We’re going to start with a bit of a caveat. We strongly suggest you engage a digital specialist or team to optimize your website for search rank and to set up AdWords. The world of Google search is quite changeable and knowing how to nail it takes practice (and probably patience!) The following acts as an introductory guide so that when you do go brief that specialist, you can better understand what to ask for and how to get the best results. Handy right?
What is a digital footprint?
It refers to all the ways a suspect (or prospect) can begin to discover, engage and interact with your business or brand. A functioning digital footprint might seek to ensure:
- Your business can easily be discovered online through organic or paid search; And/or
- Direct traffic to your site increases organically;
- Or your paid advertising on Google or social media is part of a bigger plan;
- And that all digital interactions your brand has with your audience connect them to your brand and build value off each other.
Clear so far right?
The ultimate goal of a digital footprint
This is to use a range of channels (online) to achieve a singular goal – e.g. typically the reason you’ll use social for a brand is to get people to your website to enquire or buy. The sequence might look like:
- Post regular and relevant posts on social media
- To increase followers on social media,
- And those followers interact and engage with your brand more frequently
- This means, more people will begin to know about the brand and your business
- Which increases the likelihood of people finding your website address
- And with more people at the top of the funnel (prospects) you have a better chance of converting some new leads.
Ways to get people to your website:
- Social – Insta, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn
- Blog
- Newsletter
- Partner blogs or newsletters
- Partner websites
- Google My Business
- Google Search
- Google Ads
- Digital ads
And on the list goes…
How do you know if your digital footprint is connected?
First, you’ll be reaching your goals! Second, look at your analytics, often. How do people find your website, what do they look at, how long do they stay, do they come back….all of this information is in every analytics for every platform. Reading and understanding these analytics is super important. It’s the way to determine if your website, and the digital footprint that supports it, is winning, waning or wanting (changes).