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Directing Traffic to Your Website: You Built It, But Will They Come?
 CH Consulting LLC
Finally, nearly everyone in the business world has come to the realization that a high-quality company website is necessary to stay relevant in today’s marketplace. Unfortunately, very few know how to effectively market their site and most are spending vast amounts of money in all the wrong places.
Many businesspeople believe that the only way to get website view rates up is to pay the outrageous fees optimizers charge, to achieve a higher ranking on Google and other search engines.
While Google ( News - Alert) and other search engines do drive traffic to websites, the changing nature of search engine ranking makes utilizing this tool very difficult and expensive. The bottom line is, putting all of your marketing resources into search engine optimization is not wise marketing. To effectively utilize your website, consider the following tried-and-true website marketing techniques:
1. Make the website part of your brand. Include your website URL on all of your marketing collateral. Existing clients and business contacts will have no difficulty locating your website if the address is printed on each business card, letterhead, invoice, email, or any other informational piece that comes out of your office.
2. Use targeted marketing to get the word out. Spend your marketing dollars wisely by utilizing direct mail, billboards, PR and advertising. Strategically place links to your website throughout the Internet. Directly target those most likely to find your site useful to increase your view rate.
3. Make use of professional e-mail communication. A crucial component of any marketing campaign is the delivery of high-end, informative and dynamic e-mail to a targeted audience. Develop a method of gathering e-mail addresses to reach people who are willing to correspond with you and are interested in your products and services. By utilizing a database of current customers as well as addresses accumulated through sales orders, networking and via phone contact, you can use professional e-mail communication to easily drive traffic to your website.
4. Make your website part of your sales and management process. Open new doors to your website by developing an integrated backend which your clients and internal sales team can use to complete orders, preview products, and communicate with one another.
5. Integrate telephone contact strategies. By combining phone and website services, you can offer your clients the best of both worlds. During any customer contact session, be sure that prospects are aware not only of the existence of your website, but also of the services offered there and the URL. Joining call center services with live chat and e-mail is a great way to offer supreme customer service and make your website work for you and your target audience.
When you consider the enormous number of websites currently online, it is easy to recognize the importance of discovering effective internet marketing solutions. By implementing these marketing strategies, you will reach your target audience with the information they are seeking, set your self apart from the competition, and utilize your website to its fullest potential.
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Christa Heibel is the CEO of CH Consulting LLC, and an expert in the field of integrated marketing campaigns as well as effectively using technology for supporting sales and marketing efforts.
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