Website Marketing, it is a common misconception that creating a website is simply a matter of the old adage “build it and they will come”. The idea that once the website is finalized and online that droves of new internet business will occur purchasing every item you are selling, causing a backlash of unfilled orders and requiring you as the business owner to add space dedicated to your online business to keep up with the overwhelming demand is not necessarily how the reality of your online presence will unfold.
Although website marketing utilizing different rules then red brick and mortar marketing, the principles remain the same. Some low cost marketing tips for your website include;
Choose a good, easy to remember domain name:
As a website development company we see a great assortment of domain name options. Some points that we try to encourage our customers to consider are;
can one person say the domain to another without having to spell it, or otherwise have a deep conversation on it.
Consider this, let’s say you develop a website and are going to do some radio advertising. Can the radio announcer say your domain on air, and have a person driving a car recall it two hours later? If the name of your business is Professional Flathead Lake Real Estate Management, which is a good brick and mortar business name, but how about on the web.
Can a person say that name to another person and have them remember it? More then likely not, this name is too long, and too many chances for a typo. However, with a little creativity the online address could be Flathead Lake Rentals.com , or Rentals on Flathead Lake.com. Both of which can be spoken and remembered easily.
Advertise your website on all of your marketing material:
A common issue we see with new website business is a lack of exposure. This issue is exemplified when a company spends the marketing dollars to build an online presence, but fails to spend the word, or create a buzz. Once a website is complete and online it is imperative to drive traffic to it. The most cost effective and easiest way to do this is put your website address on every piece of marketing material your business hands out. Business cards, flyers, orders, receipts, and emails are just a few examples of the easy ways to do that.
Develop a search engine marketing campaign:
Search engine marketing, often called search engine optimization, or SEO is a fairly basic principle that is often overlooked. The concept is this, Do the key word phrases that someone would type into a search box actually exist on your website. This term is called keyword relevance. An example might be a real estate agent who builds a website and is marketing their skills and services. They might explain how they have been selling real estate for 20 years, and how they have this certification or degree. Although this information is important, it is not going to help an internet user find your website. The internet user doesn’t know this specific real estate agent exists. The internet user does however know they want to purchase real estate on Flathead Lake. Homepage copy that is written with a specific keyword phrase in mind, such as Real Estate on Flathead Lake will without a doubt, produce better search engine rankings for the website.
These simple low-cost options will assist your website in being found on the internet. Once your website has positive search engine rankings and is producing sales then you can worry about having to add space to and hire new people to handle all of those new internet sales.
About the author, Michael Hewston founded Click Here Designs in Polson in 1997. Since that time Click Here Designs has successfully built and marketed 1000’s websites in Lake County, Montana, and in the Pacific Northwest.