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Indianapolis businesses often recognize the importance of providing information up front. At least one of them has gone on record saying so: public television WFYI's magazine feature in the summer of 2009 interviewed Avon car dealer Terry Lee, and discussed Lee's approach to what he terms "the car buying experience." "We recognize that our customers' first visit should be a fact-finding mission," Lee says. "So, right off the bat, we give them all of the information they'll need to make an intelligent buying decision." When it comes to searching commercial web sites, most people are indeed on a fact-finding mission. From 2002 to 2009, according to the Pew Internet and American Life study, the number of Internet users in the United States who search at least once a day has climbed to more than 60 percent for adults. In that that same period, web searching has surpassed other online activities including reading news, checking weather, researching an area of personal interest, and web surfing for fun. From a marketing standpoint, the sooner and the more thoroughly searchers can get those facts, the greater the likelihood of a conversion to customers or clients. News Customers Can UseIt follows that facts should feature prominently on a commercial website. That includes blog posts and articles, which should contain information about a business and its industry that is of value to the searcher. Articles and blog posts can reflect various aspects of the business and its personalities: Creating and maintaining an online persona is one way to give a web site some human depth. Keeping CurrentWhile establishing a web presence is one step, keeping it fresh in some way is an ongoing process. Most search engine robots look for updates in blog posts and other content as part of the equation that determines organic search rankings. The higher a web site appears on a given search, the more likely it is for a searcher to view it first. Equally important is the human factor: people still prefer the idea of dealing with people, not computer interfaces. And an unchanged or otherwise seemingly static website doesn't offer as much incentive for return traffic as one that is updated from time to time. While it might seem daunting, updating a web page or adding a blog entry can be done a bit at a time and away from work, such as on weekends. It can also be helpful to think of the time spent generating a blog entry or article as an investment: Some material can provide the germ for future posts, or can be redistributed as marketing material in other media. The Internet and social media provide new ways for a potential customer to view a business: Just as they judge business cards, the physical appearance of a store and the demeanor of its employees, potential customers gauge a company at least in part by its web site. That is why it is important to plan messages that are clear and consistent across media. |