If you’re launching a new business, then you’ll probably have a website too. In order for your website to attract traffic and encourage visitors to become customers, you’ll need to make sure that it is found in the search engines.
Here are 10 tips for new businesses.
1. Make sure that you choose a good domain name. You might want to have your company name, as well as the products you sell, or the industry you’re in. Will people search for emergency plumber, or jsmith and sons?
2. Get a holding page, or coming soon page up as soon as you can. The search engines use the age of a site as one of the ranking factors, so the older the site the better. Even if you don’t intend to have a fully operational site for a while, it’s a good idea to get something up there.
3. Include some sort of data capture on your holding page. You’ll want to encourage your visitors to register with you, so that you can inform them when your site does go live.
4. Why not consider having an email newsletter from the very start? You’ll have a list of people who are interested in your products or services, and who will be interested in doing business with you.
5. Try and change the content frequently on your website, even if it’s just a coming soon page. You might want to add some pages about the products or services you’ll be offering, or provide a buyer’s guide, or more information about your location. The more content the better.
6. Add content regularly rather than all at once. It’s better from an SEO point of view to add a page a week for a year, than to add 50 pages all in one go. Don’t forget to make sure that all your pages are linked, so that visitors can explore your website.
7. Have a blog so that you can keep your visitors informed as to when your website will be going live, and what they can expect from you.
8. Use social media if relevant to announce your website, or perhaps if you’re an established offline company, you’ll want to make sure that your existing customers know that you’re launching an online venture.
9. Include your website on all your stationery, and everywhere else your company name is mentioned. This will provide additional publicity, and ensure that your website is seen by as many people as possible.
10. If appropriate, why not release a press release or see if you can be featured in a local newspaper, or be interviewed in a relevant trade magazine? This will create an interest in what you have to offer, and will help to attract both visitors and links to your site, which are important.
Now you know more about how you can get your website to rank well before it’s fully launched, why not make your SEO and online marketing plans now?
