Word on the street is your business has a new website. You have invested a lot of time and money into this project and now your brand new website is up and running on the internet. Your waiting room is standing room only. Your phone lines overloaded because flocks of people are calling now that you’re on the web. You no longer have a down season. To top it off you just received an award for best website of the year. Is this happening to you? Most likely your answer to that question is no and so is most businesses out there.
Is it possible for this to happen to you? The answer is yes, but how? That’s easy, marketing! The biggest misunderstanding about the internet is that you create a website for your business and it somehow, as if by magic, appears on the search engines and little elves will scour the countryside telling people your website exists! Think about it…when was the last time you accomplished something in your life and instantly received recognition for it? Here are a few simple guidelines for marketing your new small business website:
1) Start with your current clients
You already have a relationship with them and they may be more receptive to an email or a phone call introducing them to your new website. Send an email with a brief description and a link to your new website. You can even offer them an incentive like a discount for referring a friend.
2) Use Meta tags to make sure your new website is SEO Friendly.
So what the heck are Meta tags? Metatags are Keywords that are inserted into the code on a web page that helps search engines find your site and index it properly. You might say that metatags are the elves that let the search engines know your website exists.
3) Send out a press release to your organizations who offer a newsletter that will announce member news. This is invaluable exposure for your company.
4) Last and certainly not least is to include your website address on all business communications. Everything from Business cards to stationary. Nowadays websites have become somewhat of a necessity in the business world and many times a prospective client will simply make a note of your website address for future reference.
So these are just a few ways to market your new business website. There are companies out there that can offer marketing services for you. It isn’t always necessary to pay someone to market your website for you. If you stick to these basic guidelines and remember that a website for your business is useless if no one can find it then it won’t be long before that flock of calls comes in, your waiting room fills with prospects and who knows, maybe even that website of the year award.
