Articlr

You have a simple objective with your website - attracting qualified visitors to be converted to business opportunities. In order to achieve this you will need to ensure that they wish to return and this will only come through having rich content. You then need them to take some form of action that will create a business opportunity for you

Research shows that only 40% of websites are indeed effective. My personal experience would put the figure MUCH lower. How do you measure effectiveness. As the owner of the website you can answer that question by asking yourself - To what extent does my website positively contribute to the way in which I conduct my business.

As to what constitutes a positive contribution and what you can do about that is another matter. Contribution is most often measured in terms of bottom line revenue, be it direct or indirect. You should measure this after all you have most likely put a heavy investment into your business website and unless you are in the practice of throwing money away I would suggest you conduct an audit of your website to clearly determine just how effective it really is. In the mean time you may wish to consider the following points:

1. Document the processes - This is no different to any other aspect of your business. Every aspect of your site and its operation and support should be documented and managed to a plan. This is a valuable business asset. The review of its effectiveness should be conducted on a regular basis and in accordance with a documented plan. Be sure that your operational staff have an input to the design. Whilst web developers are good at creating terrific looking websites they are not business people and have little understanding of such so do not be lead by them in how your business should operate its website.

2. The website is not the domain of your IT Manager of PA - This is a corporate tool and impacts every part of your business. Get your whole management team involved with decisions made about the look and feel, the functionality and the support. Be sure to involve the marketing people by the way!

3. Does your website address your entire market - How many websites seek an international audience yet are only delivered in English. In Australia we are particularly notorious for this and so of en such websites seek out our Asian partners as a key target market. Even matters as simple as providing phone numbers without international codes or giving out 1300 or 1800 numbers without the local number. We sometimes overlook the fact that terms in our own country are not understood overseas.

4. Does your website address your entire market - How many websites seek an international audience yet are only delivered in English. In Australia we are particularly notorious for this and so of en such websites seek out our Asian partners as a key target market. Even matters as simple as providing phone numbers without international codes or giving out 1300 or 1800 numbers without the local number. We sometimes overlook the fact that terms in our own country are not understood overseas.

5. The last aspect to consider is the integrity of your code - Be sure that all program code is without error and that all links go to an actual page. Misusing links are one of the greatest downfalls in websites. A number of websites provide free testing tools to verify W3C compliance, missing links or poor page upload speeds.

6. Treat your website with respect - You have spent a lot of money putting it together. You continue to spend money keeping it active. You pay far more for a salesperson who invariably is involved in activities that can be achieved through your website. Be smart, use your resources effectively and deliver better results

7. Responsibility for an effective website belongs with you as the business owner. Engaging suitably experienced Web Architects can assist in delivering an effective design that will provide functionality that works with your business and an Internet marketing strategy that will promote your website responsibly.