Tag: strategic business partners

The “Build It and They Will Come” Fallacy

websites under constructionMany business owners tend to believe that if they build a bigger and better website, customers and prospects will come flocking to it. They want to check the website off of their “to do” list and forget about it.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The following steps will protect your investment in website development and spread your influence to those you want to reach. To fully realize the benefits of your site, marketers need to insist that business owners and managers don’t stop at Step 1.

Step 1: Optimize the Website
A well designed and search-engine-optimized website with quality content is Step 1. It should include engaging content, be fully optimized for your keywords, provide a news section, and be easy to update regularly.

Step 2: Build In-Bound Links
Organizations that provide inbound links include trade associations, publications, local business organizations, suppliers, and strategic business partners, to name a few.  For local businesses, Google Places is a great no-cost traffic booster. The business directories with the highest Google page rank include Hoover’s Online, Business.com, KellySearch and BizWeb.  Not all of these are free, but many are, including top-ranked KellySearch, B2B Yellow Pages, and B2B Today. Be careful how you list your business on these directories. Your business description should include important keywords that can drive traffic to your site, as well as photos and other information important to buyers.

List your business in as many relevant categories as possible. In a recent post on his Eat Metrics blog, Eric Rodriguez demonstrates the dramatic positive impact that additional category listings on Yelp have on restaurant reservations. His study is based on online reservation volume over time from Yelp.com for 35 restaurants.

Listing your business in online directories is not glamorous work, but a critically important step to drive traffic.

Step 3: Share Through Social Media

Social media is Step 3 because I believe marketers should first exhaust the least expensive promotional methods before spending money on paid advertising. Placing your content and interacting with customers and prospects on social websites will drive traffic to your site. It involves only a time investment. On Contentforbiz.com, referrals from social media sites comprise about half of all traffic. We regularly post our content to appropriate LinkedIn Groups, and Twitter. Recently, leading social media author (New York Times Best Seller Trust Agents), speaker and consultant Chris Brogan helped drive traffic to our site, when he promoted Mary Klest’s “Secrets of a Content Sleuth” to readers of his blog.

Review sites such as Yelp and Citysearch have also been proven to drive rankings. While marketers can’t control what the reviewers say, they can encourage reviews, and provide keyword rich responses. Instead of responding, “We’re glad you had a positive experience,” a home organizer might respond, “We are so happy you are enjoying the benefits of a well organized home office.”

Social media requires weekly, if not daily diligence. There is a clear payoff in terms of both web traffic and engagement. Keep in mind that just because an employee is a regular user of Facebook, it doesn’t mean he or she is qualified to handle social media for your business.  Social media training and outsourcing are two options that time-strapped marketers and business owners should consider to ensure that social media goals, policies and legal ramifications are kept in the forefront.

Step 4: Get the Word out with Publicity and Advertising
While pay per click campaigns can be a great way to generate traffic, don’t overlook all the other opportunities you have to promote your website content to customers and prospects. Integrate your print and online marketing by including your web and blog addresses on press releases, business cards, vehicles, signage, invoices, brochures, email marketing and other forms of advertising.

In summary, “build it and they will come” is a mantra that doesn’t apply to the realities of online marketing. A website is not a building. It is more like a machine that needs regular maintenance to keep it running at peak performance. Ignore that, and it will undoubtedly let you down.

Which of these four steps have you found to be the most challenging to implement?

How to Find Credible Sources for Articles, Blog Posts and Whitepapers

One way to keep your B-to-B content fresh is to inject the information and opinions from experts related to your product, service or industry.  Writers call these their “sources,” and developing these relationships can inject new life into your website, blog, e-newsletter and articles.

Look for sources who are regular users of the product or service.

If you are a manufacturer, an expert doesn’t always have to be a CEO, engineer or marketing executive. A source can also be a customer or dealer who has experience with the product in the field.  If your company is in the business of renting machinery, the opinions of a machine operator or a construction project manager would be very valuable to a potential customer.  Each source will have a different perspective on the experience of renting a machine. Varied experiences will add credibility to your message. Customers love reviews from regular people. Salespeople can help identify potential candidates.

Look for sources in a business related to yours.

Your topics don’t always have to revolve directly around your business. A moving company might ask a professional organizer for moving tips that could form the basis of a blog post, checklist or whitepaper. A commercial real estate advisor might ask a lawyer to provide information about lease transactions.

You can find sources for a wide variety of topics using a free service like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to identify experts in particular fields willing to answer questions for an article. PR Newswire has a similar service for journalists.  You can also identify like-minded bloggers using tools like Technorati or Twitter. Consider asking an expert to write a guest post on your blog.

Look for sources through industry associations and publications.

Industry associations and b-to-b publications are typically tremendous sources of information.  If you see an article you like, ask the editor for permission to republish it in your e-newsletter, on your website or in a blog post. (There may be a fee.)   Search the news sections of an association website for press releases highlighting industry research and to identify potential interview sources.

Look for sources among your strategic partners.

Your strategic business partners may provide content that your customers find interesting.  In fact, they may already be creating that information for their own customers. Explore content sharing ideas with other businesses and industry trade groups. For example, a website developer might provide information on the latest updates to Google for any number of firms with small business clients. I know I often share my marketing articles, blog posts and presentations with a local printer.

Finding credible and intelligent sources for your online content can go a long way toward building your company’s online reputation.  If you have a large audience, sources may be happy to provide information for its publicity value. If not, you may have to work harder to get what you need.  Start by building relationships with industry movers and shakers.  One way to do this is to comment on their blogs, “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. And of course, make every effort to meet in person. However, be realistic in your expectations and let them know how their business might benefit from the relationship.