If You Are Looking to Get Business Online – Know Your Goals!
Every savvy business owner wants to get business online. After all it looks so simple on TV: Launch website, sit back and count the money. If only real life were that easy! With billions of web pages competing for attention it is not that simple.
On the other hand online marketing isn’t rocket science. Before setting out to get business online you need to understand what you want your internet presence to establish and how it relates to your business goals
Your online presence should have a specific overall goal, however for more complicated sites there may be several goals. This post discusses what these goals could be and how they can help you get business online
Providing Customer Service
Quite often you see sites on the internet that are built simply to provide ongoing support to existing customers and provide information about services to potential clients on most frequently asked questions (FAQ). The aim for this type of site is to save time and money by needing fewer staff to deal with these common questions by giving the consumer the power to find their own answers.
Having an FAQ section is important; however this should be a small portion of your overall online presence.
Branding Your Company or Product
Branding is all about making sure that when a user or potential user of your experience searches for you they find you. One of the ways that you can aid this is through Internet Search Engine Optimization.
People use the internet as a research tool before committing to a product or service and that is why it is important to make sure that your brand is recognised and in a prominent position when users are searching, either for you or for your competitors.
Generating Leads
For all business, no matter how big or small, generating new business is a key concern and one that business owners dedicate a large portion of time to. That is why many business owners see an online presence as key to getting business online, and it can be, but it is not as simple as putting up a few pages and hitting the top search engine rankings of Google.
A good online lead generation campaign will start with understanding the wants and needs of the target client and designing specific online content that speaks directly to your users. With constant tweaks and changes and by offering a by offering a lead magnet this copy will drive visitors to complete a set action such as leaving their email address or phone number so they can be contacted.
Lead qualification
If the initial targeting of your client was accurate then a large portion of the leads that sign up to your database or list will be suitable at some stage to become a client for your business. The way you qualify these leads is by building and maintaining a relationship through constant contact, usually by email, where you provide them with useful and relevant information that provides value to them and positions your business as the “go to” expert in that field.
By adopting an educational approach you will be providing the client with more and more information about how your business can help them, and in turn qualifying in those that require your services.
Generating revenue through sales
Travel reservations, health product purchases, music downloads: creating transaction sites and generating revenue is one of the most popular reasons for businesses to have an online presence. In order to do this successfully a website must address all of the previous reasons to have a website; branding, customer services etc. Good transaction sites take advantage of the internet to gather information about customer demographics, needs and preferences, to improve their offerings and targeting moving forward.
Generating revenue through advertising
Facebook, Google and Amazon all make huge amounts of money through advertising. The most successful online business models revolves around generating revenue by selling adverts. Fundamentally the focus is to drive as much targeted traffic to their sites to get views of the adverts and ultimately clicks through to the advertisers’ websites.
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Unless you have a large enough budget and staff to handle the demands of marketing to multiple audiences, select only one or two of these goals. You can add one or two more once you start to see the benefits of your efforts flow through. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Getting business online is not rocket science and if done the right way can provide a significant return for your business.
About
James Debono is a small business owner and Internet entrepreneur. James dedicates his time to helping other small business owners leverage the power of the Internet to drive business growth and positive change. Click here Join James Debono on Google+
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This is really interesting!
I think it’s sometimes easy to forget what you’re trying to achieve with a website and this has made me think twice about some of my own goals.
Thank you!
Hi Janet,
It’s great that this post has helped provide clarity around your own goals.
Thanks for commenting,
James