The internet is a huge, booming place that can do everything for us in our personal lives, and of course our professional lives. Because the world wide web is so big, it can be easy to ignore it. However, if you’re a business owner, especially if you’re in charge of a small business. Small business owners need as much help as they can get as markets become as crowded as ever.
So if you’re into business and you aren’t using the internet? It might be time to confront why you aren’t. If it’s because there is simply so much going on with the world wide web, then that’s exactly why this article has been written. We’ll break down the ways that you can master the internet today.
First of all, you are not going to get far, let alone master, the world wide web if your business has no functioning website. A website works as the perfect tool to ensure your business has some sort of web presence and is noticed by web traffic that could be a potential customer. If you do have a business, then you might have a head start – it just depends on how old it is. You see, old HTML and CSS, which is what sites are built out of, might look shoddy on computers and probably won’t load on mobile devices.
If it has been a long time since your website has seen any love, consult the professionals who can update your website for you. It’s imperative that your business looks good online and it is so very important that your site can be loaded on mobile phones and tablets. Most web traffic will come from phones, so you are truly missing out if a potential customer comes looking for you only to find out that your site won’t load on their Apple iPhone 7. Having a site that works on mobile goes a long way. It is important to not just push your website to one side – educate yourself about it! If someone is making changes to your site – ask what the benefit is! This isn’t to question them, it’s so you are in the know about the web and the intricate inner workings that run behind the scenes of your web presence.
So, let’s get a tiny bit more technical. People will visit your website and these people? They are known as traffic. This is the virtual footfall of your online presence and if your site is generating traffic this is going to generate data which you can actually read with web analytic tools. When someone visits your website, they are going to leave behind a trace of their presence which you can use to view their demographics. This information will show you what device they used, how they found your site, where they went after your site and of course, where in the world they are visiting your website from.
What can this data do for you? Although it’s not totally comprehensive, it can form the foundation of something a bit more fully featured later on. However, this data can show a picture of your target audience. If you are aiming at people in the United States but your site is getting a huge amount of interest from Argentina, do you open up your sevices to Latin America? It’s up to you, but the data gives you that option at a basic level.
You can further optimize your website by being creative. This is where you can truly master the web and you will only be limited by your creative skills. There are some great ways of generating traffic, but it is in this area where content is king.
For example, if you are blogging about developments within your company, industry or products, you are creating a constant refresh of your website with keywords that will be picked up by search engines. What’s more if you are blogging about your company, industry or products then you are likely attracting the attention of people you wanted to bring to your site anyway.
This is where search engine optimization can make the difference for your business.
Search engines are how people will find your business. Your business needs to find itself become the answer to a question and a search engine acts as a directory in the form of an old school phonebook. Think about why you would use search engines and think about how you would find your business.
SEO is how you get found out. When used well, search engine optimization will help you rise up the search engine rankings, so you are seen more often by the people who you want to find you! Keywords help here, but do you know what works best? Original, unique and creative copywriting for your website will ensure your website co-operates with search engines. This works as it differentiates your site from the sea of competitors and search engines like unique sites. Work with an eCommerce SEO company if you need to boost your SEO work in a certain area. You might learn a thing or two
Blogging is just one of the ways you can organically integrate search engine optimization into the framework of your website and if you can find ways to add additional content such as videos and podcasts – you can wage a content war over multiple fronts to give your web presence plenty of methods to boost traffic on the internet.
It’s at this point where everything that should be in shape, is in shape. Now it’s time to get on with the ‘mastering’ part of your web presence.
Your website should be doing more than selling and informing – it should be working for you and a great way it can do this is by generating leads.
What is a lead? It’s anyone or anything that expresses some kind of interest in your work or your company.
Most websites use leads as a way to boost their data. As we said, web traffic can only give you basic demographical information. Generating leads can give you any information you desire, which as you can imagine, will give you a very clear picture of the people interested in your business. This data allows you to see if you are right about your target audience, or if it needs adjusting.
An example of how leads work is a newsletter. You know how you can subscribe to a newsletter or a mailing list on your favorite website in exchange for your name, address, and email address? If you’ve ever performed that – you’re a lead! You gave up some information to be advertised to. Now, the company can use your first name to personify any future interactions with you. No cold call needed – they are now your friend and are on first name terms with you! Generating leads is how you can build a basic relationship with a customer and tailor communications in a personified manner.
To master this, offer visitors something in exchange for their data with a decent ‘call-to-action’. This completes the exchange and generates a lead.
Of course, all the data you gather needs to be recorded and analysed with analytic reporting tools
The final tool you can use to master the web is social media. It is relatively new, but it’s something you need to use. Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow your business to have a voice online. Social media also forms somewhat of a unique and realtime customer service platform, so it pays well to respond to queries that are posed to the social media accounts of your business. Facebook Pages work as a sort of online ‘phone directory’ type account for your business. It can holster all the information that your customers will need and of course, allows them to get in touch with any questions that the may have. Networks like Youtube also offer unique and specialised ways of content creation and interaction. Youtube, of course, relies on videos. Remember the importance of content? Using Youtube is a direct route to creating content and with regular video blogs you can show off your products and services or just offer some kind of insight into your business. Match the video content with the blogs to offer a multimedia arm to your content and ensure that everything has multiple ways of getting seen and noticed. At a base level, Youtube is simply another site that your business can have a presence on.
If you can create content, ensure your website is unique and up to date, you’ll have no issues on the internet. Creativity is where you can really shine. Internet marketing does rely heavily on your creative skills and businesses will leap ahead of you if they can find creative options to their issues. You’ll find that you can master the web a lot easier if you allow your creative juices to flow and as a foundation, you’ll find that content creation comes easy. Mastering the net comes with mastering content and if you can make ideas work, then the internet will work for you.
