October 7th, 2009 → 1:02 pm @ Richard
Developing a website marketing strategy is a must for any business that wants to succeed online…and it doesn’t matter what kind of business you run. Here are a few things you should consider when you’re deciding when and how to promote your website.
1. Research
To develop a marketing strategy that is effective, you need to know a few things about your business and your customers. Research other businesses – both your direct competitors and successful businesses outside your industry – to see what’s working for them. Find the answers to these questions:
Research your customers to learn how they use the Internet. Do they get information from doing a Google search, or do they ask their Twitter followers for help? Do they look for video tutorials on YouTube? Are they participating in forums or blogs? Know where your customers are, and make sure they can find you there.
2. Methods
When you’ve finished your research you’ll need to choose the methods you want to use, and make a plan for success within those methods. Online you should consider search engines, directories, social media, and placing ads in the “content network”, meaning on other websites that are relevant to your product or service. If your research shows that your customers do their research in the search engines, for example, you’ll have to create a step-by-step plan to succeed in the search engines that will probably start with an attractive, user-friendly and search engine-friendly site design. Then you’ll have to learn how to drive traffic to your website (see my FREE eBook to learn all about this!), and you’ll need to constantly test for maximizing conversions.
Don’t forget to promote your website offline too! Print the url on all business literature, and include it in any offline advertising.
3. Media
Once you know the kinds of marketing and advertising you’ll use, you need to choose the particular media – i.e. which website or what directory? Obviously it should be relevant to your business but more importantly, it needs to be relevant to your customers. For example, if your research shows that your customers are very active on YouTube, your plan of action should start with a video marketing strategy.
Keep your goals realistic and measurable. Don’t try to conquer the whole online marketing game at once, or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. Instead, tackle the most critical media first, then move on to others one at a time. But don’t just jump on the next media that sounds good; make sure you are moving strategically, based on what you learned in your initial research.
4. Test, Test, Test
Effective marketing always requires some trial and error. Put Google Analytics on your website (it’s free!) to get data on user behavior on your site. Track the results you see, make changes and keep tracking. Over time you’ll find a mix that works for you. Make small bets when testing new ideas so that you can afford for some of them to fail.
Every business wants the perfect strategy and every marketer wants to promise results every time. Unfortunately marketing – especially online – just doesn’t work like that. However, if you plan well and ask yourself good questions before you start, you can raise the chances of succeeding.
Be willing to test ideas, track results and make changes and over time you’ll see the results you need. It just takes a little time.
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