Take a look at your marketing plan for this year — what percentage of your sales forecast or marketing plan is from your website? Your website exists to serve your business and marketing goals. Your website is the face, the store front, and it gives the first impression to your potential customers. A lot of small and medium size businesses now have a web site, which acts like an online brochure. There’s nothing wrong with that but is your website a cost to your business or is it generating revenue? You can’t think of elaborate social media marketing campaigns before your website is taken care of. The first thing you want to do before doing your online marketing push or even before contacting website designers and developers, you want to set goals for your website.
Your Website is An Asset to Your Business
We’re accustomed to thinking that a website is a necessity to have — where you can tell your prospects and customers about services and products. I’d like to challenge you to think beyond that mind-set. Think of your domain as a company asset, think of the design and content of the site as the components that make up that asset. Now, what do you want that asset to do?
Expanding Your Brand’s Reach
Your website IS the focal point of your brand online. You can use it to market your website online via search engines, social media marketing, email marketing etc. All your marketing activities should come back to your site, even if it’s just to check out who you are after the sale is done. What is the brand image that your site is projecting? Are you giving out the right impression? Once this is taken care of, you can start thinking about having other assets like social network profiles, which will expand your brand presence.
Generating Quality and Relevant Leads Through Your Website
There are two parts to generating quality and relevant leads. One is to have clearly written search engine optimized content on your website. You want visitors to come because they’re looking for your product or type of service you offer. Make sure you target local customers in your area or niche visitors in your industry. What would they type in Google to get to your site that is not your company’s name? The reason behind this is to reach out to those who don’t know about you yet.
Once you already have information about your products, services, and what your business stands for, what would you like your visitor to do next? If you’re asking your visitors to leave their information or schedule a consulting session, make sure they have the right tools on your site. These should be easy-to-use forms or social media sharing tools. What are you offering in return? A white paper? A report or study? Or a discount on your services and products? Make sure you have a clear call-to-action at a visible place on your website.
Make Your Website A Profit Centre
The leads you generate through your website can cover the cost related to the site but what if you could do more? The basic way to generate revenue is to sell products but you don’t have to have a cumbersome e-commerce site if you’re selling your services. You can sell a simple ebook or an industry report if you are a service based company. Think of something you’re already doing and an area that you’re an expert in. If you’re a personal financial consultant for example, you can write a guide book on how to save and manage personal finances for a regular Joe. It becomes an even more powerful product if you say Joe can save x amount of dollars in x amount of time using your guide book. Make sure that you have your contact information and a way to engage with your services if the reader likes your ebook.
Putting It All Together
Let’s recap:
- Your website is an extension of your business — it is an asset.
- It should generate quality and relevant leads for your business.
- It is the focal point of your brand and should give the right impression to your customers and prospects.
- Your website should be able to generate revenue either by direct or indirect sales of products and services.
- Your website should be an integral part of your business or marketing plan.
Now you can go ahead and set goals for your site. Feel free to contact me via Twitter, LinkedIn or leave a comment below.
Photo by KTDEE used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.