Website Marketing Ideas

If you’re a woman with an online business, you undoubtedly know the challenges you face in getting the word out about your product or services.  One of the best resources I have found is Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.  Some people do tend to overdo it when it comes to their business promotions, however, if you draw them to your website, that’s the first step in turning a prospective client into a keeper. 

Here are some tips on marketing your website

1.     Broadcast your website like a phone number .

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   • Include your web address on all printed material (brochures, stationery, business cards, and press materials).
   • Include your web address in your email signature file.
   • Include your web address in your Yellow Pages listing and in other advertisements.

2.      Entice customers and prospects to visit your website again and again.

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   • Update your site regularly.
   • Add new features to your website regularly.
   • Revise your site’s Meta tags; to make it easier for search engines to find. (Your website developer can embed codes that the search engines use when indexing your web page.)
   • Offer Internet specials, such as discounts for orders placed online.
   • Host a discussion group on your website with customer comments and questions.
   • Add small photos on opening pages that expand to full-size pictures only when clicked. (This saves loading time.)
   • Tailor your choice of web features to your target market – just like you would with any other form of communication.

o        Regularly view your competitors’ websites. Learn from what they do right and from their mistakes.

3.     Use your site for sales and customer service.

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   • Use shopping cart software that allows customers to shop and order online. The software also provides instant feedback of total costs, including tax amounts, to your online customers.
   • Have a secure website for Internet sales.
   • Provide a street map to your business location on the Web. (Customers can print it out.) If you have multiple locations, find a way to let customers know which location is most convenient for them.
   • Provide forms on your web page that can be completed and submitted online for customers’ convenience. (If inquiries are allowed in the forms, respond to them promptly. Most web users expect a response within 24 hours.)
   • Create a link to your email on every page in your website. That way, if something on the page sparks a customer’s response, you’ve made it easy for them to “talk” to you.
   • Make sure your customers can find you by searching with keywords. Check how easy it is to locate your site using various search engines.
   • Check your website using various versions of browsers and types of computers to be sure it loads quickly and correctly. Get business associates and friends to access your site and tell you how it looks.
   • Provide a variety of ways for online customers to contact you: by email, phone (800 number), fax and mail.
   • Offer an online newsletter. This could be an electronic version of a printed newsletter you already publish, something entirely different, or a combination of the two.
   • Feature some interesting history or suggestions about your area of business.
   • Offer to include photos sent by your customers showing them using your business.
   • Create a sense of family among your web page readers.

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