When people ask me about creating a marketing strategy for a website, I tell them it’s basically a roadmap for how to take your online presence to the next level. A website alone won’t deliver results if people don’t know how to find it or if you aren’t using it as part of your broader marketing plan—so you need a strategy to get eyeballs on your pages.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a client invest time, money, and energy into building a new site, but as soon as it goes live, they get stuck. Instead of driving traffic or converting visitors, it just sort of hangs out waiting — hoping someone will land on it. Obviously, that’s not a strategy.
That’s why every one of my web copy clients receives a launch plan with recommendations on how to get started. Most also bring me on to help them create and execute strategies for marketing their businesses.
What that looks like is different for every company, but generally speaking, we need to address:
- Why having a website is just one piece of the puzzle
- How to get traffic to your site using various marketing channels
- How to get your site to convert by fine-tuning user experience and messaging
So that’s why I’m writing this article. Whether you’re building a new website, running an ecommerce store, or giving your existing website a facelift, these strategies will help you reach the right audience at the right time and turn your site into a true business asset.
So You Have a Website—Now What?
Why Having a Website Is Important (But Only One Piece of the Puzzle)
Your website acts as your online “home base,” the place where potential customers learn about your brand, products, and services. And having a website? That’s the baseline because it lends you legitimacy and credibility.
Why? Well, the first thing anyone does when considering working with someone is a quick web search. And if you don’t have a site (or any kind of online presence), they’re going to question whether or not you’re the real deal.
And, you’ve got to make it easy for visitors to engage with you, whether that means giving them content to explore, offers to purchase or snag free, or even to join your newsletter. Also, they have to be able to get in touch somehow — booking a call, sending a message, or something different. If not, you’re missing huge opportunities.
But, that said, simply having a website doesn’t guarantee traffic or conversions. You need to integrate it into your overall marketing ecosystem by:
- Driving traffic — usually through a blend of SEO, social media, and email (and sometimes paid ads)
- Capturing leads — with the opportunity to contact you or join your email list
- Nurturing relationships — via email marketing and your sales activities
- Optimizing conversions — with data-driven tests and updates
Depending on your business you might do all of those activities or just one or two. Which ones is completely up to you. but in my experience, you need to always be working with your site. By that I mean, helping it work for you, because your website can be your number one sales person, but it cannot work completely in a vacuum. You need to be doing other things to help it succeed. It needs the right support from other marketing activities—like content creation, social sharing, and advertising—to reach its full potential.
Top Website Marketing Strategies for Business Success
Understanding the best marketing strategies for websites —specifically your website — means determining which of the two questions you’re asking yourself right now:
- How do I get traffic to my site?
- How do I get my site to convert?
Before you start choosing tactics, you need to think about your goals for your site. The most common ones I see are:
- I want a place where I can refer people so they can learn about me and what I do.
- I want to set up funnels that guide people to become a customer.
- I want to create a repository for everything I create so I own the content AND the traffic
- I want to sell things to people without ever talking to them (e-comm usually)
Your goals will by and large determine the tactics you want to use. Keep in mind, while more can mean a more comprehensive approach and system, more isn’t always better. Sometimes the best approach is the simplest, most sustainable, and most manageable.
Because even if there are a lot of things you want to do — and plan to do — reality always looks a little different. What we have the bandwidth for never seems like it’s enough.
So let’s get into the strategies.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
SEO, quite simply, is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. These days we also should be talking about Answer Engine Optimization or AEO. While AEO is still emerging, for now doing well on AEO means answering the questions people are most likely to ask.
Why It Matters: Most people who don’t find your traffic through direct referral (aka someone sends them to your site or shares the link) find it through a website search. SEO and AEO are great ways to get cold traffic. I always tell clients they’re a long game, but it’s a great way to build credibility and visibility.
How to Do It:
Ideally, you’ll have baked SEO into your site from the start with a copywriter who brings in an SEO specialist to do keyword research and optimizes your main copy for search and answer engines.
But, SEO doesn’t stop there. It also means regularly publishing content that speaks to your target audience. And, SEO keywords are important, but more important is good, helpful content that establishes your expertise and experience.
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
- Audit Your Website: Use tools like Google Search Console or Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (verified through Google Search Console) to find out what your site is doing well…and what it’s not.
- Start with Content You Know: If you’re not sure what keywords to focus on, instead focus on good content and optimize it for searchability with appropriate H2, H3, H4 tags, etc. Then use Ubersuggest to find some likely search terms that match your content.
- Pick Low-Hanging Fruit Keywords: Start with less competitive, long-tail keywords (like “marketing strategy for new website”) to gain traction.
- Consistently Monitor Analytics: Track keyword performance and organic traffic; adjust your strategy as needed.
And if all of this sounds like a lot for you, again start with really good content.
Content Marketing
You’ve heard of content marketing before, but what is it? If it sounds like a giant rabbit hole involving the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content (blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics) to attract and engage a target audience, well, you’re on the right track. It works — it works really well, in fact. However, figuring out where to start can be hard.
Luckily, I’ve created a bundle designed to help you create content that all works together so you get as much as possible out of your efforts.
Why It Matters: If your website is your home base, your content marketing is what feeds the marketing machine that drives people to you. Okay, so that’s not a great analogy, but I hope you get my drift. In a nutshell, content marketing is how you highlight what you know, establish authority in your space, and helps people find you. In my experience, it ties directly into SEO.
Each piece of content, whether audio, video, or written, can be repurposed into a number of other different pieces of content. How many? That depends on how far you want to make each piece go. However, one blog can potentially be an entire month of content across all your platforms.
Plus, by hosting it on your site, everywhere you or anyone else shares it drives other people back to your site.
How to Do It:
Figure out what you know and what other people want to know (aka your audience pain points). Most marketing comes back to research about what keeps your audience up at night and the problems they want to solve.
Then decide how you want to create content — do you like to do podcasts, videos, or articles? And use that to guide how you create and distribute content. After that it’s about making a specific plan and following through.
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
- Start Simple: Even if you’ve got tons of motivation #rightnow, you may not have the bandwidth or energy to stick with it for the long haul. That means you should create a cadence that feels like a no-brainer today.
- Need a Starting Point? Go Broad: Think in big picture topics that you know a ton about. Then subsequent pieces of content can take an aspect of each and expand on it.
- Repurpose the HECK Out of Your Work: Starting with a blog? Turn it into a few emails and social posts. Then record your key points in a video. Share, share, share. You’ll get sick of saying the same thing long before everyone else gets tired of hearing it from you. And, most importantly? Not everyone will consume every piece of content, so stick with it.
Social Media Marketing
It should be a no-brainer. Social media marketing is just marketing yourself on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It’s a great tool for growing a community, building a list, and driving people back to your website. And I find that your best bet is to optimize your profiles and prioritize helpful tips 80% of the time, only actively selling 20% or less.
But don’t just throw spaghetti at a wall. A targeted approach that follows a plan is the most effective way to use social media marketing as a strategy to drive traffic to your site and grow your biz.
Why It Matters: They say the best way to connect with people is to show up where they are…and by golly, your people are probably on social media. If not for work, then for fun. So by showing up there, you can build relationships and drive traffic to your site.
How to Do It:
Figure out where your audience hangs out (and where you want to hang out), then play with different types of content to get people to engage. Video is huge right now, but if you hate it you don’t have to do it. Whatever you do, when people comment, be sure to engage back — and comment on their stuff too. IMO, just about every algorithm rewards consistency, so don’t do hit and run posts (where you drop a few posts in a week and then abandon ship for months). Show up regularly. It’s a long game, but it pays off in the end.
The only catch is that you cannot rely on social media entirely. If a wayward billionaire buys a platform and changes everything about it or the platform crashes and you’ve put all your eggs in that basket, then you’re SOL when that platform goes the way of the Dodo bird and takes your audience with it. So use social as a tool for growing your list and driving traffic to your site and funnel (where you capture their contact info).
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
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- Pick a Platform or Two: Don’t try to do all the things all of the places. It’s a full time job and ain’t no one got time for that. Unless that is your job, in which case you’re probably not running a business.
- Consistent Brand Voice: Establish a look and feel and stick with it so your stuff feels on brand — and then, make sure all of your profiles are up to date and reflect it..
- Show up Consistently: If you’re going to post daily, go for it. If you’re only going to post once a week, stick with it and schedule your stuff out as far as you’re comfortable with (bonus points if it ties into the rest of your marketing). That means batching is your BFF.
- Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Create a plan that ties all your stuff together and makes sure that your marketing is working towards your shared goals.
Email Marketing
Hashtag #obsessed describes my feelings on email marketing. Even though it’s MUCH more crowded than it was 10 years ago, it’s the single best way to connect with your audience. And by the way, you OWN your audience. See my comment above on wayward billionaires and social media channels. ‘Nuff said.
Why it Matters: People are inviting you into their inbox — that means it’s direct access to them. And because legally it has to be permission based, they already have a level of interest in you. That means they’re a relatively warm audience. Maybe not hot hot hot, but definitely not cold. Lastly, it’s the best way to grow your audience and relationships with everyone in it.
How to Do it:
Invite people to join your list, whether through freebies, speaking opportunities, shared promotions, or even when they book a call with you. Continue to grow your list and send targeted emails and offers to people on it, including drip campaigns based on why they signed up.
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
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- Choose an Email Platform: Mailchimp, Klaviyo, or ActiveCampaign can simplify automation and segmentation. I use HighLevel with DreamBuilder CRM — and one of my clients reviewed a bunch of platforms last year.
- Email Your Audience Consistently: Even if your list is small, email them regularly.
- Share Your Knowledge and Life: Help your audience get to know you — they’ll buy from you because they like you and trust you, so help them make the right choice.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
PPC isn’t usually a strategy I recommend unless you have a specific low-cost offer or a proven free funnel driving to it. PPC tends to include ads on Google, Bing, and social media networks and you usually pay a management fee as well as the ad fee. There are absolutely some businesses— and clients— for whom PPC is a great fit.
Because of my background doing #allthethings in marketing and understanding how it all fits together, I’ve often struggled to define where my services stop. But I can tell you — they stop at PPC and social ads. That’s where I connect you with someone I trust.
Why It Matters: PPC ads come in handy when you’re doing search ads and want more visibility on Google and social platforms, particularly with specific groups of people. It’s also a great (fast) way to test an offer or a landing page. Though I have other ways that I prefer to test offers — namely with warm audiences.
How to Do It:
If you Google PPC, they’ll tell you to start with keyword research and audience targeting. To that I say, sure. If you want. However, you are best served to go directly to an expert, pay for an hour or two of consulting, and decide whether you want to attempt it yourself or hire an expert. Spoiler alert — this is a place to hire an expert. Even if you just have them set things up, it’s a way better use of your time and money.
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
- Figure Out Your Budget: How much do you want to spend?
- Find a Professional You Trust: Work with them to get started.
Influencer and Affiliate Marketing
I have a complicated relationship with influence and affiliate marketing. Done well, it’s a great strategy. Done, err…not-so-well, and it feels disingenuous and slimy. In a nutshell, influencer and affiliate marketing means partnering with people who promote your products to their audience in exchange for a commission. It’s not usually the best way to market your website, but can be a way to get eyeballs on your work.
Why It Matters: People are more likely to buy products that other people love and recommend. And online influencers can feel like a BFF, which means you get a boatload of social proof and trust, plus you can reach new groups of people.
How to Do It:
Find people who match up to you with values and audience and connect with them on what they’ll do, and what they get in response. Be extremely clear. This is a “good fences = good neighbors” kind of thing. Usually, you’ll give them a discount code that auto applies them as an affiliate and gives them credit for the purchase. That means, you’ve got to have the right system set up on the back end.
My Recommendations for Getting Started:
- Start Small: Work with people you know and trust to test your program and work out any kinks in it.
- Create Swipe Emails + Graphics: Make it easy for them to help you. Also, think about having a schedule for when to promote if you’re working on a launch.
Digital Marketing Strategy for Ecommerce Websites
Most of the website marketing strategies I’ve shared so far are targeted primarily at service-based and course-based businesses. What about when you are product-driven and sell things directly on your site?
That’s where digital marketing strategies for ecommerce websites come in. Most of the strategies I’ve mentioned above are still relevant depending on your business. However, there are some other things you should be doing to make your e-comm work as effective as possible.
Consider adding strategies like:
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- Product Page Optimization: Use high-quality images, detailed descriptions, product reviews, and trust badges.
- Upselling and Cross-Selling: At a minimum consider adding in features that allow you to suggest related items to increase cart value. And, if you’re marketing direct to consumers, social selling “A customer in LA just bought this product,” can be effective to build trust and create FOMO. (Note: be sure to use FOMO ethically and wisely — because it matters!)
- Retargeting Ads: Re-engage potential customers who left without purchasing.
- Cart Abandonment Emails: Remind users about the items they left behind and offer incentives.
- SEO: Optimize your pages for easier findability on search engines when people are looking for specific keywords and products.
Marketing Strategy for a New Website
When you’re building something from the ground up, the most exciting (and nerve-wracking) part is the official launch or go-live date. However, without a plan to drive traffic and conversions post-launch, your beautiful new site might just sit there in the ether, waiting for someone to happen upon it. While that might have worked 25 years ago, it’s not a reality today.
So, what does a marketing strategy for a new website look like?
Pre-Launch Buzz
Tease your upcoming site on social media or through an email waiting list. I love hosting mini-launch parties to talk about the experience and give you an opportunity to build buzz about what you’re doing. You might just get some sales as a result!
And build it in public. By that I mean, share snippets along the way of the process — whether it’s aha moments, lessons learned, or things you’re super excited about. Maybe a sneak peek of your new logo, design, photo shoot, or even a conversation you’ve had!
Initial SEO Setup
Submit your sitemap to search engines and ensure basic on-page SEO. Okay, so that’s not SUPER interesting, and hopefully your developer will do this for you. When I write copy I provide keywords and meta descriptions to make this part easier. Set up Google Search Console to help search engines find you.
Foundational Content
Publish blog posts or guides that answer your audience’s top questions. Okay, so this might not be the most exciting-est (yep, meant to make up a word there) ever thing to do during a launch. BUT, start with a content plan. While your site is in design and development, take the opportunity to start writing a bunch of content — ideally a few months’ worth — so you can go forth and launch-quer (conquer your launch).
Google and the other search powers that be reward fresh content. So if you can update your site even 1x a month, Google will say “Oh hey, this person/business is active. We should pay attention to them.”
Targeted Advertising
Consider a small budget for Google Ads or Facebook Ads to jumpstart traffic. Okay. This is a “Meh” suggestion. What are you launching? What space are you in? For most of my clients, unless you are actively building a list and have a great, proven conversion funnel in place, ads are not the place to start. If you DO run ads, make sure there’s a way to capture those people’s contact info — I.E. some sort of conversion focused page that you’re running the ads to. Otherwise you might as well throw money into a tornado. You might get some of it back, but a lot of it is gone forever.
(Psst. have another opinion on ads? Happy to discuss. And, if ads are right for you, I’m also happy to refer you to someone awesome to help run them.)
Collaborations & Partnerships
Find complementary brands or influencers to help spread the word. Big company over 50-100 people, you can go bigger. But micro and nano influencers are IN. They often have less than 1000 followers or a hyper-local or hyper-niche audience. But boy oh boy do they build trust.
And by influencers, they could just be referral partners or other people at your level. Then again, one of my clients is building a local influencer program, where people just have to create 2 pieces of AUTHENTIC public-facing content and they get a regular store credit.
Other ideas in this vein? Develop an affiliate program. Consider trading email lists for a day. Ask the people who helped you grow your site to give you a shout out.
The possibilities are endless.
FAQs About Marketing Strategies for Websites
- How do I get traffic to my site?
- I always tell people to do all the things that lead to success. Build relationships with people, use SEO strategies and content marketing to grow organic traffic. And, don’t forget the power of social to help get new eyes on your traffic.
- How do I get my site to convert?
- For starters, use CRO techniques such as A/B testing to see what version of design or messaging performs best. Take a peek at where people are dropping off in the process and figure out where the friction is. Is your sign-up or check too complicated or slow? Is your copy on point — is the page engineered for conversion? When in doubt get a second opinion.
- What is the best marketing strategy for a website?
- The “best” strategy is so relative. By that I mean, it depends on your industry and goals. If you need sales quickly, focus on building relationships and having conversations. If you can afford to play the long tame, use a balanced mix of SEO, content, social media, and email. I find that usually the truth of what “best” means is somewhere in the middle.
- Why do I need a marketing strategy for my new website?
- Without a plan, your site is just an online brochure. And that’s fine if all you want is something to show that you’re the real deal. However, most business owners I talk to who invest in a site are not in business for credibility. And I’m guessing you want sales and profit, too. So put some marketing muscle behind it. Figure out your goals, and then create a plan to help you meet them and generate (the right) traffic and then convert it — whether that means through joining your list, making a purchase, booking a call, or something else.
- Are there specific digital marketing strategies for ecommerce websites?
- Short answer? Yes, ecomm sites require some specific marketing strategies. Longer answer? Ecomm marketing strategies typically focus on product page optimization, retargeting, cart-abandonment emails, and user-generated reviews for higher sales. I also am most likely to recommend ads to my ecomm people.
- How do I measure the success of my marketing strategies for website business?
- This is one of those answers that sounds like a trick question. There are a few things that go into it. FIRST, I always tell people that a big part of the gift of a shiny, new site is a blend of excitement and confidence. When you love your site, and it works, you’re more likely to send people to it. Doing ANYTHING more than your baseline pre-launch is going to drive traffic and increase conversions.
Then of course, there are the actual strategies. That’s why you’re here, after all. To measure them, take a look at your analytics software and track metrics like organic traffic, conversion rate, average order value, and cost per acquisition. Don’t forget about your other platforms like social media and email — and the metrics you get form them.
All that data is important. However, your gut feeling and intuition matter too (in fact the data often backs it up or explains it). I also like to pay attention to “feel-good” metrics. How happy are you with your business? The quality of your leads?
Then there are the numbers that are easier to track, like the number of calls you book, type and amount of sales, number of new people on your email list, and of course if you’re getting great leads and clients compared with before.
Want to see where people are interacting on your site? That’s important and interesting. I’d recommend installing tracking software like HotJar or Crazy Egg to pay attention to heat maps to see where people are clicking, where they are stuck, and then go forth and conquer.
Your Website is Only One Piece of the Puzzle
If you’re in business, you need a website. That’s a hill I will battle on to the death. The first thing I do when I consider working with someone is a quick Google Search. Now, your site doesn’t have to be fancy or flashy, but it has to be clear on what you do, how you do it, who you do it for, and how to get in touch. And, if you have more information, you have to make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for.
The flash is fun. Of course it is. And the more sophisticated your business, the more sophisticated your site and your marketing. But a site alone isn’t enough. You need online marketing strategies for websites that drive traffic, nurture leads, and optimize conversions to see real growth and find the success you’re looking for.
Want an audit of your website or marketing? Let’s talk. Hop on my calendar at erinpennings.com/consult.