Your website is often the first impression a customer will form about your business.
Every day millions of people go online to search for businesses just like yours. If you’re not working to ensure your website appears within those searches, then potential customers are likely buying from or hiring your competitors, not you.
Digital marketing is no longer an optional channel for advertising your business. According to Retailing Today, 80 percent of shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase. Whether you’re a B2B business, a service professional or a retail shop owner, it’s essential to have a strategy in place for getting your business in front of those who are searching.
1. Make sure your website is well designed and mobile-friendly. Your website is often the first impression a customer will form about your business. As such, it’s critical to have a modern, well-designed look, with simple navigation. What many business owners often don’t realize, is that the layout of their website can also directly affect how search engines will rank their site.
Getting a website to rank well on Google includes optimizing the layout and content throughout your website. Most important, your website needs to be mobile-friendly. Google recently announced that in the coming months, their mobile algorithm will replace their desktop algorithm. This means that non-mobile friendly websites will no longer appear in Google’s organic search results.
2. Determine keyword phrases. The first step to effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to determine which keyword phrases your potential customers are searching, when looking for a company or service like yours. (Hint: they’re often not the most obvious ones you’d think of.) Once you determine your target keyword phrases, you can start optimizing each page of your website. Yes, you read that right; SEO is not just for the homepage. Each page of your website has the potential to rank, and should be optimized accordingly.
Once your website is optimized, you can focus on off-page SEO strategies. Depending on the competitiveness of your market and your budget, I highly recommend working with a well-researched professional that can help you achieve optimal rankings, without compromising your website’s reputation with Google.
3. Local search presence. If you serve a local market, make sure you are visible on major local search sites within your niche. This includes websites such as Yelp, Google My Business, Bing, YP.com, CitySearch, FourSquare and Local.com. Presence on these and other local search sites will put your business in front of customers who search on those sites, and can have an SEO benefit as well. Once your listings are created, contact recent clients and ask them to leave you a review, then set up processes to encourage reviews from future clients. Positive reviews serve as influential social proof that can sway a potential customer to hire you over the next competitor in the list.
4. Start a business blog. Writing a blog on your website is a fantastic way to gain visibility and set yourself up as an authority within your niche. Articles that you post on your blog can be shared across social media, with online publications, and can be emailed out to your customers to educate and increase loyalty. According to a 2015 Hubspot.com marketing survey, companies that published 16 or more blog posts per month received five times more leads than companies that published less than four monthly posts.
5. Build a following on social media. Social Media is a major influencer and serves as a unique tool for interacting with customers, reaching new prospects and building relationships. Make it a priority to establish a presence on two or three social media networks that fit your niche, and begin producing content regularly to those channels. This can be an avenue for sharing blog content and for educating fans with other helpful content. You can also use social media to run promotions and reward your customers with special offers.
Marketing your business in today’s online economy is extremely rewarding when a well-planned digital strategy is put into place. Whether you partner with a trusted web marketing professional or go it on your own, your website will create an amazing first impression and can be found in the places where your potential customers are looking and you’ll be well-positioned for an influx of leads, new business and booming revenues.
Ashley Rader is a web designer, branding and digital marketing expert at RAD Web Marketing in Petaluma, Calif. She has worked with hundreds of businesses and entrepreneurs to build cutting edge websites and implement successful, well-rounded online marketing campaigns. For more information, go to www.RADWebMarketing.com.
