The movie uses the line "If you build it, he will come" — though oft misquoted as "If you build it, they will come" — in hopes that people will come to a corn field to watch baseball. Many people have a similar thought of the website they build. Unlike the Field of Dreams, just because you build a website does not mean people will come.
Stats
Since we are referencing baseball in this post, it would not be complete without some stats. As of 11 December 2020, Internet Live Stats1 reports
- Approximately 4.8 billion internet users.
- Approximately 1.8 billion websites.
- About 75% of the websites are inactive.
- That means there are about 450 million active websites.
With such huge numbers, how do you get people to visit your website?
Advertising
Simply put, you must advertise that you have a website. As a part of your marketing efforts, you need to include your website address. Just about any place where you would be advertising your business logo or business name, you should include your website address. If you are advertising in the local media — whether print, radio, or tv — include your website address.
Lately, I have been checking out the various advertising — primarily in print media — to see if the businesses listed are including their website address. I have been amazed at the number of businesses that have websites that are not including this information.
What has been surprising me just as much is businesses that are promoting their presence on social media but not their website. To me, that is like promoting the local newspaper. You may have an advertisement in an edition of the newspaper, but there are other advertisements and stories in each edition that readers are going to be drawn away from your ad.
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar business or are a service business, you want to drive customers to you, not someplace where they may not see your message.
The Little Things
In addition to various traditional advertising outlets that most often come to mind, think of other areas too.
- Business stationery — Yes, there still is a place for this!
- Swag such as pens, cups, bags, etc.
- Email signatures
- Reports/White Papers/etc.
- Google My Business
- Review websites such as Yelp. Remember that Yelp is more than just reviews of restaurants.
- Zoom backgrounds
Bottom Line
If you build a website and you want people to come to your website, you have to let them know it is there and how to find it. Include your website address wherever you can. You need to make sure your website is worthy of people visiting too. We'll save that for a future article.
Of course, if we can help, please contact us.
-Michael.
Notes:
1. https://www.internetlivestats.com