Is Your Website a Winner?
Best Practices for Building a Strong Web Presence

For many of us, the Internet is a part of our daily work and personal lives in a way we might not have believed possible five years ago. Yet businesses are all over the board in terms of how they have embraced this important medium. Some have websites that embrace the latest Internet trends, including dynamically-generated content, community-building services such as forums and blogs, online transactions and more. Others basically reproduce print brochures in an online context. And a few have yet to create their web presence.

Have you re-evaluated your web presence recently? For many of your customers, your website is the first interaction they have with your company. Visitors assume that your website reflects your business, so be sure it reflects a business with which they'll want to spend money. You don't have to shell out big bucks or incorporate the latest online bells and whistles in order to deliver a good visitor experience. Here are some important items to consider:

1. Determine why visitors come to your website.

You want to make it as easy as possible for them to find what they are looking for-whether that's your phone number, hours of operation, address, list of products or online store. You also want to make sure that they see what you want them to see, which leads to #2.

2. Know what you want from a visitor.

Are you looking to grow your email database? Attract attention to lesser-used products or services? Encourage online purchases? Whatever your goal, be sure to guide the visitor to the appropriate content. It's important to incorporate a call-to-action on your website just as you might do on a print ad or shelf-talker.

3. Make it easy for people to find you online.

Don't neglect the basics, such as including your website on your business card, in print pieces and on materials at your physical location. Businesses with more established sites should consider email marketing and online advertising. And of course, search engines are a critical source of new visitors to your website. (See "Getting on Google's Good Side" for more on this topic.)

4. Don't let it stagnate.

If you want folks to come back to your site for anything other than basic information, be sure that your site is refreshed regularly. Your site doesn't need to be flashy to be fresh. Worst case scenario: If you know that you will not be changing content often, carefully consider how things will read several months, or even a year, down the line.

5. Track your results and adjust as necessary.

You should be able to track where users go within your site, which pages are most popular and even how those visitors found you. Use this information to further refine your website strategy.