Franchise online marketing strategy is as much about engaging the visitors on your website as it is about building traffic and search engine optimization.
The goal of online marketing is to convert leads into business.
Beyond all of the SEO work to get people to your website you must also pay attention to the content, layout and aesthetic appeal of your website in order to turn attention into conversion and even better... retention (which is driving people back to your site again and again).
Here are (3) easy actions which will create engaged visitors.
- Make sure that any links that lead visitors off of your website open in new windows. Do not direct traffic off of your webiste. Ushering people off of your website is not productive. By opening links in new windows, your website will still be up when they close that window. This is also applicable to your social media icons. Make sure they open in a new window as well. Keep the traffic on your site as long as possib
- Be aware of the users display. Remember, an increasing number of people are viewing your website on mobile, or handheld devices. Recent studies show that mobile traffic is on the rise, so having a strategy for a mobile friendly website both at the national and local levels is a must for 2012.
- Review your website for deficiencies regularly. It may be just as easy as mending broken paths or replacing broken code. Again your site is only as legitimate as it is functional. Use websites like http://validator.w3.org/ to validate your website and find issues with it.
Following these simple suggestions will garner results.
You will see a decrease in your bounce rate (visitors to your website who land on a webpage and leave without clicking deeper into your website) and an increase in the amount of time visitors spend on your website, the amount of content that they will read and ultimately the number of leads will you receive from your website.
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Great Article
Clearly maintaining a web site is important, as is the fusion of online marketing components with organic such as Directory Optimization, PPC and backlink strategies
Great point on reviewing your websites, so few people take the time to routinely check their own website. Google's Webmaster Tools is another great tool to find out if there are any errors on your website.
Russ, I don't find the Webmaster tools that useful for a site our size. I wish that Google would simply integrate the Webmaster tools with Google Analytics.
Steve, back linking strategy is very important. But, I think that too many people back link for the Google robot and not for real people. You have to have a quick and dirty pitch for your page to back link for people. Any SEO anchor description will work for the G Robot.
Excellent tips by Jeremy LaDuque, CFE that you can work on right now to make your online strategy work better for your business.