WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) with over 140 million downloads so far and powering over 60 websites since launching in 2003. The numbers speak for themselves and it is no wonder even top brands, such as CNN, Forbes, New York Times and Sony among others are hosted on this CMS. Whether you are looking for an engaging blog platform or a business website, WordPress comes in handy in meeting your objectives.
Leveraging WordPress Capabilities
This CMS is perfect for small to medium websites and if you are planning of starting an online platform for your startup, there is no better hosting platform. It gets better; this is a free CMS boasting the largest developer community. If you don’t have programming skills, there are thousands of plug-ins to help you customize your business website.
As your business grows, you don’t have to worry about the need for coding expertise. This open platform is scalable and the one-click installation feature makes WordPress an obvious choice for online business marketers.
Optimizing Your WordPress Website
Like with any other CMS, WordPress has its challenges. As an online marketer you appreciate that millions of websites are launched daily yet only a few of them make any impact. To achieve your goals, your website must not only be visible but also easy-to-use. Google algorithms are now emphasizing the user experience and this means your marketing campaign must also integrate proper maintenance.
Before launching your WordPress site marketing strategy, remember these main key factors:
- Focus: While your website is accessible to millions of people you must narrow your focus if at all you are to improve conversion rates. It is important to concentrate on a narrow niche as this will reduce bounce rates and increase click-through-rates. Ultimately, focusing on a narrow target audience will increase the chances of follow-ups on your call-to-action (CTA).
- Lead generation: Your marketing campaign must very suavely integrate techniques that will generate leads. Opt-in-form for instance or referral incentives will increase leads and this is always the first step in online marketing.
- Value proposition: Now that you are competing with millions of brands from across the globe, why should a potential lead click through? The trick lies in providing value for your target audience. If you are selling cars on your WordPress website, a discount and sales-after pitch will work magic.
- Differentiation: Most websites in your niche have an almost similar feel and to gain a competitive edge you must offer something beyond the ordinary. Take for instance if you are a restaurant offering Mexican food; if you allow customers to prepare their meals, it might work magic. The idea is to offer something that will increase sales conversion.
While these techniques are generally used in traditional marketing, they can easily be adopted for your WordPress site marketing.
Here are tips on how to incorporate these ideas into your website marketing:
1. Press Releases
This marketing technique might not be the first thing in mind, but its effectiveness cannot be denied. It is affordable and when well written, you will not only be increasing visibility of your brand to a target niche but also marketing the website itself. Think of that new product launch that you are planning or an event that your company is going to participate in. The idea is to release newsworthy content to local media or online PR directories.
2. Go Social
Social media marketing is a no-brainer for any website seeking to improve visibility. The benefit of WordPress is that you can easily add tens of social media sites through free plug-ins. Social media now boasts of billions of active users and a floating social bar will make it easier for visitors to share your content. What’s more, you need a concrete social media strategy. Make sure your website is getting mentions and interact with followers.
3. Awesome Content
While there are varying opinions about Google’s search ranking factors, there is no denying that good content is still relevant. In fact, WordPress is mostly known for content and if you want yours to rank highly on search engine results pages (SERPs), you have to get down to work. Content creating includes blogging, infographics and video. The idea is to create fresh and relevant content for your website and blogs and make sure you share the same. Regularly updating your content will make your site an authority site akin to Huffing post, Mashable, TechCrunch among others.
4. Backup Your Website
As a rule of thumb, always backup your website. Frequent loss of data can ruin your search engine ranking and reputation. To guarantee your website is safe and performing optimally, the services of remote DBA experts will come in handy especially if you are not well versed in database management. You are assured someone is looking at the data to guarantee there is no downtime in case of technical glitches. The database management will determine how easy it is to pull information from your website hence the need for technical input from these experts.
5. Leverage Marketing Products and Documents
While digital marketing has surpassed traditional printing, this old fashioned marketing technique also comes in handy. Your business will at one time attend events and printed documents, such as fliers, pop-up signs, brochures, pamphlets and others can easily market your WordPress website. Make sure your site’s URL is on every document from your company. From white papers, PowerPoint presentations, bags to eBooks, your domain should be clearly visible.
6. Optimize Your Site Speeds
A slow website is a no-no when it comes to internet marketing. Both users and search engines love fast websites and for this reason you must optimize your WordPress site speeds. This CMS can get slow as you continue adding plug-ins and images. It is important to regularly check speeds or hire an SEO expert to check any glitches on your website.
7. Email Marketing
If you thought email marketing is dead, you are wrong. In fact, for a new website keen on increasing conversion this is an ingenious technique to get into contact with potential clients directly. In fact, you can also personalize your emails, share industry news, learn from analytics and target the right audience through emails.
Your WordPress website needs a boost to get it at the top. Other strategies worth mention include affiliate marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), configured lead generation among others.