There
is a common misconception amongst many people with regards to Web Sites and it
is that as soon as you have a Web Site people will start looking at it, and therefore
it will attract new business. This is not true.
My answer to this is always
the same "When you get a telephone does it start ringing?". I won't
insult you with the answer to that one. A Web Site is like anything else, for
people to look at it they've got to know it's there first.
Spread
The Word
There are
a number of ways in which to let people know about your Web Site. The first and
most obvious is via your current marketing efforts. Assuming you don't already
do Internet Marketing (but then you probably wouldn't be reading this article)
this will often include:
Business
Cards
Complement
Slips
Media
Adverts
Invoices
Quotes
Reciepts
Store
Front
Company
Vehicles
Obviously there any many
other ways but you get the idea. All of the above represent an opportunity to
market your Web Site address. Take every opportunity to let people know the address
of your site. Once your Web Site address is in a person's head it is a doorway
to any amount of information you wish to provide on the site, more information
than you could ever provide through an advert, and it is viewable at that person's
leisure, when they have the time and the desire to digest it.
The above
methods are a start in attracting visitors to your site. There are two problems. Firstly
these methods will not generally attract business that you wouldn't have got anyway,
altough your Web Site will enhance the effiency of the communication with customers
which will lead to happier customers they are not necessarily customers that wouldn't
have discovered you without the Web Site.
Secondly
people are not as good as computers at remembering things. And a Web Site address
only needs to be entered with one character wrong to not find the site. If the
person remebered the address at all.
Internet
Marketing
There is a better way. This should
not be considered as an alternative to the above methods but as a complement to
them.
When people are looking for a company to provide them with a product
or service they are increasingly turning to the Internet to find it. The most
popular method of finding products or services on the Internet is through a Search
Engine. When someone types the name of a product or service you provide into a
Search Engine it is an ideal opportunity for you to attract them as a customer.
They
are interested in the Product or Service you provide right at that moment. They
are not in the middle of something else or in a frame of mind where they do not
want to be bothered by your advert. They are ready and willing to get more information
and possibly purchase your product or service straight away.
Internet
Marketing involves ensuring that when someone searches for a product or service
that you provide they will find you. This is achieved through Search Engine Optimisation
or Cost Per Click or both.
