Building a Web site the easy way
By Joanna L. Krotz
Chances are good that if you don't yet have a company Web
site, it's not because you don't want one. ?
Maybe you've been putting it off because other priorities
seem more pressing. Maybe you're concerned that designing,
building and maintaining a Web site is complicated, time-consuming,
labor intensive, expensive—or all of those. You'd rather not
worry about it.
Well, guess again.
Affordable electronic tools can now automate the site building
process. All you do is select the design you want. You can
also import your logo, corporate colors, tag lines, product
lines, or service icons and marketing messages so your online
marketing is consistent with offline branding. No need to
wait any longer.
Assuming you've registered a domain and already have a Web
hosting service, check out this four-step process to create
and publish your Web site. Then cruise the tips that follow
to keep your Web site timely and on-message.
Website Wizard
You can create a professional-looking Web site in 4 fast
steps by using Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, included as
part of Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition.
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1. |
Select the type and design of your Web site using one
of several Web Site wizards found in Publisher 2003. |
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2. |
Convert your existing marketing material into Web content,
if you have content you want to reuse. |
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3. |
Customize and polish your Web site before publishing
it. |
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4. |
Publish your site — right from within Publisher. |
Hone Your Online Message
Your Web site should reflect the kind of business you run
in look, feel, content and purpose. Don't put up the site
and walk away. Make sure you keep it up-to-date and that the
site positioning and format jives with your offline marketing.
If you shift messages or logo, don't forget to adjust the
Web site, too.
The best sites provide users with information they can act
on. Aside from promoting e-commerce which is an article of
its own, your Web site can encourage users to:
| • |
Download a report or article. |
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Print out white papers or product information. |
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Communicate with you or with branch offices or partners. |
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Contribute opinions, customer feedback or client testimonials. |
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Link their site to yours. |
| • |
Register to receive a prize or free content. You can
also then capture customer personal data (just make
sure you post a privacy policy). |
| • |
Fill out a form that leads to a sales call or similar
follow-up. |
| • |
Sign up to become a member of a frequent buyer or loyalty
club. |
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Become a premium customer with VIP access to deals
or information. |
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Subscribe to a service or e-newsletter. |
| • |
Become a distributor of your products. |
Navigation Rules
The online mantra is: Utility. Utility. Utility. Fancy graphics
and animations only slow your page loading time and make users
impatient. Simple is always better.
Other architectural guidelines:
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Make sure users don't need to return to the homepage
to navigate through the site. |
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Set up sub-page URLs so if customers type in the product
name rather than your company name, they'll still find
you. |
| • |
If you market a sale, a discount, an event, or a promotion,
make sure that's the first item users see on the homepage.
Don't make them work to find it. |
Track Results
Once the site is up, set up a system for capturing information,
either in-house or by using the fee-based Microsoft Site Traffic
Analysis.
That transforms your Web site into a marketing tool that
can tell you which sites and search engines visitors are clicking
from or which pages draw the most traffic.
You can learn which visitors are returning customers and
which are new. You can also discover how users typically navigate
the site—where and what they click.
Online Retailers
E-commerce sites, of course, require special attention. Before
setting up an online store, invest some time in researching
competitor sites. Compare how they handle services and information
about returns, shipping, privacy, and so on. If you plan to
set up and manage the site yourself, you may consider using
MicrosoftR Office FrontPageR 2003.
Some key considerations to think through:
| • |
If you are interested in adding e-commerce functionality
to your Web site, such as a shopping cart feature, check
out Microsoft Commerce Manager. |
| • |
It is important to have the security features to protect
your customers' personal information. |
| • |
Provide a searchable guide or dynamic database so customers
can search the site for products or prices. |
| • |
Tools for search engine optimization so customers can
find your Web site. |
| • |
Include a content management system so you can quickly
update prices and product information. Such systems
have become much more affordable in the past few years. |
With the current choices in easy and automated Web site tools,
you'll be able to publish a customized Web site for your company
in no time at all.
Joanna L. Krotz
writes about small-business marketing and management issues,
and runs Muse2Muse Productions, a New York-based content strategy
and editorial services firm.
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