Taking your business to the world

So you want to take your business onto the world wide web. Before you invest your time and money in a website it’s important to do a bit of pre-planning.

The first step in the process is to ensure you understand what your purpose is in taking your business online. Are you simply wanting to showcase information about your business and its services, or are you wanting to sell online (e-commerce)?

Once you decide to have a website you need to think about a domain name or URL. It’s generally a good idea to get a domain name which is directly tied in with your business name or that describes a key service you provide.

The next thing you need to think about is your design. As with all marketing, it is crucial to always remember who your target audience is, and ensure that the end result will attract and interest them. It’s no good having a site full of great content if it looks frightful, or takes forever to download – if you haven’t got their interest in the first 5 seconds you’ve lost them.

In terms of content, what are the key messages you want to get across?  Remember to keep it simple and direct. Most web development companies now give you the option to create a site that you can update yourself, thus ensuring your information stays fresh and current.

Like all marketing you do in your business, ensure you track the results. Your hosting webstats will let you know how many unique visitors are visiting your site, and what pages are of interest to them. You should also track how many of these leads result in a phone call or email.

A professional web development or marketing company can step you through this process to ensure your business makes a smooth online transition. 

“This article was written by Tracy-Madonna Wylie, Business Manager, Nutbirdz Strategic Marketing, and printed in the My Marketing Companion column of the Fraser Coast Chronicle in 2007.”