In the past, businesses attempted to set the world alight with innovative direct marketing ploys and clever advertising, but today, it’s much more important to set the World Wide Web alight. If you’re tired of watching your competitors reap the rewards of online marketing and you’re lagging behind and you can’t work out why, here are some reasons why you may be failing to blaze that trail.
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Your website is slow and unreliable
You may have noticed that most people live their lives at a hundred miles per hour these days. When you see people browsing the Internet on their phone on the bus or using their laptop in a cafe, how long do you think they spend on each page? On average, we spend less than 15 seconds looking at a single web page. This means that you have a maximum of 15 seconds to impress with your website and the content you produce. If your website takes an age to load pages or it keeps crashing, you’re going to lose potential customers. People don’t have time to waste, and they also don’t have the patience to see if the page is worth waiting for. If you don’t already work with a web design agency or you haven’t yet invested in managed IT services, head here for more information. Downtime can be so costly for businesses, and the last thing you want is your website to put people off instead of encouraging them to make a purchase. If you have 24-hour assistance at the end of the phone, this will minimize the impact of any unexpected technical hitches.
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You’re giving off the wrong first impression
When you boot up your laptop, and it launches your homepage, what are your first impressions? It takes seconds to form an impression of something you see. It’s so important to impress a potential client at the first time of asking, as you may not get another chance. Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor and think about how you would react to your website. Does it look professional and stylish? Can you find the information you need promptly? Does the homepage leave you wanting more? Now, visit other websites and have a look at what other companies are doing. What elements do you like? Are there any great features you could include on your site? How do the graphics and images compare? Make sure your website looks the part, as well as being easy to use and informative. Written content is useful, but avoid filling pages with big blocks of text, as this is not appealing to web users. Instead, add video clips, infographics and high-quality photographs.
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You’re not promoting your website
If you think your website is spot-on, but you’re still not getting many visitors, or leads aren’t turning into sales, there’s a good chance that you’re not doing enough to promote your site. It’s all very well having brilliant content and a host of interactive features, but if nobody knows how to find you, having this fantastic website isn’t going to make any difference to your marketing campaign. Once you’ve got the site sorted, the next step is to show it off and encourage as many people as possible to pay it a visit. There are various ways of doing this. One effective method is improving your SEO, or search engine optimization, strategy. The aim of this technique is to make sure that you’re making waves when people use a search engine to find anything that is related to your business. You want to be at the top of those lists of links and results, rather than languishing on page 4. More than 75 percent of users don’t even make it to page 2, so being on the front page is incredibly beneficial.
You can improve SEO by focusing on the content you produce. Running a blog on your website is a great idea, as it enables you to publish content on a regular basis. Focus on subjects that will appeal to your target market and learn how to use keywords and search terms properly. If you don’t understand the ins and outs of SEO, it’s worth paying for expert help. A brilliant SEO campaign could change your fortunes and increase sales significantly.
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You’re being antisocial
The World Wide Web is a platform for socialization, and it’s an excellent resource for businesses looking to attract new clients, build relationships and create leads. Work with other companies or individuals to promote your website, for example, by using backlinks or affiliate posts, and take advantage of the ever-increasing power of social media. You can use social media to promote your business online and drum up interest in what you’re selling. If you have a clothing store, for example, you can advertise different pieces and outfits on sites like Instagram and provide a link straight to the pages of your website where clients can purchase the items they want. Sharing and liking posts will help you attract more attention, and it’s also a really good idea to run competitions and offer flash sales and discounts to get people talking about your products. Tailor your campaign to make it relevant to your buyer. Younger people tend to spend more time on Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube than Twitter. You can use analytics to gauge how well your strategy is working and see where you’re generating most traffic.
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The Internet is such a valuable resource for modern businesses, but it can only help you succeed if you use it in the right way. If you’re failing to set the World Wide Web alight, now is the time to change tack and take advantage of the benefits of being online. Start by getting your website right and making sure that it looks fantastic and works properly. Your client should have access to everything they need at the touch of a button, and they shouldn’t have to contend with delays or broken links. Once you’ve got the site looking fabulous and it’s working seamlessly, you need to make sure that it’s visible and easy to find. Use social media and effective SEO techniques to increase traffic and get people talking.
