One of the many web owner problems last year was getting penalised by Google. This sneaky tactic is commonly referred to as Negative SEO; where people create bad or spammy links to competitor’s website so that whenever Google crawls their website they get penalised. Its a method to get around Google’s success in cleaning the web with spammy link building that hinders spammers to play with the system and get the ranks in their favor so they take out competition with sneaky attacks instead.

So how would you spot an Attack?

– A sudden spike of links usually gets google’s attention and if google finds this links bad the website gets penalized.

– Usually blogs are common victims to these attacks as links are posted into the blog comments. We call it “comment spamming” and its thorn by the side.

– With intense scan and audit you will see that a specific keyword will be target for the attack.

Timing is key. Just like many aspects of your personal life, you don’t want to go on a holiday on the holidays to avoid the rush. Or hold a very important meeting when everybody is surely late by 8am. The concept is also true to creating content for your social media marketing. If you want your content to succeed in social media you’ve got to strategize well before you publish.

So what type of contents gets attention and shared a lot by people?

– giving the audience a fun or graphic representation of the brand or sharing a momentous occasion of the company.

– usually these kind of posts answers a problem, gives a thorough explanation on how to go about it and focus on that topic solely.

– provides the readers a sense of purpose to help out or provide a point of view on a certain situation or topic.

– giving further information on specified topic and references to a certain topic.

– focus on a certain topic, and then give out number of points and a brief conclusion.

As a business owner you understand that you need to be found online as well in order for your business to continue to grow. But you don’t have any idea what to ask or look for when you are considering a company to design your website? You are not alone. From our experience, finding a good web design company tends to be a bigger frustration to many business owners. There are a lot of companies out there that make a lot of claims but only a few that stand out and walk the talk. We have listed the 5 most important things to look for in a Web Design company.

Tip – Design

Tip – Price

Tip – Web Maintenance

Tip – Marketing

Tip – After Service

Its true with Mobile Apps, what will make an app successful in the market can fail miserably to other apps. That is why the dramatic increase of localization testing on mobile apps over the last decade. We have listed top tips that you should understand when localizing mobile apps and expand to the international market.

So how can you ensure that the success of your app locally equals to success world wide?

Develop an App for the international audience before going local

Simple UI

Understand Global Cultures and Sensitivities

Market Partnerships

Search engine optimization helps grow awareness and attracts sales eventually. The general rule of thumb for marketers is, if the customer wont buy on the first time then make an impact that when they think of a certain product they immediately think of you. We know the problem that is why Graftene have listed some of the best realistic solutions that are effective marketing tactic that converts to sales.

Here are the tips in getting the attention you seek.

1. Be different. Defy the norm.

   Be the purple cow, or the green ox. Stand out among the crowd. If you cant stand out then editors have no reason to publish you on front page.

2. Hire a good copywrite

   Spend on a good content writer to write about you and your company. Lets face it. A company that doesn’t have a real business owner will not be considered by the customers. A real life person showing up in their website and talking and sharing a little bit about their life and story shouts legitimacy in their passion to help out and that is what customers want to see and read.

3. Be Visual

   Utilize Visualal platforms like pinterest, google plus, facebook among others in reaching the mass media. Emotional intelligence is a skill set and your customers are in the social media 24/7. So why not be there and be in front of them.

4. Engage in forums, social media websites and emails

   Work with your team to create a successful email template to be used within the company. Update “about”page and social media profiles often to show genuine profiles that reflects the business expertise. And when people compliment your posts and company take screen shots, or video clips to show to as tangible testimonies.

When you build a company or a brand, everything you hear about the logo and its importance is true. And yet still fall to the trap of having friends doing it for you than letting an expert doing the design. To further highlight how important the logo is, think of it this way: your logo will be your image. Its by far the image that will mark in your customers subconscious if not yet conscious of your existence (for customers that haven’t yet bought your product). Imagine an image that that pops into your head the moment you hear a name of a company or service. Its the first thing that customers think of first before saying your company name. When a graphic designer creates a logo that precisely represents your company brand, your products, services, works that will brand at all the vast majority requires artistic professional eye, attention to detail, knowledge of different platforms and dedication of process. Whether the logo is for a corporate established business or a start up, logo can withstand test of time and build the name with the business. Once you have decided on a logo and have started the business and getting clients, there is no changing it. Its yours for life and becomes your representation of your brand. If ever you do get board with your logo, you logo can always have an update depending on the milestone or the holiday celebration.

Search engine optimisation is an integral part of any business establishing presence online, but for businesses that are more confined to local customers, SEO can be more useful for finding new customers and improving visibility. Search engines like google are constantly updating their algorithms to provide better and useful search results to users. It is vital to understand these systems to ensure that your business is being shown to the right people who are looking and want to buy your products.

Here at Graftene we have compiled best tips on improving your SEO and getting you online presence that you need.

Geo – Specific Keywords

Use local listings like Google, Bing, Yell, Yelp etc

Client Testimonials and Reviews

One effective strategy that company applies in drawing audience is a well proportioned content strategy. Best example is trailers of movies or a sneak peek behind the scenes of the movie footage and engaging blog content that basically hooks readers. Normally a call to action linked to the contact form is found in the article or blog post, but some lifestyle blogs offer information without the value of selling to the reader. You’d be so stoked on reading an email from your best friend that migrated to another country, right? The strategy applies the same way. Treat your customers like your friend. It’s another seo method in drawing the traffic to your website. You build relationships with your customers through interaction, interests rather than asking them to buy your products directly. Did you know that 78% percent of readers surveyed last year considered easy, custom, personal content are read more times than the classic informative articles. Lifestyle method of sharing information is another promotion strategy in getting to stick to your company. With the right content, you can expand more reach increase click through rates on call to action posts with a subtle call to action and also improve organization brand exposure.

If you’ve been researching for new alternatives on assessing traffic, rankings and or just trying a new software to use for gathering insights, you may also consider trying these ideas in your analytics that you may have not used or reviewed in a while.

Geography and Visits

Frequency Time and Behaviour

High Value versus High Traffic

The time has finally come. You’ve poured your blood, sweat, and tears into your most recent content piece, and it’s ready to be packaged up and sent to the client to be pushed live. After a few final checks and only…