THIS MONTH’S QUESTION:

  "We’re considering an Internet Website for our company. Can you point out what’s involved in putting one together."
JDuno33 via the WWW

BUILDING A COMPANY WEBSITE

By Gene Levine - www.genelevine.com

  Because the World Wide Web ("WWW") is fast becoming the largest global supermarket and information gathering superhighway, domain name (i.e. <www.yourcompany.com>) registrations now exceed 17,000 per week. So, even if your company does not want an Internet presence at this time, one-day, competition will force you into this expanding arena. Why, because the smallest of companies can already reach their potential customers worldwide faster, less expensively and with more tailored impact than though any other medium? Studies show that companies who use their Websites to educate visitors – via information designed to build positive perceptions about products or services – are doing meaningful Internet business.

Through our subsidiary, AwardWebsÓ , we develop successful Websites for our clientele. We therefore have many tips to share with you to help get you started. Consider the following points;

Everything in life works by the Law of Cause an Effect. Be honest with your desires. What do you want your Website to do for you that’s good for you? Product Sales? Information distribution? Customer service? Lead generation? Positioning? Sales support? Get input from every key person involved in this project and write those reasons down.

A company’s Internet presence will lacks credibility without a unique Domain Name, That name needs to best describe you, your business or organization. Contact the WWW Domain Name Registration Service called InterNic (http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/whois/) to see if the name you want is already registered. You may be lucky enough to find that the name you want is available. If it is, register it NOW (the present cost is $35.00 per year). In case the name you want is already taken you may have to try several variations.

Surf the net yourself and see what your competition is doing. Then, experiment and build your own Website using their ideas as a starting point. But, profit from our experience and don’t invent a square wheel because, if your Site is poorly designed or it lacks meaningful content, visitors will leave and they won’t come back.

If you decide to hire a Web Designer don’t let a cheap price be your determining factor. Many Website designers, although creative graphic artists often lack the business acumen to make Websites truly successful. Bigger design companies charge more but have business-consultants and Internet marketing strategists guiding their design staffs. My advice therefore is to hire the right Design firm, one that has a hard-earned reputation for producing effective yet distinctive Websites and have them train you to maintain your Site.

Your homepage is the page where most people will enter your Website and gain their first impression of your. Make sure therefore that your homepage is one of the fastest loading and interesting pages in your site. Simple is better. Less is more.

When designing your Site make a storyboard for each page in your Website. Use logical, intuitive, and easy to find sections to make your site easy to navigate. Visitors are an impatient bunch, they need to rapidly find what they want and need. For example, down scrolling on pages is okay but side scrolling is a no-no (as visitors won’t do it, they’ll just leave). Interesting and useful pages will get results and stimulate response. "Pretty" doesn’t cut it, meaningful content will.

Put a navigation bar on every page so visitors (who can enter your Site on any page – at random) have a way to get; 1) To your home page, 2) Out of your Site, 3) A way to contact you. They’ll also appreciate your thoughtfulness in not giving the page a "dead end."

Perceptions are what drive sales so your design should project the image of your business. Make your Website a valuable and information-filled experience. It should also be fun to "surf." Think long and hard about using frames, as most visitors dislike them.

Maximize browser compatibility, as all visitors to your site should share the same visual and functional experience. Pages that suggest "best viewed using XYZ Browser 4.20" (or any other disclaimer) could backfire on you. People who don’t have that browser will leave – because you told them that they weren’t important.

Don’t get carried away with graphics. If you want "dazzle" go to a jewelry store or a theme park. Dazzling graphics and pictures are nice but if they make your visitors wait too long for your pages to download, they won’t. Test your pages and if they take longer than 20 seconds to load – on the slowest modem – then streamline the content. Remember most users do not have cutting edge computers, up-to-date browsers or 56K/V-90 modems.

If you must use a big graphic, put in midway down the page so visitors have something to read while your "big picture" is loading.

Use your global presence to its best advantage – interaction. Give and request information from your visitors. Be sure to provide an . . .

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