Most businesses would agree that their ultimate goal is to serve more customers, or serve their current customer base more often. In order to generate more business online, your business needs to drive more people to your website and once there, you need to convert those visitors to leads. In order to drive online traffic a business needs to be relevant to an online audience.
So how does one become relevant online? In this article we will share 8 simple tips that you can implement within your business to become more relevant online.
To understand these tips, we must first look at the root of what makes someone or something relevant.
Many of the professionals we work with truly are experts in their fields. From builders to roofers to pet boarders, dentists, auto dealers to agricultural seed companies, there are knowledgeable professionals in every field with something to offer. In today’s world, one of the most effective online marketing techniques comes from the core philosophy of helping others. Have you ever heard the phrase, “People Don’t Care How much you Know until they Know How Much you Care?” Content marketing is like this, in a new-age online sort of way. Many businesses we work with seek to help others first and sell their products or services as a result of providing that help. This is the essence of how to do content marketing in a genuine way and become relevant online. If you produce content that will serve other’s needs, they will look to you as a resource and will come back again and again and will recommend you to others. Eventually when you ask for a sale, your potential customer will have interacted with your business, seen that you care (because you provided them such great info) and will be much more likely to purchase from you because you’ve already established an online relationship with them.
Outlined below are 8 simple tips of things that your business can do to become more relevant online. For more tips, download our ebook, 30 Online Lead Generation Tips and Tricks.
Create your site(s) with searchability in mind
In order to develop and share relevant content on any platform whether it’s a website or social media sites, you must first have those foundations properly set up. This includes a website that is aesthetically pleasing and helps the user easily navigate to the content that they need. From a technical stand-point, your site should be developed with the search engine crawlers in mind so that as your site is crawled, your valuable and relevant info can be found to help your business rank higher in search results. If you aren’t sure if your site is up to par to be adequately crawled and indexed by the search engines, contact us here for a free consultation and SEO Site Audit Report.
Create a welcoming tone and feel
The technical side of your website and social media is important, and so is the personalization. If you can’t get people to engage with your content then you’ve lost them. That is why tone is so important as it helps showcase what and who you really are. Ask some friends or a professional content writer to read through your content and provide feedback on what their opinions are of your company. See if their feedback fits with the image you want to portray.
Write content
Relevancy, as measured by the search engines, is determined by online web traffic, engagement and social sharing In order to achieve engagement you need to provide your online audience with content to engage with. Here’s an exercise to get you started on your first blog post: Write down the top 10 questions that customers most often ask and determine if a few of them would make a great blog post. For example, a cleaning company could write an article on tips for getting stains out of carpets. A clinic could share tips on staying healthy as we head into a new season. You are an expert in your field and people look to you for a reason. Take your knowledge and put it on paper … blog that is. Share your knowledge with the world and the world will find you.
Share that content
There are several avenues to consider sharing that content. We suggest 2 ways:
- Through a permission based email marketing platform (such as what we’re using here), sharing content with your contacts who may have an interest in said content.
- Across your social Networks: As we explained in an earlier blog post, Why Social Media Matters in SEO,social media is critical to SEO and relevancy online. It provides a platform for your customer base to engage with you. Whether you are B2B or B2C, there are a variety of platforms to consider. Determine which are best for your brand and engage with them. Share your content marketing pieces (blog posts) across your social networks so that people know what type of info you have available to them.
Share photos
Photo posts on social media get 39% more interaction. Because interaction = relevancy, we want interaction. If your profession doesn’t feel that flashy, post photos of something else that is cute or inspirational. Look for photosthat would be of interest to your core customer base. Try to post 1 photo/week for 4 weeks straight and see how your online followers interact.
Write shorter posts
Shorter posts receive 23% more interaction. When it comes to social media, the life of a post is anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of days depending on the platform being utilized and number of friends/followers a person is engaging with. People scroll for information. When posting, make your point and make it catchy.
Ask questions
Question posts get 100% more comments because you are asking your followers to take an action. Ask something fun and engaging. Be cautious about open ended opinion questions that could open the door to an uncomfortable debate. Here’s an example to consider: a restaurant or café could post a photo of 2 pies they baked that day and ask, “Which Pie Wore their Berry Better: The Blueberry or Raspberry?”
- Tip within a tip: You can also ask for a comment for a chance to win something from your business (according to Facebook’s rules you can’t require users to like your page or the post, or share the page or post to be eligible to win a prize).
Share/post consistently
We understand that it can be difficult to find time to post. There are resources out there such as free social media scheduling platforms that allow you to pre-set your posts. Choose what works best for you and try setting 1 hour each week to set up posts for the following 1 – 2 weeks. A platform that we suggest is Hootsuite. If you manage 3 or fewer social profiles, it’s free. Hootsuite allows you to log-in and set up future posts. Aren’t sure what to share/post? Refer back to #2, #4 and #6 for idea generation. Another tip is the 80/20 rule… 80% of posts should be other business’ content, photos, etc. and 20% should be your own content and about your business.
We hope that you will find some time to utilize these 8 tips on how to become more Relevant Online. If you’re looking for more tips on driving leads to your website, download this helpful ebook, 30 Lead Generation Tips and Tricks.