New Website? Now What?
June 9th, 2008So, you hired a web company or designer and you’ve got a website. Now what?
Regardless of your web spending to date, the greatest variable affecting the success of your site is qualified traffic. If no one sees your site design and its content, what’s the point?
To make your website work for you, you’ve got to invest time, energy, and yes, money into promoting your site and in gaining valuable, relevant traffic.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had clients who have spent thousands on a new website, but their checkbook closes up when I tell them they need to invest in online marketing. That’s like spending $10,000 on a slick postcard mailer design then suddenly being too cheap to buy stamps.
I’ve also heard, “Oh, we’re going to wait until the website takes some orders, then roll the money back into advertising.” Here’s a newsflash - if no one knows your site exists, there will be no orders!
There are many ways to get the word out once your shiny new website launches:
Self Promotion
Include your web address on business cards, in your email signature and throughout all of your marketing materials. It’s a simple step that many small companies simply overlook.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Every business wants to know how to get to the top of the Google results pages. Just a few years ago, it was easy to follow a few simple formulas to “do it yourself” and increase your Google ranking. Today, some of those same tactics are considered SPAM and will actually lower your rankings.
SEO today has become a complicated game of trial and error. Companies are hiring search specialists and web marketing companies to follow search trends and Google updates. BEWARE of the slick SEO salesman who promises you first page results in a matter of days. These guys are just looking to make a quick buck. Long term, consistent placement requires ongoing efforts.
Pay-per-click (PPC)
The fastest way to the top of the heap! However, you’ll be in a bidding war with most of your competitors. An inexperienced do-it-yourselfer will blow a ton of money learning the hard way about which search terms produce the most conversions (sales). An experienced PPC consultant can help you choose the right bid amounts, search terms, and secure the not-so-obvious search terms that may lead to greater returns on your advertising dollars.
Create a Following
The most effective form of direct mail today is email marketing. For a fraction of a penny per recipient, you can reach an audience of relevant customers. What will your emails include? New products, weekly specials, coupons and special promos and creative editorial content can be emailed weekly or monthly. A periodic “Hey, we’re here” email helps keep your brand on your customers’ minds.
Other Marketing Methods
One method of online advertising that is gaining popularity is Cost Per Action (CPA). With CPA, you pay when the desired action on your website has been executed. That action can be a completed sale, or a sales lead generated by someone filling out a contact form. The great thing about this method is that there is little risk on your part. You’re paying for the advertising after the sale has been made, regardless of how many visitors it took to make a sale.
Then why doesn’t everyone just do CPA? When you approach a CPA firm, they present your offer to their network of advertisers. If the offer sounds appealing, they’ll do a test run on your ad to get a conversion rate, using techniques like paid listings and bulk email. If your promotion produces a high enough conversion rate (sales), they’ll accept you into their program. If not, you’re out of luck.
Affiliate programs work in a similar manner. In their simplest form, website owners choose to display ads relevant to their website content. As your ad generates sales, you pay the website owner for the lead after the sale has been made. Since screen real estate is so valuable to these guys, they’ll pick and choose the best producing ads to display on their website.
Deerstone’s web marketing team specializes in search engine optimization and online marketing and can create a custom program to generate qualified traffic to your website. Contact us to learn more.