Outlining a clear strategy is key when planning a new web site or upgrading an outdated one.

Web Misinformation

Many clients are misinformed by their service provider by the common promise of -”Have a website developed, get it hosted and then sit back and enjoy the benefits of the worldwide web, providing a sea of traffic and sales!”

In reality this is not the case. An effective website must be well planned and constantly developed to survive in a highly competitive arena. When developed and used correctly however, your web presence can provide an excellent source of customers for your business.

To exploit the benefits of the net, investing in solid well planned solutions is key, as well as assigning a sufficient budget for web development and marketing.

Low cost options are a plenty but will then usually serve only as an item of corporate stationary and not a working tool that results in the kind of business growth that could be obtained by employing a more comprehensive solution.

When deciding on a service provider for a new website or for an overhaul of your existing one, the following should be taken into account.

Your solution should include:

Creative Concepts

Imaginative out of the box thinking is what differentiates good designers from great ones. A unique design can make the diffirence between a site performing poorly and exceptionaly. With a customers first contact often being via the website, a good initial brand impression is vital.

Web Marketing practices

A website should be designed with a marketing background and strategy in mind. A website is in essence just a marketing tool it should be designed accordingly, including call to actions, competitive edge, unique focus points and overall focus on the businesses strong points while conveying the desired brand image to the target audience.

Search engine otimisation (SEO)

Well planned content, descriptions, keywords and site structure are crucial to obtaining self sustaining traffic in time through search engine ranking.

Marketing online

A budget should be set aside for a pilot online campaign, this will enable you to gauge through analysis what sort of return you would get on investing further in this channel. Online marketing is not always the most effective marketing channel for all industry sectors. Certain factors have to be considered such as the competition existing online (all your competitors are just a click away for any potential customers).Certain industries require more diverse marketing to achieve their objectives where as some can rely solely and thrive using online marketing alone.

Information gathering and distribution

The purpose of any website is the distribution and gathering of information.

Distributing – information about the businesses products and services in such a way as to produce an action form the recipient, namely sales.

Gathering – information about your site visitors (contact details, product preferences etc) that can be used to improve the information distributed and quantity and frequency thereof.

2 way street

The benefits of a comprehensive site are two fold, not only providing incoming business from consumers but also providing a point of visibility for suppliers and the exposure to increased opportunities.

Conclusion

With the above factors take into account, planned for and integrated into the development of your site your business will reap the benefits of the worldwide web and the cost effective marketing benefits it has to offer.