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+44 (0)1767 652929

A Private Limited Company registered in England and Wales

Registered Number : 5351393

What do you want from your website?

To succeed, a small business Web site must be a carefully targeted, wisely-designed, pay-its-own-way tool which adds to the bottom line. To achieve this you need to ask: What is the purpose of our Web site? Be precise about what you want to achieve and you have a good chance for success. Let's examine concepts behind various types of Web sites as you look for the model that fits your organisation the best.

Advertisement

Certainly Web sites fall into this category but they differ sharply from traditional advertising. A Web site is hidden and you need a Web address, link from a search engine or Web page to get to it. Whilst people can and do stumble across a Web site while "surfing," (if your Web designer/marketer has done the job right), Web site advertising is fundamentally different, and must be understood on its own terms.

Let's move beyond the concept of advertisement to focus your purpose more sharply with an examination of 5 key objectives.

Prospect Generation

On-line forms make Web sites a wonderful source of leads and prospects. Once you get people coming to your Web site, make sure you get their name, address, phone number, etc. so you take advantage of this steady source of qualified prospects. You can even include a response form and still spend less than for a printed brochure. No printing, no postage, yet your brochure can be in the hands of hundreds of potential customers you'll never reach any other way.

Direct Sales

On-line shopping has taken us all by storm and is definitely the wave of the future but don't kid yourself - an on-line store needs the right furnishings and equipment to do a good retail business. If you're marketing more than just a few different items, plan on "shopping cart" software, which allows your customer to put items in an imaginary "shopping cart" and see totals, VAT and delivery when they're ready to "check out."

Business-to-Business Sales

You can include literally thousands of products, prices, descriptions, and photos, at a cost far below that of printing and distributing printed copies. Your catalogue can prompt ordering via phone or fax or could or even include on-line ordering if your product is right.

Customer Support

Is customer support your real purpose? If so, a Web site is a great place to provide all sorts of in-depth product information. You can provide a huge volume of information at low cost. What if you offered spec sheets and repair manuals for each of your products on the Web? Wouldn't that be a great selling point to put you ahead of your competitors?

Education

These days, sales by education is proving effective. As you supply customers with more information, you get orders for upgrades and new products. You can provide up-to-date industry and product information on your Web site in the form of an on-line newsletter, which gives people a reason to come back month-by-month, and you pay no postage for those readers!

Whatever your business, plan your Web site to fit a particular business strategy, and you'll be much more successful than with a helter-skelter approach. Just why do you want a Web site? Answer this and you're halfway there.

Having answered the question you should think about what your site will look like.  At the heart of all web sites, large or small, are four key pages:

Home – this delivers the powerful selling message and reason behind the site.

About Us – gives visitors the warm and fuzzy feeling that you are the right company for the job.

Our Products/Service – a description of the product or service provided including any special terms, conditions or exclusions.

Contact Us – a web based form allowing you to collect customers’ details and facilitate easy communication.

At Martlet Consulting Limited we understand that your web site is your window to the world and, as such, it can be a very personal decision as to what it looks like and the information it contains.