Website Marketing

Whether you have an existing website or are opening a new one, it will need to be marketed in order to archive its full potential. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Would you, for example, launch a new service or open a new shop without telling anybody? Of course not. It may seem obvious, but failing to promote the site to the correct target market is the biggest reason websites themselves fail.

Just like any other business, the Internet only works if people can find you. To achieve this, you need to promote your website both online and offline. You will need to identify your target market and employ the appropriate services and techniques to promote your website - and therefore your business - there.

By way of a real-world example of the power of advertising, one of our clients who started a coordinated campaign using both online and offline marketing experienced a 300% increase in online orders over six months. It really is worth taking the time to read this document and giving your website a chance to perform at its best.

Website marketing generally falls into two types; traffic generation and sales conversion.
 

Traffic Generation

This is all about bringing more people to your website, and is best achieved using both online and offline marketing in a coordinated fashion. Types of advertising and marketing include:

• Print media
  Print media includes publications such as newspapers and magazines as well as leaflet drops or handouts. These are useful for general brand awareness and specific event or offer promotions. The disadvantage of print media is that people will often just dispose of leaflets or ignore the adverts in publications.
• Radio Advertising
  Local radio can be useful for general brand awareness and specific event or offer promotions. Its main advantage over print media is that people listening to radio are more likely to hear the advert as they go about their daily routines.
• Banner Advertising
  Banner advertising on high traffic websites is a good way to get your brand or offer noticed. It works best in conjunction with other forms of advertising and acts as a reminder of a brand or offer. The click-through rates from banner adverts are often lower as a percentage of times they are displayed. 
• Organic Search
  Search engines are often the main generator of traffic to a website. Where you are positioned in the search rankings depends on the relevance of your website and how popular the search engine believes your site is. The main disadvantage with search engines is that for popular search terms where there are many different results you may struggle to get into the top results.
• Paid Search
  These are the adverts that appear alongside the search results. With this type of advert, you pay a fee each time the advert is clicked. This depends on how much you - and the other ads around you are - prepared to pay.
• Social Media
  Social media is a useful tool for keeping customers informed about what you are doing and any new product lines or special offers etc. Any social media post should also include a link back to the website.
• Direct Marketing
  Direct marketing can be one of the most effective marketing tools. Since users have actively engaged with your business, you know that they have an interest in what you have to offer. You can use this information to target special offers and promotions.

Sales Conversion

Once people are on your website, your next challenge is to convert the sale. Below are some of the factors to consider:

• Price
  The internet makes it very easy for people to compare prices so be aware of your competitors' pricing and don’t overprice your own offering.
• Availability
  Online shoppers are often looking for immediate availability. Let people know how long items will take to be delivered. 
• Delivery
  If you have a physical store and items are in stock, offer in-store collection as an option. Offer your customers competitive delivery options with either standard or express delivery, Saturday delivery or specified delivery date/time.
• Special Offers
  Always have special offers running and change them on a regular basis. This encourages people to return to your website to see what new offers are available.
• Promotion Codes
  Promotional codes and discounts are a good way of generating online sales. When used with the traffic-generating forms of advertising above, they can generate a significate increase in sales.
• Web Exclusives
  Web exclusives are a great way of engaging with existing customers. Offer web-exclusive pricing that is not available in store, or exclusive online-only product ranges or advance previews of new product lines or services.
• Pre-Ordering
  If you have new products that will be available from a given date allow online customers to pre-order these items.

What should your strategy be?