How to Get the Most out of Your Website
Find out steps you can take to put your website to work for you to increase your online presence.
So you've just launched your shiny new website, and it looks great, but now what? Getting out on the web is just the first step. Getting the most out of your new online presence is going to take some work, but don't worry, it'll be worth it. If you proactively pursue the tips in this article, you'll see the impact in no time as you begin to capture more leads and secure more conversions.
Improve Visibility
Your website could be good, really good, but if no one sees it, then what's the point? It's essential to make sure that the people who need you, can find you. Traffic is the life blood of any website. That's where SEO comes in. The main goal of SEO is to help improve organic traffic to your website by appearing higher in search results. This is done through optimizations that will help improve your website's ranking with search engines. SEO is a broad topic, but there's a few things you can do right now to make a big difference
Keywords
The keywords on your website will not only help people, but also search engines know what your website is all about. To really leverage SEO, you'll first need to carefully consider and research the keywords that will help your website both appear on the top of searches, as well as appear in more searches. To do this, try to find keywords that will be searched often but are also less competitive. It might be helpful to decide on a niche to specialize in since it will naturally have less competition and your leads will end up being better fits. Once you have your list of keywords, you can start sprinkling them into a variety of places throughout your website, both seen and unseen, including your text, headings, alternate image descriptions, and meta data.
Blogging
Adding blog articles to your website can drive new visitors who are currently searching a topic online. Thoughtful blogs can help SEO by attracting users who are actively searching for information or answers. When picking blog articles to write, ask yourself what people are likely to search for and provide detailed answers. For the best results, remember to continue using your keywords throughout your blogs. Try to create resources specific to your industry that people will find helpful as they pursue their own research. In this way you're not only improving your own search rankings, but you're also providing the community with knowledge by sharing your expertise.
Back Linking
Search engines love when a website is linked to by other websites, and that's where back linking comes in. Backlinks serve as a signal of trust, and so the more reputable the linking sites are, the more positively it will impact your SEO. You can pursue backlinks in a variety of ways. Local business directories or "Best of..." lists are a great place to start and are often as easy as filling out a quick online form. Another great source of backlinks is submitting the content you created via blogging to resource pages or news sites to be used as references in other articles.
Stay Active
You might feel like you really hit it off with a potential client, but at the end of the day the timing wasn't quite right. However, just because they don't need your offerings now, doesn't mean they won't in the future. When they're ready to make the plunge we want your name to be the first one that they think of. Staying active will ensure that potential clients remember you when the time is right, be it weeks, months, or even years later.
Newsletters
Reaching out to your network on a regular basis via newsletters can help you to convert leads by nudging anyone who might be on the fence and in need of a reminder. You can use an email sign up form on your website to capture emails of visitors. This means when you start sending out email blasts you'll have a ready made list of potential clients interested in your offerings.
Updates
Regularly updating your content will give your users a reason to keep coming back to your website. Producing high quality content that your clients care about adds tremendous value to your website and encourages repeat visits by keeping things fresh and interesting. There's all kinds of things you can post to catch user's attention like new offerings, promotions, upcoming events, useful resources, news coverage, or anything else new going on at your business.
Social media
The need to publicize and promote yourself can't be overstated. If you don't market, no one will know your new website exists. Post on social media to get the snowball rolling, and let your friends, family, and contacts know what you're up to. Word of mouth can be a very powerful tool, and you never know who might know your potential next client.
See the Big Picture
Everything covered in this article has it's part to play. It's important to see how each piece comes together to make the whole run smoothly. For example, after you post a new blog article, head over to social media to promote it to potential clients, capture some emails from your new visitors, and send out a newsletter to everyone when you have a big sale happening. Continuing this cycle of posting and promoting will make sure you are reaching the right people at the right time. If you want to take things to the next level, you can dive into google analytics. This will help you start getting an idea of which tactics are working well and identify which demographics you might want to try to reach. Taking this holistic approach to your online presence will allow you to maximize the effort you put in by multiplying the effects of each action you take.
Here at Naughty Cat, not only would we love to help make your website, but also to help you get the most out of it. From consulting to content creation, we'll be there with you every step of the way so you never feel abandoned. When you work with us you become a valued member of our network and we look forward to continuing our relationship long in to the future.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us here, if we work together there's no limit to what we can achieve!