Things to Consider When Creating Your Web Site
Establishing Your Site
- Though a domain name isn’t expensive (you can buy one for an annual cost
of $30-$75), be careful whom you register it with. Some companies will try to
hide clauses in your agreement that say you’re leasing the site -- not buying
it. If you choose to purchase a domain name, be clear about the seller’s
policies and your ownership rights.
- Choose a short, easy-to-recognize domain name that describes your
business. You can check the availability of your choice on the Internet by
typing in the name and adding “www.” to the beginning and “.com “ (or .org, or
.net) to the end in your browser address bar.
- Your site has to be hosted someplace. Look for a host that is reliable and
low-cost, and that provides e-mail services so your e-mail address will match
your domain name. Some services also provide a mailing list that site visitors
can sign up for, allowing you to send them info via e-mail. A total web
hosting package with domain name registration and e-mail service should run
around $300-$700 for the first year (not including the cost of site design).
- Avoid free hosting services that place pop-up ads on your site. These ads
are very unprofessional (and very annoying to most of us); if you have them
the chances are that you’ll lose more in sales that you saved on the hosting
fees.
Designing Your Site
- Keep your site simple. You only want enough glitz to it appealing—too much
increases the page loading time and confuses the customer. More graphics also
means more work by a Web designer, which usually means higher costs for you.
- It’s vital that your Web material and your printed material “go together”;
business cards and literature should have a look and feel similar to your
site. Just one way to tie all these elements together is with a logo that can
be used on everything that the public sees about your company.
- Check out what your on-line competition is doing. That doesn’t mean that
you have to copy them, but take the opportunity to learn from their strengths
and their mistakes, and see if they have neglected any customer needs that you
can fill.
- Be careful about linking other firms to your site. Such links invite your
visitors to leave your site before finishing your material, and present a
distraction that may annoy customers and increase page-loading time.
- Stay away from Flash files, which are too large and spend too much time on
page loading. The average person is still using dial-up connections with
limited speed, so unless your customers have high-speed connections, don’t use
flash-oriented material.
Your Web Site as a Marketing Tool
- Though your Web site can’t make your company successful, it is a VERY
cost-effective way to advertise and to explain details about your products and
services without spending a lot on printed materials. If you have business
cards that include your Web site address, or run some small ads that point
people to your site, the site can help "close the deal" by giving customers
the additional information they want.
- Sales via the web are generally not a good source of income–just ask the
many now-defunct dot coms. You stand a much better chance of doing well by
motivating people to call or visit your business. For that reason, you need to
advertise your site everywhere you can: on business cards, in publications, in
newspaper ads — wherever you can put the “www.yourplace.com.”
- Consider online coupons. Web site statistics can tell you how many people
look at your services, but they won’t tell you whether your site is actually
generating sales (unless they’re online sales). Including a printable coupon
on your site will tell you how many of the people who visit your site are
actually walking through your door.
This information was provided by Avery Publishing Graphics. For more information
about Avery and their services, visit
www.averypublishing.com .
