This week, I spoke to a lot of downtown redevelopment types at the National Main Streets Conference in Oklahoma City. We talked about how to tell your story in this modern world (whether community, business district or small business). Social media plays a big part in that. But it’s not the central element…

In my presentation, I pointed out that to tell your story well, you must play by four basic rules. Without repeating my speech here, I do want to share the first rule and most important rule with you, because strategically, everything else will crumble if this rule isn’t followed:

Rule #1: You Must Have a Strong Home Base for Your Business or Community

That home base should most likely be your web site. In nearly all marketing models, it works for the web site to be the epicenter of the marketing universe. (It doesn’t HAVE to be that way, and I’m more than open to creative thinking on this subject depending on goals and budgets. But in most cases, it works for it to be the web site.)

Is your web site working as the epicenter? Are all roads leading back to your domain name…to your web site?

How can you make your HOMEBASE stronger?

1. Make sure it’s easy and quick to update. If you can’t update your own web site, you’ve got a big problem in today’s fast paced world. We love the WordPress platform because it takes me moments to make major updates to my own web site. It’s as simple as sending an e-mail.

2. If it’s easy to update…are you updating it? Are you adding new and interesting photos, educational content, employee and owner profiles, product and vendor information, demonstration videos and how-to lists… Are you making your web site and interesting and valuable resource for your customers and prospects?

3. Is your domain name appearing everywhere, even if your logo can’t? This includes audio communications (like radio, word of mouth, etc.), store signage (yes, including the front door and front window of your store), shopping bags (you never can tell where those bags will go), t-shirts, postcards, advertisements of every sort and at every opportunity.

4. Are you actively seeking to create traffic TO your web site through interesting posts on social media, links from vendor or organizational web sites, etc.? Remember that valuable content you created? Now it’s time to tell folks about it through Facebook wall posts, encouraging folks to share that information on Facebook, Facebook advertising, Twitter posts, LinkedIn posts, e-mail marketing and many more new media traffic drivers.

5. How does your site appear on search engine results? Does it even appear at all? Keep an eye on this, and ask your web guy for help if necessary.

6. Do you have Google Analytics and other robust web site analytics packages installed on your web site that are set to send you daily or weekly reports? Are those reports summarizing how much web traffic you are getting and from where (both geographically and by keyword topics)? Do you know who and why your customers are visiting your web site (keywords, inbound links, etc.)? Are they finding what they’re looking for – and so much more (bounce rate, number of actions per visit, time per visit). You might be surprised at what you learn, but you certainly need to know. And you need to correct course with the web site if it’s not delivering the desired results.

P.S. Interestingly enough, on my trip home, I was catching up on some reading and found that Chris Brogan had an interesting post on this same subject. His post has cool screen shots demonstrating how confusing it can be to customers if you do NOT have a strong home base. I hope you’ll enjoy his post as well.

Also, if you’re also just home from the National Main Streets Conference, you might enjoy our conference wrap-up of conference tweeters to follow and other good resources.

What say you? What results is your home base providing for your business?

The following questions are some critical questions that you, as small business web site owner should ask your web development guy.

If you do NOT have some of these items, they are easy, but necessary, fixes to your business web site. These are the basic building blocks upon which search engine optimization occurs (in other words – the basic building blocks that will help potential customers find YOUR web site when they search the Web – and they WILL search the Web first).

• Do I have unique, keyword rich page titles on each and every page? (View example)
• Do I have unique page descriptions written in common vernacular and keyword rich on each page? (View example)
• Do I have unique, relevant keywords and keyword phrases (meta tags) in the HTML code for each page? (View example)
• Do I have an XML site map? (View example)

If you don’t have these bases covered and your web guy argues with you about them, I’d say it’s time to move on.

This isn’t a post about what to do with the traffic once it gets there. Nor is it an advanced tutorial on Search Engine Optimization – that will be left to someone far smarter than myself, like maybe our friend Will Scott down in New Orleans, who specializes in local search optimization or another friend Ryan Kelly out in San Antonio that is behind one of the smartest, most user-friendly SEO tools I’ve seen in a long time.

For now, I just want to remind you that your small business web site needs attention in order to bring you a return on investment. Andy often says it this way: “A web site truly begins when it’s finished.”

Here are a few basics that you absolutely must address with your small business web site, no matter how local or “mom and pop” you are.

1. Update your site often. Often equals no less than once per week. If you do not have a web site that you can easily and quickly update yourself or train a teenager to update without need for any additional software, you might want to get a site update done. In 2010, there is no reason that a complete novice can’t update his/her own web site in a basic way in about ten minutes. Updates mean a lot to the search engines and to your customers. Regular updates mean there is a REASON for me to visit your web site repeatedly – and visiting reminds me to buy.
2. Create a strong collection of inbound links. Inbound links are simply links on the web that point to a page on your web site. It is much more complicated than this, but when boiled down you simply must have an increasing number of inbound links pointing to various pages of your web site. How do you get inbound links? Here are a few ideas:If you’re a locally owned and operated, independently owned small business, take advantage of the free listing in our Shop Main Street Business Directory. It provides you with an inbound link to your web site and your blog (as well as your social media if you use those). Both huge wins for you in this department.

• Make a list of all of the major brands that you carry in your store. Contact your rep and ask to be listed as a dealer on their web site along with a link to your web site.
• Contact every organization of which you are a member. This includes Chambers of Commerce, civic clubs, etc. Ask them to post a membership directory with links to business owners’ web sites. Make sure you are there with a link back to your web site.
• Submit press releases to the local newspaper when you have events or announcements, including new hires, new product lines, new or altered services, etc. Make sure they post on their web site with a link back to your business. Most will accommodate this request gladly if you write the article for them.
• Offer to write guest blog posts for related web sites and get links back to your web site through the attribution of these posts. This is a double whammy because it lets you show off your expertise, has relevant keywords that match your web site (hopefully) and gets you the inbound link(s). We love guest bloggers here… just ask me.
• Post articles in article directories.

3. Drive traffic to your web site. Inbound links certainly help with that. However, you can do a lot OFF-line and through online marketing that can increase traffic.
4. Traffic tends to beget traffic. Simply put, search engines often follow the crowd, so the more traffic you drive to your web site, the more traffic you will get through search. Here are some additional ideas for driving traffic to your web site.

• Send out regular e-mail messages with multiple links back to specific pages of interest on your web site.
• Include your URL on all store signage, advertising and other outreach efforts.
• Create a bag stuffer or bag tag that gives your customer a new reason to buy or increase their shopping frequency. Point them to the web site to learn more.
• Create on-line exclusives, coupons, and contests that can only be accessed at your web site. Promote these offers off-line.