One Local Business' Story

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For more information go to SBI's Local Business Site right now.

How do you make a website for your small business? SBI!

To date, we've talked about the theory of effective websites for small businesses. This post will help you put it all together in a plan that works.

Site Build It (SBI) is a company that helps businesses and individuals put together websites that sell. Many of their members are people trying to make a living or a supplemental income through internet marketing, but they also have hundreds of success stories for small businesses who want to make their web presence do more than just sit there.

Here's a Case Study of a dentist who is drawing in dozens of new patients as a direct result of his SBI website:

Some more examples of successful SBI websites are:

House Cleaning Service
Specialty Travel Agency
Property Management
House Painters
Dentist
Local Insurance Company
Attorney
(That last one is mine -- I did it for my husband and I can tell you it works like gangbusters. We've got three terms in the top 10 of Google in just three months!)

Site Build It is $295 per year. You put in some sweat equity, and you have a $10,000 site up quickly and ranking in the search engines.

Site build it includes Everything You Need to put together a website. I'm serious, there is no reason to buy any additional product to promote your business on the web. Site Build It includes:

*Domain Name
*Web hosting
*Extensive written and video guides to building your website.
*Templates to build your website (most of the sites listed above were developed from Site Build It's standard templates -- and they look great!)
*Submission to search engines
*Site map
*Friendly forums where you get every question answered quickly
*Great customer support

That's all for $295 a year. You can't do better if you hire your neighbor's teen ager to do build your website.

Order Site Build It now!

If you are looking for a web solution that solves your online local marketing problems, you can't do better than Site Build It.

If you want to ask a question about Site Build It, you can have a SBI owner answer it in real time. This isn't the company's sales staff, it's real SBI owners who volunteer to share how they use the product.

Go ahead and ask a question now.

How do you create a website that sells?

Websites can be more than the brochure described in the previous entry. But, how do you create a website that sells?

First, you find out what terms that people are searching for. You do this through keyword research tools.

Second, you select a domain name that's memorable (and hopefully short) and find a web hosting company.

Next, you write 500 word articles for each of the keyword terms. You should plan to have 20 or so articles to start your web site. These should be information rich and help people solve their problems.

You also want to have web pages that have the traditional "about us" and "contact us" information. If you infuse them with your personality and don't come off like a corporate stuffed shirt it will help.

Then you've got to put the whole thing together and actually build the website together. This is not nearly as hard as it seems. In my next post, I'll tell you all about Site Build It and how SBI has helped hundreds of small businesses create websites that sell.

Brochure Sites vs. Information Rich Sites

Too often, small business websites are "brochure sites" rather than the information rich destinations that maximize the value of the web.

A "brochure site" is a small website -- generally about five pages -- that doesn't do any real selling. People put these sites up because they know they need to have a web presence.

The only visitors these brochure sites get are the ones that are driven through advertising.

Here's how a brochure site works -- at best. You meet Bob at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. You talk and he thinks that maybe there's a fit and you can do business. At the end of the program you exchange business cards.

Bob goes back to his office and he types in your web address into the internet. He doesn't find out anything informative. Mainly, he's used the site to verify that you're in business. He probably calls you and schedules a meeting for the next week.

So, having a website is a good thing, right. After all, Bob visited it.

Well, Bob visited your website, but you had already done the selling. Your brochure site was like your stationary or your nameplate next to the elevators -- it was a sign that you were in business. You, however, were the primary salesperson.

But your website can do so much more. It can be a lead generator for you. For every Bob that you can meet in person, there are hundreds of Marys and Steves and Janes who could find you through Google.

But, they're not going to find you if all you have is a brochure site. You need an information rich website that makes the pre-sale.

And that is the subject of the next blog entry.

When YOU Sit Down To Search

When YOU sit down to search for a product or service provider, what do you do?

This is a really important question that many small business people never consider before throwing up their own website. And, it's a shame because thinking through this process can mean the difference between having a powerful marketing tool reaching every user connected to the world wide web and having an electronic flyer taking up room in cyberspace.

If you've just been served with divorce papers unexpectedly (yep, it happens all the time -- usually to guys) what are you likely to do?

You're going to sit down at the computer and find out everything you can about divorce. You'll want to know what the property laws are. You'll want to know how child custody is determined. You'll want to know how much it's going to cost you. You may even want to know whether there's mandatory counseling to save your marriage.

Now let's say you're clicking around on the web and you find a lawyer's site. On this site, he answers all of your questions, even the ones you haven't thought of yet. So, you think that maybe this is someone who can help you.

You click on to his biography. You find out that he went to a good law school and that he's a state Certified Specialist in family law. So far, so good.

He has a link where you can ask him questions. So, you shoot off an email with some of the things that are specific to his case.

He responds within 24 hours inviting you to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

You go in and meet with him. You like him. It's a good fit. So, you put down the several thousand dollars that he asks for to start your case.

That's how the buying cycle works on the internet.

So, now put yourself in your customer's shoes. How does she find you in cyberspace? When she gets to your site, is she "pre-sold" on the quality of your goods or services? Is there a way to contact you? Is there a spot for you to collect her email address? Is there a planned follow up for each internet contact?

Putting yourself in front of your customer's computer is a good way to expand your business.

For more information on how to build an information rich site, you can stay tuned for the next blog entry or go to Site Build It now.