Whether your business sells physical products or intangible services – is targeting local, national or international customers - it needs a website. Period.
The statistics never lie: In May 2009, the total number of unique UK Internet users reached 36,820,000. That's 72% of the population - over 22m of whom visit the Internet every day, spending an average 35 hours per month online [Source: comScore, May 2009].
Clearly the web is no longer the domain of geeks, gamers and precocious teens. In fact, according to research from insurer AXA, retired Britons spend more of their leisure time online than they do gardening.
Consequently there's very little, these days, that can't be sold over the Internet. And in the unlikely event that your products can't... a web presence is still essential, since the Internet is, frequently, the first port of call for jobseekers, investors, journalists, business opportunity seekers... and, of course, consumers.
In its November 2009 survey, iPerceptions reported that 38.6% of web-users visit ecommerce sites to research products and prices - and to gather information – before making a purchase (which, often, takes place offline).
Those findings are echoed in the May 2009 PayPal report – compiled by Experian - which concluded that seven out of ten consumers (that's 33.6 million people) gather as much information as possible online before committing to a purchase.
Even more interesting: 62 per cent of the online shoppers surveyed believed that the best deals are only available online.
So, whether you're a sole trader or a multinational conglomerate - a speciality retailer, or a ‘man with a van' - if you don't have an effective web presence, you're losing business to companies that do.
Not so level playing field
Back when online was in its infancy - the early 1990s! – the web was widely expected to ‘level the commercial playing field', allowing savvy SMEs to compete on equal terms with their larger competitors.
The reality is rather different.
Money still talks. Larger firms are able to invest in the latest technologies, the finest creative talent, and the most robust architecture - creating compelling ‘interactive experiences' in-keeping with their prestigious ‘household name' brands.
Now the good news. This guide will help you to focus your more finite resources on those areas which deliver maximum return on your online investment. And who knows? You may actually find yourself at an advantage over your cash-rich competitors.
‘Big company sites' can have a tendency to be overdesigned and over-engineered: employing the latest technologies for their own sake, whilst ignoring the basic tenets of usability - alienating their less ‘technically sophisticated' customers into the bargain.
The reality is: an uncomplicated site, with compelling, audience-focussed content and a clear call to action will outperform a more complex, design-driven ‘experience' (almost) every time.
That being the case, you may ask (with some justification):
Why can't I do it myself?
To paraphrase Internet Marketing author Nigel Packer: being an expert sometimes means using an expert. This is one of those times.
When you're facing a lawsuit, you visit a lawyer. You don't reach for a copy of ‘Contract Law for Dummies'.
Similarly, if you want to get real results from your website - and create the right impression for your target audience – then: banish from your mind all thoughts of ‘doing it yourself'.
Professional business websites require a broad set of skills – skills that simply cannot be emulated with an Idiots Guide and a copy of Dreamweaver (currently the most popular website authoring programme).
Indeed, as you'll soon come to realise, you're unlikely to find all the skills you need in a single developer.
About the SMART Start Guide to Website Planning
As it says on the cover, this guide is written in plain English – not by ‘techies', but by experienced business people, who view the Internet as a means to an end. And not the end in itself.
Its goal: to help you achieve measurable commercial goals:
• Raising your business' profile;
• Generating new, and better qualified, leads;
• Closing more profitable sales;
• Slashing your service and transaction costs; and
• Building customer loyalty for the long term.
Within these pages you'll find the hard-won knowledge you need to commission the website that's right for your business.
We'll explain what's achievable on even the most restricted budget – thanks to the plethora of readily available no- and low-cost tools and technologies. And we'll help you navigate your way around the myriad tank traps that await the unwary.
Most importantly, this eminently practical guide cuts through the jargon - enabling you to translate your business strategy into a detailed technical and creative brief, describing:
• Your SMART (that is: Specific – Measurable – Actionable – Relevant - Timely) website goals
• Your most profitable target customers
• Your available content (text, images, video and audio)
• Your desired functionality
• Your preferred visual style
• And a customer-centred navigational structure
The SMART start guide to website planning is structured in such a way as to provide non-technical readers with all the information they'll need to plan their next site; to put that site out to tender; and to commission a suitable developer – constraining the related costs, and maintaining control throughout every stage of the building process.
For more information – and to order the SMART Start Guide in total confidence, thanks to our no-quibble money back guarantee – visit www.articlesandebooks.com.
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