your business Team management – this is an essential part of a business’s productivity. Productivity apps that handle this allow you to monitor all your staff and manage your projects Almost everything about your day-to-day business activities is centred around these three categories. Well, here are three of the best productivity applications that every business needs: General Productivity – G Suite This is a productivity suite that every business needs. It entails in it the most used business applications. This has been around for quite some time, but back in the day, it was known as Google for business. Up to date, G Suite stands among some of the most powerful systems. It includes Gmail, hangout, calendar and google +. It also has other collaboration tools such as forms, sheets, and docs. What makes it a more stunning system is that G suites grants you and your business up to 30GB of storage. With G Suite, there is no necessary need for a Gmail domain. Everything related to the company address can be achieved through it. It also makes it possible to transfer data between several systems using the migration tool. Team Management – Toggl Time management is vital for every business to be productive. That is where Toggl comes into play. This system covers various projects, assigning billing rates and sharing reports through links or exported files. What makes Toggl more impressive is its ability to record, and Bill projects with a single click according to its processing time. Are you also looking for an offline tracking system? Then, Toggl will serve you well. In addition, you don’t need to worry about being away. This fantastic app will still record time and upload when it detects the internet on a remote site or has no network. Communication – Slack Slack is a messaging app for businesses that connects people to the information they need. It brings the team together and has several channels to give everyone the required information. These channels are where you find your data, regardless of location, time, or function. When teams work together in channels, equal information can be shared with everyone at once. This app stays within the company. You can use it to communicate with individuals inside and outside your business. Slack makes the whole workflow easy. You can easily ask questions, get caught up, and share updates without coordinating schedules. In conclusion, every business needs a few essential productivity apps. These apps can help boost efficiency and collaboration. To stay up-to-date on the latest productivity apps, follow us on our social media channels – Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Let us help you grow your business online. Contact us now!

Raven & Macaw Team
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5 Free Websites You Can Get Content Ideas
Content Marketing
Oct 31, 2022
4 min read

5 Free Websites You Can Get Content Ideas

Every content creator’s dream is to keep up with the trend and make unique content that everyone would love to click on. However, creating content ideas can be more work than creating or writing them. Sometimes, you can have a top-notch idea, but your audience may need help finding it. The most important thing to do is look for fantastic content ideas. There are several ways to get engaging content ideas, most of which are paid. What if we tell you there are websites where you can call/generate content ideas for absolutely free? Below are five free websites you can get content ideas: Answer The Public This website has answers to almost all your keyword ideas. It allows you to input up to three keywords, and the website will provide you with several topics and questions related to your search. In addition, it also provides you with some analysis of how many searches the keyword and all related topics have. This is important because it gives you an idea of the competition and your ability to rank. There is a tab on the website that displays a variety of trending topics on the web. This can be very useful if you want to stay updated with content and topic ideas that are making waves in your niche. As a content creator, Answerthepublic can help you develop blog topic ideas, generate topic ideas for social media posts, generate survey and quiz ideas and plan a marketing campaign. Canva Are you a visual designer? Whether video editing or graphics design, Canva is a dream come true for most designers. This online tool has thousands of video slides and graphics templates you can select from, over a thousand pictures you can add to your design, and edit it to your taste with so many colours, shapes and more. Canva has templates not only for visual designs but also include blogs and resumé templates. It is free to use canva. However, there is a premium version you can subscribe to for more features. Sometimes you may not need the exact template from canva, but by seeing it, you can have an idea of what you should create next. -6 Easy-to-use Graphic Design Tools- Quora You can’t talk about content ideas without mentioning the almighty Quora. This is a website where thousands of users ask questions and others provide answers. Quora is a good option for content ideas because you will know what many people are asking; some questions may not be answered, giving you a chance to provide answers through your content. Quora also has sections for specific, trending topics and questions that haven’t been answered. For example, to locate unanswered questions from “Homepage”, search for a keyword. Then, scroll down, and you should see a “Question tab” click on it, and all the unanswered questions will appear. Ubersuggest This is a tool that provides keyword trends. It can assist you in finding suitable keywords. After searching for a key, it displays how many searches (per month, the cost-per-click, and the competition level. Through this, you can decide whether to continue with content. Ubersuggest also identifies how well content is going on Facebook and Pinterest. It also gives you various content links, not only showing you how popular they are. Buzzsumo With Buzzsumo, you see the most popular topics/content on every SM platform. You can also see the topics working well for others in your niche. By that, you can know which content to create and its competition. Buzzsumo works with keywords that suit you. Any keyword you type provides details, including the website that shared it. Content is the bread and butter of every website. You won’t have a successful website if you don’t have great content. However, coming up with fresh, new ideas for content can be difficult and time-consuming. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 5 great websites you can use to get content ideas for free. To ensure you never miss an update or trend in digital marketing, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

Raven & Macaw Team
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What A Proper Website Should Look Like
Design
Oct 17, 2022
4 min read

What A Proper Website Should Look Like

With millions of website strategies available, you may wonder what an appropriate website should look like. But, before that, do the looks even matter? Well, sure, pretty, you have clicked on some websites and gone “WOW” at first glance; plus, you didn’t have any problem getting what you were looking for, and it felt like what you needed. But, on the other hand, you may have experienced some websites that you couldn’t spend 10 seconds surfing. Why? Because it was not a good website. Well, the looks/appearance of a quality website can enhance or ruin the initial purpose of the website, as it is among the key factors determining a business’s success. Therefore, every website should contain the below features to be perceived as a good website. Primary Purpose The first and most important question is, “What is the primary purpose of this website?” No one wakes up on Wednesday morning and says, “Oh! Today I want to create a website for absolutely nothing….” Every website has a specific reason why it is created, right? So, within a few seconds of clicking a website, every visitor should be able to know the primary purpose of the website and what it has to offer. For example, every visitor should quickly notice the shopping cart feature if a website is created to sell products online. Simplicity and Design How simple but catchy the design of a website greatly influences user experience. The colours, typography and visuals all matter. First, you need to have a colour palette for your brand. This will make it easy for you to decide on the colour combinations to use on your website, not just jump on random colours. Moreover, a good website shouldn’t exceed five colours. Secondly, typography is a vital aspect of every website. It kind of controls the individuals’ attention and speaks for the brand. Therefore, a good website should have no more than three font types. The visuals of a website are all the imagery aspects that form the website. The visuals should explain/display the nature of the company/brand. This is important because it decides every visitor’s first impression. Easy to Navigate A good website should be easy to navigate. Nobody wants a complicated website. The easier a website can navigate, the faster it retains its visitors. If visitors find it hard to navigate a website, look at competitors’ websites. Consistent layouts and visual cues for functionality should be standard across a good website. Mobile Friendly We live in a world where people access the internet via mobile phones. You have no idea what device your next visit will use to access your website. So, you wouldn’t like your website to look scattered or unfriendly. There will hardly be an SEO ranking for a website without being mobile-friendly. Type Of Content The type of content on a website also contributes to its overall quality. A website can be A+ on the design, but poor content can ruin its whole purpose. Educative, exciting and entertaining content is the best. In addition, consistent quality content updates, whether video, audio or text, will make visitors come back for more updates and can easily convert these visitors to customers and enhance the SEO ranking of a website. Call To Action A key factor for almost every website. Not just e-commerce websites, but every website should ask visitors to do at least one thing. This may include sharing an article, following SM handles, signing up or downloading what they have to offer. Load Time Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days. No one can wait more than 5 seconds for a website to fully load. In today’s world, a good website should be able to access any of its pages within 3 seconds. With quality content and fast load time, no way that won’t leave a smile on any visitor’s face. Of course, the speed of a website starts with quality hosting. However, content optimisation has a strong effect on load time. Have our team of website designers create/design and maintain a website that ranks number one on search engine result pages and drives massive traffic.  

Raven & Macaw Team
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Website Vs. Web Application
Website
Oct 13, 2022
5 min read

Website Vs. Web Application

There is often confusion between “website” and “web application”, but they refer to two very different things. A website is a collection of static pages displayed to users in their web browser. On the other hand, it is a dynamic and interactive application accessed through a web browser.  What is the difference, then? A website is generally used for informative purposes, while a web application is used to complete specific tasks. In addition, websites are often much simpler and quicker to create than web applications.  However, it is essential if we understand that right from the development stage, these two are not the same; they both have different purposes of creation and function in various ways to provide solutions. In addition, web applications offer several advantages over websites, such as connecting databases, processing data, and carrying out complex tasks. If you’re unsure of what you need, keep reading to learn more about the difference between a website and a web application. Website A website is a set of accessible related web pages that may contain images, videos, audio, write-ups, or other information/data that individuals can read or retrieve through the internet. A website is made up of web pages. It can be single or multiple pages. Every website has a unique URL; for individuals/users to have access to a website, they must have/click its URL. An excellent example of a website URL is https://ravenandmacaw.com/ Websites are of different types. The six major types of websites include: Personal website Business Website E-commerce website  Portfolio website Blog website Crowdfunding website. Different websites are created for various purposes. The way every type function is entirely different from the other. However, with all their differences, they still answer the name of a website. So this means that they have some characteristics in common. Features of a Website   Creating a website is one thing; chipping in the core features is different. There are five must-have features for every website. Fast Load-time – before anything pops up, a website has to load after clicking its URL. The amount of time it takes to load is the load time. Nowadays, most people don’t have the patience to wait more than 5 seconds for a website to load. So, a good website should be able to load in not more than 5 seconds. Page quality/Appearance – This key feature will dictate how long a visitor will stay on a website. First impression matters. The design, appearance, and how everything is well-arranged and nice looking. Quality Content – the main reason everyone visits a website is to feed on its content. Whether videos, pictures, documents, or blogs, a good website contains quality content that either educates, entertains or benefits users. User-Friendly and Easy to Navigate – when a website is user-friendly, visitors find it easy to access from different digital devices and quickly understand what the website is all about. A good website is easy for users to navigate from one page to another to find what they are looking for. Is a Website Important? Whether for personal or business purposes, a website has so many benefits, some of which include the following:  A website makes a company looks more professional It increases customer trust and boosts engagement A website enables a business’s marketing It is easier to sell products with a website A website provides social proof  What Is A Web Application? A web application is a software that is accessed through a web browser. These applications are designed computer programs that function and interact with specific elements, using scripts from both the server and client to provide meaningful information. Some suitable well-known web applications include Amazon, YouTube, and email programs. Web applications can be customized to perform several functions. However, they are more complicated to build than websites. Features of A Web Application Web applications can easily be tested vis automation They can be run across all Operating Systems Web applications are hosted on the cloud and can be scalable. Is a Web Application Important? Similar to a website, you may be thinking about how vital a web application is. Good news; many successful companies nowadays have a web application in addition to their company website. You wonder why? A web application is easy to maintain, customize, secure, and update. In addition, there is no request for any app store approval because they run on browsers. Difference Between Websites And Web Applications WEBSITE WEB APPLICATION They have visual and text content that front-end users can only view and read. A user can interact and make some manipulations to its content Newsletters do not require authentication unless for regular websites All forms of a web application must be authenticated with usernames and passwords The entire public can easily access information Registered individuals can only access most data. A website can be built with basic knowledge of web technology. It requires advanced knowledge due to its security and functions. It is cost-effective. It is a bit less cost-effective than a website because it involves using so many components. In conclusion, the difference between a website and a web application is that a website is typically static, while a web application is interactive. If you want to build a website for your business, contact Raven and Macaw to get started. Keep reading our articles to learn how to manage a business in the digital space.

Raven & Macaw Team
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How To Optimise Your Website
Blogging
Oct 12, 2022
4 min read

How To Optimise Your Website

Over 60% of Google users search for products and services online. Also, around 80% of these people end up in direct, in-store sales or another patronage. So this becomes a good reason to optimise your website. Optimising a website pops up in top searches whenever users search for a related keyword. It is a continuous process. The more you keep doing business and creating content, you must also keep optimising your website regularly. What’s more interesting is that the ways to optimise your website are primarily free. So, it is not a matter of who has the deepest pockets but who is ready to put in more time and effort. Below are some free ways to optimise your website: Optimise For Mobile Nowadays, smartphones and tabs are used for research more often than desktops. You have no idea from which device a user will access your website. That is why it is of enormous importance to optimise your website for all digital devices. Nobody enjoys surfing a website with cut-off edges and oversized content. So, don’t forget to scale all your images for responsive design, avoid long meta descriptions and take note of pop-ups that may obstruct your visitors from reading or seeing your content. When last did you check your website via a mobile phone? Well, do that now and see if everything looks good. Easy Site Navigations Most people don’t take site navigation serious because it is arguably a complex notion to understand. However, it is a vital step in website optimisation. Almost everything will fail if your website is challenging to navigate; your great content and offers will barely matter. The layout of your website should allow users to have access from one point to another without so many clicks and stress. So, initially, you would like to start simple and have an image of what your website should look like before building it. Then, look and feel for everything and ensure it is something users can easily navigate. Proper Keyword Research This is more like a trick in optimisation; the research for words and phrases that your audience would like to see and have interest in. so first, you have to understand who your customers are. This looks like an arduous task, and yes, it is. However, some tools like Google Keyword Planner make it all easy. These tools will show you words (related to your niche), how many searches the terms have, your competitors and more. So it would help if you considered going for talks with high searches but low competitors. Make Use Of Landing Pages Landing pages are almost a necessity for every website. All customers need a page to land. If you are driving traffic from social media handles, you should have landing pages for your customers to see more about your products or services. These landing pages should be similar in colour and verbosity to your social media post. Landing pages are excellent remedies for intricate websites that channel customers to the correct pages. Keep An Eye On The Speed How fast a website boots and functions is key to its success. Google has made a free tool known as “PageSpeed Insight”, which can assist you in understanding how fast it takes the pages on your website to load. In addition, it gives you suggestions for a better speed. See How Similar Websites Are Doing Undoubtedly, the best way to be ahead of your competitors is by looking at what they do and developing a better idea. You may find it hard to do a couple of things on your own; in situations like this, you can look at how similar businesses are doing it and have an idea of how to start. Things to look into may include articles, product pages, titles and more. However, it is more important to consider what works well for them. Visit the Raven and Macaw website now to learn more about optimising your website, or consult our experts to design and optimise your website for long-term effects.

Raven & Macaw Team
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6 Easy-to-use Graphic Design Tools
Branding
Oct 5, 2022
5 min read

6 Easy-to-use Graphic Design Tools

Graphic design: what is it? The production of visual compositions for problem-solving and concept communication using text, imagery, colour, and shape is known as graphic design. There are various forms of graphic design, each with a specific area of competence because there is no single best approach to accomplish that. Graphic design is described as “the art and practice of designing and projecting ideas and experiences with visual and textual information” by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). In other words, the graphic design uses images to convey specific concepts or thoughts. These images might be as straightforward as a company logo or as intricate as website page designs. -The 8 Types of Graphic Designs You Need To Know- Therefore, graphic design tools are software programs that assist designers in realising their ideas. So, just get started if you’re sick of paying for graphic design. In this article, we’ll discuss six simple and easy-to-use graphic design tools whether you’re a student or a business owner.       CANVA A free online graphic design tool is Canva. Use it to make logos, presentations, posters, films, social media postings, and more. To enable everyone in the world to design anything and publish anywhere, Canva is an online design and publishing platform.  As a straightforward drag-and-drop user interface, Canva enables picture manipulation and project-based learning and is suitable even for younger students. It provides many virtual templates so users, including students, can edit designs and make additions. Canva has many features, but many of them are targeted at educators. Canva has more than 8,000 templates, compared to Snappa’s 5,000 in addition to stickers and badge graphics.          ADOBE SPARK Adobe Spark is an integrated narrative platform and online creative tool. Users can design and produce images to communicate knowledge interactively. The tool was developed in May 2016 and consists of three design programs: Post (graphic design), Page (web design), and Video. Adobe Spark helps you build innovative web pages and videos by striking the right balance between minimalism and robust design. Users never lose their progress because modifications made while designing any of the three apps are saved in an online cloud.       SNAPPA Snappa is a cloud-based graphic design tool created to assist small businesses in creating graphics for infographics, emails, blogs, social media, and other channels according to the channel’s specifications. Snappa is a straightforward tool that aids in producing minimalist designs. Snappa is entirely free to use for as long as you’d want. You can access thousands of images and graphics, three monthly downloads and professionally created social media templates for all the major social media networks. There are several critical distinctions between Snappa and Canva. Canva includes more sophisticated design features, whereas Snappa concentrates on straightforward, user-friendly tools.          DESYNER With established templates, Desygner, a visual design tool, organisations may create social media posts, presentations, advertising, posters, and other types of material. However, the most excellent and accessible graphic design software is called Desygner. This tool provides the sense of using photoshop because it allows you to switch between picture layers and customise your text and graphics settings.          AFFINITY DESIGNER Due to its user-friendly interface, Affinity Designer is a fantastic alternative for independent projects or beginning graphic artists. It is a solid rival to Adobe Illustrator, offering a comparable set of design tools and additional user-friendly features. People who desire a cost-effective option without sacrificing functionality should consider it.          PHOTOSCAPE   A minimal toolbox of sketching tools is included in the free picture editing program PhotoScape, which covers all the essentials. Due to its drag-and-drop user interface, it is easy to use. It will swiftly and pleasantly complete straightforward operations such as resizing or cropping. Additionally, it has some batch operations, including file renaming and minor editing to speed up your work. We hope this article helps you know about graphic design tools that are easy and free to use, even as a student or an amateur. If you liked this article, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, where we share the company updates and tips.    

Raven & Macaw Team
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Websites Vs Landing Pages
Website
Oct 4, 2022
4 min read

Websites Vs Landing Pages

Have you ever been stuck between choosing a website or a landing page? To make things clear, a website is like your whole business online, while a landing page is a part of it. However, you may need a website and landing page for a superb online impression. Although a landing page can be just a part of your website, in some cases, it works better than your website and vice-versa. However, there are times when you may need both for your online presence. In this article, we will look at what a website and landing page are, their differences and when you need one over the other. A Website  It is a set of accessible related web pages containing images, videos, audio, write-ups, or other information/data that individuals can read or retrieve through the internet. A website is made up of web pages. A website has different functions and can portray almost every idea. For example, businesses use websites to display and explain their products or services and grant individuals access. A website speaks for you online with relevant features like purchases and customer services. Landing Page Unlike a website, a landing page is a simple webpage created for a clear purpose and specific audience. It is usually based on a promotional concept to engage leads. It may and may not be attached to a website. Landing pages are excellent marketing tools for advertising, generating sales campaigns, and more. They are designed in an accessible and straight format with a CTA for visitors to sign up, download, buy, or purchase. Difference between Website and Landing page The Website Landing Page contains several pages with various purposes. A single page with a single goal. There are pages on websites that are not focused on conversions. A landing page is focused on conversion. Information on a website provides everything the visitors need to know. Information is centred around a single offer; It is created to present an entire business. It is designed to sell products or capture leads. Several modules and functions. A landing page typically only includes text, images and CTA.       Website or Landing Page For new users, it may be hard to choose between a website and a landing page. Well, it all depends on the requirements. For example, a landing page works best for a quick product launch or boosting the online presence of a business. However, a website works best for online business details, selling multiple products, blogging and many more. -Different types of websites you should know- When You Need A Website Over A Landing A website is an excellent tool for telling your brand story. Whether a business or a personal account, the About Us, Mission and Visions pages can provide all the necessary information, your visitors might have about you or your business. A website serves as an online store. All your products and more can be organised on several pages within it. Every product can be described with its features and a category. A website can be populated with service pages. Visitors can quickly locate and book your services with quality and clear messages. A website offers functions and relates you to your customers. You can showcase everything you do or offer and help users locate your business through your website. A website is to inform and not always sell. When You Need A Landing Page Over A Website Ads quality, like PPC, is measured by the linked pages. When launching a new product, discount, location, events, etc., a landing page around the ad will perform better than an entire website. A landing page works best when you want to grab users’ attention quickly. A landing page provides only what the user wants to see/do. It is also used to generate the best leads. Some forms mostly pop out on landing pages; anytime a user fills out the form, they become a lead. Website or landing page, at Raven and Macaw, we can help you with both for long-term double profit.    

Raven & Macaw Team
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5 Ways To Build Customer Loyalty And Trust
Articles
Sep 30, 2022
6 min read

5 Ways To Build Customer Loyalty And Trust

We put a lot of emphasis on developing trust and relationships in our daily lives. The adage “don’t associate with someone you don’t trust” applies to interpersonal relationships. Sales and user engagement will drop if consumers believe a brand engages in questionable behaviour or is not transparent. Consumer confidence in a brand is known as customer trust. It demonstrates faith in a business’ dedication to keeping its commitments and acting in the customer’s best interests. Building and maintaining long-term connections with your core audience requires the trust of your customers. After all, it allows you to provide better services, foster greater customer loyalty, and keep more clients. Customer trust is a behaviour in response to what they are given. Trust will develop when you comprehend your customer’s demands, show them respect, and provide pertinent service. Building consumer trust is crucial if you want them to remain loyal, keep doing business with you, and insist that their friends do the same. Being loyal entails treating others with respect and being consistent in your actions and behaviour. Being trustworthy and dependable—someone who can be relied upon to show up—is vital. Being loyal also entails continually treating others with consideration, justice, and charity. How Do You Build Customer Loyalty and Trust? Here are some ways you, as a business owner, will gain your customer’s loyalty and trust and grow your business. Deliver excellent customer service Customer retention and loyalty are greatly influenced by the customer service you offer. This implies that having a team of committed support personnel is crucial and holding yourself to a high degree of service delivery. Be consistent in your responses as clients contact you with inquiries and problems. Establish a set of instructions for your agents that spell out suitable answers to more typical questions and ensure they have the resources they need to tackle complex cases. Make sure your customer service representatives handle your clients like real people who need help rather than just tickets entered into your helpdesk. Your aim should be to provide a reliable, dependable service with a personal touch. One of the fastest and most straightforward methods to earn customers’ confidence is providing top-notch customer service through your e-commerce site. It demonstrates dedication to your clientele and that you don’t merely exist to rob them of their money. When a customer chooses to interact with you, they receive this added service. Your customer support representatives should be creative problem solvers. It demonstrates to customers that your company genuinely values them and is prepared to go above and beyond to address their concerns.            Post testimonials and customer reviews People have more faith in other people than in companies. Customers look for authenticity from genuine people before purchasing because our environment is overrun with marketing. Customers know when they are being sold, and your messaging has bias. Because of this, internet reviews and testimonials from actual customers are necessary for businesses to establish their legitimacy. Customer testimonials offer insightful qualitative information from existing customers on your goods, services, delivery, and general customer experience. A fantastic strategy to increase consumer trust is to ask for reviews after a sale and post these reviews on your website and social media. Ask any clients who have enjoyed doing business with you to provide email feedback. Before deciding to trust a company, customers typically check ten reviews. Utilise the power of referrals by prominently posting unfiltered positive reviews on your website, disseminating positive comments via social media, and reacting promptly and professionally to positive and negative reviews to develop a solid foundation of trust. The fastest-growing review site, Google My Business, also gives firms with high scores better local rankings. You may use a ton of other platforms as well, like Facebook, Feefo, and Trustpilot, to mention a few.           Offer loyalty programs   74% of customers think their loyalty is driven by working towards a reward. Commitment builds trust, so the two go hand-in-hand. Creating a loyalty and rewards program with aspirational perks lets customers work towards something when shopping with you. An engaging customer loyalty program will help you drive sales and increase retention. You can encourage customers to purchase from you by offering a rewards program. E-commerce businesses provide perks like free shipping when a certain order threshold is reached or give points to customers when they spend specific amounts that they can redeem for money off a future purchase. Combined with personalisation, rewards programs can be a great way to engage and retain loyal customers.           Reward loyalty   Retention might be challenging because customers have several options at their disposal. They have the right to use your competitor’s products or services if and when something goes wrong with yours. By upholding customer loyalty, you can maximise customer retention. Transparency is one of the most effective ways to win a loyal client. It’s vital to be transparent about your offer and establish accurate customer expectations. Customers should know what to expect before signing a contract or placing an order. And while revealing certain bits of information may prevent a lead or two from converting, that’s acceptable. When it comes down to it, ensure you provide timely ticket updates.         Be transparent with your customers Transparency and honesty are essential for developing customer trust. Setting reasonable client expectations from the beginning is made possible by complete transparency. Your honesty will help your firm keep its reputation if something goes wrong. When placing an order, thoroughly inform consumers of what they are purchasing and when they may anticipate receiving it. You can increase client trust by giving customers as much information as possible about the goods and delivery before they make a purchase. Since online shoppers cannot physically hold the product in their hands or speak to a live salesperson, e-commerce websites must go above and beyond to promote openness. Learn how to generate traffic with Search Engine Marketing.

Raven & Macaw Team
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Top Free WordPress Plugins For Every Website
Blogging
Sep 20, 2022
7 min read

Top Free WordPress Plugins For Every Website

There is barely a business today that doesn’t need a website. However, it is not just about getting the website. The design, speed, performance, user-friendly, ease of access, security, and more all matter and must be right before a website meets its primary purpose. With so many content management systems (CMS) platforms, WordPress is the most popular and among the best. For example, 30% of the websites the world access in a day are made from WordPress; second is WebEx Panel which is only 13%. WordPress is open source and flexible, meaning you can adjust its codes to your taste. Along with its thousands of other features, including the “plugins.” Plugins are like apps you can install on your WordPress website. Some are free, some you have to pay for, and some are free but can be upgraded to a pro version. Do you know there are over 50,000 plugins on WordPress, but you don’t want to download what you don’t need, right? Below are the 11 must-have free plugins for every WordPress website.     Yoast SEO What’s the essence of a website if it doesn’t aim to rank high? This is something that everyone would love for their websites. Understanding SEO can be complicated, but the Yoast SEO plugin makes it much more manageable. With this plugin, you can select a keyword and optimize any of your pages. It also gives you access to set and arrange the website’s title, meta description, and URL. In addition, this fantastic plugin breaks down your pages’ readability and SEO and provides tips on perfecting every page. Yoast SEO plugin is free; however, you can upgrade to a premium version with more features, like optimizing your page with as many as five words.     WordPress Jetpack Do you know that downloading so many plugins will make your website slow? Gone are the days when people had the patience to wait for up to 10 seconds before a website loads. Well, hopefully, jetpack by WordPress has a solution to that. However, most users don’t understand how this plugin improves their websites. In easy words, think of WordPress Jetpack as a master toolkit; it is a plugin that contains about 4 million installs. It greatly assists in designs, data statistics, social sharing, and improved security. Aside from all the features, it boosts your website’s speed. And the sweetest thing about it is “it’s all for free.” Oh my! Do you need plugins after this? Jetpack has so much to benefit from, but let’s see what we have on number three.     WooCommerce Do you want to open or switch to an e-commerce website on WordPress? Well, this should be the first plugin you should download. WooCommerce is the best and most popular plugin for all e-commerce websites on WordPress. This plugin is impressive because it is flexible and lets you have total control of the designs and functions of the online store. It also provides various shipping options, including real-time shipping calculation and payment options. Moreover, everything is under your control; there is no third-party interference in any of your data. Finally, its last impressive feature is “it’s all for free.”     Smush Image Compression and Optimization Any website without images looks boring, right?  Sure! Images are essential in a website, but heavy or too many photos could take some time before they load. So, uploading such images to your website will make the site slow. However, we may be familiar with the manual method of compressing an image before uploading it, but that can be stressful and time-consuming. With the help of the smush plugin, any picture you try uploading on your site will automatically be compressed. Anytime you upload an image, it shows you how many megabytes you’ve saved. Say goodbye to slow load time by installing this plugin.     Akismet Anti-Spam I’m sure it is not only me, but no one likes spam. However, the moment you launch your WordPress website, it is something you can hardly avoid. Spam can ruin the interest of your readers and discourage their purpose of coming to the website. Well, that can only happen if you ignore this plugin. WordPress officials purposely create the Akismet Anti-Spam plugin for this purpose. In recent statistics, it has about 34 million downloads and was ranked the most popular plugin ever. So if you don’t have it, do so today. You need an API key before you can use this plugin. So, once you install it, click on “Get your API key” and follow the step-by-step process.     Monster Insight Tracking data is among the top most essential ways to improve your website. Without data, you’d be lost. That is why monster insight is important and stands among the most powerful. This fantastic plugin lets you easily add, see and manage all the analyses on your website’s performance. You get to see/view all the analysis from within your website. Further, you can set it to track all visitors’ actions on your website (buttons they click).     W3 Total Cache & WP Super Cache Best for free, add these two to your list. We know those slow websites are frustrating, and we could lose many potential customers. The W3 total and WP super cache plugins are essential in boosting a website’s speed; without speed, there won’t be more traffic and SEO ranking. These plugins create static pages of your website; anytime the website is clicked, the static pages will pop up instead of loading a full PHP script. This reduces the WordPress website’s load time and boosts its overall speed, making it a more awesome visitor experience. Furthermore, they also save bandwidth and minify HTML and feeds.     WPForms Over 5 million installations and more than 10,000 5-star reviews on this plugin. With that, you can quickly tell it is a hot cake among many people’s favorites. WPForms is vital because it is the simplest way for people to reach you via

Raven & Macaw Team
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