These five digital marketing mistakes will kill your business. Learn how to correct them ASAP.

Mistake #1: Not having a website

You’ll find that many small businesses have social media pages instead of a website. Some social media platforms now have a selling feature, but this doesn’t take the place of an actual website. 

Having a website is beneficial for three main reasons:

Credibility

A business with no website is often one of the first signs of a scam. And as scams run rampant on the internet, a website can help establish your business’ credibility. With a website, you can have an “about” page that details your story and contact information that all add to humanizing your small business.

Convenience

You want to make it easy for customers to make a purchase or get your contact information. You definitely don’t want them trying to remember your social media username or sifting through similar business names trying to get to yours. A website with a simple address that includes your business name will make it convenient for people to find you when they need you, whether that’s for a purchase, a return, or a general question.

More traffic, more sales

Having a website is an effective way to drive people to your business, especially when it comes to search. When people search a specific term, such as “X near me”, your website will appear in search results – especially if it’s optimized to appear first in search engine results (more on that below). Without a website, you run the risk of being invisible to the millions of people using the internet. 

Mistake #2: Not optimizing your website copy

If you have a website – then great, you’ve done the first step. But another major mistake is not having enough content on your website and not optimizing the content on your website for search.

Search engines are one of the main ways people find websites. In fact, 51% of website traffic is driven by people searching specific terms. But a website has to meet certain criteria for a search engine to even consider it in its list of results.

These are the most common content-related website mistakes:

• Not enough content. Pages are scarce. 
• More than one page with the same wording.
• Content that’s not unique or taken from another website.
• Not using the right keywords.

Mistake #3: Spending hours on posting and not your business

We know how time consuming social media is, especially when it’s for your business. Small business owners spend over six hours per week on social media. But why spend so many hours every week creating posts when you can leave that to the experts? 

That’s time that could be dedicated to other areas of your business that need extra attention. 

Mistake #4: Not building an email list and not sending emails to your list

Too many small businesses miss out on the benefits of having an email list. It takes time to build, but it’s worth it. Consumers spend 138% more because of email marketing.

If you’ve built a nice size email list but aren’t sending emails on a consistent basis, then you could be running the chance of your customers forgetting about you. Email is a great way to connect with your customers by sending them offers, news, and other engaging information.

You can easily start building an email list by starting a newsletter, including a sign up button on your website, or by asking your social media followers to sign up.

Mistake #5: Throwing money into social ads with no strategy

Social media marketing is a science. It’s more than setting a budget, creating an ad, and then sharing the ad with the public. Too many small businesses pour money into ads without considering their audience’s demographic, the type of ad to use, the wording, and so on. 

Essentially, they are wasting money because an ad without a strategy is useless. The ad could reach the wrong people or say the wrong thing or even be sent at the wrong time of day. It’s better to leave ad creation up to the experts who know how to strategize and create an ad for best results.

Recognize some of these mistakes? Don’t feel bad, but don’t let these mistakes keep your small business from thriving either. Contact the experts at Write Magical to get help with all of your digital marketing needs – from email newsletters to better content for your website.