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Introduction


What is a website?


What do you want your website to do for you and/or your business?


Where to start obtaining a website?


What comes after your website goes live for the first time?
Why should you or your business have a website?

Introduction

It is said that if your business does not have a website then it does not exist. With the proliferation of information on the World Wide Web (the net) this statement is certainly true for businesses whose clients would search for them via the net in preference to another source such as the telephone directory. Conversely, if a business's clients are unlikely to search for them on the net than having a website would probably be unnecessary. However, even telephone number directories for countries, regions, continents and beyond have their own website's. Computers and the possibilities they offer have become indispensable to all generations and client bases. The internet search engine (e.g. Google) has become the preferred choice when looking for goods, services or information.
A website:
  • is interactive, easily updated and available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week;
  • provides access to you and/or your business (good and/or services) from within the office or home of anyone with a computer and connection to the World Wide Web; and
  • is inexpensive to produce and maintain compared to some other forms of advertising and marketing.



What is a website?

A website is one or more related web pages presenting text, images, video and other digital assets, to interested people or groups, with a particular purposes in mind. Website's are accessed and displayed on a web browser (e.g. Mozilla Firefox). Although a website can consist of one page the volume of information is usually such that it is better presented appropriately grouped and displayed on different web pages. The first, introductory or opening web page is referred to as the website's home page and contains internal and/or external links to further web pages and/or related website's, respectively. The World Wide Web consists of all publicly accessible website's.




What do you want your website to do for you and/or your business?
The purpose of most website's is one or more of the following:
  • Advertise available goods and/or services;
  • Sell goods and/or services;
  • Dissemination of information;
  • To remain connected to people (e.g. Skype, e-mail, discussion forums...) and;
  • Obtain feedback from people or groups (e.g. market surveys).
It my be worth considering having a website if you or your business would benefit from having a website in one or more of the ways listed above.




Where to start obtaining a website?

It has become increasingly difficult to be noticed in the global World Wide Web crowed due to the enormous amount of information available on the net. It is estimated that more than 100,000 new website's go live each day. The only way to ensure that your website will be noticed is proper planning, knowing exactly why it's there and what it is meant to accomplish. That will inform the designing of your website and ensure that it fulfils its intended aims and objectives.

Consider the following questions, they will be similar to those that a website designer will ask you when you first approach them about developing a website for you or your business:Consider the following questions, they will be similar to those that a website designer will ask you when you first approach them about developing a website for you or your business:
  • What is the goal, aim or purpose of my website?
  • What do I want this website to achieve?
  • Who is my website aimed at, my potential audience?
  • Why will my potential audience visit my website, return to my website, instead of going to another? and,
  • How will my website accomplish these goals?



What comes after your website goes live for the first time?

A website is built and maintained similarly to the way that a car is built and then needs to be maintained. Once your new website is live on the net, for the world to see, it needs to be maintained. If you never changed the oil, filters and tyres of your new car it would quickly come to a standstill. Website's are dynamic entities that need to be changed, updated and improved over time. You need to add pages to them with new and exciting information to keep new and existing customers interested and coming back. You need to give people a reason to return to your website. A maintenance plan needs to be put in place for your new site.

You must also be willing to advertise your website. For example, include your website's address (URL) on your business cards and company stationary, in print , radio and television advertisements. This will serve to direct people to your website and provides access to you or your business from within their businesses and homes. Simply having a website is no longer enough to ensure visitors and achievement of the goals of having the website. Remember that the day your site went live an additional 100,000 new sites also went live adding to the billions already live on the World Wide Web.


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