How Inbound Can Drive Targeted Traffic And Grow Your Business Online

Inbound Marketing is a unique approach that focuses more on the “buyer” and their needs and less on self-promotion and interruption. We live in a time where most of us are so used to having advertising everywhere around us that we ignore a majority of it. Nevertheless, companies spend billions every year trying to grab our attention. But what if we could market to consumers in a way that would connect with them on a deeper level and slowly nurture them into ‚”word-of-mouth” promoters for our businesses?

With so many other businesses looking for ways to grow online, it’s starting to get crowded. Finding a way to set your business apart from all of the noise can often be incredibly intimidating. That’s what makes the Inbound method so effective. It lays out a blueprint on how and where to get started based on the niche you are in and the goals you have set. So let’s take a deeper look into how Inbound can drive targeted traffic and grow your business online.

It all starts with setting goals. If you don’t know where you want to go, it is impossible to plan.  In order to ensure we have a clear idea of where we want to go we develop SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. So for example; By August 1st we want to generate 3 new clients, go from 5 to 8, via our website. This is just a rough example but it gives a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve. The more detailed the goals the better.

Download your free SMART Goal template here.

After you have set your SMART goals it is time to start working to achieve them! Inbound Marketing is a process. At the top of that process is attracting targeted traffic. Since this post is about generating targeted traffic the next sections will focus solely on top of the funnel, or attract stage, tactics.

Attracting new and targeted traffic to your site is essential if you are looking to grow your business online. The attract phase of Inbound focuses on 3 main areas: SEO, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing. All of these strategies must be based on research. The reason is we don’t want to just drive traffic; we want to drive the right traffic!

The Power of Search

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a powerful way to get your content in front of people looking for solutions to their problems. SEO is a two-step process. On-Page SEO is all about optimizing your site for the user and the search engine. This step looks at all of the on-page factors that affect your search engine rank and the conversion of that ranking into visits. The second phase is focused on the off-page factors tied to your site rank. In this phase you are building links, promoting your content, and marketing your sites to the search engines. While SEO can be done in-house, it is a time-consuming process that is always changing, so we recommend you hire a pro. Here are a few tips we suggest when looking to hire an SEO agency.

Doing SEO in-house? Download your copy of “The Ultimate SEO Checklist” here.

Create Content that Connects

Having a blog focused on your business and the services you provide for your customers is a great way to stay connected and keep people informed. Focus your content around the research you’ve done on your ideal buyer and the solutions to their problems. This will not only help position your business as an industry leader but will also help your SEO efforts.

Social Media Could Make The Difference

Over the past four months, social media has been the number 1 reference to our agency’s website. Why? We started with a great SEO strategy, generated good content on our blog and then we promoted it like crazy! Each social media network is different and the ways people use them are different. So, we tailored our social media posting around the different networks, testing timing and content to see how our audience reacted. We also made a point to be social! We connect with new people daily, answer questions and even share others’ content. Social media could be the missing link in your digital marketing efforts.

Learn how to find new prospects online using social media with our free workbook.

Refocusing your marketing efforts and embracing Inbound has the potential to grow your business online like never before. While today we focused only on the first part of Inbound, attracting targeted traffic, it is the rest of the strategy that will help take the traffic you are generating and turn them into delighted customers who promote you as well!