Marketing your business is a to-do, not a to-done

Like a steam engine, small business marketers must keep chugging on. It’s a journey, not a destination.

Like a steam engine, small business marketers must keep chugging on. It’s a journey, not a destination.

Promoting your company, like everything else, requires a continual investment of time, ENERGY AND money.

By Roy Harryman

I can understand the frustration.

You invest in a website and spend the time and money to make sure search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) can find you. It’s been a lot of work and, potentially, a lot of money. You pay the invoice, wipe your brow and are excited to check “website” off your marketing to-do list.

Only you can’t.

A website is never “done.” And for that matter, neither is your social media marketing. Or direct mail marketing. These, like nearly every aspect of business, are always works in progress.

To be sure, stages of a website can be completed. You may redesign it. Check! You may create an e-book and post it to your site. Check! An online store may be launched after serious effort. Check! But finishing these things doesn’t mean you can walk away from your website as if it’s a self-driving car. There are several reasons for this.

Your website is dependent on search engines
Like it or not, you’re dependent on search engines to drive traffic (AKA customers) to your business. For U.S. small businesses, understanding how to be noticed by Google is a must.

The reason this task is challenging is because:

  • The specific formula Google uses to rank websites is a trade secret.

  • Google gives us only a small window into understanding how it prioritizes site listings. This requires experimentation, trial and error on our parts.

  • The formula, or algorithm, Google uses to prioritize websites is continually changing and evolving. If you are relying on Google’s practices from five years ago, your site has slipped into obsolescence.

The good news is that Google isn’t seeking technical wizardry or coding smarts when it comes to ranking websites. Search engine optimization (SEO for short) is the business of making sure Google finds your website. It often appears to be shrouded in mystery, like the secret rights of the Freemasons. Only those who climb the heights of Silicon Valley and enter the SEO monastery are privy to its secrets.

Baloney.

steam engine wheel turning chugging moving action go train LR.jpg

Getting on Google’s grid
What Google is seeking in websites is honesty and excellence. It rewards sites that provide value to consumers (it ranks them higher) and punishes sites that do not (it ranks them lower). If your site is helpful in educating people and solving problems, then it will generally rank well. If your site sells dog food but insinuates it’s about pop stars, it will fail.

There are, of course, technical considerations. But they aren’t the primary factor.

Let’s illustrate some components of a successful site this with a fictitious hardware store and its associated website. Smith Hardware’s website pops to the top of Google search returns for “hardware stores in Gumption, Missouri” for several reasons:

  • It’s a local store in a local search.

  • In the text on the website, it clearly identifies itself as a hardware store serving Gumption, Mo. A common mistake is to use images instead of text. Images can communicate information, but they require what are called “alt tags” that explain what’s in the images (“Smith Hardware, Gumption, Mo.”). These are often left blank. The best combination is to use text and properly-tagged images.

  • The contact information is complete, identifying it as located in Gumption, Mo.

  • The store has a clear listing of its products and services.

  • The site’s creators made the most of opportunities to share the store’s ties to its community on the “about us” page.

  • The site includes quality photos and videos, which are properly tagged and described. This further cements both the store’s function (hardware) and location.

  • Smith Hardware has gone the extra mile and regularly updates a blog, which gives it continual opportunities to mention products and services and to provide value to consumers. A regular feature is, “You asked, we answered,” a series of articles dedicated to solving home improvement challenges.

  • Technical considerations, such as the proper sizing of photos, ensure the site loads quickly. It’s also logically organized.

  • Smith Hardware has also linked its Facebook, YouTube and Google My Business pages to its website, which helps Google understand the site is legitimate.

The result: A likely win on Google search returns. As you can see, this is not something that’s done once in a lifetime. And if you think about it, everything important requires maintenance. You couldn’t get by changing your car’s oil every 80,000 miles, visiting the doctor once a decade or going to the gym every 18 months. Of course you could do all these things, but you would suffer consequences.

Maintenance: A universal principle
I don’t want to give the impression this principle only applies to websites. Social media, email marketing, podcasting – even direct mail – are in a constant state of change. Consumers, too, are constantly evolving. Think of the marketing landscape only 10 years ago. It’s shockingly different today.

The bottom line: Expect to stay engaged in your marketing efforts. It’s not one-and-done. It’s to-do, never to-done. To successfully reach your audience, you’ll need to dedicate time, money and personnel. Whether you do this in house, contract with a consultant, or a combination of the two, depends on your unique skill set and resources.

Plan for the long haul so you can reap long-term benefits.

Roy Harryman is principal of Roy Harryman Marketing Communications, a Lee’s Summit, Mo.-based company that helps small businesses and non-profits market for the distance.