If you had to...

[PayForWords]

Pick just 3 things to focus on for a new site, what would they be and why?

This is assuming the site is up, you have content, and you're ready to market. What would you do?

Here's my 3:

1. Put a LOT of time into SEO (I consider it a form of internal marketing)

2. Tackle all the free areas first and put in a lot of effort. Share networks, forums, guest posts, social media, etc.

3. Dump some money into ads. (Google has a promotion right now, buy $25, get $100 in free credits, one time only).


What would your first/essential list of 3 be as far as marketing goes and why?

[Freelancier]

This is assuming the site is up, you have content, and you're ready to market.

And yet that's where most people have the biggest problem.... once you have all that stuff, you already are pretty clear on your roll-out plan. But getting the site to completion with the right content is not so simple. Getting any content is easy... getting the right content and layout that people will want to come see is a bigger problem.

[vangogh]

I'd work on improving the content, then improving the design, and then improving the content again. What I mean by that is everyone thinks having content means they have good content. Few people are right. Most content online is hardly worth the time to scan it. No matter how good your content is, it can always be better. Similar for design and by design I don't mean making it look pretty. The design of most sites can be improved the same way most content could be improved. My first two recommendations ar to keep iterating on content and design and never be satisfied that they're good enough.

As far as marketing is concerned the basic idea is to decide what market you're going to serve, tailor your business to that market, find out where you can reach the market, and build a presence in those locations. SEO, social networking, and advertising are all ways to reach potential markets, but first I would make sure you've defined the market well and are have done what you can to make your business appealing to them. Like content and design it's an iterative process. Do what you can, see how it works, learn from what does and doesn't work, and improve everything for the next go round.

[patrickprecisione]

Here's my approach to creating content- Start with an audience in mind. From there you can figure out what would be interesting to them, then you can start generating topics. And don't be afraid to repurpose content. By which I don't mean just turning your blog post in to a video, but instead taking that same topic and expanding upon it, maybe in to an infographic, video etc.

Every thing you listed is important- You need to put the effort in to sharing that content, but I agree with vangogh and Freelancier- Top priority is making the content worthwhile. It makes everything else that much easier.

[Wozcreative]

My biggest driver for marketing is my own website. Once the site is done, I just keep it up to date regularly. I get traffic through google or referrals.

However, BEFORE the website is done, I focus on:

1. Style/tone of website... is it too busy? Does it showcase my work well or take away from my portfolio pieces? Will I get bored of it quickly? What are the color choices saying about me? Is it easy to navigate? Are images/icons representative enough?

2. Content - What sort of tone do I want to speak to my target audience? What information might they be looking for? Is it easier to answer it on the website rather than having to repeat myself over the phone? When someone visits it, will they "get" it? How is the typography, is it easy to read? What will the call to action be and how will it be placed on the site? If someone randomly comes to a page inside my site, will they know where they are or what I do? Will the site answer the question for them in regards to "are we a good fit"... does it spell out what type of clientelle I am looking for in a simple way? Does it showcase my services without being too "wordy" or technical? Does the site make it friendly for non tech savvy people as well as tech savvy people? Does it intimidate or welcome them, making them feel like design/technology is nothing to be afraid of? Does it explain my "process"? Does it explain what I can do for them and give proof/examples of past successful projects?

3. On-site SEO - Loading time, types of pages, integrating google analytics, proper file structure and naming. What types of social media will I be linking with? How will I try to engage the user to interact with some of the content on my site or me? Have I included a good contact section, easily recognizable?

Once all that is done, I then really just update it and let it do it's thing! The website really is my marketing tool and I use social media to showcase any updates on it. I don't get much traffic.. maybe up to 150 users a month, but it is usually quality traffic.

In the future I plan on trying google adwords or some other form of advertising.. I am still working on my content/site/rebranding.

[Harold Mansfield]

Develop long term marketing strategy (This is a lot of work).
SEO.
Advertising.

[JoelK]

First of All, I wouldn't just have a standard website. I would have a blog that I post to daily with valuable content (Content is King). Search engines love sites that are updated and added to constantly.
Here are three things I would focus on with my website/blog.

1. Post value based content daily for you're targeted audience (If you market to everybody, you're marketing to nobody). It's important that you have valuable content to share with a specific audience and that you provide content every day. Each blog should also have a call to action at the end. Ex. "Follow me on facebook, twiiter, share your comments with me, contact and work with me personally etc...) Things to blog about could include your business, your field, your day, a book you're reading!

2. Get eyeballs on your blog/website. Ex. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email list, paid ads, etc. (Google's SEO will soon begin to focus on sites that have a lot of syndication and activity, which is why you should have a call to action at the end of your blog posts that tells people to comment and interact. When you post content daily that people interact with, you're blog begins to establish it's authority in it's niche.

3. Advertising, and overal branding is critical. Once you get people to your blog, it's important that they see you as an authority in your niche. The ads are not what draw people to your site. What draws them to your site is your content. For example when you share a blog about Making Pancakes, people interested in that will come to read it, and your ad for pancake mix will be placed casually on the side! lol.

These are the things I would focus on.
Make it a great day.
Joel Kawira

[MarkFSimmons]

I'll play devil's advocate that creating content en masse is not the best solution. You can write a blog post a day, but if you aren't getting visitors, it is just a lot of work. Instead, I blog infrequently, creating more thoughtful and actionable posts than I would have time to create on a daily. I then spend the majority of my time promoting them. Thinking and acting in in this manner works to get you more visitors than quantity alone can provide.

[KaterinaM]

1) Content marketing using various free sources - +SEO improvement
2) Social Media activity
3) Google Adwords, but just a bit.

[JamesCPA13]

I would focus on SEO, Play with your title, meta description, and the text on the page itself. Customize each page, google loves that, use the same words in the title, description and page. You want to make these words match or be relevant. I would also make sure your content makes sense and is easy to read and not confusing. Google ad words are good and hooking up your social networking within. hope this helps.

[vangogh]

I blog infrequently, creating more thoughtful and actionable posts than I would have time to create on a daily

I think that's the right approach. Not specifically to post infrequently, but to post quality over quantity. If all you can post is once a month then post the best content you can once a month. If you can post once a week do that. Having said that, the more you post, the more traffic you generally get. If you can post more and maintain the same quality it's probably a good idea. If you have to drop quality to post more then you should think twice.

Then again look at some of the most well trafficked blogs and you'll probably find lots of quantity