Do Your Research
Step out of your shoes and into your prospects' shoes. Imagine you are your prospect and you are looking for someone just like you.
- What do you search for?
- How do you search?
- Who do you find in the top of your search results?
Look ahead, not behind
Whoever you find first, is the leader in your market. If they aren't now, they will be soon, because your prospects will find them just like you did. What are they doing to get to the top of the results? Try to do the same. Never look behind yourself; always look to see who is ahead of you, and then do whatever they are doing, but find an edge do it better! Google their domain(s) and see what other sites are referring to them. Look at the top 3 competitors to analyze what kind of content they have on their site.
Resources
There are innumerable resources to help you with your research but of course Google is your most valuable resource. One of the first things you need to do is sign up for a Gmail account for your company, preferably yourcompanyname@gmail.com. Pay a visit to Google's Webmaster Central where you can learn about Webmaster Guidelines and use the Help Center to learn how to Optimize your content and Create a Google-friendly site. You need to understand Google to be competitive.
***We are still completing new material regarding planning philosophy and steps to creating an effective website. Please come back in early 2009 to learn more. If you can't wait, contact us now.***
