So, you finally had that new company website designed and built. And it looks great! But you may now be asking yourself, “What do I do next?”

Beginning an effective small business marketing plan to gain exposure, start driving traffic and attracting leads should be your next step. Although it may sound like an expensive and time-consuming task, it doesn’t have to be. There are many simple and cost-effective ways to get exposure online and start building relationships with your visitors. This will help your business start to generate valuable leads.

Business Marketing Tip#1: Ensure your website search engine-friendly

Having a website that is search engine-friendly is a logical place to begin. Typically your website developers can do this for you as either part of a web development package or provided as a separate service. There are also many SEO (search engine optimization) companies out there that can review your site and optimize your site so that search engines will index your site and its content properly.

A well-optimized site will score better in search engine rankings and potentially drive more traffic to your site. However, with the amount of competition on the internet and a variety of factors that play into rankings like on-page content, location, direct searches, social media shares and level of traffic, it is important to understand that no SEO or web development company can guarantee you a front page ranking on Google.

That said, having a user friendly website that is properly optimized can significantly increase your chances of getting more pages indexed to be found.

2. Get exposure on other websites

Another aspect of enhancing your exposure with business marketing is to be seen or talked about on other websites. Simply listing your company name and information in popular search directories like Yahoo, Yelp or other popular review sites is an inexpensive way to do this.

Also, look into joining local business or industry associations. Many of them offer free company listings and sometimes even a full-fledged company information page.

Lastly, visit popular blogs that are industry related. Some get a good amount of traffic and are probably capturing some of your potential customers. Offer to write a guest blog or answer a question that may have been asked in the comments section leaving your name and where you work. Who knows? That person you helped may come find you later for more help.

3. Stay in touch with your customers

Offer a way for visitors to keep up to date with your products or industry, like frequent blogs posted to your site or quarterly emails sent to their inboxes.

A monthly newsletter email that provides useful information about your industry or products can keep you on top of your customers’ minds. Email marketing is a low cost way to reach a large number of your customers; you don’t have to pay money to print and mail them physical materials. You can include articles or blog posts you’ve written on your website.

Remember the key here is to provide helpful and useful information. Don’t bombard them with sales pitches and advertisements. Too much self promotion is the quickest way to lose a customer to the unsubscribe button.

Instead, provide them with a short “how to” article or share links to some of your favorite blog articles that can help them better utilize your product. Even sharing some breaking industry news that reflects how well your product or service will positively be affected.

4. Make the most of social media when marketing your business

Finally, social media is a great tool for business marketing. There are many popular ones like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

It will be up to you to figure out which ones reach your audience best. A simple online survey asking them what social media they use most can be done in an email to help you decide what social media to use.  Maybe it’s all three. Maybe it’s just Twitter.

Just like with email marketing, don’t be overly promotional. Engage with your audience daily and be yourself. Share tips and tricks. Share some of your favorite links – even a silly company photo.

The idea is to give your current and potential customers a venue to easily reach you, ask a question, or share a concern. Your daily engagement lets them know that there is a real person behind the company façade.

Be sure to only sign up for social media that you will have time to utilize. They can be very time-consuming and may require more management than you thought once customers began interacting with you. Make sure you have a plan and can make the time to use whatever social media platforms you choose effectively.

These four business marketing methods are ideal for small businesses because they can be as easy and cost-effective as you requires. Whether you choose to do all four or just one, you will be taking the right steps toward putting your business on the map. The SkyRocket Group is here to help you along the way.