It would seem the Web has come to rule our lives. Everyone has a website. Personal websites, blogs, corporate websites and online social communities are struggling to gain the attention of readers; seriously diminishing attention spans and making it difficult for websites to gain a loyal audience.

Design is usually the first aspect of a website that you, as a business owner, will probably consider. Naturally, you want your website to be cool and trendy. You will soon be disappointed to find out that in the sea of outstanding designs, it might be difficult to create something that stands out.

The reality is that standing out visually will not get you customers…flashy design is not why people invest money in products and services. People do business with those they know, like and trust, not with the best dressed salesperson.  A website’s success is 20 percent design and 80 percent trust-building content. Content rather than design and slick visuals get visitors involved and taking action.

Developers will rarely reveal how important content actually is because most aren’t aware of its significance. They stress on chic functionality, buttons and gizmos. Content, however, is what you need to get a loyal audience; after all Amazon.com ain’t winning any design awards.

Are you ready to roll your sleeves up and put some effort in making your website a memorable one?

Keywords, Almighty Keywords!

Perhaps, you have heard the term, keywords. And if so, you probably believe that their potential is overvalued. On the contrary. Keywords remain one of the most important aspects, the front door you might say to search engine optimization (SEO), another term that has become particularly fashionable in web marketing circles.

Keywords are nothing more than the words and phrases that people use to discover certain content through search engines. You certainly want to top search engine results for the keywords connected to your niche.

If you are starting to panic, sit down and take a deep breath. Keyword analysis can be quite fun. Think about the words that people would use to discover your website’s content. Create a list of at least five such keywords.

In addition and arguably more importantly than your own intuition; you need the input of real people who use search engines to discover information. You are approaching the issue as a website owner. Often, your understanding of keywords will differ from that of actual ‘users.’ Get real people to answer questions about the keywords they might use to discover websites similar to yours.

With list in hand, use Google’s keyword analysis tool to dig up additional keywords, some of which you never would have considered. The tool will show how often the keywords have been used in a search and how many websites are competing to rank well for these.

Use these keywords as topic ideas to create relevant and informative content about your discipline. Any company worth its salt should focus on demonstrating know-how. Highly specific and well-written, “Ah-Ha” moment content shows that you are knowledgeable and competent. People will notice your content and implicitly trust your services, if you provide them with sufficient amount of specialized information.

Keywords should be positioned strategically inside your page’s copy but refrain from yielding to the temptation of allowing keywords to dictate your content. Quality web content is written for real people. Write for readers rather than for Google bots.

Say It Out Loud

Even if you have created a masterpiece that will leave competitor sites in the dust, making them crouch in shame, you will have to focus on promotion. No one will learn about the great your masterpiece unless you finish your homework and come to the web development table with a functioning marketing system in hand.

Your web marketing system should focus on at least three lead generating tactics that you have proven to actually work. Before you begin building your site consider testing referral systems, e-mail newsletters, joint venture alliances, informational seminars and any other form of web promotion that you make work.

Get Others to Say It Out Loud

Doing all the work yourself can get results but you should seek media coverage magnify your attraction and establish credibility. To achieve this goal, you will need to contact local media including newspapers, online news sources and bloggers.

The first and most basic step includes once again making a list. Write the names of media and reporters who cover your niche. Pitch story ideas to these people but remember to keep the content useful, informative and more like a feature or a news story than like an advert.

Visuals have always been a great compliment to words. Keep that in mind when working your PR plan. Have high quality photos of your people, products, events and company activities available upon request. The more materials you provide journalists with, the higher the chance of getting quality coverage.

You Deserve a Break – Hire a Virtual Assistant

Fast forward a couple of months where you have an amazing website that you are so proud of. It looks professional and it will certainly shines a positive light on your image. The only trouble is that you never have the time to update it and the same articles appear on the homepage week after week.

A website devoid of fresh content will soon kill the interest of even the biggest enthusiasts. Quality web updates require time, creativity and commitment. You unquestionably have the creativity but you probably lack the time to do it yourself.

This is when the virtual assistant steps in. A virtual assistant is the person who can update your website while you are dealing with other issues.

Find a person who knows how to work with popular content management systems, understands how to edit photos and to format the content that needs to be uploaded. By getting someone else to deal with these tasks, you will be better able to focus on more pressing issues.

Bottom line if you are looking to a new website to be the cure all to your marketing woes…woe unto you, it won’t happen. It must be part of a comprehensive system of customer attraction and lead conversion. If you approach your development team with these assets in hand, your website will have the content it needs to establish the credibility required to motivate visitors to take real action.

John Easton, a recovering corporate executive turned entrepreneur. Through his Charlotte website design company, John helps small business owners create video, web and multimedia tools that turn “browsers” into “buyers.” Follow John on Twitter at @jeaston1.

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