Ristvin Marketing Blog

Imagine what it was like back in the dark ages before the advent of the internet. When a potential customer or client needed a product or a service, they ran to the phone book, fingered through it looking for a local business that would satisfy their needs. They might even spend some time calling and researching the different businesses in the category to figure out which best suited their particular needs.

Shift forward to the present. Today, the internet, more often than not, takes the place of the old phone book. People don’t want to spend hours calling businesses to find what they are looking for so they surf the web. Your local business website takes the place of your phone book ad.

Yes, your website is actually your online “ad”. I think this is where most small business owners go wrong. They see their website as their online “business card” (which should also be an ad). So, what’s the difference you ask?

The vast majority of local business websites that I’ve seen are made to portray the business’ image or brand. They basically state to the public, here we are, here’s what we do, come check us out. Often they portray this message in a very ego centric way, focusing on themselves and not the customer. What they really are is a logo, slogan, the business credentials, an email address and phone number.

Sounds like a yellow page ad, doesn’t it. This isn’t the type of online ad I’m referring to. A good ad, like a good website focuses on the customer and what they’re searching for, not on the business resume. visitors are viewing your website and thinking, “There’s a ton of businesses just like you”.

If Homer Simpson was viewing most local business websites, he would be saying “Who Cares?” or “So What?” and asking his famous question, “What’s in it For Me?”

Just what should your website look like? It shouldn’t be the static web 1.0 site that helped bring the dot coms down. This is the web 2.0. Web 2.0 brought interactivity to the internet. Those old static sites are like a one-sided relationship. And we all know where those lead to. They don’t work.

A local business website that focuses on the customer will shine through to visitors and distinguish itself from the competitors. Nowadays, visitors want to do something. They have gotten used to social websites, interaction, and community. So, give them something to do.

Give them something free to download. Offer a free report or whitepaper on your business’ product or service. Start a blog and ask for their opinion on your service or product. Do anything that gets your visitor involved. And… Then collect their information as qualified leads to future interaction and connectivity.

Giving them good content is as important as giving visitors something to do. The more customer-centric your content is, the more effective it will be. Stress the benefits of your product or service that directly relates to the visitor. Relate interesting facts and statistics about your business that the visitor can bond to. High interest stories about how your product or services has benefited past customers keep the visitor thinking about how you can help them too.

Have you noticed that most corporations now have a blog (or many specific blogs)? It works for local business websites too. People want their opinions known and valued. Blogs allow visitors and customers to put in their two cents. And this creates value for your website and business.

All of these act like a good ad that draws people to your products and services. They begin to trust you more when they find relevant content and are able to interact with you. You are able to grab the visitor’s information and keep in touch with future promotions, birthday specials and bargains.

It’s time to take you static online business card and make it a communicative ad that interacts with your visitors.

Related Posts on Ristvin Marketing Blog

• August 9, 2008 -- Every Website is an Ad