What is Web Site Marketing?
What do we mean by Marketing? The dictionary has this to say:
the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
Web site or Internet Marketing can be defined similarly. The difference is the medium used for selling. A web site is different from a brick-and-mortar store. There isn’t always a physical location. And there isn’t someone for the visitor to talk to. It is even different from a sales catalog. While there are similarities to a catalog, you can’t sit down and flip through the pages of a web site in quite the same way.
Web sites are unique entities. They have a lot to offer and in many ways are better than a brick-and-mortar store or even a catalog. Ever tried shopping a department store at 3 AM? In your PJs? Can’t be done. Ever wanted to see a larger image of something in a catalog? Or different views? Also can’t be done. A web site can also provide more information than a catalog. Catalogs are space limited because of the cost of ink, paper and postage.
At what point should you begin looking at marketing for your web site? After it’s live? During design? Internet marketing starts with your domain name, and continues all the way to the content on your web site. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, you don’t have a salesperson to talk with your visitors. Your web site is the salesperson.
Ideally, web site marketing isn’t something you do to your site after it goes live. It’s an integral part of all that is done to and for your website. If you don’t consider web site marketing from the beginning, you’ll spend more money later reworking your web site based on your marketing needs. Which isn’t to say that it can’t be done after the fact. It can. But if you have the luxury of choosing, consider website marketing from day one.
Contact bwh Web Designs today for help with your web site marketing.
