Do I really need a website?
Do I Need A Website?? Nobody Visits It
A questions I get asked so many times is - Im on Facebook & Instagram, do I need a website ??? I have 5000 followers on Instgram but no one really visits my website.
The Answer Us Yes, Yes & A Very BIG Yes!
You do not own your space on Facebook, Instagram etc. These can all be closed at any time, and all the 100s & 1000s of followers you have being building up over the years will be gone in a blink of an eye.
When you have a website, it is like having another shop or premises. You own that piece of land in cyber space. The address is yours, no one else can use it. Social Media is your means of letting people know that this piece of cyber space is yours and you have lots of interesting things going on inside this piece of space.
So you also want Google to know that this is a nice piece of space also and that people like to come here, and hopefully stay here for a while.
How I explain it !!!!
There is a beautiful remote beach of the coast of Ireland, it has no roads to it, you have to walk across fields and hills to get there.
The first person who finds this beach, are amazed, wow this is gorgeous, exactly what Im looking for & could stay there all day. But they are not very chatty with others so tell no-one about this fabulous beach.
A few weeks later a couple were out walking their dogs and they came across the beach, they were elated and when they went home they told their family & friends all about the beah, the next day all the family decided to have a BBQ on the beach, so off they all trecked with buggies and coolerbags, buckets and spades to the beach and had the most wonderful day.
While they were there another family noticed the track in the grass heading over the hill and decided to explore and they too found the fabulous remote beach. By the end of the month a full on track was worn in the fields as more and more people heard about this beach.
The following month the owner of the field decided to grit out the track to make it easier for people to get to the beach and as word spread the track soon became a road-way and now the beach became more accessible. But sometimes when the weather wasnt too good no-one came to the beach, so the owner of the field decided to build a coffee shop & an art gallery to attract people to the beach even when the weather wasnt great, again more people heard about the beach and the coffee shop and the gallery and more & more people came.
Now when people ask anywhere about the best beach in Ireland everyone talks about this beach, and the amenities and fun that can be had at this beach.
The moral of the story is ... you can have the most beautiful website in the world, with one or two that actually visit and buy from it. But if you want everyone to see it you need to build a road and if you want people to stay on it, you need to keep them interested and give them something to do. And the more people visit your site, the more road works that Google will put in to help people find you, and eventually when people look for you Google will tell them exactly where you are without it costing you a penny.
But how to Start getting people to visit your website?
Direct Them - Tell Them Where You Are - Answer Their Questions - Start Blogging
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to direct people to your website. Blogging is about informing people, answering their questions, solving their problems without selling to them
What do I blog about?
As I am writing this from a florist / flower shop / floral stylist / garden center point of view, these are just a few headings that could get your started - think of a topic then ask yourself How/What/Why /When/ Who/ How
How do I stop my roses from bending over
When is the best time to plant bedding plants
I'm allergic to flowers what are the best wedding flowers to choose
Do I need to use flower food
My Vases feel slimy what is the best way to clean them
What questions do your customers ask you on a regular basis, these are the blogs you need to be writing. Then you can direct your customers to your website to find the answers.
Post these blogs on your social media, if your customers are asking these questions so will your followers. You are now creating pathways to your website and Google is wondering what is at the end of these pathways.
By creating content that people are interested in, they are likely to stay on your site to read it any maybe read more. Now Google are thinking whatever is at the end of this pathway people like because they are staying on the site to read it.
So now Google also reads it and indexes it, so when someone types in the question "My Vases feel slimy what is the best way to clean them" Google will show them your site first. But Google will not only read this page when it is there , it may read other pages too, so if someone types in Red Rose Wedding Bouquet and its on your site, chances are goggle will show this also.
So along with having a lovely website selling your produce, add interesting topics and content to make people stay on your site.
Video is also a fantastic way to get people to stay on your site, and combining written and video blogs about the same topic really enhances your SEO.
I will be adding to these blogs over time and I hope they will help you get found on Google.
