Marketing your business online can be scary and daunting, especially as a new business. Here are a few quick things you can do to get the process started.
Content: This is very simple; Great content attracts great customers. Whether you are writing content for your personal website, a blog or sending emails to customers, putting a little time and effort into effective content should be priority number one. Much can be said about content length, writing above the fold or what kinds of archetype you need on your blog, but the basics are simple; Make your content interesting so that people want to come back for more. Great content should always:
- Answer a question your visitor/potential customer is asking
- Build trust with visitor
- Get people excited
Social Media: Getting your business out there on social media can be a very powerful marketing tool in today’s world. It allows your customers to receive instant updates on their favorite social media outlets and gives you the ability to personally interact with them. In the beginning you want to set aside time everyday to write new posts and answer questions and messages from customers or potential customers.
Basic SEO: Search engine optimization basically means you do what is necessary to make sure search engines can find your website. It is very easy as a new business to fall into the deep hole of SEO, but it is not necessary. There are a few tools and tips to get you started and everything else can grow and evolve with time:
- Webmaster tools: This is a free program offered by Google that allows you to easily index your site and get a basic analysis of how you are doing.
- Google Analytics: This allows you to see what pages and content on your site your viewers are responding to the most and make adjustments as needed.
- Keyword Optimization: Keywords are what people search for and how search engines connect your content with those searched. It is important to use keywords clearly and concisely, but not too much. If your content is written entirely for the search engines, your message becomes unclear, unauthentic and can get lost.
Referral Links: Search engines love it when other sites link to you. It shows that you are trustworthy and a reliable source of information. Although referral links are grown organically through time, here are some ways to get yourself noticed:
- Guest blogging
- Freely linking to others sites within your own
- Using your connections and relationship in your industry
- Writing content that connects with people