So you have a small brick and mortar business but want to attract more customers online. You've heard that success on the internet is all about traffic but don't know where to start. Building an online presence for your small brick and mortar business can seem like a daunting task with so many options available. This article will provide some tips that will help you create an online destination for your potential customers!
Building an online presence is a time-intensive process, but its potential to attract a global customer base can contribute significantly to your brick-and-mortar business's success.
This step is critical for any business, but even more so if you're a small brick and mortar. If your target market isn't online, then it's just not worth the time or money to build an online presence. You can use Google Analytics to see what sites are getting traffic in your niche, as well as how much of that traffic converts into actual customers. This way, you'll know where to focus your efforts! It would be best to look at other businesses similar to yours both locally and nationally because they may have already laid out some groundwork for you by establishing themselves on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. There are plenty of free tools available these days, such as Screaming Frogs SEO Spider, which will help unearth valuable information that you can use in your online marketing efforts. Most importantly, you need to be actively involved with the process by regularly monitoring sites like Google Analytics and reviewing other businesses' profiles for content ideas. Don't let this part of building an online presence fall to the wayside!
A responsive website adapts to any screen size, so it's easy for customers to view on their smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. This element of building an online presence will help you attract more traffic because Google ranks sites with mobile responsiveness higher in search engine results than those without. It'll also be vital to pay close attention to the extreme effects the behavior of online shoppers can make on your business. Also, having a lead generating form or contact page prominently displayed will encourage visitors to fill out the information which could be used as leads when marketing your small brick & mortar business!
If your site doesn't have e-commerce capabilities, try using Gumroad instead. You can create free accounts at no cost, which allows you to sell anything from music tracks to books, etc., directly through your site. As long as there's something to buy, then you can use Gumroad's free service. It's a great way to build an online presence for your small brick & mortar business!
Customers often visit brick and mortar businesses to take advantage of special offers or discounts. So why not create exclusive online deals that can be accessed through a promotional code? This is an easy way to build your brand awareness while helping you acquire new leads simultaneously! Offering discounts or freebies on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc., will help get the word out about these specials so they'll start building momentum before appearing on your site. Make sure this element of your small business's online presence isn't overlooked because it's one of the best ways to attract quality traffic which could turn into customers!
If you're on a limited budget and resources, using PPC advertising like Google Adwords is the best way to generate targeted leads for your small brick & mortar business. You can create hyper-focused ads on specific keywords so they'll only show up when someone searches those terms in Google, Bing or another search engine. Creating an online presence will help you get more visibility by driving new visitors directly to your website. Still, it's important not to spend too much money because if your ROI isn't positive enough, people won't click through... which defeats the purpose!
Implementing high-quality SEO strategies is the surest way to build an online presence for your small brick & mortar business. There are many free and paid tools available these days that provide insight into which keywords you should target on a local, national or global level. Once those terms have been identified, using software like Google Analytics will show how much traffic they're generating, so it'll be easier to focus on what's working best instead of trying random approaches hoping one stick!
Building an online presence can take some time, but if done correctly, it could bring more customers directly through your door from all over the world! So don't let this part of creating a successful marketing campaign fall by the wayside because it has made all the difference in the success of many small brick & mortar businesses.
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