Do you think of your small business web sites only as a brochure but available online? This is a big mistake for business proprietors. All that’s available online on their small business web sites are their company address, telephone numbers, and a brief inventory of what’s for sale.
A better way to look at your small business web sites are as tools that allow you to market and advertise your company to a wider audience online. This can be the vehicle for many marketing campaign successes later on.
Start off by using your web site to bring in new clients, attracting consumers to your products and letting them know what your company stands for. Give them answers to FAQ’s and offer them tidbits of information that will let them see you as a valuable resource in your field. Once they keep returning to your small business web sites, you will see your standing rise in the search engines.
More and more people are going online to do research online to see what small businesses can offer them. According to recent internet marketing surveys, four billion searches are done just in the U.S. each month yet few businesses are registered with search engines. Such a fantastic marketing resource just going to waste!
If you want to make your small business web sites more effective, this check-out list can be followed and of course adapted to your own needs to give you better results. It’s also the best place to start your new online marketing strategy and see how well it works.
Be flexible and open enough to learn what the right words and content should be on your small business web sites to bring in the customer that you need – your target market. You also must know how to make your small business web sites interesting to the search engine robots and know what their triggers and magic words are to make your sites stay at the top of the list. The right combination of key words, good content, and extra information should always be played with to make it stay that way.
These are the most common mistakes made by small business web sites that lose them a lot of income:
Mistake 1 Where’s your sales letter?
Most small business owners that aren’t internet savvy will respond, “I need a sales letter?” Hey, how can you sell anything when you aren’t telling people what you sell? You need to show people what you have and how it will improve their lives. That needs a good, well-crafted sales letter.
Mistake 2 How do I navigate this web site?
People need to get around your small business web sites to find the information they need. They can only do that if the headlines that you write for each page are informative and direct them there. Make your headlines interesting and they will generate interest. Find a way to make the title an intriguing one and it will catch an interested reader every time. How about one that reads “Out of Work Housewife Makes $203,579 a Month!” Even if someone online already has a job or is earning a good salary, they will definitely click on that story.
Mistake 3 Who buys your products?
Like good, old-fashioned word of mouth advertising, people want to know who else did business with you on your small business web sites and how they felt about it. If you receive an email thanking your for your services, or even just do business with someone, ask them to review how your business did. Not only will you glean information on how you can improve, but you have ready testimonials to use on your web site. These in turn will convince other customers that you are trustworthy and deserving of their patronage.
Mistake 4 Why am I reading this?
You can have really beautiful pictures on your small business web sites but do they sell your products? Even if you are selling the pictures themselves, you still need great copy to close the deal. Look over the words that you have accompanying the picture. Stay away from the cliché, the overused headlines like About Our Company, or You Have Now Entered Our Official Website. The internet user doesn’t need to know that; rather they need to know what it is you do, why do you do that, and why they should give you their money. Active words make the consumer take action. You need to hook them first and then gain their trust. Only then will they buy from you.
Mistake 5 What do I get out of this?
Your home page is like the front window of a physical store. It is what attracts people to come in and helps them decide that they could do some business with you. They don’t need to know who you are or where you are, just that you have the products that they like or need. They need to have answers as to how the product will help them, how it will improve them, or why they should have it, or even make them crave it. Your contact information should be at the last part of your website, and just that by itself.
Just by addressing the questions listed above, you are on your way to making your small business web sites the online marketing tools they should be. You should have a web site that will make you proud and that prospective and repeat consumers would love to explore, refer, and return to. It’s good copy and great design that will seal that deal for you.
