There was a time when small businesses never had websites. The internet was a place for online-only businesses or major corporations. It was too expensive, too technical and far too much work to create a website for the mom and pop donut shop down the street or your local sporting goods store. But the world has changed quite a bit over the last few years. As the internet has become more and more a part of our daily lives, virtually any business can set up a website these days. There are also now a host of companies that are helping companies create websites, no matter how big, small or weird they may be.
So if you’re wondering if you need a business website, the answer is a resounding yes. Because it’s not only expected for businesses to have websites now, it can also be an incredibly effective sales and marketing tool for you to generate leads online. Your website can generate highly qualified leads in remarkable numbers thanks to the fastest-rising marketing strategy in the business world: inbound marketing.
Bring the customers to you
Inbound marketing turns conventional marketing on its head. Instead of going out and hunting for business, it attracts customers to your website. How does it accomplish this? With the use of keyword-optimized content; namely, blogs.
These aren’t gossip-style blogs that promote salacious information. No, these blogs are closer to newspaper articles. Because these blogs are the bait that will lure customers to your site, they need to be relevant to your potential customer’s needs. They should provide valuable information to potential customers, on topics related to your field/market.
Using more content to seal the deal
But blogs aren’t the only content that will live on your website. You’ll also employ the use of content offers. A content offer is another informative creation, but it usually takes a more in-depth format instead of a simple 400-word blog article. Typical content offers are eBooks, white papers and infographics. The purpose of the content offer is to convince your site visitor to provide contact information in exchange for the offer.
This trade-off is absolutely critical for inbound marketing success. Your content offer has to be viewed as valuable enough that a visitor won’t hesitate to provide contact information. If your content is good, this is an easy decision for the visitor – after all, filling in some contact info costs them nothing, so they view it as receiving something for free. But in reality, what they’ve actually done is unwittingly become a lead for your business. You’ve just used your website to generate a lead online.
The tip of the iceberg
Of course, this is just the central concept at the heart of inbound marketing. There’s a lot more to using your website to generate leads. For example, the design of your website plays a major role in the success of your online lead generation. A successful inbound marketing website makes it eminently easy for a visitor to become a lead, giving them an opportunity to do so on virtually every page.
Social media is another critical part of inbound marketing. By incorporating social media sharing buttons into your website, you allow visitors and customers to do a little promotion on your behalf. Additionally, providing links on social media expands your reach, allowing you to possibly obtain leads from friends of your current customers.
If you’d like to learn more about how inbound marketing can help you generate leads and transform your business’ marketing efforts, contact us today. We’d be happy to discuss what this exciting marketing strategy can do for your company.
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