digital media

CTA : ISP – We can help announce your community, build trust, credibility and authority

Start Conversations, Then Automate Them

Building your business brand online takes consistent time and effort. Creating massively interesting and compelling content can help you build your blog, brand, and a thriving community. Content is a means to an end, don’t get so caught up on content that you miss the bigger picture.

Why do you create content anyways? Your number one content strategy should always be built around people. Create content that speaks to your tribe, keeps them coming back, keeps them sharing it. This creates a snowball effect and leverages the power of your existing followers, to attract more followers, and over time you will have a solid community, that is thriving and having conversations about you or your business, even when you are not initiating and leading the conversations.

Your number one content strategy should always be built around people. Click To Tweet

Is Content Really King?

In your efforts to learn more about online branding and digital marketing, you may have heard that “content is king” at least a thousand times, ( ok, maybe more! ) While this is mostly true, since search engines like to see fresh and relevant content to send visitors to your website, that is not where it ends. If you take the time to step back and look at the forest, and just for a moment, stop focusing on the trees, you will see something much bigger unfolding: Content is simply a means to an end, NOT the main goal.

There is an underlying reason for creating all this juicy content, you are selling yourself by sharing your knowledge and expertise. The fruit (profit) from this (content) comes from the forest (or community) that you nurture and strengthen over time. When you are creating content treat each of your topics or categories as branches from a highly focused content tree. That tree will allow for more fruit to grow and help you start and nurture your own community.

The goal of your content should be to inform, educate, or entertain, and thus build a relationship with your readers. Over time, the content opens doors of opportunity and can help you to create a positive environment that encourages others to share, learn, and grow. All this sharing, learning, and growing is happening around your business, this helps you build your credibility and influence over time.

The goal of your content should be to inform, educate, or entertain, and thus build a relationship with your readers. Click To Tweet

How Facebook Has Capitalized on This

The main reason that Facebook is so popular is because it has created a huge online community who all share content and interact with each other daily. Each Facebook user has hundreds of friends who log on and consistently to post pictures, videos, live streaming, memes, news, jokes and more. Facebook has been successful in creating a share- friendly ecosystem that nurtures people’s need to belong, by providing social rewards for their sharing of content.

Facebook has a giant user base; thus, it has become a breeding ground for paid advertisements and a major source of traffic for key brand. Many brands and businesses are using Facebook to build their list, drive traffic to their blog, sign people up for webinars, and more. They know that taking even just a teeny tiny slice of this huge community, and directing their attention to their business, will help them reach their target market where they already are. This process feels natural, and finds people in a setting they are already comfortable in, so it is a win-win-win for you, your tribe, and Facebook.

Take Facebook & Google Out Of The Equation

Your content is the “sugar” that attracts people to your business, and the goal is to leverage content to keep people coming back to your blog and subscribing to your newsletter. Your goal is to find your audience where they are already at, redirect them to your site, and create a community that encourages user generated content, discussions, and sharing. When you create a community, you are slowly taking Google, Facebook and other social media channels out of the equation. Thus, eliminating distractions and “competition,” resulting in a more loyal and engaged audience. These are the 4 main ways that you can use content to build a community around your brand and business.

Leverage Your Branding & Content To Create A Thriving Community Click To Tweet

Your Goal is Emotionally Intelligent User Content

As a long-term approach, once you start seeing that your community is starting to take shape, once you give them a comfortable place where they can talk more openly about the topics that interest them, they are very likely consistently return there. People love to interact in a safe environment where they feel they belong, and their ideas and opinions are valued.

Creating a user forum or a smaller social media community of your own niche on your own site should be the goal of your content creation efforts. When you build your own community, members will start new topic discussions and there will be a constant flow of ideas and fresh content with very little effort from your part. Those conversations can help you come up with new content ideas, and help you discover unmet needs that you weren’t previously aware of, but that you can now cater to.

In interacting with the community, members will create an emotional connection with other users and this can start new relationships, partnerships, or provide additional resources. Having a safe place to share, will make viewers frequent your community consistently to see what others have posted or shared while they were away.

By starting your own community, you create social proof, authority, trust, influence and a loyal following without relying as much on search engines or social channels. As Facebook and other mainstream social media networks get more crowded and create more clutter, people are always looking for more comfortable places and tight niche communities that feel more private and safe. When you can provide this for your target market, it will help you build a sustainable brand and business.

By starting your own community, you create social proof, authority, trust, influence and a loyal following without relying as much on search engines or social channels. Click To Tweet

Being Instantly Recognized Online

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. This is why it is imperative for you to have a clear and unique business name, and register your matching domain name as soon as you can. Your business name and domain name, are ideally the same thing. This will help you build your brand and create consistency across your site and various online platforms. Even if you are not ready to start a website, registering your domain name right away, ensures that once you are prepared to move forward with a site, you will have that part already taken care of.

A key aspect of building your personal or business brand online is being instantly recognizable through your business name or brand. Click To Tweet

It is wise to buy your business name as a domain, as it will be how people find your business online, and tell you apart from others who may have similar offerings. You could look at your domain name as your online phone number. Through this unique string of characters people will easily and quickly find you on the internet, without having to rely on Google or other sources to find you. Not having a domain name is like not having a direct line to reach you, and that could hinder the growth and credibility of your business. The easier you make it for people to find you, the better results you will see in the long run. Purchasing and registering your domain name is one of the very first steps for getting your business online exposure through the creation of a blog or website.

Using a personal name or company name for your domain name?

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. A good tip is to double check that your chosen domain name is available as a twitter handle and Facebook page. This keeps your personal or business brand consistent across all networks and makes it easy for people to identify who you are. It is best practice to run your business under a business name, other than your personal name. This will set you up for future growth. If you intend on hiring people, and eventually having a team, it is easier to do when you have a business name that is not your personal name.

Your domain name plays a crucial role in your overall branding strategy, so it is important to select your domain name based on your business goals and long term vision. Click To Tweet

However, If you also want to register your own name and it is available I would highly recommend buying it as well. A good practice is to own your first and last name as a domain and point it back to your main company website to start out. This gives you the flexibility in case five years down the road you decide to change your mind about the direction or vision of your business. In going this route, you also have the advantage of building your business around your personal brand, which is a great idea for coaches, authors or speakers. This is not always the best route for other less personal, and more serious types of businesses.

Keep it simple and don’t make people think!

Domain names should be short, easy to spell, and easy to remember. I highly recommend .com’s or .nets and if neither is available .co can be a good alternative. Usually when people see a website with dashes in the name like social-media-today.com they instantly come off as less serious and less professional than domain names without dashes. Usually having symbols like dashes, or other non-letter characters can create confusion or frustration, as it is easier to misspell or mistype.

When the domain you want is already taken you can try to add words like : my, online, guide, or blog. If you are wanting a domain like simplewidget.com, and it is not available you can also try to look for plural alternatives like simplewidgets.com. Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. It’s good practice to keep it simple, and don’t make people think too much.

Usually domain names that are clear and don’t need an explanation, will give you the best results. Click To Tweet

There have been instances where people use cre8tive in their domain name for example, and that is not easy to read off over the phone. While this may seem fun, creative, and different, it can create confusion when you are explaining to someone, “ we are a creative agency, but creative is spelled with an 8 . . . ” that can potentially start you off in the wrong foot with a potential client. Simplicity pays off in the long run, so keep this in mind when buying and register your business domain name.

If you are having trouble finding a good one …

If you are just starting your business and you can’t find a domain name that you want, there are online resources that can help you find something that may otherwise show up as taken. Sometimes people register domains but are not using them and they may be thinking about letting them expire, or people could be open to selling domains they don’t use or need.

Godaddy has a database of domain names that have recently expired and are available to purchase, but they may not show up as available in the main search results. Check out godaddy’s domain auctions, but beware that some domain names could be considered “premium” and cost much more than a standard domain name that is available

There are some benefits of buying expired domain names that could potentially help your business. It is widely known that Google looks at the age of your domain for ranking purposes, as well as many other factors. If your domain has been registered for 7 years, it will carry more weight than a website with similar content that has only been registered for 2 years. Usually the domain name with the most age and backlinks will rank higher than newly registered domain names.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 years. Again, Google tends to favor websites with domains that are registered for a long period of time, even if they were just purchased yesterday.

When you register a brand new domain name or an aged domain, it is recommend that you register your business domain name for at least 3 – 5 Click To Tweet

Another thing to keep in mind is if you want a private registration or a public one. Going with a public one means that your name, address, and e-mail can be published for people to find out who the domain name belongs to. If you are concerned about privacy, it would be best to go with a private registration.

When you register your business domain never pay the full price! Try to Google “ ( current month ) Godaddy promo code” and you will more than likely find promo codes where you can buy a domain name for $2.49 or less.

Look at your domain name, and website, it as a business investment, and branding tool that will help you build a sustainable business.