Business Websites – Do you want a Business Website? Do you need a Business Website? What you want your Business Website to do? What is a Business Website for?

• Ever thought websites are not for you or your business?

• You may think its only large online retailers or big companies who need one?

• Maybe you think that you have to be clever on a computer to have one?

• You may think ‘what the heck do I need a website for, as I advertise elsewhere?’

Whatever you think and whatever else you are doing to promote your business, if you don’t have an online presence, then you are not ever going to reach the full marketing potential of your business.

You know as well as I do, no business leaves marketing and advertising to chance. I bet you also know that no smart business owner keeps to one method of marketing. Like me you understand the need for what we call in the marketing world, the ‘pillars of marketing’ approach.

These pillars are made up of a variety of ways to market and advertise your business. All the top successful companies do this. They leave nothing to chance and maximise all opportunities. As they know that if they don't they are limiting their chance to maximise their on-going potential to attract new customers. 

Consider this. Did Woolworths know that after a hundred years of trading it would disappear from the high street overnight? Did Habitat realise, that after growing so successfully and with a loyal customer base, it would have to close up its high street outlets and move into a small convenient corner of Homebase? Did we expect some of the big banks to crash and leave customers stranded? The answer to all these is no.

 



Regardless of their ability to market or advertise their business, when push came to shove these giants of the business world were vulnerable. As all businesses are.

And that's why if you have decided that your continual flow of self referrals, word of mouth recommendations or responses from that one and only paper directory you advertise in is all your going to do, think again. 

Don't take your business or your personal future for granted. You may well have had a nice steady flow of customers conning to you on the back of your current advertising. But whose to say how it will be next month, next year or in the years to come. One day you could be another business which succumbs to the unknown consumer market which will be with us as we proceed toward 2014 and beyond.

Businesses close down for a number of reasons. The main reason is cash flow. That cash flow needs consumers. Consumers need to know you are there. They then need to be made aware that what you have on offer matches what they need. They then need reassurance that you can deliver on what you say you can offer.

So if you want to ensure you attract the people who are going to supply you with the money to keep that cash flow ticking over, you will need to take a serious look at your marketing strategy. And if you haven't yet got a good number of different ways to market your business, then get cracking and get some ideas of what you can do.

Because by having these different pillars of marketing in place. These different ways to advertise and promote your business. You are much more likely to maximise your chance to hook in new customers. Because potential customers don’t just read one newspaper. They don’t just respond to  a direct letter or flyer.

Out there in that big wide world of potential customers are people like yourself. People who respond to different things, in different ways, at different times. Some of these potential customers will hear about you from a previous customer. That’s great because people will then trust in you and if it fits with what they need, they will more likely contact you than anyone else.

 

But what about those potential customers who don’t hear about you ‘word of mouth’, how will they hear about you? Well maybe they won’t. Maybe they will see you. See your van or an advert in the local paper. Happen to come across an article in a magazine.

 

Then there are those potential customers who know what they want and will go searching for it. We all are the same in this way and this is sure the way we shop for things the most. After all, word of mouth and just coming across an advert are marketing approaches that are kind of left to chance. It would only be by chance that whoever your customers talk to are looking for your particular service or product at that very given moment. And of course they may well keep hold of your contact details until such time they do need your service.

 

So if you agree with me that most people, most of the time, will have an idea in mind of what they need. Whether they need new shoes, new windows, a new hair style, new central heating, an extension to the house or a back massage to relieve stress. Generally people do know what they need at any given time and therefore most people will go searching for the people who can supply them with what they need. Makes perfect and logical sense to me. Therefore, the next bit is easy. Where do they look for the people who will supply them with what they need?

 

You may be a new business or an established business with or without a website. It is quite surprising how many businesses do not have any web presence whatsoever. One would imagine with the dramatic and swift rise of the Internet and the ever growing use of mobile phones and with the expansion of tablets that those businesses without a website would have caught on by now. I wonder what it will take for the penny to drop. 

 

I can imagine that there are types of business who may not think that a website is going to do them much good. A business that has established a good flow of customers who return or word of mouth referrals. I could see certain retail pout lets and shops thinking that their presence on the high street is all the advertising they need.

 

No doubt that certain trades such as hairdressers, beauty salons, osteopaths, beauticians etc. may wonder how or why their customers would go searching on the Internet when they have adverts in local newspapers or magazines. Do scaffolders, roofers or bricklayers see a benefit to a website when they spend all their time outside in all weathers and are as far from the webisphere as you can get.

 

Well what can I say? Plenty really as Mrs Bingham will verify. It all boils down to how can a website benefit your business. And what do you want your website to do for your business. Do you want it to advertise the fact you are there? Do you want it to act as a brochure or online shop? Do you want it to be informative regarding the services you offer and the experience and qualifications you have to do the work? Do you want it to show off the projects which you have already completed or show examples of recent work? Well a website can do any one of these things or all of these things for you and your business.

Maybe you already have an idea of what you want and not sure how to go about it. So how about giving the professionals a call who can take you through step by step what you can do and how it can help.

 

Bath Business Web Ltd - Bringing your Business to Life

 

Call for a free consultation and find out more about how you can help your business grow

 

01225 920 503

Wishing you and your business every success for a future unknown.

Bingham

Blogger for Bath Business Web Ltd
Your local Internet Marketing Specialist, Business Directory and Website Design Company

How is business productivity fairing through the hot summer weather?

Is it just me or did this recent hot weather take us by surprise?

Not because we don’t get it hot from time to time. But for the past few years it has been for the odd few days here and there, followed by a long period of wet, grey weather, even cold. So this extended period as far as I am concerned is wonderful.

I can sit in my garden, shaded under my apple tree with a glass of ice cold Robinsons Lemon Cordial (has to be Robinsons) and tap away my keyboard. However, I know that there are businesses out there for whom the hot weather may not necessarily do much to help their income.

We all the need to slow down a bit in the heat, but when it comes to retail sales it can energise a new lease of life. All those great summer clothes we have wanted to buy and have put off buying in previous years. They are worth buying now knowing we will get good use from them.

Garden centres took a battering over the winter and the long cold spring. Sales were down and the usual stock that would get people in the mood for summer was just not budging. Now lawn mowers, barbecues, charcoal, sun loungers, garden furniture, hose reels and water sprinklers are starting to move off the shelves at an ever increasing pace.

Mind you who wants to go shopping in this weather? Why not just go to the park, sunbathe, have a picnic or a trip to the seaside. As the BBC reports not everyone will be shopping for summer goods; 'Warm weather knocks High Street sales' 

Sales of cold drinks, chilled chocolate bars (which I hasten to add there is not enough shops doing that, thank you retailers), sports drinks, ice creams, strawberries and the like sell like hot cakes, or should that be chilled cakes. Ice cold Pimm’s, G&T’s and Lager straight from the fridge, Pinot Grigio (or whatever the latest white wine fad is). You get the picture.

Hospitality businesses in the South West have seen an increase too. Whether that’s restaurants, hotels, pubs or the local coffee house with an outside seating area. The pier at Weston and the seaside street traders are all reporting a surge in sales. Outside activity centres are also gaining from the summer sunshine. Tennis clubs, camping sites and high impact adventure centres start thriving as people are looking to be outside. Admission numbers to cricket matches have swelled as people are wanting to sup up the sun’s rays whilst indulging in a very British summer pastime.

Construction and building projects can benefit knowing that there is an extended dry spell. We have all seen those builders with tanned leather looking skin, shorts being held up by a builder’s belt full of tools and still wearing boots that only builders can buy. All looks rather ideal working conditions. However, the hot weather doesn’t always help our cool construction chaps. It may be surprising to learn that hot and dry weather can be a problem to many a building project.

Dry weather can cause the water in concrete and masonry to evaporate too fast, which in turn will produce a lower compressive strength. It can also cause rapid evaporation of moisture in masonry mortar causing the mortar to begin setting prematurely. If this happens then there may not be sufficient moisture to ensure the brick absorbs the mortar paste properly. This then reduces the bond strength between the mortar and the brick.

The weather can affect the application and performance of paint. Rapid evaporation prevents the paint from curing properly, possibly causing delamination, wrinkles, blisters, peeling, and cracking. Weather can and will make a difference to the resiliency of seals and sealants, resulting in a loss of elasticity. Loss of elasticity causes embrittlement (a loss of ductility of a material, making it brittle). So spare a thought for our building professionals because this dry spell can cause different problems to the cold weather of winter.

Over at the offices of Bath Business Web Ltd, they are hard at work designing, constructing and hosting the most superlative websites found in the South West. They are experts at knowing who is looking for what on Google and other such search engines. They realise that people in general are spending less time on their computers during the hot weather. But when they do what are they looking for?

Well one of the highest ranking hits on Google has been us Brits looking for anything to do with Barbecues. Recent research shows that in one month there were over 3,500 different search terms containing the word ‘bbq’. You can also gather that connected to this would be such as ‘gas bbq’ or ‘charcoal bbq’.

What the folks at BBW Ltd recognise is that there is definitely a seasonal change of search volumes for particular keywords, which of course affect the amount of visitors that Google bring to your business website. They know that for most businesses in the UK online traffic is highest from September through to the end of March and decreases during the spring and summer months.

Do you know how your website is doing over the summer? Have you noticed any change to the numbers of people visiting your website since we have had the hot weather? Do you know how to find out how many people visit your site?

Whatever your trade or business you need to understand your market and the people who will be looking for your products or services over the next few months. Make sure you get good sound advice and guidance on how to do this. Always make sure you choose an experienced professional web design and hosting company that will look after your business needs.

Typically, now I have written this the weather has changed lol. Saying that, sitting in my conservatory I can see blue sky is now starting to appear over the beautiful city of Bath.

Why not write to me and let me know how the summer is going for you……..

Bingham

Blogger for Bath Business Web Ltd