Top 7 Business Website Mistakes

By Chuck Linart

Is your website making money for your business? At the end of the day, that is all that matters. I have clients in all kinds of sectors ranging from manufacturing to entertainment, and there are several common mistakes that I see across the board. Here are the Top 7 Mistakes Companies make with their Websites:

1. Thinking of it as merely an online brochure -- True, a good website is a marketing tool, but it is so much more.
2. Not integrating the site into their other marketing efforts -- I hear this a lot, "Our site is not good enough. We're not comfortable referring people to it." (That's what keeps me in business.) Well, then make it good enough, and put it on every other communication you send out from you e-mail signature to your business card to television and radio advertisements.
3. Cheaping out and not hiring a professional to build the site -- Sometimes people want to hire their brother-in-law to make their website. That's fine if the brother-in-law is truly a professional web developer. Otherwise, it's just a waste of money. Nowadays you can get a custom-designed and programmed professional site with lots of bells and whistles for under $2,000. Why would you waste $500 on a cheap site that, if anything, hurts your business? Think about your ROI: How many new clients does your site need to help you get in the next year to pay for itself?
4. Not having a list builder built in to the site -- It amazes me that some companies do not use their contact form to build an opt-in list of people that they can market to in the future.
5. Missing opportunities to profit directly through the site -- In almost any business, there is something you can offer to your clients and clients-to-be that you can ask for the sale and collect payment on through the web. This saves you time and money, and makes you money! Why wouldn't you do it? At the very least, you should have some advertising on your site. I even advertise my competitors. Why not? Let their advertising dollars go to me and still end up with the deal when all is said and done. Ruthless, I know.
6. Not paying attention to SEO which is probably the greatest moneymaker in any webmaster's bag of tricks. A thousand dollars to get you on top of your niche for your keywords is usually money well spent. I have one client (a recording studio) who actually asked me to tone down the SEO on his site because he couldn't handle the phone calls.
7. Not customizing the site's functionality in a strategic way - If you run a medical practice, doesn't it make sense to set appointments through your website? That can free up your staff to do other things. If you are a musician, why wouldn't you sell tickets directly through your gig calendar? You need to think about what your site can do for your business. That's another reason it's important to hire a professional -- they can suggest things that you might not think of yourself.

If you can avoid those pitfalls, your website will make money for your business, no matter what that might be.

Evolution Media works with small businesses, mostly in the NYC area, to implement the advice offered above -- and more! Optimize your business website!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Linart

Need a New Weapon For Your Marketing Arsenal?

By Martin Stanford

One quality of successful internet marketers is their ability to quickly pick up on new forms of communication and apply these to their benefit. They're ahead of the pack. If you've been doing internet marketing long enough, your marketing strategy must be pretty well set up already. You may be ready then to add a new zing to your marketing efforts. If so, then you may want to consider Podcasting.

Although it can't strictly be called an innovation anymore because it's been around since 2004, still pod casting is something that internet marketers are not utilizing to its full potential. A relatively new form of online media delivery, podcasts are basically radio shows played over the internet. Podcasting allows you to select whatever content you desire and record it into an MP3 file. You then make the MP3 file available to your clients through RSS feeds. You can relay important information about your product in a podcast or do a review on a particular service. You might decide to do an audio instructional or a motivational speech. You can record interviews with authorities on your particular niche. The content is completely up to you.

Through podcasting, you can establish yourself further as an authority in your chosen field. As people listen to your podcasts, soon they will not only know your name but will also associate your voice to the product or niche you've selected. Another identifying element has been added to your marketing arsenal.

With a podcast, you have a potentially huge market. If you can create excellent podcasts that catch the attention of your market, podcasts that they feel they just need to share with others, soon because of word of mouth you may find yourself with a regular fan base. Podcasting can serve as a powerful form of viral marketing for you.

What's great is that you can create podcasts and distribute them all for free. All you really need is a computer, a microphone, and perhaps some audio editing software. Distribution is free. It's like having your own radio program without having to bear any broadcasting fees and no costly equipment to upkeep. Equally great is that your listeners don't need any fancy equipment to listen to you either. A computer with speakers is sufficient; an MP3 player is a plus.

So learn more about this technology, if you're not making use of it yet. It may just be the weapon you need in your marketing arsenal to help you attain dominance in your niche.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Stanford

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Defined - Learn What it is and How to Do It

By Graham Andrews

Search Engine Optimization is a method used by website developers to make sure that the people surfing their sites would have a good as well as useful experience while they are surfing it. It also involves ensuring that search engines would give the site a high page rank and increase site traffic. Unlike other forms of internet marketing a lot of money would have to be spent for it to be effective, SEO is an inexpensive way to promote your site to other people.

There are many techniques falling under SEO which you can use. There are two basic techniques, White Hat and Black Hat SEO. The former is the acceptable one while the latter is generally frown upon because of its unethical ways. Though some would think that using the former is too slow when it comes to the results, they are still more of long term solutions as oppose to the short term ones by the latter.

For those that would like to do SEO on their own, here are some simple things you can do to increase your page rank:

Work with a keyword- A single page in your site should concentrate on a keyword or a keyword phrase. You do not have to make it long, just try and capture the essence of your page. What is it about? What is it that people would be attracted to? Once you focus on a keyword, use that frequently in your site though you should not overdo it. Use it in your content as well as in your title.

Content is vital- Even if your main goal is to use keywords, a good optimization involves excellent copy. Write something significant that the others might find useful. Though a lot of people find sites through search engines, it is still up to the content to help retain their attention. Once you have a good content, people would just be attracted to it and would possibly come back and visit in the future.

SEO is not an instant internet marketing solution. Though it make take some time for your page to show up in search engine results, once it does it can prove to be one of the most effective ways to get people to go to your site.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Andrews