Business to Business Website Do’s and Don’ts
I have failed at online marketing more than anyone I know - my hope is to share what I have learned so you do not waste the time and money I did.
Do’s
1) Start with a Blog, not a website. What is a blog? Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
Why a blog? Because you can add information, delete, reorganize it easier than any other system. Plus a blog will get ranked better and faster than a regular website because when you engage in conversations (make comments) in other blogs, it gives you important inbound links. The search engines tend to view blogs like news sites, valuable, timely content that needs to get out quickly.
2) Use your blog to post tips and articles weekly. When I began, I simply wrote about what I learned that week coaching clients. I changed the names and kept the information generic enough that even my customers would not recognize themselves as the subject.
3) Comment and participate in small business blogs and forums. It will improve your websites ranking, because it will include a link back to your website from your comments within the small business discussion forums, and blogs. Plus it will give you much needed practice writing online.
4) Podcasting I think every coach should have a blog and a podcast. A podcast is your own online radio show. You can listen to mine at: http://www.sbishere.com/buyingabusiness/ dollar for dollar and time spent podcasting has generated a better return on my investment than anything else I have done except for using my blog as a foundation to engage visitors.
5) Choose your keywords carefully. Include keywords for your market area i.e. “Small Business Coach located in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, Northern West Virginia” as opposed to “Home”. The keywords that appear in the title of your blog/article are the single most important thing you can do to attract the right type of visitor. Plus if you use the host I recommend http://www.hostm.com/ their service comes with a tool to research keywords for free (I used to pay $500/year for a similar tool).
6) Write often and regularly. The more you write the more congruent you become and the better you get at explaining what you do. After all, if you have trouble explaining what you do in a few seconds imagine how confused the visitors to your website are. Writing will help you find and define an identity.
7) Read often, websites, blogs, newspapers, magazines, and books. They will give you ideas that you can use as subjects to write and comment about on your blog.
Don’ts
1) Do not spend a lot of money building a website. For $100/year you can get a website with a blog by pushing a few buttons. mediatemple.net is the host I use and they are as good as the one I used to pay $300/mth for a dedicated server. I used to have a bunch of sites and blogs and am in the process of condensing them all into just one blog. Mine is at: smallbusinesstransitions.com
2) Avoid building a website as an online brochure. Build a value engine, with articles and content written by you about coaching and business topics. It will add value to the visitors experience and give them a reason to come back.
3) Patience is key. Do not expect a lot from your website in the first year. You are laying a foundation. Understand that it will take between 6-12 months before you start showing in Google. They sandbox new websites to make sure they stick around.
Image from Wikipedia
4) Don’t try to understand how the search engines and websites work. If you have a blog, write regularly, and post comments on other blogs and forums - eventually they will come. Because the inbound links from those other forums, and blogs will help your rankings at the search engines and thus drive people to your blog. Not to mention that you will get traffic from the links in the other blogs and forums.
5) Don’t sweat how much traffic you get to your website. I used to get as many as 20,000 visitors a month to my website, all looking for free information. Today, I have focused my content and carefully chosen my keywords and I only get 4,000-8,000 visitors per month but they are much more qualified and better prospects.
6) Don’t submit your website to search engines. Never buy a package that is going to submit your website to 128,546 search engines and directories. Those are link farms, scams and will actually decrease your ranking in search engines. When John links to you from your website, the search engines will find you. Plus if they find you on their own it improves your rankings.
7) Don’t hard sell on your website. Tone down the hype. Be yourself. In our business, the goal of the website is to get a lead not make a sale.
I view a website as a tool to attract online visitors, build a relationship, and engage them in a conversation - a lead generation tool. Because once a small business owner contacts you from your website, it is just like they walked into a retail store - they are intent on doing business.
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