I am going to talk today about business websites and how to increase website performance. This is something all online entrepreneurs strive to do each day. Let’s face it: some of us work day and night for a project. We struggle to create new, unique, quality content coz that’s what we’ve always heard “content is king”. And what a king! Basically this is one of the main factors influencing online success. The more unique quality content you have, the better.

If you have a company that deals mainly locally and you believe a website is not something you really need, I have to say you might be wrong. A website is a powerful tool. It opens your business to the world. Today you sell in a small village; tomorrow you might wake up a global player. So use the Web cautiously and your website accordingly. This is more than an online business card. A website is a presence and once you go live online with it, you go global. Anyone in the world, at any time, might find your site, read what you have to offer and contact you with the business deal of a lifetime. Is this what you want? Or are you going to waste your chance? Oh, yes. You might waste your chance if you believe that simply setting up a website will do.

This is what you need to do to start on the right path to success:

• Carefully plan your website – what are your goals? What would you like to achieve through your Web presence?

• Think branding and corporate standards.

• Be consistent with the design. Display the logo and other branding elements (slogan, company contact info) on each page.

• Be clear about your products and services. Why should the customers choose you over other competitors? Make sure the information you provide is actual, accurate and trustworthy.

• Monitor website performance. It doesn’t matter how much traffic you get. What matters is how many inquiries you get. Read my article How to Measure SEO Success to learn how to monitor website performance.

• Never cease promoting your website. There are plenty of advertising means, both online and offline. Online advertising has the advantage that it provides for some free channels. Use them wisely: don’t spam.

• Try some PPC (pay per click) campaigns if you want some fast results – but do monitor site conversion and stop any loss-making campaign. Website conversion rate means the number of visitors that actually make a purchase. (Don’t start a PPC campaign unless your site is ready for visitors: no under construction pages, no quack pages, no self-praising pages!)

If you are not sure how to present your website in a professional manner hire an online PR company. PR experts are able to identify industry trends and customer needs. They also know how to persuade the public opinion and create goodwill for your company. It’s a real challenge to make your business known online. A simple Google search will show you that you have not one or two competitors, but thousands. Are you better? A public relations expert knows how to send the right message to the online community.