Determining the role your web site will
play in your overall business plan is a crucial step in the process. The possibilities are virtually limitless,
but as with all other areas, care should be taken to ensure that the cost - benefit ratio is in your favor. Including
options "because you can" is not a good rationale. If it won't be used or won't contribute significantly
to the usefulness and value of the site, why pay for it?
For simple service business, a well designed marketing site is all that's required. The site will provide users
with information about your business location, services, pricing, hours, and contact information. Interactive features
for users to request job quotes or more information from an online form can be easily included and no secure ordering
system is required. For this type site, a low cost hosting service is totally sufficient.
If you have a small, home based business, you can greatly increase your potential market by making online ordering
available. Depending on the volume of business, you may wish to limit ordering to a printable form for mailing
or faxing. It is also possible to accept payments through third party providers, such as Pay Pal. For this type of web site, you should select a hosting provider and site design
firm that can grow and expand with your business as needed.
If you already have an established business selling products or services from a traditional "storefront,"
you can expand this to online sales. Again, in this area, there are many options. For higher volumes of online
sales, secure servers can be set up. This will allow you to accept credit card orders directly from your web site.
The annual cost of this level of host is higher, so the volume of sales and profit margin on the products must
be sufficient to cover this added cost. The advantages are clear in that your online storefront never closes and
shoppers may browse your product at will. Even with the added cost of secure servers, the total overhead will be
much lower than with traditional places of business. The rent is affordable, there are no utilities and no labor
costs. For lower volume sales, other ordering and payment options are still available.
If your business is strictly online and you're entire source of income depends on your online presence, your site
must be up and available 24-7. High reliability servers are essential. For your site to be a success, it must be
competitive, fast, and convenient. Customers won't continue shopping or be repeat customers if the level of service
is poor or unreliable. Hosting and overall site layout and setup are critical components.
If your site is primarily geared for business to business, the requirements may vary. A site can be designed for
a select group of end users. It may also be set up to provide support for a remote sales force, allowing them to
access password protected information not available to the general public. Areas can be set up for accessing files
online and for uploading data from a remote location for use at the central office. It can also be set up to handle
referrals and commissions.
Regardless of the type of ordering system or data transfer, a bit of forethought and planning can save a lot of
labor down the road. Sites should be designed so that data from sales or other forms can be intergrated with your
existing business software. Receiving a large amount of data from an online transfer, that must then be humanly
rekeyed to be used in your existing software, is totally redundant, if a couple of mouse clicks can automatically
import the data to your existing package. A site designer should use a data exchange format that is convenient
for the site operator to intergrate with existing information systems.
