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Find the Purpose of Your New / Proposed Website

Absolutely everything stems from the purpose of your website - selection of hosting, programming, graphic design, copywriting, internet marketing, autoresponder service, and e-commerce. So it's very important to establish the purpose of your business website first. The most common purposes for a business website are:

* A company brochure: explain to customers (or potential customers), suppliers and shareholders more about the business

* Product news releases: distribution of pricelists, product specifications & photos

* Information releases: downloadable brochures, documents, forms & marketing material

* Lead generation: allow customers to contact you directly via phone, fax, email or SMS.

* Sale generation: complete a transaction on the website (eg. Purchase a book, magazine subscription, etc.)

The above list is ordered from the most simple to the most complex website. Generally, if you want customers to buy your product or service via your website, your website will be more complex - including a shopping cart, secure payment gateway, customer record management, product/stock management and automated customer service. And generally, the more complex a website, the more time it will take to develop, and the more it will cost.

However, I recommend that if you're taking the time and effort to build your business website, you may as well build yourself something decent. So I always recommend business owners plan for a website that will generate fresh leads or sales.

The purpose of your business website should closely relate to your overall business plan. Too many businesses make the mistake of setting up a website and forgetting about it.

A well-planned, well-developed website can be a fundamental part of your business. Not only to present a professional image to your customers, but actually generate new business. And that means more sales!

So take a few hours to sit down and work out how your business website fits into the bigger picture.

Takeaway Tips

* The more effort put into planning, the more successful the website is likely to be.

* Your business website will compete with many others for customers' attention. Professional presentation, design and functionality are essential. Money invested in good presentation is money well spent.

* A website and its objectives and capabilities must be a part of your overall business strategy.

* Always look for new ideas - look at other websites.

* Do not try and do it all at once. Develop your website in stages. Each stage should provide useful information and features for your customers. A staged development will also help to encourage repeat visits by customers.

* Ensure that your site is designed in a way that you can make changes to content yourself, from your own computer - avoid reliance on the web developer for day-to-day changes.

* Update website content regularly, to keep it fresh and interesting.

Once you have an overall strategy for your business website in place, the next thing to consider is the budget. How much are you going to spend? After all for most businesses, money does't grow on trees? at least last time I checked ;-)

TIP: If you already have a website and just need to find a hosting service, check out my recommendation at: http://www.1st-for-business-web-hosting.com/find.asp?i=6

Josh has been involved in web development since 1996. He now helps business owners get their own websites up and running with a free easy-to-understand guide, and 7-part e-course at http://www.1st-For-Businsess-Web-Hosting.com

MORE RESOURCES:

Yahoo! News Search Results for website design
Yahoo! News Search Results for website design

• StockLayouts Offers Subscriptions to Its Entire Design Template Library and R...
StockLayouts LLC , the leading provider of graphic design templates for print, has introduced subscriptions as the principal way for its customers to purchase and download a constant supply of its fully designed templates for creating business marketing materials.
• A Luna Blue Launches New Website. (Broadcast Newsroom)
Stock Footage Website Launched By A Luna Blue. DMN Newswire--2008-8-26--A Luna Blue stock footage launches a new website design. They're still tarting up nature, chasing moonlight and spinning the globe now with every stock video clip available in HD, DV and Multimedia formats.
• Reed Business Information's Design News (www.designnews.com) Announces Mechat...
WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 27 -- Design News (www.designnews.com) along with sister publications, Control Engineering, EDN and Test & Measurement World, have announced Mechatronics 2.0: Driving Innovation in the Auto Industry, an expo and conference on September 9th in Dearborn, Michigan at the Ford Motor Co. Event and Conference Center.
• Stracka Design Company Acquires GolfQ.com to Expand Golf Course Promotion Bus...
The Stracka Design Company LLC, home of www.Stracka.com, Golf's premier social network, has acquired the assets of Texas-based GolfQ.com Inc. GolfQ (www.GolfQ.com) touts itself as being the World's Largest Golf Community and has been helping golf courses promote their property since 1999.
• The Continental Group Launches Internet Marketing with New Website to help Co...
ELEMENTS, an internet marketing agency, Launches The Continental Group on ElementsConnect? for website management. The primary objective of the new website was enhancement of brand messaging, interactivity and design. ELEMENTS provides real value through a combination of beautiful designs, great customer service and innovative technology solutions. (PRWeb Aug 26, 2008) Read the full story at ...

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