Your Strategic Web Plan

Even good website developers make the mistake of leaving their customers alone at the most critical step of website development, strategic planning. Strategic planning is the process of marketing your website effectively to meet the goals established at the beginning of the website development process. Giving a business a website without a strategic plan is like giving a kid a bike without teaching them how to ride. Luckily kids will learn after enough cuts and bruises how to stay on the bike, unfortunately for businesses falling off the bike means losing customers and ultimately profit.

According to Morgan Stanley Research June 2003 the Internet is the growth channel of the decade, currently used by 600+ million people worldwide. When the research shows such market potential it is hard to imagine that a website could fail to meet its objectives. However, without marketing your website to really compete online and offline, your site will not meet your company goals and objectives.

Remember the thrill of seeing your very first bicycle for the very first time? Oh, the places you could go with that bike! The process of developing your first website can be just as exciting, just like getting your first bike. A brand new address for your business with all the bells and whistles and your logo shining up in the corner can be the next step to your dreams.
An important part of the selection of your website developer is to find a company that will work closely with you in every step of the design process to make your website the envy of your competition and the desire of every customer.

Unfortunately, many organizations are left feeling a little like they did when they got their first bike and realized they didn’t know how to ride it. They have a great website that could really drive sales and growth for their business, but they don’t know how to market it to achieve the results they are expecting.

Web sites, like bikes, are a means of transportation that can take you wherever you want to go. If you don’t know how to ride a bike, then you are not going to get very far. If you don’t know how to use your website strategically, you won’t get beyond your own front door.

Marketing your website must include at least 2 of these 3 basics: Search engine submission, Email Marketing, and Link exchanges.

About 85% of Internet users use search engines to find solutions and vendors, according to iProspect. Taking a step beyond the search engines is where you can gain a competitive edge and not only get noticed but win lifetime customers on the web.

It’s important to not only submit your site to the search engines but to optimize your website to target those people most likely to become your customers.

E-mail marketing to a select group that has opted to receive your information is a great way to gain customers. By sharing information that will help your customers and prospective customers save time or money you will be cultivating a relationship.

Jupiter Communications, a website research company, predicts 85% of online transactions will occur with sellers that have developed a relationship with their customers. When developing your website, keep in mind the importance of developing customer relationships.

Link exchange programs are a relatively new way to market your website online. The benefit of a link exchange is twofold. First, you get a better ranking in the search engines if your site is perceived as “popular.” Second, when exchanges are set up correctly, you get targeted traffic from the websites linked to you. Twenty-nine percent of all traffic to a website comes from referrals, link exchange programs are a great way to build referral traffic.

Beyond the basics, there are countless ways to market your service or product online that are cost-effective. The key to devising your web marketing strategy is to first decide upon the objectives of the website.

Check your website (or website plans) against this list of possible objectives.

• Establish an internet presence, increase marketing and product branding
• Increase sales
• Generate leads
• Create a national or international presence.
• Generate requests for information
• Support existing advertising or promotional efforts
• Offer customer service
• Build store or business traffic
• Provide updated information about products/services/sales/specials
• Build a database for email marketing
• Position company as technologically advanced
• Survey customers/prospect
• Recruit new employees / post job opportunities

Ask your web developer about some of the most common marketing practices on the web that you can use to grow your business and get a real return on your investment. After all, what good is a bike you don’t know how to ride?