By Robert Gluckson, M.A.
Some people want a website that shares their passions. Building a business is another good reason to get a site up. Whatever your reason, how should you get started?
"First thought, best thought," said poet Allen Ginsberg. That's good advice to start any website. Catch the essence and finesse it later. Get started by coming up with whatever is EASY. Just begin. Here are three basic steps.
1. Writing:
Jot notes: be ready to write down "getting up" or shower thoughts. Rough draft is fine.
2. Finding:
Gather already written materials, like your resume, business card, product descriptions, articles you've written, and reviews. Other people's books and CDs may have good descriptions of what you do. Book covers and advertisements are good sources for pictures that express the benefits you want to share. All you need now is the concept.
3. Discovering:
Cruise the web for sites you like or that have similar content.
Go through the topics for each page and repeat the process.
Then collect everything in one place. Not just your writing. Photocopy covers, copy URLs, and type your notes. Put it all in a folder.
Home Page
Vision: What do you want to share? What do you want to accomplish?
Connect your vision for life with your goals for your business/service and website. Journal as long as you like. Then try to boil it down to 25 words.
Example: Good Cause Marketing helps people who are making the world a better place by supporting their vision and goals; by writing marketing plans, publicity, and websites.
Purpose of Site: To put the vision into practice. For example, creating a website that shares knowledge and attracts clients.
Domain Name: How to Choose One
Brainstorm several ideas and ask friends what they like. Do a domain search. There's nothing wrong with using your name! Think of what terms people will use to find you. Most people think of .com for all site names, so if at all possible choose a .com URL. GoDaddy.com has a free domain search tool.
You may want to wait to buy the URL until you've chosen a webmaster and web server. It's more convenient to manage the bills for just one. If your name isn't likely to be grabbed right away, wait.
Example: "goodcausemarketing.com"
Business Description: The Who, What, Why, Where, When, and How. Only 50 to 100 words. Use the key words that someone might have searched for. Include your Location, Name, and any Services you provide, and the more general terms someone who doesn't know you personally might be searching for. This should fit on the home screen (without scrolling): that's where people, and search engines, like to find it.
Warning: these words should be text, not just a picture. Search engines don't "read" pictures. They will read "alt tags," a description of the image, so tell your programmer what to say. (For example, "picture of sun and words Good Cause Marketing")
Call to Action: Exactly What should the reader do?
Examples: "Read articles to find out how to create your own marketing plan. Call for a free consultation. Sign up for the newsletter. See samples of our work on the Portfolio page."
Copy: Feature the BENEFITS for the reader.
Examples: "Learn what will bring the greatest return the fastest at the least cost. Your website works like a yellow pages listing. Read these articles to learn how to write your own website."
Testimonials: People will say good things about your product and service. Put their quotes on the appropriate page.
Use people with appropriate credibility: if they're talking about health benefits, they should be healers. Be forthright about asking; most people are flattered. You can ask them to talk about the specific benefits that will help sell the product.
Example: "My events have been listed in three local newspapers thanks to what you taught me about writing press releases."
Images
Each image has a purpose. Copy under each image expands on the picture content and explains the purpose.
The site will usually require four pictures: a logo at the top of each page, one image of benefits, images of products, and photo of owner/service provider. The logo is often part of the web design fee; the other images may require professional services. One advantage of a good designer and marketing consultant is that they can advise you whether as to the professionalism of the images you already have.
- Logo representing your site and your business. This usually goes at the top of each page, and is often integrated with your Navigation bar. It can be typographical; a picture helps. A smaller version of the Home page logo may be used on succeeding pages.
- A picture that expresses the BENEFITS is usually the featured image of the Home page.
Example: Sell vitamins with a picture of two people in jogging outfits looking at each other like they're ready to jump into bed together.
- A photograph of the Business Owner goes on the About Me page. This image inspires credibility and relates to content: e.g. a business person wears business clothes; a musician looks more relaxed in very nice casual clothes.
- Photographs of the Product; goes on the Product and Buy pages.
Navigation
The Navigation Bar goes on each page. It's usually at the top, under your Logo/Heading, or on the Left side.
Page Contents
Home Page: described above.
Image of Product or Service; ideally, a second image featuring a Benefit.
Product/Service: Describes product in detail, featuring BENEFITS. Photo of Products.
Buy Product: Short descriptions of product, featuring benefits, and software and procedures to buy product.
Have pictures of product. If there are multiple steps to the purchase, have the picture appear in each step.
About Me/Bio: Inspires confidence. Builds credibility related to the product. Education and Experience.
Photo of business owner.
Articles: How-to articles that will attract people interested in subject of product. "How-to …"can be in the meta-tags. You don't have to write these yourself. Ask. Your links people may have something for you; the articles will help attract people to their pages, too, so they're happy to promote themselves.
Links: Share sites that would interest and benefit the type of person who will come to your site.
Follow up: Ask linked site owners to put your link on their links page. Good for Google rankings
Contact information:Include as much as you feel comfortable with. If you'd welcome a call, give your phone number. Tell people what to do.
Examples: "Call … " "Email your Questions to …" "Use the shopping cart or we're happy to take your order by phone."
Get Help When You Need It
Creating a website is like building a log cabin. You can gather the logs and notch them, (or not) but you don't want to get delayed by your lack of expertise with building a foundation or putting in electricity. "Don't know how" and "Don't Wanna" are big blocks. Keep the Vision of what you want to accomplish in mind, and get help when you need it..
Budget: A website is part of your outreach, marketing and sales.
A good rule of thumb is to spend 10 or 15% of your projected income on marketing; more if it is your main sales tool. A professional can get you through the blocks and maximize your efforts so the parts you can do well (Visioning, describing your service, providing insights into what your clients and customers want); and getting support for the parts that slow you down. A professional can point out flaws in design, grammar, or images that could reflect on your credibility.
Consider a one to three thousand dollar budget for a professional website. A marketing consultant/copywriter will charge between $500 and $1500 to co-create your marketing plan, (identify your clients and the benefits they're looking for, how to reach them) and help write all the copy, describe and select all the images. Designers will charge between $500 and $1000 to design and set up your site with your logo, typography, look and feel; and to process and place all your content.
Get Found with Meta-Tags and
Search Engine Optimization
Write the "secret code" words that are part of your web site Html coding; Search Engines see them but they aren't seen on your website screen. These are the words that Search Engines and internet browsers use.
The coding should have the Description that appears on Google. The Description 22 words that will get people to click on the URL and visit your page. These concentrate the key words that people are looking for.
The coding should include the Titles that appear on each website at the top.
Get Google Analytics (free from Google) to understand how people use the site.
Once the site is online, with the Meta-tags, submit it to the Search Engines.
Do a monthly analysis of who is coming to your site, the key words they searched, and how long they stayed on each page. With this knowledge, improve the site; test to see which changes work.
This process is called Search Engine Optimization. At Good Cause Marketing, this is a $150 service.
Good Cause Marketing offers professional results at a reasonable price. See www.goodcausemarketing.com. For a free initial consultation phone Robert Gluckson at (949) 295-2045 or email robertgluckson@goodcause
marketing.com for a free consultation today!
Robert Gluckson, M.A., is a consultant with Good Cause Marketing, a full-service agency providing words, pictures, and websites for people making a difference in the world. See www.goodcausemarketing.com for more articles and to learn about our company's services. Permission is granted to republish this article when accompanied with this link.
