S.E.O (search engine optimization) the science and art of ranking a page from a website on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.
I remember back in the good old days, that if your small Reno business wanted to reach thousands of local customers, you had to take out a loan or beg, borrow or steal a few thousand dollars to get a respectable ad in the Yellow Pages. For some markets, a YP ad would be just the thing you needed to kick start a successful marketing campaign, for others, was a painful mistake (tax right off). Thanks to SEO (search engine optimization), times have changed, and for the good if you ask me.
Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines give a small business a real chance of reaching ideal customers for less than a few hundred dollars or less. You don’t need to be a top SEO Expert or an award winning Web Designer to take advantage of these marketing strategies either.
Monthly Lunch & Learn – Free Internet Marketing Workshop with Sandy Rowley with RenoWebDesigner.com
Listed below are some helpful tips for reaching your new customers using search engine marketing. I wish you the very best in your internet marketing endeavors. I am always here to chat over the phone if your too busy to do the SEO, Web Design or Social Media Marketing yourself. Want hands on marketing help? Join our FREE monthly marketing workshop. Learn more here. I can be reached at 775-453-6120, just ask for Sandy!
10 Steps To Higher Conversions (sales) on Your Website
- Create one page on your website that is designed with one specific goal. A great example would be a landing page that encourages viewers to sign up for a class, e-book, gift…you get the idea. Make this landing page your irresistible offer geared around your products & services. You can hire a custom website development company or use landing page creator sites like Launch Rock, U Bounce or Insta Page for free to little no cost.
Bills.com has a great example of an irresistible offer with their interactive bill tool.
MailChimps home page is a great design example, but uses links to other information. The sole product is still the focus point.
Use a strong call to action at the very top of the landing page and keep the information on the page only about the one offer or ask.
Integrate bold colors and simple backgrounds.
Use testimonials and authority site badges.
- Remember, less is more for high end products and more is, well more for lower dollar services and products. If you need to buy a landing page template from Theme Forest or a download a free one online, fine, do that. Unless you are a graphic designer, do not try to cram a bunch of information onto your landing page and hope for the best. You are only wasting your time. The design needs to be clean, easy to use and straight to the point in order for it to work. You have less than 5 seconds to really motivate someone into action. Most non designers and even seasoned graphic designers struggle with finding the right amount of words and images to create a sense of urgency and demand for their product or service. We feel we need to add as much information as humanly possible. Your viewer will only be confused, bored and ultimately leave.
- Once you have a strong call to action, an emotion generating image or video and high strategically positioned sign up form created, now you can add content below the fold of the web page. Here is where you can list your top 5 frequently asked questions, your top 3 customer testimonials, your latest press coverage and useful information. Remember, only place content on this page that relates to the one strong call to action. If your goal is to get someone to buy the product, only focus on that product. Do NOT have links to any other pages on your site or others within this web page landing page design. Remember, the only way off of this landing page is to buy something, bookmark for later or leave. Period.
- Now that your money making landing page is created, you need to consider where your customers are at online. Are they in a popular group related to knitting? Hiking? Drinking? Find out where they are. It is important to know where your customers are online. If you are selling a product for bakers, I would search for popular blogs for bakers, gift shows, recipe contests and the like. Start off looking for small “mommy” blogs that talk about baking. Email and ask for advertising rates. You are wanting to trade if possible. The goal is for her/him to write a great article about your baking tool/product linking back to your landing page. You could even copy your first landing page, and add logo and picture of the blog site within the landing page… Then email this out to their followers.
- Offer a give-away contest to the blogger. They are always looking for content and exciting things to share with their followers. Make sure that the blogger tags your Facebook, Twitter and website address to your landing page in all their marketing and social media outreach. Give-always are a super way to reach a lot of new business, fast.
- Do a search for Google PPC credit and / or Facebook credits. Use this $100 credit to setup an advertising campaign linking directly to this landing page url. Remember to set your budget to $100, because you can exceed this by several hundreds or thousands of dollars in one day. You can track how many people saw your ad and how many clicked…versus who actually bought something. You can look at the keywords that were most successful and use these same keywords to do an organic SEO campaign for future sales.
- Partnerships are a quick way to reach potential customers online. Let’s stick with the bakery product niche. Who in your industry that is not a direct competitor, would want to partner up and sell your product to their customers? You can offer then a percentage of the sale to do this and/or pay a marketing fee.
- Write an article a day that helps your ideal market solve a problem. This one article or info-graphic or video a day will drastically increase your position in Google organic search. These content pieces need to be at least 800 words or longer to have a lasting positive change in your rankings in Google search.
- Sponsor a local Meetup group for $90. Choose a Meetup group that has hundreds of active members who match your ideal customer base. You can learn more about this group website at meetup.com
- Purchase space in your local Chamber of Commerce website and/or email monthly e blast. The going rates are anywhere from $99 and up, but you can reach thousands of local businesses and their employees fast. Make sure to track the clicks you receive independently of the Chambers email blast service. You can use free url shorteners/trackers from Google and Bitly.
Landing pages are a great web design marketing tool to help convert those new website views into real world customers. I see so many PPC Pay Per Click campaigns with low quality scores and results because they send their paid traffic to the home page of their website instead of a highly crafted landing page on their website that converts to sales.
You can find more SEO, Web Design, Social Media and Graphic Design information throughout my website.
I have 17 years’ experience in helping small businesses with internet marketing. I can be reached at https://www.renowebdesigner.com or call me, Sandy Rowley, at 775-453-6120.
