Planning your website…
One of the major reasons why websites fail is because the owner’s expectations are not in line with the level of effort required to be successful. Many people fail to understand the need for planning an objective for the website beyond “making money.” The Website Marketing Plan website states that in most cases many people are at a loss because they do not know where to start the challenging planning process. The saying goes: “Fail to plan, plan to fail.” Most people do not want to fail, but failing to organise, plan to succeed usually does the job for them. 
You have to plan your business first, and then build your website around your business plan. In terms of driving traffic to your website this is your first focus of marketing because it is the vehicle for the information about your service or product, not the other way round. Here is an excellent resource that provides a checklist to get you started.
You need to have a clear picture of what is involved in designing, maintaining and operating an online business to build a website that will accomplish its purpose. When you organize your website in this fashion it gives you the ability to test your results, make improvements and modify your website effectively. Planning means more than just knowing the general information about the product or service you want to sell online, for example do you know:
• Who your potential customer is?
• How they think and feel about what you have to offer?
• Where to find them?
• How to convert them from visitors to customers and then to repeat buyers?
Some misguided people create a website overnight using one of the “wizard” style software programs available thinking that this will be enough to have Internet users from around the world visit their site and make money start rolling in. In reality, this type of website does not give online shoppers what they want. You have to approach an online business with the same attention to detail you need in beginning a traditional bricks and mortar one.
The best way to avoid website failure is to organize a plan for your layout, content and management. This begins with fully understanding the BENEFITS of what you have to offer to your visitors. The emphasis on benefits more than features: what the product or service does for the user is much more important than its technical specifications.
Understanding the benefits helps you in defining your domain name, a key marketing tool for your online business. Your domain name should give your visitors an idea of what they will find on your website. For example if you sell toys, it is clear to see that there are many different toy categories. The challenge is to define which one your business belongs to and then match it to your buyers and the benefits they are looking for.
Please resist the overwhelming temptation to register “yourname.com” as your domain name. Unless you are a mega superstar, Internet users are not searching for “yourname” they are searching for “toys for toddlers.” According to Network Solutions, the premiere registrar, the extension of your domain name also plays a role in your website business and needs to be considered. The first extension that was used for business “.com” is still the most trusted even though the “.biz” is gaining in popularity. If you are in business for profit in the United States, it makes no sense to use the extensions of other countries unless you have plans to market in that area locally.
Unless you are planning for worldwide success down the road, or have “deep pockets” to purchase extensive advertising and marketing, it’s best not to choose a unique word that people do not understand. The success of “Yahoo” and “Google” came after years of hard work and millions of dollars spent on advertising.
A domain name should be easy to remember and ideally, less than 12 characters. “ToysRUs.com” with 7 characters fits this profile, while “toysforsmallchildren.com” is descriptive, but with 20 characters it opens the door to misspellings which can land your visitor on a completely different website, i.e., “toyforsmallchildren.com.” You need to also be careful with using phrases for your domain name. When you remove the spaces between words you can easily send the wrong message, for instance the phrase: “graphics in sites” makes sense, but as a domain name, “graphicsinsites.com” could be understood to mean “graphic sin sites.”
Consumer keyword research is vital in choosing your domain name. Research the market for the benefits that the buyers of your product are looking for and make sure that you also research your online competition: what is currently being offered in the marketplace and how can you make your website unique? This is one of the most overlooked aspects of planning a website business: everyone likes to think that what they have to offer is so special that orders will come flowing in. No matter how unique your product may be, if you do not make that clear to visitors through your domain name, website title, keywords, description and content, they will never know.
Buyers look for benefits, people are motivated to buy products or services that:
• save them time
• save them money
• make their life easier
• solve their problem
• help them make money
• make them more attractive
• increase their self esteem
Your domain name should ideally reflect one of the motivations; it sets the tone for the title, keywords and description of your website as well as playing a role in your layout. A website that offers information only about toys has different technical requirements than the website that offers toys for sale. In addition, the theme of your website; the colours, typefaces, graphic images and outbound links on your site should all be coordinated to your domain name and visitor preferences.
Next on the list is selecting a website hosting company that will serve as the home for your domain website. This is just as important as selecting your domain name. There are many people who attempt to operate online businesses via one of the free web hosting plans that offer them a package deal of domain name and hosting to save money. There are a number of problems that come with taking this approach, for example:
1. In exchange for the “free” services you must agree to hosting company sponsored advertising on your website which may be offensive to your visitors or in competition to your business
2. Online buyers and search engine companies don’t consider this type of website business seriously
3. Because the services are “free” your website is at risk; excessive downtime, inaccessibility to your website and worse, the company shuts down without notice–taking your website business along with it.
There is absolutely no reason to take this route to have an online business with the number of reputable and affordable domain registrars and web hosting companies today. Understanding the type of online business you want to operate is an important factor when selecting a website hosting company. E-commerce businesses need top-notch security to protect the sensitive personal information that is required when a person shops online. You must have a clear picture of what is required and talk to the hosting company to be sure that they can handle everything you need.
A note on costs is appropriate here. Many websites fail due to the lack of having all of the facts. It is not necessary to spend a fortune on registering a domain, building a website and hiring a hosting company. Your decision to launch an online business is an investment and should be approached in the same manner. If you operated a store and decided to add a new product to your inventory, would you purchase 10,000 units or 1000 units? More than likely you would order the smallest number of units to see how well they sell.
The same is true with your website business. In your plan be sure to map out an adequate budget for 12 - 24 months of operation including the amount of money you want to spend on researching, designing, building, maintaining and marketing your website. Start with a professional website design and marketing company that gives you room to grow and provides you with the support and guidance that you need to be successful online. They may assist you create your plan and research your idea further. They should have the knowledge to help you make the most out of your budget and maximise your return on investment (ROI). But whatever you do, don’t think of any idea for an online business and build try to build a website without the necessary planning!
RSS Feed