By: Case Stevens
Web development is quite complex, because there are
so many disciplines involved. It takes some skills
to build a web site that delivers exactly what you
want, with a good layout and with community building
and you need to know technical aspects as well as
research and marketing, promotion, writing, etc. Web
development also means hard work. It's an ever-ongoing
effort as you will see below and if you don't have
enough (human) resources for it it's going to be hard.
It's not the money that count so much (the site will
be a reflection of your budget, but lots of small
budgets already have been very successful) as well
as time, energy, persistence and a great will.
Let's try to break it down to the basic elements.
Why?
A very popular reason to create a web presence is
... to have a web presence. "Competitors have
it, so should we" is often heard. A defensive
strategy. That is definitely the wrong way. Companies
or small businesses should have a better reason to
be on the Internet. You should plan that carefully.
Most of the time it starts with an idea, a product
or a service. And unless you want a personal home
page, you better find out first if there's a market
for that idea, product or service. Internet presence
comes down to three things: marketing, promotion and
(fresh) valuable content.
Step 1
So, if you have an idea, product or service suited
for the Internet, first find out if there's a market
that wants to pay for it. Just use the Search Engines
and Directories to find similar ideas or similar markets.
If you do not have an idea, product or service yet
try to find a (common) need or dissatisfaction in
a certain group of people that want to spend money
to solve their problems (niche, target market). Lurk
in Discussion Groups and Forums. Post some questions
about what is needed most. Develop a solution to fill
a need, relieve a pain or satisfy a desire.
Step 2
Develop a USP, a Unique Selling Proposition. It should
be a unique aspect of your business, something that
separates you from your competitors. And locate where
your customers are, what they do, what they read,
what interests them, in short: how you can reach them
and where. Define your keywords and keyphrases. This
may seem trivial, but if they can't find you, there's
no business! This is crucial for the concept. Target
your audience!
Step 3: Build It!
Sounds easy. It is when you exactly know how to do
that. And even than it's quite complex. Develop a
site that sells with deadly precision, build content,
write sales letters, the technical stuff (CGI, Java,
etc.), prepare Autoresponders, make articles, get
references and so on. Try to automate as much as possible.
It gives you more time for the actions in the next
steps. And make sure that you can stay in touch with
prospects. Your newsletter can do that. Have the content
ready.
Step 4: Get traffic!
Here's the promotion part of the process. Search
Engines and Directories are great to get targeted
traffic. Despite of all remarks regarding constant
changes of algorithms it's still worth while. Press
releases, articles, forums and if you want to banners
and advertising are all in place here. Select your
resources with care by using the information from
Step 2.
Step 5: Test, test, test!
Check the results. Does the system work the way you
planned? Can you improve it? You will not know unless
you test it. Try different sales letters, prices,
guarantees, other layouts or navigation (only change
one thing at the time) and check the results again.
If nothing works, go back to Step 1 and start all
over again. If it works, go back to Step 2 and refine
the whole system. After that go back to Step 1 and
develop the next product, because now you are well
situated for back end products.
About The Author
Article by Case Stevens, moderator of http://www.anownsite.com
where Beginners make a Free Test Ride and Advanced
find Successful Web Solutions. Subscribe to their
FREE newsletter. mailto:anownsite-subscribe@topica.com
