"The Who, What, When, & Where of the Web"
Part 1

By Crystal M. Thomas
True Prism Technologies

These days most businesses have a website. If they don't, they should.

Unfortunately, merely having a website is not enough. A website must become a functional marketing vehicle that actively promotes and markets a business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Business owners must shift the outdated thought that a website is just a brochure for their business. A website should be a one-stop informational kiosk, an auto- attendant always available to answer a visitor's questions. Information should be organized and easy to find.

But more importantly, the information simply has to be there. When a website lacks the basics, it is all too easy for a visitor to click away and visit a competitor's website instead.

The key to creating a successful website lies in providing the basic answers to 5 questions:

Who
When a visitor first stumbles across a website, the first question they want answered is "Who?" The company name should be clearly identified and prominently placed immediately on the homepage. This is the first opportunity a business has to place itself in front of a site visitor.

Incorporating the company name and logo directly into the overall design of a website ensures that a brand identity is created for the company, engraining the "who" directly into the minds of your visitors. Repeating the company name throughout the text of the site has the added benefit in getting the "who" across to search engines as well. This is the number one way search engines begin to identify and rank a website. This ensures that the business website is found in the search engine results pages - ultimately, providing a steady stream of new visitors to the site.

What
As a website visitor nothing is more frustrating than clicking through pages and pages of useless information in a vain attempt at answering "What does this company do?"

Perhaps the hardest part of creating a website is deciding on how to present the suite of services or products a company offers. The type of business or industry typically determines how this information is presented on the web.

An online store should promote photos, descriptions, and perhaps an option to buy products online. Products should be categorized for ease of navigation. Business owners should consider promoting new, clearance, and sales items directly on the homepage. This generates fresh content for the search engines to discover and places "what" you do immediately in the forefront of a customer's mind.

A business that offers services should attempt to clearly identify a list of services - using industry keywords whenever possible - immediately on the homepage. A customer should understand the basic services offered immediately from the first paragraph of homepage content.

Stating a bulleted list of services on the homepage, with links to further detail, is a great way to make the services standout amongst additional homepage content. This also allows visitors to quickly determine if this is a business they wish to explore more deeply.

Businesses should consider adding a Frequently Asked Questions section to their website. Visitors will often look to the web for a quick answer to their questions. Anticipating questions in advance can reduce the time and payroll costs of associated with answering the same questions via phone and email later.

The preceding was written by Crystal M. Thomas (cthomas@trueprism.com) of True Prism Technologies (www.trueprism.com).
The conclusion of the article will be published in the following issue.