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| Why a small business should have an Internet presence |
- Supports many other forms of marketing.
- Promotes company name and brand awareness.
- A 24-hour office/storefront/message centre/sales centre. Frequently-asked questions can be answered at any time, saving staff time.
- Ability to reach markets beyond the range of local promotion.
- Making time-sensitive information available at short notice: special offers, announcements, etc.
- An opportunity to interact with customers through e-mail or on-line forms.
- Direct ordering of products and services.
- Establishing contacts which lead to sales by means other than direct ordering.
Some additional reasons
| How to develop an Internet site |
- Define the goals for the site.
- Develop content and a design that supports the goals you have defined.
- Determine the target users and design the site from the viewpoint of these target users.
- Think like your customer and try to determine what a customer will want from your site.
- Make the site customer-friendly.
- Offer information in easily-read chunks. Reading on the web is not the same as reading in print. It's better to avoid long passages of text unless you clearly indicate that this is a detailed explanation of something. In that case, you warn people beforehand of what they are getting into or offer the information as a downloadable file, PDF for example.
- Make your site easy to use. Consider some usability tests with a focus group.
Essential features of a successful Web site
- Some people are capable of building their own sites but others prefer to use professional designers.
- Some tools are promoted as making web sites easy with no knowledge of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The best sites are still designed by those with a deep understanding of HTML specifications and limitations.
- A key question: do you write and/or design your own print materials? If you don't maybe the web site should be contracted out as well.
- The professional services of Neil Macmillan & Associates
- Announcement in all other promotional materials you use.
- Issue a press release.
- A special announcement to all existing clients. This can be the focus of a sales call, if appropriate.
- Participate in Newsgroup and Listserv discussions. Over time you will become known as an expert.
- Register with all the major search engines and directories.
- Reciprocal linking with compatible organizations.
A list of other surveys
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