Create a ‘Web’ of Intrigue
Posted March 26th, 2008 by ybo
Is your business getting tangled up in the Web?
It could be time to ramp up your Web site. The payoff can be well worth the effort. Consider The Pangaro Group, a firm that focuses on financial advising for small business and individuals. Owner Jeffrey Pangaro says online business now accounts for 80 percent of his annual profits since his company’s Web site was redesigned. “The difference in business is truly amazing,” Pangaro says. “We had a 300 percent lift in requests the first week we went live.”
Be Open to Change
How do you know whether your site is underperforming? Scott Fox, an online marketing expert and author of Internet Riches, suggests asking these questions:
- How well does your site rank on search engines like Google® or Yahoo!® for the search keywords relevant to your products?
- How many new leads or email subscribers are you attracting each day?
- How many unique visitors are you getting and—more importantly—how many of them are converting to sales?
- What does your neighbor think? Ask someone such as your neighbor, who knows what you do but is not too close to the business, to try using your site. A quick and inexpensive usability test like this can be eye-opening.
Think Like a Customer
Once you decide it’s time to improve your Web site, keep your audience top of mind during a redesign. Anne Ricciardi, an online marketing adviser and owner of Anne Ricciardi Design in Miami, emphasizes the importance of thinking like a customer during the redesign. In particular, make sure that you:
Create a site that effectively communicates what you do and where you do it. “Is your message well-presented?” Ricciardi asks. “Do your viewers understand what they can get from you? Are you addressing their needs?”
Remember to work with your audience in mind. Don’t make viewers wade through your mission statement and pictures from the company picnic just to find out whether you have what they want. Make the information that matters most to them easily accessible.
Put your emphasis on the content, not just a flashy design. Although it’s important to have an attractive site that communicates trust and professionalism, there needs to be more to your site than just good graphics.
Drive Business to Your Site
Once you’ve identified the basic message and content of your site, start thinking about how you can advertise online.
When your business advertisement appears to the right and sometimes above relevant search results, you’re connecting with somebody who’s already interested in the services you have to offer,” Ricciardi says. “It’s an enormous advertising advantage.”
Dex One can help. Dex Search Marketing has access to exciting new technology that allows customers to advertise on major search engines and their ad networks. Our simple four-step process is designed to put your business in front of customers by helping you advertise on popular search engine results pages:
- Your Dex Storefront captures your business information all in one place.
- Dex One distributes your business information to local search platforms.
- Drive traffic to your Storefront through a Sponsored Links campaign.
- Provides detailed, transparent reporting of your results.
Plus, Dex One offers sponsored advertising options that give you even more online attention. You can also benefit from the reporting features that let you keep track of online leads and measure results. For more information, contact your Dex One Local Marketing Consultant.
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