Posts Tagged website

When Search Engine Optimization, SEO, is done properly, your website can pay you very rich dividends. When it is not done correctly, that same website is like a palm tree in the desert. It looks wonderful, but no one knows it’s there. More pointedly, potential customers can’t find you and will be forced to spend their money elsewhere.

Here are 5 quick tips to help get your website headed in the right direction, so you can reap the rewards and increase your company’s bottom line.

1.     Keyword Research - Think of keywords in terms of what you or your customers type into a search engine to find your product or services. Your website’s content should be keyword rich for both search engines and web visitors. Google provides a free keyword research tool. It will show you the most popular keywords for your industry. You can find it at http://bit.ly/p0N6OY.
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Whatever you do, do not create excuses for not taking on new projects and sales that can generate you money. I remember the first time that I sold a website. It was to our local chamber of commerce and I had absolutely no idea of how to make one. All I knew at the time was that there was a program called Adobe Dreamweaver that could help you make a site. Of course, I was a bit concerned at first and if I could not get the job done, I would have hired someone else to do it for me. If I would have turned that job down, it very well would have affected any referral work that the chamber of commerce would have brought my business. Business is too hard to come by to turn down work. It can have a nasty residual effect on your company’s bottom line.

So when it comes to getting a project that may be a bit too consuming for your company, refuse to say no to the money. If you are a florist and you just can’t handle the size of the order, then, higher temporary help or get other local florist companies involved that can offer you a decent price and at the same time, allow you to still make a profit.

If you perform well just once in situations like this, you can get more projects from the same customer as well as highly desirable referrals. Do not make it harder on yourself and do not make excuses by choosing not to bid. If there is money to be made, do not pass up on the opportunity because it will never come by again.

Some may mistakingly think that the quality of their product or service is the most important aspect of their business, but they are dead wrong. There are a lot of average products or services out there in the market place that make a whole lot of money due to effective marketing and sales. It is selling that is more important. Either the business owner does it or they must hire salespeople that can do it for them.

For the small business, sales is a time consuming process that involves reaching out to prospective customers, meeting with them, explaining your product or services’ benefits, answering follow up questions, and asking for the order. You cannot afford to become complacent when it comes to your business cash flow. Without it, the doors close permanently. It simply is not enough to sit at ease in your office or store front waiting for customers to magically appear.  You must pursue them relentlessly with taste and tactfulness.

The customer already expects a quality service or product from you so you are wasting your time if you are putting quality ahead of sales. Just because you build a better mouse trap does not mean that people will buy it. How can they buy something that they have not heard of? It is not enough to have a website, some brochures, nice business cards, and a fancy office. You must actively promote and sell your business nonstop.  This means making cold calls, calling old customers, placing targeted ads, creating radio spots, running adwords campaigns, and the list goes on. As a small business owner, you must continually, without deviation, pursue the potential customer  through referrals, introductions and appointments. Always keep in mind that quality is not job #1. It is Sales that are the #1 job in the company.