Inbound Marketing | How to make sure your web presence is working for you
Inbound marketing strategies are web- and social networking-based, and appropriate for small businesses, corporations, nonprofit organizations and public institutions such as colleges or libraries. While low cost in terms of dollars and cents, inbound marketing takes the investment of time.
If you can implement some of the key components outlined here, you will have a successful inbound marketing strategy on your hands. In addition, you will have a firm foundation on which to build a robust and effective web presence as business moves more and more online every day.
Have a presence. Get found when potential customers are looking for information, comparison shopping or researching products by positioning your company as a resource in social media channels. Offer free white paper downloads, conduct industry surveys and post the results for all to download and analyze, or be active in forums and demonstrate your expertise in a topical area. Show that your company is knowledgeable and reputable by providing access to information with no associated sales pitch. Then, when a potential customer is ready to make a purchase for goods or services, your brand or company automatically comes to mind. Be active in social media where you can cultivate dialogue and leverage what you find out there. That presence positions you to be found.
Think like a search engine. Rank higher in search engine results when potential customers are searching for goods, services, or information by utilizing search engine optimization (SEO).
Make sure that all the content on your website is well written, keyword-rich and relevant. Make sure the title tags, image tags, and other behind-the-scenes aspects of your website are up to snuff. Use keywords in anchor text for links and stick to one subject per web page. There are plenty of consultants out there who can assist you with SEO.
Close the loop. Create an easy way for potential customers to stay on your radar and for you to stay on theirs. Direct website traffic to custom-tailored landing pages. Ask for an e-mail address and a name only to access white papers or other online content, not a laundry list of contact information. Landing pages are specifically designed as the destination for a certain set of traffic. Use them and ensure that they are rich with quality content that delivers on the promise made with the link that brought them there.
Measure, measure, measure. If you don’t already, start using analytics. Google Analytics is free and one of the best. Find out what people are doing when they get to your website. How long are they staying? What keywords in a search brought them to your site? Analytics can provide you with the answers to questions like these that will allow you to refine and tailor your strategies on an ongoing basis. Test the success rates of various landing pages and leverage the results. Never stop improving. Plan to install tracking and measurement mechanisms at every step of the process in each strategy you employ.
Technology advances at lightning speed these days and social networking has certainly gone mainstream. Inbound marketing sits at the crossroads of these two trends and leverages that intersection from every angle.
Sarah McMaster is the owner of Quabbin Creative of Orange.
She can be reached at smcmaster@quabbincreative.com.
WBJ Web Partners
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