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Have a strategy -
Understanding why your customers do
business with you is pivotal for all
your marketing communications. If you
don't know why you've been successful,
you won't be able to compel others to do
business with you as well. If your
charting into new waters with a business
venture, call me
to discuss.
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Advertise
your Website - A great Website that
know one knows about is a waste of time,
money and energy. Every element of
advertising should include your site
address. Think marketing & advertising
101.
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Write clearly and
succinctly - This may be one of the
top Website offenses. Websites often
become a mind-dump for various subjects
with long, stream-of-consciousness
written articles that wax poetic. You're
lucky if someone reads the first
sentence. Keep it short and to the
point. You goal is to make them contact
you.
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Build utility into
your Website - This is not for
everyone. Utility means turning your
site into a tool for customers and/or
prospects. For example, a mortgage
company may have a mortgage calculator
or daily updated rates; a daycare center
may have an updated calendar of events.
Specific industries may include
interactive tools such as a furniture
company with a tool to help arrange a
room. This list goes on, but the goal
here is to have a prospect spend as much
time as possible on your site. This will
greatly increase your chances of
converting a prospect into a customer.
Add utility to a site can be costly and
time-consuming so it should be
considered carefully.
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Don't put the
importance of graphics ahead of content
- The look of your Website is certainly
important, but content is what sells. If
you find yourself agonizing over what
shade of blue is on the, it's probably
more productive to be losing sleep over
what's said on your site. (How many
graphic artists will tell you content is
most important?)
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Don't put links out of
your site on the home page - It's
like inviting someone into your store
and telling them to go to Wal-Mart. A
Website is like your virtual store, you
want to quickly move them toward the
right services and products and
ultimately to the register.
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Trade links with other
sites and complementary businesses -
This is free advertising and it also
helps your site's ranking. Make sure,
however, that the mutual links are used
in the context of articles. Web browser
bots give these links more weight when
considering what rank to give your site.
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Track the clicks on
your site - A good free click
counter is Stat Counter. The free
version gives you limited depth of data,
but it is good for starters. Many
smaller businesses don't think to
monitor who and how many are using the
site. Knowing which pages are used and
the number of click-thrus is valuable
information for honing your site.
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Have a strategy -
See first point.
