A web site is quickly becoming a necessity for any business that wants to be taken seriously in its field. Developing a successful web site is a complicated task that requires planning. The Internet is a dynamic medium and in order to keep up with all the changes and opportunities you need professional guidance. Before you begin your project you must define what it is you are trying to accomplish with your web site. You must have a plan to follow, a map to get from one place to another. Many times when companies are beginning web projects they neglect the planning process. They go to a design firm before they even define what they want to accomplish with their web site. They may have an idea but no specific, defined plan. This can result in wasted resources of both time and money.
A company can never recover resources wasted on an ineffective web site. However, the problem can be corrected and you can create an effective web site that will eventually give you a return on your investment. Of course more resources must be allocated to correct the problem. If your company currently has a site that is not being utilized to its fullest or if you are about to begin a new site, you can facilitate the process and save your company time and money by following these 10 simple guide lines.
1.Before you begin your project analyze your business needs and understand what you want to accomplish with your web site. Do you want a brochure on-line where you can direct potential clients for more information on your company? Do you want to generate sales leads from your site and create a database where you can market your services? Do you have a product you want to sell on-line? Do you have out of the office sales people who need to have access to information or forms on-line? Whatever your needs are once you define them clearly you will be able to present them to your Internet consultant who will advise you on the current technologies available to accomplish your goals. If you already have an existing site, have your consultant perform a comprehensive review to identify issues that are affecting its performance and to determine what needs to be changed during a redesign phase.
2.Once you have defined your on-line goals you must consider your on-line image. Don’t forget your web site is your virtual office and virtual sales person. Each visitor that comes to your site will form an opinion of your company based on the image you project. Choose that image carefully.
Do research. Look at the web sites of leaders in your industry so that you will have a benchmark to judge your site against. Make sure your design reflects your image. If you are a financial securities company you want to appear solid and professional, you won’t use the same colors, style and technologies as an entertainment site. So although you may like a cutting edge Flash intro on a design studio’s site, it might not be appropriate for the image you are trying to project. Remember your home page will decide whether or not a potential client will explore your site or opt out. Your home page is your first impression, be sure to make it a good one.
3. Once you have decided on your image it is now time to determine your message. In order to clearly relay your message work with your consultant to determine your content areas. The necessary content areas will be evident from the plan you put together for your web project. These content areas will translate into the Information Architecture of your site. Once you have established your content areas you must fill in the content. This is exceedingly important for a number of reasons. Your content must relay your message to potential clients quickly and clearly. Have a web copywriter edit your content to insure that your copy is web appropriate. Remember when a visitor comes to your site looking for information it must be easily available. Three seconds is about how long a visitor will look for information before bolting. You have approximately three seconds before your potential client becomes your competitor’s potential client. So serve up your information in clear concise packages.
4. Another very important thing to consider about content is that content is used by the search engines to index your site. It is important that your content make use of the right key words, those words that people will be using when searching for your product. A little research will give you an idea of some of the key words for your industry. Be bold. Raid your competitor’s sites that rank high in the search engines for key words that work. Your Internet consultant has tools that will help determine the most powerful key words for your site.
5. Once you have established your content areas make sure the navigation that directs your visitors is simple and helps to further the goals of your site. Once again the three second rule applies. If a visitor comes to your site and can’t figure out how to find the information they require, they will leave and go to your competitor’s site. Don’t use cute ambiguous words or phrases to name your content areas. Be sure that each content area is labeled appropriately even if you think it is boring. Make sure the navigation is accessible from every page so a visitor is never required to use the back button to navigate your site. Remember simplest is always the best.
6. How quickly a site loads is determined by the mode of access, the type of computer, and the technologies used to build the site. You only have control over the technologies you use to build your site. So before you decide on a Flash intro, a lot of large graphics, streaming video, or JAVA applications consider how your target audience will be accessing your site. Is your target audience consumers, many of who will be accessing your site on a dial up modem or is your target audience CEOs of large corporations that will be accessing your site on T1 lines. Your consultant will be able to advise you on the appropriate technologies for your target audience.
7. If you build it they will come, does not work with web sites. Just like opening a new business you must advertise to get traffic. There are over 250 million web sites. It takes a comprehensive plan to drive traffic to your site. Be sure you have allocated funds to advertise your site both traditionally and electronically. Your Internet consultant will be able to advise you on the appropriate electronic advertising for your site such as buying key words or developing targeted email campaigns, etc.
8. Once your site is ready to be launched be sure it is registered with the appropriate search engines. There are hundreds of search engines but there are probably only about 15 that you need to register with. This will usually be taken care of by your Internet consultant but you should be sure to document what search engines your site is being registered with for your own files. Some sites such as Yahoo require a registration fee. Remember this does not guarantee your position only the fact that you will be listed.
9.Being registered with the search engines is important but the way your site is indexed depends on a how your site is built. Some of the things a search engine looks at are the key words you use in your meta tags, title tags and descriptive tags, the way you use key words in your content areas and how your site utilizes text links. This is a very specialized science that is constantly changing. You must seek the advise of a professional who can advise you on how to make your site search engine friendly.
10. The simplest and one of the least expensive forms of advertising is to be sure that your web site coordinates with your collateral such as business cards, letterhead, and brochures. Be sure that your web address is prominent on everything that is in front of your potential clients including advertising. You would be surprised at how many businesses overlook this simple thing and lose opportunities to brand their company and send traffic to their site.
Your web site can be an asset or a liability. It can be your most powerful marketing tool giving potential clients access to your company 24/7 or it can be a complete turnoff to potential customers. Do it right the first time and you can continue to build and add to your site without losing your initial investment. Cutting corners up front or trying to get something for nothing ultimately will cost you more since the site you put up and pay for will probably not be salvageable. The creation of a successful web site is a complicated and expensive investment of both time and money. Proper planning and the help of professionals are the keys to success.