Your Companys Website Professional Online Presence

Writen by Carla Reis

A website image should match a company's quality objectives to build your company's online presence. Does yours? The truth is a poorly designed website can damage a company's online presence. More so, your website is your online presence. Internet users expect a reputable company to have a high-quality online presence reflected in a quality and professional website. Think about it as an electronic business card or brochure; a first-class website shows that a company is serious and professional. A website that is well presented, designed and developed will open a myriad of options for low-cost marketing and client acquisition.

This is the first segment in a three-part series that addresses the guidelines on how to plan, present and develop your company's website. The full series includes:

• Professional Online Presence
• Quality Web Site -- Quality Approach
• Website Design, Development & Marketing Aspects

Your Company's Web Site – Professional Online Presence If your company strives for quality, this should be expressed as much by your website as it is with your company's products and services. From now on, consider your website as an extension of those products and services; consider it as your company online presence. Ask yourself what is important to you and your customers when it comes to the services or products your company provides? Is it the advantages like quality, performance, presentation and reliability that are offered? Does your current web site reflect this? Revisit your company's mission statement – is this also reflected in the website?

It's amazing how many companies do not have a professional online presence for fear of expense (in which case, they often opt for a "do-it-yourself" product). A well-developed, well-designed website is not a cost; it's an investment, and any related expenses will convert into new clients. At present, there are several reputable organizations that will help your company build an effective web site for a reasonable price.

It is proven that R.O.I is quickly met when the website properly addresses your requirements and /or target market. Keep in mind that your website is the least expensive 24/7 (worldwide) salesman that you will ever find.

It's important to find a team of website design experts who will listen to you, understand your needs, and not only follow your guidelines, but also present you with new options and suggestions to increase your sales and customer acquisition. A good team will produce a professional online presence that is in tune with your company's image, excels in usability and is search-engine friendly.

Online marketing for your website is also very important since your utmost goal is to attract users that search for the products or services you offer. A high-quality website that is lost among search engines is like placing an expensive ad in a magazine that nobody buys. If Web browsers cannot find your site, they are limited in how they can purchase your product or service. Treat your we site as a marketing tool, not only as a source for company information.

Summary: A professional online presence and a quality website are the most important investments you will make for your company; it will reflect your company's image, and the products and services you offer. Seek a website design company that is willing to learn about your company, and its products and services. Get involved in the website development process and offer your opinion and suggestions – after all, you know your market and your company.

Carla Reis
President
Quest Quality Solutions
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Copyright 2005 - Quest Quality Solutions.
This article can be reproduced in its entirety, if the author credit is retained and there is a prominent source link to www.questqualitysolutions.com.

Carla Reis has a Bachelor Degree in Arts and a Diploma in Web site Design; she also has several years of experience in Web site design training, Search Engine Optimization, and management. Carla's experience with Web site design and Search Engine Optimization [SEO] began when she was the training manager for one of the biggest Search Engine Marketing companies in North America. She developed the company's training manual and SEO certification exams to better qualify the staff and deliver high quality services to the company's clients. After managing the training department and organizing the working flow and distribution for the company, Carla decided to venture on her own. She started her company in 2004 – Quest Quality Solutions. What began as a one-person business has expanded to a team of professionals and has been growing in a steady pace.

Maintaining Your Business Website

Writen by Tim Knox

QUESTION:
Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.

ANSWER:
When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor's teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the advice I'm about to give, so you might as well consult Dilbert for your hot business tips.

Should you build and maintain your business Web site yourself or pay someone to do it for you? Let me answer your question with a couple of my own. Number one: is building and maintaining Web sites the key focus of your business? Number two: could your time be better spent doing more important things like, oh I don't know, say running your business? If your answers were no and yes, respectively, then you have no business building and maintain a Web site.

Remember this: every minute you spend on tasks that are not related to the key focus of your business is time spent to the detriment of your business. In other words, every minute you spend focusing on tasks that do not contribute to the growth of your business and thereby increase your bottom line is time wasted.

If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites.

Case in point: I once had a very wealthy dentist ask if I could teach him how to maintain his Web site so he wouldn't have to pay me to do it. Now my teeth had helped put this guy's kids through college, but that didn't seem to matter. At that moment he was more concerned about having to pay for changes to his Web site than my personal oral hygiene. Sure, I said, I'll be glad to teach you how to update your Web site, just as soon as you teach me how to clean my own teeth so I don't have to pay you to do it. He got the point. And he charged me enough for the cleaning to keep his site updated for months. Smart man.

Many business owners think they can't afford a professionally designed Web site and that simply is not true. While the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is never more true than when applied to Web site design, having a professional web designer do the work for you is money well spent. A well-designed Web site can bring you a many-fold return on your investment. You can't say that about too many other collaterals.

While it is best to leave Web site design and maintenance to the experts, it is up to you (or someone considered a subject matter expert within your company) to provide the designer with the content (text and photographs) that best conveys your company's message to your customers. A Web site, no matter how well designed, is meaningless if it lacks the content required to interest customers in the products you sell or services you provide.

Here's are a few questions that, once answered, will help ensure that your Web site's message is as appealing as its design. Go over these points with the designer before the design process begins as the answers will help determine the direction your Web site's design should take.

What Is The Purpose Of Your Web Site?

Most business Web sites have two purposes: (1) to educate the consumer and, (2) to sell them products or services. If you sell shoes, for example, the purpose of your Web site is to educate potential customers on the quality and durability of your shoes and as a result, to sell them shoes. If you paint houses the purpose of your Web site is to educate home owners on why your services are superior to other painters and sell them on hiring you to paint their house. By defining the purpose of your Web site you will give the designer the information required to create a Web site that best conveys that purpose to your target audience.

Who Is My Target Audience?

Your target audience consists of those folks you want to attract to your Web site: potential and current customers, future and current employees, possible investors, etc. Anyone who might be interested in your company and its products or services is a member of your target audience. Correctly identifying your target audience is vital since your Web site should be designed specifically to appeal to your target audience.

Put yourself in their shoes (or in front of their computers). Imagine your Web site through their eyes. If you were visiting a Web site such as yours what would you expect to find and what would you be disappointed not to find? Identify your target audience, then have your Web site designed to fulfill their needs and surpass their expectations.

What Content Should My Web Site Feature?

Your Web site content should be driven by the nature of your business. If you're a real estate agent, your site should feature photographs of homes you have for sale and information on buying and selling a home. If you own an auto body shop, your site might feature before and after photographs of cars that you have repaired. Remember to determine the purpose of your site, then develop the content to serve that purpose.

What's My Competition Doing?

The last question you should ask is one of the most important: What is your competition doing on the Web? Do a Google search for similar businesses and click around their Web sites. How are their Web sites designed? What message are they trying to convey? Are they doing a good job of conveying that message and as a result, selling products? What do you like about their Web sites? What don't you like? Make note of the things you like and the things you hate, then share your findings with your site designer.

Remember, you're not stealing trade secrets here.

You're just borrowing ideas.

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim's latest books include "Small Business Success Secrets" and "The 30 Day Blueprint For Success!" Related Links: http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Getting The Balance Right

Writen by Mark Adams

Having spent a number of years in the internet design and marketing industry I have seen how important the balance of web design / optimization is to the success of any e-marketing venture.

In the past I have had clients who were frustrated by the fact that competitor web sites ranking high in the search engines were of poor quality compared to their own.

When I looked into this it was obvious what was happening. The so called poor quality sites were composed of simple navigation and then lots of pages with text and an odd image here and there. The clients web site in comparrison was an all singing / dancing mix of flash and bright graphics. The text in the site was limited to a few lines here and there.

Here was an excellent example of two web sites built at different levels. One was basic and probably built by someone at home while the other was professionaly built by a designer. In my mind I was in no doubt that the professional site would probably sell more than the basic one. The only catch here was that the professional site was nearly invisible to the search engines due to the nature of its design and content. A great looking site that no one can find.

Had the web site been built with optimization in mind then it would have probably had far more success. Just because a web site needs to be optimized does not necessarily mean the design has to be sacrificed. There are many ways a web site can be made search engine friendly and still look and function professionaly.

When a visitor arrives at the web site then first impressions really do count. A business does not have very long to promote itself so its important that any visitor is given good reason to stay and explore other pages. This is when clever marketing and copywriting take over from the initial optimization.

If you are thinking of having a new web site built then think very carefully about how it's design / content will influence its's position in the search engines.

If you have a high ranking but poor looking site then consider adding some enhancements that will not affect it's current position.

If you have a site that is extremely search engine unfriendly then consider having it completely re-designed.

Marketing Advice

The best things in life are free so I give this information at no fee.

Creating A Website Based On Adsense Revenue Model

Writen by Lata Tokhi

The latest craze sweeping the webmaster world is creating 'Adsense Websites'. Webmasters are busy cranking out a number of websites aimed to earn entirely from Adsense, with few of them finding the success they hoped for. Creating Adsense Websites is a wonderful idea provided you play by the rules. Creating spammy websites with hardly any content and a whole of links based on 'high-paying keywords' is more likely to get you banned from Google Adsense than earn you high profits you dreamed of.

A small content website created on a specific theme with Adsense ads integrated properly into it, is the correct way to earn from this revenue model. How to logically create a new website based on Adsense Revenue Model is discussed here:

1. Identify High-Paying Keywords

The first step is to decide the theme of your website. Since you are creating a website entirely for Adsense, it might help if you first took time to find out the highest-paying keywords/ads. Advertisers bid for keywords on Google. Some keywords are very expensive and if ads for such keywords are displayed on your website, and clicked upon, your earnings may increase dramatically.

For a list of High Paying Adsense Keywords, visit http://www.momtycoons.com/earning/adsense-keywords.shtml

> To do your own research, use http://www.iotaweb.org/. Type in the desired keyword and the tool will tell you the highest bid on it.

> If you have a Google Adwords Account, log in and use the tool for finding the bid rates for different keywords.

Choose a topic which is fairly high-paying as well of your interest.

2. Build an SEO Website with Useful Content

Once you have chosen the theme topic, start building your website. Register a Domain Name, Set up a Web Hosting Account, choose a simple and fast loading layout for your website and add start adding content. Add at least 10 articles on the topic you have chosen. You can get the articles for free from an Articles Directory but it is best to put original content into an Adsense website. Write the articles yourself or Hire a Content Writer.

Optimize all pages for Search Engines. Use Heading tags, proper titles and keyword-rich content. The more SE optimized your page, the more relevant will be the ads that are displayed.

3. Integrate Adsense Seamlessly

Add Adsense code to every article page. Take time and choose ad formats depending upon your website layout and integrate the ads seamlessly within the content on each page.

Read more about integrating ads seamlessly in your website content at http://www.momtycoons.com/earning/integrate-adsense.shtml

4. Increase Website Traffic

Your website is now done and you need interested visitors to visit your website, read your content and click on your high-paying ads. Start promoting your website by submitting articles, using signature tags, link exchanges etc.

Lata Tokhi is the owner of Mom Tycoons: http://www.momtycoons.com, a website with useful articles and advice for webmasters on topics such as starting online business, setting up websites, marketing and promotion, increasing revenue and sales, search engine tips etc.