What are your prospects searching for?
As a business owner with a website, it is of course important that for your website to act as an effective marketing tool, your prospects must be able to find you online. If they can’t find you amongst the billions upon billions of websites out there, then what’s the point in having one?
So how do you make your website stand out from the crowd? How do you appear in the search results in Google when somebody types in what they’re searching for?
One key thing you must consider when setting up your website is what’s going on inside the minds of your prospects. If they were to be in need of what you offer through your business, then what would they type into the search form? What phrase would they use?
Recent research has shown that 30% of all queries people make online include a particular state, city or post code. Hmmm… interesting!
Now why is THAT so important?
Just think about it…. If you’re a dentist in Brisbane, then isn’t it logical that your prospects would type "Brisbane dentist" into Google, and not just "dentist"?
The same goes for almost any other industry or service and is especially important if you do offer products and servics only available locally.
So why is it then, that so few businesses market online with this in mind?
If you’ve not done this, then what can you do?
Firstly, if you’ve not got a Wordpress blog, then get one. Google loves them for starters, and they’re probably the best thing you can have to start building keywords around your local search terms (such as Brisbane dentist, or Sydney lawyer for example).
Once you have your blog established, it’s time to post regular, informative content on your blog. Ensure your local search term appears regularly in the title of your blog posts, and also within the content.
You could write something with a title such as, "Brisbane dentist tells you how to whiten your teeth naturally", and then within the blog post itself, write something like, "Brisbane denist, Dr X suggests that….". You can then finish the article with something like, "If you would like more information about Brisbane dentist Dr X can help you, call us on….".
It’s not that hard and if you don’t have the time/inclination/energy to do any of this, don’t worry! My team can help you with that, no problem! In fact, what’s great about any online marketing strategy is that you really don’t have to lift a finger (except to delegate the work), because the rest can be done for you.
I hope I’ve given you food for thought here – what is your marketing strategy? Are you incorporating local search terms into your keyword research and application? Do you have a blog attached to your website?
There is so much more to this than just keywords – but having this local search knowledge will help you to really target your local buyers and massively boost your profits.
For more information on how my team and I can help you, please Contact me to arrange an obligation-free consultation.
What NOT to do on Facebook
Today’s post is based on a comment a friend of mine made in his Facebook status this morning. He was saying how amazed he was at how many people post constant status updates, one after the other, to market their business.
He also went on to say how he didn’t mind the occasional marketing status update, but that lots of them annoyed him. So what he did to these people was "Hide" them from his status updates on his Facebook page. What this means is that he no longer sees the updates of people he has "hidden".
In response to his status update, another friend commented, saying he actually removed these people as friends.
So what’s the lesson here?
Well, if you insist on solely using your status updates to market your business, you’re going to have people deleting or "hiding" you. What this means, is that your message will never get through.
So here’s what I think you should do, and what I do myself:
Remember that Facebook is a Social Media platform. It’s a way in which people connect with each other online and is used by a huge proportion of the population. Now, you must also remember that people don’t like to be sold to. So if every single status update you post is about your business, or is pointing them back to your website, very soon you’re going to be deleted or at least hidden, so they don’t have to read your constant pushing to get them to your website.
Instead, I suggest you pepper your status updates with what you’re doing each day. You could be working on your business, but don’t post a link. Even talking about a new client you’ve picked up, or a project you’re working on is great.
Also, using Social Media for marketing your business is all about building relationships. So post the occasional update to talk about what you’re doing with your family this weekend, or something one of your children did today that you’re really proud of. Also, if one of your Facebook friends posts something about what they’re doing, make a positive comment, or congratulate them on an achievement they’ve posted about – interact with them.
This shows the world that you’re just another person and that you care about them too.
It’s not that hard, and if you do this you’ve got a much better chance of getting your message across when it counts. Try it and see what a difference it makes.
You probably realise that Facebook is one of the many very powerful ways to market your business out there, but if you’re like many business owners, you have neither the time, the knowledge or the inclination to spend the time marketing in this way. But that’s ok, because my team and I can do this all for you. For a small monthly fee, we can keep your status updates happening on a regular basis, which will in turn drive more and more people to your website. Contact me for more details.
Why is Offline Advertising Losing its Effectiveness?
I was talking to a colleague and friend of mine earlier today who told me about a 2008 survey that identified the reasons behind why traditional offline marketing methods were losing their effectiveness.
Did you know that the internet has surpassed print Yellow Pages and newspaper advertising as the primary way in which people search for products and services?
If you look at your own habits, you’re probably not surprised by this. When was the last time you dug out the Yellow Pages book to search for a product or service? Unless you’re one of the few households that doesn’t have a computer and internet connection, it’s probably been a while, right? Why dig out that huge yellow book, when you can type your question onto the screen and have an answer within seconds?!
No flipping through pages required either!
Ok, so the fact that fewer people are using print media to find products and services is one reason for the decline in effectiveness, but what other reasons are there?
Cost is usually a factor. As a business owner you’re looking for value. No matter what you pay for advertising, you want results from it right? Now if less people are using print media to find services such as yours, then technically you should be paying less for advertising, but the reality is that you’re probably paying more and more.
As savvy business owners realise the power of marketing online and how it can save them up to thousands of dollars per year in advertising, all the while while driving more and more customers to their business, why on earth would they choose the older "traditional" forms of advertising if it’s not going to give them the same results?
If your business is not yet online, then I suggest you seriously begin to think about getting it "out there" because that’s what your competitors are doing.
Need help? Myself and my team are here to make the entire process of advertising your business an easy, hassle-free process. We’ll handle the lot, from building you a website (if you don’t already have one), to marketing to the masses!
Please Contact me for a free no-obligation consultation.
What is all the Fuss About Facebook?
Ok, so what IS Facebook, first of all?
To put it in simple terms, Facebook is a social media site that allows individuals to interact with each other by sharing photos, videos, messages and playing online games, amongst other things.
Facebook has grown very quickly and continues to grow at a rapid rate even today.
Did you know that by 2010 Gen Y will outnumber the Baby Boomers and that a whopping 96% of them have joined a social network, such as Facebook or Myspace or Twitter?
Did you know it took around 38 years for radio to reach 50 million users?
But it took only NINE MONTHS for Facebook to add 100 MILLION USERS!!!
There are so many users of Facebook that if it were a country, it’d be the world’s fourth largest, after China, India and the US! Now that’s a pretty big potential audience huh?
Now consider this…
What if you were to deliver an outstanding service to somebody who happened to be a Facebook user? What if your service was so absolutely fabulous that they wanted to tell everyone they knew about it?
Through what means do you think they’ll do it?
Remember though – if you give them terrible service, the news will travel a lot faster!
Facebook also allows you to create your own "Fan page" for your business. It’s just another way in which you can post updates about your business or upcoming specials, and you can even link your fan page to Twitter, so your twitter status is updated automatically.
The beauty of using Facebook for your business is that you are allowing your potential customers to see the "personal" side of you – you’re giving yourself a face and a name, and this creates trust.
If they trust you, then they’re more likely to buy from you.
If you haven’t set up your own Facebook account yet, then what are you waiting for??!!
If you’ve not got the time (or the inclination) to do it yourself, Contact me and my team can do the whole lot for you.
Why is a Blog so Good for Business?
I’m just one of many internet marketers around who sprouts the importance of having a blog. I believe every business should have one if they want to stay at the top of their game.
The reason why having a blog is so important comes purely down to marketing.
For starters, Google LOVES a regularly updated Wordpress blog and will quickly increase your rankings if you do things right.
Not only that, but people (your potential customers) tend to come back to a blog that provides them with something of value.
If you’re able to regularly post useful, relevant content on your blog each week, people will come back. In fact, these people will begin to trust you as time goes on and will be more likely to buy from you than somebody who has visited your website for the first time.
So if you’ve not "blogged" before (don’t worry – it’s easy to do once you’re set up!), then today is the day you get started. You can link it to your main business website, and link back from your blog, so your readers can read about your products and services on a regular basis.
Make a point to post a blog post at least once a week, but daily is even better. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, then of course you can outsource (I can help you with this).
Ok, so go get a blog linked to that website of yours and let’s see what a difference it will make to your sales!
