Are your newspaper ads failing to hit the mark? Have TV and radio commercials become too pricey for you? Are you tired of delivering your own pamphlets? Is word-of-mouth just not working?
Don’t despair – all is not lost – because the most effective way of getting your message out there is now arguably the cheapest: the World Wide Web.
But please take note. Establishing an online presence is not as simple as it may sound.
“The first thing you want to consider is the fact that your website will be a big selling point; a label for your company and service,” advises Beau Henderson from IMInteractive, a provider of hosting solutions for businesses and individuals.
“Potential customers will get an idea of how professional your company is by the look and feel to your site, so you want to ensure that navigation is simple, non-confusing and easy to find on each page,” he says.
“People sometimes make the mistake of including too much information,” adds Andre Ferreira, from Phase New Media. “Let’s face it, people are lazy and it’s still difficult to read large chunks of text on a computer monitor; simplicity is key.”
Software to Create a Website
Website building applications are ‘a dime a dozen’, so it’s important to choose carefully, keeping in mind that the best software will always be the kind you feel the most comfortable with. As Henderson says: “It’s good to experiment and see what works best for you and your skill level.”
Kris Howard, a provider of web design and hosting services, disagrees: “Personally, Macromedia Dreamweaver is the ONLY program,” he says.
“Others do not have the functionality and do not simplify the process of designing sites from start-to-finish nearly as much as they could.”
On the other hand, Ferreira believes that while Dreamweaver is the industry standard, it is best left in the hands of people who use it daily. “In other words, hire a web developer,” he says. “Pay for expertise and spend your time doing the things are you are best at.”
(Cornerstone Business Solutions builds its site using MS FrontPage)
Website Content
While keeping your site as simple and easy to navigate as possible is key, there are several other things to remember that will make the entire process – from the planning phase to ‘going live’ – much easier.
“Stick with a maximum of three or four colors,” says Henderson. “Too many is not aesthetically appealing, and will cause your site to look overcrowded. Stick with those that match the feel of your company or product.
“Also, remember to keep file size to a minimum,” he adds. “The majority of Internet users are still on dial-up Internet access, and if it takes longer than three to five seconds to load, they tend move on to another site.”
“Create a logging system so every contact from your site, by email, form or phone call is logged; even the seemingly casual enquiries,” Ferreira adds. “This will help you track your conversion rate: number of enquiries to proposals, to meetings, to purchases.”
Online Transactions
You may ask yourself how a website can help you make some money. Will it help you to directly increase your sales in a substantial, quantifiable way?
The answer, unequivocally, is ‘yes’. For example, online credit card purchases have been possible almost as long as the Internet has been in existence. Even if your company is essentially a service provider, you may be able to sell research reports and other documents through your website.
“This kind of e-commerce is really quite safe and widely accepted these days,” says Kris Howard. “A standard 128 bit encryption is robust enough to encrypt and decrypt online visitor form inputs, with no loss in data confidentiality or integrity.”
“You want to ensure any credit card information sent from your customers is encrypted via a Secure Socket Layer,” warns Henderson. “These can be purchased relatively cheaply from such places as GeoTrust.com, FreeSSL.com and InstantSSL.com.”
“It is important to never keep client credit card numbers in an area where they may be accessible to people online,” he adds. “Keep them either locked up, or manually enter them into a computer which isn’t connected to the Internet … and keep them password protected.”
While establishing a ‘net presence’ can certainly lead to a higher profile for your business, as well as increased revenue, Ferreira warns that setting up a website just for the sake of having one can become a real burden.
“Unless your site can make you money or save you time, focus your energy elsewhere,” he says. “In saying that, if you think carefully about what your website’s purpose is, it can become an important part of your business operation.”
Copyright 2002, RAN ONE Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from www.ranone.com.
Chris’ combination of academic credentials, career experience and temperament ideally suit his calling as a business development advisor. Clients say he has a mind for business and a heart for service.