Gold Medal Website Marketing Tips
Over the last couple weeks, we saw great accomplishments by the Olympic performances of Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps, The Fab Five gymnasts, etc.
Yet, the most inspiring stories may not be from the most obvious, high-profile athletes who are expected to win. Rather, they are the surprise winners, who have prepared just as hard, and in some cases even harder.
Ever hear of South African, Chad le Clos?
Although Michael Phelps winning a record number of metals was probably the most talked about topic of the Games so far, it was his surprising loss in his most dominant event that can offer some insight to your practice.
Michael Phelps was so dominant in the 200 meter butterfly since he set a world record at age 15, that out of all his events, none was more assured of gold than the 200 fly. Stunningly, le Clos stayed close the entire race and lunged at the end to out touch the heavily favored Phelps and snatch the gold medal.
The take-aways from this event:
1) Don't rest on your current or previous success/dominance.
2) If you aren't the top dog in your market, you can be, with persistence, commitment and strategy.
Competing In Your Web Market
Now is a great time to get motivated and take a comprehensive look at your website marketing strategies, competitors, activities and resources. Some areas you should likely re-evaluate:
Website – Evaluate your website and those of your top competitors. What calls-to-action should you consider? Do you have relationship-selling strategies/elements that accelerate rapport faster? Compare imagery/graphics and do they tell the right story or stir emotions? Have some of your highest priority areas changed since you first built your website? When was the last time you actually read pages of your website? Check the relevance, substance, and readability of your content. Do you need more pages for consumers and search engines? Are you utilizing videos? What type are they and how do they compare with your competitors? Is the site leveraging reviews/ratings? Does your analytics show enough mobile traffic to warrant mobile mebsite marketing? How can I incorporate an instant chat service with live agents?
Target Keyword Campaign – Consumers change and so do their search strategies. If you have not revisited your list of target keyword phrases and your highest priorities in the past year or longer, you need to conduct keyword research on what online consumers are searching today. You may be surprised how things have changed and what opportunities you are missing.
Search Engine Strategies – Have you researched and claimed all of your Google+ Local pages? Have you optimized them in the most effective manner? Is your business listing in all the top directory websites, and optimized and consistent for Google? How can I check? How can we generate more local Google +1s? Review the optimization of your most important pages with your SEO specialist. Evaluate your blogging frequency, substance and keyword-related content. What new pages have we added? Should we consider niche website campaigns, new link-building strategies, etc?
Watch our latest video to learn more:
These are just some of the things you should consider. There are a lot more that we didn't even mention in this update. The key is you can WIN in online marketing, but you must invest time, thought, energy and money.
~ By Bill Fukui, Chief Operating Officer