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Don't let your website do all of the work for you
Curtis Hare • July 19, 2020
Don't let your website do all of the work for you.
You have a new business idea and you want somebody to build you a website that will get you to the top of the rankings and get you an abundance of leads, right? Everybody does but not everybody understands the work that must be done by the business alongside the result-driven website to ensure this happens.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but before we get to what’s required in getting your abundance of leads, you must first understand that your product needs to be something that people will want in what will most likely be an already flooded market. If it’s not, then as Duncan Bannatyne would say...
“for that reason, I’m out!”
Now you have a service or product that people want and are willing to pay you their hard-earned cash for, its time to tell you what’s required to boost your business online AND offline. You heard me correctly, offline too. Believe it or not, it’s actually incredibly important especially for small businesses who need to build a local presence.
As we are living in the age of digital marketing where the exact returns from your ads are displayed instantly on your screen it is easy to forget about the ‘old skool’ ways of billboards, sponsored roundabouts and radio ads where tracking returns is not possible - this does not mean that it is dead or not needed.
If it didn’t work you wouldn’t see major brands such as McDonald’s filling the outside of your telephone box with amazingly good looking big macs! It is very rare that I see a small business advertising on billboards, I do wonder if small business owners don’t realise they can hire them or have simply never looked into it to find they are actually not that expensive at all and will be seen by thousands of potential customers if placed in the right location.
So there you have it, my first point in getting those leads is building a local presence - if giant billboards aren’t your thing then why not sponsor your son’s local football team? If you have a car/van that you use for work and you haven’t already got it caked in your business’ branding then you’re missing a trick.
A branded vehicle is LITERALLY a moving billboard - if you drive around the areas where you offer your services a lot then this could be perfect for you to spread the word of your new venture! (you can use your friends and family too by making them all wear branded clothes when they go to the local supermarket!)
I think you’ve heard enough about all things offline, now its time to head back into 2020 ‘the year of all things terrible’ and get stuck into online marketing and the first stop on this train to success is going to be Google. Google is a business owners best friend or should be.
Offering services such as Google My Business, Ads and Analytics, Google has everything you need to push your business to those who are actively looking to find what you offer.
Google My Business (GMB) really needs its own article entirely to tell you how to get the full potential out of using it to give you the best chances of getting found online. GMB is that amazing little box on the right-hand side of the search results that shows you images of the business, reviews, opening times and more. This quick summary of your business could be the decider of whether a potential customer uses you or your competitor. Think about it, if you we’re looking online for something you needed, you’d go to the business who has the most professional looking images and best reviews, right? So will the people who are looking for your services right now.
A quick tip to help boost your ranking is to make sure that your web designer uses your exact GMB ‘business category’ in the website metadata. Give it a try, you might be surprised.
It is also very important you keep your GMB active by posting posts and offers on your listing regularly to keep your business active and getting found.
Google Ads are an incredible way of advertising your business as you can target those who are actively looking for your services which drastically increases your chances of getting good results, unfortunately, a lot of advertising agencies charge an arm and a leg on management fee’s so the returns end up not being as impressive as they should be.
Unlike Google, Facebook Ads are shown to people who are not actively searching for your product or services however they are far cheaper to run and easier to manage yourself. As those who see your ad may not be interested in your business at the time it really needs to stand out and make them want to click through instead of reading about what their lovely nan had for tea tonight.
As well as paid ads, Facebook also allows businesses to set up pages where they can gain a following of potential customers and post organic posts AHEM 'ads'... completely free of charge. Do not underestimate the power of social media, I promise you it is worth spending 30 minutes each day thinking about a post that will stand out and get your phone ringing.
There is also a very high chance that your local community patriot has set up a group on Facebook for the members of your town to have a bitch and a debate (they usually merge into one, to be honest) but can also be used to share your business posts to everyone in the area that your business serves.
It’s true people shop with their eyes, especially for products! If you have an eCommerce business then Instagram being the most ‘visual’ is the social platform for you, with the use of hashtags you can make sure your post is seen by those you want to see it.
As well as all of the above you should also be looking into adding your business to online directories such as yell - not only does this help people find you who use the directory but it also boosts your Google ranking and can even get your business seen on sat-navs in cars when they are nearby.
A website could be built perfectly for results but if the business does not put in the work to help keep it rising through the rankings and build an online presence then it can sadly become useless very quickly.
Firstly the copywriter will complete keyword research for your industry and location, they would then use the most relevant keywords for your metadata, titles and body copy throughout the website. This really helps to boost your rankings on Google for local searches.
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