Small Business – Building Relationships Online – Part 1
As an offline business owner with a web site, I know that you are spending a lot of time worrying about getting traffic to your web site… and you should be. But what are you doing with your site visitors… once they get to your site? No matter what kind of web site you have – retail or otherwise – you should be focused on BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS with your web visitors! Relationship building related to your online presence can take place in a number of different ways – active, as well as passive, and they all work together…
The 2 main relationship building vehicles available to you online are your web site (and / or blog) and email – both business email and marketing email. Here in Part 1, we will discuss web site strategies for relationship building.
WEB SITE STRATEGIES:
ABOUT ME/ ABOUT US Page
Include an ABOUT ME / ABOUT US page with brief bios and pictures of yourself and the staff. In most cases, informal pictures will work well. If you have a brick and mortar location which folks are likely to visit, include pictures, both exterior and interior
WEB SITE WRITING STYLE
Write in an informal and personable style Where appropriate, personalize comments and suggestions, such as in product descriptions
GENERAL STRATEGIES
1) Depending on your industry, consider offering personalized suggestions from yourself and the staff, such as: Staff Favorites, Staff Tips, and Staff Recommendations with each staff member listed by name with a photo. For instance, in an accounting practice where different staff members have different specialities, include a section of Tips with comments from each staff member, along with each individuals picture
2) Include a BLOG in your online marketing plan, and do include some posts which are personal in tone and written in a personable style
3) If you have a brick and mortar location which folks are likely to visit, include written driving directions and maps.
4) Consider offering information about related resources that may be of interest to your customers / clients. EXAMPLE: If you are a destination site, it may make sense to offer information about local restaurants. Explore ways that you and the restaurants could cross market.
Web site strategies work in two ways:
- DIRECTLY – by providing information and resources
- INDIRECTLY – the emotions you are evoking through that information and those resources
Every part of your web site — images and written words — are reflecting on you, your business and your attitudes. While these can be very subtle, they can also be VERY powerful relationship builders.