Free Organic SEO

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.  But this critical step is usually the one business people skip, or just leave it to their web designer to consider, which can be even more damaging to their overall goals. 

When you take the time to strategically plan the outline of your new website or an upgrade of your current one, not only will you achieve a website that will show off your business in the best way, but one you will be able to add and edit content easily, and probably most important will help to achieve your overall business goals.  Here are a few steps to use in the planning process:

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.  Using the website for a school, for an example, you would probably discover that visitors would be looking for information on the staff at the school, classroom size, attendance numbers, and sports programs.  Try to list every possible topic about your industry, service or product that a visitor to your new website might be interested in knowing.

2.  Take on the role of your website visitor.  Visit and review some websites similar to the one you will offer as if you were a potential customer.  As a visitor, what do you like and dislike about each site?  Does the website inspire you to take further action?  Can you find what you are looking for fast? How many times do you have to click to find what you are looking for?  Take notes on all this information with the purpose of making your own website as visitor friendly as possible.

3.  Research to find out what keywords your visitors might search for. There are free keyword search tools through Google that are completely adequate for this type of research.  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.  Knowing this, you can plan your website content to answer their questions up front. 

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.  Plan a website that you can control, rather than be at the mercy of a web designer to make even small changes to your website.   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.  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.