Website Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs
For most people running a company in the 21st century, website marketing strategies are an indispensable part of the business plan. While not every business requires some form of web marketing – a “mom and pop” shoe repair shop that does a steady business by word-of-mouth advertising from local residents, for example – any business that wants a broad customer reach can’t achieve financial success without it.
As commerce continues to “go global,” companies that do not have an easily found, accessible website – the cornerstone of web marketing – are missing out on the rest of the world that does not live in the same town or has never heard of their reputation. For businesses that don’t have a brand that’s a household name such as Coca-Cola® or Nintendo®, global visibility begins on the Web. But not before they’ve examined and implemented sound website marketing strategies.
Whether you currently run your own business, or are thinking about starting one – you need to know the top website marketing strategies in order to use the Web to its fullest potential and become a successful entrepreneur.
Web Entrepreneurs Discuss Website Marketing Strategies Part I: Matt Bacak
Matt Bacak, an Internet marketing specialist and author of books including Secrets of the Internet Millionaire Mind and The Ultimate Lead Generation Plan, recommends a six-pronged approach to website marketing strategies:
- Create a website focused on usability rather than beauty. An attractive site does not necessarily mean one that sells.
- Avoid using technologies that will make it difficult for some visitors to access and navigate the site. Flash and Java can cause these problems; simple HTML works for almost everyone.
- Limit the number of audio and video files you use on your site, and make sure the ones you do use are compressed. Larger files can slow loading of the site, and impatient visitors will often simply navigate away.
- Employ a skilled graphic designer to produce an attention-grabbing header for the site. It’s the first thing most visitors see, and therefore must be impactful.
- Develop powerful headlines for your site. If you use accompanying images, make sure those images complement the headline’s message and push the visitor to your desired action.
- Make sure your “squeeze page” does its job by using language that prompts the visitor to provide their contact information.
On his website, Bacak also stresses the importance of email lists in your website marketing strategy. “There are many [website marketing] strategies to making money on the (I)nternet, but nothing makes sense unless you have a big list,” he says. “Email marketing is the most profitable way to make money on the (I)nternet. When you build a list of hot and hungry prospects you control your future.” Once you have your site set up, launch an email newsletter and collect lead information through the signup process. Give people something free and useful and they will return to your site – increasing the possibility they will make a purchase from you or one of your sponsors.
Naturally, opinions differ among web marketing experts. Many insist dynamic, interactive content is crucial to making an impression on site visitors. It will also impact the amount of visitors one may lose due to slow loading times, but this will continue to shrink as broadband usage grows. Others believe email marketing is intrusive and ineffective. It is all a matter of knowing your target audience and setting your priorities.
Web Entrepreneurs Discuss Website Marketing Strategies Part II: Ken Lemieux
One of the most obvious website marketing strategies is simply to create a highly visible site for your business. Web entrepreneur Ken Lemieux – owner of Lemieux Graphic Design, an Internet-based firm that designs brand identities, advertising, sales collateral and websites – recommends a marketing strategy that begins with optimizing a site to take advantage of non-paid (organic) search engine results.
“Before you expend resources on web-based advertising, you want to optimize your site for the search engine spiders,” says Lemieux. “Semantic markup is an essential starting point for search engine optimization. Code your site so that, when a bot crawls your page to index it, the text from the code tells it which parts of the page can be read by people.” A spider, alternately known as a “bot,” is a program which analyzes (“crawls”) website content, then indexes the site to enable it to be quickly found through a search engine. The more highly a site is ranked, the more likely it is to appear on the first page of search results – and therefore be found and visited by the person performing the search.
“You should also post reciprocal links with another site,” Lemieux adds. “This is a mutually beneficial tactic that costs nothing but can help you rank well with the search engines. Google strongly encourages the practice.”
Lemieux says paid online advertising is a good way to bolster your online marketing efforts, and is sometimes necessary in order to stand out among similar businesses on the Web. “If organic (search) isn’t working on its own, and you’re in a crowded space, you will need to use Google AdWords to generate traffic.”
How to Develop Solid Website Marketing Strategies
The best way to help your business flourish is to create website marketing strategies with guidance directly from leaders in the field. The University of San Francisco, ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Colleges,” has a team of industry experts leading its 100% online Internet marketing programs. Offering a variety of single-course and multi-course certificate programs, the university can provide entrepreneurs like you with the tools and techniques you need to thrive in the dense, complex marketplace of the Web:
These programs present the latest website marketing strategies and other must-have skills in a convenient format that enables working people to complete coursework on a flexible schedule:
- Access course lectures via streaming online video or CD-ROM, virtually anywhere, 24/7
- There are no required logins or on-campus sessions
- Pause, rewind and review lectures as needed
- Connect with professors and fellow students using hosted message boards, email and live chat
- Complete each course in eight weeks or less
Perfect your own website marketing strategies and build a booming business with 100% online training from the experts at the University of San Francisco.