Now that you have invested time and energy into your website, you just need website traffic. Simple right? Build it and they will come. Not so much, unfortunately. Generating traffic can be a challenge, and one that every business, blogger, and digital marketer faces.
Both WordPress and Wix have the basic SEO optimization packages and tools; WordPress offerings are more in-depth. Nevertheless, content and keywords go hand-in-hand with SEO. And it will pay off tremendously to invest time in keyword research and search volume.
SEMRush is an outstanding tool for keyword research and targeting as well as SEO and overall traffic. The insights are tremendous and if implemented, will definitely boost traffic.
Did I mention that SEMRush will give you insights into any website you wish; this includes your competitors or a website that you wish to model your site after.
Let's not forget about semantic keywords. And, a free tool is Search Volume. I don't think this site provides tremendous value, personally. However, it is free and if you're not buying Google Ads, you won't be able to use Google Keyword Planner.
CONVERSION
Let’s get to the good stuff where conversion happens; email marketing, autoresponders, landing pages, and funnels.
This is also where it can get overwhelming for those who are "newer" to digital. As you dig into conversion tools, keep in mind, there are a ton of them; software platforms for email marketing with segmenting and tagging, automations, landing pages, autoresponders, funnels, and more.
UPDATE: Many of the digital tools, platforms, email marketing providers, landing page providers, etc are expanding their services offerings to become full platforms (changes in the end of 2019). The below listed are at the top of their game.
Keep in mind, each of them have different functionality in how you build and create. My two cents, pick one of the leaders (listed below) and stick with it for a period of 6 months or 1 year and then evaluate. If you react to the changes continuously, you'll accomplish nothing.
Simply put
Some of these platforms have ALL of these products/tools under one umbrella. Some have just a few of these products/tools. And, those that started as an email marketing platform only (i.e. Constant Contact) or marketing automation (i.e. Hubspot), are starting to add the "conversion" tools as part of their portfolio of products (a lot of this change was taking place in the end of 2019).
That being said, If you are just starting out or are a local business, you can't go wrong with ConstantContact. It is very basic and they recently added landing pages. There are others out there but I used-to-use, and still occasionally use Constant Contact. I find it to be easy and straight forward. And, you don't have to be advanced in digital to use it. Constant Contact is not going to give you much in the conversion category but it is an easy-to-use email platform with a lot of templates.
Just because you might be a small business, doesn’t mean that you should use basic tools.
Quite the opposite!
Small business can benefit tremendously from the following digital tools. And, they are just an absolute must for anyone competing solely on digital.
GetResponse is ideal for email marketers, small businesses, enterprises, basically anyone in need of a scalable, full service, at its core, email platform.
GetResponse is what I like to call "all inclusive" or all-in-one, which is why I like it. It also means there is a learning curve, if you’re new to this. I recommend just jumping in and start building campaigns. Try building landing pages, funnels, etc. You’ll learn best with this expansive software through trial and error.
Now when I say "all-inclusive", I mean that it combines all of the elements that other digital tools provide seperately, all under one source. It has everything you could want or need – from landing pages to autoresponders, split testing, and now funnels! Thus, to call it an email platform, seems like an insult.
Core Elements:
-Email Marketing
-Simple CRM
-Landing pages
-Autoresponders
-Split Testing
-Funnels
-Webinars
-Forms and Surveys
-Facebook Ads
Packages range from $15/month to $1,200/month with
an 18% discount for an annual commitment.
Get a 30-day free trial with this link
WishPond, at its core is conversion - landing pages, customer engagement through social contests, intuitive pop-ups, and more. They are quickly becoming the king of lead generation and engagement. Wishpond is also all-in-one like GetResponse. However, Wishpond does not offer an email marketing platform. Instead, they integrate with almost every email platform out there and they offer email templates that are engaging and built for conversion.
Packages starting at $49/Month ranging to $200/month,
Wishpond provides landing pages, social contests, and pop-ups. Features include a drag-and-drop editor and weekly emails reporting analytics and insights of current campaigns. They have dozens of templates to match the look-and-feel feel of any brand and any industry.
Their conversion rate analytics are fantastic for the evaluation of lead generation campaigns - test, learn, improve - continuously - thats what it's all about!
Core Elements:
-Landing pages
-Pop Ups & Forms
-Contests & Promos built for Social
-Mobile responsive
-Marketing Automation
-Integration with 100's of email marketing platforms
-Data Analytics / A/B Testing
-Excellent Customer Support
Get a free 14-day trial with this link
#3 ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is email marketing with a behavioral sciences degree!!
And, given that email marketing (highest conversion rate) is all about sending the right message, to the the right person, at the right time, ActiveCampaign nails it!
This also requires time invested in intelligently setting up campaigns and then monitoring analytics of campaigns to make adjustments based on the behavior of your audience, in order to optimize. If you do not align the proper resources for management and optimization of this platform, then it doesn't make sense for you to use it.
Four packages to choose from with the "lite" package at $9/month and the "enterprise" at $229/month; paid annually.
Core Elements:
-Email Marketing
-Marketing Automation
-Customer Experience Automation - the secret sauce!
-Email Segmentation
-Split testing
-Facebook Custom Audiences
-CRM
-Machine Learning
OptinMonster is simply fun! This software is a reflection in the trending change of communication tone and style from formal to informal or playful. Remember when websites or email campaigns were quite formal or proper in their communication style? Digital language has become casual, playful, fun ~ when appropriate for the brand.
Well, OptinMonster really "plays" on just that!
This software is all about turning website visitors into customers in a highly creative and intelligent way! It was created in 2013 by Seyd Balkhi as a plugin that collaborates with a series of other web platforms, like WordPress, to ensure that the individuals who consume your creative, become customers. Based out of Florida, this product ensures you grow your contacts, email and mailing lists by providing a drag-and-drop builder for all types of creative; from email ads, to flyers, website builders, and more.
With data allocation and management at the forefront of this platform, OptinMonster utilizes precision targeting tools, informing the user where web traffic is driving from as well as average time spent on website and information about referrals that lead to the visit. It allows one to take the information sourced from their creative traffic and use it to retarget the users after their visit, as well as make pages pertinent to your desired market by allowing for page data to be manipulated.
This product is all about efficiency, even ensuring that nonactive visitors are a primary focus, driving ROI; as well as ensuring data is clean, allowing you to set parameters about what types of guests are counted within the data insights.
OptinMonster is creative, behavioral and a must-have for anyone who is competing digitally. Not to mention, the data gained is incredibly insightful for your Marketing team.
OptinMonster in Summary:
This software is best is you or your team has some data analytics understanding and background. It requires users to understand how certain features and applications can be used to better drive traffic and convert those visitors into customers.
It is effective and thorough in its insights and extremely helpful for corporate marketing teams who desire better knowledge about the performance of their website and how to better refine their target market.
Two email (and much more) platforms to mention briefly. I do not use these tools, but they are well reputable and recommended by my digital colleagues:
ConvertKit is another platform that is associated with the blogger/WordPress/SEO world and community. It is best for individuals who desire an effective email automation platform with lead generation and analytics. It is an excellent pick if your email campaigns are mainly copy vs creative content.
I would consider this product to be somewhat of a “Jack-of-All-Trades”. Their packages are competitively priced as well.
ThriveCart is NOW an all-in-one platform, but at its core, is shopping cart / eCommerce site and functionality.
It is also great for affiliate marketers or at least they are becoming the go-to platform for affiliate marketers who don't get sucked into the funnel platforms (which are also great for affiliates but have a high learning curve).
ThriveCart is another great digital tool or digital platform, like the above mentioned, that has truly made the transformation into "taking your website visitors on a journey" that makes sense for him or her. The data analytics are robust and helpful, provided you take advantage of them.