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Making
it easy for people to find what they are lookng for
I have created a non commercial page with links to my other pages and a few others.
They all have the same domain name, but are very different. Should I submit evry
page individually to search engines, or just my main page with all the links?
Joined
searchfeed dropped from google immediately
found a "forum" called free advertsing forum. They had a thing where
you get a free website so I thought what the heck why not.
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08.02.05
Seven
Marketing Questions You Should Ask Before You Get A 10 Year Old To Build Your
Website
 By
Dr. Greg Chapman
Google tells us there are 4 billion websites- almost one for everyone on the planet.
And today you have decided to make it 4 billion and 1.
So, do you think- "If I build it, they will come?" seriously? It ain't going to
happen, unless you stand out. So do you think your 10 year old nephew who can
code html (which I believe they now learn in pre-school, just after they have
done the alphabet) is going to make your site the next eBay? Let me give you a
few questions to ask yourself before you double his pocket money.
1. What is the purpose of your website?
In business, there are three main types of websites:
• the brochure site
• the lead generator site
• the online shop
The brochure site is an online support to your offline marketing. You will refer
to it in your ads, because you pay for ads by the square inch, and acres are cheap
on the internet. You will refer to it in your Yellow Pages ads, your business
cards and your brochures. An online presence will give you a credibility that
your competitors without a website (getting fewer every day) don't have. But in
the end it is just an online version of a tri-fold a printer might do for you.
There is nothing wrong with a brochure site, if this is all you want in your marketing
plan.
The next step up is a lead generator site. Unlike a brochure site, you want it
to generate business on its own. You want people to find your site while browsing
on the internet, and having seen your site, feel compelled to call or email you.
After that contact is made, hopefully a sale will follow.
The last option is that your website is a storefront where visitors to your site
can actually purchase products and services. In other words, after finding your
site, and viewing your content, they are compelled to "click here" to make a purchase.
There is a fourth type of website- the vanity site. But financial rewards are
rarely connected to this type of site.
Of course a website may be a mixture of these three (or four) types, but unless
you have defined your business model, the purpose of your site, it will be a waste
of electrons.
2. How will people find your site?
You already know there are 4 billion sites, so the likelihood that a buyer will
find it by chance are somewhat remote. And if you calculated the cost per lead
on that basis, you would never build such a site. Your business website exists
only for one purpose, to make you money- irrespective of the business model. It
must pay its way. So if no-one visited your site, why would you pay for it to
exist?
Therefore, you must have a strategy to ensure people know your site exists and
that there is a reason they should visit it. How can you do that? There are two
basic strategies, offline and online.
An offline strategy is based on all your offline marketing- ie advertising, public
relations, networking and cold calling. In every case you would refer leads to
your website where they can find out more about what you can do for them, and
why they should choose you. Your website would build on your offline promotions
giving further details of your service, educating your customer and creating credibility
for your business.
An online strategy will be built around visibility. The key elements of this are:
• Search Engine Optimisation
• A strategy to get links to your website
• Online advertising
3. What are you going to do to make visitors linger at your site?
The average website visit is 68 seconds. How many widgets do you expect to sell
in that time? You must have a strategy to make people linger at your site, get
to know you and see the value you can give them.
The three secrets for making people linger are CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.
To get visitors to stay, you need to give them information that they want. This
will not be information about you (at least not on the home page). Your goal should
be to educate your visitor. Give them information they will not get elsewhere
on how to solve the problem that caused them to search for you in the first place.
If you website is just sales hype, your visitors will be gone in a lot less than
68 seconds.
Read
the Rest of the Article
About the Author:
Dr. Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses with business planning,
business systems and marketing strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your
Profits & Make Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business
Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions
website at: http://www.empowersolutions.com.au |
