Page 268 - Duct Tape Marketing

252 Part IV: Getting the Word Out without Advertising

ߜ Define your goal for the site. Determine your goal in terms of lead gen-
eration, online sales, customer support, or other expectations. This will
help you weigh site development costs against the value you expect the
site to deliver to your business.

ߜ Commit to the cost, including site construction, hosting, and support.
ߜ Be ready to market your site. Building a site is similar to opening a busi-

ness. You need to commit to marketing for the investment to pay off. (See
“Driving Traffic to Your Site” later in this chapter.)

Types of Web sites

Defining the purpose of a Web site is just like defining the purpose of any
other business communication. You need to know whom you’re trying to talk
to, what people currently know or think about your business, what you want
them to know or think, and, most of all, what action you want them to take
after encountering this communication with your company.

Most Web sites fall into one of the following categories.

Contact and brochure sites

These are promotional sites that tell who you are and what you do.

Company Contact Sites: These are the easiest and most economical to create
and maintain. They allow prospects, who increasingly seek business informa-
tion through search engines or online local directories rather than through
printed Yellow Page directories, to find your business on the Web.

A simple contact site includes your business name, a description of who you
are and what you do, the products and services you offer, your open hours,
and how to reach you online and at your physical location.

For online contact, provide your e-mail address or include a contact form on
your site. The contact form is less convenient for users but protects your
address from spam harvesters who collect addresses to use in ways you’d
like to avoid.

Brochure Sites: Just like printed brochures, good online brochures educate
prospects about your products and services in a way that convinces them
that they want to do business with your company or at least that they would
like to receive more information about becoming a customer. (See Chapter 14
for tips on writing brochures and other company materials.)