A successful website takes planning and strategy. Website strategy should be a central part of your marketing effort developing leads and sales.
A website that doesn’t produce leads is merely an expense.
Internet marketing is much more about marketing than technology. It is much more about the “why” than the “how.” Internet marketing very much follows the principals of traditional marketing, but at a much shorter timeline. The focus is on buyer psychology, understanding their needs and then connecting with your customer.
Let’s look at the Website Strategy Pyramid. Four key pieces interact together to create a successful revenue producing website.
Start with your marketing goals. Your website, like your business needs to have a clear purpose with clear measurable expected results. How will you position your company against your competition? Your website can brand you as a leader in your market or as the low cost provider.
The other foundational piece is your targeted audience, your best buyer. To connect, you need to completely understand your client (or potential client). What are their demographics (age, education, sex, etc.)? What are their interests or “hot buttons.” Design your website psychology around understanding their motivations. This is all a key part of Internet marketing strategy development.
Create an action on your website that is a solution to your visitor’s problem. Make it visible, clear and compelling. Write content that appeals to your audience. Design a selling sequence with a clear path to action. Take the time to answer the unasked questions. Design trust elements into your website to lessen their fears and show that you are indeed a trustworthy solution.
Now it’s time to bring traffic to your website. Just because visitors are coming to your site does not mean they are qualified prospects. Use careful keyword selection to attract buyers rather than lookers.
Decide where your traffic is going to come from. This could be Google Adwords, organic SEO, social media, email marketing or some other search engine marketing method. The important thing is to bring qualified and interested prospects to your website.