Share This Article
Newsletter
Wednesday is guest post day here at CFAgbata.com and today’s guest is Sara Crawford – Enjoy and Share!
If you run a small business, you should be spending the majority of your marketing resources on internet marketing. As the internet grows, other forms of marketing and advertising are becoming less and less effective. People are using the internet to find businesses, products, and services they need, and the best way to attract more customers or clients to your business is to make sure you are visible on the internet.
It used to be that radio and television advertising as well as print marketing were enough to market and advertise your business. Nowadays, though, most people get their information from the internet. People are less likely to watch commercials on the television, especially with Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services. With Pandora and Spotify, people are less likely to listen to conventional radio stations as well. The readership of newspapers and magazines has certainly declined also as the majority of people are turning to the internet for news, entertainment, and interesting articles.
Having a visible web presence has never been more essential for small businesses. It is important that your potential customers be able to find you on search engines, social media, and local search. Inbound Marketing Agency London, Hubspot Platinum Partner can be of service to your small business on web presence and visibility.
Here are five reasons you need to ramp up your internet presence in 2014.
1. 89% of Customers Turn to Search Engines Before Making Online Purchases
Fleishman-Hillard conducted a study that found that the vast majority of customers are researching products and services on Google, Bing, and Yahoo before they make purchases. If your business is not showing up on the first page of search engine results, you may be missing out on quite a bit of potential customers. Optimizing your website so that it will have a visible presence on search engine results pages is essential.
2. Social Media is the #1 Online Activity We Participate In
If you have been dragging your feet about getting your business on social media, now is the time to change that. According to Buffer, social media is now the #1 activity that individuals participate in online. Connecting with your customers on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and more has never been more important. Not only is this a great way to connect with existing customers, but this is also an excellent way to reach out to new customers and market your business in general.
One good thing to do is to focus most of your efforts on the social media site that is best for your business. For example, if your business is very visual in nature (jewelry, fashion, etc.), Pinterest may be a great page for you. Check out the different social media pages to find the one you should focus on.
3. Companies Who Blog More than Once Per Day are More Likely to Gain Customers
In 2012, HubSpotState of Inbound Marketing found that 92% of companies that published a blog multiple times a day increased their web traffic and their customers via their blog. It’s important to have an interesting blog that people will want to read and link to. This is a great way to gain more exposure and more web traffic, which will only lead to more business for you.
4. More Web Content Means More Leads and Customers For Your Business
HubSpot found that webpages that had 30 or more landing pages tended to generate 7 times more leads than those that had fewer than 10 landing pages. Try to expand your website out and create more content that is engaging to internet users. This is a great way to optimize your website for search engines as well. For example, if your business has more than one location, consider expanding your website out and creating unique pages for every location. This will make you more visible on the web.
5. Local Search is Essential For Small Businesses
LocalVox found that, “88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours.” If your business is not showing up in local search and you are a restaurant, retail store, or another brick-and-mortar business, you are definitely missing out on potential customers. Boost your local search efforts, and encourage all of your customers to leave reviews on Google+, Yelp, etc. You might also try offering specials on Yelp and Foursquare to encourage people to “check in” to your business and spread the word via their own social network.
These are only a few of the reasons it is smart to devote the majority of your marketing resources to internet marketing. You will find that if you spend a lot of time and energy on increasing your web presence, it will only mean more web traffic, more customers, and more growth for your business.
Sara Crawford is a writer and blogger from Atlanta, Georgia. She often blogs for InjectedSEO, an SEO company in Atlanta.
Image Credit: jobatlearn