Several years ago our family built our dream home in the country. It seemed like the planning stage would never end! Site location, placement of windows to take best advantage of the site, orientation for solar gain, floor plans, financing, permits, locating and checking out contractors, septic system requirements, the list went on and on. But we had to keep moving -- we had one of those two-year IRS deadlines within which to complete the project. I was happy when we moved past the planning phase to the construction. But the usefulness and value of the house we constructed depended on those careful, thoughtful plans.
Planning a Web site which is useful and valuable takes careful planning, too. These are some of the most important elements, though your particular industry may require other considerations. Some will seem obvious, while others you'll need to give more thought to. (Please note that these are elements not steps, since so many of them overlap.)
1. Begin with a Unique Selling Proposition
Hope springs eternal among us entrepreneurs. There was a time when the Web was thinly populated -- no more. Now to sell your products or services you need a special twist, a way to differentiate yourself. You may have thought: Shouldn't I check out my competition first? No. Start with the wonderful idea first. But hand in hand with developing your Unique Selling Proposition you need to see what your competition is doing.
2. Check out your competition
Happy is the entrepreneur who doesn't have any competitors on the Web. Yes, there are still some wide open spaces in certain industries. But for most of us there are hundreds or thousands of competitors. How do you find out? Use an exhaustive (translate "exhausting") Web search engine such as AltaVista or HotBot and insert the key words that someone looking for a business like yours might use to find it. Use several sources for your research -- don't forget Yahoo -- since different engines and directories give you different listings for the same words.
Make yourself some forms on which you can make notes about your competitors' Web sites: name, URL, geographic scope of their marketplace, particular strengths, particular weakness or gaps in their offering, methods of attracting people to their Web page, attractiveness and utility of their Web pages, etc. As you do this -- expect a project which will last five to 10 hours or more -- you'll begin to refine your Unique Selling Proposition and see new possibilities. (Write these down as they come to you).
Just because you have many competitors doesn't mean you can't find your niche and do very well on the Net, but you'll have to differentiate yourself in some important ways to get noticed.
3. Specify objectives for your Web site
Just what do you want to accomplish? I talk to people constantly who tell me they want to have a Web site, but don't really know why, except that their competitors have one. Not good enough. Be precise. At the top of your notepaper write "Objectives". Then list them, such as:
- Generate prospects who I will contact on the phone or by e-mail.
- Promote a high-tech, growing-edge image for our company.
- Sell products directly over the Internet using a secure server to receive credit card information.
- Provide an on-line catalog to which I can point people from display ads, and thus save printing and distribution costs.
- Develop a national or global dimension to my business.
Of course, this forces the obvious question: Can you deliver on these objectives, on your emerging Unique Selling Proposition? Can you really conduct your business effectively at a distance of thousand or ten thousand miles? Read my article "What Is the Purpose of Your Web Site?" Web Marketing Today (WMT), Issue 6.
4. Decide if your product or service is a good one for the Web
Do Web demographics indicate that your potential customers are on the Web? Are some successful businesses out there doing what you want to do? And how can you tell if they're successful? Is the geographic marketplace you are able to serve with your business large enough to warrant using the Web rather than traditional forms of advertising? Can you differentiate yourself enough to attract customers? Read my article "Is Your Product a Good Candidate for Web Success?" WMT, Issue 14.
5. Select a domain name for your business
Don't call it a "vanity domain name." This is not vanity, it is good business. I encourage clients to look for a domain name which has all or most of four elements:
- Short
- Memorable
- Related to your company name or core business
- Hard to misspell
You can see which names are already taken by checking with InterNIC. I caution you against trying to apply for the name yourself; go through your ISP or Web site designer to save yourself some grief. You might also want to read my article entitled, "Does Your Business Need a Custom Domain Name?" WMT, Issue 4.
6. Ask yourself, "Why should anyone come to my Web site?"
If you haven't already read it, take a look at my article "Why in the World Should Anyone Come to Your Web site?" WMT, Issue 7. A very great part of the success of your Web site adventure depends upon your answer to this, and the strategy that flows from it.
7. Develop content for the Web site
You have at least three objectives for the content you'll have on your Web site:
- Attract people to your Web site
- Convince them you are knowledgeable and competent enough to trust with their business
- Tell them about your business
Most novice Web marketers only accomplish objective 3. "Attraction content" is what will get listed in Web search engines and will bring people. Consider for a moment Wilson Internet Services. Web site designers are a dime a dozen (not ones with excellence, of course. Grin.). How do I attract potential customers? I have two primary content attractions:
- "12 Web Page Design Decisions Your Organization or Business Will Need to Make", one of my first articles written nearly a year ago and periodically updated. Not by chance it begins with a numeral which places it at the top of one of Yahoo's alphabetical lists. This one article gets hundreds of hits a week. It is related to Web site design, of course, but doesn't purport in its title to be selling those services.
- Web Marketing Info Center, which offers a constantly up-dated list of hundreds of linked articles about conducting business on the Internet. I figured that people seeking to learn how to market their businesses on the Internet would make good clients, though the content does not directly relate to Web page design, per se.
People will come for information, entertainment, or social interaction. Or they probably won't come at all -- unless they are specifically looking for something in your field and have the patience to search through pages and pages of your competitors.
8. Fashion a realistic business plan
If you've got a good business going already, you've got a leg up. But you need to make some realistic business plans. Be conservative about the number of hits you'll expect at first. Don't plan on your Web business making money for the first few months or more.
Some of my friends have a long history of money-making schemes which always focus on how much money they could make "if ..." rather than on how they can meet a felt need and really help others. If your Unique Selling Proposition comes from the former view your compatriots are many, but your business is not likely to do well. "Find a need and fill it" works!
Now get out a spread sheet and work the numbers. I know this is hard work, and that you have to make a lot of assumptions, but it is vital to a successful project. Include all the costs you can think of, including the possibility of increased staffing to handle e-mail inquiries, etc. Use the power of an electronic spreadsheet to try a number of "what-ifs" to see how much your various assumptions affect the bottom line.
Jesus cautions the person who wants to build a tower to count the cost, lest he become the laughing stock of his neighbors (Luke 14:28-30). You don't have to look far to see some of those unfinished "towers" on the Web.
9. Decide on a Web Site Designer
This is probably one of the most important decisions you'll make. Shop around for price, but be sure you look at sites they have completed for other clients. Look for experience, competence, quickness to return your e-mail or phone call (which may be an indication of what kind of priority they'll place on completing your Web site), artistic flair, and marketing savvy. If your Web site designer doesn't have personal experience using the Web to conduct business, what kind of Web site do you think he or she will produce for you? How valuable will be the advice you get?
The other option is to develop your Web pages in-house. If you're thinking about this, be sure to read my article entitled "Should You Outsource Your Web Pages or Do Them Yourself?" WMT, Issue 15.
10. Select an Internet Service Provider
Many businesses are finding they can save money and hassle by securing (1) a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to provide e-mail and local access, and (2) a Web hosting firm thousands of miles away to provide Web page hosting. Local ISPs usually specialize in access but often don't understand or cater to business needs. They often price business services as if there were no competition. There is! Depending upon your specific needs, you can get adequate Web page hosting using your own domain name from between $17 and $55 per month. If you need a secure server, add another $20 or $30 per month. Caveat 1: Cheaper is not always better. Caveat 2: Expensive is sometimes a rip-off.
You might read my article entitled "How to Shop for an ISP for Your Business Web Pages.", WMT, Issue 3. Be careful if your Web page designer offers to do the hosting for you. It could be a good deal -- and then it could lock you into a situation that is difficult for you to get out of easily. (I've decided not to resell ISP services to my clients, since I don't want to be responsible for service I can't personally control, but I do provide my clients with recommendations.)
11. Clarify your marketing strategy
Actually, nearly everything we've talked about so far is part of your marketing strategy. But you need to think about what other means you will use to attract people to your Web site. Some of these include:
- Registering with the major Web search engines and directories. (Your Web site designer ought to do this for you.)
- Submitting press releases in the local, national, and trade press.
- Listing your URL in display ads, stationery, cards, brochures, catalogs, etc.
- Hobnobbing in targeted news groups and mailing list discussions. See my article on "Niche Marketing on the Web," WMT, Issue 12.
- Purchasing banner advertising on targeted high-traffic sites. See my article on "Using Banner Ads to Promote Your Web Site," WMT, Issue 16.
- Joining a Mall. See my article "Should You Locate Your Store in a Mall?" WMT, Issue 9.
You may also want to employ a Web marketing consultant or media broker to do this for you.
12. Set a target date
You can plan till you're blue in the face and perhaps see your best opportunities pass you by or be grabbed by your competition. There is an advantage to being the first one there with a Unique Sales Proposition. Do your planning, but don't wait forever. And along the way, make sure to get help from people with enough experience to guide you in the right direction.
Okay. That's what's involved in the planning process. Instead of making you feel overwhelmed, this ought to make you feel better. Just think. Since most of your competition haven't done a careful planning job on their Web sites, yours is likely to shine in comparison. Set a date and work diligently toward it. Go for it!
