There are unlimited things you could do with your website, but there are a key few of them you should really pay attention to. The majority of successful corporate and business websites are doing these things and their users are loving them for it.

Read through these and see if you remember seeing these on other professional sites you have visited.

Promote yourself; promote your business

Once you have chosen an appropriate and visually pleasing look for your website you must fill it with informative content. Your site must inform your targeted audience why your site is better than similar sites. You need to promote yourself, your organization, your ideas, your products and services and any events you have happening.

Promoting yourself is not just a shameless conceit. Having a website conveys that you are a serious professional business person. The inclusion of a short bio gives you the opportunity to tell the world who you are by listing your credentials and expertise. Your website should have an email associated with your business domain. An email or a letter from someone at we-wrote-the-book.com will get more attention than an email from a yahoo account.

If you want to promote your ideas through a blog, having a website adds credibility to your words. A professional looking website can help build a following. However, I would suggest that if you are selling a product, but wanting to promote your thoughts on politics, you should direct people to a separate link that pertains to your ideals.

Your website should contain information on your products, services, and organization. Offering a FAQ to answers common questions, as well as testimonials and comparisons of your product by satisfied customers is often all that is needed. People look to other people for advice and support organizations and causes they trust and know will deliver the goods. Offering these services 24/7 on a yearly basis is important. Without it you may be passed over by another competitor who is more thorough in supplying the needs of customers.

Communications and Feedback

Allowing a space or link on your site for interactive communication and feedback are some of the most important tools a website can afford you, and not just for business purposes. While brochures, flyers, audio and videos can allow you to inform readers what you have to offer, soliciting feedback informs you what the readers (potential customers) want.

Education

If your goal is to educate or to give your take on what is going on with the economy, a website is the way to get your concerns out to like-minded people. You can organize workshops, seminars and classes in your area, offering them online is ideal learning tool for busy people. If you are not that ambitious to take on city hall or start a school, a website topical blog will generate interest between people, especially if you add audio and video or even animation to your site.

Community Building

Your website can turn you into a leader. If your site contains forums and bulletin boards where people can hold a conversation for sharing ideas and ideologies with like-minded people. It can become a community for individual and collective expression. It also can assist in empowering and building a bridge between communities of people offline. You can also incorporate social networks with your site, such as Facebook or Twitter to strong and loyal generate a following.

New Products, Services, Online Exclusivity

A website allows you to test new products or expand on an old one. You could do this by Online Only offers. This can even be done on the QT or anonymously in a blind test or by geographical location. Like an old vaudeville routine, if it plays in Peoria as well as New York you’ve probably got a winner, if not you can shelve it or take it off the market. Either way you come out ahead.

Customer loyalty via customer control

On the whole most people want information about to basic questions. If you operate a brick and mortar shop, your website can offer a FAQ that includes business hours, payment options, contact information, such as telephone numbers and email addresses. A directional map or a link to Mapquest is vital in order to be found. Your website can also be found by registering with a directory or SE (search engine) like yahoo.

Automated administrative processes

Do you maintain a client or customer database? Do you send out a newsletter or other regular correspondence to people who have shown an interest in your services or products? How much time do you spend administering those lists? Imagine giving your customers the ability to input and update their contact information automatically? Imagine being able to capture the names and email addresses of potential customers? How about instantly responding to catalog requests automatically? You can do all of these things from a web site

Promotional opportunities/coupons

Do you frequently add products or services in your business? How do you let your customers know about the availability of these new products and services? You could take out an expensive newspaper or radio advertisement. You could pay to print new signs and create promotional displays for your shelves. Or for a mere fraction of the cost, you could simply add a new page to your website with an eye catching banner and article explaining the benefits of the new product. You can also create a coupon online to generate interest in the new service and drive traffic into your brick and mortar store.

Viral/Word of mouth marketing

Everyone knows that word of mouth advertising is the most effective and important part of any small business. Friends and family make purchases based on the recommendation of other friends and family. Having your own website allows people to create living links to your site along with their personal endorsement of your business. It’s the equivalent of a person handing a potential customer an order form for your products and services. Best of all, you get to control exactly what the new customers see when they click through to your site.

Publish Customer Testimonials

Having a website makes it easy to collect and publish customer’s testimonials for new and potential customers to read. Testimonials are a good way to inspire customer confidence.

Track Results

With the use of tools like Google Analytics, we can track every movement of your site visitors and track what is working and what isn’t. You can then update the site to best accommodate what users are wanting to see or read online. The best form of targeted marketing.

Because not having one is costing you business

Personally I find myself at the point where I now actually avoid doing business with companies that don’t have websites. I have become addicted to the ease of having my questions answered at any time day or night, of being able to quickly find directions and prices before I even leave the house. I never use a phone book anymore. I type what I’m looking for into Google or Yahoo Search and use the results to make my shopping decisions. If your business doesn’t appear, you’re losing money.

Other things you can do with your website…

• Present company news
• Write company blogs
• Present company awards
• Create photo galleries
• Show locations
• Display staff
• Show calendar of events
• Display job opportunities