Tips to build website traffic

If you can get people to come to your business website, you stand a fair chance of making money. But how do you attract those visitors? We look at three Australian businesses making use of techniques such as microsites, online auctions and blogging to maximise their online potential.

Developing a basic online presence is a prerequisite for any successful business, but merely creating a vanilla site with basic company information is unlikely to make you stand out from the crowd. Making use of newer online technologies such as blogging or video is one way to differentiate yourself from competitors, but how do you make such strategies effective? Here are three companies that have successfully used unusual online strategies to maximise visibility, and profitability.

Auctions & Videos

Kogan Technologies sells hi-tech equipment such as LCD televisions and GPS systems exclusively via the internet. Attracting customers is a critical activity for the company, but founder Ruslan Kogan had to go through a fair amount of trial and error to evolve the best strategies. "We're always looking at ways to improve," Kogan says. That experimentation has paid off, with the company predicting revenue of $5 million in 2008.

The business began when Kogan, a former consultant, wanted to buy himself an LCD TV. "I saw the prices and was a bit stunned," he says. "I was earning a bit of money but still couldn't afford one. I had done some eBay importing and I'd made contact with a few suppliers, so when I saw the price gap I saw a definite market opportunity." Kogan imported a container load of LCD screens and sold them all within 45 days.

One of Kogan's most successful strategies has been to sell much of the product via online auction site eBay. "EBay's got a lot of customers and it's the world's biggest marketplace. You can't ignore it."

Despite the relatively high value of the products, Kogan lists the items with no reserve, starting the bidding at just 99 cents. That strategy attracts more customers and represents a relatively low risk, he says. "I knew it was a product in high demand, and it was going to get the right price."

Kogan has made use of other online marketing strategies, including setting up discussion forums and purchasing strategic online advertising. An advertisement attached to a specific product type, such as ‘19-inch LCD’, is much more likely to succeed than a generic one such as ‘LCD TV’, which will attract many competitors, he says.

Future plans also incorporate online technology. "A customer buying online loses out on a lot of the shopping experience compared with buying in a store. We're going to be doing things like ad campaigns on YouTube and all sorts of marketing initiatives. We're also realising that pulling people back to the site after they've been there once is very important."

While marketing in this way is important, fundamentals are also vital, he says. "The online customer is a very hard person to please, a lot harder than people who shop in retail stores. Your business is constantly transparent. You've got to make sure that customer satisfaction is paramount. Just selling online isn't enough of a business differentiator. You have to make sure everything is running smoothly.

"It's all about maintaining first-class service. If your customers are happy, then the business is going to be successful."

Microsites & Communities

Health product manufacturer, Blackmores, has long had a central website with company and product information, but promoting newly launched lines required a different strategy. For the past few years much of Blackmores’ internet marketing has centred around the creation of microsites—small but highly focused sites designed to address one particular segment of the audience. To help build those sites, the company hired specialist marketing agency, Bullseye.