You’ve built a website, but that doesn’t guarantee traffic. Now that you have a site, how do you promote it?
Tell people about it
You need to tell people about your site for them to find you online. Imagine your various marketing channels (Facebook, YouTube, email newsletters, print adverts, etc) as nets trying to capture potential customers and bring them back to your website. Once they’ve been reeled in, it’s up to your website to move them through the sales funnel and take them from visitor to customer.
For your marketing channels to do this effectively you need to ensure that you’re linking to your website at every reasonable opportunity and displaying your URL on printed marketing material. Have it in the footer of emails, in your social media bios, and at the end of videos.
Explore other marketing channels
Many businesses think that having a website and social media account covers all their digital marketing requirements. In fact, it’s just the beginning. To increase traffic to your site you’ll need a strategy. A well-rounded digital marketing strategy includes:
- Website
- Social Media
- Advertising
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- SEO
- Pay per click (PPC)
- Blogs
- Video
We refer to these channels as the animals in our zoo. Let them run wild and you’ll spend all your time chasing them down, but tame them and you can get them working for you and your business.
Of course, if you’re a small business it can be hard to have the time to run your social media accounts, let alone branch out to each of these channels. If you’re already busy as a bee, the best thing to do is evaluate where your target audience is.
If your business is B2C (business to consumer) and you have a younger target market, you may choose to focus on Youtube, Tik Tok and SnapChat. If your sales are mainly B2B (business to business) then email marketing, PPC and Twitter may be more important. Spend a little time working out where your audience is and which channels to put your energy into.
Choose your message wisely
Once you know where your potential customers are, work out what they need to see to be sold on your brand. Why should they visit your website? What do they want and need from it?
Perhaps they need social proof in the form of testimonials and case studies. Or maybe they want to see your portfolio. A blog can help show your subject-matter expertise, while email marketing can provide discounts that land a sale. Your message is important, don’t go barking up the wrong tree.
Optimize your site
Once you’ve done everything you can to bring people to your site directly, it’s time to help them find their way there organically through search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of making online content rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. Want your website to rank higher in the pecking order? You’ll need to do some optimizing. Here are a few easy wins:
- Regularly add content to your site and keep it up-to-date.
- Use keywords and headings appropriately.
- Provide helpful, quality content that addresses your customer’s needs.
- Make sure your metadata and alt tags are accurate and complete.
Don’t be a sitting duck
There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, but sitting and waiting isn’t one of them. Be proactive. Think strategically about how you are going to use your website, and what you want from it. It’s a vital tool in your marketing toolkit.
For help driving traffic to your site, consider signing up to webzoo Pro. With business discovery sessions, monthly marketing guidance and tutorials, our team is ready to help you learn all the tools required for your business to grow online.
