There are many small, local businesses that could benefit from a web site online. But, for the most part, they're not taking advantage of this opportunity. Why?
Most small businesses don't see having a website as a means of getting them new customers or making them money in general. Many put up a website during the .com days when everyone thought they needed a website on the internet. These businesses found that their website did nothing for them but cost money to host it online. They didn't see this as advertising dollars well spent.
Much of the problem concerning a small business putting up a website comes from their lack of knowledge of how to use a website to their benefit. When you do see a local small business on the internet, their site generally says to the public "Here we are". And viewers respond to this with "Who cares".
Local business websites dwell on themselves. Long descriptions of how their business got established, what they're about, fancy images that are slow to load, funky fonts, and flashy, self-gratifying pages. These things aren't meant to sell and they don't. The truth is, local business owners have no idea of how to use their website to bring more traffic to their doors or to make sales for them.
They also have no idea how to optimize their website and pages so the search engines and visitors can find them in the first place. Most of these sites fall on "blind eyes". When no one ever sees them, how can they bring customers and sales to their door. It's not their fault, they just don't know how to properly utilize their website to their advantage.
So, what do you do to maximize your small business website and take full advantage of what the internet has to offer you? That depends on the type of business you're in. A storefront business that sells a multitude of products will have to utilize their website differently than a company that provides a service.
A small company specializing in a service or specialized products will want to make an informational website. People surf the web for information and this is the bait you will need to use to get them to your website. You can offer different pages on your site that deal with specific information that answers your visitor's questions and desires. Keep each page concentrating on only one question with lots of information about it. Give your website visitors the answers they are searching for and at the same time provide them with the services or products you sell that will solve the problems they are looking for information on.
I always want to get the name and email address of my visitors so that I can follow up with them. It's a known fact that most website visitors don't buy until they've heard your offer more than once. The trick is to get their personal info so that you can present your offer again. So, how do you do this? Your visitors aren't going to just give away their personal information to you.
But they will if you give them something in return. For the small business, I've found that the best means of getting personal information is to offer a "free" white paper report that gives the visitor a more detailed look at the problem they're having, the question they are asking, or your product and how it fits their needs. A white paper is written to be informational but at the same time is also a mild sales pitch.
For instance, you own a small construction company that specializes in log home construction. You offer a white paper report contrasting the different types of log home construction techniques. In this paper, you point out the uniqueness of your style of construction and contrast it with other types. You also point out it's superiority to other techniques. You provide testimonials from your previous, satisfied customers to back this up. Near the end of the report you should provide phone contact information for setting up an appointment to go over the customers needs and how you can satisfy them. You should also provide them with email information so they can contact you that way too.
If you sell products that center around a specific industry, you can offer a white paper on the general industry and one for each product. Web visitors are looking for specific information so you need to narrow down the white papers to those specifics. Think of your customers and their needs and don't focus on your company and how great you are. They don't want to hear that. I know you think a lot about yourself and your company, but the visitor only thinks "Who cares" to that line of thought. They're thinking about "What's in it for me". "How does it benefit me and answer my problem?"
How you deliver the white paper report is another question that needs to be answered. Since you're making your contact online, you can write your white paper in .pdf format and deliver it to your customer by allowing them to download it. This is done with an autoresponder. You provide an "opt-in" form on your website for your visitor to give you their name and email address to recieve the white paper. When they submit this, their information is sent to an autoresponder service that collects and saves that information and sends them the download link so they can get the white paper.
In the future, if you want to follow up with that customer, you have their email address and you simply go to your autoresponder service and send them an email. Or, you can set up a set of sequential emails that are delivered at certain intervals with follow up information. I've found that AWeber is a perfect, and reliable autoresponder service for this purpose.
You can also deliver your white paper manually. For this you will have to ask the visitor to phone you with a request for the white paper. I've found this entirely unsatisfactory as most web visitors don't want to deal with a human being. But if this is your preferred way, set up a phone number with a voice recorder to take their name and address. You can then mail them. But if this is the way you're going to deliver your white paper, I would sent it Federal Express as the customer will think it more important and they will think that you are more concerned with their needs.
What if you're a store front owner and want to make money from the internet? You can offer an opt-in form that will send your customers printable discount coupons for your weekly, monthly, or whatever specials. These coupons can only be found online and differ from the ones in the local newspaper or found in store.
This is accomplished through the autoresponder method as described above. The autoresponder will deliver an email with the coupon which the customer then prints out and brings to your store for redemption. There are means of making these coupons with a barcode so that they will be easy for your clerks to use. You can then use this customer list to send emails on specific sales, information on new products, etc.
You could also make a shopping cart specifically for your internet customers where they can order items online and come pick them up at your store. Or you could mail them to the customer. Or provide a delivery service for specific items.
The sky is the limit when it comes to using the internet for a small, local business. Think up your own unique ways of using it. The main thing is that you make use of it for more than saying "Here we are". You want to use the internet to your advantage. To bring in new customers during their online search for information. By providing the information and answers to their questions, you can bring their foot traffic to your business. Or you can get their personal information so that you can follow up efficiently, gain their confidence, and gain their sales.
Think of the internet as fitting into your advertising goals. Not just as a means of telling the public about your business and yourself as has been traditionally done by most small businesses. This is only asking for failure and going to cost you more than it's worth. Be inventive in the ways you use your website and realize that the internet can be a benefit to you and gain you new customers while making the most of the customers you already have.