Making the Web Work for Your Business

By Jess Lowe, account manager, PRG Ltd

The Internet has become a regular fixture for most people, with nearly 50 per cent of the UK logging on regularly – the second highest levels of usage in Europe. Many of us conduct much of our lives online, shopping, socialising and generally using the web as a tool to find information.

For businesses, a website acts as an online shop window, so it’s imperative that its look reflects the company’s values and, most importantly, that it’s found by potential customers.
You may have noticed that LP Gas magazine’s website underwent a facelift last year, with an updated appearance and the implementation of online marketing techniques to help the site get found by people searching for lpg related information.

So far, so good. During November last year, www.lpgasmagazine.co.uk recorded the highest visitor numbers ever and, by December, visitor numbers were up by 297 per cent compared with December 2007.

Dramatic improvement

You may already have a website and here at PRG we’d like to help your business make the best possible use of the Internet – which is even more important in this time of economic uncertainty.

So how has www.lpgasmagazine.co.uk improved its performance so dramatically? Apart from making sure the website looks good, www.lpgasmagazine.co.uk has been developed in such a way that it can be better read by search engines.

Most Internet users often look no further than the first three or four sites listed. For a website to be successful, it must be placed under relevant search terms amongst these top slots.

Modern methods

To achieve this, a site should be built so it can easily be read by Google – Flash, for example, a programme often used to create online animation, may look impressive but cannot be read by search engines.

It’s also important that a website be filled with relevant content. Research can be done using an analytics programme provided by Google to find out what people are searching for and in what volumes, so the trick is to select appropriate phrases.

Rankings

Google ranks websites under a number of criteria – the number of visitors, how often the content is updated and, most importantly, how relevant the information included on the site is to any given search. For LP Gas, improving the content of its site in line with the requirements of Google has resulted in a massive increase in visitor numbers.

If you type ‘lp gas’ into Google, www.lpgasmagazine.co.uk is now at the top - during December 2008, 3,500 people searched using the term lp gas, so that’s 3,500 potential visitors.

Surprisingly, 49,000 people searched using the term ‘lpg gas’ – to the industry this is clearly wrong, but the high volumes show that many people don’t appear to understand what the ‘g’ in lpg stands for! To capture these people, pages would need to be written using the phrase ‘lpg gas’, something that will be considered in development plans for this year.

Navigation

Once found, the site is now easier for users to navigate, with added functionality, such as an enquiry form. In addition, in October 2008, the magazine became available to download in PDF form. To date, back issues have been downloaded 164 times, so for all the LP Gas advertisers out there, your ads are getting increased exposure!

For smaller businesses, the cost of implementing online application forms and carrying out Internet marketing campaigns may seem cost prohibitive. However, there are a number of ways to make your website work for you without spending a fortune on redevelopment.

Preferences

Only 30 per cent of visitors will get to your site through the home page. If your site is well built, people should be arriving on the pages most relevant to the search they put into Google, so make sure phone numbers and enquiry forms appear on every page – it sounds simple, but it’s amazing how many sites miss this basic principle.

An enquiry form gives users a quick option to make contact – people increasingly prefer to email rather than phone and a good website is about catering for a wide range of user preferences. You should never presume that people use the Internet the same way you do.

Return on investment

Building a website or updating an existing one may be viewed as an expense your business can’t afford but, with the measurable nature of the Internet, you can quantify the return on your investment by the number of sales your site creates – sales you wouldn’t have made had your site not been found.

The question then changes from “how much money will a website cost?” to “how much money am I losing without one?”.

Take advantage of visitors to www.lpgasmagazine.co.uk by advertising on the website - LP Gas can tell you exactly how many users are clicking through from its site to yours. For more information call Tracey Loats on 01323 646076.

LP Gas magazine’s website has been redeveloped by PRG Ltd. To find out how PRG can help the web work for your business, visit www.prgltd.co.uk or contact Jessica Lowe on jessica@prgltd.co.uk or 01323 411044.

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