Guide to online marketing for businesses.



	Home \| About us \| Services \| Resources \| Online Marketing \| Business Plans \| News \| Contact \| FAQ


	Successful online marketing and better website performance


	A practical guide to online marketing


	Custom Search

A marketing plan is key to a successful e-business strategy whether you use an e-commerce website, use channels such as ebay, or simply use a web site to promote your products or services,

Basic economic principles of supply and demand apply to the internet. The good news is that you have access to a wealth of information that can help you to improve performance of your website.

Consider the following questions, then read the tips below to find out how to achieve better results.

a) Why do we have a website?

b) Is the website generating leads , sales, and profits?

c) Is the website meeting the needs of our customers?

d) Am I making effective use of the website?


	Learn more about online marketing


	Domain registration, web hosting


	Tips, ideas, and best practice

	website performance marketing strategy SEO key success factors web page design Market assessment performance and statistics advertising & promotion fulfillment

develop a marketing strategy and improve the odds in favour of your website


	Improve the odds in favour of your website


			Free keyword Tool

	Keyword Research,Wordtracker

		Click here for more Business Resources

1. Website performance.

! Identify which factors will determine whether your site and the investment in it is being used effectively.

Website performance can be measured in many ways including number of visitors, positioning of your pages on a search engine, number of enquiries, sales value, and returning visitors, as well as technical performance such as web site availability, speed, navigation etc.

2. Develop your marketing Strategy.

! Decide how and when to measure your website performance & improvement e.g. increased online traffic, costs of internet marketing , access to new markets, number of enquiries, sales, and of course profit.

Your website and online marketing strategy should be included in your business plan to improve your chance of business success. Your plans for sales and marketing should include customer profiles, i.e. define who your target customers are, how you will reach them and define your targets(e.g. for turnover, volume of orders etc.) . You may decide to use a variety of marketing channels, perhaps including mailshots, press, radio, TV advertising, exhibitions, or other events. You might also use online advertising (such as google adwords) to drive visitor traffic to your website.


		3. Key Success Factors - Visible content

		‘! Effective website performance in business terms depends on visible content, so focus on content first. Search Engine Optimisation’ or ‘seo’, is a popular activity , and there are many tools and methods such as online advertising available to help achieve better search engine placement. However, search engine positioning, good website design, Meta tags and links are not the only factors that determine whether your website will be successful - customers look at visible content.

	4. Designing web page content and influencing Visitor behaviour

	! Don’t forget to test your site and measure its performance! Your web site is a means of advertising your products or services, and typically will contain some combination of images, and textual information. You may also have more sophisticated facilities such as a shopping cart, or individual accounts for users. Many businesses attract a lot of visitors to their web pages, and fail to convert them into customers. The website design will affect a visitors perception of your business. In turn this will affect the chances of achieving your objectives, whether that is to sell something, to receive an enquiry, or to encourage the visitor to return to the site. Simple changes can often result in significant improvements in conversion rates and performance. Design improvements may take the form of better navigation facilities, providing clearer or more targeted information (such as using headings) , better site search facilities, or changed layout and design, colour, fonts etc. Think about what you want the visitor to do. Do you want them to buy a product, or perhaps complete an enquiry form. What will they want when they arrive at the site? Make it easy for them. Converting visitors into customers: To convert your website visitors, or enquiries, into customers usually requires that you have a good product or service at a reasonable price. You should also provide the kind of information, follow up material, and processes that make your prospects want to buy. In practice, websites and associated processes often fail to do this. For example many online shopping ‘sites perform badly because the buying process , i.e. the shopping cart system, is too complex or doesn’t take into account that *people* are going to use them and people behave in unpredictable ways.

		5. Market assessment

There are numerous products and services such as ‘wordtracker’ that can help you to understand your competition, website, and online customer behaviour, bringing competitive analysis and business intelligence within easy reach of most businesses. Even with a limited amount of keyword research you may be able to identify suitable keywords and phrases used by potential customers, to help assess demand, develop good content and achieve better search engine placement. ! Do some research and don’t forget to look at competitor websites.


		Free keyword Tool

	6. Measures of performance & statistics


		! Review and update your strategy and plan. Website hosting packages usually include statistics. Make sure you schedule time and learn how to monitor, record and measure your website performance. Free tools such as ‘Google analytics’ provide valuable data and trend information about your visitors. Record and evaluate outcomes of enquiries.

	Custom Search


	7. Online advertising & promotion

	! Consider whether it is relevant to use blogs, podcasts, videos or other techniques to promote your products alongside more traditional methods. Viral marketing has grown dramatically and industries have emerged to facilitate it.




	Technology Means Business (TMB) Accredited


	Viral marketing ! Youtube, facebook, and a number of other social networking channels may also form part of your online strategy. Whilst affiliate marketing and mechanisms such as Google adwords have been around for a while, they could be considered a more traditional method of marketing online. Viral marketing refers to marketing that uses social networks to increase brand awareness, or increase product sales essentially through ‘spreading the word’. This can be done using video clips, games, or even text messages.

		Google adwords , and other *paid for* online advertising such as via facebook can be very effective in drawing traffic to your site. Make sure that you understand enough about the suitability for your product or service,

8. Fulfillment.

! Fulfill your promises to the customer, it’s generally easier to retain one than to find a new one. Using contact management database systems such as ACT or Goldmine can help streamline many customer related operations.


	For independent business advice and consultancy on developing your business contact vision4business.


	Custom Search

Business Plans








	Services from Vision 4 Business Leicester

		Home \| About us \| Services \| Resources \| Web \| Business Plans \| News \| Contact \| FAQ

Successful online marketing and better website performance

Click here for more Business Resources

1. Website performance.

2. Develop your marketing Strategy.

3. Key Success Factors - Visible content

4. Designing web page content and influencing Visitor behaviour

5. Market assessment

6. Measures of performance & statistics

7. Online advertising & promotion

8. Fulfillment.

Services from Vision 4 Business Leicester