Tag Archives: getting traffic to your website

Using Facebook Live Video to Drive Social Media Traffic to Your Landing Page

Using Facebook Live Video to Drive Social Media Traffic to Your Landing Page

Live video apps were introduced in 2015 but didn’t really come into play until 2016 when Facebook introduced their Live Video feature. Previously Periscope and Meerkat (which has since shut down) captured the market share of live video, but now Facebook is dominating the live video game.

Doing a live video can be a bit nerve-wracking to start, but as long as you prepare and know how you want to use Facebook Live video, you’ll knock it out of the park. A perfect way is to use Facebook Live video to drive social media traffic to your landing page from your Facebook page.

Are you launching a new product or service? Trying to build your email list? Sharing a new online course you’ve created? These are great reasons to go live on Facebook. If you’re running a new campaign or preparing for a launch, here are a few tips for using Facebook Live as a part of your traffic-driving strategy.

1. Determine your topic.

Don’t go live without preparing what you want to say. It’s a live video, but you should treat it more like a live news broadcast. This is a reflection of your business, so you want it to be as professional as possible. Enlist an employee, business partner, or really nice friend to be your cameraman or invest in a tripod for your smartphone. Dress nicely, find a room that doesn’t give you a terrible echo, and practice.

2. Schedule your live video.

If you have verified your Facebook Page (gives you a gray checkmark next to your business name), then you can schedule the time(s) that you plan to go live so that your audience is aware ahead of time and can tune in. If not (and even if you use the previous tactic, too), you should create a graphic with the date and time of your live stream and share it on all of your social media sites. Run a Facebook ad to promote your live stream as well.

3. Include a link in your caption and mention it during your broadcast.

When you go live, be sure to include the link to your landing page in the caption of your live stream. If you use landing page software like LeadPages, you may have created a domain redirecting to the page. This makes it easy to read the link off while live. If not, try to use a bit.ly link or create a really simple permalink for your landing page so that you’re not calling out a bunch of slashes and hyphens during your Livestream.

When you create your live video content, on several occasions let your viewers know what they can find/do on the landing page (information about new course/product/service, discount, contest, email signup, etc.) and slowly read off the URL again.

4. Repurpose your live video.

Once you have finished with your live broadcast and your heart is back in your chest, Facebook will then publish the video as a post on your feed. Pin the video to the top so that it’s the first thing that anybody visiting your page sees.

You can also share the video URL on Twitter, in other Facebook groups, and on your own profile. However, there are also tools for you to download your Facebook Live video (if you didn’t save it immediately after the broadcast). Then you can upload it to Youtube and Pinterest.

Facebook Live is a great tool for directing more web traffic to your landing page.  Just follow every step in this guide.

5 Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Site Using Facebook

5 Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Site Using Facebook

Facebook is a valuable marketing tool with the vast number of monthly active users well over 1.5 billion.  As well, the time spent by users per day is now averaging 40+ minutes! However, Facebook is changing and what worked before for marketers is not the same as a few months ago!

In particular, you should be concerned with Facebook’s news feed algorithm changes. Recently Facebook announced that it’s de-emphasizing the reach Facebook Business Pages will have in the News Feed. Why? Because many Pages tend to be more or less static, and they don’t offer new content. Facebook wants to keep users engaged and they see users engage with content from friends.  In particular, Facebook has identified that users like video and images, and so businesses need to be aware and make shifts!

5 Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Site Using Facebook

1. Keep up a Steady Stream of Relevant Updates on Facebook

On your Facebook Page feed, regular updates are precisely the kind of fresh content that social media seems to favor these days. The sum effect is that Facebook will rate your Page higher in your visitors’ feeds if you’re posting good content regularly or semi-regularly. As noted, Facebook wants to see more video and Live Video.  By incorporating these type of posts in your weekly routine you can increase your reach.

2. Use Facebook’s Ad System

This may not be the news you want to know, but it’s important to hear.  You can get in front of the right people on Facebook, but to do so well you need to pay to get in front of them. Do not be put off by this.  Facebook Ads are affordable and it is a great way to reach your ideal target audience and drive traffic to key content and lead capture options on your website.

3. Pay Attention to the Elements of Your Content

Use best practices to maximize the reach of your content. For example – always use larger images, at least 1200×630. Vibrant images capture the attention more easily and fill the news feed space. People are always seemingly pressed for time, so keep your character count short while still conveying the full message – get to the meat quickly.

And when you can manage it (and when it makes sense), include a link to more content on your website to drive traffic to a specific page with a soft lead capture option.

4. Make Sure to Hyperlink to Your Best Web Pages

This is one of the most important ways to create more engagement. Facebook’s algorithm judges your social platform, in part, on how many people click through to your website. This means you have to catch their attention and make them want to read the rest.

5. Share Snippets of Your Blog Posts

This works if your blog posts are worth reading. Sharing a snippet doesn’t necessarily mean sharing text. It could be a snippet you share via a video you made. But only give them a sneak peak so that they’re compelled to finish the rest of it on your website.

It’s a fact that Facebook can be a driver of traffic if you stay current and use the latest techniques.  Once you drive traffic to your site, be sure to have a clear call-to-action to invite visitors to sign-up for your email list in exchange for some offer of value.  Your email marketing is a great next-step to nurture the fan into a customer!

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The Value of a CTA in Your Blog Post

The Value of a CTA in Your Blog Post

Blogging is one of the best strategies you can use to communicate and interact with your online audience. Content management systems like WordPress make it easy to create a blog. As you use the blog to market your products and services, it’s crucial to include a CTA (call to action) within each post.

Without a CTA to motivate your readers into taking the action you want them to take, your readers won’t take any action at all. It’s simply information on the web.  You need to guide your readers to take the action you desire!

Here’s what a CTA can do for your blog:

Increase Web Traffic

Websites that get lots of traffic rank higher in the major search engines. This, in turn, makes the site more readily available (higher in search results) to those doing searches. The key is to include a link to the website product/service page in your CTA. It will help channel traffic from your blog to the site, increasing the success of your online marketing campaigns and your popularity.

Example of a form embedded in a blog post:

The Value of a CTA in Your Blog Post

Get the Reader to Read More Content

One of the best ways to convert traffic is with quality content that makes the reader stay on your website. Adding a call to action of related articles to your blog posts will invite readers to read your other posts. All you have to do is link to the related topics using keywords. For instance, the keyword “online marketing” can be linked to other articles on social media marketing, website marketing or email marketing within the blog post.

A simple and clear way to do this is with a titled area “Related Content” and then have a bulleted list with keyword titles linking to other articles on your blog or website.

Increase Chances of the Post Being Shared on Social Media

There are over 2 billion active social media users in the world today. Use social media to market your products and services. Because posting links to your blog posts on social media isn’t enough, you’ll need go a step further. Include social sharing buttons on your posts as your CTA at the end of all blog posts. Readers will be able to share the posts easily by just clicking on these buttons.

Add More Readers to your Email List

Email marketing is a powerful strategy to generate sales. Use a CTA to get your website readers to subscribe to your email newsletter. One of the best ways to tempt people to subscribe is by giving discounts or access to premium content in exchange for them signing up. For example, if your blog post focuses on photography, you could offer a free eBook with tips about photography to readers who provide their email address.

Finally, the CTA should be action-oriented, brief, clear, and easy to locate. Readers should be able to see it from a distance, but it shouldn’t be so large that it diverts attention from the main content. More importantly, it should be in an easy-to-find spot on the blog.   Try different ones including sidebar CTA’s, in-page CTA’s, and pop-up CTA’s.

 

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How to Create an Effective Free Opt-in Offer

How to Create an Effective Free Opt-in Offer

Getting traffic to your site is great, but what do you do when half of the traffic leaves without purchasing or leaving any trace they were there? Here’s where an opt-in offer comes into play. An opt-in offer will grow your email list and continuously generate profits. The tricky part is convincing someone to give you their email.

The most important things to keep in mind when designing your opt-in offer are:

  • What’s in it for them?
  • What message will resonate with my audience?
  • What plan do I have to ultimately convert them into a customer?

When you ask for someone’s email, offer them something valuable for their information. It’s a must! Offer a resource that has significant enough value to be a good “trade” for their email address.  As well, be upfront about what your subscriber can expect once they give you their email address. How many time will they get an email each week?  Tell them what they will receive and it’ll greatly improve your chances of getting their information.

There is a multitude of different offers to use for the opt-in offer incentive including:

  • Coupon Code
  • Webinar Content
  • Educational information i.e.- video tutorial
  • E-Book Download
  • Contest Entry
  • Exclusive offers

Another method to consider is to get an email address and other information with a loyalty points program.

Starbucks is a perfect example of great customer retention through a loyalty program that allows people to earn stars every time they make a purchase. Customers redeem their stars for free drinks, food, and products.If you offer people incentives to create an account and recurring incentives for goal completions, they’ll be 10 times more likely to return.

Once you’ve established your offer, the next step is deciding what to do once you get the email address.

This is the time to make your company’s message stand out from the emails that fill people’s inbox daily. Choose your message and how you want to deliver it, then design your email to display your message engagingly.

We hate to break it to you, but not all emails get read!  If you can get a 35% open rate on your emails you are doing well.  That’s why you need an offer that helps you gain a volume of new subscribers.

Your main message must pop off your email right away.  The subject line often makes or breaks whether the email is read.

So now that you have your email list and message, you need to think about how to get them back to your site.

Your emails should have easy to read call to actions that will bring people back to your website. Offer a promo, show a new product offering, or include an excerpt from a blog that requires people to go back to your site to continue reading. Offer your subscribers solutions to their problems or something entertaining. Make your contact list look forward to your emails and you will see your conversions rise.

There is proven growth in email marketing you just need to be creative to stand out among the millions of opt-in offers.

Your best bet in creating a successful opt-in offer is to get into the minds of your ideal customers. What do they want to know? What would make them give you their information? Answer that and your opt-in offer will do the lead generation for you.

How to Make Your Website More Visible to Google

How to Make Your Website More Visible to Google

By now we all know that Google is king, in fact, your Google ranking can make or break your business no matter how good your website is designed. Google has nearly 70% market share on search engine searches!  Due to that face, you want to focus on how to improve your site in Google search results and there are a few proven Google suggested steps you can take to make your website soar higher in the search rankings. Some of them are simple, and others may take some time to show improvement but by taking the right steps to make your site more visible to Google, you’re setting your business up for more traffic and growth.

Top steps to take to improve your search ranking:

1. Optimize your site

Keywords are one of the most important factors that will determine your search ranking. Google’s algorithms pick up your site pages and shows them in the search rankings according to how relevant your keywords are to the user’s search. Where you place the keywords on your site is almost as important as the keyword itself. The most important areas for the keyword per page are as follows:

  • In the Web Page URL
  • In the Page Title
  • The H1 or heading of the page
  • As part of the Meta description- the snippet Google displays in the search results page on Google
  • Body of the page itself- this also includes alt tags in pictures and subheadings. Your keyword should appear in the first paragraph of your body copy and in sub-headings

Be careful not to be spammy, Google’s algorithms are so advanced they will pick up on this right away. Google can tell if you are trying to “stuff” words and go beyond natural keyword density! Your best rule of thumb is to design your site pages for your users and not for Google. Put out content that you feel is resource rich, relevant and helpful to your target audience using keyword terms your ideal audience would search.

2. Use the Google Pages

Of course, the more involved you are with Google pages, the better you are. There are several different pages you could take advantage of to help increase your visibility. Google My Business is an easy and great place to start.  When you type in a search for something that would have a physical address, such as dry cleaners in South Bend you’ll notice the highest results are from Google Maps.

By updating your information with Google My Business, a map to your business will show in relevant searches soaring your business to the top of the search results.
Another important and sometimes overlooked page to use is Google+. This social sharing site is great for increasing your awareness, growing traffic to your site and increasing your visibility with Google. The best part is all you have to do is update and share posts like you would on other social media pages. Google+ posts often rank quite high in search results on Google.

3. Domain Authority

Your domain authority is another important determining factors in how visible you will be to Google.  The higher your Domain Authority, the more visible you will be. You can use free tools to check your Domain authority such as Moz.  One of the more important factors to improve your DA are links on other quality sites to your site. You can check your backlinks using Google’s free tool Google Search Console. Google Search Console shows you how many pages are linking to your site, how it shows up in search results, if Google had any errors while crawling your page, and more.  Ideally, you want quality and quantity but know that a link from a top site like the Wall Street Journal Online is better than 100 links to junk directories and yellow pages online.

To get more links to your page, you will need to produce high-quality, relevant content that others in your niche would want to share. This is more than just your products and services. A blog on your site would be the best place to share content with your target audience and ultimately have others share your content as well.

The best answers could be found directly from the source, Google itself. Google wants your business to succeed because ultimately their goal is to provide the most relevant sites in a user’s search results.   There are more tips I could cover, but start there to get a jump on improving your search rankings!