Tip 5. Inbound Marketing; the Big Picture

In Tips 3 and 4, we danced all around the subject of Inbound Marketing without actually talking about it.

According to Hubspot.com –

Inbound marketing is a business methodology that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. While outbound marketing interrupts your audience with content they don’t always want, inbound marketing forms connections they are looking for and solves problems they already have.

Just what is valuable content?

It is content with a bigger purpose; useful information created for a particular audience; content that hits the mark. By valuable content we mean the words, knowledge and information you choose to shape and share for your clients and customers: content that educates, helps or inspires them. https://valuablecontent.co.uk/

Say you are a Realtor specializing in First Time Home Buyers, you could offer an eBook on the steps you need to take to get ready to buy that first home; Clean up your credit, Get Pre-approved, Contact a Realtor, Decide on your must-haves, Make sure you have enough cash-on-hand.
Install this free product on your website, and link to it when you post on all of your social networks.

Another example: Offer free virtual events – free webinar, teleseminar, host a radio show, or streaming video.

In my case, I specialize in SEO and Social Networking, so I mght host a couple of free training webinars a month, helping people learn how to reach out to their target market online.
Again, install links to your website wherever you post an announcement of your event; Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, etc. You can also send out direct mail and email announcements.

Final example: Live events – Seminars, Guest Presentations, Chamber Events, Meet-ups, etc.

Go out and meet the people ‘belly to belly’. Host a group meeting once a month, offer to be a guest presenter, host a live seminar, etc.
Hand out business cards, fliers and brochures, just make sure that all of your handouts have your website address on them. And, if you market the event through direct mail or email, don’t forget to include your website address and/or a hot link back to your website.

Did you get that…

The first example – free products on your website (or social business pages), take a bit of time to set up, but after that require very little maintenance.

The second example – virtual events, also take a bit of time to set up, but can be recorded and shared over and over again on your website and in social networking posts pointing back to your website.

The third example – live events, require a significant amount of time to plan and set up (unless you are an attendee or presenter for someone else’s event), and this type of event can also be video recorded and shared, over and over again with links pointing back to your website.

So there you have it…

Do your keyword research first.
Write relevant, keyword-rich ‘search engine friendly’ content.
Use Social Media to drive traffic back to your website.
Automate and Syndicate all of your social networking posts linking to your website.
Set up free products, host virtual and live events, and make sure to include your web address and/or links in all of your marketing materials.

Thank you for taking the time to read through 5 Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Website. It is my sincere hope that you found them interesting and informative. Feel free to contact me at lynn.albro@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.

Tip 4. Automation & Syndication

So now let’s talk about social media sites. There are hundreds (actually 1000’s) of Social Networks to join and participate in, however, I am going to point you in the direction of just a few:

Facebook – a website that allows users, who sign-up for free profiles, to connect with friends, work colleagues, or people they don’t know, online.
Twitter – think of Twitter as a global billboard. It can be used effectively on a much smaller scale, it just depends on what your marketing goals are.
LinkedIn – this is a great place to reach out to people on a professional level.
Youtube – is a great place to not only enjoy videos but also to interact with other YouTube members.
Instagram – a free, online photo-sharing application and social network platform
Pinterest – Users collect photos and link to products they love, creating pinboards and following the pinboards of other people whom they find interesting.
TikTok – is a social media platform for creating, sharing, and discovering short videos.

Keep in mind, that social networking is all about building relationships, engaging in conversations, and providing relevant content, with the ultimate goal of drawing people into your message and onto your website.

Remember to mix it up, your status updates should include: thought-provoking questions, quotations, links to your website, links to relevant blogs and articles, pictures, and links to videos.

People want to do business with people that they know and trust. And, if all they know about you is the products you sell (or services you provide) – you are not networking, you are preaching!

Automation and Syndication

My favorite automation and syndication tool is Hootsuite.

At Hootsuite, you can schedule multiple status updates for days, weeks, or even months ahead of time. Hootsuite has lots of functionality. I can link it to Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google+ Page, Facebook, Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, AND, not only can I schedule posts, but I can also engage right at the Hootsuite dashboard with my ‘followers’, ‘friends’, ‘fans’, ‘connections’ and group ‘members’.

Visualize this, you sign up with several social networks (and social bookmarking sites), fill in the blanks (bio, contacts, website, etc.), and invite your friends – then automate and syndicate your posts… now you are reaching 1000’s (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of ‘friends’, ‘followers’, ‘fans’, and ‘connections’.

Some people in the know believe that you should concentrate on building relationships, reaching out to prospects, and engaging in conversations with a relatively small number of people. In other words – Quality vs Quantity. However, if you take a look at the Social ‘Rockstars’, you will find that they have thousands of Friends, Followers, Fans, and Connections on their networking sites.

So there you have it! Sign up on several social networks, then automate and syndicate your blog and social networking posts to drive tons of traffic to your website.

In Tip 5 we will address the big picture – Inbound Marketing.

Tip 3. Social Media Networking

It’s a fact, Social Media can drive traffic to your website like nothing else! Here is a list of marketing activities you can do at your social media sites:

1. Set up your Profile. Social media profiles are vital. Not only do they help users to be more discoverable, but they can help to build relationships with your connections (or followers), as well as craft your brand. READ MORE

2. Marketing is all about numbers… so reach out to as many people as you can; friends, family, colleagues, prospects, clients, etc.

3. Be sure to include the company you work for. If you are promoting your business, set up a Business page with your name; i.e. “Lynn Albro, Marketing Specialist”.

4. Be sure to fill out all the blanks in the profile section, including your Contact Info, education, positions, licenses & certifications, website, etc.

5. When you develop a Business Page, upload a picture badge that states at a glance what business you are in, then follow all of the recommended steps including; adding information about your business and links back to your website.

6. You need to post on your business pages at least 5 times a week. This is not the place to preach your message, Social Media is the place to share relevant information, yours and other people’s. Focus on ‘how-to’ and ‘tips & advice’ website articles. So for every 5 posts that you post sharing these blogs, add a post about your business; customer testimonials, links to a new blog, a free offer, upcoming events, etc.

7. Use your social media sites to promote your events. An event could be; an Open House, a seminar, a local meetup, etc, When you add a Facebook event, it is very easy to invite your ‘friends’ to that event. And in the body of the event, offer a link back to your website for more information.

8. It is also important to thank people that ‘like’ your page and reciprocate by ‘liking’ their business pages.

9. Never put up a post that you could not share with your Grandma or your Church Pastor. Don’t be negative, people do not respond well to negative, AND, if you want someone to accept your friendship or ‘like’ your page – ask nicely. Studies show that if you ask nicely, people will usually do what you ask.

Remember that the fundamental purpose of Social Media is to network – so get out there and be nice. Interact with people; Comment, Like, and Share.

NOTE: As I stated in the last Tip, these marketing principles can be applied to networking at any of your Social Media Sites.

In Tip 4 we will address a time-saving technique to automate and syndicate your social networking posts.

Tip 2. Content Writing

A few years ago you used to hear the term “search engine friendly content”. You don’t hear it much anymore, however, it still applies. It is important to write content so that the search engines will know exactly what your article is about.

After all, the search engines are not people, in fact, all that the search engines do is index content. However, if you write content using your keywords enough times (called keyword density), then the search engines know that the written content is about your keyword.

Okay, so now you are asking – How many times should I use my keyword in my content? The answer to that question is not clear… the experts are all over the board on that subject.

It is quite clear though that if you use a keyword too many times in an article, the search engines will deem it spam and ignore it (or worse yet, ban the content).

When writing ‘search engine friendly content’…

A good rule of thumb is to use your keyword in the title, use it in the descriptive sentence (which should be the first sentence of your article), and use it at least one time per 100 words of your content. And, install that same keyword behind any graphics that you attach to the article.

Now you are thinking – It can’t be as simple as all that! Actually, there are a couple more things you can do to create “search engine-friendly content”.

1. Either bold or italicize your keyword every time you use it in the content.
2. Throughout your article, use your keyword in headings using heading text;

h1 – Search Engine Friendly Content

h2 – Content is king!

h3 – Using heading txt gets the search engines to take notice.

First and foremost, write content that is also reader-friendly.

The ultimate goal is to write content that readers like so much they share it with their friends, link to it, and even copy and paste it to their websites (as long as they are giving you credit for it).

To that end you need to write in short sentences and short paragraphs, with lots of white space. If readers perceive that your content is too hard to read due to the density of the sentences and paragraphs, they will leave your website – and never return.

Finally, it is also important to write articles that are long enough but not too long. Articles should be at least 450 words (for the search engines), and they should not be longer than 1000 words (for humans).

So get writing!

During the first draft, don’t worry about “search engine friendly content” – just write! After you get all of your thoughts down on paper, then go back in and add (or delete) keywords, edit in the bolds and italics, make sure that the paragraphs are not too long… and add the heading text.

Happy writing!

In Tip 3 we will address Social Media Networking

Tip 1. Keywords Research

It is important to choose keywords that people are actually using to find information in your marketing niche. So start out by writing down 10 keywords that you think people are using to find the type of information you are providing.

For example – Say you are a Realtor in San Francisco CA, here are some sample keywords;

Real Estate Agent San Francisco CA
Homes for Sale San Francisco
Houses for Sale San Francisco
Realtor San Francisco CA
Ocean View homes San Francisco
Short Sales San Francisco
Foreclosures San Francisco
Homes in downtown San Francisco
Lofts in San Francisco
Condos in San Francisco

Open a new Google screen and type in your first keyword…

Go ahead and click ENTER, and scroll down to the bottom of the page.=Start making a list of these keywords. Repeat this process with your other 9 keywords.

Next, it is always a good idea to use a keyword app. I use the Chrome app by Wordtracker Scout. For training purposes, type in the domain of a competitive website, in this case – https://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/san-francisco-ca-usa. Scroll down to view the Top Keywords Per Page and below that Keyword Opportunities Not on Page.

One more step… find out how much competition you have for each keyword. Copy and paste each keyword into the URL bar. Within seconds you will know how many pages, add that number to the keyword list…

Real Estate Agent San Francisco CA
Homes for Sale San Francisco ~ 53,100,000
Houses for Sale San Francisco
Realtor San Francisco CA
Ocean View homes San Francisco
Short Sales San Francisco
Foreclosures San Francisco
Homes in downtown San Francisco
Lofts in San Francisco
Condos in San Francisco

Tip 2. is about using your keywords in written content.