Why Agencies Are Better at Social Media Management
August 22, 2016
The Importance of Finding Your Social Media Niche
September 7, 2016
Your website doesn’t matter. There we said it.
Why? Because your website doesn’t matter if you aren’t taking the time to market it properly. And if you’re going to market it properly you have to start on the ground floor. Marketing a website doesn’t begin once it’s up and running, some of the best techniques need to be implemented during the build, incorporated throughout the site, and then others are more worthwhile once you’ve gone live. To get started, invest your time and money into these essentials to help your website rise above the competition:
1. Quality branding
We’ve discussed it before, branding is more than just a logo; it’s your entire image. You have to look beyond the logo and a color palette and fully encompass the voice, tone, and personality of your brand. Being easily recognized means nothing without purpose. Spending the time to establish a brand that resonates with your company is a key element in establishing an online presence of any kind, but especially when it comes to your website since its entire purpose is to promote you. Quality branding gives you an edge over anyone who hasn’t taken the time, or invested in the cash, in themselves. If you think your templated, clip art logo is good enough – think again. Do yourself a favor and hire someone that knows what they are doing to give your company the facelift it deserves.
2. Focus on SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the best way to strengthen your website and make it the most powerful tool your business has at its disposal. Solid SEO allows search engines to crawl your website more efficiently which increases your visibility in search results, delivers direct traffic to your website, and increases your sales. To put it simply: Without SEO your website is going to struggle. And if you’re spending money to build a website in the first place, that’s the last thing you want to see.
3. Content matters
Going hand-in-hand with your SEO strategy, you must have solid content that accurately portrays your brand and business. Sure, you could fill up a website with a slew of buzzwords that search engines can’t resist or have something pretty and attention-grabbing, but if there isn’t physical content that says something about who you are, what’s the point? Quality content, in the form of detailed information pertaining to your products, company history, and blog posts all speak volumes about your brand while boosting your SEO and in turn, web traffic. This also applies to your social media marketing (which we’ll get to momentarily) – everything has to be tied to together with a cohesive, strategic plan that emphasizes your brand, your product, and what makes you the best at what you do.
4. Social media marketing
Where a website can be a pricey investment just starting out social media can be a much more cost efficient way to establish your web presence. After a certain point though it just isn’t enough for most businesses. With your slick new branding and custom website ready to go you need to start thinking about social media differently and start treating it like the marketing asset that it is. Putting up a few posts a month isn’t going to get you anywhere. Putting up a few posts a week may not even do the trick due to current algorithms. But, a social media marketing plan that includes investing in advertisements – bingo. Even better news? Social media marketing remains budget-friendly. Investing in promoted posts, clicks-to-website ads, and a variety of other campaigns are a surefire way to get eyes on your website and with ad targeting they aren’t just any eyes – they are the eyes of customers are who looking for exactly what you’re selling.
5. Mind your analytics
Analytics aren’t really a marketing method, per say, but they are the key to keeping your other strategies and tools in check so that you can monitor what is working, what isn’t, and can best determine how to evolve over time. If you’re advertising within a social media platform many of them can provide their own analytics, but it’s always best to keep tabs on your website using Google Analytics. You can review how users are interacting with your site, as well as what types of ads and links are directing them to various pages.
Anyone can have a website, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good one. Certainly not everyone who has a website will have one that performs well. If you’re interested in having a great website though, keep these things in mind. If you need help building it, we’re always happy to help.
