The most common challenge businesses face today is a lack of website traffic. You might have the slickest website design out there, but if you’re not driving traffic to it, then it’s not working for you.
There are three effective ways to get more visibility for your brand and drive more targeted shoppers to your website. The good news is that one of them is free and the other two are extremely cost-effective.
Google My Business is a completely free and extremely powerful tool. It powers the map and the three listings that show for local searches on Google. For example, when you search for restaurants, a personal trainer, a doctor, a lawyer, or home services in a particular city, Google My Business determines the three search results that come up just below the map.
This is a free service provided by Google for every business that wants to take advantage of it. Your profile includes your reviews, business category, when you open and close, your phone number, as well as a link to transfer individuals directly to your website.
To get started, simply Google, “Google My Business” or go to google.com/business. All you need is an email address to get started. Once you sign up, Google will take you through a series of questions that will enable them to build your profile.
When asked what services you offer, you don’t want to be broad or general with your answer. List out all the niche services within the general products/services you offer. For example, if you are a personal trainer, don’t only put personal training as your service. Include things like group personal training, nutrition coaching, range of motion, stretch therapy, etc. This will enable your business to show up for a broader range of keyword searches.
Google will also ask for a business description and any photos or videos that you want to share. Make sure you have at least one quality photo to include. Lastly, you will be asked which geographic market you serve. Do people come to your place of business? If so, how far out do they come from? Make sure you in include those areas. Or do you go out to your customers to service them? Be sure to include all the areas in which you do so. Don’t limit your geographic area because this will limit how often you appear in search results.
Google ads are the results that show at the very top of Google whenever you search for a product or a service. The first thing you need to know about Google ads is the pricing structure, as this is often misunderstood. You can run Google ads completely for free. You’re only charged when someone clicks that ad and transfers to your website to learn more about your business.
The next great feature is that Google allows you to advertise on any keyword phrase you want – any combination and any amount. So, in every account that we manage, we have hundreds upon hundreds of keyword combinations and phrases to consider all the different ways someone might search for the product or service that you offer.
Another important element is that Google allows you to control the ad copy. You get to write your own headlines and descriptive copy. This allows you to experiment with different ad copy and fine-tune what is most successful.
Google ads are very cost-effective, and the reason for this is because your potential customers are coming to Google and typing in exactly what they’re looking for. So, naturally, when your ad shows up and you’re a local service provider, their rate of engagement with you is extremely high. Therefore, you get a very targeted, very engaged shopper who is looking for exactly what you offer. This makes Google ads not only cost-effective but oftentimes the most productive revenue stream for new sales.
So, how do you get started on Google ads? Simply Google, “Google ads” and you will be directed to their start page. There’s a lot that goes into building a new account, so if you have any questions about getting started with Google ads, contact me for a free consultation.
The third and final initiative is another form of advertising – Facebook and Instagram ads. They are quite different from Google ads where people are typing in exactly what they want into Google, yet they are still immensely powerful.
Facebook and Instagram ads show up in people’s feeds while they’re scrolling. The benefit of Facebook and Instagram ads is that you’re able to get in front of people before they start heavily shopping. This allows you to begin to influence their shopping decision. They can drive traffic to your website and bring more people into your sales funnel for remarketing/retargeting.
In the backend of Facebook ads, you can get extremely specific with your target demographics. For example, you can advertise to people based on gender, age, where they live, income zip code, interests, whether they are parents or not, and many more options.
The most powerful tool that Facebook has is the ability to target people based on their previous browsing history and what they’re interested in. This is extremely useful for any business because if you sell products like skincare or clothing, you’re able to go and find the exact type of individuals you want to have in your store.
So, I hope you enjoyed this video. If you guys have any questions, please contact me here. You’ll be transferred to a page on my website where you can set up a free consultation with me and that free consultation is completely focused on you, whatever questions you have about digital marketing. I am happy to answer those.
