W.I.N.G.S.

These are generalities and will fit most websites.
Why a website?

1. Online presence which adds value and provides another avenue for advertising and attracting customers.
2. Professionalism, authenticity, credibility.
3. Producing a website is likely a onetime expense and will represent your business for the long term (unlike print advertising) It doesn’t totally eliminate the printed advertising but it certainly lowers that cost.
4. Provide product and service information 24/7
5. Have a global presence
6. Customers can get a feel for what the company is and then base a better decision. Now in tough times, people are being clearer on their wants and will investigate more to get the right product or service. On the up side, they have already invested time in you therefore if they choose you; they will probably be more loyal. All you have to do is produce a superb product or service.
7. Also keeps you and your business focused on what and where you need to be.

Planning your website

1. Why plan
- It save you $ - you know what you want therefore you won’t be inclined to over spend with extras.
- Better relationship with designer as you are not wasting anyone’s time.
2. What
- What is your business objectives, purpose, vision
3. Who
- Target audience, demographics (age, sex, language) This often helps determines the look of your site.

Domain name (www)

1. Domain name is how people find you (i.e. Home address)
2. Domain name choice is very important because of
- Ranking
- Relevance
- People remember easier therefore more $ for you
- Name is close if not exact to your business name. That’s why it’s good to try and co-ordinate both (business and domain) name at the same time
3. .com/ .ca / .org
- .com = commercial
- .ca = Canada
- .org = organization
- The most widely used is .com but if you are based in Canada and want a Canadian feel, use .ca. I recommend buying both - .com and .ca if you have a name that can be used by others. (i.e. niagarawings is available for .ca but niagarawings.com and .org both point to a Niagara Falls motorcycle group – not what you’re looking for)
4. Registration of domain names are easy
- Yourself through Godaddy.com
- Through a web designer and work together to find the best name, the search should be free but you pay around an extra $5 for them to do it.

1. Domain add ons
- Domain by proxy or private registration service (displays your domain name and not your personal information) see domain info page
2. When you get the reminder to renew your domain name ***DON’T FORGET *** to renew.
3. Regardless of who registers your domain name, make sure you are listed as the owner of the domain name.

Hosting

1. Your webpage (file folder) is stored on a server. (i.e. File folder in a file cabinet), you rent space on that server which is called hosting (rent space in that file cabinet for everyone to go to your file)
2. A web designer should be able to provide this or you can go to an outside source like godaddy or hostpapa.
3. Be careful with outside hosting that is very cheap or free, as there is often a catch (i.e. the host imposing their own advertisements on your web site). This is not the “website created by:” but full blown advertisements.
4. Bandwidth (data transfer limits)
- When someone visits your site, data is transferred. Bandwidth is limited with hosting companies. For most sites, this isn’t really an issue but for some larger sites (lots of photos, or a very busy site with lots of viewers) this would be an extra charge. It is something you can grow into. If your site starts out normal and grows to exceed the limits, you can just purchase more bandwidth or expand your hosting package.

Site Design

1. Take yourself out of the equation for a moment and consider your prospective customers. What are they looking for? Do they want simple, sophisticated, fun etc.
2. Target audience
3. Look at comparable sites and compare. See what they are doing.
4. Manageability, workability – you want something easy to manage and easy to work (always think of the person with the least amount of computer or website knowledge and gear your site to them. If they can get through it, you have a good site)

Site flow

1. EASY to use
2. Current, updated often (ranking)
3. Navigation bars

Content

1. Spelling
2. Font size (Know your audience, age group, blackberry)
3. Relevant
4. Don’t make visitors think (your site should be obvious and self-explanatory).
5. Avoid information overload (i.e. A website had way too much words and not enough separations or relevant photos – I immediately clicked off and they lost my $)
6. Prices – depends on your site (i.e. Jenn’s site would not have prices where a product site would. My site does but many web designers do not. Personal preference, if I have to contact you just to get a ball park figure – it’s not going to happen. I will feel “what is the next person getting quoted”?)
7. Think like a customer, what do you need to see?

Copyright

1. Photos - did you just copy some great photos off the internet and used it on your site? You and your web designer could be infringing on someone’s copyrights.
2. Website – who owns your website? Is the copyright your web designers or your company’s?

Ranking
Ranking is where you sit in a search. Each thing that affects ranking narrows your search criteria and brings you higher in the ranking.

1. Tags in your website - SEO (search engine optimization) is the inclusion of keywords to promote with web indexes and search engines. Review your keywords, Meta tags, titles, photo descriptions, links and text. This will increase your ranking to the highest possible in search engine results. This in turn increases the amount of visitors to your website.
2. Industry – how many in your business (many vs. few)
3. Paid for first page (top 3 is highlighted a little differently and they are called sponsored links)
4. Website content change
- Spiderbots
- Update your pages
- Keep it current, fresh, new
- Keep it relevant
5. Links – to yours, from yours (links to your site is better than to and from)

Notes when hiring a Web Designer

1. All can be done at once or in stages for cost effectiveness.
2. Think about maintenance prices also. Even if you may not need changes often, you at least have a heads up. (my service – 2 free after uploading)
3. Most fee structures are:
- 35% deposit initiates the design of your website.
- 40% deposit once you have approved the design. Full website development begins.
- 25% final payment at completion. Your site is then available on the web.
4. Make sure you have a contract to protect yourself
5. The time it takes to create a website varies with the complexity of the website.
6. There is no PST on websites. If there is no physical transfer of information (disk, paper), there is no PST.

Extra facts

1. People read 25% slower on the web compared to print.
2. 79% of web readers tend to scan text instead of reading it word for word.
3. You have 10 seconds to grab attention and 55 seconds to make your customers understand your site.

References:

- www.webofdreamz.ca
- www.domainsbyproxy.com
- E-biz seminar – www.wluconnections.ca