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How do I get my business on the
Internet?
Copyright © 2004, Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/
This is one of the most frequently asked questions by
smal
business owners. They are feeling the pressure from their
customers
and competitors, yet for many business people it is a daunting task, as they
don't understand the whole process.
In fact, many people are even asking
the question whether they
should have a website. Whether you are a
consultant, florist,
designer, builder, architect or a doctor, consider the
many
advantages a website provides:
1. Make money - Set up an on-line
store or get paid for advertising from other companies
2. Save money
on advertising - Instead of paying for large ads,
simply advertise your
website
3. Be flexible in your message - Change the content as
your
business changes. No need to re-print expensive brochures.
4.
Exposure to new customers - You will reach more local clients as well as
interstate and global markets
5. Having more professional image - Keep up
with the times and
your competitors
6. Save time - Don't spend hours
on the phone, direct customers
to your website
7. Keep your business
open 24/7 - Provide customers information
when THEY need it. If you don't,
someone else will.
So what does it really take to get your website set
up?
Step 1 - Register your domain name OR not.
The big question is
whether you need to register a domain name
or not. The simple answer is NO,
but a better answer is YES it
is a good idea.
What is a domain
name?
The purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a
street address or telephone number. The domain name directs customers to
you on the Internet. The domain by itself is not your email or web address.
The domain does form the base from which these
addresses are
derived.
For example:
Company Name: Websites 4 Small
Business
Domain Name: web4business.com.au
Web Address: www.web4business.com.au
Email Address: sales@web4business.com.au
Do I need
to register a domain name to have a website?
NO, you don't need to have
your own domain name. Your website
can be created and hosted without it. Your
website address
will look something like this:
www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning
OR
www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning
The only advantage of not registering a domain name is that you
will
save yourself A$70 per year (it costs approx A$140 for 2 years to register a
'.com.au' domain name).
The disadvantages of NOT having your domain name
include:
1. If you decide to change your Webhosting company or if
that
company goes out of business, you will lose your website
address.
Your website can be transferred to a new company,
but your address will
change. And that means re-printing
stationery and re-doing all your
advertising, notifying all your customers etc.
2. Website addresses
that contain information other than your
company name are long and hard to
remember and do not appear
as professional. Compare these two and see which
one you
are more likely to remember:
www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning
OR
www.JBCleaning.com.au
So
it is a good idea to register a domain name, even if it is just to protect
yourself for the future. Say for example, your business name is JB Cleaning
and you decide not to register your domain name for now.
Along comes
Joe Bloggs who opens his own cleaning business and registers
JBCleaning.com.au domain name. After a year you
decide you want to have your
own domain name, but since Joe
Bloggs already owns it, you won't be able to
register it. Not to mention your customers who know your business as
JB Cleaning may visit his website, thinking it's your web address and
instead hire Joe Bloggs Cleaning.
Step 2 - Plan your
website.
Planning your website is a two part process:
(a) Decide
on the website design (colour schemes, buttons,
special effects etc). This is
your website designer's job. However, you may have a preference for a certain
colour or look. To help you choose a design, you may wish to check out
other people's websites or work with your web designer's pre-set
templates.
(b) The content. There are many items you may wish to
include
on your website. The most common ones include:
1
Product/Service Details
2. Contact Information
3. Pricing
4.
Testimonials
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Response Form, such as "Join
Mailing List"
7. On-line Magazine or Newsletter
8. Resources &
Articles
9. Guarantee
10. Survey
11. Events Calender
12. Search My
Website Form
13. Refund Policy
14. Privacy Policy
15. About Us
Information
16. Site Map
17. Copyright information
18. Useful
Links
19. Media Information
20. On-line store
21. News
22.
Directions to Your Bricks & Mortar Premises
Step 3 - Choose a
Web Hosting Company.
What is a Web hosting Company?
A Web host is
a company that provides server space for your
website. You can think of a web
host as a commercial building. The web host provides space for your website
just as a commercial building provides space for your shop or office. You
can build your own building and you can host your own website, but because of
the cost and expertise required it is easier to rent the space.
Which
Company Should I Choose?
Web hosting companies are not created equal so
you need to take
a number of things into account when selecting one. A
proven track record, experience and reliability form the foundation of
any
successful business partnership.
Some of the issues you should consider
when choosing a
webhosting company include:
1. Support - Does it
provide comprehensive Technical Support
- 24 hours a day, seven days a
week?
2. Reliability - Does it have multiple large-scale links to
the
internet to provide a fail-safe path to your customers from
anywhere
in the world?
3. Security - Does it have a robust security system
that minimises risk of web site intrusion?
4. State-of-the-art - Does the
company utilises leading edge
technology and is supported by a large-scale
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system.
5. Scalability - Does the
product range and services offered allow your business to grow without
impediment by making it easy to upgrade and add components to existing
product levels.
Step 4 - Getting people to your site.
The
marketing of your website is important if you want to draw
visitors to your
site. If you don't promote your website no-one will ever see it. There are a
number of different ways of advertising your website. The best strategy is
one, which integrates your existing promotion methods with your
website.
1. Office Stationery - Including your web address and
email address on your stationery is probably the easiest way to draw
attention to your site. It's cost effective and gets your Internet presence
out there in the market place.
2. Business Cards - When printing business
cards you should
include the individual's email address and main address
of your website.
3. Radio Advertising - Radio Advertising should
include your web address. Don't include the http://, try "Visit us on the
internet at w-w-w-dot-qikphone-dot-com-dot-au". If your budget is limited,
you may wish to consider community radios.
4. Email and Mail-Outs - Let
your current customers know the
details of your website. You can either send
them an email or a letter/postcard. Keep your website's content
up-to-date and they will keep coming back!
5. Print Media - Print
advertising should include a generic email address for the company and
include your website address. Normally positioned at the bottom right or
bottom centre of your advertisement.
6. Search Engines &
Directories - People looking for your website who don't know the URL are most
likely to use an on-line search engine to look for your organisation or
the kind of products and services you offer. There are over 300 major
search engines and directories, but you should concentrate on the larger,
more commonly used ones. These include: Google, Yahoo, Altavista, Anzwers,
Inktomi, Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, HotBot, MSN, Dogpile,
AllTheWeb
etc.
7. Links from other websites - A good way to attract
visitors to your site is through the use of hyperlinks placed on
other sites. If you know of another site which has a list of links and you
think your website would be a good addition, let the website owner know. You
might also offer to provide a link from your site back to the other site.
This will encourage the webmaster to include your site. You should also
seek out partners for trading links including vendors, suppliers and
providers of complimentary products.
8. Link Exchange - Another way to
getting a link is through a
system called Link Exchange, a free public
service designed
to help websites advertise each other. With Link
Exchange, you agree to display advertising banners for other Link Exchange
members and they agree to display banners for you. The System is automatic,
you simply add a piece of HTML code to your web page and Link Exchange will
display an advertisement for another website. The disadvantage with Link
Exchange is that you don't get any control as to where your banner ad appears
or the type of banner ads that will appear on your website. It is not
possible to guarantee that a competitor of yours may have their banner ad
displayed on your site.
9. Paid Banner Advertising/Affiliate Marketing
Programs - Various sites give you the opportunity to purchase
banner advertising on their site. Some sites will charge you a flat
monthly fee while other sites will charge you based on the number of people
who see your ad.
Step 5 - Monitor your site's statistics
Your
website's statistics should show who visits your website,
where in the world
they come from, how they are finding your site and what pages are being
viewed. Knowing your customers is the first step in effective marketing. Most
webhosting companies will provide access to this information free
of charge.
Step 6 - Maintaining your website
It is important to
update your website regularly to keep your
customers interested. One of the
great advantages of having a
website is that you can change its content
virtually overnight at minimal cost (unlike re-printing brochures and
flyers).
This is just a brief overview of the process involved in
getting your website up and running. In future articles we will cover each
step in more detail.
Resource
Box:
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Ivana
Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a company specialising in the
design and promotion of small and home-based business websites. She believes
that every business deserves to have a successful website, no matter what its
budget is. For
more information visit http://www.web4business.com.au or
email info@web4business.com.au. To
subscribe to Web4Business Ezine, send email to web4business@getresponse.com
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