Businesses, like everything else, need a refresher once in a while. If you haven’t updated your business or added new features and benefits to your website, it may be time. Often simple steps can help you attract more life into your business.
Video
The majority of business owners share an occasional video. However, by creating a video channel on YouTube or Vine you can reach a new audience and add some life to your business. You can even use short video messages on your sales and landing pages to welcome visitors and connect with them on a more personal level. Consider creating a video series and a channel to add some interest to your business.
Membership Features
Adding a membership feature to your business model and your website can help you build a community. Membership can be free and provide several different features and benefits.
For example, you can use a membership to share more content or more product offers and promotions. You can use a membership to help your prospects and customers connect, ask questions, and build relationships.
You can also use it as a means to provide a little more value to those who take the time and energy to join. There are several plug-ins that you can use to add membership to your blog or website.
Mobile Applications
More and more people are buying smartphones. As this trend grows, so too does the opportunity to market with mobile applications. Just about any business model can brainstorm an application that provides value and draws attention to their website and business.
For example, a business coach might create a mobile app that helps business owners track their goals. A virtual assistant might create a ‘helpful tip of the day’ application. A fitness blogger could create a fitness motivation tool.
There’s no end to what you can create. It doesn’t have to be complicated to provide value. Some of the most useful applications are simplest. Take a look at your audience and consider how you might meet their needs with technology. You can sell the application or give it away for free and profit from the advertising. Additionally, you’ll build awareness for your business and attract more life into it.
Content, Events and More
Finally, you don’t have to take extreme measures to attract more life to your business. You can create a new content series, free report, or hold a webinar to build interest. Look to your audience first and evaluate how you can provide the most value and benefit.
Making the Most of Your Website or Blog
Chances are you’re putting a lot of time, energy, and effort into your blog or website. Are you getting the results that you want? Are you achieving your online business goals? If not, you may not be making the most of your website or blog.
Test, Test, and Test Some More
The best way to make the most of your website or blog is to test what works and what doesn’t. There are many different things you can test and ways to test. Test headlines, test calls to action and test different content formats.
For example, your audience may respond more energetically to video content than they do to print content. Or maybe they prefer reviews over ‘how-to’ articles. Testing is the only way to know what your audience is responding to. Once you know, then you can adapt your strategies and tactics. Split testing is often the easiest method to test.
Analytics
Analytics are almost a website or blog essential. They tell you who visits your site, how long they stay there and what pages they navigate to. Analytics can also tell you the organic keywords used, or the link used, to find your website. Google Analytics is a free tool that makes it easy to create an account and then literally cut and paste a piece of code into your site’s code.
Just cutting and pasting code isn’t enough, though. You need to also review the analytics and base your strategy and decisions on the information. For example, if you find out that the majority of your visitors come from the south then you might create more content, promotions, and offers that appeal to that region.
Facilitate Engagement
If you’re not encouraging participation, comments, and interaction then you’re missing out. Create systems and opportunities to connect and allow conversation. Blog commenting is a start.
However, the posts need to ask questions and motivate responses. Even more, you want to reply to comments in a thoughtful manner that motivates more comments and feedback. Plug-ins that create forums, chats, and social media participation are another means to facilitate engagement.
To make the most of your website or blog, you want to create a stronger connection with your audience and visitors. By testing, using analytics to track the results, and by creating opportunities for conversation, you’re able to take your site to the next level. It strengthens your relationships with your audience and helps increase traffic, opt-ins, as well as conversions and sales.
