Seven Marketing Questions You Should Ask Before You Get A 10 Year Old To Build Your Website
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.
4. What do you want visitors to do once they are at your site?
Many would say- "Buy lots of stuff from me." Well, in your dreams! Most people will not buy from you, or call you on the first visit to your site. They don't know you (unless an offline relationship has been established). And unless you are selling a commodity, that is the same on every site- eg CD's, and you are competing on price, you need to be able to establish a relationship. To do this, you need to give visitors a reason to give you a way to stay in contact. This could be by way of a newsletter, or through a free download of information requiring their email details. When you do this, it is essential you provide an unsubscribe option, because otherwise you will be spamming. And there are no rich spammers (although I believe there are rich people selling spam technology).
5. How are you going to get people to come back to your site?
On average, four out of five website visitors will never come to a website. And if they only stay 68 seconds, it's going to take you several lifetimes to become an internet millionaire. To get people to come back you need to do several things:
? Have sufficient quantity and quality of content, that the visitor will bookmark your site to come back for more
? Continually add to and change the content to make visitors want to come back
? Provide special offers to your subscribers that will encourage them to revisit your website
If your website never changes, why would anyone want to come back?
6. How are you monitoring going to monitor the results of your website?
No-one can guarantee what is going to work for you. Therefore you have to measure your statistics. A good webhost will provide you with a statistics package that will tell you how many visitors you have had, when they visited, how they found you and what they did at your site. When you make an offer, make a change to your site, or undertake some marketing campaign, whether online or offline, check the response on your statistics, and the conversions that you have achieved on your site. Do controlled experiments. Don't change too many things at one time, because you will never know what caused the change. Find out what works, and what doesn't. And when you find a good thing, stick to it!
7. Are you really going to trust your 10 year old nephew to do all this?
You may not be using your 10 year old nephew, you may be using a graphics design company instead. But don't confuse determining your website business model and marketing strategy with the colour and movement of your website graphics. As a general rule of thumb, the flashier the website, the worse it is commercially. (Check out eBay and Amazon- how flashy are their sites? But is there a clear business strategy?) You will need someone to do the html programming, but almost certainly, someone who is good at that will not be good at everything else. A website is just another marketing tool. Like a brochure. Would you get your printer to write your advertising copy?
I don't suggest that you should not use a great website design company (or even your precocious nephew) to build your website, but don't let them be in charge of your marketing!
Copyright 2005 Empower Business Solutions
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
 Google News Updated : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:13:38 GMT Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco - Sports Network
Sports Network - San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marlins reliever Kevin Gregg's wild pitch in bottom of the ninth inning scored Emmanuel Burriss to send San Francisco past Florida, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series. Giants walk off on Gregg's wild pitch Giants beat Marlins on wild pitch in 9th inning Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:33:45 GMT IAC Officially Breaks Up - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By DAVID BENOIT and KATHY SHWIFF IAC is left as a collection of more than 35 Internet companies -- including search engine Ask.com, dating site Match. IAC: And Then There Were Five Diller's IAC Split May Fail to Boost Investor Returns (Update2) Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:17:40 GMT GM to Invest $500 Million To Build Chevy Cruze - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By KATHY SHWIFF General Motors Corp. will spend more than $500 million in the US to build the Chevrolet Cruze, a next-generation compact car. GM announces $500M investment for small car GM to invest $500 million in small car plant Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:12 GMT Hillary Clinton's Staff Looking to Avoid Embarrassing Anti-Obama ... - FOXNews
FOXNews - Hillary Clinton's staff is trying to avoid an embarrassing anti-Obama demonstration by her supporters during the floor vote at next week's Democratic convention in Denver. Clinton Will Attend Fund-Raiser for Towns Clinton for VP? She Says Ask the Obama Campaign Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:15:16 GMT My Super Sweet 16: The Miley Cyrus Edition - E! Online
E! Online - Miley Cyrus is about to show up all those spoiled brats on My Super Sweet 16 who think they're cool being flown to their party by helicopter or when they're carried in like a princess by a group of hot dudes. Miley Cyrus to Celebrate Turning 16 at Disneyland Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:21:48 GMT Microsoft's Photosynth wilts under pressure - Computerworld
Computerworld - By Gregg Keizer August 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Within hours of its launch, Microsoft Corp.'s new photo-stitching service went dark, overwhelmed by demand, the company said Thursday afternoon. New Microsoft photo site spends first day offline New Microsoft Tech Converts Photo Soup Into 3-D Image Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:28:59 GMT UPDATE 1-Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ad campaign--source - Reuters Reuters - By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in a $300 million marketing campaign for Microsoft Corp aimed at burnishing the image of its computer operating system, a person familiar with the effort said on Thursday ... Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates to star in anti-Apple ads Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:27:28 GMT More Web Site Traffic |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... Maintaining Focus is important for success in online business. One... Read More The web site marketing you use to promote your Internet... Read More If you are convinced by now that you wish to... Read More Many people don't have the time or skills to write... Read More Establishing a web presence on the internet is based on... Read More OK, you've been bustin' your butt trying to make money... Read More After running an online business (web site design) for a... Read More Understanding that the Internet is another vehicle for direct response... Read More Uniqueness is what separates each business, its services and its... Read More Internet marketing by definition is "the use of the Internet... Read More Formal business planning is a process that takes that "great... Read More 1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the... Read More TIME DEMON. For online marketers, time is one of their... Read More When it comes to making money online, there are a... Read More When is the last time you received an unexpected gift?... Read More SMS Marketing can be used to acquire customers, strengthen existing... Read More Here's an alluring income generating strategy, that's widely adopted by... Read More Everyday I talk with people who want to get started... Read More Whatever your business resolutions may be for this year, you... Read More Why do some websites sell more than others?Why are some... Read More Is internet marketing and the potential for it saturated? I... Read More So you've just sold another digital product; things are going... Read More Viral Marketing and Communications, Buzz Marketing, and Word of MouthMeans... Read More We all do it I guess: give something away for... Read More How to Succeed and Stay on Task with Your Internet... Read More
Adsense
websites
Maintaining The Focus For Success In Online Business
Web Site Marketing Puts Your Own Mark On A Business
Ways That You Can Make Money From Your Online Business Model
Benefit By Helping Others Plus How To Create Urgency So People Buy Now
Internet Marketing On A Budget
Four Steps To Eliminate Frustration and Turn Your Online Failure Into Internet Success
How To Build a Successful Online Reputation
5 Things Every Internet Marketer Must Learn From Mail Order To Increase Their Profits Now!
Six Lesser-Known Online Marketing Ideas
Internet Marketing - You Have to Give a Little to Make a Little
Internet Marketing Success Requires a Business Plan (Part II)
13 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales
Time Management And Organization For Online Marketers
Marketing Using Minisites
Start a Fire Sale! Give Your Faithful Clients Bonuses!
Implementing an SMS Marketing Campaign
How to Make Money Online...Driving your Car.
5 Secrets to Building a Successful Internet Business
3 Highly Effective Strategies To Power Up Your Business in 2005
Internet Marketing Online: 10 Flaming Hot Ways To Fire-up Your Sales
Is Internet Marketing Saturated?
Seven Ways to Keep Earning After Youve Completed the Sale
Viral Marketing, New Means of Communications and Applications
How to Build an Asset Out of Giving Stuff Away for Free
How to Succeed and Stay on Task with Your Internet Marketing Promotion Strategies. A.C.T.I.O.N..
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
Internet Marketing: Are You Penny Wise And Dollar Foolish?
It never ceases to amaze me how many people set-up... Read More
A Couple Of Basic Killer Internet Marketing Techniques
There are many simple, infallible ways to earn income, and... Read More
Quick Guide to Internet Marketing: 9 Tips for Success on the Net
To market successfully you must incorporate the Internet into your... Read More
Beneath the Surface of Internet Marketing
To most people Internet Marketing looks like a good way... Read More
Making Your Money Work For You ? And Not The Other Way Around!
Most people spend their entire lives working hard for someone... Read More
Seven Ways to Generate Income From Your Website
If you own your own website, there are a variety... Read More
Dealing with Refund Requests ? Internet Marketing
I think we all cringe and dread when we open... Read More
Internet Promotion - Advantages and Disadvantages
The emergence of globalise trade, increase in foreign investment and... Read More
Celebrating A Decade Of Online Marketing
Yes, it has been ten successful years of online marketing... Read More
Internet Marketing for Dummies!
There are many people every day jumping into the online... Read More
Internet Marketing Online: How To Help Yourself By Helping Others
If you want to go far in business, and be... Read More
The Secret to Making More Money in Your Online Business: Lessons From Monopoly
Thousands and thousands of people are striving to make more... Read More
Bring Spirit Into Your Online Business
For people who have decided to strike out on their... Read More
How To Use Database Marketing To Skyrocket Your Online Profits
Database Marketing is the gathering and storing of specific information... Read More
Understanding the Power of Viral Marketing Online
The story of how Hotmail moved from zero to a... Read More
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True
You've heard that cliché over and over I'm sure, but... Read More
Repetition: The Secret to Visibility and Attention!
Have you ever felt disappointment and dismay when trying a... Read More
8 Things I Have Learned As An Internet Marketer
I started as an internet marketer, like I am sure... Read More
Competitor Analysis - How Writing Rubbish Can Give You an Edge
The Gobbledygook Competitor Analysis TipWhen typing cap can tell you... Read More
Is Internet Marketing Saturated?
Is internet marketing and the potential for it saturated? I... Read More
How to Network Effectively to Secure Freelance Work
When freelancers ask me what type of marketing is the... Read More
Can You Provide an Internet Advertising Solution?
This year, 2005, will see the demise of some well... Read More
You Know Internet Marketing Is for You When
There are many people in the world who feel stuck... Read More
The Website Marketing Strategy that Never Fails
Developing a successful web site takes more than simply building... Read More
Use Photos as Part of your Marketing Arsenal
Photos should be important parts of your marketing. The photos... Read More
Internet Marketing |