When it comes to your home page, think outside the box.
You obsess over the design, positioning and content that is presented on your company's home page. Of course, all the care and strategic thought that goes into it is well worth it. But does that level of focus go far enough?
In today's socially connected world, a potential customer's first online impression is not likely to be that home page. It is almost assured to be your presence on Google, and increasingly, Facebook that introduces new and returning visitors to what you have to offer. That's because the vast majority of the eyeballs fixed to browsers start with Google, or camp out on Facebook. Unless you have generated enough affinity to be a bookmark (congratulations!), I am not likely to key your domain straight into the address bar. Direct traffic can come from your email marketing or display advertising, but take a peek at your web analytics and see who your top "referrers" are.
So I recommend that my clients invest in their presence on Google and Facebook and not as an afterthought. Google, of course, gets attention through SEO and Paid Search. Everyone gets the need for SEO even if the implementation is a mystery. You simply can't afford to have your organic listing #fail. Paid Search is targeted rocket fuel for SEO and not enough small to mid-sized businesses are willing to spend money that could very well return a profit margin. And with Paid Search, the results are more quantifiable.
Facebook pages for businesses are also a widely known and accepted tool. But it's still wild out there in terms of best practices. Do you just syndicate your web site content on your page? Or are you offering something extra for those who "like" your page? That may be a contest, an app or even exclusive images. It just may be that you can do almost everything you need to do on Facebook that you do on your web site. And the results I see strongly suggest it is easier and cheaper to use Facebook Ads to drive traffic to your Facebook Page. I think that's because all those Facebook-ers are in their Facebook world and they don't want to leave. They are addicted to the look and feel. They don't have to work hard to understand the page. The threshold to getting a "Like" is much lower than getting some personal information on your site. And you still have a way to reach them, build a relationship and hopefully ride a viral wave to millions of others. All that happens on Facebook because that's where the eyeballs on the browsers are.
There are excellent resources and social media experts out there that can guide you if you're not sure what to do next. Your next move may well be to give your presence on Google and Facebook some love and attention.
