With a little technical assistance, anybody can create a Web site that will attract potential customers…

LAUNCHING A WEB SITE

There are two options…

  • A Web design company can create a basic site for you for perhaps $500 to $700, then keep it updated for a few hundred dollars per year. Web site hosting (which is, in essence, renting space on a company’s computer server for your site) and domain name registration may add an additional $150 or so to your annual bill. Some Web hosting companies to consider: FatCow (www.fatcow.com)…Homestead (www.homestead.com)…Yahoo Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com, click on “Web Hosting”).
  • Create your own site using design software. Leading programs include Microsoft Expressions (www.microsoft.com, $300 to $600) and Adobe Dreamweaver (www.adobe.com, $400).
  • WHAT TO INCLUDE AND OMIT…

  • Include your company’s hours, policies, purpose, contact information and location. Also include a “virtual shopping cart” for on-line buying, if applicable, or at least a list of products.
  • Don’t make your site too large or complex. It’s best to have more than one page, but dozens of screens aren’t needed. Think quality over quantity.
  • Make the site easy to navigate. If visitors can’t find what they want within seconds of clicking onto a site, they are likely to leave and never return.
  • Include only three bullet points describing what’s great about your product or service, not five or six.
  • Don’t go overboard with assurances that your site is secure for E-commerce. Some companies post logos of security systems and promise that “we won’t ever spam you,” but this can backfire. The customer probably wasn’t thinking about security issues, and now you have made him/her fearful.
  • Display prominently a guarantee or special offer that might convince the customer to buy your product or service.
  • Include as few lines as possible in any on-line form you use for customers to place an order or sign up for your service. You can lose a potential customer by asking him to fill in too many fields or lines of information.
  • Make your “submit” button red. Many companies are reluctant to use red because they equate the color with “stop,” but our testing finds that red means “pay attention.” Be very clear when designing the “submit” procedure. Many companies think that marking a button “submit” or “click here” is too boring, but it is a safe, effective way to get the customer to click.
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