You can think of having an online business like having a store front on the street. If you do nothing to market the business it is the equivalent of having a store with no sign and no mention of what you sell.

 

 

Just because your business has a website, does not mean that people will just come flocking to it. You have to market the business the same way you market a store front on the street.

 

Marketing on the web has its own rules, procedures and methods. Make the distinction that you aren't actually marketing your WEBSITE, you are marketing your PRODUCTS or SERVICES, using your website and many other online marketing avenues.

One of the first things I do when working with clients in the same situation as Mr. Prospect above, is look at how the website actually handles the visitors it receives. Does the website drive away the traffic? After all, what good will it do to market and drive more traffic to the site if those people don't buy either? You have to look at your website as if it were a continual advertisement for your service or product. Because that is what it IS!

Once we know design is not the cause. The next step and most basic is to introduce your website to the Market Place known as the World Wide Web and capitalize on the extra traffic you will receive by being able to be found in the search engines. Statistically speaking, that's where people go to do their searching when they are trying to buy what you sell. Surveys have determined with certainty that people arrive at websites primarily after finding them in the search engines. Which means that you can get an astounding increase in traffic just from being easily found in the search engines and directories. That's how things are found on the web. There isn't any other David Copperfield way to find things on the web.

Optimizing your site for the search engines is the online equivalent to the basic steps of taking out an advertisement in the News Paper or Yellow Pages and putting a big sign outside your shop, letting people know what you do or what you are sell. If you fail to do this step, you won't be able to be found because you won't show up properly in the search results.

Since the process of SEO requires research and SEO of each page and images this could be a long and daunting task. I recommend that if you do not have the time to do it right that you consider hiring an Agency that does.

In later articles I will cover more SEO Strategies and other marketing efforts that you can apply to drive more website traffic to your online business. Just remember, each of these ways will require your time in order for it to be effective.