Marketing an online business

andydugg

Hey Everyone,

I'm a digital marketing consultant for a marketing agency (no i'm not trying to sell any services). I just wanted to share my knowledge.

I work with small to large businesses on a daily basis and I come across the same scenario regularly, companies have a website which simply just 'ticks along'.

I think you need to look at your website and analyze its conversion rate. Just displaying your products doesn't mean that you'll sell them. Clever websites are those which embed psychological elements. Eg: only 3 left. As, it encourages people to buy! However, you need web visitors first. (Make sure you have Google Analytics on your website to monitor traffic volumes).

People tend to not know what they're buying when it comes to SEO so they do get 'burnt'. If you go to a real marketing agency that sells SEO then they have to generate the business a return on investment otherwise their clients will just go elsewhere. Two quick point on this; 1) if you buy cheap you buy twice! 2) go to a company that uses organic SEO methods so if you walk away at any point you'll still see results. There is a lot of companies out there who are just trying to make a quick buck.

If its a niche market that you're selling to then you need to be well-known within this market. Try email marketing to those within the wedding industry. Connect with other businesses which might have a mutual interest in collaborating on products/offers/services.

Without looking at your business and website, I wouldn't be able to pinpoint where you need to focus your efforts.

Definitely get your business on Facebook!

Katy43

Thank you very much for your reply.

So it seems that Facebook would be worth a try.

For my two main key words / phrase I've got Google.com ranking of 1 and 3 (checked today) so I suppose I need to increase relevant visitors.

Does anyone write blogs or articles and what's the best way of getting your writing 'out there'?

My time is stretched to say the least so I'm trying to work out the best use of my time with regards to promoting my site.

Should I be updating the site every day? (Although I'm not sure how I would fit that in!)

Dannycelluk

As a new business owner, I use facebook and twitter. Its brilliant! you can see exactly how many people are seeing each picture you post, and it trends the visits to your page. so you know if the visits are getting low, you have to post some more content to get people visiting again.

I used 1and1 for my website, some people dont like it, but ive found it very easy to use and the SEO is very helpful!

I also signed up for all of the free sites, e.g. thompson local and 192etc. you need to get as many websites linking to yours as possible, so signing up for facebook/twitter/etc all helps

mehera

Facebook is of questionable use!

There is a lot of nonsense spouted about running online businesses these days.

Get a local small web designer to do SEO and pay them a max of £100 per month. You should start to see results within a few months.

For a market as competitive as yours this is the only solution!!!!

Get recommendation from friends or even online (like forums!).

Do not go for a big company as the cost will be big as well and yes there are a load of scammers out there . . .

It took me years to find a trustworthy SEO man as I am highly suspicious!!!!!!

dizzytina

I have a website which i only had built due to my facebook page taking off in a massive way!!. I have to say love or hate facebook twitter etc you need it as a business. My facebook page is a great way to connect with the millions of people who do like social media. I still get a very high number of orders through facebook in particular in the 18-25 year old range. Its a must as far as i'm concerned but you do have to network it if you set one up. Dont just create a business page then expect people to flood to it.

If you do decide to set one up message me as i know a lot of networking pages that you can join - in particular craft ones .

mehera

If you dont trust SEO you can use Adwords campaigns to drive traffic to your site!

First rule of business is - you can't sell your products if you dont have customers!!!!!

13 years in business - how much are you spending on advertising?

It is amazing how many people think they can run a successful business without it . . . .

barry9999

shmeeko69 wrote: »

Some of the key areas to address are -

Do you have social media integration with your site - Facebook, Google +1 and Twitter? If not, then you're missing out on some extra traffic.

Do you have an email sign up form were you can grow your list and promote to it whenever you want?

Is your website properly optimised - Are you competing for the right phrases relative to your niche- Check the competition using a free keyword tool like Google and make the necessary changes.

Do you have your main keywords in your title tags and web description?

Is your website presentable and nicely laid out, so when people come visiting they want to stay and come back again?

Do you have fresh and interesting content on your sites pages?

Have you bookmarked your site and do you have any quality backlinks pointing towards it?

These are most of the things that will help with your site and not only get you new visitors, but people who will bookmark your site and return again.

Agree with this totally. I wouldn't pay a local seo company £100 per month either as someone else suggested. They will not be able to do anything that you couldn't achieve on your own.

sugarwalsh

Just a quick note on facebook - my husbands business has been ticking along by word of mouth for about 15 years now. He is a joiner and things had been getting very quiet, partly due to the fact that we moved.
I didn't think a facebook page would do much, but I set one up anyway. He has had (In about 2 months) around 5 new customers, several of whom have already asked him to return to do more work, so he has been kept busy. Some of his friends have been reminded about what he can do and have asked him to do jobs - out of sight, out of mind. I advertise his site on our local 'sell and seek' and keep an eye on them for when people ask for a builder/joiner, linking to his page when they ask for one. It takes a few minutes every day, but I feel the time and effort required has been rewarded really well with some very lovely customers.
I post good photos of his work and keep the posts relevant, we have decided on the type of client we like working with and are aiming at those. We have also set up a pinterest page, partly because it is useful to get our customers to use it sometimes so they can express what they want, and partly as a way of keeping photos of his work in one place. I would say facebook and pinterest are really important to you, as well as 'networking' with other wedding businesses on there. Recommendations are always so important, and with something like weddings if one person marries there are often a few others to come!

Best of luck with increasing sales - I have a good blog link should you want it I can pm it to you about this?

bloobelle

Have you tried Etsy? Wedding jewellery seems to do very well on there.

Jobseeeker

Have you tried getting a stall at a wedding fayre? Or an advert in a wedding magazine? guess you have to find ways to attract brides

put a few things on etsy and it may lead people to your site

another vote for using facebook for your business even if you don't use it personally

can you make it go near the top in a google search for "wedding jewellry"