It's not how many visitors you get...
Once you have a site that
performs a function for your business, the next step is to get
people to come to it. Utilizing "metatags" and the
judicious application of keywords, you can get some traffic from
the search engines. With automated site submission
software you can get listed somewhere within hundreds of
directories and lists. You can use web rings and join
associations, advertise your site cooperatively through link
exchange programs, send direct mail announcements, talk it up in
newsgroups, and so on.
If
you rely on these methods alone, your hit counter may be busy,
but random traffic wandering in from the internet will likely
contain a relatively low percentage of actual prospects.
More
important than the amount of traffic you get is the quality of
that traffic. It doesn't matter how many visitors your counter
registers- what matters is how many of your visitors actually do
business with you after or while visiting your site.
"This is the type of visitor
you want to attract."
Especially
for small operations serving a niche or local market, the
highest quality visitor you can get on your site is someone who
is already interested in doing business with you.
With
a site designed to leverage your existing advertising, to make
your presentation and move your prospect toward placing an
order, this is the type of visitor you want to attract.
Leverage your
existing efforts...
The trouble with
advertising on a slim budget is that you really can't afford the
space to accomplish much more than getting your prospect's
attention. The internet changes that. Now your three line
classified or 1/16th page black and white can direct a prospect
to your in-depth presentation on the web.
If you do any
kind of advertising at all for your business, include your web
address in that advertising. Feature it prominently.
Anyone who types it into their browser has at least some
interest in knowing more about what you offer. Just make
certain that your site actually provides the additional
information they are looking for and is not just an online
version of the same ad.
"Your
web address becomes
a
part of your company's name."
Whether your
efforts are as simple as passing out business cards or as
ambitious as a billboard/radio/television campaign, by the time
a potential customer reaches your website you have already
gained their interest. Cement that interest into concrete action
by providing the information they need to decide whether to
pursue doing business with you.
Besides
business cards, phone book listings, and stationery, there are
plenty of low cost ways to get your site's address out. Have
magnetic signs, bumper stickers, or airbrushed front tags made
for your automobiles. Have tee shirts made up, or ball caps.
Try to get your site's address into people's hands. Give
out key rings, ball point pens, calendars, promotional materials
of any sort, all with your company name and URL. Attach a
signature to all your email messages that contains a clickable
link to your site. In short, any time your name or your
company's name is mentioned, your web address should be
mentioned along with it.
It takes patience
and commitment ...
Your web address becomes, for all practical purposes, a part of
your company's name. Bear in mind, however, that this does
require a genuine commitment to the site- nothing discourages a
potential customer quite like an abandoned or obviously outdated
website.
The days of
"instant success" on the web, if they ever existed, are gone.
There are millions of web sites now, and these are a fraction of
what is to come. Not so different, after all, from any
other endeavor- it takes effort to promote your site, and
patience to see results.
