I’d like to say it was easy.
There’s a misconception that all you need to do get traffic, conversions, revenue and eternal happiness is to build a website and a Facebook Page. Maybe you sprinkle in some Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest.
It’s not that simple. Not even close.
The key is to make it look simple. I hope I’ve accomplished that. But the results I see are due to an integrated strategy. Each element has a role.
Within seven months, this website was ranked by Alexa within the top 30,000 globally. My Facebook Page had accumulated more than 4,000 active Facebook fans. I was receiving an average of more than 3,500 page views per day during May and June of 2012, many of which were sent by Google. My newsletter, only a few months old, has over 2,000 subscribers. And I had spent close to nothing.
Here’s how…
Set Goals and Priorities
Don’t just jump in. You need to have purpose. Everything you do needs to be intentional with an ultimate goal in mind.
This is the most important step of any digital strategy. You must be sure that whatever you do is in line with your company’s goals and priorities. It’s the first step I always take with clients.
For me, I have four main goals:
- Establish myself as an authority on the topic of Facebook Marketing
- Generate direct consulting leads
- Grow an audience to drive traffic and product sales
- Drive passive income
I am not focused on all four of these today, but everything I do has them in mind as my offerings evolve.
JonLoomer.com and Beyond
My website is where it all starts and ends. This is where I establish myself as an authority, generate leads and drive traffic and conversions. It’s where I drive people with my social media and newsletter efforts.
My strategy on the site is to maintain a very strict Monday through Friday publishing schedule. I rarely stray from this (I did during my redesign in April). My subject matter is focused on Facebook marketing, though I occasionally touch on blogging and SEO. The result is a deep inventory of tutorials and useful information for anyone looking for help in those areas.
Another way I establish authority on the topic of Facebook marketing is by writing guest posts for AllFacebook.com. By writing for them, I reach a much larger audience, and the readers are consistent with my target. I focus on Facebook marketing, thereby establishing myself as an authority. There are also SEO benefits with backlinking to this site.
Intentional and Unintentional SEO
I’ve always said that I’m not an SEO guy. The industry in general is dirty and sleazy and underhanded.
That said, the concept of driving significant traffic to your site from search engines in an honest and straight forward way always needs to be part of your strategy. I’ve managed to be at the top of Google’s search engine results for multiple search terms.
I did this both intentionally and unintentionally. I don’t use keyword tools to determine where my weakest competition may be to get into the top results. I don’t let keywords determine my titles or content. So to a point, much of my SEO effort is unintentionally optimized. I just write a lot of solid content, which Google loves.
But this isn’t completely by luck. The mere act of writing a lot of content is an SEO strategy. And while I don’t seek out Key Words, I’m constantly thinking about what people will be searching for. I often ask myself what users need help with. Or I ask them where they need help and I write about it.
I also tend to keep my blog posts very focused. This doesn’t mean they are short. Instead, I try not to write a single blog post that covers too many topics. I pick one and exhaust it. Because in most cases, people who stumble on my blog post want that single answer.
So there is an intentional element to my SEO as well. I keep my titles, content and meta data consistent and focused. I use plugins that also help me make sure that what I’m posting is consistent with best practices.
Jon Loomer Digital on Facebook
My Facebook Page is the second most important element of my digital strategy. This shouldn’t be a surprise since the subject I write about most is Facebook marketing.
I can’t cover my strategy in its entirety here. There’s simply too much. And since I write about Facebook strategy on a daily basis, you should understand that it’s not something that can be covered in a few paragraphs.
My website and Facebook Page feed off of one another. I drive traffic to my website from Facebook when I share links. But I have sharing and Like buttons here that drive a large chunk of people to my Facebook Page.
I also utilize Facebook ads to uncover more people who will be interested in my content. I’ve spent about $100 over the course of six months on Facebook ads that drive more Likes to my Page, and the results have been incredible.
I update my Facebook Page at least once per day during the week and sometimes on the weekend. I try to mix things up and don’t always share my own links. I also share photos, videos and the links of others. I tag the pages of others when applicable.
The key is to not be outwardly self-promotional. While most of the content I share is my own, the goal is always to help my Facebook fans. So with each share I also get their pulse to understand what obstacles they have, what they’re seeing, etc.
This leads to tone. My tone is professional, though conversational. I’m always sharing and asking questions. Every post should be written with a goal to get some type of response. Otherwise, it’s entirely self-serving.
I also use my Page as a canvas to show what I can do for others. I take pride in my use of cover photo and tabs. I’ve created all of my Facebook tabs with ShortStack, and each one has a business purpose. They were all developed with either the needs of my Facebook fans or the goals of my business in mind. So they educate, drive subscriptions or both.
That’s my Facebook strategy from a very high level.
Other Social Media
If you want to drive traffic to your website, you need to be active in social media. It also helps your SEO efforts since the more viral your content, the more Google and other search engines will respect it.
While most of my social media efforts are on Facebook, I don’t neglect the other networks. That said, I also know that I can’t dedicate the same type of time and effort in these other areas, so I’m honest with myself about what I can do.
Twitter takes significant time and effort that I don’t have. So while I don’t advocate automation, I use it here. I use Buffer and Timely to share content both from my site and from others. I also use a great WordPress plugin called Tweet Old Post to share my old content automatically throughout the day.
I share content to Google+ and Twitter, making an effort to cater it to those audiences. I also have a regular Google Reader routine, and as I stumble on informative infographics I’ll share them on Pinterest.
I also share video tutorials to YouTube and Vimeo, making sure to optimize the descriptions with links back to my website and Facebook page. I get a healthy amount of traffic from videos uploaded to YouTube in particular.
Newsletter
It’s important to understand that you can have all of the traffic in the world, but it isn’t worth anything unless you do something with it. For me, it’s driving these people to subscribe to my newsletter (form below!) to create a long-term relationship.
From my newsletter, I continually drive subscribers back to my website and other efforts. I will also use it to promote eBooks, affiliate products and any products that I sell or have to offer.
I’ve noticed that since the implementation of my newsletter, I no longer see major dips in traffic. By constantly driving subscribers back to the website, this helps create a solid base of users so that I’m not so heavily reliant on social media and first-time readers from search engines.
Free Consultation
The results I see on my website and across social media are examples of what I can do for you. Of course, your goals and priorities will drive the strategy we’d employ for you, but I share what I have done as a case study of how I can get results.
I am available for a free consultation to discuss any of your digital marketing efforts, including:
- Website, Blogging and SEO
- Facebook and Social Media Marketing
- Social Media Training
- Email Marketing
Thanks!
Jon
