9 Keys to an Effective Website
March 10, 2010
Many small companies choose not to invest in a professionally designed website, although a well-designed Web site may raise the company’s level of professionalism and exposure ? AND drive business and sales!
Make sure your website is working for you with the following characteristics:
Usability enables your users to get the most out of your site. This means that the site’s navigation is consistent, clear and easy to follow; forms and links are in working order; and the information on the site is current and answers incoming clients’ potential questions.
Findable: If people can’t find you, then they won’t buy from you. Make sure your pages have text coded in HTML instead of embedded in the graphics, so that search engines can read it. Put ALT tags on the images you do have ? search engines look at these, and they can improve your rankings. Include META tags in your code and submit them to at least the major search engines. You can do this for free ? ask me how! Finally, find some online directories where your site would be a fit and add your site to those directories. This is one more way potential clients can find your site; having directories and other sites linked to yours can also increase your ranking in the search engines.
A Web Site for Your Small Business: How to Set Up a Website
March 5, 2010
Your web site will be your window to the world. Even if you are not selling any product online still you need your customers to access you 24 hours a day 365 days in a year and you can pass important information to them by hosting frequently asked pages, product descriptions, product improvements etc. Your web site will be your office or interface to the world even when you are away in weekends, sleeping at nights or in an important assignment for your next business expansion. Then how to go about it? We will discuss some basic points here.
Your domain name: This will be your first step in this direction. Go to www.namecheap.com or www.godaddy.com to book a domain name. Names are not that easy to get so try to get a combination of names best saying about your business or your brand name. If you have a brand name then it is a good idea to book other extensions like .net, .org and other extensions. This way you can prevent cyber squatters from using your brand names.
How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements
February 26, 2010
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for improvement? Let’s check out some pros and cons of automated shopping and see.
Digital carts offer convenience for people around the globe 24 hours a day. Yet an estimated 4 percent of shoppers make purchases, up from 3.5 percent in 2003, reported by DoubleClick, an online marketing company.
And approximately 30 percent of shopping carts are abandoned, according to recent surveys by BizRate.com, a shopping search engine.
The main reasons for shopping cart abandonment are*:
- High shipping prices (72%)
- Comparison shopping or browsing (61%)
- Changed mind (56%)
- Saving items for later purchase (51%)
- Total cost of items is too high (43%)
- Checkout process is too long (41%)
- Checkout requires too much personal information (35%)
- Site requires registration before purchase (34%)
- Site is unstable or unreliable (31%)
- Checkout process is confusing (27%)
To decrease shopping cart abandonment and increase sales, simple minor improvements in automation can be highly effective. Here are some tips that work best for clients and workers alike of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company that specializes in helping businesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations and freelance writing services.
TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET
Now You Have a Web Site - Have You Ever Heard of Accessibility?
February 21, 2010
An accessible Web site is easily approached, easily understood, and useable for all. There are accessibility standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, which all sites should adhere to as much as possible.
Web site owners should be aware of accessibility standards, because most designers and developers often ignore them. It is a waste of your investment to develop a great site that many Web surfers may not even be able to use.
While personal sites can get away with more innovative technologies, most commercial sites should not go overboard. If you do business internationally, or with customers who are located anywhere but in a city, the user’s bandwidth is a big issue. If it takes longer than a few seconds to open a document from your site, users are likely to move on, to another site that will work faster. Sites that receive a large amount of traffic will also save on hosting fees by keeping downloads to a minimum.
Not all browsers are created equal. Check your site for compatibility on as many computers as you can. It’s wise to consider that some people don’t allow JavaScript, cookies, images, or Flash and some people use text readers. By viewing your site on many machines, you often will find issues with the way your site operates or looks.
How To Convert More Sales On Your Website
February 14, 2010
One of the biggest mistakes that most online retailers make is they do not take into account typical buyer behaviour. The conversion from real world to online provides many benefits to the retailer, but present some real challenges for the customer because their buying decision is made more difficult in an online environment.
This means having a website needs to be more than having just an online catalogue.
What to I mean? Lets take the example of a recent client of mine who sells sterling silver jewelry.
Their site that was well structured; the items pages were neatly laid out, images were clear, add to cart button clearly visible and there was a short description of the item. There was a page with a 14-day money back guarantee, and a privacy page saying your details would be kept secure. But still sales were slow.
What was missing? What could be done to encourage visitors to purchase?
The answer is we need to stop and think about buyer behaviour. Lets think about the buying process when we are in a physical store.
The Cost Of A Web Site
February 7, 2010
Just starting out, you can start with a simple informational site, which is all most need initially, and build up to a fuller site (e-commerce and/or interactive) when you can afford it.
Your goal should be to get an online presence. Remember, most surfers are looking for information. Dancing cartoons, streaming video and other interactive features are, in the great majority of cases, unnecessary.
Naming Your Site: Selecting and Registering a Domain Name
The first step in getting a web site is to select and register your domain name. Even if you can’t afford a web site right now, it is a good idea to register your name. This can be done for under $10.00 a year (eg, namecheap.com).
Choosing a Web Designer / Web Design Company
Choosing a web designer will depend greatly onthe type of site you are having built. Prices are all over the place. Many designers/firms have a dollar minimum that you must spend in order to work with them.
Ball park figure: If you are having a simple informational site built, I suggest spending no more than $500. Learn how to update it yourself to save ongoing maintenance charges.
7 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs A Web Site
January 30, 2010
Many small businesses have the misconception that their business can not benefit from a website; that websites are too expensive or that because they don’t use a computer neither do their potential clients. Here are 7 reasons why your small business NEEDS a website:
1. A web site lends credibility to your small business. Consumers expect businesses to have a web site and more and more consumers are turning to the internet to research a business service or product before purchasing. If you don’t have a web site you could be losing out to the competition. Even if you operate your business out of your home, a web site can help give your business a professional image.
2. Web sites are a cost effective venue for promoting your business. Many small business owners are afraid that web sites cost too much money. This is just not true ? a professionally designed web site can cost less than $100/ month. Considering you have the opportunity to reach millions of potential customers this is a cost effective method to reach your target market.
Guide to Internet Business - Website Setup
January 24, 2010
After planning the design and content of your website, it’s time to actually physically set up your website. This is the step where you put all your designs and plans into action, creating a website that will attract visitors and earn income.
a) WEBHOSTING
A webhost is a company that stores the pages and pictures and other files of your website. When a person visits your website, they will request these files from your webhost’s server so they can view the website. When choosing a webhost, be careful to choose one that is reliable. After all, if your webhost has problems for any reason, people won’t be able to visit your website, and you won’t be earning any money.
In addition, different webhosts have varying services and tools that they offer. Some of the more important points to consider when choosing a webhost are as follows:
* SPACE AND BANDWIDTH - Space refers to how much file storage space is available for your website. For a standard website with about 20 pages with graphics, 30MB is plenty. Online stores might require more space depending on how many products and pictures you have. Bandwidth refers to how many files can be downloaded and viewed by visitors per month. A normal website with reasonable traffic (200 visitors a day) will need about 2GB bandwidth. Again, if you own a business with lots of products and webpages, you might need more bandwidth.
So You Want To Have A Website
January 19, 2010
So you want to have a website. You have gone on to the internet and surfed but you have no idea what developing a website involves.
You are not alone
The majority of my clients know they need a website but they feel overwhelmed and intimidated by internet technology and why not? Internet technology is continually evolving and changing. What is true this month may not be true next month.
Where do I start?
Domain Name
The first thing you need to know is what a domain name is and how to register it. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular websites. For example:
http://www.artistadesign.com
The whole address you see above is the URL of my business but the domain name is ArtistaDesign.com. The only way to register and start using a domain name is to use the services of a domain name registrar.
The registrar you choose will determine the cost for registering a domain name. You can expect to pay a yearly fee. The website I use is http://www.godaddy.com they have competitive prices and it is easy to transfer your domain name to any server ? web hosting service you choose to host your site.
Getting a Web Site Can Be Fast, Easy, and Inexpensive When You Know Your Options
January 14, 2010
So what do you do if need to get a web site but you’re not sure how to go about getting one. The good news is you have several options. To help determine which option is best for you, ask yourself the following five questions:
1) How computer literate am I?
2) How easily do I learn new computer programs?
3) How much time am I willing to put into this?
4) Is this the best use of my time?
5) How much money am I willing to spend?
If you are fairly computer literate, learn new software programs fairly easily, and are willing to spend some time, one of the cheapest ways to get a web site is to build it yourself.
You can use off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft FrontPage and either design your site yourself, or purchase a pre-designed template to make it even easier. The good news is you will be able to update your site as much as you want and it won’t cost you a dime.
