If you’re serious about promoting your pub on the World wide web, then this post will offer you a quick summary about what’s involved. Web Marketing is a large subject – many books have been written on the subject, and there are literally hundreds of websites devoted to it – it would be not possible to deal with everything in a single post, but with any luck this short overview will work as a helpful jumping-off point, that will get you on track.
You don’t need to have the most innovative corporate website for your pub – actually a simple but informative website normally works better. You can easily hire a local web designer to develop a website (ask around for recommendations). Many companies prefer to create their own website, to make it straightforward to alter the information in future. It can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be complicated – there are loads of wonderful services like Yola and WordPress.com that can help you to build a nice-looking site easily.
The next step is to set up Google Analytics. This will tell you how many readers your web site is getting, where they’re coming from, and how much time they’re spending on your site. You can also use it to keep an eye on your ad campaigns, and see what people are purchasing on your website. Crucial!
Once you’ve created your website and added web stats, the next task is to build links to your site by getting other web sites to link to it. One of the simplest ways to start this is with general word wide web directories like Best of the Web (paid), and DMOZ (free). There are literally 1000s of website directories – and it’s worthwhile posting your website to several of the more popular ones. It’s not worth applying to hundreds of directories, but if you’re planning to do a hundred or so, then there are firms that will upload your web site on your behalf, very inexpensively.
Besides the general directories, it’s normally good practice to post your website to any vertical market directories (ie those that deal specifically with your market) that you can find. They generally get better results compared to general directories. Sadly, the majority of these charge for entries, but it’s occasionally possible to find zero cost directories. For example http://www.ClickPubs.co.uk/ is a great site to post details about your pub to, and it’s absolutely free too. They do want in depth information and pictures, but that all helps drive more targeted visitors to your website, so it’s worth doing. Try to find other free sites like that, and apply to those also – it will all help!
Rather than sitting and waiting for prospects to turn up at your new site – you could advertise to begin bringing them in. Google Adwords is a great way to achieve this – it’s a Pay Per Click advertising product that shows your advertisements alongside Google’s search results – and as you might expect, you only pay when someone clicks through to your website.
Now that customers are coming to your site – don’t forget to request their email address, so you can email them information, news and promotions – or just remind them to come back to your website and check out what’s changed. Solutions like GetResponse make it easy to get email addresses and send out emails to your site visitors.
You’ve already taken the first step to gaining more prospects from the Web – but the most significant step is still to come – putting this into practice. Just work through it, bit by bit – but do get underway. The quicker you start, the sooner you’ll secure your first new customer from the Net.