By Elvire Gosnold, Director, Blabbermouth Marketing: Everyone agrees that you need an online presence for your business, but what people can't agree on is what exactly you should expect from your website and what portion of your marketing budget you should spend on it.
When thinking about commissioning a new website you need to ask yourself several questions to shape the expectations you should have on how your website works for you, and therefore how much time and money you should invest in it.
Some companies with old websites have the attitude that there is no need for a new website as their current one brings in no new business and no significant number of visitors. This should come as no surprise if the pages have not been updated for the past year and the web address is not promoted on other forms of company communication. Websites do drive new business but the manner in which this is accomplished is bespoke to the requirements of a business.
What are the incentives to get people to visit? How will your customers and prospects benefit from visiting your site? B2B customers want to be educated and feel that your website is enriching their knowledge of the wider product set that you are offering. Repeat visits are ideal, so what can be posted regularly to encourage habitual visits? How will your company benefit from having increased traffic to your site and is it worth the time and effort?
Simply throwing money at PPC (pay per click) advertising will make your site more prominent. But if it is irrelevant and visitors accidentally visit your site there is little justification for the money spent. It is important that you attract the right visitors and once you have their attention think carefully about what and how you plan to present your corporate messaging to them.