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Category: Forward Digital Marketing
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A Great Website Matters to your Business!
In today’s digital landscape, your website is often the first point of contact for potential customers. It’s not just an online presence; it’s a powerful tool that can elevate your brand, engage your audience, and drive conversions. At Forward Digital Marketing, we specialize in creating tailored websites that meet the unique needs of our diverse clientele.
Our Website Offerings
1. Basic Websites
Perfect for startups and small businesses looking to establish an online presence. These user-friendly sites are designed to showcase your brand and connect with your audience effectively.
2. Complex Websites
For businesses with advanced needs, we develop complex websites that include custom functionalities, integrations, and tailored user experiences.
3. Real Estate Websites
Designed specifically for real estate agents and firms, our real estate websites feature property listings, search functionalities, and lead generation tools to help you sell homes faster.
4. Government Websites
We understand the importance of transparency and accessibility in public service. Our government websites are built to be informative, user-friendly, and compliant with regulations.
5. E-Commerce Solutions
Take your retail business online with our e-commerce websites. We provide secure payment gateways, inventory management, and engaging product displays to enhance the shopping experience.
6. Shopify Stores
For those who prefer a powerful, easy-to-manage platform, we offer Shopify store development. Our team will help you create a stunning online shop that drives sales and keeps customers coming back.
7. Business Directories
If you’re looking to create a directory site, we can help! Our business directory websites are designed for easy navigation and robust search functionality, making it simple for users to find what they need.
8. Church Websites
Connect with your congregation and reach new members with a dedicated church website. We focus on features like event calendars, sermon archives, and donation tools to enhance your ministry’s online presence.
Let’s Build Something Amazing Together!
As we celebrate 25 years of Forward Digital Marketing, we’re excited to continue/start our journey with you. Whether you need a simple landing page or a comprehensive e-commerce platform, our expert team is here to help bring your vision to life.
Connect with Us
Have questions or want to start a project? Call 912-530-8346 or fill out our Contact Form!
Stay updated on our anniversary specials and new services by following us on Facebook & Instagram!
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Celebrating 25 Years of Forward Digital Marketing: A Journey of Innovation and Growth
🎉 25 YEARS and counting! 🎉
This year marks a special milestone for us at Forward Digital Marketing: a quarter of a century in business! It’s hard to believe how much has changed since we started, but one thing has remained constant—our commitment to helping our clients succeed in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
From the early days of dial-up internet to today’s advanced digital marketing tools, we’ve been on a remarkable journey. Over the past 25 years, we’ve navigated the waves of change in technology, growing alongside the digital world to better serve our clients. 🚀
A Journey of Digital Transformation
When Forward Digital Marketing was founded, websites were a novelty, and digital marketing was a concept in its infancy. Fast-forward to today, and the internet is at the core of every business’s growth strategy. We’ve evolved with the times, adopting the latest strategies, tools, and technologies to ensure that our clients remain competitive and ahead of the curve.
From search engine optimization (SEO) to social media management, from responsive web design to comprehensive analytics, we offer a full suite of digital marketing services tailored to our clients’ unique needs. We’ve always believed that great digital marketing starts with understanding our clients’ businesses and goals—and we’re proud of the long-lasting relationships we’ve built with them over the years.
Our Clients: The Heart of Our Success
Our journey wouldn’t be possible without the trust and loyalty of our incredible clients. Whether it’s a small business just starting out or an established company looking to take their online presence to the next level, we’ve been honored to partner with businesses from all industries.
At the heart of everything we do is our passion for helping our clients grow. Seeing their businesses thrive because of the digital strategies we’ve put in place is the most rewarding part of our work.
What’s Next? The Future of Forward Digital Marketing
Looking ahead, we are more excited than ever for the future. As technology continues to evolve, so will we. We are committed to staying on the cutting edge, constantly learning, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the digital world.
We can’t wait to see where the next 25 years take us, and we’re grateful to have you along for the ride. Here’s to more innovation, more growth, and more digital success! 🌟
If you’d like to learn more about our story, our services, or how we can help your business thrive, feel free to visit our About Us page.
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Why does my small business need a website?
Here are 8 reasons why your small business and brand need a website:
1. Google needs to know you exist!
If Google knows who you are, then everyone will be able to know who you are! In a world that is condensed onto our digital devices, your consumers are quick to ask a search engine “find a (enter product or service) near me…” and if you are not on Google, you don’t pop up on their radar. Even if you do not host a digital shop online, you should have your business name, products/services offered, contact information, and physical location (if applicable) published online for potential consumers to find! A one-page website is a minimum for any small business or brand!
2. You need to build credibility…
Ever searched for a business online and couldn’t find anything about them? Did you think that was a little… SUS.? Not having a website is a big red flag for consumers and will lead to a downturn in sale conversions and a lack of trust for your brand.
3. Your competition is already doing it.
Your competitors are online and taking your potential consumers! Without an online presence, you cannot build your brand credibility, loyalty, or community, which means you can’t compete or sustain new conversions!
4. Take your store everywhere!
Sure, you may have a physical storefront, but why would you limit yourself to such a small group of customers?! Building a website allows you to create a network of consumers, suppliers, and investors that you normally would not be able to reach.
5. It’s YOUR name on the website!
Sure, you could put your products or services on other platforms, but who is really making the money then? After all of the fees, your net profits are desolated! Why not own your site and keep the money that is rightfully yours. Another plus is it’s your name in the URL. There is no “yourname.theotherbussinessgettingfreeadversting.com“
6. Free advertising!
Speaking of free advertising, that’s what your site is! If you build your website correctly (or better yet, we do it right for you!) you will show up in search engine results! Showing up is just more advertising for you!
7. It shows customers why you’re the right fit for them!
Blogs, “about us” pages and values can all be published on your website. These little things can make a huge difference when a potential consumer is trying to decide between your brand and competitors.
8. It shows customers what great products you sell!
How can a potential customer know what you’re selling if you don’t show them?! Sure they could walk into your store or see your product on a friend, but allowing your consumers a place to scroll through your offerings in one place they can access anywhere will lead to more conversions and greater brand recognition!
Bottom line…
You’re missing out! Having your own website allows you to present your best self, stay relevant, be credible, and reach a whole new audience of potential consumers!
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Do I Need More Than A Facebook Business Page?
Your Small Business Has a Facebook Business Page, but No Website?
Not having a website is a common blunder that will leave money on the table! Your small business needs a website no matter if you have other social media accounts… Read here about why your small business needs a website. Continue with this post to see why a Facebook Business Page is simply not enough!
Facebook Controls Your Story… and your money!
Facebook is an ever-evolving system of corporate and social engineers trying to take home bigger paychecks! Oftentimes, it’s you and your small business that is flipping the bill!
Some argue that Facebook and Instagram (Meta) are “pay-to-play” systems where small businesses only gain traction after they have paid for ads. While this is a bit of a myth since organic growth is possible (though grossly slow), Meta is only growing and implementing new updates that could start to become premium add-ons!
Why invest in Facebook when you should be investing in your own business and brand! That’s why investing in your website is more important than ever! Being in control of your content, optimizing your search engine results, and knowing that every penny spent on your website and website advertising directly benefits you is a major plus!
Speaking of Facebook… Guess Who Else is Already There?
Your competition! And unlike your website, there is no way to cut the competition off and redirect your potential consumers to your brand. By using social media as your only source of marketing, you are falling through the cracks. This will cause your brand to have to fight with bigger businesses for the same space. These distractions can cause you to lose out on potential customers, investors, and vendors! With a custom built website, you can tailor the content and products to fit your unique brand. Current and past customers have a place to return to, over and over, building your community on your terms!
Start Building Your Community! You’re More than a Facebook Business Page!
As mentioned, you may have a community following you on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms; However, the pages are still saturated with other brands and businesses’ content. This could pull your consumers away! By having your very own website, you can engage your community without distractions.
A Facebook Business Page is not enough! -
Social Media Strategy: Sharing Our Small Business Growth Hack!
A social media strategy is important to your overall growth plan! Here are 5 key takeaways from our strategy and proof in the numbers!
Our Social Media Strategy has led to an
over 15000% growth on Instagram Reach!1. Set Your Social Media Strategy Goals!
We love a good SMART goal for our social media strategy! Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals are a great way to give yourself goals with a purpose. Once you’ve laid out your goals, you can write down steps to accomplish the goal(s)! Taking baby steps is sometimes the best thing you can do, but being able to watch how those steps affect measurable factors lets your stay flexible and pivot to the best action plan!
2. Plan, plan, plan!
Speaking of planning, if you go into anything unprepared, you’re going to put a lot of energy into a lot of nothing! Creating content can be a chore, and a lot of small businesses don’t feel like they have the time or energy to put into it! When they do think of their social media content, it’s a last-minute, rushed task that makes the audience feel like they aren’t worth your efforts… We at Forward Digital Marketing sit down once a month to write out a very overarching plan to guide us. This plan is not rigid, but it gives us a base to build off of!
3. … But don’t over plan!
The reason we don’t give ourselves a hard and fast plan is because trends change fast on social media! In our monthly plan, we create a set amount of evergreen content and then leave room for trends that pop up throughout the month! Another great tip for your small business is to set “fallback” content days! Don’t know what to post on a Thursday? Have an already set theme for that day that you can quickly grab or make content for without feeling like you are starting from scratch.
For example, we at Forward Digital Marketing have Wednesday scribbled down as “Trend Alert Wednesday!” When we do not have any content plans for that day, we can quickly default to doing a trend breakdown. This saves us a few minutes and helps keep us sane during a busy week of content making!
4. Check Your Insights!
Once we’ve posted anything, we check out insights! Now, we do this for a living so how often we check is going to be greater than how often you need to check! When posting content, you should always look back at the insights 24 hours and 7 days later. This will give you a better understanding of what your audience likes and does not like. If you keep posting things that are getting low engagement, your audience is going to zone you out.
If you watch your insights and see that carousel posts are more successful with your following, then in your plan you should add more posts like that! Keeping an eye on the analytics is going to give you valuable, measurable feedback! This helps you reach your SMART goals set at the beginning of the process.
Organic growth is growth that has NO MONEY put into advertising! 5. Remember, It’s the Internet.
One of the biggest takeaways with social media is that it is the internet… the internet can be a wild place full of unique personalities, robots, and ever-changing algorithms. What works one month, may not work as well the next! It can be an overwhelming place of confusion, but as long as you are putting in the time to plan and watch your insights, you’ll be more prepared to face whatever is changing! Another way to stay on top of all of the news is to follow trusted industry experts!
Most of us are on social media personally, so why not add a few educational and helpful small business tools to your feed! Forward Digital Marketing is one to follow! We work hard to research the changes, the growing pains, the successes, and the trends so you don’t have to! We take one more thing off of your to-do list. Still, feeling overwhelmed by the idea of building and posting content monthly, weekly, or daily?! Hire us as your social media management team! We build your monthly posting schedule based on your insights and audience. You give us a few photos and we do the rest! It’s just one more way Forward Digital Marketing can serve you!
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Weekly Canva Design Challenge 06.17.2022: Watch Our Designers get Creative!
Weekly our graphic designers get to flex their creative muscles with the Weekly Canva Design Challenge! This fun community challenge sets a weekly theme that artists, designers, and regular people around the world get to create a graphic inspired by! This week’s design theme is travel! Here is what our team has come up with!
To vote for your favorite, head over to Instagram to vote for your favorite design! Share the design to your story to get your friends on your side! 😉
Canva Design One!
Something romantic in traveling is the art collected along the way! Canva Design Two!
Traveling is a goal that keeps on giving! What do our designers win? Right now, just bragging rights… But you should leave comments with some ideas for future competitions! 😏
Honorable Mention: The Big Boss Had Some Fun Too!
Who do you think takes bragging rights away this round?! Follow for weekly design challenges! Hire us for your own website and social media designs!
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Discover if Your Website Bounce Rate is Good, Great!
Driving traffic to your website is a worthwhile cause! But what happens once they get to your site? Do they stick around or bounce right back off, driving your bounce rate up?
The bounce rate is the percentage of single, individual visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. Your site’s bounce rate is an important insight that gives you a look into how engaging your site content is.
Having a bad bounce rate could indicate there are issues within your website! It could also mean that your content is just not any good. Let’s work through the good, the great, and the could be better bounce rates and learn how to improve yours!
Bounce Rate is Defined as “the percentage of individual visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.” This is different from an exit rate, in which the user only leaves the page, not the site. What’s a Good Bounce Rate?
A good bounce rate is based on your website’s needs, so giving an exact number is not so easy. A bounce rate between 56% to 70% is on the high end, but not the end of the world! If your website is built to drive traffic to other sites, this rate might be right where you need to be!
A bounce rate between 25%-30% is unusually good… but it can happen! Don’t be spoiled by these numbers, because they are not easily maintained. Anything under 40%, that’s not caused by a broken Google Analytics install, is something to be very proud of! This is proof that your website is professionally built, well engaging, and meeting the needs of its users.
Where the majority of good website bounce rates will fall is in the 35%-55% range. Once it starts to creep up towards the 60% range, it’s time to take a look at individual pages’ bounce rates and see what is causing the rate to spike.
How Can I Fix My Website’s High, Climbing Bounce Rates?
So you’re bounce rates still aren’t where you’d like them to be… Here are some things that could be affecting your bounce rate negatively:
- – Your Page Speed is LOW!
- – Annoying, Badly Designed Pop-ups
- – Website is not User Friendly
- – Page, Meta Titles Are Not Optimized
- – Page is Blank, Loading Error
- – Content Lacks Quality…
- – Pages Aren’t Mobile-Friendly– Unnecessary Plugins
- – Google Analytics is not Set-up Correctly
Slow Loading Pages:
The most common contributor to slow loading pages are unoptimized images. If you upload a large photo to your website, just to scale it down, you could be taking up valuable bandwidth space that is slowing down your site!
Poor Design:
When someone enters your site, are they automatically bombarded with large pop-ups, chatbots, or screens held hostage until the user has given you something? Do six invisible videos automatically start playing with sound? Do page buttons only work when you click the text just the right way or does the text wrap in weird ways under images, making it impossible to figure out what you’re trying to tell the audience?! Though all of this may seem extreme and never done on purpose, it could be what is driving your visitors away!
Not Mobile Friendly:
Does your website do all sorts of back flips when a user views it with their mobile phone or tablet? The number one factor is that your website is not mobile responsive! Mobile responsive website automatically correct proportions to fit the screen it is viewed on. Rather than designing layouts that can be “scaled-down,” website designers have to think about each element individually!
Will the text still show up and be legible? How can a user navigate to different pages? Does the mobile site have the same content as the other devices? All of this goes into creating a fully user-friendly mobile site… and which is so important when over 57% of all site visits are now through mobile devices!
Bounce Rate and SEO
Using correct keywords draws in the correct user! If a user is looking for rubber duckies and finds your site, which is selling pineapples, they won’t stick around very long! Maybe your page keyword is “yellow” and when that user is looking up “yellow rubber duckies,” your site pops up! It’s great that your website is found, but it is found by the wrong consumer… by doing the research and optimizing your website pages to the max, you attract individuals who are actually looking for sites like yours! This means they won’t bounce as fast because they are genuinely interested in the products, services, or information you offer.
Bottom Line: Define Your Bounce Rate Goals and Dig In!
The bounce rate is an important analytic to keep your eye on. It may not look like ours, your neighbors, or [insert large corporation here], but that’s because the goal of each website may be different! Be sure to set realistic goals and watch your data to figure out what works and what is driving your audience away. It might be as simple as fixing your keywords, or it could be as complicated as rebuilding poorly performing pages!
Don’t know how to check your bounce rate? Click here so that we can help you set up your Google Analytics! After set up, you’ll be able to monitor bounce rate and way more! Already have Google Analytics set up, but don’t know where the breakdown is? Let’s run a website audit to get you the information you need to optimize!
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Free Canva Templates to Save Your Small Business Time!
Canva is a great resource for small businesses to create visually appealing graphics, and though it is an easy and user-friendly system, it can be very time-consuming and take a ton of creativity to come up with unique visuals. We’ve created some free Canva templates for your brand to use!
All templates below are free to use and completely customizable with a free Canva account. Share with others if you enjoy these free templates☺
To use free templates, follow link below template of your choice. Then choose to “use this template” and a copy will be made for you to edit freely!
Golden Sage Eucalyptus! Free Canva Template from FDM
Sage and gold are not only trending but super fresh for any brand! Check out how one of our brands used this exact template for their very own content! Video at the bottom of the page.
Get the graphics free to customize for your brand here! The original template size is 1080×1350.
Starry Good Vibes! Free Canva Template from FDM
Sometimes, a filler post with a great message is all you need! Download this template and exchange the colors for your brand’s to spread the good vibes.
Get the graphics free to customize for your brand here! The original template size is 1080×1350.
Overexposed Outdoor Photographs! Free Canva Template from FDM
Any outdoor enthusiasts would love to use these eye-catching graphics! Are you selling hiking gear? Are you a nature photographer? No matter how you use it, you can fully edit the graphic to display your brand’s vision!
Get the graphics free to customize for your brand here! The original template size is 1080×1350.
Want more Free Canva Graphics? Be sure to follow the blog and follow us on social media to get all of the updated templates! Need a custom template built for your brand? Click here!
Check out how @ajacqofall (A Jacq of All Trades) used our Golden Sage Eucalyptus for her brand on the mobile Canva App!
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Weekly Canva Design Challenge 06.01.2022: Watch Our Designers get Creative!
Weekly our graphic designers get to flex their creative muscles with the Weekly Canva Design Challenge! This fun community challenge sets a weekly theme that artists, designers, and regular people around the world get to create a graphic inspired by! This week’s design theme is pineapple! Here is what our team has come up with!
To vote for your favorite, head over to Instagram to vote for your favorite design! Share the design to your story to get your friends on your side! 😉
What do our designers win? Right now, just bragging rights… But you should leave comments with some ideas for future competitions! 😏
Design One!
Design Two!
Who do you think takes bragging rights away this round?! Follow for weekly design challenges! Hire us for your own website and social media designs!
