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Back in the day it was customary to hand out a business card when you came across people you’d like to inform about your business or services. Nothing has changed in that aspect, except that now you need to be very sure to make sure you send people to your virtual platforms, from your website to all the other places you put significant content or information.
Your site has replaced the ubiquitous brochure, and your online presence has trumped the need to constantly keep your prospects informed over the phone or through the mail. Now email, social networks and your site itself have become the conduit for you to keep your name and authority in front of the masses. Let’s look at why and how your site should be instrumental in this.
Your website can and should function as your online calling card in a number of important ways. First of all it should contain all the most current and newsworthy information possible about you and your business. Your contact info, company news, useful FAQs, and all the product and service information you could put into a brochure and more.
There should be links to your social media networking outlets, whether it’s simply a Twitter feed, your own site’s RSS feed, (which can double as an online newsletter) or other social sites you participate in, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or others. You want people to find you! This is so much easier than it was even a decade ago, and the business that doesn’t take advantage of this is going to lag behind the ones that do.
Having your site and social contacts distributed offline in the form of business cards or other print media, virtually ensures an increase in traffic to your site, and consequently more potential business. Don’t let an opportunity go by to advertise your site in any offline manner that you can. There are still number of people who are just getting their feet wet online.
Having your presence “everywhere”, both online and off, can go a long way toward helping to establish your site as an “authority” site, which can bring with it innumerable benefits, not the least of which is a much higher search engine ranking and seriously increased traffic.
Last but certainly not least, having a way on your site for your customers and clients, or even prospects to contact you when they have a problem or concern is a must nowadays. No longer can you depend on an answering machine or a live call center. People want a response now, and even if it comes in the form of an automated email response telling them that you’ve received their query and are working on it, that’s usually met with a much better response, as long as there is follow-up.
The use of your website as your businesses calling card is no longer an option. Don’t miss out on all the advantages it can offer you!
