Knowhow: Web Tactics | Tips for making the most out of your business's online presence
The fact is, a strong web presence is required today. The Internet has profoundly transformed the way people learn about and shop for products and services. In order to remain competitive, business websites need to be designed to capture web traffic and make it easier for consumers to find products and services. Businesses need to utilize inbound marketing techniques to get found by the consumers searching for their products and services online.
There are three primary methods through which a business can get found online: search engines, the blogosphere and social media. No matter the method a consumer uses to find you online, there are several key concepts that will ensure that your website is a hub for consumer traffic.
Create remarkable content. By remarkable I simply mean creating content that people are apt to remark about. It could be positive or negative, but it opens up a dialogue. Start blogging. It’s tough at first, but it gets easier as you find your voice. You are an expert at what you do; paint us a picture of exactly what it is that you do. Statistics show that businesses that blog are growing at a higher percentage than those that don’t.
And don’t forget about getting in front of the camera. Create short videos (2 minutes in length) of something remarkable that you do. You might think what you do is boring, but other people have no idea and appreciate you showing them. In this way, you are proving you are the expert at what you do. Good content will promote conversation or collaboration, be educational or entertaining.
Think keywords. Your website should be optimized with keywords that are relevant to your business. This is a key aspect of search engine optimization and needs ongoing monitoring. The first step is to create three to five keywords that are relevant to your business. Think along the lines of someone looking for your product in a search engine.
Remember to choose keywords that help you differentiate your business. It is important to be very concise and hone in on the very core of what your business does. Avoid vague keywords or very general terms.
Design and optimize your website around your unique or specific keywords. It’s very important to include your keywords throughout your website to help search engines not only find your site, but determine relevance and get you a higher ranking. This doesn’t mean stuff your site with lists of keywords, but instead add them to your blog articles, and include them in the text of relevant topics.
Get social. If you haven’t already, take an hour before the end of the week and create an account on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and fill in the profiles. That’s all it takes to get started, then schedule a lunch on your calendar to do some exploration. Use the built-in tools to find other colleagues, former co-workers and friends. Then listen to the conversations to understand the tone of the discussion and try to provide value.
Share information that you think would interest others in your networks. If you are in a circle of CEOs, you might find value in reading an article referenced by another CEO that you admire and respect, and vice versa.
Once your accounts are set up, you might want to download an application that helps you organize and monitor all of your networks at the same time in one application/dashboard. One that is very popular is called Tweetdeck. There are applications that allow you to schedule your outgoing messaging so you can write a week’s worth of correspondence in your field of expertise in one sitting and it trickles out at the pace that makes sense for your audience.
Tim Ludy is the owner of Reliable Business Partners of Shrewsbury. He can be reached at timludy@reliablebusinesspartners.com.
WBJ Web Partners
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