Have you mastered these online marketing basics?

Time is money is the iconic phrase. Indeed, time is your most precious asset when it comes to running a business and most business owners will find they often run short of it. Even with the best intentions in mind, various endeavours will end up getting neglected. Don't let your online marketing activities fall into this pile. Here are some of the basics you should not ignore.

1.  Ensure your website is up to scratch

If your website was your front room, would you be proud to have visitors round? If the answer is no then it's time for a website overhaul.

A good designer will also ensure that your website is SEO friendly and mobile optimised to make tracking leads simpler, and your products and services easily accessible on a mobile device.

2.  Mobile optimise your content

With mobile usage expected to surpass desktop usage in 2014, it is more important than ever that you make your website mobile friendly. For more on this, see our specialist blog post on making your website mobile.

As well as your website content, it is also important to use a responsive template in your marketing emails.

3.  Get on board with paid search

Paid search will provide a healthy boost to your website traffic and lead conversions. Start using Google Adwords by sponsoring relevant keywords and search terms.

4.  Regularly update your blog

Your blog provides an interactive platform for you to demonstrate your product knowledge, post troubleshooting tips, how-tos and in-depth guides, and other useful information for your audience to access at will. Ensure you keep this section regularly updated to maintain your status as an expert presence in your industry.

5.  Establish asocial media presence

If you haven't already, get your profile set up on all the main social media channels. View these sites as an extension to your website with space for sharing extra content and getting your brand in front of millions of potential customers.

Why not experiment with sponsored updates on these accounts for added exposure?

6.  Get your company details listed

There are hundreds of established online directories and listings websites. Often, your company details will automatically be added to these pages and the information contained could be false. A simple search for your company name in Google is likely to bring up a number of directories where your details are listed. Make sure you get your important credentials set up including contact details, website and social media URLs, and product/service information and keep them up-to-date. The only thing worse than no presence is an incorrect one. While it used to be necessary to get your name in as many online directories as possible to help improve search rankings, this is no longer the case. Instead, focus on updating the highest ranking directories as these are the ones that are most likely to be accessed by your customers.

7.  Use multimedia to your advantage

Could your how-to tutorial work better as a video guide or a colourful infographic? There are dozens of ways to get information in front of online users. A range of content types will also help to break the monotony of purely text based updates.

8.  Track, monitor, analyse...

Using tools such as Google Analytics, tracking cookies, and the inbuilt analytics software offered by social networking sites, helps to make identifying new leads and tracking user behaviour even easier.

To discuss any of these points in more detail please get in touch.