By Amy Teter Romero.
In today’s competitive world, consumers and prospects want to make the choice on who they trust and choose. Therefore you have to make it very easy for them to “find” you. This is especially true when it comes to online. Having a great website is only half the battle—getting people to find it is the other.
There are a number of ways you can drive people to your website, some more effective than others. The following strategies are creating amazing results for our advisor clients across the country.
Search Engine Optimization.
It’s definitely important to improve your organic searchability. How do you do this? Take advantage of websites that push information to residents in your area. Take them up on the free listing opportunity and be sure any mention includes a link back to your website. We call these “citations” and they are a key component of major search engines’ ranking algorithms. If all things are equal, businesses with more citations most often rank higher in a search than businesses with fewer. Also businesses with more listings have more credibility in the eyes of your prospect. Backlinks and company information listed on well-established portals such as Yelp or YP.com help to enhance your SEO too.
Write a blog.
A Blog – a web log – is essential to engaging prospects and increasing website traffic. If your site does not have an active blog or if you are not constantly adding new content to your website – then your website is essentially an online brochure. In today’s social media driven world – you need to make a connection with prospect through your online voice. A blog on your site allows you to stand out from the competition because you are providing new, engaging information. Prospects can like, post comments back and immediately engage with you. This engagement instantly crates a connection, and now a phone call is much easier for the prospect to make.
Talking mail.
Talking mail is a fairly old concept but is recently starting to gain traction again because email marketing is becoming oversaturated and mail is providing higher results for advisors. Advisors send out direct mailers that include a personalized URL for the recipient, which motivates the recipient to visit their own personal webpage, or microsite. There, integrate personalized messages such as video or special offers that are directly tied into an interest of their demographic. Give the user a variety of opportunities to digitally interact with the company, too. It’s a great tool because not only does it drive traffic, but it provides advisors insight on prospects’ level of interest, and analytics on what messages are more effective than others.
Social Media.
Social media is a great way to grow your brand, attract prospects and create an online “voice.” Social media is a critical part of any successful inbound marketing strategy – if not for any other reason than to help your organic search ranking. A quick rule of thumb – the more active social profiles you have – the better your website will rank. Once you enter the social media world you must make a commitment to posting content daily! Just having a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter page isn’t enough. Social media is about CONTENT! Be sure you’re ready, willing and able to be a regular contributor on your social media sites. If you do, you’ll quickly see how they can drive traffic to your website.
Each of these strategies works to drive visitors to your site, but when done in conjunction with one another (and in especially in addition to your traditional lead generation and marketing strategies), the results can be powerful. It is this integrated approach that allows you to attract and convert more new clients. In this day and age, you can’t afford to take a compartmentalized approach to growing your business.
This guest blog was provided by Amy Teter Romero. Amy is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Solutions for RME360, a fully integrated marketing and lead generation service provider that merges yesterday’s tried-and-true marketing strategies with today’s advanced technologies. You can contact Amy at [email protected] or through Google+. For more information on its digital and traditional prospecting solutions, visit www.RME360.com, call 1-888-383-8770 or follow the company on Facebook or Twitter.
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