The common myth that website users don’t like to scroll below “the fold” has persevered for nearly 20 years, and is still a debate I regularly participate in with clients and colleagues alike.
It was actually back in the internet dark ages (1998) when Jarrod Spool discovered that users will happily scroll. The simple fact remains that people would rather move down the page than click to go another page for further content. Which is good, because longer pages mean more words, which (usually) means better search engine optimisation.
If you need convincing, just watch a five year old with an iPad. They intuitively swipe the screen to scroll down. It is in our nature to do so.
The rise in small screens across all generations has heightened our scrolling education. Browsers and...
Hashtags are now an integral part of how we communicate and market online. Originating with Twitter, they are now included in most social networks. They can be used ironically (#sorrynotsorry) to punctuate a message, but the true purpose of the hashtag is much more important!
Hashtags are, quite simply, a search tool. It’s a tag, similar to organising a product on a shelf, with the hash symbol in front of it. (Tagged with a hash symbol = hash-tag.) Adding this to a post makes it searchable for anyone with an interest in your business or topic. When a user clicks on a hashtag or enters it in the search field, they find all content that includes the term. Hashtags can be used within Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to help target your audience and collect...
You may have noticed lately that there has been an increasing amount of odd-looking referral websites cropping up in your Google Analytics reports. This is known as referral spam.
Whilst this traffic doesn’t normally harm your website, it can skew your web traffic analytics because they often have a low visit duration and high bounce rate (yuk!).
There are three types of spam traffic - here’s what it is about and how to deal with it. Maybe grab a cuppa tea first because, let’s be honest, this isn’t the most exciting thing you’ll ever read.
1. Well behaved bots
A "bot" is an automated computer programme that visits your website to gather information, e.g. a search engine bot crawls your site to determine how to rank it in results.
Tomahawk is the first digital marketing company in New Zealand to receive the highly coveted Investors in People Silver Standard award. The award was presented 16th April, 2015.
The Investors in People Standard is a framework of best practice, awarded to well-run organisations that meet set criteria in areas including learning and development, leadership skills as well as recognition and reward.
This was Tomahawk’s first year applying for the award. It represents a huge achievement and reflects the hard work that goes into making Tomahawk a fantastic place to work.
“Prior to receiving this award, only 50 companies outside the United Kingdom had achieved Silver status. We are all so proud to say that Tomahawk achieved this and is one of the prestigious few. We are also...
All we seem to be reading about at the moment is the Google Mobile "Armageddon", the premise that on the 21 April if you are not mobile-friendly your website will be surreptitiously wiped off the face of search.
But it’s not quite all that dramatic. Let’s look at what is actually involved and whether you should be panicking just yet.
WHAT’S SO BIG ABOUT MOBILE?
We've been telling our tourism clients this for some time now: you must invest in a mobile-friendly (ideally responsive) website to succeed online. It’s no longer a “nice-to-have” - it’s a must-have.
There are 1.08 billion smartphones in the world
50% of local search is done on a mobile device
Nearly half of consumers say they won’t return to a website if it doesn’t load well on mobile
We are often asked by clients whether additional domains would benefit their website and/or SEO.
For example, say you run a motel in Auckland and your website is "www.imaginarymotel.com" but you also wonder about registering "www.imaginarymotel.co.nz", or even "http://auckland.imaginarymotel.com".
Answer?
There are only ever 3 reasons to register additional domains.
1. To protect your brand. In other words, stop someone else like a competitor from getting to it first. Alternatively, your company name might be easily misspelled and you want to catch those users who mistype it. (Side note: If protecting your brand is your main concern, you should also register social media accounts under your company name ASAP, even if you don’t plan on posting anything just yet. Use
