Once
you have figured out your what your focus should be,
think of ideas on how you would like to see your
site and sketch out each page. Start with the home
page; this page should be about 3-5 paragraphs
long. It should state who you are and what you do
and guide the viewer to the rest of the site.
Keep
in mind that the average web browser will decide
whether to leave or stay on your site in the first 6
seconds! So get their attention, but don‘t scare
them away! Create a question or problem for your
products and/or services to be the answer.
Your website doesn’t have to be fancy to be great,
it should just be clean, informative and easy to
navigate. Remember the 6 second rule. Here are
some basic guidelines for content you should include
in your site:
- A complete
description of your products and/or services
“Services page”
The more information you give your visitors, the
more informed they will be when they contact you.
- Pictures; everyone loves pictures!
Every page on your site should have at least one
picture or graphic. But be sure they are related to
your business. Depending on your industry, you
might even want to have a “gallery" or "portfolio”
page.
- Have a “Packages” or
“Pricing" page.
If you don’t list your prices, your prospects might
go somewhere that does. Ever been in a store with
no price tags? In cases like this, many people tend
to think that the products are too expensive or that
the company will try to push them into buying
something they don’t really need. At the very
least, you should list a starting range and maybe a
description of your average or most popular package.
- You can never have
too many Testimonials ... People
want to feel that you can actually produce what you
claim. Get testimonials from past clients and put
their names on it and where they live, as not to
seem like you made them up. (i.e. Bob Smith -
Hampton, Virginia) You can post snippets of
customer reviews in your sales message and/or on a
dedicated "Testimonials" page.
- Give a brief
history/bibliography.
This is usually the “About Us” page. On this page
you will state your experience, why you got into the
business, etc … Why should someone hire/buy from
you? It is OK to embellish a bit for readability,
but don’t lie! If you are a member of any
professional organizations, list those here too.
- FAQ’s …
Answers to frequently asked questions is another
good thing to have on your website … This will add
valuable information for your visitors and it will
save you time in not having to answer the same
questions to every new client.
- Links to friends and
colleges in related fields
is another great thing to have on your website.
This makes you appear to have greater experience to
the prospective client. And offers valuable
information to your visitors. Of course, you should
not trade links with your competition ;-) Look
around, I would be willing to bet that in most
cases, your competition has some sort of a link
referral system.
- Finally, the
“Contact” page …
make sure your contact information is easy to find …
it doesn’t hurt to have the phone number and/or
email contact at the bottom of every page. Then
have detailed info on the “Contact” page. Another
tip; always have a phone number AND an email
contact. You would be surprised by how many people
surf at night and like to send email requests, you
don't want to loose those prospects. You should
also have your location listed on the contact page
or at least somewhere on your website. You want
people to know where you are; even if you work from
home and don’t want to advertise your home address,
you can put the city you are in. Or just get a
local P.O. Box. Most people like to work with local
businesses and if they don't know where you are,
they might leave to search elsewhere.
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Now
once your site is up, you are only half way there
... now you have to market it! What good is
this great site that you have spent so much time and
money on if no one can find it?!
Website marketing can be difficult and time
consuming. Here are some tips that might help to
get you started on the right path.
List your website address on ALL your printed
promotional materials. Like business cards,
postcards, brochures, flyers, etc ... And list it in
your email signature so that you will be advertising
your website with every email you send.
Posting on Message boards related to your industry
is another way you can promote your site and
establish yourself as an expert in your field.
You will also want to submit your site to the search
engines. Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask Jeeves seem to
be the 'top dogs' right now.
Consider hiring an SEO expert to optimize at least
the home page of your site for your most relevant
keywords and phrases. And submit it to the
search engines; you should only have to do this
once. You will want to try and update your
site often (about once a month) so it doesn't become
stale, this will help keep the search engine spiders
coming back.
You will also want to try and get your site listed
on other related websites that may already have
established rankings with the search engines. The
more ways a potential customer has of finding your
website, the better. This is “Link Popularity”.
Writing articles related to your field and
submitting them to related websites and article bank
sites is another great way to
build inbound links to your site.
Again, all this can take time and effort and
sometimes money but if you take the time to do it or
pay someone to do it for you, it will pay off in the
long run.
