If you want to market your business from the internet, you need to:
- get found in the search engines
- make sure people click through to to your website
- and have a clear call to action to take the next step
Okay, but what do you do to make that happen? Start by asking yourself these six questions:
1. Is your website available on the 3 main search engines? Google. Yahoo. Bing.
2. Is Google Analytics installed on your website? Google Analytics is free. It’s a short piece of code that can track what words people use to find your site, what page they enter from, how long they stay and even where they are located in the world. It’s a great way to measure and track your website’s effectiveness. Access Analytics.
3. Did your webmaster install an XML sitemap on your site? A sitemap helps your website get indexed. This is expecially important if you have a new site. How to create an XML sitemap.
4. What are your 5 keyword phrases that you are optimizing your website with to rank higher in the search engines? Google keyword tool is helpful in deciding what words are too general or too competitive. You don’t have to log into Google to use their external keyword tool.
5. Do your key pages have title tags, descriptions, headlines and body copy that match your keyword phrases? Remember that not only do you have to rank high in the search engines, you want people to click thru, so having a title tag with just a much of phrases may not be as effective as keyword phrases AND compelling copy. More on title tags.
6. Is there a clear call to action on your site? Something like: Request a quote. Join our mailing list. Subscribe to our mailing list. Download a white paper. Perhaps you want to develop a cool button or graphic to draw their attention to your call to action. 25 examples of call to action buttons.
What question am I missing? Please add it, with a link to a helpful website, in the comments below.