When making a marketing plan for a small business, there are a few essential things to keep in mind. As a marketing agency for small businesses ourselves, we’ve seen the same mistakes made by small business owners with regards to their online presence time and time again. It can be hard to know who you can trust to oversee all the aspects your business needs be done well online, so we’ve come up with a list of the four most important mistakes to avoid when creating a marketing plan for a small business, so you can have a checklist in mind when choosing who to hire to do your online marketing.
1. Having a website made with no SEO
A website with no SEO is almost the same as not existing at all. If your website isn’t optimised for SEO, Google can’t read it and won’t rank it highly when people search for the products or services your business offers because it won’t think your website is relevant to their users’ searches.
When choosing a web developer, be aware of whether they mention optimising your website for SEO themselves (without you having to ask). Web developers know how important it is, so if they don’t mention it it could be a sign they might think they can get away without bothering. It takes a lot more time and research building a website with SEO in mind than not and most people don’t know how to check if it’s been done properly so it’s easy to skip out.
Take a look at one of our clients, Brannigans, for whom we made a brand new website that represented their traditional gastropub feel, optimised for SEO, giving them a strong foundation on which to base more advanced SEO strategies from. They now rank first for ‘Pub in Dublin City centre’ and ‘Bar in Dublin City centre’ after previously ranking past 40th before working with us.
2. Overpaying for websites
Paying for a brand new website that isn’t optimised for SEO is a little like buying a teapot without the lid. Yet unfortunately we see it happen time and time again with clients who come to us having experienced exactly that, only to find out further down the line when they’re getting no traffic that no one can actually find their website.
We offer a monthly plan for a fully SEO-equipped website and maintenance for around 270€ per month. The price might vary depending on the number of pages your website has and what package you go for, but all are very affordable. Take a look at our tried and tested three stage process, here.
3. Not having the basics done correctly
We make sure that all the basics are properly taken care of before starting to build advanced marketing strategies from a weak foundation. In Stage One, we check that SEO has been properly implemented on the back end of your website as well as the front, correct any design flaws to create a smooth user experience, optimise your Google Maps & Google Business profiles, design and develop you a new website from scratch if needed and undertake basic SEO & visibility.
Check out the case study of one of our clients, Conway Construction, who now rank in the top three for ‘Renovations builder Wicklow’, ‘Renovations contractor Wicklow’, ‘Small extensions builder Wicklow’ and more, after implementing our tried and tested SEO strategies.
4. Not doing ongoing SEO
Getting your website made is really just the first step in a small business’ marketing plan. From then on is where the real work begins if you’re looking to actually grow your business. Once your website has been optimised for SEO, it’s time to get working on the ongoing SEO work. This is what we cover in Stage Two of our tried-and-tested marketing plan for a small business.
Our ongoing SEO strategies are what will keep your website ranking highly on Google and therefore being found by all your potential customers. This is how to make your website actually make your business money; have it actively find you new customers.
Check out the SEO case study of one of our clients, Treacy Decor, who soared to the top of the Google rankings for keywords such as ‘frenchic lazy range paint Connacht’, ‘frenchic paint brushes Connacht’, ‘frenchic paint stockists Connacht’ and more after just a few months of implementing our advanced SEO strategies.
To find out more about our social media, SEO and web design services, head to our website and discover our trusty three stage formula when creating a marketing plan for a small business.
