So you just had your brand-new website built and after spending all that money, you feel like it should be an all-singing, all-dancing web portal ready to bring you new sales! Some time passes and now you are wondering why those sales aren’t coming in, and what it is you need to do to promote your website.
You Think You Have It All but Do You really?
We know, we get it, you have a great website, it looks cool and your services are great, your photographs represent your vision and brand perfectly. But do your customers agree? Is your website attractive, easy to access? Is it mobile friendly? Is the checkout process easy? Have you asked for opinions from friends and family? Better still have you run a survey of your existing customers? You need to know what others think and then analyze the functionality of your website so that you can implement a few marketing techniques that will bring you some good traffic and ultimately convert that traffic into customers. Here are 10 marketing strategies you want to implement once you have the basics of an effective website design covered.
1. Research Your Market
“Even when you are marketing to your entire audience or customer base, you are still simply speaking to a single human at any given time.”
Before you begin you need to know your industry and who your target market is. Know the product, your budget, create a logo and website, and investigate the competition. If you know what has been successful in the past you can better fall in line with trends and improve on those techniques. Most importantly know who your ideal customers are. It’s more difficult to market to a group defined as ‘29-37 working female´ than to ´Mandy, 35, who is the mother of 2, lives in the suburbs, works in a law office, and wants more free time to spend with her kids´. Thus, be as specific as possible to make your marketing easier and more tailored.
Find out what Mandy is interested in and use your website to talk to her, to give her advice, show her the ropes and explain why your type of product is something she needs. Once you know who you want to speak to you can start developing the type of content you want for your website; video, images, articles and blogs.
2. Amazing Web Design
“Less is more. Keeping it simple takes time and effort.”
Nearly all new clients will come to your webpage or social media presence before contracting your business. So make it a positive and successful
experience. If it is not designed properly, potential clients will move on to the competition. Your page should be clear and user-friendly, load quickly, and have updated, relevant content. If you need to contact a professional to stay on top of this, then do so. This is your brand’s identity.
Make It Mobile Friendly – Make sure your website is mobile friendly and loads quickly on all mobile networks (3G/4G). Be sure that there is an identifiable way to go from intro to specific content, to sale. b.
Make your Contact Information Easily Available – Be sure your contact information is easily visible and accessible from any location. You should make this info available 2 or 3 times throughout a page.
Add Relevant Call To Actions: Be sure to add interesting Calls to Action (CTA). There are many different CTA’s beside the standard “Buy Now.” You might also use contrasting colors, persuasive tag-lines, show related images behind the CTA. A key factor in choosing a converting CTA is to focus on the results the reader gets from taking action instead of a CTA that focuses purely on your product. For example you might use:
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3. Content Marketing
“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world you are one.”
Content marketing is the creation of online material that while it might not explicitly advertise your brand, it serves to promote interest in your products of services. The goal is to attract and retain your target market. To do this you need a clear message that grabs the reader’s attention. This can be amazing videos, images, or informative blog posts. You are telling a story with your unique content, which in turn gains the trust of the potential client through the development of a positive reputation.
4. Search Engine Optimization
“The best place to hide a dead body is on page two of Google search results.”
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of where/how your website is ranked by search engines like Yahoo and Google. You want to increase your popularity so that you are among the very first results. This can be done by increasing the use of relevant keywords or phrases, as well as quality original content such as blogs, images, and videos.
And let’s not forget backlinking. This is an important part of SEO as well. It is the process of contacting websites that are related to your industry and exchanging information or content in exchange for a link of reference back to your own website.
5. Social Media
“Social media is about sociology and psychology more than technology”
Social media usage goes well beyond simply opening a business Facebook page. It is in your best interest to have a presence on multiple social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram, as well as having a link to them from your webpage. But you need to do more than just that. You can build your reputation in a costless way if done correctly. It’s all about content. An active presence is essential. Update your clients, offer discounts, link to relevant articles, and answer messages. Be sure to program your posts so as not to spam your followers, overwhelming them. The more likes, shares, and followers you have the higher your search engine ranking will be for new potential customers. Finally social media also allows you to do research on your followers. Finding out who they are and what they need gives you the ability to make your product or marketing strategy better.
6. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when there is an arrangement between an online business and another website in with the retailer pays a commission for sales or traffic brought in through referrals. This can give incentive for others to promote your business or product (sort of like having a salesperson who works purely from commissions).
7. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is the most traditional method. The fastest (but potentially costly) way to garner a name as a new business is to buy ad space on sites that are related or targeting the same market as your own. This inversion can potentially pay off however. Once you get people to your website they become potential consumers of your good or service. Find a good graphic designer to make a banner or ad that can be used on Facebook or other websites relevant to yours.
8. Sendouts To Customers
Sending out information to your customers and potential customers offers the best return on investment in terms of digital marketing options. You have a list of your own clients, potential ones that have signed up on your website, as well as perhaps emails from other marketing sources. Let them all know what is going on with your business by sending them an email. With the incentive of discounts, offers, or promotions it’s a great way to get them onto your page, increasing traffic, and the potential of a completed transaction.
9. Evaluate Your Strategies
What worked and what didn’t? If you don’t track your methods and results in a digital marketing play you won’t have an ongoing strategy for the future to further develop your business. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet to keep track of sources used, or you can look at using a Google Analytics account
The efforts you put in your digital marketing plan has to be evaluated for further development of your business. You want to maintain A well recorded spreadsheet or a document containing the details of the websites where you have promoted your business. You also want to monitor the productivity of various digital marketing techniques analytics to be used. Create a Google Analytics account which can be synced to your main Google account and understand which online marketing plan proved most productive. Accordingly, you can repeat those strategies again for your business in the future. Google Analytics Campaign will measure your growth conversion rate and track the work your digital marketing strategies have done.
Wrap Up
Now that you know all of the steps to marketing your business, you may come to realize that this is an ongoing process, much like advertising in any other means. You need to consider whether your company has the time, the knowledge and the manpower resources to effectively implement your website marketing strategy. For most small businesses, a more viable option is to contract outside help to implement an effective website marketing strategy. An agency can often help you with all of your website needs while your business team continues to focus on the essence of your operations. The website experts at SureFire Media know what it takes to help you create a stunning and effective website that attracts and converts leads into customers. In addition to website design services, our team can also help you with search engine optimization tactics to help your business rank more effectively on the search engines, increase referral traffic and build a strong online presence.
If you are ready to get started, don’t hesitate. Give us a call today.
