How does web design fit into your marketing plan? Does your website's design even affect your internet marketing at all? These are two questions you absolutely must be asking yourself if you are serious about doing great marketing for your company. Your website should be designed to integrate directly with ALL of the marketing that you do, whether it is online marketing or print work. Your website must compliment it and work with it at all times.
It's still tough to get some people to realize that your website is the absolute foundation of all your marketing activities. It does more for you than print, radio, TV, billboards and Yellow Pages because it can market and track your other marketing. In fact, about the only marketing that gives the web a run for its money is direct mail. Since that is about 100 times more expensive than a website, it pays to focus your attention on the web first.
Think about your website:
It is the only employee that never calls in sick. It records messages and answers questions 24 hours a day. If, and that's a big IF, you don't have this simple functionality you need it and you need it now!
It's the only marketing you have that can send an instant and personalized response to prospective customers at 3 am on a Sunday morning by using pre-programmed auto responders and follow-up letters.
It's the only marketing you have that can collect detailed information on prospects while you sleep by using dynamic request forms.
It's the only marketing you can do that incrementally lowers your future marketing costs with almost every visit to your website.
There is no more important marketing tool at your disposal than your website, yet most businesses are content to trade out to amateur designers or the owner's son-in-law rather than make the commitment to a world class website. Even where businesses have made substantial investments with ad agencies or web design companies, they almost always miss the mark. While these vendors understand the technology and design aspects, they DO NOT understand the marketing aspects of great websites. Your website cannot just be pretty, it has to be MARKETING MACHINE; 98% are not!
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