The Internet

"Web sites brings in very little or no business. It seems to me, to be over hyped and just a waste of time and money."

"The Internet has no relevance to my business"

These are just a couple of statements that I have heard from business owners and managers, who do not understand the basic principals of the Internet. There are a lot of common misconceptions about the Internet and web sites, mainly due to people's lack of understanding of how to get the most out of a web site.

Our aim is to give people the knowledge and understanding of the Internet, so that their web sites will bring in huge amounts of business, for a comparatively small outlay.

Firstly we need to look at who uses the Internet.

Figures vary, depending on which survey you read, but it is widely considered to be in the region of 10 to 15 million regular internet users, just in the UK. Adult males account for roughly half, women account for about a third and children the remainder. The largest age group is 15 to 24 year olds, of which it is reported that over half of the UK's population of this age group are regular internet users. It is also widely reported that the over fifties is rapidly becoming a large group of internet users.
This gives a brief indication to the number of potential customers.

Secondly we need to look at why and how people use the Internet.

There are three main categories here:  Information and Research, Shopping, Business and Banking transactions.

• Information and Research - the Internet is used widely to find out information about products, services, weather, health, leisure facilities, holidays, industry and almost any subject that you can think of.
• Shopping - recent surveys suggest that over half of UK internet users have bought online. There has been a huge growth, which is predicted to continue, in people buying online, with more and more companies and shops offering their products for sale over the Internet.
• Business and Banking - bills and accounts are reviewed and paid online, from work or at home.

Thirdly we need to look at how people find a web site.

There is somewhere in the region of 2 billion web pages on the Internet, so how do people find what they are looking for?
You can go out and blow millions on traditional marketing, to get people to your web site, as many big name companies have done (several have gone bust doing just that and most are yet to see a profit), however somewhere between 70 to 80% of internet users find sites through the use of search engines, which predominantly charge nothing to get listed in.
Why advertise a web site to those people who never use the Internet? It is always a good idea to include details of your web site on any traditional advertising that you do, but by far the most cost effective way of advertising your web site is on the Internet.
Search engines bring a level playing field to businesses, where the smallest of businesses can compete equally with the large corporation.

So how does this information help get you a successful web site?

It tells you that first of all you need to target your website carefully to your potential customers.

If you are not going to sell online, your web site needs to be of interest and contain useful information. You need to consider content - "why would anybody want to look at my web site? What does it have to offer?".
Do not make the most common mistake of thinking that your website is the same as an advert. A newspaper advert, whilst often ignored, is there to be seen. Even a brochure is given, and there to be seen. An internet user will have to look for and find your web site.
This poses challenges, but offers the best possible referrals and client base. This is why a lot of small businesses fail to get new business from a web site.
There is a subtle yet all important difference between a promotional web site and an advert. This lack of understanding by the majority can be used, to your advantage, to give your small business the high profile that it needs to compete with the large corporations.

If you are going to sell online, then the above principals apply even more, it is not an advert for your shop, it is a "new shop". You need to consider all of the implications of this. Whilst you will have far less overheads for this "new shop", it will bring additional challenges.
The goods will most likely have to be packaged and shipped; make sure you have a reliable courier. If the goods are to be sent to home addresses, then it is often essential to have a courier who will deliver out of normal working hours. Only sell online the products that can be viably packaged and shipped.

People will look for almost anything and everything on the Internet. The important thing is to be found!
As  I said earlier, most people find web sites via search engines. Your web site needs to be designed and coded to be "search engine friendly" and it needs to have appealing or useful content.
This will get your web site high in a search engine's rankings.

Now you understand that you have to get your content right, but there are still pitfalls; implementation of the site and how to ensure that it is designed and coded to be "search engine friendly".
For help and advice on this please refer to our page "Web site design to ensure maximum hits".

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