Why Optimize Your Small Business Website?
By Bill Quinn, Internet Marketing Consultant
If you own a relatively small business (let’s say under 50-100 employees), you face different obstacles from a large business when it comes to why you should optimize your small business website.
Number one challenge, of course, is budget. Website development itself can be done on a relatively low budget compared to buying advertising in print magazines, broadcast TV or radio, or even direct mail. A very basic small business website can usually be created for under $3000. Done correctly, that can earn you a nice return on investment in the form of new customers. But even that $3000 is a stretch for some small companies, let alone having money left over for testing or for actually driving traffic to your site.
So is the Internet a good marketing medium for small businesses? Absolutely! In fact, the case can be made that it’s less expensive and more effective than virtually any medium you now use—including Yellow Pages, newspapers, direct response, radio/TV and more!
You just have to be smart about it. That starts when you optimize your site.
Optimizing means setting up your site to attract pre-qualified prospects. We do that by maximizing the use of keywords on your site. Keywords are those two or three word phrases that people type into the search engines when they’re looking for a product or service like the one you offer. If the prospect is looking for exactly what you’re selling, they’re considered well qualified and the type of prospect you should be spending your advertising dollars on.
If you’re a TV appliance store, for example, the prospect might type in “42” High Definition Sony TV”. Even better for you, the local retailer, would be if he typed in “42” High Definition Sony TV Irvine”, (or whatever city you’re located in). If we optimize one of your web pages for “42” High Definition Sony TV Irvine”, you’ll likely get that customer to your site.
Advice For Your Small Business:
Remember, most people research the internet before they shop in your local store. So it is essential that you optimize your site to capture these prospects who are about to go shopping money in hand. The good news is: website optimization need not be expensive, and quite likely your competitor down the street isn’t even doing it! Gain the upper hand by optimizing now.
An important part of optimizing your site is organizing the content. Create as many pages on your site as you can—the more the better as far as the search engines are concerned. Offer coupons. Post Online Only Special Offers. Create lists of How To’s and Top Tens (these are very popular). Put up videos. If you’re a restaurant, post your menu (with photos). If you’re a service business, include testimonials so your prospects can see what their neighbors think of you. All of these heavily localized items will build your local presence online, and can help you control the local online marketplace for the items you sell.
Don’t forget: once you’ve optimized, be sure you’re capturing information on your visitors.
To do that, you might offer a Free Report that you can email to them. A few days later, you email them yet another report, a newsletter, or even a special offer. Eventually, you will become familiar to them and earn their trust. That’s when they buy from you.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Optimize your small business site first. It’s easy, relatively inexpensive, and all the traffic that comes to your site as a result is absolutely free!