Website marketing online is now crucial for all businesses, and this requires additional time spent in this area. Unfortunately, time is the one commodity that seems to be lacking for all of us. When our workload becomes overwhelming it is easier to spend less time on certain projects, and for some, this is a daunting task. The goal then, is to gain maximum benefit for our time spent. The other option is to hire outside help to develop marketing campaigns to cover this important part of our online success.
Improving visual marketing methods:
One of the tricks I have found to maximize time spent, is to add more images to your exciting content. This may help to hold the viewer’s interest and make up for less time spent. Although the more traditional laptops and PCs are still in use for shopping online, most folks are now going to mobile methods to looks for goods and services. Because of this, adding more images will help to drive the message home. Images that tell a story are very powerful. They can boost the value of any article.
How social media links affect marketing strategy:
Having social media accounts up to date and full of great information will improve your online marketing. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to mention only a few social networks, are now accounting for many interactions which boost brand awareness and bring in new sales. There are several advantages to offer your viewers information through social media. You can develop direct communication with buyers, reach a larger audience, and share marketing materials with each of their friends and followers online. Adding social media links will also boost your SEO rank among top search engines.
Out with the old … in with the new:
Older, outdated sites, not mobile-ready, show text which is harder to read, and links are hard to click on as well. The navigation system on older sites is another element which needs updating to offer quick movement throughout the site. Each new re-design should be mobile-friendly, and this should take place during the initial design phase.
A website that loads fine on a laptop or PC, loses functionality when the website is not mobile-friendly. Further, Google is no longer listing websites in organic listings that are not built on mobile platforms. This means that the huge amount of your target audience shopping, using mobile devices cannot find you.
All new websites are now designed to be mobile-ready. We suggest that you re-design your site every three to five years to maximize the new design elements available. Content requirements change and the sites of today are more image driven. Less is best when it comes to adding content to the site. Google is suggesting about 300 words for the home page and a maximum of 350 to content rich pages. Focus on marketing content which will provide value to the customer and offer a benefit.
In addition to re-designing the site, spending time on a marketing campaign can drive new users to your website. This will also improve ROI (Return on Investment).Concentrate on offering useful content, video, images or other information that is considered a “good read.” You’ll find that online marketing efforts will be much less expensive than TV, radio or print ads. Stay consistent as you build your marketing skills.
Stay current on all new bells and whistles as they appear in the marketplace. Successful online marketing methods have evolved as the internet became available to the world. You are now literally able to reach the world with your marketing messages. Make it count …. the world is watching. Time to update and work on new marketing strategies for online success.
Hurry back for more next time.
Jean Holland-Rose
Chief Creative Officer & SEO Professional
Inside Design Orlando
