What do the statistics say?

I get statistics that show me:

If I were to dig deeper, I could find out more about visitors–where they hail from, what platform they used to find me, and perhaps even who they are.

I also know how many people signed up to receive my posts on an ongoing basis–and who has expressed interest in learning more.  What I can’t tell is whether or not they read my blog.

Shiny magazines on the night table

I always liken feeds to my blog  to that stack of magazines you used to have on your night table.  You remember, don’t you?

The magazines arrived all nice and shiny.  You took a quick look and vowed to read them later.

Then, eventually, you decided to de-clutter and trash everything you received before a certain date.  Your assumption was that if you hadn’t read it by then, you probably weren’t ever going to read it.

Indicators aren’t conclusive

Even though a lot of people subscribe to my blog, I really don’t know who actually reads it–or how often.  One could argue that I could infer the number of readers from the number of comments and retweets.

Nevertheless, robots can comment on blogs.  And, there are people that retweet blogs after just reading the headlines.  So, it’s hard to estimate how many blog posts, like the magazines of yesteryear, merely gather virtual dust before prospective readers either forget they exist, or delete them entirely.

Just looking…., thanks!

For that matter, I’m not sure how much stake one can put in “conversions” either–except for those that eventually turn into sales.  Just because someone enjoys your content, can you really assume that they’ll ever want or need your products or services?  I don’t think so.

So, why blog?

So, why do I blog?  For one, it helps me organize my thoughts.

For another, my blog gives prospective buyers that might not otherwise have the opportunity, get a sense of who I am, how I engage with my world, and what that world is.  Information, that should they also have an interest in buying, would likely be helpful.

Also, my blog attracts paying clients.  However, I only know that for sure, because I ask prospects what caused them to contact me.  So, in some cases “words may speak more than actions”–or be at least as reliable.

So, it’s great that the number of visitors continues to accelerate.  But, I’ll never know how many people read my blog–unless you want to comment below or give me a call…

Breakfast with Barbara

Wish you had a blog, but don’t have the time to capture the insights you’d like to share with clients and potential referrers?  Check out Breakfast with Barbara!

No related posts.

Here are some additional ideas that our accounting clients use to leverage the Internet when marketing their firms.

Using websites to market professional services

As a strategic marketing consultant, specializing in professional services, I advise my clients to first:

* Think about who they need to reach

* What they want these individuals to say or do as a result of visiting the site

* What web visitors need to see to on the site to motivate them to take the desired action

In short, it’s all about the web visitors, rather than the company featured on the website. Most people that visit professional service websites are there to validate that the firm is expert at solving problems like theirs.

At a minimum, therefore, effective websites describe the business and the staff’s credentials. Some prospective clients also seek assurances that it will be easy to do business with the firm. For this reason, professional service firms with busy, tech-savvy clientele often provide on-line access to client services–as a way of positively distinguishing their firms from the competition.

Success depends on attracting visitors to your website

Putting up a website is like erecting a giant sign behind your office, no one finds it unless you tell them it’s there. You can attract visitors via word of mouth and conventional marketing materials. Nevertheless, the best websites contain content that attracts visitors and compels them to act.

The most effective technique is getting other websites to link to yours. Search engines also give precedence to “keyword-rich” content. Success depends on publishing lots of web pages—each of which mentions words that describe one of your services (e.g. “tax preparation”) many times on the same page.

Then, to get visitors to act, make them an offer they can’t refuse. For example, you may promise to review a document and credit their account when they ultimately engage you for the larger project.

Use outbound internet marketing tools to stay top of mind

Don’t wait for visitors to drop in; invite them to stop by. It’s important to reach out regularly to each of your key audiences if you want to stay top of mind. That’s because while everyone checks their email, few people–outside your own firm–visit your website on a regular basis.

We use the following tools to help our clients reach their clients and prospective clients. We also recommend our clients use these tools to stay in touch with other accountants who can refer business to them, help them serve their clients, or even join their firms as an employee. Important Internet marketing tools include:

o Email marketing

o Publishing articles on others’ sites to generate coveted links back to their sites (authors need to include their URLs as well as their names and qualifications)

o “Linked” in and other online networking services to generate “word of mouth”

o Posts on others’ sites linking back to our clients’ sites

o Blogs (readers can receive new posts automatically as email)

“Repurpose” all your marketing communications on your website for maximum impact

Then, we encourage them to add copies to their website.The nice thing about using the Internet instead of paper is:

* Content permanently resides on your website and therefore continues to market for you long after you published it

* Content is less expensive to distribute, and to revise for that matter.

* Great, inexpensive, tools exist for others to find you–obviating the need for expensive advertising.

Here’s an example of how we add copies of our own marketing communications to our website for maximum impact.

Related posts:

1. Will marketing consultants and agencies switch places with in-house staff in a digital world?
2. Linked In: 5 tips for generating sales
3. B2B marketing insights and tips compliments of MarketingProfs