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Website
Planner
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The following questions should be considered and
answered in order to produce a business website that will have a superior
chance of success, especially when promoted on Search Engines.
It is important that all questions are dealt with in order
BEFORE construction of your website begins.
·
What will be the main functions of your proposed web
site, in order of importance? For example, name branding, information,
e-commerce, on-line brochure, newsletter, etc?
·
What are your main objectives for it? For example, to
increase efficiency, compete with businesses already on-line, build new
customer base, increase geographical area of trading, provide information to
customers, etc.
·
Consider the products / services to be provided, then
consider your chosen target audience’s demographics? For example – business
people, consumers, age group, sex, primary spoken language, where are they
located geographically, etc.
This is one
of the most important questions in this questionnaire and it is vital that it
is carefully considered. Do not proceed further until this has been dealt with.
·
Where and how do you intend to reach your target
customers? For example – will people be sent to the website from advertising,
customer support, mailing lists, etc. or will you be relying on people finding
the site from Search Engines?
·
How many products / services will the website be used
for? How will they be paid for and delivered?
·
Are your products / services diverse? If the answer to this question is yes and
you intend to use Search Engines for promotion you will require separate
websites for each product / service in order to be more successful. Search
Engine marketing is extremely targeted.
·
Is there a slogan or catch phrase for your business?
·
What is your USP (unique selling point)?
·
How do you and your products benefit your target
audience? Prepare a clear bullet list of benefits. This should form the basis
of your homepage.
·
Who are the top competitors websites in the same
category as your proposed site? These should be studied carefully, especially
for their use of keywords. Carry out
keyword searches on some top Search Engines (Google, Lycos and Alta Vista are
the best for this purpose) and view the results. Bear in mind that your website
is effectively next door to theirs so you should not under any circumstances
copy a competitors site style or content.
·
Using all the information you have listed from the
foregoing questions, consider 5 main single keywords your customers will use to
search for your products. It is better to consider a phrase if possible.
The more
research that is done, the better and that could include carrying out research
using your existing customer database and / or general market research. It could
also include research of most popularly used keywords on Search Engines, if
applicable.
These words
/ phrase MUST be used throughout the text of your web pages, in graphic tags,
page titles and metatags.
NOTE: THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS CANNOT BE OVERSTRESSED,
as it will almost inevitably mean the difference between success and failure on
Search Engines.
·
Write a 5-word description of your business that will
be displayed as the main title and used in search engine submissions. This must contain your two main keywords at
the start. (This should also be done for each page on your website.)
·
Write a 25-word description of your business that
will be displayed as the main description and used in Search Engine
submissions. This must contain your five main keywords with the two most
important at the start. No word to be used more than twice. (This should also
be done for each page on your website.)
·
What are the targets for your website to achieve over
the first 24 months? If you do not set realistic targets your have nothing to
measure success or failure against. Your expectations may not be achievable –
without planning you will not find this out.
Define the
criteria that will determine if the web site is a success (i.e. Internet orders
of a certain volume, decrease in customer service costs, increase in
productivity). There should be a method to track and determine success. This planning will determine the number of
visitors you need to your website and will determine the measures needed to
promote it. This must be considered over a period of at least one year in most
cases.
Simply
putting up a web site and submitting to Search Engines is not marketing. It should only be one part of an overall
campaign.
·
Have you determined any specific short-term goals for
the web site? Bear in mind that using normal submission, it usually takes 2 to
4 months before sites start to appear on Search Engines and usually longer
before a reasonable amount of traffic is established. You should prepare a
short-term promotion plan if required. This could include express submission to
Search Engines, paid listings, on-line Yellow Pages, local advertising, etc.
·
Are there any specialist search engines, directories
or sites you want to submit to that are specific to your business or industry?
·
Do you have a domain name (s)? It is beneficial for your domain name to
include your main chosen keyword if Search Engine promotion is required.
Therefore your business name should not be used for this purpose unless it
includes this word.
Before purchasing your domain name, consider using
a trading name instead of your main business name for the registration details.
The reason for this is that Directories like Yahoo! usually list websites by
company name so if it doesn’t contain your main keyword you are at a
disadvantage. They are known check ownership of the domain from “whois” records
and edit submission data accordingly.
NOTE: The
purchase of a domain name is a minefield and professional advice from a
reputable Internet company should always be sought. Avoid using a domain name
for Search Engine promotion that is set up as a “click through” domain to a
website address. Always ensure the domain is pointed directly at an IP address.
ALWAYS ENSURE YOUR DETAILS ARE USED DURING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS.
·
How many times per year do you anticipate updating
the web site? (Your site should always have up to date information)
·
Prepare a site map for your website and when
considering page names, make sure they contain keywords, if possible. Search
Engines may pick up keywords in link text so this can be a help (If button
links are to be used, put keywords in graphic Alt. Tags). Do not consider a
“Frames” format if the site is to be promoted on Search Engines. A site map web
page can help with Search Engine ranking as well as being useful for customers.
·
When preparing the marketing text for your website
pages make sure it spells out benefits to customers and contains your main
keywords. This is particularly important on the home page. Do not be tempted to include misspellings to
fool Search Engines - it doesn’t work and looks highly unprofessional.
·
When considering the layout of your website pages
bear in mind that graphics should be used very sparingly on the home page. All
graphics must be optimised for speed of loading - some Search Engines will not
list slow loading websites and visitors don’t like them.
Do not consider an all graphics or Flash homepage
if the site is to be promoted on Search Engines. Most Search Engines cannot read
active server pages, so HTML format is best for this purpose. High quality
marketing text containing your main chosen keywords should always be
included. Do not under any
circumstances consider a “splash page” that says …. “Welcome to our website -
click here ….” These are completely useless for Search Engine promotion and
serve no purpose for customers either.
·
Consider how you want the site to look and how
visitors will navigate through it. It should act like a funnel to get customers
to a contact or purchase page. Choose a simple color scheme - a white page
background with dark surround and black or very dark blue Arial font text is
best for most business sites as it is easiest to read (don’t use large fonts,
all bold or all uppercase except to highlight). Your website must be easy for
visitors to read and navigate - always consider this ahead of fancy layouts.
Avoid background graphics and watermarks if possible – they can slow down page
loading.
·
For all images (and other materials) to be used do you
own the copyrights? If not do you have the rights to use the materials on the
web site? You should check with the owners to avoid copyright violations.
Companies regularly use Search Engines to check if anyone is using their
copyrighted material.
·
What level of hosting and features will be required?
Will you be installing and managing your own web servers (this would typically
be for larger companies as the costs can be high). Do you have a projected data
transfer rate? If forms are required a CGI facility is needed.
Choice of web host is very important -
check the type and location of servers. The best hosts offer server uptime of
99.5% or better (remember 1% downtime per year = 3.65 days your site may be
off-line). Good, graphical statistic packages are also important. Free hosting
services are not usually suitable for a business website - you do not get the
level of services required.
Remember - if a Search Engine visits
your website and it is off-line, you will normally be dropped from their index
until they visit again.
·
If you have an existing web site what are the problem
areas with it (if any) - poor
performance, graphics, load time, design, etc.?
·
List and
gather any existing materials and information to be used (including but not
limited to):
1. Photos
2. Text
3. Brochures
4. Business
cards
5. Flyers
6. Product
photos
7. Press
releases
8. Price and
part lists
9. Frequently
Asked Questions
10. Shipping
and handling charges and constraints (essential)
11. Warranty
policy (essential)
12. Privacy
policy (essential) - every site that gathers information from visitors must
have this.
13. Terms of
business policy (essential)
14. Guarantees
(essential)
15. Customer
testimonials and endorsements (Very important)
16. Certifications
17. Awards and
Industry recognition
18. Membership
of professional organizations
19. VAT number
(UK sites)
20. Case
studies
21. Map and
directions from major airports, recommended places to stay nearby (if people
visit your business)
·
What contact details will be displayed on your
website. Note – Your business name and address should be clearly displayed on
the front page of your site.
·
Name:
·
Address:
·
Phone:
·
Fax:
·
Free phone:
·
E-mail addresses:
·
International office:
·
What are your hours of operation, and days closed?
You can use an e-mail auto-responder to reply to customers when you are closed.
·
Do you want a survey form to gather information from
your customers or website visitors? If
so, consider questions to ask?
·
What type of newsletter do you require to keep your
customers up to date? E-mail, website based, both?
·
Do your customers have buying seasons? Does the site need to be changed for each
season? What will you do to entice
customers in off seasons?
·
Define the process by which the web site will be
integrated into the business on a daily, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis. Appoint
someone to be responsible for managing each aspect of the web site once it is
complete - for example e-mail management, system maintenance, new content,
testing forms and shopping carts regularly, marketing, etc. This is very
important.
You are now in a
position to start designing the actual content of your website!
Copyright: LJB Services, 2002 - This document
must not be altered, re-produced or distributed in any format without written
consent.
http://www.ljbservices.com