Your Web Designer is not Necessarily a Marketer or an SEO
One mistake I see my clients make from time to time is putting too much trust into the person who designed and uploaded their website. A web designer, by definition, does have very specialized skills and can create a website for you and get it online… however, getting a website online sometimes can seem like the whole cake for small business owners who want or need a web presence, but the internet is so HUGE right now that having a website without a plan to market it and get it to stand out from all the other sites on the web is nearly exactly the same as not having a website at all. Business owners DREAM of having a website that is visited by thousands of potential customers every month. What they DON’T dream about is spending thousands of dollars on a flashy sign on the web that nobody besides your employees or your family will see.
Getting a website designed can come with a big price tag… if you’re paying top dollar for a web site, it’s a good idea to ask your designer a few questions before you write the check! Ask them if they can integrate an email opt-in on your site (so you can capture email addresses of your visitors for a newsletter or coupon offering), or if they can optimize your site for search engines like Google or Yahoo. Another good question to ask is whether they have an option to provide ongoing support… some designers might be happy to take your money after delivering your site, but the minute you want to make some changes or ask for help, will they be willing or available to help?
This is not to say that web designers are bad people. I personally know designers who are top notch and stand up business people in their own right, but the thing is, designers provide a very specific service, and people who purchase their services will sometimes have a completely different expectation of what they’re paying for.
Let’s dispel a few common misconceptions, shall we?
You don’t need a website, you need a website that people will come to visit.
This means that your website should have a domain name that’s easy to remember — and easy to spell. You also need compelling, frequent content that people in your target market want to read. Simply having a static website with no visitors is going to do you no good.
People should be able to easily find your site by searching on Google for you.
Ideally, yes. Realistically? Not so likely. There’s TONS of competition out there… you can certainly count on Google to list you in the top ten if they judge your site to be an authority site in your field, but that’s a tough case to prove to Google if your site is only two weeks old. Google likes to see inbound links coming to your site… the more, the better. A good SEO consultant can help you set up an intelligent, effective link building campaign to get you noticed and ranked in Google’s top ten search results.
A website legitimizes your business to potential customers.
Having a website to represent you on the internet used to be considered cutting edge and a sign of repute. These days, the web is so clogged with spam that web surfers are trained to quickly recognize websites that are built more to provide money to the site owner rather than providing value to the site visitor. You don’t want your business to be regarded as spam, do you?
When you start looking around for someone who can build you a website, these bullet points are good things for you to bend your mind on for a bit before you tear into the design process. You want to be able to explain to your designer what your vision is for the site you’re asking them to create for you. Sitting down with a designer and asking them to make a site with your logo on it, maybe in “greens, blues, and whites” is one thing. It’s a lot different to ask for a site that allows you to frequently and easily change the content, that’s easy to find in search engines, and that allows room for important marketing elements like an email opt-in system or a forum that gives your visitors a sense of community and a reason to visit the site multiple times.
Just some thoughts for you to think about.
Does Your Business Need a Blog?
In my daily business, I can never tell my clients often enough how much I think they can benefit from representing their own businesses with a blog. The problem that I hear most frequently is that many business owners regard blogs as “frivolous” and “time-consuming”. In reality, while a blog can potentially be very time consuming, a well planned and well executed blog can become one of the most critical components of small business marketing, especially for businesses that operate online.
A blog, as part of a mid-to-long term marketing strategy, is a great way for potential customers to learn more about the product or service that you have to offer, without being committed to actually purchasing the product. Businesses can do an absolutely terrible job at engaging customers, but a blog allows you to interact with multitudes of customers, as well as employees, executives, and other businesses.
Blogs Help to Build Business Relationships
Blogs are excellent at bringing people together, and if there’s one thing that makes any business thrive, it’s connecting with current customers and building relationships with new ones.
Blogs Create Transparency and Build Trust
Understand, launching a blog will open your business to a certain level of transparency. The things that you choose to publish on your blog say and show something about who you are, what you value, and what you provide. Blogs typically allow commentary by the readers, and an opportunity to build trust and deepen the customer relationship exists when you interact with your blog readers in this public forum. This means that sometimes you must be willing to take criticism and answer to your customer base if they question or challenge you, but you also get an opportunity to answer questions and provide advice to those who seek it from you. All in all, the dividends for this type of transparency are invaluable.
Blogs Increase Your Visibility on the Internet
Search engines love websites that have frequently updated content, so a blog is a very search-friendly way to present your expertise or updates to your customers. If you execute your blog correctly, you can leverage the search engines to bring you a steady stream of organic traffic from people who have never heard of your business. This does take a fair amount of time, but it’s a viable way to bring new customers into your sales funnel. Link building campaigns and frequent publishing will only increase your visibility to big search engines, such as Google or Yahoo.
Blogs Have a More Personal Feel
People are inherently distrustful and skeptical of corporate marketing… they’re always trying to sell you something! A blog that’s written in your personal voice and conversational style will show your customers that you’re speaking directly to them and not simply trying to impress them with buzzwords or tricky marketing language. Sometimes it can be good to shed that “Corporate” image and be more personable. A blog allows you to let your guard down a little bit, and engage your customers on their level.
