A web site is a crucial ingredient of your marketing strategy because it can widen your target market to include anyone who has access to a computer and the internet. About 60% of Canadians had access to the Internet at home in 2003, and nearly 8 million regularly accessed the Internet from somewhere, either at home, at work or at school. And that's just in Canada. Ecommerce sales from Canada were $7.2 billion, and we only captured 4% of the global ecommerce market! So, how can you reach out to some of those internet users, and how can you take away some of that $7.2 billion spent on ecommerce? First, you create the first step to designing your website. If your company already has business and letterhead cards, it is best to design your website by them. Business ownership similar to a website helps with branding. I like simple websites, with a simple structure and easy navigation. Beautiful, simple design, beautiful graphics, balanced look and beautiful color combinations are my # 1 goal when designing a small business website. Remember to use graphics a bit and customize your website because internet users are impatient. If your page loads too slowly, they will leave. Navigation should be easy to find and use, and should go hand in hand with page by page. I left more than one site frustrated because I could not easily find their way around. Websites for small businesses do not stand together. They change. You need to start somewhere, and starting with a web site is probably a lot easier. All you really need is to start five pages. You can add pages later. The main thing is to just do it - jump and get out of there. Your five pages may include an index, or a home page, about us, services, a contact and a site map. The index page is your prediction page. Usually its composition has less detail than others, but it should not be that way. I like to use CSS to design because it is much easier to build a website and edit its layout with CSS than just HTML alone. A change in the CSS sheet changes all the pages in your site at once. Content is master Once your site has been designed, you will want to start thinking about content. Design is very important, but it is useless to have a good site that does not have high-quality content. Your small business homepage introduces you and your company — who you are and what you do. That would be a great key to a small business communications company. What you want to do, write your content in those words and phrases. You do not want or need too much - three or four have too, many getting them back again and again getting visitors back to your site often is easy. Keep your content fresh and healthy, make sure it's informative, and always add to it. I hope you decide that your small business needs a website. It is the best way I know how to reach a targeted audience with a small investment.
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