Your home business’s Web site may look great, but if it’s not helping you sell more products and services, it’s a waste of your time and money. Here are some tried-and-true ways to build a Web site that’s a real asset to your home-based business:
Make sure you’re easy to find. Don’t make it difficult for your clients to find you via online search engines. Keep your Web address and content as simple and specific as possible.
Advertise your new address like crazy in daily correspondence. One of the best ways to get the word out about your Web site is to include its address on your business cards, stationery letterhead, invoices, marketing brochures, e-mail taglines, and anyplace else you can possibly fit all those letters and dots.
Give your visitors a reason to visit your site — and to come back again and again. If your site is boring, your client or prospect will click out of the site just as quickly as he or she clicked in. Look for ways to include interesting content on your site that gets updated regularly, such as a blog that lists your business updates or a thread that includes local or business-related news that may or may not affect your clients.
Capture contact information. Encourage your visitors to give you contact information, via e-mail or other means, that you can use in your organization’s marketing and promotional efforts.
Check your site’s statistics, and visit it regularly. Make your Web site your Internet browser’s home page so you can check it every time you go online and make sure all is well. Also, look for online tools that help you track who visits your site, when, and how often.
