It’s Episode 8 of the Visceral Concepts Podcast! Today, join Visceral Concepts Founder Michael McNew as he discusses powerful tactics to get more customers from the internet.
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For those of you who can’t listen to the podcast, we’ve broken down the information below.
Whether you’re a brick and mortar business or an online retailer, you have one concern when it comes to the web. You want to know how to get more customers from the internet. While that might come in a variety of questions, every time you go to Google for tips and tricks, that’s really what you’re asking.
I know that because I’m in business too. I have the same reason for asking all the questions I ask. It’s what I do every time I sit down to figure out what my blog topics are going to be. That’s why I came up with today’s topic.
Your Business Must Get Customers From The Internet
It’s the era of information. The internet is nearly every consumer’s main information source. If you’re on it and they can find you, you’re credible. If not, you can kiss your business goodbye long-term. By default, you’re going to get your customers from the internet, whether you know it or not.
It’s amazing just how many small businesses either don’t understand this or don’t believe it. According to a Clutch.co survey, many small businesses still don’t see the web as mandatory. Check out the numbers they report:
- 29% of small businesses do not have a website.
- Of the small businesses that do have a website, 79% say their website is mobile friendly.
- Only 58% of Midwestern small businesses have a website compared to the Northeast (72%), the South (73%), and the West (77%).
- Low-revenue small businesses (those earning less than $1 million a year) are about 30% less likely to have a website than higher-revenue companies.
- High-quality web content and increased mobility are top website priorities in 2017.
Those are stunning numbers. Seriously.
Get More Customers From The Internet
No matter where your web presence stands, you can jump right in to these tips and start with what makes sense. That was the idea behind it. With that in mind, here are the most important things you can do to get more customers from the internet.
Launch A Website
This seems a little obvious, doesn’t it? But look at the numbers we just shared. 29% don’t have a site. Not as obvious as it should be. That’s where you start getting more customers from the internet, though. Your website is the point of convergence for your presence on the web.
You can’t just throw anything on the web, though. Your web presence has got to have the right stuff to get it found. You’ve also got to take the right steps to launch it. I strongly advise avoiding the easy site builders, like Wix or GoDaddy Page Builder. They’ll make your site harder to find over the long term.
Build Your Social Presence
Once you have your site built, you’re going to want to build your social media next. I see lots of small businesses do them in reverse order, but it’s not the best idea. While social media is a great way to build a low-to-no-cost web presence, doing it without a website can create credibility issues.
If you want to get more customers from the internet, social media is going to help you tremendously. Properly used, your social media will help you connect with your customers and drive them to your site (that’s why I advise the site first). Once you’re set up, you can start using it to drive website traffic.
Be careful here, though. Focus on the social networks that benefit you, and don’t overextend yourself. Taking on more than you can handle will hurt how many customers you’ll get from the internet.
Start Blogging
I can’t count the number of times I’ve told people this. If you want to get more customers from the internet, you’re going to have to suck it up and start blogging. If you don’t blog, you miss out. That simple. You’re going to have to get over your hang-up about the idea that blogs are an online diary.
Build great content from your company’s knowledge pool. Then plan out a system for releasing it on your site that takes advantage of your new social channels. Your blog will never help you get more customers from the internet if you don’t distribute it well.
Build And Market Your Email List
A solid social presence and great blog content should be bringing you some website traffic. But let’s face it, the percentage of site visitors who buy on their first visit is really low. According to Statista.com, the conversion rate of first-time site visitors is 2.4% (at time of publish). Yep, that’s it.
That’s why email still matters, so you’ll need a system for capturing leads and plugging them in to your email list. From there, plan out a solid email strategy that will get site visitors to return. Those returning visitors are the future customers you’re going to get.
Diversify Your Content
Congratulations. If you’re ready for this step, you’re well ahead of most small businesses. You’re also likely already getting more customers from the internet. That doesn’t mean you should stop. You need to expand your content.
Consider adding more types of content, like podcasts or video. Facebook Live broadcasts can do wonders for your marketing as well. Whatever you do, don’t stick to the same generic content all the time. You wouldn’t want people to get bored, would you?
Analyze And Adapt
By now you should have enough going on through your online presence to have built up some data. Pick it apart thread-by-thread so you can find out what’s working and what’s not. After all, there’s no point in continuing to do something that doesn’t get the result you want.
Take that data to improve your blog content, boost your social media, and clean up your website’s user experience. Develop strong lead funnels using the content that’s seen the most visits. Most of all, find out what your customers really want to know about you by tracking where on your site they visit most often.
When All Else Fails, Hire An Agency
If you follow these steps, you should get more customers from the internet. It’s almost a guarantee, but some people just have trouble making it work. Be it talent, time, or patience, sometimes you’re missing one of the ingredients to effectively do your own marketing.
If, for any reason, your internet strategy doesn’t get you more customers, stop wasting time and money doing it wrong. Instead, bring a great content agency (like us!) on board to make sure you get more customers from the internet.
