Blogging, SEO, Customer Loyalty, Website Promotion
People like to ask me questions. I attend a lot of business and social functions and when someone learns I’m a marketer, it’s not long before they pop the marketing question. Here are a few of the most recent and common.
Photo courtesy of Bilal Kamoon
Should I Create a Blog for Search Engine Optimization Purposes?
Yes, and no.
Yes, because blogs are good for SEO. Studies show that businesses that blog can get up to 41% more website traffic through search engines. And that traffic is consistent once you build a library of blog content for your website. A post I wrote more than three years ago is still responsible for more than 10% of my website traffic because it ranks #2 on Google behind Wikipedia for “What is a Brand?”
No because you should be creating a blog to get more customers not impress Google. Before you create your blog, ask yourself: “How can I get more customers by blogging?”
Marketing Tip: First, think conversion. How will you convert visitors to your blog into customers? This is not accomplished by a direct sales pitch in your blog. It is done be first giving people the information they searched for, then using your acquired trust to create a desire for more information about your company.
How do you use social media to drive customer loyalty?
When a business sets up a Facebook page or presence on some other social media, the first question they ask is “What should I say?” Well, if you want customer loyalty, say what you say when you talk to customers face-to-face. Your social media presence is an extension of your physical presence.
The number one factor of customer loyalty is the experience they have with you. Think of social media as an experience, not a platform.
Marketing Tip: Define your customer experience with a couple of adjectives. Apply those adjectives to your social media campaigns.
What is the best way to promote my website?
Multiply yourself. The best way is to get other people to promote your website for you. So the real question is: “How can I get other people to promote my website?” The answer is Content + Connections.
The promote-ability of your website is determined by its content. Your promotion strategy is to create amazing content that other people will want to share. Those other people are your network. Businesses that work hard on their website content, get more visitors to their website. That’s part one. Part two is you also have to spend time with you network of customers and associates. Nurturing those relationships makes it ok to one day ask: “Hey, will you spread the word for me?” Especially if you’ve helped promote their stuff.
What about advertising your website? You can. But just like any other product or service, word of mouth is more persuasive than advertising. Don’t sacrifice time and money advertising that could be spent encouraging word of mouth conversation about your website.
Marketing Tip: Pinpoint the four most perplexing questions asked by your customers. Create thought-provoking answers to those questions and turn them into pages on your website.
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