Online Basics | Tips for getting the most out of your business's web site
Nearly every business has a web site today. But why? Should your web site be a simple brochure explaining products? Or should it be designed to bring in sales leads and revenue? Here are some basic ingredients to consider as you develop - or upgrade - your business's web presence.
Increasing your web site traffic
The goal of web site traffic is to increase the number of new visitors and increase return visits. There are five potential ways of building traffic, according to www.InternetMarketingEngine.com. The first method is a basic listing in search results like Google or Yahoo. Another way to increase traffic is to sign up for a free listing in a directory. For example, a site such as www.allbusiness.com lists business and company information for the public to compare services. If a free listing isn’t driving enough traffic to your site, many search engines or directories allow you to pay for a premium listing. And finally, your business can opt to pay-per-click through a search engine. Pay-per-click is a type of search marketing where advertisers pay a set amount every time their ad is clicked by a prospect.
Converting more sales
As a business, you want to supply visitors to your web site with what they need to buy or know. In order to understand the needs, wants, and behavior of site visitors you’ll need to do some market research, according to www.internetmarketingengine.com. During this research, you can discover what type of web site best suits your needs and translates your company’s identity to the public. For example, check out the competition. What web site elements seem the most effective? There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Just put your own “spin” on it.
Web site quality
Your company must keep in mind that your competitors will have their own web sites to pull your visitors and potential customers away from you. You may be tempted to create the web site on your own, or ask a tech-savvy employee to do the job. But resist that temptation, says Jakob Nielsen of useit.com. Take the developer on this one. A professionally designed web site will look graphically pleasing to the eye with a simple, consistent page design and clear navigation with quick loading times. This will make visitors more likely to want to peruse through your archives and see what your company is all about.
Promotions
Amidst all the complexities of figuring what goes where, web site promotions and advertisements help the attraction of your company’s web site. Advertisements which relate to your business, or your customers for that matter, will bring returning traffic, according to useit.com. A visitor will know within five seconds what your web site is about and the quality of it. If your site has cheesy ads for free iPods and “Guess which celebrity this is?” your visitors might not take you seriously or trust your business. You want relevant ads and promotions that relate to you and your business. Forcing unwanted ads on your visitors will scare them away.
Content
All of this leads up to the notion that the more informative the web site is, the more valuable your site will be to visitors and customers, as stated by Jakob Nielsen of useit.com. This is not to say you need to place a novel on to your web site for viewers to read. You want to get the company’s message across to visitors and answer one simple question: “What is your company all about?” You should have clear content, easy navigation, and supply answers to customer/visitor questions. Ignoring these issues can be the biggest flaws in the design of your business web site.
Here are some links for more information on web design for your business:
WBJ Web Partners
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