With email addresses and web page references appearing at the end of TVprogrammes and the bottom of newspaper adverts, many smaller businesses mightbegin to wonder if they are missing out on something
With email addresses and web page references appearing at the end of TVprogrammes and the bottom of newspaper adverts, many smaller businesses mightbegin to wonder if they are missing out on something. What can the world wideweb offer local businesses?
At the moment there is still a limited amount of money changing handselectronically, but each day new systems appear for transferring cash over theinternet. Microsoft and ? have got together to ensure that the commercialopportunities on the web continue to grow. Etc. etc. article on commerce on theweb.
At the moment, the net seems best suited for businesses wishing to shift endof line stock, or who normally spend large amounts of money updating theirproduct information or catalogues. Designing, printing and mailing thisinformation, or sending out leaflets advertising a few left over items, is expensive and impractical for a business using traditional methods, but allthis could be done at a fraction of the cost by putting the information into aweb site, where alterations are easy and instantaneous.
Alternatively, with the touch of a button, you can email this information to hundreds of interested parties for a few pennies. For example if you sellantique bathroom furniture and you have a collection of early Victorian bathtaps left to sell, you can join the mailing lists for plumbers or interiordesigners and request that the details of your stock are circulated to everyoneon that mailing list. They would then email their order to you. You can findinformation about these lists from your service provider, ie. whoever gives youaccess to the internet, or by using the search facilities available on theinternet, Alta Vista seems to be the most efficient search engine. The price ofthe mail out to the whole list, which could contain thousands of names, is theprice of a single 30 second telephone call. You do not have to sit and enter inall the addresses and there are no stamps to lick. You can attach diagrams,price lists and illustrations to your message and as mailing and internetsoftware becomes more sophisticated, so can your mail outs.
But what about web pages? Many companies are investigating the opportunityof establishing a permanent presence on the web. Some will have tried and beenvery disappointed, finding the only benefit to be the natty little URL or homepage reference that they could add to the bottom of their traditionalliterature to prove that they were up with the times.
There is a real knack to creating a successful web page. In theory it is notthat difficult to do it yourself. There are plenty of free HTML editorsavailable on the internet. This is the software, a bit like a simplewordprocessing package, that allows you to design a page that can be transferredfrom computer to computer, whatever its specification, anywhere in the world.Your page needs to be constructed of a simple code that can be understood by anycomputer. All HTML does, is include the instructions as to how a page shouldlook, actually within the text. So if you wanted to start your page with,Welcome, in bold, you would type; <B>Welcome</B>. The first B turnson the layout for the text and the /B turns it off again. HTML editors take thetrickiness out of this process.
However if you want any graphics, links to other web sites, special effectsor mini computer programmes included in you page, like a database facility, youneed to speak to a web designer. They know how to include graphics so that theywill not take up so much memory, that your page takes too long to appear onpeople's computer screens. They ensure that you avoid the pitfalls of clashingbackgrounds and illegible text. They should also have the design skill to ensurethat customers want to spend time looking at your pages.
But if you keep things simple you could download the free software and aftera bit of fiddling create your own page, telling people about your company andwhat you have to offer. You could then ask your service provider to put thispage up on the internet for all to see. Most large internet service providersoffer a free web page hosting service for their customers, so you still won'thave paid anything. If your provider doesn't offer you web space, you an buy itfor about £99 per year per 5mgbs. This gives you plenty of room for awhole collection of pages.
What you are actually buying is space on the provider's hard disc to storethe file that contains all the information needed for your web page. The bestproviders keep their computers running day and night, so that your web page canbe called up at any time. Using a dedicated web space company to host your website, takes all the expense and hassle out of creating a web presence. You canget to your pages to change them at any time and if you find a better dealsomewhere else, you an just cancel the subscription and swap hosts.
So you now have a web presence and your information is in theory availableto an impressive number of professionals, ABC1 individuals and businessmen, sixmillion and rising. The problem is your page may languish on the hard drive ofyour provider and never be called up again. There are tricks to ensuring thisdoes not happen. This is where a good web consultant can be worth their weightin gold. They will ensure that every major search engine is made aware of yourpage. They will help you choose the right words to use in your page so that itcan be found by a keyword search. A plumber may for example create a whole pagewithout actually mentioning the fact that he is a plumber. He may mention, stopcocks and bathroom fittings but neglect to use the magic word that anyonesearching for a plumber would use and therefore never be found.
They will make sure that other, complimentary pages have a link to your pageand put your web page details on every list, register and bulletin board thatmight be relevant. They will suggest newsgroups for you to join and the bestwill be able to get your page reviewed by magazines and newspapers. They mayeven be able to help you create a multi-media campaign that integrates your webpages into your traditional promotional methods. For example you could refercustomers to your product support web pages in your sales literature. The web isperfect for after sales support. A short, enigmatic classified ad could refercustomers to a web page where they can investigate your company, its productsand services in their own time, enjoying the novelty and sense of discovery thatthe net provides at the same time.
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