Inbound Marketing Resolutions for 2012

The imprint of 2011 and of the progress we made last year is fresh in our minds, and while our team is hard at work fulfilling their own personal and professional resolutions, we wanted to give our readers some insight into what kind of resolutions for 2012 will keep their businesses at the top.

Resolution #1 - Make a Blogging Schedule and Stick to It

This one can’t be stressed enough. Blogging is your opportunity to speak directly to potential clients, and since they probably arrived at your site because they clicked on a link that drove them there, you have a few minutes of their undivided attention to demonstrate your expertise.

It’s vital, however, to stay consistent. Irregular posting will cost you readers. For instance, Searchcore releases a new post each week at the exact same time, so our readers know that they can count on a fresh article every Wednesday.

However, don’t schedule your posts so far out that you fail to report on late-breaking news. For instance, this post was meant to be last week’s Searchcore, but when Google released a new feature late last Tuesday, we felt an obligation to give our readership all the information we had on the changes and explain how it would affect their search experience and search marketing positions.

Finally, enable comments on your blog, and don’t be afraid of hard questions or even a little criticism. Respond to every person who leaves a comment, and be sure to thank them for their contribution.

Resolution #2 - Implement a Social Media Strategy

The explosion of social media marketing has given rise to a number of changes in the marketing industry, ranging from new metrics tools that measure social influence to the crop of "creative" job titles – some favorites; “Web Alchemist,” “Interactive Evangelist,” and “Brand Expansion Guru”.

You don’t need any of these "experts" to be the king (or queen) of your corner of the Web. All you need is a strategy.

For example, we syndicate our content, including blog posts just like this one, to more than 10 different social platforms. We do this automatically by way of an RSS feed-based bookmarker, although we affectionately refer to it as “the spinner” because of the streamlined way it spools out our content across the Web. Yes, it’s that good. There’s no lack of services that will do this for you, but a few noteworthy options are Onlywire and Buzzify It, but be warned – setting these syndicators up can take a nice chunk of time if you have several sites (or a ton of clients!)

For the heavy-hitters like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+, you’ll want to take the time to make organic posts – especially for Facebook. Don’t use any third-party applications to post to Facebook, however, because you’ll experience a 70% drop-off in engagement at best, and if users aren’t engaging your posts, others are even less likely to see those posts.

Finally, remember that comments are worth more than likes to EdgeRank, Facebook’s proprietary ranking system, so create content that will provoke responses. EdgeRank also gives a boost to video, photo, and link posts over standard status posts, so when you do post a text update, make sure it counts.

Resolution #3 – Optimize Your Website

Now is the time to take a step back, pull your Google Analytics reports, and evaluate whether or not your website is performing the way it needs to.

Some questions to ask yourself: 

• Is the site navigation easy to follow?
• Are the design and colors appealing, and does the site look uncluttered?
• Is your content optimized for search and are you implementing reliable SEO principles?
• Do you have clear calls-to-action and boilerplate closers on each of your pages?
• Do you have a phone number clearly posted on your website?
• Can browsers easily access a library of your articles, or back-listings of your blog posts?
• Do you have a lead generation form so that you can collect data on your hot prospects?

Remember, your website is a tool meant to help your business perform, and if it’s costing you more than it’s bringing in, chances are that you’re doing something wrong. That doesn’t mean your site can’t be salvaged and transformed into a robust, client-seducing powerhouse with a little bit of elbow grease and industry know-how.  

Grow Your Business in 2012 with We Do Web Content

When your business is looking for quality, custom content for your website, newsletters, and social media marketing look no further than We Do Web Content. Having unique, organic web content is the leading way to increase search engine rankings and boost your Internet marketing. For affordable, quality content exclusive to YOUR website, blog and clients, contact us today!  1-888-521-3880.