Starting From Scratch

We all know the routine. You've generated some leads, built what you feel is an incredible campaign, and you're thinking "there's no way the customer would possibly say no", right?

You launch the campaign, but for some reason, you just can't get the leads you were hoping for. The paid ads are beginning to get expensive, and you're getting maybe one solid lead per day that will even consider your offering. This is a scenario played out by millions of businesses every year, and the cycle continues.

I know what you're thinking, and no, the harsh reality is that your marketing is not doing as well as you think it is and it doesn't matter whether you're a product or a service. In my article Testing, Testing..1,2,3 I described an admittedly high level overview of the marketing process of testing your data and knowing what is working and not working with your target audience. Like a fire hose, trying to take in how extensive this can be could be overwhelming. This is only a snippet of the things you will need to do to prepare your campaign for a true launch. If you are still hazy on this and haven't read that article first, go there now.

Marketing is not rocket science, although, when you're staring down the barrel of 1000 keywords and you're determined to outrank your competition, it's easy to make a decision that will drain your budget faster than . So, how exactly do we rank, keep our marketing budget, and still manage to generate enough leads to keep the stock of cheap snacks and drinks in the refrigerator? Need more organic traffic generated leads? Start with these basics before going in the deep end.

1. Perform an audit on your website. I know, you've either spent countless hours pouring over each detail of your website, it's your muse, your work of art, but it may just suck at getting traffic that passes through the great Google Veil. Although the recommendations go far, far beyond just this simple outline, these are a good start!

• Purpose of the page, is your page a bit...too vague? This may just hurt you in the pocketbook!
• Expertise, trustworthiness, and authority..yep, this means for you, too.
• Content quality, this means you need to put some work into getting that quality up there to match your amazing product or service.
• Website info and info about the content creator- Yep, this means you. Anonymity can kill your rankings. Want complete anonymity? It may just cost you!
• Website reputation and content creator reputation
• Speed it up! Does your site take a minute to load? This is almost definitely killing your rankings. Yep, this may mean you need to beef up your servers, or outsource your hosting to services like Hostgator or A2 Hosting to beef it up.
• Create a lead capture page...please! No, people will not go to your "Request Information" page. Create some sort of gate that will prompt them to input their information. Yes, you will need something to engage them quickly.

Don't allow yourself to rank above your level. If You're trying to rank with the big boys, there are certainly ways to "go guerrilla" in your marketing techniques, but if you're doing basic paid ads and want to preserve your budget, it's probably best to understand how to get traffic to your site. Let's start with these basics.

As a believer in collaboration, I would love to hear your insights!

Have insights that have worked for your business? Leave a comment below!