Your website is the centre of your strategy

 

What makes a website so important for marketing? Why is it the central element

of any online marketing strategy? Here are a few reasons:

You control the page. A website is a place where you can express your brand

and marketing message fully, in whatever way you want. You are generally

not constrained by anything except your imagination and budget. It is also

the definitive source for accurate facts and information about your business

and products.

• It is a powerful tool. A website is not just an information page: it can be a

powerful marketing and business tool. For example, if you analyse the data

on who visits your page, you can get a good idea of who is interested in your

offering (you will learn about web analytics in chapter 8). You can include an

online store, a community and other features too. You can also customise

your website to reflect exactly what your target market is looking for.

• All roads lead to your website. As you will see in the mind map below, your

website is the hub that all your other marketing strategies lead to. In effect,

it is the final destination for every aspect of your online campaign.

• You are expected to have one. If a customer can’t find you at www.yourbrand.

co.za, they are unlikely to expend any more effort to find you. Today’s

connected audience takes it for granted that your have a slick website with

all the requisite information. Gone are the days of leafing through the Yellow

Pages (unless it’s online); you need a website that is easy to find and even

easier to navigate

It is your brand’s online home. Your website is the one part of the web that

is completely devoted to your brand and marketing message. It serves as a

reference point for customers, fellow businesses and even your own staff.

Not only do you provide content, you can also use it as a point of sale, a

social community and a message board.

• It is stable. While your social networking pages, advertising campaigns, email

newsletters and so on will change, your website will always remain in the

same place (at the same web address). This is extremely important on the

ever-changing web, especially for links that lead to your content.

Think of your website as the online equivalent of your physical office. When clients

visit your office, they expect certain services and features to be in place. The

same principles can be applied to your website.