Selling It - Creating a Web Site

ancientrade.com - we really hope you visit again
Home Page : Creating a Web Site

: Introduction

Creating A Web Site - Introduction

In this section we discuss the options available to creating a web site, along with issues you need to consider in making decisions.

The major benefit of a web site is that you can make information available to a wide range of people. Your web site is available to anyone (and everyone) with access to the Internet. That's a huge advantage of traditional media promotion. Additionally you can present far more substance on your web site than you can in say a 30 second advertisement.

And of course many sites are designed to promote services and products. Many web sites act as successful store fronts.

There are a multitude of tools available to help you and make creating a web site relatively simply. In the past web sites were developed using a special programming language called HTML (it stands for Hyper Text Markup Language). Today most web sites are developed using tools which generate HTML and thus you do not need to learn it.

Other programming tools include CGI Scripts, Javascript and Java applets. Again though you can usually avoid having a comprehensive knowledge of these tools because there are a huge number of pre-written scripts and programs that you can download and include from a wide variety of web sites which support web development. You see something you like, download it and it's very simple to add it to pages on your site where it is appropriate.

No matter what tools you use, your web site needs to be designed and constructed so it has appeal. I'm a big believer too that a web site needs to present information that people will find helpful. This is particularly so if you wish to attract repeat visitors. It also helps to have your site listed in search engines, which will happen if there is good quality information.

You might also wonder about the order you need to do things. Some web sites are developed purely to sell goods or services. That is their entire purpose. Some are promoted well but most are promoted poorly. Let's be realistic, for the large majority of businesses, they just don't have the budget to adequately compete with large corporates. As such they need to differentiate themselves through techniques that don't involve huge promotion costs.

Thought of the Moment

Free e-Book
How to Increase your Web site Traffic

(525 kb)

Most of the very successful web sites run by small businesses are in niche markets. In my experience they are successful because they promote information first, and products very much second. They target their market with information. And their market visits their web site to get information. For example a web site for a snow board selling business should have all manner of information about snow boarding to attract people interested in snow boarding. And assuming that their visitors can see that new and useful information is added, and the web site continues to be enhanced, then they will keep returning. And when they need a new or better snow board then it's an easy choice for them to buy given their inherent trust based on the history of visits.

Some very successful web sites have strategically avoided marketing their products as their first stage. Sometimes for a year or more, they don't actually include any product promotion. They use this time frame to enhance the value of their web site and build up a strong following of visitors to their site.

fernsehprogramm heute . Custom-Writing.co.uk is proud of providing prompt custom writing service of due quality. . ортопедические матрасы

You must be realistic. Overnight success on the Internet is very rare. Most web sites take between 9 and 18 months before positive benefits arise. Try to avoid thinking short term because you will likely be disappointed. And that's 9 to 18 months of continuous web site development and enhancement, promotion and effort. Yes really!

I guess a negative that must be pointed out as a consequence of having a web site is the amount of spam email you'll receive. Spam is a word which refers to unsolicited emails. Given that the basis of having a web site is that the web site is 'public', then so are the details presented on the web site. Obviously in order that people such as potential customers might need to contact you, then the most convenient form of correspondence is via email. Thus you're forced to display a contact email address on your web site.

As a result you're going to receive a substantial number of emails promoting all manner of products, services not to mention the hundreds promoting hoaxes and scams. Personally I don't see spam any differently from the large quantity of junk I gather from my letter box each day (you remember real paper?). But the quantity of email you receive, particularly if your web site is even moderately successful, does become a burden. Sorry to say I have no magic solution to this. It is simply a consequence.

Some email though can be harmful. For instance I receive at least 2 emails with virus programs embedded in them at least each day. Sometimes dozens. Thus you you have to protect yourself from such attacks. Some can be truly nasty and here is an article which reminds me of the serious consequence of not having adequate protection. Click to read.

You might wonder what I am selling on this web site. Well nothing. At some stage in the future I plan to add some products. But that is not the focus at this stage. The focus is to attract visitors and I hope to help people.

Sitemap