What YOU should know before starting a web site!Written by ©2005 Samantha Olea , http://getwrappedup.com
Everyday thousands of new businesses make leap and take their business on line, what about yours? If you haven’t already, I’ll bet you have thought about it and wondered how much more business you could be doing if you just went on line…and right about then, you wonder what it would take to get your business on line? Here are some things to consider: 1.What do I expect my web site to do? The question you must ask yourself first and foremost is, “What do I want my website to do?”. There are many types of web sites out there from purely selling products, to purely informational and everything in between. Are you looking to start an online community with people who have similar interests? Do you need a one page online resume, portfolio, bio, or online brochure to really get your company’s information in front of public? No two sites are exactly alike, and because of that, prices for your web design can fluctuate. This question is one you must ask yourself before you hire a web designer! 2.How much will a web site cost me? What is your budget for your web site? Be realistic when you set your amount. Though a good deal is great, rock bottom prices are not what you are looking for here! Remember, this is your virtual store front. You want your site to be professional, efficient, and look very best it can-you want your dreams to come true, and they will with right designer. Honestly, you can find web site design from $35 (if you get this for a quote, and you have any hopes of ending up with a professional site…WALK AWAY!) to $10,000 (good for huge companies that can afford it, but not best bet for a new business). Realistically, expect to spend from $85-$200 for a one page resume, bio or brochure site and from $300-$1,800 for larger full featured sites, and expect to pay either half or all of it upfront depending on your designer. Aside from that there are monthly hosting fees that range from $10-$40 per month for a descent sized site. Ask your designer if they offer hosting in addition to designing your site? You will usually get a much better deal, and you already trust them to design your site (I’ll go more into hosting plans and options another time). Do you have your domain name yet? (example: www.thebestmoms.com) If not, ask your designer if they can get you one? A lot time, if you are buying a decent sized design job and hosting from them, they will throw in your domain name for free-although, you will have to pay renewal fee each year which can range from $19-$35 (ask your designer). 3.What’s my web address going to be? This is a question you want to really spend some time on before choosing. I suggest you pick a name that is A-easy to remember, B-as short as possible, C-as uncomplicated as possible; try to stay away from more than 1 or 2 hyphens, if any. People easily forget hyphens when they remember address, and you don’t want to be sending business somewhere else. D-using correct spelling; it is fun to play with spelling of a word, but take in to consideration your audience’s ability to remember way YOU spelled it as opposed to their natural urge to spell it correctly. It’s your job to get them to your site, not their job to find you, so make it easy. E-pick something that has to do with your business (optional); I know some sites have gone against this rule and been successful but they also started from a different place than you are starting. Come up with a list of your top 5 or 10 choices, because there is a good chance that your first choice is already gone! When deciding, ask yourself if you want your address to be a .com, .net, .org, .edu, .biz, .tv, etc. I suggest .com, or .net for selling (ecommerce) sites, but it’s up to you!
| | How To Survive With Your Online BusinessWritten by Jordan Williams
So you decide to start your own Internet business with some really great products. You have a great looking site and everything is set up, so you're now ready to jump into online shark pool and dominate Net right?I know that you're saying "shark pool"? Yes, that’s right it's truly a shark pool out there. You didn't think it would be that easy did you? We all have to prepare ourselves for some big changes that will be happening on Net. I have already started seeing prices for leads, banner impressions, and other forms of advertising going up as well as hundreds of thousands of web pages being added daily to search engines. All of this points to one thing. That we all have more competition on Internet than ever before and it will just get worse. So question is: How can a small business or even an individual compete on Internet? Just because you have a great looking web site or a great product doesn't mean that you can dominate your market without some help. What you need is a competitive advantage. So that is just what I'm going to give you. Just follow some simple tips in this article and you will soon be running circles around your competitors. 1) Use ALL Forms Of Marketing I know that this might sound obvious but most people on Internet are only using one or two methods of marketing their website. For example some people might just focus on search engine marketing by spending all their time trying to be listed #1 in a search engine. Then after they spent countless hours on this, search engine changes their algorithm and they can no longer be found. What a waste of time! I am not saying that you shouldn’t be concerned about search engine marketing, but that you shouldn’t put all your eggs into one basket. If you use all avenues of Internet marketing then you can feel safe that you are getting traffic from several places and are not relying on just one source. If you would like to learn more about different types of internet marketing you can sign up for eBiz Updates at: http://www.webcashlink.com/home.html It’s also important that you stay current and up to date about any new forms of Internet marketing. The Internet is constantly changing and there are always new methods of advertising available. In fact one of more recent discoveries in advertising is RSS. RSS is a great marketing tool to use to get more traffic to your website and more prospects. If you haven’t got a chance to read about RSS then you can read all about it here: http://www.webcashlink.com/rssanswers
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