Online directories are a great way of directing people from loads of different sites back to yours. I would definitely recommend you get started with a listing in the Yellow Pages because lots of people use that as their starting point. Once you’ve done that you should get listed in a few generic directories and then go looking for some that are focussed on your particular area of business. Below I have listed a few directories to get you started:

• Qype
• Hot Frog
• UK Directory

Having just put this list together I can’t help but notice that business directories often have very strange names. I wonder why that is…

Here are my 3 simple reasons why you should take the time to get listed in a directory:

1. Your listing will get more people onto your website and this should result in more customers for you.
2. By providing a link to your website the directory helps improve your rankings in search results when people are looking for your products or services.
3. Since the directory appears to be a third party you can create a well worded description of your company to improve how your prospect perceives your company before they arrive on your website.

There are many more reasons but I’m sticking with 3 since this should be enough to motivate you to action. If you would like us to do the work for you then get in touch with us.

1. Create a compelling story and be remarkable. There’s so much content and news and blogs and tweets to read and keep track of every day (every hour, every minute) that if a story is not compelling and remarkable then you probably won’t plan to come back to it. If it is then the writer is moving towards getting noticed online.
2. Clearly answer the “reason why”. Why should I read this? Why is this person an expert? Why should I care what they have to say? Why should I come back to this site? These questions and others like them will be in your readers’ minds and you should make an effort to answer them.
3. Prioritise marketing and writing over everything else. Obviously writing good content is important for your audience (see item 1 above) and in a way your writing has to fit in with your marketing. Think about how you are marketing your company/site and if you’re not sure they you probably aren’t doing it very well. Marketing should be a priority for any company.
4. Be bigger than you really are. The great thing about the web is that it does allow one to project a certain image. What image do you project online? Whether you’re aware of it or not you are projecting a certain image through your website. Ensure that the image is bigger than you. Good design definitely helps in this respect. Professional advice in this area can help you to ensure you project the best image and get noticed online.
5. Build long-lasting relationships. Doing business with people is often largely about your relationship with them. Corporate CRM database applications were built because enterprises know that even if they have several million customers the still have to keep building relationships with them. Have a system to help you build relationships and don’t just pretend to care.
6. Carefully introduce products and services. This may not be relevant to all businesses but switching from being a purely information site to selling products or services can scare off your audience. Prepare them for it, give them the reason why (see 2 above) and stick to your core area of competence.

There’s a lot more to it and I suggest you read the full PDF document to learn from Chris’ experience over the past year.

So the next time you read about a new really easy get rich scheme just take a minute to think about how the person is selling you on the idea of their scheme. Have they given you enough information for you to be able to fully evaluate the scheme or do they just use generic terms and tell you that you can work from home and do it all in half an hour a day. The truth is that hard work pays and no work … doesn’t. Capitalism relies on the fact that some people will make more money than others and they do so because of their ability and hard work. Communism doesn’t work because there isn’t enough incentive to motivate people to really work hard. (There’s a lot more that could be said but I’m trying to summarise the main issue here.)

Suffice to say that taking the high road will produce better results but will require some hard work on your part. The good news is that the rewards are much greater and can be sustained over a longer period.

What do you know about your customers? Have you ever watched someone trying to buy something off your website? Do you know what frustrates them and what causes them to go buy from another site? These are the sort of questions a usability expert is interested in. Once they have answers to these are questions they can help you do something to fix any usability problems.

If you take a DIY approach to your online presence and want to find out more I suggest you start with Jakob Nielson’s Usability 101 and Top 10 mistakes of web design. These can highlight some generic problems that your site may have.

If you would like to discuss usability or other issues in website design and development please contact Get Noticed Online.

I’m always interested in getting a good return on any investment, and I expect you are too. One valuable item that came out of this change for these three retailers was that they were all more motivated and happier after they’d made the change. Running a business isn’t all about money so the fact that they were enjoying themselves more was a good thing. I think this change in their attitude will probably also result in a change in the bottom line as well. 

I’m not suggesting here that you should change the market that you are going after in your business but I am suggesting that your website should be up market. If you have a website that looks like it was designed in the 90’s and has some “under construction” sections then your customers will have a certain perception of the market that you are going for, and most of them probably won’t consider themselves to be in that market.

The cost of a re-designed website is a lot less than the cost of re-fitting a retail store. Because of the fast pace of change online I would recommend that if you haven’t had your website redesigned in the past 2 years then it may be time for a new look. You don’t need to change your company logo or colors but the appearance should fit in with other sites your customers are likely to visit.

If you would like a bit of feedback on what your website looks then send us an email and we’ll get back to you with a response within 1 working day.