Do You Need A Website?

This thought has probably crossed your mind before – “I need a website”. Usually after having that thought for the first time nothing happens. Possibly the second and third and fourth time that idea enters your head still nothing happens. Eventually that thought turns into action and you take the first steps to establish your online presence.

Whether you have a website already, are somewhere in the thought process or have at least managed an entry in your “to-do” list at some point you will go through or have already been through this process –

1. Decide you need a website.
2. Surf around the web looking at other sites, especially competitors, and note what elements you want to have in your site.
3. Search your contacts for a web designer, if you can’t find one, search the web for one and hire her to build your site.

This is a recipe for disaster. Here is why –

You Are Making Decisions Based On Personal Preference.

Unless you possess online marketing skills you will be making a lot of poor decisions. You might want certain graphic elements on your website just because you like the way they look, are convinced you have to have an “about us” page because every other site does and demand a certain colour because you think it “looks professional”. None of these ideas are necessarily mistakes but they are symptoms of a very common problem – way too much focus on design and decision making lacking any real practical justification.

Myth – Your Web Designer Will Provide All The Answers

You may argue that your web designer should help you establish a successful online presence. That’s what you hired her for right. Unfortunately most web designers are not online marketers. They will be very good technically and creatively. If you find a great one she will be able to create anything you ask – unfortunately that’s like buying a sports car and not knowing how to drive. The usual result of this combination is a beautiful website that doesn’t do anything. Yes you are very proud of it, you eagerly parade it around to all your friends and family but no one else knows about it. It doesn’t bring you any new business – the reason you built the site in the first place!

Mistake – Copy Other Small Business Websites, They Seem To Know What They Are Doing

Copying other websites rarely works effectively. Most other small business website owners don’t know how to market online so you will repeat what doesn’t work. The few that do have successful sites know the ‘secret sauce’ when it comes to online marketing, and you can’t copy that secret because it’s unique to each business. There is a basic formula but it’s a science, not something you can duplicate word for word, it has to be uniquely applied to your business.

Websites Are Not Brochures

The basic problem is most people think of a website as an online pamphlet, while it should be a dynamic customer relationship building tool. A website can convert prospects for you without you personally selling at all. When your potential customer finally contacts you they are pre-sold, you don’t have to do anything but take their money and provide your services or product. How can you get your website to work like this? By understanding the key elements to successful online marketing.

The Key Elements Of Successful Online Marketing
The Website System That Builds Customer Relationships

If you have studied marketing you will know that you usually need to make between three and seven contacts with a person before they will buy from you. It’s not a perfect rule but does demonstrate the importance of ongoing communication with your potential customers. Relationship building is vital for success.

As you no doubt know from experience if you just stick a sign in front of a person proclaiming they should buy your product, very few will. Even if you stick a sign for your product in front of people that actually need your product still very few will buy because they have no established trust with you.

Relationship building establishes trust, which leads to sales, and the same applies to online selling. Internet marketing strategies often involve giving away a sample of what you offer to demonstrate value, putting your expertise on display and starting a communication dialogue with potential customers. The beauty of the Internet is that your website system can handle this process for you automatically, once you set-up it will keep working hard to bring you new customers.

The free samples you offer to website visitors must be genuine resources, something that teaches or solves a problem. You don’t have to give away all your secrets, but you must demonstrate you know what you are doing. Examples include free downloadable reports, e-courses delivered via email, articles, software, whitepapers, subscriptions services, newsletters – anything that disseminates real information and value to your website visitors.

This starts trust building with your website visitors, validates your credibility (you’re not all talk) and most importantly, gives you a mechanism to create a link with your prospects – they give you their email address to open communications with you. With communication channels open you can continue to soft-sell yourself, build more trust and keep your business fresh in the mind of your target market.

Don’t Let Ignorance Stop You

The web is a fantastic technology that is so much more advanced than standard print publications. It’s dynamic. It facilities ongoing communication, feedback and personalization to a degree that no magazine, newspaper or brochure can match. As an individual it can be complicated to take advantage of all the resources available, however the most powerful tools are simple to apply. It’s a crime if ignorance stops you from fully utilizing online marketing and all you end up with is a static brochure website.

In part three of this series I will introduce you to the most important tool of the trade that automates the relationship building process for you and can be seamlessly integrated with any website – email autoresponders.

Yaro Starak
Internet Marketing Evangelist