Five Internet Essentials for Business
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Here are Five Essentials for putting your business on-line:
- Your domain name
- Hosting your domain
- The design and function of your web site
- Looking after your web site
- Promoting your web site
1. Your domain name
Your domain name is like your telephone number or your address. It is where people contact you on the internet and where they find your web site.
Registering your own domain name means that you have the sole use of this internet address and your email address is your own. It is independent of the service provider that you choose to use which gives you the freedom to change providers without “changing your address”. Choosing a name that says who you are and what you do helps people to remember you and promotes your business every time you send an email or feature your web site address in advertising, on your vehicles or in writing.
We will help you choose your domain name and register it for you. We ALWAYS register domains in the name of the client so once registered it is yours to use.
2. Hosting your domain
Hosting is the physical place that your web site is situated and where your email is stored before you view it.
The amount of hosting you need depends on the size of your web site and the kind of web site it is. Think of it as the amount of space a paperback book takes up on a bookshelf compared to the space taken by an encyclopaedia.
Another factor that can affect the cost of hosting is the amount of traffic your web-site has and the volume of emails received.
3. The design and function of your web site
Web sites can vary in size from a single page to online catalogues with thousands of products and more.
As well as straightforward “brochure” sites depicting your products and services you may choose to deploy a number of optional features such as private members areas, forums, credit card payment services, online surveys, searchable databases, shopping baskets and more.
If you would like to be able to manage your own web site we can deploy a WordPress powered self-edit web site for you.
AnnWebCom will help you decide on the most appropriate for your business and can offer solutions to meet most requirements and budget.
» More about self-edit web sites
4. Looking after your web site
We all know how frustrating it is to visit a web site to find it is out of date or not working. Our maintenance services ensure your web site is always up to date and working properly.
AnnWebCom maintenance plans include changes to ANY or ALL existing pages at ANY TIME and a number of routine monthly maintenance tasks such as ensuring all hyperlinks are working properly. Work carried out each month is documented and a summary provided to the client each month along with easy to understand web site performance reports.
If we deploy a “self-edit website” for you it is also possible for you to manage your own content with the peace of mind that you can obtain professional support should you need it.
5. Promoting your web site
Search engines are not a panacea for promoting web sites and should not be relied upon for the success of your web site or e-commerce store.
That said we take full account of the requirements of search engines in the design and build of web sites and will promote your site under a maintenance plan.
A multi-faceted approach is usually recommended utilising some of these elements:
- A web site built to be search engine friendly, works well on mobiles and that is indexed regularly by search engines and monitored .
- Updates to your web site to keep it fresh.
- Obtaining quality links TO your site. Consider the use of ‘micro-sites’.
- Entries in relevant online directories and industry sector portal sites.
- PR / trade publications – don’t forget to mention your web address!
- Traditional marketing communications – mail-outs, networking, sponsorship, inclusion of your web site on letterheads, business cards, your vans, in the shop, on carrier bags and other business correspondence.
- Email marketing – in house lists are best.
- The use of social media (blogs and social networking sites – linked to your site).
- A mobile “App” to significantly increase customer engagement, invoke geo-targeted ‘push-marketing’ and provide in-App rewards and offers
- Search engine paid-for listings / pay per click.
- Search engine optimisation (SEO).
AnnWebCom will help you decide which are the most effective for your business and can provide some of the required services or recommend specialists.