Many people approach me with the idea to create a get rich quick scheme or lead generation site that brings in a mountain of leads or steals all of the thunder from the competition.
The reality of today’s internet marketing world is that only hard work and authority will consistently reap benefits over the long haul unless you venture into the realm of “gray” or “black” hat. Even then, you are adding an element of risk to your business that doesn’t necessarily need to be there.
When you build your business, neglecting a web presence can be a costly mistake that will haunt you for years as you put in hours of work to catch up.
A great website that has traffic, authority, and converting customers is like a highly prized piece of real estate. You’ll hear the local realtor say “location location location” but on the net it’s “authority authority authority.”
When the average person thinks of a service, a blog, an invention, a concept, they often think of a brand.
Brand names bring credibility and create loyal customers over time through hard work and a consistent product.
When you think sports, you might think “Nike.” When you think computers you might think “Apple.”
If I toss the word “Weebly” into the Google search box, there is no question what I am looking for. It’s a nonsense word that has essentially become a brand name.
When I search for “emergency water heater repair,” I am not necessarily looking for some website called emergencywaterheaterrepair.com, which may or may not even exist. People still create these websites all the time and to us it reflects a lack of vision. It used to work. It can work. But is it really your long term strategy?
If people ask for advice on what to name their company or web domain, I always advise going with a brandable name. Nowadays the “exact match domain” simply doesn’t cut it, and it’s often a clear sign that someone just threw up a one or two-page website hoping to land some phone calls.
The real question is, how much blood, sweat, and tears are you going to invest in emergencywaterheaterrepair.com heading into the search world of 2016?
Social – Connect with Real Customers
You would have to be totally unplugged if you fail to acknowledge the reach and power of social media. But once again, social “channels” must also be brandable in some way in order to keep the faithful interested and engaged.
It’s not easy to manage your social properties. At all.
Some companies just leave the job to the new intern or turn a blind eye to the customers ready to bang down their door if only they threw them a bone on social media every once in awhile.
I get it. Not every business niche has an easy time on social media. Sometimes, there just aren’t enough things to say and if you aren’t a comedian, the chance you will attract hundreds of followers is pretty much nil.
In this situation, I like to recommend massive, gigantic, monstrous blog posts or YouTube efforts that cover absolutely every detail of your business, your philosophy, your personality, and your service. If at least one or two pieces of content are highly shareable, you can ride the wave for some time before it might be time to refresh it or create the next beast post.
People like to share stuff. If you are creating huge pieces of content that cover your niche very well, chances are it will resonate. You might become the go-to source for a certain topic anytime someone searches for relevant information.
When people sit down to write a blog post, they often spend about thirty minutes or so during their busy day to push out something mediocre that might do well with some of their audience but certainly doesn’t make waves.
If you’re coming at it from a social media angle, chances are you need to spend a ton of time creating a dynamite post that will crush the competition and float to the top of Google simply because you took the eight hours to lay it all out.
Eight hours? As in, an entire work day?
First off, eight hours isn’t enough if you want to be an expert.
Second, it doesn’t have to be eight hours straight with a caffeine IV hooked up to your forearm. The point is that it can take tremendous effort, thought and experience to slap together something that people walk away from feeling “better” or “learned” from discovering your magnificent insight.
Brandable, actionable content is something that can work extremely well for both your search presence and your social media clout.
Part of my job is to steer you in the right direction. Maybe your business is on the rocks and you are hesitant to get into the online search game. Maybe you have social media anxiety and you have no idea where to start.
That’s fine. It’s normal.
The point I would like to drive home here is that as the world of technology continues to enhance our lives, it also forces us to change and adapt. Think about today’s teenager, face first in their smartphone nearly every second of the day.
Millenials especially do almost everything on their handheld devices and tablets.
Heading into the future, you are going to want to tap into the potential of instant online search that is available at our fingertips.
You might think your mom-and-pop business or store doesn’t need to consider an upgrade. Think again.
Your brand should be everywhere. Failure to leverage the power of the world wide web or today’s constantly changing technological landscape will haunt you when your competitors figure it out first.
It can be a painful transition that no one wants to make, but that’s how it goes sometimes. If anything, you should at least consult with an expert to determine what options are available.
If you remain stubborn and don’t even consider an update to your painfully outdated website, you’re potentially making a tragic mistake. Your brand should live on into the future. Don’t let it die!
Hey, even Playboy stopped being Playboy in order to adapt to the constant change that the internet has brought to our world.
If it was good enough for Hugh, it’s good enough for you.
