Is Apple Considering Dropping Google as their Default Search Engine?

It’s no secret that the folks over at Apple have always been a little jealous of Google’s dominance as the Internet’s top search engine. But the iCompany has been bogged down with too many product launches and keeping the company strong in the wake of Steve Jobs’ death to do anything about it.

Until now…

Word on the street is that Apple’s search deal with Google is going to expire soon and when it does, the search engine default on the Safari browser that comes with every Apple computer, iPhone, iPad (and now iWatch) is going to be up for grabs. And you just know that Bing or Yahoo (or every other search engine for that matter) would love to have that particular piece of business.

There’s even speculation that Apple may have its own search engine in development. After all, the company has a long history of vertical integration.

Dumping Google Could Have Big Consequences

RKG’s Mark Ballard has stated that “roughly half of total paid search traffic (is) at stake in 2015 if the Safari search default is really up for grabs across devices.” That could have huge consequences that would be felt throughout many industries.

It also could lead to a big drop in Google’s value. Imagine what would happen to Google if Apple were to drop its search engine from its devices. For one thing, Google would experience an immediate (and permanent?) drop in the amount of mobile traffic, market share and paid clicks it currently has. According to StatCounter, Safari’s presence on Apple-based desktops and mobile devices accounts for slightly less than 26% of all US Internet traffic. That’s more than IE. Only Chrome has a larger share.

Another Player Waiting in the Wings?

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer has publicly stated that she would like her company to be the default search engine for Apple.

And Bing already does the searches for Siri on mobile devices and for Apple PC’s Spotlight searches. That could mean that if Apple is planning on dropping Google, because it already has a working relationship with Bing, it may put their search engine at the top of their list of candidates.

iSearch?

There’s also a lot of speculation about a recent job posting from Apple for an “engineer projection manager” for its “Apple Search” department. That’s a pretty strong indicator that Apple is at least considering getting into the search engine business.

Here’s what the job posting says:

“Apple seeks a technical, driven and creative program manager to manage backend operations projects for a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users. Play a part in revolutionizing how people use their computers and mobile devices. Manage operations projects that support groundbreaking technology and the most scalable big-data systems in existence.”

Now, that may sound as if Apple is announcing the launch of its own search engine, but it also could just be a bluff to improve its negotiating position with Google, Bing, Yahoo or another player.

Does Apple Still Have the Guts to Pull Off Such a Huge Move?

There’s no question that Apple under Tim Cook is a much different company than Apple under Steve Jobs (both times). The days of launching industry-changing products is in the past for Apple. So the best bet right now would be that Apple will keep its relationship with Google.

But there’s always the chance that Google may want to pull out of its deal with Apple. After all, the search monsters pays Apple a reported billion dollars per year in revenue sharing for its deal with the mobile Safari.

Stay tuned to for the next episode in this high stakes corporate Internet soap opera.

Ways to Create Fresh Content to Keep Visitors Coming Back for More

Creating new content is critical to the success of your web pages, but let’s face it: It’s also a pain in the butt.

It often seems like you’ve already said everything you want to say about your blog or website’s subject matter. Yet if you don’t provide a constant stream of fresh, engaging content, you risk alienating your regular visitors and you could stop attracting new fans.

‘Refresh’ Your Pages with Engaging Content

Here’s some easy ways to keep your blog or website engaging and interesting to new fans and loyal return visitors:

– Engaging Content Is Critical – This is something you hear a lot, but what does it really mean? Engaging content can mean any number of things, such as a lively debate about a controversial subject relating to your niche to reviews of the latest news. It could mean stories from your own real life or somebody else’s that are relevant to your subject matter.

Developing engaging content is something that should come organically to you. If you are the author of a popular blog or website, you probably already are constantly on the lookout for articles, images and other content you think your readers might find interesting. But you don’t always have to give your readers long blocks of text. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t.

Infographics are one of the hottest types of engaging content being used online right now. These are images that present information both textually and with engaging graphics. The purpose of infographics is to make your content easier to be absorbed by your visitors.

Videos are another great type of engaging content, especially if you don’t usually post videos of yourself. If your readers have following your blog for a long time and then suddenly, BOOM!, there’s a video of you in your own home or office, it can be like: Mind. Blown.

– Put Your Visitors First – The most successful sites make their readers the blog or website owners’ top priority. This pays off because when visitors feel valued, they are much more likely to come back another time.

Did you ever read a blog or website and think, “Boy, this person is such a know-it-all?” How did that make you feel? Now compare that to a blog or website where the author is actively responding to visitors’ questions, sharing stories about interactions with fans, and inviting visitors to share their stories or tips as they are relevant to the blog’s subject matter. Big difference. Much more inviting.

– Mix It Up A Little –If you’ve been using the same theme since the first day of your blog or website, or always use the default layout, it may be comfortable for you but it can be a real turnoff for your visitors. People like it when you shake things up every once in a while.

Think about the way Google will change their home search page for special holidays or just for fun. You can do the same thing with your blog or website to make it more engaging for your visitors. At the very least, change your theme to reflect the season, such as having a snowy background in winter, a sunny one in summer, and so on.

Okay, these techniques of enhancing the users’ experience when they arrive on your pages may take a little time or effort on your part. But they will pay off royally when you build your subscriber list and start attracting hundreds of new visitors every day. See for yourself!

Top Google Executive Says Link Building May Actually Harm Your Rankings

When Google launched its’ Penguin and Panda updates to its search engine algorithm, it became pretty obvious that the gig was up when it came to using backlinks to improve an individual web page’s site ranking. For years, black hat IMers had been packing their pages with inorganic backlines because – up until the updates, anyway – having tons of backlinks in general could land you on the front page for your keywords. And if you included links from authoritative sites – such as About.com or Wikipedia – you had a very good chance of landing in the top spot!

Panda/Penguin was a response to that flaw in the system. But there’s still been a lingering belief among Internet marketers that backlinks were still important, regardless of what Google said. And because Google keeps the details of how its algorithm work so hush-hush, no one ever knew for sure.

I mean, backlinks couldn’t hurt, right?

Wrong.

At least that’s the impression John Mueller, Google’s Webmaster Trends analyst, gave during a Google+ Hangout session on February 13. Googlle hinted that if you bet all the ranch on backlinks to improve your web rankings, you’re in for a rude awakening.

‘I’d Try to Avoid That’

When asked by a Hangouts participant whether backlinks had any value for improving rankings, Mueller quickly replied, “In general I’d try to avoid that.”

Loose lips sink ships and Google has protected the inner workings of its search engine algorithm as if they were state secrets (and given the recent revelations from the NSA, they may actually be!). But Mueller may have tipped the Internet giant’s hand slightly – either by accident or on purpose – by revealing what may be the first glimpse inside the inner workings of the search engine.

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth?

Here’s the full text of Mueller’s answer:

“So that you are really sure that your content kind of stands on its own and make it possible for other people, of course, to link to your content,” Mueller continued. “Make it easy, maybe, put a little widget on your page, ‘If you like this, this is how you can link to it.’ Make sure that the URLs on your web site are easy to copy and paste. All of those things make it a little bit easier

“We do use links as part of our algorithm,” he said. “But we use lots and lots of other factors as well. So only focusing on links is probably going to cause more problems for your web site than actually helps.”

Game Changer?

This could be the clue that marketers have been hoping for about the way the Google search engine actually works. It certainly will have aftershocks for those people still selling automatic link-building software.

It’s not often that a Google executive lets something as revealing as this drop. And it’s going to be interesting to watch the consequences among top Internet marketers. The most logical interpretation of Mueller’s remarks is that too much link building – such as stuffing your blog or web pages with links or including inorganic links that are truly relevant to your content – eventually will be sniffed out by the Google algorithm. But that’s something we already knew, or at least suspected.

But the bottom line is that if, in fact, link building does actually cause your rankings to tumble, you probably will just have to wait a few more months before Googles’ next rumored search engine algorithm drops.

If there’s one thing Google’s successful at – other than owning the Internet’s most important search engine – it’s keeping people guessing on how to outsmart it.

The Internet Marketer’s Google Penalty Recovery Plan

If your site has been hit with a Google penalty, the loss in traffic and revenue can be absolutely devastating. Some marketers might well choose to scrap their site and start all over again (which isn’t a bad idea if your site isn’t a monster), but for others who have a good flow of traffic and great amount of reputation and subscribers, restarting isn’t an option.

So, what do you do if you’re hit with a Google penalty?

Act Quickly

The first thing you need to understand here is that time is of the essence. The longer you wait to start recovering your rankings in the SERPs and traffic, the more money you are going to lose (or not make, same thing). Further, your reputation is going to take a hit, meaning even your most loyal clients might start wandering over to the other side of the fence to see where the grass is greener.

Your first order of action should be to audit your entire website. Determine whether you have an algorithmic or manual penalty and then pinpoint the cause. That’s the first area you should focus on. Typical Google penalties include black hat SEO practices, buying links, low-quality or duplicate content, high-bounce rates, on-page strategies deemed manipulative, spamming and low-quality backlinks, so be prepared to tackle those issues.

Depending on which update from Google caused the penalty (e.g. Penguin, Panda, Hummingbird, etc.), your course of action will be dictated by the latest fixes. Take a deep look into your messages on your Webmaster Tools account and look for communications from Google that might have warned you (such as the Web Spam Team).

Take This Time to Fix Everything

Of course, you can just fix the problem as stated by Google and move on, but it’s much wiser to use this as an opportunity to clean up your entire site. Take a long, hard look at your practices – was this penalty an anomaly or have you been toeing the line in terms of white hat SEO practices? Run an analysis on your site with Hubspot or Nibbler and fix up any code errors, warnings or other problem areas that are holding your site down.

Any backlinks (aka inbound links) that are coming into your site that are low-quality or “bad” should be removed immediately. This can be an arduous process if you have a lot of links, but using tools such as Moz’s Open Site Explorer, you can expedite the process. Using these tools, check out all the websites that are linking to your site and really evaluate which are “good” sites that are beneficial to your ranking and/or business. Get rid of any sites that might be bringing you down (especially if those sites are the penalty trigger). Don’t only remove these links, but construct a list of them and request Google disavow them from your attributable backlinks.

Submission to Google

Once your site is completely fixed up, if your penalty was manual, you can submit a reconsideration request to Google. If your penalty was algorithmic, you have to wait until the next time Google updates its algorithms (this can happen a few times a day or once a week – Google doesn’t release this information unless it’s a large update like Hummingbird or Panda). Either way your site’s recovery is completely in the hands of Google’s team. But by keeping a detailed record of all the changes you made to come into compliance, you show that you are eager to play by their rules. Going above and beyond what you were penalized will look good in the eyes of Google’s team and you will likely be reinstated to your former glory much faster than not.

Why are People Leaving Websites?

Have you ever wondered what the most popular reasons are that people leave websites? Recently, Kissmetrics put out some very interesting data and numbers that should help every marketer out there understand their viewer behavior just a little bit better.

Poor Navigation and Layout

If your website is poorly designed and difficult to navigate, people will leave it. Quickly. Don’t make this mistake and be sure to use logical and intuitive design when planning your layout. The main navigation links should be across the top or down the left of your screen. All pictures should be clear and related directly to the site, telling a story or providing information. Your text shouldn’t contain confusing links which are vaguely labeled and buried in the main body. Additionally, always add a sitemap.

Overkill Advertising

Have you ever gotten to a site and had pop-up ad after pop-up ad? Or Flash ads or content that fills the entire screen which leaves you searching for dozens of little “X” buttons on the boxes every few seconds? Horrible. This is why people leave sites: too many ads. Never let an ad be the first thing to welcome your visitor to your site. They shouldn’t be obtrusive or cover up a portion of the content as if to say, “You’re only allowed to read that after you pay attention to this ad!” Keep it tasteful, relevant and as always, make sure your ads are much, much smaller than your content, otherwise you look like a spam site.

Horrid Structure of Content

If your site is a jumbled mess of content where nobody can find what they are looking for, watch your bounce rate climb through the roof! There should be a logical flow to your content as it draws visitors deeper into your sales funnel at each step. Keep content that should be together all on one page, not scattered over three or four. Group similar content together to make it easy to navigate deeper into the subject matter. Highlight keywords and don’t forget subheadings in bold.

Automatic Audio and Video

People can find a video on your page if they want to. They don’t need you to auto-play content and possibly blow their eardrums out if they have headphones in, wake up the baby if they forgot to turn the speakers off or slow-down their loading process with ski—pp—ing—spee—ch—pa-tt-er—ns. Give them the option to start the audio or video themselves, or at the very least, start the volume very low and give the user a quick option to exit the audio or video without exiting the website.

Registration Requirements

You’ve been Googling for half an hour, you’re about to lose your mind—finally, you find the product you’re looking for, get on the site and BAM! A registration requirement pops up acting as a physical barrier between you and the pot of gold. You consider signing up but you will not give into this type of bullying! You hop in your car and drive off to the store to buy the product, happy that you defeated the evil internet for at least today. Yeah, don’t be that website. At least offer a little preview or demo first so they can see what you’re offering before you twist their arm.

As you can see, an intelligently designed and well-written and thought-out website can eliminate a lot of high bounce rates that are out there. If your product or service is great, give it a chance to
speak for itself. Don’t lose the war before the battle even begins!

Are You Retargeting Your Visitors?

Did you know that only about 20% of all first-time visitors to a website will become a conversion on that visit? That means 80% of your site’s visitors are leaving without converting, even if they want to. With shopping cart abandonment making major waves in the eCommerce industry because of how recoverable these consumers are (studies show that about 68% of all abandoned shopping carts can be recovered), it only makes sense that the people who bounce off your site are recoverable as well, even if you don’t run an eCommerce site.

What is Retargeting?

If you don’t know what retargeting is, it’s a simple concept. You place a code in your site’s footer (typically JavaScript) and that code compiles a list of all your site’s visitors. When someone comes to your website, the code implants a cookie into their browser that acts like an “on” switch for advertisements.

Then, as your visitor browses other sites on the internet, as they come to sites that have ads on them, the cookie you left in their browser activates your site’s ad. This helps do a number of things, including keeping you fresh in their minds, reminding them that they might have wanted to make a purchase with you or simply creates another avenue to your website.

The point here is that you are getting advertised across the web to an extremely targeted audience: people that have already expressed interest in your website. Whether they left to look for better offers, they left the stove on or had to run into a business meeting, you get another crack at them by simply adding some code to your website and running a few ads.

But Won’t People Find this Intrusive?

Of course, some places people absolutely hate targeted ads, such as ads that hit on keywords from people’s emails. This is intrusive and likely to backfire unless you’re a fairly large brand. Nobody wants to think that a penis enlargement cream site is filtering through their emails and placing ads on their Gmail account!

But with retargeting, your ads will actually provide people with a better, more individualized browsing experience since the ads will be tailored to their interests. It’s always important to think about how your ads will be perceived by your audience. There’s a fine line between being intrusive and being customized and the best websites walk this line perfectly.

Retargeted Emails

Of course, not every internet marketer’s site lends itself to retargeting code and ads. Some marketers will do better to retarget their visitors through email campaigns. It’s important that you re-contact people who fell out of your sales funnel so you can bring them back in.

As with the shopping cart abandonment, there’s no telling why the person fell out. They could have simply been distracted by a football score and forgot to go back. The power could have went out, any number of things could have happened so assuming that everyone who bounced from your site did so because they didn’t like what they saw is faulty thinking that leads to zero sales.

What do you have to lose by sending out some emails saying, “Hey, we’ve been thinking about you and we want you to come back! Here’s 10% off your next order” or “Did you forget about us because we didn’t forget about you! We figured you might have some questions so let’s set up a time to chat so I can answer them for you!”

The point is, you miss all of the sales that you don’t reach out and grasp, so retargeting visitors can only result in sales, what’s the worse that can happen, they ignore you? Well, right now if you aren’t retargeting, you’re the one ignoring them!

5 Key Factors That Make Good Webcopy Great

 

The start of the month in internet marketing land should be called copytime. Every website out there is looking for brand new copy, from blogs to social media posts to web copy. Of these three important types of copy, only one is going to represent your website day in and day out. While none should be ignored or written off with any type of nonchalance, I personally believe that webcopy should be the most scrutinized of the three.

After all, many blogs are informal. Social posts aren’t meant to serve as your doctorate. But web copy, this is what the people are looking at when they get to your site. And not only that, it’s what the search engines are looking at when they rank your site. So, it’s easy to see why webcopy should be carefully crafted, but it’s not always so simple to see how it should be crafted.

Five Points to Keep in Mind When Creating Copy for Your Website

Here are five things that you want to keep in mind as you sit down to write your web copy:

1. Capture. The first thing your copy needs to do is capture the attention of your viewers. If you have some bland, boring headline followed by copy that drones on and on, you’re going to bore visitors right off your site (if not to sleep!). Be a little provactive, a little funny, stir it up. The average person browses dozens of websites each and every day, what is going to make them stay on yours?

2. Portray. Your webcopy should be very clear in conveying your value proposition. Visitors need to know exactly what makes you different from your competition. Why should they spend their money with you when there are 50 million other sites selling the exact same product or service? If you can’t answer this, then how can you expect your customers to understand it?

3. Stand Out. People don’t really have time to read everything you write. Even if you’re the most interesting writer in the world, eating a nice juicy steak is more interesting. You aren’t going to compete with reality, so make your content easily accommodating in that you have all key points standing out for quick scanning. Headings and subheadings are a must. Numbered and bullet lists help people get the information they need, do what they have to do and then get on with their life. You aren’t inviting them over for tea, you’re inviting them to learn what you have to offer them and then convincing them to take it and leave.

4. Describe. Description is vital for many products and services, yet so many marketers buy into the “picture is worth a thousand words” ideaology of content creation. Pictures are amazing, yes (videos are even better), but you need the details, features and benefits of your products and services in writing. Why? If nothing else, for the search engines and to rank for keywords, but trust me, there are still people out there enjoy reading everything they can about a product before making a purchase. Remember, an informed consumer buys more.

5. Perfection. Finally, it’s vital that your webcopy be absolutely free and clear of errors. No spelling mistakes, no grammatical errors, no txt spk. You want to convey authority on your site and nothing will lose it faster than mspelling a werd or too or making grammer errors or having poor punctuashun?

Overall, webcopy is to a website what a salesperson is to a brick-and-mortar location. You wouldn’t hire just anybody and send them out there uninformed and unpresentable, don’t do that with your webcopy.

Responsive Website vs. Native App – How Far Do You Need to Go Mobile?

With the coming of the mobile revolution being heralded for years, it seems we’re finally here (even though it came in with a whimper, more than a bang). With that said, it’s now critical that every marketer that wants to stay competitive be not only findable, but viewable on mobile devices. Mobile devices make up a greater portion of all searches each and every year, and we’re finally starting to see some viable means in terms of mobile purchasing to warrant the push to either responsive websites, native apps or both.

But what’s the difference?

What is a Responsive Website?

A responsive website (or more accurately, responsive web design) simply means that the site is coded and designed in such a way that the content will adjust to fit on whatever size screen it is being viewed on. So if you’re looking at a site on your 27-inch desktop monitor, it will look great, but if you visit the site on your 3-inch mobile device, it will also display correctly.

Responsive websites eliminate the need to have a dedicated site built for mobile (in addition to your standard website). The coding in the site responds to the device it is being viewed from and tells the browser exactly how the content should be displayed so there are no errors and functionality is preserved. If your audience connects to your site via a number of devices (e.g. computer desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, mobile phone, etc.), a responsive website is a critical investment.

Benefits of responsive web design include:

– Your site is indexed as mobile-friendly by search engines, while still maintaining all of its normal indexing

– All of your updates to your website can be done in one place and show up on any viewing device

– Your site becomes flexible, able to reach all viewers no matter the device they are using

– All of your updates are seen by anyone who views the page and are not limited or restricted by device

What is a Mobile App – or Native Mobile App?

Mobile app and native mobile app are two terms used interchangeably for the same thing. A mobile app is an application designed specifically for use on mobile devices. It is an entirely separate program from your website and instead of being stored on servers, it is downloaded by the user and stored on their smartphone.

What this does is it allows users to connect even when they don’t have internet access. This is due to the fact that the app is stored locally (though some mobile apps will require internet). That means native mobile apps grant faster access for users than mobile (or responsive) websites do.

In addition, mobile apps have permissions that can help your sales such as access to the phone’s camera or speaker. This makes it easier for customers to interact with you. The downside here is that native mobile apps require different operating systems for Android and iOS phones, so it does cost some money to develop them…twice.

There are also a few more downsides and upsides to mobile apps:

– While faster than websites on mobile devices, mobile apps have fixed layouts meaning you must design one for each operating system

– Your audience for mobile apps is limited to people who have smartphones

– Search engines don’t index mobile apps because they aren’t stored on the internet, but rather on the user’s phone

– Updates can be tricky because the user must download them for updates to appear. Not everyone does this, so your newer content might not gain as much traction

– It is both expensive and time-consuming to develop native mobile apps and then get them approved by the app stores (Google Play and the Apple App Store)

Ideally, you would have both, but for now, a responsive website seems like the safer plan for internet marketers until your business demands a mobile app.

Is the Party Over Now that the FCC Passed Net Neutrality?

As you probably heard by now, the Federal Communications Commission recently approved new rules based on the principles of “net neutrality” that essentially finally put some sort of regulations over Internet usage. Some are calling it the “Equal Opportunity Act” for Internet speeds and access to websites.

But is this ultimately good or bad for the typical Internet user?

First of All, What Is Net Neutrality?

People banter the term “net neutrality” around like they understand what it means, but what the heck is it, really?

Net neutrality is the concept that your Internet provider should be a neutral gateway to everything that’s online. It shouldn’t act as a gatekeeper that decides to load some sites slower than others or try to extract fees for faster service.

Another way of looking at it is that net neutrality is a concept in which Internet service providers (ISPs) can’t discriminate when it comes to Internet traffic.

On February 26, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to adopt net neutrality rules to, as it declared in its announcement of the vote “protect the open Internet”.

Why Do We Need Net Neutrality?

So why should Internet users be concerned with net neutrality of the Internet? There’s plenty of great reasons.

First, without net neutrality, ISPs could, in theory, demand more money from companies like Hulu or Amazon to speed up traffic to their sites. Conversely, they could slow down traffic from sites that aren’t willing to pony up the extra cash.

Is this a big deal? Yes , it is. In fact, it’s a very big deal.

For example, during peak periods in the US about 30% of Internet traffic comes from a single service: Netflix. So let’s say your Internet provider is AT&T. They might tell Netflix, “We want you to pay us double what you pay now or else we are going to slow down your streaming speeds so that people watching ‘House of Cards’ will ditch it because it keeps dropping in the middle of President Frank Underwood’s best scenes.”

Or AT&T could cut a deal with Amazon making them their prime video service and speeding up their delivery to their customers at the expense of slowing down Hulu or Netflix.

At the FCC did was to get rid of all those scenarios and create a more level playing field for everybody.

So What Did the FCC Do, Again?

Technically, what the FCC did was vote to reclassify broadband access as a “telecommunications service under Title II”.

In English, what that means is that the FCC made broadband a utility, which in turn gives the FCC a lot more regulatory power over Internet providers.

This all began back in 2010, when the FCC actually passed rules that made the Internet neutral. But in January 2014, Verizon filed a lawsuit claiming that the federal agency didn’t have the authority to make such a declaration. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit agreed with Verizon, but added that the FCC could reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. That way it would have the authority.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler did just that. And when Republicans in Congress recently dropped their opposition to the new rules – because the Democrats wouldn’t support it and they didn’t want to be the only ones left twisting in the wind – the stage was set for the FCC’s historic vote.

What Does This Mean for Me?

The FCC’s vote will ban three basic things:

1. Blocking – Broadband providers can’t block access to legal content, apps, services or non-harmful devices.

2. Throttling – Broadband providers can’s impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, apps, services or non-harmful devices.

3. Prioritization – Broadband providers can’t favor some lawful traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration. The rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates.

This is a big, bold move by the FCC and the consequences for Internet users probably will be felt for years to come.

How To Attract Customers To Your Business Who Are Ready To Buy

Do you need more customers?

Are you sick of people visiting your website or business and not buying?

Well keep reading as we will show you How To Attract Customers To Your Business Who Are Ready To Buy.

Much worse than having no visitors to your website or business premises is actually getting visitors, but no sales. That is so frustrating.

If that has happened to you, don’t despair. We have worked with a number of existing and start-up businesses and know a few tricks to help you attract not only new customers to your website but ones who are ready to buy from you.

Identify your target audience – don’t try to reach out to everybody

The first and most important step for any business is to identify your target customers. Do it right, and you will have a much easier time converting visitors into buyers. Do it wrong, and you risk creating a product/service that nobody (or not enough people) wants.

It is well known customers want to interact with brands they can connect with.

To do this, you need to know what kind of company and image you want to portray and then adapt your marketing to directly appeal to the ideal brand of customer you want to attract to your business. This is done by creating ideal buyer persona (an image or profile of your ideal customer) based on their buying habits and lifestyle.

So instead of searching for customers, help them to find you. Go to the sites and places they go to – put yourself in the places they want to be and invite them to come and see you. If you have a clear image of who you want to serve, you are going to be in a better position to give them what they want.

A lot of companies make the mistake of thinking that everybody is a potential customer. They are not! You need to focus on the dreams and desires of your top customers, then pay them special attention by treating them well.

Don’t try to rent your audience, build your own instead

Some businesses we have worked with have tried to take a short cut by renting eyeballs or clicks. They buy and rent email mailing lists in order to get extra customers. Sometimes the gamble can pay off but if you want customers who are looking for a business and services like yours, it is far more profitable to grow your own list instead.

This is not hard to do. For example, on your Facebook page you could provide shareable, inspirational and humorous content – images and quotes to encourage visitors to engage with you.

The people who enjoy the content on your site are generally the ones who will respond to your specific offers and products and you can quickly attract a lot of eager new fans and customers.

Word of mouth marketing

The best way to attract new customers to your site is by word of mouth, and social media marketing, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc, makes this easier to do than ever before. It is fast, free and easy.

Ditch the large scale marketing campaigns

What? Is this really a recommendation from a marketing company? Yes!

In the old days, marketing used to be large scale isolated advertising and media events but things have changed. Your customers don’t live on a campaign schedule. They are always on the move and are constantly being bombarded with new information and offers wherever they go. As a result they have become more discerning and advert aware.

So instead of investing a large amount of money on a big campaign it is better to drip feed your offers through continuous engagement with them.

Social media makes it easy to follow a customer from their first visit to your site, to the point that they become a lead and eventually through the sales process.

The relationship doesn’t end there as your constant engagement and relationship building with them continues long after the initial sale. You can easily get repeat business and referrals from them if you handle it right.

Copy your competition

Do a bit of research.

Find out how your competition is attracting customers:

Do they advertize on the Internet or is it mainly offline?
Do they buy advertizements in local media like newspapers and radio or do they have a large social media following online?

If they are doing something that clearly works for them and are getting customers (your potential customers), you need to try and adopt similar measures so that you don’t continue losing customers to them.

Attract new customers who are actively searching for your product or service

Purchasing pay-per-click (PPC) advertising using Google Adwords is a very effective way to instantly connect with new customers who are not only eager to buy but have got their credit card at the ready to buy there and then.

Unlike traditional forms of advertising, like the Yellow Pages or ads in a local newspaper, with PPC you are not handing over money and paying for an empty promise of perhaps getting new visitors to see your site. You are paying for an actual result, a click.

With PPC, you don’t pay if nobody sees your ad; you don’t even pay if someone does see it but doesn’t click. You only pay when someone literally clicks on your ad.

This is generally called buying clicks because that’s just what you are doing. You’re paying a PPC company each time someone clicks on the link that is pointing back to your Website.

These ads are highly targeted.

So, for example, when a person does a search for a Wedding Planner in your town or area, Google will bring up a list of targeted adverts that wedding planners and related companies have paid to advertize when a customer types those key words into the search engine. In most cases these are customers who are very eager to buy, and you can see how this works over the page.

This is basically how it works:

• You join a search engine’s PPC program (for example Adwords by Google) and add some funds to the account. You set a limit on the maximum amount you want to pay so you don’t go over budget.
• You create a small text ad (in some cases, PPC can include images).
• You specify exactly what words or phrases a customer should type into the search engine before they would even see your advertizement, which will ensure the ads are targeted.
• You specify how much you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
• You are now ready. You wait for the next person to arrive at the search engine, enter one of the keywords or keyword phrases you specified, and click the Search button.
• The search engine finds the matching ads (including yours) and places them on the results page.
• If the searcher clicks the ad, he is taken to your Website, and you will be charged for that click.
• Once the budget limit you set for your advertising campaign has been reached, your ad will no longer be shown until you add more funds to your account. By this time you should have received some targeted customers who have bought from you.

Attend industry specific conferences and exhibitions

We are big fans of attending conferences, exhibitions and networking events. It is a great way to make new connections and spread the word about your business to new targeted clients.

People buy from people they have met, so if you are seen and active at events, people will be more inclined to buy from you.

This type of event is also perfect for showing potential clients how caring you are and that you strive to make your customers happy. Exceptional customer service plus excellent products or services will always ensure that you have a thriving business.

Use these events to get people to visit your website and join your mailing list so you can stay in constant contact with them using the engagement tips mentioned above.

By using some or all of these methods you will be able to attract brand new, eager to buy customers easily.

The internet has made it a level playing field for small to medium sized businesses. You can reach thousands of new customers every week from all around the world or locally, by having a well thought out online presence.

It is an exciting time for small businesses and you don’t want to miss out on the revolution that is happening at the moment. Old marketing methods no longer work. The way that consumers buy is changing and you need to change with them, knowing who they are, where they are and why they buy.