An Internet
Marketing Strategy is more than just having a website
By Chris Thomas
Internet Marketing Specialist – Web Traffic Partners
You have a website, now what? Who built your website? Do
they know SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? Do you know what
search engine optimization
is? Do you really understand what your website should be doing
for your business? These are common questions business owners
ask themselves every day.
This is a common conversation between business owners. One
business owner asks, “Do you have a website?”
"I have a website." another business owner said,
"I just don't know if it is bringing me leads or not."
The other business owner says, "I search for my website
online and it doesn’t show up on the search engines
and most of my competition does. What can I do about it?"
How many businesses have the same questions? From this encounter
and similar concerns raised with other business owners, I
would have to say quite a few. Most businesses I see either
don’t have a website or have a website that is three
to five years old. Many times this is a second or even third
generation site that replaced an older or original site. Interestingly
enough, the most often cited reasons for these "next
generation" website efforts usually have nothing to do
with marketing! Business owners in many cases dramatically
change their website or build it all over again mainly because
of a change in their core business or because they simply
don't like their old site. With the notable exception of e-commerce
sites, sales and lead flow had little to do with their reasons
for the creation of a new site or their selection of a Website
Development Company that produced it. Times have changed.
The internet is the single largest lead source available to
most businesses!
Website cost and return on investment
Many businesses are mistakenly more concerned about the "cost" in building their new site than they are in how they will maximize their ROI from the site and all the potential leads it will bring after its online. Increasingly, businesses understand that their website should perform; it should generate revenue and thus be considered a much needed business generating expense rather than simply a one-time outlay of money. Trust me, one of my clients that has advertised in many different areas including Yellow Pages, etc. said, "Thank you for providing our business with what has been unquestionably the most effective advertising campaign we have ever done." Read the full testimonial here.
Over the past several years we have increasingly heard concerns
about a website's marketing impact, lead flow and search engine
placement. Why? The old standby methods of generating business
and their primary approach to advertising for many of these
firms; direct mail, print media and yellow
pages ads, are rising in cost while at the same time they
are declining in effectiveness. Business owners now more than
ever realize that their website holds great potential and
performance is a necessity. Yet most businesses simply put,
have a website and are now realizing they need a web strategy!
At Web Traffic Partners, we see this
changing environment all the time. The main questions business
owners ask us as they start to re-evaluate their websites
and internet marketing approach are:
1) What should my website be doing for me?
2) How can I tell if it is generating new clients for my
business?
3) Why is my competition visible on the first page of Google
searches but my web site is not?
4) What is required to improve performance and get high search
rankings?
5) How do I determine what Web Development/Internet
Marketing Company to use?
These are all common questions that reflect symptoms of not
having identified a strong web strategy. If you are a business
owner and are asking yourself these questions, you NEED to
contact us today. Call Web Traffic Partners now at 517-775-0089
or fill out our contact form
and we will set up a free consultation to go over your web
site and internet marketing strategy. We look forward to hearing
from you!
Article by: Chris Thomas – President & Internet
Marketing Specialist
Web Traffic Partners – Lansing
Michigan Internet Marketing Company
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