Please, forgive me, but today I am going to sound harsh. Just got a note from one of the customers in my town. John owns a landscaping business and 3 months ago decided to take his company cyber. Well, guess what his today’s note said: “Haven’t got any feedback from the web site so, please, close my account”.
John has invested a total of $60 ($20 a month) into his web site, and 5 minutes of his time to fill out the form. The web site was automatically generated based on the information he put in, so there is no extra work involved.
Then John just got back to his business, waiting to see what happens. As many of you already realize – NOTHING HAPPENED.
No freebie was offered, no e-mail addresses were collected for future contact, no special offers were posted… What exactly did John expect to happen? Thousands of visitors to pour to his web site? But he didn’t submit his URL to any of the Search Engines either. Nor did he promote his web site on any of the places where his potential customers might hang out.
Or may be John was hoping to increase his bottom line through an idle web site? Nope, not happening either.
You will be surprised how many people give up after 3-4 months of having a web site, complaining that it’s not bringing the results they were hoping for. Some even go as far as spending the time and money building the site, but then leave it alone and wait for the sales to pour in.
I think I know what the problem is.
Many business owners think of a web site as just another ad. “I have a web site, so now more people will know about my company”.
But there is no magic in the air – to make a penny from your web site you must not only build it but let the world know it’s there. Search Engines, directories, forums, newsletters, articles, and freebies are only a few ways to do that.
Subscribe to a couple of online marketing e-zines and you will have plenty ideas of how to reach your target customer. Sign up for a free teleclass (teleclass.com) and get a chance to hear how experts and other business owners market their web sites.
Remember: there is no magic wand that will take your web site and market it for you. Be pro-active. Do something every day to promote your web site, and you will see the results from your web site. Do nothing – and you will be the next “John” asking to cancel his web site.
Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web developer and the author of the “65 Instant Web Design Answers”. http://www.instantwebanswers.com
