Tips to Get More Website Traffic and Sales
Have a Digital Marketing Plan
A digital marking plan is a plan of action that establishes repeatable tactics and connects marketing tools and content to major goals, using metrics to measure and keep on track.
To create a digital marketing plan, it is important to first establish why you are using online marketing and what you are trying to achieve through it.
- Is your goal to get more sales?
- Is it to get more clients?
- Is it to get more people subscribed to your email list?
Whatever your goal is, it should be what you are trying to lead people to do when they come across your website.
A great way to determine this focus is by creating a mission statement and deciding what you want your business to project to your clients.
All of your marketing tools and content (website, email campaign, social media, SEO, blog etc.) are components of your marketing plan that work together to redirect traffic back to your website, which should act as your marketing hub.
Another important aspect of marketing is determining how much time/money you want to invest into it. Who is going to put this plan into action?
Will you need to train employees or hire a virtual assistant? Create a marketing budget that clearly lays out financial expectations for your business. For example, this can be something like “we will be allotting 10% of our business revenue for the year towards marketing”.
Create clear marketing messages
A marketing message should project the goals and objectives of your business.
To do this you need to understand the things that set you apart from your competitors and what you want people to know about your business, in light of the competition. This will effectively guide your content creating in a consistent and straightforward manner, as each marketing message for your business will be the foundation for all content created.
Against some people’s opinions, not everyone is your ideal client. People want to self-identify when they go to your website. If they don’t feel like you are speaking to them, they will move on, and your marketing message will be missing the point.
A great strategy to determine your ideal client, is to come up with a profile or avatar and their important characteristics. Consider the following…
Gender? Age? What they are wearing?
Where they spend their time online? What do they do for a living?
What is their income like? What are their pain points? What brings them joy?
When creating your marketing message, you want to speak to your client’s pain points and tell them how you are going to solve their problems with your services/products. This will draw in the customer. Then, you need to provide clarity as to how they are going to purchase this solution (product or service) from you, so that these potential clients can turn into sales.
How to Drive More Traffic on Google
Google is a great way to bring new potential clients on to your website. However, making sure you have the following for your website will maximize the impact you can make through simple Google searches.
- Website Loads Quickly – Test on Google Page Speed Test for both desktop and mobile speeds. To improve the speed of your website, ensure your photos and files are condensed in size!
- Make sure your website is Mobile Optimized – More and more people are searching from their phones, so you want to make sure your website is easy to navigate via mobile.
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate and follow – When consumers get confused, they abandon what they are doing. Don’t lose sales this way!
- Check your website for broken links.
- Create clear calls for action spread out throughout your website. – Give people multiple opportunities to engage with you, by providing calls to action (ex. buy now, book now, or subscribe) in large and consistent font, using the same contrasting colours throughout your website.
- Be consistent with your branding to improve user experience.
Improve your local SEO
Google my business is a platform where you can control your business listing from Google Search Engine Results and Google Map. Make sure you have it updated regularly, this includes your business hours, contact information, photos and videos frequently. This is an effective way to get organic reach, as 82% of smartphone shoppers make a “near me” or local search before deciding on a business, with the most relevant listings ranking at the top of Google, just below the ads. The more accurate information you have, the more likely your business will end up near the top of the Google Search.
It can also be a great tool for managing an online reputation by responding to customer reviews. In fact, encourage your customers to leave reviews, after working with them or if they’ve purchased a product from you. Respond to all of them, the good, the bad and the ugly! It’s all about building an experience with your clients and you’ll inevitably be engaging future clients at the same time!
Tips to improve overall SEO
- Establish keywords – Relevant to your content and that resonate with what your ideal client is looking for. Remember their pain points!
- Create quality content on a regular basis – Consider blogging and answer frequently asked questions about your services/products. Then, you can reuse this content to come up with various social media posts.
- Get backlinks – Links from other credible websites are a vote of confidence. Ex. On your chamber of commerce or local business association websites.
- Internal links – Link to your own content that is relevant, such as to a product for purchase that you are reviewing. It allows for a more straightforward and enjoyable process for clients.
- Outbound links – Linking to other businesses, in partnership posts etc. It will show consumers content relatability and will establish a greater sense of trust.
- Create a sitemap – It shows your website’s most important content. Talk to your web developer or check your page builder if you’re doing it yourself!
- Headlines and subheadings – Use keywords within these!
- Images with alternative tags – Make sure the file name for your photos is appropriate and descriptive. When you upload, make sure to also fill out the alt tag, it provides further description of the image for those who turn off photos.
- Meta-description – Provide a meta-description under your website title, to further develop on the service that you offer and your location.
- Social signals – Share content from social media on your website!
- Remove bloater code – Some websites have so much hidden code that the descriptions of the pages are lost and decrease SEO.
Key Elements for Your Website
With your website being your marketing hub, you will want make sure your website has all of the key elements needed to be an effective marketing platform.
- Up to Date
- Mobile Friendly
- Clear Messaging
- Pain Points of Ideal Clients are Addressed
- Calls-to-Action Are Included – Ex. Buy Now, Book Now, Subscribe.
- Easy Navigation
- Includes Social Media Links and Feeds
- Optimized for Google
Content to Consider Adding to Your Website
- Case Studies
- A Blog Feature
- An Online Store
- Contact Forms
Web Presence Optimization
Increasingly, people end up on websites after encountering a brand on Facebook, Linked In, Instagram or other social media platforms. The more platforms you are present on, the more likely you will turn up in the search results, since social media is a part of search engine algorithm.
Blogging is another way to engage your site visitors, while increasing organic traffic to your site. Think about the questions that you get all of the time from your clients, what do they need help with and how can you address this? Google likes blogs because content is updated frequently and fresh information, not static, is great for SEO. In fact, companies with blogs produce on average 67% more leads per month than those without.
Social Media Marketing is also a great way to take advantage of more people being online these days. Engage with your target audience consistently, relate to them and create authentic relationships. On this platform, promote special deals, share blog posts consistently (even more than once), and use videos to promote products and/or services.
Determine how large you want your social media presence to be and what tools/sites you believe would be the most beneficial to reaching your ideal client. Identify the right metrics to use to measure your progress towards online marketing goals. Determine how and why you are engaging current and potential customers online. Then, create a content plan with strategies to reach them!
Email marketing has one of the highest Returns on Investment (ROI), with it being $42 on every $1 you spend. It builds brand recognition and trust. People have already entrusted you with their email, making them the most likely to purchase from you. Some people are afraid they become a bother to their clients, however if you are providing value to the client, they are going to enjoy getting your emails!
Auditing your current online marketing presence, through Google analytics, is a great way to determine who is currently connecting with you, your social media, your blog and your website. This will help guide your strategies, platforms and content, so that you can turn traffic into sales!
If you are looking for more support, we suggest you look into our 12-week social media marketing group coaching program. This program is designed to help you get organized, create a realistic plan, and find inspiration for getting the word out about what you have to offer. Everyone who signs up will benefit from regular accountability, training and feedback along the way. And at the end of 12 weeks, you’ll have the knowledge and tools you need to grow your business through online marketing.