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What Should Your Internet Strategy Be?
[Part 2]
Everyone in business today has
heard of the Internet and World Wide Web and most of us are wondering if
we should get on the band wagon and have a website for our business.
And, if so, just how do we go about it? This is the second article in
our two-part series What Should Your Internet Strategy Be?,
outlining the step-by-step process on what you should do. By Jim
McKerlie, Chairman of RAN ONE (Cornerstone Business Solutions is
proud to be a RAN ONE Network Member)
Step Four: Determine Ongoing Issues and Costs.
Web sites, like all shop fronts, need to be freshened up after a time.
In fact, the more you can keep the site looking fresh, the more
effective it will be. Early web sites required the ongoing skills of a
web programmer to be updated and, as this was time-consuming and
expensive, many of the early sites were static rather than dynamic. In
fact many small businesses had sites that dated rather badly as the
business could not afford to update the site.
As the internet has matured there are many more people around who are
experienced programmers and the price of getting a programmer has come
down. The second big breakthrough is that with so many sites in the
world that need to be kept up to date, there is a big demand for content
management tools that allows document and files created in common
formats like Word and PowerPoint, to be simply uploaded to a web site.
As a result, small businesses can do a lot of their own updating now.
There are many content management systems coming onto the market, with
prices ranging from a few thousand dollars to into the hundreds of
thousands. Some of them are being offered for small recurring monthly
license fees which is attractive. The big issue to remember when
thinking about content management (and in fact all the technology
decisions you make) is that you will become dependent on it, so checking
out the credentials of the supplier is as equally important as the price
and functionality as the product itself.
Step five: Measuring the effectiveness of your site
Another key area to consider it getting accurate information about how
many hits your site gets (how many visitors). Ask any shop keeper and
they will tell you how many people came into the shop, what they looked
at, what they asked about, what was interesting and what was not. Your
electric shop front is no different. You will need to know not only the
traffic generated, but also what worked. This information is invaluable
input into decisions you make about both about your site management and
also your business itself.
It's also important to use the valuable information that is generated
from your Internet community. Consider if your site could automatically
generate customized marketing offerings, newsletters, special
information packs or any other individualized communications with your
clients. This would for the basis of a customer relationship management
system, which up till recently was only available to larger businesses
with complex computer systems and a team of programmers. Once again, the
Internet is bringing functionality to small businesses.
Getting a website, or updating the one you have, is not a trivial
decision. However, the good news for small business owners is that it is
much more affordable than it used to be. Now is a crucial time for small
businesses to evaluate their Internet strategy. Your website needs to
move from being an incidental part of your business to holding a more
strategic, core position. Getting expert advice so that you get all the
benefits from your investment is a sound first decision in the process.
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