The 5 Most Common Online Marketing Questions – With Answers!
5 Online Marketing Questions
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“How hard is it to build my own website?” Well… It’s hard! Especially if you've never built a website before, the task can be daunting. Using WordPress certainly helps because they offer ways to simplify website construction (and WP is very Google-friendly!). You can even get a free website from them but, they won't allow you to monetize one of their free websites. (It can be a great solution for a blog-only site though.)
For a commercial website, you’ll need to pay for a hosting service, buy a domain name, and discover tons of patience. (Better get ready for a pretty steep learning curve!)
There are also multiple site-building apps available online. These tend to make all of their sites look alike but, if you're looking for the cheapest solution for building a business website, one of these may work for you – temporarily, anyway.
2. “What about a blog? Do I really need one?” Like most things, that depends: on your goals, your products or services, and whether you hope to be found through organic search or are willing to pay for ads and clicks (PPC). (Did we just hear a big “Huh?”)
It is almost always important to educate your target audience about what you have to offer them, be it a unique product or a helpful service(s). After all, they have no idea who you are and why you believe you deserve their attention, not to mention their hard-earned dollars. So yes, having a blog on your business website is a great way to educate and stay connected with your target audience in a real, relevant way. It also keeps your site fresh with new content helping to boost your SEO (see below). Some website owners write their own content, while others outsource the task to experienced professional copywriters. (We can help you there, no problem.)
3. “Oh, Kaaay… What do you mean by organic and PPC?” Being found online is always a challenge. The information you share on your website is regularly “crawled” by the search engines which then “index” and “rank” your site. The more fresh, relevant, and timely your blog content is, the higher you’ll be ranked and the more easily prospects will find you. This is known as “organic” search engine optimization (organic SEO).
Or, you can pay Google, Bing, or Yahoo to put your website at the top of their search results (SERPs). Based on the relative value of certain key phrases you use (your keywords), they will charge for every “click-through” from their SERPs. (That’s why it’s called “Pay Per Click” or PPC.) Depending on the number of clicks you receive per month, this can get pricey. Also, whether that click-through results in a sale is moot to them. They charge you for sending a prospect to your site. What happens then is irrelevant to them.
4. “What about social media? Do I have to use it for marketing my business? No, but…Yes! The real question for an entrepreneur is where to engage your target audience on social platforms. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and many others have such massive audiences that it becomes imperative to have a presence on at least one or two of them.
Choosing the best platforms for your business depends on a few things (at least): what you're selling, where your target audience is most active, and where your competition has built a following. If your offerings are best described visually, Instagram and Pinterest may be your best choice. If you need to educate your audience, Facebook and its audience of two billion subscribers may be your best bet. As for Twitter, well, if your audience has a brief attention span, yeah. Maybe. (Can you tell we’re not huge fans of twitting? Oops, we meant tweeting.)
5. “I've heard email marketing is dead. Is that true? OK, that’s a big NO! Email remains one of the most effective marketing tools you can place in your toolbox. The brief explanation is that you need to first build a subscriber list of email addresses, which is one of the most valuable business assets you can acquire. Then, you can begin to engage with them through an email nurture campaign, enabling you to generate more interest, enhance your reputation as an expert in your niche, and begin building trust.
Once they get to know and trust you, you can lead them toward conversion; that is, entice them into doing something that will benefit them, such as watching your free videos, they optin to another informative gift or something else of value. Soon, you should be able to guide them toward buying from you, whether a solution-based service or a product.
As you can see by this brief list of the most common online marketing questions, making an impression out there – not to mention making sales – is challenging indeed. In fact, it may be more demanding than becoming an expert who has something valuable to offer.
We know this is a lot to take in from a single blog post, and it can be intimidating. That’s why we have a couple of ways for you to get more answers to the most common online marketing questions. Research the links we shared above or get in touch with Ted for business consulting to the trade. To find out more… Contact TD Fall today.