Webwise: Building Business on the web – pt 3 – making your website more effective

How can you ensure that your website is working as effectively as possible for your business? Here are two simple rules to follow:

1. Focus on what you want visitors to your website to do:
   In my last column I wrote about the importance of focusing on why people should be visiting your website, and what you want them to do when they get there. Remember that on average, people only spend 2-3 minutes on a website, so you don’t have long to get your message across. Whatever your priority – selling products or services online, building positive word of mouth, reassuring prospective clients of your expertise, generating sales appointments, or creating a database of customer information – make sure your website does this quickly, simply and consistently.
2. Make sure you can be found:
   There are now millions of websites, so making sure your prospective customers can find you easily is an essential part of building your business on the web. Free tools such as Google Analytics (www.google.co.uk/analytics) show you how people come to your site – whether from another website or through a search engine, and which search terms (keywords) they are using to find you. As a first step in building a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, make sure that these keywords and other likely or relevant search terms are included throughout your website. This makes it more likely that when a prospective customer searches for your products or services, your site will appear in their search results.

In next month’s column I’ll be outlining how you can develop an effective SEO strategy using simple tools and techniques to increase your website’s profile online and generate increased visitor traffic.

Webwise: Building business on the web pt 2

Fiona Mulliner is Managing Director of Jumpstart Design Ltd, a specialist digital design and communications agency based in Horsham.

If you’re serious about building your business online, here are the three simple rules you need to follow:
1. Know what you are trying to achieve and focus accordingly:
It’s almost impossible to attract and retain customers online if you’re not sure why they should be visiting your website, or what you want them to do when they get there. Is your priority to sell products online, build positive word of mouth, reassure prospective clients of your expertise, generate sales appointments, or create a database of customer information? Whatever your priority, make sure that is front and centre of your online activity – don’t hide it behind superfluous information, over-complicated navigation or pointless graphics. Most people only spend 2-3 minutes on a website – make that time count!

2. Integrate your online and offline activities for brand consistency:
In last month’s column I introduced the idea of your “brand promise” – what your brand offers your customers, and what your business stands for in their eyes. Whether you and your brand offer reliability, service, innovation, convenience or quality, make sure that everything you do and say on and off the web reinforces and underlines that brand promise. Consistency builds business!

3. Extend your brand across multiple platforms for maximum impact:
Social media is not just a buzz word – it’s word of mouth taken to a whole new level. Online networks like LindedIn, Facebook and Twitter can give your brand the sort of exposure that you’d be hard-pressed to afford through traditional advertising. Take time to explore these online communities and consider how you can use them to best effect for your business – research, feedback, publicity, loyalty-building, collaboration, customer acquisition? Integrating social media into your marketing activities can produce powerful results – but remember to stay focused for maximum impact!