Seven Marketing Questions You Should Ask Before You Get A 10 Year Old To Build Your Website

Google tells us there are 4 billion websites- almost one for everyone on the planet. And today you have decided to make it 4 billion and 1. So, do you think- "If I build it, they will come?" seriously? It ain't going to happen, unless you stand out. So do you think your 10 year old nephew who can code html (which I believe they now learn in pre-school, just after they have done the alphabet) is going to make your site the next eBay? Let me give you a few questions to ask yourself before you double his pocket money.

1. What is the purpose of your website?
In business, there are three main types of websites:
? the brochure site
? the lead generator site
? the online shop

The brochure site is an online support to your offline marketing. You will refer to it in your ads, because you pay for ads by the square inch, and acres are cheap on the internet. You will refer to it in your Yellow Pages ads, your business cards and your brochures. An online presence will give you a credibility that your competitors without a website (getting fewer every day) don't have. But in the end it is just an online version of a tri-fold a printer might do for you. There is nothing wrong with a brochure site, if this is all you want in your marketing plan.

The next step up is a lead generator site. Unlike a brochure site, you want it to generate business on its own. You want people to find your site while browsing on the internet, and having seen your site, feel compelled to call or email you. After that contact is made, hopefully a sale will follow.

The last option is that your website is a storefront where visitors to your site can actually purchase products and services. In other words, after finding your site, and viewing your content, they are compelled to "click here" to make a purchase.

There is a fourth type of website- the vanity site. But financial rewards are rarely connected to this type of site.

Of course a website may be a mixture of these three (or four) types, but unless you have defined your business model, the purpose of your site, it will be a waste of electrons.

2. How will people find your site?
You already know there are 4 billion sites, so the likelihood that a buyer will find it by chance are somewhat remote. And if you calculated the cost per lead on that basis, you would never build such a site. Your business website exists only for one purpose, to make you money- irrespective of the business model. It must pay its way. So if no-one visited your site, why would you pay for it to exist?

Therefore, you must have a strategy to ensure people know your site exists and that there is a reason they should visit it. How can you do that? There are two basic strategies, offline and online.

An offline strategy is based on all your offline marketing- ie advertising, public relations, networking and cold calling. In every case you would refer leads to your website where they can find out more about what you can do for them, and why they should choose you. Your website would build on your offline promotions giving further details of your service, educating your customer and creating credibility for your business.

An online strategy will be built around visibility. The key elements of this are:
? Search Engine Optimisation
? A strategy to get links to your website
? Online advertising

3. What are you going to do to make visitors linger at your site?
The average website visit is 68 seconds. How many widgets do you expect to sell in that time? You must have a strategy to make people linger at your site, get to know you and see the value you can give them.

The three secrets for making people linger are CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.

To get visitors to stay, you need to give them information that they want. This will not be information about you (at least not on the home page). Your goal should be to educate your visitor. Give them information they will not get elsewhere on how to solve the problem that caused them to search for you in the first place. If you website is just sales hype, your visitors will be gone in a lot less than 68 seconds.

4. What do you want visitors to do once they are at your site?
Many would say- "Buy lots of stuff from me." Well, in your dreams! Most people will not buy from you, or call you on the first visit to your site. They don't know you (unless an offline relationship has been established). And unless you are selling a commodity, that is the same on every site- eg CD's, and you are competing on price, you need to be able to establish a relationship. To do this, you need to give visitors a reason to give you a way to stay in contact. This could be by way of a newsletter, or through a free download of information requiring their email details. When you do this, it is essential you provide an unsubscribe option, because otherwise you will be spamming. And there are no rich spammers (although I believe there are rich people selling spam technology).

5. How are you going to get people to come back to your site?
On average, four out of five website visitors will never come to a website. And if they only stay 68 seconds, it's going to take you several lifetimes to become an internet millionaire. To get people to come back you need to do several things:
? Have sufficient quantity and quality of content, that the visitor will bookmark your site to come back for more
? Continually add to and change the content to make visitors want to come back
? Provide special offers to your subscribers that will encourage them to revisit your website

If your website never changes, why would anyone want to come back?

6. How are you monitoring going to monitor the results of your website?
No-one can guarantee what is going to work for you. Therefore you have to measure your statistics. A good webhost will provide you with a statistics package that will tell you how many visitors you have had, when they visited, how they found you and what they did at your site. When you make an offer, make a change to your site, or undertake some marketing campaign, whether online or offline, check the response on your statistics, and the conversions that you have achieved on your site. Do controlled experiments. Don't change too many things at one time, because you will never know what caused the change. Find out what works, and what doesn't. And when you find a good thing, stick to it!

7. Are you really going to trust your 10 year old nephew to do all this?
You may not be using your 10 year old nephew, you may be using a graphics design company instead. But don't confuse determining your website business model and marketing strategy with the colour and movement of your website graphics. As a general rule of thumb, the flashier the website, the worse it is commercially. (Check out eBay and Amazon- how flashy are their sites? But is there a clear business strategy?) You will need someone to do the html programming, but almost certainly, someone who is good at that will not be good at everything else. A website is just another marketing tool. Like a brochure. Would you get your printer to write your advertising copy?

I don't suggest that you should not use a great website design company (or even your precocious nephew) to build your website, but don't let them be in charge of your marketing!

Copyright 2005 Empower Business Solutions

Dr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses with business planning, business systems and marketing strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions website at: http://www.empowersolutions.com.au

---

Profitable Online Marketing - Guaranteed!

When you boil it right down, there are really only... Read More

Niche Marketing: Finding JV Partners

Joint Ventures (JVs) are one of the most powerfull techniques... Read More

Blog and Ping ? A Search Engine Traffic Bonanza

Everyone is talking about blogs these days as the magic... Read More

Wanted - Sheep for the Marketing Flock?

Hoo boy, I am sticking my neck out here! Ready... Read More

Seven Strategies To Make Money On The Net Regularly

You can attract 1,000's of prospects to you. You only... Read More

Seven Ways to Keep Earning After Youve Completed the Sale

So you've just sold another digital product; things are going... Read More

Who You Trust and Who You Dont!

For the last couple weeks I have been running a... Read More

Web Internet Marketing: 10 Magical Secrets To Make Your Ad Appealing

Do you want to make your ad appealing and increase... Read More

Getting Targeted Traffic by Standing Out In The Crowd

Have you ever seen the trading floor in action on... Read More

Developing an Ad Campaign for the Startup E-business

Online advertising has changed over the years. Some believe the... Read More

Joint Ventures - How They Can Benefit Your Business

Joint ventures are partnerships in which two or more businesses... Read More

Hype! Has The Internet Gone Too Far?

I remember back in the 1980s (history for many of... Read More

Progress to Success

It was supposed to happen in thirty days. Buy the... Read More

8 Benefits Of Helping An Online Business Newbie

Do your remember when you first ventured out in the... Read More

FSBO Upscale Manhattan Co-op -- Only Strongest Offers Entertained

Had I known in 1985 what I know now about... Read More

Seven Ways to Generate Income From Your Website

If you own your own website, there are a variety... Read More

Marketing Rapport - 3 Tips!

Establishing & maintaining rapport with your online audience is perhaps... Read More

Internet Marketing Strategy:The Advertising Co-op

The advertising co-op is an Internet marketing strategy that should... Read More

Internet Market Selection

The advent of the Internet has made this world an... Read More

Online Advertising Mistakes ? 3 Donts For Newbies

Are you new to Network Marketing? If you are, then... Read More

Kindergarten Dropout Makes A Fortune In Internet Marketing

Hyperboles abound in Internet Marketing. Myth has its own area... Read More

3 Services Your Online Business Cant Live Without

It doesn't make any difference if you're promoting your own... Read More

Did You Say Free?!

There are books and web sites for the translation of... Read More

Why Offline Advertising is So Important for Websites

It is important that anybody with a significant online presence... Read More

The Voice of Viral Marketing

Generating buzz through word of mouth will help drive greater... Read More

Internet Marketing - A Leap Of Faith

Do you remember as a child having to do something... Read More

Do You Know the 3 Key Strategies to Using Lead Capture Pages?

Leads are the Life Blood of any Online Home Based... Read More

13 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales

1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the... Read More

My 7-Step Secret Formula For Cashing In On Content!

Copyright 2005 Kurma GroupContent, content, content - everybody's talking about... Read More

Internet Marketing Strategy: Online Joint Venture Ideas To Increase Your Business

A joint venture is when two or more businesses join... Read More

Making Money in the Online Dating Gold Rush of 2004

Have you noticed the explosion of Websites related to love,... Read More

Add-on Sales - The Key To Success On The Web

Question: Can you guess the cheapest way to make a... Read More

Affiliate Marketing Versus Network Marketing (MLM): Income formula Revealed!

Both affiliate marketing and network marketing pay people for referring... Read More