Do you have a web site or a web business?
What is the difference?
Let me ask you this: Is a web site a business tool or is a web site a business? It’s a trick question. It's both.
As examples: For the small business owner, a web site is a sales and marketing tool. For the most of us – and probably all of us - a web site is a business.
Web site: A web site can be a family site with pictures and details of the family's life events. A web site can be a showcase of an individual's poetry. A web site doesn't necessarily have to sell or promote anything.
Web Business: A web business offers part or all of the business processes on one web site at one time. This could involve web-based marketing for a local printing company, a lead-generation site for a network marketer, an infopreneur site focused on affiliate programs or ebook sales, a jewelry designer who sells products via the internet – as well as many more possible types of businesses.
If you want your site to be a business, you have to treat it like one.
So, how do you objectively review your site to determine if it meets the criteria of a web business?
As Stephen Covey puts it: Begin with the end in mind.
In evaluating your web site, the first thing you want to focus on is how you are making money from it. Are you selling ebooks or a service? Are you generating income with Adsense? You need to determine what it is that you want your business to accomplish. What is the goal of your site?
Your MWR
What is it that you want your visitors to do? That's your Most Wanted Response.
Once you determine how you want your visitors to behave, you can determine if your site leads them to that goal. Does your content lead your visitor to your MWR?
If you have multiple MWR's, do you guide your visitors effectively on each page?
Do you pre-sell or do you sell?
Traffic
Now that you know what your site is going to accomplish, you have to ensure you reach your target audience. You need a solid marketing plan – as all successful businesses do. You have to assess and adjust your marketing scheme based on your audience and your goals.
I am not going to market my resume service the same way I market my herbal remedies affiliate programs. They are two totally different objectives and have to be handled in different ways. I can market my resume service via craigslist, but I'll do better posting to alternative health forum sites for herbal treatments.
Marketing your site comes on-line comes in the form of traffic generation and it can be done in a lot of ways: social bookmarking, article distribution, free and/or paid directories, press releases and more. Find out what works for your target audience – and don't be afraid to experiment with new ways of drawing traffic. You might be surprised at what works.
Presentation
What does your site look like? Does the look and feel match the site concept? If it doesn't, change it. Get someone else's opinion – friends, family or even in the forums. Make sure your site looks professional. If you need to hire a coach to update the design, do it. It will be worth it in the long run.
Is your site easy to navigate, with Tier 2 pages that sub-divide well and naturally lead to several Tier 3 pages?
Site structure (i.e., natural sub-categorization/flow/linking to numerous TIER 3s) is most important. Your visitors must feel that you have sliced and diced your site in a logical, easy-to-understand manner.
And lastly....
Content
Your site must provide some benefit to your audience.
A Web site's reputation is based on the depth of information and value that it provides to its visitors. You must be the expert in your field. If you are running a business, you have to represent yourself as a business owner, not as a hobbyist who wants to make a little money on the side. Well-written, keyword focused content pages are what ties your business goals to your visitor's needs. When you satisfy their hunger and thirst for information, they will reward you with their moolah.
Conclusion
So, next time you look at your site, evaluate it with these ideas in mind and make sure your web site is truly a web business.
How did all this amazing knowledge come about?
I work for SiteSell and in the past 4 years, I've learned a lot about search engine optimization, generating free traffic, ranking highly in the search engines and making thousands with Adsense.
Here's one of my sites: Professional-Resume-Example.com If you do a search on Google for professional resume, my site is usually #3 or #4. Not bad for a work-from-home-mom. ;)
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Carla
