Are websites worth it?

Originally Posted by RainMaker
People are so caught up in the frenzy of being "found on the search engine" and while this is useful as a supplement, it is NO REPLACEMENT FOR SELF-PROMOTION OF YOUR WEBSITE.


What suggestions do you have for promoting a website? What works best for you and/or your clients?

It is important to always tie the message of "online specials" with the website address. It motivates the casual reader (walking past your store, for example) to remember your website name if they know they will be shopping for your product in the near future.

Push your website in all your printed advertising. Your website is always working for you, long after newspaper ads are thrown away. Put it on your printed materials, yellow page ads, bus cards, flyers, menus (for restaurants) AND RIGHT ON YOUR DOOR if you have a storefront. Tell people about it and make sure your employees tell people about it. Motviate your customers to choose you over the competition by offering them a special for visiting your website and ASK PEOPLE HOW THEY HEARD ABOUT YOU WHEN THEY CONTACT YOU (which is so important, but not done enough, for all advertising tracking).

Do you think a site would you get more traffic from those methods or from search engines?

It makes a signifant difference if you have a local or national market for your product. Search engine ranking plays a much bigger role if you are trying to reach a national market.

My clients are small local businesses and my experience is that many people underestimate the power of simple website promotion.

I have 2 pizza restaurant customers in the same city. One averages 150 unique visitor sessions in a month (not "hits" which would be a much higher number). He has happily renewed his website twice now. We'll call him Happy 150. The second restaurant averages 35-55 unique visitor sessions in a month and is grumbling that his site isn't working and he couldn't find it on the search engine. We'll call him Grumbly.

Happy 150 Has the words: "Online Coupons at: HisWebsite.com" in a large black box in reverse white letters on the front, back, and inside of his menu.

Grumbly just spent a bunch of money on a large local ad (that reads like a newstory) where he tells his customers to call him and he would be happy to fax his menu to them. NOWHERE in his large, expensive ad does he mention his website or that his menu is only a click away online. (he'd rather have people call him during the lunch rush, so he can stop and fax out his menu??)

Happy 150 used to take out full page ads in the Clipper Magazine, but has discontinued this form of advertising. Of course, I don't know if that is a result of his website, but I do know that he has figured out that more he promotes his own site, the more benefit he gets from his website for the same $199 every 6 months.

You make very good points RainMaker, Most business owners who don't really know how websites work or who haven't used the internet much view their website as a promotional tool, which it is. However, unlike other promotional tools like print advertising, radio, etc. the website itself needs to be promoted. It sounds like Grumbly views his website as an "if you build it they will come" type of promotion.

Originally Posted by Mikey What suggestions do you have for promoting a website?

Here's a quick article I found on this subject.

Thanks prospector...GREAT article!

Here's an article that was just posted that relates to this topic.