When my oldest was born, friends gave us a kids book with a compilation of Jesus’ parables. Both the language and illustration are really lighthearted and humorous. My dearest daughter, now 5, knows the story from the top of her mind, but still gets me to read to her quite often. One of the stories is about two men, each of them building a house. One on rock and the other one on sand. Needless to say, when the first storm hits, the house on the rock survives while the other blows away with the first gush of wind and rain.
Would you even consider knowingly building your office building on a unreliable foundation? Would you ever feel safe? Let alone feel blissed out?
When it comes to inbound marketing, some entrepreneurs do. Over the past few years I have seen an increase in entrepreneurs that are convinced that an active Facebook page gives them enough online exposure.
4 reasons why I think social media is not a solid foundation for your inbound marketing
Please don’t get me wrong here. I like social media and I think it can be very useful. I spend a considerable amount of time in social media myself. But I personally see social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest & Instagram like seasonal establishments. Like beach bars & ski huts. We love to be there in the right season, but what is hot today, may be entirely not tomorrow.
- It is not always easy to find what you exactly need – Unless entrepreneurs purposefully target their content to what prospects and clients search for, the content they look for may not show up in a search. It will probably be easier to find while browsing the business website.
- Social media tends to be super quick. What is on your timeline now, will be gone in 10 minutes. Never to show up again. Imagine spending 4 hours crafting an article, for it to be gone just like that?
- Social media tends to be superficial – Asking a question on social media can quickly get you dozens of reactions, but have you noticed that the answers sometimes do not make sense at all. There are people that find a reason to add whining and scolding to the mix way to easy. Others shoot from the hip after not even reading half of the question. How many people ever even ask a clarifying question?
- Social media posts still do not rank very well in search engines, especially not in the long term. Some posts will show up, absolutely, but most are gone quickly and forever.
Social media, in its role as place to hangout, can be very successful to connect people. But in order to find out whether working being in business with each other is a serious option, a next step is needed.
6 reasons why I think a (WordPress) website is a solid foundation for inbound marketing
- A visually attractive and up to date website is still a big factor in professional credibility. People tend to take businesses with a website and a presence in social media more seriously.
- Content on a website is there for the long haul. I have posts on my website that are 3 years old and still generate steady traffic. Simply because they offer a solution to a problem and both are still relevant today.
- A website can serve as a bridge between a first superficial online or offline encounter and a face to face meeting to discuss business matters.
- WordPress has been created just so to make search engines fall in love with it.
- A website can be setup just so that you can post new content, and it will be published to your social media channels and e-mail automatically.
- A website can be setup just so that reactions on social media will show up on the content page. One central hub.
- All this together will make your online presence grow increasingly. Kind of like a snowball. It seems a lot of work at first, but it will get easier and become more effectively.
How about you? Why did you choose to have a website, or not? How do use social media?
If you would like to know more about building your inbound marketing and getting started with a solid foundation?
Please contact me to schedule a complimentary 30 minute brainstorm session.
