Pretend you are opening a store in a busy shopping mall. As a savvy business owner you will budget for the monthly rent, utilities, security, signage, advertising, marketing, fixtures and inventory. Will you expect to begin making money the minute your doors are open for business?
As a website owner, let’s use the retail store analogy – you invest money in the building of the website or the retail storefront. Next, you open your doors for business or your website goes “live”. The thinking is that once the website is built, the search engines should find you immediately and the cash register will start ringing. Is this realistic? Why are online expectations so drastically unrealistic from offline expectations?
Many website owners have budgeted no time or money for online advertising or marketing yet expect dollars to come flooding in. I get dozens of emails every day with desperate pleas like, “Can you fix my website?” “What’s wrong with my website?” Or my personal favorite, “I can’t spend any more money on my website.”
If you want excellent results from your website then it’s a smart idea to invest some time and money into the marketing of the site. Here are three budgets and scenarios to consider.
Piggybank of Money – You have more time than money and can afford to wait for results. Focus on your website usability and how to attract your ideal clients. Research keyword phrases, start reciprocal linking ,cross-marketing efforts and actively engage in social media. Educate yourself by taking some seminars or teleclasses. Take immediate action on what you learn.
Stash of Money – You want immediate results and have a pretty good budget. Optimize your site to the max so the search engines and your target audience will find you. Consider a pay-per-click campaign. Invest in Google Ad Words. Enhance your offline marketing strategies to compliment your online strategies.
Buckets of Money – You want maximum results and have no budget limitations. You know what conversion rates are worth and will strategically test and measure results. Implement everything outlined in the previous two budgets plus Google Sponsor Spots. Invest in more than one pay-per-click program. Pay for listings in relevant industry, geographic and target market specific directories. Hire a Public Relations and SEO firm that will maximize your on and offline efforts.
In any of the above scenarios it’s a good idea to keep reinvesting some time and money into ongoing website efforts. When you find something that works, keep doing it and take it to the next level. For example, if you find that you’re getting lots of traffic from industry-specific directories, contact them and see how you can do more business with them. Maybe you got several clients from a website that you’re linked with. Contact that website owner and thank them, then suggest more ways you can promote each other’s business. And finally, talk with your competitors. Are your online goals and expectations realistic? Ask your competitors how they are doing, what is working and what they’ve found to be their most effective online marketing strategy.
Tags: Business Strategy, effective web design, internet marketing, marketing ideas, Web Marketing, website marketing
What is an Article Directory? An Article Directory is a repository for article written by website owners and marketeers. When an article is placed with the directory it can then be used by ither websites as part of their content.
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Informative article that you have. I stumbled on a new one the other day. They look open , but very similar to linkedin.com with more of a social business directory look and feel. Nice thought out interface though. It’s at SocialTerrain.com
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Good post.TNX. I saw it here
Darn it
I just typed a whole long message, but when I hit the submit button my browser did something really weird.
Did you get it or should I retype it all again?
Yet again you come out with terrific piece of work. would anyone that kind of information and written speech to make next week, and always looking for.
Good luck everybody! – I will come back again. Are you on facebook or twitter? Will like to follow you.
Awesome post! I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any assistance is very much appreciated.
BR
Dude.. I am not much into reading, but somehow I got to read lots of articles on your blog. Its amazing how interesting it is for me to visit you very often.
BR
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any assistance is very much appreciated.
BR
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any assistance is very much appreciated.
BR
Dude.. I am not much into reading, but somehow I got to read lots of articles on your blog. Its amazing how interesting it is for me to visit you very often.
BR
Why didn?t I find this post earlier? Keep up the good work!
BR