When building your business smarter, faster, cheaper every coin counts. But you HAVE to invest in yourself because the payout and potential is much more than the initial investment.
Many times when you ask a business manager or owner , “Why don’t you have a website?” He/she replies, “Why do I need a website?’
Regardless of your industry or the size of your business, you can leverage your website to find more new customers, serve your existing customers better and convert more leads to sales. Here are some answers to some ideas that will help you put the web to work for your business.
Consumers have adopted the Google, YahooSearch, WebSearch, and others as a daily research tool much faster than many experts even predicted. Sure, some of your new customers will continue to find you via word-of-mouth. However, when a potential customer is trying to find mechanics in your area, many of them will turn to the Internet. If you don’t have a website and a presence online, those potential customers will find and do business with your competitors that have websites.
Here are some qualities that will ensure that your website brings in new customers:
1. Design
If you want to look professional when people find you through Google, Facebook, Twitter and other sources of traffic, good design gives you a massive edge, “First Impressions Matter“ and if customers are browsing between you and competitors, which many are, your design matters. Shoppers, think about the last time you compared companies. Would the simply, dynamically designed site win your sale compared to the site from 2006 with a little construction guy digging. Make sure that your website is well designed, responsive and has social media connections.
2. Optimize Your Website
Optimization implies that you are making your website appeal to search engines so that your business can become more searchable online. Therefore, optimizing your site is extremely important for increasing online sales and improving your Internet marketing.
It can be done in a variety of ways. The most common form of optimization is keyword placement within your website content. Having content that is rich with keywords will help your website register better with search engines. But remember to write like a human and not a robot. Writing quality content will help you while haphazardly stuffing your website full of keywords with no care to how the sentences sound will only penalize you.
Newer content always gets priority over old content. Newer content is also more relevant and interesting to your consumer base and should drive more traffic organically. Adding a blog to your website gives customers valuable information regarding your industry. What a great and simple way to beef up your content marketing efforts and help your internet marketing strategy! When it comes to Internet marketing, content is always king. Make sure that people will learn something from the information you are sharing. Another great way to add more content to your website is to include an About Us section that highlights your business brand, goals, and mission.
- Get Social
Now more than ever, social media has become one of the greatest advantages to online marketing. Among Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+, it’s hard to escape the constant rush of news feeds. Use this to your advantage by putting your business on at least one of these platforms. This is another direct communication pathway to your consumers, and it is a great way for your client base to share your business with their friends. These platforms offer an opportunity for engagement with your customers because they can comment on your posts, and you can reply (which customers love!)
Conclusion
Internet marketing can be extremely tricky to master. Once you have the basics down for your business — like your website design and content, your social media platforms, and a strict email marketing campaign schedule — you should be well on your way to boosting your online sales. Remember to constantly stay on top of your content and test all your strategies before fully committing to one.