Technical level: Basic/Beginner || Date: 12th November 2002 || Author: Nigel Peck

Overview

There is a common misconception amongst many people with regards to Web Sites and it is that as soon as you have a Web Site people will start looking at it, and therefore it will attract new business. This is not true.

My answer to this is always the same "When you get a telephone does it start ringing?". I won't insult you with the answer to that one. A Web Site is like anything else, for people to look at it they've got to know it's there first.

Spread The Word

There are a number of ways in which to let people know about your Web Site. The first and most obvious is via your current marketing efforts. Assuming you don't already do Internet Marketing (but then you probably wouldn't be reading this article) this will often include:

Business Cards
Complement Slips
Media Adverts
Invoices
Quotes
Reciepts
Store Front
Company Vehicles
Obviously there any many other ways but you get the idea. All of the above represent an opportunity to market your Web Site address. Take every opportunity to let people know the address of your site. Once your Web Site address is in a person's head it is a doorway to any amount of information you wish to provide on the site, more information than you could ever provide through an advert, and it is viewable at that person's leisure, when they have the time and the desire to digest it.

The above methods are a start in attracting visitors to your site. There are two problems.

Firstly these methods will not generally attract business that you wouldn't have got anyway, altough your Web Site will enhance the effiency of the communication with customers which will lead to happier customers they are not necessarily customers that wouldn't have discovered you without the Web Site.

Secondly people are not as good as computers at remembering things. And a Web Site address only needs to be entered with one character wrong to not find the site. If the person remebered the address at all.

Internet Marketing

There is a better way. This should not be considered as an alternative to the above methods but as a complement to them.

When people are looking for a company to provide them with a product or service they are increasingly turning to the Internet to find it. The most popular method of finding products or services on the Internet is through a Search Engine. When someone types the name of a product or service you provide into a Search Engine it is an ideal opportunity for you to attract them as a customer.

They are interested in the Product or Service you provide right at that moment. They are not in the middle of something else or in a frame of mind where they do not want to be bothered by your advert. They are ready and willing to get more information and possibly purchase your product or service straight away.

Internet Marketing involves ensuring that when someone searches for a product or service that you provide they will find you. This is achieved through Search Engine Optimisation or Cost Per Click or both.