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Advanced
How To Guides
Promoting your Online Presence
1. Preliminary Considerations
If you are promoting a new site or development, before
it goes live, go through the following checklist;
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Return to your site objectives; does the new development
meet these?
-
What's on the site that's relevant to the target
market; is it useful/up-to-date and accurate? Is
it "sticky" i.e. will visitors want to
keep returning and stay on your site?
-
Test every link both for functionality ie. that
it does click through to another page and for accuracy
i.e. that you arrive at the right page
-
Don't leave any "work-in-progress" on
the site, such as a note that says "under construction".
Simply remove/hide the link - the information will
simply not be on your site but there's no need to
highlight this fact to others. If the whole site
is unavailable, then put up a simple holding page,
with your business contact details.
- Are
the images/photography appropriate - e.g. don't
use photos of US business people if you're targeting
the Japanese market. A this point you will not be
rebuilding the navigation however if quick-fixes
are available, take them.
-
Make sure that the company's contact details are
on the home page, that you have a link privacy policy
readily accessible on it and that you offer visitors
the ability to opt-in to email communications.
-
Ask your developer to include the date on the home
page as this gives the site a current "feel"
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Give staff and other relevant people a preview of
the site so that they are familiar with it if they
have any queries on its content, once it's launched.
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Finally, ensure that you have adequate tracking
facilities. Often the report-tracking offered can
be difficult for the "non-techie" to understand
- talk to your developer and make sure the information
will be accessible in a suitable format.
2.
Promotional Tools
2.01 Arrange a launch event
If you have just undertaken a revamp of the site or
developed a new one, a launch event is a great opportunity
to meet up with your customers and prospects. If you
already have an opt-in email database, ideally invitations
would be done online as response rates can be higher
(primarily because of the easy and instantaneous ability
to respond). However depending on the industry you're
in, even if you do have an email database, you will
find certain people are more comfortable responding
to the printed word. At the event, use a digital projector
to display the website and leave a few laptops at the
venue so that visitors can surf the site at the event
(watch out for security though!)
If you do have a launch event, use a subsequent promotional
device to ensure attendees go onto the website back
at their businesses and that those who did not attend
are aware of the development. This promotion could be
an incentive e.g. €5 donation to a charity for
each visitor, an email thanking guests for attending
with a link to the site ("Now's your chance to
see the site for yourself" etc.) or extremely compelling
content e.g. revealing a new product development that
will reduce customers costs, announcing a speedier service
options, revealing new industry developments etc.
2.02 Use existing marketing material
As soon as your site is up and running, add your site
address to your stationary, business cards, invoices,
packaging, facsimile transmissions, brochures, exhibition
posters and other promotional materials. Also consider
putting it on your vehicles and in your "Golden
Pages" or other directory entries. As a good rule
of thumb you should promote your web site in print every
opportunity you get!
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