Many internet business owners (myself included) question the need for an old fashioned static website.
I mean, after all if you've got a blog chances are that it's getting waaaaay more traffic than your static website, so why not concentrate your business web presence on your blog, rather than keeping a separate biz website? Why not set things up so that potential clients are directed to the business blog, rather than to your static "business only" website?
For us internet business owners, having a strong web presence is a HUGE deal, so I wanted to really think things out and make some educated decisions. Basically
I'm thinking that I want to make better use of my blog as a marketing
platform for my biz, possibly just have a web page for my biz going off of my blog rather than a separate website.
As I was pondering how to go about doing a better job with my online marketing, I remembered a really helpful video that web marketing consultant Jason Broadwater did about how to create a strong web presence.
If you're struggling with the whole web presence conundrum, Jason's tips on online branding may help you get some direction. They've definitely helped me. Here's his advice for creating a solid online brand (which we definitely need in order to create an effective website):
1) Say one thing loud and clear. Trying to be all things to all people with the hope that you'll attract more clients is a huge mistake. The more things you try to be, the less you are. The more services you try to offer, the more competition you have to deal with. The more you focus in and limit what services you offer, the stronger your brand will be. Nike=sports stuff. Microsoft=software. Xerox=copies. Volvo=super safe cars. That's what branding is all about. When potential clients look at your website, they need to get one simple message about what you can do for them.
2) Do not dilute your brand. Lots of us have a number of different services we provide, and Jason says that if that's the case, we should build our brands around the service that will bring in the most traffic. We can still do all that other stuff, but we don't need to bombard potential clients who visit our website with a laundry list of every little thing we can do. Think about Starbucks, the branding Masters of the Universe. They sell coffee, tea, pastries, music, coffee accessories, and a whole bunch of other stuff, but they've branded themselves simply as "Starbucks Coffee".
3) Create your brand, then become it. The more you laser beam in on what services you provide and who you provide them for, the more you'll tap into the motivation of a certain target market. What do your prospects want? Understand the needs of your potential clients, then build your brand around that and change your business to become that image over the next 2 years. You create the image of what you want your company to look like to customers, then you build your company to align with that image.
4) Use your brand to engage and reach people. If your brand matches your potential client's motivation, needs and desires, then they will be willing to engage and take action after seeing your website. They may not be ready to buy your product yet, but you should give them another opportunity to engage with you. Have a blog or a newsletter that they can sign up for or an autoresponder that they can sign up to receive.
5) A focused brand makes Google happy. When you "say one thing loud and clear", you'll have a much easier time getting traffic to your website. You'll be able to focus on one keyword or phrase and use it throughout your website. Having such a streamlined website with a narrow topic will help tell Google and all the other search engines what your website is about. The clearer Google is about the topic of your website, the higher it will rank your website when folks type your keywords into the search box. Your page rank elevates and more traffic comes to your website.
The main point here is that In order to have strong website, you need a strong online brand. It doesn't matter how small your business is--You cannot have a strong website if you don't take the time to create that brand.
Jason's tips have really helped me re-focus and get a better idea of how to proceed with my own business website, and I'll be makin' some changes soon. Hopefully it's helped y'all a bit too. 
Okay, this is helpful. Esp. on not trying to be all things to all people.
Miss you, Sharon! And hope you are well!
Posted by: Maryam in Marrakech | July 18, 2007 at 05:05 PM
Hey Maryam,
Miss you too! :-)
I have been uber busy, but I need to take some time off to relax at My Marakesh. That would definitely refresh me. :-)
Posted by: Sharon Sarmiento | July 18, 2007 at 09:37 PM