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Other Added - Planning Your New Website - How To Avoid The Most Common Mistakes
With the increased interest in Blogging (web Logging), many web hosting providers now provide an assortment of free usage, open source blogging software packages. Among the most popular of these blogging tools are B2evolution, WordPress and Nucleus. Each of these programs offer similar basic features, so the question arises as to which one is easiest to use and would be appropriate for the requirements of your particular website.The answer lies in the true purpose of your blog website. If your primary goal is to share your opinions and ideas with the general public, you would want to utilize a different blogging tool than a user who was creating product blogs as a commercial sales effort. A blog for search engine promotion would have entirely different requirements. All of these uses are viable reasons to create a blog, however each requires different features to be successful.WordPress Blogging Software Available for free download at: http://wordpress.org/It is hard to beat WordPress for general personal blogging. WordPress is an open source, state-of-the-art personal publ
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new websi
"If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, did it make any noise?" That was one of the great philosophical issues we used to think about in school. The answer is that the answer depends on how you define noise.But my question to you as speakers is, "If you make a comment, and no one can hear you, what was the point of speaking?" And here the answer is clearer. There was no point, except to hear yourself talk.I was reminded of this recently at a seminar. Over a hundred people packed into a room with only one microphone, a stationary one mounted on the lectern. For the most part the discussion leader spoke into the mike and could be heard by all in the room. Unfortunately, the audience members who commented--and I'm sure had interesting and valuable insights--sat and spoke in a conversational tone one would use in a one-on-one discussion. They could not be heard, except by those sitting near them.Here are three lessons:Have a microphone for the audience to use. If that is not possible, then,As the speaker you should briefly summarize each comment so that all would know the
Conversely, those businesses that fail to undertake any planning are, inevitably, planning to fail.
Don’t let your new website become a disappointment to your business. Some careful planning will ensure that you:
- know what you want your website to achieve and who it is for
- can undertake appropriate actions to generate visitors to your site
- have reliable, regular methods of measuring your website’s performance
Mistake 1 - Most Website Owners Don’t Know What They Want Their Website To Achieve
Producing a successful website starts with understanding what you want your website to achieve and, as the business owner, you know your business best. Despite this, having decided to start work on a new website, many business owners immediately phone their website designer.
When you can define clearly the overall aim of your website, you are ready to present your thoughts to your website designer. Their role is to develop a website that achieves your aim; your role is to decide what that aim is.
Do not feel that you need to develop an aim that is radical or unique. Many business websites exist to generate sales enquiries from prospective customers. Just because this is the most common raison d’etre, it can be your aim too. As long as you have thought through your objectives and understand what you want your website to achieve, you have made the first step towards a successful business website.
Mistake 2 - Most Website Owners Don’t Know Who Their Website Is For
You have given your new website some thought and developed an insight into its purpose. Closely allied to this is the matter of who your website is for: who is your website’s target audience?
The usual answer is "customers" but this is too vague. Is your website aimed at existing customers, with whom you already have a relationship, or prospective customers who don’t know your business?
If your website is focused on prospective customers, is its role to attract their initial attention or is the website involved at a later point in the sales process?
Many businesses use their websites successfully to generate initial interest from prospective customers. This is particularly evident in industries where customers use the Internet as part of their research into sourcing a supplier. Other businesses will generate initial interest through different means and will then refer prospective customers to their website, either to demonstrate credibility or to provide more detailed information.
In both instances, the target audience is "potential customers" but the approaches are different.
Mistake 3 - Most Business Websites Have A Poorly Defined "Call-To-Action"
The most beautifully-designed website is, in itself, entirely useless unless it encourages visitors to take some specific action. That action will vary with the nature of the website but common examples are to:
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new websi
Use of social media in the internet marketing is on a rise. Earlier it was not so common but as the number of websites is increasing so is the number of means used to promote your website. The competition amongst the website is growing with each passing day as the number of websites is increasing on a very fast pace. This has resulted in increased use of social media for marketing purposes. Forums are one such resource for the internet marketers. The marketers plan proper ways of creating web traffic and awareness about the website while using forums as the major resource.As the competition amongst the website is growing at a very fast pace, people generally prefer to use combination of media to promote their websites. If you want to get maximum benefits of marketing through forums, you need to take care of some very important points. First of all, you need to choose the right website and the right forum to make your efforts properly targeted towards your target audience. Forums on the websites like MySpace can be really useful. Do not use forums to put your ads. Use them indirectly. Forums may help you get more web traffic if used properly. St
Producing a successful website starts with understanding what you want your website to achieve and, as the business owner, you know your business best. Despite this, having decided to start work on a new website, many business owners immediately phone their website designer.
When you can define clearly the overall aim of your website, you are ready to present your thoughts to your website designer. Their role is to develop a website that achieves your aim; your role is to decide what that aim is.
Do not feel that you need to develop an aim that is radical or unique. Many business websites exist to generate sales enquiries from prospective customers. Just because this is the most common raison d’etre, it can be your aim too. As long as you have thought through your objectives and understand what you want your website to achieve, you have made the first step towards a successful business website.
Mistake 2 - Most Website Owners Don’t Know Who Their Website Is For
You have given your new website some thought and developed an insight into its purpose. Closely allied to this is the matter of who your website is for: who is your website’s target audience?
The usual answer is "customers" but this is too vague. Is your website aimed at existing customers, with whom you already have a relationship, or prospective customers who don’t know your business?
If your website is focused on prospective customers, is its role to attract their initial attention or is the website involved at a later point in the sales process?
Many businesses use their websites successfully to generate initial interest from prospective customers. This is particularly evident in industries where customers use the Internet as part of their research into sourcing a supplier. Other businesses will generate initial interest through different means and will then refer prospective customers to their website, either to demonstrate credibility or to provide more detailed information.
In both instances, the target audience is "potential customers" but the approaches are different.
Mistake 3 - Most Business Websites Have A Poorly Defined "Call-To-Action"
The most beautifully-designed website is, in itself, entirely useless unless it encourages visitors to take some specific action. That action will vary with the nature of the website but common examples are to:
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new websi
When we encounter new information we are forced to make a choice.One choice is to disregard the information because it does not fit our view of the world.The other choice is to embrace the information and think "What does this mean to me?" or "How can this help me?"Unfortunately, too many business people take the first choice – to disregard information - and let opportunities pass them by. You see, for most of us change is uncomfortable. So we stick with what we have always done, even if it is not working well.But it is up to us to find out the truth about marketing. That is, the truth about how to market our own business. Think of this as the "new marketing truth".Although we can learn from what others have done, and get help from professional advisors, we also need to take action and learn from what we have done. We need to learn what works exactly for us in our own situation, with our own focus, our own priorities, and our own clients.Get emotional When we come across a new marketing truth, we should get emotional about it.Have you ever been told about a marketing idea and then felt excited, distres
Mistake 2 - Most Website Owners Don’t Know Who Their Website Is For
You have given your new website some thought and developed an insight into its purpose. Closely allied to this is the matter of who your website is for: who is your website’s target audience?
The usual answer is "customers" but this is too vague. Is your website aimed at existing customers, with whom you already have a relationship, or prospective customers who don’t know your business?
If your website is focused on prospective customers, is its role to attract their initial attention or is the website involved at a later point in the sales process?
Many businesses use their websites successfully to generate initial interest from prospective customers. This is particularly evident in industries where customers use the Internet as part of their research into sourcing a supplier. Other businesses will generate initial interest through different means and will then refer prospective customers to their website, either to demonstrate credibility or to provide more detailed information.
In both instances, the target audience is "potential customers" but the approaches are different.
Mistake 3 - Most Business Websites Have A Poorly Defined "Call-To-Action"
The most beautifully-designed website is, in itself, entirely useless unless it encourages visitors to take some specific action. That action will vary with the nature of the website but common examples are to:
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new websi
Have you considered a franchise business as your next potential career choice? Many people leave Corporate America or secure paychecks to start their own businesses. Does this make sense? If you start a small business how long will it take to open the business? What if you start a franchise how long until you get the doors open and start making money? Good question indeed.The UFOC or Uniform Franchise Offering Circular demands that the franchisor indicate the time to open a store, if the store opens early then that is not required disclosure, however it has been my observations that franchisees want their franchises open early not later, most complain about delays to open, most delays are caused by the franchisee or onerous local zoning regulations and municipal level politics and good ole' boy networks worried about competition.Look at all the franchise cases for Hotels and businesses like Day Care Centers not opening within the estimated UFOC disclosed time to open? But also is that the Franchisor's Fault? No, generally it is not the franchisors fault but rather the individual circumstances of the business and scenario or situation.attract their initial attention or is the website involved at a later point in the sales process?
Many businesses use their websites successfully to generate initial interest from prospective customers. This is particularly evident in industries where customers use the Internet as part of their research into sourcing a supplier. Other businesses will generate initial interest through different means and will then refer prospective customers to their website, either to demonstrate credibility or to provide more detailed information.
In both instances, the target audience is "potential customers" but the approaches are different.
Mistake 3 - Most Business Websites Have A Poorly Defined "Call-To-Action"
The most beautifully-designed website is, in itself, entirely useless unless it encourages visitors to take some specific action. That action will vary with the nature of the website but common examples are to:
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new websi
Whichever career you may be considering as a student, or that you might already be involved in, it is sure to be competitive. The level of competition will vary greatly at the entry stage; it is all a matter of supply and demand. If your desire is to be an astronaut or a veterinary surgeon, the competition to get those coveted places is enormous. If you have chosen nursing, then entry will be easier. However, whichever career it is, once you have entered that career, there will be competition to progress to a higher level, and it is here that having clear career objectives will be necessary.It is true that some people may have a successful career without ever having set themselves any personal career objectives; at least, any written objectives. However, as with any competition, those who plan their success the best do give themselves an advantage over those who do not. This applies as much to career objectives as it does to as it does to business objectives and other personal objectives.Advantages of Setting Career ObjectivesThere are numerous advantages to setting career objectives, at the various stages in the pre-career
- complete an online enquiry form
- register on the website
- purchase a product
- sign up for a newsletter
- progress deeper into the website to read more about products and services
Each of these is a measurable action which should correlate with the website objectives you defined earlier.
Once you understand the particular call-to-action that you want visitors to follow, you can address your website’s content, design and navigation. Without a well-defined call-to-action, your new website is only going to produce disappointing results.
Mistake 4 - Most Business Owners Don’t Work Hard Enough To Generate Visitors To Their Website
Generating visitors is an important aspect of running a successful business websiteThe "build it and they will come" philosophy rarely works for websites, especially for business websites. All businesses exist alongside competitors that offer broadly the same products or services. The notion that you can launch your new website on the Internet and wait for a stampede of visitors is optimistic, at best.
Instead, owners of successful business websites work hard to attract visitors.
The specific way you approach this will depend on the nature of your website. The most common visitor-generating initiatives involve:
- search engine optimisation - encourages search engines such as Google to position your website prominently for keyword searches relevant to your business
- search engine advertising - enables you to pay search engines such as Google to position your website prominently for keyword searches relevant to your business
- online PR - generates interest in your business as well as links to your website
- email marketing - you can market directly to a defined target audience and encourage them to visit your site
- off-line marketing - using your website address on company literature, clothing, vehicle livery etc. will raise awareness of your site and encourage visits
Marketing the website to generate a consistent, reliable stream of visitors is the most overlooked aspect of running a successful business website. Careful thought about which methods of generating visitors will be most effective for your website is vital if your site is going to produce the results you want.
Mistake 5 - Most Business Owners Don’t Measure Their Website’s Success
Website statistics help you measure the activity on your websiteYour website will require an investment of both time and money and, as a business owner, you should expect a return on your investment. Unless you measure what your website achieves, you will not know how much difference it makes to your business. If you do not know what affect your website has on your business, how will you know whether continued investment of time and money is justified?
Your website’s success can be measured in three ways:
- qualitative feedback from website visitors will give you a feeling about how well your website performs. Do you get positive comments about how easy it is to navigate or about how useful someone found its content? Do you get enquiries from prospective customers via your website? Are you and your staff proud of the website?
- you can set up your own key performance indicators to measure your websites’ success. Monitoring the number of enquiry forms completed by visitors each month, for example, or the average order value from online shoppers, are imp
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