So you’ve decided to give the whole online marketing thing a try and you’ve set up your website, now what?

It’s a common question and there are a variety of answers ranging from ‘set up a blog’ to ‘hire a digital marketing company’. Truth be told, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to generating website traffic and converting that traffic into paying customers.

If you’re looking for a quick win, then you might be tempted to try out a tool such as Google Adwords or Facebook Ads to gain popularity with the masses. Though this might offer some quick wins, you should resist the temptation.

Instead, you should develop a clearer understanding of how digital marketing strategy and tactics can help your business succeed. Only then can you begin to formulate a comprehensive plan and map out what you need to do to reach your targeted audience.

To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of top tips on how to become a successful digital marketer.

Invest In Digital Marketing Education

If you’re looking to enter the industry, then it’s imperative to invest in your own digital marketing education. As a digital marketer, you’ll be expected to keep abreast of the latest trends and technologies that can help you grow your business. To master the basics, register for evening classes at your local university. Alternatively, consider purchasing a certification from a recognized body such as the American Association of Advertising Agencies. (4/20/2019)

Set A Goal

If you’ve ever worked a traditional job, then you’ll be familiar with the concept of having a mission statement. A mission statement is a brief statement outlining the purpose or mission of your business. Having a clear idea of your business’ purpose and goals will help you define your strategy, identify the right metrics, and ensure that you remain focused enough to achieve your objectives. For example, if you aspire to be the most popular travel agent in your region, then your mission could be to achieve that status and the corresponding goals could be to achieve a certain amount of website traffic, make a certain number of sales, etc.

Choose A Niche

If you’re new to the industry, then it’s best to choose a niche. A niche is a “small market or segment” within the general population. For example, ‘gym wear for women’ is a niche within the general wellness category. When choosing a niche, it’s important to pick a market or audience that you can specifically target with your product or service. If you target a specific niche, you can be certain that you’ll find the right audience and that your product will be highly relevant to their needs. Furthermore, once you’ve established yourself as an authority in your chosen niche, you can easily expand your reach to other related niches such as blogging, social media, etc. (i.e- the 9 industries identified above). When establishing yourself as an authority in a niche, consider compiling a list of useful tips, tricks, and guidelines that can be shared with your audience. By answering questions, providing insight, and offering solutions to common problems, you can become an expert in your chosen niche and establish yourself as a thought leader.

Diversify Your Income Streams

Having multiple income streams is necessary for any entrepreneur or business owner. In today’s ever changing world, it’s important to be able to adapt your business model to fit changing marketplace conditions. One of the best ways to do this is to develop a digital marketing strategy. Building a reputation as an expert in your chosen field can help you develop niche markets for yourself, which in turn can help you diversify your income streams.

Understand The Mechanics Behind SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving the ranking of your website or blog in organic search results on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yandex. If you’re new to the game, then it might be hard to understand exactly what SEO is and how it works. For that reason, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions to help you better understand SEO.

How Do I Begin My SEO?

The first step in optimizing your website for search engines is to conduct a quick keyword research session. A keyword is a word or phrase used as a query by potential customers when they search for content related to your business. For example, if you’re running a blog about fashion, the keywords ‘fashion blog tips’ or ‘top fashion blog alerts’ can be used to find blogs and website content that may be of interest to your target audience.

After you’ve identified the keywords, you can begin to build a short-list of phrases that you’ll incorporate into your content. When creating content for your website or blog, always consider the keyword list you’ve created.

What Should My Website Or Blog Content Include?

The content on your website or blog should include useful information that is both unique and valuable to your audience. When developing content for your website, ask yourself the following questions:

• What information is essential to my audience?
• What language do they speak?
• What is the main problem my audience is facing (e.g- if you’re a financial advisor, then you might want to blog about tax free retirement accounts)

The answers to these questions will help you create content that is both useful and worth reading. When you’re establishing your authority in a particular field, consider creating authoritative articles, case studies, or videos to share with your audience. These should be high-quality content that is both informative and entertaining.

How Do I Improve My SEO?

To improve your SEO, you’ll need to take a multi-pronged approach that includes doing your keyword research, building backlinks, and using analytics tools to track the effectiveness of your efforts.

Keyword Research

As we discussed above, keywords are important because they help search engines like Google or Bing locate your content. In addition to using keywords in your content, you can also use them in your website’s URL, ALT tags, and in the text of your content. For example, if you’re writing an article about fashion, you could use the keywords ‘fashion’, ‘style’, and ‘wearing’ in the text, as well as in the URL, alt tags, and h1, h2, and h3 tags.

To find the right keywords, you’ll need to establish an SEO strategy and create a keyword plan. An SEO strategy is a roadmap designed to improve the ranking of your site or blog in organic search results on search engines like Google.

Building Backlinks

When a potential customer (or viewer) clicks on a link, they’re often taken to a webpage with fresh content. If you own or operate a blog, then you know that generating quality traffic and engaging content is extremely important. To get the bots to rank your website or blog content, you’ll need to create high-quality links to your site or blog. When a webmaster (i.e- a person responsible for maintaining a website or blog) publishes a link to your site or blog, they’re essentially saying that they think your content is valuable and worth reading. In return, you’ll gain some web traffic and maybe even some sales if they’re visiting your site or buying your product because it was recommended by a reputable source.

There are several strategies for getting high-quality backlinks, including paying for and/or recommending relevant blogs and articles to your followers, connecting with authoritative figures in your niche, and earning backlinks through guest blogging. You can also use tools like Linkedin to find relevant connections and engage with potential customers.

Use Analytics

You can use tools like Google Analytics to track the traffic on your site or blog. With these tools, you’re able to observe how many people are visiting your site and how they’re behaving once they’re there. Using tools like Google Analytics to gather information about your website’s traffic and the performance of individual pages and posts can help you make improvements that will boost your site’s rank in the search engines.

Try Something New

In today’s ever changing world, it’s important to be able to adapt your business model to fit changing marketplace conditions. One of the best ways to do this is to develop a digital marketing strategy. Building a reputation as an expert in your chosen field can help you develop niche markets for yourself, which in turn can help you diversify your income streams.