It’s a question many new business owners ask themselves after making the mistake of wrongly believing that by simply having a website will get them business. This is simply not the case. Having a website created for your business is just the start to promoting your services or products.
Purpose of a website
A website is simply a platform for you to showcase your work, services or products. It’s true that we can optimise the web page content on your site so that your site may be listed in a Google search result. That said, even if your site is listed on page one for your target keyword phrase, there are still 19 links a potential customer may click on instead of yours. In addition to this there is less chance of someone clicking your link if it’s not in the top 3. So what can you do?
Besides getting your page in the top three listings in a Google search result here are some other marketing suggestions you could engage in to get more customers. Some are free and some are paid. For more information on the types of websites Pixelfire create click here.
Social Media
Choose the right social media platforms to promote your site. Instagram is great for businesses that have something visual to sell such as clothing or landscape gardening. For accountants LinkedIn would be better. The key factor is you don’t need to be on every platform either – just the ones that best suit your business.
Write content people want to link to
People appreciate great content. Ensure your website copy is interesting and well written. Review your web page copy to see where you can make improvements. Make sure you always use keyword phrases people use to find your business services. If you don’t have a blog you can always write on other website platforms such as blogs, Facebook group pages etc with links back to your site.
Backlinks
Google still uses backlinks to determine a websites relevance for a keyword phrase. If you want to be found for a particular phrase you need lots websites linking to your site using keyword phrases you would like to be found for.
Newspaper Adverts
People still read the newspaper. More importantly, people prefer to do business with locals so its still worth promoting your business website in local newspapers and magazines.
Facebook Adverts
Facebook adverts are great and relatively cheap. You can refine how your advert is shown to ensure the right people are seeing your advert which will also maximise your budget. As an example you can create an advert targeting ‘women, 20-30 years old, living in Geelong’ and set your advert to be shown in the evenings. Great heh?
Google AdWords
Create a Google AdWords advert to point to a specially designed sales page on your website with a focus on getting people to call. Interestingly 80% of people prefer to call and speak with someone rather than complete an online form.
Answer the phone – come on!
I can’t tell you how many people say I want more customers yet they never answer the phone. (I know because I’ve tried calling them). To compound the issue their answer machine message doesn’t sound professional or worst still they never return calls. If you’re in business be professional. This means answering your phone calls and returning calls as soon as you can. This act alone will almost certainly get you more business and improve customer relations. Just needed to get that one off my chest 🙂