developing your business website

DEVELOPING YOUR WEB SITE

Wirehead Technology @2011

DEVELOPING A WEB SITE

The first step is to ask yourself simple questions

What do I want my Web site to do for my business? Do I want to Sell products or services? Then you’ll want to establish an online store. Increase awareness of my product or services? Then you’ll want an informational Web site.

Wirehead Technology 2011


Provide content and information on a specific topic? Then you’ll want a data-driven Web site, and you'll need to establish a content management infrastructure and design. How will I service my existing customers more effectively? You’ll need an infrastructure and support team to respond to customers 24/7.



The next step in creating a successful site is to develop a strategic plan

Answer the following questions to formulate your online strategic plan:What is my site all about? Who is the intended audience? Why will users first come to my site? Will they understand the value proposition once they get there? What will compel them to purchase my product or service? Why will they come back for repeat visits? Will they be able to easily find what they're looking for? What type of look and feel will best attract them?


DEVELOPING A WEB SITECan I offer the appropriate mix of content, commerce and a sense of community with in-house resources, or will I need to partner/outsource for some of these functions? How can I make my site better, faster, more valuable than that of my competitors? Will visitors need access to live company representatives, or will it be acceptable to use e-mail for all communications?


DEVELOPING A WEB SITEWill customers want/expect to make purchases online? If so, am I equipped with the infrastructure to handle e-commerce? Will users want to request a quote? Will my contact information be easy to find (phone, fax, locations and hours of operation?) What do visitors need to know about my company to place their trust in my Web site? What should I tell visitors about the site up front so they are not misled and do not waste their time?



The Art of Design

Ask yourself the following questions to determine the type of design that will work best for you

1. What is the profile of my target audience? (age range, professions, hobbies, interests, etc.)2. Which adjectives best describe this target market: conservative, liberal, youthful, fun-loving, rebellious, outdoorsy, homebodies, etc.?3. What other companies service this market? What is the general feel of their Web sites?4. How would I like my site to appear differently, from a design standpoint, compared to my competitors? 5. What is the overall style of my company's other marketing materials? How can that be translated into a Web site?6. What types of colors, graphics, fonts and pictures best represent my brand?


DEVELOPING A WEB SITEConstructing a Content Strategy

Answer the following questions when developing your content strategy:

Will I create content internally, or will I accept submissions from outside writers and syndicated news feeds? If I outsource some of the content, how will I find appropriate, qualified providers? What is my budget for content creation? How often will I post new content, and who will handle making these updates? Do I have the resources to manage a virtual editorial team, or will I need to hire? How will I decide what topics the site should cover? And when? Who will be responsible for quality control of content before it posts to the site? How will I manage the flow of content (from concept, through development, to posting)?



As the saying goes, information wants to be free. Unfortunately, many of the tools needed to publish that information are not. However, the rush to the Web has recently given rise to an avalanche of low-cost online publishing options



If you know what you are doing, you can post a professional quality site for less than a $500 investment — and you can get by for next to nothing if you're willing to live without some of the extras.



However, what is most important is that you commit to investing the necessary dollars and time to produce a high-quality, well-designed and well-written Web site.



Inexpensive Web site development is due in large part to shareware, a cash-poor developer's best friend. Shareware versions of everything from HTML editors to animation builders are available for trial and usually cost less than $50 to register



Budget-minded Web site designers can also stand on the shoulders of other Web developers. By modifying pre-made Web programming gadgets, buttons, backgrounds, and multimedia doodads, you can deliver cutting-edge quality without having to do it all yourself. You can create a dynamite site simply by finding the best place from which to borrow. Wirehead Technology 2011


Just a few years ago there were no Web sites, but today there are more than 80 million. If you don't have a Web site for your business, it's like not having your phone number in the yellow pages.



But there's a sweet side to this crusade to get on the Web.A Web page helps small businesses create an image of a large company, which may help increase the perception among potential customers that your company is credible and able to perform.



So what's holding you back? The main hurdle to publishing a small business Web site is the belief that doing so is difficult, technically demanding work. Plenty of easy-to-use software is on the market, and a newcomer can usually post an initial site in a matter of hours. Better still, all of this can be accomplished at very low cost.



Even the smallest business can afford to be on the Web. Don't believe it? Following are step-by-step tips for producing your first Web site — from choosing the right tools and putting them to use finding space to build your site and telling the world about it. Just follow the steps, and in a few hours, you'll be in business on the Web. Getting it Right!!



Why Are You Here?



The starting point for putting up a Web site is knowing what you want it to do — and what it probably won't do. The Web is not going to help most small companies strike it rich.



A very few start-ups have prospered on the Web, most notably Amazon.com and,Groupon.com but the online cash register rarely rings for most small businesses.



In that case, why put up a Web page? Even if the site is little more than an electronic billboard for your company, it's still a powerful tool for building a business. On the Web, for instance, time no longer matters, nor do time zones or date lines. Your business can be open 24 hours a day, seven days and on holidays.



Better still, a well executed Web site is a great way to build customer loyalty. Many Web-savvy businesses use the technology to provide detailed customer assistance tips at a very low cost. When a customer can get a question answered 24 hours a day, their loyalty will be much stronger.



You should also use the Web to provide information on your products or services. Before, communicating with customers and prospects cost money — for printing, stamps and so on. The Web allows you to communicate worldwide at a minimum of cost. Add it all up and small businesses are missing out on a lot if they do not utilize the Web.



Get Creative

Once, building a Web site meant hours of laborious wrestling with HTML (hypertext markup language). But newer Web site authoring tools are solidly "WYSIWYG," meaning "what you see is what you get," and building a page now involves little more than pointing and clicking with your mouse.



Most programs come bundled with an assortment of templates that need only a little tweaking before you've got your own Web site. Stick with the templates, and completing a Web page in 30 minutes is feasible. These templates provide thorough instructions, and you type in your own information over the template's boilerplate.



Some programs demand a more hands-on approach to site development. The templates are more like blueprints than ready-to-use pages, but the result is you'll get a highly customized Web site.


DEVELOPING A WEB SITEMake It Shine

The Web is a graphical medium — words matter, but images are at least as important in attracting and holding viewers. That's why some Web-development software packages come bundled with collections of free art — buttons, page backgrounds, arrows and other visual elements to help readers navigate a site. Images are skimpier with word processing programs.



It is important that your Web site is not simply an online brochure. Rather, it must include regularly updated information that keeps visitors coming back time and again.



A well balanced Web site consists of the following elements: strong content (articles, interviews, tips, Q&A, testimonials, etc.), easy navigation, logical flow, appealing graphics that download quickly, directions on how to order your products or services, customer service information such as a FAQ sheet is appropriate, and contact information (including names, addresses, phone and fax numbers and email addresses).



Where to Put It All

Once you've created your page, you have to find a place to put it. Free space is available to members of online services such as Bravenet that offers members free space. There are some drawbacks to free space, however. For instance, some sites require that advertisements for their service appear on your pages.



But that doesn't necessarily rule out this space for business. You can still erect a Cyber billboard that offers plenty of information about products and services in these free spaces sites. For many businesses, that's the surest way to get initiated to the Web.



Have bigger ambitions? If you want more space — specially if you want to retail on the Web — you've got to open your wallet and sign up with a Web-hosting service that will provide up to 5 GB or more of space.



These services will also allow you to set up several POP3 email accounts per site for free and additional accounts for an extra charge. A POP3 account would be something like [email protected]



Hundreds of other Web-hosting options are available; search for candidates using a search engine. Ask any potential Web-hosting service for email addresses of current customers. Contact a dozen or so and ask for feedback: How reliable and fast is the server? Do the tech support personnel promptly answer cries for help? If their customers are unhappy with the service, yours probably will be to.


DEVELOPING A WEB SITEThe Tower Of Babble

Building a site is only the beginning. You can't build it and assume potential customers will automatically come. This isn't the Field of Dreams, this is CyberSpace. You must promote your site the way you promote your address and phone number. Otherwise, only accidental tourists will find you.



The first step to drawing visitors is to visit the major search engines — Yahoo Bing Goggle Ask



All feature simple procedures for adding a URL, the "universal resource locator," that is, your site's address. What about the estimated 300-plus other search engines on the Web? Many Webmasters skip them; others pay a service to do the submissions to them. Shop around for a service that will do the submissions for you and find the one that best suits your needs.



Just adding a URL to a search engine is still no guarantee of visitors. Get more exposure for your site by enrolling in a free link exchange programs that will display your banner on other sites if you make space for third party banners on yours. Generally, every two 'hits" on your site results in one view of your banner on another site.



The last step, neglected by a shocking number of businesses, is to put your site's address on your letterhead, business cards, fax cover sheets and all other printed material your business gives out. It's a low-cost way to build awareness of your site.



Getting it Right

Survey the experts and they will agree: The quickest route to Web site failure is not delivering on what you promised. If you solicit customer feedback by email, that email has to be answered promptly.



Promise spec sheets, and they must be available online. If you are unwilling to take the time to communicate or follow up with people via the Web, then you shouldn't bother with it.



You will only convey an image of being unresponsive. Will you still need to put time into your Website? Absolutely, but the investment iswarranted. The Internet is a frontier with almost unlimited possibilities.



Now is the time to experiment — before lack of competency puts you out of business. If you are not on the Web, you are missing out on resources, and potential customers. So now what's holding you back?


THANK YOU


For more information on Website DevelopmentContact one of our Business Website Developers atWirehead TechnologyTel-773-506-7215Email: [email protected]: www.wireheadtec.com

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developing your business website

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