If you want to get noticed online you have to be active and consistent with your communications. At Yabber Marketing we like to call this Yabbering. Simply meaning to chatter, Yabbering is what you should be doing in order to promote your brand and is one of the most cost effective ways to gain exposure online. There are loads of ways to promote your business and all of the following suggestions are free!
Effective ways to promote your business online
1. Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is arguably one of the most important communication platforms that businesses should tap into, as many consumers base their first impressions on businesses based on their online reputation. According to MyCustomer a fifth of consumers will check a brand’s online presence before a first time purchase and 29 percent of 2000 consumers asked regarded companies as being ‘more human’ if they were active on social media.
It is important to select your platforms carefully by considering your target audience. If you’re a travel agent specialising in trips for the over 50 then Snap Chat is probably going to be lost on your audience and you’d see very little return for your efforts.
2. Press & PR
Press releases are an acceptable and tolerated way of covertly blowing your own trumpet. So go for it – search for and make contact with the editors of key publications that are relevant to your industry. Business networks such as Chamber of Commerce exist to promote excellence across business communities. There will be a Chamber that covers your location and will welcome the submission of press release updates to include in their publications.
3. Blogging
Blogging is a little different to press releases. While blogs can be about company updates and developments, blogs are more typically impartial and objective pieces that are normally aimed at helping audiences, providing solutions to common problems, and should reflect the views and opinions of the author. If you want to impart valuable wisdom and secure your reputation as a knowledgeable and authoritative player within your field of expertise, then blogging will be the key to your success.
4. Providing comments on Blogs
Finding and connecting with influential bloggers in your niche is a great way of getting noticed. Ultimately, your goal is to get the bloggers themselves to notice you, follow your business and maybe even write a blog about you or your business. Either way, if they are followed by a lot of people commenting on other people’s blogs can be pivotal to gaining that extra bit of exposure. Another word of warning: Comments should be natural and not packed with links to your own site. These types of comments are typically unhelpful, unread and at worst, unpublished.
5. Directory Listings
Submitting your site to directory listings is, in most cases, a good idea. However, there are some directories that should be avoided and I would urge you to do careful research before making any rash submissions. Find and determine good reputable directories. These are typically directories that are heavily moderated, have a strict approval process and don’t conduct spammy activities, because your site could end up getting penalised by Google. It is also worth submitting your business to niche specific directories, but again, be careful where you list your business and make sure that the directory is reputable. This is a great resources for learning how, where and why to list your business.
6. Content Marketing
Much like blogging, the key to successful, well shared content marketing campaigns is to provide your audience with something that is unique, helpful or just extremely funny (while still remaining professional.) More importantly it must be valuable content that packs a punch. A content marketing campaign could consist of informative infographics, video tutorials on how to use your product, illustrations, animations and even competitions. Find out more about unlocking the power of content marketing.
Why is online marketing so important?
It is estimated that there are almost 1 billion websites in existence and over 2 billion indexed web pages; meaning competition for visibility is high. It is no longer acceptable or achievable to attract customers with just a website. Instead, website owners are required to be forever active across the platforms mentioned above in order for your brand to exude knowledge, authority, transparency, reliability and responsiveness.
More importantly, almost everything you do online will and can help with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). There are hundreds of criteria, also known as algorithms, that search engines use in order to determine where to place your website within results pages. These include technical elements such as XML sitemaps, URLS and Robot.txt files and on page elements such as key words, headers, images, meta tags and links – all of which need to be consistent and accurate for a higher ranking on Google. All of these things can be easily checked using the Yabber website health checker.
Links play an enormous part in SEO success. They are scrutinised by search engines, acting as key indicators about the trust of your site. Another way to look at it is this: if there are plenty of external websites linking back to your site Google recognises this as confirmation that your site is functional, containing reliable content that will be useful to its users. Unfortunately, this does not mean that building backlinks is a simple solution and one that can be completed over night. In fact, unless backlinks are created organically Google may impinge a penalty on your site resulting in a drop in position on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
How do you create backlinks naturally? By continually conducting online marketing, including the methods above and constantly ‘Yabbering’ about your brand at every opportunity.
Easier said than done, right? Well you’re in luck, Yabber Marketing exists to help small businesses with their online marketing for the sole purpose of building stronger reputations, resulting in greater exposure and visibility. Discover just some of the ways that Yabber Marketing can help you Yabber about your brand.
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