SA Business Journal

Now is the time to revisit your website and online strategy

Anthony Caldwell
Tuesday, June 28th 2022

No matter which way you look at it, the last two years have been extremely difficult for businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us all to think outside the square’ and find new ways to get our products and services into customers’ hands. In particular, the pandemic has resulted in the wider adoption of digital technology and electronic commerce in business and society.

How does your business stack up on the digital front? If you have not already given it some attention, then now is a good time to revisit your online strategy — particularly your website, as it remains your most important digital asset.

So, why is your website so important?

A website is often the first touchpoint’ people have with your business. When people want to find out about a company, product or service, they typically go online and start with a search in a search engine. Research shows that around 93 per cent of online experiences begin with a search engine like Google. If you have a good quality website, customers looking for your brand will invariably find it in a search engine and then be directed to your business.

Unlike other online channels, you own’ your website and completely control it. You own the domain name, control where it is hosted, and how the site is architected and designed. The same cannot be said about other channels – your Facebook Page is controlled by Facebook (remember when Facebook chose to turn off’ lots of Facebook Pages?); Twitter controls your Twitter feed; your Apple and Android mobile apps are controlled by Apple and Google. Whilst you should absolutely invest in these other channels, your owned’ website should be at the core of your digital activity.

Your website has an advantage over other digital channels because it is device agnostic’. Accessing your website can be done on any device (eg desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone) and on any operating system (eg. Windows, iOS, Android) via any web browser (eg Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari). The same cannot be said of apps – an Android app cannot be accessed on an iPhone or a desktop PC. A website enables you to reach the largest possible audience. 

Businesses looking to expand their online activity should consider a content marketing’ strategy. This is about regularly producing high-quality online content related to your products and services. This content demonstrates expertise in your field and helps build trust and confidence with prospective customers. Search engines index good quality content, which provides a mechanism for attracting organic’ visitors looking for the products and services you offer. Your content can also be repurposed and distributed through social media and email marketing to drive traffic back to your website.

If your website is attractive, accessible, contains excellent content, and is frequently updated with fresh material, then it will attract organic visitors from search engines, as well as traffic from other sources — inbound links from other websites, editorial from traditional media services, social shares and posts from bloggers. This is the best type of promotion (in marketing parlance, it is called earned’ media) — it does not cost you anything. Because it comes from an independent third party, trust and quality are inferred.

Your website is your most important online asset, and now is an excellent time to give it some attention.

Author

Anthony Caldwell

Manager, Marketing, Media, Communications
Recent Articles
13 Sep 2022 | SA Business Journal
Incentives to get the right skills in your business
23 Aug 2022 | SA Business Journal
Skill up for today and tomorrow
16 Aug 2022 | SA Business Journal
Smart. Brave. Collaborative
9 Aug 2022 | SA Business Journal
Leverage our natural assets
2 Aug 2022 | SA Business Journal
Have the confidence to increase your prices
26 Jul 2022 | SA Business Journal
Inspire to be inspired