Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Springwise writes about new businesses, most of which are spotted by our network of 8,000+ Springspotters, who submit concepts they think are smart and innovative. Since those businesses can be anywhere in the world, our first point of entry is usually a website. Which means we look at hundreds of small business sites every week. Some of them tick all the right boxes: easy-to-find information, appealing design and an engaging tone of voice, all working together to showcase a product or service and brand.

Others… Well, they seem to have missed a few fundamentals. So before you dive into online branding and join the social web, make sure you’ve covered the basics:

1. ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES
If you own a small business and are planning to launch a website,  you want to be able to make minor updates on your own. If you are using a web designer, this is something he or she will need to take into account. The aim is for you to be able to make simple changes: add a new staff member to your “team” page, change prices, or fine-tune a product description. Same thing applies if you already have a website: find someone to show you which software to use, and how to make textual changes. HTML isn’t scary, and anyone can learn the basics in a few hours. (Related: Seth Godin asks “Why aren’t you really good at graphic design?“)

2. KEEP YOUR SITE UP-TO-DATE & SWEAT THE DETAILS
This follows from the above: if you need to involve (and pay) someone every time you want to make a change to your site, you’ll waste time and money, and might even avoid updates just to save money. Which means your website will soon look out-of-date. If customers can spot that you haven’t updated your site in months or even years, you’re hurting your brand. If it’s 2009 and the copyright line on your website still reads © 2008, that’s as much a sign of neglect as dusty shelves in a grocery store.

3. AVOID THE FLASH TRAP
Yes, a Flash-based site can look stunning. But if your visitors just want to find out if your salon is open on Sunday, a glitzy intro is an annoying waste of time. If you’re convinced that animated graphics are the best way to show off your product, make it optional: let your visitors decide if and when they want the full tour.

4. TEXT NEEDS TO BE SEARCHABLE
This is something we still see too often: text in jpegs and gifs. The bulk of text on your website needs to be in text format. If you can highlight the text with your mouse, you’re fine. If not, it’s likely that the text is inside an image, where it’s generally hidden from search engines. And if you’re looking to get traffic to your website, you don’t want to play hide-and-seek with Google.

5. DON’T MAKE THEM GUESS
Be crystal clear about what you do and what you offer. What are you selling? What does your product do? This is information that needs to be visible on your homepage, and a first-time visitor needs to be able to ‘get it’ as quickly as possible. Use short sentences and illustrative images to get the point across. And make sure that important details are easy for customers and potential customers to find, with as few clicks as possible: how to contact you, where they can find you, when you’re open, etc.

Done? Then it’s time to start cultivating your online garden.