KISS: Keep it simple “Simon”. Websites should be clean, concise, easy-to-read and navigate. The sad fact is that human beings are lazy; they don’t read and they will not hunt for information. Start by presenting only your core business and let customer demand drive additional products or services. Make sure your website is simple, uncluttered, consistent from page to page, easy on the eyes, informative with high quality photos.

Target Your Clients: Focus your marketing efforts at a particular niche. Look for those customers that have the ideal characteristics for your product or service. The easiest people to sell are people who have done business with you in the past. These customers understand how you do business and in a number of cases, know what they are looking to buy. These customers also spread the word about your products or services to new clients. So look to your existing clients to be your first customers via the website and leverage existing clients to get new clients.

Make Content Easy: Facilitate customers doing business with you. Your website should clearly spell out who you are, what you do and what’s unique about you on the home page in the first paragraph or two. Always have your basic contact information on every page and give users a simple form to make inquiries about your products and services or request additional service. Allow prospects and clients to join your mailing list for future promotions, new product or service announcements, newsletters, press releases etc. This will also be an easy source of new clients. Straight forward content makes the buying process a piece of cake!

Market your Website: I’m amazed at how many people go through the exercise of building a website only to do absolutely no marketing of the website. Then openly wonder why their website isn’t working for them. There are 5 Billion web pages on the Internet and growing daily. 85 % are found via search engines. Submit your website to search engines, use pay per click advertising and incorporate your website into everything related to marketing your business. (Business cards, invoices & PO’s, e-mail campaigns, newsletters, signs, ads, e-mail, industry associations, directories, tradeshows, press releases etc.) Remember, that customers use websites to get informed about your product, service or company before they buy. If they can’t find you, they can’t buy.

Measure your success: One of the main reasons the Internet is such a popular place to market your products and services is that you can see how well the website is working for you. You can gauge how effective your marketing initiatives are by including your website address in all marketing activity and viewing your traffic reports around the date of the marketing activity. Viewing which pages clients go to on your site will tell you how your site is being used. In most businesses, a few transactions or referrals can justify the existence of the website itself. This will give you insight on what works and where/how to spend your precious marketing dollar.