Course Overview. Goal

Course Overview

Goal

• To inform small business owners about the

processes and technologies for creating a successful presence on the Web

• To share tools and strategies for leveraging a website to improve marketing, sales,

customer service, and product development activities

Topics

• Myths

• Your Business on the Web

• Tech Stuff

• Is Your Website Obsolete?

• The Successful Web Project

Topics

• Design Considerations

• Web Platforms

• Search Engine Optimization

• Web Analytics

• Site Critiques

Myths

• Myth 1. If I build it, they will come.

• Myth 2. Making money on the Web is easy.

• Myth 3. The most important part is technology.

• Myth 4. Flash makes a website better.

Before You Start …

• Do you have a business plan?

• Have you done a competitive analysis?

• Have you profiled your target customers?

• Do you have a marketing plan? If not, STOP! Do those first!!

Your Website is …

• A cornerstone of your marketing plan

• A key part of your strategy for growth

• Aimed at multiple target audiences

• Communicates marketing messages

as well as basic information

• An important channel for developing and maintaining relationships with customers

Remember the

Four P’s of Marketing?

• Product

• What you offer is what they need • Pricing

• Aligned with sense of value and competition • Place

• Make it easy to buy! • Promotion

Success Factors

• Targeted audiences – always more than one!

• Communicates key messages

• Attractive, visually engaging – branded!

• Useful engaging content; rich media

• Easy to buy – lots of “Calls to Action!”

• Tuned in to WII-FM (for the visitor)

Types of Website

• What you see is what you get:

• Basic Business Card: “Here’s who we are …”, “Here’s how to reach us …”

• Brochure: “Here’s what we do“ + photos

What You Need …

• Clearly stated business goals

• A comprehensive marketing plan

• Measurable expectations (i.e. ROI)

• Sufficient resources to do it right

• Commitment to maintaining your presence on the Web

Make Your Site Work for You

• Set quantifiable goals

• Measure and track activities

• Evaluate results

Stating the Obvious

• Going on-line takes forethought

• Maintaining a website takes time, effort and resources

• Hits and clicks do not equal revenue and profit!

Is Your Website Obsolete?

• How old is it?

• When was the last time you updated it?

• Is it compatible with all the new browsers and devices?

• Have you looked at your visitation analytics and reports?

Why Upgrade?

• Avoid display issues on multiple platforms

• An explosion of platforms:

PCs, tablets, smart phones, etc. • More flexibility in design

• Offer rich media

Popular Web Browsers

• Internet Explorer (Microsoft)

• Firefox (Mozilla)

• Chrome (Google)

• Safari (Apple)

• Opera (Opera)

Why It Matters

• Standards compliance

• There are display issues

• Feature sets vary

• Security risks vary

Key Elements

Elements of an Effective Web Project

Planning Goals, budget, etc.

Great content Content is king!

Good design Designed for performance Involvement Get visitors engaged

Implementation Make sure it works Follow-up Contact, fulfillment

Promotion Marketing!

Suggestions for Success

• Know your budget

• Plan out your site in advance

• Have design parameters in mind

• Create your content FIRST!

• Find the right web consultant

• Build your site in phases

Post, Test, Adapt, Repeat

Your website is a dynamic tool,

not a fixed asset

Visit your site often …

– Keep it updated

– Change as your business changes

Design for Performance

• Design for sales & profit, not art or opinion

• Measure and track activities - KPIs

• Evaluate results

• Adapt accordingly Remember:

Your Domain Name & Hosting

• Difference between your Domain Name Registrar & Website Hosting Provider

• Domain Name Registrar

• GoDaddy, Network Solutions

• Where you register your name and renew

• Website Hosting Provider

• Provides the server and place where your website files wll be

Get Your Domain Name(s) Now!

• Registering Your Domain name(s)

• Register variations

• Register any name you can thing of!

• http://www.namestation.com/domain-search

• URL: Easy to say and remember …

• No “dash,” “underscore” …

Not: www.harveys-pizza-house.com

• No need for the “www.” when saying or printing

• OK to use “camel case”: YourBusiness.com

www.Dot.what?

• Which one(s) fits your business best?

.com, .biz Business

.org Non-profit

.net Network

.edu School/college

.gov Government

Protect Your “Domain”

• Buy variants of your URL

Misspellings

Similar phrases .com and .biz • Buy URLs:

For key product/service names For key market/industry terms • Buy for the Future

Know What You’re Getting

• Web and email forwarding?

• Auto-lock, Auto-renewal?

• Who Is privacy?

• Easy to transfer out?

• Extra fees?

Where Will Your Site Live?

• Dedicated or Shared Server?

• Data Storage Limit?

• Data Transfer Limit and Overage Charges?

• IP Addresses:

• Static or Dedicated IP Address for Business Example: 76.134.25.204

• Dynamic IP Address for Casual/Personal not for business

Important Features

• Platform: Linux or Windows?

• Could affect what software tools you can use • Software Support:

• Advanced functions: PHP

• Database: MySQL

• Applications: e.g. Wikis, Shopping Cart, etc.

Comparisons: Web Hosting

Review Sites:

www.hosting-review.com

Good Example: Contemporary Design, Extensive Video Content

Good Example: Contemporary, Use of Humor to Tell Story

Development Options …

• Build from scratch

• Buy/customize a template

• Use a web builder

• Subscribe to a web service

• Hire a web developer

Building Your Own …

• Takes lots of time

• Takes some technical expertise

• Takes design talent

• Takes an HMTL editor:

• Dreamweaver or MS Expression Web

• NOT MS Word!!

Using a Template …

• Faster to implement

• Free or inexpensive

• Professional design options

• Often includes cool features

• Dropdown menus, forms, etc.

• Still takes some technical expertise and an HTML editor

Using a Web Builder …

• Faster to implement

• Professional design options

• Easy to use interface

• Often integrates with shopping cart

• Requires monthly subscription fee

Example: Web Builder

Adjust colors, add pages, configure menus

Paste content in blocks

Place images in pre-set areas

What You Need

Products!

Photos

Content

Prices & Purchase Information

Supporting Information

Shipping Details

Warranties & Guarantees Return Policy

Making Your Site Engaging

• Using “Rich Media”

• Animated images

• Audio

• Video

• Flash (limited, only with HTML5 players)

Examples: Headings

Which headings are more engaging?

“Spa and Body Massage” OR

“Relaxing European Day Spa Experience” “Driveway Repair”

OR

“Our Driveway Facelift:

Appropriate Navigation

•

•

•

•

•

Ways to Make Money

• OK: Hits / Impressions / CPM (“eyeballs”)

• Better: Click-through / click-through rate

• Best: Conversions = sales!

• Ads: Banners, pop-ups and other styles

For Content Management Popular CMS Platforms: • Drupal • Wordpress • Joomla • Xoops

For E-Commerce

• Secure socket layer (“SSL” - https)

• Shopping Cart

• Inventory Management

• Credit Card Processing

• Paypal, Verisign, Authorize.net

• Transaction processing

• Automatic email receipts

Best Practices for SEO

• Meaningful Meta Tags:

• Engaging Headings

• Useful Content

• Links to your site

• Traffic!

http://youtu.be/hnjorbgjr-0

Panda is now Penguin OUCH

Meta Tags

• Embedded in HTML

<title>Harvey’s Pizza House</title>

<meta name="Description" content=“Harvey’s Pizza House - the best pizza in the Bay Area!"></meta> <meta name="Keywords" content=“pizza,bay area,

Scenario: Finding a Restaurant – What a Difference an

Making Your Site Perform

• Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Track Your Web Traffic

• Google Analytics, SiteMeter, etc.

• Understand SEO Reports and Algorithms

• If you don’t, work with an SEO specialist or

research SEO on YouTube for great up to the minute video info/tutorials

It’s Your Responsibility …

• To maintain your website:

• Up to date information

• Make sure all links work!

• Works in all browsers

• Evolves with your business

• To maintain your presence on the Web

Maintaining Your Reputation …

• Respond to complaints

• Admit faults

• Don’t make excuses, offer solutions

• Communicate key messages:

“Under new management”

“New on-line order tracking system”

More Help & Training …

• Selling on-line? eCommerce Class

• More web traffic? eMarketing Class

• Social Media? Social Media Class

• Improve customer tracking? CRM Class

• Help with business plan and marketing?

Let’s Look at YOUR Websites and Answer Your Questions

Web Resources

• Web Builders/Templates Search on-line

• Analytics Sitemeter, Google

• Images/Photos pond5.com

dreamstime.com iStockPhotos.com

• Music Clips themusicbakery.com

shockwave-sound.com

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Next Steps

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More CARAT Technology Trainings Offered

Free Training Courses offered until December 2012 Training topics include:

Collaboration Management

Customer Relationship Management E-Marketing

E-Commerce E-Procurement

Online Communications

Online Financial Management Purchasing & Inventory

Notification

This published material was prepared by CARAT, under award number 06-43-B10589-3285485 from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the US Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NTIA or the US Department of Commerce.