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How do I get my business on
the Internet?
Copyright © 2004, Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
This is one of the most frequently asked questions by
small
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
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:
OR
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:
OR
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
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