Marketing Your Business With The Internet
Part 1: The Website
By Michael Wilford

Successfully marketing your business requires utilizing many different methods. With the internet as pervasive as it is, it can be a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. In the next few columns, I'm going to review and give some tips on the various ways you can use the internet to help market and promote your business. I'm going to break internet marketing into 4 categories:

• Website
• Email marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Paid ads and search engine listings

Because for the most part all internet-based marketing begins with a website, I'll discuss websites in this column.

A website is your 24/7 salesperson. When done well, a website can put your business on the same level as much larger companies. When done poorly, a website can raise doubts about a company's credibility and professionalism. When a potential client is researching whether to do business with you, one of the first things they'll want to do is look at your company's website. If there is no website, or if it's got a permanent "Under Construction" message, they may have misgivings. People want to work with companies that have their act together. They will infer that a poorly done or missing website is reflective of the entire business.

The first stage of developing a successful business website is deciding on the goals and strategies of the site. Is the site meant to help establish a business's credibility? Is it to explain the unique selling proposition of a business? Is it to promote communication with clients? Is it to sell products to a national or international audience? Many sites will want to have a goal which entails the reader taking some action, such as making a purchase, or more often opting-in to an information resource, such as a downloadable white paper or email newsletter. Many sites will develop & qualify leads. Some websites may have all of these as a goal. Most sites will have several goals. Having clear goals for a website at the first stage of development is essential.

Next, the information necessary to accomplish those goals must be developed and structured. Sales copy, content, technical info, all the written material which will fill the site should be organized into a logical architecture. Keep the writing upbeat and natural, offer solutions, write in bite sized chunks. Write headlines promoting your product or service's benefits, not features. Be sure to have an "About Us" page which explains who the company is. Have all your contact information complete and easy to find (including a map and directions if relevant). The best websites engage the visitor, offer some useful information and start a conversation which will eventually lead to that prospect becoming a new client.

The visual aspect of your site is very important. A poorly designed site with clashing colors, unclear navigation and annoying animations is worse than having no site at all. We all know how important first impressions are. You wouldn't show up to a meeting with a potential new client in baggy sweats and rumpled "just-rolled-out-of-bed" hair. Potential clients and customers will judge the competency and credibility of your company in the first few seconds after the home page loads. A clean, organized, visually appealing website won't necessarily land a new client for you, but it goes a long way toward establishing your business as a professional operation.

I recommend working with a professional to design your site. Even though there are many packages, templates and software which allow you to do it yourself, more often than not, the final result looks like a do-it-yourself website. If I tried to repaint my car myself, you'd probably be able to tell.

Once the site has gone live the work has just begun. Keep the content fresh and updated as often as you can to give visitors a reason to come back again (search engines also love this). Have systems in place to process and respond to potential leads, don't let opportunities slip by. If you are marketing to a national or international audience you will want to harness the power of search engines to bring you traffic. This will take time and effort, if you want lots of traffic right away you will probably have to pay dearly for it. Be sure that every piece of paper that leaves your office, every ad you place, every press release and every email you send lists your website address. Your website address should be embedded in your customer's brains, right next to what they need to pick up at the grocery store. When your customer is recommending your business to a friend, they should be able to roll your website off their tongue without missing a beat.

Success is in your hands. Take advantage of all your marketing tools, don't leave one of the most powerful, a professional website, in the toolshed. Thanks for reading, I wish you all great success in your business endeavors.

This article © 2005 Wilford Design and may not be reprinted without permission.

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