Halloween is always a special time for us here at Kayak Online Marketing, and not just because we've been dying to wear our superhero costumes to the office all year long. You see, October 31 is our official launch date, and so today marks the two-year anniversary of our company.
If you are a regular reader, client, or friend, then you already know that we've been extraordinarily fortunate these past 24 months. The unconventional approach we've taken to online marketing has turned out to great for our business. And more importantly, it's done wonderful things for our clients, many of whom are generating tons of leads from their websites for the first time.
But, not everything we have seen along the way has been easy to watch. Some of it has been downright terrifying… at least if you're the kind of business owner who hates to see time and money being wasted.
Here are some of the scariest things we've seen in our first two years:
Websites gathering sticky cobwebs because they don't have any visitors.
In this age of WordPress web templates, no one needs to pay big money for a pretty website. That's partly because they're so easy to create, and partly because having a website that's just nice-looking doesn't do anything for your business (because everyone else has one, too). In order to make your website actually work, it needs to attract visitors, and that means a plan for findability and search engine optimization.
Online ghosts that visit websites and disappear without a trace.
By the same token, we regularly come across websites that rank highly on Google and attract lots of visitors, but turn very few of them into leads or sales opportunities. If your web analytics show lots of apparitions, but very little evidence of real business progress, then your website is probably built for search engine spiders, rather than real people. Certainly, SEO has its place, but it shouldn't be prioritized at the expense of your marketing message.
Internet marketing trolls pushing ineffective solutions.
Let's be clear: there are a lot of people out there pushing themselves as web marketing "experts," in Calgary and elsewhere, who can't do much to help you find new customers online. And yet, because they use slick marketing materials and polished sales pitches, lots of businesses get suckered into sending them money.
Digital age sorcery that just doesn't work.
One of the surest signs you're about to get ripped off is working with someone who has a "super secret shortcut" that no one else has ever heard of. More often than not, the only thing that's going to arrive fast is your first invoice. You can't just throw a bunch of online marketing ideas into a steaming pot and hope to find profits at the end; real progress takes some effort along with a bit of trial-and-error.
Frankenstein style web presences that don't grow naturally.
The beauty of an effective lead generation plan is how all the different elements (like content, social sharing, and digital offers) work together in concert. When they don't, and your agency isn't following a nuanced approach, you are just following a rough recipe and hoping everything will turn out for the best. But, it isn't enough to have a few blog posts, web pages, and social updates cobbled together into a semi-coherent organism. Instead, you need a cohesive plan that helps you understand who your buyers are, what your business means to them, and the best ways to attract them to your company.
When you look at how important the Internet is to so many businesses, it truly is frightening that many people – including most digital agencies – don't know the basics of Google, social media, or inbound lead generation. They crawl forward like zombies, month after month, towards targets they'll never reach, when what they really need are a few sets of brains to help them find the right answers.
So, as we celebrate our website's second birthday, we want to wish you all a Happy Halloween… and to remind you that online marketing doesn't have to be scary if you have the right creative team on your side.
