Marketing Your website - Tips and Strategies to attract visitors

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Marketing your Business Website will attract visitors - and business

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Marketing Your Small Business Website
You have to market your website to attract visitors. This applies whether you’re a Nasdaq-listed company or a one-person business.
Yet it happens time and again that businesses put up websites and then forget about them. This is especially so if the site is simply an online brochure or product/services catalogue and is not being monitored for results.
I was struck by the frequency of this basic marketing mistake while looking through my local Yellow Pages. Hardly any of the display ads provided the advertiser’s email or web address.

Vital Ingredient Missing
Under “Attorneys” I found a neat ad for one of the city’s largest law firms, displaying their logo, phone and fax numbers and street address. But no email or web address.
Now, I know they have a comprehensive website. “So what?” you might say, their clients know where they are and how to contact them.

But what of new business? Let’s imagine this scenario:

A young couple move to the city and after a year they start having marital problems. The wife wants to consult a lawyer but doesn’t know any. So she consults the local Yellow Pages and sees the mentioned display ad.

For most people, however, law firms at the best of times are intimidating. She is now expected to pick up the phone and explain her position to a total stranger? Instead, she looks further and finds another law firm that does provide an email and web address.

Website Provides the Informatioin
A quick browse of the website tells her which practitioners specialise in family and matrimonial matters. She emails one of them, briefly explaining her predicament and arranges an appointment.
No embarrassing phone calls in front of work colleagues (or her husband) and by the time she sees the attorney, the ice has been broken.

So the lawyers acquire a new client and, because the house is registered in the wife’s name, also get the conveyancing when the divorce is finalised. All because the law firm took the trouble to add their web and email address to their display ad.

A Clear Lesson
The lesson here is clear. Once your web site is published, don’t forget about it!
It cost money and time to design and (usually) costs money to host. Do your best to ensure a return on this investment by constantly marketing your site and publicising your email address and domain name in every way possible.

You don’t have to emblazon your web address on your family sedan — but do put your email and web site address on all:

stationery

business cards

promotional literature

brochures

adverts

product swing-tags

signage

packaging (when possible)

After all, the objective of a website is to attract potential customers — so let them know about it.

Next ... Web Promotion Tips

Last updated: August 2008. Copyright © 2006-2008 Scotch Macaskill, 18 Strawberry Fields, 36 College Road, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Tel: +27 33 3422811. Privacy: Your privacy is guaranteed. Personal information, including email addresses, will never be sold or given to third parties. See our Privacy Policy for further details.

Internet for Business
Marketing your Business Website will attract visitors - and business
Home > Website Promotion > Marketing Your Website Marketing Your Small Business Website You have to market your website to attract visitors. This applies whether you’re a Nasdaq-listed company or a one-person business. Yet it happens time and again that businesses put up websites and then forget about them. This is especially so if the site is simply an online brochure or product/services catalogue and is not being monitored for results. I was struck by the frequency of this basic marketing mistake while looking through my local Yellow Pages. Hardly any of the display ads provided the advertiser’s email or web address. Vital Ingredient Missing Under “Attorneys” I found a neat ad for one of the city’s largest law firms, displaying their logo, phone and fax numbers and street address. But no email or web address. Now, I know they have a comprehensive website. “So what?” you might say, their clients know where they are and how to contact them. But what of new business? Let’s imagine this scenario: A young couple move to the city and after a year they start having marital problems. The wife wants to consult a lawyer but doesn’t know any. So she consults the local Yellow Pages and sees the mentioned display ad. For most people, however, law firms at the best of times are intimidating. She is now expected to pick up the phone and explain her position to a total stranger? Instead, she looks further and finds another law firm that does provide an email and web address. Website Provides the Informatioin A quick browse of the website tells her which practitioners specialise in family and matrimonial matters. She emails one of them, briefly explaining her predicament and arranges an appointment. No embarrassing phone calls in front of work colleagues (or her husband) and by the time she sees the attorney, the ice has been broken. So the lawyers acquire a new client and, because the house is registered in the wife’s name, also get the conveyancing when the divorce is finalised. All because the law firm took the trouble to add their web and email address to their display ad. A Clear Lesson The lesson here is clear. Once your web site is published, don’t forget about it! It cost money and time to design and (usually) costs money to host. Do your best to ensure a return on this investment by constantly marketing your site and publicising your email address and domain name in every way possible. You don’t have to emblazon your web address on your family sedan — but do put your email and web site address on all: stationery business cards promotional literature brochures adverts product swing-tags signage packaging (when possible) After all, the objective of a website is to attract potential customers — so let them know about it. Next ... Web Promotion Tips
Last updated: August 2008. Copyright © 2006-2008 Scotch Macaskill, 18 Strawberry Fields, 36 College Road, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Tel: +27 33 3422811. Privacy: Your privacy is guaranteed. Personal information, including email addresses, will never be sold or given to third parties. See our Privacy Policy for further details.