Sigoti Blog

Important factors to consider when designing a new website

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 11:43:37 GMT

Innovative Techniques: How AI Writing Enhances Your Content Marketing Strategy

As the internet continues to evolve and grow, it's becoming increasingly important to create a website that stands out from the crowd. In today's digital age, having a well-designed website is an essential factor for any business that wishes to succeed online. The website is the online representation of your business and thus, it must have an attractive design that attracts visitors and converts prospects into customers. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the critical factors that you need consider when designing a new website.

1. Purpose and Goals

Before setting out to design a website, you must first define its purpose and goals. What is the objective of the website? Do you want to generate leads or sales? Do you want to provide information about your products and services? What is the target audience of the website? Answering these essential questions will enable you to design a website that meets its objectives efficiently.

2. User Interface and User Experience

The user interface and user experience are essential factors to consider when designing a website. A user-friendly website design that is easy to navigate will enhance the user experience, increase the number of visitors, encourage visitor engagement, and drive conversion rates. Therefore, it's necessary to ensure your website design is optimised for the user interface and user experience, making it easy for users to find what they are looking for.

3. Responsive Design

In today's digital scenario, mobile compatibility should be one of your top priorities when designing a website. Year on year, mobile usage is increasing, and more than 50% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. Hence, having a responsive design ensures that your website is optimised for desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. A responsive website design provides a smooth user experience on all devices and hence improves customer loyalty.

4. Website Speed

Website speed is another essential factor that you should consider when designing a new website. Site speed has a direct impact on your website's search engine ranking, user experience, and conversion rates. Slow loading websites tend to have high bounce rates, which can negatively impact your SEO efforts. Therefore, make sure your website loads quickly to enhance the user experience.

5. Content

The importance of high-quality content on a website cannot be overstated. High-quality content will engage visitors, build brand awareness, and drive conversions. Thus, ensure that the content on the website is well-written, informative, unique, and relevant to the target audience. Additionally, the content on the website should be optimised for SEO to improve search engine rankings.

6. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Having a website without a robust SEO strategy is constricting your reach. Therefore, it's important to have a sound SEO strategy in place when designing your website. Your website should be optimised with keyword-rich content, On-page and Off-page SEO tactics, and organic backlinks. This will increase the visibility of your website in search results organically and drive targeted traffic to your website.

7. Security

Website security should also be a top priority when designing a new website. Your website stores a lot of sensitive information, and if it's hacked, it can put your entire business at risk. Therefore, you need to ensure that your website is secure by installing an SSL certificate, using strong passwords, and keeping your website software up-to-date.

In conclusion, designing a website is a complex and multi-faceted process that requires close attention to detail. By taking into account the above factors, you can create a website that engages visitors, drives traffic, and converts leads into sales. With a mobile-friendly, user-friendly, and SEO optimised website, you'll be better positioned to stand out and succeed online.

Tips and Strategies for Incorporating AI Writing in Content Marketing

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 20:00:14 GMT

Innovative Techniques: How AI Writing Enhances Your Content Marketing Strategy

In today's digital world, creating high-quality content is just as important as ever for businesses to build and maintain their online presence. Search engine optimization, social media marketing, and email campaigns are all important components of a successful content marketing strategy, but ensuring that your content is well-written, engaging, and relevant to your audience is essential. Thankfully, with the rise of artificial intelligence technology, businesses can now employ advanced writing techniques to enhance their content and reach their target market more effectively than ever before. In this blog, we'll discuss the innovative techniques used by AI writing to give your content marketing strategy the competitive edge it needs.

1. What is AI Writing?

AI writing is fast becoming a popular resource for content creators and businesses looking to improve their marketing strategies. As the name suggests, AI writing refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create written content. The rise of AI technology has brought about a new wave of innovation in the writing industry, providing writers with an array of powerful tools that can streamline and enhance the content creation process. AI writing systems leverage machine learning to predict what users are looking for and generate high-quality content accordingly.

There are different types of AI technology used in creative writing, such as natural language processing (NLP), machine learning algorithms, and generative models. These technologies can generate a wide range of content, from social media posts and emails to press releases and opinion pieces. AI writing has also revolutionized the writing and publishing process, making it faster and more efficient. With AI writing technology, businesses can produce high-quality content at scale, enabling them to improve their online presence and engage with their target audience more effectively.

2. AI Writing Techniques

AI Writing Techniques are transforming the way businesses create and disseminate content. With AI technology, content creation can be highly automated, which means that the process can be more efficient and cost-effective. AI can help businesses create more engaging, high-quality content with less time-consuming efforts. AI writing is proving to be many steps ahead in generating content that is both contextually and grammatically correct, reflecting the tone of the content and keeping in mind the target audience.

One of the benefits of AI writing is it can analyze various approaches to writing, including tone, writing style, and content structure. From simple blog posts to complex statistical analyses, AI writing can quickly and accurately analyze a large amount of text to extract meaning and context. AI tools can also be used to enhance the creation of creative writing, which requires a deeper level of analysis and understanding of the target audience. This deep analysis and understanding will help businesses create content that is more personalized and relevant to the target audience, which can lead to better customer engagement, higher website traffic, and ultimately, improved sales.

3. AI Writing Benefits

One of the key benefits of AI writing for businesses is the ability to generate high-quality content that resonates with their target audience. This is essential for successful content marketing, as it helps build brand awareness, boost engagement and ultimately drive conversions. With AI-powered writing tools, businesses can create compelling content that is tailored to their specific audience, ensuring they capture their attention and keep them interested. Moreover, AI writing can help ensure consistency across different platforms, helping to establish a unified brand voice and identity.

Another significant advantage of AI writing is its ability to handle large volumes of data and produce accurate, relevant content quickly. This has proven particularly useful for businesses that require a lot of content, such as eCommerce websites or social media accounts. With AI writing, businesses can create content on a large scale without sacrificing quality or accuracy. Furthermore, the speed at which AI writing tools can produce content means businesses can quickly respond to customer needs or changes in the industry, keeping them relevant and competitive, as well as driving greater customer engagement through the production of more content.

4. Best Practices

When it comes to implementing AI writing into your content marketing strategy, there are a few best practices that can help maximize your results. One key strategy is to ensure that the AI tool you are using is compatible with your brand voice and tone. By selecting an AI tool that can adapt to your preferred language and style, you can maintain consistency across all of your content and provide a seamless experience for your customers. Additionally, it's important to establish clear guidelines for incorporating AI-generated content into your marketing plan, including how often to use it and in what contexts.

To get the most out of AI writing, businesses should also consider investing in training and education programs for their content teams. This will ensure that everyone involved in the content creation process is knowledgeable about the potential benefits and limitations of AI writing, and can work together to optimize its use. It's also important to stay up-to-date on the latest advancements in AI writing technology, as new tools and features are constantly being developed. By regularly evaluating and testing different platforms, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and continue to improve their content marketing strategies.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, AI writing has become an indispensable tool for businesses looking to stay competitive in today's digital age. By harnessing the power of AI writing, businesses can create content that resonates with their target audience and attracts new leads. The advantages of using AI writing to create compelling content are many, including higher productivity, improved accuracy, and greater efficiency. By leveraging the latest AI writing technologies, businesses can generate high-quality content that meets the needs of their target audience.

Moreover, the positive impact of AI writing on businesses' content marketing efforts cannot be overstated. AI writing enables businesses to create engaging and persuasive content that captures the attention of their target audience. With AI writing technologies, businesses can create a wide range of content types, including blog posts, social media posts, email marketing campaigns, and more. In addition, the ability to generate content quickly and accurately allows businesses to meet the increasing demand for fresh, high-quality content. In short, AI writing is a must-have tool for businesses looking to create a robust content marketing strategy and stay ahead of the competition.

Showing the Benefits of a Chatbot for Your Website

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 18:58:16 GMT

Boost Your Website's User Experience and Generate More Leads with a Chatbot: A Comprehensive Guide to Chatbot Benefits for Your Business

In today's digital age, businesses of all sizes are looking for ways to boost their online presence and reach more customers. With the rise of online shopping and the increasing use of chatbots, it's no wonder that companies are turning to chatbots to help them generate more leads and improve their customer experience. By incorporating a chatbot into your website, you can provide your customers with instant support and personalised attention, while also gathering valuable insights about their needs and preferences. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the benefits of chatbots for your business, and show you how to get started with building your own chatbot to optimise your website's user experience and drive more conversions.

1. What is a Chatbot

A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate human conversation through text or voice interactions with users. Chatbots can be used to automate various tasks, including customer service queries, lead generation, and sales support. There are two types of chatbots: rule-based and AI-powered. Rule-based chatbots use predetermined rules and decision trees to respond to user queries, while AI-powered chatbots use machine learning algorithms to learn from user interactions and improve over time.

Chatbots have numerous use cases across various industries. For example, a travel company could use a chatbot to help users book flights and hotels, while an e-commerce store could use a chatbot to assist with customer service inquiries and promote sales. Popular examples of chatbots include Siri and Alexa, which use natural language processing to assist users in performing tasks. Besides improving customer service, chatbots offer many benefits such as reducing response times, training costs, and human error, all of which contribute to increased customer satisfaction and lead generation.

2. Benefits of Chatbots for Businesses

There are numerous benefits of using chatbots for businesses. One significant benefit is the ability to provide automated customer service. Chatbots can handle customer queries by providing instant support, irrespective of the time of the day. With quick and efficient responses, customers are more inclined to purchase from a company that provides reliable customer support.

Another way in which chatbots are beneficial for businesses is by increasing customer engagement. Chatbots can initiate conversations with customers, which can lead to a more interactive user experience. Additionally, chatbots can assist in lead generation by providing personalised recommendations and product suggestions to customers. This can lead to increased sales and better customer retention, ultimately leading to improved customer experience. Furthermore, by automating customer service, companies can save on costs and increase their ROI. As chatbots continue to become more advanced and sophisticated, the benefits they provide to businesses will only continue to grow.

3. Steps to Setting Up a Chatbot

Setting up a chatbot for your business is a process that requires careful planning and execution. The first step is to gain a clear understanding of your customer's needs and goals. This involves analysing their preferences, behaviour patterns, and pain points to develop a chatbot that can accurately address their concerns. By doing so, you'll be able to design a chatbot that is customised to meet the unique needs of your target audience.

Once you have a clear understanding of your customer's needs, the next step is to plan the chatbot's functions and features. This involves outlining the capabilities and limitations of the chatbot, as well as determining the types of questions it can answer and the tone of voice it should use. After planning out these details, it's time to train the bot with data and responses. This step involves uploading relevant content and teaching the chatbot how to respond to a variety of different questions and scenarios. With the chatbot properly trained, you can then implement it on the appropriate platform and devices, test its functionality and monitor its performance to ensure that it is consistently meeting your business needs.

4. Popular Chatbot Platforms

When it comes to choosing a chatbot platform for your business, there are many options available in the market. Some of the most popular platforms include Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Microsoft Bot Framework, and IBM Watson. Each platform comes with its set of unique features and benefits that can be highly beneficial to businesses of all sizes. For instance, Facebook Messenger has a massive user base, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to reach a wide audience. On the other hand, Slack is ideal for teams that need to streamline communication and workflow processes.

To choose the best chatbot platform for your business, you need to consider several factors such as ease of use, cost, integration capabilities, and customer support. You should also read reviews and comparisons of different platforms to get an idea of what other businesses are saying. This will help you make an informed decision that will best meet your business needs while ensuring that you provide exceptional customer service and user experience to your customers. Remember, a chatbot is an investment in the success of your business. So, take the time to research and choose the best platform that will help you achieve your business goals.

5. Best Practices for Designing Your Bot

When it comes to designing a chatbot, there are some best practices that you should follow to ensure that your chatbot is user-friendly and effective. A crucial part of this is making sure that your chatbot has a user-friendly design that is intuitive and easy to navigate. You should also focus on natural language processing, which will allow your chatbot to understand and respond to users in a way that feels natural and conversational.

Personalisation is another key aspect of chatbot design. By making your chatbot feel more personalised to each user, you can help drive engagement and build stronger connections with your audience. In addition to these design elements, it's important to focus on user experience and interaction. This means making sure that your chatbot is easy to use, responsive, and can provide real value to your users. Incorporating voice recognition can also add another layer of usability and accessibility to your chatbot. Finally, leveraging analytics to improve your chatbot over time is a critical component of successful chatbot design. By tracking user interactions and making data-driven improvements, you can ensure that your chatbot is continuously evolving and improving to meet the needs of your audience.

why having a website is important for norfolk small businesses

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 18:38:39 GMT

investing in a website for your small business is a wise decision that can pay off in the long run.

as a norfolk small business owner, you might be wondering whether creating a website is worth the investment of resources and time. with 97% of customers using the internet to search for local businesses, the answer is a resounding yes! in today's digital age, having a website is no longer optional for small businesses but a necessity. in this blog, we'll explore the reasons why having a website is critical for small businesses in norwich, and throughout norfolk.

enhanced online presence

one of the significant benefits of having a website for your small business is an enhanced online presence. your website can serve as a digital storefront, providing potential customers with an online platform to interact with your products and services. by optimising your website for search engines, you can attract more organic traffic and improve your visibility online. this increased visibility can help attract more customers and boost your sales.

increased credibility and professionalism

for many businesses, having a website is a sign of credibility and professionalism. customers tend to trust businesses with an online presence more than those without. a website can showcase your business in a professional light, providing customers with insights into your services, products, and values. a modern and user-friendly website can help establish your small business as an authority in your industry, making it easier to win the trust and loyalty of your audience.

24/7 accessibility

a website offers your customers 24/7 accessibility to your products and services. this means that potential customers can find information about your business, products, and services, regardless of the time of day or location. this accessibility can broaden your customer base, giving you access to a wider audience that isn't limited by business hours or location.

effective marketing tool

a website serves as an effective marketing tool for small businesses. by incorporating elements such as search engine optimisation (SEO), social media integration, and email marketing, you can use your website to promote your business efficiently. a well-optimised website can help you reach your target audience, while social media integration can help you grow your reach and engage with your customers. email marketing combined with your website can help generate leads and drive conversions.

cost-effective marketing

compared to traditional marketing methods, such as television and print advertising, a website is much more cost-effective. once your website is up and running, the costs of maintaining it are relatively low. unlike traditional marketing methods, you can use a website to gather data and insights about your audience, allowing you to make data-driven decisions about your marketing strategies.

competitive edge

in today's digital age, having a website can provide your small business with a competitive edge over your competitors. by providing your customers with an online platform to interact with your business, you can attract more customers and increase your market share. this increased visibility can help your small business remain competitive in your industry, helping you to grow and thrive in the long run.

to summarise

in conclusion, having a website is essential for small businesses in norwich, norfolk. a website can enhance your online presence, increase your credibility and professionalism, offer 24/7 accessibility to your customers, serve as an effective marketing tool, be cost-effective, and provide you with a competitive edge. investing in a website for your small business is a wise decision that can pay off in the long run.

Sigoti Client Website Revamps

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 19:12:24 GMT

unique paving & landscaping

unique paving & landscaping approached us to create a completely new bespoke website, we worked closely with the owner to come up with a website that totally reflected the uniqueness of his business.

we provided a clean and professional design that managed to incorporate all the information he required but without being over cluttered.

norfolk home improvements

we’re very proud to have been involved in building of a new, revamped website for norfolk home improvements to co-inside with the launch of their new service offering, garden rooms.

the website features a new contact form, advanced SEO work and a fully responsive design.

both sites are built using the latest technology which will help them look great and rank on search engines with ease! We also built both sites with local SEO in mind so they have optimised descriptions and just as importantly social proof.

if you have a website but have never really had much time to dive in and manage it, or if you have never had a website or an online presence at all, then it might be worth giving sigoti a try.

if you are interested in how we can help you grow more clients through online presence then contact us for non-obligation chat!

we at sigoti are locally-based and focus on helping you grow your business by making sure your website is performing well but also by helping you build a strategy and improve your local SEO.

Sigoti becomes CircleLoop Approved Partner

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:09:29 GMT

Sigoti is delighted to announce they have been certified as a CircleLoop Approved Partner.

CircleLoop is a powerful cloud-based phone system for business which runs in powerful apps, from anywhere, on any device. Its powerful integrations with business tools such as HubSpot, Zoho and Pipedrive deliver huge flexibility and productivity benefits for businesses helping them to improve service, encourage collaboration and save money.

CircleLoop’s refreshing self service and jargon-free approach to business telephony has been well received, attracting over 3,500 UK SMEs in just over 12 months. Its customers tend to be forward-thinking businesses switching from legacy line-based and VoIP systems. Up until recently CircleLoop was available only via its own website but the system is now being offered via selected partners for the first time.

Approved Partners are independent businesses who have passed CircleLoop partner certification requirements.

CircleLoop Co-founder, Damian Hanson, commented: “We’re very pleased to welcome Sigoti on board as an Approved Partner. The criteria to become a CircleLoop Partner are very high and we are confident that the team at Sigoti has the right skills and experience to recommend CircleLoop to their clients. We look forward to working with them”.

To find out more about how CircleLoop’s modern-day technology can help your business to become more flexible and productive get in touch with Sigoti on 01603 555 447 .

About Sigoti

Sugoti is a local digital agency providing small businesses in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Norfolk, with Chatbots, Web Design, Web Hosting and local SEO services. This is now extended further with the announcement of the partnership with CircleLoop. Please check out our referral landing page here: www.circleloop.com/sigoti

About CircleLoop

CircleLoop is a UK-built, next generation phone system for business which runs in powerful desktop and mobile apps. Packed with smart features such as call recording, integrations and analytics it delivers huge flexibility and productivity benefits when compared to traditional phone systems.

Learn more at www.circleloop.com

client new website launch

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 19:35:10 GMT

sigoti are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new website for local charity DIAL great yarmouth

the launch of the charity's new website is a milestone for this non-profit organisation. it was designed to take DIAL’s web presence to the next level, and provides visitors with online access to services offered by DIAL. the site also details its planned events for this year where people can hear about opportunities to help disadvantaged people in our communities.

the aim of this site is to promote awareness and help raise funds for the amazing work that they do in their community, which includes various outreach events each year.

the new website incorporates all the content from past pages ensuring that search engine crawlers could easily discover it. site navigation is simple and logical with menu items linking to pages on related topics such as volunteering support groups locally or information about DIAL great yarmouth. the key approach was to create a website that is easy-to-use and presentable with an emphasis on high quality photography. this has been combined with customer-orientated design principles throughout - presenting content elegantly and succinctly so its easy to consume no matter how much time you have available.

we aided the charity by providing them with everything they needed from web design, hosting, local SEO services and most importantly bespoke chatbot technology which is designed exclusively for their audience base so this helps improve accessibility through chatbots if the user prefers not browse.

we hope you enjoy browsing our new project and find it informative and easy-to-use, please do get in touch if you have any feedback as we want this to be as useful as possible.

sigoti is a local digital agency based in ludham, ideally positioned between great yarmouth and norwich, offering responsive website design, chatbots and local SEO services for norfolk small businesses.

websites vs social media only | sigoti

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Sun, 19 Sep 2021 05:45:02 GMT

some might argue that websites are dead, but they're not.

websites are ubiquitous in providing information to customers or prospects of a company. when visitors come to the site, they get all the necessary information about products: prices, photos of packaging and use model shots for example. they also provide product reviews from people who have purchased it before so potential customers can see what others thought about it before making their own decision(s).

how does this help small businesses in norfolk? for one these sites are search engine optimised which is very important with SEO on Google nowadays because there are dozens if not more pages indexed off of them that will rank better than just some social media content or blog posts on some shopping cart provider's website that may be visited by someone doing research since this page was deemed worthy enough to index in search results. this gives companies an edge over competitors when searching online while increasing targeted traffic coming directly to their site instead of theirs through links on other 3rd party websites ranked higher⚡

Websites vs social media only

you may have heard that websites are dead and social media is the only way to reach your customers, don’t believe it!

websites are still the number one way for businesses to engage with customers. a survey of small businesses commissioned by Google revealed that 62% of all small businesses in the UK now have their own website, which is up 20% compared to two years ago. however now with social media, it seems that some business owners are neglecting their website in favour of social media. despite this, social media is still only the fourth most important strategy for local businesses. an impressive 85% of small business owners surveyed cited ‘online presence’ as their most important online strategy.

social media can be a great way to communicate with existing and potential customers; however, we know that many businesses struggle to see the return on investment (ROI) they need from their social media activities.

the reality is: web design and your social media activity work in harmony and both need to be considered in order to maximise your ROI and deliver tangible results. even if you do have a website, there is still a place for social media in your marketing. in fact, the two compliment each other well if done correctly, so it’s vital to get them working in tandem. here’s how: drive traffic from your social media channels to your website. having a strong content marketing strategy is a must for driving traffic from your social channels towards your website.

sigoti is a chatbot, web design and SEO company based in Ludham, ideally placed between norwich and great yarmouth, offering responsive website design, chatbots and local SEO services for norfolk small businesses

what's local SEO? why its key for norfolk small business | sigoti

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 18:55:28 GMT

local search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of promoting a local business in your local region through online channels

local SEO consists of getting your website found by local search engines by increasing your rankings in local search, managing your social media presence, and utilising tools that are relevant to the local search community.

search engines will take into consideration not only the name of the business but also the location where your business is found. for example, If you are a small business running in norwich, then your website is hardly going to rank anywhere else, because search engines use the location of the searcher or user to provide suggestions related to the product or service that are within your local area. therefore, for your website to come up on the first page, you need to apply local SEO tactics.

why does my norfolk small business need local SEO?

all businesses are not made equal. small businesses are different from large corporations. they have different needs, desires, challenges, and opportunities. while large corporations have the resources to attract customers, small businesses just starting out need all the help they can get. this is why local SEO is essential to small businesses wanting to succeed online.

google local algorithm comprises of mainly three factors:

relevance

the relevance is the most important factor that Google use while displaying businesses in the search result. businesses that are relevant or not to a particular query will be ranked on top. for example, if you are searching for a restaurant, Google will display the restaurants which are related to this keyword.

proximity

the distance between your business and the user is also one of the most important factors for Google ranking. google uses the IP address to determine the location of the searcher and then displays the most relevant business on top.

prominence

the prominence of a business refers to the position of your business on Google Maps or Google Search. this is dependent upon how prominent your business is across the internet, generally. therefore it is good to be visible to Google on social media, forums, blogs etc.

to create an effective local SEO strategy for local businesses

it is imperative to understand that local businesses need to focus on the following three essential elements:

create a Google My Business profile
a Google My Business listing is one of the best ways to improve your ranking on Google. with an established Google My Business listing, local search results are more likely to include your business name, address, opening hours and phone number.
join local directories - being a small company proprietor, you have to submit your business information to as numerous within your local area. whilst it’s tough to imagine, many people nonetheless use local directories. backlinking is where you try to get sites to link back to yours. this shows Google that your site is relevant and has useful information. thankfully, many local directories tick this box, so they can help boost you up the rankings.
encourage customers to write reviews
it is possible to influence search engine ranking by encouraging your customers to leave reviews. reviews are a powerful tool for improving a business reputation. use it to attract potential customers when you need them, and when you have them, turn them into fans.

now that we’ve introduced Local SEO, you can use these strategies and tactics to make your organisation digitally visible and earn more from it. still unsure, no problems - why not call our team at sigoti for some consultative advice.

the importance of Google Core Web Vitals on your website | sigoti

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:22:13 GMT

What Are Core Web Vitals?

having strong Core Web Vitals will help your website rank higher in search results, increase traffic to your site, and boost sales. if your Core Web Vitals are not where you want them to be, read this article for tips on how to improve them.

all of the essential elements that Google deems important in a webpage’s overall user experience have been rolled into one specific factor, known as “Core Web Vitals.” Core Web Vitals are made up of the following three factors:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) - measured by looking at the size of the largest text on the page for each device;
First Input Delay (FID) - the time it takes for the page to respond to the first tap or click; and
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) - how quickly it loads, how easily users can interact with the page and how quickly users can find what they're looking for.

the importance of the Core Web Vitals correlates directly with Google’s promotion of a user-friendly browsing experience. this means that HTTPS, mobile friendliness, lack of pop-ups, and malware-free websites have become a key requirement for higher Google rankings.

Google Core Web Vitals is all about helping you run your website better. it’s about your site’s security, speed and mobile readiness. we recommend you to regularly check your website for the following:

is your site secure? adding HTTPS, using secure certificates and checking if your site has been hacked will help to ensure this.
make sure your site loads fast! first impressions count so if your site takes longer than 4 seconds it will lose up to 70% of its potential visitors.
check that your website works well on mobile devices. 25% of all website traffic now comes from mobile devices. be sure that mobile users can easily navigate through your site.

while this is vital to do, there are some key rules to improve Core Web Vitals starting with your site’s LCP:

remove any unnecessary scripts that are hosted externally.
upgrade your web host into one that has better performance.
set up lazy loading images and remove large page elements in order to reduce the load time of the page.

to improve your site’s FID scores:

minimise (or defer) JavaScript: it’s pretty much impossible to create an interaction with your page while the browser is loading up Javascript.
remove any non-critical third-party scripts.
use a browser cache to help load content on your page faster.

finally, here are some easy ways to limit the CLS:

ensure that all of your media (videos; images etc.) have a set size attribute dimension. this way, the user's browser knows exactly how much space that div element will take up. and will not adjust it as the page fully loads.
use an HTML tag to reserve a page space for ads: otherwise, they might suddenly appear on the page, pushing content down, up or to the side.
add new content below the fold: this will keep content right where the user expects it to stay.

with a little help from the team at Sigoti, you can learn a lot about your website and how to improve it. contact us today to schedule a Core Web Vitals review for your website.

The benefits of adding a chatbot to your norfolk small business website

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 15:43:52 GMT

... so why should you consider adding a chatbot to your website? here we’ll go through the ten main benefits of adding a chatbot to your website:

t here is a myriad of benefits of adding a chatbot to your website. and if you’re wondering if a chatbot will add value to your business, you’re in luck, because we’ll tell you exactly how a chatbot can help your business prosper.

in this article, we’ll go from top to bottom, showcasing all the reasons why you should add a chatbot to your website.

... so why should you consider adding a chatbot to your website? here we’ll go through the ten main benefits of adding a chatbot to your website:

1. Integrates with Your Current Website Content
Chatbots are perfect for integrating with your current website content. This means that you don't have to create separate content or blog posts for your customers to read or to search through. Instead, you'll be able to just focus on making the chatbot as helpful as possible for your customers.

2. Better brand awareness
With the use of personalised messages, chatbots are able to target specific customers with tailored information leading to increased brand awareness. People have come to trust brands and associate them with certain traits and qualities. In this way, they become a sort of visual symbol of what the company or service is about.

3. Data capture and response management

The chatbot can gather your customer data and help you to respond to their queries in a consistent, timely manner. This saves you from having to employ more customer service agents and gives you a better way of responding to the many hundreds of questions that you receive daily. Chatbots can provide relevant information to your customers about their enquiry. For example, Chatbots can be programmed to answer basic FAQ searches more specifically, if required.

4. Customer engagement

Since a chatbot can handle basic questions, it frees up your customer service team to focus on the more complex enquiries. When your team spends less time answering routine questions, they can devote their attention to answering more complex enquiries from customers where personal attention is required.

5. Automation for repetitive tasks

Imagine you’re managing a restaurant business and your sales team call you every single day to say they’ve had a no-show for a reservation. That burns up your time and takes you away from more important tasks. So, what do you do? Well, you could set up a simple chatbot flow to help them with the most common email responses to the issue. You might even connect this flow with Google Calendar or Trello to give them the most relevant and timely information and actions and free yourself up for more value-adding activities.

6. Enable relevant ‘push notifications’

Chatbots can send ‘push notifications’ that are tailored to a customer’s browser data. In the same way that Facebook and Twitter use push notification technology to target their users, the customisation and flexibility allows for us to push information to customers about specific products or news to increase conversion and interaction with your brand.

7. Lead generation

Chatbots can greatly enhance lead generation efforts. By giving users a number of conversational options that help to guide them, you can ensure that as many as possible end up on a conversion path, and not waste resources on those who aren’t immediately interested.

8. Improved SEO opportunities

Chatbots are unique in that they can be used as a valuable tool for improving SEO efforts. By adding a number of keywords, you can make sure that search engines will find your page more easily, and therefore increase your rankings.

9. Enable 24/7 customer-service

Chatbots enable you to provide twenty-four hour customer service as there is no time restriction as such. Unlike live chat services, chatbots can provide assistance at any time of the day or night. This removes the restriction of only being able to provide assistance during business hours. Chatbots never sleep, so they are always on call for your site visitors.

10. Direct leads to sales funnel

As a result of info leads from chatbot leads can be directed into a sales funnel. When a customer uses a chatbot, they’ll usually have the option to ask the chatbot questions, and then utilise a set response set to help them move towards a sale. Chatbots are able to boost sales results by determining if a user is ready to purchase something or not. If a customer isn’t ready yet, it can direct them towards a different solution that might be right for them.

In summary, a chatbot is a computer program which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Its AI (artificial intelligence) enables it to respond to user queries and provide automated customer service and is becoming the must have add-on to any business website.

Give us a call on 07551 027004 or e-mail info@sigoti.com to find out more.

Sigoti SEO Agency Blog | Local SEO services for Norfolk SME's (2)

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 08:18:26 GMT

We now live in an online world

Following on from our previous local SEO blog, we will now show you each factor and the actual work we do to build authority for our clients in Google.

Google My Business is a free listing that if somebody searches for your Norfolk business on Google, this is what will appear on the right hand side of the page. If your Google My Business profile hasn’t been properly optimised then you’ll never succeed in local search, period as it makes up 25% of the signals.

While creating and managing a Google My Business listing can be a rewarding experience, there are a lot of opportunities for making mistakes along the way – especially for Norfolk business owners who are busy running their business and don’t have the time to read through all of the information on how do it right.

So the first thing we do is identify which search terms people are using to search for your services in Google. We use our tools to pull back the total number of local searches they are conducting every month for each service you offer. This helps us identify which search terms we need to optimise your GMB profile for. From there we’ll run research on your top-performing competitor’s profile and build on this for your profile.

In addition, we’ll audit the data in your profile and make sure we add compelling reviews and images to drive conversion for anyone looking at your business.

We’ll also continuously create Google Posts. These are like social media updates that live on your GMB profile. These help drive conversions from your listing and are a good signal to Google that your business is active and relevant.

A strong indication of Google ranking is the number of links pointing to a website. It is crucial for standing in the Google rankings. Links are like endorsements of your business competency, quality, and character. Endorsement of your business by others puts their reputation at risk.

Links have to be earned and you have to give people a reason to link to you. You have to consistently provide clearly differentiated, high-quality goods and services including, in many instances, blog content that is sought-after, unique, and valuable. As a local Norfolk business it’s difficult to acquire links for your business’ website without the right knowledge.

First, we conduct a link audit to understand your current link profile and identify and remove potentially harmful links. We also need to assess how your existing links compare to your competition in order to fully understand exactly what is required from a link building campaign.

Achieving quality links that pass authority to your site is extremely similar to earning relationships with potential partners and customers. Although others may link out to websites for the fun of it, they will never link to your website unless it is of high quality. This means that you must leverage any existing relationships that you have with organisations in the local area. This will help you achieve quick wins with your new business venture, boosting your reputation and trust among local communities.

Additionally we will look to approach local schools and charities, which can link back to you. In addition, we will attempt to target business directories, which can provide links to your site whilst growing your online visibility. Finally, we will seek out bloggers and relevant sites to write content for them in exchange for a link. All of these approaches help grow your link profile and online authority within Google.

We have witnessed a dramatic change in the past 5 years in the amount of power that the customer voice holds over all businesses. Online reviews have been growing in importance since smartphone adoption.

Online reviews don't just affect your rankings; they impact every stage of the customer's buying journey. Having more positive online reviews, you have a better chance of ranking higher in local searches on Google and other sites. So not on ly will you rank higher and get more clicks and calls, but customers will be easier to sell to and more likely to buy more from you because of your online reviews.

So the first thing we do is a reviews audit, benchmarking them against top-performing competitors. We’ll then introduce a review generation strategy using sophisticated software that works by asking their customers to leave reviews on important sites, helping improve their online reputation. We’ll also make sure we provide quick responses to reviews to improve trust signals.

The next factor is on-page signals , which is basically everything that lives on your website; everything that Google sees when they crawl it.

There’s a vast range of metrics to consider when optimising on-page signals and we’ll always run a full site audit to make sure their site is sending all the right signals to Google. Here are some of the areas we assess:

Title tag + Header tag review
Is there enough content, and is it locally relevant?
Are there call to actions on your site to drive conversions?
Is it easy for a user to navigate and get in contact?

A local citation is any place online that displays your business name, address and phone number. Google goes to sites like Yellow Pages to validate your business data and if it finds data that doesn’t match or is missing altogether this can really hurt your ability to appear in search results.

We’ll run a full audit of the citations for your business, making sure that we build out and clean up citations on the most powerful directories to ensure your business data is listed and 100% correct. This ensures optimal visibility in Google for your business.

Before we start implementing work for a new client we need to first understand their current performance and the size of the gap between their business and their top competitors. Until we’ve completed this audit, it’s impossible to understand exactly what work is needed and subsequently what level of investment is required to see results. What the audit gives us is a roadmap of our Local SEO strategy, determining exactly what we need to work on to increase the amount of leads you generate online.

Once we’ve completed the audit we’ll walk you our report, step by step, to make sure everything makes sense and that we’re both confident in how we’ll proceed.

In month 2 we’ll begin executing the strategy outlined in the report, implementing the most important tasks first to try and deliver as many quick wins as possible.

Our work is based on an hourly rate of £25 and for local clients we typically spend between 6 - 14 hours a month working for them. Like I said, it’s difficult to know what level of investment makes sense until we’ve completed the full audit.

The audit takes 8 hours to build so we’d be looking at an initial investment of £200. This would enable us to build your roadmap for Local SEO in Norfolk and give clear answers on timelines and expectations from a campaign. Once we’ve presented this back to you, we’ll both have a clear understanding of what results and timelines to expect from your campaign.

Sigoti SEO Agency Blog | Local SEO services for Norfolk SME's (1)

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 10:28:00 GMT

We now live in an online world

The mainstream adoption of smartphone technology has created a world we live in today where we can’t go outside without seeing a person staring at their phone. However, when people consider an online world they often picture huge global businesses like Amazon. What people often overlook is how this change has affected the landscape for local companies. The truth is that the customer journey for local companies has had a massive shake-up in the last few years.

People searching for a local business today will simply type what they’re looking for into Google when it’s most convenient for them, not anyone else.

Personal recommendations are no longer critical. Today’s consumer can now get the opinions of hundreds of people in seconds through online reviews, rather than getting just one person’s opinion. Once a customer has reached out to you, they’re far further down the sales funnel than they would have been 15 years ago. Not only that, but when a company has a great online reputation, customers will be easier and more willing to buy from you.

Today, local businesses are benefiting from their online exposure. Granted, in the past, a recommendation from a friend drove customers to a business but today, customers want to take their time researching a product or service before they make any decisions. It’s not even that much of a surprise that 78% of mobile local searches result in offline purchases. So it’s no longer an option for any business who wants to see revenue growth to ignore online marketing.

For this reason, we support local Norfolk businesses by giving them assistance with their online marketing. We always have your ultimate success in mind, and each project we take on is approached from the standpoint of how to help you generate more leads. Whether that’s by getting more phone calls, emails or walk-ins, we firmly believe that good design leads to success.

At Sigoti, we support local small businesses and charities make that transition. Out goal is to help them generate more leads online. Whether that's by getting more phone calls, emails or walk-ins. These are the kinds of leads that everybody wants because they’re self-qualified and have a genuine need for your services.

We use a practice called local search optimisation or “local SEO” that helps businesses rank higher on Google when people are searching for their services. Any business that serves customers in a specific location needs local SEO. As Google makes up 90% of all search engine traffic we focus on their algorithm. However, Google has a different algorithm to rank local searches vs non local searches. For example:

A local search is “Roofers in Norwich” or "Electricians near me in Great Yarmouth"
A non-local search might be “Samsung 43 inch TV” because this is a product that is not tied to a geographic location.

So when we look to improve rankings on Google we first need to understand what Google wants. Put simply, all Google wants to do is give the searcher the best possible result for their query and to achieve this they use a local algorithm to work out which results they think are best. This algorithm is broken up into three simple elements:

Proximity - This is how far away the business location is from the person making the search. Proximity is a metric that you can’t control or influence.
Relevance - This is how well your business online presence matches what the searcher has searched for.
Prominence - This is how Google determines which business has the most trust through a variety of elements such as reviews, links, content, etc.

Google uses different algorithms for the two types of results you see when you make a local search.

The first is for the local pack results. This is the three Google listings that sit at the top of the SERP, below the paid ads.
Google has a separate algorithm for the organic results, which are the blue links you see below the local pack. These organic results are still based on the location of the searcher or query, so we call them localised organic results.

We focus on both algorithms to help our clients drive more leads from Google.

in our next blog we will show you each factor and the actual work we do to build authority for our clients in Google.

Sigoti Web Design SEO Agency Blog | Why do SME's need a Website?

steve@sigoti.com (Steve Bowles) — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 12:33:19 GMT

You've been running a business for several years without a website therefore why do I need one

I guess our view is somewhat bias but… in our opinion, especially now during and post pandemic, it is imperative to invest in a website for your business. We have highlighted the main reasons below:

A website provides credibility – Consumers believe a website makes businesses more credible along with a branded email address such as name@yoursite.co.uk.
Attract new customers – an optimised website, over time, can help your business rank on Google for specific search terms key to your industry and location thus attracting new clients.
Encourage customers to get in touch – A website promotes your contact information to prospect customers.
Showcase your business! – You excel at what you do so what better way to showcase your products and services than publish them on your website?
A website future-proofs your long-term visibility – Because of the pandemic. more people are getting online and without a website, your business is invisible! To be competitive in this digital world, your business needs to be online.
Display testimonials – Establish trust by displaying testimonials and/or reviews on your website.

Hopefully, rather than question why you need a website you now realise that a website is one of the best investments any business can make to help it survive in the ever-increasing digital world we live in.

Why not contact us at Sigoti to discuss how we can help you get online.

Sigoti Web Design SEO Agency Blog | Finally! Sigoti has a website!

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 15:22:46 GMT

We have a website!

They say that all good things come to those who wait... well we have certainly been testing everyone's patience with our 'coming soon' communication over the past few years!

Hopefully the wait has been worth it and we now have a website that will grow over the coming months to match the company's expectations during 2020.

Whilst simplistic and minimalist in design, hopefully it clearly illustrates our web design capabilities and encourages new small business clients in Norwich and throughout Norfolk to get in touch and discuss how Sigoti can make your website project become a reality.

Sigoti Blog

Important factors to consider when designing a new website

Innovative Techniques: How AI Writing Enhances Your Content Marketing Strategy

Tips and Strategies for Incorporating AI Writing in Content Marketing

Innovative Techniques: How AI Writing Enhances Your Content Marketing Strategy

Showing the Benefits of a Chatbot for Your Website

Boost Your Website's User Experience and Generate More Leads with a Chatbot: A Comprehensive Guide to Chatbot Benefits for Your Business

why having a website is important for norfolk small businesses

investing in a website for your small business is a wise decision that can pay off in the long run.

Sigoti Client Website Revamps

unique paving & landscaping

norfolk home improvements

Sigoti becomes CircleLoop Approved Partner

Sigoti is delighted to announce they have been certified as a CircleLoop Approved Partner.

client new website launch

sigoti are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new website for local charity DIAL great yarmouth

websites vs social media only | sigoti

some might argue that websites are dead, but they're not.

Websites vs social media only

what's local SEO? why its key for norfolk small business | sigoti

local search engine optimisation (SEO) refers to the process of promoting a local business in your local region through online channels

﻿

why does my norfolk small business need local SEO?

google local algorithm comprises of mainly three factors:

relevance

proximity

prominence

to create an effective local SEO strategy for local businesses

the importance of Google Core Web Vitals on your website | sigoti

What Are Core Web Vitals?

The benefits of adding a chatbot to your norfolk small business website

... so why should you consider adding a chatbot to your website? here we’ll go through the ten main benefits of adding a chatbot to your website:

Sigoti SEO Agency Blog | Local SEO services for Norfolk SME's (2)

We now live in an online world

Sigoti SEO Agency Blog | Local SEO services for Norfolk SME's (1)

We now live in an online world

Sigoti Web Design SEO Agency Blog | Why do SME's need a Website?

You've been running a business for several years without a website therefore why do I need one

Sigoti Web Design SEO Agency Blog | Finally! Sigoti has a website!

We have a website!