Now-a-days the internet is one of the main sources in marketing and publicizing your business. Having a great website can boost your business and putting up a poor one can really hurt it.
So how do you go about setting a website up that will attract viewers and potential customers, be professional and function well? First, don’t always believe the hype you hear about websites. We are busting some common myths that you may have heard to help you get the most out of your site!
- As soon as you get a website, people will immediately find you and business will skyrocket: FALSE Just because you set a website up, doesn’t mean people will automatically find you. Search engines like Google can be slow in getting your name to the top of the search list and can also be very costly. Find ways to get your name out there if you can’t afford to advertise at the top of the list. Joining mailing lists, partnering with others and getting on e-newsletters are great ways to save money and assure your website will be well known. Similarly, an online presence will make your business much more accessible for a wider range of people, but why should they visit your site? You need to stand out and shine amongst a sea of other online businesses. What will be your hook and sinker?
- The more you got, the more you should flaunt: FALSE Find what your company is good at and sell that, don’t try to stretch yourself thin selling everything under the sun. It will make your business seem specialized and that will add value and is just what consumers are looking for. The more you seem like the only business able to offer what you do, the more people will look to you for these services.
- Jumping on the competition bandwagon is the best way to boost sales and get noticed: FALSE Jump off the bandwagon and blaze your own trail! Mimicking a competitor’s site doesn’t allow you to stand out. Chances are, your business isn’t exactly like your competitors, so why would you want to appear like it is? If you use innovative ways that make competitors want to shadow you, your customers will view you as the pioneer!
- Your website should contain every bit of information about you: FALSE Attention spans of web browsers are short and you’ve only got one shot. Entertain them, amaze them and keep their gaze right off the bat! Don’t bore them with every detail about your business. If you hook them on the first look and have an interesting design, they’re bound to stay on your site long enough to find the content they need.
- The more high tech, the better: FALSE Loading your site with the most up to date videos and technologies might look cool to a web designer, but it might slow down your site. And for those web surfers with a shorter attention span than most, they’re long gone to the next site that downloaded faster than your weighted down site.
- Do-it-yourself websites should be your set-up method: FALSE (well, sometimes) Your website sells your business and reflects you. Depending on what your skills and experience are, there are many complex and technical components to web design. Are you able to do graphic design or make the hot spots function? If you aren’t completely confident in your web design abilities to make your site professional and smoothly functioning, it is worth it to hire a web designer who knows what they are doing.
- A flash website means no SEO capabilities: FALSE
Flash website are gorgeous and, in my opinion, cooler. But many feel they make you transparent to search engines. A flash site will definitely give you fewer options for SEO compared to a content rich page, but that doesn’t mean avoid SEO. You can focus on other SEO factors and get equally good if not better results.
Looking into the hype will take your business to the next level and make you an internet-savvy producer. Now all you need is some great PR and marketing collateral to back up your site. I know a great agency that can help you with that… |
