3 Key Basic Digital Marketing To Do’s For 2016
There’s a huge and confusing number of options to bring customers to your web site and none of us have time to try them all. If you do nothing else here’s the three key areas we think you should focus on for 2016 –
Make it mobile
In May 2015 Google confirmed that more searches now originate on a mobile or tablet device than a desktop. This means your web site doesn’t just have to work on mobile but also needs to be easy to navigate without super human eyesight. Google can tell if it is and will treat you favourably for it. If it isn’t they may drop you from mobile searches completely. Ask your web designers to make your site Responsive. This means one site that is written in code that adapts to whatever size screen it’s viewed on.
Check your site at: https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
Content is king
The more content you have both on your web site and ideally on other relevant websites such as trade journals and magazines the better. This has to be content that is useful and well written. Google marks your homework harshly. Their algorithm takes into account your spelling and grammar and can even understand the relevance of the words on the page to your industry. Content marketing is now the second largest expenditure on digital marketing worldwide, but you don’t have to be a giant company to take advantage. Your company is full of experts, even if it’s just you. Keep adding content, blogging, posting and offering to write for sites relevant to your business. Even if nobody else reads it – Google will and they’ll give you full marks for effort which will in turn help you appear above your competitors in the search results.
Find your competitors most shared content at: http://buzzsumo.com/
PAY FOR IT
If you’ve never tried paid advertising via Google or if you’ve only dabbled a little in the past then now is the time to properly invest in this medium. Carried out correctly this can’t fail to bring potential customers to your web site. The trick is to make sure it’s cost effective by refining exactly what your advert displays for, when it displays and that the page you are advertising is highly relevant. The beauty of Pay Per Click (PPC) is that you can cap your spend, target a highly localised audience, only pay when someone clicks the advert and then track through Google analytics whether that visitor ended up as an enquiry, information request or sale. Imagine 20 years ago being told you only had to pay for an advert if someone called you from it and only people who were likely to want to use your services would see it. You’d place the ad straight away!
Try the Google keyword planner here: https://adwords.google.co.uk/KeywordPlanner – they’ll even give you search volumes and average cost estimates to get you started.
