Business Websites Can Make Or Break You

Too often I visit business websites that have not changed their content since my last visit. On occasion, I see outdated contact information including office move addresses that have not been updated. These sites are certainly not effectively following my post challenge; "Put Yourself In Your Customers Shoes". If your website is guilty of these marketing offenses let me leave with you a piece of information and advice; most internet visitors, your potential customers, will make a decision to stay on your site or leave and never return within 3 seconds.

We hear more and more about Pay Per Click Advertising and essentially you don't have to be too smart to be on the top of a Search Engine like Google in their sponsored sites section. All you have to do is be the highest bid per click on key words and phrases and you will be on the top. BIG DEAL! First off you don't need to be on the top to be successful with Pay Per Click Advertising, second and third spots work just as well and in some cases better. The key here is that when you drive the online traffic to your site, what happens when they get there? Do you have your site updated with current information? Does your site allow for easy navigation? Does your site follow the 3 click rule and ensures that the visitor gets their information within 3 clicks from your landing page? Is your site easy to buy from online? Is your site Search Engine Optimize so you can move up the search engine organically and may then only need PPC for certain marketing campaigns, for example new product launches? I could go on with what your site needs to do and consistently but to properly execute on any of these ideas requires detailed web analytics. We know we can utilize free online reports like Google Analytics but do you know how to interpret the information into a sound online marketing strategy? Do you know how to use the reports to make business decisions? If the answer is no then you need a professional internet marketing consultant. Remember that when you have a visitor to your site who abandons your site within those 3 seconds that they in most cases never return to your web site.

Get smart and at a minimum, keep your contact and address information up to date or you stand to let your website abandons go to your competition. The decision to act or not act on the content and design of your website is yours, this decision could make or break you!