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Web Site Marketing Strategy Made Simple
eveloping a web site but your overall marketing plan
without a Web Site Strategy and what advertising, marketing
is like trying to run a and customer service goals are
business without a business plan. best suited for your web site.
Having a web site strategy and
evaluating the results of your More often than not, a web site
strategy will make sure you are is treated as an afterthought
meeting or exceeding your goals without a specific purpose beyond
and help insure your web site's offering basic company
success. information and an e- mail form.
We view a web site as an
A quick search with Google, interactive extension of a
Yahoo! or any of the search company, with few limitations.
engines will reveal millions of
web sites, the majority of which Setting Web Site Goals
were created with a focus on The first step is to list all the
publishing content about a specific tasks you want your web
business or product, with little site to accomplish. Besides
thought of how practical the web offering a potential customer
site really is or what the site information about your company,
is supposed to do. what should your web site "do?"
Should your web site help you to
Wants vs. Needs accomplish E-commerce? Serve as a
It's important to distinguish lead source? Distribute
between wants and needs and to information to your customers?
focus on functionality necessary Offer customer service? Should
to reach specific business goals your web site be used as a
with your web site. Developing a recruitment tool? A customer
marketing strategy is not just survey tool? Or for advertising
limited to your web site goals, and promotion?
capabilities you have seen
Creating a list of priorities elsewhere on the Internet, but
As you list what you want your hard sometimes to determine if
site to do, prioritize the list certain functionality will really
into three categories: 1) help your business.
Primary, "must do" goals, 2)
Secondary, "it would be nice if . Do you really need a chat room or
. ." and 3) Back Burner, "if we a message board on your site?
have to postpone this, it Perhaps it would be more
wouldn't hurt us." important to know who is using
your web site and how often they
When grouping your web site are coming back.
goals, keep in mind the one
overwhelming reason for having a Ordering Web Site Priorities
web site in the first place and Having your priorities outlined
compare it to each of the goals and your goals detailed will help
as you prioritize them. you to determine what you really
need. Go through your priority
After establishing clearly what a list and measure it against your
client's stated web site goals web site goals. If a web site
should be, we compare these goals feature you want will help you to
with a client's expectations accomplish a specific task then
regarding their web site, current include it as long as it utilizes
Internet technology and their Internet technology or browser
marketing and advertising plan. technology that is widely
supported by today's browsers.
Separating wants and needs. The
final step in creating an If you have items on your list
E-Strategy is to separate wants that don't match your web site
from needs. It's easy to want goals well, it's probably a good
idea to hold off implementing
them. Finally, having a priority 4) Distribute your web site
list will make it easier to information on several pages so
decide what to include or exclude the user does not have to scroll
in your web site when working often. By distributing your
within a limited web site budget. photographs and graphics over
several pages, your pages will
10 Tips for a Great Web Site load faster.
1) Making great first impressions
is important and your web site 5) Know who is coming to your
may be the first exposure to your site and how your site is being
company a potential customer used on a monthly or quarterly
experiences. Strike a balance basis. This information will be
between content and design. invaluable for updating or
refocusing your site to better
2) Avoid focusing exclusively on serve your target market or
graphic design rather than making customers.
the web site useful. Give your
web site visitors a reason to 6) Update your site frequently
visit your site often. and create a reason for your web
site users to keep coming back.
3) Create simple navigation. Repeat visits give you an
Design your site so your users opportunity to repeat your
can go from one page to any other marketing message.
page. Avoid navigation schemes
that rely on the user having to 7) Capture information with your
search for a secondary navigation web site. Use forms, offers,
menu or having to use their surveys and promotions to get
browser's "back" button in order your web site users to tell you
to navigate. who they are and what they are
interested in. Not only will this evolves and as new technology
help you to design a more useful becomes mainstream, it is good to
web site, collecting e-mail review the purpose of your site
addresses can allow you to notify and the usefulness of new tools
customers and potential customers and implement these new tools
about new products or services. when they make sense.
8) Avoid bells and whistles. With 10) Avoid "do-it-yourself web
the web, today's fad is site design." Yes, there are
tomorrow's eyesore. Invest in programs that let you build your
good graphic design and own web site. If you don't have
compelling content. If you must experience in graphic design or
use animations, have them stop producing professional web sites,
after a few cycles so they don't hire a web development company
become obnoxious. with proven abilities to help
you.
9) Review your web site goals
quarterly. As the Internet
About the Author:
Vann Baker is the president of Design-First, a marketing company specializing in corporate identity and collateral development. Vann has been helping small businesses and Fortune 500 companies to create brochures, newsletters, catalogs, websites and more for over 20 years. www.design-first.com
Read more articles by: Vann Baker
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
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