Difference between Quality & Quantity

Think Quality; Not Quantity!

          There is an inherent difference between quality and quantity. So, why is everyone I work with excited by visitor numbers and asks second about conversions or goals?

       What I can never understand is if a regular bricks and mortar retail store had 300 people walk into it, walk round quickly and leave again without purchasing anything the business owner wouldn't be very impressed. So, why is it the polar opposite when people talk about how many visitors they have had to their websites?

           I read a story recently where a franchise car dealership placed an advert in a local newspaper with a free iPad as an incentive for people to test drive a new car during their blowout sales event. Needless to say they were clean out of prizes within the first two hours, the sales team had been on lots of test drives and yet they hadn't sold one car. Mythical or not, the story highlights the quality over quantity thought process.

           A site where you can purchase everything from a video birthday greeting from a Welshman in a thong, through to a complete SEO audit of your website. One of the things that intrigued me most about the site was the number of 'Gigs' where vendors were promising amazing and mystical ways to drive thousands of visitors to your website, or to display your message/website or advert to their thousands of social media followers. Building web traffic $5 at a time? Yup, that is exactly what I am doing for the next five months.

           I have written up a few predictions for the conclusions, which will come of this experiment, most of them, are pretty negative to be honest. But there is method in my madness, well, I hope at least! My thought process is that the traffic or exposure that I will get as a result of these $5 investments will not result in one conversion or lead. On the flip side, I predict that the content I generate talking about and analyzing the results of the experiment will generate high quality traffic, or traffic that will actually convert. Where the Social Media shares, which are paid for, will generate nothing, however the Social Media interactions discussing the findings will be the ones, which provide value to Duncan Web Management.

           Companies who focus on, what I consider, to be the wrong aspects of their web presence, frustrate me. By that I mean that they are not focused on the Marketing aspect of what they are doing. Too many companies start a social media page because they feel like they should have one. They redesign their website because the old one is looking dated. They add a blog because their competitors are doing so. They have no idea how it will benefit their business and little to no interest in it either. Every aspect of your web presence should have a purpose and a way of measuring if it is achieving that purpose. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.

           So this leads to the question; how do I bring quality to my site? Well, the short answer is; hard work. Before the Internet, businesses grew through hard work, creativity, networking, word of mouth and consistency. After the Internet things haven't changed, sure we have more options and tools at our disposal, but the same basic principles that have applied for hundreds, if not thousands, of years are exactly the same today.

           There is no denying that there is still a technical aspect to conducting good SEO and there are other elements that you have to be aware of, even when conducting content marketing. A small to medium sized business that has a desire to enhance their online presence would be well served to find a local SEO company who can help you plan what to do and how to do it. This may be a case of divide and conquer, with the SEO company taking care of the aspects which are outside your skill set, or out with your area of interest. If you are anything like me, if you dread doing something you will probably put it off or find a great excuse for not getting round to it. Having a company who is looking after you back sounds rather appealing in this regard.

           Once you have a plan of how to enhance your web presence you can begin to focus on the aspects that your skill set are most appropriately applied, talking about your industry and your business. Finding out why your current customers continue to do business with you would be a great start. Find out what is important to them in their buying decisions and put together some content on those aspects. Once you are finished your content, have it reviewed by your SEO expert and have them make the appropriate changes before it goes live and you start sending it out through your social media outlets. When you do this, it would be well worth your while to use your contact database and let your contacts know what you are going to be doing and that you are looking for some feedback on it. You are bringing them in to be part of the process by asking them for help and getting them involved…. or as others call it, Social Media Marketing!

           Another step in the process mentioned above is to start networking with your current vendors and suppliers on the topic of guest blogging. Would what you have to say be relevant to their followers or customers? In many cases this would be a Yes! If this isn’t an option, asking your SEO partner for ideas on how to create guest blogging opportunities would be a very worthwhile idea. Placing your content on a targeted website not only creates a valuable, natural, link back to your own site, but it also places your content before eyes which would otherwise be blind to who you are and what you do. Again, this is simple marketing.

In summary:

           Meet with a few SEO companies and ask them for examples of what they are doing at the moment, ask them what they are doing and why they are doing it. After the recent changes to the Google algorithm, Social Media Marketing is now a much stronger factor in how a website ranks within the search engines. Every SEO company should now have a strong focus on that aspect, reflecting perfectly how the search engines are now ranking websites. Ask the companies how they have changed their approach as a result of those changes, make note of their answers and do a quick Google search to find out how they stack up.

           Make a plan with professional help and then stick to it. As a business everything you do should have a purpose that relates to your business goals or your business plan. I struggle to think of anything that you would be doing online that wouldn’t fall under the ‘Marketing’ heading and as a result it should focus on advancing your business. Knowing this, understanding this and believing this is key to making your presence work for you.

           Focus on your strengths and play to them. Don’t try and take on the world and do everything yourself. I know few companies who don’t have an accountant or an attorney to call on when they need help. Your online marketing should follow the same rule.

           Building an online presence isn't going to happen overnight. However you should focus on the end goal of your effort and content working to bring you leads and inquiries 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.