Last weekend my husband told me what he’s really thinks of me. Fortuitously we were just a few miles away from home, so I turned the car around, deposited him on our front doorstep, and continued along my merry way to an event I had been looking forward to all week.
There must have been something “in the air” that week, because after being told I bring nothing to the table at home, my business and marketing coach asked our group to dig deep and list the value we bring to our customers.
As a seasoned print graphic designer since 1993, who also designs websites in WordPress, it suddenly occurred to me that I’ve been singularly focused on HOW TO build an awesome eye-popping website for my clients, thinking that’s where the value lay.
Life Lesson
For many years I’ve understood that it’s not enough to be pretty, and that if you’re in business, having a website is non negotiable. Unfortunately, a pretty online brochure is not going to keep your customer’s attention.
My “ah ha!” moment came when I realized that WordPress is the perfect combination of good looks and sustainability when combined with online marketing savvy and real SEO. My added value is building and customizing WordPress websites that help my clients market their business. My goal is to create websites that are not only attractive, but are Pull Marketing focused, and designed to turn interested visitors into paying clients.
What’s PULL Marketing?
Pull Marketing is attracting customers by selling to their wants and needs. By contrast, Push Marketing is aggressive non-stop pressure to listen to someone, or push them into buying something.
With Pull Marketing, customers find you because you’re offering them what they are in search of.
The WordPress Advantage
As in life, a pretty face will attract attention once, but a relationship takes effort and engagement. Likewise, a website needs to attract and engage on a long term basis to be effective. Studies indicate the average Internet user will revisit a site 21 times before they know, like, and trust that the information they are getting is accurate. Know, like and trust leads to customer loyalty… and sales.
Blogging attracts search engines, which attracts customers who need your service or product. WordPress seamlessly combines a blogging platform with a hosting platform so you can have a good looking website, plus the ability to create new, original content on a regular basis.
Adding fresh content is necessary because search engine robots voraciously crawl the Internet, non-stop, in search of new, original content. If you don’t add new content to your website, you’re no longer attractive to the robots. Once you lose the robots’ interest, your site gets pushed further down the organic search food chain until you’re practically invisible.
6 ways to get noticed and keep their attention
- Be clear on your target audience
- Get clear on your primary website goal: i.e., Are you selling a product (ecommerce); building your list (service); establishing credibility (corporate); do you want to inform (blog); gain more visibility (social media, entertainment)?
- Pay attention to what your target audience is saying they need
- Write copy that shows your perfect customer you understand their pain points, and you know how to solve their problem
- Blog consistently (400 words per month, minimum)
- Stay engaged
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