Not all small businesses or bloggers have the capital to run massive paid marketing campaigns. 47% of small business owners handle marketing efforts on their own.
Many are on a tight budget and don’t know where to start. Once you have a website, its value primarily relies upon how well you can engage consumers.
Engaging initially through one channel creates an impression, leading to conversion opportunities and improved traffic of qualified visitors to the page. Visibility is critical when 70-80% of people research a small business before visiting or making a purchase from them.
There are many ways to boost your online presence between paid and organic channels.
So, are you looking for some new ways to market your product or service? We’ve got five proven methods that will help get the word out.
1) Optimize for Organic Search (aka SEO)
Organic SEO is (and should be) the foundation of your website traffic.
Did you know that 68% of all trackable website traffic is sourced from organic traffic and Paid Search, vastly exceeding all other channels, including Display and Social Media?
When you know what your website users want, you can use that information in your paid and organic campaigns, your website, social media platforms, and any other channels.
So, how do you optimize your website’s SEO for organic search?
Here’s how you can start:
Find the Right Keywords
Keyword selection is vital to be successful with organic search. Using keyword research, you can identify queries searched by your potential customers, including products or services your business offers.
Create Quality Content
Once you’ve decided on your keywords, you must create content supporting customer intent.
You can create blog posts, product descriptions, and other content that resonates with potential customers.
If you don’t know what to write or aren’t exceptionally skilled at writing, there are several AI writing tools you can use to write for you.
Build Backlinks
You need to build backlinks to improve organic traffic to your website.
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They’re essential because they help improve your site’s visibility and authority in search engines.
But how do you build backlinks? Get your site sourced by high authority and relevant websites.
There is plenty of SEO software for small businesses that can help.
2) Use Content Marketing to Your Advantage
Some small business owners think content marketing is unnecessary for their business.
After all, why invest time and money to create content when you’re running a small business?
Why create content when you can focus on sales or leads?
Content marketing is about creating quality content to attract potential customers to your website.
Content can come in different forms, but some of the most commonly used are blog posts (i.e., listicles, how-to articles), podcasts, and videos.
Notably, 86% of marketers use blog post publishing as part of their content strategy. That is to say, it’s the most popular content format among marketers.
On the other hand, 94% of marketers agree that videos have helped increase user understanding of their product or service.
Either way, the critical element of content marketing is value. What value does your content offer?
Start With Value
If you’re unsure where to start, remember that when writing a blog post, recording a podcast, or shooting a video, your goal should be to provide value for your audience.
Think about what you can offer and how it can stand out from competitors in the SERP (search engine results page).
Stick to a Schedule
Anyone who has tried to improve their ranking on Google knows it is no easy task.
Algorithm updates can make it feel like you are constantly playing catch-up, and it can be tough to know which strategies are effective and which are a waste of time.
However, there is one thing that is universally accepted as a foundational element of online visibility: content.
A website with high-quality, well-written content will always fare better in the search algorithms than a website with thin or duplicate content. This is where blog posting comes in.
By regularly publishing new articles on your website, you are giving the search engines new material to index and helping to ensure that your website remains relevant.
Of course, quality is more important than quantity, but even a short blog post can be beneficial.
The next time you wonder how to improve your Google ranking, remember that content is still king.
SEO Opportunities
Another benefit of content marketing is that it opens up plenty of SEO opportunities.
When you run a blog on your website, you can use it as an opportunity to improve SEO.
You have limitless opportunities to optimize and improve your website’s SEO by writing and publishing blog posts alone.
Every article you publish is an opportunity to engage with new potential customers and improve your website’s SEO.
It is your chance not only to engage with potential customers but to build trust and authority in your niche.
3) Grow Your Social Reach
Suppose you’re not already utilizing social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn to market your product or service.
These digital marketing channels allow you to publish content for free and advertise your products and services cost-effectively. In that case, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to reach a wider audience.
Creating and maintaining an online presence via social media is an excellent tool for boosting visibility and generating interest in what you have to offer.
There are many ways you can use social media to generate traffic and increase visibility for your website, but here are some of the most effective.
Share Your Blog Content
One of the simplest and most effective ways to generate traffic from social media is to share your website’s content on social media platforms.
This is especially effective if you have engaging and valuable content that is likely to be shared by other users.
Boost Posts
Organic social media reach is limited to the number of people who follow your company page. You can boost your posts if you want to reach a larger audience.
Boosting is a paid feature that allows you to promote your posts to people outside your follower base.
You can target specific demographics, interests, and even locations.
Boosted posts are a great way to generate more leads and sales from social media.
4) Get Those PPC Ads Up and Running
Paid advertising is not just a way to get your message out there but rather an investment many small businesses need to grow.
Curious about how you can generate more leads?
Initially, it makes sense to focus on channels you can get started with little to no investment, including organic SEO and content marketing (which can be free).
But eventually, even these cannot sustain growth without some paid campaigns too!
For immediate traffic and results, you can run pay-per-click advertising.
Paid ads allow you to target a specific audience and get your content in front of them immediately.
PPC is a great way to generate leads and sales quickly. However, with quick results, the trade-off will be an investment.
PPC ads can be expensive, but if results are what you’re looking for, they’re worth it.
Facebook Ads
Despite the rise of other social media platforms, Facebook is still the largest, with 2.7 billion active monthly users compared to TikTok’s 1 billion active users.
(Although, don’t underestimate the growth trajectory of TikTok.)
Facebook Ads is one of the most popular channels for PPC advertising.
Within the platform, marketers, agencies, and SMBs reported that ads were the most effective way to reach their goals– above organic and boosted posts.
With Facebook Ads, you can target specific demographics, interests, and even locations.
Facebook Ads make it easy to reach your target audience and get your content in front of them.
However, it is important to note that Facebook ads have become less effective since the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the impacts of targeting and iOS updates.
Due to privacy concerns, many users have become weary of giving away their personal information.
As a result, Facebook ads may not be as effective as they once were.
However, it is still a top PPC platform for agencies, marketers, and small businesses, with more than 60% of companies that increased their Facebook ad budgets in 2021 and then increased again in 2022.
Google Ads
Google Ads and Facebook Ads are PPC (pay-per-click) advertising. They both involve paying to have your content appear in front of a specific audience.
However, there are some critical differences between the two:
Google Ads is search marketing, while Facebook Ads is interruption marketing.
Search marketing is when you target people who are already interested in what you have to offer.
They are actively searching for information about a specific topic, and with Google Ads, you show up as a result of their search.
Interruption marketing is when you target people who are not necessarily interested in what you have to offer.
You interrupt them with your content, whether they like it or not.
Due to its nature, interruption marketing can be less effective than search marketing. People tend to ignore or block ads they don’t want to see.
However, interruption marketing can still be very successful if done correctly. It just requires more effort on the part of the advertiser.
Google gives you three ways to get your ad in front of users and potential customers:
- Google search (and optional partner networks)
- Google Display Network (ad banners on websites)
- YouTube
Google Ads is an excellent option for businesses that want to generate leads and sales quickly. It is highly effective and can be very successful if done correctly.
Google has even reported a “conservative” estimate in 2022 that for every $1 a business spends on Google Ads, it received $8 in profit- an average of 800% ROI.
5) Analyze and Test
It may seem like there are unlimited ways to get your message out, but the truth is that not every strategy will work for you.
It can be challenging to analyze and test all the different marketing and advertising strategies.
However, by doing so, you will be able to find the ones that work best for your business.
Remember to Start Small
When starting in marketing and advertising, it’s important to start small. Trying to do too much at once can be overwhelming and ineffective.
Instead, focus on one channel and master it. Once you’ve got that down, move on to the next channel.
This way, you’ll be able to learn what works and what doesn’t and make the necessary changes to improve your results.
Conclusion
Small businesses have many options for promotion and increasing online visibility.
These options include search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content marketing, and social media marketing.
Each of these strategies has advantages and disadvantages, so choosing the ones that will work best for your business is important.
SEO is a long-term strategy that can take a while to see results. However, if done correctly, it can effectively improve your website’s rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
PPC advertising is a great way to quickly get your content in front of a specific audience. However, it can be expensive and can quickly eat into your marketing budget.
Make sure you choose the marketing and advertising strategies that will work best for your business.
Success in marketing and advertising requires a combination of the right strategies, effort, and dedication.
However, by choosing the right strategies and analyzing and testing them regularly, you’ll be able to see success in no time.
