The UK Agency Awards 2023 – Winners!

As the days start to get colder and the evenings a bit darker, the Simul Digital Team took a trip down to London for the UK Agency Awards. Our campaigns, results and culture were recognised by an expert panel of judges as a finalist in no less than 3 categories.

Taking place at the Sheraton Grand, London Park Lane, nestled in the heart of London, the hotel oozed grandeur and sophistication, just like the sites that we design and build for our clients!

The night was hosted by the esteemed Jonny Meah, part of the Heart FM family and regular reporter for the BBC on shows including Inside Out, Sunday Morning Live, The One Show and more. With charisma, charm and brilliant timing, his hosting made the night seamless and thoroughly enjoyable for all – taking regular breaks for laughs between rounds.

The Ceremony

Hosted by awards specialists Don’t Panic Events, the night kicked off in style. With a red carpet entrance, bustling drinks reception and a packed out bar, everyone was looking their best with glamorous black ties and ball gowns on show amongst the buzzing finalists.

Once we’d sampled a tipple and caught up with industry friends, everyone took their seats for a delightful 3 course meal. 5 star quality was served up by an impeccable team, starting with Truffle golden cross goat cheese tart followed up with West Country Lamb Rump, and rounded out with a beautiful Madagascan Vanilla Panna Cotta.

We were very pleased to see Poached Yorkshire Rhubarb included with the dessert, no doubt grown in our own backyard directly from the Rhubarb Triangle which is close to our hearts…and our office. Absolutely Delicious!

The Finalists & Winners

The UK Agency Awards is one of the largest and most prestigious ceremonies in the agency awards calendar, and tonight proved it so! There were 39 awards categories in total, and we were nominated finalists in three.

Being such a young agency, all our finalist nominations were for the Small Agency categories, for agencies up to 20 people – we were proud to be recognised and nominated for all three: 

  • Best PPC Campaign
  • eCommerce Agency of the Year
  • SEO Agency of the Year

We were over the moon with our nominations, for such a fresh, small team on a rocket path to growth, this would only be our second award ceremony and we were raring to go!


Best PPC Campaign

First came the Best PPC Campaign of the year, and we were up against some tough competition, including previous winners Spike Digital with their campaign for Mighty, alongside Circus PPC, with a strong campaign delivering growth for leading brand Miele.

We saw off all of the competition and scooped a Win in this category, and were absolutely bowled over with the success and recognition for our team! Well done to Nathan and our PPC Team for your hard work, effort and amazing results..a well deserved award for both us and our client.

eCommerce Agency of the Year

Second up, we were finalists in the eCommerce Agency of the Year, reflecting the work done by the team over the past 12 months to bring new client brands to life, while growing our existing ecommerce sites with enhanced functionality, loyalty programs, improved selling strategies combined with responsive and lean ordering processes.

Competition in this group came from the likes of Quickfire Digital, Heur, GPMD and Brave the Skies, agencies that have been well established in the industry for many years. 

We were thrilled to find out we were winners in this category too, taking the win for eCommerce Agency of the Year! This is a great recognition of the work of the entire agency, keeping order and revenue growth as a key objective for all our digital activity and client website. 


SEO Agency of the Year

Finally, we moved on to the SEO Agency of the Year. This was the first time we had ever been nominated for an SEO award, having been heavily involved in SEO for the last 18 months, and servicing many clients 

There were no nominated finalists for this category, and it was a totally open category so the awards could have gone to any of the 34 agencies nominated on the night.

We won our third award, with a clear win in SEO agency of the Year too and were absolutely ecstatic with our win in this category! For an SEO team that has only been established for a little over 12 months, the results Adam and his team have achieved for our clients in this time has truly been record-breaking and it’s brilliant to get recognition for this, for such a small, fresh agency based in Wakefield.  

We beat off competition for many well established agencies in this area, those based in London, Manchester and wider all across the UK – an amazing win for our agency!


A Night to Remember

You can find a summary of all the winners and judges remarks over at the UK Agency Awards for more info from the night, along with official photos – I’m sure you can spot us!

We had an excellent night, it was lovely to meet old contacts and catch-up on all things industry, let our hair down and enjoy the fruits of our labour. 

We’ll keep pushing our agency forward, driving sustainable growth for our clients, and will be up for more awards soon – we’re currently a finalist for ‘New Business of the Year’ at the Wakefield Business Awards in November, so fingers crossed our winning streak continues!

If you would like to know more about our awards wins, our approach, strategy and results that we can drive for your business, or if you’re interested in joining our award winning digital agency and working with some of the best in Yorkshire, get in touch today.

Creating a Cutting Edge Brand for Natural Health & Positive Wellbeing

Creating a Cutting Edge Brand for Natural Health & Positive Wellbeing

At Simul Digital, we are privileged to partner with businesses that are passionate, driven, and determined to make a positive impact on their industry. One such partner was Natural Thrive, a family-owned business based in the Midlands, set on a mission to introduce natural and organic supplements to a broad audience.

The health and wellness market they ventured into was crowded, teeming with numerous competitors all vying for attention. This fact, however, only bolstered their resolve, and with Simul at their side, they dared to dream big.


Conceptualising a Unique Identity: The Genesis of a Brand

The journey of Natural Thrive is a testimony to what can be achieved when creativity, innovation, and deep industry insight merge. It was a fast-paced, exhilarating project, spearheaded by our dedicated team.

We worked in close collaboration with the business owner, over a number of brand and business workshops aiming to grasp their vision in its entirety. It was these insights that allowed us to transform their aspirations into a tangible brand, one capable of capturing the hearts of consumers.

Visual aspects of a brand play a pivotal role in customer perception, often serving as the first interaction point between the brand and potential customers. Being well aware of this vital factor, we centred our efforts on the creation of engaging, attractive labelling. We also carefully curated a palette of vibrant colours that perfectly encapsulated Natural Thrive’s commitment to natural and organic supplements.

Style and tone were equally crucial in this creative journey. We chose a style that reflected simplicity and vitality, resonating with the essence of natural elements. The result was a harmonious blend of aesthetics and ethos, breathing life into the Natural Thrive brand.


Designing a Digital Persona: Crafting the Online Presence of Natural Thrive

With the foundation of the brand firmly established, our attention shifted to the task of designing and constructing the digital face of Natural Thrive. We were tasked with creating an e-commerce platform where the brand could showcase and sell its extensive product range.

The process was an intricate dance of structure, organisation, search metrics, competition and product management. Each product was unique, featuring individualised labelling that fell perfectly in line with the brand identity we had so carefully crafted. No detail was too small; every nuance was scrutinised to ensure a cohesive and unified shopping experience for the customers.

The result was a seamless, user-friendly e-commerce website that was a true reflection of the brand’s ethos. Its features allowed for effortless navigation and a swift, streamlined purchase process. From product browsing to checkout, we made every effort to make the customer’s journey as smooth and intuitive as possible.

Leveraging Content Strategy and SEO Power: Building a Strong Online Presence

Once the website launch was successful, our strategic focus pivoted to the creation of a robust content strategy. The goal was to enhance the website’s organic visibility by crafting engaging blog posts and other forms of valuable content. This wealth of high-quality, enriching content was designed not only to engage existing customers but also to draw in potential customers exploring the health and wellness sector.

Simultaneously, we leveraged both organic and paid search strategies to drive significant traffic from day one. This dual approach was instrumental in building a formidable online presence for Natural Thrive, even in the fiercely competitive health and wellness market. It wasn’t just about getting visitors to the site; we were focused on attracting those genuinely interested in what Natural Thrive had to offer.



Educating the Market: An Insight into Natural Thrive’s Diverse Product Range



One of the fundamental aspects that sets Natural Thrive apart from its competitors is its diverse range of health and wellness products. Our team at Simul played a crucial role in bridging the gap between the brand and its customers, helping to educate them about this broad product spectrum.

Natural Thrive offers a wide array of products, including Powder Supplements, Organic Fruit Powders, Organic Supplements, Mushroom Supplements, and Loose-Leaf Tea. Each of these product categories was designed to cater to the various health and wellness needs of their customers.

Powder Supplements and Organic Fruit Powders serve as a convenient and versatile source of essential nutrients. These products are easy to incorporate into daily diets and offer a multitude of health benefits, including immune support, energy boost, and overall well-being.

The Organic Supplements range extends the philosophy of ‘natural and organic’ beyond food. These products are crafted to supplement the nutritional needs of the customers, promoting a healthy lifestyle using ingredients that are both organic and sustainable.

Mushroom Supplements have grown in popularity due to their potential health benefits, including immunity boosting, cognitive function support, and anti-inflammatory properties. Natural Thrive’s Mushroom Supplements are made from potent mushroom extracts, ensuring the highest quality and efficacy.

Loose Leaf Tea is a classic health beverage, known for its detoxifying properties and rich antioxidant content. Natural Thrive offers a variety of loose-leaf teas, each one with its unique taste and health benefits.

By creating compelling and informative content around these products, Simul was able to elucidate their benefits, helping customers make informed decisions about their health and wellness journey. The goal was not just to sell a product, but to educate customers on the holistic benefits these products provide, and how they could seamlessly incorporate them into their lifestyles for improved health and wellbeing.

This endeavour of educating the market not only served to enhance the Natural Thrive brand’s reputation but also built a loyal customer base that appreciates the brand’s commitment to quality, transparency, and the health of its customers.

We believe that an informed customer is a satisfied customer. By aligning our strategies with this belief, we helped Natural Thrive carve out a niche in the crowded health and wellness industry.

Delivering Results at Lightning Speed

The journey from brand creation to digital launch was a swift one, an accomplishment made possible by the collaborative efforts of our team and the client. The fruits of our labour were immediately apparent, with a 180% growth in conversions and a boost in online visibility by over 500%.

This exceptional growth wasn’t just an indicator of how the project had been swiftly executed, but also a testament to its effectiveness. Chris Alan, Director of Natural Thrive, encapsulated this sentiment perfectly when he said, “It has been a pleasure working with Simul Digital on launching our brand… We’re thrilled with the final result! We look forward to growing our e-commerce website with them.”

Uncover the Natural Thrive Journey in More Detail

We invite you to delve deeper into the Natural Thrive project. Our comprehensive case study offers a detailed exploration of the project, complete with a range of images and additional information.

At Simul, we are passionate about turning visions into reality. If you’re prepared to take your brand to unprecedented heights, reach out to us today and let’s embark on a journey together.

Our New Email Partnership to Elevate your ROI

Our new email partnership to elevate your roi

As the weather warms up and Summer is in full swing, here at Simul Digital we’re excited to announce the launch of a brand new partnership which will elevate our email marketing services and capability for clients.

We’ve joined forces with Klaviyo, world leaders in email marketing and comms automation. Established in 2012, Klaviyo believes in the power of data and technology to measure, track and record to optimise campaigns, drive sales and improve loyalty. 

By harnessing this data in the right way, we’re beginning to see some excellent growth among many of our ecommerce clients.



We’ve been hunting for a new comms provider for a while, having supported clients across several industry leading platforms, but never found the perfect fit for both service and capability.

Now several weeks into our partnership with Klaviyo, we have seamlessly integrated our clients’ systems and are well underway managing marketing & service email comms, tracking customer interactions, running triggered sales campaigns and leveraging cart abandonment opportunities to secure additional sales for clients.


This partnership has really enabled us to deliver more for our clients by harnessing the power of Klaviyo’s world leading technology.

Just a few of the new features and capabilities that Klaviyo brings to our email marketing services include:

  • Dynamic Data-based Communication: The advanced data-handling aspects that Klaviyo brings, means we are able to optimise marketing content based on recipient attributes and behaviour. This means that we can ensure customers are receiving comms about what they are interested in, searching for and buying to get the best performance from our marketing comms, all dynamically generated and updated in real-time, according to user behaviour.

  • Total Broadcast Control: Offering ultimate flexibility in sending emails & customer communications. We can increase the likelihood of comms being opened and engaged with, as we can dynamically optimise broadcast time to maximise performance through the use of automated tracking and measurement.  Less worrying about ‘the right time to send’, when we know exactly when our comms best perform to recipients.

  • Surprise & Delight Opportunities: With better handling and management of data come more opportunities to surprise and delight customers.  We’re now much better equipped to launch last minute special offers, sales, customer rewards and loyalty promotions, which is becoming essential for many of our clients. We can also support better things like tailored sends based on buying patterns, as well as birthday and anniversary offer emails which customers love. 

  • Advanced Creative Capabilities: When it comes to designing, building and testing email content, Klaviyo is a leader, with seamless systems meaning that email creative and build is more efficient to build and easier to manage.  This can be a critical issue in some systems, and we’ve been very impressed when working on Klaviyo’s platform.


Though we’re only a few months into our brand new partnership, we’re seeing improved performance already across the board for those clients we have brought on board to manage their automated comms and email marketing.


If you want to learn more about how we can elevate your email marketing and customer comms to the next level, or see how we can deliver digital success for your business, get in touch today and let’s see how we can help.

The Loyalty Points Revolution: Do Reward Schemes Really Pay Off?

Loyalty schemes have been around for many years, in different formats for both web stores and your typical high street shops.

The concept is simple: when a customer purchases a product, they are rewarded with points or tokens which are redeemable in a variety of ways.

We’re seeing these schemes become increasingly popular this year, it feels like almost every time you can make a purchase in a shop or cafe, there are points to collect and enjoy. We’re taking a brief look into the impact these schemes have on customers buying decisions and the potential financial impacts they have on businesses.



Loyalty programs have grown increasingly more popular amongst customers over the last 30 years, more so in the last decade for online ecommerce stores.

Some online sources suggest that upwards of 80% of customers UK wide are using or have used loyalty schemes which have impacted their buying decision & 91% of those surveyed also say they use more than one.

In recent months, we’ve built a few loyalty & reward programmes ourselves, implementing them seamlessly onto client websites – one of the most successful has been My Hair & Beauty Perks, which has seen resounding success with strong adoption amongst their customers.


The Benefits of Loyalty Programmes

There are some amazing benefits for both customers and business owners to reap from loyalty programmes:

For Customers

  • Discounts on products that they are interested in and enjoy
  • Freebies offered to reward loyalty and make them feel appreciated
  • Exclusive offers to tempt additional purchases or product ranges not normally bought

For Businesses

  • Increased Customer Retention, as they grow their account balance with repeat purchases
  • Increased New Customer Acquisition through Referral programs and opportunities to earn
  • Data Acquisition – Customer info on buying patterns and preferences to support marketing
  • Increased Product throughput to ensure a good flow of stock sold
  • Higher Cart values from point and reward thresholds being set

Loyalty programs can provide some major benefits for both customers and businesses.

A very popular and successful loyalty programme that is somewhat ingrained into the everyday, and one that you may not even consider to be a loyalty programme is the Tesco Clubcard.

At the time of writing, the statistics for Tesco’s loyalty scheme shows around 20 million active sign ups and on average 80% of these registered users scan their card at checkout.

There is no clear indication into how much this card impacts the loyalty of Tesco’s customers, but you can’t hide from the fact that one of the UK’s leading supermarkets use this system as one of their core marketing functionalities.


The Drawbacks of Loyalty Programmes

There are more advantages of these systems out there, but there are also some key disadvantages too:

For Customers

  • Relinquishing personal information to further marketing practices.
  • Price inflation of products to counteract the offers being pushed.
  • FOMO – feeling pressured to spend in shops where points are earned, not missing out on benefits

For Businesses

  • Reduction In ROI from supplying ‘free’ products (some programs put daily limits in place to cap points earned)
  • Investment needed to Manage Programmes, including software/app, data and managing redemptions.
  • Target Audience Shift – change in customers buying or switching down to get maximum points with minimum spend.
  • Highly Saturated Market – with so many offering programmes you must offer strong rewards to win sales

The biggest negative impact here seems to be for businesses where some owners are seeing a highly saturated system with offerings seemingly more and more out of reach.

They are seeing the quality of their customer base drop and a reduction of overall ROI due to the additional expense of managing these programmes and a reduction in sales due to price increases which no longer line up with the competition.


The Effectiveness of Loyalty Programmes

You can’t hide from the data that is easily soured across the web suggesting that these systems seemingly work and they may, just note that we are human after all and we are very much price driven. These schemes draw in an audience that typically falls under the class of a bargain shopper which also makes you question the name “Loyalty Program”.

Are we really loyal to the Brand or to the program? It is our belief that customers are truly loyal to brands not based on their programs but to how much we relate to their ethics and practices.

We are in an ever changing world where we are more environmentally conscious and look to purchase from companies who care about what we also care about as individuals.


In Summary

For Businesses, these programmes can work out very well, but companies have to pay attention to the data. If they don’t have a grip of the key data points, programmes like these can easily run away, loyalty programmes have so much to offer in more ways than just direct revenue.

Question yourself, Price or Points? Does Loyalty Truly mean loyalty?

For Customers, look after your data as businesses who are savvy enough know how to play the system very well. During registration of these programmes companies state what their intentions are with your data and usually there is nothing sinister really going on here but it’s always good to be careful.

If you’re looking for a bargain and you are looking to support a business for a long period of time then these programmes can benefit you in numerous ways. Just remember that sometimes you may actually be paying more than a competitor for a similar product. 

We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on loyalty programmes, tell us what you think on Twitter & LinkedIn – find our social links below.

What Creates A Great Work Environment?

Having a positive, fulfilling environment for your employees is becoming one of the most important factors for many people when considering a new job. We often find that the longer people spend in their professional careers, the more importance they can place on their working environment, and finding one which is right for them.

But in what ways can you, an employer, make work not seem like work?

What A Positive Work Environment Means

A positive work environment does a lot more for a business than one may think.

Employees are generally more happy to be working. This can create better quality working and client relationships and produce more effective outcomes for the business.

The turnover rate of employees also falls, allowing companies to build a stronger, more familiar team, saving time on additional recruitment and training that can occur with a high staff turnover rate.

With the current climate it is important you are able to retain your employees, whilst also ensuring the ones you do have are present and engaged as much as possible.

The above are all linked, as they can have a direct impact on the quality of work produced and outcomes for your business. On good terms, this can lead to more revenue and better exposure for your business!

How Can My Business Become a Positive Environment?

Knowing what a positive work environment means for your business, it is important to understand how it can become a reality.

  • Value Mental Health

    Positive mental health is absolutely vital and valuable for a productive workforce. 

    People handle things differently to others. If you are able to become an approachable employer when considering mental health then your employees will be able to be open and transparent if they experience any hardship in the future. Working together with your team to tackle problems, and being there to support them can be vital in helping them get through tough times.
  • Incentivise

    Nobody is asking you to pay off their mortgage, though if you feel your employees have worked well on a particular project then taking them out for a drink or two after work really goes further than you think. Positive reinforcement like this indicates to them that their work is appreciated and valued, and team activities outside of work can help relationships to blossom.
  • Work Life Balance

    People spend ⅓ of their lives working. Which is a long time when you give it a quick think. We feel it’s vital to appreciate your employees’ down time, especially if they are working long hours for you and your company. Incorporating ‘flexi-time’ into your business gives your employees some well deserved breathing room, and knowing you’re there if and when the unexpected happens gives them confidence in you as a employer.

We hope you found this article beneficial for you and your business going forward. These are all principles that Simul Digital operates by, putting our people first as it’s them that deliver for your business and make it what is it today.

To keep up to date with all things Simul Digital follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn – or get in touch today for a coffee to see how we can help give your business a boost in the digital world.

Opinion: Mail Privacy Protection #emailmarketing

Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) has caused somewhat of a frantic response amongst the email marketing community. It has changed the way email marketing campaigns are conducted, ultimately leaving businesses and agencies left scratching their heads. 

Whilst it was more of a myth at one point in time, MPP is now a reality for all email marketers. If you are new to email marketing or are just looking to refine your understanding then read on to find out more about Mail Privacy Protection. 

Email marketing is a powerful channel to grow your businesses revenue and online notoriety. Don’t be put off by it, as once you have a reliable email marketing system in place, emails become an asset in your marketing plan.


What exactly is MPP?

MPP was introduced by Apple back in September of 2021 after they released their iOS 15 update for their hardware. Whilst Apple generally wants to push technological and business advancements, many felt as though they were hindering it. 

We live in a time where personal data is easily accessible by businesses and marketers and as expected, potential customers want control over their data. 

Data is somewhat of a commodity in the 21st century where names like META base their business model off user data.

How does this affect digital marketing?

Data within marketing is a currency and a highly valuable one at that. Whether it’s data on sales, social media or email responses, these data and performance metrics can really help brands and businesses plan for the future and to optimise current campaigns set live. 

The MPP update impacted email metrics for email marketers and the overall results from campaign efforts. No longer were you able to track hidden pixels to measure open rates and which type of devices are being used. It also made it harder for locations to be tracked.

As a result of MPP being brought out, things like recency management, data hygiene and journey automation have been further affected. All 3 of these are reliant on open rates being tracked which has been a foundation of email marketing for over 15 years.

Furthermore, marketers were now having to be aware of which users were viewing their emails through Apple Mail and if they were opting into MPP. 

Luckily as time has progressed Email Service Providers such as MailChimp have worked hard to accommodate Apple’s MPP – though no solution is foolproof, and metrics do still fall through the gaps.

Ways to combat the MPP updates…

This update has been out for over 2 years now. It is important though to understand how to work around Apple’s updates without compromising your businesses email marketing efforts.

After all, it can be possible to have 66% of your conversions come through email marketing if done so correctly and consistently.

There’s lots of information around the web from many email providers that will help you join the dots with your email marketing results, though there still isn’t a concrete solution.  Some brands are using other KPI’s to track performance, and moving away from traditional metrics.

Some tips to consider:

  • Have your customers tell you themselves their location and device. Get creative with this one so it doesn’t seem intrusive. 
  • How you measure email success can be altered – open rates aren’t meaning much due to the MPP update so think what else can be used? Website actions still remain full trackable, and present lots of options for measurement.
  • Make yourself aware of who is using Apple Mail on your list if you can.
  • Update customer journeys and email automations to reflect the impact MPP is having on your outcomes.

Our Closing Thoughts

Here at Simul Digital we have become accustomed to this new industry update.  When looking into GDPR and data safeguarding, the laws and norms were bound to change. Following the continued implementation of cookie consent laws, it was unlikely that hidden pixel tracking with unconfirmed consent was going to last much longer.

Digital Marketing trends and techniques never stay still, and marketers should look at what has been placed in front of them and adapt accordingly, this is what this industry is all about after all!

Many people have reported their user experience being damaged since the updates on Apple Mail. Users will transfer back over to their email providers platform making this MPP update less detrimental to marketing efforts. Metrics can be tracked easier if this happens. 

Got a project in mind? Our team of digital specialists are here to help! Book in a call with us and let us know your current and/or future plans. We will become an extension of your business, and with our proven success we’d love to work with you. 


If you want to learn more, or see how we can deliver digital success for your business, get in touch today and let’s see how we can help.

Rebranding your Business in 2023

“People change” is a phrase that gets used a lot in the world of work, whereas when it comes to business changes, there is a whole tranche of phrases that are used for the many different types of evolution and update that companies can go through, sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst… Either way, they must be carefully managed and supported throughout to ensure success.

If you and your business are looking for a rebrand then we hope to point you in the right direction with a bit of info. We can’t guarantee things will always work out, but we can give you some hints that will point you in the right direction for success and future growth!

Why Should I Consider A Rebrand?

Rebrands can be a useful point for a business reset, refresh or change in direction. They can be a healthy way for a business to start from scratch, whilst still remaining relevant to their wider audience and also employees.

It’s also important to understand that markets change along with how customers respond and engage with them. Considering a rebrand can offer some valuable internal reflection for any business as competition changes and customer trends develop.

Putting your customers first and their needs is vital for any business to survive.

Take LEGO for example. By 2003 their business was becoming to look a tad outdated, with their core fanbase and audience losing interest.

Their rebrand changed all of this. By understanding their audience they were able to save themselves by bringing out new products and services. Whilst eliminating the ones initially holding them back.

From the years of 2003-2013 their revenue increased by over 500%.

The numbers don’t lie – if done correctly a rebrand can really elevate a businesses performance and authority.

What Should I Consider For My Rebrand?

Rebranding can be seen as a scary thing for any business. Don’t forget though that your foundations have already been built, meaning the really hard work is usually done and dusted. 

As already touched upon, it is important to understand your customers’ wants and needs. 

Like Lego, maybe your products and/or services are outdated or are not that relevant anymore?

Be aware of the business climate you are in. This along with your customer base is ever changing. Marketing channels may change and also the way they are presented.

For example AirBNB have experienced 5 rebrands since 2007. However it is important to understand how much the world has changed in 15 years. 

We’ve seen smartphones and social media drastically develop in this time frame. In 2007, few would have thought Facebook and its platform for businesses would be a major contributor to the international economy.

Maybe your product is there and you have dedicated customers. But what if you are looking for that next step to really break through? 

Collaborating with other like-minded businesses can really elevate your businesses efforts.  To grow your business it is fundamental you attract new customers. 

Well established businesses going through rebrands must also consider the retention of their previously acquired audience, otherwise their new look won’t get the results it may deserve. 

Email marketing can play a huge role in communicating with your customer base on the new look. People enjoy being kept in the loop, it’s human nature – and key to ensure everyone is well informed about any changes in your business.

If you and your business feel like a fresh start is on the horizon then please feel free to contact us. As an agency we thrive from pushing businesses to new heights through a mixture of creativity and strategy, bringing a wealth of experience to our clients to support them in driving success.

What does Flexitime mean for a business?

What does Flexitime mean for a business?

For many people working outside of the digital sphere, the concept of flexible working may seem fairly alien.

With how the worldwide pandemic shaped the working world and the economy, many companies have had no choice but to opt for a flexible work from home mindset.

If you have not considered flexitime for your business then treat this article as a useful guide – you and your workforce may be working from home in the not so distant future.

People are more productive working at home than people would have expected. Some people thought that everything was just going to fall apart, and it hasn’t.”

Mark Zuckerberg


What actually is flexitime?


The Oxford Dictionary defines flexitime as “a system of working a set number of hours with the starting and finishing times chosen within agreed limits by the employee.”       

This means that employees are able to work around their normal working hours to fit in with their lives and other personal needs.                                                            

For many the concept of flexible working was brought to the forefront when worldwide lockdowns were put in place. The social distancing restrictions meant workers had no other choice but to work from home.

Flexitime – the bigger picture

To many employers flexitime may appear not to be in their favour. 

Employees are choosing when they start and finish and even where the work is completed. These practices have become more typical in today’s modern economy. In 2022 there were a total of 4.3 million workers using flexible working hours within the U.K. 

Implementing this into your business practices can have positive effects on staff overall wellbeing and your impact on the environment, with less commuting comes less carbon emissions. 

  • Work Life Balance

    More and more working people are raising families and time with them is precious. Having flexitime implemented allows people to spend more time with their loved ones whilst still maintaining the high levels of productivity your business may require from its workers.

  • A better work environment

    When you and your employees find yourselves working in the office you may notice some positive differences in the environment. It is being proven that once flexitime is available to workers there are boosts in both workplace morale and productivity.

  • Employee Satisfaction

    As a result of the above, you’ll generally find that employee satisfaction will improve, something many people are looking for when looking for a new role. Supporting positive job satisfaction among employees will lead to loyalty from them, reducing the turnover rate in your business.

Drawbacks

Despite flexitime looking like a great idea for modern day businesses, it is important as a senior member of a business to consider the potential drawbacks there are. Although it is a privilege to work flexible hours, some people can abuse the power as you are not able to monitor them fully from home.

Before the implementation it is good practice to test things out with a trial period to see how your staff get on. This eliminates any hiccups in the future.


Simul Digital’s Take On Flexitime

As a company, Simul Digital has implemented flexitime for our employees. Operating with normal business hours with the implementation of flexitime has seen an increase in satisfaction from employees. 

As mentioned it is important to monitor employees workload and productivity when allowing policies like this so your business isn’t hindered, there are many excellent software solutions available for this, to manage tasks, projects, time and communications. 

Flexitime, although being a newer concept is proving to be a highly effective way to work for many businesses and industries. 

To keep up to date with all things Simul Digital follow us on Twitter & LinkedIn – or get in touch today for a coffee to see how we can help give your business a boost in the digital world.

Celebrating a record-breaking digital launch for Sloomy

This week, we’re celebrating the success of one of our most recent site launches working in partnership with Sloomy, a leading bed and furniture retailer in West Yorkshire. This was one of the fastest web & marketing launches projects we have ever delivered from start to finish. Among the rush of projects we receive in the run-up to Christmas, we’re very proud of what the team achieved and the results to date.

Read on for further details about the project, and take a read through our Sloomy Case Study to find out more.

A New Bed Business in Town

For over 10 years, Sloomy had been successfully trading from their high-street store in Yorkshire. A family run business, all of their beds, mattresses and headboards are handmade from their West Yorkshire factory, with a focus on efficiency and cost control to ensure their beds are high quality, luxurious and affordable – a recipe for success that has worked well for them in store and results in many happy families across Yorkshire!

The team at Sloomy recognised our extensive experience in marketing furniture retailers online, and had seen the success we had achieved with others. They wanted to incorporate our new Morf furniture configurator into the site, to bring the furniture retail experience online and allow customers to configure their furniture to perfection.

Combined with the website, we were tasked with delivering an explosive marketing launch. Sloomy would be a new bed brand on the block, launching into a heavily competitive online marketplace with some big players – not to mention online marketplaces including Amazon, Etsy and Wayfair.

Building a Successful Brand at Breakneck Speed

The team at Sloomy wanted to be trading online through their new website within 6 weeks. With a full web development backlog and a multitude of Christmas marketing campaigns to launch and manage, we had to pull out all the stops. Our team collaborated to work collectively across every aspect of the online business, creating all of the content from scratch with support from Sloomy to ensure everything was in line with retail. Our planning team worked up a full-proof project plan that brought together the branding, digital design, build, and marketing to be delivered and launched in that time – in what would be a record-breaking fast delivery for our team.

Close Collaboration to Deliver Digital Success

Once we got to work, our team got into their stride and pulled together seamlessly. Following our perfected processes for brand building and site design, our digital design team, marketers and web developers worked in tandem to ensure every aspect of the build was given adequate expertise in the allotted time.

Tight timing and smooth project management was orchestrated by our accounts team to keep all the wheels moving, ensuring everything was delivered on time and within budget.

We took Sloomy’s years of sales experience, quirks and tips from their salesmen, combined with our skill set for displaying and rendering products, making clean efficient online sales journeys, and enriching the experience. Our marketers used their USP’s to ensure all in-store values were replicated online to maximise sales conversion, order values and customer satisfaction.

A Seamless Site with an Explosive Marketing Launch

All our ducks were lined up for an excellent site launch. Following thorough testing, the site went live with high organic visibility and traffic results within a week, supported by strong paid advertising performance to drive traffic and customer interest. Morf was successfully integrated, to enable customers to fully tailor their beds and see them in situ at home before ordering, a key USP of the website.

The first orders occurred within 10 days of go live, and the site continues to outperform all forecasted expectations. Sloomy are overjoyed that they can now sell online as well as in store, replicating their amazing level of customer service and support through the website, with many satisfied customers already.

organic success in record time
Organic Visibility Growth in Record Time

We’ll continue to work with Sloomy over the coming year to elevate their online presence, drive web sales and grow their brand.


If you want to learn more, or see how we can deliver digital success for your business, get in touch today and let’s see how we can help.

Opinion: Yandex Ranking Factor Leaks #seo

A few weeks ago, Yandex has fell victim to a code breach which has led to some of their SEO ranking secrets to be unearthed to the general public.

For a bit of context on Yandex, they are a new search engine used in Russia. In 2022, 64% of Russians were using Yandex, with the remaining 36% using Google to browse the web.

Yandex technically is actually more useful than Google to those living in and around Russia. Some of the services it offers include:

  • Marketplace
  • Taxi service
  • Cloud
  • Travel
  • Alice (similar to Siri)

Below we look further into the proprietary source code leaks and how we can learn from them for SEO marketing efforts. 

What was leaked?

In the closing days of January, those within marketing became aware of Yandex being compromised by hackers. 

The code was published online, which included a total of 1,900 individual ranking factors were found within. A large number for sure, but one that will be an eye opener to marketers going forward. 

Alex Burak has broken them down via a Twitter feed with lots of useful information.

They are links to the full source code included, along with comment and opinion on knowledge around these recent events. We’ve summarised some of the key points below.

Domain Authority

One of the first notable discoveries is that domain authority has a direct impact on SEO and browser ranking. 

This might not come as any surprise, as DA is a common metric used worldwide across the industry – it’s nice to see it confirmed for Yandex though. Having people link back to your website’s content is a clear indication of strong and reputable websites.

Website traffic metrics affect search ranking

Those who use Pay Per Click advertising be wary, as it appears that organic traffic and it’s % landing on your site affects ranking. 

This has long been rumoured, with Google Analytics providing Google with full traffic information about your site, many have postured that it’s taken as ranking factor to determine the value and experience a website offers. Though we can’t confirm it is the case for Google, it’s clear from the Yandex leak that general traffic metrics do play a part in their search rankings.

Having organic traffic is more valuable and worthwhile for your search ranking. Better still you are more likely to have repeat visitors through organic search channels, typically resulting in long-term positive outcome for Yandex’s ranking decision.

URL Structure and contents

Two things regarding URLs were uncovered from this hack.

Including numbers in your web page’s URL is detrimental to search ranking. Keep it simple it seems, and plain english / natural language word are always better than using numbers.

The second thing regarding URL structure is including forward slashes. Whilst they are good for breaking up info, try not overuse them.

Backlinking and internal linking

Another SEO fundamental has been touched upon. This time with linking back to your website. 

But which way works best for ranking, back or internal?

It works out that gaining backlinks from main webpages is more valuable than internal links. This is the backbone of many successful SEO campaigns, so it’s reassuring to have this detail confirmed.

Does this affect Google rankings?

With how closely related Yandex is to Google many have been quick to jump the gun with these recent source code leaks. 

They are obviously different products that share similar characteristics. Whilst these leaked pieces of information do not relate to Google, it’s important to have these in mind for your future SEO efforts. 

After all, for those within the SEO realm, the leaked information has not really come as a shock for Search Engine Optimisation, it’s been useful to clarify strategy and we’ve used it to support many of our optimisation activities.

It’s more scary that they have had a data breach in the first place.