RapNet Blog
So you have a beautiful diamond retail website. The look and feel is just right. You’re featuring the most brilliant diamonds and other exquisite jewelry items. How do you get people to come? Easy. Create Content.
“If you have the skills to start a business, you already likely have all the skills necessary to exponentially increase your website traffic while building your brand equity for the future.” Jayson DeMers, AudienceBloom.com
The internet is filled with ecommerce. People sell everything from bacon lip balm to toaster ovens that pop out toast bearing a resemblance to Jesus. These might be exaggerations, but they are here to make a point. It's necessary to stand out from the crowd, particularly in diamond jewelry, and in order to survive in the vast ocean of e-tail, you’ll need to work on boosting targeted traffic to your website.
Although this might sound daunting, this guide is here to help you grow your online diamond business. It will also show you how easy it is to get traffic to your website, driving up those sales you deserve.
So What Can You Do to Get Customers to Your Site?
Create Content. If you need to know one thing, know this - content is king of the internet nowadays. It's called Content Marketing. According to Content Marketing Institute, "...content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling." The importance of having quality content on your site cannot be overstated. There are so many ways that having content your readers actually want to read can boost targeted traffic to your site.
Blog
Create your own blog about what you know best - diamonds, diamond jewelry, the experience of having a diamond jewelry store. You can write short 600 word posts, or longer 1200 word posts, about such topics as diamond industry trends, anecdotes about diamonds, stories you have heard from customers (with their permission) about their positive experiences with your merchandise, trending diamond jewelry styles. Why not create a series of posts about how different color diamonds develop, and the history and folklore connected to each one? Or, have a running feature on the craziest engagement proposal stories and ask your readers to contribute? People love to contribute and it builds a sense of closeness with your readership. Blog about anything you can think of that helps educate, give value to, and entertain the people you want to reach.
Be consistent and persistent. Decide on a blogging schedule and stick to it. Will you be posting weekly, bi-weekly, daily? Make sure your schedule is comfortable for you and attainable.
Remember, don’t let the content become a sales pitch. One of the most common mistakes many bloggers make is that they look at the platform as an opportunity to make a pitch. The idea here is to inform and entertain, give them valuable information that will help them. If, however, there is something truly useful in your product or services that relates to the content and can aid the reader, do indeed include reference to it.
Articles
Write articles about something meaningful or educational for industry journals, magazines, jewelry sites or other relevant publications. Some good contenders are JCK Online Magazine and InStore Magazine. Landing guest writer appearances on these sites will increase your visibility and credibility. You can even try local sites and publications. The options are limitless.
Case Studies
Case Studies are another powerful tool for content. A case study takes a true customer scenario and breaks it down by facts and numbers. Let’s say you were discussing how diamonds increase in value over time. This can be a powerful argument for why someone should put their money into the diamond market rather than the stock market. It makes for a good and informative read and just may convince someone to put their money in diamonds before you have even made a pitch.
Guest Blogging
Now that you’ve got your blog going, it's time to start guest blogging. Jayson DeMers says, “I strongly believe guest blogging is the most valuable tactic business owners can (and should) be using to build a sustainable online business for the long haul, while growing traffic and sales.” Some blogs are dying for fresh content. Do a bit of research by going to Google and searching keywords to see who’s making an impact. Then send the most worthy ones your post with a little note on top saying you enjoy reading their blog and would be honored if they could post your blog on their site. Again, as long as your blog isn't a sales pitch and the intent is to educate, people are often happy to oblige.
Calls to Action
Don't forget to Include a call-to-action within your content, to allow the reader to click directly to your online jewelry site to find out more about you. Calls to Action are a great device for both sales-driven copy and content. You could end each post with a thought provoking question or ask “Has this ever happened to you? Tell us about it”. HubSpot has some great Calls to Action examples for you to check out.
Conclusion
Your knowledge of the diamond market could be your greatest asset in driving traffic to your website so share this knowledge with others. It can be difficult to find time in an already busy schedule to sit and write content, but if you give, you will receive. People like to be kept informed and will thus trust you more, and thus, buy from you.