Online marketing checklists

In some ways, a company's website functions as an extension of the outlet also functioning as an additional location. Whatever the purpose and objective, the website only becomes an effective tool depending upon the effort dedicated towards it. The content needs to be constantly updated, any inquiries need to be responded quickly and most importantly, for the website to be successful, it needs to be marketed to the customers and the potential customers.

To help you make your website a success, the list below outlines some of the best marketing practices. Review the list and check all that apply to your operations. Work toward implementing each idea that's relevant to your situation.

• The company's URL (website address) appears on the front door / and front window

• The company's URL appears on the cash register receipts, invoices, quotations, delivery notes, e.t.c.

• The company's URL appears on bags

• The company's URL appears on bookmarks

• The company's URL appears on your printed and electronic newsletter

• The company's URL appears on gift cards

• The company's URL appears on your letterhead, business cards, and in your email signatures

• The company's voice mail/ answering machine promotes the website, telling customers you are open 24-hours a day at www.yourwebaddress.co.ke

• Staff meetings to review the website are periodically held

• Each member of the staff is familiar with the website content; you have asked for their feedback.

• Customer email addresses are collected in-store and online, and you expressly ask for your customers' permission to communicate with them.

• An email newsletter, including links to your website, is periodically distributed to your customers.

• The store and the website are cross-promoted, with in-store displays of online promotions

• Website sales and buyer reports are routinely reviewed and analyzed

• · Website traffic reports are routinely reviewed and analyzed

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Get ready for online sales

The internet is a great promotional vehicle, research tool, and communication channel for connecting with clients and customers. But in today's market place small businesses are discovering that the real payoff of an online presence is electronic commerce: using the web to sell your small business' products and services. Selling online reduces your business expenses, provides added convenience for your customers and opens the door to a global market for your products and services.

If you want to succeed as online merchant you have to understand where your products fit within the competitive landscape and be clear about your online sales objectives. In addition, you need to know how to reach your virtual customers and how to meet their needs. Ask yourself the following five questions to start your journey to selling online.

• Will my product or service work online?
• What role will my site play in my overall sales strategy?
• What is the best venue for my products?
• How will i collect money from my web sales?

Will my product or service work online?

Not every product lends itself to e-commerce. The items that tend to generate the greatest revenue are commodity consumer products (such as books, CDs, or videos), technology products (computer and software), and hard-to-find products or those with highly specialized audience (rare coins, specialized craft supplies, regional/ gourmet foods, or collectibles, for example). As a rule, if a product sells well through a catalog or other direct channels, it can be promoted on the web.

Before you take the online plunge, be sure to analyze the competition carefully. If your product is already being sold by a large online competitor, you may have trouble generating profits through your site. Instead, focus your efforts on a specialized niche. For example, if you run a small bookstore, your online competitors would be giants amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. If you market your site as the premier resource for children's books, or better yet, children's picture books, you may be able to generate more sales.

What role will my site play in my overall sales strategy?

Before you begin executing your site, consider exactly what you'd like to accomplish through e-commerce. Will the web be your primary sales vehicle or will it be a way to supplement your existing revenues? This will help you shape the content your site and may also guide decisions about the site location, product selection, payment and order processing. Take the time to put together a plan of execution that addresses not only your goals for taking your business online, but also financial assumptions, challenges and concerns. This document will help to ensure that your investment in web commerce pay off.

What features and information should I include on my site?

When designing your site's content, consider the type of information your buyers will require before they purchase. Take a look at e-commerce URLs that you admire and dislike. Chances are you'll find some common threads among the good sites. The graphics will most likely be clean and relevant; they will download quickly; navigation will be well thought out; and the steps for ordering will clearly be outlined. You might also want to review your competitors' sites, as well as high-revenue sites that are unrelated to your business, to get ideas for your site's content and features. Analyzing these site's sales messages, promotions and guarantees will give you a sense of how they encourage visitors to buy.

What is the best venue for my product?

The location of your virtual storefront is just as important as a traditional store's location. You will need to decide if you want to set up your website as part of an online mall, or if you would like your site to exist independent of other vendors. Online malls - sites that rent out space to merchants who reside at the mall's URL - have not been nearly as successful as many had hoped. Specialty malls - sites that offer products and services related to a particular theme such as golf or boating - have proved better able to meet consumer demand for selection, speed, and convenience. Setting up an independent site will give you the greatest control over the operation and promotion, but also requires the most work. You will need to determine where buyers are, design ways to reach them, and manage ordering and fulfillment.

How will I collect money from my web sales?

To succeed online, it's essential to make it easy for your customers to pay you. Credit and charge cards are the most common solution. This requires you to set up a merchant status, receive authorization to accept charges over the internet.

Although online payments is convenient for both merchants and customers, some of your customers may not currently feel comfortable ordering online. For these clients offer phone ordering, fax ordering or email orders option.

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Common web site misconceptions

There is a lot of misinformation out there about web site marketing. Many businesses find it difficult to separate hype from reality. The key is to determine if the web is right for you, and then use the right methods to exploit its marketing power. Below are some common misconceptions about the World Wide Web, along with some tip s on how you can make your online marketing program a success.

Misconception 1: Every small business needs to have a web site

While many small businesses can benefit from developing and maintaining their own web sites, it's important to realize that this form of marketing is not for everyone. You need to consider using a web site if:

• Your customers are online

If your customer base buy products or get information via the web, then you need to be there. If, on the other hand, they get most of their information from other sources (whether the yellow pages, newspapers and magazines, tradeshows, or other marketing vehicles), then you might want to concentrate your efforts in these areas.

• You want to reach a national or international customer base efficiently

The web is not a form of "local" marketing. By its very nature it has a broad reach, so you need to be prepared to take advantage of that. For example, a home contractor based in suburban New York may not be able to reap the full benefits of a website because it serves a very targeted audience. A candy distributor that offered national shipping would be in a better position to take advantage of the web's broad reach.

• A web site supports your marketing objectives and your budget.

Your website needs to be part of a fully integrated marketing plan and budget. It's important to have a consistent message in all the tools you use.

• The web can take the place of, or be more efficient than other marketing options

The web can give your customers immediate access to information that it might take them days or weeks to get otherwise. For instance, a commercial photographer who put his portfolio on the web can direct potential clients to his site, instead of incurring the expense of sending his portfolio for every job.

• You're committed to your site

A web site requires constant attention. Are you willing to keep it fresh? Can you commit to adding new content every month? Do you have the time and budget to support it properly? If you're not willing to do this yourself, you need to hire someone to do it for you. Otherwise, your web efforts will be wasted.

Misconception 2: A web site automatically levels the playing field between my small business and my larger competitors

Yes, a professional looking web site can make your small business look larger than it is. But without an effective plan and effective implementation, your website can actually make you look less professional than you are, and put at a competitive disadvantage.

Use the web to show off your expertise. By giving away your knowledge, you can position yourself as an expert and attract customers and interest them in your products or services.

One way to make yourself appear larger than you are is to have your own domain name. A web address of "www.yourcompanyname.com" is much easier to find and presents a more professional image using a sub-address of your Internet Service Provider or online service (www.yourISP.com/~yourcompany). The cost to register your domain is minimal, and many ISPs will host your site under that name for a small monthly fee. Talk to your ISP about this.

Another trap to look out for is using technology for technology's sake. Using bells and whistles just because they seem "cool" can actually work against you. Here's an example: the homepage of a consulting firm features a popular traffic, and therefore causes you to question whether the information you're receiving is accurate or compelling.

Misconception 3: Put up a website and people will come flocking to your company

Don't expect people to find your web site on their own. You need to encourage traffic through active promotion both on the Internet and in your traditional marketing materials. Here are some common methods:

Register your web site with all the major search engines like Yahoo!, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos and Hotbot. There are number of services that will register your URL with multiple engines and directories for a small fee - a popular one is submit It. Be aware, however, that while these services will get your site listed, you will lose control over how you want your site described.

Exchange links or banner ads with non-competitors who have complimentary services or products. Send an email to the webmaster at the site you want to link with, and offer a reciprocal linking arrangement. Be sure to stress the mutual benefits of creating this link in your note. Services such as Link Exchange let you swap links with other businesses, giving you free banner advertising directly proportional to how much you put on your website.

Be sure to support your URL throughout your marketing literature. Put your web site addresses in all your ads, in your product brochures, and on your business cards and letterhead. Include it in the signature file for your emails, so customers can automatically jump from your message to your web site.

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Give consumers confidence in your site

While online shopping is definitely on the rise, many people remain wary of e-commerce. Their fear centers on the transmittal of personal and financial information over the internet and the perceived risk of releasing sensitive data unscrupulous eyes. Unsolicited e-mail campaigns, rumours of hacker break-ins and media coverage of unethical web commerce practices further intimidate would-be-customers.

Understanding and addressing customer concerns about online buying are critical to your small business' success selling on the web. Here are some steps you can take to encourage customers to give online buying a try:

Address security issues directly

Include a statement on your web site that informs buyers about your policies. Two elements are important to this statement: what security you have in place to protect transmitted data and what you will and will not do with the buyer information. Most customers feel more comfortable buying from someone who agrees not to release their contact information or buying patterns to outside parties.

Guarantee your security

Demonstrate your confidence in e-commerce. Consider guaranteeing payment. This will encourage buyers to trust your system. Accepting responsibility for this payment will also allow you to remove one of the most common barriers to shopping online - percieved financial risk.

State your security record

Most customers are surprised to learn how infrequently security breaches occur. If your site has never had one, say so. For example, web bookseller amazon.com clearly states that none of its 3 million customers have reported fraudulent use of a credit card resulting from purchases made at the site.

Flaunt your protection procedures

If you take extra steps to ensure buyer information is protected, let visitors know. For example, if your secure service provider makes a weekly effort to break into its own system, just to reinforce security, state this fact on your site. You may also want to mention the technology you have in place by name. Many consumers are familiar with secure socket layer (SSL), Secure Electronic Transaction Protocol (SET), and digital signatures certificates that help authenticate the identity of all parties involved in a transaction.

Seek out approval from the consumer organizations

Certain organizations offer seals of approval for online shops that meet their standards for conducting business. Displaying one of these marks on your site accomplishes two things: it alerts consumers that you are legitimate business and serves as a virtual beware-of-dog sign for would be hackers.

Use statistics

Round up some numbers that testify to the safety of online purchasing. You can find these statistics within the web sites of research organization such as Gartner group and Forrester Research, as well as within sites devoted to computer industry news such as ZDNet. You may not want to clutter you homepage, so consider providing a link to another page within your site that houses these statistics.

Provide alternatives

Some consumers will never agree to transmit personal information across the Internet regardless of what assurances to supply. To capture these customers, offer alternative methods for buying your business' product and services once they have learned about your offerings and your company online. One page of your web site can direct them to fax, phone, or mail for order fulfillment.
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3 Rules to Remember with Website Design

Imagine walking through a mall for the very first time and looking for a specific style of shoes. There are dozens of stores to choose from, many of which probably have exactly what you are looking for. So how will you be able to decide which stores to shop in? Whether or not you are aware of it, you’ll immediately begin to narrow down your search by first looking at storefronts that seem relevant, professional and easy to access. Then you’ll begin looking into other things like price, selection, service and so forth.

The same principle applies to the Internet. Every second, millions of people are shopping online. Everyone who is on the Internet is shopping for something. They could be shopping for products like shoes, but people are also constantly looking for services and information. So how can you help your website attract traffic and become a memorable, valuable place for people to visit?

Having a good website design is a major part of running a successful business. Here are three rules that will help your website stand out and attract repeat visitors.

Rule #1: Simplicity is always better than complexity.

Simplicity is one reason the iPod has become the standard of music players. The rule of simplicity applies in almost every aspect of our lives, and websites are no exception.

It’s easy to get distracted into adding new, cool technologies to your website that you think people will find amusing and fun. But one thing that will make people visit and return to your website is if it’s uncomplicated and easy-to-use.

To keep your website simple, there are some things you need to avoid. First of all, don’t use counters to track traffic. They are annoying, serve no purpose to the visitor, and they’re a dead give away if you don’t get much traffic. You should also avoid putting anything that needs a plug-in on your site because people will be hesitant to download any software just to access information on your site. Odd document formats or too much flash animation can also be a big distraction, as can heavy use of graphics.

You will want to use a layout that is logical and simple to navigate. Navigation bars should be easy to reference, and color use should be simple and attractive instead of multifarious and distracting. Remember, no one ever says, “I wish this were more complex.”

Rule #2: Keep a solid focus

Decide early on what you want your website to be, and then stick to that formula. Websites that are not focused are normally hard to navigate, but they’re also hard for people to remember. Unless you are an encyclopedia, you’ll want to limit your content to a very specific topic and provide as much information on that topic as you can. But make sure the information you provide is relevant, interesting and, of course, correct. If you have a little information on a lot of topics, what you really have is nothing; that is, nothing that people will easily remember.

In keeping focused, you’ll also want to update your website regularly, with new written materials, graphics, and other useful tools and information for your visitors. Stagnant websites seldom warrant regular visits.

Rule #3: Make your website user-friendly

Make sure you keep your website accessible to everyone. That means you need to take the time to do your coding correctly and make sure your website is navigable for all the popular Internet browsers, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Safari.

And this goes along with simplicity, but don’t forget to make your information easy to find. Search functions and site maps are helpful, but also make sure not to bury information that people will be using regularly. If people have to click through more than a few pages to find what they’re looking for, they’ll probably go somewhere else.

You’ll also want to provide a way for people to easily access you. People have come to expect to see a “Contact Us” link somewhere on your website. Live chat and an FAQ (frequently asked questions) are also extremely helpful resources that can help your website stand out.

At the end of the day, people will go back to the websites that have the best design, easiest access and most relevant information. That is what will encourage people to choose your site over and over again.

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Choosing A Hosting Company For Your Small Business Website

If you have created your own great website but need to find the best hosting provider to get your site online - here are some important things to consider and some important questions to ask to ensure you choose the right hosting provider for your small business.

Choosing a hosting company for your small business website

What Questions Should You Ask When Choosing A Web Host Provider For Your Small Business Website?

Whether you have created your own great website - or had someone build it for you - a key element to your success online is choosing a great web hosting provider to get your site on the web and put your site to work for your business. But selecting a web hosting provider may not be as easy as it seems. Most small business owners track every penny of business costs to ensure continued growth and success. Yet, if small businesses try and save money on web hosting costs by going with a low cost hosting provider, they may get a frustrating experience that ends up costing both time and money.

So, how can you make sure you choose the right provider? Here are some of the things you should look for when choosing a web host provider.

Reliability

In this web-connected business world, your website defines your business. If you’ve just met with a prospective client for the first time, you want them to be able to go to your website and investigate your business further. It could damage your chances of doing future business with this prospective client, if your site is down when they visit.

In addition, if you’re actively marketing products and services electronically, you need confidence that when a potential customer discovers your business (whether in the middle of the night or the middle of the day), they can easily access your site and place an order. How much revenue can you afford to lose because your web hosting provider is down when prospective customers try to visit your site? And how many of your marketing cash could be wasted if your site is not available when prospects decide to learn more about your business? For most businesses the amount of potential loss will exceed the small savings you may be getting from going with the lowest cost provider you can find.

So, when you’re investigating a web host provider, ask what guarantees. Does this web hosting provider offer a guarantee of their reliability or uptime? The strength of a guarantee is a great indicator of the confidence your web hosting provider really has in being able to provide a reliable service.

Technical support

Many small business owners don’t work a typical 8-5 schedule. If you’re working on your website at midnight, and you need help installing your digital certificate (for example) you need a web host provider that can answer your questions whenever you have them.

So, when making a decision about a web host provider, ask about the technical support they will offer you. Will this web host provider be there to answer your questions whenever they come up?

Technology

If you’ve designed your own site or if you edit your existing site, you know that there are various technologies used on the back-end to ensure the site has the full functionality you intended. These may include FTP, PHP, MySQL and others.

Many low cost web hosting services can offer low prices, because they limit the technologies that are available for you to build or use on your site. Often these hosting providers offer huge storage capacity as the main ‘feature’ of their service. When choosing a web host provider, don’t be blinded by storage space. Some hosting providers will give you plenty of space and little else. Consider the feature set and functionalities the hosting provider offers. Will they support the technologies that you’ll need to build and operate the site that you want?

Finally, consider that if you are spending your valuable time troubleshooting your website because of problems with your web host provider, that hassle directly impacts your bottom line. If you are looking for a new hosting provider or considering renewing your existing hosting agreement, my advice is to ask the questions I mention above and do your homework to make sure the hosting provider you chose is truly giving you the best service for your money… the success of your web business could depend on it.
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Tips for developing a successful site

Make your site easy to use

While it might be tempting to have a cutting edge website with all the bells and whistles - don't forget the basics. You will fail if the visitor can't navigate successfully through your site. Provide clear, easy to understand navigation tools on each page of your site.

Provide useful content

Don't just sell! These days, it's not enough to have a website that lists your products and providing shopping cart for purchases. If you want your visitors to return, you'll want to provide meaningful content. If you sell fashion items, your site could post articles about the latest fashion trends, reviews on fashion items or any other information that would give visitors a reason to want to return for more. A CPA's site could publish tax tips and offer links to IRS forms. A catering service could offer articles on how to host a successful party.

Encourage customer feedback via online forms and email

Ask your customers what they want. Did they find what they were looking for? How could your site be more useful or easier to use? Listen to your customers' frustrations and gripes. They'll tell you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong.

Develop a Mailing List

Most consumers hate getting junk email, also called "spam". A far more appealing strategy is to develop a mailing list. Invite your customers to "opt in" to receive a newsletter or notices of specials running at your business. Make this information relevant and useful for your customer. Provide a "coupon" that will give them a discount on their next purchase. And, always give the recipient an easy means to "opt out" of receiving future emails.
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