Most companies when setting up a new website or redesigning an existing website spend most of their time looking at the content and the look and feel of their new site without really thinking about how it will be found and who will search for it.
A great looking website is a fantastic advertisement for any business but if no one sees it then it just becomes an electronic piece of art. You wouldn’t spend £1000s designing and printing a new brochure and leave it in the store cupboard scratching your head wondering what to do with them. The same applies to a website.
Before you have built a single page of your website, you should have already worked out a strategy of how you plan to use your website and more importantly how you plan to market it and who you are looking to attract.
The internet is a powerful marketing tool and has the potential to transform any business, but it does need to be built and designed in a way to achieve your marketing goals.
A website without a clear marketing plan is usually a waste of money an important part of pricing up your website costs is building in a budget for marketing this can either be separate or included in your overall marketing budget for online and offline advertising.
Areas to look at when marketing your website:
Organic search engines: This can be the most difficult to achieve and needs time and money spent on it but also has the greatest rewards if done successfully. If you appear on the top page of Google or any of the major search engines you will usually see a massive increase in traffic to your website and an increase in enquiries and sales.
Sponsored Links: The quickest way to be found on all the major search engines you basically pay to be where you want to be, Whilst this is quick it is an ongoing commitment as soon as you stop paying you will disappear from the search results also you are bidding against your competitors so it can become expensive compared to organic SEO.
Email Marketing: More and more companies are using the data they have collected over the years to send out promotional material and newsletters to their customers via the internet. If done correctly this can help build a bond between your business and the customer and increase the amount of referrals.
Offline Advertising: Whilst the internet has caused a down turn in the conventional media your customers do still read magazines, watch TV, walk past Billboards etc and these are still effective ways of one promoting your business and two promoting your website.
Always remember your website is an electronic advert for your business which allows you the facility to tell customers more about your business than a simple ¼ page in a magazine.
If you would like to know more about marketing your website or a Free SEO Health Check please click here.