Are you as sick as I am of the phrase, Think outside the box? Well, for all you b2b marketers, let me put a new twist on it for you -
For Winning SEO, Think Outside the Web
In other words, the real world is a real good source of content for your business website or blog. Even something as old school and old fashioned as an industry trade show can boost site traffic.
This dawned on me (again) as a large industry trade show was about to begin. Manufacturers from all over the world would be showcasing their latest and greatest technologies and gizmos and productivity enhancers. Attendees would visit the exhibits and ooh and aah. Excitement would build.
And then they would go online to see where they could buy.
So, if you were a dealer or a distributor or manufacturer’s rep, wouldn’t you love to have web pages and blog posts dedicated to the products on exhibit, pages that rank high when the surge of searches hits?
Make sure you know when your industry trade shows roll around on the calendar. Several months ahead of time, create optimized web pages with keywords matched to the key products or services that you know will be on display.
These days, any trade show attendee who is considering a purchase will window shop online. Are you going to be in a position to take that window of opportunity and convert shoppers into customers?
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Chicago based SEO copywriting, blog consulting, and content strategy consulting.
One thing to remember about the trade show crowd – for most of ‘em, they’re out there enjoying a day away from the office. You gotta find a way to capitalize on that attitude. Maybe a way to make it fun for them to interact with you? Without bein’, y’know, too cheesy, of course.
Folks will certainly remember the sometimes outrageous, goofy, or just plain unusual long after everything else fades into a distant haze.
Hi Robert, That’s been my experience as well. Companies have fun with trade shows using Facebook and Twitter these days, along with blogs. It’s a great opportunity for streaming video from a booth, podcasts, etc.
Brad, excellent point! We often forget that we can drive web traffic by literally getting off the web and bringing people back with us! It’s easy to become complacent and fall into the mistaken belief that everyone is online and Google is their only method of search. I’ve worked my fair share of trade shows and can’t say I would anxiously do it again but it is a good way to meet folks in your industry and invite them back to your site.
Hi Karen, As long as you have a comfortable pair of shoes, trade shows are fun. I used to work in trade show booths and it was indeed a great way to make new contacts and learn. We used to scan show passes and send printed literature to visitors a week or two later. How much better would it be to point them to a web page designed specifically for the show?
Brad, lol, yes comfortable shoes are the order of the day, comfortable and cute of course.
If I only had to work the actual show for a few hours, not so bad but when you’re in Marketing, there’s all the pre-planning and coordination, training and working the show every day. Long, long hours . I can’t say I miss that part of the job.
The outside world still works best on marketing your blog. Here in the Philippines one of the most popular blogger is Abe Olandres of Yugatech.com. I don’t know why I’m promoting him in this comment. But I think he just effectively use the media to market his blog even more.
Before he was interviewed in the TV shows about his success on netrepreneur, his blog is already a successful one. The one thing I’ve noticed is that after he appeared in TV interviews on the biggest TV networking here in the Philippines, his blog subscribers hikes thousands more.
So I think the media is also working best in marketing your blog.
Rocky, No doubt if you can get media exposure it will help your blog popularity immensely. Getting that exposure seems like the hard part, though we do see more and more bloggers on television news and entertainment shows all the time. Thank you for stopping by Word Sell and joining in the conversation. It’s fascinating to see how social media is the same – and different – in different parts of the world.