So, you have decided to give your business an online presence (better late than never) by getting yourself a website and domain name, and neatly listing your products and services so that visitors can find them easily. Trouble is, you have noticed that you are not getting any visitors – why is that?
Unfortunately, having a website is just the first step. You at least have a point of contact for your customers and somewhere to showcase what you’re offering. The problem is that nobody knows where to find you. The quicker you realise that you are going to have to put a lot of work in, the better. You are going to need to market your business online.
How do you do that? Via many different types of digital marketing, that’s how!
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Ever wondered why some businesses are ranked higher in Google than others? It is because of Search Engine Marketing. This aspect of online marketing focuses on ranking your website and its pages as high as possible in the search engines. By optimising your web pages for certain keywords and phrases, attaining back links from authority websites, and creating valuable content that will rank, you can slowly but surely climb the rankings.
- Pay-Per-Click Marketing (PPC)
You can think of pay-per-click marketing as a temporary shortcut to the above. By bidding on keywords and phrases, your web pages will be listed among the top rankings in the search engines. Every time your ad/link is clicked, you have to pay the search engine. For that reason, you really need to have a good conversion rate. If people are clicking but not buying, you are going to lose money fast.
- Content Marketing
Content marketing is another great way to increase your earnings, attract new customers, build relationships, and increase brand awareness. This involves publishing content online whether on your own blog, as guest posts on other websites, or as ebooks that you give away in return for visitors signing up to your mailing list.
Content management requires a solid strategy, the regular creation of quality and valuable content, and the sharing of said content via social media. This type of digital marketing also helps with the search engine optimisation side of things. Do not expect quick results but if you stick at it, content management will eventually start to bear fruit.
- Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is the practise of marketing your business via social media platforms. Done organically or via paid advertising, you can create posts that will help build brand awareness, nurture relationships and promote your products and services. Facebook and Twitter are the two most popular social media platforms as they have the largest user bases.
Social media marketing is also a great way to connect with your customers. Using messenger and direct messages, you can help to resolve any issues that your customers may have. Even better is that you can use and create chatbot support systems. These will automatically tend to your customers via a script allowing you to keep your human support specialist for the less common support issues.
- Email Marketing
You will have all received some form of email marketing in your inboxes. This is email communication offering bonuses, promotions, advertising new products, and generally just letting those on your email list know that you are there. You can be a little more aggressive with this style of marketing, even cheesier if you like as most people expect to find good offers in marketing emails.
Gadgets That Can Be Used for Digital Marketing
Now that you have a better understanding of the different types of online marketing and a few tips on getting your business noticed online, you might want to check out some gadgets that top digital marketers cannot live without.
You Have to Go Mobile
Marketing your business is a lot of work and often you will need to work when on the go. So, rather than just a desktop computer, you should consider devices that you can use when out and about. Laptops are great for resource intensive tasks but you can sometimes get away with using a good smartphone or tablet. Besides, you will want to see how your marketing efforts look in both mobile and desktop format, anyway.
Grab a Photo Stick
You will be creating and working with a lot of content when marketing your business. Images, videos, articles, and infographics are just some of the media you will be using. As you can imagine, storing, organising, and backing up this valuable content will soon become a chore at the best of times.
Thankfully, products like the Photo Stick are there to make your life a lot easier. Similar to a USB stick, the Photo Stick allows you to store all your content in one place. Better yet, is that the photo stick will instantly backup your content. It will be backed up to the cloud just in case you lose the physical device or the files become corrupted. This is a great bit of kit and one that most marketers cannot be without.
VPN Software
Ok, so technically this is software rather than a gadget but it is still a hugely powerful tool for marketers. Want to know how your SEO is going in different regions? Use a VPN to connect to a server in that region and use the search engines to see how you are ranking. Want to spy on your competitors without them knowing it is you? Use a VPN to mask your identity and location. A VPN is also a great tool for those that want an added layer of security to protect against cyber crime!
Now Go Get Marketing!
We have only broken the surface with regards to internet marketing but we all have to start somewhere. At least you now know that you are going to have to put a lot of time and effort into marketing your online business. What we can tell you, however, is that it will all be worth it once you have climbed the rankings, enhanced your brand, and have a huge following that cannot wait to see your new products and services.
Once you do hit the dizzy heights, do not think you have made it and take your foot off the gas. You have to keep pushing as your competitors will not stop chasing you.
Ever wondered why some businesses are ranked higher in Google than others? It is because of Search Engine Marketing. This aspect of online marketing focuses on ranking your website and its pages as high as possible in the search engines. By optimising your web pages for certain keywords and phrases, attaining back links from authority websites, and creating valuable content that will rank, you can slowly but surely climb the rankings. Look for tips specific for your niche. If you run a mold remeidation business, look for search engine marketing for mold removal. If you run a bakery, look for search engine marketing for bakeries.
Digital advertising is additionally a type of marketing technique. In this advertising method, the internet plays an extremely vital role. Digital marketing is the method to get to customers, as well as clients via the use of mobile phone devices, search engines, social media, as well as various other channels where the use of the net becomes unpreventable. Digital advertising is different by channel, niche, and audience. For example, water damage restoration seo is different than shopify pay-per-click advertising.