The fundamental problem uncovered in the 2003 survey was that web sites were mostly developed by graphically oriented companies, who put “your brochure on the web” and flattered the Marketing or Managing Director (or both). They had no idea what interested customers, motivated purchasers or offered any kind of evidence that the company was still in business. In some cases, we couldn’t even identify what the business actually did for clients.

The sites that get traffic? Well, Google’s basic advice is to say something that people find interesting, and tie your business to it. The way that Google works is that if you have something on your site that attracts interest, the rest of what you have to say is also boosted. So Google staff have explicitly suggest that you host cartoons, stories and other irrelevant material.

Personally, I think that’s wrong - morally, ethically and also in marketing terms. IME, most businesses can find ways to engage with their existing and prospective customer base - usually with a blog. Like this. My clients who are interested in web marketing read this blog - I know, because they talk to me about the content. Those that really don’t want to know, appreciate that their agency takes an active interest in the field and is not just content to rest on out of date material. The blog proves that we’re active and interested, working on their behalf on confusing stuff. Occasionally they ask mystified questions - which is quite flattering, that they’ve taken the time to read stuff outside their comfort zone :)

So, what customer stories can you publish? What successes? What indicators of failing projects? What happened last week that changed your industry, that your clients should know about? An hour a week writing about a passion, will pull in visitors, in a matter of weeks or months. It’s dead basic. It’s one of the most frequent off-line forms of PR and attention getting - whether by newsletter or writing for a local Business Link/Chamber of Business newsrag. It works online, too.

After you’ve done this for a bit, you should know what topics your web site needs to cover - and you can upgrade the web content - using a Through The Web CMS, so you can update content and add pages without paying a graphic consultant for every change.

If you need visitors, now, and you don’t know what they want, out of what you do, then PPC is a fantastic tool for market research, as well as sales and leads. Initially, view the budget as MR. As you gain understanding of the searches that people do, and the messages that they care about, you can focus the effort on sales and lead generation.

Alongside this, develop knowledge of online measurement techniques (web analytics, etc). The web, more than pretty much any other way to interact on a mass scale, offers lessons at every feedback, however passive. Reading the messages from the market interaction can be illuminating and profitable.

As you gain understanding of user interests online, join in public forums that host frequent and relevant discussions. Post with your attribution - make it clear where you come from, and post relevant, on-topic responses. Show that you are invested in your industry and interested in customer issues. Get other staff to follow your lead, and offer training and mentoring on how to write in public :)

There - an internet marketing skeleton strategy in a nutshell ;)

Cheers, JeremyC.

What advise can you give a business owner, like myself, to help get consistent / measureable web traffic that converts to real long term customers?

A quick look through the archives of some of the webs biggest names (using tools such as http://www.archive.org/web/web.php), graphically illustrates the lack of understanding that even major players had as to how to ‘market’ there products online just a few years ago. You could even suggest that many sites look basic in comparison to their modern counterparts.

I typically encounter mangers and website designers who understand their products or services intimately, but who fail to grasp a concept of how potential customers ‘think’ about the services they offer (and thus how they search for them using the web). Such thinking manifests itself into sites that are typically orientated towards industry professionals rather that the web surfing public.

Many managers also seem to believe that including themselves in web directories ( such as http://www.getbiz.co.uk / http://www.192.com), is all that they need to do in order for people to find there services, much in the same way as people used to use paper directories such as the Yellow Pages.
I still find it surprising how many (often large) clients are so far behind in understanding how to get their message across to web users!