Getting your own web site can help you showcase your products and services to more prospects. It takes work to figure out exactly what you want to put online. So, here some tips and tricks in getting your web site up and running.
- Reserve Your Own Domain Name. Not all web sites have addresses like http://www.yourcompany.com. If your address uses another site’s primary domain name (the yourcompany.com part), you are making it harder for clients and prospects to find you. While it may cost a little bit more, it is definitely worth it — especially in reinforcing your company’s name and brand identity.
- Make Sure Your Connection Is Fast. Be sure to use a web site hosting service that has at least a T1 connection to the Internet. Since web site hosting companies have many customers, which leads to a lot of Internet traffic, anything slower can cause significant delays in accessing your site. Of course, the Internet is notorious for having randomly occurring delays, but the slower your connection, the harder you make it for your visitors to pull up your web pages.
- Keep Statistics on Site Usage. Make sure your web site provider has detailed statistical reports on your site’s activity. This will give you a better idea of the specific pages that your visitors are looking at. And that will give you guidance in determining what is working and what is not.
- Use Fresh Content. Getting a visitor to your site is great. But how do you keep them coming back? Fresh content is a must for making sure your site is up to date and full of useful information. Update your content regularly.
- Balance Your Use of Graphics. If your site contains a lot of graphics, that’s OK. Just make sure that the file sizes of the graphics does not prohibit users with slower modems from getting to your information. Some companies have very attractive graphics, but because the file sizes are so large, the usability of the site decreases. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use any graphics at all. Even the most conservative law firms and accountants often include visually appealing graphics to make their web sites easier on the eyes. It also reflects on your corporate image.
- Make Your Site Interactive. The web is interactive. Use it. Make sure your site includes ways that people can contact you easily. Have an online contact form rather than just a link to your email address since many web browser, including Netscape, require the user to first set up their browser properly. If you use a contact form that routes the contents of the completed form to you, you have made it easier for clients to reach you. Also, include discussion groups, databases, and other interactive items to make your site more lively. For example, a mortgage company might include an online mortgage payment calculator. Since this gets the user involved with the web site, he/she is more likely to use the company’s services.
- Register Your Site in Search Engines. One key step in getting your site noticed is to register it in the major search engines. You can go through the process yourself by visiting each search engine and submitting your site one-by-one, or use a submission service. We also recommend tweaking your pages’ META tags and other information so that you get ranked higher in the search engines when someone enters keywords that related to what you do.
