Feature Article:

A Balanced Equation for Web Site Success

For small businesses today, the web is a significant tool for promotion, advertising, lead generation, customer relationship management, and many other business-related activities. But there’s more to a successful web site than just the web site itself. For instance, you may have the best site ever built, but if nobody visits the site, how does it help your business? And conversely – if you have a constant stream of potential customers flocking to your web site only to be disappointed or dissatisfied, you have gained nothing (and may have even lost credibility in the eyes of your visitors!).

The fact is that your web site must have both halves of this equation right – a content-rich, up-to-date web site AND a steady stream of quality web traffic – in order to really work for your business.

Party Time

Imagine that you have just been asked to put together a very swanky black-tie charity fundraiser for your favorite charity (with all associated costs donated by sponsors). In order for this event to be successful, you will need to get the word out to lots of potential guests – in fact; the more guests who attend, the more money you will raise for your charity! But of course if you do not let guests know about the party, then certainly no one will show up.

Of course, there are many ways you could promote the event. One way would be to send out beautiful, engraved invitations complete with a self-addressed, stamped R.S.V.P. card to a list of previous, wealthy donors. Another might be to place ads on targeted web sites or in local publications. I suppose you could even put flyers up on the grocery store bulletin boards with those little tear-off phone numbers to call for tickets. And then there’s the whole “word-of-mouth” approach where you tell your friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc., and everyone spreads the word to their friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

By now, you probably know where I’m going with this metaphor….that the charity fundraiser is like your web site, and the “invitations” are like the ways in which you can drive traffic to your site.

On the Guest List

To carry the metaphor a bit further, the engraved invitations would be like the quality inbound links that you get from sources like search engines, article syndication, authority sites, etc. And the grocery store flyers would be like the lower-quality inbound links that come from reciprocal linking or less-than-authoritative sites and directories (still somewhat valuable, but not likely to raise as much money for your charity!).

The social networking component is easy to spot in this metaphor, of course, and would operate in much the same way for your web site. By using your social network of friends, co-workers, etc., you create the possibility that your network will in turn share the information with their own network of people, who may then continue to spread the word further through out their social networks.

An Affair to Remember

So now let’s say that you have put together a wonderful, perfect event that provides something for everyone, is inviting and memorable, and is on track to become the most successful charity fundraiser ever produced. Then the big night comes, but only a few people show up – what a disaster! After spending all that time, money, and effort, what a waste that ultimately, the event fell short of fulfilling its purpose of raising lots of money for the charity.

Although a worse scenario might be that after working so hard on spreading the word and getting out the invitations, you ran out of time to adequately plan for the event, ordered take-out pizza served on paper plates, and forgot to complete the paperwork necessary to accept donations. In this case, you would have not only failed to raise money for your charity, you would have probably offended and disappointed your guests to the point where they would not be interested in attending the event again next year.

Getting It Right

The moral of the story, of course, is that to make your web site successful for your business, you must pay attention to both parts of the equation; the web site itself, and driving good, quality web traffic to the site on a regular basis. Your web site needs to have solid, useful content that provides value to visitors, and it must be updated regularly so they have a reason to come back (and to trust you). But driving quality traffic to your web site is equally important; since you have 0 chance of converting visitors or making sales with your web site if people cannot find your site in the search engines or other trusted sources online.

By now you surely know that your small business needs to have a quality web site that gets updated regularly and provides real value to customers and potential customers. Just be sure that you are balancing that with adequate online promotion, e-marketing initiatives, and search engine optimization to bring a much-needed, steady flow of web traffic to your site.

Marketing Tips:

The Summer Slow Down: 5 Tips to Speed it Up Again

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the “summer slow down” that many businesses experience during the summer months. While not all businesses experience this, it can be a serious problem for those that do have to deal with fewer customers, slower sales cycles, and decreasing revenue during the summer.

If your business happens to be in a “summer slow down,” here are some things you can try to help your business pick up activity and minimize the effect this time of year has on your bottom line.

1. Create a mini-plan: If you don’t already have a marketing plan in place, make one now. We are only a little more than half-way through the year, which is plenty of time to put together a focused, effective plan to guide your efforts for the rest of the year. Include some low-cost or no-cost activities, like e-marketing campaigns or web site updates, that will provide you with a lot of bang for your buck.
   
   
2. Try social networking: Not on Facebook yet? Not yet tweeting on Twitter? If not, this may be the perfect time to give it a try! Although accounts on sites like Facebook and Twitter are free to set up, they will cost you some time each week to interact with the people in your network, plus the time it takes to integrate your accounts to work well together. If you are not comfortable with setting this up yourself, hire a firm to help get you started. The long-term benefits will outweigh the upfront costs to get going with this new, scorching-hot marketing trend.
   
   
3. Send an e-survey: One of the best ways to refresh interest in your business and show customers that you are listening to their needs is to send out an e-survey. You can use one of the many low-cost online services such as Vertical Response or Constant Contact to create an email survey asking for feedback about your products and services. Consider giving respondents a money-saving coupon or free gift as a thank you for participating in the survey.
   
   
4. Write an article: Take advantage of the slower pace of summer and write an article or two. Don’t use any sales-y language or marketing fluff; instead, give readers truly useful information that showcases your expertise and experience. “How-to” articles or “Top-10” lists are good examples of useful articles that are popular with readers. Post the article on your blog, use it as new content on your web site, include it in your monthly newsletter, and syndicate it on an article submission site such as GoArticles.com to get great exposure for your article and promote your business at the same time.
   
   
5. Have a summer e-sale: Create a special offer or sale on something you haven’t promoted in a while, or offer something unexpected, and send it as an email campaign. Make sure the offer has a beginning and ending date to create urgency, and be as creative as you can when promoting it. Make your email campaign especially colorful or eye-catching, and be sure to create a special landing page on your web site to steer customers directly toward making a purchase.

Just because summer may be a slower time for your business doesn’t mean that it is impossible pick up the pace! By taking steps to boost your marketing this summer, you may discover new ways to get your customers’ attention and improve your revenue all year long!

Building Effective Web Sites:

Who Depends on Your Web Site?

If you had to guess, how many web sites would you say that you visit in a typical day? Only a few? Dozens? Too many to count? If you are like most people, you visit multiple sites each day whether doing research, getting news, socializing, shopping, or for any number of other reasons. Most likely, you visit web sites both while you are at work and at home, and you may even visit sites using a mobile device like a cell phone or Blackberry. There are probably even sites that you visit regularly, which are the sites that you have come to depend on (e.g., using Google for searching or CNN.com for news).

Now put yourself in your customers’ shoes. They are also visiting multiple sites each day, and are looking for information while both at work and at home. And you can bet they also have certain sites that they depend on and return to on a regular basis. The question is, however, is your web site one of those sites on which your customers can depend?

If you’re not sure, here are some tips for making your site something that customers can truly depend on:

• The site is better than the competition’s site. If your competitor’s web site is dated, doesn’t have much content, or looks amateurish, then you are in a good position. However, if YOUR site is not as good as the competition’s, you need to fix that as soon as possible.
  
  
• The site provides value. Visitors need information that is relevant, helpful, and meets their needs, or they will click the browser’s back button and visit a different site. For instance, if you have a home improvement site, then give visitors information on how to fix things around the house. If you provide accounting services, give visitors tips on keeping good records to make tax time easier. If you have a pet grooming business, include a list of recommended veterinarians in the area. Giving your visitors something of value creates loyalty and gives your business additional credibility.
  
  
• The site is visible in the search engines. This is vital to not only your current customers, but also to potential customers who have yet to discover that your business exists. When your site shows up in the search engine results, it makes it quick and easy for customers to get to your web site, and can also remind previous visitors about your web site if they haven't visited in a while. It also reinforces that your business is a “player” because it’s listed right along with your competitors. If your web site doesn’t show up in the search results, guess what customers will click on?
  
  
• The site gives visitors a great user experience. Dependable sites not only give visitors value, they also make visitors “feel good” about spending time on the site. This happens when the site’s navigation is clear and consistent, the content is up to date and useful, and the site is well-organized and well-designed.
  
  
• The site inspires confidence and encourages action. When visitors find a great site that meets their needs, they feel confident about the business behind it. When visitors feel confident about a business, they are far more likely to take action on the web site; whether that action is subscribing to a newsletter, requesting a quote, calling a sales rep, or making a purchase. If a site doesn’t inspire confidence, there is very little chance that they will be back for a return visit, and even less of a chance of converting them into customers .

To be successful, your web site needs to inspire confidence, provide value, and make visitors feel good about your business. Your customers already visit multiple sites each day, so your goal should be to make your site a client favorite – a site that they remember, bookmark, recommend to others, and can easily find at the top of the search engine results. Do you think that your customers currently depend on your web site? Would your customers agree with your answer?

July Promotion