Build a Small Business Website and Avoid Common Major Mistakes
Posted on : 30-11-2009 | By : TravelingeMarketer | In : Website Related
0
The main reason to have a website is to have an online presence. Taking your business online means that you will use the website as a marketing tool to increase your sales. From a business point of view, a website is not art. It doesn’t need to be original or extremely beautiful to the eye. For a business owner, the website needs to present the company’s mission and vision, to establish or maintain the company’s credibility, and of course to bring more customers.
Therefore, the first mistake for a business owner is to hire a web designer who may be very talented at designing the most beautiful website, but who lacks the knowledge of internet marketing. A website is an investment, not an expense. As an investment, a return will be expected: profits. Therefore, using the power of the internet and not knowing how to promote products online, present the company, and the website itself is a bad investment.
As an entrepreneur, you must have a goal in mind before starting to build your website. For example, your goal could be building a mailing list by getting your visitors to subscribe to your newsletters in order to send them discounts and special promotions. Like any other advertising media, you need to target your audience. A successful website will tell your visitors about your offers, the benefits they get and the things they can do or achieve by using your products or services.
You need to design a plan for your visitors. You need to tell your visitors exactly what to do and where to go. By directing them, you make their surfing easier and less confusing. Plus, if they fare following your directions, that means you caught their interest. By the time they get to the order page, your visitor is convinced and is ready to buy! It makes the sales process a lot easier. Depending on what you want them to do, you may want to use expressions like: “Click Here”, “Order Now”, “Subscribe Now”, “Find out more”, “Sign Up Here”, “Enter Your E-mail Address Below”, etc.
Your website must provide valuable information and instantly tell your visitors what they can accomplish with your products or your services. If you provide them with original content that they can’t read anywhere else, they will surely stay longer and pay more attention. Remember, people buy from someone whom they know, like and trust. Create that bond with your prospects by giving them quality content.
Make sure your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Getting confused on a website and not knowing where to find the information fast and easily can be frustrating. Also, make sure that all your web pages load fast or your visitors will get bored and leave. Although your website can be plain and simple, it should still look professional. Check your spelling and grammatical errors. Make sure not to have any broken graphics or links. And choose background colors that won’t make your text hard to read.
If you know nothing about building a website, by all means choose a professional who knows about internet marketing, not just a web designer. You may not be familiar with terms like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), affiliate marketing, mailing list, site submission, pay per click, etc. but if the webmaster can hold a conversation focused on internet marketing, you should consider doing business with him. If your webmaster is more about design, he’ll give you a nice looking website but you may end up having no traffic to it unless you have hired another professional. When an internet user is looking for your website, he enters keywords. Those keywords will lead to your website, according to meta tags and content of your website. They will not land on your website because it has a beautiful design.
Final words: You must have a plan of your site (sitemap). Basic menu contains: mission and vision, products and services, jobs and careers, contact. You will also be in charge of providing the content; text and images. Make sure to pick a web designer who has knowledge in internet marketing. You should deal with a webmaster who knows how to promote your website and how to make your website found by potential clients. Or you can choose to have your site designed then pay extra for internet marketing services.
