I was recently asked to present at the Just About Digital development day being run by Socially Shared networking. My subject was online visibility and I talked about ways to raise your online profile and to direct traffic to your website. All to maximise your presence on the web. Here are the slides…
- Are you the best kept secret?
- Do you get jealous when others make a killing and you know you are better?
- Get clear where your clients are and connect with them. Start to stand out.
- These are your building blocks to raising your online profile.
Your online hub
- To start you need a central point of reference.
- The heart of your online presence.
- Somewhere you can call home and where you want people to visit.
- Where people can buy from you or take the desired action.
- Your Central Internet Hub.
A Simple website at the very least
- Home page must say what you do
- Client testimonials
- Contact page
- Newsletter signup form
A Blog is arguably more important!
- But a blog is a website! – include contact and newsletter signup.
- Popular platforms are Blogger/WordPress.
- Here you can show off expertise and differentiate yourself.
- Gain trust, build credibility.
- Publish posts regularly – case studies/showcase work/testimonials/news/events/stories.
- Offer downloads/PDFs in relation to the topic!
- Email your email subscribers to tell them about your latest posts and downloads.
- Share on social media.
- Link back to this central marketing hub.
Facebook business page
- Don’t discount Facebook from B2B – Individuals run businesses so your clients could be here.
- Post regularly – just like a blog.
- Share testimonials/case studies/news.
- Facebook Live – broadcast a video, show expertise, personality, show passion and a desire to help.
- Manage events.
- Share to other platforms.
- Encourage feedback and reviews.
LinkedIn profile and/or business page
- If your clients are here.
- Post regularly.
- Interact with others.
- Share to other platforms.
- Encourage reviews.
Google my business
- Claim your business.
- Add your business information, business hours, location.
- Contact Details/photos.
- Post regularly.
- Share to other networks.
- Encourage reviews.
Make this your business location on the web
- Your online presence.
- Centre of your sales funnel to bring everyone back to.
- Sharing this content to other networks and places.
- BE YOURSELF! Not overly concerned with what others think.
Google loves good content
- Attract people with good titles, eye catching headlines.
- Good quality text and images, well written, spelling, keywords should come naturally.
- Post as often as you can, keep yourself alive online.
- Update and republish old posts.
- Never copy – or if you must, credit.
Make people want to visit you
- Promote Products and services.
- Clear name/title for product.
- Accurate Description.
- Transparent Pricing.
- Good image!
The basis for your SEO (Search engine optimisation)
- WordPress offers SEO plugins. Or employ a good SEO consultant.
- Title tag should match your page or post title.
- Description tags should include your main keywords, probably your page or post title and some additional text to attract people to click.
- Don’t stuff content with keywords, that is detrimental and keywords should come naturally.
- Make your link text relevant when you link back from other sites – make it the title of your post or page.
The image alt tag is important
- Don’t forget your image tags, Google needs those.
- You can add these when you upload images.
- Screen readers for the visually impaired use them.
- Google crawlers use them, they cannot see images.
Share
- Share out from your central hub
- Posts | Products | Services
- 3.3 billion people use social media each month!
- Pick the right sharing networks – check client websites, see where they are, do the same.
A few tips for sharing and optimising your content
- As a minimum your post/page/product/service title must show when you share to social media.
- Make sure all social media shares include a link back to the content that you are selling. That might not always be your home page.
Links influence SEO and your Google ranking.
- When you share items that link back to your hub, Google sees it when someone visits the link. You will attract search engines as well as people
- Internal links help search engines and people find your content. So link to other relevant content in your website or blog.
- Always link shares from your online hub back to your online hub.
- Never share without a link back!
Guest blog
- Be selective.
- Post where it matters to your business.
- Post where your clients read and visit.
- Link back to your business.
Facebook Groups
- Find out where your audience hangs out.
- Introduce yourself and help people.
- Be the go to expert.
- Be careful with self-promotion but when you do post, don’t forget to link back.
- Understanding the questions that group members have will help you to write content for your hub.
Host a Webinar
- A big web conference.
- Co-host if that is easier – double your reach.
- Use social media to promote.
- Free to do on YouTube.
- Link back to your hub.
Podcasts
- Reach out to Podcasters in your industry.
- Podcasters who serve your market.
- Get them to interview you.
- Go to Spotify, Deezer, iTunes to find relevant Podcasters.
- Don’t forget to share your website/central hub address during the Podcast.
Promote through other websites
- Socially shared offer a whole website page to members.
- PR – get featured via online media.
- Submit articles to online publications.
- Remember the keywords and the link back.
Get Listed in Online Directories
- Assigned to your industry
- Assigned to your geographical area
- Assigned to your demographic
- Use your keywords, similar to your website description.
- Claim your business – Yelp,Yellow Pages, Thomson Local, Google My Business.
- Ensure you only use reputable directories. Beware of directory sites that look unprofessional.
- Check if they are blacklisted by Google https://ismywebsitepenalized.com/
- Encourage reviews.
- Remember your link!
Publish
- White papers.
- PDF downloads.
- eBooks.
- Value added content for your blog.
- Remember your link and contact details in every document!
Newsletters
- Make sure you have an email conversion tool, a signup box on your site or hub.
- Send a newsletter regularly.
- Link back to articles you have posted.
- Link back to your hub.
Video – YouTube, Facebook, anywhere
- Do a Ted Talk!
- Collaborate if it is scary.
- Everyone has a good side!
If anyone would like to download my slides they are attached here in PDF format, including slide notes: download slides.
Great interactive session with a lovely bunch of ladies & 3 fab speakers at today’s #sociallyshared Just About Digital Development Day. Many thanks Karen Heap @socially_shared, Claire @TreehouseSoc & @traceyrickard Web Design. Lots to digest…
— Geraldine Jones (@EWC_wordsmith) November 9, 2018