1. Promoting Your Business Online Chris Wellings www.ctc-aspire.co.uk

2. Agenda “Promoting your business online” Introduction Website optimisation and traffic generation Creating a dynamic website with a “call to action” Communicating with your customers & prospects Setting up a Blog Q & A

3. Remember… in the UK 91% of all web searches take place on Google 4% Bing 2% Yahoo 2% Ask “Think Google!”

4. Remember… Submitting your Site The easiest way to submit your site is to let Google find you – One inbound link will do The best way to get all your pages listed is to submit an XML sitemap “Make sure you are listed on Google.”

5. Remember… Keyword Analysis In order to drive focused traffic to your website, you need to identify the “words” that people will use to find you. – The search terms people will “actually” type – Not the ones you “think” they will type “Perform the Keyword Analysis.”

6. Remember… Optimising Your Content You need to make sure that the “keywords” you have identified occur in your web page content: – In the HTML Title – this is the link text from Google! – In the Meta Description – In the Main Content In the H1 Headings tag In the Link text In the actual wording “You can control what Google says about you!”

7. Remember… Link Reputation You need to build quality, thematic links back to your website from third party websites, e.g. – Your customers – Your suppliers – Online directories and other resources. “You need to build your online reputation by making sure other websites link to you.”

8. Remember… Social Media You need to use all methods currently available to promote your brand: – Blog – Linked In – Facebook – Twitter Updated regularly (e.g. daily or at worst weekly) “Used correctly, social media can act as ‘electronic word of mouth’ to drive substantial traffic to your website.”

9. Remember… Monitor Your Analytics Use Google Analytics to track the performance of your website: – How many visitors? – Which search engine? – Which words did they type? – Which page did they land on? – How long did they stay? – etc. etc. “Track performance, analyse, modify and try again.”

10. Think Like A Search Engine

12. What Happens Next? You are receiving visitors to your website You are monitoring where they come from You know which words are working for you You are not generating any business You don’t know who your visitors are “Your website isn’t working for you! Help?”

13. What Should You Do? Present your visitors with a clear “call to action”: – Complete an enquiry form – Phone or request a call back – Request a quote – Register for your newsletter – Buy a product online “Get your website visitors to do what you want them to do!”

14. What Should You Do? Ask for their contact details: – Name – Email address – Phone number Ask them to subscribe to your mailing list – To receive product information – To receive special offers and promotions “Interact with your website visitors through your website.”

15. Example:

17. What Should You Do Next? Respond with requested action asap Start Communicating with your customers and prospects – Email – Telephone – Other? Keep your website content interesting and up-to-date – Add a blog – Add case studies and testimonials – Add news and press releases “Engage your website visitors, building trust & confidence.”

18. Why Add a Blog? Wikipedia: “A blog is a “personal journal” published on the world wide web consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order.” To keep your customers and prospective customers up-to-date To talk about your products and services To grab Google’s attention – Google likes dynamic content To give you something to tweet about “Build your relationship with your website visitors – get them to see you as an expert.”

19. … In Summary Interact with your website visitors through your website Capture their contact information Communicate with them through pre-prepared email auto-responders and planned email promotions Keep them informed through a blog Use ‘electronic word of mouth’ to spread the message “Customer service starts the moment your website prospect first arrives at your website.”