Marketing
Getting the most from your website
("If You Build It – They Will Come" )
A famous quotation from the Kevin Costner Movie - "Field of Dreams" and more recently applied to the infamous "Bertie Bowl" in Abbottstown. Unfortunately it is also an adage applied all too often to newly built web sites. Many online storefronts and sites are being left with the doors closed. Websites need to be actively promoted. Would you build a new shop and not tell your customers about it? Would it occur to you to develop a new service or product and leave it sitting on the shelf? Or spend money producing brochures and then leave them in the storeroom? Well that's exactly what is happening if you have your web site designed and built and you consider the job done. It is absolutely essential to have your site marketed and promoted to achieve the potential returns. Your website means that your business is now truly international. The more people that visit your site, the higher your chances of increasing your sales. Your website is open when the office or shop isn't. Your customers can contact your website 24 hours a day. While you are serving customers in Ireland just before closing time, the early morning shoppers in America are logging on to the web. In 2003 Irish surfers spent over € 260 million online. The previous year it was €136 million. 92% of people who made an online purchase, said they would do so again*. These figures were expected to increase threefold in 2004 as more and more people become web savvy.
*Source – Sunday Business Post 21/12/2003
So how do you get customers to your site?
There are two main ways to attract visitors to your site. The first is to put your web site address on all promotional material for your business. That means letterheads, business cards, envelopes, carrier bags, till receipts and uniforms. Everywhere!! The more people see your site address the more likely they are to visit it. This will reach all your existing customers and those in the local area. The next step is to expand your customer base throughout Ireland. The most effective way to reach national and / or International clients is to run an “Adwords” campaign. Google Adwords In a very short space of time, Google has grown to be THE search engine that people use, searching over 8 billion web pages for a result. It could take months or years to gain a top ranking in their free listings.
© 2007 South East Promotions Limited
