From trade shows to TV ads to seminars and press releases, executing a multi-channel marketing strategy means your website must be prepared to capture and convert new traffic from a variety of sources. The following 5 tips will show you how to enhance your website so you don’t miss out on any opportunities from your multi-channel marketing efforts.
1. Make it Easy for People to Find you on Search Engines
People are exposed to more than 3,000 advertisements each day. So when they visit Google and search for your product, it’s easier to just search for phrases that describe your product or service.
Here are a few of the keywords I searched for when trying to find a company I saw advertising on tv last week (disclaimer: I have no use for products related to these terms):
- “multi-purpose baby bibs”
- “non-toxic baby bibs”
- “american-made baby bibs”
Even though these were phrases that described the company’s unique selling points, their website wasn’t showing any signs of life on the first page of Google for ANY of these search phrases.
This is where an ongoing SEO strategy could have helped the company, by making sure their website had the right keywords in the right places so that when people searched for these relevant terms they would have a better chance of getting found.
2. Choose the Right Hosting Company to Avoid Server Crashes
If your website has been optimized for the search engines and you’re showing up on page one of Google, kudos. Now let’s talk about what happens when people try to land on your website but something so terrible, so shocking, and so easily-preventable stops them from getting there.
That’s right- I’m talking about a crashed server.
Server crashes happen when a web server gets overloaded by too many visitors to a website in a single session, causing the website to temporarily crash.
Example: The following company did a great job optimizing their website for the phrase “best paddle boards,” showing up in the first TWO organic search results for such a highly competitive keyword phrase.
When I clicked-through to their website the night they were featured on ABC’s Shark Tank, I saw the following message:
“Our servers are overwhelmed”!? Are you kidding me?
“Try back in a few minutes”? Sorry, but just like the rest of the world, I’m impatient… back to Google.
No matter how much time and effort this company devoted to get their website to rank for such a lucrative search phrase, their website couldn’t handle the surge in traffic during their spot on primetime television.
Talk about a barrier to entry.
3. Optimize Your Product Pages for Conversions
It’s the moment you’ve been working towards, as all of your inbound marketing efforts are leading to fruition- the moment when visitors land on your product page.
Congrats my friend, you’ve made it.
But not so fast!
There’s something very important missing on the landing page below (can you spot it?).
Yes: the design is clean, and the product information is sufficient.
I have 2 questions: Can I buy MORE than ONE of your products and are there any related products?
(Apparently, yes- But the quantity selection is on the next page, after I’m content with purchasing one unit, and there are no suggested or related products on this product landing page).
4. Use Responsive Design for a Mobile-Friendly User-Experience
Our smartphones are always within an arm’s reach, while tablets are working their way into more and more homes. The growth in mobile web browsing makes it easy for people to visit your website from anywhere and at anytime.
But is your website ready?
You can be with responsive web design. (Find out the details of responsive design here).
Today, 48% of mobile users believe that if a company’s website is not mobile-friendly it means the company does not care about the consumer’s business.
While that’s a tough perspective to swallow, there’s some truth in that statement. (For instance, wouldn’t you feel frustrated if a Contact Us form did not have a “submit” button?).
5. Publish Your Offline Marketing Content on your Website
So you just delivered a ground-breaking seminar at the local chamber about “Twitter for Small Businesses.” It was so great, in fact, that people will be referencing your presentation for the weeks and months ahead.
But what if your audience lost their copy of the slides? What if they wanted to follow-up with the speaker, tell their colleagues about the presentation, or link back to the slide deck?
This is exactly why you must publish your offline marketing materials directly on your website!
But don’t wait a week or even a few days after it’s been delivered- Publish that content immediately after it’s been presented (WordPress makes it super easy for website owners to schedule posts so content can be published when they don’t have immediate access to a computer).
What Tips do You Have?
I would love to know what your company is doing to get more online conversions from your offline marketing strategy. Share your tips and suggestions in the comments below!
