Do you have the feeling that you don’t get the attention you deserve online, that your website does not get the right traction, that your content marketing effort does not pay off, and that your website is so confidential that even your mum would not be able to find it?
Getting attention from your mum is easy. Getting attention from the right B2B customers is increasingly difficult and time consuming as prospects got more choices in any given product or service. According to Accenture, 94% of B2B buyers conduct online research during the buying process. Challenge for you is to get noticed at the right time and stay above the crowed.
We are in 2017, and yet your company website remains your most valuable digital asset.
So here it is… the top 6 reasons even your mum would (digitally) ignore you… and what to do about it!
Reason #1 – Google Does Not Know You
In the digital world, your address remains your website (Facebook could be an alternative for some businesses). This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) kicks-in. SEO is a well-known, well-documented topic. But it’s constantly evolving. Google for instance changes its search algorithm around 500–600 times a year! Make sure you regularly test and optimize your ranking. And because you love your mum as well, make sure you get listed on first result page (SERP #1) or you might simply lose her (and of course you don’t want that, do you?).
Your To-Do: Is your website optimized for search engine? (Another free audit tool here)
Reason #2 – Your Website is not Mobile-Friendly
Like your mum, almost every B2B buyer has a smartphone… They might not all share stories on Instagram just yet or live stream from Facebook, but they have a smartphone, and they are connected. How easy would it be for them to find your website on mobile? Since April 2015, due to the raise of internet usage on mobile, Google has started to expand its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. In other words, get your website mobile-friendly or you will lose web traffic and friends sent by Google, Bing or Yahoo. The explanation? The same year, for this first time in the young history of mobile web, more searches took place on mobile devices than on computers. Looks like everyone moved to mobile, your mum included! How is your website looking on a tiny screen?
Your To-Do: Test out if your website is mobile-friendly
Reason #3 – Your Website Takes Forever to Load
Having a mobile friendly website is a must, but that’s not all. It also needs to load fast. Mobile users do not like to wait for a web page to load, particularly when they rely on their telco network. Google knows it and will now penalize you if your page speed time is too slow. Be a good kid and respectful of your mum’s time!
Your To-Do: Is your website fast enough?
Reason #4 – There is No Reason to Come Back
Your mum loves to get fresh news from you, so does your 2B2 buyer. Give them a chance to come and visit you regularly. Create content often, change the format regularly, give opportunities for live interactions (live & twitter chats, webcast with Q/A, live events). Keep the conversation flowing, engage, and give a good reason to come back and visit you! Research shows that B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost 3x more visitors than those blogging 0-1 times per month. It is never too late to setup a blog platform, build a content calendar, identify and empower your most active employees, give them visibility, reward them and measure the ROI (# of posts, engagement, visitors, leads, sales requests). Your sales and technical audiences are the most knowledgeable people in your organization. They know their customers, and they know how to address their pain points, their industry challenges. Encourage them to write about it. Oh, and BTW, Google loves fresh content.
Your To-Do: Get a blog and start writing!
Reason #5 – There is No Way to Say Hi!
Having website visitors is great, but knowing who is visiting you is even better (so that you don’t try to sell your mum your latest product…). Make sure you give enough valuable materials so that your most serious visitors will want to fill-in a form and share their contact details with you. Produce high quality content and setup a couple of landing pages with forms to build your database of contacts. Think about inbound marketing strategy, customer journey, lead scoring and start building your plan, then create your assets following your marketing personas.
Your To-Do: Get an agency to help you out create content. Reach out to me if you’d like me to recommend a few.
Reason #6 – Waiting for Your Prospects to Engage
Linkedin study shows that 8 out of 10 B2B decision makers use social media during purchase process. They are also more influent, have more budget and buy more frequently. Those are the ones you want to work with. Meet them where they are and engage the conversation! Then invite them to consume your digital assets on your website.
Your To-Do: Build a Social Media strategy
That’s all folks… for now 😊
And don’t forget to make a quick phone call to your mum and tell her how much you love her, in the real world!
Let’s continue the conversation and join me on LinkedIn and twitter !
2min to spare? Have a look at my previous article about « How Did I get a Job at Microsoft Using Social Selling« , and share your comments 🙂