Clarity - Levelfield's Small Business Blog

- Jeannie Samson, President Levelfield.com, Inc

  • Internet Advertising 101

    12/9/2019 9:24:39 AM Link |  | Add comment

    By now, pretty much every business has a website.  A good portion of those sites, look great.  But as any fourth grader can tell you, “don’t judge a book by its cover.”  In the end, it’s all about function.  Good looks are not enough.  Fortunately, using your website to bring business through your door is not all that complicated (assuming you have the right tools).  It just takes some effort. As with most everything, the more effort you put in (and the better your structure), the better will be the results.  If your website isn’t generating the business you’d like it to, here’s a few tips:

    1)    Collect Information.  Your website must have an information request function.  This will allow interested visitors to input their names and pertinent information.  A good website, like a Levelfield website, will have a sales management system that stores those leads and allows you to act upon them.  Ways to use the info will be discussed below. 


    2)    Act Immediately.  The quicker you follow-up on an information request, the better chance of it becoming business.  Use the info you get from interested parties and call.  Yes, the phone is a part of internet advertising!


    3)    Send a Regular Newsletter.  This is a way to reach existing and potential customers, both equally important in marketing.  Make the newsletter pertinent (if you need to have more than one newsletter to address more than one market, do), informative, engaging and helpful.  You want to offer more than a product or service.  You want to better people’s lives, regardless of what it is you do.  Make the newsletter do this.  If you are a dietician, give eating tips.  If you have a mattress store, talk about the advantages of different types of mattresses for different types of problems.  Also, make sure you advertise specials, sales, open houses, etc.  Give your customers something they can use.  Give potential customers a reason to use you. 


    4)    Blog.  Blogging, short for web-logging, is all the rage and for good reason.  It serves you in two important ways.  First, it is personal.  People like personal.  We don’t get out as much as we should.  We sit in front of computers and at desks.  A blog is a conversation.  It is anecdotal.  You tell stories in a blog.  You tell why you are in your business, what drives you.  If you own a furniture store, you write about your grandfather’s rocking chair and the memories it conjures.  If you own a staffing company, you write about a particular company or person you helped.  Believe it or not, that might not be the most important function about a blog.  Search Engines love blogs!  Google, Yahoo, etc., love changing and constantly updated content.  It brings them to your site over and over again.  The more you update your blog, the more they stop by your site.  Further, it gives search engines unusual ways to find your site.  If you’re that furniture store owner and you blog about your grandfather eating apple pie in his rocking chair, someone might stumble onto your website by searching for “apple pie.”  That is the beauty of the blog. 


    5)    Don’t clutter your website.  While search engines love content, too much is too much.  All the time, I see websites with lots of great information that nobody in their right mind would ever want to read.  People hate clutter.  Be simple.  Be visual.  Get to the point.  No content is bad.  Too much is worse.  Find equilibrium.  Keep your site neat, balancing visuals with pertinent information.  This won’t help bring people to your site but it will keep them interested once there.


    6)    Advertise your website.  I find it amazing when I get a business card or read a billboard or brochure with no website listed.  Assuming you have a good website, a functional website, you should want people there.  Make sure your website is on all your promotional materials.  This should be a no-brainer but you’d be surprised!

    There are literally hundreds of ways to market and advertise online.  These are just a few, just the basics.  Fact is though, if you focus on these, use them well, with persistence and discipline you will see results.  Remember, the internet is all about communication.  A website is not a brochure.  It should be interactive, evolving and dynamic…more than a  pretty face.
     

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