Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Concluding our series on The Internet: It’s free, but do you get FULL VALUE? with the top 3 things to check that your site’s doing.

1- Is your lipstick on straight?

Your web site may, or may not, be free, but either way it’s your public face. At the very least, your web site must:

• Show your visitors what your shop looks like, inside and out. That means pictures, good pictures, of your shop, not generic photos you’ve found on the internet.
• Make it clear to even the casual glance where you are. That means not just your neighborhood’s name (The Tri-Village area) but your town/city and state. If I’m new to town or just visiting, will I understand where you are?
• Be free of as many spelling and grammatical mistakes as humanly possible. Not having several people proofread your site is like not checking the mirror for spinach in your teeth.

2- Is your About page as friendly as you are?

About pages are the second-most visited after home pages. Why? Because everyone wants to know who they are dealing with. They’re curious, they’re interested. So write like you talk. Your About page is not an essay for school, it’s the beginnings of what you hope will be an ongoing conversation. Don’t tell us your mission statement or sound like you’re trying to impress the loan officer at the bank. Instead, answer their unspoken questions like Is this a reputable place? Where exactly are they? Who runs this joint and do I like their attitude? And above all, of course, WIIFM?

3- Why, exactly, do you even HAVE a web site?

Three words: Search Engine Optimization. Also known as SEO. Your goal MUST be to be able to answer YES when the question is:

If someone is looking for a shop like mine in my community, will my web site be on the first page of Google/Bing/Yahoo results?

Any other goal you have for your site: Tell them our location and hours, explain how to bring things in, show them what wonderful items and great prices we have, cannot be met if your site cannot be FOUND. So even if you are not ready to dig into web site education up to your elbows (or up to the limit of your bank account!) learn one thing, and learn it well: SEO.

You might like:

• Does your site’s front page pass these 5 tests? A Weekend Warrior topic.
• Two examples of great web site graphics.
• The absolute WORST web page you can have.

Bonus tip:

Link your site to useful and legitimate sites to improve your SEO dramatically. These should range from “how-to” info like The 10 Things You Should Always Buy Used to shops with similar names (Were you looking for Encore in OtherState? Visit them HERE>)

This is the last entry in our Getting FULL VALUE out of the internet series. Read earlier entries about:

• Using email
• Facebook for Resalers
• Twitter
• Broadcast email blasts.

Add your 2-cents' worth

After you’ve read this series, I’d love to hear if I’ve left out of the “top 3” concerns for each topic, what you think I’ve overlooked. Comment below to add what you’d have included that I utterly and completely forgot!