Friday 30 December 2016

Top Online Marketing Strategies for Local Businesses


Improving your online sales and leads can seem like a labyrinth of possibilities. Below we discuss several ways to expose your business on the internet to increase your customer volume.

#1 - Identify and Target Your Buyer Personas

When it comes to generating sales, it’s all about focus. Rather than trying to please everyone, it helps if you target a select group of customers. We like like to refer to these targeted groups as buyer personas.

Buyer personas are fictitious profiles based on your ideal customers.

By focusing or your designated customer, you maximize your ability to attract quality leads. This also allows for you to spend your time concentrating on every possible concern that could be associated with just a few ideal customers, thus enabling you to become an expert in your field by deepening your skills and knowledge.

#2 - Optimize Your Product and Service Pages

We’ve all heard that less is more. Surprisingly, some SEO gurus recommend that the fewer goods or services you offer on your company’s web page, the better. This is especially for those customers who may suffer from indecisiveness when presented with a ton of product or service options.

These same visitors may even leave your website because you are offering too much at one time and they are simply overwhelmed.

Now, this mostly depends on your target audience; therefore providing the bare minimal as far as services go this might not work for your needs.

However, for those of you who offer a broad range of products, we suggest organizing your product pages by categories or emphasizing only your primary, most profitable products.

#3 - Be Accessible, Make Your Contact Information Visible

If people can’t get in touch with you, they can’t buy what you’re offering!

Most contact information is listed at the bottom of the page and can be anywhere from a mailing address to a phone number to an email address.

The important thing is to make it accessible and easy to find for users. The can be accomplished by (1) including a link that leads to your contact page in your top navigation; and (2) making sure your name, address, phone number and all links are up-to-date.

#4 - Utilize Data from Google Analytics

If you set up your Google Analytics correctly, you should be able to determine the source of your online traffic (Acquisition > All Traffic > Sources/Medium). By identifying your top traffic source(s), you can pinpoint the online channels which to focus all of your digital marketing, to better reach your audience.
Google Analytics also allows you to observe the behavior of your website visitors and learn about bounce rates and exit. If you notice that your bounce rates and exit are abnormally high for individual pages, we suggest can taking the necessary steps to improve these content on these pages, to increase your conversions.
#5 - Create Forms with Quantifying Questions

Creating a customized form that lists a series of quantifying questions helps engage your target audience, and gets you more involved with your base.

It can help you evaluate where you currently stand as a business and gives you ideas on what your customers are looking for and how you could improve.

Remember, to keep your forms simple, yet effective. You want to ask the right questions, but you don't want to ask too many questions.

#6 - Nurture Leads via Email

Lead nurturing is how a company establishes a relationship with an individual prospect that is still in the early stages of the buying process. This strategy focuses on creating a bond so that when the time comes to purchase, the lead turns to you instead of to another company.

An excellent way to build these types of client bonds is through email, which you can use to foster customer relationships continually and find the best-qualified leads from your generation efforts.

#7 - Adopt Engaging Social Media Strategies

There is no better way to capture customers and built a long-term relationship with them than by connecting on the diverse digital rainbow that is social media. From Twitter to Facebook to Instagram, these platforms offer a huge trough of opportunities just waiting to be mined.

Through social media marketing, you can directly speak to and engage with your customers to extend your leads far beyond your local area, and reach thousands of people within your local market.

#8 - Publish Customer Testimonials

Did you know, authentic customer testimonials create social proof?

They also build trust among your website visitors by showing you are credible. And best of all, testimonials and reviews aren’t "sales-sy" and remove any skepticism visitors may have upon discovering your business.
The easiest way to generate testimonials is to seek your customers for feedback. Once you receive their feedback ask if you can highlight a portionof  testimonial on your website, such as your homepage or landing pages. But remember, keep it real; you should never spin your clients' words.

 #9 - Encourage Your Current Customers to Leave Product/Service Reviews

From Yelp to Google My Business, online reviews not only increase your online sales, but they impact your local search ranking.

People trust reviews. They also play a significant role in the customer buying decision process. For this reason, we suggest you begin requesting reviews from your current clients or customers if you haven't already.

#10 - Improve Your Website Checkout Process

Are customers starting your checkout process, but exiting the process before completing a purchase? It could be due to friction in your checkout process. According to a recent survey, 84% of shoppers will abandon websites that have complicated online checkout processes.

Here are some tips for improving your checkout process:

If you are forcing visitors to log in before starting the checkout process, you should also include a guest checkout or social sign-up option.
Entice your website visitors by offering incentives (discounts, special offers or promotions) that will encourage them to complete a call-to-action.
Simplify your checkout process by eliminating unnecessary steps, pages or distractions and get straight to the point.
Offer a range of secure payment options.

#11 - Optimize Your Website for Mobile

Today, people are performing more online searches and making purchases via their mobile devices than desktops. Research has found that 67% of customers are more likely to buy a product or use a service from a company whose site is mobile-friendly; while 61% will abandon a site that is not mobile-optimized.

In addition to this, did you know Google penalizes websites that are not mobile-friendly?

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when creating a unique mobile experience for your customers: make sure your mobile site is fast, keep your content clean and straight-to-the-point, include a search box and large buttons, and add relevant calls-to-action.

#12 - Highlight Products or Services with Video Marketing

Did you know: 4 out of 5 customers would rather watch a product video than read about a product?

Video marketing is one of the most engaging online methods you can use to increase your sales. By incorporating video marketing to sell your products and services you not only educate customers but you give your potential customers a closer look at what you have to offer and any value it may bring to them.

#13 - Be Honest, It is The Best Policy

Do not exaggerate your sales copy in hopes that it will entice website visitors to make a purchase. By being dishonest, you not only bring harm to your reputation, but you lose any trust in your brand.

If you’re a small business, act like it, express it and let the world know. Today, more consumers are choosing small businesses over major chains, so there's no need to craft your website copy in a way that makes you appear as if you're a multi-national company.

We hope these thirteen strategies take you far in the online world.

http://www.seohub.co.in

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