| 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: QikPhone Domain Name: qikphone.com.au Web Address:
www.qikphone.com.au Email Address:
sales@qikphone.com
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: www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning OR www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning
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:
www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning OR www.JBCleaning.com.au
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.
For more information about marketing your website read
"30 ways to promote your
website on a shoestring budget" 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.
You may also wish to check out:
Frequently Asked Questions About Websites
10 Tips for Planning an Outstanding Website
8 Tips for Designing a Great Website
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