How to Be Visible
In order for you to be successful online you need to be visible to your target audience. Whether you’re selling products and services or simply supplying information, your website is of little use if it isn’t seen by the people you intended to reach. There are many different ways to become visible. Some of these ideas are complex and you may need the help of professional service providers to accomplish them but others are well within the capabilities of most people. Here’s the short list:
- Optimize for search engines
- Advertise and use online press releases
- Seek and give links
- Participate in social media networks
- Write articles and posts for other sites
- Create viral content – copy, photos, videos
- Use your email list(s)
- Pick up the phone!
Optimize for search engines
Just because I said you shouldn’t focus on SEO doesn’t mean you should ignore it either! Go through the website and make sure at least the money pages (the pages that sell your products or services) are properly coded and optimized for the search engines. If you’re a non-profit, these would be your services and information pages.
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Advertise and use online press releases
Use advertising and online press releases to draw attention. Advertising can be expensive so pick and choose your outlets wisely. There are many places to look to for advertising and I can’t cover them all here. You know your target audience best. You should know what they read and where they are likely to visit online. Research these websites and see if they offer advertising.
Consider using Google Adwords and Yahoo! as places to purchase advertising.
Be aware of the different types of payment models and how they work before you buy! Typical advertising models include:
- Cost per mille (CPM). The advertiser is charged per thousand impressions
- Cost per click (CPC). The advertiser is charged per click
- Cost per action (CPA). The advertiser is charged per (predetermined)
action (e.g., an online sale)
Online press releases allow are very valuable if used correctly. First, if you use a service like MarketWire, PRWeb, BusinessWire or CNW Group you will get varying levels of exposure but the value proposition on all three is that publish a press release with their service it will be distributed throughout a network of other online resources. You typically can focus where you want your press release to go by geographic location or industry or other filters. Each of these offers a plethora of value added services that may help you with visibility. If you’ve never used them read up on them and what they offer.
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Seek and give links
Search engines love to see inbound links- especially if they’re from relevant websites and even more if they’re from highly respected websites like government or educational websites. Not only does the link provide a vehicle for people to freely navigate the web but they also represent your participation in the online world. Speaking of participation in the online world. Don’t be stingy, provide outbound links as well. No website can survive without links and if your organization tries to hoard inbound links but won’t give any away your credit with the online community will diminish.
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Participate in social media networks
You do business with people not organizations. It’s people who search for help, seek services or products, and ultimately decide where they will spend their dollars or time. As social media continues to grow and expand, the opportunities for more and more conversations grows with it. I’m not suggesting full scale immersion into social media but I do advocate for at least putting a foot in. Whether or not you join in and participate, other people are joining in and by the thousands and sooner or later they will talk about you and your organization. Join in and engage people. People will seek you out and engage you if you make yourself available and engage them.
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Write articles and posts for other sites
There are plenty of trade sites and blogs on the web and the chances are very good there are some in your market space. Do some research to locate these and offer to write an article or blog post for them in exchange for a byline and link back to your website.
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Create viral content – copy, photos, videos
One of my favorite series of viral videos is from Blendtec called Will It Blend?. Blendtec makes commercial grade blenders – the ones you’ll find behind the bar. They wanted to tell consumers about a new product line for home users and that it was every bit as tough as their commercial grade products. The concept was to show how strong the blender is by blending up items that you wouldn’t normally dare to put in your blender. Environmental issue aside (yes, they blend up stuff they shouldn’t like glow sticks and an iPhone), it was a huge success for the company.
“Since the first viral video went live in 2006, Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” series has been a perennial favorite among audiences of all shapes and sizes. Based on segments that show Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson pulverizing everything from iPods to marbles in the company’s signature blender, the online video clips have become a textbook example of viral marketing done right in the Web 2.0 world.”The use of content that captures people’s interest and get’s them to talk and share it among their networks is the core of viral marketing. The message needs to be carefully crafted and the opportunities to learn more about the product, service, and company needs to be clearly identified and available.
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Use your email list(s)
If you have an email list or two you have a ready made audience. Reach out to them with news and updates. Moderate the frequency of these and be sure the content and message have substance and value to your audience. Consider using an online email service like ConstantContact. These services can offer multiple email lists and tracking of links you embed within your email to enable you to measure the effectiveness of the email you send out.
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Pick up the phone!
I don’t know very many people that enjoy cold calling potential customers but it can be a valuable method of attracting new customers. And don’t forget to call up past customers.
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