What does it mean to extend your online market reach?
I have a website, isn’t that enough?
Having a website is the first step, but follow these 3 easy ways to extend your online market reach and you will see a spike in your traffic.
1. Use Social Media
Ok, you just having a facebook or twitter account does not count as “using” social media. Get on there and post. Engage with your following and build your following. Make them want to come back to your social media site for more. An example of what you can do: use your wisdom and business skills that you’ve learned in your current vertical to inform others of what they can do to improve their business in the same vertical. Why? Because, it establishes you as a though leader in your particular vertical. If other people in your same vertical are listening to what you have to say, then a person wanting to utilize a product or service in your vertical is going to see you as the knowledgeable and informed person to do business with.
Tip: To really utilize social media, make sure to put a link back to your site every now and then to help funnel people to the good stuff, your website. Mix it in with a couple of nifty Instagram pics so that it doesn’t seem like you are trying to be pushy.
2. Optimize your website
Again, just having a website does not qualify. There is a term floating around out there called Search Engine Optimization (SEO)… and it is NOT dead. If you want your site to be found in that deep dark ocean we call the Internet, then you need to make sure your website is optimized so that a search engine, like Google, can “crawl” your site and index it. Using your content and how you have optimized the site, the search engine will use numerous algorithms to decide if your website should be shown for a particular search. Trust me, you want to show up in the searches and you want to show up on the first page…actually the #1 position on the first page would be ideal. Click here to learn more on Search Engine Optimization or contact us.
Tip: Make sure your title tag and meta tag are properly filled out. This is what search engines use to display the link and text to your site. And please make sure it doesn’t say “Home”, unless your company name is Home…then make sure it is in there.
3. Start blogging
You may think that you don’t have anything to blog about, but you are wrong. There has to be some trend, a tip, or something new in your vertical that you can blog about. Let people know that you are up to date on all that is going on in your vertical. This goes back to portraying yourself as a though leader. Also, if you can get some blog distribution sites to send out your blog also, then you will extend your reach even further. Don’t forget to put that Google Author tag in there too.
Tip: Search engine algorithms like “new” content. If your website is not producing new content, then the search engines may think you are dull/boring. Thus, if you blog, you are constantly producing “new” content.
