The web has become a crucial source of income for many businesses, but marketing small businesses for the web remains a largely misunderstood topic. Professional marketing firms and executives fail to properly promote their brand, products, or services on the internet, losing out on untold numbers of new customers and opportunities. An effective and affordable website marketing strategy is necessary to compete in the internet marketplace.

Top 3 Web Site Marketing Strategy Tools

1) Build a website

It should go without saying, but the first step in developing a website marketing strategy is developing a presence for your business on the web. This doesn’t mean throwing up a website and never touching it again — your website should reflect your brand and the quality of your products or services. Take the care to develop a website that communicates the characteristics of your business in the same way that a radio or television advertisement would.

Potential customers should be drawn to your web site as a source of important information about your company or products that you offer. It’s a mistake to neglect your company’s website or cut corners on its aesthetics.

2) Fill Your Web Site with Content

You need to give potential customers a reason to visit your website. You should have interesting, relevant information on your site that allows visitors to either purchase your products or gives them contact details they need to do so. In short, your website should have a purpose and should generate revenue. If it doesn’t, then it’s not functioning effectively.

Interesting content will also generate interest in your website, and you’ll find that your website traffic will increase over time. Each new visit to your site is a potential lifetime customer, and you must find ways to intrigue interest in your site and your company. Content is a perfect way to lure visitors to your site and will generate revenue over time.

3) Spread the Word About Your Web Site

A web site is a marketing tool, not a marketing strategy. Once you’ve developed your web site, you need to generate traffic to it — and this is accomplished by spreading the word about your site. Print your web site URL on your products, submit it to directory web sites, begin an email campaign; whatever it is, you need to generate traffic to your website. Without visitors, a web site might as well not exist.

There are many effective methods and tips for generating web traffic that goes beyond the overall website marketing strategy: search engine optimization, paid search, link strategy, etc. A marketing strategy for the web is complemented by these techniques, and they should all be employed in an effective web marketing campaign.