Mechanised

24/08/2021

eCommerce Tips: If your navigation sucks then you’re not going to make a sale.

I’ve seen so many eCommerce sites with navigation issues making it difficult to look around the site, resulting in a poor experience.

Here are some ideas when designing your navigation for a good customer experience,

👉🏽 Group your products logically. Don’t try to group too many different products within a single category.

👉🏽 If you have too many main categories, restructure and use sub-categories.

👉🏽 Use alternative sub-categories based on variations to improve the customer journey e.g. colour, size, flavour, scent, brands.

👉🏽 Use keyword research to assist with the creation of categories and sub-categories.

👉🏽 Prioritise the order. Save your main navigation for products and not supporting pages.

👉🏽 The footer is a great place to include links to customer services, information and supporting pages.

👉🏽 Add filter and sort options if you have a large catalogue.

👉🏽 Check that it works on mobiles.

Just keep it simple and focus on your customer journey and experience.

19/08/2021

Thank you to the guys over at Long Shot Drinks for this excellent review 🙌🏽🙌🏼

"Mechanised have helped to redesign our website starting from scratch and were extremely useful at putting a plan in place and meeting deadlines. They kept us informed at all stages of the website build, including if issues arose.

Since the completion of our website, Mechanised have been working on our SEO and paid social adverts. They provide a useful monthly report which gives an overview of changes and what needs to be worked on.

We cannot recommend Mechanised enough for their approachable, hardworking and friendly commitment.”

17/08/2021

eCommerce Tips: Don’t fall at the first hurdle

The majority of your customers will see your home page, so it’s important to make a great first impression.

Even with endless themes available and great examples just a click away, it’s still possible to ruin a home page when taking a DIY approach.

Most eComm sites have a common design, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Here are some features that you want to include on your home page to boost your credibility,

🛍 Place your logo at the top. Clearly visible, high res, either to the left or centre.

🛍 Include a search bar allowing customers to quickly find specific products.

🛍 Have a simple structured navigation that’s easy to use.

🛍 Use hero images to draw attention to offers or new products. Don’t use it for the sake of it and limit it to 3 images.

🛍 Highlight your main categories either using a small banner or boxes.

🛍 If you offer free delivery or payment options then mention it.

🛍 Display new/sale products in a grid format with prices.

🛍 If you have a good looking Instagram feed then show it off for inspiration and to gain followers.

🛍 Always have a proper footer including links to supporting pages, return info, delivery info, payment options and contact details.

10/08/2021

Being at the top of Google leads to success which is why SEO is still one of the best marketing activities you can invest in as Google is where the majority of people start their buying journey.

After a tough 18 months, the business owners we’ve been talking to recently know the importance of being at the top and want to be there but lack two important things,

⏳Time
💰Budget

They need sales today and not in 6 months time to keep the business running.

So what’s the solution?

👉🏽 Start advertising using paid search or paid social

👉🏽 This is a quicker and cheaper option than SEO

👉🏽 Once the orders start coming in, increase the budget to generate more

👉🏽 When you’re making a comfortable profit, start to invest in SEO whilst continuing with paid ads

This is the best approach for small budgets because you can generate sales on day one rather than waiting 6+ months.

If your business needs to increase sales we're currently offering free 20-minute discovery calls, 100% not a sales call. You can find more info here - https://mechanised.co.uk/explore-opportunities/

05/08/2021

Since last year more than 85,000 businesses in the UK have launched an online store.

This was either to continue trading due to their physical shop being closed or a new start-up business spotting a gap in the market.

When the demand was there sales were coming in daily with little advertising because customers couldn’t go elsewhere, happy days!

But the game has changed.

🚫 Customers are now able to shop on the high street again
🚫 Disposable income is being spent on food/entertainment
🚫 More competition than ever

So how can you keep sales and profit healthy?

Here’s what you should be doing online to increase sales👇🏽

Small Budget 💷
- Use Google Ads/Shopping
- Use Facebook and Instagram ads
- Build a social media presence
- Email offers/new products to customers

Medium Budget 💷 💷
- Small Budget plus the following
- Retarget customers on Facebook/Instagram
- Start an SEO campaign focusing on 1 or 2 categories

Large Budget 💷 💷 💷
- Medium Budget plus the following
- Test new audiences on Facebook/Instagram
- Test ads on other social platforms e.g. TikTok, YouTube
- Start an SEO campaign focusing on all categories
- Start a digital PR campaign

If you're unsure of your next step we're currently offering free 20-minute discovery calls, 100% not a sales call. You can find more info here - https://mechanised.co.uk/explore-opportunities/

18/06/2021

How has the pandemic affected our shopping behaviour?

YouGov's International Omni-Channel Retail Report 2021 has just been published giving us an interesting insight on our shopping behaviour during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, there has been a major shift to online shopping when buying non-essential items (discretionary items) such as clothing, footwear, furniture, electrical goods etc.

In Great Britain,

🛍 36% of respondents purchased from bricks-and-mortar
💻 79% of respondents purchased online

Surprisingly, the data is based on purchases between October 2020 and January 2021, meaning non-essential retail was open.

🤔 Are consumers now comfortable with buying online and will online shopping continue to be the top dog when restrictions are lifted?

Get a copy of the report here >> https://business.yougov.com/sectors/retail/international-omni-channel-retail-report-2021

17/06/2021

01/06/2021

Happy client!

Last month we delivered a 12-month snapshot to our client to show them how far they've come since working with Mechanised.

Here are the key points...

👉🏽 Monthly sales increased from £1K to £43.4K

👉🏽 19x return on investment

👉🏽 Positioned at the top of Google for 8 industry sought after searches

After working with an agency that did more harm than good, we quickly turned them around and they're having their best year to date!

26/05/2021

Building courageous influencers.

Bright Leaders are focused on creating long-lasting leadership change within young people and school cultures.

Their leadership and learning experiences make young people feel great and ensure they take positive steps to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.

Using Craft, we designed and developed a bespoke website giving Bright Leaders the flexibility they need today whilst planning for future expansion.

Check out their new site >> https://brightleaders.co.uk/

24/05/2021

Let's get ready for summer with a new refreshing drink!

Long Shot is a new UK start-up business taking on the Hard Seltzer world. Fuelled by a rebellious spirit and a thirst for adventure, the two entrepreneurs quit their 9-5 corporate job and created their very own hard seltzer.

Long Shot's fruit-infused hard seltzer is low calorie, contains natural ingredients and tastes great! Don't just take out word for it as they've just won three awards at the World Pre-mix Awards, crowning them as the world's best tasting hard seltzer.

Here's what we delivered,

- Redesigned and re-structured their Shopify store

- Product subscription integration

- Arranged a photoshoot

- A 12-month digital strategy focusing on SEO and paid social ads.

Check out the store >> https://longshotdrinks.co.uk/

If you need help with your Shopify store or digital strategy, drop us a DM.

11/02/2021

Google Ads - money pit or profitable?

Used correctly Google Ads can be a very profitable sales channel even alongside a strong SEO campaign.

Countless times we've been told by clients that they wasted money on Google Ads and don't want to touch them again.

Digging deeper, most of the time they lost money because their campaign wasn't set up correctly.

Similar to Facebook Ads return on ad spend (ROAS), Google Ads reports "conversion value/cost".

The image below is a snapshot of the results we've achieved for our client over the last 30 days.

📈 £9,700 generated from sales
💷 £1,560 spent on ads
🏆 6.23 conversion value/cost or £6.23 in sales for every £1 spent

Here are some tips to get you started to creating profitable ads,

✅ Have a realistic budget - you don't want to disappear after 2 clicks
✅ Start with phrase match and broad match modifier keywords
✅ Create several different version of ads
✅ Link to the landing/product page not just to the home page
✅ Measure your conversion value/cost
✅ Remove underperforming keywords and ads

09/02/2021

Exhausted your Facebook ads audiences? Use lookalike audiences.

Using lookalike audiences can be a goldmine. If you're getting consistent sales on your current ad campaign then you need to use your pixel data to its full potential.

A lookalike audience is an audience based on your website's purchase data. Facebook allows you to create new audiences that are between a 1% and 10% match to your current purchasing audience.

This means you can tap into a new audience that matches the people who have purchased your products within a 1% similarity.

Facebook does all the hard work for you.

You're basically saying, "show my ads to people that look like my paying customers".

In testing, lookalike audiences have a similar ROAS or better than the original audience and it's a great way of reaching new people.

Give it a try on your next campaign.