Grow Your Business by Going Online!

Just because you are on a budget, doesn’t mean you can’t attract new business online. There are several options available if you start small and do some in-house marketing online. Eventually, you will be able creating enough revenue that you can outsource your marketing duties as your online business takes off. Here are a few tips on helping to get your business far enough along that you can hire professional help.

Website Host

Depending on your website host, some in-house online marketing can be done with their help. Check and see what your website host offers and take advantage of any deals or add-ons that they offer. If you are in need of a website host, check out this link for Bluehost or ipage for webhosting.

Locate Your Local Listing Pages

One easy way to attract website visits, phone calls, and visits to your physical location, if you have one, is to claim your local business listing on Bing, Google, and any other local directory. These are free listing that will give your business online exposure, so it is wise to take advantage of as many of these as possible to help make your website search engine friendly.

Increase Your Search Results

The first step in making your website easier to find is to audit you’re on-page SEO. Optimizing your target keywords for each page will help to increase your business in search results. It isn’t difficult for your local business to rank naturally, but there are several online tools that can help you increase your website’s visibility and performance.

Develop an Email Marketing List

You can easily update current and potential customer with promotions, current sales, and information on your business when you develop a highly-targeted email list. This is an easy way to keep your brand on their radar making your business the first one they think of when they are ready to buy.

By creating a special savings coupon or an exclusive early bird notification, potential customers can be captured by basic offers that let them opt-in on your website. If you have a physical location, you can capture emails with a QR code at your register that is easily scannable with their mobile devices sending them to an opt-in page that will capture their information.

This is also a good way to drive new customers to your website. To easily convert a first-time visitor into a first-time customer, you can send them to a specific webpage on your website that offers them a specific product or service, free information on your products, email newsletter signup, or whatever you think may interest them. The more traffic you have on your website the better for increased search results and added sales for your business.

Connect on Social Media

It is also important to stay active on social media sites so you can introduce your brand and connect with new audiences. Social media can be a great tool to allow lots of potential customers to see what your business has to offer.

Instead of posting updates regarding products or services you are selling, which can turn people off, concentrate on giving them useful information that attracts their interest and allows them to naturally want to check out what your business has to offer. Social networking sites also allow customers to voice their opinions about your product allowing you to easily find out what people like and dislike about your company.

Increase Traffic and Search Engine Ranking

Your search engine ranking is very important. Using social media can also help increase traffic to your website, which also increases your search engine ranking. As social media has increased in popularity, both Bing and Google have used information when determining your website ranking. Here are some considerations search engines use when deciding on your ranking:

• Number of tweets and retweets a URL has
• The person that is tweeting the URL and their authority
• How many likes and shares a URL has on Facebook
• Number of +1s a URL has

Develop a Blog

Regularly blogging not only allows you to create an online authority on your product, but it will also increase your organic reach in search results. It should be easy for you to come up with topics that relate to your business which will allow your visitors to have content that will interest your potential customers when they land on your website.

Analyze Your Google Analytics Data

Don’t forget to locate your Google Analytics account which can give you tons of priceless information regarding your website visitors, particularly where they are coming from. When you understand, what customers are doing when they get to your website, you can you shift your effort to these areas and produce the highest quality traffic. Checking your Google Analytics should be done daily.

Build Relationships with Local Media Outlets

Any time that you get local media exposure, it can potentially attract new visitors to your website, plus you can also get some high-quality links to your website. You can start by introducing yourself to your local TV stations and your local online news publications. After you establish a connection, you can offer to give them insight into your industry whenever the need arises. It is surprising how many of these introductions often result in your lending your expert input to a news story.

Increase Brand Awareness

One of the most efficient ways to build your brand awareness and showcase your business is to have a strong social media presence. Currently, around 93% of marketers use social networking sites to help increase website traffic and promote their business. Social media is thought of as the perfect promotional tool because:

• It is cost effective
• It gives you global reach
• You can target specific groups of people that may be potential customers
• You can form your own community online
• You can find cross-promotional partners through social media
• You can easily announce new activities and get the word out faster than traditional methods

Also, remember that by creating valuable content, you can easily increase your brand awareness on social networking sites. When you have informative, inspiring, or funny content, people will share it with their friends increasing your reach.

Attracting business online can be a cost-effective campaign that any business can learn to use. By using social media and utilizing blogs, you can increase your website traffic, potential customer base, and product sales in several different ways by just using a few easy and simple social media marketing tricks.

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