How to Attract More Visitors to Your Website

28Apr

Two of the things that I am constantly asked during prospective client calls is how to create more conversions on their company website, and how to retarget the visitors who are currently visiting their website. Both of these are definitely doable things…but what happens when you find out that you don’t have enough traffic to create a meaningful result? You work on increasing that traffic!

In this article, I am going to share some tips on how to drive more traffic to your website (and keep them engaged). But, what I first think we need to talk about is the actual traffic you’re getting to your website today.

Do you know how many daily and monthly visitors you have?

Do you know where your traffic is being generated from?

Do you know what pages people are visiting and the time they spend on each page?

Do you know your current bounce rate?

Finding and tracking the answers to these questions is the first thing that you need to do before you try to execute any inbound marketing strategy. Why? Without this first step, how are you going to know how to effect change and drive success, if you are not sure how your website is performing?

Google Analytics (a free website tracking tool) will have all of these details for you – so make sure that you have this installed into your website, and you are reviewing the data often. Creating an inbound marketing campaign without having any idea as to how much traffic your site is even getting is not putting your best foot forward.

After you take a look through your website data, it is now time to start building those inbound visitors. Here are some of the best ways to drive traffic and start building the power of your website today:

Consistently Blog: having a blog posted on your website and regularly linking to each article from outside your website is a powerful tool to drive meaningful traffic. If you’re stuck on what blog you should write next, think about the questions you hear from your clients (or potential clients) and work backward. Make your blog a resource for them to utilize!

Social Media Marketing: utilize your website content when developing your social media posts and try to get out links to your website in nearly every post (where it is meaningful). You can include links to your blogs, specific service or product pages, and share fun facts about your team or company while linking back to your website.

Email Marketing: create a regular email marketing strategy that is developed to drive traffic to your website and stay on top of these! A consistent approach will drive consistent traffic. One thing you may consider is purchasing an email list to send your blasts or offers to. These emails would link to your website, and provide you a way of gaining new eyes on your site.

Choose a Landing Page That Converts: don’t just send traffic to the main homepage of your website, send new visitors to specific pages that you feel will convert them into a lead. Figure out some enticing incentives that your target audience would enjoy. Hide these incentives behind forms to capture their information for outreach at a later date. Having lots of incentives on your website is one way to establish yourself as a thought leader and increase your credibility. Not to mention – these incentives are great things to advertise across your other marketing channels.

Online Advertising: paid advertising is a great way to drive traffic. You can try Google Pay-Per-Click, Geo-Targeting, Geo-Fencing, and even social media advertising to get new visitors that may have never heard about your business to visit you online.

Link Building: a little bit more on the lengthy end of things, getting your posts shared on popular blogs and websites as guest posts (with those all-important links back to your website) will help you gain more traffic with little to no cost.

These are just a few of the quick ideas that you can incorporate to drive traffic. But a few last pieces of advice. Keep in mind the following if you are driving people to your website:

Advice #1: Make sure that your website is free of errors. Make sure that there are no typos. Make sure that the links/buttons work on your website. If you’ve written the content for the site yourself, take the time to copy the paragraphs on your site and run them through a spell checker and grammar checker. If a potential customer is comparing your site to a competitor – and yours has typos, and theirs doesn’t – I hate to tell you they’re probably not going to work with you. The same thing goes for broken links: go page by page through your website to make sure that the links you’re including work! (And do this often, as platforms change, updates are made, links that work one day, may end up broken the next).

Advice #2: Make sure that your website is responsive on mobile devices. There is absolutely nothing worse than a site that’s not responsive on a mobile device – it’s 2020 you must ensure that this is happening on your site. Read your blog; try clicking on your links. Remind yourself that this is how the majority of people will be viewing your site. If it’s tricky to navigate you need to get with a web designer pronto.

Advice #3: Take an audit to see how long it takes for your website to load – if it’s too long, your visitors will bounce. As a society, people have less and less patience these days. If someone has found you through social media, or Google, and have clicked on a link to your website, statistics say that they’re not going to wait very long for your site to load.

Making a good first impression is definitely one of the most valuable pieces when it comes to conversion, so if you want to drive traffic to your online point of sale – make sure it is conversion ready!

Should you need any help reviewing your site, or if you realize you need an entire web design overall, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team of talented sales and marketing professionals at The Go! Agency.

6 Social Media Trends That Are Already Dominating 2018

By Christopher Tompkins

19Feb

Social Media, Twitter

When clients come to us with failing social media marketing campaigns, we try to look at the nuts and bolts of their strategy and content. Sometimes, the answer is obvious. Other times, it takes some serious analysis. Yet one of the most common issues we see when business owners try to manage their own social media is a lack of innovation.

If you’re trying to be successful on social media and maintain an ever-increasing level of engagement, you absolutely must adapt your strategy to appeal to today’s trends. All the experts agree, 2018 is expected to be the year that millions of businesses begin their social media marketing journey. As such, you need to know the most popular and trending strategies.

At The Go! Agency, we take pride in incorporating the most current and engaging strategies into our client’s social media campaigns. Whether it’s a new video format or communication tool, we’re there to try it out. Here are the current trends of 2018 and how they can help your brand today:

1. Chatbots. It seems that we have come full-circle with customer service. For a long time people preferred humans over speaking with a machine. Now, over 65% of customers who shop online prefer to converse with chatbots in platforms such as Facebook Messenger. Chatbots make customer service simple, effective, and fast. The best part is that Chatbots are specifically crafted for your brand. So whether you sell shoes or auto insurance, a chatbot can level up your customer satisfaction.

2. Re-Targeting. In the world of Facebook advertising, re-targeting has proven to be one of the most effective ways to further develop relationships with existing customers. If a customer completed a transaction or if they were interested in your brand at one point in time, re-targeting will be able to position your brand in the spotlight of their mind (and screens).

3. More Engaging and Longer Tweets. In 2017, Twitter made the monumental decision to change their character limit from 140 to 280. For marketers, this was a game changer. Now, you are able to really embrace your brand’s message and story through a single tweet. Moreover, more and more brands have been crafting their content with content that will get people talking. Content that incorporates requesting feedback, asking questions, posting polls, etc. has proven to be really on the rise. A real, organic conversation with your audience. Imagine that!

4. A Heavy Focus On (Optimized) Blogs. Despite blogging being one of the original forms of internet-based communication, it’s stronger than ever. Blogging is particularly great for both B2C and B2B businesses that have a desire to share pertinent information with their customers and the online community as a whole. And thanks to SEO, your blog will get you more web traffic than ever before. Optimized blogs are a sure way to increase your search result rankings and gain more online visibility.

5. A Real, Engaging Voice. Of course, you want to stay professional. Of course, you want to be as polite and mannerly as possible. But more and more brands have employed a casual and fun tone when engaging with customers- especially when responding to comments and questions on Facebook and Twitter. If you decide to take this route, you’re humanizing your brand, thereby strengthening the relationship between business and buyer. It’s a win-win in the marketing book.

6. Stories, Stories, Stories! Have you been on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat lately? If so, you’ve most likely seen a menu of circular profile images on top. Those are Stories, content that only lasts for 24 hours and gets a ton of visibility. Stories have taken over social media feeds and are changing the way audiences interact with brands. Platforms, such as Instagram, are consistently adding new features and options that will make your content pop. This is especially true for Instagram, which has a ton of features and options that will really make your content pop. Be sure to utilize this tool in both video and image formats.

For some, 2018 is off to a great year. We’ve seen some brands skyrocket to new visibility heights. For others that are struggling to stand out, they may need to adjust their strategy. Keep the above ideas in mind when going forward with social media to gain an advantage like no other.

Did you know that we work with hundreds of brands in order to help them stay ahead of the marketing game?

Click Here to Subscribe

Coming Up With New Content Ideas

By Christopher Tompkins

Copy of Go! Blog Image Templates (900x350) (4)

17May

Content Creation, Copywriting, Local Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

Coming up with new content ideas for your website can start to get tough after a while. Once you’ve ticked off the obvious topics in your industry, you may find it a bit of a struggle to come up with new ideas.

It doesn’t seem to get any easier either. The more you write, the less there is to write about.

The upside is that this creative chasm can challenge you to come up with more engaging content that isn’t on every other website in your industry. The downside is that coming up with ideas takes a little more work.

Below are a few exercises and routines we follow to keep ourselves inspired. To lessen the work of idea creation.

1. Start With An Image

Whenever we make a piece of content, we also make an image afterward. Whether it’s a blog post or a social media update, once the copy is done, we move on to the picture.

But who says the copy has to come first?

Sitting down to create an image without any copy to restrict you is a great way to find some inspiration. Once the image is done, you can allow that to inspire your copy.

Ask yourself, “What type of article would this image be good for?”

2. Read

A good writer is also a good reader.

We write about marketing, so we also read a lot about marketing. News articles, emails, blogs, social media posts, and books. Reading the views of others in our industry keeps us in the conversation and aware of current trends.

But we also dip outside of marketing too. Marketing, like many other industries, is something that can be relevant to many other things.

Whenever we find out about a new idea or a new trend, we wonder, “Can this be applied to marketing?” This can often lead to inspiration for content.

Could the last book you read apply to your industry in some way? Does a trend in the news also point to something in your own industry?

If the answer is yes, you’ve got something to write about.

3. Take your time and forget about inspiration

Inspiration is the strangest thing. The more you try to grasp it, the further it seems to be.

One exercise we often do on team building days is we ask our Go! Agents to come up with an interesting fact about themselves.

Most of the time nobody can think of anything. They’re stumped. But all of our staff are creative and interesting people, so why is it so hard for them to come up with something?

The issue is, nobody likes to be put on the spot. When you force yourself to come up with an idea that’s exactly what you’re doing. The hardest way to come up with an idea is to think, “Idea, idea, idea!”

Our best ideas happen when we’re not trying to come up with them at all. When we’re driving home, taking a shower or just before we go to bed.

It’s good practice to carry a notepad with you so you can collect ideas. Even when your deadline is weeks away.

As counter-productive as it seems, not thinking about coming up with an idea makes ideas appear on their own.

4. Revisit Old Content

After my last tip, I’ve either got you nodding your head, or I’ve completely lost you. You might be frantically screaming at your monitor, “I NEED AN IDEA RIGHT NOW!”

Maybe you have a deadline in 2 hours and you haven’t even started your piece yet. Worst of all you can’t seem to find any idea at all.When this happens to us, we always find it’s good to revisit our old content. Often this helps to remind us of old ideas.

But at the same time, creating content that is a direct response or follow-up to old content can be a winner.

One thing we like to do is find our most popular older content and write another post that expands on it. If lots of people loved your post about skincare tips, chances are they’re hungry for more!

The best thing about this is you’re giving your audience more of what they want. So your content is defined by others instead of yourself.

4 Ways Simplicity Is Best For Social Media

By Christopher Tompkins

9May

Social Media

When people log on to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or another platform, they are immediately bombarded with enough content to make their head spin. With millions of tweets to read, comments to like, and live videos to stream, just viewing social media could be a full-time job! This, in a nutshell, is why simplicity is key.

People do not have time to try and decipher your message. They like clear-cut, concise ideas that are presented in the most convenient fashion possible. How can your brand adapt this simple philosophy?

Check out these 5 methods of keeping things simple with your online marketing.

1. Short, punchy sentences.

When you are writing social media content, take a step back and try to determine which words are absolutely necessary. Take out anything extra and while you’re at it, replace weak words with stronger ones. This will help your message get across in a reader-friendly fashion.

2. “Iconic” imagery.

A rule of thumb in the world of graphic design is “if your design can’t be recognized when it’s on a billboard and you’re speeding by a 70mph, then it’s not an effective design.” Simplicity is the answer for designers and as such, your visuals should be instantly recognizable as online viewers “speed scroll” through their news feeds.

3. Call to actions.

Don’t make your readers have to go very far to visit your website. Provide a link and most importantly, make sure it takes them to exactly where you want them to go, whether a homepage, landing page, contact form, etc.

4. Numbers and bullets.

Imagine this article without these ideas being broken down into numbered points. It would be just a blocky mess. Breaking down information, specifically blogs and social media articles help your reader to take easy, digestible bites and understand the overarching takeaways.

So, let’s not waste any more time. It’s simple. Get to work on social media marketing!

Need help with social media? Contact us today!

Ok, I Understand the Power of Content Marketing – But Now What?

By Christopher Tompkins

7May

Uncategorized

There is absolutely nothing worse than having all of the passion in the world for something, but not knowing how to take that first step.

In this case I’m talking about content marketing. Content marketing is a powerful aspect of your overall marketing strategy and something that will not only take your search engine optimization to the next level, but will also help you reap the benefits of your social media marketing strategy.

So you have a blog on your business website and are ready to get writing. You’ve knocked out 4 or 5 blogs and it was easy as pie.

But now you are getting a bit dry on ideas.

You are not alone.

When you have to consistently write about topics, after awhile you will begin to experience fatigue with the subject.

So how do I renew my vigor?

As I always say, it takes a village to raise a blog.

Here are some content generation ideas that you might want to try out:

*Google Alerts: by setting a Google Alert for your given topic (for example “running tips” if you were running a sports apparrel store), Google will trawl through all of the new results on a daily basis (or more/less frequently as you choose) and email you with the results. These are great ways to come up with topics that are not only topical, but also hot off the press

*Your Staff: one of the most underutilized and most powerful forces, are people within your organization. Let them know that you are always looking for new ideas for the company blog and would appreciate them forwarding on/telling you about anything they think would be a great addition. Note: this is not a one-time practice. You will have to continually remind them about this as their busy day to day life can push them away from being as vigilant as you would like them to be.

*Competitive Analysis: this one is simple. Look at what your competition is writing about and see how successful it is. I’m not suggesting copying or plagiarizing their content, but look to see what topics seem to be working for them. Then write some original blogs and articles with those topics in mind.

*Social Media: do a social media search for your topic and see what comes up. I suggest using Twitter and LinkedIn for this as they tend to give you the most relevant results. See what people are talking about, see what they are asking about. Find some hot topics and create a blog or two around them.

*FAQs: another missed opportunity for many organizations when it comes to their content strategy is the power of writing blogs and articles that address questions or objections that they get from potential consumers on a regular basis. For example, if you were a plastic surgeon who administers botox, perhaps a FAQ would be “If I use botox, will my face be frozen forever?” Then the surgeon could write an article about “Botox: What You Can Expect” or something along those lines. This will not only answer the question, but you can share this link in the future with any potential clients who may have the same question. And believe you me, this impresses them.

Use the above tools and methods for dragging yourself out of the creative doldrums. Remember, blogging can be a tough subject – but perseverance and thinking out of the box will keep you, and your blog, fresh.

Need Online Marketing Help?

Fill Out the Form Below and We Will Get Right Back to You!

[ninja_forms_display_form id=1]

It Takes a Village to Raise a Blog

By Christopher Tompkins

6May

Social Media, Uncategorized

Like many businesses, you have been trying your hand at social media. You have been building your LIKES on Facebook, your connections on LinkedIn and your Followers on Pinterest and Twitter. You have been putting out updates on a regular basis: either quotes, statements, sharing pictures or video, or sharing articles that you think your audience would enjoy. Sounds like a great strategy, right?

But why aren’t more people coming to your website?

You have been doing everything right. You have been engaging, you have been getting liked, followed, commented and Retweeted.

But why aren’t more people coming to the site?

Because you are not directing them to your original content, written and posted by you, on your own website!

Social media marketing gives you the prime opportunity to not only brand yourself as an expert and generate more visibility for your brand in less time than many other marketing channels, but it also enables you to influence the buying decision of your consumers.

What your potential customers are looking for on social media are helpful hints that will help to enhance their professional and personal lives. Who knows how to do this better than you? Your business fits a need and your expert opinion will help satiate this in your potential and current customer base.

And this brings me to the power of blogs and why you need to have one.

Your blog will contain information pertinent to your business and address topics that are related and of interest to your target market. For example, if you are an assisted living facility, your blog could be focused around topics that would interest the person searching for a facility such as yours. You can obviously write about upcoming events and announcements, but go a bit further. Write about aging topics such as dementia and caregiving. Write about healthy food choices for seniors.

Are you a tax attorney? Write about new tax laws and how they affect your target client. Write about how a family of four can easily manage their monthly budget. Write about investment opportunities that people can explore.

I think you get my drift.

Now, write an update on social media and share the link to this article. And…don’t do it just once. Share the article every so often. Ask your connections to share the article.

Now you may say “OK, I’ve done one….but where’s the traffic?”

Unfortunately posting and sharing one blog is NOT a strategy. You have to regularly write, post and share these. If you are looking for a strong content marketing strategy, I suggest writing at least one blog a day or 4-5 per week.

Immediately I’m sure this turns off many businesses. But the plain fact is that there is enough content within your industry to generate meaningful posts on a regular basis. Also, imagine the SEO implications of having keyword packed content being added to your website almost daily. This is a HUGE powerhouse and a wonderful value of having regular blogs done.

The second turn off I’m sure is double barreled: “I don’t know where to start and am not that strong of a writer.”

With every problem there is a solution. If the water main broke in your building, would you fix it? If there were more sales orders coming in than you could handle, wouldn’t you hire support staff?

If the design of the blog and the writing are out of your wheel house, find someone to help you get the ball rolling. There are designers and copywriters out there that can get right down to the brass tax of your message and formulate blogs seemingly overnight.

Next objection: but no one knows my business like me.

True. But think about how many books out there, best-sellers, are nearly written 90%-100% without the “author” being involved. This is the skill of a solid copywriter with experience.

My point is that if you are trying to make the most out of your social media campaign, a blog is really the cornerstone of success. Beyond social, it is also a powerhouse when trying to enhance the SEO capabilities of your website.

If this is out of your area of expertise, talk with someone who has experience with blogging and writing. They will be able to point you in the right direction. The bottom line is that sometimes it takes a village to raise a blog.

Need Online Marketing Help?

Fill Out the Form Below and We Will Get Right Back to You!

[ninja_forms_display_form id=1]

Tag : blogs

How to Attract More Visitors to Your Website

6 Social Media Trends That Are Already Dominating 2018

Coming Up With New Content Ideas

1. Start With An Image

2. Read

3. Take your time and forget about inspiration

4. Revisit Old Content

4 Ways Simplicity Is Best For Social Media

Ok, I Understand the Power of Content Marketing – But Now What?

Need Online Marketing Help?

It Takes a Village to Raise a Blog

Need Online Marketing Help?