Tag: Grow Online

A website audit is like giving your site a health check. It’s a comprehensive review that assesses how well your website is performing in search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX).

Think of it as a diagnostic tool that is designed to uncover hidden issues that impact your site’s visibility and user-friendliness.

The purpose of a website audit is to spotlight areas for improvement so your website is firing on all cylinders. Let’s take a look at how you can do just that.

1) Define Your Website Audit Goals

Before getting your website audit underway, set clear, specific goals. Why are you auditing your website? Is it so you can nail the SEO basics and climb higher in the search engine rankings? Is it to increase conversion rates or ensure your site is mobile-friendly? Perhaps it’s a mixture of all three.

These are common objectives, but as a small business owner, the most important thing is to make sure that your goals suit your unique needs. There’s no point in doing an audit if you don’t know what you want to get out of it.

By pinpointing what you want to achieve, you can focus your efforts more effectively and make your audit a strategic tool to elevate your online presence rather than a simple box-ticking exercise.

2) Gather Your Tools and Resources

Semrush can help audit your website.

You’ve got your audit goals sorted, which means it’s now time to gear up with the essential tools to help you figure out whatexactly you need to audit. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are your go-tos, providing the lowdown on your site’s traffic, user behavior, and how you’re doing in search.

But don’t stop there. You can ramp up your audit with powerhouse tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs. Think of these as your website’s personal trainer, spotting SEO slip-ups, broken links, and UX hiccups.

To get started, set up free accounts on Google Analytics and Search Console and integrate them with your website. As for SEMrush or Ahrefs, pick one that aligns with what you want to achieve and your budget.  Once these tools have been set up, they’ll act as your audit’s guiding star, steering you towards real, impactful enhancements.

More Information: Check out our article on how to add Google Analytics to your website for a step-by-step guide to getting started.

3) Collaborate With Your Team

There’s no reason to do your website audit alone. In fact, bringing in a team can help untangle the technical and SEO intricacies of a website. Whether it’s seasoned pros or members of your team who can spot something you’ve missed, two (or more) pairs of eyes are better than one.

Afer all, they’ll bring different perspectives and skills to the table with the aim of giving your website audit the best possible outcome. Not only that but incorporating more people means everyone is on the same page in their bid to give your website a once-over that helps it perform to a high level.

4) Content Audit

When it comes to a website audit, sifting through your content is a bit like sorting through your wardrobe – you need to figure out what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing.

Example of a content audit performed on Semrush.

Identify Content Gaps

Start by mapping out your content. Are there topics your competitors are covering that you’re missing? Maybe there are customer questions left unanswered. If so, pinpoint these gaps because they’re golden tickets to providing value your competitors might be missing.

Research and Update Content

Now, turn detective on your existing content. Is it up-to-date, relevant, and engaging? Old, outdated content can be a big turn-off for visitors and search engines alike. Give your content a refresh – a new coat of paint if you will – so that it’s relevant and appealing.

Check for Duplicate Content

Double-check for any content that’s repeating itself on your site. Search engines aren’t fans of duplicate content. For them, it’s like wearing the same outfit to every party. Unique, original content is key to standing out in the crowd and boosting your SEO.

5) Technical Audit

Technical audits act as your website’s MOT. They make sure everything is ticking over nicely under the bonnet.

Kick things off with a page speed check. Slow pages are like long queues at a shop, and no one likes waiting to get what they want. Slow loading times also make visitors more likely to bounce off your pages, losing you precious traffic. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights are your go-to for this and will provide insights about how quickly content appears on your web pages.

Next, give your SEO a once-over. Are your title tags and meta descriptions up to scratch? Tools like Moz or Yoast SEO can spot if anything’s amiss. It’s also important to search for any broken links or 404 errors – they’re the annoying potholes in your website’s journey. A tool like Broken Link Checker can help track these down.

Broken Link Checker is a helpful add-on for finding broken links on your website.

Lastly, don’t forget about your mobile visitors. With an increasing number of people browsing on their phones (more than 55%, in fact), making sure your site is mobile-friendly is essential. You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see if your site’s a hit on handheld devices.

It might seem like a lot, but getting these technical bits right means your website will be raring to go.

6) User Experience (UX) Audit

A user experience (UX) audit is all about walking a mile in your visitors’ shoes. Let’s start with navigation: is moving around your site easy, or is it more like navigating a maze? Tools like Hotjar can help you see how visitors interact with your site and give you vital feedback about usability.

Just like with the technical audit, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how well mobile design is on your site. It’ll help you understand whether people can effortlessly use your site regardless of the device they use or if they prefer desktop over mobile. If it’s the latter, you’ll need to do some work on boosting the mobile UX experience.

Google Search Console lets you check your website’s mobile friendliness.

Readability access is also important, and your site needs to be clear and legible, like a well-written book. Ensure fonts, colors, and layout are easy on the eyes. And don’t forget those CTAs (Call to Action)—they should stand out and encourage users to make a decision, whether it’s a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or registering interest. Test different designs and placements to see what catches the eye and encourages clicks.

A UX Audit isn’t just about making your site look pretty. It’s also about creating a welcoming, intuitive space that visitors love to explore.

7) On-Page SEO Audit

The goal is to get your website featured on search engines, from Google to Bing and everything in between. To do this, you’ll need to go through a process that ensures your on-page SEO is in tip-top condition.

Begin with your title tags and meta descriptions, which need to be snappy, engaging, and descriptive of the content the user is about to click on. Headings are next. Use H1, H2, H3s, and so on to structure your content like a well-planned story, making it easy for search engines and users to follow.

The blurb under the title is a meta description, giving people a short and concise summary of what they’re about to read.

Don’t overlook alt text for images, either. Not only is it SEO-friendly, but alt-text is also inclusive and acts as a descriptor for visuals. This is great for visitors with visual impairments, allowing them to use your description to get a better idea of the image.

Internal linking is also something you should pay attention to. It helps you lay down breadcrumbs to keep visitors exploring your site, moving seamlessly from one piece of content to another. This minimizes the chance of them navigating away from your website too quickly.

Lastly, keep your URLs neat and descriptive, so that they’re easy to understand at a glance. And to really shine, sprinkle some schema markup into your pages. It’s the language search engines use to read and understand the content on your pages.

More information: If you want to get a headstart on your search engine optimization, check out our list of the best website builders for excellent SEO.

8) Off-Page SEO Audit

An Off-Page SEO audit is different from an on-site one in that it requires you to look beyond your website to the wider web. On-page SEO is all about the elements you can control, whereas off-page SEO focuses on things that are influenced by other people.

But that doesn’t mean matters are completely out of your hands – there are still some things you can do to improve your off-page SEO. First, focus on your backlinks. These are like digital endorsements from other sites. And the higher domain authority these sites have, the better. You can use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to analyze the quality and quantity of these links.

Ahrefs lets you check how many backlinks a site has and how good they are.

Next, scope out your social media presence. Nowadays, this is one area you can’t afford to neglect – it’s basically your website’s megaphone, amplifying your content across the internet. Now could be a really good time to take a look at your social media strategy and see where improvements can be made.

Also, keep an eye on your online reputation and what customers are saying about you. You can do this by checking things like Google Reviews. And if your competitors are performing better than you, learn from them! Take a look at what they’re doing well and where you can edge ahead. It’s a bit like doing a bit of friendly neighborhood watch, only for SEO.

9) Track Analytics & Metrics

There’s no point doing an audit if you can’t then check in on any changes further down the line. This is where tracking your website’s analytics and metrics comes in. This data lets you know what’s working and what isn’t. Start with monitoring your website traffic to see who’s visiting. You could even conduct a specific CRO audit too, as this will help you formulate strategies designed to turn casual browsers into dedicated, purchasing customers.

Bounce rate is another key metric to monitor. This is how frequently people leave your website. The average bounce rate for an ecommerce business is between 20% and 45%, so anything higher than this probably means visitors aren’t getting what they want from your website.

Bounce rates by industry according to CLX.com

10) Implement Changes

You’ve spent all that time auditing your website, and now it’s time to put those changes to the test. The first goal is to implement any technical fixes, such as speeding up your website and removing annoying bugs.

Refreshing content is also important here so that it’s up-to-date and meets the latest search engine requirements. This is also the time to apply improvements to elements like title tags and backlinks. Above all else, it’s important to make sure your content is as engaging as possible.

Let’s not forget about security. Having a secure website helps mitigate data protection issues and ensures that both your and your visitor’s data is safe.

When implementing changes as a result of your audit, be they big or small, it’s important to remember that each one is a step towards a better website that’s efficient and user-friendly.

11) Monitoring & Ongoing Maintenance

Your website audit isn’t a one-and-done deal. Think of it as the start of an ongoing journey. Regularly scheduled audits help keep on top of things, making sure your website gets a routine health check.

Consistently track your progress to celebrate the wins and tweak what’s not quite hitting the mark. Staying current with industry trends is also key, especially because things move fast, and you need to keep pace.

Also, be ready to adapt to search engine algorithm changes. Search engines can throw a few curveballs, but staying agile means you can swing into action as needed. Ongoing maintenance nurtures your website and keeps it growing and evolving.

Performing a thorough website audit is essential for enhancing your site’s SEO and user experience. With the key steps named in this article, from defining your goals to on-page SEO, you can make sure your site is ready to take on the world and performs to its full potential.

Social listening (also known as “social media listening”) is the process of monitoring and analyzing online conversations, discussions, and mentions across different social media platforms: plus a whole range of blogs, forums, and other online channels.

The goal? To gain insights into what people are saying about your brand, products, industry – or whatever topic your business is most interested in – in real time. This helps you understand public perceptions of, and sentiment toward, your business. It also allows you to track trends as they emerge and develop, using feedback to refine your brand’s approach.

Social listening is important for a wide variety of reasons – we’ll unpack each, in detail, below.

Brand Reputation Management

With social listening, you can monitor and manage your business’s online reputation by tracking mentions and sentiment. Through this, you can quickly address negative reviews, comments, or concerns – and maintain a positive brand image.

Competitor Analysis

You can use social listening tools and tactics not only to track insights about your ownbrand but those of your rivals’, too. To this end, social listening can help you better understand the strengths and weaknesses of other companies in your niche, and inform effective competitive strategies and market positioning.

Product and Service Improvement

Analyzing social media discussions that are relevant to your business’s offerings can help you gather important feedback about your products and services: guiding improvements, fueling innovation, and enabling you to better meet your customers’ evolving needs.

What’s more, by getting to grips with audience sentiment around not only your products – but the similar stock and services your competitors are selling – you can refine product development to align with your audience’s expectations.

Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Engaging with your customers directly through social listening fosters a sense of connection with, and loyalty toward, your brand, helping you build a positive and enduring relationship with your audience.

Market Research and Trend Analysis

Social listening helps you identify emerging trends and topics, guiding strategic planning, and keeping your business one step ahead of your industry’s shifting sands.

Better still, because social listening works in real time, you’re well placed to act on these evolving situations not days, weeks, or even months down the track – but right now.You can make quick, informed decisions to propel your marketing campaigns or respond to topical trends while they’re still relevant.

Ready to get your business’s social listening efforts off the ground? Here are our top tips for getting started with social listening – and then growing and managing your endeavors ongoing.

Getting Started with Social Listening

To begin, be sure to:

• Clearly outline your social listening goals and objectives. Reputation management? Competitor analysis? Trend identification? This clarity will help guide your strategy.
• Choose the right tools – we’ll cover our top social listening platforms below.
• Identify the keywords, hashtags, and phrases most relevant to your brand, industry, or products – these are what your social listening strategy will be tracking.
• Use your social listening tool to set up alerts for real-time notifications for the terms you outlined above.

Growing and Enhancing Your Social Listening Practices

To expand your efforts, try:

• Expanding your keyword list regularly as your brand and industry evolve.
• Incorporate Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to make your queries more specific. This will filter out irrelevant mentions and provide more accurate insights.
• Group social mentions into categories for deeper analysis. This segmentation could include sentiment, demographic, or geographic location analysis.
• Engage actively in conversations with your audience to demonstrate responsiveness and bolster your brand’s online presence.

Tracking and Monitoring Your Social Listening Practices

To manage your social listening strategy, explore:

• Regularly reviewing your social listening analytics: tracking key KPIs such as sentiment trends, share of voice, and engagement metrics.
• Compare your social listening data to your competitors (“benchmarking”) to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Combine your social listening data with other sources – such as customer surveys, sales data, and website analytics – for a more holistic approach.

Invest in training to ensure your team is well-versed in your chosen social listening tools, and are well-equipped to interpret the data they provide.

Looking for a bit of help with your social listening strategy? We don’t blame you – keeping tabs on the entire internet is no mean feat!

Fortunately, there’s a litany of social listening tools (also known as social media monitoring tools) to help.

What are social media monitoring tools, you ask? Well, they’re platforms to help you monitor and analyze conversations, mentions, and discussions relevant to your brand from across the web. They harness advanced algorithms and analytics to track the keywords, phrases, and hashtags most important for understanding and growing your business.

Here are three we love.

1. Brandwatch

Brandwatch is one of social listening’s industry-leading tools, with specific plans targeted at researchers, influencer marketers, and social media managers respectively.

Having scooped several big G2 awards in 2023, Brandwatch is a popular and versatile social listening tool with a wide range of applications and use cases. Its only real drawback is its lack of phone-based support – you’ll have to complete an enquiry on its website for service, and even this is only available Monday to Friday.

What’s more, its pricing isn’t transparent, and you’ll have to book a meeting with the Brandwatch team to learn more about how much your business can expect to pay.

Brandwatch’s claim to “game-changing consumer and market intelligence” checks out, although its opaque pricing and subpar customer support options count against it.

2. Hootsuite

Trusted by over 200,000 brands – including household names such as IKEA, Domino’s, and Allianz – Hootsuite is a great, tried-and-tested social listening solution.

You can get started with a 30-day free trial on either Hootsuite’s ‘Professional’ plan ($99/month) or its ‘Team’ plan ($249/month). The former enables one user and 10 social accounts; the latter three users and 30 accounts. For a package that includes five users and up to 50 social accounts, the ‘Enterprise’ plan is available with custom pricing.

Hootsuite’s customer support ticks all the right boxes, too: you can get in touch with the social listening tool’s team from your Hootsuite dashboard, email your account rep for support, or submit a request directly through its website.

Hootsuite powers some of the world’s biggest brands, and boasts big numbers to boot.

3. Mention

Mention is ideal for businesses looking not only for a complete social listening tool, but for one keen to analyze its competition, manage its social media efforts, and keep tabs on perceptions of its brand.

Highly rated on G2 and with heavy-hitting brands such as Microsoft and Deliveroo for customers, Mention’s prices are both refreshingly transparent and surprisingly affordable.

You’ll pay just $41/month to get started with Mention’s ‘Solo’ plan (which includes one user, one account per social network, two alerts, and 5,000 mentions). Upgrading to the ‘Pro’ plan ($83/month) adds more users, social accounts, mentions, and alerts, while the ‘ProPlus’ plan ($149/month) offers unlimited users, 15 social accounts, and up to 20,000 mentions.

The ‘Company’ plan offers the most comprehensive level of social listening at a bespoke price.

Mention is a versatile social listening tool with four transparent pricing plans that are as easy on the wallet as this slick software’s interface is on the eye.

Like many of the most effective business strategies, social listening isn’t without its challenges – and comes with its fair share of ethical considerations, too.

Let’s break them down.

The Challenges of Social Listening

Social listening’s drawbacks include:

• Data privacy concerns:because you’re collecting and analyzing publicly available data, it’s vital that you respect privacy rights, and avoid infringing on personal boundaries. You’ll need to ensure you’re collecting data in a way that complies with privacy regulations, and – where necessary – obtain consent from users, especially when dealing with their sensitive information.
• Accuracy and bias:automated sentiment analysis tools can struggle when it comes to accurately interpreting nuanced language, which can skew the data you collect. What’s more, social media data can contain biases based on the demographics of the platform’s user base, which can also impact the reliability of its insights.
• Volume and noise: the sheer volume of social media data out there can be overwhelming! So separating the chaff of all that irrelevant information (the “noise”) from the wheat of actionable insights can be difficult. It can also be tough to distinguish authentic conversations from automated or spammy content.

Social Listening: Ethical Considerations

With social listening, you’ll also have some things to consider from an ethical standpoint.

These include:

• Implementing transparent disclosure policies:clearly communicating social listening activities to users, customers, and stakeholders alike.
• Anonymizing and aggregating the data you collect:this helps prevent individual users from being identified.
• Providing users with clear consent and opt-out options: you must offer users clear options to opt out of social listening activities if they wish, and ensure you’re respecting their preferences at every turn.

To overcome social listening’s myriad challenges – ethical or otherwise – training can help. And not only for your staff, either, but for the social listening tools and algorithms you use. Filtering and prioritization techniques can help cut through the noise while adding diversity to your data sources can help minimize and mitigate the effects of bias on your social listening data.

Above, we’ve provided a definition of social listening, and explored its wide – and indispensable – range of benefits for your business. From helping you understand your audience and position in the market to providing insights into how to promote your website, social listening’s benefits can’t be ignored.

And neither, as it turns out, can your customers – so get started with one of the social listening tools above (in Hootsuite’s case, for 30 days at no cost) to start listening to them.

We’d love to know how you found this article, and if there are any social listening tips you love that we haven’t touched on here, so make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Before you go, be sure to check out the range of other articles we have here on Website Builder Expert. Whether it’s our top digital marketing tips or the digital skills you need to learn, you’ll find all the knowledge you need to take your business to new heights. Enjoy!

People will only book a hotel after first seeing what it looks like. While photos are great, they can only show so much, which is where virtual tours come in.

An immersive virtual tour offers potential customers the chance to explore your hotel from their own home, getting a feel for the vibe, size, and decor of your establishment.

Not only can you showcase your rooms and restaurants, but you can also show off any special experiences that you offer such as a spa or golf course.

Both Instagram (Instagram 360) and Facebook (Facebook VR) have immersive tools that you can use to show off your hotel to customers.

Influencer marketing can be a great way to showcase your hotel to a wider audience.

Partnering with the right influencers can boost your brand awareness and increase bookings, as well as generate new social media content and buzz around your hotel.

The key to working with influencers is to choose the right ones for your brand. Travel influencers are the obvious choice but there are also plenty of others whose audience will align with yours. For example, if you have an on-site spa, health and wellness influencers would also work well.

Some of the different ways you can work with influencers include:

• Offer a free stay in return for social media content and reviews.
• Offer your hotel as the venue for an influencer event.
• Offer a stay in return for content to share on your own social media channels.
• Set up an affiliate or loyalty scheme for influencers where they can offer a bespoke discount to their audience for a stay at your hotel.

Travel influencers Black Travel Passport shared photos of their stay at Giraffe Manor, showcasing the hotel to their audience.

If you want your business to grow on social media, you need more followers. Therefore, you need to give users a reason to follow you. Offering exclusive packages and deals is a great incentive.

One of the best ways to offer social media deals is to run a campaign on your chosen platform that includes a special discount code for your followers e.g. SOCIAL10 for 10% off their next booking.

Because each platform attracts a different demographic, you can tailor your packages and promotions to the relevant audience. For example, if you have an older audience on Facebook, midweek spa breaks may be more popular, while a younger Instagram audience may be enticed by a bar and room offer.

In today’s digital world, people want to be able to do everything on one platform which means you need to offer your followers the chance to book a stay directly on your social media.

Instagram for example has an Appointments feature that allows you to manage your bookings directly in the app. This means users don’t have to take the extra step of heading to your website to make a booking, removing a potential hurdle in the process.

You can also use third-party booking platforms and integrate them with your social media channels and existing booking systems. The important thing is to ensure everything is aligned so that no booking errors can be made.

One thing we recommend including within your hotel’s social media marketing strategy is testimonials and UGC.

If a guest leaves you a positive review, whether it’s on social media, TripAdvisor, or in your guest book, share it!

Reviews are a powerful tool and act as valuable social proof, prompting others to make a booking with your hotel based on the experiences of previous guests. However, it’s important not to presume that users are going to go looking for your reviews. We recommend displaying them as clearly as possible so that potential customers can see them from the off.

You can also integrate User Generated Content (UGC) into your social media campaigns to help boost integrity and authenticity.

Why not set up a hashtag for your hotel, encouraging guests to use it when sharing their photos online? You can then re-share some of the best on your own accounts!

Hotel chain Hilton posts a combination of UGC and exclusive offers on its Instagram page.

AI is here to stay but did you know that you can embrace it as part of your hotel social media marketing?

Implementing AI chatbots is a great way to enhance guest relations and offer personalized concierge services 24/7.

An AI chatbot can be used for a tonne of different reasons from a potential guest asking questions about how to make a booking and the facilities on offer to an upcoming guest confirming what time check-in is.

It’s not realistic to have someone manning your social media inbox 24 hours a day, but you don’t want to miss out on potential customers, so a chatbot is a perfect way to keep on top of customer communications while maintaining personalized, quality service.

More information

Interested in other ways that AI can impact your service? Check out our article on the key ways AI is benefiting customer service.

It’s not just guests from further afield you should look to target with your hotel social media marketing. Targeting people from the local community is important, too.

Connecting with your local community via social media offers a great chance to network with locals and fellow businesses, offering a whole new audience. If you’re on the radar of a local person, when they have visitors, where will they suggest they stay? At your hotel!

Speaking of location, where you’re based is one of your biggest selling points so be sure to shout about this on social media and think of content ideas that link to your local area. For example, if you’re based in the country, you could promote local walking routes that hotel guests can experience.

Social media can offer you valuable insights to improve your guest experience too.

Monitor social media for guest feedback and reviews and be sure to respond to all reviews promptly to boost satisfaction. Even if a review is negative, responding professionally will help with your wider online brand.

Be sure to undertake social listening to monitor your hotel’s mentions on social media and if you notice any complaints, you can use these as an opportunity for improvement.

With so many hotel options out there, you need to think about what makes you stand out and shout about it on social media.

Travelers are increasingly looking for places that are committed to sustainability, so if you’re undertaking eco-efforts, make sure potential guests know about them.

Similarly, potential guests want to know that your ethos aligns with theirs, from staff benefits to giving back to the local community. There are plenty of things that help form a booking decision – not just the room rate!

Use your social media platforms to showcase who you are as a brand and what you stand for.

Running a hotel is hard work, from managing staff to ensuring you offer the best guest experience, there’s a lot to think about. Hopefully, these 9 tactics will mean your social media marketing is one less thing on your mind!

Social media marketing for hotels can be incredibly fruitful and by implementing these 9 tactics, you’ll be well on your way to boosting brand awareness and increasing bookings.

Want some tips on building a hotel booking website? Why not check out our expert guide next?

If you’re wondering how to make money from blogging, affiliate marketing is one of the most solid strategies that you can adopt. In this model, you would promote a company’s product in the content of your blog, and direct your readers to that company’s website using a trackable link that identifies your blog as the traffic source. You would then make some commission each time a visitor from your blog ends up buying that product.

This Buzzfeed dress recommendation is an example of affiliate marketing.

To get started, you first need to find affiliate marketing partners who want their products featured on your blog. Our guide can help you start thinking about where and how to find effective companies to work with!

While affiliate content is written by you – the blog’s owner – sponsored content is written by the brand or advertiser promoting a certain product, and then posted by you on your blogging platform.

One study found that three quarters of publishers and media outlets have published sponsored content, so it’s a tried-and-true answer to the question of how to make money from blogging. And the benefits for the brand are numerous – by promoting themselves on different corners of the internet, these companies can increase their brand awareness with new audiences.

The question of how to start blogging and make money is also easily answered by advertising. There are a few different types of ads that you can include on your blog:

• Display ads are meant to visually stand out from the rest of your blog, whether that’s by using a distinct color or block shape to separate the ad content from the organic blog content.
• Native ads, on the other hand, are meant to blend in with the look and feel of the rest of the page. They are less noticeable than display ads and are similar to sponsored content in that they look more like a natural part of your blog.
• Video ads are – you guessed it – ads in video format. These are an important weapon in your arsenal, especially since an estimated 3.37 billion internet users consumed video content in 2022!

This example is a display ad, because the image background differs completely from the white space of the actual website.

Another way to monetize a blog is by selling digital downloads – these can be eBooks, online courses, printables or really any digital product you can think of. Selling digital products isn’t too different from selling physical products, and you can do it on many similar platforms, from website builders like Squarespace to online marketplaces like Etsy.

Squarespace offers plenty of templates tailored to selling digital downloads.

Membership business models aren’t just limited to coffee and workout videos – they’re also another answer to the question of how to make money blogging. You can make this method work by offering a “free” and a “paid” tier to your readers, with the latter set of content only available to those who subscribe.

One of the best ways to attract a paying audience to your monetized content is to know what topics your readers are especially interested in. Implementing good SEO for your blog is one way that you can stay on top of hot topics. For example, conducting keyword research to see which ones are getting the most Google searches will give you a clue as to what content your readers will really want to see.

Once you’ve got your blog up and running, you may want to think about taking it to the next level with some podcasting or video content. This is far less intimidating than it sounds, and the benefits could be huge – 82% of global internet traffic last year came from video!

YouTube is your friend here – many blogging platforms will let you embed YouTube videos on your site, so you can easily integrate your two platforms. And once you’ve set yourself up on YouTube, you can start monetizing your videos in a few different ways. The most common is through advertising revenue, or money from the short ads that often show at the beginning of a YouTube video.

This HelloFresh ad is one of the many monetized clips that play before some YouTube videos.

If you decide to go the podcast route, you can use similar methods of monetization that you’d use in your regular blog articles. For example, brand sponsorships don’t have to be limited to the page – you can also mention them in the script of your podcast. Podcast and video content is also helpful if you want to try out a membership model for your blog, because these types of multisensory content are perfect additions to a paid subscription.

More Information

If you’re considering trying out a podcast or video strategy for your blog, make sure you check out some of our helpful articles below:

• Video SEO
• How to Become a Youtuber
• How to Create a Website for a Podcast
• Top 10 Podcast Website Templates

The above methods for how to make money blogging are tried and true, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only ways to accomplish your goals. There are also some emerging monetization trends for blogs, such as:

• NFTs: Non-fungible tokens are unique identifiers recorded on a blockchain, and they can’t be copied. In other words, they’re a way to certify ownership over a piece of digital art. The process of selling NFTs on your blog would be similar to selling other digital downloads.
• Live streaming: This takes the video trend to new heights by allowing you to stream a live video to your audience. You can include brand sponsorships in live-streamed content, and you can also insert ads into a live stream to monetize it.
• Influencer marketing: Once your actual blog presence is thriving, you can expand it onto social media platforms like Instagram and monetize those as an influencer. This type of marketing is super lucrative since 61% of consumers trust influencers’ recommendations.

If you’re wondering how to make a living as a blogger, the first step is to jump in and get started!

Of the methods above, the best one to try is the one that aligns with your goals and is a good fit for the niche you blog in. For example, influencer marketing might be one to try if you cater to a younger audience, while the membership model is a good fit for blogs about specific hobby interests.

Whatever you choose, best of luck – and let us know how you get on in the comments!

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Hoarding clothes in your wardrobe? Stuck with leftover stock from your closed brick-and-mortar shop? Either way, you’ve got dollars lying around the house.

In 2019, Instagram launched its Checkout feature. Alongside the Shopping tool (used to direct shoppers to your ownonline store), Checkout has made it even quicker and easier to make money on social media. With this feature, users can buy your products directly through the platform.Checkout has proven popular, with 130 million Instagram users tapping on shop posts each month.

Opening an Instagram shop is easy, particularly if you already own an ecommerce store. All you have to do is set up an Instagram Business account, then connect your catalogue to Instagram. Don’t just take our word for it – check out the official Instagram shop setup guide to see just how easy it is.

Don’t have an online store already? No problem. You can create one quickly and easily using Shopify, Instagram’s official ecommerce partner. Also, seeing as the Checkout feature keeps the user on Instagram, you don’t even need to build a whole website for your ecommerce store – you just need a catalogue of products to sell.

You can now sell products directly from Instagram, making it quicker and easier to make money

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No products to sell? No problem. You can use affiliate links to direct social media users to another website, earning commission for each click or sale completed via your link. It’s one of the most popular ways to make money on social media, and one of our favorite online business ideas.

The easiest way to start your affiliate career is through Amazon. You can review Amazon products, then direct your social media followers to that product page via an affiliate link – earning up to 10% for each sale.

To become a successful affiliate marketer, it’s best that you start a blog to review and discuss affiliate products. You can then share your blog post on social media channels to gain maximum exposure.

When writing your review, it’s best to remain transparent with your readers, and not be afraid to mention aspects that you don’t like about the product or service. Building trust is essential for making money on social media, so don’t break it!

Amazon has millions of products that you could promote on your own website through affiliate links

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Let’s say you’ve been sharing content on social media related to your chosen hobby – golf, for example – for a while now. Thanks to your steady flow of valuable golf content, you’ve built a loyal base of 1,000-20,000 followers who are interested in what you’re sharing.

If you join an influencer community website, golf brands could start paying you to advertise their products to your social media followers.This is called influencer marketing. Or more specifically, ‘micro influencer marketing’, because you have fewer than around 20,000 followers.

There are a number of influencer community websites, such as Stack Influencer, which make it easy to make money online as a micro influencer. However, this method isn’t viable for everyone – you need a relatively large and loyal follower base (i.e. users who engage with what you’re saying) in order to become an influencer.

Joining influencer community websites will make it easier to get found online by brands

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91% of retail brands use two or more social media channels, while 81% of small to medium sized businesses use at least one social platform. With social media advertising becoming more popular than ever, the majority of companies will need help managing their social accounts.

That’s where you (could) come in!

Whether a startup needs a pro to help them grow, or a marketing department needs more hands on deck to build an advertising campaign on Twitter, you’ll find countless job roles online related to social media management.

If you understand social trends and you’ve got snappy captions coming out of your ears, then this might be the perfect job for you. Seeing as the majority of us are working from home these days, you’ll first need to ensure your online resume is up to scratch before you start applying for your new job!

You could turn your writing skills into money that pays your bills with a social media management role

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Across the world, people watch 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day.  With viewership numbers like those, there’s no better place to make money on social media through vlogging than on YouTube. Just ask YouTube’s highest earner, Ryan, who brought in a record $22m in 2018.

We’re not saying you’ll become a multi-millionaire like Ryan, but with YouTube paying $3-$5 per 1,000 video views on average, you could start earning a sizable income on the side. Usually, YouTube will start paying you once your channel has reached 1,000 followers, so get all your friends and family to share, share, share!

To become a paid vlogger or video creator, all you need is a reasonable camera (most of the recent smartphones have killer cameras), a microphone, and an interesting topic to discuss on screen that your followers will love watching, liking, and sharing online.

You can also join the YouTube Partner Program to access a wider range of monetization features, as well as a video creator support team. Here’s a quick snapshot of what you’ll need to do to be eligible for the Partner Program:

• Follow all the YouTube monetization policies
• Live in a country or region where the Partner Program is available
• Have more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months
• Have more than 1,000 subscribers
• Have a linked AdSense account

YouTube places ads on your videos to help you monetize your passion online

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What if we told you that you could turn your hobby into a part-time job – or even a full time job? Ambition never hurt anyone, after all.

Anyway, now we’ve piqued your interest, you could start earning money through Pinterest by advertising your arts and crafts.

You could also use any other visual social media channels, such as Instagram(remember the Checkout feature?), Facebook, or Twitter, but Pinterest is designed for showcasing your artistic tastes and talents. As a result, you’ll find the most appropriate customers on this platform.

Whether you want to sell jewelry online through Pinterest, or sell fashionable furniture through Facebook, you’ll need to build an online store for your products in order to accept payments if you don’t have one already. We’d recommend using Shopify for selling on Pinterest, because it offers ‘buyable pins’ which you can simply attach to your photos, taking users directly to your catalogue of crafts. Cool, huh?

You can take users from your Pinterest posts directly to your online store with ease

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Hold your horses. We’re not saying you’ll become the next J Biebz, but you can still earn money through SoundCloud if you sign up to the Premier subscription, with the platform paying artists approximately $35 per 1,000 streams.

Another option is to link your SoundCloud music to your online store, where you can then sell your songs as downloadable products. The majority of ecommerce website builders, like Wix Ecommerce or Shopify, will let you sell these types of products.

Don’t have the time to build an online store? You can earn money directly through SoundCloud, but it’s a lot harder to become successful this way. For SoundCloud to start monetizing your songs, you’ll need to acquire 5,000 plays in the past month from a set list of countries.

SoundCloud’s Premier subscription is designed to help you earn money from your music quickly and easily

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The money-making method you should choose will depend on a few things. First of all, though, let’s recap our list.

The best ways to make money on social media are:

1. Set up an Instagram Shop
2. Promote Affiliate Products
3. Join the Influencer Community
4. Become a Social Media Manager
5. Join the YouTube Partner Program
6. Promote Your Art on Pinterest
7. Monetize Your Music on SoundCloud

Which should you pick? Well, setting up an Instagram shop, promoting your art on Pinterest, and monetizing your music on SoundCloud will require an ecommerce store to sell products. You may already own one and you’re looking to promote your stock on social media, or you’ll need to create a new ecommerce store from scratch – which, as we’ve shown, can be easily done by using Shopify or Wix.

Affiliate marketing and social media management are best suited to those of you with some writing experience, while vlogging on YouTube and selling your music on SoundCloud will demand hard work alongside heaps of creativity.

However, anyone can make money on social media using any of these methods – you just need to set your mind to it and work hard (cliché, but true!), and you can soon turn your tweets into stone cold cash.

That’s it from us! But, while you’re here, why not check out our 7-step guide to creating a social media strategy? We cover everything from goal-setting and understanding your audience, to creating a content calendar and optimizing your posts. Go check it out!

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Our experts have scoured the web and found the best examples of meme marketing.

1. Netflix

Netflix is seemingly one of meme marketing’s biggest fans, with the online streaming service frequently posting funny memes related to its latest releases and popular shows.

Netflix has tons of visual content it can make the most of and often starts meme trends by creating new memes related to shows that are already causing a buzz online.

The key takeaway from Netflix’s use of meme marketing is the way the brand creates memes that its audience can relate to and will therefore share– in this case, the age-old dilemma of eating out when you have food at home…

Netflix got people talking about the latest series of YOU by creating and sharing memes online.

2. Wendy’s

Fast food giant Wendy’s has made an online name for itself thanks to the brand’s unique approach to social media.

The brand has focused its online attention on Twitter (now known as X) and built a reputation for sassy, verging on offensive, tweets, and memes. This is a good example of picking a social platform that suits your brand’s personality, tone, and audience. Wendy’s LinkedIn page, for example, is much more “professional” than its Twitter – choosing the right platform for your meme marketing is a wise first step!

Wendy’s took the popular Spiderman meme and turned it into something that related to their own branding and business, which is critical to meme marketing success. Your memes need to relate back to your brand. 

Wendy’s show the importance of having a sense of humour online.

3. KFC

Timing is everything when it comes to meme marketingand KFC showed that it knows exactly that, when it jumped on the Godzilla v Kong trend when it was at its peak.

The brand took the opportunity to not only jump on a viral trend for maximum exposure but also to take a sly dig at its main competitors, Burger King and McDonald’s.

The viral post back in 2021 ended up with over 120K retweets, stats that can’t be scoffed at.

KFC got ahead of the trend and posted this meme before other brands caught on.

4. Ruka Hair

The best examples of meme marketing combine a current and trending meme with a link back to your brand and a narrative that your audience can relate to. 

Ruka Hair dipped its toe into the world of meme marketing when the brand jumped on the Oprah Winfrey meme following that Harry and Meghan interview.

In the days and weeks following the interview, this photo of Oprah’s reaction was everywhere and the brand cleverly used it in relation to a narrative relevant to its target audience. We like it!

This example from Ruka Hair shows how jumping on trending topics can work well for a brand.

5. Penguin Random House

Here it is, the famous distracted boyfriend meme. Is this the most popular meme ever? Potentially.

The meme has been used time and time again online, but we particularly like Penguin Random House’s take on the viral image.

The brand put its own spin on it and directly linked it to the writing industry.While the meme content itself is slightly niche, it was appreciated by writers and readers alike – aka the core audience of Penguin Random House.

Penguin Random House took a viral meme and made it relevant to the brand.

6. Gucci

Way back in 2017 luxury fashion house Gucci decided if meme marketing was good enough for everyone else then it was good enough for them too.

The brand recreated a series of popular and viral memes with their own products and models (and an award-winning photographer to shoot them because well, it’s Gucci after all).

One such meme was a take on the trending “Arthur’s fist” meme, which Gucci used as a chance to promote its new watch line.

While the memes were met with mixed reactions from Gucci’s audience, we have to applaud the brand for its unique take on meme marketing and the way it expertly included its latest product lines.

Luxury fashion house Gucci created their own content based on viral memes.

7. Diamond Express Travels

This is a great example of a brand using a popular meme but linking it right back to the service offering they provide for customers. 

Diamond Express Travels took the famous Drake meme and used it to promote the concept of using a travel agent to book a trip.

The brand also regularly takes part in #MemeMondays, a trending social media event where you are encouraged to share your favorite or unique memes.

Diamond Express Travel used this meme post to encourage people to use its services.

8. Dominos

Speaking of Drake, the rapper has been the inspiration for many trending memes in his time, and here is another great example of a brand taking a trending meme and linking it to itself.

Dominos jumped on this meme trend and edited the image to include the pizza brand’s famous Garlic and Herb dip.

This was one of the first brand versions of this particular meme, highlighting why speed and relevance are key for meme marketing.

Dominos acted fast to be one of the first brands to post a funny and relevant twist on this viral meme.

9. Dollar Shave Club

Meme marketing can be a particularly good idea for brands that have built a brand personality or persona that’s light-hearted and fun, like Dollar Shave Club.

From the moment the brand launched, it positioned itself as easy-going, fun, and a little bit cheeky, and its use of memes on social media reflects exactly that.

Dollar Shave Club’s approach to meme marketing highlights an important lesson for everyone: make sure your online content reflects the tone and personality of your brand. 

Dollar Shave Club prove that you can use meme marketing to portray your brand’s personality.

10. McDonald’s

McDonald’s approached meme marketing in a totally different way from many of the other brands on this list – the brand used it to make fun of itself.

Jumping on the online chatter about McFlurry spoons, McDonald’s showed that as a brand it doesn’t take itself too seriously, the perfect way to appeal to Gen-Z and Millennial customers.

Mcdonalds doesn’t take itself too seriously on social media, allowing the brand to make use of funny memes.

11. Audible

At first glance, you wouldn’t necessarily think that the “spooky skeleton” meme would have anything to do with Audible, an audiobook and podcast service.

The brand was clever, however, and with some simple tweaks and by editing the text, were able to link the meme directly back to its service offering.

This is a great example of thinking outside of the box and finding fun and engaging ways to link popular memes to your own brand offering.

Audible creates and posts relevant and seasonal memes online.

12. Starbucks

The “Me/Also Me” trend has been around for a while and there are loads of brands who have jumped on it and made it their own. We particularly like Starbucks’ approach.

The key to this particular meme trend is to make it relatable, both to you and your audience. You need to play on the thoughts and feelings of your audience if you want them to enjoy, engage, and share your meme.

Starbucks knows the importance of being relatable to build a rapport with followers.

13. OPI

Another text-based meme that is always popular is the “Sorry I have plans” trend.

Nail brand OPI jumped on this trend to great success because not only did it make the brand feel relevant and engaging, but it was also a clever way of promoting the brand’s products, getting people excited at the thought of purchasing and using them. Nice!

These kinds of memes are super simple to create, highlighting that meme marketing doesn’t need to take up too much of your time or resources.

OPI keeps its online brand relevant and modern with fun and unique memes.

14. Yappy

Yappy is a brand that sells personalized dog products, and therefore knows that its core audience online is made up of dog owners and lovers.

By understanding exactly who its audience is, the brand is able to use and create memes that they will relate to, increasing the chances of engagement and shares.

The Yappy social media feeds are full of memes, but we particularly like this one based around sharing your bed with your dog, since it proves that the brand understands the everyday lives of its customers.

This light-hearted and personal approach to meme marketing is definitely one to replicate!

This example reiterates the importance of ensuring any memes you post are relevant to your brand.

15. Barkbox

Speaking of dog brands, another that uses meme marketing like an expert is Barkbox.

Barkbox is a monthly subscription service that includes dog toys and treats which means most of its online audience is made up of dog owners.

Dog memes, therefore, are bound to go down a treat. With this example, Barkbox didn’t have to do anything – the dog meme was already trending online, the brand simply had to repost it on the Barkbox page and watch the likes and shares come flooding in.

Barkbox proves that you don’t always need to personalize a meme to make it relevant to your brand. 

Barkbox posted an already viral meme to their Instagram that was relevant and would be enjoyed by the brand’s audience.

Now you’ve seen some great meme examples, take a look at our six expert tips for introducing meme marketing to your social media strategy.

Be Relevant to Your Brand and Target Audience

Everything you post on social media should be relevant to your audience, especially your memes. You may find a meme that you find funny, but if there’s no way to link it to your brand and audience then don’t bother posting it.

Every meme you post should be relevant to your brand and your services, otherwise, you become just another generic online meme account (and trust us, there are plenty of those online already!)

Keep It Short and Sweet

Memes should be fun, engaging, and short. The focus of most memes is imagery and any text you add to the meme, as well as your captions, should be short and sweet. Memes are meant to be fun, this isn’t the place for your long-form, educational content.

Be Creative

Meme marketing offers the ideal opportunity to get creative. Think outside of the box and create your own, relevant memes that users can share and enjoy. You can also jump onto trending and popular memes by putting your own creative spin on them. Don’t hold back and let your creative ideas flow!

Use High-Quality Images

Just like any images you use as part of your branding and marketing, the images you use to create memes should be high-quality. The main reason for this is that your memes need to be shareable – the more people who share your meme the better – and users are much less likely to share a low-quality, blurry image/meme. You can learn more in our full image optimization guide.

Don’t Be Offensive

We’re all for poking fun at yourself, and even your target audience, if that’s your brand personality, but it’s a fine line between being sarcastic and being offensive. Avoid any memes that are discriminatory or rude or that include slurs. You want to make your audience laugh, not cry!

Don’t Be Late 

Social media trends come and go in the blink of an eye, and what’s popular on Tik Tok today could be totally uncool tomorrow.

If you spot a meme trend that you want to utilize, you need to act swiftly and jump on the trend as quickly as possible.

Joining a trend too late will result in minimal shares and will make your brand look outdated, so you need to keep your finger firmly on the pulse with this one!

Staying on top of social trends can take a lot of work, so why do brands take the time and effort to ace meme marketing?

Increased Brand Awareness

Social media is a key way to grow your brand online. If you create memes that people want to share online, you’ll be getting your brand name spread to a broader audience, helping to increase brand awareness and hopefully grow your audience and traffic numbers.

Increased Engagement

People love memes, and in social media timelines chocked full of content, funny and unique memes stand out from the crowd. Memes are a great way of boosting your engagement and encouraging likes, comments, and shares.

Increased Traffic to Your Website

The more your brand is seen online, the more traffic you can drive to your website, and by creating memes that are shareable, relatable, and engaging, you’ll be positioning your brand as one to explore.

Improved Lead Generation

One of the most important, but often hardest, parts of growing an audience online is attracting customers to your online store or website who will actually make a purchase from your brand. In other words, active leads.

Meme marketing can be great for lead generation because, providing you’re creating memes that perfectly align with your brand and target audience, you’ll be attracting the attention of users who are the ideal fit for you.

Increased Sales

And of course, meme marketing can lead to the golden result: increased online sales. Now more than ever customers are thinking carefully about where they spend their money and the brands they choose to shop with. They’re looking for brands that have the same morals, ethos, and even sense of humor as them.

If you get meme marketing right, you should see a major boost to your sales figures.

Meme marketing isn’t just about having fun on the internet (although, it definitely should be fun), it can be a powerful tool to promote your website, raise brand awareness, build an engaged following, and drive active leads straight to your website.

As you can see from the brands of all sizes showcased in this article, anyone can start meme advertising on social media but before you get started, let’s recap our expert tips:

• Be relevant to your brand and audience
• Keep it short and sweet
• Be creative
• Use high-quality images
• Don’t be offensive
• Don’t be late

Remember, the key to meme marketing success is making sure you’re having fun and that everything is always relevant to both your brand and your audience. If you follow our tips and tricks, you can’t go wrong.

Are you planning to include meme marketing in your social media plans? Or maybe you have a favorite brand online that always smashes meme marketing? Let us know in the comments!