Your Business Website Content and Internet Marketing Needs to Adapt to the New Trends
Internet Marketing and Maintaining A Business Website Presence is Changing
The other day I was talking with a friend and discussing with him how Internet marketing and maintaining a business website presence has changed. I am writing this blog article with him in mind, but let me share it with you (hint – this blog article is an example of how the internet marketing and website presence is changing).
Dramatic Growth of the Internet
In the beginning (okay I am now sounding like the old guy, but…) all you had to do was create the business website with your product or service offering, clean up your search engine optimization (SEO) and maybe purchase a few affordable paid advertising sources and the sales traffic to your website would come. Especially if what you sold had any specific aspects that differentiated it from the larger Internet universe. However, these days the space is getting too crowded, and as the developing world becomes more and more online capable and savvy, there is going to be an even great growth of Internet content.
I Know The Internet Is Growing Fast, But What Does That Mean For My Business?
When I was searching for an image on Internet growth for this blog article, I stumbled upon a chart by a business called “Pingdom” (www.pingdom.com). In looking at their images, I made my way to their website. Pingdom is a website monitoring service and if I was looking for another performance monitoring service, I would now give their business a quick consideration.
Do you think I would have found Pingdom by searching for “website performance monitoring”? Or do you think I knew the company “Pingdom” before today? The answer is no to both these questions, my relationship with Pingdom did not exist for me until they gave me something I wanted today.
Your company name and your listing of services do not really matter. What matters is how you support what the person is searching for!
The Internet is No Longer about Your Business Service or Products; it is about the Information Needs of Your Potential Customer
With internet communication, it is not what you do; it is how you immediately help people searching for something that builds the relationship.
Let me give you an example. There are probably hundreds of companies who offer insurance to mining companies. Most of their leads are going to come from word-of-mouth. However, those insured might have a question that they would rather research online than by contacting their representative. Or they might be considering another company if they are not satisfied with their existing mining company insurance provider.
They would then type in Google Search: mining company insurance.
With this search Chubb (Search #1 -http://www.chubb.com/businesses/cci/chubb1682.html) is now in my basket of companies to consider for my Mining Company’s insurance needs. These guys seem to know their stuff. But…
Chubb is not trying to really help me. All they want to do is sell me something. They are just like all the other companies as I click links going down the search page. The company that would hold me and get me to bookmark them is the one that gave me lots of information about mining insurance in addition to their service offering. I know they want to sell me something, but I would see their expertise and graciousness and would remember them and put them to the top of my list.
Companies not seeing the need to better support the questions of those online are missing incredible opportunities. Your business better “get over itself”, it is not about you, it is about the needs of the Internet searcher. Start giving them something beyond what you sell, it is not enough anymore to talk about your business. Start trying to help your customer right away with their search question. If you treat them well, many will come closer and buy your services or products.
eosFirst.com is located in Oakville, Ontario. Garrett Hall and his team have assisted businesses across Canada with their online development. Contact us today if you have any questions or would like us to get your business website content and marketing up to speed.
Written by eosfirst
Garrett Hall is an online marketing & development expert with eosFirst AuroraCon. eosFirst is a website design, online development, online marketing and information technology consultancy.