Do you know that most of the companies get their first website
way of the mark? The reason is simple! Unless the owners are
technologically savvy or have extremely clear idea of the
benefits of professional website, for most companies it is
more like a thing that you have to have since every body else
has one. Another reason is whether the company builds its
website in house or hires professionals to develop it, website
requires a certain commitment from the company management.
Many senior staffs don't understand the seriousness of the
web project as they don't have enough knowledge of what a
professional website is capable of doing.
Today, most of your business processes can be managed through
your company website. Using web technology skilfully companies
are in a position to grow business many folds and generate
significant sales through the Internet. Sales increase of
40 percent to 50 percent within the first year of launching
a professionally built website is not isolated cases.
If you want to get your website right from the first time,
or would like to revamp your existing website to a more aggressive
sales channel that generates revenue the following suggestions
will help you getting the desired results:
Before you set out to build your website you should pull together
enough content for your site. In the Internet content is the
king! The number one reason for people to go online is to
find information that they are searching. That's why to become
a serious contender in the market you have to have a large number
of pages with high quality content on your site. How many?
There is no hard and fast rule, but for an average site it
should be no less than 80 to 120 pages. Our content repository
http://library.rusbiz.com
a good resource for this purpose.
Once you know all the contents that you are planning to have
on your website, the next step is to lay down the site structure.
This might look complicated but there is a way out of it.
Study the websites of your competitors those who are doing
good on the Internet.
In offline world you probably already know who your competitors
are. You also probably know, at least to some extent, which
keywords your buyers will use to find a company like yours.
Now, do a search using those keywords or phrases, check out
the companies that are ranking best in Google, Yahoo and MSN.
If these companies are selling similar products or services
like you, they are undoubtedly your primary competitors. A
systematic research of companies that are exposed heavily
in search engines will help you see which key market they
are targeting, how they are doing this, what marketing and
promotional methods they are using to attract customers, etc.
Here I have listed some must have stuffs for a truly professional
website:
A good company logo
For any business whether it is online or offline it is important
to create a brand name. Branding helps people to recognize
your company and associate it with your products or services.
Your company logo is a key component in your branding endeavor.
That's why you should consider developing a high quality,
visually pleasant and easily recognizable logo if your company
still doesn't have one.
Ability to register on your site
One of the main ideas behind a business website should be
to build a list of prospective customers. If a person shows
enough interest in your products and services and feels
it's worthwhile to receive regular information from you
and register at your website, it means that he/she is a
potential customer for your business. In order to entice more people to sign up, you
should have a member's only section with valuable content,
discussion boards, electronic journals, etc. A registered
member of your site should receive news and information
from you regularly.
Search ability for the whole site
All the information available on your website should be
at the finger tip of the visitor. Not all visitors have
enough patience to browse through the pages of your site
to find out what they are looking for. A search mechanism
that covers your whole site allows visitors to find required
information promptly.
Electronic journal
This is a very good way to keep in touch with your clients
and prospective customers. Through your ezine you will keep
customers informed about new products, changes in specifications,
upcoming company and industry events, press releases, etc.
Testimonials
Positive testimonials from your customers give potential
buyers a feeling of extra assurance. Make sure that the
testimonials are true, concise and clear.
Company and industry news and press releases
You should regularly update and post company and industry
news on your site. If you are planning to launch a new product
or service or arranging an event you should announce this
type of news through press releases.
Feedback
Whoever wants to contact you should have the ability to
do so the way it is most convenient for him/her. Your phone
number should be posted prominently on your home page. There
should be a feedback form, which a visitor can fill up and
send easily.
A call for action
Each of your pages should be created with a definite purpose.
Once a visitor read through the page you should give him
direction what to do next.
Easy navigation to key pages
No information on your website should be located more than
three clicks away. The home page and other key pages should
have access from top menu.
Product or service guarantee
You should clearly stipulate what guarantee a buyer has
if he is not satisfied with your products or services.
A catalog with shopping cart
If you have a website you must sell products and services.
If you don't have anything of your own to sell you can always
get relevant to your site products or services from other
suppliers.
Product and service specifications All your products
and services should have precise, up-to-date and complete
specifications with pictures.
Promotion
On your home page you should always have some types of promotion.
A limited time discount, a free additional feature, two
for one, etc. are examples of promotional advertisements.
Company history
Many prospective customers would like to know more about
the company before doing any business. You should have a
page with company profile, contacts, mission statement,
company vision, etc.
When you finished preparing your site structure and gathered
all the contents necessary, with the help of professionals
create a detail technical scope of the site. This will give
you a clear picture of what you will receive when your site
is ready. This will also help you budget your site.
The next steps that you have to take are:
Create layouts and designs for the Home page and the
second major pages.
Create content surrounding two three key phrases per
page.
Select designs for these pages.
Develop rest of the site.
Get people from different industries and backgrounds
to have a look at your site once it is ready and give you
honest recommendation.
Make necessary changes based on the new ideas that you
have received from your friends, colleagues and workers.
Publish it.
Although, you should be involved in every stage of the web
development, you should trust professionals to create the
actual web site. Even as far as the cost is concerned, this
will be cheaper in the long run.
Nowshade Kabir is the CEO of Rusbiz.com, a global B2B
Portal, which helps companies build web store, buy and sell
products and services using eMarketplace, eCatalog and other
features. Rusbiz also offers website development packages:
http://www.rusbiz.com/design_package.html
