Last week we published an article, Is Your Website Appealing to the Right Crowd?, aimed to help you focus your website to target your ideal customers. Now it’s time to focus on getting your customers to see all the great content you’ve generated to appeal to them.
One great thing about getting customers to your website is that you can use both online and offline mechanisms to attract website visitors. Here are a few great practices for getting potential customers to your business’s website:
1. Create a presence on social media, because your customers are likely on it! Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Youtube, etc. are all great means of increasing the reach of your website’s content, linking customers back to your website. Some social media channels will reach your target audience more than others— if you’re selling something to professionals in a certain industry, you’ll likely want to focus your efforts on LinkedIn; if you’re selling something "pin" worthy, like design materials or DIY projects, you’ll likely want to focus on Pinterest.
Use paid online advertisements to increase the value of your online content, especially the content you are posting to social media. This could mean PPC (pay-per-click) ads on Facebook and Twitter, Google AdWords, or sponsored updates on LinkedIn. To keep your expenses reasonable, choose the channels that you think will help spread the word about your product or service to the right audience.
2. Make sure that every landing page on your website is optimized for search. If you need help with this, you can reference Google’s SEO starter guide. One often overlooked aspect of a business’s search marketing is the meta description. A short but detailed, compelling meta description could be the reason why customers click on your website link in their organic search.
In addition to your meta description, keep in mind that search engines love fresh content—updating your website on a regular basis and including rich keywords in all of your fresh content will make your website more search engine friendly.
3. Capture email addresses to re-engage your website visitors. Consistent contact with your most loyal customers is what will keep them coming back to your website or storefront.
One great way to do this is by offering incentives in exchange for a customer’s email address. Maybe this is a discounted item offer, a promo code, etc. This can be advertised in your store or online—offer to send a promotional code to customers that write down their email address before they leave your store, or offer a promo on your website in exchange for an email address. Encourage even more word-of-mouth marketing and email signups by giving your customers an easy way to share the fact that they just got a great deal from your business.
4. Put your URL on everything— your storefront sign, brochures, business cards, direct mail, email, promo items such as pens, bumper stickers — anything that displays your business’s name.
5. Create shareable, stimulating content. Putting your URL on everything won’t do you much good if your website doesn’t offer relevant content for your visitors that is easy to share. By creating useful content, you are showing your customers that your website isn’t just about your product or service, but about stimulating information that will serve them even during times when they don’t need specific information about your business. Consider an inspirational story, quotes, infographics, or other digestible material.
6. Last but not least, let your personality shine through on all of your promotional material, including your website! After all, for businesses in a competitive market with largely homogeneous products and services, the personality and customer service of your business are what will really set you apart from your competitors— show your website visitors and customers that you are unique!
This article was originally written on October 3, 2014 and updated on August 16, 2016.
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