Everyone always asks how they can make their website more effective. Here are some key points that you should focus on in order to be more successful on the Internet and with your website.

1. Find A Role For Your Website

The single most important tip is to decide on what role of your website should play in your marketing program before you order it. Do you want to educate the market about your products? Provide a 24-hour information resource for current customers? Showcase your products? Generate requests for literature and leads? If you set objectives and stick to them, your website will be a success.

2. Offer The Reader A Compelling Reason To Contact You

Turning a website visitor into a customer is the most-overlooked aspect of web-based marketing, even on the biggest commercial sites. You want those who visit your website to buy. The easiest way to accomplish this is to engage them in a two way dialog, so you can market to them on your own terms. Get them to volunteer their name so that you can inform them of specials, product upgrades, events, and new products via e-mail or regular mail. How do you get them to volunteer their name? Offer them something! A free catalog, a free quote, a free analysis, a free reprint of an editorial article -- anything your buyers might find of value. Other methods might include weekly drawings for free gifts (T-shirts, free product, etc.), or other promotional giveaways.

3. Get Right To The Point

People are not patient. Studies have proven that people will read long ads and marketing materials, but only if it's clear there's "something in it" for them. Be concise. Be quick. Be interesting. Don't beat around the bush with long introductions or unrelated information. Tell your customer what they want to know and they'll stick around for more!

4. Focus On Your Audience

Remember, your website should appeal to the interests of your audience, no one else matters! Focus on your target audience and put yourself in their shoes. If they're interested in your product because it saves them time, then focus on convenience, don't start your pitch with a laundry list of less-important features. Focus on the key benefits of your product and leave the details for later.

5. Market Your Website

Would you open a sales office in a distant city and then not tell your clients in the area that it had opened? Of course not. Think of your website as an automated sales or service office on the Internet and let your "universe" of potential buyers know that it's available to them. Put your web address on your stationery, business cards, ads, brochures, and other sales materials, use a rubber stamp if necessary. Be creative! For example, send out an "birth" announcement on a postcard. You should also remember to keep your domain name easy to remember. There shouldn't be any dashes or numbers if it isn't necessary. The general rule of thumb is the name should either be the company name or something that will be so easy to remember that if you gave your business card to someone and they lost it, they should still be able to find the website.

6. Make Your Website Useful

Make sure the information your prospects or customers want is available. For example, websites are ideal ways to disseminate the latest information about your product. You can include specifications, case studies, success stories, white papers, or testimonials. And don't forget to include important contact information like your toll-free ordering line, customer service number, or how to get technical support. Make people want to come back to your website, make it "sticky". It should be updated continuously, with events and news. Your site should also give them the incentive of coming back (e-mailed newsletter, product specials, contests, etc.).

7. Make It Easy For Viewers To Respond

You'd think this was obvious, but it's overlooked far too often. You absolutely must make it easy for a reader to express their interest in your website. Plaster your 1-800 number across it, make sure there's a link to your e-mail system, and treat visitors with the care you show any other prospective buyer. I have seen sales-oriented websites that never once listed a phone number or a "click to send e-mail" button.

Most people receive their fair share of SPAM. The only way to truly stop SPAM is to stop emails altogether. Filters can reduce SPAM but SPAMMERS have crafty ways of navigating around filters.

At Etisym all emails are filtered through a SPAM filter at the server. Etisym clients can adjust their SPAM filter, the default setting is 7. At Etisym we do not set the SPAM filter to block or delete SPAM, but rather send it to your "Junk email" or "SPAM" folder. You can raise the level of the filter, or delete SPAM, but then you can catch and lose legitimate emails through the filter.

Here are some suggestions for managing SPAM.

• Leave your SPAM filter at the default setting (7)
• Do not automatically delete or block emails identified as SPAM by the SPAM filter at the server.
• Periodically check your "Junk email" folder or "SPAM" folder to make sure the filter hasn't sent a legitimate email to this folder.
• Periodically delete contents of the "Junk email" folder (this makes it easier to check next time)
• If in doubt throw it out. Do not open suspicious emails or emails not instantly recognisable.
• Do not have your email client set so that it automatically opens emails upon arrival. Make sure you can only see the title of the email and have to double click to open the email.
• Do not openly publish your email address online
• If persistent SPAM gets through then you can right click on the email (for Microsoft Outlook) and go to "Junk email" then "Add sender to blocked senders list". This will then block all emails from that particular sender in your email client.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - Never give your account details or passwords to emails from financial institutions claiming problems with your account. If in doubt contact the financial institution directly. DO NOT use any links or phone numbers contained within the email to make contact.

This link below will take you to the Government site (Australian Communications & Media Authority) with lots more information regarding SPAM.

http://www.acma.gov.au/web/STANDARD//pc%3DPC_2008

Things to think about when planning your website

* What advantages would you like to gain from your website?
* What disadvantages do you think you may encounter?
* How do you plan to overcome those disadvantages?

Target Market:

* Who is your primary target market?
* Who are the main customers you wish to reach?
* Who is your secondary target market? (If any)
* To whom do you sell or want to reach primarily? Other businesses or to the general public?
* How will your website compare to the way your business / organization currently operates?
* Are you planning an online brochure to enhance your marketing or showcase your product / service?
* Would you like to receive orders and sell merchandise over the internet?

Setup:

* Have you selected a domain name for your website? Is it currently registered?
* Will your site need a security certificate?
* Will you be processing credit card transactions?

Advertising and Promotion:

* How will you generate demand for your product or service?
* Will you offer banner ad space?
* Will you offer referrer bonuses?
* Will you offer contest-based promotions?
* Will you offer coupons for using the website?
* Will you be participating in email marketing?
* On what other media will you be advertising your business?
* Will you be adding your website information to that media?

Customer Service:

* Who will be answering email generated by the website?
* Will your customers have a phone number at which you can be reached on the website?

Functionality:

Which functional features should your website offer? Consider:

* e-commerce/shopping cart
* site search
* customer service/support
* tech support
* discussion forums
* newsletter
* catalog/information
* order forms
* feedback form
* member logon
* password protected areas
* SSL-encrypted areas

Information:

Which informational elements should your site contain? Consider:

* about us page
* contact us page
* copyright notice
* privacy statement
* disclaimer
* sitemap

Not everyone can afford Photoshop, so here is a program that is free and some say as good as Photoshop, well, almost.

It's called GIMP and is short for GNU Image Manipulation Program (the GNU bit means its free).

Follow the links below to download the program. I also recommend downloading a plugin called "Save for web", this helps to make it easy when resizing images for the web. More about this later.

To download GIMP

You will need to go to this page - http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

And download "GIMP for Windows (version 2.6.8)15694 kB GIMP requires Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP2 or newer to run."

To download "Save for web"

You will need to go to this page - http://registry.gimp.org/node/33

And download save_for_web_0.28.6_win32.zip

Save for web comes with instructions in a read me file about how to install the plugin.

A domain name is simply a system for providing a human-memorable name for a particular computer on the Internet. Properly speaking, computers have numerical addresses similar to phone numbers. The domain name system provides a translation from a name to the appropriate number (similar to a directory assistance for the Internet). For example, www.super8.com is much easier to remember than 498.178.89.226.

Why you need a domain name and what are the advantages?

* Your web service and e-mail addresses can be consistent (e.g., www.yourcompany.com and info@yourcompany.com).
* A domain name is shorter and more memorable than a URL under your ISP's domain name (e.g., www.yourcompany.com vs. www.verizon.net/yourcompanyname).
* Most importantly: You have the freedom to move your web hosting and e-mail at will from one Internet Service Provider to another without having to change your URL and email addresses. If your URL is www.verizon.net/yourcompanyname, you have to be a customer of Verizon. If you become unhappy with the service you are getting and want to switch, you'll have to change your URL and email, throwing away all the work you did to publicize the first website. If you have your own domain name, you're not stuck.

The 3 top level domain names are .com, .net, & .org. There are also several domain extensions such as .us, .edu, .gov, .info, and more. Dot Com domains are usually the best choice, if available. Organizations should use .org, while commercial businesses should use .com, .net or .us, depending on the availability of .com's.

This is a big question with a multitude of answers; here are the main key point advantages of having a website:

Development & distribution costs are extremely low

When you compare the cost of establishing a website to what it costs to promote your business in print or on the air, you'll see that a website is the cheapest form of marketing. A radio campaign featuring several 30-second spots per week for three months could run you $5,000 - $10,000. That gets you five minutes per week of exposure for three months in the local area only. Newspaper and magazine ads are similarly highly priced, and they only last for the life span of that particular publication. A website has virtually limitless space.

You could put up a website with dozens of photographs and several thousand words for under $3,000 for the first year, and keep it up and running for a few hundred dollars per year after that. What would it cost to run a newspaper ad of this size for a year? Imagine how much it would cost to produce a catalog for 200 different products, and keep it in consumers' hands for an entire year. You can accomplish this with a website very easily, with low development cost and almost no distribution cost. Websites are in full color - a palette of 16.7 million colors for your photographs alone.

A website is accessible worldwide.

There are no physical limitations to broadcast areas as in radio and no circulation region restrictions as in newspapers or magazines. You can keep your website more current more affordably than any other media; you can update a website immediately, and as often as you like. Imagine you sell products whose prices fluctuate. With a website, you can change these prices every time they go up or down, so your marketing materials are always accurate.

Websites are economical and not limited by size.

This means a small business can present as large or creative of an image on the Internet as a bigger company - with the right design team. A website also allows easy and safe communication between the consumer and you so that anyone who visits your site can contact you at any time by sending an email. Unlike communications that originate from other forms of advertising, consumers who send emails don't have to deal with many problems of everyday business: pushy salesmen, remembering to call during business hours, having to battle crowds to get to your stores, spending time waiting on voice mail or getting the wrong information. It's convenient, easy, and safe for the consumer. Email is also convenient for you.

Websites are convenient

You can respond to all your customer inquiries at the same time, and do it when you have a free moment - not in the middle of rush hour when someone calls up to ask for product information or directions to your location. You can save money on tech support and answering questions. If your employees spend a lot of time answering the same questions and sending out the same material, you can reduce that labor cost significantly by providing the information on the website. For instance, a client can avoid having to mail or fax information for over 1,000 phone call solicitations in a one-year period simply by providing the information on their site. That improves on labor costs and provides a real cost savings in reduced long distance phone bills (for faxes) and postage. Your website can also take orders while you sleep as people can place orders on a website at any time, day or night. But most importantly, no salesmen manning the store, no utilities, no insurance, no payroll...computers don't need a benefit package or overtime. For every second of every day, your website is working for you!  As to your choice for website design, if a designer can't tell you why a website is a unique marketing tool as we have here, how successful will their website be? Are they helping you to develop a marketing mechanism or are they selling special effects? Is it an intelligent tool for driving business or an overpriced, turbo-charged business card? Make sure you choose a designer with marketing expertise, experience and skills.

I have email set up for my website but how do I get the emails at home? Once emails are configured on the server with your hosting company you need to set up the account in the software that you use at home to manage emails. There is lots of email management software but the two most common are Microsoft Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook. Below is a guide to setting up your email account with one of these programs.

Your website is not a seperate entity within your marketing strategy. All your marketing events and plans need to work off each other therefore make sure that you blend your website across all your marketing media!

This section of articles will provide tips and tricks for marketing in and around your site to help improve its effectiveness. One of the most important strategies is to blend your website across all your marketing. What I mean by this is, simply make sure that your website address is on all other forms of marketing be it your brochures, any printing, your email signature, business cards, etc.

The other form of blending is to ensure that the colours, fonts, styles and layouts of your other media correspond with your website and vice a versa. Also find ways of placing other marketing media on your website. For example, if you conduct a mailout with brochures, also place it on your website as a latest news item or something similar. You could create the news item page similarly to the brochure with the same layout and images. Avoid placing a 'pdf document' of the brochure on your site as search engines do not recognise the content of the pdf and therefore it will not be noticed by search engines.

We will continually provide more tips and tricks about marketing in future articles.

CD's and DVD's aren't lasting as long as everyone thought they would! I remember when CD's first came out and they were touted as indestructable and would last for 100 years. Well guess what?------- Wrong!

We all know that they are quite easily scratched and a recent study suggests that on average a CD or DVD will lose approximatley 20% of the information it is storing after two years!!

This was an average of all CD/DVD's, so good quality CD's and DVD's will lose a lot less and obviously cheapo brands may have nothing left. So what do we do? Well, unfortunately if the information is important I would transfer the information to a new CD or DVD every two years. I would also back it up on some other form of media such as a server hard drive or maybe on line with companies that provide this service. There are many choices for storage but I suppose the most important thing is to realise that you could lose important information on your CD/DVD after a shorter period of time than you thought.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. What is it, and should I know about it?

SEO is the art of ranking your website as highly as you can with the different search engines. There are various techniques you can use to increase the ranking of your site on a search engine such as paying for a better ranking or increasing your ranking through the use of key words, metadata, linking, etc.

What is ranking? If I search for something on Google, Yahoo, Internet Explorer etc, for something like "Shoes" the ranking is basically the list of websites that are listed in response to my search. My aim is to be the first website that appears on the list. Simple. Not really. There are so many variables on the internet impacting upon rankings that it is now regarded as an art form to rank well.

We can still use the techniques above and it will definitely improve your rankings. Future articles will deal with these one at a time!