Getting attention online.

Seriously… how do people get to your website without typing the name of your business in Google?

I keep having this conversation, so I figured it would be best to make a guide for how I would do it on a small budget. If you are a big business you can lean into advertising and marketing more, so this is the ‘bootstrapped’ approach.?

Hi, if you are new here, I am Zach and I help companies reach new markets.?

• Your business name.?

Some of you already have a name, so if that is you skip to step two. If you are still here, consider your business name as an investment into your placement on search engines. Everybody who is a woodworker is going to use every variation of the words “wood” and “Carpenter.” The name I suggest clients consider is a nonsensical name, read - Uber, TikTok, Instagram. This will allow you to own the SEO space but will require more initial groundwork.?

Unless of course, you are an underwater lawyer or a spaceship salesman, those are probably not very saturated markets.?

• Create message clarity?

You need to avoid product pushes because it is very unlikely people are googling “top leather smith with 12 years of experience.” Rather they might search for “broken saddle stitch repair” and if you are a leather smith who has their messaging right, you solve for broken saddles. Jimsies - broken saddle repair

• Educational content?

Now we get to the part that drives traffic to your website, people come to the internet for quick fixes to their problems. Consider the last time you googled something, I am willing to bet you wanted to figure out why the sink was leaking, you got the answer, read the article then closed your phone, right? That information is pulled from blog content, so always take time to share your knowledge.?

This can be blogs, video blogs, and even visual presentations, but you want to make it fun and informative.?

• Questions as blog titles.?

Your blog title needs to be something that someone would google in a pinch to get an article about a problem that your product solves. Let's say you run a drone business and you want to attract water tower maintenance leaders because you would like to be their drone pilot to survey for damage before sending their team up. A good blog question title would be “What is the current OSHA climbing standard” and then add your business into there “Current OSHA climbing standard and ways to get up faster.” It will feel rigid and robotic on your first couple of tries, but as you get more comfortable with it, it will become more natural.?

• Own all the free spaces you can promote your business.?

This is going to come down if your name is unique enough to own them, but hopefully, it is, you need to use all of the social media + free platforms. I am not a social media person outside of work and this was a learning curve for me.?

Some free sites you can use right now and their best uses are….?

• LinkedIn - share your blogs and copy the website blogs to a Li blog space, they are currently promoting this part of their site, so growing a following is easy.?
• Youtube and shorts - I find shorts are the best to use for my business. Educational content does the best here.?
• TikTok - You need to be QUICK with your words, get right to the point and if you can make it funny, or controversial it will have success.?
• Facebook and Instagram - are the best places to get your visual content out, and make it eye-catching.?
• Medium - this is a blog form page, telling the story about building your business and personal stories from your journey. Make it a diary and you will have people seeing your content inadvertantly.?
• Reddit & slack channels - Great place to answer questions relevant to your industry, which breeds natural conversation. Personal promotion will fall flat here, be warned.?
• One page love - a place to display your homepage where other designers can get inspiration. You will need a pretty site, but if you are feeling proud, this is a great place to promote.?
• Podcasts & Blogs - use your expertise to offer free content for these places. This is going to vary by industry, but if you can get in their orbit, you have positioned yourself as an expert.?

We can go deep into the rabbit hole of SEO and advertising but I wanted to give an easy overview to get the ball rolling. If you would like a more in-depth review, I am happy to put together an expert panel to do a write-up on the subject, just let me know.?

Cheers - Zach?