"Opportunities multiply as they are
seized."
- Sun Tzu
If you are like the majority of
businesses, you have already invested in a web site.
The web site may contain only a few pages, or it may
include a shopping cart and full e-commerce
functionality. But when you consider what you spent
to
create and maintain it, how is
your web site impacting your bottom line? Can
potential
customers find your web site? Do your customers
and potential customers use your web site? How
much business does your web site generate for your
company?
Following are some suggestions to help you answer
these questions:
1. Promote and optimize your web site
Studies have shown that, when
searching the Internet, most web users do not click
past the third page of search engine "hits." Have
you tried to find your web site in any of the major
search engines, using the kind of search terms that a
potential customer might? You may find that
you should consider doing many of the following to
help achieve better placement for your site:
Optimize your web site so that search engines
index your web site. This is done in a variety of
ways, from the text you use to the META tags in
your source code.
Register your web site with the top search
engines such as Google and Yahoo. Make it easy for
potential customers to find you.
Promote your web site at every opportunity and
list your web address in all your print
materials.
2. Measure Results
Business owners are sometimes disappointed by the
response to their web site. But in order to establish
some objective criteria for the benefit of your web
site, you need to identify what goals you want to
achieve,
and then measure the results.
Set goals for business generated from your web
site and monitor results. Consider what is reasonable
over time.
Ask new customers how they found your
business
Analyze the traffic on your web site and optimize
its performance. Look at traffic patterns, number of
pages viewed, and referral sources.
3. Use other companies' web sites to learn more
about competitors' strategies, products, and
pricing
How often do you use the web site of competitors to
compare your product offerings and prices? If you
are not doing this, you may be missing out on some
important information. At the same time, always
evaluate anything that you post on your web site
from the perspective that a competitor will be looking
at it as well.
Insight Consulting can help you get more from
your
web site. Click
here for more information, or email us at
info@insightactionimpact.com
