Digital marketing is a key component of virtually every company’s success.  The internet is the place consumers and companies go to research purchases and make buying decisions.  An effective digital marketing strategy starts with an amazing website. Your Website is the Critical Piece of Digital Marketing Strategy.

What is Digital Marketing?

To understand the role of your website, it’s necessary to start by defining what we mean by digital marketing.  In the simplest terms, digital marketing refers to anything you do to market online.  It covers many different types of marketing efforts, including the following:

• Your website
• Interactive tools
• Content marketing such as blog posts, e-books, white papers and brochures
• Social media marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.
• Online directory review sites such as Yelp, Google, and local business directories
• Paid online marketing such as Google AdWords

Why Your Website is Critical

You’ll notice that your website is only one of the components of your digital marketing strategy, but there are a number of reasons why it’s the most critical.

1. Your website is the best way to tell your story.

Your website acts as the hub for all your digital marketing efforts.  It serves a number of purposes:

• It’s the place where you can make the biggest impression for your brand.
• Your website is the best place to convert people who have an interest in your product or service to convert into customers or clients.
• Visitors to your website are exposed to everything you have to say; if they land on your website for one reason, they may find many other reasons to contact you.
• If you have an ecommerce website, it’s the place where purchases are made.

Your website plays a significant role in your digital marketing and it needs to be fast, useful and easy to navigate.  It also needs to make you stand out from your competitors.  An amazing website will have a positive impact on all of your digital marketing efforts.

2. Your website can invite visitors to engage with interactive tools

Internet visitors love interactive tools.  Those tools let them answer their own questions and apply general information to their own situation.  Where else would you host interactive tools except on your website?  The same is true of ecommerce sites.  People aren’t going to buy from you on a Yelp page.

3. Your website is the repository for your content marketing efforts.

You may offer e-books or white papers on other channels, including Facebook or LinkedIn.  But, a large percent of the content you want prospects to see lives on your website.

4. Social media marketing is most effective when it links to additional information.

You may have an active Twitter feed, but you only have 140 characters to work with.  In order to motivate a prospect to take action, you need to link your post to a page where the prospect can get more information and take action.  That page most likely resides on your website.

5. Online directory review sites start the conversion process.

If a prospect lands on your Yelp page, they’ll discover a bit about your business and have the chance to read reviews from your customers.  It’s true that they can message you from your Yelp page.  However, for sales more complex than selling the prospect on your restaurant’s signature dish, the odds are the prospect will want more information.  The type of information they can get on your website.

6. Paid advertising is designed to start the research process.

When a prospect does an internet search, hopefully they will click on your enticing Google AdWords listing.  If you advertise on Facebook, your ad is designed to link the prospect to a page where they can get more information or take action.  In either case, you need effective landing pages on your website to meet the prospects’ needs.

As you can see, your website is the thing that ties all of your digital marketing efforts together.  Never underestimate the importance of excellent web design.

If you think your website could be more effective at converting online leads, the experts at MSTech can help.  Take advantage of their expertise to create a website that will help you succeed online.  Call 1-888-592-0001 or send an email today.