And why MOST people are DOOMED to fail…
certainly not the most positive way to start an article, but the goal of a headline is to get your attention, isn’t it?
I’m going to start by stating some irrefutable facts up front because nothing frustrates me more then sharing my experience and expertise with people only to have them call into question the soundness of my advice based on nothing more than their ignorance.
That’s quite a mouthful, I know.
For starters, I been self-employed since 2004. I have been running my own web marketing firm since early 2008.
During that time I have worked with clients who were small, start-up “mom and pop” type businesses as well as companies generating up to $10 million of revenue a year. My insights, strategies and suggestions have generated more than $2 million of additional revenue for companies (and counting) and I have personally generated more than 10,000 sales leads online (and counting).
That, my friends, is a pedigree worth mentioning.
So when I talk about what it takes to succeed online I hope you decide to pay attention, at least for a moment, because I’m going to share with you three tips that are essential for generating more traffic, more leads, and more business from your website.
Does that sound like something you can do today?
Three online business success tips
David Niven, in one of his books, mentioned a conversation he had with a friend about how he should write his story. The friend’s advice was to make sure that his story had a beginning, a middle and an end.
Simple (and sound) advice indeed.
Following that example, let’s “paint by numbers…”
1. You need the right website
When it comes to succeeding online the starting point is to make sure that you have a website that is designed with your end goal in mind.
What do I mean by that?
E-commerce websites will be set up quite differently than websites designed for a professional practice, for the simple reason that there is a difference between selling a widget (and presenting those widgets to customers) and selling your services. In the first instance, e-commerce sites are successful when they make a sale. In the second case, professional practice websites are successful when somebody calls the office or completes a web form (i.e. lead generation).
So you’ll need a website that can get the job done.
Furthermore, you’ll need a website that is responsive (i.e. mobile/tablet ready) not only because more and more people surf the net using these devices but because Google says so.
If you want more organic traffic to your website you’ll need a site that is “Google – friendly.”
Makes sense, right?
Well, that generally means having a site built using WordPress. Those free “do-it-yourself” programs (i.e. Wix, Weebly, Web.com, etc.) are a simple waste of your time because they lack the functionality and features you’ll need to get the job done and get consistently found in most niches.
2. You need the right traffic
As you might be able to tell from what I just shared, web design involves more than making, or having, a “pretty” website.
Your site must be designed for easy navigation so that people can find what they’re looking for, while at the same time employing elements that make it Google friendly.
So how do you get more traffic to your website?
After all, if nobody finds you then they can’t buy your product or request more information about your service. Kind of goes without saying, doesn’t it?
And when it comes to traffic you really only have two choices – you can pay for it, or you can work to get it.
Because this article is long enough already and I don’t want to write the next “War and Peace” or “Moby Dick” I’m only going to focus on how to get more organic traffic to your website. Now, the term organic is a better one than saying “free” traffic because there is no such thing as a free lunch.
As an SEO expert I clearly don’t have to pay an outside company to optimize my site for the right keywords. In this sense organic traffic is, in a real way, free for me.
But I do have to work for it.
Now, you can do the work too. Getting more traffic to your website starts by targeting the right (i.e. most appropriate) keyword phrases that form a direct connection between your products and services and the “stuff” people are searching for online.
Next, you need to properly optimize each and every page (and post) of your site for these keywords.
Now, on its own this is typically not sufficient to propel your website to the top of page 1. It is, however, the fundamental first step in getting more organic traffic to your site day in and day out, weekend and week out, month in and month out, year after year after year.
That, my friends, is what we call “evergreen” traffic.
3. You need to put forth effort (or pay for someone’s expertise)
Yesterday I was talking with a prospective client who, after asking me how much it would cost to have me design a website for him, asked the next logical question about ongoing support so that his site could get to the top of page 1.
In fact, the term SEO stands for (search engine optimization) is all about how to climb what I call the “Google-ladder.”
It’s a question that, from time to time, clients do ask me.
After sharing with him my fee for providing ongoing SEO support he claimed that I “priced myself out of the job.” What the gentleman on the other end of the line didn’t realize is that I didn’t want to work with him on an ongoing basis to help get his site to the top of page 1 in the first place, despite the very reasonable fee quoted to him.
Why not?
The simple fact of the matter is that few people realize what it really takes to get more traffic from Google.
Think of it this way – Google is literally a millionaire maker. If you are at the top of search results pages for keywords that are most relevant for your business you will get a flood of relevant traffic each and every day. Hell, even a crappy site will convert some percentage of that traffic into business.
And Google knows it.
Now ask yourself this…
- Why should they value YOUR site enough to put it at the top of the search results page?
- What makes YOUR website so in incredibly important and valuable that Google should catapult it to the very top of a competitive pile?
YOUR desperation, YOUR need, YOUR desire is all 100% completely irrelevant for getting more traffic from Google. With me so far? To get to the top of Google you have to earn it. That means work for it.
Or pay someone a fair price to do it for you.
Why did I start this article by mentioning that most people are doomed to fail, and often before they get started?
Because in just about every case this critical next step is where people drop the proverbial ball. They are BOTH unwilling to do the work themselves or to pay a fair price to have the work done for them. In the case of the gentleman who said that I “price myself out of a job,” he was frankly unwilling to see the value of paying an incredibly reasonable price for me to help get his business to the top page 1.
And when I suggested that he could do much of the work himself he expressed the all-too-common refrain that he didn’t have the time. At the end of the day I guess his success didn’t matter all that much to him.
Ask yourself this question – do you really want to succeed online?
Or are you just playing around, dabbling, spending your time as if this was nothing more than a hobby?
If you’re not that serious that’s cool, just keep doing what you’re doing. Troll the internet looking at the all-too-common “advice” peddled by people who only regurgitate the same tired crap about how to make money online, retold to you by people who have never made a freaking dime online.
And remember, no SEO expert is going to care more about your success than you.
No matter how much you pay him or her.
Which means, in the final analysis, getting the results you want are in your own hands provided, of course, that you have some direction – that you know what to do and how to do it.
Does that make sense to you?
Let’s talk…
There are three ways to get started today:
- call 888-542-2936 and leave a voice message, including your name and URL, or…
- send an email to: support@bestwebpresence.com,
- or click the link and complete a short webform.
Online success starts by taking the first step…
Over the years I have helped clients to generate more leads and sales online. Period. To discover how I can improve your current web-marketing efforts to generate MEASURABLE results for you let me review your website, and then we can set up a time to discuss my analysis by phone.
