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<p>Internships tend to go one of two ways. Either you’re treated as a glorified gopher who’s expected to take on all the grunt work, or, if you’re lucky, someone will take you under their wing and nurture your development.</p>
<p>Fortunately for Matt Williams, he found the latter at his internship with Distl. Matt had been studying Economics and Finance when he realised that the industry just wasn’t for him. Despite having a finance job and only a year left until graduation, he took a chance and started taking online courses in digital marketing. Straight away, he knew that this was the field for him and started looking for opportunities to put his newfound theoretical knowledge into practice.</p>
<p>Matt was drawn to Distl because he felt like the culture was a great fit for him and worlds away from his experience working in finance.</p>
<p>“At my previous job, I was working in a smaller team and was the youngest by a long way. There was a bit of social disconnection, as I didn’t share a whole lot in common with many of my colleagues,” Matt explained. “It was after my second round interview at Distl that I was like, ‘I really want to get a gig here.’ It felt like it was a good culture fit: more relaxed and easy going, and working with a lot of young people.”</p>
<p>Matt spent his first week getting to know the team, and knew right away that he’d fit in.</p>
<p>Over the next few weeks, he had a chance to experience the many different roles that make up each of our departments, including SEO, PPC, Paid Social, Account Management, Web, and Brand. This opportunity gave him a well-rounded understanding of each position, and a supportive environment in which to get a handle on what direction he’d like his career to take.</p>
<p>“People here take significant time to sit down and teach you about different tasks and how things work. I think that’s what I liked most about the internship – you were never left struggling with not knowing how to do a task, and there were always people around to help,” he said.</p>
<p>When asked about the highlight of his internship, Matt said, “working and getting to know like-minded people who are passionate about what they do. Having studied a degree and worked in an industry previously which I wasn’t really interested in, being around people who share a similar passion or marketing was something I really enjoyed.”</p>
<p>Matt was confident that he’d made the move to the right industry for him before his internship and said that interning at Distl confirmed that for him. His passion for marketing and easy-going good humour made Matt a perfect fit for Distl, and we recently welcomed him to our team as Marketing Account Support.</p>
<p>Our Technical SEO Sam Driessen took a similar, but slightly different path to Matt. While he also began his journey with us as an intern, he didn’t make the leap to the agency world by applying for an internship in the traditional way. He already had some life and career experience under his belt and had recently completed a Digital Marketing Diploma that gave him a theoretical understanding of the digital space. Looking to apply his knowledge and gain practical experience, Sam was open to the idea of an unpaid internship.</p>
<p>“I googled ‘digital marketing Perth’ to get a feel for the agencies that were out there, what kind of work they were doing and how they approached digital. Distl (then BirdBrain) was the only company that resonated with me,” Sam said.</p>
<p>“They were taking a tailored approach to digital, delivering bespoke work for each client. I reached out, asking for a chance to get my foot in the door and our Director, David Metcalf, replied to tee up an interview later in the week”.</p>
<p>A senior SEO specialist mentored Sam one-on-one, enabling him to build his skillset and understand the practical applications of his learnings. Four years on, Sam is now our top SEO expert and a key member of our leadership team. As his internship gave him the opportunity to understand how we operate at Distl, he found it advantageous to continue with the same agency.</p>
<p>“The internship taught me a great deal about SEO and digital marketing, but it also gave me valuable insight into how agencies run,” Sam explained.</p>
<p>“Getting hired after my internship meant that I could hit the ground running. If I’d taken a role elsewhere, I’d have to take time to get up to speed with their systems and processes”.</p>
<p>Based on their experiences, our past interns would recommend today’s university students complete an internship before graduating to help set themselves up for the future.</p>
<p>“There will be more opportunity and less competition if you get in touch with agencies that aren’t advertising positions. Seek out agencies doing the kind of work you’re interested in and ask if they’re open to showing you the ropes,” Sam said.</p>
<p>Even if you’ve already pursued a career in another field and want to make the move to marketing, you can still apply the same approach. At Distl, we tend to offer 3-month internships on an annual basis with the intention of hiring if the candidate has shown promise and demonstrated they are the right cultural fit. As a full-service agency with in-house specialists, we can expose interns to every part of our business, offering mentorship to support your learning and development.</p>
<p>If you want to stay up to date with our latest internship and job openings, follow us on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/distl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a> today.</p>


Life as an Intern at Distl

<h2>What are bots and why are they viewing my site?</h2>
<p>If you’ve only just noticed bot traffic on your site – or if you’re new to the world of websites and analytics – you might be wondering what exactly bot traffic is. It’s a simple concept. Bots, or robots, are programs created by humans to do all the things that we don’t like doing. Mostly things like scraping the internet and collecting data that can be used for many (mostly useful) purposes.</p>
<h3>So … are bots bad?</h3>
<p>Short answer: it depends.</p>
<p>In some cases, bots provide helpful, essential services – like the crawling and indexing of your site done by Googlebot (Google’s web crawler). In other cases, they can be malicious, scraping your site for weakness.</p>
<h3>Does bot traffic affect SEO?</h3>
<p>Look. Bot traffic isn’t necessarily bad for SEO. But it can have side effects like slowing your site speed or causing website downtime that can harm your performance in the long run.</p>
<h3>So you should block all bots from browsing your site, right?</h3>
<p>Hold up, not so fast. Some bot traffic is incredibly important to your site’s <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/seo/">SEO</a> performance. While there are bad bots out there, there are equally good bots that are essential. So, while having high amounts of bot traffic could indicate that your site is at higher risk of threats if not secure, having no bot traffic shows that search engines aren’t crawling and indexing your site. And that&#8217;s a recipe for tanked ratings.</p>
<h3>Am I blocking good bots?</h3>
<p>If you’ve just built a new site or web page and are struggling to get it ranking, make sure you’re not blocking search engine bots. You can check whether you’re blocking these bots by first <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/robots/create-robots-txt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">checking your robots.txt file for rules that are preventing search engine bots from entering your site.</a> Then, head to your homepage or new page and view the source code by typing Ctrl +U (Command + Option + U on Mac) and search (Ctrl + F on Windows or Command +F on Mac) for ‘noindex’. This is the tag that blocks search engines from indexing your site. If you find that you&#8217;re blocking bots and want to know how to allow them, here’s a helpful <a href="https://ahrefs.com/seo/glossary/noindex-tag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article on the Noindex Tag</a> from Ahrefs.</p>
<h3>Okay. So what are the bad bots and how do I deal with them?</h3>
<p>So you now know that most bots will simply crawl your site. But some bots are malicious and only exist to disrupt your business. They can do this in many ways, but the four biggest threats are: malicious web scraping bots, Denial-of-Service (DoS) bots, spam bots and click fraud bots.</p>
<h4>Malicious web scraping bots</h4>
<p>If we’ve learnt anything from Batman, it’s that there are people out there who just want to watch the world burn. A large portion of these people are cyber criminals. Some cyber criminals have built armies of malicious bots to scrape your site, looking for &#8216;exploits’ they can use to penetrate your site’s security. These exploits are often found in out-of-date plugins or broken scripts. Weaknesses can be quickly found and abused by hackers – which is why you need be sure that you’re keeping your site and its features up-to-date.</p>
<h4>How to deal with malicious web scraping bots</h4>
<p>The best way to keep your site safe from abuse by web scraping bots is to get managed <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/web-design/domains-web-hosting/">website hosting and support</a>, where your service provider keeps your site up-to-date and secure for you. If you’re interested in managed hosting and support, <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/contact-us/">get in touch with us</a> to discuss the right plan for your business.</p>
<h4>Denial-of-Service bots</h4>
<p>If your site is constantly going down due to surges in traffic, you could be the target of an onslaught of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) bots. Sent to your site by a third party, DDoS bots work by repeatedly completing resource-intensive tasks until your server starts to struggle. This can cause slowdowns and sometimes a complete server crash, during which your site will go down completely. It’s not pretty.</p>
<h4>How to deal with Denial-of-Service bots</h4>
<p>As with most security threats, the best thing you can do to prevent an attack is to keep your site up-to-date, minimising the risk of an exploit being found on your website. Get in touch if you’re having issues with your website&#8217;s security – we have a great hosting and management plan that will keep your site safe.</p>
<p>We also recommend using a <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/en-au/learning/cdn/what-is-a-cdn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Content Delivery Network (CDN),</a> like <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cloudflare,</a> that’s designed to be better at handling large amounts of traffic. If you don’t want to use a CDN, we recommend you use a caching plugin like <a href="https://wp-rocket.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WP Rocket</a> or <a href="https://distl.com.au/web-design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">build a static site</a> using something like Gatsby. This will serve static pages opposed to PHP (server side rendered pages, reducing server load).</p>
<p>If you’re keen to learn more about how to prevent DDoS attacks, <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/threats/denial-service" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here&#8217;s a great government resource.</a></p>
<h4>Spam bots</h4>
<p>Every day, your website deals with massive amounts of potential traffic. Your ability to manage your paying customers looking for your services largely comes down to your ability to respond to inquiries. And it’s frustrating trying to respond to legitimate inquiries when you’re wading through spam that’s come in through your contact forms. While that&#8217;s just one of the many types of spam botting, it is the most frustrating for Australian business owners, as it significantly slows down their inquiry response times.</p>
<h4>How to deal with spam bots</h4>
<p>Good news. Spam bots are way easier to manage than many other forms of malicious bots. You can successfully block the majority of bots using software that detects and blocks bot traffic.</p>
<p>You can block bots site-wide using a security plugin like <a href="https://www.wordfence.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wordfence</a> that will detect and block bad traffic. And you can block spam bots from using forms by fighting fire with fire: <a href="https://www.google.com/recaptcha/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reCAPTCHA</a> by Google works by combining a risk-based algorithm with machine learning (you guessed it – a bot). If your website is using the WordPress CMS, here’s a guide on how to <a href="https://www.gravityforms.com/blog/add-recaptcha-to-your-forms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">add reCAPTCHA to your site if you are using gravity forms</a>.</p>
<p>Reduce the number of bots spamming your emails by obscuring your email address on your website using a function like ‘<a href="https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/antispambot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">antispambot’,</a> which converts email addresses into HTML.</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that of all the ways spam bots can attack your site, forms are the biggest open door for abuse. So, we recommend you take some or all of the following steps to protect your site.</p>
<ul>
<li>Remove forms that are not needed.</li>
<li>Avoid file upload functionality if possible.</li>
<li>Secure your form submissions by using reCAPTCHA (‘I’m not a robot’ checks).</li>
<li>Use third party spam filter services like <a href="https://akismet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Akismet</a> to filter form submissions before they get to you.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Click fraud bots</h4>
<p>The biggest threat to <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/google-ads-management/">Pay Per Click advertising</a> is a little something called click fraud. It’s the act of clicking ads with the goal of blowing the ad budget of the victim. The simplicity of this task makes it the perfect subject for bot programmers, who design programs that can target a specific ad and repeatedly click it until it no longer appears in search results.</p>
<h4>How to deal with click fraud</h4>
<p>The good news is, you probably don&#8217;t have to worry too much about click fraud – at the moment. We haven&#8217;t seen it affect our clients yet. However, it’s quickly becoming more prevalent, which is why Distl is getting prepared, and you should be to. We’ve researched a whole host of solutions, and what we’ve found is that most operate using advanced AI to monitor the behavior and IP address of users clicking your ad. If they’re detected as fraudulent, they’re added to Google’s IP exclusion list, so they can’t view your ads in search results anymore</p>
<p>If you’re worried about click fraud, one of the better known providers of click fraud protection, ClickCease, shared the <a href="https://www.clickcease.com/blog/what-is-click-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5 most common industries click fraud bots target</a>.</p>
<p>They are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Photography – 65%</li>
<li>Pest Control – 62%</li>
<li>Locksmith – 53%</li>
<li>Plumbing – 46%</li>
<li>Waste Removal – 44%</li>
</ul>
<h3>How to identify and remove bot traffic in Google Analytics</h3>
<p>If your traffic is significantly higher than normal, it’s likely that a large portion of it is bot traffic. And we’re guessing that this is affecting your reporting. Here’s how you can identify and remove bot traffic from analytics.</p>
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4514" src="https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Distl-How-to-exclude-bot-traffic-on-google-analytics.png" alt="" width="1521" height="519" srcset="https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Distl-How-to-exclude-bot-traffic-on-google-analytics.png 1521w, https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Distl-How-to-exclude-bot-traffic-on-google-analytics-300x102.png 300w, https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Distl-How-to-exclude-bot-traffic-on-google-analytics-1024x349.png 1024w, https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Distl-How-to-exclude-bot-traffic-on-google-analytics-768x262.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1521px) 100vw, 1521px" />
<p><strong>The following steps match the numbers in the image above.</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Head over to your Google Analytics dashboard and look for the acquisition tree in the left-hand panel. Within this menu, you will find <strong>All Traffic &gt; Referrals</strong>. Click referrals, and you will find where all your visitors are coming from.</li>
<li>In the referral dashboard, look at your traffic statistics for the past 2-3 months. If you have bot traffic, you should see an obvious outlier.</li>
<li>Next, take a look at your chart. Assuming your site sees a volume consistent with a normal service-based business’ website, you should see a large spike which flattens your other website traffic.</li>
<li>To filter the traffic, click the<strong> ‘advanced’</strong> button in the filters toolbar. You’ll open a filter tool that you can use to remove traffic with your chosen properties.</li>
<li>Using the drop-downs, select <strong>exclude</strong>, <strong>source</strong>, and <strong>containing</strong>. In the input field, type the name of your referring bot traffic, then hit apply.</li>
<li>Your traffic graph should now look consistent with that of a normal traffic chart, as seen above in Image 5.</li>
</ol>
<h2>All too confusing? Here’s a bot summary.</h2>
<p>Our list of good bots and bad bots to keep it simple.</p>
<h3><strong>Good bots</strong></h3>
<h4><strong>Search engine bots: Googlebot, Bingbot, Baidu Spider, and Slurp (Yahoo!) </strong></h4>
<p>These bots crawl and index content from websites across the internet so that they can understand and recommend your business to customers looking for your services. They are essential to the service that search engines offer.</p>
<h4><strong>Marketing tool bots: Semrushbot (Semrush) and AhrefsBot (Ahrefs)</strong></h4>
<p>Marketing tool bots crawl the internet for link data that provides crucial insights to digital marketers around the world. This information can then be used to better understand your customers and serve them better.</p>
<h4><strong>Aggregator bots and price comparison bots:</strong></h4>
<p>Web crawlers that scrape the internet looking for relevant content such as reviews and deals that they can on-sell to users looking for goods and services. These bots help you find great deals and help you filter the countless services on the web to find the best match for your needs.</p>
<h3>Bad bots</h3>
<h4><strong>Click fraud bots:</strong></h4>
<p>Click fraud bots have one job: to deplete the marketing budget of online businesses. They work by clicking your Google Ads or any other form of Pay Per Click advertising that you may be running.</p>
<h4><strong>Spam bots:</strong></h4>
<p>Spam bots run automated tasks across the internet: filling out forms, posting comments and sending emails to sites across the web hoping to disrupt business or promote services.</p>
<h4><strong>DDoS bots (Distributed Denial-Of-Service Bots):</strong></h4>
<p>DDoS bots maliciously flood your site and carry out resource-intensive tasks to intentionally slow down or completely stop your website server’s operation.</p>
<h4><strong>Scraping bots:</strong></h4>
<p>Scraping bots crawl the internet for vulnerabilities, hoping to penetrate your security, steal your customer data and infect your website with malware by exploiting out-of-date plugins and other holes that may exist in your security.</p>


Bots invading your website? Identify and block malicious bot traffic!

<p class="intro-text">Like many businesses, you’re most likely using a multichannel marketing strategy running SEO, PPC, and Social Media campaigns.</p>
<p>But do your campaigns complement each other and your overarching digital goals?</p>
<p>This is where an <a href="https://distl.com.au/strategy/digital-strategy/">omnichannel marketing strategy</a> comes into play.</p>
<p>Omnichannel marketing is a seamless digital customer experience regardless of the marketing channel that your customer is on. The intention of this approach is that every touchpoint your customer has with your brand, it feels like a continuation of the previous touchpoint (think about a marketing funnel and what’s next).</p>
<p>This means that the strategy must be deliberately crafted from start to finish with a message that develops at each touchpoint and remains relevant to the stage of the customer journey and ultimately, the customer.</p>
<p>Your SEO campaign and content, your PPC ads, social media ads, and EDMs, need to be crafted in tandem to create a seamless digital marketing strategy that nurtures your customers to purchase or enquire.</p>
<p>While this can sound like a multichannel strategy, it’s not. Plain and simple.</p>
<p>Here’s why.</p>
<h2>Omnichannel vs. multichannel strategy</h2>
<p>The main point of difference between an omnichannel and multichannel marketing strategy is knowing where your customer is in their marketing journey.</p>
<p>Omnichannel marketing offers a personalised approach that places your customer at the centre of the strategy. The messaging within your strategy changes depending on how your customer engages, and what their needs are.</p>
<p>Every message across channels is created with specific intent and to serve based on previous interactions.</p>
<p>The better targeted messaging to their specific stage of the journey, the more likely your customers are to interact.</p>
<h3>Customer centric approach</h3>
<p>In a multichannel marketing approach, a business will be looking to cast a wide net and get in front of as many relevant eyeballs as possible. This will often be the case running, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, as well as running an SEO campaign. However, there will be no cohesion between these channels.</p>
<p>Whereas an omnichannel marketing strategy will intertwine each channel to engage customers holistically. This methodology is focused on creating a strong relationship with the customers and doesn’t simply target a large impression share.</p>
<h3>Consistent messaging</h3>
<p>A consistent message in your omnichannel strategy is necessary to deliver a high level customer experience. Businesses running an omnichannel strategy must be diligent to ensure their customers are receiving the same experience across all channels and through each interaction.<br />
If there are several internal departments or marketers working on an omnichannel marketing strategy, you need to ensure that they are all aligned and delivering the same message and brand image. If they are not in-tune, the likelihood of a successful strategy will significantly decrease.</p>
<h3>Buyer effort levels</h3>
<p>Another key component is the level of effort the customer needs as part of the journey. The intention of the omnichannel approach is to create a seamless experience. We want the customer to feel like their engagements do not create additional effort for them to do so.</p>
<p>A high level of data analysis and strategy implementation is required to ensure that every step is effortless for the customer. The less effort from customers, the more effective our strategy, leading to increased sales.</p>
<h2>Who is an omnichannel marketing strategy for?</h2>
<p>Is an omnichannel Marketing Strategy appropriate for every business? Absolutely not.</p>
<p>It’s crucial to identify how your audience behaves and whether the customer experience is a key factor in their decision-making process. This will help determine the right marketing strategy for your business.</p>
<p>Businesses that need to grab the customers attention, provide a high level of customer experience, and may also have a longer buying journey where customers need to be nurtured, are better candidates.</p>
<p>It’s also essential that you have the right tools, strategy, and process in place to be able to deliver an omnichannel approach.</p>
<h2>What are the benefits of an omnichannel marketing strategy?</h2>
<h3>1. The advantage of customer data</h3>
<p>Often businesses have customer data in excess and haven’t taken it to their advantage. For many marketers, this data is like finding gold. Utilising this data is what takes a good strategy and makes it great.</p>
<p>Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:</p>
<p>1. What experience are my customers having?<br />
2. What is my customer purchase process?<br />
3. What channels are my customers using to find my business?<br />
4. What channels are my customers using to buy my products/services?<br />
5. What experience are my customers having post sale?<br />
6. How many of my customers are becoming repeat business?<br />
7. Have we surveyed our customers for feedback?</p>
<p>Once you’ve gone through this process and answered all of these queries, you will be equipped with insights on where to improve your customer experience as well as what areas the business needs to improve. Ideally, you will also be able to gain a better appreciation for how to utilise your data at each step of your customers&#8217; purchase process.</p>
<p>The next step as part of your omnichannel strategy will be utilising this data to craft highly targeted messaging. These messages will be specific to where your customers are in the buyer’s journey and tailored to their preferences.</p>
<p>As part of your strategy, this data will also allow you to create automations to better reach out to your customers at the right time, with the right message, effortlessly.</p>
<h3>2. Improve your personalisation with targeted messages</h3>
<p>We just spoke about better targeted messaging. Now to unpack this further.</p>
<p>Personalisation is the heartbeat of an omnichannel marketing strategy. How we utilise the data to create hyper-targeted messages is the core of a successful strategy.</p>
<p>Segmentation is the next step to create personalised messages within your strategy. Segmenting your audiences into different interest groups will help you better create tailored messaging appropriate for their stage of the journey. The intention is to create a message which will provoke a desired action.</p>
<p>As an example, you can identify customers who haven’t made a purchase within the last 30 days. Now you can create a relevant message appropriate to their stage of the buyer’s journey and reach out to them with a promotional offer. Then using the data that you have collated about this type of customer; you can reach out on the platform that will yield the best return and will likely lead to a purchase.</p>
<h3>3. Increased purchase rates</h3>
<p>Utilising data, segmentation, and personalisation, the experience your customers will be having will be far greater than if you were running a Single Channel campaign. This greater experience directly correlates to an increase in purchases.</p>
<p>In 2020, marketing campaigns that utilised several channels vs. those that only ran one, lead to <a href="https://www.omnisend.com/blog/omnichannel-statistics/">a 287% increase in purchases.</a></p>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4377" src="https://wp.distl.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Single_vs_Several_channels.png" alt="" width="716" height="436" />
<p><em>https://www.omnisend.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Single_vs_Several_channels.png</em></p>
<h3>4. Increased average order</h3>
<p>Not only are customers more likely to order from an omnichannel campaign, on average, they are likely to spend more per order.</p>
<p>Recently, statistics have shown that omnichannel marketing campaigns yield a <a href="https://v12data.com/blog/25-amazing-omnichannel-statistics-every-marketer-should-know/">13% increase in average spending per order.</a></p>
<h3>5. Increased customer loyalty &amp; retention rates</h3>
<p>It can cost up to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2018/09/12/dont-spend-5-times-more-attracting-new-customers-nurture-the-existing-ones/?sh=4235bfa5a8e0">five times more to attract a new custome</a>r than it does to retain an existing one.</p>
<p>Also, according to a study done by Frederick Reichheld from <a href="https://www.bain.com/offices/perth/">Bain &amp; Company</a>; increasing customer retention rates by 5%, can result in profit increases of between 25% &#8211; 95%.</p>
<p>Now to relate this back. Comparing a single channel to an omnichannel marketing strategy, in 2020, <a href="https://v12data.com/blog/25-amazing-omnichannel-statistics-every-marketer-should-know/">customer retention rates were 90% higher</a> when an omnichannel campaign was implemented.</p>
<p>Combining increased purchase rates, increased average order, and increased retention rates, an omnichannel approach effectively sells itself.</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>Utilising an omnichannel marketing strategy will allow you to provide more value to your customers and an exceptional &amp; seamless customer experience. With the right business, and implemented correctly, the increase in sales, average order spends, brand awareness, and retention rates can lead to hugely positive results on business growth.</p>
<p>If you’re trying to decide whether an omnichannel marketing approach is right for your business, feel free to <a href="https://distl.com.au/contact-us/">reach out to the team at Distl.</a></p>


What is an omnichannel marketing strategy (and why do I need one?)

<p class="intro-text">Hailing from Turkey, via the United States, Ekin found her way to the Wild Wild West bright-eyed and ready to take on the world of web development.</p>
<p>It was here Ekin began developing her now world-class web development skills. Unbeknownst to her at the time, it was also the beginning of her journey toward Distl.</p>
<p>“While I was a student at UWA, I started my career as a dev by developing a web application solution for a local start up,” Ekin said. And that was just the beginning! After graduating, she continued building up her skills as a software engineer developing VR based learning products; quickly developing a well-rounded skillset.</p>
<p>“I think I have a diverse background in terms of the web technologies I have worked with so I can try to help the team on various types of issues.”</p>
<p>Ekin has been a welcome addition to the Distl family, and in her time here she’s made a huge impact already. With a strong desire to continuously want to improve, she lives and breathes our values by just being her.</p>
<p>“I would love to keep learning and growing as a developer,” Ekin explained.</p>
<p>Aside from her incredible work ethic and eternally positive outlook, she’s also blessed us with continuous fun and laughter. Never taking herself too seriously, she likes to think of herself as “that one comedy-relief character in the Marvel movies”.</p>
<p>After hours, Ekin enjoys writing romance novels (as if she wasn’t talented enough already!), playing Pokemon, online shopping and planning her next amazing set of nails.</p>
<p>We couldn’t be happier to have Ekin on board with us, joining a growing team of female web developers leading the way in some amazing website technologies.</p>
<p>“Distl is the first company I worked at where the majority of our development team are women! It’s absolutely great to see and I’m excited to have more diversity in the dev field in terms of any identity.”</p>


From Turkey to Distl: Ekin’s web development journey

<h2>Thinking about digital marketing but don’t know where to start?</h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You’re running a cracking business. You’ve done the hard work. You’ve developed a killer brand strategy that sets you apart from the rest. Identified a need. Honed your craft. But you’re discovering that running a business you truly believe in only gets you so far.</p>
<p>You need people to know about your business, what you offer and how to reach you. You’ve probably recognised that you need … something. But do you need the help of a digital agency? And if you decide you do, how do you choose an agency? And how do you get the most value out of them?</p>
<h2>Do I really need digital marketing?</h2>
<p>Look, we’re a digital marketing agency. It goes without saying that at Distl, we back what we do. But even if digital marketing wasn’t our bread and butter, here’s the unbiased truth: your business needs marketing. It’s how you connect your business to your target market and let them know you’ve got something they need. And the right agency can help you do that in a way that’s lean and clean.</p>
<p>A digital agency can help you with the lot. From SEO to socials. From content to clicks. Agencies are packed with marketing experts who can help connect you with your customers, keeping them engaged and informed about your business. Marketing is the best tool to build your reputation. It can help boost sales and grow your business. It’s business 101. A no-brainer.</p>
<h2>Avoid DIY disasters. Call in the pros.</h2>
<h3>Why use a digital marketing agency</h3>
<p>So you know you need digital marketing – but why go to an agency? Why not manage your digital strategy in-house? We get it. After all, we all know how to use social media. If our screen time reports are anything to go by, some of us are basically experts. And you know your business better than anyone else. How hard can it be?</p>
<p>Turns out – it’s hard. Reverse parallel parking hard and just as frustrating. When you’re so close to the problem of how to best market yourself, it can be tough to see the wood for the trees. You make the same mistakes over and over. You miss things an outsider has the perspective to spot. A marketing agency can bring fresh eyes and solutions to your problems.</p>
<p>When you hire an agency, you’re not just hiring one person, with one person’s experience and abilities. You’re hiring a crack team of top-notch experts, each with their own set of skills and perspectives. Strategy. SEO. Paid media. Socials. Content. No single in-house or freelance marketing specialist – no matter how brilliant – can bring the scope of talent and capacity that an agency team can.</p>
<p>Plus the digital world is a constantly changing landscape. It takes a mammoth investment of time and resources to keep up to date. Digital agencies make it their mission to study how to best optimise each newfangled update, ultra-modern platform and fashionable new analytics tool. With an agency, you get all the benefits of hours invested in training – saving you the time and money needed to do this in-house.</p>
<h2>Skip the speed-dating. Find a perfect agency match, first time.</h2>
<h3>How to choose a digital agency</h3>
<p>Like Batman and Robin, the best working relationships are partnerships. Your relationship with your digital agency should be no different. Poor cultural fits can’t produce great results. It’s important to choose a digital marketing agency that gets you and your business.</p>
<h3>Understand what you need from a digital agency</h3>
<p>By now, you know you need a digital agency. You’re ready to go looking for that perfect match. Time to head to Google and hit search, right? Not quite. Before you even think about agencies, you need to get introspective. Pick up a mirror. Look your business dead in the eye. Ask everything you can to understand your business’ marketing goals. Where are you heading? What are you missing? What do you need? With a clear understanding of your expectations and ambitions – and the services you’ll need to meet them – you’ll find yourself with a good idea about which agencies best suit your specific needs. That missing piece of the puzzle.</p>
<h3>Find an agency that meets your needs</h3>
<p>And then the hunt is on. You’ve now got a crystal-clear idea of what services you’re after – that’s where your search starts. You’re on the hunt for agencies who tick all the boxes. Agencies with credibility and expertise. Agencies who practice what they preach. Agencies who are genuine and realistic.</p>
<p>It’s a simple exercise. Check out their website. Does it look professional? Do they have contact details and references on their site? Are there Google reviews for their services? Tick these boxes and you have a credible agency. Have a look at their staff, either on their site or on LinkedIn. If they have a team of in-house specialists with a wide range of experience, tick the expertise box. Does the SEO agency rank? Does the marketing agency have consistent, purposeful socials? Sounds like they practice what they preach. Tick. And finally, listen to what they have to say. Is it realistic? Remember, agencies who promise the moon tend to deliver cheese. You’re looking for something genuine. The real deal. Find that and tick it off the list.</p>
<h3>Trust your gut</h3>
<p>While narrowing down your contenders, there will probably be one who stands out. They get you. You click. This is where intuition comes in. It’s time to trust your gut. Chemistry with your agency can be make or break – and this is what it looks like.</p>
<p>Your values are on the same page. You feel comfortable. Supported. Safe to try new things. Your relationship is based on mutual respect and trust. You trust your agency to work in your best interests. You respect that they bring expertise, experience and scope to your projects. Your agency trusts your business and respects the insights you have about your organisation. You work in the same type of ways. Your agency genuinely understands you and your company culture. It just feels right. There’s that missing piece.</p>
<p>Congratulations. You’ve just found your digital agency, first try.</p>
<h3>Working best with your digital agency</h3>
<p>The end of your search is the start of exciting work with your new digital agency. You’ve got this. Remember that this relationship is a partnership and you’re already on your way to success. Set clear expectations about the things that matter to you. Things like how you’re going to communicate, deadlines and turnaround times. Give your agency creative and strategic freedom to do what they do best, in your best interests. You’re about to level up your digital marketing game.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Joining forces with a digital marketing agency is an investment. It’s the key to connecting with your audience and cultivating your public image. The right agency will work alongside you, with shared values and a strong understanding of your mission. Set the foundations for success with clear expectations and communication and you’re set to soar.</p>
<p>At Distl, we know how important it is to work with people who click with us, our values and our processes. <a href="https://distl.com.au/marketing/">Learn more about those here.</a> Have a look around. Do your research. Because we think we might just be the digital marketing agency match for you.</p>


How to choose the best digital agency for your business

<h1>Do I need a complete rebrand or just a refresh?</h1>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As a brand agency, we know that great branding works. It’s the not-so-secret ingredient that gives great ideas the power to fly. It gives you a competitive edge, helps you speak your audience’s language and keeps you relevant. Your brand is who you are, and for it to work, branding needs to hit the spot – every time. We’re talking about a well-oiled machine that’s perfectly aligned with your <a href="https://distl.com.au/strategy/brand-strategy/">brand strategy</a>, mission and goals.</p>
<p>Your brand isn’t built to be static – it should constantly evolve, adapt and optimise. You can do this with one of two processes: a brand refresh or a rebrand.</p>
<h2>Rebrand vs brand refresh</h2>
<h3>What’s the difference?</h3>
<p>A brand refresh takes your brand out for a makeover. Nails. Hair. One of those facials where they put cucumber slices on your eyes. The whole shebang. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that these primarily cosmetic changes won’t make a huge difference. Done right, a brand refresh can revolutionise your brand. Expand your audience. Increase sales. Improve company culture. Brand refreshes happen all the time and are a powerful way to keep a brand on track and relevant.</p>
<p>A rebrand is a different beast. It’s bigger. Hairier. And it’s worth a closer look. When a makeover isn’t enough, a rebrand wipes the slate clean and starts branding again from scratch. Everything about your current brand is left in the past. Sound scary? We think it’s exciting. It’s an opportunity to strap on your scuba mask, take a deep breath and deep dive into those big brand questions: Who are you? What do you do? How and why are you doing that thing you do?</p>
<p>Rebrands use research and brand strategy to build powerful, purposeful, potent new brands. Where you walk away from a brand refresh with a new identity – you leave a rebrand as a whole new person. One who knows where they’re going, what they’re doing, and how they’re getting there.</p>
<p>So you know your brand needs shaking up, but which do you choose? Brand refresh or rebrand?</p>
<h2>Your brand is an instrument. A refresh keeps it in tune.</h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You can’t work it out. Your brand has solid foundations – but something’s not quite right. Despite your marketing efforts, you’re not reaching your target audience. You’re missing out on sales. Your engagement is lagging. You know people want and need what you have to offer, but you’re not getting through to them. Sound familiar? We get it. We’ve all been there. And we think you could be the perfect candidate for a brand refresh.</p>
<h3>Who is a brand refresh for?</h3>
<p>A brand refresh is for anyone who sees room for improvement but doesn’t need to start the branding process again from scratch. Maybe your brand image is no longer in sync with what you’re providing. Your brand identity might feel limiting, or maybe it’s just dusty and outdated. A brand refresh breathes new life into your brand, keeping it up-to-date, relevant and – most importantly – perfectly aligned with your brand strategy.</p>
<h3>What&#8217;s involved in a brand refresh?</h3>
<p>What does this look like in practice? When we work with you on a brand refresh, we want to maintain the fundamental identity and position of your existing brand. We know you’re on to a good thing – we’re here to make sure your brand identity is in tune with that solid strategy. This means the essence of your brand stays the same.</p>
<p>The brand refresh process generally involves modernising and aligning your visual identity. We’re checking that how you look and sound reflects who you are. Think <a href="https://distl.com.au/branding/logo-design/">updated logos</a>, a refined colour palette and well-considered fonts. It can include adjustments to your brand voice, slogans and even the services you deliver.</p>
<p>A simple brand refresh takes between 4-6 weeks to complete. You will leave with a new visual identity – a refined look and feel for your brand, recalibrated to your sturdy strategy. Small changes. Big results.</p>
<h2>Reflect. Rewind. Rebrand.</h2>
<p>But what if your brand’s foundations feel a little … wobbly? Just like you wouldn’t renovate a house that’s sinking into quicksand, a brand refresh isn’t going to do the trick for a brand whose foundations aren’t solid. Enter: the rebrand.</p>
<h3>Who is a rebrand for?</h3>
<p>A rebrand is a big deal. It’s an extensive process for businesses who want to strategically reposition themselves. It’s a fresh start. A new direction. It’s an opportunity to reflect on where changes need to be made – and to get it right. The rebrand process takes between 3-6 months, so best suits people who want to take the time and invest the money in creating fantastic new branding foundations.</p>
<p>Rebrands can be reactive or proactive. Does your brand need to recover and rebound from negative public perception? Are you struggling to keep up with or differentiate yourself from your competitors? React. Rebrand. Proactive rebranding is a rebrand in anticipation of change. Changing your strategy or your offering? Tackling your wishy-washy brand story or positioning? Be proactive. Rebrand.</p>
<h3>What&#8217;s involved in a brand refresh?</h3>
<p>The rebranding process is a factory reset for your brand. It rewinds your brand journey to the very beginning, taking nothing for granted. We kick it off with research. Then analysis. We use this to weave an intricate roadmap that defines your new strategy. Brand positioning. Brand values. Architecture. Messaging. Brand story. The works. We help you to create a future-proof brand strategy. This one’s rock solid.</p>
<p>And this shiny new brand strategy is a trellis for your new brand identity to grow around. It could include a new logo design, name, tagline, tone of voice. New font, colours and supporting elements. All built to last and completely aligned with your strategy.</p>
<p>Whatever you go into a rebrand with, you’ll come out with something truly new. More purposeful. More targeted. More you. From the foundations up.</p>
<h2>So rebrand or refresh? The answer lies in your brand.</h2>
<p>Consider your brand. What it needs. Where it’s going.</p>
<p>Does your brand strategy still meet your needs, but not your visual identity? Are you confident that you’re heading in the right direction, even if your company&#8217;s positioning is slightly veering off course? Do you find yourself wishing your brand identity was a bit more modern, or in line with your company culture or brand promise? You’re the perfect fit for a refresh.</p>
<p>But if you find your brand itself is the problem – lacking direction because of a merger, a change in markets or just an unclear strategy, or changing direction proactively – it could be time to strap on your gloves and get into the ring. This one’s big. It’s exciting. It’s a rebrand.</p>
<p>And if you’re still unsure, get in touch. At Distl, <a href="https://distl.com.au/branding/">branding is our specialty</a>, and we’ve got the expertise to help you identify which option suits your business best. Whichever you need, both rebrands and refreshes are powerful means to steer your brand back on course. Anchors away. We’re excited for your journey.</p>


Do I need a complete rebrand or just a refresh?

<p>When you think about marketing through Google, your first thought is likely going to Google search or Google display network ads.</p>
<p>A combination of search and display ads can do wonders for attracting prospective clients to your business, driving awareness in relevant industries, or re-engaging with valuable customers.</p>
<p>But those two don’t have to be the only contributors to your Google advertising strategy.</p>
<p>There’s an underrated player in the realm of display advertising – and it’s time you paid attention to it.</p>
<p>YouTube is a part of the Google display network and is the largest video platform in the world. That’s a lot of eyes on your content.</p>
<p>How big is it, really?</p>
<p>Well, 16.3 million Aussies spend just over 25 hours every month on the platform.</p>
<h4>So, why should you consider it?</h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>1. It’s tailored to each viewer</strong></p>
<p>Video platforms and the way audiences watch video has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. We’ve gone from watching traditional prescheduled tv spots to our own individual programming, tailored by our searches, the content we consume and our subscriptions.</p>
<p>Watching YouTube is a very personal experience. You will happily dive down the deepest rabbit holes on the most obscure subject matter on YouTube, purely because it interests you, and you alone. Frankly, to have a friend or colleague dig through your YouTube sub feed can feel like a violation of your privacy.</p>
<p>But how does this impact your marketing success? Well, people are far more likely to respond to content that speaks directly to them.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>2. You pay for engagement</strong></p>
<p>Pay per click advertising is built around the user’s response. If no one responds to your ad, you don’t pay, simple.</p>
<p>On Google you pay for an action taken, for someone deciding that what you’re offering is worth them investigating further.</p>
<p>YouTube ads are built no different.</p>
<p>With your typical discovery banner ad or video in-stream ad that plays before, during or after the users selected video, you only pay for a click through to your website, or if they viewed past 30 seconds.</p>
<p>This is ideal because you can structure your creative around these parameters so that every dollar you spend is on someone who is genuinely interested in what you offer.</p>
<p>For example, with an instream ad you try to qualify the user at the very start at of the video, by being direct about who the ad is made. That way, the person viewing can decide to skip if they aren’t your target audience (and you don’t pay a cent).</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>3. It’s just like primetime TV</strong></p>
<p>You don’t have to pay a premium to get the prime spot in between people’s favourite shows on televisions anymore.</p>
<p>With the rise of the YouTube app on smart TVs and streaming devices, it is now easier and cheaper than ever to present your product to viewers in the living room.</p>
<p>There’s something to be said about your ad being viewed on TV that gives you a certain level of authority or recognition. Naturally, when we see a TV ad we think big/credible business.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>4. Measuring performance and tracking results is a dream</strong></p>
<p>Unlike most traditional advertising media, you can track exactly how much engagement your ad has gotten and how many of those users lead to a sale or lead.</p>
<p>Better yet you can also retarget people who have watched or interacted with your video ads.</p>
<p>This can lead into either very basic or quite in-depth video ad sequences.</p>
<p>One of the more popular video ad sequence strategies among YouTube advertisers is Tease, Amplify &amp; Echo.</p>
<p>First, tease your audience with short and sweet ads that stir up interest but don’t go into too much detail.</p>
<p>You then amplify your message with a more long-form in-depth video that can address any concerns or potential questions from your audience.</p>
<p>Using the engagers from the amplify list you then use short call to action video ads that echo your message and remind them to act.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>5. You don’t need big media budgets to make an impact</strong></p>
<p>Many people believe to make it on YouTube you need to have some grandiose video production akin to that on tv. This is not the case.</p>
<p>The content people view on YouTube is incredibly varied in quality.</p>
<p>You can go from watching silly dog videos filmed on a 6th generation iPhone to watching Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel in a matter of seconds and not blink an eye.</p>
<p>Ads on YouTube can easily blend in with the content being viewed as there really isn’t a set standard like there is with traditional TV ads.</p>
<p>So long as your message is clear and your targeting is on point, you can go far with simple videos on YouTube.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>If you feel as though YouTube advertising could be a worthy addition to your marketing arsenal, get in touch with us today.</p>


Is YouTube Worth It In 2021?

<p>Often, potential clients come to us with a preconceived idea of which services are right for their business. While it’s great to have a few things in mind, it’s important to maintain an open mind.</p>
<p>Often, the services our clients think they need are not the ones that are going to have the greatest effect on their bottom line.</p>
<p>At Distl, we focus on unearthing the nitty-gritty. We home in on all the details that make your business unique, and curate a laser-sharp strategy that’s designed to build a resilient business.</p>
<p>But how do we do it?</p>
<h2></h2>
<h2><strong>Our Process</strong></h2>
<p>We’ve seen a lot of change at Distl over the years. One thing that has continued to grow and develop is the way we onboard and meet with new or potential clients.</p>
<p>Rather than go straight from sales meeting through to inception and subsequent strategy, we’ve developed an in-depth approach that allows us to get to know our clients on a deeper level before we dive into work.</p>
<p>Our onboarding process is two-fold:</p>
<ol>
<li>General workshop to understand the client and their industry,</li>
<li>Post research, a second meeting to recommend which services we believe are best suited.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is just one of our many processes that allow us to go further, dig deeper and focus on the bigger picture.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Recommending Additional Services</strong></p>
<p>We get it &#8211; no one wants to feel “sold to”. But that’s not how we look at it.</p>
<p>When we recommend services, it’s because we’ve noticed an opportunity that could yield some promising results. All services have synergies with one another. We like to educate our clients on any opportunities and allow them to make an informed decision before they proceed. We empower them, not push them.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Where It Usually Begins &#8211; SEO</strong></p>
<p>Every client can benefit from SEO, because it exists to improve the bottom line performance for any business&#8217; online property. Creating a strong foundation will can prepare your website for other services like Google Ads or Paid Social media campaigns.</p>
<p>That’s why we like to start here.</p>
<p>Your website is your business&#8217; digital storefront. The key difference to Its physical counterpart is that thanks to search engines, it exists on a street with more foot traffic than ever before, but you share it wall to wall with all your toughest competitors. That is why we want to make sure your open sign is always up, and your lights are shining onto the street. Potential customers looking for a service you offer, need to feel enticed to come through your door and motivated to navigate your site to make a transaction; be it in the form of an inquiry or direct purchase.</p>
<p>Good User Experience (UX), clear and informative content, and fast website speed make an enormous difference and keeps Google happy.</p>
<p>Once we have addressed these foundational factors, we are more confident that other channels will be more effective.</p>
<p>So, how can you be sure your website is in good-nick SEO-wise?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>The Foundation Checklist for SEO</strong></h2>
<p>If you’re currently managing your own website, here’s a quick checklist to help you check your website:</p>
<p><strong>1. Check your website load speed.</strong></p>
<p>Make sure your website loads quickly, we like to see a score of 60+ for mobile and ~90 for desktop. Use Google&#8217;s PageSpeed Insights to see where you can improve: <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/">https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>2. Make sure your Metadata (Titles &amp; Descriptions) are optimised and up to date</strong></p>
<p>Meta data is the sales pitch for each page, using a tool such as SEO Meta in 1 Click will allow you to see whether your site has meta data input and whether it could be improved. Using a WordPress plugin like Yoast (<a href="https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/)">https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/)</a> can help you take control of your metadata and tell Google which keywords are applicable to your site you want to optimise for.</p>
<p><strong>3. Make sure you have a logical menu structure</strong></p>
<p>Is it clear and easy to navigate? Does it outline your service offering? outlines your service silos?</p>
<p><strong>4. Have a clear and easy to understand URL structure.</strong></p>
<p>Keep it simple and not too long! Let’s take one of Distl’s core services as an example:</p>
<p>Yes: .com.au/services/google-ads/</p>
<p>No: .com.au/our-digital-marketing-services/google-ads-sem-ppc-in-perth-australia/</p>
<p><strong>5. Setup and use Google Analytics &amp; Tag Manager</strong></p>
<p>If you’re not sure how to setup Analytics, here is a useful walkthrough: <a href="https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008015?hl=en">https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008015?hl=en</a></p>
<p>Once setup, make sure your goal tracking is setup properly (Calls, Emails, Form Submissions).</p>
<p>Can you clearly identify attribution to your enquiries? (Where have they come from).</p>
<p>Are you physically receiving the same amount of phone calls, emails, or form submissions as your tracking suggests?</p>
<p><strong>6. Setup and use Google Search Console</strong></p>
<p>You can access Google Search Console through the same account you setup Google Analytics with (They’re part of the same suite of tools). Within Search Console, you’ll be able to identify which keywords people are searching to find your website, as well as which pages gain the most traffic.</p>
<p><strong>7. Check your front-end</strong></p>
<p>Look at the visual elements of your website and your copy.</p>
<p>&#8211; Are the engaging?<br />
&#8211; Is the copy easy to understand?<br />
&#8211; Have you included call to action buttons?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>When to bring in PPC / Paid Social / Content</strong></h2>
<p>It can be hard to know when an appropriate time is to start adding on additional services to SEO.</p>
<p>First, let’s quickly breakdown how to view each service:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>SEO</strong></p>
<p>Great for attracting users entering with broader search terms. SEO tends to be a longer game as you’re trying to outrank your competition.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>PPC and Paid Social</strong></p>
<p>This opens the door for us to niche down our targeting. We can target quality, qualified traffic that is further down the customer journey and ready to convert.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Display Ads and YouTube</strong></p>
<p>Great for raising awareness and nurturing users further down the customer journey if they’re not quite ready to convert.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Organic Social</strong></p>
<p>Also, an excellent channel to raise awareness. Often the first touchpoint and fantastic for building brand loyalty and engage with your audience.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>EDMs and Automations</strong></p>
<p>Nurture. Nurture. Nurture. Helps to keep you front of mind with your audience when they’re still in the awareness and consideration phase of their buying journey.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>So, when do we need to bring in another service?</strong></h2>
<p>Well, it depends.</p>
<p>We need to align your business, industry, and current state with the service which will best reach your audience.</p>
<p>Once we’ve completed the foundational SEO checklist, we can start to branch out and investigate which additional services may best suit your business.</p>
<p>What are your short- and long-term goals? Have we either met your short-term goals, or is there still more to be done?</p>
<p>Often, this can come down to budget as well. Do you have the marketing budget to start advertising in new channels such as Google Ads or Paid Social?</p>
<p>Every strategy is different. Every client is different. There is no “one-size fits all” approach. Recommendations are based on what we see will achieve the best results for clients and deliver the most value.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>What’s next?</strong></h2>
<p>If you’ve been working on your own marketing and hitting roadblocks or worked through our checklist and need help with the next steps of your strategy, <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/contact-us/">Get in touch with us today</a> and start your digital marketing journey with Distl.</p>


Our Foundational Checklist for SEO

<p>The festive period is almost upon us.</p>
<p>And with that, a series of important decisions for many business owners.</p>
<p>How long do you close for?</p>
<p>Do you even close?</p>
<p>How many staff will you need?</p>
<p>And most importantly, do you continue to run your digital marketing campaigns?</p>
<p>The default for a lot of business owners is to wind down and pause their marketing as they look to cut costs during this time.</p>
<p>While this can be an understandable approach as sales can dip during this time, we strongly recommend to budget for the festive period and continue your marketing campaigns through the whole break.</p>
<p>Here’s why.</p>
<h2>What Happens When You Pause Your Marketing?</h2>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Google Ads / Search Engine Marketing (SEM)</h3>
<p>Google Ads is one big auction, where you’re bidding for the top positions in Google.</p>
<p>When you leave bidding-based auction, you lose your position and let your competitors take your place.</p>
<p>With less competitors in the auction, they don’t need to pay as much for their efforts. This is the simple economic principle of supply and demand.</p>
<p>When you start again, you don’t get your old place in the auction, you start in a new auction. Your campaign will take longer to get back to the previous performance you experienced for this reason.</p>
<p>And don’t forget, Google is about the long game. They want advertisers to stay on their platform and spend money. Reducing your bids or total ad spend is a much better strategy than stopping everything.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Social Media Marketing (SMM)</h3>
<p>Social Media has become quite sophisticated in the way it uses data and targets users. When running a social media campaign, you’re using machine learning based on desired user actions to optimise campaign performance.</p>
<p>When users complete the desired actions, this data is recorded and used to better deliver ads to a more relevant audience.</p>
<p>With campaigns turned off, there is no machine learning or data retention. This also means that if the campaign is turned back on and we’re using old data, audience targeting may not be as accurate as consumer behaviour changes depending on the time of year.</p>
<p>This often means we need to start the machine learning process again. Whether we’re running a 30, 60, or 90 day retention set, it may take some time for your campaign to be back to its optimal performance self.</p>
<h3>Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)</h3>
<p>Organic traffic is hard work to build up which is why SEO is often referred to as a long game. Now, let’s just have a quick overview of the many potential components of an SEO campaign:</p>
<ul>
<li>Content Development (Blogs or Service pages)</li>
<li>Backlink Acquisition</li>
<li>Internal Linking</li>
<li>Technical Performance</li>
<li>Google My Business (GMB) Optimisation &amp; Posts</li>
<li>Onpage Optimisation</li>
<li>Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)</li>
<li>User Experience (UX) Optimisation</li>
</ul>
<p>Without SEO performance being managed, we often see drops in client rankings which tends to correlate with reduced traffic and overall conversions.</p>
<p>Like Google Ads, it can take longer to regain your rankings if they’ve dropped off while your competitors kept going.</p>
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<h2>Reasons to Continue your Marketing through the Holidays</h2>
<p>If you’re a business owner, you’re probably looking forward to a break to zone out and spend time with the family.</p>
<p>We suggest putting a small amount of time towards planning your digital marketing strategy over the break before you stop.</p>
<p>People have more free time, they’re less stressed, more receptive to advertising and marketing, and attend more social events which means more opportunity for word of mouth.</p>
<p>You should take advantage of the festive break, and here’s why.</p>
<h2></h2>
<h2>High volume of users on social media</h2>
<p>As of January 2021, there were 20.5 million social media users in Australia which is approximately 80% of the population.</p>
<p>And on average, Australians spend 1 hour and 46 minutes on social media a day.</p>
<p>With more free time during the Festive season, user’s social media usage tends to increase which means your advertising reach has the potential to grow significantly. Why not take advantage of this with themed campaigns and offers!</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Competitors Pause – Cheaper Ad Spend</h3>
<p>As mentioned above about Google Ads, there tends to be less competition during the festive season as your competitors pause their campaigns. But not you.</p>
<p>Creating promotional offers for your audience, maybe special pricing, or free delivery during this time, has the chance to be even more effective over the break.</p>
<p>You’d be competing against fewer advertisers and would have to pay less for the same conversions. Wouldn’t that be nice?</p>
<p>H3: It will take longer to build up sales in the New Year</p>
<p>You’ve paused your marketing, you come back to work on the first Monday in January (maybe Tuesday to stretch out your holiday), where are your customers?</p>
<p>Truth time: They’re probably buying from your competitors who didn’t stop their marketing. They didn’t know when you re-opened or any promotions that you were offering over the break or even into the New Year.</p>
<p>Now you have the arduous task of re-engaging your marketing to bring customers back. This may take some time to get your campaigns to the performance you previously had.</p>
<p>Now instead of a quiet December, you’ve had a quiet December and January. This can be a big financial hit for many businesses.</p>
<p>Food for thought.</p>
<h2></h2>
<h2>Keep It Going &#8211; Maintain Your Performance</h2>
<p>Reduce not pause.</p>
<p>If you’ve considered pausing your digital marketing over the festive period, we urge you to reconsider.</p>
<p>Dial it down and maintain your existing performance if you’re concerned about costs. In some industries, dial it right up and reap the benefits.</p>
<p>If you’re unsure how to approach digital marketing during the festive season, <a href="https://wp.distl.com.au/contact-us/">contact</a> our friendly team at Distl today.</p>


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