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11 Steps to Create a Successful Website

1. But your Web site is a specialized tool one that enables you to reach countless new customers and if it s a retail site sell to them and process their purchases Here your primary purpose is to know your customers so well that you answer any questions they might have before they ask then make it easy for them to buy what you re selling This bedrock principle applies whether you re creating a one or two page site that simply tells who you are and where you can be reached by e mail snail mail and phone or a fully functioning retail site with hundreds even thousands of pages and a shopping cart that let s your buyers collect products and pay for them comfortable that their financial and other personal data are secure Exactly who are they and what do you know about them what they want what they need what they don t know they need what gives them the willies on the Web e How old are they Are they men women kids e What do they expect when they come to a company like yours e How smart are they and what specific talents or skills do they have e Where do they live What are those places like e Are they Web savvy or are they just beginning to use it In either case what are their concerns about doing business on the Web what scares them off Answer those questions and any others that suit the startupnation specific customer you ve now identified and you ll byertrepreneurs for entrepreneurs
2. a powerful computer that s always online and big enough to store all your Web site files as well as the content and operations of your company s network you need to find and hire a reliable Web host Just like someone who accepts you into their home and tends to your needs a Web host accepts your site into its computers securely stores all of your files and data and ensures that it will be available every day around the clock to you and your customers The host also handles most of your other technical needs including up to date backups of your entire site properly tuning the software and giving you enough bandwidth to keep from slowing down your site s functions and how fast the pages load Because there are a whole lot of hosts all trying to get your business most keep their prices low some are even free for any size business and budget Hosts commonly offer other necessary Web site services either with all in one discount packages or individual low cost add ons Just remember you will be placing your entire Web site and all its functions in the host s safekeeping so don t be tempted to use anything but a well established outfit with a proven track record There s plenty of comparative information user reviews and other critical material online to provide this confidence Some good starting points e Web Hosting Review e Hosting Review e ConsumerSearch Copyright 2007 Start
3. Primary goals of SEO include Making sure your Web site includes the same words keywords your desired audience is typing into search engines Making sure your Web site is built in a way that allows search engines to find it and read the text on every page Building content on your Web site that other Web sites especially those that speak to your target audience will point links to In some cases using pay per click advertising to augment your SEO efforts can be an effective way to pay for search engine visibility Most crawler based search engines have three key ingredients e The spider or crawler that seeks out a Web page reads it and follows links to other pages on the site These powerful little tech mites return every few weeks to look for changes and adjust results e An indexed archive where all content uncovered by the spiders is stored Also known as the catalog it contains a copy of every Web page found and is updated as a Web site changes or grows for example when you add new products Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 40 e Software that zips through the index database to match search requests and rank them by relevance Because most crawler based search engines use their own technology search results vary between them How Search Engines Rank Web Sites Unlike a human archivist or librarian Internet search engines don t interact with users and ask for more details o
4. building a lot easier for those of you new to the whole thing It s an acronym for What You See is What You Get you watch your site come together on the screen while dragging and dropping its pieces into place But if you re building anything more than a basic Web site with limited functions HTML is the way to go The code isn t hard to learn if you have the time and gives you endless flexibility and options and better control over every element of your new site and how it looks online A blend of both is best and usually offered in higher end more expensive design software Best Values But cost is a serious factor you say You don t have thousands or even hundreds of dollars to plunk down for software and can do fine without all the tasty functions of sites like r ley Microsoft _3 Office Live Small Business Tip What s the buzz about AJAX AJAX Asynchronous JavaScript and XML technology is the new buzzword in Web site design So what is it and what makes it so cool Simply put AJAX is a Web development technique used for creating interactive Web pages and applications The intent is to make Web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes so that the entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change e g changes the font or inserts a block of text This is intended to increase the Web page
5. commonly offer domain names as part of their basic package To find one that meets your needs and budget search online for domain hosts Or start with one of these e Microsoft Office Live Small Business e HostingReview com e NetworkSolutions com e GoDaddy com e 5Hosts com e TopHosts com e HostingChecker com Text Images and other Graphic Elements Cis Microsoft 2 _3 Office Live Tip Small Business Choosing a great domain name takes careful consideration Internet marketing pro Ralph Wilson suggests brainstorming sessions with friends as a way to come up with creative options for your unique domain name You ll want plenty of choices on the chance that your first second third even fourth picks have already been registered by someone else Wilson also recommends the following when selecting a domain name 1 Keep it short Put two words together combinations of short words often work well 3 Make it easy to say and spell 4 Use the com or net extensions 5 Think about relevant keywords and incorporate them into the domain name You might as well get going now on writing copy the text for your Web site and how you intend to use images If your writing skills are sharp follow your diagram of Web pages and decide what you want to say on each This is a rough draft so don t sweat over it too long Writing effective Web copy is a special skill and you need to edit and rewri
6. Hypertext Markup Language your brain starts to buzz little red warning flags start to wave and you turn away saying Yeeee not interested It s a natural reaction if you re poking into new territory But you ll be surprised how easy it is to sort out and understand high tech alphabet soup with a little plain talk and clear explanation In this step we ll look at HTML basics in three parts 1 What is Hypertext Markup Language 2 How Does It Work 3 Understanding HTML Tools Even if you ve decided to let a pro take over your business Web site design you ll have more control over the look content and function of your site with a basic knowledge of HTML 26 What is Hypertext Markup Language Yes it s a new language to learn But HTML has been the basic framework of all Web design for as long as it s existed largely because it s easy to understand It s just words Plain text common words mixed with some special but simple punctuation marks You may be surprised to learn that every Web page no matter how many slick tricks and graphics it has is built on nothing but text It s like that old wizard behind the curtain You don t see him unless you know where to look Go to a Web page you like and right click your mouse on an empty space When a menu appears look for View Source or View Page Source and left click it A new screen appears filled with plain Eng
7. PRWeb Avangate Google AdWords Yahoo Search Marketing Squarespace Typepad Blogger WordPress Design Related Sites SitePro Color Scheme Chooser Barry s ColorChooser Wheel Color com eFuse Navigation Basics SmartWebby Navigation Tips Bravenet Web Tools MF amp A s Boomer Senior Market Report Web site Accessibility Initiative 64
8. t trust your spellchecker It doesn t know the difference between their and there and a lot more e Are your pages and navigation consistent across the site see Step 4 e Doall of the links work taking users where they expect to go e Are all of your pages printable Some Web users are still old school so building in a Print This Page function can be a crowd pleaser Staff and Customer Site Reviews While you ll always be able to make changes to your Web site after launch it s important to ask your employees to review it now especially those sections related to their workflow Then be sure they feel free to give honest feedback This also puts more pairs of eyes on the content to pick up typos spelling or other text errors as well as problems with images video and audio content Then there are your customers It s hard to see your company and Web site exactly from your customers point of view but give it a good try and you ll get more traffic We encourage you to put your site in front of peers to give you feedback You can do that easily at StartupNation s Web site Critique service e Post your Web site for critique in StartupNation s community section and get instant feedback from peer entrepreneurs Here are some questions to ask 1 Do you understand or have any questions about the information on our site Does our Web site flow In other words does the information roll easily fr
9. 25 Additional Links to Small Business Advice by entrepreneurs renter 11 Cu z p Sr Af Oink G 1 Gfeetia 2 SICE Beri mi Wao SI WE Vat g V4 a y yes 1 3 iia PICT alal on j i Making Key Vesign Vecisions and maki late 1 it LE a ILAI Lea nin aes g the Code pe aie aie tak Cita fo Alera aya Be T yar i iy Y our OILS IUI ocdi LII CMUHICS ds Dig Microsoft i _3 Office Live Small Business Microsoft Office Live Small Business is a suite of Internet based services for small businesses designed to get you up and running online quickly and easily all you need is a computer and an Internet connection Microsoft Office Live Small Business services allow you to create a professional online presence without the expense of buying a server setting up a complicated infrastructure and hiring technical staff to maintain it Office Live Small Business includes everything you need to create a professional Web site including a free domain name e g www adventure works com easy site design tools no HTML required Web hosting company branded email accounts online tools to market your site and even your own intranet site an online and central space to store documents customer information and project status Plus you get simple online applications and tools to better collaborate with customers employees and business stakeholders Learn how you can get a free Web site at http Avww smallbusiness officeliv
10. They provide customers with a secure environment where they can load up their electronic shopping cart with your products then pay for them at checkout without fear that their privacy and personal information especially credit card numbers and other financial data are at risk Even if you re not planning retail capabilities on your business Web site we highly recommend going through this step and reconsidering It can give you a big edge over competitors with an information only Web presence 35 Storefront Software Packages Many providers offer all in one turnkey storefront software that promises to handle all of your business Web site needs and it probably does to a point While it may include a variety of design templates and other graphics to give your site its look some free some for added cost you re limited to what s offered unless you know enough about writing code to alter the templates It might not include all the functions you want and may even be written in the provider s own combination of codes again making it tough to customize without technical expertise Chey meoo Besides flexibility in design and function _3 Office Live these are some other important features to Tip Small Business look for 3 Ways to start selling online e Growth Potential Can the software l grow with your business Does it limit 1 You can start by simply adding the number of products you can add
11. Web site Tonight Startupnation byentrepreneurs for entrepreneurs Yahoo Small Business Podcast Web com Creating Your Web site DYI Homestead com or Go With a Pro Prostores com Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 11 Choosing a Web Design Professional If you don t have the time interest or ability to design and go live with your business Web site hire a pro or at least someone with enough knowledge or experience to assemble a simple but professional site that meets your needs One way to get this done and a good choice if you re on a tight budget is to contact your local college and ask how to find a student designer Many of them already have enough experience to handle fundamental Web site design some of them much more If your budget allows some elbow room hire an established experienced and proven pro Just don t do it the way old Aunt Gert picked her horse bets by sticking a hatpin in the racing form There are resources all over the Web like Website Pros www websitepros com that can help guide your research and sort out the field But before you hire any Web designer or team there are some questions you need to answer e Do they have experience with business Web sites e Can they meet the needs of the plan you carefully laid out in Step 1 e Will you be working with one designer throughout your project or passed around to different team members The more personal attention the better e
12. You ll find them all over the Web but check their references It won t cost much and will be money well spent If you don t think you can handle the copywriting yourself you re probably right Hire a professional with Web experience There are thousands of freelance writers online offering to do the job at a wide range of prices Graphics Content Your only task now is to decide what photos charts and graphs illustrations and other visuals you need to help tell your message and show who you are Note what they are on each of your Web page diagrams but not necessarily where they I go We ll get to that later And keep these rules in mind e Use only as many images or other graphics as you need to bolster your text and make your pages attractive Here as in nearly anything on the Web less is more Don t visually assault your visitors e Good pictures can speak a thousand words If a photo or other image will save a lot of explaining use it instead of text Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 8 e If your purpose is just to put candid snapshots on the Web your visitors will understand why they re not slick crisp and professionally done For everything else be sure your photos and graphics are all three Budgets and Who Does What Setting smart budgets saves money period Get your planning done now and you won t waste precious cash on things you don t and won t need Set your Web site budget so you can
13. a few pages very important pages You re not alone Most small business sites are a work in progress constantly being revised improved and updated So invariably something is always missing But some pages are so important that not having them could hurt your bottom line Here are seven pages every business Web site must have and where they need to be 1 Contact Us Every small business site should have a Contact Us page and it should offer visitors a complete list of ways they can contact you from e mail addresses to toll free numbers to a physical address 2 Testimonials Many companies skip the Testimonials page because they consider it too self serving While having a page like that may seem self promotional people will look for it And when they don t find it they might begin to make assumptions 3 Privacy policy Web users are more conscious about safety and privacy than ever so a good privacy policy is an absolute must Linking to this page on any page where you request personal information is a trust builder and will decrease form abandonment Not only that but many companies require that you have a privacy policy before they do business with you To get one see the Better Business Bureau s sample privacy policy 4 FAQ Frequently Asked Questions FAQs are frequently forgotten too Why is an FAQ page so important Mostly they ll ensure you won t have to answer the same questions over and over But it also is a
14. comfortably handle the costs with available resources One of the great things about Web sites is their changeability You can add bells whistles services and other enhancements later as you need them and have more cash to spend It s impossible to tell you exactly how to divide the pot in building a Web site There are many factors in endless combinations and countless ways to handle them But think about these things and you ll be in great shape to work out the details e How many products or services are you selling e If you re a retail operation how will you securely process orders e Do you need professionals for writing editing photography Web design even budgeting e How many marketing functions do you want Newsletters Surveys Blogs e How much can you spend on hosting your domain name your Web design package e Does a free all in one Web site service like Microsoft Office Live Small Business cover you or do you need more flexibility an e tail shopping cart an original look detailed analytics e How will you drive traffic to your Web site after it s built When it comes time to shop for these things let Y Startupnation your budget dictate your choices As revenue starts er Saas coming in the door your business Web site can grow too in scope sophistication and ambition Forums Planning Your Web Presence That s the plan right Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 9 Step 2 C
15. convenience for site visitors 5 A gimme page Want readers to sign up for your newsletter or regular special offers Add a section where users can be persuaded to give up some of their personal information such as their names and e mail addresses in exchange for well something else In many cases this is an informative report a keychain a chance to win tickets to a ballgame or a cash prize 6 About Us But just because you can do business with people you might never meet doesn t mean they don t want to know about who they re doing business with The most effective About Us pages are succinct and use no jargon 7 Confirmation A decent confirmation page that acknowledges an order and thanks the visitor for his or her business is essential and often lacking Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 22 Every one of your Web pages should have an obvious link back to home and many companies use their logo with an embedded link for that purpose But it s not enough Persistent navigation is much better As long as one or more of the following elements appears exactly the same way in the same place on every one of your pages your customers will be able to go wherever they want from any page on the site without first heading back home Here s how to do it e Menus Every Web user is familiar with menus and how they work Often found on the left side of Web pages in vertical format they may include clickable buttons link
16. customers to find you But one size fits all may not be the most effective approach for your business type Check your analytics to see which engines are getting the most hits and which are doing nothing Once you review this data register with any search engines that clearly target your business audience Consider adding site tracking technology that shows you what users are doing in real time Knowing this allows you to make pinpoint targeted special offers or change your site s navigation Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 59 e If you ve found SEO management to be more than you can handle hire a specialist to do it for you see Step 8 Add New Content and Links As your company grows improves and evolves your Web site will need to keep pace e When you hire new team members promptly add their profiles to your About Us page and make any other necessary changes to the lineup e Call out new additions to your product or service lines on the home page and includes links to them e Whenever you add new content to your Web site test the affected pages to be sure they re optimized for peak performance e Don t forget to update your site map after any changes e Always watch for opportunities to exchange links with other relevant sites Constantly Promote Your Web Site Drive traffic to your online business home with regular promotional campaigns and strategies This is limited only by your creativity and imaginat
17. nae eer entree errr ae en er tee ete en 37 Amazon com The Gold Standard saisccecieesces leave ceseeadsbivvtavstevsiavsbigvhevesedterebivaes 37 When to Hire a PNG pn sercnceastensegasaacntteoeensngnstgegebeoeeecueepiensigacdecuie esigeveajesecioeoisene 38 Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 3 Step 8 Optimize Your Site for Search Engines 0seceeeeeeees 39 Whatis SEO eiee eae ee are ee ere re eee eee ere 40 SOME CAUS araa e A A Sadeera suas pa Nes aeaua tensions 40 POW SEO WOWKS oes sostrdtaacc ede temdienventdeanredidaninetniagad biedadenbbemdedatenidebineaetedeoedions 40 How Search Engines Rank Web Sites ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeees 41 SEQ Best PraCwe es vis cccncecccniiascoscucirsemincnsseisasenddncaeseseshelenssleudcesiesletdenntdanintmadesebeinaas 41 Who and What to AVOIO 2 ccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeeeeeeeseeeneenteeeeeeeees 43 SEO MAING ANS aceon diane csc aac nina E tease EEE EEEE 44 Step 9 Put All the Parts Together cseesseceseeseeeeeeeeeeeeteeeeeaes 46 Westing Your Seras EA E SESS 47 Staff and Customer Site ReVICWS ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 47 Testing on Different Platforms and Browsers ceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 48 Tracking Bugs Confirming Fixes and Testing Links Again ceeeee 50 BESONDER E nde lbs de A E EE 50 Step 10 Take your Web site Livel cccccceeeee
18. protected 1 Choose a respected and established Web hosting provider Your host will be your first line of defense Don t be afraid to ask questions about what it does for security 2 Be sure that your Web host maintains tight physical security where it keeps its servers It should also perform regular backups so that your site will stay up and running even if a server goes down For instance if you maintain your data on Microsoft Office Live Small Business it is stored on systems with limited access in controlled locations 3 Watch out for unusual activity on your Web site A sudden spike in bandwidth usage may be a tip off that a hacker has infiltrated your site 4 Consider hiring an IT or security professional or consultant to test your site s defenses This is especially important if you work with highly sensitive data like customers health information or financial data 5 Restrict employee access to your Web site Only those who absolutely must be able to update it should have the password and or administrative privileges Change the password on a regular basis Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 58 Manage Existing Content Even the most basic business Web site should be regularly refreshed with new information images promotions and services If you have an e commerce site it s obvious that your offerings will or should constantly change You ve seen stale sites never changing never
19. submit press releases most of them for free Some more effective publicity tools and tips e Postcards Send postcards to everyone in your business database and announce your new site Include your company logo URL and maybe a screenshot of your home page e Discounts Offer a discount on your products or services just for visiting your new Web home and a bigger one if visitors bring you new business through a Tell a Friend promotional page on your site e Voicemail Re record your company s voicemail greeting to include your Web address e Stationery Include your Web address in all printed marketing materials business cards letterhead advertising invoices everyplace it fits e Links Linking to other sites not the competition of course can drive more traffic to yours Ask professional organizations your local Chamber of Commerce local business publications and relevant industry journals if they Il include a link to your site in exchange for including theirs on your Web pages The more sites startupnation byentrepreneurs for entrepreneurs that are linked to yours the higher your StartupNation Radio search engine rankings Marketing Your Business e Yellow Page Ads Be sure to list your Web Through Public Relations address in your Yellow Page ad Start a Blog Company blogs can be used both to enhance your business Web site and drive more traffic to it If you house it on your site use i
20. Does the designer or firm have references If so call them If not move on Ask about your candidate s record of meeting or missing deadlines ability to collaborate with clients and their work ethic e Are examples of their designs at work on the Web Carefully look over those sites not just for quality and range but for styles that agree with your own e What payment plans do they offer Beware of any that require full payment up front By the time you discover they re not as good as they looked it may be too late to cut your losses e What are their verbal and written communications skills Can you understand them when you discuss your Web site needs It all comes down to using the same due diligence you would in hiring any member of your business team If you wouldn t hire them for a staff job don t hire them on contract SEO and Red Flags Visibility on the Web especially ranking high with major search engines like Google Yahoo and MSN on relevant keywords is essential to online business success Be sure to look for search engine optimization as part of your Web design package See page 40 SEO is arguably the biggest single challenge in designing building and maintaining an effective business Web site or any other sort because the rules keeping changing Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 12 the Web landscape never stops shifting and new technology regularly adds its own wrinkles It needs const
21. Web is as important as any of the steps that got you there In this the last step we tell you how to keep on top of it in six parts 1 Keep Things Secure 2 Manage Existing Content 3 Tend Your Analytics and SEO 4 Add New Content and Links 5 Constantly Promote Your Web Site 6 Reconsider Ads Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC Whether tweaking SEO reviewing your analytics adding new products and services updating your site map launching promotions and other marketing campaigns keeping your site well tuned and effective is a task that never ends Although the hard part is indeed over the key to long term business success on the Internet is a maintaining your Web site 57 Keep Things Secure Top of the list Be vigilant about the security of your Web site and content your network and your customers private information This includes all of your company s firewalls anti virus scanning adware protection and Web hosting services A wide range of online services and software can handle this crucial task for you or help do it yourself Some are free some charge This is a good starter s list e Qwest Security Services e Symantec Security Check e Alken Online Security Check e Software QA amp Test Resource Center Ci Microsoft P _3 Office Live Tip Small Business The basics of Web site security Fortunately just a little bit of legwork can help you determine if your site is properly
22. a fresh or novel way Do you have a sense not only of what appeals to you visually and functionally but to a wide audience Are you color blind Many people don t know the answer When involved in a creative task are you persistent enough to work through the rough spots until you get it right If the answers to these questions add up to limited creative abilities many DIY do it yourself Web site packages including site builder software will fill in the gaps for you Most include customizable templates fill in the blanks Web page designs that provide the visual look and feel of your site and have basic functions built in Some DIY packages include your choice of domain name hosting add ons search engine optimization SEO Web site traffic reporting and other basic but vital elements Before you choose Be sure it includes 24 7 customer support If one thing is certain in building and maintaining your own Web site there will be bugs and yov Il have questions Even with assurances of around the clock support choose a provider in your own time zone If they re asleep while you re awake you can easily end up waiting 24 hours for the answer to even a simple question Try it out Most reputable DIY Web site providers now offer the option of downloading and trying their software free for a limited time That said here s a short list to get you going Microsoft Office Live Small Business FreeWebHosts com Godaddy
23. ake it work reliably and the design sensibilities to make it look good Be sure a design mock up is part of the deal so you can test the shopping cart before your customer does The process including testing shouldn t take more than a month But don t rush it You ll need some time to catch and fix any bugs that show up or design elements you don t like And include site management in your deal at least for the first few critical months You might have to pay more but will rest easier knowing your online storefront is in capable hands Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 38 Step 8 Optimize Your Site for Search Engines SEO Search Engine Optimization Your business can have the best products or services on the Web but it doesn t mean a thing if potential customers can t find your site The best way to get your Web site noticed is by ranking high in the results when users ask search engines like Google Yahoo and MSN and others to We cover what you need to know for a great start with i re ee PES j scan the Internet for your kind of 2 Some Cautions ET 3 How SEO Works es ne Spatel Enemies Kank Wep It s one of the most challenging and iall j k Il face i 5 SEO Best Practices a tie oe ad 6 Who and What to Avoid absolutely essential for success 7 SEO Maintenance y Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 39 What is SEO Search Engine Optimization is the process of making your Web s
24. ant tending to stay competitive and whether you have the time and patience to take on the challenge yourself or pay a pro for SEO you should be aware of some warning flags e When someone says they ll submit your new Web site to one 10 or 100 search engines it s more sales pitch than substance As long as your site has solid SEO built into the design you ll be found by search spiders automated programs that constantly crawl the Web looking at sites to include in search results e Ifa designer or team promises SEO but doesn t say which search engines they will optimize your site for ask While submitting a site is a mostly myth your SEO must meet the requirements of at least the Big Three Google Yahoo and MSN e Don t believe anyone who guarantees top search engine rankings Nobody can back up that claim e Don t believe any claims of immediate results It can take weeks for the spiders to find you and add your site to the search results roster Now it s time to move forward with the hands on work of building your new business Web site In Step 3 we ll explain where and how to begin Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 13 Cis Microsoft _3 Office Live Tip Small Business Ways to stand out online Online marketing now offers so many cost effective options that it s hard to know where to focus Plus recent studies estimate that a staggering 6 million documents are posted to the We
25. atural results resulting from SEO Microsoft Office Live Small Business s adManager provides an easy way to interact with Ask Sponsored Listings and Microsoft adCenter Within minutes you can begin purchasing keywords to advertise your business both across the country or for selected cities With Microsoft Office Live Small Business adManager you can optimize your search advertising budget across two of the most popular search engine networks and reduce the time spent managing this process without having to rely on outside help Plus you only pay when someone clicks through to your Web site from your search ad Pay per click ad placements Organic ads from optimization Ware Pengee Cty Arap More O Hews images Spl frre oaa ren son Saedm iet pam seh Enw Harrow Weur Search DUW NO Wht Dees EAW Sund tee BMW Notore y cies BMW Fars BMW Models BMW Miru Cooper BMW Accestones DMW Loge BUW Atreides To BMW UMW Reseach Aenpwt L Latent Paces Free ints whens DIVA E rande D ve teow 2 a DUE AG webre BAW anornobles peres rechaoiopes and ai ll o ta cespeo More abot BMW s shew Corre Hearse pare PTN O waew brew cor T 4 re Bepand Your Search ee cme ory ort Varcetes To BMW of Nom Amenta anres re ree Feman The ofca BW of Noth Aenea waew berms C manne ears agad te j EEA Seram Mowing GX DMW Os 3 N SOO P Far nd Gee Beste ko
26. b every day You can t simply launch a site and sit back You must take action to get noticed Make it easier to find your site Much of search engine marketing is complex and time consuming But there are three fast ways to improve the odds of prominent placement The right keywords Top rankings come from having content on your site that matches the keywords or better yet specific phrases customers use to search for what you sell Affiliate links To find effective links search for the phrases or keywords associated with the product or service you offer In your search results skip competitors and choose marketers that support what you do For instance a kitchenware company might link to a table linens shop Then send an e mail or call to ask about exchanging links Vertical search engines Besides the broad horizontal engines harness the targeted power of engines specific to your industry 2 Reward customer error Countless numbers of potential customers input a wrong address or misspell the name of the company when searching Make sure they end up on your site anyway 3 Offer e learning The technology to create online courses or solo Webcasts is now relatively inexpensive By investing in producing online courses you can reach out to remote and large groups of prospects on an ongoing basis 4 Use offline ads to trigger a search Offline and online marketing is increasingly blurred You see a roadside billboard a tra
27. d functions Of course there s much more to this language than three pairs of tags far too much to cover here But if you want to keep going these are great places to start e HTMLGoodies com e Web siteTips com e PageResource com e EchoEcho com e Jukka Korpela s HTML Primer Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 29 Understanding HTML Tools As we mentioned earlier you really don t need any special software or programs to work with HTML Plenty of Web designers use nothing more than Microsoft Word to create HTML content Let s decipher one more techie acronym here in case you run across it ASCII say ask ee stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange the most common standard for handling text on computers ASCII documents are basically text files easily viewed and managed Because HTML works with any operating system Windows Mac Linux saving your HTML files in ASCII text format is the easiest and most effective way to go In Microsoft Word just choose Simple Text Text or Text Only when it s time to close and save your file Text editors are simpler than word processing programs but cover your same needs for writing HTML On PCs running the Windows or Vista operating system or OS you Il find Notepad or WordPad built into all but the oldest versions on Macs it s SimpleText There s a big advantage however to getting an inexpensive program li
28. de journal ad a URL on a coffee mug and bam Next thing you know you ve pulled up the browser 5 Get friendly with Web 2 0 The rise of online social networking has been fast and furious Real time and peer to peer outlets such as Facebook LinkedIn and MySpace and the ballooning blogosphere directly reach thousands of customers for mere pennies You can use these outlets to start online conversations post editorials or product data and to announce news or products that build your reputation and expertise Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 14 Step 3 Select the Tools for Making Your Home on the Web Now it s time to assemble the toolkit for putting your business site on the Web Some you ll need no matter what type of site you build Others apply specifically to e commerce sites In this step we tell you what they are explain We cover it in four parts what they do and offer some resources to begin shopping for just the right set of tools to e Web Hosting build your site and take it live to the biggest e FTP File Transfer Protocol market in the world the world itself e Merchant Accounts e Managing your Web Images Now put on a work shirt roll up your sleeves and get to it By the time you finish this step you re going to know a lot more about the mechanics of getting your business site on the Web Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 15 Web Hosting Unless you own or plan to invest in a server
29. e com Office Live is one of the most important online products I ve seen a very compelling suite of Web services for small business Webware staff CNET com June 2007 Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 2 Table of Contents Step 1 Plan Your Web PreSence ccccceccceceeeceeeceeceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeees 5 Defining your Customers and MISSION vrscsscecicecicecsaescetecnsiensavsnonencenmaensbensuacnauenes 6 Choosing and Buying your Domain Name eeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 7 Text Images and other Graphic Elements e cccceecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 7 Budgets and Who Does Whit sssssssssssssssssssssssssssessssssessseeeeeseeeea 9 Step 2 Choose DIY or Go with a Pro cccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 10 DIY Web Site Package Suninn eina nnana arae anaana naaar E iaat 11 Choosing a Web Design Professional ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 12 SEO and Red Flags scicescatesicatsccetiadtienistesttadaisauttodcenisitindsisadebaaiincetiaendtbadeondinbeepduendel 12 Step 3 Select the Tools for Making Your HomeWeb 000 15 Web AOS ice et acco elise elec a e 16 ETP Pile Transter Protool ceins a 17 Merchant a6 618 0 9 Cc eae enn Tee ne ee nee ere net 17 Managing your Web Images cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeaaeees 18 Step 4 Make Key Design Decisions ccceeeeee
30. ed to products or categories blog pages or glossaries size charts or shipping tables anything that appears on the site s other Web pages e Tabs Amazon com was the first to use a horizontal row of file folder tabs at the top of its Web pages to give users an easier way to find popular content on the massive Web site The fact that you now see tab navigation everywhere on the Web is proof of its usability e Site map This can a simple text list or a more visually appealing diagram that shows where everything lives on your site But if you have a large site the diagram can become startupnation unwieldy Just be sure your site map includes byentreprenews for entrepreneurs everything on your Web site with links to each page You don t need to put the map itself on Article every page just link to it from your menu This Current Design Trends can also help you with your SEO efforts on the Web Seniors and Special Needs As a businessperson you should already be well aware that the Baby Boom Generation is here it s clear get used to it This gigantic market segment not only is a consumer wonderland but Boomers know what they want and how to throw their intimidating collective weight around to get it When they were coming of age they turned this country and much of the world on its head Now they re doing it again They re older of course So they re changing the definition of age When one of
31. eeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeees 51 Register with Search Engines cccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaees 52 Buy Ads for Better Placement cic eisce nt Geese seceesets lenient renee Geentnenineneeesaaeuined 52 Sign Up with What s New Directories ceeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 54 Launch a PR Campaign ccccceeenceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesnaaees 55 Tr Pay Per CC ace recesses aa a E E eee bar E EG 55 Start a BlOg sapene e E e reset arse eos aena aE a 55 Step 11 Constantly Tend to Your Web Site cceesessseeeeeeeeeeees 57 Keep Things SGCUNG 1 1 dccndcindsantndudronctendnenensntnestrentnanercadeentacugubetnentrancinnednencnent 58 Manage Existing Content cccinicccvicvncssadeuncevncevadeiadesadeindeinedssdesedssadenndededavedsvadsandel 59 Tend Yo r Analytics and SEO vccdectcecneesueneserncaleeayepsevsuneedtusy neioii eanna 59 Add New Content and LinkS sseesesssnennnneesseenerrnrrnesserrrrnnnnnnnneserrnnnnnnnnneent 60 Constantly Promote Your Web Site ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeeeees 60 Reconsider AdS isis cadiesscnctcnandnsctvintnsccuenducndnendnantvaudemndemkionahtaanduandutndnakiieundaesduuenens 60 Last WOAS ioeie esanean ENEE ENEE EEEE A EEE EE 61 About StartupNation sssssssssseesseeeseeesrrrrrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrren 62 Additional Podcasts SMOWS ss shceceetscedsanansisccua ta teauissteit
32. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 19 General Design Principles xng ci3ceccctmeniieetiacssoutunebendionedeiesbarnebocwarsdentiensbantwnenbabns 20 Getting Around on Your Web Site wiicessnt nies tecuccedcaneeactentienebiabdaamientaediemeanean 21 Seniors and Special Needs ccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeneaeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeea 23 Step 5 Learn the Code sis iiss ccnsonnnshennnnedcnnnnnavnansnedanwannnmennnantsesennnndeneet 26 What is Hypertext Markup Language cccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenneeeeeeeees 27 How Does lt Work cca ad tects ateredatea clateirdeton date ndslgadubinietncdelsdalendutsadelne dee rahepadttgadcondse 29 Understanding HTML TOGIS sccinesincsccorscemtvndienmienltnantues teembimdineudesy neinei 30 Step 6 Identify the Best Software for Words amp Images 00 31 WYSIWYG vs HTML SoftWare latescteetien iania omnia insake iiSi 32 Best Valts cosan e sive suse T A A 32 Some Tips on Deals to AVOIC 2 ccceeecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeeeeeesseenneeeeeeeeeees 33 Top of the Line Design Software cccceeeeeeeeeeeececeeeeeeeeeeeesssseeeeeeeeeees 33 For More Information sedis ococecnzentdetiacliecoiceesieratsanleded ciicauoieduneuledadeuaeededeecdetedevade Sess 34 Step 7 Take Control Over the Look Feel and Function 35 Storefront Software Packages ceeeeceeeeeccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeseneaeeeeeeees 36 Shopping Cart TOT Memeernaniee we ener
33. ess the Print Screen key Nothing happened Don t worry you just couldn t see it Now open a blank document page in your word processor or Microsoft Paint right click anywhere on it and choose Paste An exact duplicate of the Web page you selected will appear Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 20 Getting Around on Your Web Site Easy navigation through your site is absolutely essential to a successful design If the path you lay out for your customers to follow is long twisted and forks off without reason they ll get lost and you ll lose the sale As part of planning in Step 1 we asked you to draw a simple diagram of all the pages on your future Web site beginning with the home page then connect them in the order you expect customers to follow Did it get messy Too complicated That s your draft Now you ll refine it Try the same exercise by starting with the last page on your site diagram and working back to the home page A lot of designers find that much easier Now is every page linked directly to the home page like spokes on a wheel That can work but it requires your customers to go back to the home page every time they want find more information more page links Do you have patience with that kind of back and forth Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 21 Cis Microsoft 5 C 3 Office Live Tip Small Business 7 Pages every Web site should have Don t look now but your Web site might be missing
34. find bugs make a note of them and the fixes in a log or record book That way if it happens again you ll know what worked or what didn t Once you ve gone through and tested the site go back to the log and confirm that everything s been fixed This will also turn up any problems that might have been caused by fixes later in the list Test all of your links again Few things rile Web site visitors more than links to nowhere And don t rely on the tiresome Click Here as your only link description Make your links say what they do This will also help you in your SEO efforts if you have embedded keywords into these links Resources e W3Schools Site Validation e Internet Explorer e Firefox e Windows XP e Macintosh OS X e Siteoptimization com e WebPerformanceInc com e NetMechanic com e Microsoft Test Tools e TestComplete e eValid e Badboy Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 50 Step 10 Take your Web site Live After all the planning designing coding testing and re testing your new business Web site is ready to launch almost It s a big day the culmination of a lot of careful work But to go live properly and see the face of your business looking back at you from the infinite e Regist th Search E Buy Ads nee ee possibilities of the World Wide Web g cc there s a little more housekeeping to e Sign Up with What s N TUN SAE finish Then celebrate Here
35. hese keyword ads are text based you don t need a high priced creative director to design your ads Can you type With a little bit of imagination you can effectively run a campaign Start with PPC programs from the major search engines Google AdWords Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter Sign Up with What s New Directories What s New directories are popping up all over the place with one purpose telling the world about your new Web site Netscape What s New NewWebDirectory com and WebWorldIndex com are just a taste of the online offerings each simply listing your business in an appropriate category and often with opportunities for feedback and ratings But keep in mind that simply submitting your site to a What s New directory isn t a done deal for an instant listing Most of them carefully review every submission before acceptance Web directories and What s New pages don t post listings automatically Real people editors decide whether your new Web site meets their requirements Those vary between directories but are always posted for you to see Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 54 Launch a PR Campaign There are others on the Web who stand ready to help you get the word out about your new Web presence online news sites e zines and press release services like PRNewswire PRWeb and PR Leap The e sales site Avangate has a Top 50 list of more sites where you can
36. hoose DIY or Go with a Pro Feeling adventurous Are your creative juices flowing like floodwater Do you enjoy learning new skills and sopping up new knowledge Do you as a user know your way around the Web and have clear likes and dislikes about sites you visit Then you re probably ready to take on much of the work of building yourself a Web site Depending on how much functionality you need you can even do it in a day start to finish your business live on the Web But if you find basic word processor functions a challenge have never uploaded an image from a digital camera to your computer or bought anything from a retail Web site if you still haven t set up that e mail account you ve been meaning to get to it would be a very good idea to seek professional help Web building help that is In this step we ll fill you in on e DIY Web Site Packages e Choosing a Web Design Professional e SEO and Red Flags Some people think of this step at best as BBI boring but important But don t be tempted to skip ahead to the fun parts You ll regret it later or maybe sooner Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 10 DIY Web Site Packages Before you decide to build your own business Web site be brutally honest in judging your own creative abilities or potential This is tricky because a lot of it is a matter of taste and facing certain realities When creating anything do you have the ability to do it in
37. ics which can slow page load times Remember always Your Web site is there to serve your customers and their needs If you re turned off by endless popups grating audio and graphics that look like they ve been lifted from the Vegas strip then you shouldn t expect your Web site visitors to react any differently Your target customer may also have special needs that should be included in your site design The same features that are meant to serve them may also be just as welcome to a general audience We ll prepare you to move forward with briefings and resources in three parts e General Design Principles e Getting Around On Your Web Site e Seniors and Special Needs This step assumes yov ve already chosen design software Step 2 or are looking into it We highlight important considerations for your Web site design Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 19 but cannot handle such a complex subject here alone So we ve included useful resources and tools at the end of this step to make up for it General Design Principles Don t be a showoff That s another way of saying what we ve stressed before and will again When it comes to Web design as in so many other things simple is better Of course you want photos and other graphic images to tell your company s story in the best way And without some eye candy any Web page is blah But use only what s needed to enhance your central message and tell
38. ight Zone or the end zone is up to you We ve given you a great start But to paraphrase Winston Churchill Never give in never give up never stop improving There s always more to learn Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 61 R startupnation byentrepreneurs for entrepreneurs About StartupNation Podcast Shows StartupNation Radio Tips for Entrepreneurs Managing your Money StartupNation Community Getting Efficient Through Technology Solutions StartupNation is the world s largest online community of startups offering all of the resources you need to read up meet up start up and rev up your own success Other Step By Step Guides Bea Ee P gt n 10 Steps to Open 10 Steps to Grow 5 Steps to Marketing 7 Steps to for Business your Business Your Website Successful Public Relations Use our proven To run your business Now that you have step by step process at its very best use created your website Successful public to help you achieve our step by step and taken it live it s relations can be startup success process to help you time to get the word transformative to your Read watch listen tweak streamline and out This guide will business and demand download discuss turbo charge the help you to create a for what you offer We take action and performance and comprehensive cost provide these 7 Steps most importantly profitability of your effective marketing so you can achieve Start It Up busines
39. improving blah That s not what your new business Web site was so carefully nurtured to project Whether you hire out the work or do it yourself keep these tips in mind Some Web developers are willing to negotiate a fee for maintaining your site If you hired one ask Include easy to use feedback forms on your site and monitor replies every day React quickly to critical comments and suggestions from your customers and employees fixing any problems and making necessary upgrades or improvements Give priority to any trouble with the customer s Web site experience Don t let old material stay online Event dates and calendars promotional deadlines seasonal specials and products SS there should be a clear plan for anything with startupnation an expiration date byentrepreneurs for entrepreneurs When you update your Web site check for orphaned pages a result of breaking the Article links to them when you make changes Your Focusing on Web site analytics software can help you spot these Content to Market Your Site floaters If an orphaned page is no longer needed delete it from your host server Tend Your Analytics and SEO Your Web site s analytics software holds the keys to staying on top of how your site is viewed and used by visitors and customers Whether you maintain your Web site alone or with help know this It seems logical that registering with a slew of search engines will make it easier for
40. ion but start with these well tested methods e Discount programs are easy and effective Use them as you would any direct mail campaign Creating urgency with Today Only and other limited time offers are especially effective e Offer Family and Friends incentives e Set up a schedule of online and targeted e mail newsletters Include columns by staffers company news promotions anything to lure customers back to your site with links to get them there e Consider adding a podcast to your site audio content that you record with an RSS link which is a service that enables your visitors and customers to subscribe to automatic email alerts referring to the latest content available Reconsider Ads If you haven t tried any form of online advertising see Step 10 and you re disappointed with your early Web site results reconsider Besides potentially costly search engine ads there are alternatives often free Some examples are Superpages com Citysearch com and Yellowpages com You can also buy ad space on sites that attract an audience you want to reach Online ads can cost as little as a few dollars per placement or thousands if the site has heavy traffic Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 60 Last Words You ve reached the end of the beginning Building your Web site from concept to completion and going live online has added an entirely new dimension to your business Whether that s the Twil
41. issseciastmaisateitiswn iiuitmcnsta tannins 62 Links to Additional Small Business Advice ccccceeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeees 62 PROS OU COS eeen e E 63 Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC A Step 1 Plan Your Web Presence In the beginning there s a plan Now that you ve made the decision to put a shiny new business Web site among the tens of millions of others on the internet you re no doubt in a hurry to see the face of your company looking back from the screen slick professional inviting with eye catching graphics and exciting text that just begs new customers to check you out In this step we ll cover Defining your Customers and Mission Choosing and Buying your Domain Name Text Images and other Graphic Elements Budgets and Who Does What Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC But right now it s important to take a breath clear your mind and plan plan plan A well thought out blueprint will guide all the other decisions you ll make in the next ten steps It can also help you avoid spending more than you need Skimp on planning and you ll have problems down the road Now let s get going Defining your Customers and Mission You may think this goes against common sense but the essence of your Web site isn t really about you What It s true Sure it presents your business face to the world and you ll carefully make choices later on to put that together
42. it quickly and clearly in an attractive setting Never make your customers work to get the information they need As you move ahead in building your site stick to these basic design rules e Keep it clean Empty white space on your Web pages is itself a design element Use enough to keep each page uncluttered and uncramped Do the same if you decide to use a dark background e Inthe dark Never use dark text on dark backgrounds or for that matter light colored text on a white background Black on white is a safe bet e Gray blocks Because you re already keeping it simple make your text as concise and straightforward as possible Don t waste words they waste your customers time And break up long paragraphs What the eyes see in a split second about all it takes for a Web user to split from your site is a big challenging block of gray text Give it some air e Choose colors carefully You wouldn t wear red plaid pants with an orange striped shirt we hope and you should use the same design sense in picking the color palette for your Web site There are even free tools to help See page 25 e Use successful models The things you like or hate about other Web sites are probably the same for most other users Take notes on what works and what you d like to imitate Better yet save a screenshot in your design file It s easy o With your cursor anywhere on the Web page you ve chosen hold down the Alt key and pr
43. ite as easy to find as possible for search engines and through them your clients and customers For that to happen your Web pages have to contain the keywords and phrases most likely to be used when a customer enters search requests in an engine and your pages must be organized in way that s most friendly to those high tech seek and find services There are two dominant types of search engines e Crawler Based Google Yahoo MSN Live com and other top search engines operate automatically coming up with their rankings by sending spiders out to crawl Web sites analyze their contents and rank them according to how likely they are to have what users want e Human Powered Directories These depend on Web site owners or someone working on their behalf to manually enter their listings or enough information for directory editors to look over the site and write their own reviews If you don t submit your site to these directories it won t show up when they re searched How SEO Works Cis Microsoft 5 C 3 Office Live Tip Small Business A word about SEO You may be the best plumber in 10 states and have a fine looking Web site But if no one can find it it s not bringing in any business It s like putting your business listing in the phone book with no phone number Search engine optimization or SEO is just a way of marketing your Web site that helps bring the right people to you
44. itle and meta tags e Excessive repetition of keywords e Identical or nearly identical pages e Submitting to an inappropriate directory category e A dizzying slew of links that are of low value Who and What to Avoid Google s Webmaster Help Center is a rich source of information not only for optimizing your new business Web site but to learn the SEO practices and providers to avoid Be sure to include it in your research The Web isn t just crawling with search spiders but also with scam artists If you think you were deceived by an SEO provider you can report it to Federal Trade Commission online by calling 877 FTC HELP or write to Federal Trade Commission CRC 240 Washington D C 20580 Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 43 SEO Maintenance The Web never stops buzzing with change so search engine optimization has to be continually tended to keep up Simply put it can always be done better Here are some excellent sources of help e The Search Agency e Google Webmaster Help Center e SEO Consultants com e CafePress Tutorials e SEOChat com e UsingEnglish com e Web Workshop e HighRankings com e Association of Search Engine Professionals Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 44 Cis Microsoft P C 3 Office Live Bonus Tip Small Business SEO vs pay per click advertising The screenshot below has highlighted the paid search results for BMW while the links that appear below are the organic or n
45. ity Use multiple key words in a coherent creative and compelling way on your pages Be sure your keyword density is never more than 5 percent for pages with a lot of text or 10 percent for pages with little copy or your rankings could nosedive SEOChat com has a free keyword density tool Emphasize your text links The wording of the links on each of your Web pages is one of the most important requirements of SEO and will significantly affect your search engine ranking They should always include relevant keywords Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 42 Keyword stemming Including all the possible variations of your keywords is called stemming For example variations of the keyword optimization include optimal optimize and optimum UsingEnglish com has a free tool to find similar or stem words Page linking Be sure every page on your site is linked to the other pages Search spiders follow these trails to rank your Web site The 2 Click Rule As we discussed in Step 4 navigating around your site should be as easy as possible for your customers The same goes for search engines Be sure that every page on your new business Web site is at most only two clicks away from the home page Avoid spamalot syndrome Search engines will drop your site if they think you re spamming and using any of these things e Meta refresh tags e Invisible text e Irrelevant keywords in the t
46. ke the CoffeeCup HTML Editor because it lets you easily switch between a text screen and a visual editor so you can see how your HTML looks on a Web page Hope we ve taken the mystery out of this universal code It s a language anybody can learn there s no secret handshake to join the worldwide society that uses it and speaking even a little will give you more power over your new business Web site Maybe more than the competition Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 30 Step 6 Identify the Best Software for Words amp Images During the previous steps in this series we ve walked you through the information you need to decide you ll take on the work of building your own Web site and be the true master of your domain Now it s time to decide what design software and other tools you ll use to take your vision live on the Web In this step we ll cover e Wysiwig vs HTML Software whatever the size of your business and e Best Values whether or not you want to handle retail e Some Tips on Deals to Avoid transactions online e Top of the Line Design Software Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 31 WYSIWYG vs HTML Software The two most common types of design software are WYSIWYG and HTML which is used to build a Web site with Hypertext Markup Language see Step 5 Better software combines both automatically converting your visual design to HTML WYSIWYG say wiziwig makes Web
47. know how to go forward in writing your raison d tre your reason for being your mission Podcast Planning For a Web site You ll tell them why you re qualified to do what you do and why your company is unique and better than the competition You ll tell them exactly how you ll serve their needs right here right now on your Web site You ll sell your company as one that knows they too are unique and that you ve tailored your goods services and shopping experience to these special people Now draw a simple diagram of your Web site starting with the home page and proceeding as your customer would from page to page to page Keep it simple more detail comes later Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 6 Choosing and Buying your Domain Name To be the master of your domain your first have to give it a name This is simple if your company name is Passionate Pigfeet you d likely choose passionatepigfeet com But there could be a snag However unlikely someone might already own the domain name www passionatepigfeet com It doesn t necessarily mean there s a Web site by that name some people buy up endless variations on domain names hoping to cash in later when somebody wants to use one of them But your domain provider s Web site will have a simple method to check almost instantly Web hosts those with the computing power to host your site and all its inner working on the Web
48. l featured shopping cart HTML e mail large graphics library comprehensive user manual and two hours of video tutorials Free to try 169 99 to buy e WYSIWYG Web Builder WYSIWYG HTML image maps photo and graphics libraries ready to use Java scripts ActiveX flash animation Windows Media player Quicktime Real Audio and other plug in support PayPal shopping cart online tutorials Free to try 34 95 to buy Some Tips on Deals to Avoid As you shop around online for business Web design software be careful about certain great looking deals Here are some to avoid e Software that allows you to use both WYSIWYG and HTML but not at the same time While you can switch between them you can t use them simultaneously That s a big disadvantage if you re managing your own Web site want to do it right and are pressed for time e Packages that play up design templates graphics elements and images but downplay functionality because there isn t much e WYSIWYG software with little or no HTML editing ability e Many ISPs internet service providers like Verizon Quest and Earthlink and giants Yahoo AOL and Google offer free tools and server space for personal Web sites but not enough for even basic small business needs e Avoid programs that aren t aimed at small business owners e Avoid software that doesn t let you make easy changes quickly and easily Top of the Line Design Software As you
49. lish text and familiar punctuation marks but arranged in a different way If it s one long unbroken block of gobbledygook pick another page Whoever wrote the code didn t bother to break the text into lines and sections for easy reading This is HTML and it controls everything on that page every sentence every graphic every link and form every sound all of it Your Web browser reads this text and translates it into the visual functional Web page It s as user friendly as code gets and you don t need anything more than a word processor or simple text editor like Notepad to write or manipulate it And it works on any kind of computer with any operating system Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 27 Cis Microsoft _3 Office Live Tip Small Business Customize your Office Live Small Business Web site with sample HTML Even though you can rely on professional templates with Office Live without having to know any HTML you still may want to spruce up your site with a little HTML Given the ability to insert HTML code in your pages using the Office Live HTML module you can inform entertain and get your visitors attention in an engaging way For example you can insert the code to add a video a scrolling marquee or a stock ticker to your page Inserting HTML code into your Web page can be as simple as copy and paste e Adda PayPal Button You can insert simple HTML code to display PayPal BuyNow butt
50. might expect top tier Web design software is much more sophisticated and costly It s harder for novices to control and even if you learn to use their professional design tools you may still need a pro to put it all together make it work and maintain it But it will serve you well as your business grows and your Web design needs grow with it Here are some of the most popular examples e Microsoft Expression Web 299 free trial e Adobe Dreamweaver 399 free trial e NetObjects Fusion 10 0 199 e Microsoft com SilverLight free download Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 33 Even at this level the software doesn t include hosting or advertising services your domain name or Web address For More Information The following sites offer a wealth of design tips and strategies e Web siteTips com e WebReference com e WebDevelopersJournal com e CoffeeCup com Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 34 Step 7 Take Control Over the Look Feel and Function If you re building an e commerce Web site your ability to control how it looks the way it feels to the user and how it works can be limited by your choice of storefront or shopping cart software We cover what you need to know in Storefront Software Packages Shopping Cart 101 Amazon com The Gold Standard When to Hire a Pro Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC These are the most important elements of an online retail site
51. n FTP tool as part of their service there s often a limit on the size of the uploads it can handle No matter Plenty of free downloadable software on the Web can easily transfer your files to your host A few that we like e FTP Navigator e FileZilla e CoffeeCup Free FTP e Core FTP Lite With some hosting packages such as Office Live Small Business no FTP software is required You can just find your document image or file on your desktop and easily upload it Merchant Accounts To do retail business on the Web you need to set up a merchant account to deal with credit card companies banks and other financial services used by your customers You can do it yourself often through your company s bank but you ll have to do the hands on work of processing every order A better choice is one that grows easily with your Web business and does all the sensitive processing work for you automatically a commercial merchant account provider Although it actually refers to only part of their function they re also sometimes called gateway services Your customers enter their information in your shopping cart we ll get to that in Step 7 the merchant account service processes it securely makes sure the money gets in your company bank account and sends you an e mail notice of the transaction or why it was refused Be sure when shopping around for yours that the provider handles all major credit cards and debit card
52. nce of marketing speak and technical or industry jargon is a very common mistake Your goal should be striking that balance between efficient search engine optimization and easy to read copy Overpromising or even under promising what you can deliver A Web site becomes unusable and thus irrelevant when it tells users that it will do something and then does not do it That will drive those visitors away Permanently Not closing the sale If the site doesn t call the user to some sort of action whether it be phoning faxing e mailing or forming an order or at least a question the user won t be drawn to jump through the hoop As you design your Web site also think about customers with impaired vision hearing loss or other disabilities and their special needs The Web site Accessibility Initiative is a great source of tips and design techniques for doing this Some high points Audio and video If you intend to use either to assist your customers instructional videos product tutorials testimonials be sure transcripts captions and video descriptions are also available Clarity Pay attention to contrast and sharpness not only in your images but throughout your Web site Color Important for d cor but don t use it to convey your message A portion of your potential customers may be visually impaired and will miss the point Flicker It amazes us that so many big professional and otherwise good Web sites intenti
53. nd can actually hurt your placement Just as you went shopping for storefront software in Step 6 take your time and look around for quality SEO software packages e Check in with SEO discussion boards or online forums to see what current users are saying and draw on their advice e Ask the SEO provider if it reports any violations of search engine guidelines it finds to Google s anti spam project Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 41 e To gauge SEO specialists trustworthiness ask for a money back guarantee or some other refund if you re not happy with their work and get it in writing SEO Best Practices Boosting your Web site s visibility is a very competitive game and you should assume that rival sites are playing it No worries Here are some well proven ways to optimize your Web site s visibility Get the most from your URL Be specific and creative with your domain name Use one that uniquely identifies your company and your brand Create search friendly page titles Be sure to use relevant keywords first in your page titles and keep them under 60 characters Don t use home page in your title Studies show it decreases your Google ranking Highlight your keywords Be sure the individual words and phrases are in the meta tag description of your site which you build into the code with your design or site builder software The description should be no more than 200 characters long Focus on dens
54. old Standard Amazon has one of the most widely admired and imitated storefronts and shopping carts on the Web Among its best features e An Add to Shopping Cart button on every product page e Online bridal and baby gift registries e A Tell a Friend button for to e mailing the page to others e Password protected personal contact and financial information with the ability to save your address and those of gift recipients e One click completion of your order form Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 37 e A Wish List for saving products you might decide to buy later e Intuitive customer relationship management CRM that remembers your previous purchases then automatically offers recommendations for similar products e Customer product reviews If you decide to add a shopping cart to your business site study Amazon com for guidance and cues One of the best It is low key flash free and doesn t bombard you with jarring annoying audio pitches or distracting visual gimmicks When to Hire a Pro Shopping cart storefront software can be very complicated and most small business owners don t have the expertise or ability to create their own If you do decide to try this yourself make sure to choose a named provider that has a solid reputation If you re unable to find software with the features you must have hire a professional to develop your own He or she should have both the technical skill to m
55. om one page to the next 3 Is it easy to use and find your way around 4 Did you lose patience trying to find what you startupnation needed waiting for pages to load or links to byentrepreneurs fr entrepreneurs work 5 Do the pages print OK Forums 6 Are images audio and video the right size How To Receive a Great 7 Are our products or services clearly Web site Critique displayed 8 Is our shopping cart easy to use Do you trust it Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC AT 9 Are all forms easy to understand fill in and send 10 Do you like how our Web site looks and works If not why If you have trouble getting volunteers to step forward offer them a gift card restaurant coupon even discounts on your products The important thing is to get potential users to review your business Web site Testing on Different Platforms and Browsers Just because your Web site looks great and runs smoothly on your Windows Vista machine in Internet Explorer doesn t mean it will look the same on Firefox a Mac or other browsers or operating systems So e Be sure to test your site across all browsers and keep up on new releases or upgrades after you go live e Most of your customers will be using Windows XP Vista or Macintosh OS X so it s essential that your site works on all platforms or operating systems e Take a look at your Web site on a variety of monitors Color settings and screen resolutions vary and an LCD moni
56. ompany received or let customers know that a special offer is about to end Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 28 How Does It Work Text alone is just a collection of words Once strung together in a sentence or paragraph punctuation makes them understandable and gives them meaning In HTML the punctuation marks are called tags Here s a simple example Say you want to add the line Is HTML really so easy as its own paragraph on your Web page In Hypertext Markup Language it looks like this lt p gt Is HTML really so easy lt p gt To give emphasis to a word using italics Is HTML really so easy add another pair of tags lt p gt Is HTML lt em gt really lt em gt so easy lt p gt Now to put the same word in boldface add another pair of tags lt p gt Is HTML lt em gt lt strong gt really lt strong gt lt em gt so easy lt p gt When a Web browser reads that code this will appear on your page Is HTML really so easy You ll notice that for every tag like lt p gt for the start of a paragraph there is also a closing tag in this case lt p gt for end of paragraph that includes the slash mark The italics tag lt em gt means emphasis and lt strong gt means boldface Old school HTML uses lt i gt for italics and lt b gt for boldface but working with the newer tags will prepare you for using CSS or Cascading Style Sheets for even more flexibility an
57. onally assault their users with flashing flickering strobe speed Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 24 graphics as attention getters Not only is flicker extremely annoying it can touch off seizures in some people with epilepsy Before moving on to Step 5 where you ll get into the guts of a Web page be sure to check out these design related resources e Web site Accessibility Initiative e SitePro Color Scheme Chooser e Barry s ColorChooser e Wheel Color com e eFuse Navigation Basics e SmartWebby Navigation Tips e Bravenet Web Tools e MF amp A s Boomer Senior Market Report Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 25 tep 5 Learn the Code But Only What You Must Don t skip this step a NYCO 2 aa L I E f FUA initial M02 ackaroy Shtmi 4 i tll es openr ha ietz gif alt The Proje 10 width ipag i Phy sr 80 shtmb filesip gif alt et border oe height 9 height 1 widthe 1 gt lt jg valign top widt 470S g 1 width 470 gt 01010 rowspan 3 align right bg olor e9ead6 valign top width2 130 gt k get _blank gt lt img src 80 shtml filesilanbilling2 gi Garder 0 height 125 width ith Pn gt html ay alue dex mans 99277812 l etexclude Vv ee pe y gt lt iar amp nosPi 20 iname nbsp lt input size We know When you see words like code mysterious acronyms like HTML or phrases like
58. ons directly into our Web pages To offer credit card or direct PayPal payments you must sign up for PayPal Express Add an embedded video player to your site You can embed one of several different video players in your Web page including Mydeo YouTube or Google video Add a slide show to your site Use a slide show to emphasize new products to highlight products on sale or even to display products that your customers might not usually find You can create your own slide show with our tool or leverage your photos that you may already have on Flickr Let site visitors open a new browser window from a link By adding a link on your Web site that opens another browser window you can point your site visitors to other Web content without having them leave your Web site Add maps and directions to your site Want to make it easy for customers to find your business Add a map or driving directions to your business or other location on your Web site using the Map amp Directions module Add a hit counter to your Web page Hit counters keep a running total of the number of times that your page is viewed They don t distinguish between the number of times that you look at your page and when a customer looks at your page However they do give a visual clue about the pages most used pages on your site Adda scrolling marquee to your Web page Use scrolling marquees to highlight new products post breaking news about an award that your c
59. photo organizer built into your operating system like Windows Photo Gallery packed with Microsoft s new Vista might even take care of your needs Unless you really want to get into graphics editing and creating your own unique images and photo illustrations you don t need to understand the technical ins and outs But you should be sure that your choice of software supports all standard graphics formats for the Web mainly JPEG jpg GIF Bitmap bmp and others and Ping png Here s a few good choices at a range of price points e Microsoft Digital Image Suite e CoffeeCup Flash Photo Gallery e Adobe Photoshop Elements e Corel Paint Shop Pro e Quick Web Photo Resizer e PhotoPlus Now you re ready for Step 4 where we ll explain some important design choices you should make before going any further Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 18 Step 4 Make Key Design Decisions d This is where the hard work you did in Step 1 comes into play Having a clear definition of your target customer will help guide many of your decisions when the specific work of designing your new business Web site begins Doesn t everybody want basically the same things from a Web site Well yes and no Any visitor wants to know quickly what your site is about what you have to offer that s of value to them a well designed system to move them through its pages and freedom from sensory assault by unexpected unwelcome noisy and flashy graph
60. r free online tools give you a popularity barometer of keywords and offer suggestions about choices 2 Choose phrases Don t just look at one keyword Look at hundreds of phrases The more specific the phrases the more likely you ll attract exactly the visitor who s looking for what you sell 3 Mix and match While you re brainstorming with friends staff and experts to come up with key phrases make sure you run the gamut from broad keywords to specific ones so you reel in all possible prospects 4 Don t overlook the obvious The HTML title tag at the top of your browser window is a prime factor in search indexing The title should include search terms and call to action messaging to entice prospects to click on your link when it is presented in the search engine results page 5 Invest in education Run a pay per click campaign for a few weeks to learn which keywords pull That way you don t have to spend a lot of time and effort optimizing your site pages for keywords you don t yet know will work 6 Or if you love graphics Search engines don t read graphics or Flash animation If your site relies on Flash or illustrations then pay per click is a smart bet so you don t have to optimize your site 7 Join the club Each industry has its own buzzwords and jargon Use those to draw the insiders you want to reach but don t use them excessively 8 Review results You ll waste time and money if you don t keep checking which ke
61. r use judgment and past experience to rank Web pages Instead they rely on mathematic formulas called algorithms Despite what you may hear nobody startupnation but the search engine owner knows exactly how byentrepreneus for entrepreneurs their algorithm works Podcast But they do follow a universal practice known as Startup Guide to Web site the keyword location frequency method Search Analytics engines look over your Web site to see if the search keywords show up at the top your pages in the headlines or the first few lines of text content They assume that any page relevant to a given search topic will mention those magic words right from the start Frequency is how often keywords appear in relation to other words on a Web page Those with higher frequency are given more relevance and higher rankings Some Cautions Nobody repeat nobody can guarantee you top rankings much less the top slots on Google or other major search engines Some providers claim to have unique relationships with them or an inside source that will get your Web site to prime time Don t believe it The simple truth is that you can t buy your way to the top because position is never sold One scam promises top placement but gets your site only in lists of paid ads not overall search results where you need to be Note Rigging the system like making white text repeating the same keyword on a white backgrou
62. s Unlike your place of business your Web site offers people as many doors as it has pages If you are interested in knowing which pages people land on when they come to your site the Entry Pages report will tell you by day week month and year People have to leave your site sooner or later but knowing which page they are on when they make that decision is helpful 4 No matter what your mother told you popularity IS important It s always exciting to click into the Most Requested Pages report and find out what people are looking for A page may land at the top of this list because search engines are picking up terms that people are searching for Make sure that the navigation and links on these pages are clear so that people don t leave but instead move to other pages Use this report also to identify weak pages on your site that you need to improve to pull traffic in 5 Top referring pages Referring Web sites are just like people you network with some send you more business than others When you look at the Top Referring Pages report you ll see that search engines typically will send you the most visitors But you may find that a Web site linked to you also is a top referrer Use this report to discover new sites or events that drive traffic to your pages such as a blog entry or online news article that points to your site Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 49 Tracking Bugs Confirming Fixes and Testing Links Again When you
63. s e checks bank transfers and any other buying methods your customers will expect One of the best known is PayPal and many of your customers may already have an account there to connect with yours If they ve ever bought anything on eBay it s likely Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 17 PayPal makes its money by taking a small cut of the sale and charges nothing to set up your service Fees will vary among merchant account providers so shop around for one with a reliable record the services you need and at a cost you can handle You can start with these e Advanced Merchant Services e Network Solutions a e Yahoo Merchant Accounts Startupnation e Avanti Merchant Services Article First Steps of Building a Managing your Web Images o FA Poe Business Unless you plan to hire a designer to take care of all the photos and other graphics on your Web site you ll need a tool to do it yourself Basic digital photo and graphics editors are available for free whereas sophisticated top end programs like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Digital Image Suite pretty well recognized as the professional gold standard can cost into the hundreds of dollars What you re looking for is editing software that can resize and crop images repair problems with color and contrast set their resolution which controls how sharp your graphics are on the Web page and save them using color modes and formats specifically for the Web The
64. s plan for your site maximum impact Additional Topics Web Based Business Marketing Business Planning e Building a Web Site e Advertising and Promotion e Business Startup Costs e eCommerce e Affiliate Marketing e Business Structure e Search Advertising e Business Blogging e Choosing a Business Idea e Search Optimization e Direct Marketing e Exit Strategy e Site Analytics e Email Marketing e Legal e Web Site Promotion e Grassroots Marketing e Market Research and e Marketing Plan Analysis e Niche Marketing e Mentors and Advisory e Online Marketing Boards e Public Relations PR e Strategic Partnerships Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 62 Resources Hosting Services e Microsoft Office Live Small Business e FreeWebHosis com e Godaddy Web site Tonight e Yahoo Small Business e Web com Web Site Security e Qwest Security Services e Symantec Security Check e Alken Online Security Check Web Page Testing e Software QA amp Test Resource Center e Web siteOptimization com e Web sitePulse com e Google Web Site Optimizer Web Site Maintenance e Edit com e Web siteTips com Tools e NetMechanic com Analytics and SEO e SearchEngineLand com e AnalyticsTool com e ClickTracks com e Google Analytics Podcasting e RSSRAY com e PodBean com e PodcastPeople com e Propaganda Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC Domain Name Services e Microsoft Office Live Small Business e HostingReview com e NetworkSol
65. s against fraud by competitors Before you spend the money research the pros and cons of specific cost per click CPC programs and other advertising related ranking services Forums such as those hosted by DigitalPoint com SEOChat com HighRankings com and many others will supply plenty of guidance for making a smart choice These are the two major online advertising models being used now e Paid Placement Sometimes referred to as Search or Keyword Marketing Paid Placement advertisers buy a place in a section reserved for them on search results pages When you hear pay for placement and cost per click this is also referring to Paid Placement See page 45 for a sample screenshot e Paid Inclusion You can buy your way into a search engine s listings quickly but they re usually quick to tell you there are no guarantees for improved rankings Still it s a way to get fast visibility while waiting for crawlers to find and list your pages Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 52 Cis Microsoft 5 C3 Office Live Tip Small Business Keys to keywords While experts may be better at drilling into engine algorithms and analytics you re the best bet for figuring out keywords that define your business and that will draw serious traffic So stay on top of the keyword process These 10 tips will help 1 Research test and learn Industry sites such as Wordtracker now make it easier to select keywords Thei
66. s how to do it right in six easy pieces Directories e Launch a PR Campaign e Try Pay Per Click e Start a Blog Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 51 Register with Search Engines As we ve mentioned earlier if your Web site is built according to the guidelines we ve laid out search engines will find you on their own But you can give the process a goose by registering your new site with them Start by submitting your URL to the top search engines including Google Yahoo and MSN Basic registration is free A great clearinghouse for many other search engine links and advice on how to get higher rankings can be found at SearchEngine Watch com You can also use such registration sites as QuickRegister com free for a basic submission or SubmitExpress com starts at 29 95 They ll want to sell you additional Web marketing and SEO services and if you re sold go ahead Registering is simple usually little more than entering your complete URL in a form Sometimes you re asked for a brief description of your new Web site Don t just dash it off Include two or three keywords that will act as search magnets one more way to improve SEO Buy Ads for Better Placement Paid advertising on major search engines is one method used by many businesses to help them climb in rankings Lately opinion has been sharply divided on whether the return on investment is high enough to justify the costs or if there are enough safeguard
67. s interactivity speed functionality and usability AJAX has been incorporated into Office Live Small Business Small Business s Site Designer tool to gives users immediate or dynamic feedback as they develop their Web site pages Yahoo MSN or Amazon although taking some pointers from Amazon s site is a good idea for any level Web designer see Step 7 Here are some well regarded solid meat and potatoes software choices All get the job done and with one exception for less than 50 You can download the software from their Web sites where you should look for more detail e Microsoft Office Live Small Business Basics If a simple straightforward Web presence is all you need you can t beat the price free That includes a domain name and hosting including 500 MB of space basic Web design tools 25 e mail accounts for your company and a 50 credit toward search engine advertising Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 32 e CoffeeCup HTML Editor Both WYSIWYG and HTML as well as more advanced options like DHTML scripting live chat blogging and loads of graphics Buy add ons for more functions Free to try 49 to buy e Web Easy Professional WYSITWIG HTML Flash animation SEO real time visitor analytics RSS e Commerce functions Web color selector fades wipes and other special effects 85 000 images and lots more Free to try 49 95 to buy e Web Studio WYSIWYG HTML flash animation video music ful
68. t to report company and industry events comment on relevant major news stories and let people know when you ll roll out new products or services But you also need to insure that you keep your blog a two way dialogue It shouldn t be a sales pitch Blogs offer an air of expertise although sometimes undeserved and readers may well come to rely on you and revisit regularly for trustworthy and useful information Customers want to trust the products and services they buy where better than from an expert Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 55 Blogs can also bolster your street credibility After you start blogging you may see more hits from professionals inside your industry After that possibly invitations to sit on business panels or speak to industry groups Best of all even calls from the press Housing your blog off site with its own URL let s you fly the company flag in a second Web address and invite more visitors to your flagship site Now double check the instructions from your Web host for taking your site live and hit the launch button Congratulations you did it but you re not done yet You never will be if your new business Web site is to succeed to full potential Move on to Step 11 the end of our series and we ll tell you all about it Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 56 Step 11 Constantly Tend to Your Web Site The care and feeding of your new business home on the
69. te your draft along some specific guidelines The broader ones Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC e Don t make your Web site look or read like an ad You may be planning to attract and sell online space to advertisers and you ll confuse visitors dismissed if your content looks like ad material e Keep your copy concise and use bullets e If you refer to your company as we in your copy be sure to address your customer as you Engage them in this personal experience e Keep it simple and kill jargon The point here isn t to show your mastery of insiders language but to make your customers feel welcome at home and included e Write like you re talking face to face using contractions if it sounds natural e Be succinct Don t write If you happen to encounter anything that raises questions we are prepared to address them Do write Questions We re here to answer them As a start look to these resources for more detailed guidance e Power Words and Phrases e Uselt com e e Gineer com e WebDesign com e About com You re not done until you spell check your copy then print it out and proofread proofread again and do it a few more times Bad grammar misspellings especially proper names and other basic errors will make you look like an amateur not the world beating pro you really are Invite others to read over your text and point out errors or hire a freelance copy editor
70. the icons of Gen Boom feminist Gloria Steinem was asked how she felt at age 50 she replied Exactly like I did when I turned 40 or words to that effect The point is that 50 60 70 ain t what it used to be Unlike their parents among other things Boomers aren t afraid of new technology and are flooding onto the Web But they want it the way they want it easy to read especially with eyeglasses mellow instead of jarring and definitely free of how would they put it crap Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 23 Microsoft Oe Soe Live Bonus Tip Small Business 5 Mistakes every Web site should avoid But let s go beyond bad font choices graphics and animation What are the biggest usability mistakes that aren t as obvious Here are five with tips on how to avoid them 1 Having a confusing or counterintuitive site structure Nothing drives users away faster than a site that forces them to click around aimlessly until they stumble upon the right page An expert user should be able to get where she wants to be in no more than three clicks Making the menu too complicated Menus are the rough equivalent of a Web site s spine You want to keep them clear straight and strong Navigation is normally found running horizontally across the top of a page in a tab like orientation or stacked vertically along the left side of the page No funny coding No funny scripts Lapsing into industry jargon An overabunda
71. to a PayPal button to your existing site so customers can your Web site pay you directly PayPal can e Special Offers Just like brick and also help you build a basic mortar stores will it allow you to offer order form to integrate into easy to use coupons gift certificates your site gift wrapping and other customer 2 You can list and sell your incentives ae products on one or more of e Cross selling Does it include an the big marketplace sites like option to automatically show products eBay and Amazon com Using that are related to those already in your one of these online marketplaces can be a good way to gauge demand pricing and competition for your customer s cart and make it easy to add them to their purchase This can be a significant boost to your sales products e Marketing Does it include newsletter e mail guestbook 3 You can start from scratch and blogging affiliates linking and other build an e commerce site at marketine tools your own domain name using 8 eee either a Web designer or a e Top Sellers Is it easy to highlight top template based Web store selling products on the home page and building tool allow shoppers to buy from there e Track Sales The best storefront and shopping cart designs include analytics for tracking sales customer behavior and other vital data e Volumes Sales Wholesale Does it allow you to offer volume pricing and or wholesaling Copyright 2007 Star
72. tor s quality is much higher than a standard CRT monitor s You can t do much about it but if you see drastic differences between monitors fine tune a little to cut the gap Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 48 r 1 e Microsoft _3 Office Live Tip Small Business Key Web site reports How do you know how well your Web site is performing How many visitors come to your site Which pages do they visit most You can get this information with a few clicks of your mouse with Site Reports which are bundled with every Microsoft Office Live Small Business subscription Site Reports tracks all kinds of helpful information about visitor traffic to and from your Web site You can spend hours checking out all the details but we know you have a business to run so we re telling you about the five reports we think are most essential 1 Search engines and the keywords people use to find you It s enlightening to find out which search terms bring people to your site If you don t see the keywords you feel are important to your business take another look at your content to give those words greater prominence 2 Traffic summary The Traffic summary page gives you a great snapshot of your traffic data and it also drills down on both visitors and page views Views tells you exactly how many times a page was visited Visitors tells you how many unique users came to the site or page in a specified time frame 3 Are your pages revolving door
73. tupNation LLC 36 e SEO Be sure it can optimize your site for search engines The best packages include a function that generates search keywords and meta tags based on your content e Feedback Encouraging customers to write reviews and comments is good for business as are their testimonials about your excellent service prices and quality F startupnation Shopping Cart 01 byentrepreneurs for entrepreneurs Article Most of a business Web site is defined by style how it g Steps for Choosing E Tail looks and feels Your shopping cart is different It s Storefront Software defined by functionality In e commerce function trumps glitzy graphics flash and bold color palettes every time The best storefront Web designs are glam free and built with service and simplicity in mind The purpose of Web site shopping carts is straightforward to collect a customer s payment easily accurately and securely There are two primary types of software those you buy and install or those leased from your Web site host for a monthly or annual fee Hosts who offer this service will design and manage your cart keep it secure and add new features as they become available One of our recent favorites is an audio component that walks tech challenged customers through the checkout process Here are some good places to start your search e Nexternal Solutions e 3dCart e Volusion e MonsterCommerce e 1ShoppingCart Amazon com The G
74. upNation LLC Dis Microsoft R _ 3 Office Live Small Business Tip No HTML required With Office Live Small Business Small Business you can design the look of your Web pages without having to know a lick of HTML using a state of the art tool called Site Designer With Site Designer included with every subscription of Office Live Small Business Small Business you can design page themes that match your organization s personality and appeal to your customer base without having to know any HTML Insert your organization s logo choose a navigation layout set colors and add headers and footers You can even modify the text on your Web pages choose a page layout change the font set the font style insert images create tables and add hyperlinks using simple online menus You can also Easily create and add new pages to your Web site Change the link order of pages in the navigation pane Preview your site using View Site Upload and manage images and documents without using FTP View traffic reports FTP File Transfer Protocol So you don t get confused understand that FTP is both a noun referring to the software that transfers or uploads Web site files from your computer to your host s server and a verb referring to the actual transfer I m going to FTP these files That also pretty well takes care of explaining what it does While hosts commonly include a
75. utions com e GoDaddy com e 5Hosts com e HostingChecker com Peer Feedback e StartupNation Community Web site Critique Service Web Site Registration e Google Site Registration e Yahoo Search Submission e QuickRegister e SearchEngineWatch Search Discussion Forums e DigitalPoint e SEOChat e HighRankings Whats New Directories e Netscape What s New e NewWebDirectory com e WebWorldindex com Web site Security e Qwest Security Services e Symantec Security Check e Alken Online Security Check e Software QA amp Test Resource Center 63 Site Testing Tools Microsoft Test Tools W3Schools SiteValidation Internet Explorer Firefox Windows XP Macintosh OS X Siteoptimization com WebPerformancelnc com NetMechanic com TestComplete eValid Badboy SEO Maintenance Google Webmaster Help Center SEO Consultants com CafePress Tutorials SEOChat com UsingEnglish com Web Workshop HighRankings com Association of Search Engine Professionals Web Design Tips Web siteTips com WebReference com WebDevelopersJournal com CoffeeCup com HTML Tools HTMLGoodies com Web siteTips com PageResource com EchoEcho com Jukka Korpela s HTML Primer Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC Imaging Software for Web Graphics CoffeeCup Flash Photo Gallery Adobe Photoshop Elements Corel Paint Shop Pro Quick Web Photo Resizer PhotoPlus Publicity and Advertising Microsoft adCenter PRNewswire
76. weit Retutons 0 Prodatnin Mase Relsted Hames n Binion Lhtis Fenis Ente To BNTW LK i Fhe ocsi Unted Kingdon BMW ite echtes prodactt and terces eforrmaton eww new texdzes sppeoved uiet cart and dealership Srectery KA Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 45 Step 9 Put All the Parts Together By now you ve spent a lot of time planning and assembling the pieces of your new business Web site In this step you get a prize for all that work seeing it all come together and watching your site do its stuff We cover what you need to know in four parts e Using a Test Site e Staff and Customer Site Reviews e Testing on Different Platforms and Browsers e Tracking Bugs Confirming Fixes and Testing Links again Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC Or not Whether you ve hired a pro or did most of the work yourself you now know how complex even a simple site can be With that come bugs They re unavoidable have a tendency to reappear and you ll always need to stay on the lookout for them see Step 11 Best practice Thorough testing of your company s new Web site before going live 46 Testing Your Site Before you start telegraphing to the world that you re online be sure to test for the following e Have you checked for spelling and grammar mistakes Even the slickest most professional site will look like amateur hour if you ve ignored basic content editing And don
77. ywords attract which customers Then you can winnow out effective keywords and track which ones pull from which engines 9 Be your own customer Every month or so visit a search engine and input the keywords you re using and considering You might be surprised at the results Also call your top customers and ask them what keywords they currently use 10 Use your keywords consistently An Microsoft adCenter study found that users gave a nearly 50 higher likelihood to click to listings in which the keyword was included in both the title and the description Copyright 2007 StartupNation LLC 53 Try Pay Per Click If you ve included an advertising budget in your planning consider pay per click or PPC marketing at least in the early days for instant Web traffic to your site Pay per click advertising providers charge a small fee adjusted according to the competition for your chosen search keywords for each potential customer who clicks on your ad to visit your site Some advantages and benefits e Affordability Whatever your budget simple online tools tailor and limit your spending to what you can afford e Performance You only pay for people who click on your ad e Targeted Campaigns You can aim your ads at very specific market segments and geographic areas as small as 10 square miles e Adaptability You can change you ad daily or weekly to compare response rates and effectiveness e Simplicity Because t

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