Here are 13 tips to ensure your website is doing the best it can from the start for both you and your prospective customers.
As marketers, we are all constantly learning and changing the way we communicate with consumers as technologies advance and customer habits and needs change. But the basics of marketing remain the same. We need to appeal to new customers and get them to try our brand and give them a memorable experience, and we need to keep existing ones entertained and engaged and stop them going elsewhere. Do what's right for the customer and everything else should flow from that.
In the online world, this starts with your website -- your shop window to the world. Get that right and people will be able to find you, find what they want from you, decide that they like you, make a purchase, come back as often as they want, and tell their friends about you. This goes for websites around the world, not just in Asia.
Here are 13 tips you can follow to ensure your website is doing the best it can from the start for both you and your prospective customers:
(1) A good, logical site structure and an appealing look-and-feel. Make it look good from the front and from behind.
(2) An intuitive and simple customer funnel -- ensure the visitor has to go no more than three clicks from the home page or the menu bar to their desired information or to conversion by means of contact or sale.
(3) A good internal linking structure -- make navigation simple and logical for the visitor, whether human or search engine bot.
(4) Logical well-named URLs and page titles, based on keyword and competitor research. Pick a keyword for each page and stick to it.
(5) Well-written sales-focused description metatags -- be creative and beat competitors to the click in the search engine organic listings.
(6) Well-written, well-optimised copy -- make it easy-to-read for all visitors, human or search engine bot alike.
(7) Focus on one keyword/keyphrase per page -- use the words that customers use in everyday life, not internal jargon.
(8) Good use of keywords in image titles and ALT tags -- be friendly to those with a disability and help yourself in search engines at the same time.
(9) A well-structured sitemap -- let the search engines do their work and flow through your website.
(10) A well-stocked glossary with appropriate internal links -- let the search engines do their work and help your customers, too.
(11) A well-resourced press release section -- make each press release a separate page and get customers through the side-door.
(12) Employ a user-friendly multilingual-capable CMS -- make sure your back-end systems are easy to use and work for you.
(13) Speak to customers in their own language -- especially important in Asia. Translate everything, localise it, and help customers, whether human or search engine bot.
Of course, these tips only cover internal efforts on the website and they are not exhaustive. PPC search, SEO efforts, affiliate marketing, display ads, mobile marketing, email newsletters, direct mail, TV, ATL ads, radio -- all your external communications efforts will increase what you can achieve, pull more customers through the door, and hopefully help you in your ultimate aim to increase sales and revenue.
In today's world your website is usually the first place people will encounter you, your company, and your brand. It can make or break a sale and a relationship. So, get it right by getting back to basics!
Huw Waters is digital marketing manager for the Middle East and Asia Pacific at British Airways.