There’s no doubt that having a great company website can help you get new customers. This important marketing tool helps establish your credibility and can help position you ahead of your competitors. You’ve probably also heard the term “the greatest product nobody ever heard about”, right? That refers to your visibility to your target audience. We’re here to share some ways that you can drive more traffic through your door, all starting with your website.
Some of these tactics focus on your website itself, while other focus on your footprint and visibility across the web, but the main goal is to use these platforms to drive visitors to your website. Let’s get started.
Maximize Your Social Media Presence
You had to know that social media would make some kind of appearance on this list, because it’s still one of your most powerful marketing and advertising tools. The goal here is sharing and creating great content that teaches your audience something new or answers a question. Let your followers know you’ve got more great content on your website, which could be all they push they need to become customers. How to do this: When you find great information that you think your audience needs to see, post it on your blog (giving the original author credit, of course) then share your blog post on your social media channels. Be sure to add your commentary or additional thoughts to the post when you share, compelling readers to click though to your blog post. This leads us right into the next tip…
Start Blogging
If you don’t already have a blog on your site, it’s time to change that. Social media gets the word out that you’ve got great content, insights, opinions and answers to share, but your blog is where you actually do the sharing. Your blog can be a mix of news in your industry, new products or services you’ve got in the works and shared posts from leaders in your profession. Those who read your blog may be persuaded to buy what you’re offering. If you’re not sure what to write about, or what types of content is trending in your industry, check out our post about social listening.
Don’t Forget About LinkedIn
Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter get a lot of love and attention, however you should not be ignoring LinkedIn. If you’re in the B2B space, LinkedIn may prove even more powerful than Facebook or Instagram. The site is a great place to connect with other professionals, ones who may become brand advocates, business partners or loyal customers. By regularly posting and interacting with others on LinkedIn, you can increase traffic to your site while showing all the knowledge and experience you have for your business.
Optimize Your Site
A recent analysis of a dozen Sitely client sites revealed that over half of all website traffic to those sites was via mobile device. If your site isn’t fast, isn’t optimized for mobile devices, or the mobile experience is clunky, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Site visitors are impatient and are likely to get frustrated if they encounter barriers, causing them to just go somewhere else. Some good rules of thumb: your website should load in 3 seconds or less. Your messaging should be clear and concise (visitor’s eyes will scan headings & titles, images & graphics, subheadings & Calls to Action long before they’ll commit to reading paragraphs and lengthy descriptions) and there should be clear next steps for them to follow (contact you, visit a location, book a meeting, start a trial, etc.). Don’t take people wait, and don’t make them hunt.
Set up your business listings
If you are a brick-and-mortar, one of the most powerful things you can do is optimize your business listings on Google and Bing. Make sure you have complete profiles and that your name & contact info are exactly the same across all listings. Select the proper business category so you are more likely to show up in search results when someone is looking for your services. Add pictures (we’re visual creatures after all). And finally, get some reviews! Reviews are possibly the single most influential thing you can have on a business listing. You should be asking all your customers to leave a review. But keep in mind the policies against soliciting reviews using incentives – that’s a no-no.
Because consumers rely so heavily on reviews and recommendations in their decision process, their importance cannot be understated. To make it super easy for customers to leave a review, you can generate a custom Google review link that takes customers straight to a window where they can give you a star rating and write a review.
Search Engine Optimization
You can also explore search engine optimization as another means of getting in front of your target customers. However before you jump into a complex and time-consuming SEO plan, you want to do a bit of research to see if it even makes sense for your business. For example, you want to know the volume of searches in your area for the keywords relevant to your business. You also want to see who you’re trying to keep company with in the top search result spots. Try This: google your business category (or a service or product you sell) in your local area (like Commercial Photographers in Houston) and see what a customer is likely to see. Sitely can also help you determine if SEO would be a good move. We’ll take a look at your existing footprint, your competition, and keyword search volumes, and tell you if an SEO plan would make sense.
These are just a few things you can do to improve visibility and drive traffic to your business, and you can start them today. Your website is an essential hub for your business. Use these ideas to make it so that customers can’t help but to support your company.
