Prophesying
Profit in CyberSpace . . .
by Philippa Gamse
Many business owners rushed into creating Web sites, perhaps
because "my competition has one", or because "it's
the hot
thing right now".
Often, these sites are little more than online brochures - and
maybe that's all you really need.
But have you really considered whether you're making the most
of the online opportunities that exist? As with any aspect of
your business, some preliminary thinking will help to maximize
the return on your investment in this key part of your
marketing mix.
Here are seven key issues to consider from the outset:
1. Are your markets online?
In February 2003, Jupiter Research reported that 61% of
business decision makers use the Internet to look for
information on products and services. Does that include your
buyers? Try a customer survey if you don't know the answer to
this.
Alternatively, there may be new markets that you would like to
tap, who are already online.
An excellent Web site for researching Internet demographic
information is at:
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/
2. Where is your geographic focus?
Is your operation confined to a local area, or can it have
national or even international appeal?
It is not currently possible to restrict display of Web pages
within geographic boundaries (e.g. "only Illinois"). So
if
your business is only local, or you only serve the U.S., you
should state that clearly on the site, otherwise you might
receive leads and orders that you can't fulfil.
On the other hand, perhaps there are ways that you can modify
your "real world" offerings to reach online buyers everywhere
- perhaps by packaging your knowledge into e-books or
downloadable white papers.
3. What are the specific goals of your site?
What outcomes do you want from the visitors to your site? Will
you be selling product online, or are you generating leads for
a product or service? Do you want visitors to leave their
contact details? If so, how will you encourage them to do
this? Do you have a newsletter that they can subscribe to, or
a competition, or a free offer of some kind?
And don't forget your existing customers. Will your site also
be providing ongoing support and education for these clients?
4. How will you engage your visitors?
Remember that your Web site may be the first contact that a
prospect has with your business, and if they don't relate to
your site, it may well be the last! Make their experience as
close as possible to actually speaking with you, and engage
them in all the ways that you might do offline.
Incorporate answers to the questions that are most frequently
asked during the buying and support process. If you don't know
these, have your staff keep a log of customer interactions for
a few days - you'll soon see a pattern.
And, if you usually help the customer through product
selection, ask them to make their choices in an online survey
that can be e-mailed to you as a lead.
5. Do you want "hits", or qualified leads?
It's important to know whether you want as much traffic and as
many responses as possible from your site, or whether you
would prefer only to hear from serious buyers. A nonprofit
organization might want as many people as possible to see its
message, but most businesses have a specific focus.
If you decide to qualify the responses that you get from the
site, what criteria will you use to do this?
6. Do you have a promotion plan and budget?
Even the best-designed Web sites require effective online
marketing and publicity to generate traffic. You'll need a
strategy to position your site as well as possible in the
Internet search engines and directories.
There are also many ways to promote your site "Beyond the
Search Engines" - check out my free tipsheet with twenty-three
proven ideas for doing this . . .
Remember that marketing your Web site is an ongoing activity,
and allocate time and resources to this.
7. How will you measure your success?
If you've made decisions on all these issues, you'll need a
way to evaluate the results of your site and your promotional
efforts against the goals and outcomes that you set.
Your Website traffic reports can provide really valuable
information about your visitors - in fact, I'd suggest that
without this data, you're shooting in the dark with your
online investment.
The reports will tell you how many users come to your site,
which search engines and keywords they're using to find you,
which pages of your site are the most popular, and which are
rarely accessed. You can use this information to tweak your
site, and to make strategic development decisions which can
often impact not just your Internet marketing, but your entire
business.
So, think before you leap, and may your business prosper in
Cyberspace!
(c) Copyright Philippa Gamse, 2003. All rights reserved.
Philippa Gamse, "CyberSpeakerSM", is an internationally
recognized e-business strategist. Check out her free tipsheet for
23 ideas to
promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html
Philippa can be reached at (831) 465-0317 or mailto:pgamse@CyberSpeaker.com
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