For many, building a website simply to have a web presence with information available so people can be directed there, is enough. Websites in this sense are no more than a virtual billboard, and businesses that use them this way are missing out on the ability to provide valuable educational content to potential new customers.
Promotional websites:
Initially, many business owners were told, "all you need is a website". They are local small business owners, such as, architects, doctors, mechanics and lawyers looking to promote 
their business. Most have paid for an expensive "promotional" website. These businesses usually employee between 5 and 30 employees and earn in excess of a million in gross sales. In other words, these are successful businesses spending lots of money on unsuccessful advertising. If you are one of these types of businesses, begin to look at your website differently as a valuable inbound marketing tool.
Website Structure:
Structuring your website as an inbound marketing tool utilizes your website appropriately, so it becomes the valuable tool it is. By inbound marketing, we mean attracting customers to you who want what you have, through your marketing activities. The website needs to provide for all the pertinent information about the business but it also needs to be structured off strategic keywords so the website comes up when searched. A quality web design company can help to drive local web traffic to your website and create more local business, which is ultimately the driver of success for your company. Be cautious, some web design companies are good at making your website look pretty but have little knowledge in developing engaging, educational content. A quality marketing consultant can help you locate a good web design company and also help you with rich searchable content.
Structure for Local Search:
If you want to reach local consumers you have to structure you website to do so. Say you are a Kansas City based business, you will want to use example such as this to naturally appeal to companies in the city you are servicing. This way if someone searches for web design Kansas City; your business can be found for that long tail keyword phrase. Building a successful marketing strategy into your web design is easy. It starts with the content itself.
The Strategy:
Who is your target market and how are you different than other businesses that say and do what you do. For starters you need to talk to your target audience in a way that pertains to them. Also, you should explain why your strengths make your company different than your competitors.
Provide educational or helpful content for your website visitors. Not only is this an effective marketing strategy, but it is good business. Useful information allows your company to stand out against your competitors and holds your website out as a valuable resource. In fact, as people search for the information that you provide in your website, it should appear in search engine results, such as Google or Bing. As previously mentioned, ensuring your content appears in search results, however, has to do with your use of keywords.
Using Keyword to be found:
Choosing keywords that appear throughout your website content that is both searchable in search engines and a useful keyword is the second major step to creating an effective web design marketing strategy. Using the perfect density of keywords throughout your content, usually 1.5 percent yields the best results. In other words, keyword stuffing, using the keywords too frequently is not helpful. In fact, search engines like Google penalize websites for this, giving it a lower search engine ranking and making it appear lower in search results.
Other methods for creating a successful web design campaign center around the construction of the site. Some search engine optimization tools you can control, like internal linking or linking to other pages on your website and minimizing the use of flash. Internal linking helps search engines find other pages on your site, improving the number of ranked pages, while minimizing flash design helps search engines find your homepage which is nearly impossible with a flash page.
Summary:
Creating a successful marketing strategy includes many other key logistical factors concerning the construction of your site and proper website maintenance. No broken links please. A good marketing consultant or web design company can help you create and implement a successful strategy that drives local business to your website. You will see the benefits for yourself as your business improves. If you would like to discuss your web design project with someone, please contact Shawn at www.redstarmarketing.com
