Topic: Uncategorised

Brand Marketing – Wikipedia

How Toronto and Area Businesses Can Grow Their Online Brand by Using Wikipedia as a Marketing Tool

Like it or not, Wikipedia has become a go-to source of information for just about anything.  Think about how often you’ve landed on Wikipedia when you’ve been looking up something online. Maybe you were searching for something for work or randomly wanted to know who was in that movie you just watched. Regardless of what brings you there, Wikipedia is an indispensable resource in today’s digital world.

Having a presence on Wikipedia can have a huge impact on your brand. Your company Wikipedia page could be a great place to increase your brand’s stature, adding a higher level of legitimacy, and improving your SEO with some excellent backlinks pointing back to your website. More and more people are researching products and brands in Wikipedia before they purchase anything. People want unbiased information and Wikipedia the first place many online searches land.

As a Toronto online marketing company, we’ve seen clients spend a lot of time and resources on things such as Facebook, Google, and various other digital marketing channels. Many businesses spend little time on Wikipedia, but the platform is an excellent tool for marketing.

Maintaining a presence on Wikipedia can take a lot of work. The approval process can be daunting and writing a relevant and detailed Wiki about your company will take a lot of time. A Facebook or Twitter post may take literally minutes to write, but a Wikipedia article can take days and will often come with multiple revisions to satisfy Wikipedia editors and their guidelines.

Having a page on Wikipedia devoted to your brand will give your company instant online credibility. Your company may already be paying thousands of dollars on Google AdWords, a presence on Wikipedia will instantly boost the effectiveness of these paid ads.

It’s important to follow the rules when posting on Wikipedia. The non-profit has lots of great online guidelines that you’ll want to read before trying to post anything. Remember, the Wikipedia editor assigned to your page will have the final say on what you can and cannot post on the platform and they will take your page down if you have any violations. Transparency is key on Wikipedia, if you have a question about proposed content, you’ll want to reach out for feedback. By using the ‘Talk’ section of the article (a tab located at the top of the page) you’ll make it easier for Wikipedia to provide feedback on your page.

Like many things, there are a lot of details that must also be considered when working with Wikipedia. Reaching out to an online marketing company that specializes in Wikipedia can lead to long-term results and can save you a lot of time and stress.

There are various smaller and lesser-known alternates to Wikipedia online. While it’s important to have a presence on Wikipedia, these smaller websites are often easier to post to and can amplify your marketing efforts and increase your online content footprint.

Stick to the facts, Wikipedia is a source of information and your content should reflect this philosophy. Writing in a casual style or filling your page with promotional information is a sure-fire way to have your page disappear. Stick with an academic writing style and focus on the work your company has done and why it’s important to the public. Wikipedia editors take a lot of pride in their role and they care a lot about the integrity of the platform and they don’t mind deleting your page.

There’s a certain level of street cred on Wikipedia. If your brand is mentioned on higher level Wikipedia articles this will help you have your page stay online. Reach out to your network and ask connections who already have Wikipedia pages to reference your brand. Typically, you need three-to-four mentions on established Wikipedia pages to have your new page stick.

There are 1,500 to 2,000 new articles added to the English version of Wikipedia daily and many of these are deleted within a couple of hours. It’s fair to say that Wikipedia knows what they are doing when it comes to inspecting new content.  Wikipedia wants the content on its platform to be very neutral, and they take this very seriously. There is no advertising on Wikipedia, the platform is built as a means for information sharing. Your goal should be to write something that provides value to Wikipedia readers, not to your bottom line. Wikipedia works on their own schedule and it can take time to have articles approved. Playing by the rules is the best way to achieve success on Wikipedia.

At Insiteful Solutions, we’ve been helping Toronto brands establish a presence on Wikipedia by writing high-quality content and by utilizing our understanding of Wikipedia’s approval process and posting guidelines. We’ve had a front-row seat to watch many of our clients improve their online brand by having a well-designed Wikipedia content marketing strategy. Learn more about how we can help your brand have a presence on Wikipedia by contacting us today.

E-Commerce Tips and Strategies

How a Strong E-Commerce Solution Can Help Your Business

Your website plays a key role in your online marketing. For many companies, a well-designed site brings together everything from email marketing, social media, content marketing and various other important digital advertising strategies. With an e-commerce solution in place, your website can also serve as a digital storefront with 24-hour access to your products

Think about how many times your customers reference your website when you speak with them. Amazon, eBay and other big e-commerce websites have made online shopping a normal part of Canadian life and with the advances in mobile technology, it’s not going to slow down anytime soon.

Companies that succeed with e-commerce have strong traffic. Sure, it’s great to have a lot of people load up your website, but the best results happen with strong and qualified traffic. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the great way to generate highly-qualified traffic for any businesses. Study after study concludes that people arriving from Google organic search results are more likely to purchase a product from your site than most other online sources.

There are some really creative things you can now do with Google AdWords and social media advertising. Many of our Toronto e-commerce clients have found remarketing ads to be especially profitable. With this strategy, you can show targeted advertising to people who have already been on your website. People will see ads will they are browsing other websites, watching videos on YouTube, reading the news and countless other content types. Advertising will be shown on both mobile devices and desktop computers. Remarketing keeps your brand and products top-of-mind and entices people to come back to your website.

Year-over-year we’re seeing more people use their mobile devices more to shop online. It’s amazing how many businesses still don’t have a mobile-friendly website. If your website doesn’t look good or function properly on a mobile device you could be losing sales daily.

Online shopping should be easy and your e-commerce solution should make the purchase process easy and convenient. It begins by having simple to use navigation and clear call to actions throughout your website. Regardless if you’re selling a dozen product or thousands of items; people need to ability to instantly see information about products and effortlessly purchase them online. Make contact information very easy to find throughout the entire online purchasing process, online chat can be another feature that can help increase your online sales numbers. It’s important to have well-written product descriptions, clear photos and video, and accurately breakdown your prices.

One of the biggest reasons people change their mind while shopping online is unexpected costs. It’s best to be transparent with your customers, make sure you show all pricing information along with shipping rates in advance. A lot of companies force people to create an account in order to buy something from them online, it’s usually best not to force this step on people. Creating an account takes time and the best e-commerce processes are streamlined. Instead, think about offering a guest checkout option.

The more clicks it takes to purchase something on your website, this less you will sell. Selling stuff online doesn’t need to be complicated, overly complex navigation is a mistake that happens a lot on the Internet. Some of the most successful websites only have three basic steps: pick a product, add it to a cart, click checkout. Take a look at Amazon’s process, it’s designed to be simple and encourage impulse.

Trust is another important factor when it comes to e-commerce, people want to trust companies before they offer their credit card number. There are a few things you can do to help customers trust your website. First of all, you’ll need to make sure that your website is secure. Most websites with e-commerce have SSL certification, it’s a common cryptographic key that keeps data secure. Your customers will most likely have a warning pop-up on their screen if you don’t have one. Most SSL certification providers will let you place a well-known security logo on your site, be sure to place these logos throughout your site.

Let your previous customers help by showcasing customer reviews and testimonials throughout your e-commerce process. It’s human nature to worry about buyer’s remorse when buying things online. Feedback and reviews from others is a great way to build trust with your customers.

There are many different online payment vendors out there that will process online transactions for you. Each of these vendors will come with their own options, support, account management and fees. Do your research and find the best solution for your business’ needs. Offer as many payment options as possible. Test your e-commerce often and ensure everything is working.

E-commerce is an extremely exciting opportunity to generate more revenue for your business. Our team of developers offers innovative e-commerce solutions to businesses of all sizes. Want to learn more? Contact us today and our team will help you come up with an e-commerce solution that suits your business needs.

Custom Graphic Design

Graphic Design

Why You Should Outsource Your Custom Graphic Design Projects

Design is very important to your company. We live in the Internet age and people have an increasing lessening attention span. Well-designed marketing materials such as your website, logo, e-mail, mobile apps, direct mail and many other materials will make your brand stand apart from the competition.

We offer custom design services in Markham, ON and throughout the Toronto region and we’ve worked on wide range of designs since we opened our doors back in 2002. During this time we’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with some really great clients, each with their own set of design needs and goals. Our goal is always to collaborate with our clients to create custom designs that are interesting and attractive.

Graphic design can be a very time-consuming task. It’s not uncommon to go through many different versions of a design. Logos can be revised dozens of times before one is approved. Design is important and it’s worth getting right. Outsourcing your graphic design work is a great way to free up your company’s time and resources. The money you spend to hire a professional graphic designer will undoubtedly pay-off in the long run. Even with a higher upfront investment, it’s usually cost-effective to hire an outside graphic designer for your marketing. Investing in outside design help will free up your workers time, allowing them to focus on tasks core to your day-to-day operations. Graphic design software isn’t cheap, it can quickly add up to a lot of money, especially when you take into account the possibility of needing to purchase additional computers with hardware that is capable of producing high-resolution design work.

Custom graphic design agencies such as ours are staffed with experienced designers who have been creating professional designs for years. Customers are quick to judge nowadays and if your brand’s design work looks amateur people will instantly lose trust in your company without even getting to know you. One the biggest challenges in the graphic design process is to understand the goals and tastes of a company. Our team knows the right questions to ask. You may have an idea of a design in your head and an experienced graphic designer will ask the questions to get the job done right.

An experienced designer will be able to provide multiple design proofs quickly. With a strong understanding of colour, typography, art and layout; you and your team with have the ability to see different design variations. Design software products are some of the hardest computer programs to master, it can take years of experience and training to really gain a good grasp of how to produce quality design work. Working with a professional design company can open the doors to some really exciting options. A professional designer will give your brand fresh perspective with cutting-edge graphics and flexibility. It’s important to find a designer that’s eager to work with your input.

Once you find a Toronto company that offers custom design services they can help with ongoing projects. Over time you’ll develop a strong rapport with your designer, they’ll have a strong understanding of your business goals and brand and will quickly turn your ideas into reality. It’s best to find a design company that can offer different forms of media, this will provide you with more flexibility for future projects.

Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions when looking for a designer. Look through their past work and learn about the type of design they specialize with. A good design company will be happy to answer any question you have.

We’ve been very fortunate to have worked with some great clients over the years. During this time we’ve developed some really great partnerships. Over time we’ve found that our designers gain an understanding of our client’s preferences as we learn about their brand and goals. We are a one-stop shop for all your custom design needs with years of experience designing websites, logos, banners, emails, direct mail, signage, point-of-purchase displays, business cards, banners and various other design work.

Thinking about outsourcing your graphic design projects, or have questions about taking your brand to the next level? Contact us today to learn more about how our team can help your business.