Without marketing your website – it could be the most expensive brochure you’ve ever paid for

So often I see small businesses proudly launch their website and they see that as the finishing line, rather than the start of an ongoing marketing process

In the past I’ve talked about the Secret behind our Success as being present, blogging and networking and that was because all roads lead to our website

So what should you do to ensure success for a new website?

GOOGLE ANALYTICS
If you can measure something then you can improve on something

Google Analytics will give you essential information such as
* Audience – Location, New or Returning Visitors, Mobile Viewers Vs Desktop / Tablet and much more
* Acquisition – Where people are coming from – i.e Social Media, Organic Search, Direct Traffic or Referral (Other websites)
* Behaviour – What pages people are visiting
* Conversions – How your goals are performing (these may be an order completion page / time spent on website / pages visited etc)

Depending on what website package you have with your web designer they may have monthly analytics reports built into your monthly retainer

If possible request the login details or for your gmail to be added for access to your google analytics data so that you can measure the success of your website on a day by day or week by week basis

If you want an easy way to read your Google Analytics on a weekly basis try Quill Engage which connects to Analytics and sends you a weekly email – https://quillengage.narrativescience.com/

Importantly – once you have the data – act upon on it and seek out areas of improving your website

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Social Media used well – will play a huge part in the success of your website

Choose the right Social Media platforms for your business i.e the one that your customers are using and then work out a marketing message that focuses on their needs rather than goes in for the hard sell

Social Media for us does what it says on the tin – it’s inherently social – and 69% of our tweets for example are engaging tweets where we reply to or engage with others

By doing these we build stronger relationships with our 7500 followers than we would be just broadcasting and yet still Social Media accounts for 42% of our website traffic and over a 3rd of a our business revenue at Altrincham HQ

A huge part of the success of our Social Media is down to the fact we spend time looking at the data behind the creative and as well as using Google Analytics we spend a lot of time on Twitter Analytics and Facebook insights working out best practice for ourselves and clients accounts

BLOGGING STRATEGY
Since we launched Altrincham HQ we have written over 200 blogs averaging 600+ words per blog

If you spend XXX amount on a website, then it’s your duty to maximise your website’s potential by adding new content to it on a regular basis. Otherwise it’s just a brochure website for your services and little else to capture the imagination

Like the short form Social Media content, adding value is at the heart of our blogging strategy and our experiences we witness here in our hometown fuel many of our most read blogs.

Our blogs are rarely theoretical, but firmly placed in reality and the practicalities of how to use Social Media to truly develop your business – people relate to them

• Blogging has been central to our marketing strategy
• It’s why we believe that many find us on google for Social Media Training and Social Media Management from outside Altrincham, Manchester and the Northwest.
• It’s why many local businesses choose us because the blogs resonate with their own experiences / problems on Social Media
• There are currently over 1000 different search terms driving people to our website
• Since LinkedIn opened their publisher program to everybody – we have even started posting exclusive blogs on LinkedIn

If you’re not blogging on a weekly basis you’re missing out – look here for 5 Reasons Your Business Should Be Blogging

NETWORKING
Everything we’ve talked about so far in this blog has been about the online

I want to throw an offline Curve ball and stress how important Face 2 Face Networking is for 90% of businesses

Networking = Local Awareness, Local Business Support, Local Business Partnerships

And after every networking event you go to people will check out your website for more information as well as connecting with you on Social Media

And if you’re thinking I’m a B2C business (a retailer or restaurant for example) and networking isn’t for me? Is there really no value in having 30 well connected businesses knowing about your local business – so many B2C businesses don’t attend local business networking and yet local businesses are local people as well

TRADITIONAL MARKETING
We did some research last year and found just 53.8% of businesses paying for advertising in the local newspaper include a website address in their advert.

And whilst we don’t believe local newspaper advertising is the best route to go down – if you advertise in the local press – at least make sure you include your website

Similarly

If you have business cards without your website and an old hotmail / gmail email address – update them

If you have van livery …. update it

If you are out and about with the general public – get some branded t-shirts

MORE INFO
Social Media Training
Blogging Workshops
Google Analytic Workshops

If you require more information on our Social Media Services click here

Email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk or call 07806774279

Altrincham Hq

“With over 12 years experience of Social Media and 17 years experience of online marketing in other companies, clients come to myself when they want a veteran rather than a rookie” Alex McCann