Market situation analysis,
web site marketing plan and strategy
Web site marketing is not rocket science. If you do the
basics well and avoid some common errors, you should succeed.
Here are top mistakes marketers make online:
Failing to adequately analyse their web markets and their
web site competitors. Analysing the web site marketing of
your UK bricks and mortar competitors is not enough. A thorough
market situation
analysis is essential.
Failing to understand how people reach their site. What
brought them to the site and how did they find it - search
engine, directory, word of mouth?
Not defining a clear strategy for the web site marketing.
The market situation
analysis (above) is a precondition.
Not defining clear and measurable, goals for the web site.
The market analysis and strategy (above) are preconditions.
Without goals, how do the staff responsible for the web business
know what they should be aiming at?
Not clearly stating how visitors will benefit by using their
web site. The main site pages and particularly the home page,
need to state benefits - how they will benefit from your products
and why they should do business with your organisation. Every
page must answer the unstated question in the visitor's mind
- what's in this, for me?
Making it difficult to find their web site. Search engines
and directories are highly effective and virtually free, traffic
generators. An appallingly high percentage of web pages either
cannot be, or cannot easily be, indexed by search engines.
Making it difficult for people to use their web site. Mistakes
include essential information that is difficult to find (such
as having to complete an order before learning the shipping
costs), too many layers and the use of heavy bandwidth graphics
(your customers, that is people who return to your site, are
not impressed with the fancy graphics after their first time,
they just perceive them to be wasting their valuable time).
Overspending on advertising while virtually ignoring very
significantly more cost effective alternatives to drive traffic
to their web site.
Failing to understand that their web customers are smart
and ruthless with a massive number of competitors, instantly
available to them. Don't like something about your site? CLICK
and they're gone.
Failing to cost effectively spend their precious cash and
assuming that easy capital raising conditions will last long
enough for them to reach a positive cashflow.
Inadequately integrating their web site with their bricks
and mortar operation. People use the web as part of their
buying process. They go online to source vendors, check product
feature, specifications and prices. But if they are buying
other than inexpensive or uncomplicated products or services,
they still will want to talk to a salesperson. Determine all
information a customer requires to make an informed purchase
then allocate this appropriately between the website and your
bricks and mortar staff.
Merchant Internet assists the:
development of Internet strategies
preparation of Internet marketing plans
improvement of web sites on market and competitive research
Implement a well thought out web marketing plan
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