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Compared
to other media - newspapers, magazines, radio, television and
print
media - marketing your products and services on the internet
is a very cost effective way of making your company information
available to everyone who has access to the internet. Your website
delivers your company message instantly, to anywhere in the world,
24 hours a day in full interactive
colour.
There are 3 main reasons for having a website:
-
To sell products and services
Sales can be either direct online sales or
your site could contribute to the business by generating sales leads. Online
catalogues and brochures allow a browser to compare products
from your range and select the best option for them, that they might later
purchase through a sales representative or merchant.
- To build confidence in your brand
by provide information
Your customer can access information relating
to your company, policies, personnel directories,
products and services guides, press releases and other
relevant information on your website in their own time,
without having to contact you directly and
go through frustrating automated answering
services that seem to lead nowhere at times.
This assists with building confidence in your
brand and increasing your product visibility
as well as getting valuable feedback from
your customers on their needs. Aftersales service
and support can also be provided online to cut down on
communications costs.
- To entertain the browser
The nature of your business and your target market will
largely determine if entertainment should be an important
factor on your website and could be in the form of polls,
pictures or interactive games to name but a few of the
possibilities.
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The
culture, age, sex, lifestyle, personality and interests of your
intended audience will largely determine the overall colour
scheme, layout and presentation of your website, by taking into
account what is important to them and how can you meet their needs.
Understanding who uses the internet,
and what they are looking for will help to determine the type
of information you
want to include on your website.
- Directed information seekers
will use a search engine, directory or print media to look for specific,
up to date, relevant information about products and services.
Undirected information
seekers
are looking for something interesting,
novel or amusing that they might not have thought to look
for on their own. They will revisit your site if you define
a few such information categories (updated every day or
week) that fit your business profile in addition to your
sales pitch.
- Directed buyers
want
to buy something, so make the benefits of buying from
you clear, and the entire order and shipping process as
easy as possible.
- Bargain hunters
are looking for a better deal than they get elsewhere so pass on the saving of
having lower overheads by discounting online purchases. They will respond to
product information and also games, competitions and giveaways with orders.
- Entertainment seekers
are looking for interactivity in the form of competitions, games, quizzes and
also free goods such as animations, sound clips and screensaver downloads.
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Knowing the nature of your business, products
and services, and bearing in mind why you want a site and who you
are
targeting should give you an idea of the type of information
you would like to make accessible on the internet.
Below is a guide of commonly used pages to help you plan the
information you may want to publish on the internet. Pages can
be used in any combination and others specific to your business
can be added to personalise your site.
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A
brief descritpion of your organisation,its mission and all
contact details - email, address, phone & fax.
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Details of the products and services you
offer and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Product images
with descriptions and pricing information.
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Lastest
news and published articles relating to your organisation,
annual reports and past and future events.
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Online forms
be filled out by the visitor.
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Database interactive
pages for selecting specific information, online product
orders and payment.
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Once your site is up and running it is important
to promote and market it so that browsers can find it.
- Search engine optimisation and submission
Ensure that your
site's sitemap is submitted to Google's indexing service as well as submitting your website details to all the major search
engines and that all the necessary meta
tags and page descriptions are included in your site to
optimise
your ranking when a browser searches for a particular word
or phrase that could relate to your site.
- Print advertising
Include details of your website in all company stationery, print
advertising and vehicles. Inform all your key customers through newsletters
and the media through press releases.
- Links
and banner exchanges
Contact the webmaster of complimentary sites to organise links
and banner exchanges. For example, if you are a building contractor you
could link your site to your trade organisation giving details of your code of
conduct and standards, and also include links to manufacturers of fixtures and
fittings so everything from taps to windowframes can be selected online.
- News Groups and mailing lists
Monitor relevant newsgroups and mailing lists and
post small amounts of quality information. Include details of your website in
all email signatures.
- Buy advertising space
Increase traffic to your site by purchasing premium advertising space on web directories, industry related websites and search engines.
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| Last updated 10 January 2010. |
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