Success in business doesn’t happen without an excellent strategy
In the 21st century, a strategic online presence is a choice. You can choose to just post here and there and get nowhere. Or you can decide to lay the foundations of your online presence—strategically. That’s what this post is about, a strategic approach to building and promoting your online presence, which can be done, one step at a time and each step can be measured.
That last point is important, and it’s what makes digital marketing so effective. Most of what you do can be measured.
First, define success:
- Aiming for more sales or enquiries?
- Target a specific growth percentage and set a deadline.
- Seeking brand awareness?
- Focus on boosting social media followers and website visits.
Table of Contents
- Success in business doesn’t happen without an excellent strategy
- Managing Expectations and Investing in Data
- Build it and they will come; or will they?
- When strategising, I’m always asking myself, “What’s next?” This question leads me to focus on the result of each step and builds me a roadmap. If I don’t understand the result of each step, how can I move on to the next part of the strategy?
- Let’s see how this plays out with our 1-Page At a Time Strategy?
- Make your website the hub for your digital channels and assets
- Once your home page is live, promote it using Local SEO
- Add your website to as many web directories and industry-specific websites as possible
- Add your website to your Google Business Profile and Optimise Your Profile
- That’s a wrap for your home page
- Get Started Package
- Get Going Package
- Rinse and Repeat
- Drive More Traffic: Use a Blog to Attract and Engage Your Target Audience
- Stay Top-of-Mind: Keep Your Brand in Front of Customers with a Regular Newsletter
- That’s a wrap
Managing Expectations and Investing in Data
A strategic online presence is a medium to long-term commitment of time and money, focusing on your customers and using data for greater insights. Data lets you refine your marketing to reach your target audience. Limited data at the start means you should invest in acquiring more, like buying clicks on Google or Facebook. It takes time to optimise campaigns; assess them over three months for better effectiveness and profitability. Don’t expect unrealistic returns initially; investment in time and money usually brings proportional gains. This understanding is key as you continue reading.
Build it and they will come; or will they?
I often see this happen after a business invests in a website. After paying thousands for a 5, 10, 15, or even 20-page website; they end up disappointed by the return they get. This happens when focussing on design and construction, without a promotional strategy behind those decisions.
Business owners aren’t to blame. Often, the lead designer lacks marketing knowledge. Websites can be powerful marketing tools. Yet, they need a powerful marketing strategy to be effective.
When strategising, I’m always asking myself, “What’s next?” This question leads me to focus on the result of each step and builds me a roadmap. If I don’t understand the result of each step, how can I move on to the next part of the strategy?
Let’s see how this plays out with our 1-Page At a Time Strategy?
Before building the first page of your website; you need to know what’s next?
- If you already have a website, you can skip this and go to what’s next?
- If you need a website, it’s included in our Get Started Package at the end of this page.
What’s Next?
Make your website the hub for your digital channels and assets
- Why? Because it connects to everything else and often provides you with a two-way connection to your other digital profiles and assets.
- This allows you to funnel potential customers into your service and offers.
- Your website is the one digital property that you have ownership and control over.
- This allows you to structure information exactly how you want it.
- When someone visits your website, they don’t have the same distractions they have on social media, so your website converts visitors to customers better than social.
- You get more exposure on Google with a website when combined with Local SEO and Google Paid Advertising.
- When most of us are seeking a service or product, we use Google.
- If you are not expanding your reach on Google, you are leaving it wide open for your competitors to do just that. Don’t make it so easy for them to take your business.
What’s next?
Once your home page is live, promote it using Local SEO
- Local SEO, short for Local Search Engine Optimisation, is a strategy to help your business appear more prominently in local search results on search engines like Google. It’s especially useful for businesses that have a physical location or serve a specific geographic area. By optimising your online presence, including your website and online directories, you can attract more local customers.
- Local SEO is a combination of web page optimisation, local directories, and Google Business Profile optimisation.
- This takes care of local searches for your business name and primary service. Over time, your home page should be picked up by other search terms too.
Optimise the home page of your website for your business name and primary service
- Make sure the text and images are optimised for your business name and primary service.
- Include search terms in images and add alt-text.
- Include your business name and primary service throughout the page.
- Optimise and write meta-tags for your business name and primary service.
- Add your website to the Google Search Console.
- Set up the free Rank Math SEO website software (Plugin) and ensure it’s set up correctly.
Google Search Console
Search Console provides information on how Google crawls, indexes, and serves websites. This can help website owners to monitor and optimise search performance. There is no need to log in to the tool every day. If issues are found on your website by Google, you’ll receive an email from Search Console alerting you.
What your text says about your business and your primary service is important for Google search, but so are your images. Text and images should be relatable to each other.
Meta tags are the links and the descriptions you see when you do a Google search. Both tags are crucial to rank on Google search, but they need to be written to attract clicks.
What’s next?
Add your website to as many web directories and industry-specific websites as possible
- This helps Google to know you are a local business in your town and helps to support your Local SEO Efforts.
- It also gives you a larger presence on the first 2 pages, which are crucial.
You’ll find web directories in every town. There are the good and not so good. Directories that appear in a search for your business in your town (primary service + your town) on the first two pages are the most important. Page 3 is virtually dead to most searchers. The more directories you are in, the more positions you hold in search. More exposure is a good thing.
You can read a full explanation of the value of web directories, what they’re good for and how to take advantage of them in this article on our blog.
What’s next?
Add your website to your Google Business Profile and Optimise Your Profile
- Google provides every local business with a Google Business Profile.
- There are several things you can do to improve the position and effectiveness of your Google Business Profile.
When you search for your primary service + your town, you should see your Google Business Profile.
- If it’s not in the first 3 positions, it will need to be optimised.
- Adding a website to your listing is a great start, but don’t stop there.
- Fill out as many of the sections of your profile as you can.
I provide a get a good explanation of a Google Business Profile and how to take advantage of it in this post on my blog, maximising your business exposure using Google search marketing.
What’s next?
Setup and Connect Google Analytics To Your Website
- Google Analytics is your eyes and ears for your website and other digital channels and assets.
- You wouldn’t operate your business without knowing your key operational indicators and financial metrics, so why ignore your web presence metrics?
- Google Analytics helps track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns, whether it’s through social media, email, or search engines, allowing you to allocate your marketing budget more effectively.
- This data-driven approach leads to improved user experience and potentially increased sales and customer loyalty.
What’s next?
Add your website to all your social media channels
- Most social media channels allow you to connect your website to your profile.
- This way, when someone lands on your social media channel, they can jump off to your website for more info, and what business owner doesn’t want that?
- Use your website and its landing pages for social media campaigns.
That’s a wrap for your home page
As you can see, there are many things you can do to promote just one page of your website, the home page. As mentioned, the home page takes care of any searches for your business name in your town and, often, your primary service and other search results over time.
What’s next
Remember, 1 page is just the start
Imagine how much more exposure you get when you use our 1-Page At A time Strategy and add another page, and then another. This is the way to get the best return from every single page of your website.
What’s next
We can do all the above for you with our Get Started Package and add-on Local SEO service option, which includes:
Get Started Package
It’s not where you start; it’s where you finish
- Professionally designed 1-Page Impact Website:
- 6 Content Sections Designed to convert website visitors to customers.
- Add your website to all your marketing materials, brochures, business cards, vehicle and premises signs, advertising, etc.
- Choose Local SEO as an add-on option to include:
- We Optimise the content on your website, so you will be found when your business name and primary service is searched for in your town.
- Add your website to local directories. This Gives you more reach in your market and helps gain better positions in Google Search.
- Your website will be connected to the Google Search Console. This shows you important information about your website on Google Search and can provide crucial information on performance, etc.
- We Optimise your Google Business Profile. By adding information about your business that will help to convert visitors to your GBP into enquiries and customers.
- We set up Google Analytics, so you can see what’s happening on your website and where the action is coming from.
The Get Started package is the foundation of your online presence
You can do so much more with your web presence once you have a website. This package delivers a professionally designed 1 Page Impact Website you can build your digital foundation on and much more.
Lets Get StartedWhat’s next?
Get Going Package
Target more searches in more locations with paid Google Search Advertising
- Paid Google Search Advertising, often called Pay Per Click (PPC), puts your ads in front of people each time they use a search term on Google that triggers your ads.
- The big difference between Local SEO and PPC is that you won’t have to wait weeks for your ads to appear. We take up to 10 working days to research, plan and execute your campaigns. This includes creating another landing page for the campaign.
- Your ads will be active within hours of us publishing your campaign.
- Target specific keywords people used to find your product or service.
- Target locations you want your ads to appear.
- Limit how much you will spend each day and a maximum amount for the month.
We recommend doing this after your website is optimised for Local SEO and is registered on Google.
The Get Going Package Broadens Your Reach—Quickly!
Once you have a website you can really get it going by taking advantage of our Get Going Package. This advertising package will drive prospective customers to your 1 Page Impact Website from a paid Google Search Campaign. You can target multiple searches, in multiple locations.
Lets Get GoingYou can read more about PPC in this post on our blog.
What’s next
Rinse and Repeat
Add additional campaigns, one page at a time, by adding the next page and using Local SEO and PPC to promote that page.
What’s next
Drive More Traffic: Use a Blog to Attract and Engage Your Target Audience
The 1-Page At A Time Strategy can be effectively extended to your blog. Start by writing a blog post, ensuring it’s optimised for Local SEO. Then, create separate social media posts from different sections of your blog. Remember to include a link in each social media post directing people back to your blog. This approach not only promotes each blog post through Local SEO and social media channels, but also drives traffic back to your website.
What’s next?
Stay Top-of-Mind: Keep Your Brand in Front of Customers with a Regular Newsletter
Start collecting emails from customers and prospective customers by adding a newsletter system to your website, and build your email list one newsletter at a time. Then send out helpful information to your subscribers and remind them in the newsletter about the services you provide.
That’s a wrap
If you made it this far, thanks for reading and if you received any value from this post, why not join our newsletter where I’ll expand on each of these topics to help you generate more income for your local, regional business?
