So you got a brand new website; it's fresh like a new car, and it is now out there for the world to see. But now what? Sad reality check: unless you are already a big player in your market with tons of other websites linking to you...it's a beautiful island with no one on it.
Having a website is one thing, but getting calls and inquiries through it? That's when the rubber hits the road.
Please stick with us through this article; we promise you'll walk away with clear insights on what you should do next.
Out of the box, we've applied the hard-won knowledge that came from spending millions of dollars in advertising dollar so that your website can turn people who are interested in your business into leads and sales:
That's great and all, but it does absolutely nothing unless you have a steady flow of high-quality eyeballs looking at your website.
A famous ad man once said:
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half!
John Wanamaker
Sadly, that's where most business owners find themselves. But now we can do better. You can do what we call "Scientific Advertising" or "Gum-Ball Dispenser Marketing".
You know how gum-ball dispenser works right? Put $0.25 at the top, crank and pops out the gum-ball at the bottom. In your case, this is how your advertising should work:
Now...how many time would you spend $20 to get a $500 client? Would you consider the money you spent on ads an expense that could be potentially cut-off?
Of course not.
There isn't a magic bullet in advertising. Still, when creating an automated and predictable way to get leads, Google Ads is the gold standard.
There is yet to be one business we have encountered that wouldn't benefit from Google Ads.
What do we mean by Google Ads? Google Ads are everywhere, from Gmail to YouTube, but the most relevant for your business are Google Search Results and Google Maps. (See Below)
Imagine someone looking into their phone and saying, "I need a plumber now," or typing, "Best Italian restaurant near me." When people search on Google, they're usually ready to take action. With Google Ads, you're reaching out to folks who are actively searching for what you offer. You can't get any better than that.
To us, Google Ads for 99% of business websites is a no-brainer. What we've seen since our inception is a direct correlation between business websites that succeed and those who are not.
We know clients who run Google Ads stay in business, increase their revenues and know that their ads way more than pay for themselves.
Here is the truth: Google will happily take your money if you don't know what you are doing. At Supersonic, we have a controlled growth approach. We usually suggest starting with $10/day; then, we dial in the ads until we get predictable results ($10 per call or form submission, for example).
Then we check with you:
From there, we have a good idea of how we are positioned to scale your business. If for every $1 you spend, you don't make at least $4, there are improvements to make before increasing your budget.
As soon as you venture into the digital marketing world, many people will tell you that "you need good SEO" - including that random person sending you emails about how they can help you or tell you your website is "no-good" to sell you on their package. 🙄
We've covered this topic in-depth in our article "The Dirty Little Secret About SEO," but if you want to overview, here it is:
Our friend Peter at Carolina Gourmet once had an old clunky website. He is an award-winning chef with decades of experience. We revamped his website and started in earnest to advertise his business on Google Ads. Something magical happened.
Not only did he give us a call about how he 4X his revenue for the month of May (year over year) but he also got featured on the Today Show!
All that as a direct consequence of our advertising efforts.
We have a saying at Supersonic and it this:
Just pick up the $5 laying in the corner
Brent Hohlweg
There is a lot of things you can do for grow your business but sometimes, it's just about picking up the money that is right there ready for you to pick-up and put in your pocket.
If you have never run Google Ads before, you are eligible for an ad credit of up to $600. Yes, that's right! When you start with Google Ads, we walk you step by step through the claiming process and then ensure its use is maximized.
Google Ads aren't free, and quality advertising management requires some investment. Typically, we offer our Google Ads service at a competitive rate of $249/month. But, as a token of our appreciation for trusting us with your brand, we're knocking down that price tag. Instead of the usual, you can hop on board our Google Ads train for just $199/month.
Ready to see your website turned into a revenue-generating machine? We are, too! Schedule a time to talk with us today.
As soon as you venture into the digital marketing world, lots of people will tell you that "you need good SEO" - including that random person sending you emails about how they can help you with it. But most people have only a vague idea of what SEO is and how much they need it. You might be asking yourself questions like: How important is it? How does it work? How will it help me?
Our goal here is to clear the air for you. We want you to have total clarity about the topic and, hopefully, we can help relieve you from the stress of figuring out what to do about your website's SEO status.
In brief, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It can help your site appear high on the list of results returned by the search engine, thereby maximizing the number of visitors to your site. That's the bare basics of SEO, but in order for you to understand how it can work effectively for you and your business website, there's a few more things you need to know.
In order for you to make an informed decision, you need to be armed with knowledge. There are a lot of smart marketers out there who know they can make money by telling you that your SEO is not done properly. They make you believe that SEO is the #1 thing you should be worried about when it comes to your online presence. Although SEO is undoubtedly important, the subject is more nuanced than some marketers might want you to believe.
There are two types of SEO - On-page SEO and Off-page SEO. We'll begin with a brief overview of each type before diving into each one in more detail.
On-Page SEO (also known as On-Site SEO) makes sure that a site is built according to the search engine requirements. It specifically deals with the user experience (the page loading time, code optimization, good design for desktop or mobile, etc.) and how clearly your website is the answer to the question someone asked the search engine. On-Page SEO also is about optimizing your web pages with specific keywords that will help your site appear high on the list provided by the search engine. Are all the images properly described with alt-tags so that people who are visually impaired can get an idea of what the images are about? Is the hierarchy of headings (h1,h2,h3) clear and related to your market needs? Are there enough words on the page for the search engine to understand what your website is about?
When web designers and developers talk about SEO, 99% of the time, they're referring to "On-Page SEO."
Permit us to use an analogy: think of On-Page SEO like a well-formatted book. Good books have a clear title and description on the covers. They are organized clearly with chapters, page numbers, and headings correctly labeled so it's easy to understand and to navigate. How thick are the pages? They can't be too thin so that they tear when you're trying to flip to another page.
In the same way, a website needs to be clear and easy to navigate on both mobile and desktop devices. A website needs to be quick to load, even on a bad internet connection. If your website is slow, not only does it have a bad SEO rating, it's broken. Period.
You can see how well someone's on-page SEO is by making a test on gtmetrix.com or Google Lighthouse. At Supersonic, we take pride in launching websites that are as high as humanly possible on the On-page SEO scale. (See image below)
How accessible is the site? Can people with disabilities like colour blindness or poor eyesight still read and navigate around the site?
How is the site visually displayed? Is there enough contrast between the background and the letters so it's readable? Is the font size big enough to be easily legible?
What is the layout like? If the buttons and links are too close to one another, it can be easy to click on the wrong link. That's just plain frustrating to a visitor.
How does your website come across to visitors? Do you have trust signals like a privacy policy page or a contact page with a phone number and email, etc.?
A good website strives to achieve an excellent visual and easy to navigate layout. When it achieves that goal, it accomplishes a good execution of On-Page SEO that rates well from Google and your users' perspective when they visit your website.
In our opinion, SEO is just good design and practice...not an extra. It's like paying more for a brake installation on your brand new car. It shouldn't be an option. Walk away from anyone who wants to charge you extra for doing their job right.
Off-Page SEO (also known as Off-Site SEO) applies to the building referral links to your website. In other words, it deals with actions taken outside of your website that affect your ranking within search engine results pages. Examples of outside actions are other Internet pages, sites, or people, etc. linking or promoting your website. This outside attention affirms the quality of your content, thereby improving both the search engine and overall user perception of your site.
Now permit us to use an analogy for Off-Page SEO: imagine your website is an island. You don't want to be an isolated island; you want to be connected to the other adjacent islands. So you need to build bridges, boat routes, and flight paths between your island and the other islands. In the same way, Off-Page SEO is about connecting your website to other reliable websites. When your site is linked to other sites, this will notify the search engine that your website is a trusted source. Ways to connect to other Internet sources include:
The Internet is an interlaced community. When your website is joined to that community, you're naturally going to see more traffic on your site.
Off-Page SEO is tricky. Ensuring your website is linked to other sites and sources is extremely costly, both in time and money. It is not a short time strategy. It takes time to establish your reputation and the results are not guaranteed.
When you invest in Off-Page SEO, don't expect to see results for months. It is not a quick and easy game. Investing in Off-Page SEO will include set backs because of the change in search engine algorithms. What worked in 2018 might not work for your website today. Again, it costs time and money to update your Off-Page SEO to comply with whatever rule is in effect at the time.
Of course, once you have a solid Off-Page SEO built, you will get residual results for months, or years. It is very powerful.
There is an alternative to Off-Page SEO when you just launch your website. Money is scarce and even though it is good to invest in off-page SEO, consider starting with Ads first.
Google Ads are an amazing (and cost effective) way to achieve good SEO ranking by paying for the top position.
Our favourite things about Google Ads are:
Google Ads are a great place to start when you have a new website. You can experiment and find out what is working for you before investing the big bucks in expensive Off-Page SEO.
Speaking with over 10 years of experience in SEO and website development, our final advice to you is:
We hope this article has helped answer some of your questions about SEO, how it works, and what options are out there for you and your website going forward.
Congratulations! If you are reading this, it is probably because you have launched your brand new website! Then what?
Our mission at Supersonic Sites® is to help small business owners achieve success with their brand new website. This is why we are giving a short 5 point checklist to help you get started right.
Don't let this opportunity pass on and shout it from the rooftop! You've had a significant update to your business, and sharing your brand new website will get a lot of people to it. You might even pick up some new clients who can now more easily schedule an appointment with you or contact you for more questions.
Here is an example taking from one of our clients on the day we launched her Supersonic Site®:
Also, both on personal and business page, you can have your business info updated with your new website. It is crucial to have correctly formatted information in all your online profiles. Things like your business name, phone number, and address must be as consistent as possible across the web.
Suppose you are a small business that offers a local service. In that case, there isn't a single profile online more important than Google My Business...period. It's completely free, and it's the best way to maximize your exposure when people are looking for your business on Google.
Google isn't what it used to be. Google now gears its search results based on the user's location when people are looking for a plumber, restaurant, or any other service. And it gives priority to local businesses.
First, head over to google.com/business and click "Manage Now." From there, it's pretty straightforward; Google will guide you through the steps of claiming your business. Most of the time, to confirm your claim, Google will send you a postcard with a verification code. Expect to wait at least a week before you receive this.
After that, your profile is verified and should appear on the local search results.
Google is and remains the best way to generate leads and sales for small business owners online. Why? Because people are searching for your service. They are not being interrupted; they are looking for a solution.
What does it look like to rank with Google My Business for local search? Take a look...
Imagine coming up #1 when people are looking for your service near you or looking for your area. This is as good as it gets if you are do not have the budget for Google Ads.
First and foremost, make sure to complete every detail of your profile.
Then, your job is to get a consistent flow of reviews on your profile and respond to each of them. You can accomplish this automatically with an email every time a new client has been serviced or do it manually via SMS.
Out of the box, we've applied the hard-won knowledge that came from spending millions of dollars in advertising dollar so that your website can turn people who are interested in your business into leads and sales:
That's great and all, but it does absolutely nothing unless you have a steady flow of high-quality eyeballs looking at your website.
A famous ad man once said:
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half!
John Wanamaker
Sadly, that's where most business owners find themselves. But now we can do better. You can do what we call "Scientific Advertising" or "Gum-Ball Dispenser Marketing".
You know how gum-ball dispenser works right? Put $0.25 at the top, crank and pops out the gum-ball at the bottom. In your case, this is how your advertising should work:
Now...how many time would you spend $20 to get a $500 client? Would you consider the money you spent on ads an expense that could be potentially cut-off?
Of course not.
There isn't a magic bullet in advertising. Still, when creating an automated and predictable way to get leads, Google Ads is the gold standard.
There is yet to be one business we have encountered that wouldn't benefit from Google Ads.
What do we mean by Google Ads? Google Ads are everywhere, from Gmail to YouTube, but the most relevant for your business are Google Search Results and Google Maps. (See Below)
Imagine someone looking into their phone and saying, "I need a plumber now," or typing, "Best Italian restaurant near me." When people search on Google, they're usually ready to take action. With Google Ads, you're reaching out to folks who are actively searching for what you offer. You can't get any better than that.
To us, Google Ads for 99% of business websites is a no-brainer. What we've seen since our inception is a direct correlation between business websites that succeed and those who are not.
We know clients who run Google Ads stay in business, increase their revenues and know that their ads way more than pay for themselves.
Here is the truth: Google will happily take your money if you don't know what you are doing. At Supersonic, we have a controlled growth approach. We usually suggest starting with $10/day; then, we dial in the ads until we get predictable results ($10 per call or form submission, for example).
Then we check with you:
From there, we have a good idea of how we are positioned to scale your business. If for every $1 you spend, you don't make at least $4, there are improvements to make before increasing your budget.
As soon as you venture into the digital marketing world, many people will tell you that "you need good SEO" - including that random person sending you emails about how they can help you or tell you your website is "no-good" to sell you on their package. 🙄
We've covered this topic in-depth in our article "The Dirty Little Secret About SEO," but if you want to overview, here it is:
Our friend Peter at Carolina Gourmet once had an old clunky website. He is an award-winning chef with decades of experience. We revamped his website and started in earnest to advertise his business on Google Ads. Something magical happened.
Not only did he give us a call about how he 4X his revenue for the month of May (year over year) but he also got featured on the Today Show!
All that as a direct consequence of our advertising efforts.
We have a saying at Supersonic and it this:
Just pick up the $5 laying in the corner
Brent Hohlweg
There is a lot of things you can do for grow your business but sometimes, it's just about picking up the money that is right there ready for you to pick-up and put in your pocket.
If you have never run Google Ads before, you are eligible for an ad credit of up to $600. Yes, that's right! When you start with Google Ads, we walk you step by step through the claiming process and then ensure its use is maximized.
Google Ads aren't free, and quality advertising management requires some investment. Typically, we offer our Google Ads service at a competitive rate of $249/month. But, as a token of our appreciation for trusting us with your brand, we're knocking down that price tag. Instead of the usual, you can hop on board our Google Ads train for just $199/month.
In summary, to get started right with your brand new website, make sure to:
If you have all of the steps above covered, congratulations! You are already in a better position than 95% of small business owners who wait for the phone to ring.
Ready to see your website turned into a revenue-generating machine? We are, too! Schedule a time to talk with us today.