Connecting with Your Website Visitors

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Planning a Website the Organized Way: Connecting with Your Website Visitors

Last week, we talked about a few ways to bring new visitors to your website. If you’ve done a good job planning your design and your content, the people you can help through your business will take the time to explore what you have to offer.

However, most people will not be ready to do business with you the first time they visit your site. First, they need to like you and trust you, and before that can happen, they have to get to know you. There are a number of ways to achieve this.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”One of the most powerful ways to connect with your website visitors is through #blogging.” quote=”One of the most powerful ways to connect with your website visitors is through blogging.” theme=”style3″]

Blogging

Posting new articles on your blog gives prospective clients a reason to return to your website on a regular basis.

I’m not going to lie to you though – consistent blogging requires time and effort. Even if you hire someone to assist with your blogging activities, you must be committed to the process. Like anything else, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.

Planning a blog is beyond the scope of this series, but I may write a follow-up series, Planning a Blog the Organized Way, at a later date.

Social Media

Sharing your blog posts on social media is a great way to bring them to the attention of both new and existing readers and encourage them to click through and read.

But let me caution you: if all you share is your own blog posts, people will get bored of you very easily. Many experts suggest applying the 80-20 rule on social media by posting other people’s content 80% of the time, and your own only 20% of the time.

Posting relevant content from other bloggers and businesses is a good way to stay in front of your target audience, even if you decide not to start a blog – you just don’t gain the additional website traffic.

Include links to your active social media profiles on your website to encourage visitors to follow you, and make it easy for them to share your content by placing social sharing buttons at the top, bottom and/or side of every page and blog post.

Email Marketing

Despite the ever-growing popularity of blogs and social media as marketing strategies, email marketing is still the most effective way to keep your name in front of prospective clients. They may go days or weeks without visiting your blog or their social media accounts, but most people check their inbox regularly.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Offering an opt-in subscription should be high on your list of priorities.” quote=”Offering an opt-in subscription should be high on your list of priorities.” theme=”style3″]

Many people are very cautious about sharing their email address, so be sure to include a privacy statement on your site. Make it worth their while by offering new subscribers an incentive such as a free tip sheet, e-book, or video lesson. Yes, some will unsubscribe as soon as they receive their gift, but they are not your ideal clients. Those who are genuinely interested in what you can do for them will be happy to read your emails, as long as they’re not too frequent or overly promotional.

You may choose to set up an RSS-to-email campaign, which will automatically email your subscribers when you publish new content to your blog, or you may prefer to create a more formal newsletter. You might even do both.

Once you begin to build a mailing list, make sure you send something out at least a couple of times a year – not only to remind potential clients that you’re available to assist them, but so no one forgets they signed up for your list and reports you as a spammer.

As you can see, there are several ways to connect with your website visitors. Start with one or more; you can always extend your reach later on.

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Janet Barclay

A former professional organizer, I now eliminate stress for my clients by hosting, monitoring, and maintaining their WordPress sites so they don’t have to worry about security, downtime or performance issues. When I’m away from my desk, I enjoy reading, photography, watching movies, and cooking.

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12 Comments

  1. Avatar Seana Turner on September 30, 2015 at 11:47 am

    Obviously, I’m a believer in blogging! I think it is because of your point that this gives people a reason to keep coming back… something NEW to see here. This helps me stay top of mind, so that when an organizing need arises, people think of me.

    • Avatar Janet Barclay on September 30, 2015 at 12:32 pm

      You do a great job of using social media to promote your blog as well!

  2. Avatar Sarah Soboleski on September 30, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    I love that reminder of the 80/20 rule! And sharing others’ content helps you appear engaged in the industry and is a great way to build your professional network.

    • Avatar Janet Barclay on September 30, 2015 at 4:05 pm

      It really is! Isn’t that how we met? 🙂

      • Avatar Sarah Soboleski on September 30, 2015 at 6:27 pm

        Yes! Yes, it was! 😀 So happy to be connected with you and all the other wonderful blogging organizers!

  3. Avatar Ellen Delap on October 1, 2015 at 8:15 am

    Love your 80/20 rule! I am going to use that as a guideline.

    • Avatar Janet Barclay on October 1, 2015 at 9:04 am

      Ah, if I could only accept credit for that! 🙂 Isn’t it amazing how many things it applies to?

  4. Avatar Sabrina Quairoli on October 1, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    Great post Janet, I particularly liked that you mentioned the newsletter that are already created for organizers. I like to write my newsletters but not everyone does or have the time to do them so it is a great option for them. Thanks for sharing.

    • Avatar Janet Barclay on October 1, 2015 at 4:14 pm

      For sure! Prewritten newsletters are common in other industries, e.g. real estate, accounting, so why not organizers?

  5. Avatar Debbie Warren on October 3, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    Janet, a great article with tons of information for those of us new to blogging! I am printing it out for my handy reference guide! Thanks!

    • Avatar Janet Barclay on October 4, 2015 at 7:07 am

      I know people don’t print nearly as much as they used to, so I consider that I huge compliment! I’m so glad you found it helpful.

  6. Avatar April on October 16, 2015 at 3:34 am

    How will you going to bring new visitors to your website? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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