CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS you need to know before selecting a website designer to develop your e-commerce business, and how NOT thinking about these issues can DOOM your web business to oblivion!
You need energy and passion to be successful on the internet. It is an extremely competitive environment and requires a lot of dedication and work to reach the top of your field.
So be passionate about your online business and be prepared to invest thought, time and money to make it a success.
Think about it. If you were looking at setting up a bricks and mortar business would you open in the most run down area of town just to save some rent?
Would you find the cheapest printer to print your business cards on the cheapest stock paper?
Would you display your stock on the floor or on a few wooden boxes? I doubt it, because you know you will never be successful taking that approach.
Then why would you choose the lowest cost route to developing your eCommerce website?
Be prepared to invest time and money in your online business, just as you would if it was a bricks and mortar business.
Choose your services and products based on research, not hunches.
Find opportunities by searching and discovering what products or services people are prepared to purchase on the web, and how competitive you will be in your chosen category.
Once you have established your target audience for the products or services you offer, you need to choose your Domain Name wisely, preferably in collaboration with your web designer or SEO professional.
Your Domain Name should be easy to spell and easy to remember. The right choice can be a big step in getting your website listed ahead of the competition in the search engines.
And don’t hesitate to use hyphens in your domain name.
Search engines cannot define words bunched together, i.e. brisbaneseafooddining.com.au has no meaning to a search engine spider, whereas Brisbane-seafood-dining.com.au does.
Can you see the difference?
If a searcher enters “Brisbane seafood”, “Brisbane seafood dining”, or “seafood dining” in the search box, there is a much better chance of your website appearing in the top 10 searches for seafood dining ... and the URL is easy to read and remember.
If you aren’t totally convinced then I suggest registering your Domain name both ways.
For example, www.brisbaneseafooddining.com and www.brisbane-seafood-dining.com. You web developer can point one to the other.
Limit hyphens to three or less though.
Focus your website around targeted niche keywords relevant to your product, service, and location.
For example, we are in Australia and design ecommerce websites.
Although we have clients in other countries our best target market is people seeking a web designer in Australia and Brisbane.
Instead of focusing on generic keyword phrases such as "web design" or "web developers" with millions of competing pages, we target Australia web design, Brisbane web design, newsletter systems Brisbane, and catalogue systems Brisbane, etc.
Because our choice of keywords targets searchers looking for an Australian web developer, we rank higher for those terms in the search engines.
We benefit from the fact searchers looking for a Brisbane web designer or AUSTRALIAN WEB DEVELOPER, tend to be serious prospects, rather than someone just looking around the web.
Good keyword pages will go a long way to get your new website indexed, but to start climbing to the top of the listings you will also need quality inbound links.
Some people think if they put a website up it will be an instant money machine, but they neglect to spend any resources, including money or time, in developing and promoting their website, and then wonder why their website is a dismal failure.
The days have gone when websites have novelty value to viewers.
If your website doesn’t serve up valuable content to a searcher within eight seconds, research tells us they are gone ... and the search engine spiders will pass you by as well.
Your website is your online personality:
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it must provide real value in the form of information and knowledge of interest to your target audience
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it shouldn't be ‘just’ a sales website full of hype or worse still a static "business card".
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it should promote trust and integrity in your business
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it must have simple, easy to follow navigation
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it must offer helpful information about your company, products, and services
You can gain trust by including membership logos, owner/manager qualifications and certificates, history of company, awards, more-than-fair-guarantee or return policy, privacy policy, and physical rather than just PO Box address. You should also include a telephone number for contact during business hours.
Build even more credibility by contacting your existing customers for permission to use their testimonials on your website. Most will agree, as they enjoy seeing their name in lights, and if they are in business, it provides a link and publicity for their business as well. It’s a win-win situation!
Develop a meaningful easy to follow structure for your website – one that visitors can follow without getting frustrated and lost.
Open a spreadsheet and set out columns showing categories, sub-categories, internal page links, and basic information pages, such as About, Contact, Testimonials, etc.
If you need help your web developer should be prepared to help you set out a basic flow chart using Excel.
Once your spreadsheet is complete it will be a crude sitemap of your website and will make it easier for both yourself and your web developer to understand your online business.
Make sure all important contact information, such as phone number, address, email, and fax is readily available on your home page as well as on your contact page.
Add an inquiry form to your website, and if you send out newsletters, blogs, or promotional emails (and you should), have a newsletter subscriber form as well.
Forms should be used to capture a first name and email address only, don’t scare your prospects off by asking for too much information at the beginning of your relationship.
Using forms correctly will enable you to quickly build a customer relationship database (CRM) of prospects and customers, enabling you to enhance your relationship with them through regular contact, such as a newsletter, Blog or RSS.
Don’t get caught up in heavy FLASH introduction pages or extreme design, unless you are in an extreme business, such as a cartoonist, rock band or similar.
Flash should be used sparingly as search engines cannot read Flash files, and busy people will not tolerate having to wait for a long Flash introduction to load.
Remember visitors want real information within eight seconds or they’re gone!
Serious visitors, the ones that buy, want serious information. They are not there to be entertained, so don’t insult them by wasting their time.
Make sure your web designer includes a Customised Content Management System (CMS) and database, so you can keep your content and information up to date and fresh.
A good web developer will also provide you with tools to keep your search engine optimisation and link management up to date and in line with changes in the market place.
Make sure your web developer/designer offers full support when you need it.
Some so-called web developers use cheap templates to develop your website and have no understanding of the source code behind the template.
Developers that use templates are often limited to using pre-set forms supplied as part of the template and cannot offer customisation for your business. This means your website ends up looking amateurish.
When you get into real trouble they can’t help you out, as they are not familiar with the source code, subsequently your website and investment disappears.
Host your website with a reliable company that specialises in high enterprise and eCommerce websites.
Do not use cheap, or worse still, free hosting. The difference in cost is only a few dollars per month. Is it worth risking your business for the cost of a cup of coffee a day?
Promote your web business every chance you get.
Never miss a chance to list your URL and email address prominently on all your advertising and promotional material, including vehicles, Yellow Page ads, calendars, at trade fairs, and on your shop front.
Finally ALWAYS ask prospects and customers for their email address and permission to keep them up to date with your latest offers and promotions.
For more information on how you can build a profitable online business through automated online catalogues, autoresponders, newsletters and promotional email, contact Mike Greenfield, Marketing Director, SiteDesignNOW.com specialists in designing and developing eCommerce websites for small and large business.
Resource: Mike Greenfield, SiteDesignNOW.com, Brisbane, Australia
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