21 things your brother-in-law doesn't know about business websites

 by Julie Brooks, President, eCape, Inc. 

Don't let your 53-year-old brother-in-law, or  your 6-month-old nephew make your business website for you.  Neither one is a professional.   eCape offers affordable website design packages for small local businesses.

1.   Avoid the Brother-in-Law Syndrome. Unless your brother-in-law is a professional, full-time web designer or web marketer, don't let him do your website or tell you how to make money online. This is your life and your business website is a serious matter. Would you really let your brother-in-law do your bookkeeping just to save a few bucks?  If your brother-in-law was not a barber, would you let him give you a haircut?  

2.  Google is not in the business of giving away free lunches. Don't wait for your business website to come up in Google's natural search results. It may never happen. There are millions of websites on the Web. Waiting for someone to stumble across yours is like having an unlisted business phone number and hoping someone will dial the number by chance.  Buy links on larger sites that get the kind of traffic which most closely matches your customers.

3.  How much have you lost? Explore local portal websites (like this one, CapeCodToday.com) and see how your competitors are advertising and presenting themselves. How much business have you lost to them because web users didn't know you existed because you had no website, or weren't advertising it?

4.  Pay-per-click advertising is the greatest form of advertising to come along since TV.  Although it's a bit difficult to learn how to do it, it  is measurable beyond belief. Invest time and money in pay-per-click advertising on Google and Yahoo! if it seems appropriate, particularly if you sell services that appeal to a national, as opposed to local, customer base.

5.   Once upon a time... Use your website to tell a story, with pictures if possible, of how you interact with your customers or how your business helps people.

6. Beware of SEO. Be wary of spending money with search engine optimization companies. Their results are hard to measure. Instead, allocate your web marketing dollars towards buying links and pay-per-click advertising, which give almost guaranteed results.

7.  Double, then split, then go 25-75. If you don't have a website yet, take your budget for website development and double it. Then spend half that money on getting the site built and half on marketing the site. Next year, split the same amount 25-75, 25% going to upgrade your website and 75% going for marketing.

8.   Clone yourself online. Strive to replicate every interaction that a customer has with your business online. If they fill out insurance forms and make appointments in your office, put the insurance forms and appointment booking engine up on your website. They will appreciate the convenience.

9.  Stay plugged in. Customers who use the web a lot expect almost instantaneous response to inquiries. Check your business email many times a day and put your cell phone number on your "contact us" page.

10. Give them one good reason. Don't just put your web address on your business cards and print ads and call it a day. Tell people why they should go to your website. "Visit our website to see pictures of our latest projects."

11. 'Net only.  Put up Internet-only special offers on your website.

12.   Email, please.  Make it a priority to get the email addresses of your customers so that you can email market to them.

13.   Pictures =  gold. There are two things that sell a service on the web: pictures and testimonials. If you're a carpenter, put up as many pictures of your work as possible.

14.   Name and number.  On your "Contact us" page, always have a name and phone number. Never have just an email form.

15.  Reality check.   Every day, more and more people are doing more and more research and shopping online. Realize that if you do not have a website, you are invisible to 50% of potential customers, and you are doomed to failure.

16. Keep it fresh.   Make sure that all or at least one or two pages of your website is designed up so that you can easily update it yourself using your web browser. Your website will be updated more often, which is always a good thing.

17.  Where's it coming from? Check your referrals (meaning where your website traffic comes from) once a week and double down the money you're spending with the top 5 referrers during your peak season.

18.  Web ROI.  Web advertising gives the most measurable results of any form of advertising. Sharpen your pencil when doing your total advertising budget for the year, and seriously budget for web advertising.

19.  A penny saved.  Think of your website not just as a money maker, but a money-saver. The first time someone downloads your form instead of you mailing it to them, you've saved money.

20.  TooManyDomainNames.com.  Don't waste money and time registering a lot of domains, all pointing the same website (yours.) It does not bring you any more traffic. Just register one or two domains, one of which is your company name, and one of which most closely resembles the search terms someone would use to find you. For example, register AllCapePlumbing.com and CapeCodPlumbers.com.

21.  Serious business.  Getting your website up to speed is something to put on the front burner now. It's the face of your business, the first impression that many people get.   Make sure it's a good one.

Julie Brooks is the President of eCape, Inc. which has built more than 300 websites for Cape Cod businesses since 1996. She is the former President of the Cape Cod Internet Council.