Grow your business Online
All too often business owners feel the need to have a website for their company. It may be no more than a few pages of static information or it may need to serve as an e-commerce platform to generate product sales revenue. Either way, you need a strategy.
Since 2000, we have been engaging with companies who still say: " I want a website" Unfortunately, very few say "I want a website and here is my strategy to bring my products or services to market"
To grow your business, you need to think carefully about your market, your products and how your customers will find you. If adequate thought is put in at a strategic level, then the business will know what the aims of the website will be and will have researched enough to give the site a healthy chance of success.
Although things are getting better nowadays, there are still millions of websites in existence that will never perform because there is little knowledge, budget, in-house knowledge or confidence in the potential return on investment that could be made.
Whichever camp you fall into and particularly if you already have a website that you feel is not performing, it is difficult to gather the enthusiasm or commitment to take where it is to another level. You need to know what it is actually doing just now AND what potential market is out there for you.
This can be achieved by taking a website audit to give you all the information you need on non performance, what can be done simply and inexpensively and what needs to be done professionally.
At all times, you need to be able to understand and analyse the effectiveness of:
- your website
- your visitor levels
- your landing pages
- your visitor behaviour
- your conversion rates and
- how your investment can return more sales
The list can go on but taking the first step is the most difficult part.
You need to judge things from your own market intelligence to be in a position to decide on the way forward before paying for an agency to tell you what you need. There is absolutely nothing wrong with commissioning an agency but you could effectively be handing over control of your marketing budget without knowing enough beforehand.
This can be very costly and ineffective and if your budgets are high enough, then there are some excellent agencies out there that are really worth their salt and can form profitable and lasting partnerships for you both.
Your strategy should focus on:
- what you want the site to achieve
- how your customers will engage with you
- how your staff will cope with change
- how you will fulfill your orders
- how you will communicate and
- identifying the target market with whom you want to engage
Once you have this information agreed, then it is time to speak to us, your marketing company or in-house resource.