Brandmerry Blog Archives
3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website
You have a website, but right now it’s a trickle of people coming in if any at all! It’s time to not only drive traffic to your website but more importantly consistent traffic. Read the blog to learn 3 ways to improve website traffic.
3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
So you have a website, but little to no traffic. The struggle is real, and something so many entrepreneurs, including myself have experienced.
It took me monthly to build my website and an additional year before I realized that my website meant nothing if I wasn’t getting people to actually view it. Now, just a few years later, I’m getting thousands of organic website visitors every month using the strategies I’m sharing today.
So if you have a website, one you probably spent a lot of time and maybe even money on, and no one seems to see it, today’s blog on 3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website is for you.
WHY YOU NEED A WEBSITE
There are a lot of online educators and course creators saying that you don’t need a website and I disagree. If you’re running an online business you NEED a website, for one main reason...people are searching for your services online and if you don’t have a website, well they won’t find you.
In addition to showing up in search results, websites serve as a valuable resource for your business.
CENTRAL LOCATION: People want to find what they need and having a central location with the information for your business and services is a great way to do that. Someone doesn’t want to search through your Instagram profile or your Facebook page to learn more about you, they want a one-stop-shop, this is where your website comes into play.
FIND WHAT THEY WANT RIGHT NOW: In addition to having your information in one central location, people also want what they want right away. So if someone is looking for a particular service or resource you want to give it to them, that’s where your website and a collection of resources come in.
A PLACE TO REFER PEOPLE: I don’t know about you, but I love having a place to send people that I know is going to support them at the highest level. This is my website. My website is a resource for anyone interested in learning more about my brand, business and services. Having the information available and in one space makes it easier for me in growing my business.
METHOD #1
HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE FOR FREE
One of the most effective and simple ways to drive traffic to your website for free is by using our friend Google.
Think about it, when you have a question or a problem you turn to Google. So every single day your ideal customer is doing the same, looking for your product or service and a solution to their problem that you solve.
If you’re not taking the time to set up Site-Wide SEO (not specifically talking about blogs here) you’re missing out on free traffic.
Today, we’re getting hundreds of organic traffic from Google thanks to landing on page one for multiple keywords.
The best part about Site-Wide SEO is it’s something you can set up for your business on the backend, or hire someone to do it for you, and you don’t need to touch it every single week like you do content.
Today, I blog every week which helps rank for multiple keywords, but in the beginning, I only had optimized my main page SEO and still landed on page one.
If you want to learn more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check out this blog.
METHOD #2
MY FAVORITE WAY TO DRIVE CONSISTENT TRAFFIC TO MY WEBSITE
I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it. If you’re not already aware of how Pinterest can improve your online marketing, you’re in for a treat!
Pinterest is how I’m consistently driving traffic to the content on my website.
While the main purpose of my Site-Wide SEO was to rank my home page for specific keywords my audience is searching for, think Personal Branding Consultant, Branding Coach, etc...I’m using Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog.
Pinterest, like Google, is a search engine, so while many people think Pinterest is a social media platform like Facebook and Instagram they are wrong. Pinterest was designed to get people off the platform, not to stick around and socialize.
Because of this, it’s great for every online business, as it’s experienced experimental growth over the past few years.
The key to Pinterest is content, which I create in the form of my blog posts. Every blog post gets pushed out to Pinterest and using our Pinterest Strategy from inside Brandmerry Academy (http://brandmerryacademy.com) we’re consistently driving traffic to my website (even blogs from 2017 still get consistent traffic today).
So you can see why Pinterest is such a valuable tool in driving traffic to your website and the best part, it’s free (although there is an option to promote pins on Pinterest as well).
**Did I mention Pinterest also helps you rank on Google? Well, it does! When Google sees that you’re getting traffic to your content they love it and it tells them it’s valuable so they’re more likely to move it up.
METHOD #3
HOW TO DRIVE TARGETED TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE
You’ve probably already guessed I’m going to talk about blogging, but we’re going to get a little bit more specific here. It’s not enough to just blog random topics and to just post content without doing a little research.
In fact, taking just a few minutes to map out your blog content ahead of time and think strategically about what content you want your ideal customer to have their hands on will help with website traffic drastically.
So Method #3 is Do The Research. One of the best ways to improve traffic to your website is to create quality content your audience is searching for. This is why I love Ubersuggest and use it in my own business.
Ubersuggest allows you to do thorough keyword research, as well as see what people in your industry are creating content around.
Taking this time before you start writing your content will help. I suggest mapping out 90-days worth of blog topics with keyword research and repeat every 90 days.
SEO, Pinterest and blogging doesn’t have to be overwhelming, we show you how to do it step-by-step inside Brandmerry Academy.
CONCLUSION
Driving traffic to your website should be a top priority. Let’s face it relying on social media to build your business is inconsistent and unreliable, but optimizing your website and using tools like Pinterest can not only bring in the consistent traffic, but also save you time as well.
Inside Brandmerry Academy, we teach marketing strategies that don’t rely on social media. It gives you VIP access to monthly marketing courses on Email Marketing, SEO, Pinterest, Blogging, Video, Podcasting and more.
Learn more about Brandmerry Academy at brandmerryacademy.com.
P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.
3 MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID AS AN ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR
WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List
Have you noticed using social media to build your email list is exhausting? If you’re relying on social media to build your email list and make sales for your business and are feeling overwhelmed and inconsistent you’re not alone, but there is another way. Here are three reasons we shouldn’t rely on social media to build our business and what to do instead.
Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
The goal of marketing your business should be to build your email list/ inner circle.
There I said it. Why is this your main goal? Because when you have a community you have people to sell too - Community = Profits.
Yet, so many entrepreneurs don’t put enough attention to doing this daily. The reason for this is because of social media. Social media is an amazing business strategy, but in terms of marketing your business, it’s not the best strategy.
If you’re relying on social media to build your email list and make sales for your business and are feeling overwhelmed and inconsistent you’re not alone, but there is another way.
Here are three reasons we shouldn’t rely on social media to build our business and what to do instead.
#1 SOCIAL MEDIA IS MEANT TO BE SOCIAL
The reason the purpose of social media is important is that it was designed to be social. The purpose of these platforms is to keep people on them and engaged for long periods of time, so they’re not ideal for sending people to your website or landing page for your free gift.
While platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn make it easier than Instagram to post external links, the platforms have released statements saying that they favor content that keeps users on the platform.
So while social media might be a great way to engage with your audience on social, it won’t give you the same conversions as other strategies when it comes to building your email list.
#2 YOU DON’T OWN SOCIAL MEDIA
You know this right? Well, if you don’t realize that building your following and community on social media is risky let’s remember the times when Instagram and Facebook went down.
There have been many times in my business when I wanted to go live on Facebook and I couldn’t. Or Instagram was down for everyone making it impossible to post.
Now, while this might be an inconvenience for me it doesn’t really matter because I lead my social media followers to my email list.
Imagine if the only place you can contact your community is social media and this happens during a launch or promotion? Not good!
And, while you don’t own your email platform either, you can download the name and email address for subscribers making it easy to move somewhere else.
#3 SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A SEARCH ENGINE
There’s a reason platforms like Google, Pinterest and Youtube work so well at attracting new subscribers and eyes on your brand; they are searchable.
What do I mean? We’ll if you type something into these platforms, often a question, you’ll get resources and solutions to your problem; social media was not designed in the same way.
Sure, you have hashtags and a search feature, but they aren’t optimized for search results and you’re not always getting the most accurate or prominent at the top.
If you’re running a business one of your daily goals should be to attract new people to your brand and business and that isn’t efficiently done if you’re relying on social media.
SO, WHERE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA FIT IN
Let’s talk about the 3 Tiers of Marketing - Know, Like and Trust.
Tier 1: Is the Brand Awareness stage, this is where people get to know you.
Often, this is done by creating content that you put out into the world and using tools like Pinterest, Google or Youtube so people can actually discover your content.
Tier 2: This is the Attraction stage and where you lead your new fans to your email list. You’re attracting them with a lead magnet or free gift in exchange for their email results.
Tier 3: This is where you focus on building trust with your new community members. This is where social media plays a vital role. You want to use social media to nurture your audience, educate them and share more behind the brand and your story. This is when social media makes the most sense.
However, as we’ve mentioned so many people are relying on social media at Tier 1 and are missing out on consistent leads and sales.
CONCLUSION
Social media is great, it’s one of my favorite ways to show up for my audience, but if you’re relying on social media to attract new subscribers and grow your list of potential leads it’s going to be a slow climb.
Using resources like Google, Pinterest, Youtube and more can not only speed up the process but optimize your time and energy in a much better way.
Check out this recent post I did on driving traffic to your website for some additional ideas.
P.S. The foundation of a great marketing strategy is your brand. I made you a free Brand Roadmap that you can download here. The Roadmap will give you the 5-Step Roadmap to build a better brand + 3 mistakes you might be making now!
WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)
You know you need an email list when running an online business, but what about the funnel? An email funnel gives you a chance to onboard each new subscriber the same. Today, I’m sharing 3 ways to improve your email funnel. Read it on the blog.
3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
You know you need an email list when running an online business, but what about the funnel? An email funnel gives you a chance to onboard each new subscriber the same.
Today, I’m sharing 3 ways to improve your email funnel.
Your email funnel is important and although we typically think of the funnel as a way to sell a course or small-priced offer, it can also be used to get your ideal customer on the phone with you or signed up for your high-level offer.
There are a lot of possibilities with your email funnel, but a few things to keep in mind.
Your funnel should introduce you, the brand, your mission and position you as the expert that can solve their problem.
You can do this in a variety of ways by sharing stories, referencing past blogs or videos, offering inspiration or tips inside the emails and of course making an offer (aka a solution to their problem).
Let’s start at the beginning before we dive into the tips.
WHAT ARE EMAIL FUNNELS?
An email funnel is a staple in marketing your business. When you offer a lead magnet/freebie/free offer, the email funnel is what happens after their email is added to your system (automatically with Convertkit and other platforms).
The email funnel is a predesigned series of emails that takes your new subscriber from not knowing anything about you to ready to invest.
If we think of social media as the handshake, then the email funnel is the happy hour!
It’s where you, the marketer, introduce yourself, tell stories, build trust, position yourself as the expert and offer your product as a solution to your ideal customer’s problem.
After the funnel ends (typically over the course of a week or two, although 6-month funnels are NOT unheard of) your subscriber goes into your newsletter list and receives real-time emails from you weekly.
HOW TO CREATE AN EMAIL FUNNEL
Before we can dive into the email funnel, we have to talk about what happens BEFORE someone even gets into the funnel.
In order to grow your email list, you want to have:
Free gift or Lead Magnet: an incentive for them to give you their email
Email Provider + Landing Page: we use *Convertkit in my business, but *Flodesk is another great option
Landing Page or Opt-In Page: where they learn more about the free gift and provide their email and name
Thank You Page: where they will land after adding their information to your opt-in
Welcome Email: this is where you’ll send the free gift or lead magnet
Email Funnel Starts!
This photo gives you a visual of the email automation process.
Ok, on to the tips!
IMPROVE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING FUNNEL
TIP 1: LOOK AT YOUR NUMBERS
So many entrepreneurs begin by focusing on their subscriber count. While that's a great marker for your growth it’s not the only one and sometimes it can give you a false view as to how your lead magnet is funnel working.
Entrepreneurs, myself included, have a tendency to see a low subscriber number from a lead magnet and think, “Well I guess it’s not working!”
Then we scrap it and create something new and 9 times out of 10 it’s not the lead magnet it’s the marketing.
So how do we determine where the holes are and what we need to fix? So glad you asked!
Additional analytics to look at:
Landing page views
Landing page conversion (number of views/ divided by opt-ins)
Open rates of emails in the funnel
Click-through rates in emails with a CTA (call to action)
Once you have these numbers you can make decisions for improving your funnel.
For instance, this is a screenshot of my lead magnet that is to a cold audience.
This is pretty dang good for a cold audience, considering the industry average is 30%, but let’s say that I had a large number of people visiting the landing page (7,620) and my opt-in number was much lower (currently 4,918) that would make my conversion % lower and tell me that people are interested, but my page is losing them.
I could improve the landing page.
Let’s flip it. Say the page isn’t getting much traffic at all, that would tell me I need to improve my marketing because it’s not getting people interested enough to visit the landing page.
Once they’re in the funnel, looking at the open rate can tell us how our “Subject Line” is performing.
See how having this information can help you optimize your lead magnet and funnel without throwing it all out the window.
Only paying attention to the number of subscribers is a small game and with marketing, we have to play bigger.
TIP 2: ADD STORY TO YOUR EMAILS
I’m the brand story queen in case you’re new here, in which case WELCOME!
I’ve built my entire business on the power of story and incorporating it into everything I do. The reason for this is that your content is 22x more likely to be remembered if you use story.
Storytelling is also how we build trust with our audience. Because storytelling is vulnerable and often brings up an emotional connection, it allows us to pull our audience in and relate to them and their journey.
Adding storytelling to your email funnel is the step so many entrepreneurs miss...don’t do it!
If you remember from the beginning, your funnel should introduce you, your brand and mission. This is a great time to share stories and paint a picture for your audience.
If your funnel sounds like everyone else and doesn’t focus on the connection people aren’t going to want to buy from you. Remember, they don’t know you! Your lead magnet is meant to attract new people to your brand so you’ve got to take some time to connect.
People buy based on trust and GREAT marketing is always built on storytelling and human connection.
Use your funnel to build trust.
TIP #3: STOP ATTRACTING THE WRONG PEOPLE TO YOUR EMAIL LIST
So many entrepreneurs are feeling stuck in their funnels which are falling flat because the people in the funnel aren’t right for the message.
I want you to remember that great marketing should attract and repel, that’s why your lead magnet needs to be super-specific for your business and your ideal customer.
Your lead magnet is not for everyone.
Your funnel and messaging and stories aren’t for everyone.
And your offer isn’t for everyone.
If it is you’re going to run into problems if you haven’t already, the key to successful marketing is being specific.
I’ll use my free guide as an example. I created a free Brand Roadmap, which you can snag right here.
For this guide, I wanted a very specific person to opt-in. I didn’t just want someone who was looking for a quick logo or their colors or a company brand guide. I wanted someone interested in building a personal brand.
So I created a Personal Brand Roadmap and inside the funnel, I’m sharing my top tips for building a personal brand online in order to create a revenue-generating business.
If I made a general brand guide or just shared logo tips, I might attract corporations or people looking for just design.
You have to be specific and you have to create for your ideal customer.
So get specific with who you want to attract to your brand and business, it’s step 2 in my Personal Brand Roadmap and essential in building a profitable business.
CONCLUSION
Building an email automation funnel can be so much fun when you look at it as a way to introduce yourself to each and every new member to your community.
And with these three steps, you’re going to get started with the very best foundation.
Again, you want to start with a solid brand and choose an email provider. You can download my FREE Personal Brand Guide here and look into *Convertkit (the platform we use) here. Note: I’m an affiliate because I love it!
P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.
THE THREE KEY PIECES FOR A HIGH-CONVERTING SALES FUNNEL
HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST
THE TRUTH ABOUT GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST (GETTING SUBSCRIBERS THROUGH YOUR FREEBIE)
WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.
- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES
LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS
MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR
- READ THE LATEST POSTS -
MEET MICHELLE
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
The Three Key Pieces For a High-Converting Sales Funnel
THE THREE KEY PIECES TO A HIGH-CONVERTING SALES FUNNEL
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
So you feel like you have to have a passive income product to have a sales funnel?
Or maybe you don't even have a high-priced offer and feel like you shouldn't waste your time on a free offer and funnel?
So many entrepreneurs allow these two pieces to keep them from building a sales funnel. If this is you I encourage you to change your focus on using a sales funnel as a way to take your new prospect from cold to hot lead!
Use this opportunity now to build community and trust with your audience so when you DO have those offers you have someone to sell them too - see how that works?
If you’re not familiar with an email funnel or using the power of a free offer, be sure check out these blog posts here:
4 Steps to Create Your Next Free Offer
Ok, now on to the good stuff.
3 Key Pieces to Include in Every Email Funnel/ Automation or Sequence
Be sure to do these three things to keep open and click rates HIGH, while keeping unsubscribes LOW.
1: Include Your Story to build trust with your audience
Start thinking of everyone who enters your list as a cold lead.
What does that mean? They don't know anything about you, not even your face. So take this opportunity to introduce yourself, share some vulnerabilities and start to build the trust factor.
This is a golden opportunity for people to start REALLY paying attention to you and what you have to say and connecting with you on a deep level. When people trust you they will buy from you!
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ I suggest the second email you deliver, after your free gift of course introduces you, your brand and tells a bit of a story. From there, include elements of story in the remaining emails while also giving your tips, tools and value to build trust.
A big part of the storytelling process comes from understanding your brand. Watch this free Build a Better Brand class to learn my 3-step process (hint: one is story)!
2: Write a subject line that gets opened
It's one thing to have a funnel, it's another to have someone read it - which is kind of the point isn't it?
It doesn't matter what you say in the body context of your email, if people don't open your email they will never know any of it. I argue that this step is the most important part of the process.
The reality is your audience is bombarded with emails on a regular basis and you need to grab their attention as quickly as possible. Ask yourself what would make me open this email?
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ Spend time creating your subject line! One of my recommendations is to write the content of the email first and THEN pull some of the juiciest pieces as the subject line. Using things like numbers, questions and emoji’s can help with open rates. Be sure to keep your subject line lower case (i.e. “7 ways to improve your marketing” vs “7 Ways to Improve Your Marketing).
3: GIVE TREMENDOUS VALUE TO YOUR AUDIENCE
This is an excellent time to not only build trust with your audience through storytelling, but to also position yourself as the expert and guide they need.
People want to know WHY they should listen to you, so tell them! Start giving tips about a topic that interests them, share advice or a life lesson and what it taught you or share an old blog post that gives value.
This is the time to give, give and give so they make your emails a top priority in their inbox and understand why they should invest in you over someone else when the time comes.
ACTIONABLE TIP ↠ This is not just about “How to” content, while that can be super useful to your audience, it’s not the only way to add value. You can add value to your audience by solving a problem for them, giving them inspiration or flipping their mindset. When you think of the end goal of your brand, it should be to solve a problem your ideal customer is experiencing…use this time to start doing that. I recommend anywhere between 3-5 value emails before your subscribers is added to your weekly email list.
If you’re looking for an email platform I recommend, look no further than Convertkit! I’ve been using them for years and they are still my TOP resource for entrepreneurs.
CONCLUSION
Growing your email community is VERY important. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a way to reach your audience that doesn’t rely on social media. No matter what stage you’re in at your business, having a free gift and email funnel is necessary and a great way to start building community and building trust.
If you’re ready to improve your overall brand to attract ideal customers, increase engagement and build a revenue-generating business, be sure to watch my free branding class: Build a Better Brand Method.
I'M MICHELLE KNIGHT
I was just a new mom with an ambitious dream to start my own business. That dream turned into a multiple 6-figure business and the ability to travel full time. Now, I teach women how to brand and market their authentic voice online and take bold action to create a life better than their dreams.
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