Setting up a website is no easy task. On completion, you will be somewhat proud of finally reaching this momentous milestone and will want to share your victory with everybody. But as you look around, you realise that simply having built this online monument as your storefront in cyberspace, has not brought clients marching through your virtual front door. Here are the three musts for making your online small business venture a success.
1. I Must Implement and Embrace a Web Analytics Culture
As a former Business Intelligence Manager for large Financial Institutions, you won't be surprised to find I am a firm believer in that old adage "You can't manage what you don't measure". Having a clear vision, a well-defined strategy and clear goals for both your small business and for the website are essential. They set your destination and define how you will get there. Once you set sail on your journey, how will you know if you are on course?
Regular Performance reporting will help you monitor your progress and keep you on track, while the analytics will assess prevailing conditions as well as the obstacles in your path. These reports need not be complex, or even collated on some fancy software. A regular exercise book, keeping a tally, could be used for micro-businesses or you could use free online analytics software, such as Google Analytics, to get you started.
While the means of collating the data is up to you, it is absolutely vital you keep your key performance indicators on point. If you are new to the website game, I suggest that you focus on three main points, or "The Integrated Trinity". T
his phrase was coined by web analytics guru, Avinash Kaushik, in his book, Web Analytics an Hour a Day. The "Trinity" keeps your focus on doing business with your website. These are:
i. Measuring Outcomes - (Revenue, Orders, Leads, Subscriptions)
ii. Measuring Customer Behaviour - ( Visits, Referrers, Loyalty, Recency)
iii. Measuring The Customer Experience - (Customer Satisfaction, Feedback)
The actual metrics will differ with each business and with the individual goals of the website in question, but these base metrics will help you know whether your site is successful. They also help identify the key behaviours that drive customers to your site and identify the customer experiences that keep them coming back.
The important thing is that constant monitoring enables you to quickly identify any off-track excursions, and to rapidly correct your course. The benefit is you won't waste valuable time and you will arrive at your profitable destination that much faster.
2. I Must Understand and Implement Search Engine Optimisation for My Website
The term Search Engine Optimisation or SEO as it is more commonly known may strike fear into the hearts of many non-IT types, but you can relax. As technical as it sounds, the good news is it is not rocket science! A search engine is simply a method of indexing massive amounts of web pages so that when people try to search for a particular website they can find it quickly. Google, Bing (MSN) and Yahoo! are all search engines. SEO is simply preparing your website pages in a way that the search engines prefer so that it can readily accept your site and, in turn, find it quickly for presentation to your potential customers when they are looking to buy. SEO is a rather diverse set of activities, all aimed at bringing more customers to your site; need to be strongly aligned to the business strategy and website goals to ensure SEO success. For example, if your online business goal is to sell more pet products, you need to ensure your SEO activities are strictly targeting those most likely to buy pet products.
Learning the principles of SEO is essential and implementing SEO techniques and best practice on a regular, on-going basis is essential to website success. Just be warned that it may take three to six months before you see any substantial results from your initial SEO efforts.
3. I Must understand and Implement Search Engine Marketing Practices
Search Engine Marketing falls into two categories, paid and unpaid online marketing.
Paid Online Marketing is any method of marketing your site online that has an associated cost. This includes things such as Google Ad words and is also known as PPC or pay-per-click advertising. This type of advertising is usually based on the purchase of key search phrases, such as "small business consultant" or "Gold Coast Tyres" and depending on a number of factors, such as, the amount bid for the key phrase, the number of competitors, and the geographic limitations, it places your ad on the search pages when the relevant search phrase is requested, usually increasing your site visibility.
It is important to understand PPC advertising principles and I recommend that you spend some time learning as much as you can before you actually implement your first campaign. I also recommend that you tread warily when you design your campaign.
First and foremost establish a budget - and, more importantly, stick to it! In the early stages, I recommend you spend little and monitor the performance of this type of ad closely. Tailor your advertising based on your responses and conversion rates and you will soon hone your PPC advertising to drive results based on your business and website goals.
Unpaid Online Marketing activities include E-zine Article Publication, RSS Feeds, and Social Marketing Activities, such as Twitter and Facebook. These types of activities have no specific actual costs; however the hidden cost is they all require someone who will put in the time to author articles, update pages, write blogs or send tweets. Depending on your product or service, these may be appropriate methods of marketing your website, but it is essential to assess their appropriateness to your business and website goals. You also need to assess your ability to resource and service your social marketing activities before you attempt them.
4. BONUS - I Must Undertake Offline Marketing Activities
This one is for extra credit! These activities are largely forgotten by internet focussed SEO pundits. Offline Marketing efforts can also help drive online business success. First, ensure all your marketing collateral includes references to your website.
This includes all your business cards (physical, email signature, mobile phone business card, etc.), your brochures, letterheads, newsletters and advertisements.
Secondly, List your business in as many free and paid directories as you can and include your website address.
Lastly, if you have the floor as a speaker, place a copy of your speakers' notes on your website and refer your audience to the site for a copy. You can also, list your website address in your speakers' profile.
If you are new to website marketing, and it all seems a bit daunting, I suggest that you learn and master each activity before tackling the next.
Karen L. Paiyo is an Australian Small Business Counsellor, supporting and nurturing the spirit of entrepreneurship in the Asia Pacific Region. Karen empowers small business owners by transferring to them the skills and expertise needed to help them take their business ideas from creative concept to profitable reality, faster and with less risk.
Setting up a website is no easy task. 1. I Must Implement and Embrace a Web Analytics Culture
Having a clear vision, a well-defined strategy and clear goals for both your small business and for the website are essential. The "Trinity" keeps your focus on doing business with your website. ii. Measuring Customer Behaviour - ( Visits, Referrers, Loyalty, Recency)
iii. Measuring The Customer Experience - (Customer Satisfaction, Feedback)
2. I Must Understand and Implement Search Engine Optimisation for My Website
Google, Bing (MSN) and Yahoo! are all search engines. SEO is a rather diverse set of activities, all aimed at bringing more customers to your site; need to be strongly aligned to the business strategy and website goals to ensure SEO success. For example, if your online business goal is to sell more pet products, you need to ensure your SEO activities are strictly targeting those most likely to buy pet products.
Learning the principles of SEO is essential and implementing SEO techniques and best practice on a regular, on-going basis is essential to website success. 3. I Must understand and Implement Search Engine Marketing Practices
Search Engine Marketing falls into two categories, paid and unpaid online marketing.
Paid Online Marketing is any method of marketing your site online that has an associated cost. This type of advertising is usually based on the purchase of key search phrases, such as "small business consultant" or "Gold Coast Tyres" and depending on a number of factors, such as, the amount bid for the key phrase, the number of competitors, and the geographic limitations, it places your ad on the search pages when the relevant search phrase is requested, usually increasing your site visibility.
Tailor your advertising based on your responses and conversion rates and you will soon hone your PPC advertising to drive results based on your business and website goals.
Unpaid Online Marketing activities include E-zine Article Publication, RSS Feeds, and Social Marketing Activities, such as Twitter and Facebook. Depending on your product or service, these may be appropriate methods of marketing your website, but it is essential to assess their appropriateness to your business and website goals. 4. BONUS - I Must Undertake Offline Marketing Activities
Offline Marketing efforts can also help drive online business success. First, ensure all your marketing collateral includes references to your website.
This includes all your business cards (physical, email signature, mobile phone business card, etc.), your brochures, letterheads, newsletters and advertisements.
Secondly, List your business in as many free and paid directories as you can and include your website address.
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