Small business owners are in for a treat today. We’re going a bit off topic and are excited to share the insights of Rich Brooks. Read on to learn what you need to do build your web presence.
Being a small business owner myself I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes for a successful web presence. It goes way beyond securing a domain name, finding a hosting company and putting up a website.
Whether your website is for lead generation (real estate, consulting, etc.) or e-commerce (jewelry, plumbing supplies, etc.) there are some requirements for online success:
- You need to optimize your site for the search engines. Chances are that most of your traffic will come from the search engines. You need to create content (words) that match up with the searches your prospects are Googling right now. If you’re a landscaper that means articles on “lawn care,” “curb side appeal,” and even “tips for selling your house.” You can hire a search engine marketer or invest time in learning about search engine optimization (SEO) from books, blogs and conferences.
- Your web site should be on a content management system (CMS). A CMS allows you to make all of your own updates, add new pages, upload photos and embed videos. There are a number of good platforms out there, but my personal favorite is WordPress.
- Your web site isn’t about you. Your web site is about your prospects and customers. You need to keep the focus on their problems and their concerns. If your Home Page reads like an About Us, page it’s time for a rewrite.
- Your web site needs to convert visitors into prospects. There’s no point spending money on a web site that doesn’t create more business for your company. Every page should be leading visitors down the sales funnel, whether that means filling out a contact form, signing up for an email newsletter, or clicking on a buy now button. To increase your own conversion rates, make sure that every page has a clear “call-to-action” on what’s expected from your visitor.
- You need more than a web site. These days small businesses need to be where their prospects and customers are most active. That may mean LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or even MySpace depending on your audience. And there’s no better tool than a business blog: it will increase your search engine optimization, drive more leads and establish your credibility.
- You need to measure everything. Make sure your web developer installs Google Analytics (or some similar traffic reporting system) and shows you how to use it. This will give you insight into how much traffic you’re getting, where it’s coming from, and how visitors behave at your site. By regularly reviewing your traffic reports you can continually make improvements to your web site and Internet marketing that will build your business.
- You need to be patient. I often tell people when their site launches, “this isn’t the end…this is the beginning.” No small business web site was ever an overnight success, but every day you can make improvements that will increase your online visibility, drive more traffic to your site and convert that traffic into business.
About the Author
Rich Brooks, President/Web Developer/Blogger/Speaker/Friendly-Neighborhood-Wall-Crawler
Rich Brooks is founder and president of flyte new media, a Web design and Internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine. His monthly flyte log email newsletter and company blog focus on Web marketing topics such as search engine optimization, blogs, social media, email marketing, and building Web sites that sell. He is currently an Expert Blogger at FastCompany.com and a guest blogger at SocialMediaExaminer.com.
He is a co-founder of Social Media FTW, an organization putting on conferences and events to educate small businesses and non-profits about the power of social media marketing. He is a nationally recognized speaker on Web marketing and is the “tech guru” on Maine’s NBC affiliate’s evening news show, 207.
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