Marketing Basics for the Webmaster

What is the relationhip between Marketing and Web designing? How can a better understanding of Marketing help the web designer manage his business more profitably?

What is marketing?

The American Marketing Association defines Marketing as "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals". On the other hand, The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK defines Marketing as "the Management process responible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers' requirements profitably". Note the occurrence of Customer Satisfaction in both definition and the underlining concern for Profitability in the second definition. In other words, a businessman needs to identify the needs of a conumer and explore ways of satisfying these needs in order to make a profit.

The Webmaster therefore needs to understand his client's customers. Does the client sell to various segments of customers (e.g students, retirees, young upwardly mobile professionals, etc?) or only one homogenous market such as any one of these segments? What are the lifestyles of such customers? What do they like to do in their pastime? How do they relax? Where do they live? What are their aspiration? If, for instance, the client's customers are tertiary school students, are they interested in sports? Would it be right to create a page on the client's website for snippets of information on the lifestyles of sports personalities around the world, even though the website markets an interactive software to help students write term papers and long essays? Or take upwardly mobile professionals, as another example. How about including a page (on the website of an insurance company selling policies targeted at this segment), which contains links to write-ups explaining several possibilities of personal finance and wealth creation opportunities? Will such "side attraction" ensure repeat visits to the website?

Once a Webmaster knows his client's customer, he can anticipate the customer's wants, appeal to the right emotion and show that customer how the client's product or service will benefit the customer.

The discerning Webmaster must also try to understand the industry within which his client operates, his client's competitors and what these competitors offer in comparison to what the client offers. If any of the competitors has a website, how customer friendly is the website? Does navigation within the site make it easy for the competitor's customers to make orders? Can the customer have his most cogent question answered right there on the Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) page without having to go through the pains of writing a mail? Can the Webmaster then create a website for his client, that will outsell the competitor's site in these areas?

While the client sometimes provides a brief explaining the kind of website he thinks he wants, the truly innovative Webmaster may go beyond this brief to add value. A word of caution, however: this should be discussed with the client.

Websites are marketing tools

The fundamental reality of how people use the web can be seen in the following comparative descriptive sketches of offline and online buyer behaviors. Offline, bustling crowds of would-be shoppers (or prospects) pass by your place of business (take a busy mall, for instance) and some of them may walk in, if your shop occupies a vantage location, your wares are attractively displayed and they can notice both. Online, however, people search for information. There are million of people, but no crowds and each person searches alone. So, while the offline businessperson thinks of a vantage "location", the online businessperson must think of relevant "information" or "content", information that meets the needs and interests of the target market.

The Power of Search Engines

People who visit the web are looking for information and solution. Most often, they rely on Search Engines to suggest or recommend the most likely websites, which may satisfy their needs. For the Webmaster to create a website which brings lots of targeted traffic to his client therefore, he must perform some tasks such as keyword brainstorming. In other words, he researches his site's main theme on the web, such as "weight watching", to find related words that are often searched by web visitors, but rarely targeted by websites. Such words can then form the topics for each page of his website and eventually provide the website with a theme or focus for optimum search engine ranking.

This is only one in a series of tasks which the Webmaster needs to perform for his client's website to rank well with the search engines and attract warm, willing-to-buy traffic on an ongoing basis. Such tasks can be very tedious, especially when the process is done manually. It is no surprise therefore, that some webmasters shy away from this aspect of the job. However, such tasks can be automated with Site Build It! , an all-in one site-building, site-hosting and site marketing solution which automatically performs the following operation for webmasters: Keyword Brainstorming, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Submission, Search Engine Reporting, File Upload, Sequential Auto responding, E-mail Marketing, etc. This system of tools works without compromising design or site functionality. Which means a Webmaster can create his site, using his favorite HTML and graphic (or other) software, simply upload the files and let Site Build It! do the rest. More on this software, including purchase and download instruction, can be found at http://webmaster.sitesell.com/net_hunting.html.

Dele Ogundahunsi, an e-marketer, specializes in Advertising and Web Design Direction. He can be reached on (+234) 803 85 10 10 2 or at [email protected].

MORE RESOURCES

People Locator find anyone in the USA

RELATED WEB SITE DESIGN ARTICLES: Should You Bother Learning HTML to Build Webpages? The most popular method to build webpages today is to use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software. Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver are prime examples of WYSIWYG software. TEN Answers That Turn Your Visitors Into Your Customers You know.. The Importance of Choosing Your Website Keywords Carefully The importance of choosing your website keywords carefully is very high. The reason for this is many search engines rely on keywords, at least partially, to help determine the rank of your web page when certain keywords are searched for. Web Site Turn On When you develop a sales brochure, you have a mental checklist of what needs to be in it. You probably look at brochures from other vendors. Do You Make These Common (But Deadly) Website Design Mistakes? Building a website can be overwhelming, here are some design tips to help keep you on the right path (or is that web?)--- Designing a Frames-based web siteFrames may make the job of maintaining a big web site easy, but search engines hate them. Most search engines cannot find their way through them and end up indexing only the home page. Five Common Web Design Mistakes There are often many mistakes encountered when creating a webpage or website. Learn about the top five website mistakes, and how to avoid them. Tips On Effectively Organizing Your Navigation Not all links are created equal. While all of your links may be important, you must sort and prioritize to come up with an effective navigation scheme. Getting Along With Your Web Designer You're all ready to get started creating your web presence and you've found a skilled web designer to build your website for you. Do you know what he needs from you to do an efficient job? Good web design requires cooperation between the architect and the user to create a product that will serve its intended function, and you don't have to be an internet expert to do your part. Website Design For Small Businesses There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities such as flash design, however what should a small business look for when seeking an internet prescence?When choosing which company you would like to build your website, there are many factors which you need to take into consideration.Firstly how much is the website going to cost to build and host. Design With Purpose If your website is falling through the cracks, the chances are that the site has no message, no central core to build traffic or a core readership. Websites that try to do everything usually fail. Why You Should Use CSS It seems more and more webmasters are using CSS for the design and layout of their sites rather than depending on tables and HTML mark up. As well as being more efficient in terms of page size and reusing CSS templates many webmasters believe that it also contributes towards search engine friendliness. Build A Successful Website For Dummies So you want to build a website here I will explain some simple but also key aspects that are commonly taken in to consideration when a website developer creates a website. 1) Website Design - The website design must be neat meaning that everything looks like where it is meant to be (nothing out of place or out of proportion). How to Create A Homepage That Works Want to know what the worst thing to say on a homepage is? "Welcome to our homepage." And yet, time after time, we all come across such homepages on the Internet. Content - the Key to Long Term Success Every day internet marketers are inundated with the latest fad or must have program. But the one tried and true asset which is vitally important to the long term success of your online business is valuable CONTENT. The Technology May Change, But Human Nature Remains The Same Let me repeat that.. Is Your Website Color As Inviting as Your Home? Does Color Really Matter? We've all read the countless publication about effective web site design, outstanding written content and the never ending need for search engine optimization. But often the importance of color for a web site is overlooked. Create Favorite Icon Favorite icon appears to the left of your link in either address bar or in favorites menu of your browser. It gives your website more personality, better visibility in favorites menu and is easy to create. Developing An Effective Physical Therapy Web Site Physical therapists have unique web presence needs. An effective site must:* Introduce the practitioner, and outline his or her style of treatment;* Provide straightforward content establishing the practitioner's credibility;* Review services and common procedures performed by the practitioner;* Inform the prospective client of the features and value of selecting the practitioner as a service provider;* Offer immediate contact option, including a web e-mail form;* Display office location complete with photos, address, and driving direction. Positive Design Attributes for a Successful Website Designing a website is hard job, and requires you to think out a plan of action, and put in a lot of work to make it successful. There are many different kinds of websites on the Internet, but if you look at all the top performers with high traffic, you will notice that they all have similar design characteristics which place them as the best in the world. Are Web Templates Worth It? First off, I am a designer. Now you're thinking, here's this guy trying to convince me to hire a designer costing a few hundred to a few thousand dollars instead of buying a pre-made web template for about $60.