The beginning of the year is always a good time to look ahead and to make plans. There are always lots of things to do and many different areas that beg attention but some will give better return than others. The number one online marketing concern for most companies is generating traffic and leads. Below are our Small Business Online Marketing tips for the areas that will help with that and boost your online marketing effectiveness.
Focus on these key areas and really make a difference.
Small Business Online Marketing Tips 1 – Mobile
A mobile focus is important for two reasons. Firstly Google; for the last few years the search engine has been pushing the importance of mobile friendly pages. They have been prioritising responsive websites in mobile search. Currently, Google places mobile search as their primary index.
The second reason to focus on getting your site right on mobile is to reach your audience. The stats for this are compelling, mobile devices are used more than traditional computers for web browsing, in many countries including the UK, U.S. and Japan. Its not just consumers either 49% of B2B researchers who use their mobile devices for product research do so while at work.
Online Marketing Tips 2 – Think Local
Check how you are appearing in local search results and directories. Google now has many different formats for presenting search results with Carousels, maps/local, snippets, (and constantly looks for new variations)alongside the organic results. Get your local SEO right and your company, products or services will appear across the screen get it wrong and it will be your competitors. Google My Business is a key way to ensure all your details are seen and are accurate.
As with mobile the stats are good reasons to put some effort into Local SEO. 72% of consumers who did a local search visited a shop within five miles. 33% of mobile searches are related to a location.
Online Marketing Tips 3 – Content
To be effective online in 2019 you need to have content that is engaging for real people not just for SEO. Audiences do not want to be interupted by traditional advertising (and are getting better at blocking it) however they will happily engage with material that is information rich, helpful or entertaining. The best way to share your content is with a blog.
More competitor companies are producing content and customers are discerning so check to see that the quality of what you produce is good enough. Frequency is important as businesses that blog regularly and often generate as much as 4.5 times as many leads than those businesses that are infrequent. Create a content plan to keep you on track through the year. Regular blog posts will also be the anchor for social media activity providing links that draw traffic back to your own pages.
Need Help?
Follow these tips and you will be on track to get the best value from the effort and budget you put into online activity. If you would like any help or advice in these areas get in touch.