The first question a company should ask itself is: What makes a good website? For the site owner, the answer is contained in the hype about the Internet and e-commerce. One of the primary purposes is that it wins prospective customers. This can be done by following two simple principles. First, the site must capture interest from the visitor. After all, it is easy to click off a site if it doesn't appeal. Second, the site must facilitate contact. There is no purpose in having a site as just a pretty display.
The website must improve sales revenue. In its best form, the Internet can provide this at a very low cost. In its worst, it can be a waste of time. It can also help in improving service to a customer, facilitating the information flow between the two parties and providing valuable feedback to the company. Efficiency savings can be realised by an effectively run site.
For the visitor, the website must be speedy. A quick response time is essential to ensure the visitor doesn't abandon your site for another. You have less than 10 seconds to capture interest.
The visitor must also be able to gauge the relevance of the site. The www.travelstore.com web page offers visitors an overview, explaining what it is, what it does and what can be found on the site.
Many visitors chance upon web pages through keywords tapped into a search engine. If a visitor can't correlate the site to his or her needs, the search will be continued elsewhere.
The site must also provide 'value' to the visitor - through information, entertaiment, free gifts or the chance of online bookings.
Search engines hold the key to being found on the net. However, a distinction has to be drawn among their many forms. There are true search engines, such as hotbot.com or lycos.com, directories, such as yahoo.com and meta-search engines such as metacrawler.com. Then there are engines where paying customers get preference.
The major search engines need to know your site exists. This can be done by going to each site and finding the 'add URL' link, buying submission software or visiting www.submit.com/sub.
It is then important to build multiple gateway pages, focus on individual sets of keywords that will lead surfers to your site, and customise gateway pages for each major search engine. This will aid the site's accessibility and hopefully have customers queueing up for your services. For more information contact Paul Richer on www.genesys.net.