Marketing your Web Site

Tangible Ideas in Service Businesses

There are two primary target markets for a web site: those that know about your company’s site through your advertising the domain name and those that are searching for a company that fills their needs using search engines.

For both groups, your website’s content is the same. You want to provide information. A retail store may have images of their merchandise, money saving coupons and contact information. Restaurants will want to have pictures of their fare along with menu and location information. Content for the service industries will be information based.

Providing information, facts and advice in your service based business helps to establish your authority in your field while also helping your clients. Our own clients have told us that they appreciate the information we have provided them on search engine placement, web hints and other web development ideas on this website. We have also been told that this has helped them choose our company over others simply because it is clear that we know our business. Establish your authority!

Educating consumers gives you the opportunity to prove you know your ‘stuff’. Explain the “whys” and “hows” of what you do. This has the added benefit of creating a tangible personal connection with your client. If you are charging $150/hour and you have just taken the time to educate your potential client prior to their meeting, they feel that you care enough to save them time and money. They have established a personal connection with your business.

Well written content is the single most important item for your website. Not only does it establish yourself as an authority in your field, but it is absolutely key to getting listed in search engines. While we put together a web site’s content, we tailor our copy writing efforts with search placement in mind for the second group in our target market.

To further our efforts towards the search engine users, we will want to narrow the scope of your business and define your geographic area. What is the exact nature of your business? In which geographic area do you want to concentrate your efforts? How will that business be generated? What are your Website goals? The more we can define your market, market reach and marketing methods, the better will be our impact.

And do not forget your competition! We want to know how they are performing as it applies to search results. This will come from trying key words searches in your field. From these results, we will refine our own development in an attempt to supersede your competitors’ rankings.

Finally, after we know our direction, we will work on the look and feel of the website so that we can get graphic design under way. Our goals will be to set the highest level of professionalism with easy navigation. While information is key, wrapping up great content in a shoddy interface smacks of amateurism.

In sum, we will need to discuss four things as we develop a marketing strategy for your web site: your regional market area, your content, your competitors, and your appearance. The more we know about your company, the better we can develop an all-encompassing site that has the greatest reach, sets a high level of professionalism, and aids both you and your clients in education and customer service.

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