Not sure what to do with your website? Do you feel it’s just sitting there doing nothing? Never fear; I’m here to rescue you! Here are 7 tactics you can implement within the next 3 months that will turn your website into the ultimate small business power machine! So get your engines revving, because here we go…
1. Promote your site through Facebook Ads.
Facebook Ads are a great, affordable marketing tactic to promote your website (or Facebook page) to your ultimate target market. You’ve got complete control over who sees your ads, what they see, and where they land. Best of all, Facebook Ads are great for all budget types. You can start your Ad bids extremely low, or within the recommended bid amount; it all depends on how aggressive you want to be. You are guaranteed to have an increase in website visitors or Facebook fan ‘likers’ if you implement Facebook Ads. Need help creating your Ads? Read this how-to article here >>
2. Get your website mobile.
Mobile devices are quickly becoming the #1 way that Australians connect online. When your customers are out and about, they’re surfing the web, looking up cool places, checking Facebook, plus much more — all via their smartphone or portable mobile device. Did you know that not all websites you view on your desktop or laptop actually work on a mobile device? So with the increasing trend of people viewing websites on their mobile device, shouldn’t your website be compatible? Yes it should! Get onto your website developer ASAP and get your mobile website compatible!
3. Keywords are key.
If you read this third heading and your response was “what are keywords?” or “Yeah, yeah, it’s too hard” all I have to say to you is: ‘Where have you been hiding in the last 12 months?’ Don’t say you’ve been too busy either; keywords are simple to use and easy to implement. You need keywords in your copy on your website, so search engines recognise you and potential customers can find you. If your website can’t easily be found in Google, then how do you expect to get traffic to your site? Understanding the search terms (keywords) that your customers are searching for to get to your website ought to be one of your top priorities. Go to Google AdWords Keyword Tool now and enter in your website URL to get started. Otherwise, read this article on how to research your keywords. If all this sounds too hard, consider outsourcing your SEO work to a credible SEO company – it can be very worth the while.
4. Tell your visitors where to go.
Is your website lacking Calls to Action? Go on, go have a look, then come back and read this… If your website isn’t directing your viewers through a certain funnel, then where are your visitors going? You should have a clear goal for each of your pages. For example, if the goal for each page is to push the viewer to contact you, you should have a “Request More Info” button on every page. Calls to Action are important for telling your visitors they can – and should! – do something on your site. If a visitor lands on a page without a Call to Action that grabs their attention, that visitor will bounce straight off your page. Failing to use good Calls to Action is like hanging up in the middle of a sales call! Tell your customers what to do to guide them along the sales process. Ensure you update your Calls to Action every few months, keeping them fresh and interesting. Also make sure you have some fresh content to push the visitors to – it gives new visitors all the more reason to stick around. Most importantly of all, remember to always follow your Call to Action up with a lead capture form…
5. Capture your leads.
Lead capture forms are an absolute must! If you don’t have them, then you can’t assess who’s visiting your website, and whether or not you’re marketing to the right audience! Have you ever been to a website and not known how to get in touch with the business? Lead capture forms a great way of opening the lines of communication with your visitors. Lead capture forms are simple to implement; however, you may need to have your web design company build one for you. When placing a Lead Capture form on your website, you need to determine what the form is attached to that the visitor is getting in return for providing their details. Secondly, depending on what they get and the perceived value of that item, should depend on how much information you ask from them. For example, if a visitor to your website is subscribing to your newsletter, then asking for their name and email should be sufficient information in exchange for access to your weekly or monthly mailouts. However, for something more valuable like a whitepaper or report, you might like them to get additional details like company, phone, email, website address, etc. You can even put in survey questions into your lead capture forms, which will allow you to find out even more information about who’s on your website.
6. Ask your customers questions.
Are your website and selling tactics all about ‘You’, ‘You’, and ‘You’? Take a quick look at any product on your site – do you realise you’re not buying your products and your customers are? Think about what your customers want, so you can effectively communicate your offering to them. To do this, you need to speak to your customers and ask them questions about why they buy from you, or why they love your product so much, or even what could you do better to improve. All these answers will help you reframe your website and offerings to speak directly to your customer, instead of speaking about yourself.
7. Get onto Pinterest.
Yes, another social media site for you to learn how to use! I know we’re all short hours in the day, but this particular one is worth it, and because it’s still early days, you have heaps of time to learn how to use it. Pinterest is growing faster than Facebook, and that’s saying something! Basically, Pinterest is a photo board that you ‘pin’ images too; people can then follow your board or comment on your photos. Whereas Facebook is like going to a bar to socialise, Pinterest is like shopping at the weekend markets. So, if you’re selling products, be sure to include the price so people can browse and potentially buy via Pinterest too. Pinterest is gaining popularity quickly due to the great backlinks it provides to websites. For those of you that don’t know, backlinks = improved ranking = traffic! So, get onto Pinterest, start ‘pinning’ some of your products or favourite photos you like, and see how it works. What have you got planned for your website for the next 3 months? I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment below.
