Having a website is one thing, having an online presence that
effectively reaches and engages new customers is something entirely
different.
Often a business adopts an online marketing strategy that is
limited to pushing a website online, but what about taking your
online presence beyond your website?
This is where I would like to introduce you to a relatively new
term that encompasses all the nuances of expanding and maximising
your online presence: Inbound
Marketing. Inbound Marketing is focused on getting
found by customers through the combination of search, social and
content. I know what you're thinking, sounds like marketing jargon,
but stick with me on this one.
Traditional marketing methods focus on finding customers using
techniques that are poorly targeted and unsolicited. Inbound
marketing flips this concept on its head. Instead of cold calling,
you create useful content and tools that prompt enquiries for more
information. Rather than interrupting people with television ads,
you create videos that prospective customers want to see. Instead
of junk mail, you create your own blog that people subscribe to and
look forward to reading. Rather than forcing your message into a
crowd, with inbound marketing you attract highly qualified
customers to your business.
Content
Creating new and regular content is the first step to maximising
your online presence. When I say "create new content" I don't mean
publish the odd piece of news! Content takes many forms ranging
from product pages and videos to blog posts, photos and graphics-
be creative. Ask yourself, "What will our audience engage
with and respond to? What added value can we provide around our
products/services?" For example, if you sell property, produce
analysis and graphs on current market trends. If you sell cameras,
create resources to help budding photographers improve their
skills. If you sell investment products, create a Q&A section
that connects beginner investors with experts.
Search Engine Optimisation
Producing and publishing content is a good start; the next
challenge is making sure it is found by the right people. This is
where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes into play. SEO is the
process of creating, formatting and promoting websites in order to
increase the number of visitors the site receives from search
engines.
There are many aspects to SEO ranging from the way other sites
link to your websites to how you use words on your own pages. It is
important to be realistic when you are making your content SEO
friendly, you are never going to rank above Amazon in the search
engines for a term like "books". Target keywords that your audience
will be searching for, are relevant to your content and are not
highly competitive; these will often be location-related and
long-tail terms.
Social Media
Another important part of the puzzle is social media. An active
social media presence is an excellent channel through which your
business can connect and engage with customers, show the human side
of your company and help to establish trust and loyalty. By using
platforms such as Twitter and Facebook you can promote new content
and comment on industry news - this can help reaffirm your position
as experts and market leaders.
Reputation management forms a large part of the social media
sphere, knowing how to react to positive, but more importantly,
negative comments can make or break your social campaign. The best
way to respond to negativity is always to offer an apology and a
solution, let them know you value your customers and are willing to
correct any mistakes, whether they be yours or not,
immediately.
Remaining static online is a sure fire way to get left in the
dust of your competition. Digital marketing is full of fast moving
trends, however once you strip back the fancy fads the basics
remain the same: reach, engage, and convert. With over 4 billion
Google searches a day and 800 million active Facebook users there
has been no better time to maximise your online presence.
Posted By
Ben Inder Filed under
SEO,
Online Marketing on
Last week we had a look at some ideas to help get your business
blog going. However one of the most difficult elements of blogging
is consistency. The best way to tackle this is to produce an
editorial calendar.
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Posted By
Ben Inder Filed under
Online Marketing on
Having a blog on your website is often an essential part of your
online marketing strategy. The problem is that many businesses
don't know how to use them properly. An effective business
blog will engage your current customers, drive new customers to
your site and attract social shares and inbound links.
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Posted By
Ben Inder Filed under
Online Marketing on
A recent Google webmasters thread caught Google stating the
obvious, after the Penquin update any SEO professional that didn't
know this should be out of a job. However it still seems to be a
fact that's eluding many webmasters and SEO's out there.
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Posted By
Ben Inder Filed under
SEO,
Online Marketing on
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a form of digital marketing.
It is the process of structuring a website so that its pages are
found, read and indexed by search engines in the most effective way
possible.
Read Full Post +
Posted By
Ben Inder Filed under
SEO,
Online Marketing on