The best online marketing strategies start with making connections and finish with being helpful to those connections. A business blog is more than a corporate website with regularly updated content. Your business blog is your unique brand solving your target customer’s unique problem.
If your goal is to run a successful, profitable business blog, you’ll have to put in the work upfront to create a strong foundation that keeps the people coming back. You will build something you know without a doubt people will want to pay for.
Let’s get started.
When you’re starting, it’s hard to make money because nobody knows your brand. Your job is to establish yourself as an authority in the industry and build a strong reputation as someone worth paying attention to.
First Things First: Forget Get Rich Quick Schemes
When you see the major websites with thousands or millions of visitors, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking those bloggers got lucky and stumbled onto success. Those bloggers or companies will tell you there is no such thing as luck regarding online content creation.
They had a plan. They implemented the plan. They continue to make plans and implement them. Luck happens when preparation and opportunity collide. It’s that simple and that challenging.
Work hard. Emply discipline through consistency and courage to leap into the deep end even when you aren’t sure you should stick your toe in the water.
People fail when they refuse to try. People lose when they don’t learn from their mistakes, stumbles, or face plants in the journey. People succeed when they try and then learn from the trials that aren’t completely successful.
If you aren’t ready to invest in your business, building success will be challenging, if not a complete impossibility. If you are ready, these tips will help you make your way.
TIP: Remember to be willing to learn from others but then find ways to make the tips your own. This is YOUR success journey.
Building success will not be easy. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. You can make it simple by stripping away the requirements of others and finding your unique path. That means the first thing you should do when deciding to build a business blog is to define yourself (your brand, your purpose, and your voice). Once you set this foundation, you need to develop the strategies that will allow you to build your success on this created foundation.
Best Online Marketing Strategies Explained
No matter what THEY tell you, you can’t just start a blog and watch it magically make money. As a matter of fact, between the tools you invest in, the time you invest in creating and maintaining the website, and all the miscellaneous investments required, it will cost you before it makes you.
How to Choose a Domain Name
What’s in a name? In the case of the internet, it’s the starting place for your customer to find you. Choosing the right name can be one of the best online marketing strategies you implement for your business. Finding a domain name and social media handles that match daily is becoming more difficult. Having one name across all these areas makes it easier to discover and create a footprint in the search engines.
It’s crucial to choose the right domain name for your business website. It’s a bigger hassle than you’d think to change if you start with the wrong name; even if you’re a pro at switching servers, you’ll hurt your brand and search rankings.
In other words, get it right the first time!
1. Stick to a dot-com
These days, there are all kinds of interesting top-level domains to choose from, like .website, .pizza, and even .blog.
Still, we recommend sticking to .com. It’s understandably tempting to use the new extensions to be clever, but dot-coms are simply the most credible of the bunch.
Besides this, your smartphone keyboard probably has a fast .com entry button.
TIP: If you can find other URLs with your chosen name, grab them now. The investment will be worth it in the long run. Especially consider those that are specific to your business plan – like .live for broadcasting.
2. Put keywords into your domain
Keywords are always important, but by putting them into your domain name, you quickly tell search engines what your brand is about. Coupled with a quality blog and strong user experience, the strategy of putting keywords in your URL can improve your rankings on Google.
That said, it’s difficult to find a great domain with your desired keywords that is also available to purchase. Be creative.
3. Keep the URL short
As important as keywords may be, don’t overdo them. Nobody wants to type in “bestchicagobrownleatherboots.com” every time they want to read what you’re doing, assuming they’ll even remember it.
Keep your business blog domain under 15 characters as a general rule of thumb.
4. Choose an easy-to-spell domain
There should be no confusion about your domain name when spoken out loud. This is especially true if you need to run a professional email account.
5. Keep your domain original and brandable
At the end of the day, your goal is to build a brand. You want to stand out in your readers’ minds and avoid a name that sounds too similar to another business. Do a little research and see what the others in your niche are called.
Remember to make your domain more digestible; it’s easier to brand “Amazon.com” than “GettingCheapThings.com,” after all. Of course, the more you build brand recognition, the easier it becomes for customers to remember your brand.
Choose a Platform and Theme
After setting your brand foundation by choosing the right name, the next best online marketing strategy is framing your brand name. Finding the right theme for your website won’t be difficult, given how many there are out there. You can get started quickly with a free theme option or buy a more professional, ready-made theme prearranged for out-of-the-box function. If you opt for this route, ensure you get a theme that supports internal search, custom post types, and third-party plugins.
Of course, you can’t pick your theme until you’ve chosen your platform. Fortunately, that’s an even easier decision.
6. Build your blog on WordPress
Simply put, WordPress is the best, most versatile choice for business blogging. Why?
- It’s free for everyone
- It’s user-friendly
- There are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from, free and premium themes. Check out the Kadence WP theme – a revolutionary theme that makes creation easy and personalization simple.
- You can use third-party plugins, such as a WordPress landing page plugin
- It’s open-source, so you can modify the files if you have PHP experience
- It’s easy to manage
Make Your Edits
Now that you’ve gotten your website together, it’s time to get some actual work done.
7. Use sample data
Whether you start with a free or premium theme, throw in some sample data to populate your website.
Obviously, this isn’t required to get your website up and running, but it gives your website a little depth and organization while you rearrange the widgets. You’ll see how your blog will look with real content posted.
8. Use a good logo
A good logo is a big factor in a brand’s first impression. They’ll convey your company values and tell a tale at the same time, but without being too complicated.
Simple logos are easier to print and are easier for audiences to remember. Just think about the logos for Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Apple, or Target; you’d recognize the logos whether they were printed in color or black and white.
Write!
Another powerful, best online marketing strategy is showing your customer what you represent. Your content shows your story. Once you’ve gotten your website up and installed your plugins, such as the WordPress content upgrades plugin, it’s time to replace the sample data with meaningful content.
It’s too common for bloggers to post endlessly, never get any comments or shares, and just wonder what is wrong without making any changes. They never realize the root cause of their problems.
9. Use your unique voice
You are unique. Your business is unique. To keep your brand and business authentic, be sure to use your unique voice when creating content, developing engagement, and crafting products.
Say it in a unique way, and say what others need or want to hear.
Here’s an example: You might think that everyone wants to read your personal finance blog to learn about Roth IRAs and savings rates. However, with some research and by engaging with your core audience first, you might learn that what they want to read about is how to handle their cheap friend who never tips at the restaurant.
We all know someone like that, and nobody knows how to handle it. That’s the kind of content they’re looking for. Meet your audience where they are, and don’t try to lead the river to the horse.
10. Provide actionable advice
If you have a unique way to solve a problem you’ve struggled with in the past, that’s incredibly helpful.
Refine it, test it, and create content on it. Give it away for free, and you’ll find it’s one of the most popular things you’ll ever do. And that means you’ll have many satisfied but eager readers looking to return for more.
11. Ditch the corporate jargon
“Today, I will discuss the vitality of being cognizant of the world of corporate communication, blah blah blah.”
Please don’t write like that. One of the best business blogging tips you can get is to write like you’d send an email to a friend. Better yet, write as if you’re talking to your friend at the bar beside you.
“Look, I get it. I went out last night, something super crazy happened, and the next morning I woke up wishing I didn’t drink so much because now I was going to be late for work again.”
That’s far more relatable than whatever the first blogger was writing. This is the content someone will read and relate to. Pick up a Reader’s Digest and see how those stories are written for inspiration.
12. Tell them what to do next
Allow your readers to add their own thoughts. Ask them to comment, write back to your emails, and then showcase their answers for future blogs. The goal is to have two-way communication, though.
The most successful bloggers do this even to this day. No matter how many people you have on your email list, throw in a little message at the bottom of your emails asking them to write you back and let you know what they think.
If you can build this relationship with your readers, you’ll stand out from all the rest.
13. Add your unique perspective
You are unique. Being authentic is another of the best online marketing strategies because you are the only you out there. Represent your brand with bold and purposeful content. Don’t just recycle all the content you’d find on other websites in your industry. Someone else — maybe everyone else — is saying it already. You want to stand out and offer something new to the game.
For example, running a personal finance blog might make fun of the common advice that you should give up your $5 coffee. That’s especially true if you’ve figured out a way to save money without compromising on your daily treats.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with your blog, but if you’re not adding to the conversation, then what are you doing?
List-building refers to getting your readers to subscribe to your email list, and it’s the real lifeblood of your online business.
Let’s say you have 1,000 subscribers; you’re already waist-deep in a healthy business! There are 1,000 people in the world who liked what you wrote so much that they want more. Imagine if they’re all sitting in an auditorium with their hands raised, saying, “I’m ready to hear from you.”
It’s so important to get new people to your email list. You can share your new learnings with them, and they’ll, in turn, be more willing to buy your products once you’ve established that important relationship.
14. Start with the most loyal readers
Early on, it’s a good idea to do some guest posting. That means going to another website in your niche and offering to contribute a post.
Then, you write the best post you can and get it published on that site. At the bottom of the article, say something like, “If you’re interested in learning more about this, check out my site,” with a link to your blog. This can either link to a specific post you have written or use a WordPress landing page plugin to create a static page for new readers.
Guest blogging is a simple strategy, but good things happen with it. First, you put your content on a site that is bigger than yours, so you get much more exposure than you would otherwise. Second, there’s a way for people to end up on your website and email list.
Boom, new subscribers.
15. Automatically drive more traffic to your website
Once you’re getting a steady stream of traffic for your amazing content, the next thing to do is look into SEO strategy.
Search engine optimization is the process of writing content that will trigger high rankings on Google.
You’ve likely heard some amazing stories about SEO by now. Lots of people talk about it, but it turns out very few people really know what they’re doing.
They’ll describe SEO as if it’s a magic bullet that automatically throws you into the millions-of-visitors-per-day realm. It doesn’t work that way.
Write material that people want to read first. That’s the content they want to engage with and share with their friends. Then, you can focus on implementing an SEO strategy with the help of our WordPress SEO training experts.
You can also use a WordPress content upgrades plugin to make opting into your email list even easier.
Advertising
Maintaining advertisement sections on your website can help you make more money too. Here, you can display ads for your affiliate businesses and earn money through them. Likewise, you can even approach similar businesses about ways to advertise your own.
For example, a local aquarium may display ads for fish food paid for by the companies who make them. The website for your local spa may also include ads for popular cosmetics. Think complementary.
16. Keep your website fresh
Making your website isn’t a one-and-done deal; you need to update the blog on a regular basis and even update the website itself here and there.
Besides new blog posts, you can do the following as needed:
- Update your Contact page with new information
- Keep your SEO up to date
- Reply to new messages
- Optimize the speed of your website
- Much more
If you don’t have the technical know-how, you can hire someone to maintain your WordPress business blog for you. Then you’ll have all the time to create quality content.
Is a Business Blog Right for Me?
If you’re not already convinced about how easy it is to start a profitable business blog, consider a few more reasons.
Blogging spreads word
With the advent of the internet, the world has gotten much smaller. Your website stakes your claim.
Your business blog opens the doors to new opportunities in life. It allows your customers to learn more about you and get in touch with you.
You can build customer relationships
When readers can easily get in touch with you, engaging in a dialog leads to a stronger relationship between business and reader is easy.
The easiest way to facilitate a conversation is to have a contact form on your website. Besides this, you can also include your email address, phone number, and even the business of your address if you have a brick-and-mortar location.
This information lets curious visitors get in touch with you about services immediately.
Your website easily displays services
Advertising on various channels may reach many people, but you won’t have nearly enough space to explain the nuances of your services. That’s where the pages of your website come in.
On a business website, you can have innumerable pages that explain the details of what you have to offer. These pages can contain media, like videos or audio snippets, to add more depth to your blogs.
Clearly, there is no better way to describe your services than to have your own website and blog.
Summing Up the Best Online Marketing Strategies
The simplest part of using the best online marketing strategies is that you can make them your own. You implement and utilize what works for your unique business plan that fits your target audience and that you will work with. Let’s face it, if it’s something (or some way) you won’t work it, then it doesn’t matter how powerful the online marketing strategies are. You have to be willing to work with them to make them work.
As simple as making a website (thank you, Kadence WP), building a successful online business takes more equity – either time, money, effort, or some combination of them all.
If you want to build a profitable business, you must plan before you build. Next, you must believe in what you are doing and how you are doing it. Then you must commit and follow through with consistent and purposeful actions that pursue your plan. Finally, you must be willing to keep going until you get there.
These 16 best online marketing strategies are used to set your business foundation and launch your unique success.
Get the bonus content: WPprosper eBook: Business Strategy Tips for Website Owners
Kristen has been writing tutorials to help WordPress users since 2011. As marketing director here at iThemes, she’s dedicated to helping you find the best ways to build, manage, and maintain effective WordPress websites. Kristen also enjoys journaling (check out her side project, The Transformation Year!), hiking and camping, step aerobics, cooking, and daily adventures with her family, hoping to live a more present life.
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Keep reading the article at WordPress News | iThemes Blog. The article was originally written by Kristen Wright on 2022-08-05 13:19:00.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.