Everyone is looking for free traffic these days, but it is getting harder and harder to come by due to the ever-increasing competition online. This is not to say that all markets are saturated and that new and intermediate marketer have no chance of doing well, but what it does mean is you have to be smarter.
More interaction with your site, and with your social media profiles, can boost your page rank because they make your site appear to be a “mover and shaker” – one worth paying attention to. Here are a few easy ways to boost your rank and increase trust.
Have Links to “Housekeeping Pages” on Every Page
Google places a great deal of value on what we can term housekeeping pages – the essential information about your business and website. The most important pages are:
* About us
* Contact us
* Privacy policy
* Terms of service
* 100% money-back guarantee
The “about us” page should give the most important information about your company, such as who you are and what you do. You should have a short version at the top of the page as a quick guide, and more detailed information below.
The short version can also serve as your profile across all your social media accounts as far as possible, given that some of them have a short word or character count.
Your “contact us” page should be up to date and accurate, and you should be certain that the methods listed will be checked by you or a member of your customer service staff on a regular basis so they are not left hanging.
The privacy policy is a trust signal that sets out what you will do with any data you get from them, such as your email address. If you are going to share it with third parties, such as by selling your lists, that is acceptable as long as you state it up front. A better policy, however, would be to state that you will never share their data with anyone, but you reserve the right to send third-party offers to them from time to time that you think they will be interested in.
Terms of Service
Terms of service in relation to a website sets out who is allowed to use it and shop from it. It might be a good idea to ban anyone under 18 on the basis that there are stricter requirements when dealing with minors.
100% Money-Back Guarantee
This is essential for your site and for any sales pages you might create. Put a link to it at the bottom of each sales page, and an attractive certificate linked to it on the page itself.
Social Media
Social media builds trust if you are consistent about who you are and what motivates you as a company. Posting helpful free content shows you care and positions you as an authority in your niche. Engaging in “Twitter wars” or other aggressive behavior will be a turn-off, and people won’t want to do business with you.
A Full Profile
Take time over each profile, making it as full as possible to give people an idea of what it is like to do business with you.
A Consistent Editorial Calendar
Social media works well if you are consistent. Plan a calendar of content for each network you are on. One to five posts a day (such as a tweet) should be plenty to keep you in the eye of your target market. There’s no need to go crazy and post 20.
Email Marketing
Don’t neglect your email marketing. It is a great way to build trust and drive traffic. Consistent traffic will boost your page rankings.
Linking via Keywords
Whenever you link to your site, use keywords in the link, not “click here”. This will help the search engines understand what your site is all about.
Use these simple tips to build trust and traffic and see what a difference they can make to your page rank.
