Hello all blog readers and ships at sea…
I have one housekeeping note for my readers. I am all for sharing the latest tools of internet marketing, but PLEASE don’t use my blog comments as a place to advertise. I will just delete, or mark your posts as SPAM. When you have a JV opportunity which you want to share contact me offline. Enough said.
We’ve been having some really rough weather here in Connecticut. Bad rain last week, and third day or watching the rain fall this week sparked thoughts of traffic. Not the crappy traffic on I-95, 84, or any other major highway, no I’m thinking about website traffic.
Many prospective customers ask “how can my small business reach more customers on the web?” Technically there is the fast lane method and a slow lane method. You really need a mix of both to get effective website marketing success.
Slow Lane methods are institutional advertising – branding marketing. Yellow Pages, Newspaper, Mailers, Snail Mail, Signage, Brochures, Business Cards, etc. All valid but a much slower way to reach customers.
Fast Lane Marketing – hit the customer where they are looking for a product or service…right on the web. This is why you need to be ranked on Google. Statistics prove people don’t look past the first three pages of Google. This is why ranking high on search engine traffic (for keywords) are so critical.
There are several different ways to get your website recognized on the web. First consider the age of the domain. Let’s say for arguments sake you’ve been on the web for five years. Google will give you more rank recognition than someone who just got onto the web last week. Really this isn’t something you can control, so it “is what it is.”
Second – how many people visit your website from keywords on the browser? This is where my business (and other competitors) enjoys a love/hate relationship with Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. Obviously we know the insider secrets of the HTML code and what the big dogs at Google are looking for.
Back to the traffic conundrum (for my fellow readers a conundrum is a question without an answer).
Third you should have content that people want to see. Let’s say you put together a website that is static. This is something that stays the same year in and year out. BORING! Don’t change your website look and content every day, but have some interesting content to lure your visitors back. Website surfers (and Google or other search engines) have the attention span of a 2-year old. They get bored and move on to another site if you don’t have something new to say.
Last, share links with other website. Google loves links, especially links with educational or civic organizations. Link building adds legitimacy to your website. This is the equivalent method of being recommended by a friend or colleague.
Now let’s focus on local versus global traffic. When you are a Brick and Mortar business focus on local website marketing. A civic organization like the local Chamber of Commerce usually has a website which is linking tool. Use the local website marketing techniques especially if your business comes from a small circumference from your front door. Now if you’re service is delivered electronically you may have to compete on a global level. That means you’re going to look at global traffic such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Adwords and possibly PPC campaigns.
When you are reviewing your 2011 marketing plan do a quick market research project, think Show Me the Money! Review your 2010 revenue and sales. Once you’ve determined who those customers are, and where they live, and how they found you, adjust your marketing plan to reach more of the same type of people.
I’ll close with this…focus your energy on running your business. I found that when you are a small business owner you can get distracted. One of my favorite authors about personal development and time management is Dr. Steven Covey. Currently I’m reading “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” for the 30th time. My advice is balance your time and commitments. Pay someone to get you on the right road with website marketing. Consultants can move you much further ahead than doing it on your own. As always contact me if you have a website marketing project – BestSEOintown
Market Well To Enjoy More Profits!
Christine
P.S. – check out my friend blog (Daily Marketing Tips – http://www.dailydirectmarketingtips.com). You’ll uncover a treasure trove of information about marketing
