In recent years have been several fads that have swept through the internet community. First there were link exchanges, web rings and traffic exchanges. Article marketing was all the rage a few years ago, then came blogging and then MySpace, Facebook and now Twitter. All promised an easy path to unlimited traffic. The more recent ones have been dubbed as social media as they allow users to interact with the web owner. Each has added something to our online experience, and a few early adapters were able to reap huge benefits.
Many in the business world are interested in how they can use social media to build their businesses.
Let's take a winery as an example. On the face of it using a social medium to sell wine seems to be good idea. Wine is a product that is consumed and discussed at social occasions. The large competitive market relies on word of mouth to spread brand awareness, and some wine gurus are followed by fans just like celebrities. Getting these guys to comment or recommend a wine could be advantageous.
At the other end of the scale there are people who are building websites with more or less static content. They may have some interaction with visitors, but the content is the main part of the site.
This article explains why a well constructed website is the best solution for most small businesses.
The Trap of Twittering
Twitter.com allows users to post small messages or tweets, for free. It started as a way for people to manage their social contacts but businesses soon saw a marketing opportunity. The fact that accounts are free to set up is an added attraction. But are they free if you need to work at them every day?
Does anyone read the tweets that were made last week, let alone last year? A good web page can keep functioning for several years.
The fact is that people now go online for three reasons - to interact socially, to find information or to buy things. If you wish to sell a product or service it may be useful to capture some of the socialisers but you are probably much better to cater for the people who are looking for information or to buy.
To sell online the best option is a well constructed site with information and content. It takes time and some effort to do this, but once it is done it a site will continue to attract visitors and sales without daily attention.
Darby Higgs - Darby Higgs is a wine writer and webmaster based in Melbourne Australia. He is the Author of Emerging Varietal Wines of Australia: a guide ...
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