3 Tips for a Successful Website

     Many businesses just throw up a website without much thought and expect it to generate revenue out of thin air. You have to put some thought into what specific "Tasks" your site needs to fullfil for your customers and then build your site around those things. Otherwise - its just wasted space.     

     Your web site has several important tasks to do in order to be successful. Below are 3 important tips to keep in the front of your mind when you think about what you want the final cut to be. *Note to self – there is never a FINAL CUT – good websites are always improving and moving.

Tip 1 – to draw in business from the web.

     Customers. That is customers you have never made contact with in any way shape or form and who do not already know who you are. These are fresh new potential clients who search Google or Yahoo or the multitude of other search engines out there and find your site in the mix with all of your competitors. They will be drawn in by your description in the search results and once they get there they will read your “Intro Mission Statement” or your Meta Description and move on to what they are really looking for. If you are a REALTOR - Homes. These people are mostly BUYERS so you will need to cater to them. If you sell SHOES, they want Name Brands, If you sell Services - get me there quickly! They don’t know you from Adam and will need a reason to stay on your site, to trust you AND TO COME BACK. Give it to them.

Tip 2 - KISS (Keep it simple stupid)

     Make your site easy to navigate, make the main points they want stand out and make it easy to remember. You have 8 seconds to do all of the above before they click the back button. Don’t underestimate this. Businesses who have a successful lead generating website make six figures from this income alone. Your website can work around the clock for you. And it’s a lot easier to generate leads this way than to cold call.

Tip 3 – Resources for current clients.

     You will want to tell all of your current clients about your website and keep them coming back. Referrals are a HUGE part of your success in Business. So is repeat business. You want your site to be beneficial to those clients that you already know. You want them to come back to it. You want to send out newsletters each month redirecting these people back to your website for the latest and greatest news. You want those people that you already have in your rolodex to give out your website to their friends and family. You want them to remember it when it is time to buy again!

Tip 4 Pertains to Realtors – Listings are the name of the game

     Impress your sellers in a listing appointment. You probably already have some type of listing presentation set up, and your website should be a major part of it. As a consumer who sold her home less than 2 year ago – when choosing my realtor it was very important to me that he/she had a turn key website that was listed everywhere and that advertised my home nicely. I wanted to know that she was going to make it easy for people to see my home. I wanted to know that it was displayed beautifully on her site with lots of pictures for people to see and lots of details and people could find it within a few clicks of the home page. If he/she didn’t have that, I wasn’t going to list with them. Sellers know that the internet is where 80% of consumers go to look for a home. By showing them a great site that features their home on it, you are giving them a reason to list with you. You may want to have a “Featured Home” on your front page that changes every week, month, etc so that you can use this as a Listing Point. “Mr. Seller, I am going to feature your home on the front page of my site! I get X amount of consumers to my site on a weekly basis and the first thing each and every one of them will see is a picture of your home!” You are giving them a reason to sign on the dotted line.

Copyright Charra Bennett 2006 (c)