- Are your markets online?
In February 2003, Jupiter Research reported that 61%
of business decision makers use the Internet to look for
information on products and services. Does that include
your buyers? Try a customer survey if you don’t know the
answer to this.
Alternatively, there may be new markets that you would
like to tap, who are already online.
An excellent Web site for researching Internet demographic
information is at:
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/
- Where is your geographic focus?
Is your operation confined to a local area, or can it
have national or even international appeal?
It is not currently possible to restrict display of Web
pages within geographic boundaries (e.g. "only Illinois").
So if your business is only local, or you only serve the
U.S., you should state that clearly on the site, otherwise
you might receive leads and orders that you can't fulfil.
On the other hand, perhaps there are ways that you can
modify your "real world" offerings to reach online buyers
everywhere - perhaps by packaging your knowledge into
e-books or downloadable white papers.
- What are the specific goals of your site?
What outcomes do you want from the visitors to your site?
Will you be selling product online, or are you generating
leads for a product or service? Do you want visitors to
leave their contact details? If so, how will you encourage
them to do this? Do you have a newsletter that they can
subscribe to, or a competition, or a free offer of some
kind?
And don't forget your existing customers. Will your site
also be providing ongoing support and education for these
clients?
- How will you engage your visitors?
Remember that your Web site may be the first contact
that a prospect has with your business, and if they don't
relate to your site, it may well be the last! Make their
experience as close as possible to actually speaking with
you, and engage them in all the ways that you might do
offline.
Incorporate answers to the questions that are most frequently
asked during the buying and support process. If you don't
know these, have your staff keep a log of customer interactions
for a few days - you'll soon see a pattern.
And, if you usually help the customer through product
selection, ask them to make their choices in an online
survey that can be e-mailed to you as a lead.
- Do you want "hits", or qualified leads?
It's important to know whether you want as much traffic
and as many responses as possible from your site, or whether
you would prefer only to hear from serious buyers. A nonprofit
organization might want as many people as possible to
see its message, but most businesses have a specific focus.
If you decide to qualify the responses that you get from
the site, what criteria will you use to do this?
- Do you have a promotion plan and budget?
Even the best-designed Web sites require effective online
marketing and publicity to generate traffic. You'll need
a strategy to position your site as well as possible in
the Internet search engines and directories.
There are also many ways to promote your site "Beyond
the Search Engines" - check out my free tipsheet
with twenty-three proven ideas for doing this . . .
Remember that marketing your Web site is an ongoing activity,
and allocate time and resources to this.
- How will you measure your success?
If you've made decisions on all these issues, you'll
need a way to evaluate the results of your site and your
promotional efforts against the goals and outcomes that
you set.
Your Website traffic reports can provide really valuable
information about your visitors - in fact, I'd suggest
that without this data, you're shooting in the dark with
your online investment.
The reports will tell you how many users come to your
site, which search engines and keywords they're using
to find you, which pages of your site are the most popular,
and which are rarely accessed. You can use this information
to tweak your site, and to make strategic development
decisions which can often impact not just your Internet
marketing, but your entire business.
So, think before you leap, and may your business prosper
in Cyberspace!
