websites for business made easy

Websites Made Easy

ByMason Parker

Successful Strategies Limited

What is a website?

• A website is a representation of you or your products online– Pictures– Videos– Text– Interactive tools– Newsletters – A communication hub

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What’s better text / pictures?• This will depend on your outcome

– Pictures/videos look good and hold interest – Text informs and can really excite search

engines – The layout is important – it must tie in

together so the information and images flow together seamlessly

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What options are there?

• A website can be built in many varying forms from simple single page sites to highly complex database driven sites that are highly interactive

• What suits your needs the best?• What is your audience expecting?

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Are websites expensive?

• A professionally designed and built website can range from $100.00’s to $10,000.00’s

• There are setup costs and on-ongoing costs eg design fees, hosting costs, domain names

• OR you can setup a very low-cost but very effective self-managed site - a BLOG

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What’s a blog?

• A BLOG is a web-log• Its most easily explained as a web based

diary – but can come in many formats• The user can add content as easily as

writing and sending an email – and readers can make comments

• Look at www.noaddedfluff.com or http://unconditional.co.nz/noaddedfluff/

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Aren’t blogs easy?Wordpress • See

www.masonparker.com • Easily customised• Easily hosted on your site

or www.wordpress.com • Less intuitive• Requires a little skill to

set up

Blogger• See

www.noaddedfluff.com • Easily customised• Hosted by Google• Very easy to operate• Requires very little skill to

set up

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Self-hosted Or NOT?Self hosted• Completely in your

control• Requires skill – you may

need to up skill to manage your site

• More complex to manage

www.wordpress.com or www.blogger.com • Who owns the site

content?• RISK – will it always be

free/easy• Support and help is easily

found• Low-cost

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WEBSITES FOR BUSINESS

Know your outcome...have a strategy to achieve your goals

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Know your outcome

• The purpose of websites for business include but are not limited to:– Informing customers– Differentiating yourself from the competition

(eg be the local expert)– Showcasing your products/services– Being easy to find– Having a dynamic news portal to inform

customers 24 hours / 7 days a week

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How do I achieve this?

• Outrank your competitors online• Know the tools available• Use multiple traffic sources• Inform and educate • Answer the questions your market want to

know• GET ADVICE and COACHING from

someone who has been there

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How do I get help?

• To get help is easy

• Go to www.masonparker.co.nz – send Mason a message with your goals

• Mason will research your current web profile

• Then you’ll mutually agree on a plan - before you spend any time/money