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Author: Terry Kent
As a web designer who practically spends their
entire day online, I realize there is a lot of
misinformation about the Internet and many false
expectations of what it can accomplish. I thought
I'd share some of the comments I've received from
people and try to clear up some of the myths about
the internet.
"I don't want or need a web site because
I don't want to be overwhelmed with sales/orders/requests."
That's not going to happen. There is a common
misconception that if you build it, they will
come. Not so. Just like getting a bunch of business
cards printed, they look nifty sitting on your
desk, but if you don't hand them out, they aren't
helping you.
The same applies to a web site, just because you
have a presence online doesn't mean people will
see it. It doesn't just magically propagate itself
to all the people that may possibly be interested
in your specific product or service. It takes
a lot of hard work and dedication to promote one's
business online. It's like those old Mail Pouch
Tobacco ads painted on the sides of barns. They're
really neat, but unless the road goes by the barn,
nobody will see the billboard.
One of our long term clients is an excellent example
of how it takes time and effort to promote online.
He sells kettle corn, popcorn, nuts, jams and
jellies. It's taken 5 years for him to approach
being 'overwhelmed' with orders, and that only
happens around Christmas time. This has, in part,
been due to a continuous effort of trading links
with other similar businesses, keeping the site
up to date and adding products on a regular basis.
This way, each time the search engines come around
and 'index' his site, they can see the site is
busy, changing, growing. This helps keep his ranks
high in the search engines for keywords that are
relevant to his business. While there is no guarantee
of being at the top in search results (regardless
of what some claim), a constant effort will help
make sure you get hits from relevant keywords.
Think of keywords as your target audience. You
bring the right keyword hits, you get the sales.
"I have all the business I can handle
so why do I need a website? I don't need or want
to sell my product or service online."
You may have all the business you can handle today,
but markets and economies can and do change. A
web site can be useful in helping you spread the
word about your business as well as working as
an educational tool to teach your potential clients.
It can go into more detail about what you provide
than even a brochure can do. It can come in handy
when you are pressed for time and someone asks
you about a specific service you provide. It's
also more
reliable than you! It won't forget and leave out
a crucial detail that may be important to a potential
client. Perhaps
you're a massage therapist. While you may not
be interested in actually 'selling' your services
online, a web site could be used to list any certification
or training you've had. It could go into detail
about each type of massage you provide. It could
even show photos of your facility to show people
what a professional operation you run. This can
free you up to do what you do, give quality massages.
A web site is also handy because it's never written
in stone. You had 1,000 brochures printed up and
now your address or prices have changed? Now you've
got 1,000 brochures that need to be recycled.
A web site is a quick fix if anything about your
business changes.
"I've got a web site, how come I'm not
getting rich?"
As web designers we repeatedly run into clients
who just can't be sold on long term marketing
maintenance for their site. They have a hard time
justifying such a monthly expense. While the technology
surrounding search engines changes at the speed
of light, one thing remains constant: Content
is King. Yes, it's a cliche phrase, but true.
Just as those old barn billboards are fading into
obscurity because the highway now takes all the
traffic away from those rustic back roads, you
need to keep up to compete.
In order to successfully promote online, you must
continually be adding to your site, whether it's
adding updated articles, trading links with similar
businesses, or archiving your monthly newsletter
online, it takes an ongoing effort. Sure, you
might be able to do these things yourself. However,
sometimes you need to decide when to concentrate
on what you do best, which is run your business
and let a web designer or internet marketer do
what they do best, which is promote your site.
It's also essential that you promote your web
site off-line as well. It takes everything from
putting your web address on your business card
to sharing the address in conversation, to including
it on any and all advertising you do.
Remember the popcorn vendor I mentioned earlier?
This gentleman also spends a great deal of time
and effort promoting his site off-line. He literally
stands on the street corner to do it! If you ever
frequent the eastern panhandle of West Virginia
you may have seen him. He sets booths up on roadsides
that are full of people head to the Potomac river
for weekend fun and has a storefront in Frederick,
MD. So, he's obviously busy promoting his business
off-line! His web site address is www.catoctinkettlekorn.com.
You should check it out. His popcorn is delicious
and I'm told the kettlekorn is pretty healthy,
too! See, I just promoted him! It takes all kinds
of promotion, from paid advertising to word of
mouth, to make a business a success.
"I don't need a professional web site
designer, my uncle's friend knows some html."
While that ultimate decision is up to you, it's
important to keep in mind that your web site is
an extension of your business. It should appear
just as professional as your business. It should
also be targeted towards your specific audience
just as any printed marketing collateral should
be.
While little animated kitties are cute, do they
help sell your product or service? Maybe they
do if your business is related to animals, but
otherwise, probably not. Using professional graphics
is very important. There's a trick to saving graphics
for the web to allow for a nice looking image,
while still providing something that is quick
to download. Will the graphics match any off-line
imagery used? Can someone who knows a little HTML
create them, as well? Maybe, but not always.
In this day and age, in order to compete, every
marketing tool at your disposal should be used
to its fullest potential. It takes more than HTML
to create a successful web site. A successful
web site takes not only a coder who knows HTML,
XHTML, PHP, CSS and a bunch of other acronyms,
but a graphic designer and a marketing expert
to pull it all together. The most successful sites
will blend seamlessly with your off-line materials.
"My market is local, I don't need or want
to sell to the world."
Just because your market is small or local doesn't
mean a web site can't work for you. It's all in
how the search engine promotion is handled. You
can certainly gear your site towards a region
as well as a specific target audience. Again,
the fear that you'll be overwhelmed with inappropriate
orders is groundless.
"I can't afford a web site."
Yes, a professionally designed web site isn't
necessarily cheap. However, it doesn't have to
cost an arm and a leg either. It most definitely
should be planned into your marketing budget as
any other marketing tool would be. Today, a web
site is as necessary as a business card, brochure
or a yellow pages ad. In fact, it may be becoming
more so. You can certainly share much more information
about your products and services on a web site
than a yellow pages ad can. In some locations,
a web site can even be cheaper than a phone book
ad!
By being able to quickly share information like
testimonials from satisfied clients, your history
or philosophy, experience, a showcase of your
work, contact information, your prices, or your
personnel, half the job of selling can be done
for you, online.
It then just becomes a matter of how can you
afford NOT to have a website?
About the author:
Terry Kent is Co-Owner and operator of
http://www.thewritemarket.com,
a web design firm.
http://www.thewritemarket.com
also contains an extensive collection of tutorials
and articles on web development, search engine
promotion and online marketing.
Terry Kent
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