I already have a Website! What's next?
I already have a Website! What's next?
I already have a Website! What's next?
Location! Location! Location!
To real estate professionals these three words represent the most important factors for determining the desirability of a property and the success of a business. Successful business owners understand the value of location, and they will go to great lengths to find the right storefront. They will analyze demographics, map competitors, consider parking access and exterior lighting, ensure adequate transportation routes, and check a multitude of other factors before renting or buying a piece of commercial real estate.
Unfortunately, many business owners do not have the same discipline when it comes to building a website. Instead, many companies slap a few web pages together and expect business to start flowing.
You wouldn't build your business in the middle of the woods and expect business to flow, right?
So unless you're a lumberjack it will take a lot more than a website to generate new leads and sales for your business. For a website to deliver ROI, it requires an integrated Internet Marketing strategy designed to attract visitors, convert them into leads and/or sales, and nurture and retain those new leads and customers. That means quality tactics, like email marketing, paid advertising, landing pages, microsites, search engine optimization and social media are essential.
To simplify what can be a potentially confusing concept, you can group online marketing into three broader tactics: search marketing, conversion marketing, and relationship marketing.
Search Marketing
Step 1: Get out of the Woods
After developing a website the first step is to attract new visitors. That means you've got to get out of the woods and into the city where potentials customers can easily find you.
Although search engine marketing(paid advertising and search engine optimization) is still an important tactic for driving traffic, the word "engine" is no longer relevant. Web users are adopting new search habits, moving away from search engine queries to non-traditional searches within community forums, blogs, social media and business directories. That means marketers must also shift their marketing behavior by adopting new habits for Search Marketing.
Here is a good place to start:
Optimize your website and submit an XML sitemap to major search engines.
List your website in local and national directories and others relevant to your industry.
Create social profiles on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter and post comments on a regular basis.
Write and distribute news releases and articles to popular blogs and online magazines.
Use direct mail and other traditional marketingto drive visitors to your website or landing pages.
Conversion Marketing
Step 2: Exchange your Axe for a Chainsaw
After you drive visitors to your website using the search marketing tactics above, the next step is to convert them into customers and/or leads. That means you have to upgrade your online brochure to a lean, mean, lead generation machine throughConversion Marketing. Your website should be designed to capture leads and sales by driving a visitor to take a desired action toward becoming a customer. This might be through completing an online form, or by adding an item to a shopping cart.
Here are a few tips and tricks to do just that:
Determine a call-to-action for each page within your website, like "buy now" or "get in touch".
Give something in exchange for contact information, like a free webinar or whitepaper.
Develop landing pages and microsites apart from your website for use during specific campaigns.
Simplify your copy. Instead of long paragraphs, try bullet points and numbered lists.
Conduct A/B testing to try different headlines, buttons and call-to-actions. Compare the results.
Relationship Marketing
Step 3: Make New Friends and Keep Them, Too
Regardless of the rapid growth and popularity of online marketing, business is still - and will always be - about relationships. Even Paul Bunyan had an ox named Babe!
It's imperative to build relationships with prospects before, during and after business transactions. After you convert a visitor into a lead the next step is to nurture them, and for those who become customers the goal is to retain them. This is done through Relationship Marketing, the process of interacting with your prospects and customers to build trust and loyalty.
Here are a few ideas for building solid relationships online:
Adopt web 2.0 habits that encourage regular two-way conversations, like community forums.
Respond to both positive and negative feedback. Give thanks or make amends when necessary.
Publish resources and testimonials that add value and credibility to your products and services.
Develop an e-newsletter with quick tips and special promotions for your clients and prospects.
Create a rewards program to generate referrals and new leads.
So, if you already have a website and you are wondering what comes next, just follow the simple online marketing steps above to generate new sales and business. It's important, however, to remember that the online marketing steps are cyclical, but they do not necessarily happen in consecutive order. For example, you might need to build a relationship with a prospect before they are willing to convert. Likewise, your website should be optimized for conversion before you invest in search marketing to attract new visitors.
For more information and personalized tips take a free online marketing self-evaluation.
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