Do you know how your web site fits into the overall marketing strategy for your business? Do you have a strategy for your web site as a marketing tool? If you're like many entrepreneurs I speak with, you probably don't.
All over the world, small business owners are spending thousands of dollars on building and maintaining web sites without being able to answer one big question: What do you want your web site to do?
Creating a web site without a marketing strategy can be an expensive and time-consuming mistake. Here's an illustration from the more familiar world of paper and postage. Imagine that you hired a graphic designer, printed 5000 four-color tri-fold brochures, and when the boxes arrived, you asked yourself, "Gee, what shall I do with these?"
That scenario may sound a bit embarrassing as it stands, but let's take it further. Suppose the first idea that occurs to you is mailing your new brochure to a list of 500 names you collected by exhibiting at a trade show. But then you realize that you didn't design the brochure as a self- mailer -- all 6 panels are filled with graphics and copy.
To mail your brochure, you will now need 500 envelopes. Of course you want to use the ones printed with your address and logo, but how much do those cost a piece? And do you have 500 in stock? What will be the cost in money or time to get envelopes printed, addressed, and stuffed? How long will all this take? Was any of this in your budget when you had the brochures printed?
The brochure example can tell us much about what goes wrong in creating web sites. Many sites are constructed to be simply electronic brochures. Entrepreneurs often get their sites designed by sending their printed brochure to a web designer, and saying, "Put this on the Web."
So here's what is wrong with that. If you want your web site to attract traffic, your web site must be DESIGNED to attract traffic.
You have a choice in designing your site and integrating it with your overall marketing strategy. You can choose to make your site an electronic brochure with no consideration of how to attract visitors built into the design. If you do this, it means that you must direct traffic to your site by other means -- advertise, promote, exhibit, speak, write, network, prospect, mail, call, etc.
Unfortunately, most small business owners find this out after the fact. They put up the site and then slowly realize that no one is seeing it. So they start spending time and money on banner ads, on-line malls, classifieds, postcards, bulk email, posting articles, exchanging links, and more.
The alternative is to design your site to attract traffic in the first place. If you're going to spend all the time and money to build a web site, doesn't it make more sense to have the site bring you customers rather than you having to bring customers to the site?
To create a high-traffic web site, it must be search-engine friendly. 85-90% of all web site traffic comes from search engines. When a customer types in a keyword phrase you hope will bring them to you, your site needs to be one of the top 10-30 results shown or that customer will never get to you. To earn top positions in the major search engines, you or your web designer must know the guidelines each engine uses to create its rankings, and mold your site to meet them.
Some of these guidelines relate to the content of your site, and how it is organized. Others have to do with the technical details of how your site is constructed. If you don't want to know these specifics, you'd better hire someone who does. That's the problem with letting just anyone who calls themselves a web designer create a site for you.
Looking at a designer's portfolio of completed sites will tell you only a small part of what you need to know about their abilities. Who wrote the content for those sites? Who designed the page layout and navigation? Where did the graphics come from? And here's the most important question: What did the designer do to make those sites search-engine friendly?
It's a rare person who possesses the four-way combination of design ability, technical expertise, marketing know-how, and search engine savvy to create an attractive, useful web site that will attract traffic AND generate paying customers. You know which of these capabilities you already have, and what new skills you're willing to learn. Make sure you hire people who have the rest.
About The Author
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at http://www.getclientsnow.com
executive chauffeured services Bradford .. Madison to Airport carAre you happy with your website? (Does your business even... Read More
Writing and distributing articles is fast becoming a popular method... Read More
In order to have more trust in your visitors' eye,... Read More
Bring those visitors back for more, applauding you and saying... Read More
We will start with the best, than make our way... Read More
If you are a small business owner with a website,... Read More
Viral Marketing is allowing people to giveaway and use your... Read More
Google is the most popular and most used search engine... Read More
Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of what... Read More
You know the drill. Everybody claims that in order to... Read More
1. Give people a free subscription to your e-zine. Almost... Read More
Now that you've built your new website you can sit... Read More
You can learn many things you didn't know about your... Read More
So you have a new website but the phone isn't... Read More
Description: one way of jumpstarting you link campaign is to... Read More
Content One of the best ways to encourage website owners... Read More
As an authorative hub a link from a DMOZ directory... Read More
In the early days of developing my home business, I... Read More
Do you want to reach millions of potential customers for... Read More
Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into... Read More
Do what I did. Learn these 10 insiders' ad writing... Read More
Is your website looking alittle bare? It's okay, you're about... Read More
On a regular basis I receive e-mail through all my... Read More
I feel the most effective way to get people to... Read More
Here are 4 of the most easiest and... Read More
O'Hare Chicago prom limo ..In this article I discuss some ineffective and/or unethical website... Read More
Everyone likes to read or get a referral about something... Read More
Here are 4 of the most easiest and... Read More
No matter what you're marketing or promoting, if your Ad... Read More
When you are deciding on the major search engine directories... Read More
So you have your website and you've done everything right... Read More
When webmasters have created their final master piece, their next... Read More
Have you noticed lately how savvy webmasters are using simple,... Read More
Often, website owners would like to promote their new business... Read More
Google is the most popular internet search engine and even... Read More
Promoting your website might seem like an enormous task that... Read More
I created my first website in 1995 - it was... Read More
Here are the website promotion tactics to reinforce and increase... Read More
It's easy to forget the fundamental components of Web site... Read More
If you have a website and desires to attract traffic... Read More
Do you know why your website is not making money... Read More
DMOZ is known all over the internet as being the... Read More
In the early days of developing my home business, I... Read More
Most new webmasters face the same conundrum: how can I... Read More
The number one key to getting business in the real... Read More
Hardly a day goes by that I don't get an... Read More
Some Internet marketing experts have claimed that the best way... Read More
Giving away content is a powerful way to get free... Read More
How can one get a good ranking in the major... Read More
If you are not getting traffic at your website and... Read More
Web Site Promotion |