by Elle Ray | Feb 25, 2019 | Small Business Advice
Getting a Degree Is the Million-Dollar Question
Some of the world’s most successful business people never had a small business degree (or any college degree) when they first started out. Bill Gates stands as a classic example. He’s often touted as the world’s most successful college dropout. Also consider Rachel Ray, Russell Simmons, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerburg. They all belong to the illustrious crowd of “uneducated” superstars.
And yet, so many budding entrepreneurs hesitate to take the plunge because they feel the need to get a small business degree. They look to higher education to teach them about:
- Accounting, so they can do their own books
- Advertising, to learn how to sell their products and services
- Web development, so they can build their own websites
- Contract law, so they don’t get taken
- Marketing, to learn how to research competitors and identify a niche
- Human resources, so they can hire, train and manage a staff
- Management, to be able to manage said staff
- Leadership, so they can guide their venture
- Writing, so they can create their own proprietary copy
Pick Your Poison
Sure, there are plenty of institutions ready to take your money and give you that small business degree before you ever even earn a nickel in profits. A recent Google search for “small business degrees” turned up 443 million hits. And each has developed its own pitch as to how they’ll make you a better entrepreneur.
In 2019, however, it’s not the sheepskin hanging on the wall that impresses customers. It’s the quality of your products and services. It’s not how savvy your ads are that bring in the business. It’s how passionate you are about your brand. And clients don’t really care if you’re a Quickbooks pro or rely on a handwritten ledger to keep track of your money; they just care about getting a good deal.
The Entrepreneur Defined
A small business degree doesn’t make you a bona fide entrepreneur. While a doctor is defined by credentials, an entrepreneur, as defined by Dictionary.com is: “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.”
Some say that entrepreneurs are born, not made. Did you have a lemonade stand or cut the neighbor’s grass as a kid? Did you arrange for a band at your high school graduation or champion great photos for the yearbook? Have you ever sold candy to go to camp or figured out how to get a bigger allowance from your parents? If you answered yes to any of those questions, chances are you have entrepreneurial blood running through your veins.
Find a Need and Fill It
Entrepreneurs just do it. Even the founder of Nike that made the slogan famous didn’t have a small business degree. He was a track and field coach looking for better shoes for his runners. The important traits and skills needed by successful entrepreneurs can’t be taught in a classroom. Not even in virtual classrooms.
No small business degree can provide you with energy and optimism you need either. Entrepreneurs tap that well from deep within. They watch other successful startup pioneers. They learn from trial and error. For all those other tasks — you can hire someone to do them.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Feb 6, 2019 | Agency Advice
Good Website Content Delivers SEO Results
Building a website from scratch takes time. Even a redesign is time-consuming, involving a number of necessary steps. The website designer and developer you hire require your timely input throughout the process. All website professionals strive to ensure that the style is right for you and that your site includes all the pages necessary to inform your visitors and rank you high in search results.
Your web designer creates a map of your site, called wireframes, before handing the design to a web developer for coding. You must sign off on each stage of development. Meanwhile, other ingredients of the site can be prepared. Web developers typically rely on you to provide the website content.
Why Is Website Content Important?
According to Techopedia, “Web content refers to the textual, aural or visual content published on a website.” Most designers include graphics specifically for your site, based on a chosen theme, which often incorporates your own company photos. The actual content, the text of your site, isn’t always included in your website package. But it’s that website content that’s critical to your site’s success.
The content not only drives search engines to your site, but it also tells your story. It encourages your visitors to contact you and buy what you have to sell. The content is your last chance to close the sale. it’s the last push in your sales funnel to help your website visitors make a final purchase decision.
Website Content and SEO
If your developer doesn’t offer content-writing services, the task of creating website content often falls to you as the business owner. Unless you have the time, talent and inclination to write all the content for your site, we recommend that you hire professional website content producers like Ray Access. If you have writers on staff, however, make sure they:
- Understand the basics of SEO
- Appreciate your company’s goals for its website
- Know how to create compelling calls-to-action
- Have a decent command of the language
Alternatively, you can hire an SEO firm to handle the content. But an SEO firm can cost thousands of dollars per month, even after the set-up charges, while an SEO-savvy writer costs a fraction of that.
The Inevitable Breakdown
As your web developer works to produce a beautiful yet functional website for your company, the deadline for your content looms. If you promised to deliver the content, you have to deliver on time, or your entire project screeches to a halt. Your developer needs the content to drop into the site’s pages before it can go live. And you can’t just use anything; your website requires written, polished and proofed text.
If you’re like most business owners, writing content is pretty far down on your to-do list. Even if you delegated the task, it still needs your final approval. What do you do if it doesn’t meet your expectations? What are your options if your deadline arrives and you’ve only just begun writing?
And there it is — the logjam that holds up many website launches. It’s called a content delay, and it frustrates web developers everywhere. Remember, they don’t get their final payment until the project is finished. If you wait too long to deliver, your project may get put on hold, where it will stay until the developer finds the time to devote to it. By then, the whole project has lost some momentum.
Consequences Abound
By this time, you have no timely alternatives. You may pull something together. You may find early versions of your marketing material and vision statement you can use. But what you end up with is a beautiful new site with sub-par text.
While you can ask your web developer to add newer content later, after your website launches, you’ll pay for the service. Meanwhile, who knows how many potential customers you’ll lose? Your best bet is to hire Ray Access to get it right the first time, on time. If you insist on doing it yourself, however, here are a few tips for you:
- Write your text in a word processing program, one document for each website page.
- Make sure to pass your writing to at least one other person for review. It’s best if this editor knows your company and what you’re trying to say. Your editor can catch errors and remind you of details you may have missed. You can always hire Ray Access to edit it for you inexpensively.
- Sleep on it. Never send copy immediately after you wrote it. Even if you have to postpone your launch, you won’t regret a fresh read to find things that you could say better.
- Include limited notes on each page about where you want the text to appear. A good web developer knows how to make the text work within the design. If the copy goes in a pop-up, for example, note that at the top of your document.
- Be authentic. Your site must reflect you and your company’s personality — but to a point. You won’t do yourself any favors by including too much industry lingo or corny jokes.
- Maintain consistency in all your pages. Stick to one style and tone throughout all your writing.
- Provide the word count for each page. Many web developers know that 1,000-word pages get better SEO results than shorter 250-word pages.
- Send pictures separately so they maintain their integrity and don’t get lost in translation. Make sure every image is yours to use.
- Stick to your web developer deadlines as closely as possible to stay on track for the launch of your stunning new website.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Jan 29, 2019 | Small Business Advice
Keeping Your Resolutions Requires Insight
Whether you’ve promised to call on 10 new prospects a week, write a weekly blog post or take 10-minute stretch breaks every hour, making resolutions stick this year often befuddles many small business owners. But you’re not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report, nearly 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by the middle of February.
On January first, making resolutions stick seems like a no-brainer, especially when you’ve chosen promises you know are vital to your business and/or your health. You’ve got all the motivation you need (so you think) for making resolutions stick, right? You’ve learned from past mistakes, and you’re determined not to make the same ones again.
Then Time Passes
Part of the reason resolutions seem so intense once the holidays are over is in part due to guilt. If you took off more time than you’d planned or put on a few extra pounds, the remorse you feel naturally causes some pangs of guilt. Perhaps you spent more money than your budget allowed, so a resolution to save more in the new year sounds like a really good idea.
Guilt and shame usually aren’t the best motivators for making lasting changes. They are negative emotions that typically don’t lead to positive results. Top that off with unrealistic expectations of yourself, and making resolutions stick becomes harder still.
Sure, you were charged up with optimism and goodwill toward the future when you made the resolution. You trusted your ability to plan for a better tomorrow. It’s easy to get swept up in the frenzy of love and good intentions that so often swirl around the holidays. Just after the first of the year, gyms are full of eager faces signing up for a year of great workouts. Advertisers know this and sell, sell, sell gym memberships like crazy. But by the end of January, the parking lots have plenty of empty parking spaces once again for the regulars.
Do It Right This Time
If you started a business, graduated from college or landed a coveted promotion in your career, you know that when you set your mind to something, you can see it through. It’s that same level of persistence and self-discipline that serves you just as well when it comes to making resolutions stick — this year and every year.
To help you get back the edge that’s still alive inside you, try these tips for making resolutions stick and stay stuck:
- Turn your resolutions into positive affirmations. For example, instead of losing 20 pounds, say you want to reach your best healthy weight. Instead of saying you’ll earn back the excess money you spent over the holidays, frame it to say you’ll exceed your financial goals from last year by 10 percent.
- Find support in a friend or group with similar intentions. When you add accountability into the mix, you have another reason to stick to your plans: another person is paying attention! (On a personal note: I’ve started many businesses in my life, but none has been as successful as Ray Access, which I began with a partner, says Linda.)
- Change your mind first. Real physical change always starts first in your brain. Just like the little engine who could, you can think yourself thin, think the new clients in the door and believe you are going to be successful in making resolutions stick.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Jan 14, 2019 | Writing
Power Up Your Writing with the Active Voice!
The active voice moves readers, while the passive voice gives them pause. So when you’re writing marketing content for your website, the last thing you want visitors to do is hesitate to contact you because they’re trying to figure out what you’re asking them to do — all while keeping their mouse pointer hovering over the Back button. Tell them what to do — buy now or contact us!
Active voice relies on action verbs rather than words that refer to something happening in the future — anything that takes place later. For example:
- Passive voice: “You’ll be taken to task for not using active voice.”
- Active voice: “I’m taking you to task for not using active voice.”
If your boss said one of these to you, which one causes you to snap to it? And which one gives you time to straighten up and even ponder the ultimatum? Or is it an ultimatum? We wrote it, and we can’t even tell!
Get ‘Er Done
Active voice supposes that the noun is doing something. Passive voice infers that the noun may do something in the future. And with that inference comes the possibility that the noun won’t even do that thing. For example:
- Passive voice: Using this blog post as a guide for good writing can help you get more customers.
- Active voice: Use this blog post as a guide for good writing to help you get more customers.
See the difference? When you use words like “can,” “may” or “might,” you leave room for interpretation that infers, “on the other hand, maybe not.” The active voice tells you that, yes, this is a fact to which you should pay attention. There is no ambiguity to active voice.
You’re the Authority
Perhaps one of the reasons so many writers use passive voice goes back to their upbringing: they’re taught to not act up in polite society. Don’t be pushy. Don’t assume that everyone agrees with you. Don’t tell people what to do; ask them nicely.
But marketing — and in particular, content marketing — is the exact place to define and exhibit your authority. Readers and clients want to believe you. They need to believe you. When visitors to your website and readers of your blog see the indecisiveness of a wishy-washy passive voice, they wonder just how much you really know about a subject.
You know your industry. You know your company’s offerings. So tell your readers. Give them the facts. Establish your authority by using the active voice in all your writings. For example:
- Passive voice: Ray Access may be able to help you improve the conversion rate of your website.
- Active voice: Ray Access improves the conversion rate of your website.
And It’s Just Plain Easier to Read
Besides providing the ultimate calls-to-action without actually sounding like sales-speak, sentences written in the active voice flow better and are easier to read. According to the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin, passive voice sentences usually rely on excess words, and they’re very often vague. Typically, using the passive voice leads to a jumble of prepositional phrases that sometimes require two or three passes to digest.
On the other hand, using the active voice leads to active buyers, not further contemplation and confusion. Read the difference:
- Passive voice: We can be contacted online through the contact form.
- Active voice: Contact us online through the contact form.
Read it and do it!
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Dec 31, 2018 | Website Content
Tips to Keep Your Website Relevant and Vital
Ray Access has always advocated for user-friendly website design and content. If your readers can’t find what they’re looking for, or what you promise, they’ll look for answers elsewhere. It’s just too easy to click away. It’s much faster and usually more efficient to keep clicking than to keep looking. Readers click until they find a site that provides answers.
Website trends in the past have sometimes done more to confuse visitors than to help them. The user experience (UX) gets muddled when designers go for flashy or cute. Remember the days when websites screamed at you with all caps, blinking headings and obnoxious graphics? That was a turn-off even when it was popular. And readers don’t feel respected or valued when content writers rely on industry jargon or high-falutin’ language rather than down-to-earth common sense.
UX Content
We’ve written about website trends and blogs that seem to talk down to readers or are seemingly more interested in showing off the writer’s extensive vocabulary rather than getting a simple message across. Fortunately, 2019 website trends seem to be heading more toward pleasing readers and visitors rather than boosting the egos of creators and writers.
Users want to trust what they see on your website. Friendly websites and blogs are not only more attractive, understandable and easy to navigate, they’re also authentic. According to Core DNA, one of the most important website trends you can count on in 2019 is a call for authenticity: “…if your content doesn’t accurately reflect your brand’s voice, the mission your company stands for, and the value you hope to bring your target audience, … you might as well not create it in the first place.”
Content Marketing Is Crucial
As fewer customers in every field and across industries rely almost exclusively on the internet for information, content marketing is becoming more crucial than ever. In fact, for many companies, the only place you’ll ever see marketing dollars spent is on their websites. These website trends make it all the more important for you to make sure your website, including your blog, reflects your business accurately.
Tell your story clearly. Provide your contact information prominently. Let your visitors know where to find current deals and ongoing specials. Plainly spell out who you are, what you do and how you fill their needs. Read your own website regularly to make sure your site is doing all those important things!
Interaction, Please
As the majority of consumers become more comfortable interacting with the internet and more experienced with its basic capabilities, they will want more. Website marketing company Blue Compass predicts that interactive additions to websites will lead the pack of 2019 website trends, giving visitors more options for talking back, providing feedback and asking questions.
They claim that as visitors are given more options to interact with companies that they believe are responsive to their needs, those businesses will excel, both in perception and in sales. Automated interactive website designs, again, are not just for show or to highlight your web team’s talent, but should instead provide added value to your visitors that leads to more sales.
Visitors Beware
As content marketing continues to play an important role in making sales, so search engine optimization (SEO) also will be undergoing its own fine-tuning that you can’t neglect. It’s wise to keep up with the changes if you want to continually rank well with the major search engines, where Google still dominates. (Some say more than 90 percent of searches occur on Google.)
Search engines are so hard to predict, though, as they seem to make annual changes to their algorithms. You can, however, expect high marks for websites that:
- Provide exceptional quality and value — in other words, useful information, especially on health and financial websites
- Are approachable and well-organized
- Present well on all mobile-friendly devices
- Load quickly, as speed is another factor that isn’t going away — the faster your site loads, the better SEO you achieve
At Ray Access, we believe valuable content will win the marketing race in the end. SEO tricks come and go, but people arrive at your website for one main reason: to get answers. Whether they find them on your site is something that’s within your control. Contact us to learn how we can help your company website.
by Elle Ray | Dec 18, 2018 | Content Marketing
How to Increase Your Reputation and Your SEO
The term “blog” has expanded right along with the technology that gave it birth. Once upon a time, a blog was just a rambling of your thoughts as in an electronic diary or a vehicle to dispatch coupons and deals via newly sprouted social media channels. Today, a blog post is much more akin to an article published in a magazine.
Magazine articles, both online and in hard copy, are usually longer than quick marketing blurbs, and they’re much more professional than personal journal ramblings. Articles are closely edited. Articles serve a distinct purpose — to educate or entertain a specific publication’s audience. To get your blog published in a magazine, it must read much more like an article than a blog of the past.
Write with Authority
Online readers have become sophisticated. Today, they expect blogs to contain at least some useful information, backed up by references, or funny anecdotes that they can pass on or use to better their lives. When you post a thoughtful blog on your website and social channels, readers appreciate your efforts and hopefully pass along your words of wisdom on their way to becoming loyal customers … or at least loyal readers.
Thoughtful blogs also set you up as an expert in your field. To get your blog published in any other form or on anyone else’s website, you must present yourself as an industry expert. That means you have to know your stuff, while researching and quoting the other experts. Guest posts on other blog sites serve as links back to your site, and that’s one of the cornerstones of search engine optimization. So it’s worth writing with authority to get your blog published on another popular website.
Editors Seek Quality
Magazines, whether they’re online or strictly in hard copy, have high standards. They’ve either been operating for decades and already have a stellar reputation, or they’re new on the scene and want to build that kind of reputation. To get your blog published in a highly-coveted spot in a prized publication, you must follow a set of guidelines and protocols.
Those rules and regulations typically are either posted on the magazine’s website or they’re available through other sources, such as Freelance Writing or Writer’s Digest.
Other basic guidelines that apply to most media when you want to get your blog published include:
- Follow the publication’s submission rules strictly and to the letter.
- Get your writing edited by at least one other set of eyes. Even though they have their own editors, don’t submit work with blatant errors.
- Read a number of issues of the publication to get a sense of the tone and style they prefer.
- Submit your blog in the format requested.
- Start small and get a few clips under your belt in local freebie magazines. Their writers’ policy is going to be less strict than that of national publications.
- Attach a brief resume so editors know that you aren’t a total amateur, especially after you’ve got a few clips.
- Proofread your queries and introductory emails. Consider these your cover letters to get your blog published. They must be as error-free as your article.
- Address your queries and emails to a specific person. Never send it to an impersonal “info” address if you can help it.
- Prepare to get rejected. It’s part of the package.
Eventually, You’ll Get Your Blog Published
If you don’t have an agent or marketing staff sending out your queries, requesting backlinks and introducing your writing to magazine editors, the process can be extremely time-consuming. It can get frustrating too.
But keep in mind that it takes only one “yes” to get you noticed on a national level. Remind yourself that there are readers who specifically want what you have to sell and are interested in what you have to say. In fact, write to those readers as if they already are your customers, and they’ll appreciate your expertise and believe that you know just what they need.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Dec 4, 2018 | Writing
And Does It Matter on Your Business Website?
Studying the art of communication, you learn that about 55 percent of communication between people occurs through body language. Only an average of seven percent of meaning is achieved through the actual words you say. That leaves 33 percent left over, and that’s where your tone of voice communicates your intent.
Tone when speaking includes the pitch of your voice. You can be screeching or high-pitched, as if you’re excited or nervous. You may be a “low-talker,” which may infer to others that you have secrets or lack much confidence. When you’re speaking, the wrong tone of voice can cause misunderstandings and mixed signals.
Write with Tone
Writing too has a tone of voice that very often portrays your message even more forcefully than the words you choose. According to the Nielson Norman Group, a UX research and consulting firm, your tone in writing is just as valuable as the tone you use when speaking. How you feel about the subject you’re writing about comes through in your tone of voice.
Tone of voice in writing also lets your personality shine through. It tells your readers subtly whether you have a sense of humor, you’re bored with your work or you’re truly passionate about the subject matter that’s bubbling out of your fingertips. Your tone lets readers in on your cynicism or irreverence. Especially important in business communication is whether you’re more formal or casual in your approach. And that comes out in the tone of your writing voice.
Your Tone of Voice Is Personal
One of the aspects of writing that slows down amateur writers is a belief that their tone in writing should differ from the tone they use when speaking. As a result, their writing comes across as stilted, awkward or full of words no one would use in everyday speech. Formal writing, like that used in academia or grant proposals is not based on everyday language. That’s why we encourage writers of all levels to write like you talk.
And how you speak is very personal. It betrays your regional origin and education level, as much as it does your thought process. The personality that comes through in your written voice is an integral part of your message — so much so that how you say something is just as important as what you say.
Why Worry Now?
Writing blog posts and website pages should play an integral part in your overall content marketing and messaging strategy. It’s one of the main reasons that business owners and marketing firms are so hesitant to hire outside writers. They’re afraid of losing their “voice” — the intangible thing that makes them unique.
Tone of voice, also referred to simply as tone or voice, is just as important, however, to professional content providers like Ray Access. When we write for you, we want to keep your voice, not give you ours. So before we begin your project, we like to see something you’ve written or at least listen to how you talk about your company.
We often hear clients tell us that what we’ve written sounds just like something they would say. We don’t always have to be that spot on, but we get close enough to make you feel comfortable putting your own name to the words. As professionals, we leave our voice at the door. No one should be able to tell that you didn’t write the words on your site.
In the Final Check
Editing plays a big role in maintaining a consistent voice on your website. Editing also can help soften the blow of poor grammar or less-than-fluid thinking. You can keep your voice while maintaining proper punctuation and grammar. One does not preclude the other, no matter how much slang you use in your everyday speech.
Editing also ensures that a consistent voice flows through your words, even when different writers contribute to your site’s content. An editor who respects and understands the value of voice and the tone you want to portray is more valuable than all the thesis writers at Harvard combined. So write like you speak … because you connect with people that way.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Nov 20, 2018 | Website Content
Make Your About Us Page Relevant to Visitors
Most websites have an About page. If you don’t, consider building one. Certain elements of websites have come to be considered standard, and visitors rely on that commonality to find certain information.
On the About Us page, they learn who you are, what you’re all about and who plays a role in your company’s operations. Customers like to do business with people they like and trust. And yes, the focus is on people. So your About page is not the place to go into more detail about your company, your products or services. It’s where you tell your story.
Are You Relatable?
So even though the About Us page technically is about the origins of your company, your own background and the various team members who make up your company, it’s really about your customers. Sound confusing and contradictory? Well, that’s because it is. And this seems to be the most difficult concept to get across to business owners and their content writers.
Sure, the About Us Page is about you, but its primary — and some might insist only — purpose is to get potential customers comfortable with you or to get clients to relate to you. After all, who doesn’t want to support a small business owner from your hometown or who went to the same college? Why someone buys from you and not the next guy is just as much about who you are as what you are selling!
So Give It to Them
Understanding your target market is as important as ever when you sit down to compose your About Us page. You can’t very well give your potential clients information they can relate to if you don’t know who they are. At the same time, you usually don’t want to alienate potential buyers who may not be like you or really don’t like much about you — but do like your products or services.
Your ultimate goal has to be reaching as many potential clients as possible with every page on your website. To do that, stay away from certain topics. You’re going to dig up more harm than good if you include:
- Religious affiliations
- Political opinions or party memberships
- Sexual orientation
- Ethnic background
More forgivable aspects of you and your background might include your college; even arch-rivals could turn out to be great customers. Other information on your company website should read most like a friendly bio and include such things as:
- How long you’ve been in business
- The history of your company
- What kind of experience you bring to your work
- Where you’re from originally
- Why you located to the area you’re in now and what you like about it
- What you enjoy most about your industry
Added bonus features might include (for fun and profit):
- Hobbies
- Family
- Kooky anecdote
- Nickname
- Favorite food
Consider the Source
Your About Us page is like a resume of sorts. It’s the place where you put your best foot forward. It’s also a great place to put your mission statement and vision. It’s just not the place to be shy or humble — other than to praise your fellow workers or those who came before you in the company.
Speak about yourself and your team in terms of what you can do for your website visitors. Give them more reasons to buy from you. Make your About Us page an important part of your overall marketing strategy. And if you find it too hard to write about yourself in glowing terms, call us. We’ll tell your visitors just how great, unique, caring, funny, hardworking, compassionate and precise you really are!
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
by Elle Ray | Nov 6, 2018 | Website Content
How to Get Visitors to Bookmark Your Website
Marketing and sales professionals say that your best prospects are those clients who’ve purchased something from you before. It’s not difficult to get them to keep coming back if they were satisfied with your product or service — as long as they finished the transaction feeling appreciated for their business.
Stay with us — this isn’t another how-to article about how to get your customers to buy more from you. There are plenty of those missives out there that you can read. Sales advice is readily available.
Instead, we’d like to tackle a slightly different angle: getting readers to keep coming back to your website. After all, your business website is where you convert potential customers into repeat customers. It’s where you get many of your referrals and where you solidify your position in your clients’ psyche.
Stay Relevant
When you become known as the place to find the most up-to-date information about your industry, trends or location, visitors keep coming back to stay updated. Once you reach this pinnacle of relevance, your site gets bookmarked and shared.
New content on a regular basis is one way to stay relevant and trendy. Highlight those blog posts that garner the most traffic to your site and write more on that topic. Ride every trend until it stops being popular.
Make It Worthwhile
Give your clients and avid followers something to keep coming back for. Try everything from coupons to shared gossip. When you find a popular carrot, keep serving it up to your readers. Just as trendy topics are good for more than one blog post, deals work the same way. Just don’t make the mistake of using your blog strictly to pass on deals for your products or services. If you plan on offering a deal, share the love and promote some of your partners or community nonprofits.
And that brings us to community building efforts. This topic makes worthwhile content in your blog posts. Engage your readers with promotions and contests. Offer to donate $1 to a local charity for every like you get on your Facebook page.
Share a Joke
Worthwhile content may include a new meme every day about the news, such as the elections or lottery jackpots. Take a shot at the latest television shows that take themselves too seriously. When sharing jokes or cartoons, however, keep in mind that not all your clients appreciate the same type of humor. Topics such as politics and religion really need to stay off your website, unless that’s your business.
But when you give readers something to laugh about, it may be a welcome break. Even entertaining stories or weird news you’ve picked up through research or by accident can make your audience appreciate escaping from the mundane aspects of life that keep us all bogged down.
Uplift and Carry On
All in all, the more positive your blog posts and website content can be, the more inclined readers are to keep coming back for more. Negative, derogatory and defamatory posts and rants may make for one memorable visit, but few people want to return for more.
Even when you spot a stream of visitors that enjoy negativity, is that really who you want to keep coming back? Is that who you can ultimately turn into loyal customers who love your products and services? Will they tell everyone they know about you and your website? Probably not. So our advice is to use your platform to uplift, not bring down.
And if you need help creating the type of blog you want, contact Ray Access. We can create uplifting content for you and even publish it on your website.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
