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Marketing Your Business on the Internet - Part 3 |
Paul Faix, Signtrade, Australia |
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Judging from the responses to my previous articles I hope that many of you did the customer analysis described in the previous issue of Image Magazine. Your time was well spent and findings of your business will help you not only in the new website creation but also in other marketing activities.
Now you should have a proper draft of your new website similar to the one on the image 1. You should also have a decent content ready for website publishing. Now is the time to have a look at the implementation stage where I will guide you through the technologies available and what to look for when selecting a graphic designer and a web hosting company.
Web Technologies
As the Internet evolves we can see the introduction of many new technologies used to develop websites. You don't need to be an expert of using them but you should know; which ones are right for your business. I will run very quickly through the short selection.
HTML Hypertext Markup Language is a markup language designed for creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser. Yet simple but powerful technology used by many graphic designers for creating static presentations and simple web pages.
PHP is an open-source, reflective programming language used mainly for developing server-side applications and dynamic web content.
ASP is Microsoft's server-side technology for dynamically-generated web pages that is marketed as an add-on to Internet Information Services (IIS).
Both PHP and ASP technologies are very powerful and offer extra functionality including integration with the customer's database and email marketing.
FLASH refers to both the Macromedia Flash Player and to the multimedia authoring program used to create content for it as well as games or movies created using the program.
You should avoid developing your new website entirely in Flash. Flash is a very good technology offering huge functionality but lacking in search engines. Possible site expanding and changes could be costly. Having said that feel free to use flash for the parts of your new website for changing images, animations etc.
Consult with your website developer which technologies to use for your project based on the site diagram, functionalities and graphic requirements.
Web Hosting Service
Many business people underestimate the importance of the web hosting service. A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that provides you with online systems for storing information, images, video or any content accessible via the Web. Another words it is a space on the server available for the visitors to view your site.
Web hosting is often provided as a part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these services. Avoid the free webhosting service because it is not reliable and many times you must display sponsors advertising on your website. As always you get what you pay for.
Based on the technologies used you need to evaluate the requirements of your new website to be able to choose the type of the web hosting you would like to use.
I strongly recommend choosing a system, which has a content management system built in.
Content Management System
CMS is a tool, which will allows you to change any information on the website without a need to contact a graphic designer each time you need to do minor changes. There are many content management systems on the market. Some of them allow you to change the text only but the newest emerging companies as Business Catalyst www.businesscatalyst.com will offer you a powerful package including database and customer relation system with a set of great marketing tools.
So why is the webhosting so important? If your hosting service is slow and often interrupted, your website visitors will not wait to display your site and search engines will also penalise your site. Such web site will not rank well on the search engine results pages.
What else should you look for?
Selecting the right web developer is a key to a good website. Try to talk to 2-3 companies and get a feel for what kind of work they do. What is their reaction to your diagram and how well can they explain technologies they are intending to use and why. Many web developers have a preferred webhosting company but you don't need to use it. You can select your own and get them to load your new website to the server you choose.
Make sure that your contract signed with the web developer acknowledges that you own the whole site, design, source code, flash source files and all other data and your developer is contracted to put this together but has no rights after the completion of works. Many companies were held ransom by their developer when they decided to change to another company. Save yourself a trouble later on and make sure that you are protected.
Request and save all usernames and passwords. You need to have them for your records. You need to have a set for:
- Domain Registration
- Web hosting service (FTP access)
- Content Management System and
- E-mails.
Ask the developer to prepare a project plan with the deadlines. You need to know what kind of information is required from you (content wise, text, photographs, ect.) and when you can expect your new site up and running. I saw relatively easy websites dragging along for months before they were developed. Make your web developer accountable for all delays.
Give your developer a few sample sites that you liked while browsing the Internet. You should also think beforehand of the colour scheme, layout and some other aspects that you would like to include on the site.
Web design contract should also include setting up meta tags, keywords and site description. All those pieces of information are not visible to the people reading the site. However it is very important for the search engines to pick up and index your site.
Coming Next
In the next issue I will talk more about the Internet marketing and show you some steps that you can do yourself to inexpensively promote your new site. I will write about tweaking your new site, optimizing it and registering it with search engines and directories.
Image 1
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