Advance Planning Is the Key to a Successful Website
Probably the most critical part of Internet marketing for your business is organizing your website so it will achieve your overall goals. Yet, most people completely bypass this important step or, worse, just turn the whole project over to a website designer to handle.
By strategically planning your new website or an update of your existing website, you will ensure you have a marketing piece that showcases your business to its best, allows you to be in control of ongoing content updates, and achieves the goals you have set for your business. Below are a number of steps to follow while planning your new website:
1. Create a list of anything your website visitors will want to know about the product or service you are offering. For example, visitors to a school’s website would probably want to know the attendance levels, size of the classrooms, information on staff members and what sports they can participate in. Brainstorm every possible topic someone might want to know related to the industry, product or service your website will be offering.
2. Imagine for a short time that you are a potential website customer. Visit and review some websites similar to the one you will offer as if you were a potential customer. As a visitor who is genuinely interested in your product or service, what are the good things and bad things about each site you visit? Are you driven to take action? Are you able to find what you are looking for quickly and easily? How many times do you have to click to find what you are looking for? Note all this data down with the intent of making your new website as easy for your visitors to use as possible.
3. Investigate to find out the keywords your visitors will most likely search for to find your website. There are free keyword search tools through Google that are completely adequate for this type of research. Type in a general phrase such as “high school” and see what other keywords come up. Your visitors already have questions about these things. By arming yourself with this information, you will be able to plan your website to answer their questions right away.
4. When planning your new website, make sure to keep in room to grow. Don’t be lured into a website format that won’t let you expand easily to add new content pages or products. A website is not static, but rather should change constantly to meet your customer needs.
5. Finally, make sure your website is easy to control, so you don’t have to rely on your website designer to make even the smallest changes. Today’s dynamic Internet marketing environment demands new and fresh content added to your website often, and the old fashioned sites that rely on a web developer to make changes just won’t work anymore. You need a website platform that will allow you to add website content fast and simply.
Your website is most often one of the biggest marketing expenses your business will encounter. Make the most of your investment with a new website that supports the goals you have set for your business.
Marty Dickinson is the founder of HereNextYear, Inc., a full service Internet marketing company in business for over 10 years. His specialty is Internet marketing solutions for the small business owner, speakers and authors. Visit to see what HereNextYear has to offer and to learn more about their innovative new website packages fully integrated for ease with social networking and other Internet marketing strategies.
P.T.A. Is Your First Step to Internet Marketing Success for Your Business
The Internet has become indispensable and practically no business, author or speaker can succeed without using the Internet as part of their marketing strategy. However, while most folks use the Internet for their personal needs, many have little idea how they can become more profitable using it for their products or services.
Like many others, you may find the Internet overwhelming and have little concept where you should start in the whole process.
Regardless of what business you are in, the steps to Internet marketing success are very similar, and it might surprise you to learn they haven’t changed much in over a decade! Where most people feel confused is that most of the resources educating you on a particular strategy in the Internet marketing process spend no time at all explaining how that particular strategy fits into the rest of the process.
Try to avoid getting hung up on any particular strategy until you fully understand your P.T.A., which is the foundation for success on the Internet:
P: Plug-In
Discover and “plug-in” to where you currently fit into the Internet marketing process. Are you a novice to the Internet? Or perhaps you have some practical experience, but don’t know how to fit it all together? Identify where you are, then plug-in to the tools and resources available to you to meet your particular needs.
T: Team-Up
The next and most important step for any small business owner, author or speaker is to team up with those that can help implement the process. Unless you are making a living as a full blown Internet marketer, your principal business belongs out in the field doing your thing, not in front of the computer trying to figure it all out. And, contrary to popular belief, just having a website designed by someone you find on Craig’s List or overseas won’t get you the success you want from your Internet marketing.
Your goal is to find outsourced help that is multi-dimensional in their knowledge and understanding of the Internet, as well as sensitive to your unique needs and concerns. You need to start now to form a devoted team that will be at your side for years to come to help you with technical challenges and smart, calculated Internet marketing planning for your business or service.
A: Accelerate
Just having a website without a full knowledge of the Internet marketing process will result in never being able to fully realize the last step by accelerating your strategies to success. Learning a few strategies or techniques will only cause to confuse you until you have plugged into where you are in the overall process, and found resources and team members able to lead you to success. Once you have done that, your business success from the Internet will start to fly.
Marty Dickinson is an entrepreneur and the founder of HereNextYear, Inc., a full service Internet marketing company in business for 15 years. He specializes in Internet marketing solutions for the small business owner, speakers and authors. Visit to see what HereNextYear has to offer and to learn more about their innovative new website packages fully integrated for ease with social networking and other Internet marketing strategies.
Make the Most of Your Website With Advance Planning
One of the most difficult, but key components of the Internet marketing process is to design your website to achieve the goals you have set for your business. However, most business people ignore this critical step, or leave it to their web designer to take care of, which can often be even worse.
By strategically planning your new website or an update of your existing website, you will ensure you have a marketing piece that showcases your business to its best, allows you to be in control of ongoing content updates, and achieves the goals you have set for your business. Below are a number of steps to follow while planning your new website:
1. Write down on a piece of paper everything you think the visitors to your web site might want to know about your product or service. For example, visitors to a school’s website would probably want to know the attendance levels, size of the classrooms, information on staff members and what sports they can participate in. Brainstorm every possible topic someone might want to know related to the industry, product or service your website will be offering.
2. Put yourself into the visitor’s shoes. Surf the Internet and visit various sites offering similar services, then review them as a potential customer would. As a potential customer, what are the things you like and dislike about each website you visit? Does the website inspire you to take further action? Are you able to find what you are looking for quickly and easily? Are there a lot of pages to navigate through to get to what you are looking for? Note all this data down with the intent of making your new website as easy for your visitors to use as possible.
3. Investigate to find out the keywords your visitors will most likely search for to find your website. You don’t need to invest in expensive search tools, Google has a free keyword tool that is adequate for this purpose. Enter a general phrase related to your product or service, such as “coffee filters” and other related keywords will appear. These are the things your visitors already have questions about. With this information in hand, you can plan your website to feature content that answers people’s questions.
4. When planning your new website, make sure to keep in room to grow. Avoid websites that can’t be easily expanded to add more pages or products. A good website is a constant work in process.
5. Finally, make sure your website is easy to control, so you don’t have to rely on your website designer to make even the smallest changes. Successful Internet marketing today relies on a dynamic website with fresh content added often, and having an antiquated website that only your designer can change will just not work anymore. Your new website should be on a platform that lets you add content quickly and easily.
Your website is most often one of the biggest marketing expenses your business will encounter. Don’t waste it with an inferior website that doesn’t support your business objectives.
Marty Dickinson is the founder of HereNextYear, Inc., a full service Internet marketing company in business for over 10 years. His specialty is Internet marketing solutions for the small business owner, speakers and authors. Visit to see what HereNextYear has to offer and to learn more about their innovative new website packages fully integrated for ease with social networking and other Internet marketing strategies.
Jump Start Internet Marketing Strategies Through P.T.A.
There are very few authors, speakers, or businesses that can be successful without using the Internet as part of their marketing plan. Despite this, while many people use the Internet for their own personal needs, they are confused how they can actually use it to benefit the sales of their own products or services.
If you are like most people, you have been overwhelmed with Internet marketing strategies, and have no idea where to start.
The process for Internet marketing success is almost exactly the same for every business, author or speaker, and hasn’t changed in almost 15 years! Where most people feel confused is that most of the resources educating you on a particular strategy in the Internet marketing process spend no time at all explaining how that particular strategy fits into the rest of the process.
Avoid getting caught up on an individual strategy or tactic until you have identified your P.T.A., the basic steps you need to find success on the Internet:
P: Plug-In
Discover and “plug-in” to where you currently fit into the Internet marketing process. Are you a novice to the Internet? Or do you have some knowledge, but can’t seem to tie it all together? Identify where you are, then plug-in to the tools and resources available to you to meet your particular needs.
T: Team-Up
Probably the most critical to a small business owner, speaker or author, is t o find a team that can help make the Internet Marketing process happen. Unless your profession is actually Internet marketer, you are better suited working at what you do best, not sitting at the computer trying to get a degree in Internet marketing. And most people’s strategy of hiring a random website designer from Craigslist or oversees just because they don’t cost much rarely works.
Your aim is to find outsourced help that takes time to learn about your situation and needs, as well as demonstrates a high level of knowledge of all areas of Internet marketing. Since your business is always changing, you will benefit from forming a dedicated team now that will grow with you over the years and has the technical expertise to plan your business strategies for now and into the future.
A: Accelerate
If you get a website for your business or service without fully understanding the entire Internet marketing process, you will never be able to fully implement the last step, and accelerate your Internet marketing plans to success. Learning a few strategies or techniques will only cause to confuse you until you have plugged into where you are in the overall process, and found resources and team members able to lead you to success. Once you have done that, your business success from the Internet will start to fly.
Marty Dickinson is an entrepreneur and the founder of HereNextYear, Inc., a full service Internet marketing company in business for 15 years. He specializes in Internet marketing solutions for the small business owner, speakers and authors. Visit to see what HereNextYear has to offer and to learn more about their innovative new website packages fully integrated for ease with social networking and other Internet marketing strategies.