Advertising your Web Site.
Years ago I saw a sign that has stuck in my mind since:
“A business with no advertising has no business.”
Most businesses start with great enthusiasm. Often this enthusiasm becomes replaced by routine. Regularly, even very good businesses just slide into oblivion. Have you noticed at the Shopping Centre how businesses turnover? Last years great jeans store is this years shoe shop. Even more likely, the last vacant jeans shop is replaced by a completely new jeans store with a new owner. This happens regularly. What is often missed in this process is that the emergence of a ‘new’ store represents a very strong form of Advertising. We are all attracted by the ‘new’.
”A business with no advertising has no business.”
Perhaps you are still not convinced. You are doing OK and have been in business a few years now. You definitely have ‘a business’. Well, perhaps, but are you simply ’self-employed’? To borrow a phrase ’self-employment is the opiate of the businessperson’. Self-employment is an occupation, not a business. A business has to contain a dynamic that gives it a separate form and opportunity for growth regardless of you.
You can develop your true potential in business. First, you need to understand what it is that you supply. The answer could start with: I add value to the lives of my customers by….
Once you have that finished, the next task is to complete: My web site does this by….
All of the successful business operators that I have been involved with could answer those two questions. Often, I come acrosss businesses that know what they are about but have no idea of how their web site should deliver. The confusion exists that somehow just having a web site is enough, as if it is a complete form of advertising solution of itself. Some consider that their web site will be a success through it’s technology. A good place to start is to consider what a new customer will look for when visiting your site. New customers are the most expensive acquisition for most businesses. So after you have gained one, the next stage is to ask what should existing customers get from your web presence?
Recently, I encountered a new Business Web Site that had these issues sorted out, and two others that did not. The growing business has developed a niche market sector and gone out to deliver service at a level not previously available. The launch was supported by a moderately successful Adwords campaign. The sales result was clear but not great. Using analytics from that campaign, the issues that are getting in the way have been identified. Improvements are being made and more advertising can proceed.
The other businesses had developed their sites in isolation. One made no new Advertising effort at all and the other embarked on a very big SEO effort. Result: nothing much. Apart from a short traffic peak as the operators eagerly traversed their own work, the sites remained unvisited by the public to which they were addressed.
Advertising: Nil. Business result: Nil.
That message again: “A business with no advertising has no business.”