Digital Archives - The Graphics Department

How to Efficiently Work from Home

Unless you’re a seasoned home-worker, working from home can be tough to get used to. Getting to grips with how to efficiently work from home will be a new concept for a huge chunk of the population.

You might find yourself more distracted, you have less accountability and different methods of communication and working practices to get accustomed to. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be done, though. With current drastic changes to the way we all live, a lot of us will be new to the world of working from home (WFH).

Here are some helpful tips to get the most out of WFH and ways keep working efficiently:

Stick to your regular hours

If your usual office time is bound by particular hours of the day, then stick to these, if you can. By sticking to your usual working/break times, this will help to minimise disruption. Plus, it will aid in keeping work and leisure time separate.

Plan your day

At the start of each day, create a list of tasks in priority order, or in order of your natural productivity cycles. If you know you’re more productive in the morning, then put your most important tasks during that time. Having objectives for each day can stop you from becoming distracted or procrastinating.

Get ready for work every morning

It can be tempting to simply roll out of bed and get to work in your pyjamas. However, getting up, having a shower and dressing for success as you usually do can get you in the right headspace for working. Keeping your routine as structured as possible is essential. Plus, at the end of the day, it’ll feel all the more relaxing getting back into your comfies!

Make a home office

If you have the space or facilities to do so, then set up a designated area for working in. Try to set up a desk with all the tools that you need in order to work. This way, when you’re in that designated area, it will be easier for you to get in the it’s time to work mindset.

At The Graphics Department, although we too are working from home, we’re fully operational and offering emergency services to anyone who needs to quickly update customers of service changes. So, if you’d like to get in touch, then you can do so by following this link.

A Change is Here: BERT

Google has recently released a huge change. In fact, it’s the biggest change in 5 years; BERT. This update is expected to affect 10% of all search queries, so there’s a good chance that your SEO tactics may need analysing and adapting.

So, what is the Google BERT Update?

This may sound intimidating, but the basic principles are simple. So, without delving into the jargon of neural networks and algorithms, we’re going to explain what BERT means and how you can keep your website ranking highly since the update has been rolled out.

What this update aims to do is build a fuller understanding of natural language processing, which is the artificial intelligence (AI) that works to recognise and understand human communications better.

Before the update, Google mainly judged search queries by looking at words singularly. Now, it will look at the entire phrase. Sometimes words like for, to, in etc, can really shape the meaning of a sentence. This means that Google now works to understand the context of a search.

Here is an example:

Source: https://www.blog.google/products/search/search-language-understanding-bert

In the search can you get medicine for someone pharmacy, the words “for someone” make all the difference to the search. Before BERT, the search results would display general prescription information. Now, it understands that the query is more specific than that and displays results about getting prescriptions for somebody else. This is the kind of query that BERT focuses on.

When people make searches on Google, they are usually categorised into 1 of 3 query types:

Informational

Navigational

Transactional

An informational search is when a user is simply searching for information. Perhaps they want to start drinking better coffee at home, they might search for ‘good coffee at home’. The search results may take them to a blog or website that provides information about all the different methods to create barista type coffee at home.

The next step in this process could be a search for ‘Best coffee pod machines’. This is a Navigational search. The user knows what kind of machine they might need and the search has more focus.

A further search here could be ‘Nespresso Pod Machine’. This kind of search is categorised as Transactional, as the user has a clear intent to make a purchase.

The BERT update concentrates mainly on the informational keywords and phrases so that people get answers to their questions more quickly and efficiently.

How can I keep my website ranking up after BERT?

To keep your ranking up, you’ll need to get specific with your content. Answer questions.

Rather than conducting keyword research on just words, focus on the long-tail phrases, and create specific content around one topic. This update means SEO is no longer just about having a huge page with 10,000 words and a range of topics covered.

Focus on quality, not just quantity.

Don’t worry

The Google BERT update is a big one, but you should know that it isn’t going to start penalising you for anything new. The objective of BERT is simply to get a better understanding of what people are searching for and why. So you need to have content that gives answers to questions.

If you would like a more in-depth look at your traffic and SEO rankings, The Graphics Department can analyse and report this, suggest required tweaks and implement updates. Get in touch with us today and we’ll get the ball rolling.

How to Drive People to your Website

**In a recent study by HubSpot, when companies were asked “What are your company’s top marketing priorities over the next 12 months?” 54% said growing traffic to their website.**

The challenge of creating a website is one step in building your online presence. Getting people to see it and act on it is another beast to tackle. There are lots of angles to hit at when it comes to driving traffic to your website, so we’ve comprised some of the most effective tactics. Take a look…

#1 Create Content

Content is the hottest thing in marketing right now. Providing relevant and interesting content to your target audience is a great way to drive traffic to your website without those over-promotional adverts. A blog section of your website could be the trick.

Developing a good blog that will attract your target audience requires a few things:

– Be clear with your message and know your audience;

– Optimise content for SEO;

– Draft and draft again!

– Get the word out through Social Media.

#2 Paid Advertising

If you have a new website, ranking high in the search engines can take time. To bypass this process, you could use paid advertising. Whether you develop sponsored posts through social media or jump the queue on the search engines through display ads, this is a quick way to drive traffic to your website.

It’s estimated that Social Media spending will rise by 90% in the next 5 years. So predictions prove its effectiveness and popularity.

#3 Social Media

Although Social Media has been around for a while now for marketing, it is constantly evolving and releasing new features.

To increase your chances of getting seen and driving traffic to your site, keep up to date and embrace these new features. Plan in advance what will be posted on Social Media, and it’ll be easier to keep on top of.

#4 Email

An email list could be one of your most valuable traffic-driving tools. An email list is full of people that have told you that they’re interested in your brand and would like to know more. Any blog updates? Email them, company news? Special offer? Email!

If you don’t have an email list, utilise your other digital channels and offer incentives to start building one.

#5 SEO

Getting your SEO off to a good start begins with on-page SEO. This involves relevant page titles, alt tags, headers, meta descriptions and more. If you’re on-page SEO is optimised, you’ll be off to a good start when it comes to ranking higher on the search engines.

Bonus Tip: Get involved!

Fostering a sense of community for your brand doesn’t have to just happen on your pages. Get involved in the community that already exists. If you come across a social media page or website that is relevant to your business and supports your message, comment! Join the people in the conversation and get your name out there.

This method won’t necessarily see your analytics figures skyrocket, but it will give you a positive stamp in people’s minds as a brand that provides insightful and thought-provoking inputs on topics that they’re interested in.

Having a website just isn’t enough in today’s world. You need to work to push yourself to the front of an over-concentrated marketplace. The Graphics Department can help you build a web presence that doesn’t just end at a website. If you’d like to get started on building a traffic-driving strategy, then get in touch with us today, and we’ll arrange a time for a cuppa!