Web Design: 5 Marketing Decisions to Make Before Getting Started

Regardless of how the small business owner has positioned his or her business, the web designer is often tasked with achieving nearly magical online marketing results. The web design process is expected to achieve a beautiful and persuasive online presence, plus search engine optimization feats that will drive increased website traffic, and create new customers and revenue. But, how can a web designer create loyal customers for a business the community perceives as unfriendly or whose products or services as lackluster?

Unfortunately, web designers are not magicians. The true marketing magic begins with the key strategic and tactical decisions made by business owners and marketers. That said, a talented web designer with solid online marketing experience can refine and amplify your value propositions and the reasons customers should select you over the competition. Your website design, social media pages, and search engine optimization efforts alone cannot overcome a poorly crafted business strategy, but they can certainly supplement and amplify a good one.

1. Identify your niche
   Lined up in a row with 9 white ducks, a black duck will capture everyone’s attention. Your business needs something unique, an added value for the market that cannot be experienced with any other competitor. What makes your business different from the competition?
   
   
2. Resolve product and service quality issues
   There is no marketing that can overcome bad business. On the contrary, good business practice requires less marketing because people talk about and recommend businesses which have provided a good customer experience. What can you do to make your business deliver better quality?
   
   
3. Find ways to be creative and innovative
   Traditional marketing techniques are often met with a yawn. Thanks to continuous innovations in marketing and advertising, consumers expect marketing materials, web pages, and online advertising of all kinds to give them something to talk about. GEICO understands this very well. How can you change your online marketing strategy to create a buzz, surprise people, and drive referrals?
   
   
4. Become a subject matter expert
   It does not matter what industry you are in – people react to and purchase expertise. They expect you to be knowledgeable on whatever it is you do as a business. How can you position the leaders of your business as experts customers come to rely on for advice? Hint – think blogging and content marketing.
   
   
5. Be in the event business
   Which of the following would be easier to accomplish: building a following of people day-after-day and month-after-month when nothing special is going on with your business OR building a following of people who want to be involved in a special event hosted by your business? Instead of worrying about how to keep people coming back to your website, think about how to keep people coming back to events hosted by your business. People talk to their friends about special events. What events can your business host? What types of events can you host online vs. in your store or at your business?

Online marketing success begins with the decisions made by small business owners and marketers like you.  What magic can you create today that your web designer can communicate (and amplify) to your market? Think about that, and then contact your web designer.

We have the website design and marketing expertise to plan, design and execute a powerful internet marketing strategy backed by a state-of-the-art website. Contact us today to learn more!