Using your website to grow in a down economy

I want to share some great advice I received recently. In a down economy you have two choices. You can cut back, downsize, and try to survive, or you can use it as an opportunity to expand your business and thrive. The option of cutting back may seem like the safer choice but it inherently means less revenue for you and your business. Instead, in every market there is an opportunity to grow and that means getting your message out. Finding cost effective ways of marketing increases your customer base and your revenue.

With that in mind, I am extending an invitation for a free consultation to discuss your business. The goal is to explore areas that you may have overlooked in terms of your ability to generate revenue through the web – especially in the current market. Please call us to set up a time that is convenient for you.

In the meantime, here are a few great marketing ideas that we have implemented recently. They can help drive traffic to your website and help close the sale.

#1) HTML Email

An HTML email is an email that looks and feels like your website. There are two ways to use an HTML email. The first use is to send out the email to all of your customers and business contacts. The goal here is to generate traffic to your website by featuring new and exciting offerings in the email. Customers can click on links in the email just like a website and be automatically directed to your website.

The other effective use of an HTML email is having your website send one out automatically after a website visitor submits your contact form or requests more information. Receiving a professional looking email that looks like your website keeps your website visitor engaged even after they have left your site. This increases the chances that they will return or contact you later. Give us a call and we can explore the possibilities of using an HTML email to market your website.

#2) Search Engine Optimization.

Getting listed high on Google and other search engines is one of the best forms of free marketing that exists. The processes of getting your website listed high on Google is never an easy one but recent changes in the way Google approaches listing websites has made it easier if you know the right techniques. We’ve recently done a lot of successful work with search engine optimization. Here is a recent example of our success. Give us a call and lets discuss how to get your site listed high on Google.

#3) Tell a Friend link.

Adding a link to your website that allows users to easily tell their friends about your website is a great way of getting the word out. We recently implemented the Tell a Friend feature on a website and the response has been astounding.

The reason for the tremendous success is because we gave the website visitor the ability to automatically tell everyone in their personal contacts list from their Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail, or AOL email account without having to leave the website. The result was that people were not just telling a friend or two, but 40 and 50 friends at time. Recently one visitor told 1,100 people at once about the website by sending the email to everyone in their contacts list. Imagine what 1,100 extra visitors in one day to your site could mean for your business.

#4) Mobile Web Site.
The web is accessible via cell phones and hand held devices like the Blackberry, iPhone, and now almost all cell phones. There are an estimated 34.6 million mobile web users in the U.S. today and nearly 1 billion worldwide by 2012. That’s a big market that you may be missing out on.

Creating a mobile version of your website can be a great idea for three reasons.

#1) It’s a great marketing tool to drive traffic to your website. We recently launched a mobile web site designed specifically for the iPhone. The website was featured on Apple.com as a staff pick and that drove a lot of traffic to the site creating new customers. Months later, the site is still listed as a staff pick on Apple.com and traffic is still flowing to the website.

#2) You get access to the 34.6 million people using the mobile web. It’s a big market and there is not nearly as much competition on the mobile web.

#3) If you have an admin section or database as part of your website, you and your employees can use the mobile website to login and control your website from your mobile device and cell phone. You can view reports, change prices, add users, update your time – all the features you currently have, you can get on your mobile devices as well.

I hope this was helpful and please feel free to give us a call at 410-653-0053 to discuss how to generate more revenue from your website!

Talk to you soon!
Jeff Teles, CEO