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Small Business Websites That Work
By Sean McManus
Published by Prentice Hall (Pearson)
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- Free chapter: Planning your website and creating the content
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- About the author
Planning your website and creating the content
Nobody knows your business better than you do. If you don't tell your website designers how your website will improve your business, it will only be profitable by accident
At a glance:
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Chapter Summary
Although you can outsource much of your website's development, its strategic direction must come from within the company. There are many ways that a website can help your company to grow, but these will depend on your position in the marketplace and your industry. You'll need to have text, photos and interactive website features that support your aim.
Think beyond putting your brochure online. Good content attracts visitors and makes it easier to promote the website, but doesn't necessarily push products. It gives readers a reason to visit the site, giving you a chance to do business with them and fulfil your website's purpose.
Your content mix needs to be unique and well-targeted at your audience's interests. That doesn't mean it has to be expensive: you can throw free content and cheap plug-ins into the mix and can often draw on your own or team members' expertise.
Everything on your website needs to be accurate and written for an international audience.
Your website's success depends on what it has to say and how it says it, so it's important that you articulate your goals to your website designers to make sure that they understand not just what you're putting on your website, but what you want that to achieve. It will improve the relevance of their suggestions.
These are the subheadings in this chapter:
- Introduction
- Some bad reasons to have a website
- 11 ways your website can help your business
- Attracting new customers
- Enhancing your reputation
- Creating new revenue streams
- Diversifying into new businesses
- Learning more about customers
- Enhancing print and radio advertising
- Increasing referrals
- Increasing your profits
- Developing brand loyalty
- Selling directly
- Improving customer service
- Planning your content
- Using syndicated content and free website enhancements
- How to write for the web
- Checklist: writing for international readers
- Integrating the website with the business
- Summary
Updates at this site
- Jakob Nielsen on writing for the web
- Bryan Eisenberg on persuasive copywriting
- Castle Fictoria - dummy content for your first website
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