10-tips on how to develop an effective Website Marketing Strategy

Rather than using a “one-size fits all ” web marketing strategy template, I often stun my clients by asking lots of questions. Questions like, Who is your target audience? What do you want them to do on your site? What are they currently doing? Are they finding what they came for? If not, why not. Are you measuring any sort of conversion goals? This is the point where I am usually interrupted as they start to ramble on about how they wish they had met me sooner. Little do they know those are just a few of the absolutely essential questions, all of which can easily be measured.

I had a random thought the other day, “What would I recommend to someone developing a website if I met them on an elevator and had 20 seconds to talk?” Out of this thought the following 10 items manifested themselves, which you can use as a high-level checklist when developing your strategy:

1. Determine your overall high-level marketing objectives (e.g. increase market share, increase membership, attain higher revenues)
2. Perform a needs analysis (e.g. survey your existing audience online, conduct interviews, etc…)
3. Segment your target market (e.g youth) and choose between specific target audiences (e.g. socially active, male hockey players, aged 18-25) based on your marketing research.
4. Come up with clear “calls to action” and website conversion goals that are based on your marketing objectives
5. Foster a fluid experience (i.e. smart interactivity) as opposed to static web pages
6. Develop an effective search engine marketing strategy (this encompasses search engine optimization)
7. Develop an effective social media optimization strategy
8. Consistently measure “quality” as opposed to “quantity” of traffic
   
9. Don’t just let the web stats sit on your desk! Use your web metric analysis to continually improve the performance of your website (where “performance” is based on you predetermined measurable objectives)
10. Don’t get left behind! Continually scan the macro environment, look for emerging trends, technologies, laws/regulations and economic forecasts that could affect your online marketing campaign.

There you have it, that’s my thought for the day…