SEO TIPS FOR E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

If you’re an online marketer with an eCommerce website, then this tip is for you. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for any website can be a daunting task, and that goes double when you are talking about selling product on the internet.

Through the wild world of SEO for your eCommerce website I share some of the top five best tips to get your products seen by people looking to buy them.

1. Allow reviews on product pages.

Reviews are valuable on a few different levels. They provide social proof that helps increase purchases. They add legitimacy to your brand and products. And they help with SEO.

2. Optimize for featured snippets.
Google changes the layout of the SERP(Search Engine Results Pages) based on the perceived search intent of the keyword. Featured snippets appear on 12% of all searches, which while not high, can still be a huge boost if your site is chosen for a snippet.

3. Create content around specific products.
While a good content marketing rule of thumb is to make your content more focused on helping than selling, eCommerce brands can sometimes skilfully combine the two by creating content that features products you sell.

4. Create comparison content.
Some brands shy away from ever mentioning a competitor. You may worry doing so will drive more attention to a brand that’s vying for your customers. But a lot of customers spend time in the research phase before choosing a product. And often part of their research is trying to figure out how two similar products compare.

5. Use schema mark-up.
Schema mark-up gives you a way to provide Google more information about what’s on a page. And it helps Google display more relevant details about the page on the SERP, making it more likely that people searching will click through.

GOOGLE TO HELP RETAILERS RE-CAPTURE SALES FROM ABANDONED SEARCHES

Search abandonment -- when a consumer searches for a product then leaves the site before clicking through the results -- is a costly problem for retailers. Today, Google Cloud is announcing a new tool aimed at the problem.

Built on Google's understanding of user intent and context, Google Cloud Retail Search provides retailers with Google-quality search on their own digital properties and websites.

To support the tool's introduction, Google commissioned the Harris Poll to conduct a survey of over 200 retail website managers and 10,000 global consumers who have used the search function on a retail website in the past six months. According to the query, search abandonment is costing retailers more than $300 billion annually in the U.S. A majority of website managers (88 percent) say abandoned searches are a problem at their company. Similarly, 94 percent of global consumers received irrelevant results while searching on a retailer's website in the last six months, and 85 percent say they view a brand differently after experiencing search difficulties. 

"Search abandonment is a costly, industry-wide issue, but for start-up founders and small-business owners, it can be devastating," said Carrie Tharp, Google Cloud's vice-president of retail and consumer. "With Retail Search, we're able to help convert site traffic to sales and keep start-ups and small businesses from leaving money on the table."

Offering search tools in its API is a competitive factor for any cloud provider, such as Amazon Web Service Retail's ViSenze, an image recognition tool that shows alternative or complementary products to a customer's search on a website.

Google Cloud Retail Search was previously available in private preview, which means it was open for testing by retailers using Google Cloud. The cost to use Google Cloud varies on factors like storage and developer tools, but an estimate can be calculated with a pricing calculator on Google's website. Retailers will need to contact Google or reach out to their Google Cloud representative to enable retail search in their account.

TIME-BLOCKING AS A TOOL

I’m often asked about time blocking—or making a calendar appointment with yourself—to accomplish tasks, especially those you’ve been procrastinating on. Many people try to assign everything they need to do to a time on their calendar. I don’t recommend that, since the first person you will break an appointment with is yourself. So, I find that people who use their calendar this way spend too much time rearranging their calendar, leaving too little time to accomplish things. Also there is the danger of things falling through the cracks when you both don’t keep the appointment you made with yourself, and you forget to move the appointment to another time on your calendar.

However, there are times when it can be useful to make an appointment with yourself. Follow these three rules for greatest efficiency:

1. Use time blocking very selectively
2. Don’t block too far into the future, it’s too uncertain
3. Don’t make your blocks too long

Try this: Take a look at your calendar. Are you currently using time-blocking as a strategy? If so, review your blocked time and make sure that it meets the three criteria above. This will free your brain up from thinking about your calendar, so you have more mental space to actually get things done.

 

6 TIPS TO AVOID COMMON BLOGGING MISTAKES

You’re super excited to start your blogging journey, but before you know it, you happen to make a few common blogging mistakes that push you three steps back again. Don’t worry because this post will help you avoid six common blogging mistakes and offer solutions to fix them.

Let’s jump straight into it…

1. Understanding Delayed Gratification

Did you know that 77% of Internet users read blog articles? One common blogging mistake is believing that you’ll get a big piece of this traffic and make money from your blog as soon as you’ve published it.

You need to understand the concept of delayed gratification and be prepared to put in the time and effort without possibly seeing any income during the first months.

This is true, especially if you’re an affiliate marketer that makes a commission from the products and services you’re promoting on your blog. To start making commissions, you’ll need to drive traffic to your blog, which can take a while if you don’t choose the route of paid traffic.

However, understanding this makes it worth putting in the extra effort, knowing you’ll get the gratification later when you have consistent website traffic.

That said, many bloggers give up at this stage but don’t be one of them. Instead, keep working on posting high-quality content and drive more traffic to your blog, so you can reap the rewards later.

2. Using a Self-Hosted Blog Platform

I recommend using a self-hosted blog platform like WordPress.org. Free blogging platforms such as Weebly, Wix, or WordPress.com come with limitations and restrictions.

You won’t have complete control over your blog and be able to monetize it the way you want. But when using WordPress.org, you own your blog and have no restrictions.

Plus, WordPress.org is free to use. You only have to pay for hosting and a domain name. In addition, you may want to use a paid theme to get access to special functionality, but that’s up to you.

3. Capturing Leads on Your Blog

You should always capture leads on your blog and retarget them with email marketing. Don’t just publish blog posts and leave them out in the ether and expect the magic to happen.

Your goal should always be to turn email subscribers into paying customers. And this you can do by including a lead capture form on your blog.

Offer your blog visitors a free gift in exchange for leaving you their email address. For example, downloading a free eBook, attending a course/webinar, a cool giveaway, and so forth.

You can then use an automated email service to send different offers to your subscribers. And here’s where you can make more money from your blog. In fact, email marketing generates, on average, 38x return on investment.

Best of all, you own your email list, so no one can take that away from you. Here are three free email services you can use:

Omisend Sendinblue Mailchimp

4. Not Spreading Yourself Too Thin

When starting out as a blogger, it’s easy to get overly enthusiastic and blog about too many topics. Covering too many topics makes it harder to attract an audience of loyal readers.

For example, if you write about exercise, travel, and social media marketing strategies, that’s three different audiences. Visitors that are interested in travel content might not be interested in social media marketing strategies. It will be difficult to get people to stay and read more of your content.

Besides, spreading yourself too thin may also confuse search engines. Google might not understand what your blog is about and won’t favor it in search results.

Instead, stick to one niche or topic and become an authority on the subject. This will help you build a loyal audience. And Google will see that your website is providing helpful content and rank it.

5. Performing Keyword Research

Did you know that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine? And the first 5 results for a given search account for 67% of all clicks.

That’s why I can’t state the importance of performing keyword research enough. If you skip this step, you may use keywords with no search volume in your content. This means that no one is interested in your topic, and you won’t get any organic search traffic to your blog.

However, ensuring that a keyword has enough search volume is easy if you use SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs.

All you need to do is type in your keyword, and these tools will return the monthly search volume and trends. They can even give you tips on related keywords to use when producing more content.

6. Not Giving Up!

As mentioned initially, many bloggers give up before their blog even has a chance to grow. Remember that it takes time to get consistent traffic and loyal readers.

The truth is that your blog isn’t going to be an overnight success. But, if you’re patient and publish blog posts frequently, as well as focus on ways to drive more search traffic and grow your email list, you’ll start seeing results.

I can promise you that.

After all, the more content you publish, the more traffic you’ll get. Just make sure to not sacrifice quality for quantity.

Wrapping Up

Blogging has enormous potential. Whether you’re writing for clients, posting sponsored ads on your blog, or using affiliate marketing, you can make a lot of money. You’ll also experience the freedom of being your own boss and get to decide your hours. It can’t get much better than that. So, keep improving your blogging skills and have faith in your abilities to create a successful blog. I believe in you.

WARREN BUFFETT: BEST LIFE ADVICE

A new CNBC interview with billionaires Warren Buffett and his business partner, Charlie Munger, sheds light on their six decades of friendship.

Buffett and Munger built Berkshire Hathaway from a single textile mill into a $650 billion powerhouse. And they've never had an argument. Why? They admire each other's strengths.

Near the end of the episode, Buffett offered this advice to anyone who wants to lead a successful life or career: It's better to associate with people who are better than you are.

As I've come to know many influential CEOs and entrepreneurs in my career as a communication expert, I realize just how powerful Buffett's advice is--and why it's hard for most people to follow.

Here's how to start taking Buffett's advice to build the life you've always imagined.

1. Set aside your ego.

This is the hardest step to take, and why few people follow Buffett's advice. When was the last time you acknowledged that a peer, spouse, friend, or even a competitor makes you a better person?

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson--who made history by winning the PGA Championship at the age of 51--once admitted in a press conference that if it hadn't been for Tiger Woods, he wouldn't have been as good as he's been long after most athletes retire.

I've used Mickelson's story with my daughters; one loves playing music and the other loves playing a sport. It's OK to admit that another person is a better piano player or better at a particular skill. Another person's strength doesn't take anything away from you. In fact, you can use their example as motivation to improve.

2. Contact people you admire.  

Although I've written 10 books, I continue to grow as a writer because I've exposed myself to the best in the business. After taking step one and setting aside my ego, I could read other business and non-fiction books with an appreciation for another writer's strengths. I've often followed up with personal calls to the writers I admire.

When you tell people you like their work, you'll be amazed at how forthcoming they are with tips to help you improve.

3. Stay open to diverse experiences.

You can learn only so much by associating with people who share your same background, education, etc. Step outside your comfort zone and actively seek out those whose experiences and strengths are different from your own.

For example, I don't have a military background, but I jump at the opportunity to speak at military bases and to elite soldiers like the Green Berets and TopGun fighter pilots. By doing so, I've become friends with people who have uncommon courage. I have skills they would like to learn, and they have strengths that I admire. As a result, we make each other better.

In the interview, Munger agreed with Buffett's advice that it helps to associate with people who make you better. "To get a good partner, be a good partner," he added. You'll be a good partner if you set aside your ego, acknowledge that others have talents you'd like to emulate, and stay open to new experiences.

A good partner will attract other good partners, and together you'll rise.

PRODUCTIVITY APPS WILL NEVER MAKE YOU A PRODUCTIVITY PRO

In the past, before technology became a big part of our lives, people used paper-based planners to organize their lives. And in 2021, paper-based journals have become some people’s antidote to the dominance of technology in our lives.

Of course, there are literally thousands of apps that promise to help make you more productive. People ask me all the time how I manage to stay on top of them all.

The answer is, “I don’t.” Not really. I have a peripheral awareness of most of them. And of course I have a trusted group that I use religiously. But I only need a few, and I don’t need to learn about every new one.

This is because it’s not the tools that make me more productive, and it’s not software training that I deliver to my clients to make them more productive.

It’s the process that makes the difference—the collection of habits and behaviours for managing the details of your life that will kick your productivity into high gear. Some people call it a “workflow management process,” but you can also think of it as a “life-flow” management process.

Interestingly, this is a point that organizations often overlook when choosing new productivity tools for their employees. When people try out new tools, they may learn how to use them, but without an effective system for using them, the tools themselves often don’t deliver the desired results. A workflow management process keeps the focus on the most important goals while offering a structure in which to organize and manage the details.

Company leaders, as well as individuals, often ask my advice in choosing productivity software for themselves and their companies. Before recommending anything, I always ask, “How will the software fit into the existing workflow management process?” Perhaps the real problem is that there is no workflow management system in place.

Let’s look at sports to get a better picture. People may take lessons to learn a new sport, say golf or tennis. There are certain tools needed to play these games - namely, golf clubs or a tennis racquet. But these tools are just aids. The goal is to be able to play the game. I don’t play golf, but I understand how to swing a club; I know that I am supposed to hold the grip end and swing the flat end. Knowing this does not make me a good golfer. The right tools are important, but even more important are the skills necessary to play the game well. Once I become a great golfer, probably any set of clubs will do.

In a similar way, productivity is also a combination of skill and the right tools to support those skills. It doesn’t matter which software, apps, or gadgets a company purchases for its employees. Those tools aren’t going to make the employees more productive unless they are also taught a solid methodology with which to use those tools.

Before you get excited about a new productivity app or software for yourself or your organization, first consider the following questions.

• What are the specific problems you’d like the software to solve?
• What is being done now? For an individual, ask yourself how you are currently managing your workload. For company leaders, if you think you might need a project management tool for your employees, first evaluate how they are currently tracking their tasks and projects. Also consider how project leaders track their teams’ projects and set timelines. If there doesn’t seem to be a clear workflow management process in place, the software will not provide one. So that’s the first problem to be solved! If there is a process in place, ask, “How will this new tool support the existing process?”
• If you’re a leader and you have employees who excel in the area where you perceive a problem, examine their process, and ask what they need in a tool before purchasing something they don’t need or want.

I’m so excited about my Empowered Productivity book series from Ignite Reads, because it offers this missing piece. Each book contains one piece of my Empowered Productivity system for workflow management in a way that is quick and easy to read and implement. Attention Management will teach you the foundational concept of Empowered Productivity: how to tame distractions and focus on what’s important. The latest book in the series—From To Do to Done—covers the action management piece, and will teach you how to manage all of your tasks, commitments, and responsibilities more easily and with less stress. Next up is The Happy Inbox, covering communication management and available in November, 2021. By the time you incorporate all of these new skills, you’ll be ready to tackle the future books in the series.

Technology can definitely improve knowledge worker productivity. But when investing in technology tools, whether for yourself or your company, remember that fancy clubs alone won’t turn users into PGA pros.

- Maura Nevel Thomas, author of From To-Do to Done

ARE SOCIAL MEDIA ADS WORTH THE INVESTMENT?

Again, a very valid question. Our answer:

When you know the average Lifetime Value of each client you close from these appointments, you can determine whether or not this is an investment that has a high ROI every time. 

You’ll notice that ad spend and appointment costs vary. That depends on LinkedIn or Facebook’s algorithm (how often your ad is shown to your targeted audience), time of year, and other factors. 

What’s important here is that you want to get to a point where you build a formula that gives you ROI - and it takes some time to get there. 

You need to optimize ad copy (your message), the creative (the ad graphics), the targeting, the follow-up, and even your sales process. Over time, the ROI gets better and better, and you’ll get to a point where you can plan ahead and create [pretty solid forecasts.

So, with time, you should be able to tell your team something like this...

Conclusion

To sum up, there are four ad strategies we use for our clients to get prospects on their sales calendar consistently.

These strategies are not just about throwing out an ad and seeing what comes from it. It is a systematized process that only starts with the initial ad (which includes the set-up of dialing in on the targeting, the message, the ad copy, and ad creative. 

All of this involves testing over time.) It’s after the lead exchanges their information that the rest of the system kicks in on the back-end with follow-up messaging via email or social media and phone calling. This is how we optimize ad campaigns and cantilever quality appointments, instead of doing what many others do…

Which is to set up an ad campaign and leave it at that. 

SOCIAL MEDIA AD STRATEGIES: DIRECT TO APPOINTMENT OR CONSULTATION

Unlike the previous campaigns, the ads in these campaigns encourage the prospect to book an appointment directly.

WHAT THE CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE:

Step 1: Your target audience sees your ad for a call with your company (your sales team) about your offer

Step 2: They provide their information and schedule the call

Step 3: If they don’t book an appointment immediately, we follow-up with email and phone calling. If they did book an appointment for the free assessment, we send out reminder emails and call in order to increase show-up rates for the calls.

Similar to the campaign above, in this ad campaign, you are more straightforward about the offer.

WHY IT WORKS:

What happened to building trust first? Good question.

In some cases, depending on the market and your targeting, these prove to be efficient campaigns because your audience already knows about you and trusts you. This usually happens in conjunction when ads are incorporated within a multichannel lead generation strategy.

This is THE most simplified ad campaign because these campaigns are certainly more direct, immediately pushing for a call instead of offering content or value in some way.

SOCIAL MEDIA AD STRATEGIES: WEBINARS/ONLINE EVENTS

Webinar and online event campaigns are similar to the rest of the campaigns in that you provide a lot of value before you go for the sale. The key here is education, positioning, and trust building.

WHAT THE CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE:

Step 1: Your target audience sees your ad for the webinar or online event 

Step 2: They provide their information and receive the information for how to log in and receive a series of emails to remind them to show-up for the webinar.

Step 3: If they don’t book an appointment, sign-up for a trial, or book a call immediately on the webinar itself (whatever your goal is for the webinar), we follow-up with email, messaging, and phone calling to increase your conversion rate.

WHY IT WORKS:

Webinars and online event campaigns work especially well for SaaS companies to get demos and sign-ups for their product, associations/networking, for sales teams generate appointments for high ticket offers, and to fill online programs. 

Webinar and online event campaigns are similar to the rest of the campaigns in that you provide a lot of value. The key here is education and trust building, but it goes deeper than that. You’ve got content that you’re presenting in a multi-sensory way with a webinar. They see you and hear you, and if you’re running it live, you’re providing an opportunity for them to ask direct questions. 

Realize also that a webinar is a much bigger commitment than downloading a pdf for example, and as such, it’s also an excellent way to qualify and filter those who are really interested. It’s also an excellent positioning tool - you’re not only positioning yourself as the expert on the subject you’re presenting, you’ve become a trusted resource… and it’s a no-pressure way for your prospect to get to know you and your company.

SOCIAL MEDIA AD STRATEGIES: PDF/CONTENT DOWNLOAD

WHAT THE CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE:

Step 1: Your target audience sees your ad for content 

Step 2: They provide their information in exchange for the content

Step 3: If they don’t book an appointment immediately, we follow-up with email and phone calling

These are ads that attract your targeted audience with a pdf report, eBooks, whitepaper, checklist, or other valuable download that helps solve an immediate pain for them. From there, the follow up emails you send them after they opt-in to receive the download will encourage them to book an appointment.

In many cases, we also have our sales development rep (SDR) team call these prospects as soon as possible after they download the pdf. This is just one way we take advantage of both key timing and multiple channels; we talk to prospects when they show interest (or as soon afterwards as possible) and encourage them to make an appointment with our clients’ sales calendars (or at least to take that next step in the sales cycle). 

WHY IT WORKS:

If the singular goal is to book appointments and we want to keep it as simple as possible, why are we offering content first? Won’t that confuse the lead by providing more hurdles before they can book an appointment?

That’s a valid question and concern. The reason this approach often works is two-fold:

1. You’re building trust first. You are providing content that not only helps them solve an immediate problem, you’re showing your expertise and positioning yourself as an expert in the market. No one will book an appointment right away if they don’t trust you first.
2. In many cases, the ad costs for these types of ad campaigns are lower. Besides building immediate trust and enhancing your positioning in the marketplace, lower ad costs can contribute to a higher ROI.

SOCIAL MEDIA AD STRATEGIES: FACEBOOK VS LINKEDIN ADS

Earlier, in our bird’s eye view, we mentioned that with this strategy, it doesn’t matter what the traffic source is, the strategy is still the same and (assuming you have the right message and the right targeting), these campaigns will attract quality leads that will book appointments with you.

However, that being said, the traffic source does make a difference in terms of quality and cost effectiveness. 

Both platforms have their pros and cons. What’s most important when deciding what platform to test first is deciding on your objectives and KPIs (your Key Performance Indicators). 

If you need a high volume of opt-ins at a cost low enough to make your campaign viable, Facebook is a great place to start since the traffic is cheaper and will allow you to test faster.

*Pro Tip:  Make sure to use Facebook’s Business Manager and upload past lists of buyers to create an “LTV Lookalike” list. These lists are some of the most potent targeting groups you can run on Facebook. 

On the other hand, LinkedIn is hands down the single most effective platform for B2B campaigns. With over 560 million active users, 61million are of senior-level influence or in decision-making positions and able to make the final call on your product or service. Whether you’re promoting a case study or white paper, or your ads go “direct to appointment”, LinkedIn makes it easy to get in front of businesses who want and need your services.

The thing to keep in mind here is that traffic from LinkedIn is going to cost you 3-4x more than traffic from Facebook. We recommend no less than a $1,500-$3,000/month budget for LinkedIn to gather the needed data to optimize and perfect your ads. 

Here’s a rundown of some of the differences to keep in mind when it comes to running ad campaigns on either Facebook or LinkedIn:

PREPARE FOR PRODUCTIVITY

Have you gone to work determined to complete just one or two really important things? But then, before you know it, it’s the end of the day and you haven’t even had to time to think about those tasks? Or maybe on New Year’s Day or your birthday you reflect that another year has passed and you haven’t made progress toward achieving your big life goals?

The two situations are deeply related. If you spend the best part of your days focused on trying to keep up with what the world throws your way, you lose your ability to shape the life you want to live. True productivity isn’t about checking more things off your to-do list every day. It’s not about being busy reacting to the unrelenting amount of communication and information you receive every day.

Try this: Ask yourself these two questions: “What kind of person do I want to be?” and “What kind of life do I want to live?” True productivity means accomplishing more of what’s important to you—your significant results. On a scale of 1 – 5, how well are you doing at accomplishing your significant results right now?

STRATEGIES FOR GETTING MORE BLOG FOLLOWERS

Are you looking for a way to grow your business and get more blog followers? If so, you’re not alone. Business owners and marketers across all industries understand the importance of a strong content marketing strategy.

When your website is jam-packed with well-written, helpful blog posts, people are more likely to return for repeat visits. You may also be shocked to learn that 70% of consumers prefer to get to know companies through their content instead of promotions.

In other words, an effective content marketing strategy can help you build trust, keep visitors engaged, and secure more sales.

Today, we will show you several ways you can get more blog followers. The tips below have all worked for our brands, and with time and patience, these strategies can work for you.

Let’s dive in!

1.Get to Know Your Audience Segments

The first thing we want to talk about is your audience segments. All businesses have diverse customers that all have different interests, pain points, and goals. The culmination of these traits adds up to unique customer personas.

Customer personas, simply put, are the different groups of customers that each business services. So, for instance, an online pet store would have personas for cat owners, dog owners, and people who are crazy about birds.

Because each group has unique interests, the content they want to see can be varied as well. As a result, you have to work hard to create content for your blog that touches on all of the common (and some uncommon) pain points in your industry.

How does this help you get more followers? Well, 47% of online shoppers like to read 3-5 blog posts from a company before becoming a customer. So if you don’t have blog posts that resonate with users, there’s a good chance they will quickly leave your site.

You can design customer personas by examining your Google Analytics data and customer feedback forms. Think about the specific needs of customers who purchase each of your products. Then, create content that matches what your audience wants to see, and you can bet that you’ll get more followers.

2.Optimize Your Blog for Searchability

Next, let’s talk about optimizing your blog for searchability. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the ranking of your site with popular search engines, most notably, Google.

If you want people to find your website, you need a blog that’s optimized for search. The best way to start this process is to use Google’s Keyword Planner to identify keywords in your industry with high search volume and low competition.

We suggest looking for plenty of long-tail keywords. Not only do these types of keywords make it easier to identify user intent, but it’s also an excellent way to reach more people who use voice search.

Once you’ve picked a handful of relevant words, start including them strategically throughout your content. Your title, headers, URL, and text body should all contain the keyword so Google crawlers can rank your website on the appropriate page.

Believe it or not, businesses that blog get 524% more pages indexed by Google, so this is one tip you can’t afford to miss.

3.Make it Easy to Connect

One of the biggest problems new website owners make is they don’t ask their blog visitors to subscribe to another marketing channel. If someone leaves your website without subscribing to your email list or enabling some form of notification, you’re missing out on a significant opportunity to bring more people back to your site.

Let’s look at push alerts as an example. In the United States, 15.95% of consumers agreed to receive push alerts to their devices when asked directly. You can use a tool like Push Engage to create segmented campaigns that send unique content and offers to each subscriber.

If used correctly, these types of notifications can help you drive more traffic to your website and drastically boost sales.

We also recommend creating an email signup form on your blog. You can incentivize users to sign up for a lead magnet, like an ebook or promotion. This technique will help you get more email subscribers and ensure that you have an audience ready to check out your latest blog post or flash sale.

4.Host Interactive Events

Interactive events are a powerful way to get more blog traffic. There are countless types of benefits you can participate in. We’ve found success with hosting online giveaways and private webinars for our subscribers.

At this point, it’s up to you to decide what kind of interactive event you use on your blog. If your goal is to bring in brand new people, you may want to consider hosting a giveaway with one of your popular products listed as the grand prize.

You can use your giveaway to dramatically grow your brand awareness and traffic. We suggest setting a rule on your giveaway that asks users to share your event for an additional chance to win.

If you want to gain your subscribers’ trust, you could host an educational webinar. Think back to the customer personas you created in step one. Find a common problem that a majority of your customers want to fix. Create an event and get people to start signing up a few weeks in advance.

There’s a good chance you could see a surge of blog followers leading up to the event and immediately after. Properly timed webinars throughout the year can ensure steady growth during peak periods.

5.Use Social Media to Reach More People

The last tip we want to talk about today is how you can use social media to get more blog followers. When you consider that 3.96 billion people use websites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to shop for products and engage with brands, it’s no surprise that this tip is on the list.

Social media is one of the best ways you can get more people back to your website. Much like our previous tip, there are plenty of exciting ways you can reach more people using your existing social profiles.

We like to spend our time engaging in industry-specific groups. There’s a good chance there are several relevant groups where you can find your target audience. Use this opportunity to get to know potential customers and offer resources through your blog content.

If you’ve done an excellent job researching your audience, you should have an easy time sharing highly relevant posts that catch peoples’ attention and bring them back to your blog.