Focus on Web Marketing Communications
by Blue Wave Concepts on Aug.10, 2011, under Selling & Marketing
Difficult economic times mean that there are less dollars being spent. This means that as a business owner or business marketer, it’s critical to be sure that your market share is increasing. How can an effective website and Internet marketing strategy help to increase market share?
1. Be found when your prospects are looking.
2. Engage with your customers on an ongoing basis.
3. Maintain your relationship with your customers and provide excellent customer service.
An effective website can help with the first tip and position your business to be found when customers are looking. Unfortunately, many websites that were build in the last few years were created for beauty and not for function. The first thing that an effective website must do is to be found on the Internet by search engines such as Google.
One way to test whether your site is going to be shown when someone researches your services is to do a simple search yourself. Keep in mind, the more general your terms, the larger the field of players would be. A realistic search would be to use a phrase. For example, if I were searching for something that I offer, I would include a phrase such as “hubspot certified partner philadelphia” instead of “hubspot”. Using the latter would yield results are more likely helpful for Hubspot, than WebMarCom as a Hubspot Certified Partner. This is the way you should think about searches… not in the broadest context, but in a more specific context.
If you have identified that you are not coming up in the searches, then there are things that can be done starting with the architecture of the site. If you are a marketing manager or a business owner, it would be more efficient and effective to reach out to someone who works in the field to fix your site. You can also use the hubspot WebSiteGrader to get an idea of things that should be the focus of the person you contract with.
Contracting with someone and the scope of what you hire them for will depend upon how extensive your site is. The skills that you will be looking for include Seach Engine Optimization, website design, marketing experience, and inbound marketing. If the person truly understands your business, they will be a tremendous resource and aid in positioning your site, not just for search engines but also for lead generation.
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that it’s not just about traffic. A website that gets a lot of traffic is only as effective as the leads it generates. So, the website should also generate conversions.
If you are not getting leads and conversions currently, you are missing the opportunity to increase your market share. Many businesses and consumers turn to the Internet to find resources. Having a Facebook Page or a Linkedin Profile are great because they are both discoverable in a Google Search. The question is whether they are keyword savvy and work to help your company be discovered. A great Internet marketing company will take a look at all of the social media marketing opportunities and help wordcraft your bio, and suggest social media accounts that can position your company as a market or industry leader and knowledge resource.
Try Googling yourself and keep note of the results. If you are not coming up when you try a search, you are missing the opportunity to increase your market share!
