Why aren't I getting leads from my new website yet?

So you have a new website but the phone isn't ringing off the hook? Were you expecting an overnight success with your website?

This article is not about web design or search engine optimisation but outlines some suggestions that you, the website owner, can take to help boost genuine visitors to your site once it has been launched. You may be sitting back wondering where all your new clients are. There are some simple things to keep in mind and some low cost ideas to help you get your website 'out there'.

The search engines

Submitting to the search engines doesn't actually guarantee a listing and isn't really necessary at all (although, it can't hurt if you want to). Search engines use a special technology (searchbots or spiders) that constantly crawl the web gathering information from websites - and your website needs to be designed properly so the searchbots can find your site and index it effectively.

It can take quite a while (even up to a few months) for a new site to be indexed on the search engines and a lot longer to gain a high ranking. With this in mind, it is important to not become too consumed about the search engine side of things and take some additional steps to help boost your site's popularity in the meantime.

Social media

Drive people to your website from your facebook page, instagram or the social platform of choice. Entire books and many online courses are available for this form of marketing so I won't go into too much detail here, but if you haven't considered this yet - now is the time.  Ensure your links are in your profile information as well as your daily posts.

Offline advertising and marketing

Don't neglect the good old fashioned (offline) methods of advertising your website such as your brochures, business cards, TV adverts, car signage - in fact anything that is visible to a potential client, ensure your website address is large and proud.

Email signature

An effective and free way to constantly advertise your site is to add your website link to the signature of each email you send out (along with your name, business name & phone number). It sounds obvious but many people miss this. This is easily set up within your mail software to appear automatically when starting and replying to a message and well worth the effort (5 minutes of your time).

Fresh website content

Keep your website up to date. Have you visited a site that looked outdated, giving the impression that the owner didn't really care or were not even operating any more?... Fresh web content will ensure you are continually updating key phrases to your site too (great for search engine robots). Consider adding and maintaining some of the following content on your site as applicable to your business:

News, price lists, menus, photo samples of your product or service, timetables and schedules, introduction of new products or services, information sheets and interesting (relevant) articles, recipes, special offers and discounts...

The list doesn't stop there, there are many ideas that could be applicable to your type of business and regular content will make your visitors want to come back again to see what's new (and make them feel they are dealing with an active business).

Marketing books, courses and webinars can offer ideas or you could have a brain storming session with your friends or work colleagues for something truly unique! The more interesting your site, the more chance of other sites linking to you (see next section).

Links TO your website

Try to obtain links to your site from other websites. Search engines will recognise your website as being 'popular' if it has other good quality high ranking websites pointing to it and this may boost your ranking. Plus you'll have the added exposure by actually appearing on other sites. To do this, you need to contact other website owners requesting that they link to your site (and the advantages for them to do so), but approach 'quality' sites only. By 'quality sites', I mean websites that:

• are already highly ranked in the search engines (ie reputable and appear high in search results when searching for a particular key phrase).
• contain subject matter that is relevant to your website's content (that way the visitors to that site are definitely looking for your type of product or service).

Some examples of where your links could appear:

• Your suppliers
• Industry specific directories (eg if you sell pet supplies, search for 'pet supply directories' in Google and then add your site to the good sites that offer free submissions). Be wary of paid submissions as they are not always worth it.
• Local directories - the large search engines are great, but local directories for your town and country are good especially if they are manually maintained and there is some control as to what is added.
• Any associations or networking clubs you are members or affiliated with including general business groups in your area or professional associations. They may or may not offer a free listing and link to your website as part of your membership.
• On websites where you submit your professional advice or feedback about the specialist industry you are in, this could include online forums where your website address can be included in your signature.

In many cases people will find your site indirectly through another directory or link, whether you were ranked highly in the search results or not... the visitor finds your site, that is the main thing.

Do not discount the option of adding your link to overseas specialist directories, so long as the subject matter is relevant, your customer base is overseas and particularly if you have a niche product or service. Remember that keeping your website informative, fresh and up to date will make it more enticing to link to.

Use your website to its full advantage

Your website can save you time and money, even if you are not ranked number 1 or you aren't getting the influx of new customers straight off the search engines. Use it for what it is - ie a publically accessible document that is available to everyone 24 hours a day.

Your site is still a valuable tool, for example, when you get phone enquiries about something complex that you find yourself repeating over and over, you could refer that person to your website for a fact sheet that they can download with diagrams and all. You could have forms on your site so people can make enquiries and submit them to you or you could have a special section of the site just for staff. A website can be a powerful vehicle to help you, your staff and clients on a day to day basis - just remember to direct people to it often.

Be realistic (and patient)

Perhaps you should be realistic with what you want your website to achieve for you. Are you expecting to become rich overnight with your website? EVERYONE wants to be number 1 in the search engines for a given search term and realistically (and obviously) - only one website can be number one for a given search. How many well established companies are you up against for that number one spot? Is it realistic and achievable to climb to the top? Even if it is a realistic goal, it will take time...

There is of course paid Google advertising, feel free to enquire for more details.

Hint - the more 'niche' your product or service is, the easier and more realistic for you. Ensure you are aware of your niche area and make sure your website content reflects this when you have it designed and updated.

Are you worried about how many 'hits' you are getting to your site? Once again quality, not quantity count here. If you receive hundreds of visitors to your site but no sales, you're not doing well even if you have an impressive array of visitors. If you receive only 5 visitors and 3 genuine enquires, that's far better and your site is working for you.

THE BOTTOM LINE....Is your website worth visiting?

OK, so you've had a site professionally designed, submitted to the search engines, specialist directories, practised all of the traditional advertising methods of advertising too and you're still wondering where all your customers are? Perhaps this item should really be the first to appear: "Is your website worth visiting?" Are you offering something that people want or are searching for? Why should people visit you? Lets face it, not many people are going to go out of their way to read a company brochure on a product or service that isn't in demand - even if it has good exposure. Think of the junk mail and spam you ignore each day...

So when you advertise your site, you could also add a reason to visit. Fresh inviting content about your products and services and how to buy, a special offer, the latest products, some free tips and advice (relevant to your products/services of course), a free assessment or trial, a timetable of events - it all comes back to keeping your website content fresh, informative and inviting.