Creating a Winning
Website for Your
Small Business
Presenter
Scott Loggins
Office 363-7172
• Scott Loggins - SCORE Mentor
• Former Business Development Manager
and Software Development Manager
GoDaddy.com.
• Former Case Mgr – Business Success
Initiative.
Currently runs several family owned
businesses including Air Management, CR
Business Brokers, Sniggol Holdings, LLC,
SKA, Inc. and KAS Maintenance.
What We Will Cover Night One
Workshop Agenda
Importance & Benefits of a Web Presence
Internet and MarketingStrategyfor Your Business
Key Elements of Effective Web Design
Web Development
Measuring Results
What We Will Not Cover
x Social Media
x Search Engine Optimization
x Internet Marketing
These Topics are covered in other
SCORE workshops
CREATING YOUR
WEB PRESENCE
To inform potential customers about your business with relevant and concise information
To advertise and describe offerings and location
To sell products and services
To generate business leads
To brand your business and provide contact information
To be “found” by potential customers using search engines
To build a foundation for customer interaction (ordering, returns, feedback, etc.)
Every Business Needs a Web Presence
Keep in mind: Over 88 percent of
Americans use the Internet Nielsen Online.
Benefits of Having a Web Presence
= Increased
Sales
Professional
Web
Presence + More
Eyes
Looking
At Your
Business
B2C (Business to Consumer):85% of US/UK people surveyed are
influenced by personalized home page promotions (Kibo 2017)
B2B (Business to Business):
94 percent of business buyers do some form of online research:
(Acquity Group,)
How people will access your web site
CREATING YOUR
MARKETING PLAN
AND INTERNET
STRAEGY
Marketing Plan & Internet Strategy
Your Marketing Plan:
Defines your target market
Details your competitive strategy
Documents a pricing strategy
Establishes a marketing budget
Defines your Internet strategy’s role in your marketing effort
Consider Target Audience & Competitors
Target Audience
Who are they?
What are their characteristics (age, income, tech savvy)?
What are they looking for on your website?
Competitors
Who are they?
What do their websites do well?
What could they improve on?
What are the opportunities for your business? Where are they and how
far will they travel?
Goals for Your Website
What do you need your website to do?
The answers will create your Internet strategy = a measurable
plan of action using the Internet to get desired results.
Think about:
Your business goals
Your marketing goals
Your target audience
Your competition
4 Functions of a Website
Promote
Publish
Communicate
Serve
your business by telling customers about it
information that’s useful to your customers
with customers
customers by handling business functions
What Functions Does Your Website Need?
A website doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some
components different types of businesses might want to
include:
Restaurant or Retail Store: Address, photo of location, product photos, menu, phone and e-mail contacts, map, hours, online reservation tool.
Consulting or Accounting Business: Most of the above plus photos/bios of key personnel, explanation of services provided, client list, appointment scheduler, articles or tips from owner.
E-commerce Business: Product photos/descriptions, online ordering and payment, frequently asked questions/help, shipping policies and costs.
THE WEB
PRESENSE
FOUNDATION
LAND (HOSTING)
ADDRESS
(WEB DOMAIN)
ARCHITECT
(WEB DESIGNER)
HOME
(WEBSITE)
What Is a Website
A website is a collection
of web pages, images,
videos or other digital
assets that are addressed
to a particular domain name.
www.yourbusinessname.com or
Keep it short and simple
About $10-$12/year at most
domain providers
Buy your domain name before someone
else does!
Consider buying several
ADDRESS
(WEB DOMAIN)
Web Address = Domain Name
LAND (HOSTING)
Your website needs to be hosted on servers, which are
computers used to store your Web files with a
connection to the internet.
Starting at a few dollars per month
Ask about:
Up-time
Support
Backup
Number of domains
Shared or dedicated servers
Web Hosting
EFFECTIVE WEB
DESIGN
Effective Websites Are…
Professional looking
Consistent
Easy to navigate
Simple
Elements of Website Navigation
Top navigation bar should be
constant across pages.
Side navigation bars are
optional.
Bottom bar should consist of
simple text links to your site; it
is important for search engine
ranking.
Page body is where you put
that page’s relevant
information.
Tips for Navigation
Organized structure
Keep it simple – users should be able to get anywhere in
2-3 clicks
Keep important links, content, etc. “above the fold”
Use white space to simplify
How Users Scan Sites: Hot Spots
“F- Pattern”: Focus user’s attention
USERS DON’T READ – they scan!
Put most important elements in places where eyes naturally go.
USERS DON’T READ – they scan!
Using Color, Graphics, and Text
Use colors that work well together
Keep colors consistent with your brand
Keep text size readable
Keep text and background colors readable
Use high-quality photographs
Avoid sound unless that is your business
What Is Web Content?
“Content” refers to any written material on your
website, including:
Titles
Headlines
Product names
Product descriptions
“About Us” page
Help page
FAQs
Customer service information
Articles
Blogs
Writing Effective Web Content
Know your target audience
Keep it short and simple
- Headings 8 words or less
- Paragraphs 40-70 words
Write active content
Write for how people search
Keywords
- Google and Bing offer Search-Based Keyword Tool
Edit and proofread
CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity and Your Business
Why should a small business be concerned with information
security?
Protect customer information
Protect employee information
Protect business partner/vendor/supplier information
Protect your business’s information
Protect for:
Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
What’s at Risk?
What do you risk if you fail to protect your data?
Fines from banks, credit card issuers, state and federal agencies
Lost productivity
Lost sales
Costs/time to repair damage
Loss of trust
Lost reputation
Legal costs
10 Steps to Cybersecurity
1. Use and update antivirus/anti-spyware software
2. Secure your Internet connection (firewall via WAP/router
or ISP)
3. Turn on the firewall on each computer
4. Patch/update OS and applications
5. Regularly back up data
6. Secure wireless access
7. Train employees in security processes
8. Require individual user accounts
9. Use strong passwords and change them often
10. Limit employee access to data/limit installation authority
WEBSITE
DEVELOPMENT
OPTIONS
Choosing the Right Option
When assessing your development options,
consider the following:
Your time
Your tech skills
Your budget
Web Development options
Templates verses Web development software
Templates
Fast and easy
Fosters good design
More costly over-time
Less flexibility
Web development software
More costly the 1st year
Requires a higher skill
More flexible results
Web Development options
Popular Web development software Most are $50-$120 to purchase
WebEasy Professional
Web Studio
WebAcappella
Web Plus
Xara Web Designer
EZGenerator
Web Creator Pro
Source web-design-software-review
Web Development Options -Templates
Popular Template web site builders $40-$150\year including hosting
WIX.com
Web.com
Weebly.com
Squarespace
GoDaddy.com
Network Solutions.com
BuildYourSite.com
Source: top10bestwebsitebuilders.com
Web Hosting Choices
If you build your own site, with Web development software you will need a Web hosting company.
Costs $40-$60\year
Some of the top Web hosting companies include:
1. Ipage.com
2. Bluehost.com
3. HostGator.com
4. JustHost.com
5. Yahoo.com
6. GoDaddy.com
Source: consumer-rankings-com
MEASURING
RESULTS
Your Site Is Up - Now What?
A successful website generates measurable results for
your business.
1. Know your goals for the website
To get the most from your site, follow this 3-step process:
2. Continually adjust site as needed
3. Measure results
All major search engines (Bing, Google and Yahoo) offer
sophisticated free analytics tools to help you track and
benchmark your website results.
What Should You Measure?
Number of site visitors
Individual page impressions
Average visit length
Most/least popular pages
Most popular site entry pages
Where users come from (sites or search engine phrases)
Number of inquiries, leads or sales generated
Conversion rates
Total sales volume online
Average purchase per online customer
Module In Review
Summary
Benefits of a Web presence
Developing a Marketing and Internet strategy
Components of a website
Elements of effective Web design
Developing your website
Measuring Results
Next Steps
Connect with a SCORE Mentor
- SCORE has over 13,000 successful and experienced executives
with small business know-how that want to
help you
- Visit www.scorecr.org for additional workshops and more
information
Take the survey
Creating a
Winning Website
for Your Small
Business
Questions?
Thank You!
Scott Loggins
(319) 363-7172
