 Part
1: If you have a website and no one can
see it...does it really exist?
I have had no end of clients
come to me as a last resort telling me that
they have spent a fortune on their website
but that it 'does nothing', and
that '‘this time' they want
to see a return on their investment…
Well, I hate to be the
one to break the news, but websites do not
bring in business by themselves. Like any
offline business, a website needs publicity
in order to attract visitors. I mean, you
wouldn’t open a shop and just hope
that someone might wander in would you?
Even if they did eventually find you and
wander in, there is no guarantee that they
will buy from you, but you are weighting
things in your favour if you have a steady
stream of targeted customers, and are selling
exactly what they are looking for at the
precise time they are looking for it.
So
how DO you get noticed online?
With roughly 25%
of all online purchases originating from
search engines, website visibility
is vital, and with an increasing number
of businesses competing for the top spot,
you are going to need some help to cut through.
Terms like 'Search
Engine Optimisation' (SEO) and
'ALT tags'’ may have
you running to the hills, but are definitely
the place to start. Basic optimisation involves
identifying the most popular 'Keywords'
or '‘Keyphrases'
(i.e. what people actually type into Search
Engines), then placing them within the content
and code of your web pages. For example,
typing 'SEO
Huddersfield' or 'Adwords
Training ' into Google will bring up
a set of listings that have been optimised
for this keyphrase.
There are many companies
that can provide an SEO service for a reasonable
price, but be aware that optimisation is
no guarantee of getting the coveted number
one spot in the Google listings. Often in
highly competitive areas, you need to employ
more than just a few well placed keywords.
New domains can take months to be listed,
and if you do not continue to promote your
website after it has been optimised, your
search engine position will soon drop.
What
else can I do?
 Well,
while you’re waiting for your search
engine optimisation to kick in, and before
you pay over the odds for advanced web strategies,
you may want to consider cost-per-click
advertising such as Google
AdWords. AdWords adverts (also known
as '‘sponsored links') surround the
'natural' search listings at the top and
on the right hand side of every results
page, and are triggered when a user searches
for any of those keywords that I mentioned
earlier.
An AdWords campaign takes
less than 15 minutes to set up and can provide
you with an instant stream of the targeted
customers you seek, at the very
point that they are searching for a product
or service, and can help you get
straight to the top of the search engine
listings, no matter how competitive the
market.
Of course, if your website
it giving the wrong message or doesn’t
explain in plain English why your product
or service is better than anyone else’s,
your online advertising could still be a
waste of time and money…
Next
month
how your website message can make all the
difference
Resources
regarding making your website
visible online can be found here |
Jackie
Hole is one of the North’s leading
Digital Marketing experts, and 
