Profitable Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing can be a great asset to your business. It can create quick boosts of traffic and get your message in front of your ideal target audience. It can also be a colossal waste of time. How do you make sure your social media strategy is worth your time? You do it with tracking. 

 

Start by tracking yourself. Social media is designed to be addictive. The main job of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and the likes is to keep you on their platform for as long as possible. It’s important that you protect yourself against their efforts to waste your time. And the best way to do that is by tracking what you’re doing on social media. It’s all too easy to convince yourself that you’re busy working on marketing and generating traffic when what you’re actually doing is procrastinating on things that would actually make a difference to your bottom line. And that’s without giving into temptation to watch cute cat videos. 

 

Now that you know why you should track yourself, how do you go about doing it? It’s simple. You start with a plan. For example, you may decide to post three new posts per day and spend ten minutes interacting with your Facebook fans. Put it in writing and keep this paper at your desk. Don’t overthink what the plan should be. Start with what you think might work. You will evaluate and adjust as time goes by. Set a timer, especially in the beginning. Anything outside of the parameters you set for yourself should be considered leisure activity, not work, and most certainly not social media marketing. 

 

Another great option is using automation tools. They allow you to post and share content on a regular basis without having to access the social media sites directly. Instead, you’re crafting your posts inside a different piece of software or website and the content goes out at the time and date you specified. One of the reasons why this can be very effective is because it allows you to batch your social media marketing. You spend an hour one day a week getting everything set up and you’re free to work on other marketing and product creation tasks. 

 

Last but not least, consider outsourcing your social media marketing. Not only does it free you up and save you from the temptation of wasting time on your favorite platform, it gives you real numbers to compare. Are you generating more revenue from social media than you’re paying this person? If not, it may be time to make some adjustments to your current strategy. 

Beyond Google - Pinterest & YouTube Are Search Engines Too

When you think about search engines, Google probably comes to mind first. You may also think of Bing, MSN and maybe Yahoo. But you probably aren’t thinking about two of the biggest search engines out there. YouTube and Pinterest. You may not think of them as such, but at their core, that’s what they are - Search Engines. 

 

What do you do when you’re looking for a tutorial for fixing something around your house or a music video? You go to YouTube and you search. What if you’re looking for inspiration for your daughter’s fifth birthday party? You search for relevant pins and create a Pinterest board based on what you find through those searches. It’s not just you. Everyone uses these sites as search engines. Isn’t it about time you started treating them as such and using them as a source of evergreen traffic? 

 

The question then becomes what to do with that new insight. I’m going to assume that you have a basic understanding of search engine optimization. The idea is to apply the same ideas when you create pins or upload YouTube videos. Create this content with a purpose. Start with a particular key phrase in mind. Use this word or string of words to name your video file or image. Of course you want to also make sure the content applies to the keyword. 

 

Now that you have your content, it’s time to upload it to YouTube or Pinterest. Use the keyword (or key phrase. I will use the two terms interchangeably) in the title and description on the site. You can also use them in appropriate tags. Of course you want to write the title and description for your visitors first. But if you can work your keywords in, great. And don’t forget to take advantage of channel and board titles and descriptions as well. 

 

From here you can help your new content in several different ways. Your best strategy is to create fresh, optimized content on a regular basis. Encourage engagement via other social media channels. Respond to and encourage comments. All of this will help your videos and pins become more searchable. As your channel and boards grow, so will your audience. Not every video and every pin will rank well and get you lots of exposure in those channels. SEO or YouTube and Pinterest optimization is a big of a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. That’s okay. Each and every piece of content will help you in the long run and if you add a call to action and link that leads back to your website, you’ll be generating a steady stream of evergreen traffic as well. 

Need More Traffic Now? Do More Of What's Working Already

Traffic is the lifeblood of any online business. There are a million and one different ways to get more visitors to your website. There are hundreds of courses and books that teach you about the latest and greatest traffic generation schemes. But none of that does you much good when you need more traffic sooner rather than later and don’t have the time or the funds to experiment. 

 

Instead, I suggest you look at what’s working already and do more of that. Getting a steady stream of traffic from Pinterest? Create five new pins a day to your most popular posts. Ranking for a couple of long-tail keyword phrases? Optimize more pages, or create optimized content for your site. You get the idea. 

 

Yes, it’s deceptively simple and not very sexy, but it works. If you put in the work to analyze what’s working, discover why it’s working, and then are able to replicate it again and again. Let’s talk about how to do that. 

 

Start by looking at your website analytics. For the best data, you want to pull info for at least three months; more if you can and at least a year’s worth if you have a seasonal business. Take a look at your biggest traffic sources and where that traffic leads. Can you see patterns? Make a list of everything that’s working. 

 

With that list in hand, take a look at your best source of traffic. Where is it coming from? How are you getting this traffic? Get out a piece of paper, or open a document on your computer. Start brainstorming at least twenty-five ideas for getting more traffic from this source. Then step away for a little while. 

 

When you come back, look through the list you’ve made. Which of the items on there get you excited? What are you looking forward to working on the most? Start with that idea and get to work implementing it. Make a short list of everything you need to do from start to finish. Maybe that means writing a new article or blog post and then creating several pins for it. Maybe it means working on evergreen social media posts that you can load into a program that shares them to your page. Maybe it means interacting in Facebook groups or finding new ones. No matter what it is, work through each step from start to finish. Then get to work on the next item on your list. Rinse and repeat until you’ve completed each of the twenty-five project ideas. 

 

Don’t forget to look at your traffic stats again in a few weeks. Make note of what’s working. Start doing more of that. Give the rest a little more time. Sometimes even the best laid strategy doesn’t pay off right away. Keep working at it and the traffic will flow. 

Auditing and Monetizing Your Most Popular Pages

Are you looking for a quick way to boost your income? Then keep reading. What I’m about to share with you is probably the simplest and most effective strategy for increasing your bottom line. It’s something you should do regularly. Put it on the calendar and make sure it gets done. Then sit back and reap the rewards. 

 

Step one of this strategy is to identify your most popular pages. Don’t disregard pages like your contact page, your about page, and even your 404 error page. Most likely though, your focus should be on content pages. These will be the articles and blog posts on your site where you share your expertise or discuss a particular problem and how what you have to offer can be part of the solution.

 

There are various reasons why a page becomes popular. You could be ranking highly for a keyword. Or maybe you created content that’s often shared as a resource. Maybe one of your social media posts that link back to a page on your website went viral. Or maybe you have a popular pin of one of your blog posts. It doesn’t matter why these pages attract so much attention - at least not right now. It only matters that you identify them. To do this, run a report in your website analytics program. 

 

Got that list? Great. Start pulling up two or three of the most popular pages and take a look at them. Go over each of these pages with a critical eye. The most important thing to look at is your call to action. What do you want a visitor to do after they’re done consuming your content? 

 

Do you want them to sign up for your list? That’s always a smart choice. How easy do you make it for them to do this? The first thing to check is to make sure the opt-in form is working. Next, consider if you’re asking for too much information. Every additional piece of info - even the first name - will reduce your conversion rate. Speaking of which, what else can you do to improve it? Are you split testing different headings, different opt-in forms, and even different lead magnets? If not, make a plan to do so. 

 

Maybe your goal is to engage with your audience via comments. Is that working for you? If not, consider reworking the call to action, or consider if you and your business would be better served if you made your visitors an offer. 

 

If you’re already doing that, great. How is it converting? What could you do to improve this conversion? Step back and really look at the page. How can you make it work harder to earn you money? Try something. See if it works. If it doesn’t, try something else. Make these most popular pages more profitable. Then move on to the next batch of pages from that report you pulled. Rinse and repeat and then circle back in a few months and see if you can do even better. 

Do You Know Where Your Traffic Is Coming From?

To run a successful business, you need a steady stream of fresh leads. These are the people you will turn into paying customers. That’s the marketing part of the equation. To get those leads, you need traffic. You need to reach out to new people on a regular basis and the most time and cost-effective way to do that is by generating traffic - ideally evergreen traffic from a variety of different sources. 

 

If you want to continue to grow your business, you should be working on getting more traffic. A wise person once said that what is measured changes. Before you can start to measure, you need to know where your traffic is coming from. 

 

This information is important for another reason. Not all sources of traffic are created equal. If you’ve run an online business - or any business, really - you want to spend as much time and resources as possible on the ones that result in paying customers. In other words, you want to increase your traffic in a way that increases your bottom line the most. 

 

In order to do that, you need to know what sources of traffic send you the most reliable customers. You want to know who signs up for your list, thus becoming a lead. And you want to know how many of those leads convert into paying customers. You can do that by tracking your traffic, email signups, and purchases. 

 

A great place to start is a free Google analytics account. Make sure you have one set up, and then learn how to use the various reports. Your first stop should be Acquisition / All Traffic / Source/Medium. 

 

Focus on one channel at a time. If you can, track each visitor as he or she moves through your autoresponder program and your shopping cart. This will tell you if it’s worth spending a lot of time interacting in a particular Facebook group, or if the person you’re hiring to create and publish multiple pins per day is worth the money you’re spending on them. 

 

Rinse and repeat for other sources of traffic. Keep an eye on what keywords are converting well for you and create more content around similar ones. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers how they found you. You can even make this an optional entry when someone fills out your order form. Again, the idea is to get as much data as possible so you can analyze it and improve your top traffic sources. 

 

Of course, this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more ideas on making the most of your website visitors. 

Putting It All Together And Formulating A Solid SEO Strategy For Your Site And Your Business

In previous blog posts I’ve shared quite a bit of information with you about coming up with a solid SEO strategy that can boost your rankings and the traffic Google and the other search engines send your way. By the way, I haven’t spelled this out yet, but Google is what you want to focus on. It is your best shot at traffic and if you optimize well for Google, it will work well for the rest of them too. 

 

Start By Setting A Goal 

 

The first step of any good strategy is to set a goal of what you want to accomplish. Without a goal, you won’t know if you’re succeeding. You also can’t gauge what it will take to reach your goal. Decide how much search engine traffic you want from your content by the end of the month or the quarter. Then get to work. Start by taking a guess at how much you need to publish to reach that goal. 

 

Determine Your Topics And Your Publishing Schedule 

 

Next, it’s time to make a list of topics that you want to write or record about and come up with a publishing schedule. This doesn’t have to be set in stone, but you’re much more likely to get it down if it’s on the calendar. Commit and do your best to stick to it. Then it’s time to start writing. 

 

Find Your Keywords 

 

Do your research and find the keyword that you think will give you good results. There’s no way to know for sure if they will work for you until you try. The good news is that you can tweak and change, or simply create more content based on other keywords. Remember, you want to rank for keywords that indicate that people are looking for what you have to offer. 

 

Publish And Monitor Rankings 

 

Publish as you go along and keep an eye on rankings and traffic. Make a spreadsheet of your keywords and look at the rankings - using an incognito web browser - once a week or so. Install Google Analytics and keep an eye on the traffic you have coming in through search. 

 

Work On Social Signals And Incoming Links 

 

Each time you publish a new piece of content, spend some time to share it on social media. Get the ball rolling and share it around. If you have an email list, email them about it on a weekly basis. The more your content is seen, the higher the chances someone will naturally link to it. 

 

Rinse And Repeat 

 

Keep writing and recording. Keep publishing. And keep sharing both old and new content on social media. You’re in this for the long haul. 

 

Track, Test, And Adjust As Needed 

 

Last but not least, take some time to stop every once in a while and examine your data. Is your SEO strategy working? Is it working as well as you’d like? If not, what could you try to do differently. Maybe it’s publishing less frequently, but writing longer blog posts instead. Maybe it’s using more social media friendly images. Or less. Maybe it’s taking the time to create five new pinnable images each week. Keep learning about SEO and tweak your strategy as you learn and try more techniques. 

Let’s Talk About User Behavior And What It Has To Do With SEO Rankings

The best SEO campaign and high rankings won’t help you if you don’t take user behavior and preferences into consideration. It starts with things as simple as what keywords and phrases you choose to rank for. If you pick something that your ideal customers and client aren’t looking for or the phrase, your content, and your offer don’t match, that keyword ranking is doing you no good. 

 

But it goes much deeper than that. What the search engines - Google in particular - want to see is that when someone clicks on a high-ranking search result matter. They want someone to click on that link, go to your site and spend some time there consuming your content. What they don’t want to see are low clicks (in comparison to other search results on that same page), or worse have someone click through to your site, hit the back button, and then go look at a different site. 

 

What does that mean for you as a content provider? Always create your content for your target audience first. If you’re looking at a list of keywords that you want to create content around, ask yourself if a particular search term matches your audience and the content you share. If so, go ahead, if not, move on to a better keyword choice. 

 

Then sit down and write your content for your readers first. Then, when it’s written and polished, go back and look at the title. Are you using the keyword in the title? If not, can you rework it and still have a compelling title. Remember this will be the headline that shows on social media and in the search results. The same goes for metadata like the description and the URL. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, go do a google search and look at what those individual search results look like. 

 

Last but not least scan through the content and ensure that you’re using the keyword once or twice in the content and also related words and phrases. Search engines are smart and these latent semantic keywords help them determine what your content is about. 

 

With well-written, targeted content you will ensure that your audience clicks and sticks, which will help you move up in the search engine rankings. Not sure if that’s the kind of content you’re creating? Ask your readers if this is what they were looking for. If it isn’t, they will tell you. 

Why You Need A Solid SEO Strategy And A Way To Measure Results

Trying to get traffic to your website without a solid plan is a bit like driving around with a vague destination in mind, but no directions on how to get there. You may eventually make your way to where you want to be, but it will take a lot longer and require more effort than if you had your route mapped out. 

 

The same holds true with website traffic in general, and search engine optimization in particular. With a solid strategy, you will have a goal in mind, and a plan for what to do to get there. Even if you’re new to SEO and you don’t quite understand what it will take to get a certain keyword ranking, or even what a realistic keyword goal is for you, it's good to have a plan. You can always tweak and adjust both your plan and your strategy as you go along. 

 

When you have a workable strategy with defined goals, and a way to track the results you are getting over time, it becomes easy to determine if your strategy is working. Without either of those, you're guessing at best, and that's not a good business practice. Search engine optimization takes time and effort. And if you're hiring someone to help you, it can involve quite a bit of money. 

 

So where do you start? Learn the basics of how SEO works. Set up a good Website Analytics program so you can start to measure what traffic you’re getting now and where new traffic is coming from. Google Analytics is a great program that will grow with you. Install it, look through the reports, start to learn to use it and expand your knowledge as you go along. 

 

Your next step will be to formulate a strategy. This should be a five-step process that includes: 

 

1. Determine your ideal target audience. 
2. Figure out what they are looking for and what keywords and key phrases they use. 
3. Generate high-value content around those terms. 
4. Implement on page and on-site optimization. 
5. Track results and adjust as needed. 

 

From there you can expand on what’s working, identify more audiences, more terms, and create more content, and slow down on what isn’t working. One important thing to keep in mind is that search engine optimization takes time and that you’re building your site’s reputation with the big search engines over time. Don’t give up on your strategy too soon and whatever you do, don’t throw in the towel. 

How The Small Guy Can Win: Relevancy Matters

Large websites (think Wikipedia) and those that have been around for a long time, often have a leg up in the competition for the top search result spots in your favorite search engines. That doesn't mean you don’t have a shot though. In an effort to bring their customers - the people that type in the search - the best results possible, search engines like Google are weighing relevancy quite heavily. And that’s what you can use to your advantage even as a small guy. Here’s how: 

 

Be Specific - Go After The Long Tail And Niche Down 

 

Don’t go after a top keyword for your niche. Let’s say you’re selling blue widgets. Don’t go after the term “blue widgets”. Yes, it gets the highest search volume, but not everyone searching will be ready to buy blue widgets from you. Maybe they are looking for blue widget images because they are curious what they look like. Maybe they are looking for instructions on making their own blue widgets, or they want to find someone who can manufacture a lot of these blue widgets for their own shop. 

 

Instead, go after the long tail. Use key phrases like “where to buy blue widgets online” or “best place to buy blue widgets in Springfield”. Even better, find a way to set yourself apart from the competition by becoming the place that sells blue widgets for bicycles. Make yourself the expert 

 

Stay On Topic 

 

Relevancy is all about staying on topic. A small website dedicated to share great content exclusively on one topic will rank higher than larger sites that share everything. That’s why despite its huge authority, Wikipedia doesn’t rank for everything. Even though there’s a page on just about everything on that site. Let’s say you decide to build a site about gardening. Pick a niche within that and stick to it. That’s how you may become one of the authority sites about something like rose gardening, or building a year-round herb garden. 

 

Each time you work on a new piece of content ask yourself if it is on topic. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Relevancy matters. 

 

Go Local Where It Makes Sense 

 

I touched on this earlier, but it’s an important topic, so let’s dive a little deeper. Where it makes sense, it can be very beneficial to make your content local. Instead of becoming one more seller of yellow widgets online, you could become the seller of yellow widgets for your state or your town and rake in the profits. 

 

Of course, this doesn’t make sense for everyone. But let’s say you are great at email marketing. Instead of putting up yet another site and offer yet another course to everyone in the English-speaking world on the topic, go after the small businesses in your area. Become the expert for email marketing in Springfield. Not only will it be much easier to rank for this longer tail keyword, it also opens up all sorts of new options for local marketing. And don’t forget about higher priced products and services that you can offer locally like in-person workshops and consultations.