Attract New Customers and Employees: Be Findable Online

Dan Blank -- Expert Business Source, 8/6/2007 12:05:00 PM

ZweigWhite looks at the damage you can do to your business if you can’t be found online. If your phone number can’t easily be found through a search engine, you may be turning away two important audiences: 

1. Prospective customers
2. Prospective employees

“It's unfortunate that firms sometimes take themselves out of the game from the start by being inaccessible. A lack of accessibility speaks volumes to prospective clients and employees. In fact, inaccessibility may be perceived as a reflection on a firm's qualifications, professionalism, experience, and reliability to the market.”

Some suggestions for construction firms to ensure they don’t get lost in the crowd online:

• “make sure your contact information is listed— and accurate— in the Yellow Pages and online directories”
• “Having a web site is one of the most critical marketing tools a firm can employ— it's one of the first places people go to learn about your firm and, oftentimes, the first impression they get.”
• “[tailor] your marketing messages to address the distinct needs of the various clients your firm is targeting… consider having a section dedicated to each of your target markets and focus the content of each section on them and things that matter to them.”
• “[conduct] a marketing audit — or a comprehensive and critical review of the entire marketing system, tools being used, and messages being sent to the marketplace... you can get a higher return on your marketing investment.”

Read more on ZweigWhite.com.