You want more than a website, you want more business

So what is the point in having a website?

 

When we all got the idea that the Internet may actually be more than a flash in the pan, there was the rush to get some kind of a website onto this world wide web. A few years later, as we understood that indeed the Internet was here to stay and that people were using it, many of us started to consider that a website is in fact our shopfront to the world - and so followed a flurry of updating, makeovers and replacement (there are, of course, still many that need to "get" this and take action). And now - well it is time to take this all further, to really understand just what your website can and is supposed to be doing for you.

 

Is your website earning it's keep? Is it generating more business, new sales leads and enquiries? This is all possible with the right resource invested in the right place.

 

Blogging, Podcasting, Online Networking, Optimisation, Adwords, Accessibility - some of these can be useful for you. With fresh developments available to us all the time, you need to understand just what you can do and what the benefits will be for you.

 

At risk of the term being misinterpreted, a holistic approach to your Internet marketing is needed in order for your website to be most useful to you, with all aspects of how the Internet can work considered for marketing your business.

 

Your website needs to look good and to keep a visitor's immediate attention with a fast-loading page and great content that makes it obvious how to find, and to buy, what they want. Equally important is bringing visitors (customers) to your website with the white art of Search Engine Optimisation.

 

As a minimum the use of the best keywords (the phrases people type into their search engine to find you) should be incorporated into the pages as they are created - this will help Google, for instance, to suggest your website when people look for you.

 

Any new website is likely to take a while to get any kind of listing on the search engines - they want to know that your website is real and here to stay, and will rank it when happy with this. During this time, if you want visitors to your website, a pay-per-click solution should be considered - that will get you onto the first page of Google - nothing else can guarantee this - only paying for it will.

 

From a search engine point of view, an active website is well regarded - one that is updated often, and that has a gently increasing number of quality websites linking to your website.

 

A blog (in effect an online journal), active online networking, publishing articles and press releases online - all these add to the obvious activity of your website, and so bring the welcome attention of the search engines, and thus more visitors, more customers, more business.

 

Of course you get what you put into it - whether financial investment in someone else making the most of the web for you, or in your own time, in which case you need to know what best to be doing. This must be understood as much as the above - there's much more to it all than creating the website, and unrealistic expectations can disappoint the new website owner.

 

Elementally can help you with both - a course of online seminars for those that have the time and ability to work on your website yourself, or by having us take care of it all for you - call Barbara on 01622 755234 or email info@elementally.co.uk to find out more.