Every year, I talk to all different types of businesses asking about a website. Years ago, the term ‘website’ was just that, a site on the web for your brand or business to sit. Now, the umbrella that is a ‘website’ has become so much more.One of the most vital parts of that umbrella is Website Marketing.
What is Website Marketing?
Ultimately, it’s the process of getting visitors to your website – then, converting those visitors into customers. Sounds simple enough, right? It can be, if you do it right – or should I say; if you do it at all.
So many customers want to spend all their budget on a fantastic looking website, with all the bells and whistles, as well as integration into a whole host of systems for selling their products, or tracking every movement the visitor takes when visiting their site. After months of development, pages and pages of bespoke code, and tons of eye catching images and graphics, the customer sits back with a smile on their face, and waits for the customers to come rolling in. Of course, those customers usually don’t appear.
Why? Because you can have the best shop in the world, but if you build it in the rain forest, no-one will find it.
Avoiding the Rainforest
We urge everyone to think like this – 33% of a budget for a website should be spent on the site itself; 66% on website marketing. We’ll let you decide on the spare 1% (maybe a nice latte?).
So, you’ve sorted your budget, and you’ve got a great (but moderately priced) website. Now, you declare, at the top of you lungs to all your colleagues, “Today, I shall conquer the internet!”. What does that entail?
Here’s what we call the Fusionsoft Website Marketing Circle. We wanted to call it the Circle of Life, but apparently, that’s been taken? This is the go to graphic for our Website Marketing team, and gives us a full circle of all the things to cover by the Website Marketing Umbrella. Let’s look at some of the more relevant items:
Pay Per Click
This is Google’s Adwords – those links that appear down the right hand side and at the top of Google search results in a yellow or pink box. Pay Per Click is fantastic for immediate results in Google. You put an advert on Google for particular Keywords, or Search Terms, that potential customers might type into Google. You tell Google how much you want to ‘bid’ for that spot – how much the advert is worth to you. This can be as little as 5p, however, it can be as much as £50… or more! Depending on other companies who have also put bids on, your advert appears somewhere in the list. You then Pay Per Click – for everyone who clicks on your ad, you pay your bid.
Blogging
Now, here’s something you should at least understand the concept of – you’re reading a blog at the moment! The concept is simple – you write a post on your blog about a subject or product that you are knowledgeable about. This is another way to drive visitors to your website, as well as show the world you have knowledge about the product or service you provide.
Email Marketing
This is something that many people overlook – keeping in constant contact with your current customers or clients. There is real value in not only reminding your customers or clients that you are still here, but also giving them offers and discounts to encourage their repeat business.
Reviewing your Results
Here’s the vital final step before starting the whole process again. Review the results of all your Website Marketing campaigns, and learn from the results. It can be so easy to see an increase in inquiries and not learn where these inquiries are coming from, which devalues all the Website Marketing you’ve done – all that hard work! Don’t be afraid to ask customers where they found your details, or why they decided to give you a call.
It’s important to remember that this cycle never ends – once you’ve reviewed your results and found out what works and what doesn’t, make changes to your campaign (or, if it’s working, DON’T make changes!) and start the whole cycle again.
At Fusionsoft, we specialise in Website Marketing. We use this cycle to build a strategy that can increase the traffic you see coming to your website, and we also look at your website and put in place devices to turn those visitors into customers. To find out more, visit www.fusionsoft.co.uk or drop me a line to discuss your needs further.
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Great blog, Adam and thank you for sharing this. I agree that email marketing is something that many businesses overlook – particularly with the rise of social media. We still get much of our business from our email list.