 | Teajai Kimsey
is Managing Partner and founder of Beyond Web Design, LLC. She is a graduate of Friends University. Teajai is involved with many organizations and has many personal and professional achievements. She is involved in the community by serving on the Youth Council, volunteering with the Summer B.E.A.T. Youth Program and is active in the local branch of the National Association of Women Business Owners. Teajai and her husband Paul Hendrix have 3 children. You can contact Teajai @ (316) 262-4868 or by e-mail TKimsey@BWDLLC.com |
Computers & Software
2004-03-01 15:44:00
My website’s producing nothing
Teajai Kimsey
Question: I have a website but I don't seem to be getting any leads from it. What can I do to change this?
ANSWER: A website is a potentially powerful marketing tool because it can enhance any other advertising you do. When properly promoted the website can create awareness, generate interest, gather leads and make sales. Unfortunately many website owners don't understand how to get the most out their website. Simply putting the site online and waiting for visitors is the same as opening a business and just waiting for the phone to ring without telling anyone about the business.To get the most out of a website it is important to combine traditional advertising and online promotion. Putting the web address on business cards, signage, vehicles, on hold messages, answering service, customer invoices and receipts is a good start. And when you advertise in the newspapers, on the radio or on television remember to include your website address. Long after the jingle has faded people will remember the website address and check there for additional information about your business.Online promotion of the website is equally important. It's estimated that over 79% of people use the internet to research products and services. In the local market over 63% of people use the internet to look for local products and services. Since more and more people are using the internet it makes since that those people have to be able to find your website online. Search engine optimization (SEO) is important when promoting the website online. This involves researching keywords and key phrases that people will use when searching for the website online. Once you have decided upon the keywords, they must be programmed into the website in various ways to assure that the search engines pick up on those words and phrases.When the website has been fully optimized it is time to submit the site to the search engines. This must be done manually for best results. And since some search engines won't capture the site for up to 3 months or more it's important to go back to the search engines and verify that the site has been listed. If not, resubmit the website. And, looking through the internet for specialty indexes or directories that list products or services in groupings by type like contractors, cooking etc. is another way to be found.Some search engines only accept paid submissions. Yahoo, for example, charges a fee of $299 to review a business website but does not guarantee listing the site. Overture, another top search engine, only accepts listings on a "pay per click" basis meaning that the website owner will pay every time their site comes up and is "clicked" by a visitor.In addition to search engines website owners should consider reciprocating links with other sites that have the same target market. This can actually lead to 21% of traffic to the website. And, reciprocating links can actually raise your rankings in the search engines helping people find you more easily.Marketing the website is as important as having a website itself. By spending a bit of time making sure people see the website you will gain increased exposure which leads to more sales.
