ECommerce: Get more than just "a presence" on the Internet

Get more than just "a presence" on the Internet

Written by David Leonhardt

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One excellent use for a website in many non-retail businesses is as lead generator. The idea is to funnel traffic (website users) into repparttar site and lead them to take action. Such action might be to call you, to request a brochure, to request a free sample, etc. The main requirement for this is repparttar 108670 maximum amount of targeted traffic possible, of people interested in what you have to offer.

By way of example, my marketing website at http://www.seo-writer.net serves these first three goals: online pamphlet, credibility booster and lead generator.

Email Address Gatherer.

This is really a form of lead generation, but it is unique in that you are not trying to sell through repparttar 108671 website, but through an email newsletter (also called an ezine). The website is there primarily to pique interest, and repparttar 108672 newsletter is there to build affinity and trust in order to make repparttar 108673 sale. You need to have a newsletter set up, and you need targeted traffic.

By way of example, my personal growth website at http://www.thehappyguy.com serves this goal, attracting subscribers to my Daily Dose of Happiness.

Sell.

Of course, if you sell hard goods, electronic goods or even many services, you can make repparttar 108674 sales right online. You need some form of payment gateway and/or shopping cart, and your website needs to be able to make repparttar 108675 sale from start to finish, which is not always easy. Of course, you also need customers in repparttar 108676 form of targeted traffic.

By way of example, my liquid vitamins website at http://www.vitamin-supplements-store.net serves this goal.

What you want your website to achieve should dictate repparttar 108677 look, repparttar 108678 structure, repparttar 108679 content, repparttar 108680 writing style and whether or not repparttar 108681 site is optimized for repparttar 108682 search engines. Before investing any more money of time in your website, invest repparttar 108683 time required to determine repparttar 108684 goals you want your website to achieve.

Or you could be like that water salesman or my home inspector, satisfied with having "a presence". Of course, many people go through life having "a presence" on Planet Earth, but most entrepreneurs I have met are go-getters. If "a presence" is not good enough in repparttar 108685 real world, why settle for it in repparttar 108686 online world?

A website should be an investment, not a cost. If your website is not working for you, or if you feel your business should have a website, determine realistic and useful goals, then set your website up to achieve them.

Maybe you don't need a website at all. Or maybe your website could double your profits. Either way, don't let it sit there gathering dust somewhere in cyberspace.

David Leonhardt is an SEO consultant http://www.seo-writer.net/freelance/seo-consultant.html and a website marketing consultant: http://www.seo-writer.net/freelance/marketing-consultant.html Pick up a copy of his SEO e-book: http://www.seo-writer.net/books/seo-book.html

What YOU should know before starting a web site!

Written by ©2005 Samantha Olea , http://getwrappedup.com

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4.How long will it take to design my site? There are a lot of different factors that determine just how long a site takes to be completed, including you. If you take longer to get your information (or your words for each page and pictures) it will of course take longer for your site to be up and running. Also, repparttar

more complicated your site, repparttar 108669

longer it can take-though I’ve not seen a site construction take longer than 8 weeks. To speed repparttar 108670

design process, have a clear idea of what it is you want ahead of time. Make lists, and write out your ‘blurbs’ (text) for each page. Your text is your responsibility, and a lot of designers will not consider creating it for you with out charging you for creative writing (which can cost $35-75 per hour). I only suggest leaving repparttar 108671

creative writing up to someone else if you are positive that you simply can not do it. If your designer does not offer writing as a service (ask), you can hire a creative writer online and sometimes you can even barter (trade your products for their services) with creative writers looking to build their portfolio. One other way that you can speed up repparttar 108672

design process is to make sure you and your designer are on repparttar 108673

same page as far as design. You do not want to keep changing your design idea, especially after they have started working. A lot of work goes into web site design, and so what seems like a minor change in repparttar 108674

design plans to you may actually be a major change in repparttar 108675

overall design, and some designers will charge you for this because your initial quote is based on their expected design hours. I wouldn’t suggest doubling it out of repparttar 108676

blue. 5.How long before repparttar 108677

public discovers my site? They won’t. What I mean by that is, there is more to getting people to your site than just putting it on repparttar 108678

web. Like any other store, you have to market your site. One great tool is search engines. Now, how do you get listed on search engines? You want to give your designer a two sentence description for each category or page, and a list of 20 words you think some one would use to find your site for each category. Your designer may be willing to do some of this for you, so ask. Also, there are some search engine submission services out there that are great, and there are some that aren’t. I suggest you ask your designer if they submit your site to search engines automatically or if there is a small fee for this? Is their submission once or repeated over a period of time? Simply submitting will not guarantee you top spot on repparttar 108679

search engines; especially if you are in an already crowded field-even if you pay repparttar 108680

$300 fees some search engines charge. You can also market your site by putting repparttar 108681

web site address on everything-return address labels, business cards, t-shirts, your car, your email signature; put it in your signature on message boards, etc. There are many ways to get repparttar 108682

word out, but don’t think for one second that just because you built it, they will come-this is by far repparttar 108683

biggest misconception in web site building! 6.Who will update my site in repparttar 108684

future? Most designers have policies about updates, from a monthly update fee only for repparttar 108685

months you require updates, to an hourly fee per update. Talk to your designer, and make sure that they understand not only how often you expect to need updates, but repparttar 108686

nature of your updates. If it is something like switching a picture, or changing a phone number, there may be no charge so ask.

After answering these questions, you are ready to talk to your designer about repparttar 108687 fun stuff-the design. Write down a list of sites that possess repparttar 108688 feel or repparttar 108689 style that you are looking for so your designer can get a better picture of your ultimate goal, and repparttar 108690 two of you go from there!

Samantha Olea is the owner and designer for http://GetWrappedUp.com –All Wrapped Up Business Solutions. She specializes in visual design and web design for the small to large businesses. Not a tied to a particular style of design, Samantha Olea is able to create your vision and really make it your own. To discuss your site, contact her at designs@getwrappedup.com today.

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