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
taxi o'hare Wisconsin Dells ..Website promotion is certainly a main focus of all business... Read More
Many business owners and online marketing experts focus their efforts... Read More
Yahoo! allows you to set up your own front page... Read More
I just reviewed a new website and I'm in shock.... Read More
On the Internet, links are very important for websites to... Read More
Keyword can be classified into three categories :-Single word Keyword-Multiple... Read More
I created my first website in 1995 - it was... Read More
When you design a website you should create it so... Read More
Every business owner want to attract more orders and have... Read More
A prospect's mind is an intimate place... Read More
There's such a thing as taking search engine optimization too... Read More
Getting a loyal traffic base for your website is an... Read More
How many times have you been frustrated with your promotion... Read More
Have you noticed lately how savvy webmasters are using simple,... Read More
When you are deciding on the major search engine directories... Read More
At present there are over 3.3 billion pages indexed by... Read More
In the early days of developing my home business, I... Read More
Would it surprise you to know that Compaq Computer? outsources?... Read More
Here are the website promotion tactics to reinforce and increase... Read More
Web site owners are realizing Jack Humphrey's Power Linking isn't... Read More
If your website sales are down and you desire to... Read More
1. Tell people you have a siteThis might seem blindingly... Read More
Do you want to advertise about your website?Wait and have... Read More
When the economy is down, your website sales may go... Read More
Driving traffic to your website can be a time consuming... Read More
bmw rental chicago Ackley ..Making money with your web site is the dream and... Read More
Let's face it. Getting webmasters to link to your site... Read More
The Importance of Page ContentThe content of a page is... Read More
Five Nifty Ways to Make Your Site Sticky!'Stickiness' is one... Read More
We have a running joke in our office that one... Read More
Most webmasters are familiar with the concept of reciprocal linking.... Read More
Here are the website promotion tactics to reinforce and increase... Read More
Many companies after spending a substantial amount of money on... Read More
How much does an advert in Yellow Pages cost? How... Read More
Many people miss out on some very valuable promotion opportunities... Read More
Promote your website using articles - Internet is all about... Read More
It's a fact. While most link partners are scrupulously honest... Read More
1. Selling To Everyone Means You Sell to No OneIf... Read More
In many cases when you start a new website you... Read More
If you are not getting traffic at your website and... Read More
We have dealt with the tags so the search engines... Read More
Who me? Track?Now I realize some turn a blind eye... Read More
Measuring and understanding your Website's success is a critical process... Read More
Cross promoting is when two or more businesses promote their... Read More
Acquiring relevant backlinks to your website is one of the... Read More
Viral marketing can work wonders for any business, web site... Read More
Assuming that it is legal to do so in your... Read More
The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or... Read More
I admit it, I have a problem. I'm a control... Read More
When it comes to website marketing and promotions, you need... Read More
Web Site Promotion |