Web site help for businesses
Every day I am asked this question by someone: I need a web site for my business...what is your recommendation? Or this question: How do I promote my web site?
Fortunately for the people asking me these questions, I am an expert in this area and can explain what they should do. For the benefit of those of you who do not have these answers, allow me to help you out.
Let's start with question #1. You need a web site- what should you do? First of all, do not just open the phone book and start calling web design 'companies'. Go on the Internet and find other sites you like from your area and see who built those sites. Call the owner of the site or the site designer. Find out how much the site cost to build AND maintain. You might also ask colleagues who built their web site and what the costs involved are. Web sites are generally not cheap, but they should be fairly priced. By this I mean you should feel like you are getting a lot for your money. Depending on what you want in a web site, or what it does, you will spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars for a professional web site. I do not recommend trying to build your own web site for a couple of reasons. It is more work than you think, and maintaining it and promoting it will take a lot of your time. It is better to hire a proven professional to handle this job. Getting a web site is no good unless it produces results for you...so the act of building a site and posting it does little good unless the site conveys the proper image for your business. People look at a poorly designed web site, or a site that has not been updated for months, as a reflection of your business. Do not give them the idea that you are a slacker, disorganized, or un-interested in customer service.
Now to answer question #2. How do you promote your web site? This is really the million dollar question. Anyone can build a 'web site' and post it to the Internet...but is anyone finding it? Is your message reaching the correct audience? For example, if you are a real estate agent from Iowa, do you want links to your site to show up next to gardeners from Florida? Probably not. Fortunately, once you have a great web site -professionally designed and optimized for search engines with meta tags- you can do a great deal to promote your site at a small cost. Yes, if you want results, there is a cost involved. Pay-per-click search engines are all the rage today. Google has some great tools available at a low cost (cost of around $50.00 per month) that will place links to your web site near relevant content from your geographical area. I suggest Google because it is the TOP search engine, and the Google ads show up EVERYWHERE. Another great technique is listing in LOCAL business directories. For example, businesses in Iowa might choose to list their business in www.iowabusinesslistings.com. They offer two business listings and a free one-page web site for $15.00 per month. That fits any budget. Search engines love local business directories because these sites are highly organized with relevant content. For those of you on a REALLY tight budget, you can always submit to free search engines like http://www.submitexpress.com/. Submit Express will submit you to about a dozen free search engines for nothing. Also, try link trading with other reputable sites, and be sure to place your web site address on all your business cards, stationary, and any advertising you purchase.
Fortunately for the people asking me these questions, I am an expert in this area and can explain what they should do. For the benefit of those of you who do not have these answers, allow me to help you out.
Let's start with question #1. You need a web site- what should you do? First of all, do not just open the phone book and start calling web design 'companies'. Go on the Internet and find other sites you like from your area and see who built those sites. Call the owner of the site or the site designer. Find out how much the site cost to build AND maintain. You might also ask colleagues who built their web site and what the costs involved are. Web sites are generally not cheap, but they should be fairly priced. By this I mean you should feel like you are getting a lot for your money. Depending on what you want in a web site, or what it does, you will spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars for a professional web site. I do not recommend trying to build your own web site for a couple of reasons. It is more work than you think, and maintaining it and promoting it will take a lot of your time. It is better to hire a proven professional to handle this job. Getting a web site is no good unless it produces results for you...so the act of building a site and posting it does little good unless the site conveys the proper image for your business. People look at a poorly designed web site, or a site that has not been updated for months, as a reflection of your business. Do not give them the idea that you are a slacker, disorganized, or un-interested in customer service.
Now to answer question #2. How do you promote your web site? This is really the million dollar question. Anyone can build a 'web site' and post it to the Internet...but is anyone finding it? Is your message reaching the correct audience? For example, if you are a real estate agent from Iowa, do you want links to your site to show up next to gardeners from Florida? Probably not. Fortunately, once you have a great web site -professionally designed and optimized for search engines with meta tags- you can do a great deal to promote your site at a small cost. Yes, if you want results, there is a cost involved. Pay-per-click search engines are all the rage today. Google has some great tools available at a low cost (cost of around $50.00 per month) that will place links to your web site near relevant content from your geographical area. I suggest Google because it is the TOP search engine, and the Google ads show up EVERYWHERE. Another great technique is listing in LOCAL business directories. For example, businesses in Iowa might choose to list their business in www.iowabusinesslistings.com. They offer two business listings and a free one-page web site for $15.00 per month. That fits any budget. Search engines love local business directories because these sites are highly organized with relevant content. For those of you on a REALLY tight budget, you can always submit to free search engines like http://www.submitexpress.com/. Submit Express will submit you to about a dozen free search engines for nothing. Also, try link trading with other reputable sites, and be sure to place your web site address on all your business cards, stationary, and any advertising you purchase.
posted by Webmaster at
7:11 PM
