4 Effective Ways of Advertising Your Business
Mobile-friendly website
First let’s discuss what is meant by a mobile-friendly website and why this design of site is so vital. Keep in mind that many people use their smart phones and tablets when on the road, at the office, and even at home, versus a laptop or PC. The screens on these devices are obviously much smaller, so if your website runs off the edge or is difficult to read, this limits user experience and usability, which can cause a potential customer or client to click away and visit another website.
Many website builders will have the option to see how a site looks on a mobile device, so be sure to check and resize any font or pages accordingly, to be more mobile-friendly. Check the size of your graphics and scale them down or move them to one side versus the middle of the page, to ensure they can be seen on all mobile devices. While most website builders are user friendly and provide easy solutions, one of the best investments a business could make would be hiring an experienced and website design company to complete the task.
Social media
Most people today use some form of social media to look for information or check how reputable a business is. They may read other user reviews or look for hours, locations, and the number of likes on a company’s Facebook page. They may even use other directory sites such as Yelp, Manta or Yellow Pages to find additional information about a business as well as the business owner.
If a business lacks having a social media presence and are not utilizing social media sites as an actual means of advertising, they can be missing out on quite a bit of potential customers; especially since that’s where most of them are in the first place. With that said, it’s important for a business to list their correct information onto various social media pages, in addition to posting daily updates and new content displaying the quality of their work. In return, this encourages visitors to take further action such as going to the business page or perhaps to purchase their product or service.
Online ads
As with TV commercials, online ads can ensure that your business name reaches a much wider audience than just having a website and Facebook page. These ads will show up on other websites or in the newsfeed of Facebook users, depending on the method of marketing. Even if viewers don’t click on the ad, from a psychological standpoint, your company name may be more remembered.
Pay per click advertising or PPC ads are also very effective; these charge you more money when a person actually clicks the ad to visit your site. Which could result in paying more for these ads, but they are often a better indicator of your marketing success, as a person who clicks an online ad to visit your website may be more likely to become a customer. Remember that views of your website are good, but it’s the conversion rate, meaning how many of those views result in actual sales, that is the most important when it comes to your company’s bottom line.
Blogging
Blogging can be an effective means of advertising your business in a few ways; one is that a person might be likely to visit a blog versus a website, especially if that blog offers something of value, such as helping them to understand how to solve a problem. In turn, this can help you sell your product or service. As an example, if you sell auto parts, you might have a series of blogs about troubleshooting some vehicle problem. Because your blog offers visitors something of real value, they’re likely to subscribe to updates and then visit the blog more often than they would a simple website that only sells parts.
On top of providing valuable content to visitors, a blog can also act as a sales tool when informing your audience the part that might be failing in their car. Having a link directly to that part on your website can direct the visitor to easily click and buy, saving time versus shopping around elsewhere. Blogging also gives a website more content and this can help it to become more easily found online. When you blog, you want to use terms and phrases for which people search; for example, more people might search for “car parts” than “parts for a car,” so if you tailor your blogging to these search terms, you’ll optimize your website to be found easier.
Summary
Remember these 4 effective ways of advertising your business online, and if you’re not sure of how to apply them to your business, ask an expert. A mobile-friendly website, social media presence, online advertising, and blogs can mean getting found by more clients and customers; not to mention making sure that you’re always one step ahead of your competition. In turn, you’ll have more success and will increase your company’s over brand recognition and online presence.
