Your business most likely has a business plan, and possibly a marketing plan. But have you ever thought of writing a marketing plan strictly for your website? Think about it…your website is very often the hub of your business. It is a manifestation of everything your business represents to you, clients and future partnerships. Many people fall into the mistaken belief that “if they build it, they will come” and don’t actively market their website.

When considering marketing options, you have to look both online and offline. The best thing you can do to market your website online is to hire a reputable, ethical search engine optimization (SEO) company to handle the marketing for you. This is an extremely dynamic field and hiring a professional will save you much time and money in the long run. Not being an expert in online marketing myself, I cannot speak to the details. However, after many years pounding the pavement with traditional marketing, I want to point out a few options for marketing your website offline.

1) First and foremost put your website address on ALL printed materials. And, if you are expecting great things from your website traffic, don’t be afraid to print it large! Too many times I witness the website buried at the bottom of the address line like an afterthought. If you want clients to use your website, make it easy for them.

2) When conducting business via email, be sure to use your email address @yourdomain.com. That way if you are corresponding with clients who are unfamiliar with your site, they can easily find it. Also, make sure you add your website to your email signature line – even for personal emails. You never know who is going to receive a forwarded message!

3) While you certainly do not need to purchase radio or TV advertising in order to promote your website effectively, if your business is already utilizing these marketing tools be sure that your website plays a prominent role. Urge listeners to visit your website for more information. Be sure the announcer says your domain name and/or it flashes on the screen for at least a few seconds.

4) Make sure to include your website in all of your public relations. Add it to the top of all press releases as part of your contact information and when applicable include it in the release itself. For instance, if you are announcing a new product or service you can say “more details can be found via our Web site…” If you write articles for publications, be sure your website is added to your bio information as well.

Of course there are many, many ways to market a website based on budget and time. The above ideas are great ways to get started using the marketing tools you may already have in place!

Tags: Marketing //