Basic Steps to Online Visibility

The technology of the Internet can be harnessed, not just to regulate spend but to analyse results. Mark Forrester is the founder and MD of Occupancy Marketing, an online marketing company specialising in hotels and tourism.

He leaves no room for excuses: "Firstly, check how visible your website is in the top 3 search engines. Google/Yahoo & MSN account for over 90% of search engine traffic and ideally you should appear number one for your own website domain (category). If not, potential customers cannot find you and will likely undertake a generic search for your area of specialism.

"Secondly, undertake a web search based on your primary area of business and location, for example "plumbers London". This is referred to as a keyword phrase. It is this type of search that users are likely to use if they are not familiar with a company or can't find the company they want when searching for a business they have used before" If you do not appear first for your own business name or in the top 5 results for your primary keywords you are missing out but all is not lost.

Optimising your Web site can be expensive and this is not going to be appropriate for all business. In this case, you can take steps to improve the situation:

1. When you undertake a search for your name or your primary keywords what sites appear? These sites are often business directories who will for a small payment add your Web site to their database. Some examples include www.upmystreet.com and www.cityvisitor-visitor.com. Other directories may include your local government site which often allows a free listing. Not only will adding your website to these listings help with enquiries, overtime it will help get your own Website found. Although more expensive, consumers looking for trades and other small businesses often turn to Yell.com and Thomson Local. Both companies allow you to pay for listings which link through to your website.
2. Consider using sponsored listings. The top three search engines all offer alternatives to being listed in the main search results by using sponsored search. The most popular being Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing. It is relatively simple to set up an account and "bid" for keywords. Remember to always bid for your own name, including the various spelling methods and relevant keywords. When bidding for other keywords, choose your keywords carefully. Bidding for the keyword "plumber" might cost £1.00 per click and not be relevant if you only operate from say "Oxford". The keyword "Oxford plumber" might cost £0.20 and is likely to result in a better return.

Forrester also has some measures you should take of the website service website provider you choose. "Can they record the direction from which viewers reached your website - ie Google, local authority site, whatever? Can they analyse in detail the type of people hitting the website, how many hits before they buy or leave without buying - and whether those people come back later and buy? These and other details give clues as to what can be improved." Forrester to his credit points out that some good analytical packages, like Google Analytics, are free, though you may need help, he says, drawing the right conclusions.