As an Internet Consultant I am often confronted with business entrepreneurs telling me “no thanks I have a web site”. They seem to think having a web site alone will earn them a small fortune. Then there are those with slightly more awareness who employ the services of a half-decent search engine optimisation company like web design kent company HWOM to at least try and get their wonderful website noticed.Have any of these people ever sat down for one minute and really thought about internet marketing? The answer is no.
Think of internet marketing as a retail outlet. The look and feel of the store has to reflect the goods being sold and the clientele. It has to be well stocked with things they expect to find, easy to walk around, easy to obtain information if needs be and easy to buy from. Does it stop there? Of course not. There is no point in having a great shop 5 roads back from the main drag where nobody can find it. That is why you need a professional SEO company who can get you ranked highly on the major search engines for the correct keywords and phrases.
There is also other marketing tactics like banner advertising, links, pop-ups and pop-unders, affiliate schemes all marketing tools to get more visitors to you web site.Then, of course that all important conversion. You wouldn’t spend a small fortune on a fantastic shop and have it full of great buyers only to employ cheap uneducated staff now would you? So why would you not make it easy for people to buy from your web site? Trust me many people don’t and that is a huge mistake.So here are a few golden rules when looking at a web site for your business:
1. Your web site must be “customer winning” not “award winning”
2. It must be customer friendly
3. It must be search engine friendly
4. It needs to be promotedAll of these take time, investment and effort.
Therefore, choose your web design kent partner wisely. Not simply someone who creates fancy web designs, but someone who can talk you through why your web site and why it will be designed this way. How they intend to drive customers to your site. Explain what research they have done and knowledge they have in your specific marketplace. What are the customer conversion triggers. And don’t be conned by any company that insists you need a “turbo charged 4.2.3 thingy” on your site. Most additional programmes for web sites are “code heavy and not search engine friendly.
Fancy web designers love to show you flash animation which looks great, but search engines dislike it. There are some designers who can import flash into your site in such a way that it does not impact on search engines but they are few and far between. The advice is keep your site clean and functional.And finally, remember it’s your business and nobody knows it like you. Don’t be bullied into something you think does not fit the industry or business type.
Your web site is your business window. Keep it clean !