I work with CEOs of Nigerian companies - most small and medium sized businesses. My exposure and experiences over the years helped me discover this FACT:

MOST Nigerian CEOs do not know they should be in the driving seat of their Website Marketing for Business Development.

It is my considered opinion that as a website owner, YOU MUST be ABLE to manage virtually every aspect of your website by yourself, without NEEDING the developer - or you should have some in-house staff that can do it. If this is NOT the case, then your website is VERY unlikely to work (or be working) for you.

When you examine websites owned by larger companies, you will discover that the same problem afflicts their CEOs too. And that is why I have ALWAYS advocated that today's business owners in Nigeria, adopt websites built with zero-cost Content Management Systems (CMS) - like Joomla! (see http://www.joomla.org) - which allow even NOVICE users (following a few hours of coaching) to edit/update their websites content using WYSIWYG interfaces.

How Can You Be Sure That I Am Right?

But you could argue that there is nothing to prove that I am correct in my assessment of Nigerian websites.

I would reply that THAT is because people - especially the owners of websites - do NOT know what to look for on the site, and how to measure its performance.

But how do I identify websites that do (or may) NOT WORK as well as they should?

Simple. Such websites:

(a). do not ask you to subscribe to a newsletter or e-zine covering topics/subjects of potential interest or benefit to its target audience.

(b). do not periodically offer NEW, USEFUL downloads (articles, or special reports, that are regularly updated, or added to) that you can only get by parting with your e-mail, and other "demographic" information.

(c). are not designed to be easily found - and indexed - by TOP rated search engines like Google, Yahoo! One PERFECT EXAMPLE : websites built with 100% flash - which is a medium that search engines cannot relate to. This makes such websites get ignored during searches done by potential customers using keywords relevant to it!

(d). are built without regard for usability - by visitors. For instance, contact forms or links can be hard to find, or totally absent. Yet, the website is supposed to be a marketing tool to make those who visit, who are potential customers, TAKE ACTION to MAKE REQUESTS towards learning more about, or buying, your products/services.

Please note that "usability" as employed above is a technical term, and its "meanings" are not totally obvious. To learn more, Google "what is website usability?".

(e). do not have any intelligent web marketing done for them by TRAINED and COMPETENT in-house personnel or hired specialists (like myself).

With respect to this last point (e), I am ever so often amused to see some web designers out here who go submitting their clients' website addresses to Google and other engines, claiming they are doing "search engine optimisation"! That is soooooo far from the truth. Search Engine Optimisation entails a whole lot more, than that. In fact, I would say submitting to engines is probably the least useful/important aspect of what is really a series of activities that ideally would need to be done regularly.

The problem is that the clients are often also uninformed. And usually, since their designer would already have dazzled them with pretty graphic designs, they readily assume s/he KNOWS all there is to know - and DO - about website marketing as well.

Unfortunately, even though that SHOULD be the case i.e. web designers should have tested and proven competence in developing website marketing systems for clients, the REALITY is that only a VERY tiny minority actually come close to having a working idea of how to do this.

So, what do I suggest?

Any person intending to have a website built for his/her business (for a large company, that means the decision maker who will approve payment to the designer) along with other key officers, NEED(s) to make a conscious effort to UNDERSTAND the requirements for developing a website marketing strategy for their OWN company. This knowledge should then be employed in discussing with the website designer/developer, the details of how the site will be managed and promoted online, to achieve its purpose.

Nigerians ARE Ready To Do Business With YOU Via The Internet!

I have now worked with FOUR different clients this year, to build or re-vamp their websites (if already existing) and/or develop custom web marketing systems to promote their companies on the Internet, towards getting found by prospective client audiences based right here in Nigeria. I am also in various stages of discussion with others intending.

Let me mention here, that I am continually tickled to laughter when I am told by some prospects (who think they know) that Nigerians are not ready for the net. One lady actually pointedly told me "We are not at the stage when we can do business using credit cards on the net". The question I asked her then was "But who said anything about using credit cards?". And who says we are not ready for the net? Thousands of Nigerians are using the Internet for serious work locally today.

Must we use the Internet the way people in developed societies use it, before it can work for us? Of course not!

Is the essence of our education not supposed to be that we become ABLE to study, and intelligently adapt, what we see working for some people outside our shores for instance, to suit our unique needs, based on the society we live in? I think the problem many of those who reject/resist the idea of using the net for doing business with Nigerians in Nigeria, is a general unwillingness to do the THINKING required to find a way to make the Internet work for us.

Well, I've got good news. I have spent the last five (5) years testing my many ideas of how to successfully win new and repeat business with Nigerian clients right here in Nigeria. And those ideas - based on the results I have gotten - have gradually been refined to make what I now call my own Web Marketing System for my website today. I have shared real stories of income-generating results I obtained using these methods in the past - including how even Non-Nigerian prospective clients from outside Nigeria contacted me about my services.

Final Words

Invite me to speak to your team, and I will provide proof to back up my claims and evidence to support the ideas I ask you to adopt. Note that my methods are actually such that you will continue doing your web marketing, and getting the results you want, at NEAR zero cost.

For instance, the LAST THING you should do - no matter how BIG your ambitions are (even if you're campaigning for election to public office!) - is PAY MONEY to any search engine, so as to get "Nigerians in Nigeria" to visit your website. There are other ways to get the same or even better - and LONGER LASTING - results. I have PROOF to back up my claims. Invite me to speak to your team. It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make for your business. Believe me. I do NOT exaggerate.

If you have a website, or are about to get someone to build one for you, I URGE YOU to take time to check for each of the five above-mentioned features, and be sure to ask WHY, if one or more are not provided for by your hired professional.

To show just how keen I am to help raise awareness amongst - and provide education to - businesses on this subject, you can now formally invite me to speak to your team on the subject of "How To Develop A Web Marketing System That Works In Nigeria" at NO professional fee. Call 0803-302-1263 for details.

Lastly, I have written articles in the past on this subject. I leave you with the links below to some of them:

1. A Website That Works Wins You Repeat Visitors, Leads, & Sales: NOT Admirers & Compliments Click!

2. How To Choose The Right Web Design Company Click!

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