How to Simplify Business Web Site Planning: 5 Steps

How to Simplify Business Web Site Planning: 5 Steps

Build a web site and they will come? The term web presence sounds good, but if you want to reach your customers they need to find you first. These three simple rules will increase your chance of internet marketing success for the Small Business.

Steps

1. Keep It Simple. A new Web site can be inexpensive, if you obey the #1 website startup rule: keep it simple. When starting from a blank slate I recommend a site with 3-5 pages to be used as a calling card or internet directory listing for your services. As internet trends change quickly, there is no point in investing thousands of dollars for something that cannot be added to easily or changed without too much delay. Set a web site goal, for example: “I want customers to call me based on the information they find on my web page”. Your page’s effectiveness can be measured on the amount of traffic your page gets but more importantly on the inquiries it generates. As sales grow, you can expand on the functions your website provides.

2. Web site promotion. Web marketing can start with SEO, (search engine optimization) but also encompass many other facets such as email newsletters and social networking sites all with the common goal of generating traffic, inquiries, and other customer ‘touch points’ that will ultimately lead to sales. One of the most important concepts to understand is the importance of having a site being among those listed on the first page of Google for your niche. This fundamental concept is key to having your products or services getting more web visitor interest and sales traction.

3. Be Realistic. Marketing is an ongoing expense and you have to be in it for the long haul for it to pay off, so it is probably better to set aside a monthly marketing budget as part of your operating expenses. Keep marketing budgets relative to sales and be conservative to help avoid over spending. Ask yourself, “How many sales generated from a web site will it take to pay for the web marketing campaign?” The internet is hands down the best return on investment when it comes to marketing with millions of new users get online every week. As far as bang for your buck, until you’re the next McDonalds or Martha Stewart, you are probably better staying away from Radio and Television until your business gets off the ground.

4. Measure Measure Measure! The best way to ensure those web marketing campaigns are working is to track and measure your who visits your site. There is no doubt that the internet can drive customers to purchase your products and services, but it is rare that you will get it right the first time, so you need a way to measure your progress with more than a site page counter. Google analytics will provide you a load of information as to who and from where your web visitors are coming from and what key phrases got them to land on your page.

5. Depending on your time constraints once your web site is up and running, hiring an SEO company which is transparent and dedicated to your cause is one of the best things you can do to make your web presence more effective and pay off.

Tips

• A common misconception for entrepreneurs seeking to leverage internet traffic is that technology is easy, marketing ideas which attract customers will work on the first try and costs for a website should not be too high.
• Depending on who you speak to, web technology (web site development, saving customer information, updating website content, and tracking your progress) can be very complex. There are reasons why marketing campaigns work and fail, and the cost of putting all these things into play can balloon very rapidly. What might work for one market or audience may be less successful in another.
• The solution to keeping things under control is quite simple. Set conservative expectations and educate yourself before hiring a vendor to do the heavy lifting when it comes to promoting your business and building a web presence.