Today?we will reveal?four (4)?important steps that all?small business marketing professionals?should take in order to?attract a steady stream of NEW and REPEAT customers for their local business using the internet!
I?m sure you already know how extremely important is for you to market your business online.? However, most business owners still are not doing what it takes to create a complete online presence.
Many business owners are confused and frustrated by all of the hype and misconceptions being thrown around, but the principles of small business marketing online?are actually very simple.? In this discussion, I will explain four crucial elements of online marketing that can help you learn how to attract more customers as soon as next week.
Part 1 ? How to Make Your Small Business Marketing?Website More Profitable
New Website (Photo credit: J Garrattley)
In this first section, we will discuss?two important elements of a profitable website.
Website Design
Today, there are many ways to get a website designed including doing it yourself.? However, think about how you want to be?perceived by your visitors.
Yes, do-it-yourself programs can provide you with a basic, generic-looking website.? Unless you?modify these sites in certain ways, however, they tend to have a very low conversion rate and most visitors leave almost immediately.
You should have a professional web designer create a website for you that is not only pleasing to the eye but also one that includes the right?lead generation?components, like those discussed below for starters.
Website Content
What you put on your website is also very important in order to make it profitable.? For instance, your website header needs to include your company name and your company logo so you can create a brand for your business.
Your home page should have a very strong call-to-action so?visitors know exactly what they should do next and how to contact you.? Once they land on your home page, they should not have to search around to find your Contact Us page.
You also should have a lead-capture mechanism on your site to collect the email addresses of interested?visitors so you can follow-up with them.
Any other written content on your home page should be geared towards how you can benefit your visitors and how you can help them ? not about?your business.? Brochure style websites tend to focus on the company and don?t offer any reason for the visitor to stay.? They might look good and you may be proud to show yours off to your friends, family and associates, but they usually aren?t very effective in bringing in new business.
You really only have 5 seconds to catch their attention, so make sure your home page blatantly shows how you can help?your visitor and makes them want to know more.
Part 2 ? Can Local People Who Are Searching?For Your Product Or?Service Online Find You?
As we discussed in the last section, it?s extremely important to have a website that is built to turn visitors into customers.
The next step is to make sure your website can be found by those who are searching online for?your most profitable products or services.
Search engine optimization is the process of ensuring that your website meets the necessary criteria to gain top search engine rankings.
For instance, let?s say you?have an auto repair shop?here in town and someone types in ?transmission repair?scottsdale.?? If your website does not have a page properly optimized for ?transmissions?, chances are your site does not come up within the first few pages.
This is critical because most people don?t go past page 1 of the search engines.? The percentage of people who do move on to 2 and 3 is minuscule compared to those who stop at page one.
There are actually three ways to show up on the 1st page of the search engines when people are looking for?the things you offer?in your area.? If you really want to dominate your local area, don?t stop at one? claim 2 or 3 spots on the 1st page!
- SEO ? optimizing your website so that you gain a high rank in the search engines when people search for your product or service locally.
- Local Maps/Places Listing ? this is the area that shows in the middle left of a search engine results page with a map displayed next to it.? Listing your site in the local maps section of Google and the other search engines is a must-have for any business looking to get local customers.
- Pay-per-click Advertising ? this is the area above the local maps listings and on the right hand side of the search engine results page.? These businesses claim their spots by paying for each click they get to their website.
Part 3 ? The #1 Way Small Business Marketing Pros Get REPEAT Customers Using The Internet
One important component of a profitable website is to have an automatic list building system in place to capture your visitor?s email address.
This is so you can keep in touch and boost communication with your customers and prospects ? all on autopilot.
In order to do this, you need an email autoresponder system.? This email system is designed so that you can add a simple HTML code to your website that will create a box for visitors to sign up to your mailing list.
Once the visitor opts-in to your mailing list from your website, they will receive coupons, discounts, newsletters, tips, or any other communications you want to send to them via email.
With this simple, set-it-and-forget-it solution, you can keep your customers and prospects coming back for a very long time.
You can create multiple campaigns, enter all of your messages ahead of time, and tell the system when to deliver them.
Email marketing allows you to target your customers and prospects directly and the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating powerful REPEAT business.
Now that you understand the most powerful mechanism available to get customers online, take some time to think about your business.
Do you see how an email marketing system can help you bring in more money?
Part 4 ??How To Attract?Customers, Develop Relationships and Cultivate Brand Loyalty Online
Most of your potential and current customers practically live on the social media networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.
These sites are the most popular networking sites on the web and they?re growing stronger every day.
Due to this, many businesses use these platforms to interact with their current and potential customers on a daily basis ? including your competitors.
If you do not currently have a profile setup on each of these networks, you need to get them as soon as possible.
Every business should have a Facebook Business Fanpage.? Facebook is the most popular site online today with millions of visitors every single day.
In the last section, we talked about putting an opt-in form on your website to build a list by getting your visitors email addresses.
Well, you can also use a Facebook Fanpage to capture even more email addresses!
After creating a Facebook Fanpage, invite visitors to your page so you can start building a loyal list of followers. These followers can turn into new business for you on a daily basis if you engage on your Fanpage frequently.
Let?s say you offer a coupon for a?great deal?or an introductory freebie on your Fanpage to get someone to join your email list.? If you continue to offer good information and enticing deals to your fans, they will like you and will think of you first when they need your services.
Not only that, but they will spread the word to all of their friends.? You just have to stay in their faces and your return on investment will be HUGE.
Twitter and LinkedIn are two more great networking sites that can produce a lot of business, and Google+ is growing fast too now.? With the success of social media networks, you should definitely capitalize on the huge number of people you can connect with who can potentially double your profits in a very short amount of time.
Hopefully this information on how to attract customers?online has helped you to understand the four core opportunities the internet presents for small business marketing.
As a fellow business owner, I know that it is very easy to get overwhelmed with everything that it takes to be successful in your business.
You are busy actually running your business and don?t have time to?spend learning and experimenting with all this internet stuff.? You need results, not another hobby!
However, you know that online marketing is definitely one thing that should not be ignored if you want to build a sustainable income in these tough and competitive economic times.
If you are ready to get started but have a few questions, need a little help, or just want to get it done, feel free to contact us and we?ll help and advise in any way we can.
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