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Casual Articles - Developing A Web Site Strategy For Success
Are you looking for a free online business? If so there are many free online businesses to choose from. It just depends on what field of products you want to sell. Another term for a free online business is called an affiliate program. Affiliate programs are where you sell another companies product or service and you split the commission with them. The commission rates vary from company to company. Most affiliate programs are free and they normally offer you tools to help you promote their product. Affiliate programs are quickly becoming the norm for online marketers today.You maybe wondering why companies are offering people the opportunity to sell their products. Why wouldn't the companies want to keep all the profit for themselves? That is a great question. Companies are offering people the opportunity to sell their products because it is a win-win for everyone involved. First let's look at it from the companies point of view. Imagine having a sales team of 100 people, which you did not have to pay until they made a sale, how great would that be. That is what the companies see. Imagine being able to sell a great product and not having to worry about anything else except selling the product. That is what the salespeople see. Affiliate progra
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visito
"Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) to purchase Clayton Homes for $12.50 in cash per share. Deal worth $1.7 Billion."From an article in the Knoxville News Sentinel -- a University of Tennessee professor sent Warren Buffett the self-published autobiography of James Clayton as a gift. Less than 14 days after receiving the self-published book, Buffett contacted CEO Kevin Clayton, (James's son). After only three conversations, Buffett was expressing his interest in purchasing Clayton Homes. Another short two weeks later, the deal was in place.--- The Ultimate Calling Card ---How do you get the word out about your company -- in a way that someone will listen? How do you let your clients and investors know that you and your company are truly experts at what you do? Believe me when I say the correct answer has nothing to do with traditional sales and marketing techniques. The real answer? Self-publish a book showing off your greatest skill sets, distribute it for free your core clients and trade associations, use it as a sales tool in all your prospecting efforts, and sell it anywhere you can -- and in the process, hopefully, create an awareness that you and your company are truly the experts to contact when inform
Before you even contact a web designer to create your online presence you need to determine what are your online aims and objectives. In the creation of these objectives you need to ensure they are:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
In terms of the types of objective, these can be any number of things, but typically they include the following areas:
- To sell
- To better serve customers
- To reduce costs
- To build your brand image
- To communicate with the outside world
Web site targets
Knowing who you want to target is important for a number of reasons. Firstly who you target will impact on whether you need a web site, and if you do how it will be presented and the functionality to be provided, secondly it will determine what messages need to be conveyed through the web site and thirdly it will determine whether you need to segment the information presented on your web site and if you do, provide you with an idea how to do it.
In determining your targets, its really important you understand their individual needs, as this will ensure that your web site specifically caters for your visitor needs. So you are not wasting valuable time and money trying to second guess whether the functionality provided will be used or not.
Web site messages
Closely linked to both your objectives and targets is the messages that you want to convey. The messages you wish to convey will impact on all aspects of your web site from the visual, through to the content and functionality.
For instance how do you want your audience to perceive you, this can include any number of message, such as:
- Innovative
- Exciting
- High quality
- Low cost
- Customer service
Web site strategy
Once you have clarified your objectives, targets and messages, you can start thinking about the type of online strategy that would be most appropriate to your organisational requirements. This tends to be focused around one of six levels:
- No web presence
- Basic web presence
- Static informational web site
- Simple interactive web site
- Interactive site supporting user transactions
- Fully interactive site supporting the entire purchasing process
However in determining the type of web site, time and cost considerations need to be made, as the more advanced the web site, the more time and cost is required for its development.
Online Marketing Planning
As part of your web strategy, it is really important that you develop an online marketing plan, that covers the following areas:
- Product - what are you selling?
- Place - where will you be selling it? For instance do you already have an offline operation? Will your online activities need to link into your offline activities? How will you deliver your product?
- Promotion - how will you get people to visit your web site?
- Price - what prices will you charge customers?
- Process - what process will visitors follow once they are on your site? How will this trigger your call to action?
- Physical Evidence - what tangible evidence will your visitors receive? For instance after ordering a product will they receive an automated e-mail, will you send an automated e-mail upon dispatch?
- People - what man power will you require to support your online activities? For example will you need people to man your 24 hour online help desk?
- Partnerships - will you need any partnerships to make your online activities a really? If so what types of partners do you need - for instance technology partners to develop the web site, delivery partners to deliver your products.
Web site design considerations
Once you have a good idea of what you want to do and how you are going to do it, you can turn your attention to your web site design. This is a topic on its own, however there are in principle four areas you should consider:
- Your online branding - so for example what colour do you want your site to be? Do you want your web site to be consistent with your offline brand? If not, how do you want your site to be branded?
- Ease of use - how will users find their way around your web site? Is there a clear process for navigating your web site and can they locate the required information quickly, easily and simply?
- Accessibility - how will you ensure your web site is accessibility compliant? Will you provide visitors with the ability to increase text size and change colours? Will your web site be accessible in alternative formats?
- Search engine optimisation - will the search engines be able to find your web site (i.e. your site is not flash animated or consists of text embedded in images)?
Web site Functional Requirements
The functionality of your web site will be determined by the type of web site you want and the processes that you need to provide via your online presence. For web sites consisting of more advanced functionality, you will often need to employ the services of a web site developer, who will be able provide more advanced functionality and features. In terms of functionality, this can cover any number of things, ranging from a site search facility, through to an online registration facility or even an online catalogue that you can update yourself.
In selecting your web site's functionality, ensure you carefully consider how it will help you fulfil your objectives. Otherwise you may incur an expensive bill, with very little return on investment. If however you do want a web site providing more advanced functionality, consider adopting a phased approach to your web site, and this is something that your web or software development company will be able to help, ensuring minimal rework, based on an understanding of your future needs.
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visitor
IntroductionIt takes more than mere information to engage website visitors. They need a reason to make an inquiry, subscribe to your newsletter, or buy your product. So how can you get the visitor to stop skirting around the edges and come right on in? Take a look at the following 10 ways that can help convert your site visitors to leads.1. Improve your Web CopyAs with all good web copy, trim the fat and give them the cold hard facts. Visitors want to know how the service or product will fulfill their want or need. Compelling, interactive, well written content will pull the reader in. How can you make sure you have good web copy? Follow some of the basic principles of good copywriting and you’ll be fine. Make the copy concise, and speak to the target audience. Remove all the hyped up marketing lingo such as ‘we have a fantastic product’ and ‘we’ve had overwhelming results.’2. It’s About the CustomerEveryone wants to know “What’s in it for me?” The customer may have a problem and want a solution, or they are looking to invest in a product but need to be convinced it’s a good choice. Your goal here? Show them the solution. Tell them the benefits of the product or service, rather than highlighting the features. The fea
For instance how do you want your audience to perceive you, this can include any number of message, such as:
- Innovative
- Exciting
- High quality
- Low cost
- Customer service
Web site strategy
Once you have clarified your objectives, targets and messages, you can start thinking about the type of online strategy that would be most appropriate to your organisational requirements. This tends to be focused around one of six levels:
- No web presence
- Basic web presence
- Static informational web site
- Simple interactive web site
- Interactive site supporting user transactions
- Fully interactive site supporting the entire purchasing process
However in determining the type of web site, time and cost considerations need to be made, as the more advanced the web site, the more time and cost is required for its development.
Online Marketing Planning
As part of your web strategy, it is really important that you develop an online marketing plan, that covers the following areas:
- Product - what are you selling?
- Place - where will you be selling it? For instance do you already have an offline operation? Will your online activities need to link into your offline activities? How will you deliver your product?
- Promotion - how will you get people to visit your web site?
- Price - what prices will you charge customers?
- Process - what process will visitors follow once they are on your site? How will this trigger your call to action?
- Physical Evidence - what tangible evidence will your visitors receive? For instance after ordering a product will they receive an automated e-mail, will you send an automated e-mail upon dispatch?
- People - what man power will you require to support your online activities? For example will you need people to man your 24 hour online help desk?
- Partnerships - will you need any partnerships to make your online activities a really? If so what types of partners do you need - for instance technology partners to develop the web site, delivery partners to deliver your products.
Web site design considerations
Once you have a good idea of what you want to do and how you are going to do it, you can turn your attention to your web site design. This is a topic on its own, however there are in principle four areas you should consider:
- Your online branding - so for example what colour do you want your site to be? Do you want your web site to be consistent with your offline brand? If not, how do you want your site to be branded?
- Ease of use - how will users find their way around your web site? Is there a clear process for navigating your web site and can they locate the required information quickly, easily and simply?
- Accessibility - how will you ensure your web site is accessibility compliant? Will you provide visitors with the ability to increase text size and change colours? Will your web site be accessible in alternative formats?
- Search engine optimisation - will the search engines be able to find your web site (i.e. your site is not flash animated or consists of text embedded in images)?
Web site Functional Requirements
The functionality of your web site will be determined by the type of web site you want and the processes that you need to provide via your online presence. For web sites consisting of more advanced functionality, you will often need to employ the services of a web site developer, who will be able provide more advanced functionality and features. In terms of functionality, this can cover any number of things, ranging from a site search facility, through to an online registration facility or even an online catalogue that you can update yourself.
In selecting your web site's functionality, ensure you carefully consider how it will help you fulfil your objectives. Otherwise you may incur an expensive bill, with very little return on investment. If however you do want a web site providing more advanced functionality, consider adopting a phased approach to your web site, and this is something that your web or software development company will be able to help, ensuring minimal rework, based on an understanding of your future needs.
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visito
Brainstorming can be the most abused word when it comes to meetings and group activities. It is often used by students, teachers, successful businessmen and even criminals. A lot of projects and activities have become successful due to creative brainstorming sessions.It is a fact that a person normally uses less than ten percent of their capacity to think and to use their brains. This means that there is a lot of room for more creativity and thinking if only a person can find the right enlightenment or inspiration.A person has to think for so many reasons. He may have to think to solve his personal problems. He may also have to think to come up with very good business ideas for himself or for the company he works for. A lot of successful ideas were produced from very good thinking.School activities, business establishments and even political activities benefit a lot from brainstorming. Brainstorming is really the word used by most people to encourage a group to come up with wonderful ideas.A person who is alone could not think much because he only has his own ideas to bounce on. However, put that person in a group that is a little competitive, supportive and friendly and expect him to come up with some ideas which h
Online Marketing Planning
As part of your web strategy, it is really important that you develop an online marketing plan, that covers the following areas:
- Product - what are you selling?
- Place - where will you be selling it? For instance do you already have an offline operation? Will your online activities need to link into your offline activities? How will you deliver your product?
- Promotion - how will you get people to visit your web site?
- Price - what prices will you charge customers?
- Process - what process will visitors follow once they are on your site? How will this trigger your call to action?
- Physical Evidence - what tangible evidence will your visitors receive? For instance after ordering a product will they receive an automated e-mail, will you send an automated e-mail upon dispatch?
- People - what man power will you require to support your online activities? For example will you need people to man your 24 hour online help desk?
- Partnerships - will you need any partnerships to make your online activities a really? If so what types of partners do you need - for instance technology partners to develop the web site, delivery partners to deliver your products.
Web site design considerations
Once you have a good idea of what you want to do and how you are going to do it, you can turn your attention to your web site design. This is a topic on its own, however there are in principle four areas you should consider:
- Your online branding - so for example what colour do you want your site to be? Do you want your web site to be consistent with your offline brand? If not, how do you want your site to be branded?
- Ease of use - how will users find their way around your web site? Is there a clear process for navigating your web site and can they locate the required information quickly, easily and simply?
- Accessibility - how will you ensure your web site is accessibility compliant? Will you provide visitors with the ability to increase text size and change colours? Will your web site be accessible in alternative formats?
- Search engine optimisation - will the search engines be able to find your web site (i.e. your site is not flash animated or consists of text embedded in images)?
Web site Functional Requirements
The functionality of your web site will be determined by the type of web site you want and the processes that you need to provide via your online presence. For web sites consisting of more advanced functionality, you will often need to employ the services of a web site developer, who will be able provide more advanced functionality and features. In terms of functionality, this can cover any number of things, ranging from a site search facility, through to an online registration facility or even an online catalogue that you can update yourself.
In selecting your web site's functionality, ensure you carefully consider how it will help you fulfil your objectives. Otherwise you may incur an expensive bill, with very little return on investment. If however you do want a web site providing more advanced functionality, consider adopting a phased approach to your web site, and this is something that your web or software development company will be able to help, ensuring minimal rework, based on an understanding of your future needs.
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visito
Car Wash Crime in the Hood. Apparently not everyone is with us and certainly not everyone considers this to be a clean business. Latest car wash news. There was a HS Coach killed at a car wash in Aurora, CA Which is unfortunate. Here is the article. Still unknown why but the Police were investigating the shooting death this high school assistant football coach at a car wash near his home.We are happy to see that people are using our Car Wash Fundraiser Procedures in our book correctly:http://www.carwashguys.com/fundraisers/LAschools.htmlUnfortunately not all the causes are so full of happiness. These nine youths are a Car Wash in order to pay for their Mom's Burial. Four of them stood by the curb with their grandmother, to attract in customers as we recommend in the chapters about promotion of a Fundraiser Car Wash they were waving their car wash signs this week.At a Car Wash in KY an officer was injured at a car wash hassle. Sunday night in some type of confrontation, well that is just wonderful, someone already forgot about church that morning and attacked him Bubba's Bubble Bath carwash on Master Street. In VA police found a man slain at carwash according to an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch, VA. Henrico County
- Your online branding - so for example what colour do you want your site to be? Do you want your web site to be consistent with your offline brand? If not, how do you want your site to be branded?
- Ease of use - how will users find their way around your web site? Is there a clear process for navigating your web site and can they locate the required information quickly, easily and simply?
- Accessibility - how will you ensure your web site is accessibility compliant? Will you provide visitors with the ability to increase text size and change colours? Will your web site be accessible in alternative formats?
- Search engine optimisation - will the search engines be able to find your web site (i.e. your site is not flash animated or consists of text embedded in images)?
Web site Functional Requirements
The functionality of your web site will be determined by the type of web site you want and the processes that you need to provide via your online presence. For web sites consisting of more advanced functionality, you will often need to employ the services of a web site developer, who will be able provide more advanced functionality and features. In terms of functionality, this can cover any number of things, ranging from a site search facility, through to an online registration facility or even an online catalogue that you can update yourself.
In selecting your web site's functionality, ensure you carefully consider how it will help you fulfil your objectives. Otherwise you may incur an expensive bill, with very little return on investment. If however you do want a web site providing more advanced functionality, consider adopting a phased approach to your web site, and this is something that your web or software development company will be able to help, ensuring minimal rework, based on an understanding of your future needs.
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visito
“Sinning” is an archery term, which literally means “to miss the mark.” If you’re blogging to establish a two-way dialogue with the world, the “mark” is the optimal reader experience. The following is a list of ten things that can hurt your blog’s usability.10. Sending Mixed MessagesThe focus of your blog should be decided before your first post and then committed to. Random blog entries about a melee of topics might work for a personal blog read by friends and family, but is not a good approach for a serious, professional blog. The lifeblood of any blog is in its loyal subscriber base. And readers are more willing to subscribe to blogs that talk about their area of interest on a consistent basis.If your blog’s “personality” includes the odd personal entry, create a separate category for “fun stuff,” “random” or other “personal,” and think about each post’s fit with your target audience before you publish. Or start a separate blog on that topic and cross-link your blogs.9. Making It Hard to SubscribeBecause subscribers are such an important part of blogging success, you need to make it easy for users to sign up. Since not all users understand and use RSS feed aggregators like Feedburner and Bloglines (also called ne
Time, Money and Resources
Creating and maintaining an online presence requires time, money and resources, and you need to take this into consideration from the very start. As well as planning how much time and money the initial implementation will require, you need to consider the ongoing costs associated with a web site. And these can include any number of things, such as:
- General web site maintenance and updates if you don't have a content management system (CMS)
- Costs of driving traffic to your web site through pay per click campaigns and continual search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts
- Hosting
- Domain names
- Day to day management of the web site such as timely reply to e-mails
Measurement
Once your web site is up and running, it is really important you monitor whether it is helping you to achieve your objectives. If its not, then need to look find out why. To do this there are a range of useful tools available, one the most simple things being web site analytics.
The type of analytics package will depend on your web site, however you will normally require a package that will provide you with information about the traffic visiting your web site, the pages visited and visitor loyalty. With this information you will be able to determine the popularity of your web site, as well as understanding the types of information that interests your visitors and assess whether your web site is considered sticky.
Creating a successful online presence is not a quick process, it takes time and planning to ensure it is a success. By developing an online strategy you can ensure that your web site helps you reach your objectives as well as provide your organisation with a return on investment.
If you would like further information about developing an online strategy please visit the Comgem web site - specialists in the web and software development, cardiff, uk.
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