Web Business Basics

Plus do’s & don’ts

By Jeff Couret
WebNola
How your business will benefit from a web
presence
– Business legitimacy
– The use of advanced statistics
• Learn what works and what doesn’t
• Use what works best to convert more visitors to buyers
– Increased exposure
– New partnerships and opportunities
• Affiliate marketing
• Content syndication
 Who to hire?
– In-house
• The good
– Site can be more active
– Instant turnaround for requests
• The bad
– A low-cost web designer may not have the experience to
make the most of your investment
– High recurring costs
 Who to Hire?
– Web Design company or Freelancer
• The good
– More experience with larger amount of clients
– Lower overall cost
• The bad
– Higher per-hour rates can reduce site activity after launch
– Longer turnaround time than in-house for requests
 During development
– Content
– Communication
 After the site is live
– Analytics
– Use the url everywhere
– Update constantly
– Search engine marketing
– E-mail marketing
 Website do’s & don’ts
– Do put your phone number at the top of the page
– Don’t only list your number on the contact page
– Do pick one keyword phrase to target
– Don’t assume you know what people are searching for
– Do keep your most relevant content “Above the fold”
– Don’t EVER have horizontal scroll bars
– Do make sure your site works in all popular browsers
– Don’t assume your visitors aren’t using old browsers
 Website do’s & don’ts
– Do constantly monitor your site to improve sales
– Don’t just use sales figures to determine what’s working
– Do update your site content as often as possible
– Don’t have a “set it & forget it” mentality
– Do use a contact form
– Don’t put your e-mail on the site
– Do use a short site description
– Don’t fill your description with meaningless text
– Do use your keywords on the site sparingly
– Don’t use content that wouldn’t make perfect natural sense
to a human
Social Networking do’s & don’ts
– Do create a Facebook & Twitter account
– Don’t create them if you’re not going to stay on top of it
– Do update early, update often
– Don’t worry about what to post. Just post.
– Do friend potential customers you don’t yet know.
– Don’t forget to link back to your website
– Do be personal
– Don’t act like a corporate machine
– Do give followers a reason to watch you
– Don’t just use it as a bragging platform
– Do try something crazy
– Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t work. Try again!