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10 point business web site plan
Visualise a plan
Companies are so dazzled by the prospect of establishing a Web presence, that they lose sight of the original reasons for being there: Promoting product and/or service? Point-of-purchase sales transactions? Building a customer database? Soliciting customer feedback? Even though it's still difficult to assemble meaningful projections, it's still important to make a list of short- and long-term goals. Even a very simple plan is better than none.
It's better to experiment with a test site now, and make your mistakes while the medium is young. Too many Web sites are bottlenecked in committee meetings while awaiting budget approval. A site can be established for a relatively small expenditure, and then tweaked and cultivated as needed. And thanks to the interactive nature of the medium, you'll know quickly what is and isn't working. You don't need to spend a fortune getting established. Web sites can be built incrementally, adapting to your changing business strategies.
Hire the right web designer
Invariably, when people focused on paper media advertising get handed the job, they try to fit this new technology into old methodologies. They want to deliver their brochure over the Internet. What they really need to do is give customers a complete on-line transaction, from first hit to showroom tour to final transaction.
Solution: save money in the long run and subcontract web design to the professionals. People who do not understand the mechanics of Web construction end up re-doing their site endlessly until they finally get it right. They end up paying for it over and over. Hire someone who knows what they are doing and is prepared to work with you.
Research The Competition
Whatever you're promoting or selling, there are already sites devoted to the identical product or service. Investigate the standards, and trends. Don't copy the competition directly, be different, establish your presence with originality in service provision. Look at the ideas your competitors use and then do it better.
Appreciate the Webs Interactivity
Many companies don't understand that it is not just a matter putting together information with pretty pictures. A form does not really work unless the customer has a reason to complete it. Even those who comprehend that a Web page is not just a display ad or a brochure still don't fully understand that interactivity works both ways. Soliciting customer feedback is only the first step.
Respond to customer enquiries promptly, it's a big mistake if you don't follow through and respond to them. Profile your company online, but also put your staff 'on-the-net' with email as a minimum.
Commercialisation
Internet protocol dictates that you supply free information and entertainment first, and then ask for the sale. Offer something free -- a sample game, a book chapter, a unique design, a photo album or anything free and useful and relevant
Entice customers by providing non-commercial hooks: information and services that they need. A company selling fire safety equipment might provide a free safety report, a shipyard could provide advice on boat building. Be mindful of the fact that you're talking to an individual. The best sites simulate a one-on-one conversation - personalisation is the key.
Organisation
You're competing with hundreds of thousands of web pages for a customer attention. If they get lost or confused, that's it, it's over. Web browsing attention span is minimal. Content is King: Snappy graphics will make your home page memorable, but the only sites that entice customers past the front door are content rich.
Make sure that the sale is never more than a click away, poor navigational options will deter all but the most steadfast of clients. Your product or service should prominent; you should be promoting and enhancing what you have to offer.
Streamlined Graphics
Simple, crisp, attractive icons are highly effective. It is possible to create compelling, graphically-rich pages without huge file sizes.
Entice Return Visits
Sites that fail to constantly update and revise their material quickly become dusty corners of the web. People will go to your website to get the latest news about a particular set of products or a particular market. Visitors want to find out something new on a regular basis.
Promote Your Website, On And Off The Net
Negotiate reciprocal links with compatible sites, submit your site to Web directories, post notices in forums, send press releases to trade and consumer press. Promote your site in all your corporate stationary, literature, and packaging. There are magazines, both e-zines and print, all over the world. Every one of them needs stuff to write about. Make yourself and your website newsworthy but make sure you're ready before you submit.
Global medium, think beyond your tongue
Websites are often available in a variety of languages. Offer translations of your contents in several languages. Make it possible for the remote user to click on a choice in their native language. Provide a certain amount of content targeted at specific nationalities. Create customised mirror sites that have local content and relevance over and above your global site.
The biggest mistake of all, of course, is not to establish a Web presence. There's potential for great reward from small risk and investment. Think of it as an environment that can enhance communications both externally and internally between employees, customers, suppliers, and dealers.
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