You are the owner of a startup company, attraction, hotel, resort, restaurant or are part of an existing organization and want to start or expand your advertising reach. You are working on getting the word out to bring people your way. You need a professional image to attract attention. What you need to get the word out about your services. You need to be seen by potentials. A website - the right website - can be a great tool to help you do this.
Below are seven things you can do to prevent your website from reaching its potential. If you can move past these pitfalls, there is hope yet!
1. Not advertising your website.
Not having an advertising plan for getting your website seen could be called "build it and they will show up"! People won't come across your website merely because it exists. You need to do something to get eyeballs on your site.
So advertise your website on your business cards and your ads in travel guides, magazines, newspapers or brochures. Have a flyer? What should be clearly seen on it? You guessed it. Look at every communication channel available and put that website out there! Are there websites that have your competition listed? Make sure your name is there too. Getting your name on a portal website with content specific information is a good thing. Got stickers? Well you should know what the next question is!
2. Not giving a reason to visit.
Even if you put your website name out there people still won't go to your site unless there's a good, motivating reason to do so. After all, it takes incentive to find a great website:
- Find time - (a scarcity) these days
- Turn on the computer, recall the web address (seems no one has a good memory these days) either.
- Type it in (make sure it's correct!)
- Wait for the information to load (if it does at all)
- Dodge email and instant messages as well as cell phone and text messages. Not to mention that your mom, who you haven't called in weeks, is calling!!
- Just hoping that no one googled your keyword phrase and went straight to someone else's website! Whew! That's a lot of hurdles for directing someone to your site!
After all that, a website needs to be interesting enough to capture attention (remember the 30 second rule!) To direct people to your website, there must be a highly compelling reason to go there! No reason equals no eyeballs.
3. Not having a "call to action" on your site.
Ok, so let's now say that you have someone on your website. What do you have on there that would make someone want to browse around? Will they look at your shopping cart, check out the place or even request further information? Is your website clear in its message? Are you giving visitors the benefit of visiting your website vs. a competitor's? Is it obvious and easy to take that next step?
Again, no "call to action" equals no eyeballs.
4. Not having a "niche".
This one requires a bit more work. Your website must be tweaked to those you to want visit your site. Keep in mind everything you put on your website and the purpose for it! If you don't have a target niche - i.e., a specific audience - your message ends up lost.
Without a content focus, you end up sending a non-specific message to a general audience. For instance: You put up a road sign on the interstate that says "Hotel beds for rent, turn here." Don't be shocked when someone shows up wanting to rent beds to put in their hotel!!
So instead, a website that targets and addresses a specific audience's needs is the way to go. For example, "Softest beds in town with FREE breakfast!" You don't need to turn many heads - just target the ones that would be interested.
Ok? Got it? So repeat after me: "No target audience means no eyeballs"
5. Never change or update it.
Have you ever seen one of those websites with a counter of "101" at the bottom and next to it appears last updated May 26, 1996? How long do you think people will stare at that before they move on to a recently updated website? Freshness of food and websites are equally important to one's health.
An out-of-date website is the quickest way to lose repeat audience and your credibility.
6. Not answering questions.
People are constantly looking for that instant gratification; it's the one reason we stopped hunting and started shopping at the local grocery store. Get your shopping done for a whole week!! Make certain that your email is working and that you follow up on any questions immediately. When people call or email you, be sure that you have your answers ready. It's important that when those eyeballs get to your site with questions, you keep them there before they stretch their legs and start wandering elsewhere.
7. Hire your a friend's relative who took some classes.
Not to say that Bill in Florida, who's the sixteen year old son of your best friend from high school, can't create a website. But you need someone with real internet marketing experience - not someone who just copies and pastes together a boxy looking website.
Find someone who has created successful websites and is willing to teach you what to do and how to put it all together. You need someone who sees you as their client and is able to work with you.
Having a great website can only contribute to your success. Make sure that you take the above suggestions into account when building or rebuilding a website. You will attract those eyeballs again and again!
Oh, and one more thing:
8. Only submit your website to the search engines.
This is the easiest and quickest route to internet oblivion. Those big search engines are not taking your new website submission into account for up to ten weeks, unless you pay their ridiculous submission fees.
So, if you're serious about building or rebuilding your website, call us and we will immediately move you forward on the Internet Super Highway!
Jasper Kooij
Ad-Lit Web Solutions
