Driving traffic to your website. . .quality vs. quantity
Today I had a discussion with a prospect about the traffic on his website. He had been talking with another glass shop owner and they were trading numbers about how many visitors they were getting to their websites. When I asked how much of that traffic was coming from site visitors in his service areas. . .there was a silence on the phone. He had not been looking at the incremental growth of local traffic vs. overall traffic.
There are lots of ways to learn important information about the visitors to your website; and for a retailer that services a specific geographic area, you’ll enjoy a much higher return on your investment if you focus your online efforts on developing a strong presence with your local audience - your next customer.
Three easy steps to get you started?
STEP ONE - Begin with a list of all the local terms that are pertinent to your region, for example I live in northeast Ohio, when I go online looking for local services I include the local communities in the search:
“hudson auto glass repair” “windshield replacement cleveland” “local glass shop akron ohio”
STEP TWO - Now let’s look at the content of your website. Are you including your local area search “keywords” in your website content? If not, then you’re missing out on some of the best traffic because visitors that are typing in those longer, more precise search phrases are actively searching to buy, not just shop. And they are in your backyard.
STEP THREE - If your webmaster cannot fix your content, hire someone who can. Remember, it’s clearly important to optimize your website content. It’s equally important to make sure that once you get the visitor to your website, the message needs to be compelling, accurate and relevant. Spend time to ensure that the words on the page clearly help sell your service and capabilities.
