Growing your business isn’t a walk in the park. Large corporations have it easy. They splash out huge sums and have teams dedicated to collaborating with external agencies to essentially buy attention and build brand recognition. But for you, it’s a different story. No one knows who you are or your purpose, which translates to a lack of trust and ultimately, zero sales. This means you need to hustle harder, paying close attention to every detail because you can’t afford any slip-ups. However, it’s not an impossible feat! Regardless of your team size or budget constraints, there are practical measures you can implement to attract more customers. Here are 15 strategies small businesses can utilize to gain more customers without breaking the bank.

Gaining More Customers Through Website & SEO Enhancements

Wondering why your website traffic is low? We’ll delve into promotion strategies later, but first, it’s crucial to acknowledge that common website issues could be hindering your progress. Let’s establish a solid base to ensure all your future endeavors aren’t futile.

1. Rectify Common Issues Affecting Your Site

The initial design of your website can significantly impact your business’s success or failure. The first step? Let’s identify and eliminate all the “dead ends” on your site. These appear as 404 errors, or broken links that lead users to a dead end, preventing them from accessing the information they need. Screaming Frog is a fantastic free tool to swiftly locate broken links on your site. Additionally, it helps identify other common problems, including duplicate content. For instance, do you have pages with identical meta-data, including titles or descriptions? If so, chances are you have duplicate content as well.

To fix broken links and 404 errors, you can either (a) remove the links or (b) implement permanent 301 redirects from old pages that might have moved to their replacements. There are also a few ways to fix duplicate content, but the simplest include:

• Rewriting the page.
• Adding a canonical link. Though advanced, it’s highly effective.
• Noindex your WordPress archive pages such as Tags and Categories. The next crucial step is to optimize your website’s loading speed. This has a surprisingly substantial impact on conversions. Decreasing page loading times from 8 to 2 seconds lifts conversions by 74%. Pingdom is a superb advanced tool if you desire a more comprehensive solution. However, Google’s PageSpeed tool is also a great free alternative. It rapidly diagnoses potential causes for slow page speeds and provides helpful recommendations for fixing them.

2. Revamp Your “Low-Hanging Fruit” Content

Let’s be honest, how often do you venture beyond the first page of Google search results? Probably never. You likely have numerous pages with good search potential languishing on the second page of Google. The top search results receive the lion’s share of clicks. Therefore, ranking lower than the top few positions on the first page won’t benefit you. So, let’s identify those pages with decent potential and enhance them. Ensure your site is verified with Google Search Console (another useful, free Google tool) and check which pages are currently on the second page. Navigate to the “Search Analytics” tab and arrange your queries by “Position.” Any page ranking between 10 and 20 falls on the second page.

These pages represent your low-hanging fruit, deserving prioritization. Why? Because a few minor adjustments or enhancements could yield significant returns in a short span. For instance, you can meticulously review these pages, seeking opportunities to improve or expand the content. Brian Dean from Backlinko, after analyzing over a million search results, discovered that, on average, first-page results boast around 1,890 words per page! If your content is on the “thin” side, start by enriching it. Begin by incorporating new facts or statistics to add depth to your existing page. Subsequently, you can experiment with adding different media types, such as images or videos, to enhance the page experience and keep visitors engaged for longer. Upwork is a good starting point for finding affordable and creative assistance for both content and design.

Free Guide >> The 30 Best Ways to Promote Your Business

3. Local Optimization

Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) have undergone significant transformations in recent years. Not only have advertisements been rearranged, but they now frequently incorporate other search verticals, including images, videos, and local businesses. This is a noteworthy development because it exemplifies how search engine results are progressively personalized based on user behavior, with local geography being a primary factor. You can capitalize on this by ensuring your business is accurately represented, with a particular focus on the business address or location. For instance, the Moz Local Search Ranking Factors outlines the key determinants of whether your business appears in local search results. Here are the top characteristics that influence success:

The most crucial factor is the “consistency of structured citations.” This refers to the information displayed in your local listings, such as Yelp, Google Maps, and others. Begin by ensuring that your Google My Business is accurately set up, including the vital category associations that determine where and when your business appears.

Another free Google service can help you appear correctly in local listings and map searches. Don’t underestimate the significance of map inclusion or what might seem like a trivial Google+ profile. Remember, online reviews hold as much weight as personal recommendations for 88% of consumers! If you have some technical expertise or can find someone who does, go the extra mile to set up schema markup as well. (You can find a beginner’s guide to schema by nexus-security here.) Once you’ve addressed the Google business listing set up, head over to Moz Local. For a nominal fee of under $100, you can manage and distribute your information to most of the top local listing platforms, saving you significant time and effort.

The above example showcases a business with multiple locations (names have been masked for privacy). A quick glance at their primary location reveals several issues, including inconsistencies and incomplete business information across some of the most influential local listing platforms. Addressing these discrepancies is another swift win that can drastically improve your visibility to local customers.

Attracting More Customers Through Website Conversion Enhancements

Experiencing low site conversions? This often indicates bottlenecks that hinder potential customers as they navigate your site. Here are a few quick suggestions for resolving the most prevalent issues.

4. Craft Unique Offers for Each Stage of the Sales Funnel

Let’s face it: over 90% of website visitors won’t make a purchase. If there’s nothing enticing them, they’ll leave, rendering all your hard work in attracting them useless. The key is to present a variety of offers tailored to different customer mindsets to capture as many prospects as possible and nurture them over time. Consider these stages:

• Awareness: Already have brand awareness covered? Great! If not, start with informative, topic-driven guides, eBooks, or checklists that guide readers on resolving a problem they face.
• Information: As prospects research alternatives, provide them with an easy, interactive method for comparison. For instance, a calculator or tool that offers personalized feedback can create a lasting first impression.
• Evaluation: At this stage, potential customers are comparing prices. Showcase case studies and information that positions your product or service as a worthwhile investment, not just another expense.
• Purchase: This stage is self-explanatory! While this may seem like a lot of effort (and it is), it’s the most effective approach to convert the maximum number of website visitors, increasing your chances of success by nurturing them towards a purchase later on.

5. Assist Visitors in Finding What They Seek

Here’s a surprisingly effective, albeit simple, tip. Want to understand why a specific offer’s conversions are low? Often, it’s because not enough people are even aware of it. This is especially true if the page is buried deep within your site’s content hierarchy and difficult to locate. To verify this, use Google Analytics and navigate to the Behavior Flow section. This helpful graphic visually represents how visitors navigate through your website from one page to the next.

Analyzing this (in conjunction with your most popular content) might reveal that your meticulously crafted homepage isn’t your most viewed page. It’s likely that older content continues to draw the most new visitors. Here’s the easy part: Determine the most popular navigation paths and pages, then incorporate more internal links from those pages to the page you want to boost. It’s often that simple!

6. Test Significant Landing Page Modifications

The key to high conversions isn’t about tweaking button colors from orange to green. Instead, it lies in implementing substantial, impactful changes. Sure, there are basic landing page pitfalls to avoid, but those are mostly common sense. Beyond that, the offer itself will significantly influence results (such as leads or sales) more than a catchy headline. A perfect example is Lowe’s Lawn Care Plan. They provide visitors with a personalized recommendation in under a minute. It’s unique, memorable, and valuable.

Besides the offer, another way to enhance your pages is by adding context. There are numerous ways to achieve this, but one particularly effective (and recent) approach is personalization. Integrating contextual information can help increase sales by 20% by tailoring the user experience to each visitor’s profile. At the very least, you can leverage basic information to personalize their experience. For example, visit Optimizely in the morning, and you’ll be greeted with a friendly Good morning!

7. Implement Automated Email Follow-Up

451%. That’s the astounding increase in qualified leads that companies can achieve by embracing marketing automation. While social media is excellent for brand building and engagement, email’s still king reigns supreme for driving sales. Moreover, automating your emails offers several benefits:

• It introduces scalability and leverage into your marketing.
• Facilitates more personalized and timely emails.
• Boosts results like click-through rates and conversions.
• Frees up your time from constantly monitoring your inbox. And this isn’t just a fancy, futuristic concept. Even traditional businesses like Golden Gate Wine, which is far from a tech company, employed marketing automation to increase sales 150%. The best part? Even basic, budget-friendly software like MailChimp can accomplish this. Let’s say you own a hotel. Setting up an automated workflow targeting guests who recently checked out can (a) generate reviews that inspire potential customers, (b) encourage referrals from satisfied guests, and (c) solidify positive guest experiences to ensure repeat business, thereby increasing the Lifetime Value of a Customer. Visit the Automation section in MailChimp and create a new sequence tailored to your specific objective.

Now, if you prefer a more manual approach, you could always export contacts from your CRM or POS system. However, this isn’t ideal. If there’s no seamless integration with your existing tools, explore using platforms like Zapier to connect them with MailChimp or your preferred email marketing platform. (You can find a helpful in-depth guide for this process.) Next, identify the “trigger” that initiates the automated sequence and define the email frequency for sending them out.

Start by outlining the process, including the objectives and messaging for each email, in a document or on a whiteboard. Having a clear roadmap makes piecing together the automation workflow much more manageable. Setting up marketing automation sequences requires effort upfront but ultimately delivers superior results with minimal (if any) additional expenses.

Expanding Your Customer Base Through Content Marketing Optimizations

You’re probably already blogging. But is it yielding the desired results? Or are you simply churning out generic 300-word posts about company updates whenever you have a spare minute (which is rare)? Here are a few pointers to ensure your content marketing efforts are truly valuable.

8. Prioritize Unbranded Content

Content creation and publication are among the most effective ways to drive organic traffic from search engines. However, there’s a catch. If most of your content revolves solely around your brand, you’ll likely rank only for brand-related keywords. This means that people can find you online only if they already know your brand name. You’re missing out on attracting a whole new audience unfamiliar with your business. And it gets even more challenging.

(source) Over 2 million pieces of content floods the internet daily. This means the bar for standing out keeps getting higher. Simply put, those 300-500 word blog posts about your company won’t cut it. Instead, create content centered around broader topics that resonate with your target audience, even if they don’t explicitly mention your brand. A prime example of this is PayScale. They transform seemingly dull statistics or data into engaging infographics that get picked up by major publications like Mashable.

Large media outlets like Mashable wouldn’t bother with your latest product update. They’re more interested in captivating narratives that benefit their readers. (Okay, maybe Mashable isn’t the best example since they publish a wide range of content. But you get the idea.)

9. Repurpose Your Best Work

As you start producing high-quality, unbranded content, you’ll realize something… It’s demanding! Creating fresh, valuable content consistently requires significant time and resources. So, why not breathe new life into your existing content? Don’t simply republish it verbatim. Instead, refresh older content to make it appear new and relevant. The most straightforward form of content repurposing involves transforming your blog posts into iTunes podcasts, YouTube videos, SlideShare presentations, or even offline speeches. This format switch presents the same information from different angles, allowing you to highlight specific aspects depending on the medium. This approach also helps maximize the initial investment you made in researching, writing, and designing the original piece. Another hidden advantage of repurposing old blog posts is that you already know what works and what doesn’t. Need to prepare for a speech? Analyze your blog analytics to identify the most popular topics and angles. This gives you a head start, knowing that your speech will likely resonate with the audience. That is, of course, if you nail the delivery! (Don’t worry; I believe in you.)

Another quick tip is to revisit your old content and give it a refresh. Update it with recent facts or statistics, add diagrams or images for better clarity, and you’ll have effectively boosted its effectiveness without crafting a whole new piece from scratch.

10. Think Content Distribution, Not Just One-Time Social Posting

You’ve created excellent unbranded content and repurposed it across various platforms for maximum impact. Now it’s time to promote it effectively. That’s where social media comes in. But don’t just fire off a single tweet and call it a day. Instead, approach it strategically, like a well-planned distribution strategy. This involves developing a comprehensive content calendar that outlines how your content will be shared on each platform. (This excellent guide from Buffer provides a great starting point.)

Next, explore social voting sites similar to Hacker News. A quick Google search will reveal relevant platforms in your industry. While you shouldn’t solely rely on them for traffic, they offer an excellent way to increase brand visibility. Remember content repurposing? Apply it here too! Share your content on platforms like Medium (smart move!), LinkedIn, and Quora.

Each platform has its own community actively seeking fresh, engaging content. They also benefit from network effects, meaning your content has the potential to reach a much wider audience.

Generating More Customers Through Improved Promotion and Outreach

You’ve laid a solid foundation by implementing the strategies discussed so far. Now, it’s time to fill your sales pipeline with a steady stream of leads. Ready? Let’s go!

11. Analyze Successful Competitor Campaigns

While it’s easy to get caught up in what your competitors are doing, that’s not the goal here. Instead, focus on identifying their successful strategies and finding ways to do it even better. For instance, use tools like Open Site Explorer from Moz to analyze which websites are linking to your competitors. Look for patterns that reveal how they earned those valuable backlinks.

The example above shows how the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego has effectively utilized holiday promotions that caught the attention of major news outlets. There’s an idea for your next campaign! However, simply replicating their approach won’t generate buzz. Challenge yourself and your team to build upon their ideas, taking the initial concept and elevating it for greater impact. Avoid direct competition with larger players. Instead, leverage your small business’s unique strengths – your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) – to stand out.

12. Explore Cross-Promotions and Partnerships

While cross-promotion might seem outdated, it still delivers results, especially when done creatively and cost-effectively. This strategy works for virtually any business. For instance, if you sell products, check out platforms like Moz Perks. They offer excellent partner deals. (I’ve personally found and now use at least 5 new tools thanks to such introductory offers.)

Are you a tax accountant? No problem! Partner with lawyers, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers. Their clients likely need your services, and vice versa. Don’t know any mortgage brokers? Look no further than Yelp, Angie’s List, LinkedIn, or your local local association.

(Calling all website professionals: Reach out to the Los Angeles Mortgage Association immediately! They need your expertise.) You can choose to promote each other out of goodwill or create a mutually beneficial system involving referral fees, commissions, or revenue splits. The key to successful cross-promotion lies in understanding what your potential partners value most. Some may prioritize exposure, while others are driven by financial incentives.

13. Implement Targeted Outreach

Referral traffic relies on people recommending your business. The most valuable referrals come from individuals with influence over communities relevant to your niche. Bloggers and journalists are excellent starting points. They not only possess the ability to drive substantial traffic your way but also provide editorial links that significantly boost your organic search rankings. Start by creating a list of potential media contacts in a simple spreadsheet. One helpful resource is Followerwonk. This platform provides analytics for Twitter accounts. Search for bloggers or journalists in your industry and sort the results based on follower count, recency, and social authority.

Buzzsumo is another excellent tool for identifying influential figures in your industry who could become valuable outreach targets. Another recent favorite of mine is the LinkedIn Sales Prospector. It simplifies the process of finding key individuals. More importantly, it assists with the next crucial step: getting on their radar through small, consistent interactions. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator excels at this. It aggregates updates from your key contacts into a single inbox, making it incredibly easy to like, comment on their posts, or connect with them based on shared interests. Think of it as strategic networking. Hey there, Larry! 👋

14. Leverage Event-Specific Content

Events are goldmines for networking and connecting with those influencers you’ve identified. They provide a platform to directly engage with individuals you’d like to build relationships with. Volunteer, host, speak, participate in panel discussions – any involvement, even assisting with event setup or teardown, can be beneficial. A past client cleverly leveraged events by attending local meetups. They recorded the sessions (with permission, of course) and released them as podcast content, instantly tapping into a pre-existing audience (the event attendees) eager to share it with their networks. Similarly, Campaign Monitor provided detailed notes for attendees at the recent Unbounce conference, eliminating the need for frantic note-taking.

Beyond event content, what better way to foster connections than with some good old-fashioned hospitality? Moz and CallRail recently sponsored the official Pub Crawl at the Unbounce conference, putting them front and center during memorable karaoke sessions. Fun, but costly. Replicate this tactic affordably by hosting a private dinner or a casual gathering with drinks and appetizers at a nearby bar during the event.

15. Organize Contests and Promotions

Let’s wrap up this list with another timeless yet effective strategy: contests and promotions. As emphasized throughout this article, the key lies in being creative and avoiding overused tactics like generic Facebook photo contests. For inspiration, years ago, I worked with a company that sent four bloggers on a multi-city tour over several weeks. We secured complimentary hotel accommodations and event tickets in exchange for social media promotion. Partnering with other businesses minimized expenses and provided a larger audience for campaign promotion. The clever part? We launched a contest before the trip to select the participating bloggers. This generated buzz and excitement, ensuring a captivated audience eagerly awaiting the event’s launch. While organizing the event required significant time and effort, it wasn’t particularly challenging or expensive. It simply involved some online research, numerous cold emails and follow-up calls, and a clear document outlining the benefits for each partner in terms of content, views, and social media exposure. To sweeten the deal, showcase the potential cost of achieving those metrics independently, highlighting the financial value of the partnership. Once your campaign is ready, invest in advertising to expand its reach. While direct-response ads like AdWords might not be the best fit, social media advertising options on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are perfect for cost-effective distribution, reaching a broader audience, including those unfamiliar with your brand.

For inspiration, check out these excellent Twitter ad examples.

In Conclusion…

Most businesses, especially small ones, operate with limited resources. The key is understanding that a shortage in one area (like finances) requires compensating with others, such as time, effort, and a dash of calculated risk-taking. Fortunately, some of the most effective customer acquisition strategies don’t require massive advertising budgets. By refining your website, improving user experience, maximizing your content’s reach, and promoting your business creatively, you can successfully fill your sales pipeline and set your business on a path to growth. Ultimately, even unlimited resources can’t replace a well-designed website, an exceptional product, outstanding customer service, engaging content, and innovative promotional strategies.