You are starting a business and have a checklist of the things you need to get your business going. You have the idea for a product or service — check. You thought of a name — check. You created a corporation — check. You raised some capital to get started — check. You built a website — check. Bam! You’re in business — check.
But wait — the only thing missing from this equation is your customers. You can’t be in business until you have customers. That’s a vital component. The only way you’re making money is if customers are at your storefront or, these days, on your website looking to purchase what you’re selling.
Some entrepreneurs may think that once they create a website, they’re done with that task. Creating the website is a fundamental first step to getting customers and an important element of any company’s marketing program, but there’s more to it.
First and foremost, your website should be built with a singular purpose, and that is to draw customers to your business. According to the results from an online survey conducted by Fractl and MOZ, which asked more than 1,000 people about their engagement and opinions of advertising and marketing tactics, products seen in search, customer reviews and online articles are more likely to have a positive influence on customers’ buying decisions. These techniques are all inbound marketing strategies that drive traffic to your website.
It’s a mistake to create a website just to have something printed on your business cards. I’ve seen this mistake made time and time again by small businesses. Business owners often create their own website using a free WordPress template and then add it to their business cards, flyers and brochures. While that is useful, your website is a much more powerful marketing vehicle.
You will need to optimize your website to be search engine friendly. If this means you have to take a crash course on search engine optimization (SEO), so be it. Another option is to create your website and then solicit SEO services from a reputable company. Although you may not have a large budget as a small business, the return can be worth the investment.
A website has the ability to continuously provide you with sales leads when you organically rank on the first page of search engines. That is a powerful lead generator!
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