Do You Need a Web Site?
Perhaps you’ve put it off, because running a Web site alongside your already busy retail business seems like hassle you don’t need. We hope to answer the baffling questions about whether you really need a Web site.
With limited budgets, we need to make educated choices about where to spend our advertising dollars most effectively. In the past, print advertising like newspapers, brochures, and magazines; trade shows; or television and radio were the main forms of spreading the word about your products. Today, we need to decide whether to divert a share of those dollars to Internet advertising and a Web site, remembering, even as we do so, that other types of advertising are still necessary.
Criteria to Compete
You will need to answer a number of questions before you embark upon your Web project.
Once you have decided that a website is right for your business, find a website designer that you can trust, who understands your industry, who is prompt on both the original design and updates and who is able to coach you on your responsibilities towards the site.
Be sure your site projects a professional appearance. Develop a logo. Brand your site and remain unique. Make your website theme and color scheme consistent with your logo.
Your home page should immediately let the visitor know what you are selling or promoting. Describe the purpose of your website and include product photos that can help people understand your purpose and how to purchase. Include a call to action like “Order today.” Bring in fresh, new photos and text often to keep visitors interested and to keep them coming back.
Customers do not always buy on the first visit. Make their experience memorable and pleasant so they will return. Give them reasons to make your product the one they want to buy, even if they shop around. Encourage repeat business.
Make visitors know that reliable human beings run your business. Try to include answers to the most obvious questions, but have contact information easily accessible on each page in case visitors need more information. Include a privacy policy. Include shipping rates and your return & refund policy. Insist on proper navigation and consider including a search function to make what customers are looking for easy to find.
If your business meets the criteria to be productive on the Internet, it is important to construct and continually improve your website. Computers run today’s business world. Your business needs to decide how it should be involved with the Internet to stay competitive.
With limited budgets, we need to make educated choices about where to spend our advertising dollars most effectively. In the past, print advertising like newspapers, brochures, and magazines; trade shows; or television and radio were the main forms of spreading the word about your products. Today, we need to decide whether to divert a share of those dollars to Internet advertising and a Web site, remembering, even as we do so, that other types of advertising are still necessary.
Criteria to Compete
You will need to answer a number of questions before you embark upon your Web project.
- What is your primary goal for your site?
- Entertainment? Information or promotion? A good informative site is comparable to an easily updated electronic brochure.
- Selling?
Do you need e-commerce? Do you want a full-fledged e-commerce Web store with shopping cart? Such sites are more expensive than information-only sites and may require more experienced programming. Are you also willing to put in the time and effort for price and description updates on your merchandise?
- Can you keep up with demand if your website is successful and your products are popular? Can you ship in a timely fashion? If you cannot produce results, your customers will become unhappy and you will fail quickly.
- Is your business suited to the Internet?
For instance, are you a store like a custom boot maker who feels you must have a customer come to you for a correct fitting? If so, you might be wiser to spend your advertising dollars on local newspaper ads or in buying booth space at retail merchandise shows.
- Do you offer merchandise that will is easily appreciated on the Web?
People prefer to use all five senses to some evaluate some items. As a customer, would you like to buy fresh tomatoes on the Internet, or would you rather feel and smell how ripe they are? What happens if you are buying a new television set? Can you tell from the technical specifications if you like the color and the clarity of the picture or would you rather see and hear the real thing in a real store?
- Internet or Brick-and-Mortar?
The difference between ordering goods from an Internet site and shopping in a brick-and-mortar store is that in a store people can use their five senses to evaluate goods. You must be able to make your Internet site compete with a physical store. On the Internet, customers must rely on your descriptions and photos of your product or service. You must have quick-loading, clear photos, enticing ad copy, and easy ordering in order to overcome the lack of physical impact on your customer’s senses. Sometimes people will visit a physical store in order to decide on the product they want and then go to a website because it offers something they cannot get at the physical store such as lower price, better return policy, delivery at their door, or a bonus offer.
- What are the primary benefits of your product or service and how can you best represent them?
- Who is your target audience? Young people with limited budgets? Older folks with more disposable income? How will you best appeal to this target group?
- By what standard will you measure the success of your site? Number of visitors? Calls? Sales? Repeat customers?
Once you have decided that a website is right for your business, find a website designer that you can trust, who understands your industry, who is prompt on both the original design and updates and who is able to coach you on your responsibilities towards the site.
Be sure your site projects a professional appearance. Develop a logo. Brand your site and remain unique. Make your website theme and color scheme consistent with your logo.
Your home page should immediately let the visitor know what you are selling or promoting. Describe the purpose of your website and include product photos that can help people understand your purpose and how to purchase. Include a call to action like “Order today.” Bring in fresh, new photos and text often to keep visitors interested and to keep them coming back.
Customers do not always buy on the first visit. Make their experience memorable and pleasant so they will return. Give them reasons to make your product the one they want to buy, even if they shop around. Encourage repeat business.
Make visitors know that reliable human beings run your business. Try to include answers to the most obvious questions, but have contact information easily accessible on each page in case visitors need more information. Include a privacy policy. Include shipping rates and your return & refund policy. Insist on proper navigation and consider including a search function to make what customers are looking for easy to find.
If your business meets the criteria to be productive on the Internet, it is important to construct and continually improve your website. Computers run today’s business world. Your business needs to decide how it should be involved with the Internet to stay competitive.