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Launching a website can be a team’s big project for a reasonable amount of time, and it’s certainly easy to feel that a big project is done once the website is updated and running. But in reality, the launch or relaunch, or re-platform of a website is just the beginning of a website marketing strategy.
What’s a website marketing strategy?
At its core, a website marketing strategy includes how you use your website to drive brand awareness, and leads, and move people through the funnel. That can include:
- Good CTAs
- Useful product information
- Use of conversational marketing
- Blogging
- And more…
Wesley Mathews of High Level Marketing breaks the process down into three steps:
- Start with good design and a site infrastructure
- Optimize for organic results
- Add paid promotions
Starting a website marketing strategy with a relaunch
Launching or updating an existing website is certainly a beast of a project.
- Plans are put into place.
- Decisions are made on what content management system to use.
- Roles are defined.
- Milestones are laid out.
- People start implementing.
Launching a website does feel like a project because there is an endpoint to it. That’s often the launch of the website. Once it’s live, the website re-launch or launch project is done. But in reality, that’s the start to an ongoing strategy.
And unlike content marketing, social media, or email marketing projects, which can go on forever and ever, website launch projects have that finish line – the website launch. Some organizations send out news releases, emails, and social media posts announcing they have a new website.
But here’s the problem: launching a website is not the finish line in digital marketing or even website strategy. It’s just the starting line.
But what’s the goal of a website marketing strategy?
Usually, the goal is should be more than having a new and better-looking website. It looks good, and on-brand is a baseline. The goal is to have a website that helps us achieve our business goals and helps our customer base. It’s the home base of our digital marketing so to speak. And digital marketing doesn’t stop – if you want it to work.
The way to have a website help our long-term digital marketing goals often includes the following:
- Continuous A/B testing
- Ongoing content development drives SEO and shares content audiences want to consume.
- Content governance and updates
- Updates based on user behavior change
Things change, and sometimes they change quickly. So we need to be able to adjust quickly and somewhat on the fly.
And the only way to stay on top of those things is to have a plan for when the website has launched. Somebody needs to own that strategy and implementation as well.
Of course, there also needs to be a plan while the website is being developed or updated. Social media is not shutting down; neither should email marketing, paid campaigns, and even blogging. The time off for activity on all the relevant digital marketing channels should be minimal.
Consider the right copy
Todd Jones of Copyflight discussed the importance of using the best copy.
Building credibility is one way to stand out with your target audience. When our prospects and customers believe in us, our knowledge and products can help build a relationship over time that can be mutually beneficial.
There are several layers to building credibility online. Also, keep in mind that things evolve.
Put the customer first in all your content
Using the StoryBrand formula can help you with building credibility. Always put the customer first and address how you’ll help them reach their goals and solve their problems.
Read next: How to make your marketing more effective by using a storytelling formula
Share good brand stories
Create a Content Performance Culture where team members always work toward getting results from their content.
Steps to building credibility in your website marketing strategy
Sharing brand stories as part of the COPE model and building a Content Performance Culture are all necessary and worthwhile steps. But they can take time and effort. So are there some quick-win strategies? Of course, but don’t forget establishing credibility is a marathon.
Author John Weiler wrote “Instant Credibility Online” and offers 25 tips that are relatively easy to implement within six months.
He covers domain strategy, what type of email to use (preferably a professional domain), and using numbers that highlight your credibility.
One of the strategies John mentioned was highlighting success metrics.
You can listen to John’s tips on this episode of the Business Storytelling Podcast.
“There are a lot of ways to build credibility online,” John said. “There are also different degrees.”
The different levels are:
- Starting out
- Expert level
- Influencer level
“A lot of businesses are actually already experts and even when you are just starting out, but a lot of them don’t know how to communicate that,” he said.
Also keep in mind that higher levels take more effort, time, and budget. I do think anyone with topical knowledge can become an influencer, but it takes practice, grit, and tenacity to push forward, which I also share in my content philosophy.
List your years in business
“This one you can do today,” John said. Add to your website how long you’ve been in business. What’s your experience?
- Doing digital marketing since 1995, before we even called it that.
- 35 years of marketing experience in all channels
- etc.
“That’s if you’ve been in business for a while,” John said. “And if you haven’t been in business for a while there’s a way around it.”
For example, his business opened 6 years ago, but he’s been professionally writing for 11 years so it’s okay to say: “Professional writing services for over a decade.”
Show numbers to show your expertise
John said he’s written about 700,000 words for clients. Highlight that number to show off your experience.
To find numbers to display, “think of what’s my product in its smallest form,” he said. “And then just quantify that and put it on your website.”
To be seen as an expert, you have to sound like you know what you are talking about, which is why it’s important to highlight what you’ve done and what you’ve accomplished.
When it comes to word counts, that’s also a good way to talk about output goals. While shorter content can work, many studies show that longer in-depth content can outperform shorter, thin content.
I tell project teams: My average post is somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 words and that’s probably a good goal – as long as we still have something of value to add.
On the homepage
Show off your numbers. List the highlights of what the company has done.
- Words written
- People reached
- Etc.
One of the metrics I always love to share (when it’s good!) is the audience number. For example, our website reaches 3 million people or has reached that many people. Don’t make it up, but find true numbers that highlight your awesomeness.
Become an author
Have an expert in your organization publish a book and work on it becoming a best seller. “That’s easier than ever because there really aren’t any gatekeepers,” John said.
Read next: Why there are so many No. 1 and best-selling authors now
Consider guest posting
Consider pitching guest articles to well-established sites. There certainly is value in them linking to your site, but even if they don’t you can still say: “As seen on the Content Marketing Institute blog, etc. etc.”
Consider having a media page where you link to all guest posts, podcast appearances, and other media mentions.
Read next: How to set up a media page
The podcast version of guest posting is to appear on other people’s podcasts. Connect with podcasters and reach out when it makes sense. But don’t pitch a topic they already covered at length. Pick something unique and listen to a few episodes.
Driving the right numbers with your website marketing strategy
Of course, it won’t matter if the numbers don’t move. Keeping in mind which metrics to focus on is also important to drive brand awareness and revenue.
Michael Buzinski in “Rule of 26” shares the three metrics that help drive revenue from websites.
Building credibility online through authentic marketing can be extremely rewarding and is easier than ever. Follow some of these simple tricks, keep pushing forward, and try to be perceived as the expert that you are.
Moving forward with your website marketing strategy
How do you integrate a website launch that’s relatively extensive with an overall marketing plan? Here’s the shell of a timeline without going into all the details on what’s included in launching a website specifically.
Phase 1
Continue doing what you’re doing. Digital marketing moves too fast to allow downtime.
Phase 2
Evaluate what’s working and what’s not working. Do more of what’s working and less of what’s not working. Make a plan, adjust the current plan or validate what you already have.
Phase 3
Evaluate what content management system you need. I won’t go into that too deeply here because that could be a series of blog posts. But many of the systems out there have advantages and disadvantages, and many of them work and can help you accomplish your goals. Some are expensive financially, and some are cheaper but might take more of your time to implement. Either way hardly anything is free. You pay one way or another.
Phase 4
Evaluate budget and also in-house expertise. And while some things are commodities, strategy expertise is not one of those things. To a degree, you do get what you pay for.
Phase 5
Pick partners as necessary for all the different phases.
Phase 6a)
Have one team focus on building, updating, and re-launching the website. (There are many steps involved in this phase – and others).
Phase 6b)
Have another team continue with the current digital marketing strategies to ensure no gap in digital marketing accomplishments.
Remember that both teams must continue talking to each other to ensure everybody’s on the same page.
Phase 7
Launch site and kick up digital marketing into an even higher gear now that the new shiny and well-functional website is up.
Phase 8
Keep going and adjust on the fly based on what works and what doesn’t work.
So while building a website is somewhat of a linear project, digital marketing is not as linear as some people would like it to be. Some things can run at the same time, and others do build off each other. The key is not to stop and keep adjusting what’s working and what’s not working.