We all know that the prevalence of the internet has massively influenced the way in which we live our everyday lives. It’s changed the way we communicate, the way we do research, the way we absorb the news and even the way we advertise.
A Tech Pro Research survey found that 70 percent of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one. Of course, marketing is an integral part of ensuring your success in the world of business but the online world has changed the dynamics of marketing. Today, I am going to share some proven online marketing tips that will undoubtedly help your small business in its growth.
Design an Attractive and Functional Website
Start with a beautiful and user-engaging website. You might want to start researching how to work with graphic designers, or how to employ a professional web designer – because of first things first, you need to have an attractive website to make your business marketable in the online sphere.
Of course, it is entirely possible to do it alone – it just takes a little bit of practice and research.
The reason this is so important is that it attracts people in the first place, and will make them stay. Think about it, you’re scrolling through the web, and something catches your eye. Now, what was it you noticed first – was it the writing or the design? Nine times out of ten, it’s the design.
But it’s not all about making the aesthetic of your website look great – it’s so much more than that.
There is NOTHING worse than being on a website, and not knowing how to navigate it because of its poor layout and design. Websites like this are far less likely to be visited, and furthermore don’t represent your company in a very professional way. A user would never like to revisit a website that has a poor user experience. Ensure your website looks great and functions well, and eliminate this as a possibility.
Search Engine Optimization
As I mentioned earlier, it does not matter how good the website is if there is one visiting it? Well, a sure way of directing a flow of online traffic directly to your website, is by utilizing the technique called Search Engine Optimization – commonly referred to as SEO.
It might sound technical, but it’s a LOT easier than you’d think. If you aren’t familiar with Search Engine Optimization, then the end goal of it is to have your website ranking higher on popular search engines such as Google and Bing.
Think about it like this. You search for something specific on Google or Bing. How many search results pages do you properly look through when doing any search on Google or Bing? We’d estimate one or two at the most. The vast majority of web users are exactly the same in their search engine behavior – so if your website is lost somewhere on page five or six, it’s rare that a user will find your website. For example, if you search on Google for CBD oil, you will see that on the first page, websites like Wikipedia or NYtimes are ranking. It is therefore difficult for small websites to achieve a high rank for such a position on Google, as long as they do not build good domain authority with relevant content.
“How do I get my website to rank higher on search engines then?”, you ask. Well, it’s not one thing. Google has over 200 factors to rank a website.
Here are some of the most common and easiest way to increase your search engine rankings:
- Your website should be open in under 3 secs on desktop and mobile
- Make a list of your targeted keywords
- Add keywords in Meta tags, content, & headings. Make sure, you take care of keywords density guidelines.
- If you are a local business, don't forget to list your business on Google My Business and other citation sites
- Get links from high domain authority sites.
It might sound easy, but it really isn't. You need to hire professional search engine experts to rank high on Google and other search engines.
Protip: Use a custom URL shortener like Rebrandly to brand and track your short links (branded links). In doing this, you can analyze click activity on links you’re sharing on social media helping you to quickly spot which images, copy variations or CTAs are most effective.
Social Media
Last of all, but by no means least, make the most of social media by using it to market your business site. Be active on all the popular social channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, etc.
Social media is used by such a high percentage of people now, that it would be silly not to use it for marketing. However, depending on your business niche, it matters what kind of content you share on your social profile.
To make your brand popular quickly, build partnerships with micro and macro-influencers of your target region and business niche.
