So many times we are asked by potential clients why their website is not performing to desired outcomes. Either they are not getting the sales they wanted or the traffic they expected. Many of the folks asking have been misled into believing “if you build it, they will come.” That may have been the mantra at the beginning of the web explosion, when there was a large consumer appetite for online shopping and relatively few websites, but those days are long since gone.

In 1994, shopping malls first appeared on the web. (source: Hobbes’ Internet Timeline 10) Websites grew from 2,738 to 234,000,000 today and users now topping 1.7 billion. (source: Internet 2009 in numbers) Web users have become more demanding, savvy, and have many more ways of finding what they want and where they want it. It’s not enough to have a website, you must have a great website that is customer focused, serves customer needs, and, most importantly, is one the customer can find.

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Image via Wikipedia

Ok – I know you’re saying “Google finds everything so customers can find me.” But will Google really help customers find your website? Or, is Google taking your potential customers to your competitor’s website? Google spits out a thousand options, and potential customers look at two or three pages of results. If your site isn’t in those top results, your website in essence won’t get found.

When I search Google for “Marketing Partners Vermont” (our firm) we show up first. (Thanks Steve for the great SEO work!) But if I think with a potential customer focus and search on “social marketing and communications” we get 10,600,000 results and our firm shows up twenty-first, which is the top of page three and below paid advertising. (Still doing great Steve!) If I add “Vermont” to the search our ranking improves to first again.

It took a great deal of work and time to make our website rank highly when searching for “social marketing and communications Vermont”. And those terms were not just a guess. We did our research. We asked our clients and potential clients what terms they associated with our firm – what they think it is that we do best.

We continually update our site and content for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). In order to do SEO, you need to know what search words you are optimizing. The use of analytics (website tracking and reports) lets us fine-tune content for SEO and understand the impact of website content. While SEO is worthy of its own blog post or two, suffice to say that it is part of any successful web strategy.

It’s unlikely that a customer relationship will start simply based on a search engine result. It’s more likely a relationship will start because of some interaction or activity that has inspired a customer to search. Promotion – perhaps both online and offline – is important to let potential customers know about you and your products.

And when you have enticed someone to search you out, your website needs to deliver the content they need to start a relationship with you. So, when planning your website, be sure to include some customer research, competitor research, and promotion for when it goes live.

Here are some keys to a successful small business website:

  • Professional web design (layout, colors, typography, SEO, analytics)
  • Specific goals: sales, visits, etc.
  • Home page should include text that says briefly what you do and who you are
  • Professional photography
  • Professional artwork / logo design / packaging
  • A working shopping cart (if appropriate), preferably one that doesn’t take users offsite
  • Should have an About Us page
  • Should have a Contact Us page with many ways to contact you (form, phone, mailing address)

To find out more about website myths, one of which is build it & they will come: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/27681.asp