- May 6, 2013
- Posted by: Vishal Shah
- Category: SEO
In the earlier years of search engine optimization, all you need to do was get loads of inbound links and your website would automatically rank well. Today, you need more links to rank well but links still play a major role in determining whether a page is relevant or not, at least according to search engines. As far a business goes, you need search-engine traffic and sales to make money. You can have all the traffic referrals in your niche but still lag behind your competitors in business performance because they get better visitor-to-customer conversion rates.
Instead of concentrating on blindly building links, you should start connecting to the people who fit your target audience definition. If you lack a definition, then first create one before proceeding. The following points will help you connect appropriately with this audience group to translate to higher sales and an increase in interaction around your content online. Interaction results to natural outbound and inbound links that make your website rank well in search engines.
Attend to a need
The first rule of business is to fulfill a need to gain monetarily. You need to find out what your target audience wants in your particular niche, then go ahead and make content that quenches their thirst. You can start by providing the information that people seek. You can find out what visitors want by frequenting the online places that your audience is likely to hang out. Become a member of various social network sites and take part in online forum discussions that cover your niche topic, all with the aim of answering questions and directly people to the solutions you offer on your website. Within a short time, you will have created a mass of loyal followers.
Scratch your own itch
It is hard to provide solutions for something that you are not interested in; the second rule of connecting to customers is to work on something you love. When you passionately involve yourself in the quest of providing a particular solution to clients, they will notice. Your body language, your choice of words, your history and other career attributes will all synchronize to make you an authority figure in your niche, and authority is what makes people respond to your ’calls to action’.
Ask questions on related forums and social media channels
The easiest way to connect to people is by asking them questions that will make them open up to you. In this case, you want them to tell you more about their experiences, their wishes, the difficulties they meet that relate to your business niche. Be proactive and start discussion trends on popular topics. Talk about current events and ask how they affect your niche. Surprisingly, you will note that this form of crowdsourcing information not only connects you to your audience but also gives you a huge resource pool that you can always tap for new, unique and relevant content for your website.
Provide solutions, guides and applications for your niche
Once you connect with people outside your blog, use whatever knowledge you get from them to create packaged solutions and avail those solutions on your website. You can also distribute the solutions using the same social channels that you use to scout for information. This way, you will be showing your audience that you not only care about them but that you are also resourceful. Once they perceive you as a resource, they will be happy to buy from you, refer your business to their social connections and offer suggestions on how you can improve. You are free to use the popular tools like Hootsuite and channels like YouTube to make and distribute videos, publications, podcasts and applications.
In a nutshell, for those who are having trouble with their conversion numbers, the solution will only come when you connect with your target audience rather than focusing on links. Two key factors emerge from the statement above. First, you need to have a target audience for your marketing message and secondly you need a way to connect to them. Without addressing these two factors, you will be doing yourself a disfavor and so hamper your online business competitiveness. Follow the tips outlined above to get ahead of the game.
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Jason Smith is an online manager for Hitches who are specialist in trailer hitch covers. Jason likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC & Lead generation.