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How To Use Google Maps Marketing Strategy To Increase Sales And Customers

How To Use Google Maps Marketing Strategy To Increase Sales And Customers

How To Use Google Maps Marketing Strategy To Increase Sales And Customers

There is no surprise or you may not be shocked that – out of all the mapping apps out there like MapQuest, Apple Maps and others – Google Maps remains supreme and not just by a small margin but a majority landslide.

google maps marketing strategy

With so much popularity – you would be wise to think about how Google Maps marketing strategy could help your business grow by increasing sales and customers.

In a stiff competition like this – you will also need to give some thought to the best ways to achieve maximum visibility in your local search results.

To assist you on both fronts – we have written this article to help you with your Google Maps marketing strategy.

What is Google My Business – GMB?

Google My Business – GMB is a free tool for business owners or managers to manage and optimise their business’ profiles on Google Maps.

A Google My Business profile typically includes your business’ name, location, and hours of operation. The image below is an example of a typical Google My Business profile.

Google my business - GMB

When you claim your business using a Google My Business profile, you can optimise your Google Maps presence by ensuring that customers have access to the most relevant and up-to-date information.

You can also use your profile to interact with customers when they leave reviews, ask any questions and track Google Maps Ads insights to understand how customers interact with your profile.

Google Maps Ads

Although marketing on Google Maps is free – using local search ads can boost your business’ visibility in Google Maps search results.

Using these ads will bring your business listing to the top of search queries for keywords relevant to your business.

Google Maps ads use location targeting so they will only show up for location-relevant searches. These ads usually appear in desktop and mobile searches.

google maps ads

When you create ads for your business – you can track their performance to get a sense of how customers respond to your ads and take further actions like using your address to get Google Maps directions or click on the listed phone number to call you.

How Can Google Maps Marketing Strategy Serve Your Business?

At the core of this form of marketing is Google My Business – GMB. By creating and strategically strengthen up this online business profile – you can enjoy several benefits which include:

  • Additional visibility if you rank well in Google Maps results or even better in Google’s Local 3-Pack which shows potential customers the three most relevant local businesses and it is free advertising.
  • The potential for more sales since you will have more visibility on your business.
  • Differentiation from competitors if your profile ranks above theirs then it has a higher rating from customers and is more polished and professional.
  • More engagement with potential customers via more visits to your website, inquiries, etc..
  • Increased trust and credibility since it is clear at a glance that you care about your online reputation and more importantly about the experiences customers have with you.

In simple words – your Google My Business profile is like a 24/7 marketing and salesperson for your business but for it to be a good – there are some things you have to do.

The Basics of a Google Maps Marketing Strategy

To have any chance of ranking higher in Google Maps results – you must adhere to the following important criteria.

They are all equally important to ensure you get the best chance of ranking in Google Maps:

1. Claim Your Business In Google My Business Profile

Whether you already have a GMB profile or are planning to create one then be sure that you claim and verify your listing.

Verification is a simple process and can be done by mail, phone or various other methods.

No matter how you choose to do it – it will give you maximum control over your profile and the results it gets for your business.

claimed vs unclaimed

2. Add Your Location Data

In Google My Business there are two types of location data you need to add. The first is your exact physical location such as a full postal service approved address.

If you do not have a physical location where customers can visit you – you can easily hide your address from the public whilst still making the information available to Google so you are eligible to be shown in search results.

add location data

The second type of location data encompasses the areas you serve – always specify the cities, counties and/or countries you service customers in to boost your chances of being shown to people in those areas.

3. Provide Key Business Information

Besides your address and services areas – you also want to provide other crucial information such as your full business name, phone number, website, and up-to-date business hours.

This is a good idea when you are trying to rank better in search results and it is also a great foundation for good user experience – UX.

name address phone number - NAP

And good UX is absolutely essential if you want to tip the scales in your favour and motivate more potential customers to contact your business that will lead to more queries, communication and sales.

4. Select the Most Relevant Categories

Categorising your business gives you more contexts to what you have to offer. This way when consumers search for a local business like yours – Google will understands that your profile is relevant and is more likely to display it to potential customers.

When choosing from Google’s list of categories – just be sure to select only those that are closely related to what you do otherwise you may find that your GMB profile gets views but not much action because it is not what people are looking for. It is important that your profile gets seen by the right people.

More Opportunities To Stand Out In Search With Google Maps Marketing Strategy

Up to now, we have covered the basics and must-dos for any Google Maps marketing strategy.

The following methods are just as important for your strategy as the previous four since these will provide opportunities to stand out from your competition.

1. Eye- Catching Introduction

The introduction of your GMB profile is simply an opportunity to explain what you offer but in reality it is much more. It is your opportunity to:

  • Make a memorable first impression since Google Maps only shows a short snippet of the introduction in its results and this snippet has to be eye-catching enough to get people to click to learn more about your business.
  • Highlight the value of what you provide instead of just listing what you provide.
  • Show case what makes your business different and offer better than your competitors.

If you can do all of the above then you will automatically have an advantage over your competitor by providing what potential customers want to know.

2. Get Reviews From Your Customers

Both the number of customer reviews you have on Google and your overall rating can impact your business’s visibility in Google search results.

Therefore always encourage your customers to leave ratings and reviews even if you have to make this request an official part of your process.

As the positive reviews flow in – the chances of dominating Google Maps and enjoying all the benefits that come with it will also rise.

negative or positive reviews

Having negative reviews should not hinder your business since if you can respond calmly and positively to your customers then Google will see it that you are a business that care about your customers and may even increase your ranking.

Note: Never ever resort to paying for 5-star reviews or any other shady tactics to make your business look better in the eyes of Google and potential customers.

This is not ethical and professional since it will always come back to bite you later which will result in undoing the positive results from your Google Maps marketing efforts.

3. Add Photos, Photos & More Photos

Google reported that businesses with photos added to GMB profiles get 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more visits to their websites than those with no pictures. Those statistics speak for themselves.

photos and more photos

If you hope to get meaningful results then sharing photos of your products or services, past projects, team and physical location is a must.

And it is also great to encourage customers to submit their photos as well since this will build credibility and trust with potential customers for your business.

4. Build High Quality Links

Another key factor that determines your position in search results is prominence which encompasses all the information available about your business online and how well you are doing in terms of search engine optimisation.

Building high-quality links and citations from relevant websites to yours is a top way to boost your Google Maps rankings and even earn a shot at being featured in Google’s Local 3-Pack.

get links with other businesses

So look out and create opportunities to earn mentions and backlinks to your site from:

  • Local websites and blogs.
  • Sites those are relevant to your industry specifically.
  • Popular online directories such as Foursquare.
  • Business directories specific to your location, service areas and/or your industry.

This will help you progress, build authority and signal relevance to Google which can lead to more visibility in local search results thus leading to increase in sales and customers.

5. Spend Some Cash on Google Maps Ads

Although it can be a slow start but earning a good ranking in Google Maps results is purely through organic efforts and is often an attainable goal.

local search ads

However if you have money to spend then you may want to couple your organic efforts with paid Google Maps ads. This will position your business front and centre in search results for keywords relating to your business and location.

It can provide a quick boost of visibility and traffic while you implement the other methods above and wait for them to start taking effect.

Google Maps: A Prime Tool for Local Marketing

When it comes to online marketing presence, using local marketing tools can make a measurable difference for your business especially for Google My Business and Google Maps.

You can get your business in front of potential target audience, encourage and enjoy more interactions with your audience which means more sales opportunities and increase customer base.

To enjoy these benefits – you will need to claim and optimise your profile, making sure to include all relevant business information like name, address and phone number – NAP, a captivating introduction to your business and high quality photos.

And also encourage and reply to customer reviews, building quality links to your website and investing in paid Google Maps ads when you have the budget to do so.

If you do these things then you will be well on your way to gaining more visibility, credibility and accountability in Google Maps search results.

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Right Keywords Can Bring You More Sales, Leads and Business

How The Right Keywords Can Increase Sales, Leads and More Business

Having The Right Keywords Can Increase Sales, Leads and More Business

Right Keywords are used to build your online visibility for the world to find your business and make you more sales, leads and additional enquires – locally, regionally or nationally.

Your customers’ ability to find you online without knowing your website’s actual URL rests on using appropriate keywords, terms and phrases.

choose the right keywords for any business

Your ability to outperform your competition rests on the use of the right keywords. They are very important but it can be quite confusing or daunting for any small business owners who may not be familiar with:

  • how to choose the right keywords or
  • how to implement them in their websites.

What should you know about choosing the right keywords, terms and phrases? Let us guide you and take a closer look.

They are in no order or importance since all of them are equally important.

1. Use the Right Tool

Chances are that you think you probably have a good idea of what terms your customers might use to find products or services like yours online and you are partially right.

However – never assume that you know all the potential keywords, terms, phrases and variants that your customers might use to search the Internet.

use the right tool

This is why it is so important that you use an accurate keyword research tool like SEM Rush or Tube Buddy to figure out what keywords you are going to target.

Google’s keyword planning tool is free to use but there are many others out there worth your consideration.

2. Start with the Basics

Many authorities recommend starting with a seed list of keywords and then start building on that.

A seed list is nothing more than a list of highly targeted, accurate keywords that have provides meaningful value to your business.

start with the basics

You will need to build on or grow this list over time by adding to it as you learn more by:

  • encountering new terms
  • using advanced research tools and
  • discovering what your competitors are doing.

3. Localise Where Possible

While localisation will limit your reach but it can be important for a number of reasons:

  1. it reduces competition.
  2. it makes you more visible to customers in your actual geographic area.
  3. it improves your overall web visibility for those terms and reduces the time to see your return on investment – ROI.
localise where possible

Use your city name, county name and the names of nearby areas if they are applicable in conjunction with your keywords.

4. Use Competitors as Inspiration

While you may not want to target all the same keywords as your competitors, since that would increase your costs and the competition for each one – you should take a cue from what they are doing.

use competitors as inspiration

You will find that this can provide you with considerable advantage information about keyword terms or phrases, long-tail variants and even the density that you want to hit with your content.

5. Use Similar Terms

Once you have chosen your starting keywords then spend some time determining which similar terms would be wise to use.

use similar terms

For example – if you operating a shoe store then you might target basics like women’s running shoes but you might also opt for something like:

  • women’s wide width running shoes or
  • women’s pink size 5 running shoes or
  • maybe women’s Nike running shoes

if you wanted to focus on a particular brand and so forth.

6. Choose Keywords That Work for Your Products or Services

Occasionally the right keywords, terms or phrases for your products or services are not the most frequently used by customers. This does that mean that you should skip them.

choose keywords that work on your products - services

This can actually be a good thing. Implement some of the more commonly used keywords but focus mostly on the right keywords even if they are not all that frequently used.

You will enjoy more targeted traffic, your overall competition will be lower and the costs to use those same keywords in PPC campaigns will be lower too.

 7. Identify Primary and Secondary Keywords

When you think about keywords – chances are that you are already considering using primary keywords – those that relate directly to your products or services.

Nevertheless – you should also need to consider using secondary keywords. These relate to what you have to offer but not on the same level as primary keywords.

identify primary secondary semantic keywords

For example – if your business sells local harvested and sourced honey. Local honey, natural honey and unpasteurised honey would be primary keywords but you could also target secondary keywords like natural snacks, organic foods and more similar like choices.

8. Remember – Content Quality Over Keywords

Sometimes it can be tempting to think that implementing the right keywords is all you need to do and that is incorrect.

Google will reward a website that does not really do much with keyword implementation but has outstanding quality content more than they will a site that does all the right things with keywords but fails to implement quality content.

content is king

Always remember – no matter what – Content is King.

Keyword density and accuracy always take a back seat to content quality and volume.

9. Choose Focus Keywords and Background Keywords for Individual Pages

Just like primary and secondary keywords used throughout your website – individual pages should have a focus keyword – the one used most frequently as well as background keywords that are used less but tie into the overall conversation:-

  • helping you provide valuable content and
  • optimising your website for search engines.
focus on keywords phrases terms

Get Started With Right Keywords For your Business

As you can see – choosing the right keywords is more complicated than simply using the names of your products or services in your website content.

It requires various degrees of planning, pathways, strategies and a great deal of savvy to pull it off successfully.

Hence there is no need to stress since Best-Digital Marketing is an agency with vast amount of experience, knowledge and expertise who want to work with your to get your keyword optimisation strategy headed the right way.

get started with keyword optimisation

Email us, go to our website, text or call us on 07794 113 607 and see how we can help you increase sales, leads and more business for your online website now.

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How To Optimise Your Video SEO Strategy

How To Optimise Your Video SEO Strategy

How To Optimise Your Video SEO Strategy

While more consumers are embracing video content, research shows that marketers are struggling to keep up. In fact – 59% of marketers still consider video content creation the most challenging content to make.

So how do you optimise your videos for search engines quickly and effectively? Video SEO is constantly evolving and staying current on video optimisation best practices is absolutely essential.

optimise Video SEO strategy

Today – YouTube’s algorithm tries to match each viewer to the videos he or she is most likely to watch and enjoy. With more than 500 hours of video content uploaded every minute, this is quite a challenge.

In this post – you will learn how YouTube’s algorithm works and find actionable advice on video SEO best practices in order to give you a step-by-step guide to optimise your videos SEO strategy.

How Does YouTube’s Search Algorithm Work?

YouTube’s search and discovery systems tackle this task by sorting through loads of videos to find the most relevant and useful results to a user’s search query.

YouTube’s algorithm then follows the audience by paying attention to things like:

  • What they watch.
  • What they do not watch.
  • How much time they spend watching.
  • Their likes and dislikes.
  • Not interested feedback.
factors affecting video seo

Stop using the old tips, tools and tricks that you learned some time back and get up-to-date in your understanding of how YouTube’s search and discovery system works?

These are in no order or importance since all of them are equally important in your video SEO optimisation strategy.

1. Choosing The Right Hosting Platform

Choosing the right hosting platform for your videos matters more than you may think. When you base your SEO strategy around video content marketing, each video acts as an anchor that draws in search engine traffic.

If your website goes offline then it could be disastrous for your revenue since the average unplanned website outage costs businesses between £4,327 and £6,429.

choose the right hosting platform

Therefore you should choose your host carefully. The right hosting platform for your business will depend on two main things:

  • the length and size of your video and
  • your website host since not all hosts support embedded videos from all platforms.

For the best results always use a widely adopted hosting platform like YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia or Daily Motion.

If your video is small then you may opt to host it in-house but make sure you test it before pushing publish to ensure it loads quickly.

2. YouTube Search

Like Google’s search engine – searches on YouTube strive to surface the most relevant results according to specific keyword definition queries.

Videos are ranked based on a variety of factors including how well the title, description and video content match the viewer’s query.

Beyond this – YouTube also look at which videos that have received the most watch time and engagement for a particular query.

Youtube search

Want to know which keywords and search terms to target for video SEO? In simple words – YouTube search results are not a list of the most-viewed videos for a given query.

Keyword search tools can give you lots of options but you need to select just a small subset of them for your newest video and your selection should help your target audience find the videos they want to watch and also maximise their long-term engagement and video satisfaction.

3. Titles and Thumbnails

Titles and thumbnails on a video are usually the first things viewers see when browsing on YouTube. They help viewers decide whether to watch your videos and build anticipation – if they accurately represent what is in your video.

YouTube will know if viewers are enjoying your content if they click on your video and stay to watch most or all the way through.

However if your video titles and thumbnails do not deliver on their promise then viewers will leave immediately and this can limit your discoverability on YouTube.

The longer you can keep people watching your content on YouTube – the more your content may get surfaced.

Here are some tips for optimising your video titles:

  • Write titles that spark curiosity and include keywords.
  • Keep titles concise up to 60 characters – with the most important information upfront.
  • Save episode numbers and branding towards the end.
  • Check that your titles do not get cut off in suggested videos, search results and mobile.

Thumbnails are usually the first thing viewers see when they find one of your videos and 90% of the best-performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails.

When you customise your thumbnails – be sure you have a strong, vibrant image that looks great large and small and conveys key information about your video.

You can always apply the rule of thirds – to compose interesting and dynamic images then overlay them with your branding and/or descriptive text.

video titles and thumbnails

Always make sure to use a font that is easy to read on screen when adding text and think about how it can be eye-catching and age-appropriate for your target audience.

Here are some guides for optimising your thumbnails:

  • Think about your thumbnail before you shoot so you can capture several options.
  • Align any text to the left  since YouTube put buttons on the right-hand side
  • Use bright colours to grab viewer’s attention
  • Make a high resolution thumbnail and keep it under the 2MB limit.
  • Specifications: 1280 x 720 pixels – 16:9 ratio as a .JPG, .GIF, .BMP or .PNG.
  • Zoom in and out of your thumbnail to see if it looks good small and large.
  • See if your thumbnail would stand out among other thumbnails.

4. Suggested Videos

Suggested videos are a personalised collection of videos that an individual viewer may be interested in watching next, based on his or her prior activity.

These videos are shown to viewers on the right side of the watch page under Up next below the video on the mobile app and as the next video in auto play.

YouTube researchers have found viewers tend to watch more videos when they see recommendations from a variety of channels hence the Suggested Videos. Recommendations are ranked to maximise engagement for the viewer.

Signals that contribute to these recommendations include:

  • Videos that viewers watch along with the current video or videos that are related topically. These could be videos from the same channel or from a different channel.
  • Videos from a viewer’s past watch history.

You can see which videos bring viewers to your channel from Suggested Videos in the Traffic sources report in YouTube Analytics by clicking on the Suggested videos box.

YouTube Suggested Videos

Here are some tips for optimising your videos for Suggested Videos:

  • Make strong calls to action to encourage viewers to watch another video in your series.
  • Long endings may delay viewers from watching more so be mindful of how your videos end.
  • Use playlists, links, cards and end screens to suggest the next video to watch.
  • Develop a series of videos that are connected organically.
  • Make videos relating to popular formats on YouTube such as challenges or lists.

Last but not least – you can expect Google to roll out Related Topics for Videos on YouTube fairly soon.

5. Front Page Or Home

Front Page or Home is what viewers see first when they visit YouTube.com or open the YouTube app. It is their personal primetime destination – a place where viewers can discover the most relevant, personalised recommendations.

It is a great place for your videos to be found by non-subscribers since over 200 million different videos appear on Front Page or Home each day for viewers around the world.

When a viewer visits Front Page or HomeYouTube displays videos from their subscriptions, videos watched by similar viewers and new videos.

YouTube Home Page

The selections of videos are based on:

  • Performance: How well the video has engaged and satisfied similar viewers among other factors.
  • The viewer’s watch and search history: How often the viewer watches a channel or topic and how many times YouTube has already shown each video to the viewer.

It is worth noting that subscribers watch more from their subscriptions via Home than through the Subscriptions tab.

Here are some tips for optimising your videos for YouTube’s Home Screen:

  • Upload new videos on a consistent basis to give your target audience an expectation of what is coming as new content.
  • Keep viewers engaged for longer and encourage them to come back for more via a long video or several short ones. The longer you keep viewers watching the more your content is likely to get surfaced.
  • Consistency – when you create something that is working for your target audience then do it again. YouTube surfaces more content that your viewers like so do not be afraid to experiment but be mindful. Observe feedback from your target audience and give them time to adjust.
  • By going to your YouTube Analytics Traffic Sources report – you can see how often your channel appears on Home –globally by clicking the Browse features box and looking at the stats for Home.

6. Cards and End Screens

Cards and end screens encourage your viewers to take an action. Cards are preformatted notifications that you can set up to promote your brand and other videos on your channel.

Once they are set up – a small teaser or rectangular box will appear in the top right corner of the video to give your viewers a preview of the message.

If fans tap or click the teaser – the card associated with the video appears below the player on mobile devices in portrait mode or along the right side of your video on desktops. If they do not – it disappears from their view.

Cards work well when they are:-

  • in conjunction with scripted call to action or
  • relevant to your video content.

So if you mention a specific video or a piece of product then you could try adding a card at that exact moment.

cards and end screens

Here are some tips for optimising your cards:

  • Use cards and scripted calls to action to link to other videos, playlists, associated websites, to prompt your audience to buy a product or support your crowdfunding campaign.
  • Use cards in older videos to highlight your most recent uploads or to promote product or fundraising campaigns.
  • Use up to five cards per video.
  • Use cards to cross-promote other creators and credit collaborators in your video.

End screens are also a powerful tool that can help extend watch time on your channel by directing viewers to something next at the end of your videos.

You can add them to the last 5-20 seconds of a video and they appear on both desktop and mobile.

Here are some tips for optimising end screens:

  • Use end screens to promote up to four different elements: a video or playlist, encourage viewers to subscribe, cross-promote another channel and link to approved websites.
  • Consider leaving space at the end of your video for your end screen elements to sit.
  • Do not use card teasers and branding watermarks during an end screen because both are suppressed.

7. Include Video Transcripts And/Or Closed Captions – CC

Did you know that 83% of consumers watch videos on mute and it is true. Research from Verizon shows that 80% of people are more likely to watch a video in full if it has captions.

Therefore if you want to keep this traffic then you will need to add closed captions to your video and should also include something else like a video transcription.

add transcripts and or closed captions

Adding a video transcription and a closed caption to your video will help your web page rank better as Google’s crawlers will scan the text for keywords and rank the page accordingly.

They will also help you attract more voice search traffic and make your content accessible to people who cannot listen to videos.

To add a transcript and closed captions to a video – simply use a transcription tool or manually insert them yourself.

8. Video Likes and Dislikes

Likes and dislikes are among the hundreds of signals that YouTube considers for ranking. Their recommendation system learns from whether or not viewers are choosing to watch a video.

The system learns how much of the video the viewer watches and if they are satisfied. Your overall video performance is decided by a combination of these factors.

Typical Audience Retention Data learns how YouTube Analytics now reports key moments in audience retention to help you understand what is working and what is not.

YouTube like dislikes share comment save

You now understand why many YouTube creators ask viewers to like their video, post comments, share the video on their social networks and subscribe to their channel.

All of these are forms of viewer engagement and satisfaction – they are all signals that YouTube considers for ranking.

9. Supplement Your Video With Good Website SEO

While video SEO is an excellent strategy in itself, search engines would not rank your videos unless the rest of your website is search-engine friendly which means that you need to optimise your website by:

  • Checking your website is not blocking crawlers with a robots.txt file
  • Using keywords in your web page title tags and meta descriptions so search engines can understand the page contents
  • Optimising your images so search engines can index them correctly via naming your images – social media strategy rather than IMG392848.
  • Ensure your website loads in three seconds or less as faster websites rank better
  • Launching a sitemap
  • Minimising page redirects
  • Installing an SSL certificate
  • Using a mobile-friendly theme
  • Targeting keywords relevant to your niche
videos with good website SEO

If you want to ensure your website’s SEO follows best practices then you should also double-check that you are not making any technical SEO mistakes.

10. Video Uploads and Playlists

Regular publishing schedule can draw viewers back to your channel to watch more videos and by using playlists – this can help them easily find more of what they like on your channel.

To stay on top of viewers’ minds – many creators find that setting a routine publishing schedule will help viewers know when to expect their next release. It is like anticipating when the next episode of your favourite show is coming out next.

Subscribers can find your new uploads in their subscriptions feed and can opt-in to mobile or email notifications based on their interests.

YouTube video uploads and playlists

11. Measure Your Performance

If you want to succeed with video SEO strategy long-term then you will need to measure the performance of your videos so you can adjust your strategy accordingly. This means you will need to track metrics like:

  • Watch time – the total amount of time people spend watching your video.
  • Average view duration – how long the average viewer spends on your video.
  • Viewer demographics – what gender your viewers are and where they live.
  • Conversion rate – how many people buy your product or service after watching your video by using link tracking software.
  • Bounce rate – how many people leave your website after only viewing a single video or page.
measure your performance

Stay Ahead of Video Optimisation Developments

Video SEO has changed dramatically over the years hence use these guides to optimise your videos for search and discovery as quickly as possible.

Marketers have forecasted that millions of YouTube viewers will watch the platform’s content on connected TV – CTV devices in the near future.

Now YouTube viewers have pivoted to TV screens as their method of choice for watching content – a trend that is experiencing significant growth during the height of the pandemic.

connected TV - CTV device

Using a TV clicker to tap out each letter of your target term on your CTV can be long winded and painful.

Maybe the integration of voice search will make this easier in the future or maybe getting found on Home or Suggested Videos and Related Topics will make YouTube Search a relic of the past.

Watch this space!!!

Get Started with Video SEO Strategy Now

If there was ever a time to add videos to your digital marketing strategy – that time is now. Research shows that online videos will account for 82% of internet traffic in the future and rising.

If you want to win some of that traffic then you will need to start producing videos now with our Video SEO services.

Now that you have learned how to use video SEO to your advantage – there is only one question left to answer: how can we help you incorporate video into your video SEO strategy?

video seo services include

At Best-Digital Marketing, we utilise video SEO best practices and techniques to get you the results you want so call us today on 07794 113 607 or for a customised video SEO plan pricing.

For full Video Production Services and functionality

and select the package that suits your business needs.

If you prefer to discuss your requirements first just

or fill your details with a message of your requirements at

For more information about our Video Production Services and how we can help you with your Business needs:-

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How To Optimise Your Video SEO Strategy?

why is website content important for business

Why Is Website Content Important For Business?

Why Is Website Content Important For Business?

Can you imagine showing up to a website that had little to no information or descriptions of the company’s services? Most people would instantly click away and go looking for a more reliable source of information.

This is why website content is important for business to find success online.

why is website content important for business

As you create your website – the words, texts, visual, audio and media on each page plays a pivotal role in converting each visitor into a lead or a paying customer.

Learn why website content is important for your business and how you can create it easily and effectively. There are in no order of importance since all of them are equally important.

1. Give Target Audience Valuable Information

Arguably the most important reason to have highly engaging content on a website is to educate, explain and inform target audience on your website.

Without high engaging content – no one will know what your business is all about, what you stand for and how they can benefit from what you have to offer?

give target audience valuable information

Regardless of the types of content you decide to share – always ensure the content is highly-engaging and gives audience a clear picture of your business or brand.

Make sure to take the time to write down all the details about your products or services on landing pages and other parts of your website. As long as the information you share is readable, clear and straightforward – it will provide value to anyone who views it.

2. Engaging Content is Important to Google

While it is vital to have high-quality content on your website, only a few people will ever see it if you do not focus on getting it indexed by search engines.

This is done through the proper practice of search engine optimisation – SEO strategy optimisation which is why content is crucial on a any website.

Google loves all forms of interesting high engaging content and it favours video as well as clearly written blogs.

The better your website is able to use SEO best practices and techniques – the more likely it is that people will find your content and be able to learn more about your business or brand.

3. Focus on Keywords, Phrases or Terms

One of the most important aspects of content for SEO is the usage of keyword search, phrases and/or terms. These are search terms that highlight everything from your products and services to items that are directly related to your offerings.

focus on keywords phrases terms

Keyword search tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush are popular resources for conducting keyword research which will give you a better understanding of what to write about.

They will also give you an idea of topics you can focus on when creating video content, infographics ideas and different types of engaging content.

4. Key Is Content Marketing Effort

The importance of content for marketing purposes cannot be overstated. In fact – the term content marketing encompasses all forms of digital advertising including blog articles, case studies, E-books, videos, case studies, white papers and beyond.

key is content marketing

The more you can integrate all these types of engaging content marketing into your daily, weekly and monthly efforts – the higher your chances of reaching consumers whom will become paying customers.

5. Sharable Content Could Go Viral

There are no clear defined steps when it comes to making a highly engaging shareable video content or creative blog post to go viral.

But when creating content for your website – always focus on providing engaging value with your target audience to have a better chance.

shareable content could go viral

Especially when making video content, there are steps you can follow to improve the likelihood of it reaching more people.

Avoid producing content with the goal of going viral instead create content that is catered to specific demographics that will naturally lead individuals to share it with their family, friends and acquaintances.

6. Conversion from Social Media

Sites like Facebook and Instagram have long been used to attract potential customers from social media to landing pages. Good website content is important to keep these audiences on the website for a longer period of time.

conversion from social media

If you can hook them from the beginning then your odds of getting a sale from that person will dramatically increase.

Ensure your website has content that is engaging and captivating as anything you are sharing on social media to increase conversion rates.

7. Index Webpages on Google

When you create more engaging content and more pages for each of the products and services you offer – you are informing Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines what your business is all about.

Whether you are a plumber, electrician, roofing contractor or a website design company – you want to be found when audience are searching for what you offer.

index web pages on google

Creating great content webpages that target a search, explain what you do, and have an effective call to action are vital for an effective web design strategy presence.

If Google is unable to analyse what your business is all about or does not think that it matches what the audience is looking for then they will not show your business at all. To do this is by indexing you webpages once you have created and published them on your website.

8. Internal Links for Website Navigation

An additional benefit of having high quality content on your website is the ability it gives you to use internal linking strategies. A website is like a pathway that consumers should be able to follow from page to page, leading them on a journey to their final destination.

internal link to website navigation

The ultimate goal is to use internal links in an effort to send people to the next stage of your content marketing funnel.

Successful linking makes your website more user-friendly and makes it much more likely that visitors will end up visiting other products, pages or information posts that you offer and potentially leading to more leads and sales.

9. Evergreen Content for Long Term

When planning out your website content strategy, it is important to craft ideas for pieces that will remain relevant for longer periods of time.

Known as evergreen content – this concept has SEO benefits and gives you more authority with Google and other search engines.

evergreen content for long term success

The best way to do this is by looking closely at your industry and determining what will and will not be changing over the next few years.

If there are current trends you feel will stay around for the long haul then create evergreen content surrounding that subject and promote it heavily right out of the gate. You will earn credibility and establish yourself as a trusted source in your field as an industry expert.

10. Encourage Viewers with Call to Action

The last factor for any good piece of engaging content is to include a powerful call to action – CTA that will urge viewers to take the next step in the buying process. It is important to realise that a CTA is not always meant to get someone to make a purchase.

They can be an invitation for an individual to download an app or pdf document, subscribe to a newsletter or view another piece of content and more.

call to action

11. Get More Leads, Sales and  Revenue

Unless you are able to rapidly develop massive amounts of followers through word of mouth – it is important to have good engaging content on your website to build your sales funnel.

While it can take some time and energy to get off the ground but you will be happy that you put in the effort.

more lead more sales more revenue

Teach consumers by writing blog articles, explain your services with videos and show customer testimonials with case studies.

Quality website content optimisation is certainly the most effective way to get more leads and sales which then gives you a stronger customer base that will buy your product and/or services.

This is Why Website Content is Important for Business

As you work on your website – content is the most important aspect to plan out and create. Whether you are designing a brand new website or revamping your old one – make sure to take the time to research and strategize the types of content that is most effective.

get started with website optimisation

Now that you know the importance of good content on your website, why not work with a reputable content marketing agency that knows how to do both?

Best-Digital Marketing Services is a great rated web design company that also offers content creation services. Get in touch with us today by calling – 07794 113 607 or complete our online contact form for more information.

We look forward to working together on your existing or future projects in the near future.

For full Content Marketing Services and functionality

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How To Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error

How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Errors on WordPress Website

How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error

When it comes to WordPress there are a lot of different errors that can be frustrating and confusing. Another popular one is the 502 bad gateway error.

Why?

This 502 bad gateway error occurs frequently around the internet and also in services such as Gmail, Twitter and Cloudflare.

How To Fix 502 Bad Gateway Errors On WordPress Website

In this post we will discuss everything you need to know about the 502 bad gateway error what causes this error and some solutions on how to fix and resolve it.

  • What is a 502 Bad Gateway Error?
  • Causes For 502 Error Bad Gateway?
  • How To Fix The 502 Bad Gateway Error?

What is 502 Bad Gateway Error?

Every time you visit a website your browser sends a request to a web server. The web server receives and processes the request and then sends back the requested resources along with the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol – HTTP header and HTTP status code – 502 Bad Gateway Error.

This error states there has been an inadequate response from the other server that something has gone wrong along with the code on how to diagnose it. You can see this error on any device, browser and operating system.

502 bad gateway error in Chrome

There are many different types of 500 status error codes – 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 520, etc which all have slightly different meanings.

In this case a 502 bad gateway error specifically means that one server while acting as a gateway or proxy has received an invalid response from an inbound server.

502 Errors Impact on SEO of your website

A 502 error can have a negative impact on SEO if not fixed right away.

In the event that this error occurs continuously on your site then it will influence the reputation of your webpage for users as well as for search engines like Google. In the end it would lead to a poor user experience – UX for the customers.

This could impact your rankings. If you are worried about the repeat of 502 bad gateway error then you should figure out why they are happening to begin with and then resolve them as soon as possible.

Server Side Error

Most of them represent a server error response and each individual response stand for different server errors which are resolved in different ways.

All server sided errors can only be resolved by webmaster or app builder due to limited server access.

Causes for 502 Bad Gateway Errors

It is an error that you might see because the server was not able to provide a valid response to the request.

There are several other reasons that might lead to a 502 error but here are the most common reasons.

  1. Origin Server Is not Working
  2. Domain Name
  3. Block Request By Firewall
  4. Server Failure
  5. Error in Browser

Origin Server Is Not Working

One of the common reasons is that the server is not working as it should which means the server is not accessible.

There are many explanations for this – like the server is down or there is a connectivity problem or there might be a very high amount of traffic on the server.

server down

Domain Name System - DNS

Another reason for seeing a 502 bad gateway error is that the domain is not determining the right IP address.

This usually occurs due to incorrect DNS records being set at the domain hosting level.

If you have set the correct DNS records then keep in mind that changes in DNS can take time to propagate globally and this relies on various factors including Time to Live – TTL especially when moving to a new hosting provider.

DNS domain name system

Therefore it is always advisable to make sure you or your responsible administrator opt for a trusted and reliable hosting provider like Best-Digital Marketing Services who are able to provide the best and are available when needed.

Block Request by Firewall

The firewall is used to block the transmission between the servers and it is another common reason to face the 502 bad gateway error.

There is also the possibility that your WordPress security plugins might be blocking the communication between servers or even your local or Internet Service Provider – ISP or Internet Protocol – IP address.

To rule this out you can try accessing the site from a different Internet connection. On certain occasions – Distributed Denial of Service – DDOS protection systems can become over-sensitive and start blocking the requests from servers.

Web Hosting Packages

With Best-Digital Marketing you will never face the http 502 bad gateway error page due to server inadequacy as we provide dedicated servers with SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, daily offline backup, daily malware scanning and clean-up, Let’s Encrypt SSL and 24/7 customer support by our experts with a starting price of just £39.99.

Server Failure

You might experience a 502 bad gateway error if a server has completely failed and this can be due to a system crash or servers been taken offline for maintenance or similar reasons.

This can also be because the content of the server might be violating the server provider’s terms and conditions.

server down for maintenance

Error in Browser

Occasionally some browser extensions can also lead to a 502 bad gateway errors when rendering the website especially with Ad Block extensions.

Apart from this there may be the rare occasion where the browser is outdated which is causing the 502 bad gateway errors.

We have discussed the causes of 502 bad gateway errors – now it is time to resolve and fix these 502 bad gateway errors and issues.

502 Bad Gateway Error Variations

Due to the various browsers, web servers and operating systems a 502 bad gateway error can present it in a number of different ways but they all have the same meaning.

If you are experiencing a Server Error or 502 Error when trying to access a site then it means that you are seeing a 502 bad gateway error.

Below are the different variations you might see on the web:

  • 502 Bad Gateway NGINX
  • 502 Server Error: The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request
  • HTTP 502
  • 502. That’s an error
  • 502 Bad Gateway Cloudflare
  • Bad Gateway: The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server
  • Temporary Error (502)
  • 502 Bad Gateway
  • Error 502
  • HTTP Error 502 – Bad Gateway
  • 502 Service Temporarily Overloaded
  • 502 Proxy Error
  • A blank white screen

Here is another variation – 502 – Web server received an invalid response while acting as a gateway or proxy server.

There is a problem with the page you are looking for and it cannot be displayed. When the Web server – while acting as a gateway or proxy contacts the upstream content server, it receives an invalid response from the content server.

502- web server received an invalid response

Another variation you might see is a 502 server error

502 server error in Chrome

Here is a snapshot of how Google displays it – 502. That’s an errorThe server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request. Please try again in 30 seconds. That’s all we know.

Google 502 bad gateway error

Other services like Twitter might even show a completely different message for a 502 Bad Gateway error – Twitter is over capacity and this definitely looks a little more user-friendly.

twitter is over capacity

How to Fix the 502 Bad Gateway Error

There are a number of things that you can try to resolve this problem. Usually a 502 bad gateway error is a result of bugs in the PHP or the server configuration or network error on the server side.

However it could also be a customer or client side issue like problems with your browser or your ISP or local IP that might be blocking it as mentioned above.

how to fix http 502 bad gateway error

So let us dive in and check out ways how to fix the 502 bad gateway error and get back up and running.

How to Resolve Http 502 Bad Gateway Error

There are a few measures that can be taken to get ahead of the 502 bad gateway error which is caused by either the user or developer’s side.

The common fixes given below are divided into two section:

for the users

for developeres or web administrators

502 Bad Gateway Error Solutions for Users

1. Refresh or Reload the Page

One of the easiest and first things you should try when encountering a 502 bad gateway error is to simply wait a minute or so and then reload or refresh  the page by pressing F5 or Ctrl + F5.

refresh -reload the page

It could be that the host or server is simply overloaded with high amounts of traffic and the site will come right back. While you are waiting you could also quickly try a different browser to rule that out as an issue.

Another thing you can do is to paste the website into https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com. This website will tell you if the site is down or if it is a problem on your side.

down for everyone or just me

There is a good chance that the corrupted files stored on your browser might be causing this 502 bad gateway error.

So by clearing the cache of your browser you might be able to resolve this error.

clear your browser

Moreover you should remove the cookies from your browser since this can also help in resolving this error.

Another way to fix this 502 bad gateway error is by starting a new Private or Incognito session in your browser. This should resolve the issue.

private - incognito mode

You can try to use another browser such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer.

try another browser

If you do not see this 502 bad gateway error when you change your browser then this indicates that the problem was your browser.

You can try to re-install the browser to check if this resolves the issue.

To do this – simply switch off your internet router from the mains for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.

restart your network drive

Then switch the mains back on and ensure you switch your router power button on too and wait for your computer to establish a connection again. This should alleviate the 502 bad gateway error issues.

A 502 gateway error could also be because of a Domain Name System – DNS issue such as the domain is not resolving to the correct IP address.

Configurate The correct DNS

If you have just migrated your WordPress site to a new host provider then is it important to wait for things to fully propagate which can take up to 48 hours in some cases. 

This will depends upon the Time to Live –TTL value of your DNS records and also check and see if there is no typo errors.

502 Bad Gateway Error Solutions for Developers

If you are a developer or a server manager and you are facing the 502 bad gateway error then the chances that you might be facing this error is because of other factors.

So trying the following solutions should eliminate the issue.

You can determine whether your server is reachable or not by conducting a trace-route or ping test on the server IP.

ping test

2. Check DNS

Another way to resolve this 502 bad gateway error is by checking if your fully qualified domain name is resolving properly or not.

DNS Check

You can use the DNS test tools like DNS Checker or MX Tool Box for this purpose. Both are free to use to check your DNS are up and running and correctly configured.

3. Clear local DNS Cache

You can also try flushing your local DNS cache to see if this resolves your 502 bad gateway error issue. This is similar to clearing your browser cache.

In Windows simply open up CMD or Command Prompt and enter the following:

ipconfig /flushdns
clear local DNS cache
Command prompt > ipconfig / flushdns

You should see a Successfully flushed the DNS resolver Cache – if it worked correctly.

For MacOS users you can enter the following in the terminal:

dscacheutil -flushcache

Note
: There is no success message on Macs.

Finally you can temporarily change your client side DNS servers. By default DNS servers are automatically provided by your ISP but you could temporarily change them to a public DNS server provided by Google.

Most people prefer to use Google’s public DNS constantly because in the long term they are more reliable and a lot faster.

4. Check Your Plugins and Themes

A lot of times the reason for scripts and queries being cancelled by the server is due to bad code on your WordPress site and possibly from a 3rd party plugin or theme.

We have also seen a lot of misconfigured caching plugins generate 502 bad gateway errors.

A few ways you can troubleshoot this is by deactivating all your plugins and remember – you will not lose any data if you simply deactivate a plugin.

A. WordPress Admin Panel

You can do this by accessing your admin through WordPress dashboard, a quick way to do this is to browse to Plugins and select Deactivate from the bulk actions menu.

wordpress wp admin

This will disable all of your plugins and if this fixes the issue then you will need to find the culprit.

Start activating each plugin one by one and reload or refresh the website after each plugin has been activated.

de-activate all plugins

When you see the 502 bad gateway error returns then you have found the culprit plugin. You can either reach out to the plugin developer for help or post a support ticket in the WordPress repository.

B. FTP Client

If you do not have access to the admin panel you can use the File Transfer Protocol – FTP client to connect to your server and rename the plugin folder to something like plugins_old and re- check your site again.

If it works then you will need to test each plugin one by one. Rename your plugin folder back to plugins and then rename each plugin folder inside of if it – one by one until you find the culprit.

FTP client

Make sure that all your plugins, themes and the WordPress core are updated to the latest version and ensure that you are running a supported version of PHP.

If the plugin contains bad code then you may need to contact the WordPress developers to solve this problem.

5. Check Error Logs

You can also use your error logs which you can view in a section of the hosting dashboard. This can quickly help you narrow down the issue for your 502 bad gateway error issues.

If your hosting provider does not have a logging tool then you could also add the following code to your wp-config.php file to enable the WordPress debug mode:

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true );
define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false );
error logs

Logs are usually located in /wp-content folder or sometimes they can be in separate folders.

You can also check the Apache and Nginx logs which are most often located at:

Apache:-  /var/log/apache2/error.log  or

Nginx:- /var/log/nginx/error.log

6. Check with Your Hosting Provider

The primary reason we usually see a 502 bad gateway error is due to an issue with the web hosting. 

Sometimes when a query, script or request takes longer than it should then it is cancelled or killed by the server.

A lot of hosts especially shared hosts implement what they call a kill script which basically terminates a request after a certain period of time so that it does not take a site down or impact other users. 

If you do a Twitter search for bad gateway you can see thousands of tweets happening every day alerting their hosting company of the problem.

502 bad gateway tweets

One reason you might want to consider moving to a reliable web hosting agency like Best-Digital Marketing Services is that our platform runs in isolation software that contains all of the software resources required to run your site.

This means that the software that runs each site is 100% private and is not shared even between your own sites.

This greatly reduces the chance of seeing a 502 bad gateway error and even if one of your sites does happen to go down – it will not impact any of your other sites.

Many hosts usually offer to upgrade to a more expensive tariff plan to fix this problem and this usually helps to solve this issue which is often not necessary.

Web Hosting Packages

Here at Best-Digital Marketing we utilise truly unlimited web hosting this means that every WordPress site is housed in its own isolated location that has all of the software resources required to run it (Linux, Nginx, PHP, MySQL).

Many shared WordPress hosts do not have these capabilities and therefore the server is simply not reachable either because it is down or there is no connectivity.

7. Temporarily Disable CDN or Firewall

It could also be an issue with your Content Delivery Network – CDN. If you are using a third party CDN provider then an easy way to troubleshoot this is to temporarily disable your CDN.

For example if you are using a free CDN enabler plugin on WordPress then you can simply deactivate the plugin and test your site.

disable CDN

If you are unable to access your site’s dashboard then simply log in to your site via Secure File Transfer Protocol –SFTP and rename the plugin’s folder to cdn-enabler_old.

This will temporarily disable the CDN connection. The same goes for WP Rocket or any other plugin you might have hooked up to your CDN.

This can also occur sometimes with providers that provide DDoS protection and mitigation or fully proxy services like Cloudflare since they have extra firewalls in-between.

Many users noticed that this issue happens once in a while on Cloudflare’s free plan. Unfortunately since Cloudflare is a complete proxy service there is no quick way to disconnect it.

However before you go blaming Cloudflare it is important to know that there are two different types of 502 bad gateway error variations with Cloudflare as seen below:

A. 502 Bad Gateway at Cloudflare (Variation 1)

If you see the following screen, this is actually a problem on Cloudflare’s end which means that you should reach out to them for support check their status page to see if they are currently experiencing any outage.

502 bad gateway error Cloudfare

B. 502 Bad Gateway at Cloudflare (Variation 2)

If you see the following screen then this is a problem with your hosting server.

Cloudflare 502 bad gateway at host

8. PHP Timeout Issue

PHP timeouts occur if a single PHP process runs for longer than the max_execution_time or max_input_time set in the PHP configuration on your server. 

This is a common occurrence if you are carrying out huge WordPress imports and a 502 server error is usually displayed.

If you run into a PHP timeout these values may need to be extended. You can check with your current host to enquire the current values set on your server and if they can be increased.

On our platforms at Best-Digital Marketing  these values are set to 300 seconds or 5 minutes by default. The maximum PHP timeout values available on our platform are based on your current hosting plan.

max_execution_time = 300

Conclusion

There are quite a few things you can do to troubleshoot and fix a 502 gateway error on your WordPress site. Usually this is not on the client-side but rather an issue with your host- server side.

Third-party plugins and themes with bad code or un-optimised queries are also things to watch out for.

If you enjoyed this post then please share it on social media and you will love our hosting platform. Turbocharge your website and get 24/7 support from our expert team.

Our plans have powerful infrastructure focusing on auto-scaling, performance and security. Let us show you the difference – Check out our plans or chat with us today to find the plan that is right for you.

For full Web Hosting Services package functionality

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How to Fix 502 Bad Gateway Error.

 

How To Clear Cache On Laptop Browsers

How To Clear Cache On Laptop Browsers?

How To Clear Cache On Laptop Browsers?

Getting information and data from around the web takes processing power and time. The data needs to travel from one server to another. Using caching cuts down on this time and resource usage.

What is cache – answering this will depend on the context. In simple terms cache is a way to save and quickly recall frequently used data. Managing your cache especially when using WordPress can be the difference between a smooth, fast-running site and a frustratingly slow site.

This blog will answer the questions – how to clear cache on laptop browsers and what is cache and we will provide some insight into how to manage yours on different browsers.

How To Clear Cache On Laptop Browsers 1

What Is Cache?

How web caching works? Cache takes data processed by an app and stores it for later use. It does not have to be in the browser per se but you will find websites and their underlying technology use cache a lot.

Caching is the term for the process of storing and recalling the saved data.

Cache usually includes two elements:

  • The caching software itself runs the process and shuttles it between the various other elements.
  • Random Access Memory – RAM and In-Memory engines which stores the data passed by the caching technology.

These elements have to be high-quality and collaborative. Slow-performing RAM will not be able to recall the data quickly enough for the software to use it efficiently.

what is cache - caching

A cache is almost and always necessary for most web applications especially given how large page file sizes are. A solid implementation can give you precious seconds back in some cases.

A user who remarks that a site loads fast gives an indirect compliment to the caching software at the heart of the website’s server.

How Cache Can Help You Optimise Websites

In today’s world computer technology is constantly expanding hence memory, hard disk space and other such computer processing elements are increasing in size at a rapid rate. Those were the days when 64 KB of RAM in our personal computers was a wow factor, today there are Gigabytes – GB of RAM on tap.

Websites are also becoming heavier due to the demands of modern web development and related technologies place on-site code. It not only requires more processing power for an end-user but also a more robust server and the technology to accommodate. Without memory and caching – the loading speeds slows to a crawl.

page speed matters

That is why Search Engine Optimisation – SEO has recognised that page speed is a primary factor for ranking websites. While the exact details are not known, the ranking factors that go into the placement of a site in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) include references to site speed.

While ranking metrics will not use site speed as a direct measurement as you would like to imagine it since there are too many factors in play to use it as a reliable metric in itself.

There are a lot of other aspects to take it into account. For example – the quality of your website’s HTML code and the loading times from within Google Chrome have an impact as well.

page loading speed

Regarding User Experience UX – A longstanding metric states user will abandon a page after only two seconds’ wait. It brings up a few issues:

  • Your Google Rank Brain optimisation — which includes bounce rate needs to be spot-on or else your SEO efforts are dead in the water.
  • A faster site loading speed will help keep your bounce rate in check.
  • The UX of your site is one of your website’s most critical elements.

Caching can help in all of these areas by reducing the time it takes for your page to load. What’s more – the resources your site uses will be lower and further reduce the impact.

2 seconds rule

Summary – a site that loads fast with the most relevant and up-to-date information will perform better than the rest.

How to clear caching on laptop in different browsers

How to Clear Your Cache

One of the more common needs is to know how to clear your cache. As you may expect there are a few ways to do this and it depends on your device or browser. We will take you through the various approaches – starting with your desktop browser.

Clearing Your Browser’s Cache

By far the most common relationship an end-user will have with caching is within the browser.

Clearing your browser cache is a tried and trusted way to get things working again if there are issues. It is a method often presented as much as turning something off and back on again.

Each browser will have a dedicated preferences screen to give you access to the cache to various degrees.

How to Clear Cache and Cookies In Chrome

To clear the cache and cookies in Chrome – you will need to access the browser’s Settings menu. There are three different ways you can get here.

The first way is to click the three vertical dots icon in the top-right corner of the screen – hovering over More Tools and then selecting Clear Browsing Data.

how to clear cache on google chrome

You may have noticed from the above image that there is a shortcut key you can use. To go straight to the page to clear your cache and cookies – press down simultaneously on the Ctrl + Shift + Delete keys.

Alternatively you can enter chrome://settings/clearBrowserData in the address bar.

chrome-setting-clearbrowserdata

Regardless of which method of navigation you choose – you should now be at the Clear Browsing Data window.

The first thing you need to do is select the time range for deleting the cookies and cache. Click the arrow in the box next to Time Range to expand the menu and then select the desired time range. This is set to All Time by default.

clear browsing data

Next check the boxes next to Cookies And Other Site Data and Cached Images And Files. You can also clear your browsing history here too.

Once the boxes are checked – select the Clear Data button.

clear data

After a few moments your cache and cookies will be cleared.

Why clear the cache?

You generally would not need to clear Chrome’s cache. When all is working properly Chrome manages the cache – making room as needed.

Clearing Google Chrome’s cache is a diagnostic tool you might use when things do not seem to be working properly. For example if pages are not displaying properly or it just seems excessively slow or otherwise broken – clearing the browser cache is an easy first step. It harms nothing and might fix things.

Since the cache is a speed optimisation – the only side effect of clearing it might be a temporary performance hit where pages might take just a little longer to load the first time you visit them after the cache has been cleared.

How To Clear Cache In Firefox

Open Firefox on your Mac or PC. Click the menu button in the upper right hand corner of the browser. This appears as three lines. Click Preferences which is located next to a gear symbol. 

how to clear cache in firefox

Click on the Privacy & Security tab on the left hand side. Scroll down until you see the Cookies and Site Data section. Click Clear Data. Check the box next to Cached Web Content. Click Clear – to clear your cache.

clear cached web content

How To Clear Cache In Safari

Click on the Safari tab at the top left of your screen and choose Preferences… from the dropdown menu.

how to clear cache on safari

Click the Advanced tab of the menu that pops up. At the end of the tab – select and tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar box and close the Preferences menu.

show develop menu in menu bar

Click the Develop tab from the Safari menu at the top of the page. Click Empty Caches from the dropdown menu. 

Click Empty Caches from the Develop tab

You can quickly get to the Microsoft Edge clear cache settings if you type edge://settings/clearBrowserData in the address bar.

how to clear cache on microsoft edge

Or alternatively the Microsoft clear cache menu can also be reached by clicking the ellipsis icon near the top right corner and selecting settings in the menu.

choosing ellipsis icon and settings

Microsoft Edge will now open a new tab with all of its settings. Select Privacy, search and services on the left. On the right side of the screen Edge will show all the privacy related settings.

privacy search and services

Here you may have to scroll down a bit in order to access the Clear browsing data section – where you will see a button that allows you to choose what to clear.

clear browsing data 1

Now Edge will display an overview not only of the different types of data you can clear but also the time range of the data you want to clear.

different types data to clean

Now with Microsoft Edge you can keep your browsing history and autofill information or saved passwords that Microsoft Edge has conveniently saved for you over time. If you only want to delete your most recent browsing history then that is possible too.

You can select whether you want to delete date from the last hour, the last 24 hours, last week, last month or all time.

clear time range data

Besides selecting over what period of time you want to delete browsing data, you can also choose what type of data you want to delete.

delete browsing data

How to Clear the Cache In Opera

To clear the cache in Opera – open the browser on your computer.

Click the Opera logo from the top left. This will expand a series of controls for the browser.

how to clear cache in opera

Click the Settings option from the list. A new tab will open.

click on settings

Scroll to the bottom and click on Advanced. This is where you will find the Opera cache location in settings.

scroll to bottom and click on advanced

Click the Clear browsing data option.

clear browsing data option

By default Opera will select all three options in this basic screen. This will clear the history of sites you visit, cookies and site data and all cached images and files on the computer.

Select all you want to remove and click – Clear data. You can also select the time range of files – this way you can save data for older sites while troubleshooting or clearing newer ones.

clear data 1

NOTE: You can also use the Advanced tab from this window if you want additional options. From here, you can target specific types of data you want to clear from Opera’s cache.

click advanced tab

After a few moments – the cache is deleted and you are brought back to the advanced screen. The time it takes to clear the cache in Opera on a PC depends on the number of files you have stored.

In reality it can take anything from a few seconds to several minutes for Opera to clear the cache.

It is not always bells and whistles with caching. The main concern is implementing a cache that works exceedingly well. A large and frequent caching cycle is not necessary for many small websites or non-enterprises or networks if your pages have not changed much.

On the other hand – a strategy and implementation that does not cache enough or in the right way will show outdated pages. This issue can sometimes happen with WordPress websites and there are tricks and tips to overcome it.

Consider a pandemic resource site that has to update its information regularly. Now consider how inadequate or non-existent browser caching could impact the page.

The good news is that getting caching set up to mitigate or lessen the impact of these drawbacks is straightforward.

We have already noted how caching is involved in several different ways across computing in general.

Now we are looking at non-CPU caches. If you check at the Apple MacBook specs, you will notice there are often a few megabytes -MB of caching included in the processing chip:

technologies that use caching

This caching also holds for mobile devices. Here we are looking at caching that uses servers in some capacity and below are some of the different technology we are talking about:

  • Browsers. A browser cache is the first thing you will think of when it comes to technology. It stores regular requests in the cache for faster loading on the next call.
  • Devices. While the CPUs themselves are beyond the scope of the article, the browsers and apps on the device will often use the storage and RAM to cache data.
  • Apps. Yes the apps can also have a cache to store oft-used data. Once again – this is going to use on-device storage that is not the CPU to cache data.
  • Servers. Another everyday use for caching. Some of the server data that shuttles around can be stored and recalled for faster execution and processing.
  • Domain Name Server – DNS caching. A focused application for caching. The machines involved here do nothing but cache data so the front-line servers can shuttle data while the DNS caches ensure a smooth operation.

It is worth pointing out a few points on related technology to caching. For example – you may consider that storing cookies is similar to caching web pages which may be true.

Cookies are stored on your computer after being triggered by the browser. The difference is that cookies store information about you and your usage rather than the page state.

content delivery network -CDN

A Content Delivery Network – CDN does the same thing as caching on paper. CDN stores the whole website as a set of static files rather than working with the site directly while it has the hallmarks of caching on the surface – it is a different way of storing and delivering websites that still need caching to run fast.

Some CDNs like Cloudflare take care of both aspects and more which makes client sites faster and more secure.

Despite our love and affection for WordPress it is not the fastest platform around. If you are using WordPress for your website – you will need to employ caching to help serve up a rapid experience. Your site speed is a joint effort between you, your host and your choice of caching plugin.

best wordpress caching plugin

For customers – a dedicated WordPress caching plugin will likely be an excellent addition to your setup.

There are many solutions available in the WordPress caching plugin arena and having to make a choice could be overwhelming. Let us take a look at some of our favourite options.

There are in no particular order of importance since all of them are equally important and highly recommended.

WP Super Cache

The most straightforward option is to choose WP Super Cache. The WP Super Cache plugin is considered the official WordPress caching plugin. It serves static HTML files in place of your dynamic PHP files which are what almost all of your visitors will see – all without experiencing any loss of functionality.

WP Super Cache

What’s more is that the plugin includes preloading, garbage collection -removing cached items that are no longer required, a CDN and REST API endpoints for developers. It is a solid entry point to caching plugins and could be all you need.

W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache has been on many users’ install lists for a long time. The W3 Total Cache plugin is billed as a Web Performance Optimisation -WPO framework and claims to be agnostic to the choice of the web host.

It is packed with features and functionality but it is notorious for being overwhelming to new users. W3 Total Cache has many features but you need the time to use it most optimally.

W3 Total Cache

There are also simple caching plugins that perform better than the leading contenders in the eyes of some users and these are – WP Fastest Cache and LiteSpeed Cache both have amazing reviews and simple dashboards.

WP Rocket

When it comes to premium plugins – WP Rocket rules the roost.

WP Rocket

The WP Rocket plugin is a high-performing plugin that is also easy to use. It applies a bunch of best practices and has over 2.2 million users. WP Rocket is also compatible with most WordPress products and services.

How to Install a Caching Plugin

The process is straightforward and is the same as any other WordPress plugin when it comes to installing a cache plugin. Caching will be enabled upon activation and there will often be a dedicated panel to handle how the plugin caches your website.

For example – you can locate WP Super Cache’s options in the Settings > WP Super Cache panel:

wp super cache settings

Your particular plugin will have different settings depending on its complexity and goals. A solution like WP Super Cache is quite deceptive since it appears simple on the surface but as the Advanced section shows – there are a lot under the hood to tinker with:

wp super cache advanced settings

Our guide is to stick to the simple – recommended options if you are unsure of what a particular setting does. Most caching plugins have quick-to-set options for different caching setups.

For example in WP Super Cache – you can choose either Simple or Expert caching:

wp super cache delivery method

The main difference is that the Expert mode uses Apache’s mod_rewrite option to serve cached files. Therefore for a user who does not know the inner workings of how files are cached – the Simple delivery method would be the acceptable choice.

The good news is that clearing a cache is often a case of clicking once and waiting for the browser to do its thing. Most browsers will let you select the data you want to clear from the cache and this will increase your click count if clicks are important for your site.

Clearing a DNS Cache

For the unaware – the DNS cache stores all of the most recent attempts to connect to the internet specifically its domain names. In simple terms – it is a list of DNS lookups the computer uses to figure out how to connect to the internet.

It is different from other caches on your device but could have some cross-over. Before you get into clearing the DNS cache – you should have three things in place:

  • Admin access to your computer or device.
  • Access to the Terminal, Command Prompt or Command Line.
  • Skills necessary to use the Command Line Interface –CLI although you do not necessarily need to know the exact commands to use.

Of course when it comes to the last point – at Best-Digital Marketing Services we are here to help.

best-digital marketing services

Clearing the WordPress Cache

When it comes to WordPress there are a few places you can head to clear the cache. The platform itself does not hold a cache but there are two touchpoints to consider:

  • Your hosting provider’s options which sometimes can be found within WordPress.
  • Your dedicated caching plugin.

Depending on your choice of host you will have an option within your control panel within a plugin installed within WordPress which is dedicated to your host’s server-side caching or both.

In some cases you will have a dedicated third-party plugin in place to help cache your site and you may find the option to clear it within the relevant settings or preferences screen.

How you access this will depend on the plugin of your choice. For example, WP Super Cache displays the option both on the toolbar and the Settings > WP Super Cache page:

wp super cache delete cache button on wordpress

For W3 Total Cache – you will again find the options you need in the toolbar at the top of WordPress:

w3 total cache purge cache button on wordpress

For most plugins the option to clear the cache will be within the toolbar or labelled. As for your host – you will find the option to clear the cache in two places

  • the WordPress dashboard if there is a plugin involved and
  • your hosting control panel.

Some hosts help WordPress users by adding specific options to the WordPress admin through a plugin. In most cases these act in a similar way to third-party caching plugins.

However the best approach will be to head to your hosting control panel and look for your caching options.

Conclusion

How To Clear Cache On Laptop Browsers and meet your goals

Websites need to run fast. The most efficient way to do this is through caching. It is a way to store the data that is often pulled and pushed between servers. Once saved browsers can recall it in a split second making your website load quicker and keep you on the right side of SEO.

An efficient and effective host will have server-side caching in place and do all it can to make sure your site use it to its most optimum. A good plugin will make your site run even faster and make sure caching helps every aspect of your site.

For the end-user caching is a simple technology. For those who dig deeper it is something worth spending plenty of time on since your performance relies on it.

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