Your Web Site – The First Step in Any Solid Business Plan

I was discussing several options that centered around web site development with the owner of Content Customs today and he made a very thoughtful remark that I thought I would share with you today:
“Every page of content on your web site is another door that your visitors can go through to see what products and/or services you offer as a company.”

At first, this seemed like a fairly basic concept. Then, I started to think about it more deeply and realized how often I talk to web site owners that do not keep this simple concept in mind.

Any online business plan must begin with web site development. It is simply not enough to launch a marketing campaign and hope that the visitors will buy your product or service without a solid base of operations. If you really think about it, your web site is the image that your company shows the world. If it is poorly or under-developed, it has the potential to turn visitors off once they follow the link in your advertising campaign (whether it is through mass emails, forum posts or press releases).

Using Your Web Site as your Marketing Campaign

Many web developers will argue that your web site is really your marketing campaign. This is absolutely true. By developing a large web site with good SEO content, you can minimize or even eliminate the need for other marketing techniques like emails and press releases. In fact, keep these rules in mind when deciding which content is best for your business plan:

1. Build from your home page. Your site map is one of the most important aspects of site traffic. Make every portion of your web site only a click or two away.
2. Use press releases and sales letters as supplements, not means. These are both tools to bring attention to your web site, not replace it.
3. Generate as many keywords as possible. Never hope that potential customers will search for your company’s name rather than the product you offer. If they’re doing that, they are already aware of your services.
4. Never, ever stop. Some of the top ranking web sites have thousands and thousands of pages of content. Others might have as little as 50. If you are not seeing significant increases in site traffic, this does not mean that you have failed. It simply means that you have more room for growth.

Always investigate opportunities for improving your web site. You may find ways to add content without even having to change your web site map. For example, adding content to existing articles to add keywords can be very effective. As long as you continue to develop and evolve your web site content, your business plan is marked for success.