Web site marketing is a beginning to a larger marketing plan

The serious businesses that want a Web site are those that want it working hard for them. After all, if you are going to expend the time, money and effort of having a site, it should net a return of leads, prospects, and customers. But the Web site itself is only a beginning because the Web site alone is not enough. There are many low-cost or no-cost ways to market the site and the business to ensure that the site gets top ranking. That takes some time and some effort but it pays off.

The task usually begins with a firm budget in mind, but it doesn't always, especially when clients see the value in other options and opportunities and want to take full advantage of the SEO options that will help elevate their ranking while building a foundation of support to market their business as the authority of their business sector.

In other words, there's more to a good Web marketing plan than posting a Web site on the Internet. There must be reasons for people to visit the site and value from what the site offers. But how do they become interested or informed if they do not see the site listed within the first few pages (usually only the first page) of a search? How do the sites get higher ranking in the search engines?

Know your audience and offer a benefit

It's so alarming that Web sites of some of the largest international companies were obviously created by engineers or technicians instead of professional writers. Their audiences are usually the non-tech, non-engineers of the world that really can benefit from their products and services, but who visit that company's Web site only to find that the headlines they scan are filled with technical jargon or product names and numbers that are foreign to the buyer and mean nothing to them; a generally unaccepted practice in the advertising business.

The well-intentioned engineers that write this material are excited about the items and can talk all day about them, but that isn't the best way to win new customers, unless the benefits to the customer are highlighted.

When a call comes to the J Howard Company from a person in New York, Arizona, or Texas wanting copywriting services, and are asked where they found the J Howard Company, and they report that they saw the listing on the first Google page of their search for copywriters or more precisely Web copywriters, everyone knows we are doing something correctly.

Web site marketing strategies

Most good sites will have at least 6 Web pages (Home, About Us, Contact Us, FAQ, Services, Products) and often more. In addition, the Web sites benefit from posting articles on the Internet that pertain to the business. They include press releases, reports, reviews, slideshow presentations, and other methods of educating and informing the target market. Notice the wording did not say "sell to", but inform and educate. There is a place for sales information online, but that comes after the effort of informing. (Would you trust a surgeon with no credentials?)

Each page of the site and the related articles, press releases, etc., will have one or two targeted keyword phrases to saturate the message, and hyperlinks directly to particular relevant Web pages. This builds the site's keyword strength among the search engines. So when a person does a search in their browser for that keyword phrase, your page will be among those listed. The more items in the search engines' database with links to your Web site, the more relevance your site achieves and the higher the ranking your site eventually receives. The trick is to keep the relevant content to the keywords continuous, current, and plentiful

Now, search engines are hungry for content, and lots of it. That is why Web articles with targeted keyword phrases of interest to customers are great boosters. Using an automated RSS feed for submitting articles, or blogs, the J Howard Company can immediately submit these postings to 50-plus submission sites, and can also submit to a few dozen more by hand, where they remain active for up to 100 days.

There is also merit to link-building, where your site's URL is listed at other sites that mention and refer your company in their site and articles. If there are businesses or customers that you know of that are related to your business, why not ask them to mention your Web site on their site?

Or better yet, suggest to them that you know an experienced Web writer who specializes in Internet marketing strategies, search engine optimization, and business-to-business advertising and marketing. Tell them that the J Howard Company can produce excellent online articles and content that will benefit their businesses by informing and educating their target market of their specialties in a way that will advertise and build additional credibility in their business sector. That way you can link to each other and all benefit; the more the better.

This could include vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, and others that will want to market their business and their Web site with an association to other high-quality sites.

Website marketing services

Include in your website marketing strategies articles for magazine publications, proposals, contracts, letters, blogs, newsletters, etc., and direct the reader to new and more recent information that is useful to them, and may have been updated since the last correspondence or publication. Think "bigger picture" and then it will become easier to chart a course.

This is a lot of information and it can seem overwhelming to some, but in reality it is simple and quick. It just takes a lot of writing to explain the importance of not only the Web site but the supporting documents and efforts that will support the site and establish the business or organization as the authority that customers want and depend on.

It doesn't have to be expensive

At http://www.jhowardco.com/faq/index.php you will find a list of frequently asked questions and a pricing guide for writing services.

If you have your own artist or logo art that can save you some money, on your new site, but the J Howard Company can guarantee you will like their artists' quality. Their prices for logos include three initial ideas to choose from and from that, two to three versions to make a final choice from.

If all you need is to update the look and navigation of your existing site, a page can be generated from a template and a skin generated from that for use with today's sophisticated content management systems that are popular and easy to use. Then you can add images and text or hire J Howard Company to do it and get the ball rolling quickly.

Take a look at your site and compare it to other sites that you really like. See if there is room for improvement. Perhaps the first move will be to get an evaluation of your site and decide where the improvements are needed most. For an honest assessment and evaluation contact the J Howard Company.