Category Archives: PR and SEO

Creative News, Marketing, Marketing & PR, News, PR and SEO

Lucky Number 13!

Written by Jon Kelly, Founder and CEO, Meet and Potato.

Celebrating 13 years as one of the UK’s leading experiential events agencies, Meet and Potato’s Founder and CEO, Jon Kelly looks back on their reign to date and explains why unlucky for some 13 has actually been quite the opposite for this Liverpool powerhouse.

Why did you create Meet & Potato? 

“I originally set up M&P because at the time I hated how agencies were structured. I wanted to create something different, an environment with a relatively flat hierarchy in which everybody had an equal voice. Thirteen years ago, this was a relatively new approach, these days it’s more common and that’s a good thing. M&P has always been a safe space, encouraging personal growth and a place for people to thrive. The bottom line was never my focus, the team was because I firmly believe if you take care of your people, they will take care of the business.

Why do you feel you have had a great 13 years?
It’s been quite the ride with ups and downs along the way, but I’m pleased to say it’s been mostly ups. The industry has seen many changes over the years, we’ve learned a lot and adapted. We’ve never been what you call a big agency and I think in many ways that’s been our strength. We’re agile and our flat, no-hierarchical structure has meant we can be responsive in ways large agencies can’t. We’ve also had the unwavering support of clients that allows us to take risks.

Is the number 13 unlucky?

I’m not superstitious so the number has no negative connotations for me, quite the opposite. I once put money on number 13 at the roulette wheel in a Maltese casino during a client event wrap party and I won! 13 has been my lucky number ever since.

With 13 in mind, what 13 points would you share with others that have enabled you to drive M&P to success over the years:

  1. Have a clear purpose. What are you trying to achieve, who do you want to attract and what do you want to do. This will guide you in the early days and will act as your guiding light.
  2. Do things differently. It’s often a cliche but don’t be afraid to challenge the norm. That doesn’t have to just be in terms of service offering, it can be how you operate your business, what you offer staff, how your business behaves etc.
  3. Invest in your team. Without them, your business does not operate. Pick the gems and treat them properly because it’s their dedication, creativity and hard work that drives your business forward.
  4. Values. Having clear values that you and your team live by is essential and guides all business decisions. At M&P we all care deeply about what we do, always aiming above client expectations, and we embody the agency values:
    We are creative.
    We are passionate.
    We are knowledgeable.
    We are fun!
  5. Pinpoint Your Proposition. Nail what you do and make it clear to potential clients. For us, we create moments of magic that leave a lasting impression. This sits at the heart of everything we do, we want our live events, creative content, and communications campaigns to be remembered for a long time.
  6. Pick Your Clients Wisely. It’s a two-way street with clients and you want to work with brands that are on the same page as you as this will enable long-lasting and successful relationships. Several of our clients have been with M&P for more than a decade. Not many agencies can share those levels of retention, and it makes me super proud as their unwavering support allows us to be bold when proposing creative solutions. Now when we go after new clients, we need to be sure we can bring our M&P magic to them.
  7. Trust Is Intrinsic. Our policy of total honesty and transparency with our clients is part of the reason they keep us around and I really believe every business would benefit from this approach. This enables you to truly understand the brands you work with and allows the client to trust us to challenge their internal teams to step outside their comfort zone and collaborate to deliver something new.
  8. Great Expectations. Push the boundaries and set those sky-high expectations. It’s always great to hear clients ask us at the end of an event how we can possibly top it next year, but somehow, we always do. We love nothing more than to impress an audience with fresh and exciting ideas, introducing new event trends, and immersive experiences. Sometimes we’re managing clients with Gucci aspirations and H&M budgets so it can be a challenge, but it’s always one we embrace.
  9. Measure and Celebrate Your Success. In fast-paced businesses that are constantly busy, it’s easy to just move on to the next project. Make sure you and your teams are constantly keeping a close eye on your successes and celebrate them regularly. Whether that’s looking at the impact you’ve made on clients to demonstrate how successful a project has been, looking back at the quarter or year that has just been completed or rewarding teams through socials, it’s always important to take a moment.
  10. Encourage Recognition. Seeing the team progress and individuals grow in confidence is rewarding for me. It’s great to see them recognised by industry peers too which is why we put our teams forward for several awards. This year, our Senior Producer, Sophie Greatbanks has been nominated for CN Agency Producer of the Year and Content Coordinator, Niki Toth has just been awarded the title, CN Agency 30 Under 30. Amazing achievements for fantastic team members.
  11. Future Focus. As well as having the foundations in place for the business, make sure you’re looking forward. What’s next, who do you want to work with, what is the next best event you want to work on. Always keep an eye on the year ahead.
  12.  Lead as you’d want to be lead – setting an example and getting your hands dirty from the top down
  13. Share your knowledge – for the sake of the future of the industry, share your best practices and learnings whether this is internally with the team, on socials or through industry events or media, educate the next generation of creative event professionals.

Looking forward, what do the next 13 years look like?
I’m stepping away from the day-to-day running of the agency to concentrate on business development. I’ve always been very hands-on so it’s not an easy move to make but it’s the right thing to do with a view to our future growth and the next 13 years. I’m chasing that dream client, Adobe or Google for example with big budgets to allow our creativity to go wild. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I can’t wait for the next chapter.

FInance, Finance and Banking, Marketing, News, PR and SEO

Creative agency helps financial management consultancy build on growth through refreshed brand and new website

BATH financial services management consultancy Altus Consulting turned to Wiltshire creative agency Milk & Tweed to help come up a new brand identity and website as part of its major growth plan.

The 19-year-old company’s CEO Martyn Evans said its continued growth meant it needed a new website to better reflect its national and international brand and ambitions. “We are a specialist financial services management consultancy with deep and broad expertise in investments, insurance and banking and we wanted to make those things clear on the website,” he said.

Its marketing team met with Chippenham agency Milk & Tweed, which specialises in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing, and was immediately taken with its ideas. “We were really impressed with the design concepts they delivered for us because they had understood  our brand, vision and values, and culture  and came up with a design that reflected these elements,” said Altus Marketing Executive Helen Whitehurst.

“We were very clear we didn’t want a website that looked too corporate with images that were meaningless. We are challenging the traditional consulting model and wanted our teams’ collaborative and uniquely visual approach to be strongly reflected in the new site.”

The refreshed branding makes effective use of the iconic ‘A’ in its name across the new website. “It wasn’t very prominent on our old site but Milk & Tweed built it into the design layout of the new one. Now when you land on the site it has a real brand identity that is really clear,” she said.

Milk & Tweed migrated more than 1,000 insight articles from the old site across to the new, enhancing functionality so they are easier to find and converting many more from PDF format to on-page content to make them more searchable online.

“Milk and Tweed were head and shoulders above other suppliers we spoke to during the selection exercise, they really grasped the brief and presented a creative concept and it is a testament to them that this is more or less exactly what we ended up with,” said Mr Evans. “They were prompt, responsive, and a pleasure to deal with throughout the process.”

Altus, which has offices in Bath and London, has ambitions to grow its presence in the UK and internationally and become the most recognised specialist financial services management consultancy in the UK said Mr Evans.

“It was really important that we had a website that clearly articulated who we are, what we do and what we’re all about and we think we’ve achieved that,” he said.

Jamie Lawton, Milk & Tweed’s Head of Design said: “This project was a true collaboration and it was a joy to work with the team at Altus. We had two key aims in terms of design and functionality, we wanted to elevate the company’s visual style, creating a clear and recognisable look that could extend from the new website across their digital marketing and branded materials.

“Secondly, as thought leaders in financial services, there was an obvious need to make it easy for Altus’ visitors to discover relevant articles and insights.

“Altus have some huge names from the world of finance as clients and the new website holds up against any of theirs. Special mention should go to Helen Whitehurst at Altus, and Sam Jones at Milk & Tweed who helped deliver a project we can all be proud of.”

Find out more about the consultancy services offered by Altus at altus.co.uk and discover more about Milk & Tweed’s services at milkandtweed.com.

—

Pictured: Milk and Tweed Head of Design Jamie Lawton, left, web designer Sam Jones and Altus Consulting Operations Director Cat Atack at the launch of the consultancy’s new website

Marketing, News, PR and SEO, Social Media

Influencers who fail to disclose ads are tarnishing industry and brands

EU study showing four out of five influencers don’t highlight commercial content shines a negative light on a digital sector which had “shaken off wild west” past

Influencers and digital creators who fail to disclose adverts and commercial content within their posts are damaging an industry which has managed to shake off the “wild-west” tags of the past.

That’s the view of influencer marketing agency, Disrupt, following a European Union study released this week, which shows that four out of five influencers on social media fail to disclose commercial content, as required under EU and UK law.

 

Stevie Johnson, managing director of Disrupt, said: “I’m astounded to see that around 80% of influencers are apparently not disclosing commercial content. So much good has been done to tighten up the rules over the last few years that this seems like a backward step and proves that brands – as well as influencers – are getting it wrong when it comes to influencer partnerships.

“These figures put a negative spin on an industry that has shaken off the wild-west tags of previous years. It shows that due diligence is required for brands to partner with the right professional talent who take these regulations seriously, and as a result won’t harm their brand by not using the correct disclosure.”

 

The European Commission report, released on Wednesday February  14th, showed that of 576 influencers studied, 97% posted commercial content on social media including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, and Twitch. But only 20% systematically indicated that it was advertising.

Under EU and UK law, content creators are obliged to disclose adverts within their posts.

 

Johnson added: “Agencies like Disrupt ensure in our contracting process that all paid for content absolutely must be disclosed as an Ad, in line with Advertising Standards Authority and Competition and Markets Authority rules.”

“In our experience, influencers nowadays have no issue with disclosing ads. They want to be authentic and truthful to their audience, and don’t want to risk the negative impact of pulling the wool over consumers eyes.

“Similarly, audiences can be just as engaged with this disclosed, branded content, as regular content…if the collaboration between influencer and brand is authentic, and there is a similar shared ethos between the 3 parties – brand, influencer and audience.”

 

Business & Property News, Marketing, News, PR and SEO, Sales

The Direct Selling Association launches campaign for greater adoption of industry best practice amidst direct-to-consumer surge

  • Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands unite behind call for urgent broader adoption of industry Codes of Conduct.
  • Calls to prevent rogue operators from taking advantage of cost-of-living crisis.

 

The UK industry body for direct-to-consumer (D2C) retail, The Direct Selling Association, today launched a campaign calling for urgent and more widespread adoption of industry Codes of Conduct in the UK.

The campaign follows a significant growth in earnings by people working as independent consultants for direct to consumer retail brands in recent months, with monthly earnings increasing by 73% to £833 last year, thought to be the biggest annual increase in earnings in over a decade.

 

Susannah Schofield OBE, Director General of the Direct Selling Association said: “This form of earning is an increasingly attractive way for people to boost their income as the cost-of-living crisis continues to be felt acutely across the UK.

“Whilst this is a hugely positive development for retailers in an otherwise somewhat gloomy economic outlook, it also presents the potential for disreputable brands and rogue operators to take advantage of the situation and cause huge reputational damage to the wider industry, and we are keen to do everything we can to prevent this.

“It is therefore vital that there is far greater – and urgent – adoption of Codes of Conduct by the many reputable and innovative brands who are selling direct to consumer who are yet to sign up to these Codes.”

 

Direct selling is a £1 billion-a-year channel of retail where products are sold directly to consumers outside of a fixed retail environment. This could be via ‘Tupperware-style’ parties face-to-face, online or through catalogue distribution. Individuals act as independent salespeople and earn through commission paid on product sales. In the UK approximately 500,000 people earn this way, usually on a part-time basis, to supplement household incomes; the average amount earned in the UK through direct selling is £833 per month. Direct selling operates in a similar manner to a micro-franchise, but start-up fees are considerably lower, and it is often free to get started.

As part of its campaign, The Direct Selling Association is reaching out to companies not already signed up to industry codes, as well as engaging with government on the issue.

 

Schofield continues: “Most of the well-known D2C brands such as Avon, The Body Shop, Usborne Books and Ann Summers have signed up to the industry’s Codes of Conduct, which go above and beyond UK consumer law to offer higher levels of protection to both customer and independent sales representatives. However, there still remain a large number of companies in the UK that have not done so, and it’s these companies that we are targeting, to encourage them to do so as a matter of urgency.”

 

Membership of the DSA is only granted to companies which have satisfactorily undergone a full audit process, a process that can take up to a year depending on the maturity of the company in question. During this period, a rigorous examination of an organisation’s business practices, policies and processes are undertaken to check compliance with industry Codes of Conduct.

 

International News, Marketing, PR and SEO, Recruitment, Recruitment News, South East England News, South West, USA, Web Design, Wiltshire News

Recruitment expert aided in US expansion by creative agency’s new brand and website project

NOTTINGHAM-BASED recruitment agency Distinct has been aided with a push into markets further south and in the US by a redesigned website and an updated brand.

Distinct, which specialises in recruitment for roles within finance, HR, marketing, IT and office support and supply chain and procurement, is opening an office in London to mount an expansion into the south and is about to open another in Boston to capitalise on its rapid growth in the North American market. It turned to Wiltshire design agency Milk & Tweed for its new brand look and an upgraded website with functions to help both clients and job hunters.

Milk & Tweed, which has offices in Chippenham and Brighton in Sussex, is building a reputation for excellence in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing.

Distinct Marketing Director Amy Robinson-Nunn said: “We’ve got exciting expansion plans in both London and North America, whilst also pushing to stand out in quite competitive markets. So, one of the things we wanted to do was make sure that our brand and our website supported this strategy.

“We wanted something that was fresh, confident, clean and modern, whilst still retaining the core of what the brand has always been – I think that’s been achieved here.”

Milk & Tweed’s design team refreshed the Distinct logo to give it a more modern feel, sharpened the colours and used cleaner typography. “While it’s not been radically transformed, these changes have made it look totally different,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

The agency’s website has been redesigned and features two new user-friendly tools. “For a candidate being offered a job, one of the first things you want to do is work out your take-home pay, so we’ve got a salary calculator where they can insert their wage and then the tax, student loan and pension deductions are calculated to leave the exact amount they’ll receive in their bank account,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“On the flip side for our clients, we’ve got a wage insights tool which uses live data from the last 12 months, so if they are advertising a job in a particular area, the tool will display the going rate for that job title in their chosen location.”

She said the agency is delighted with the new site. “The development team in particular have been incredible,” she said. “Milk & Tweed’s Web Manager Jon Mynette has been leading the way for us from a development point of view and he’s been fantastic to work with.

“I think they’ve created something that I am genuinely proud of and would recommend them to others.”

She said the new website is particularly important, given Distinct’s ambitious expansion plans. “We’re really taking hold in the US and we’re working in roles within the public accounting and legal sectors,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“We started off in New York and have since moved into Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut and Ohio, so we’re opening an office in Boston to further strengthen our operation in the US.

“Our refreshed brand and new website help us to stand out from our competitors and will certainly support our new strategy and exciting expansion plans.”

Milk & Tweed Web Manager Jon Mynette said: “The project was amazing to work on and the team at Distinct were great to work with because they were so organised, driven and ambitious. It really pushed us as a team and I’m very proud of the work we’ve done and the results we’ve achieved.

“Distinct had some amazing ideas around how they wanted their site to be presented and perform. It meant we had to push the boundaries of how we usually build, which I always enjoy. I must give a special mention to the lead designer Jon Francis and lead developer Sam Jones, who have both done fantastic work on the project. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have.”

—

Pictured: Recruitment agency Distinct turned to creative agency Milk & Tweed to help prepare it for an expansion into the south of England and further into North America

Cardiff, Creative & Marketing, Creative News, Marketing, News, PR and SEO, South West England News

GoCompare co-founder joins Welsh creative agency

Cardiff-based creative agency Toward announces the addition of Kevin Hughes, co-founder and former chief finance and marketing officer of GoCompare, to its leadership team as a Non-Executive Director. Kevin’s appointment stands as a pivotal moment for Toward’s trajectory, following the successful rebrand from well-known agency, Bluegg and the kickstart of an ambitious growth strategy.

While Toward has been successfully led by founders Mike Jordan and Tom Lloyd for the past two decades, the collaboration with Kevin Hughes marks a significant step forward. The agency is now aiming to become the first and best choice for businesses located within Wales and the southwest of England for strategic creative services.

 

Kevin Hughes, renowned for his instrumental role in growing Confused.com into a billion-pound company and co-founding GoCompare.com, brings a wealth of experience to Toward. In his role as Non-Executive Director, Kevin will lend his expertise to mentor and advise the team, offering guidance to the directors as they embrace the challenge of their new ambition.

 

Kevin said: “I’ve always loved working with leaders who truly aspire and have ambitions to grow and be successful; both Tom and Mike have that in abundance. I’ve known of the reputation that Toward (formerly Bluegg) carried and through other ventures have experienced their expertise first hand. My only regret is that I didn’t know of them during my GoCompare days, when on most occasions, our default was to speak to London based agencies.

“It’s an exciting time for both the agency and myself and I’m delighted to be part of this project. Today, I want local founders, CEOs, and marketing directors across Wales and beyond to add a talented local agency, of the quality you’d expect from a London alternative to their pitch lists. Don’t go on autopilot like I did years ago, and think you need London for the best creative services.”

 

Kevin continued: “I met Mike several times at events, and the spark for ambitious growth was evident in him. The role I now play relies on my ability to guide them, helping to put in structures and processes that many creative agencies tend to disregard. We’ve already outlined a strategy and started making very positive changes together. The team has touched so many businesses over the years and there’s so much more to come.”

 

Mike said of Kevin’s appointment: “We’re delighted that Kevin agreed to join us as a Non-Exec Director. His credentials speak for themselves, and his approach with us has been nothing short of inspiring. Tom and I have built a great business over the last 20 years but the timing of this was perfect having used our own rebrand as a catalyst. We knew that we needed expertise to push us further. Kevin has opened our eyes beyond belief, and we can’t wait for the next phase of Toward.”

 

Tom added: “Already in the short space of time working with Kevin, small changes have already made a big difference to how we work. We’ve grown in confidence, and as owners of the business, we’re now running things much differently, being much more transparent and inviting about everything with our team, from financials to new opportunities. Ultimately, we want to see growth, increased sales, larger profits, more services offered, and new partnerships flourish for the benefit of both existing and prospective clients.”

 

Toward is a UK based strategic branding and digital agency that helps ambitious clients grow their businesses. Most recently Toward won contracts with global medical company Frontier Medical Group, international construction products manufacturer Catnic, and luxury hotel group The Celtic Collection.

For further information please visit https://toward.studio/

 

Appointments, Creative & Marketing, Creative News, Marketing, Newport, PR and SEO

Fast-growing creative agency Milk & Tweed’s staff is expanding – and so is its office

FAST-GROWING creative agency Milk & Tweed has made two more appointments to keep up with demand from an ever expanding list of clients.

At the same time the Wiltshire agency is expanding its head office in Chippenham by taking on the unit next door to provide more space for its growing team.

Creative Director Jake Jeffries said the agency, which specialises in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing, needs the extra resource and space to stay ahead of new business coming in. “We made seven new appointments last year to maintain our high standards of customer service as well,” he said.

“When the opportunity to take on the extra space came along we jumped at it. It will give our team a lot more room to work comfortably. We’re knocking through to make one big open plan office and we’ll create two extra meeting rooms so that we can welcome even more clients.”

Joining the team are graphic designer Hannah Woolley and web designer Sara Antonacci. Both had been working from home in previous roles and said they were attracted by the prospect of being based in the agency’s Chippenham office, where there is a strong staff culture.

“I’ve been in situations where remote working has been really good but for the past year I have needed to get back into an office and be around people,” said Hannah, who has worked for several agencies since graduating from Falmouth University with an MA in Communication Design.

“I really wanted to go somewhere where they really valued team and really cared about people, where you felt like you were a part of it as well and you were part of building something,” she said.

She will be working as part of the design team working on new projects and liaising with clients. “I’m quite comfortable with that client relationship side of things and I also really enjoy like the process side and organisation and building the team,” said the 27-year-old.

Sara, who is originally from Rome but moved to the UK to study, said she was looking for somewhere where she could work among a team. “I’ve been working from home for years, so it was quite isolated,” she said. “What I was looking for was actually to go in an office, spend time with people, have some social interaction and also be able to rely on somebody else’s advice if I needed to.

“After my interview I liked the vibe here and I really, really wanted to be picked for the role. It’s the change that I needed so I was so pleased to be offered it.”

The 34-year-old, who learned web design while working at an agency in Newcastle, has already been busy. I’ve jumped on various different projects in my first few weeks and I’ve now been assigned a few new builds of a couple of projects by myself, which is quite exciting,”

Mr Jeffries said the agency’s emphasis on its staff culture is having a bearing on recruitment. “It is definitely more challenging finding the right people but we’ve found that the quality of the work we produce and having a good, creative and supportive atmosphere really helps.

“I’m delighted to welcome Hannah and Sara to Milk & Tweed, they are already proving to be excellent appointments.”

Sara added: “I felt I’ve known everybody here for a long time already, so I think it’s a good feeling to have, meaning that you’re probably in the right place.”

Find out more about the agency’s services at milkandtweed.com.

Finance and Banking, Marketing, Marketing & PR, News, PR and SEO

V For Vanguard

New Campaign Brings the Love

London-based creative agency, AML Group, have created a campaign for Vanguard that brings to life the affection customers feel for one of the world’s leading investment firms.

‘Loving the Value’ – the third instalment of the hugely successful ‘Value to Investors’ campaign that helped launch Vanguard to the UK market – retains the iconic Vanguard ‘V’ sign and the popular ‘human sound’ music track – and, quite literally, shining a light on the memorable ‘Yeah Yeah’. The campaign also showcases an emotional connection – revealing the different things customers love about investing with Vanguard.

Shot on location in London, the TV spot features a number of scenarios with everyday people speaking directly to camera, doing things they enjoy because their investments are taken care of. A mum, her young daughter and her grandmother on an illuminated carousel; the owner of a retro pizza van and an older couple entering a theatre.

“This campaign is very much about bringing to life the joy of investing with Vanguard and the value it offers to people of all ages and backgrounds.” Says Hugo Bone, ECD, AML Group. “It’s unmistakably Vanguard, which is essential for effectiveness, but with a fresh new twist – you can now see the music as well as hearing it. So it’s not just an earworm – it’s an eyeworm too.”

Since the launch of the multiple award-winning campaign in 2020, brand awareness of Vanguard has moved from 22nd to 5th, with consideration rising from 9th to 4th and spontaneous brand attribution leaping from zero to 50%. The number of UK investors choosing Vanguard with their savings,  currently stands at 550,000.

 

Commenting on the campaign Becky Bond, Head of Marketing Europe at Vanguard says: “Our relationship with AML has had a huge impact on both brand awareness and brand perception. This latest iteration builds on the success of the previous campaigns – and beautifully highlights our customer-first, value-led approach. We couldn’t be happier with the results”.

The campaign that includes TV, radio, digital and OOH was shot by Jim Gilchrist at Rattling Stick with the soundtrack created by Simon Bass and a street choir at Pure Soho.

Marketing, PR and SEO

The Rising Tide of SEO: Unveiling the Secrets Behind its Soaring Popularity

In the dynamic landscape of the digital realm, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has emerged as the unsung hero, propelling websites to the forefront of the virtual stage.

As the virtual space (the internet) expands exponentially, the popularity of SEO has witnessed an unprecedented surge. Let’s delve into the reasons behind the growing prominence of SEO and why businesses are increasingly recognising it as a cornerstone of their online success.

The Power of Visibility

In the vast ocean of the internet, visibility is everything. SEO acts as a beacon, guiding users to relevant content and businesses. With billions of searches conducted daily on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, businesses understand that securing a spot on the first page of search results significantly enhances their chances of being discovered. The allure of increased visibility is a powerful motivator for businesses to invest in SEO strategies.

Consumer Behavior Evolution

The way consumers navigate the online world has undergone a transformation. Modern consumers rely on search engines to make informed decisions about products, services, and even everyday queries.

SEO aligns businesses with this changing consumer behavior, ensuring that they are present and easily discoverable when potential customers turn to search engines for answers. The shift in consumer behavior has made SEO, not just a marketing strategy but a fundamental aspect of digital survival.

Credibility and Trust Building

In the digital age, credibility is synonymous with trust. Websites that appear on the first page of search results are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. SEO, through its multifaceted approach, helps businesses build this trust.

From optimising website content to enhancing user experience and ensuring mobile responsiveness, SEO tactics contribute to the overall credibility of a website. As consumers become savvier, businesses recognise the need to establish trust from the very first online interaction. That’s why many companies are constantly seeking affordable SEO services in the UK to succeed.

Global Marketplace and Competition

The internet has transformed the world into a global marketplace where businesses compete not just locally, but on a global scale. In this competitive landscape, SEO provides a level playing field. Small businesses can compete with industry giants by strategically optimising their online presence.

The democratisation of the digital space through SEO allows businesses of all sizes to reach a global audience, fostering healthy competition and innovation.

Analytics and Data-Driven Insights

One of the most compelling reasons behind the popularity of SEO is its inherent reliance on data. SEO strategies are not just implemented blindly; they are backed by comprehensive analytics and data-driven insights.

Businesses can track the performance of their SEO efforts, understand user behavior, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. This analytical approach not only enhances the effectiveness of SEO but also aligns it with the broader trend of data-driven decision-making in the digital era.

Mobile Revolution

With the proliferation of smartphones, the mobile revolution has taken center stage. Search engines prioritise mobile-friendly websites, and SEO has adapted to this paradigm shift. Mobile optimisation is no longer a choice but a necessity, and businesses recognise the role of SEO in ensuring their websites are accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices.

Summary

The rising popularity of SEO can be attributed to its role in enhancing visibility, aligning with evolving consumer behavior, building credibility, enabling global competition, providing data-driven insights, and adapting to the mobile revolution.

As businesses continue to navigate the digital landscape, the importance of SEO will likely continue to grow, cementing its status as a major factor in online success.

Charity & CSR, Creative News, Marketing, News, PR and SEO, Tech

Disability charity can help families more easily thanks to creative agency’s website design

DISABILITY charity Designability has been helped to improve its support for disabled people by creative agency Milk & Tweed.

The Wiltshire agency, which specialises in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing, has designed a new website for the Bath charity that, says Digital Communications Manager Fiona Cromwell, will make life easier for parents and carers looking for information.

The charity, which was founded in 1968 and is based at Bath Royal United Hospital, develops products to give disabled people more independence.

Its most successful product is the Wizzybug, a colourful powered wheelchair aimed at children under five. The charity has more than 300 Wizzybugs on free loan to families and over the last 11 years more than 1,400 children all over the UK have benefitted.

Of late Designability has focused more sharply on family mobility and is also developing a pushchair that can be used with a manual wheelchair and design guidance for accessible EV chargers, as well as being part of a national working group on improving access to transport for disabled people.

Mrs Cromwell said the charity needed a new website to make it easier to communicate what it does, both for service users and would-be donors.

“We don’t have any regional teams around the country and yet we are trying to reach people all over the UK, so for us, our digital presence is something we rely on,” she said. “It is completely invaluable to us to have to have an effective website.

“Our old website didn’t reflect where we have got to as a charity, as we have this new focus on family mobility. We just wanted something brighter and more contemporary, but the user journey was the biggest priority.”

She said the new site, with its more modern, uncluttered, feel has had a positive response. “We had a small group of user testers, which was a mix of  Wizzybug parents, volunteers and supporters and all of them had really positive things to say,” she said. “They felt it was very easy to use and said it looks really modern and looks exactly how we feel it should look.

“It felt like from the get-go, it fulfilled those basic things we wanted to get out of it.”

The new site will soon have a Wizzybug Zone for parents who have one on loan. “It will be incredibly useful to families,” said Mrs Cromwell. “They’ll be able to log in  and see confirmation of when their provisional end of loan date is. They can access tutorial videos and a directory of other organisations that might be able to support them. It’s going to have a wealth of information.”

She said the excellent working relationship with Milk & Tweed’s team has contributed to the success of the redesign project. “I found them really personable people, really warm and approachable,” she said. “If there were certain things I had queries about, they were always very responsive and I felt like they really understood the charity and what our objectives were.”

The charity was recently the subject of a BBC fundraising appeal. “We had a website traffic surge as a result of that, which obviously was fantastic,” said Mrs Cromwell. “It was very important to us that we got the website live in time for that, because we wanted people to have a really great experience when they looked us up, as they obviously did.”

Jamie Lawton, Head of Design at Milk & Tweed, said: “It was an absolute pleasure working with Fiona and the Designability team to create a more modern and streamlined website with clearer user journeys. It was important that the website helped to better showcase the incredible work that the charity does, and tell some of the happy stories of individuals and families using their innovative products.

“We love to work with charities, especially when they’re based locally, and as we complete the Wizzybug Members Zone and look to create a smoother online application process, there are still lots of exciting developments to come.”

See the charity’s new website at designability.org.uk and find out more about Milk & Tweed’s services at milkandtweed.com.