Seacoast Sites Web Page Design

Why should you be on the Internet?

Cost efficient email communication, access to world-wide libraries, quick, easy, inexpensive access to millions and millions of people and a universe of information on a world-wide basis.

A personal homepage for fun can be effective way of introducing yourself on-line.

Getting your business online. Learning how to use this world-wide media and all it's advantages to market your business.

It is possible to design and produce a well-written, well-designed, encompassing, informative, tasteful, website affordably. For a small business, a website is the perfect marketing tool.
Internet presence can help your business increase its marketing outreach efforts from local to global smoothly and more successfully.
The greatest advantages and returns from your business website will come from other than on-line sales/purchasing. Target your site's purpose toward creating and improving image, and to enhancing & increasing customer service and support.
What do you want your site to do? Are you planning to sell products or services over the web? Or, offer customer service to your existing and future customers? Or, offer a resource or information related to your business? Or, offer an on-line e-zine or newsletter?
In our opinion, the Internet IS a great marketing tool, and the possibilities are endless.
Should your company be on the web?
The web is a marketing tool. Like all marketing plans, if yours has been properly researched, targeted & effectively implemented you will profit from your Internet presence. Integrate a mix of Internet options, based on the demographics pertaining to your market.
Most businesses we know are using the web and the Internet as part of their operation, to provide and distribute information, as another form of business visibility and advertizing, etc.
Gear your approach to the web, not so much toward selling your products or services, but to enhance your marketing efforts in a way that will make your website pay for itself. Your return on your investment should come from income generated, money saved and other intangibles gained by being on the Internet:

new outlets for your products or services.
new marketing methods.
money saved on printing and postage.
new business alliances & acquaintances.
conventional (off-line) publicity as a result of your website, and,
new customers/clients.

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How do people to find your website?
People won't find your website unless they know it is there and want to come to your site (have a reason to choose to visit it).
Your site has to be designed to make visiting enjoyable and easy.

Pages should be small and manageable; easy to navigate, so that visitors with slow modem connections will not have to wait for your pages to load.

Graphics should also be small and light, so that visitors with non-graphical browsers will enjoy the your entire site.

Your site should offer some valuable information and interaction for visitors. Free resources, a monthly newsletter, and/or an email form.

You have to let potential visitors know where your site is. Don't just wait for new customers to arrive, attract them and go get them.

Get listed in as many search engines and link lists as possible. There are hundreds of search engines, link-lists (including private homepages), e-zines and the like which will include a reciprocal link to your site.

There are also newsgroups and mailing lists (discussion groups) to announce your new site, as well as major events and changes to it.

Include your URL & 3-4 line description of your site in your email signature; add your URL and email address to your letterhead & company advertising.

Join and participate in discussions in appropriate lists and groups.

Offer a free service, have thousands of people see you (and your email signature) as an authority, and as someone willing to contribute good advice.

Market you site offline. Let your local newspapers and other publications know your business is on the Internet. Send press releases.

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What do website visitors look for?
Surveys show that there are people who like a full range of experiences on the web, from the smallest, fastest loading sites to the largest, high-intensity sites.
For example, sites which are user-friendly, full of rich and valuable content, and which are constantly updated with interesting links, keep my interest.
But, for every websurfer, the reasons for browsing are different - interaction, communication, entertainment, enrichment, education, to name a few. It depends upon their computer equipment, access provider, software, likes & dislikes, personalities, personal & professional interests, research needs, ad infinitum.
In any event, your job, and your site designer's job, is to make your business website appeal to a large group of potential customers/clients, as well as, hopefully, everyone else who "surfs" in.
Some visitors look for sites with multimedia, Java, cgi, animation, high-end graphics, etc.
Others, perhaps those conducting research or those with less-than-optimal computer equipment, want text-only sites with no graphics which load fast, and care only for the quality of the information.
However, no matter what, the content of a site is lost if it takes too long to access it. And, no amount of "bells and whistles" can cover up for a site that doesn't have quality content to begin with. Content is King.
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What are the elements of a successful Website?
In general:

direct online sales except for certain products are not the web's strong point.

websurfers want sites which are fast-paced, easy to navigate and entertaining.

Providing quality information in a smooth flowing site with good interactivity and navigability is the most important.
Variety, interactivity, constant growth and change, good links to other sites, well-written text, elegant but low-intensity visuals, useful tools and resources - a good site is a pleasure to visit.
To make a site good:

Avoid long, slow-loading pages with large, heavy graphics.

Produce an effective, easy to navigate site with solid facts, good writing and easy, relevant linkage.

Invite visitors (and perspective customers) to communicate with you. Have a guestbook, and link your email address to every page. Promptly reply to guestbook signers and email.

Your site needs to be well-written and well-designed. Remember, if it's not easy to access, navigate, useful and pleasant, your visitors have all of cyber-space to explore.

Keep your site lively. Update it regularly. Include information of value for your visitors beyond your business. Make your site a place where people will enjoy going, to look for other information of value, interest or entertainment.

If you are selling something, make it easy for your customers to buy from you. Display your products or services in a meaningful and informative way. Offer free samples of your goods. Offer an 800 phone number and/or free catalog request by email.

Offer something free for your visitors. "Freebies" are always popular. A monthly (or bi-monthly) newsletter? A local resource page? A free service or product? A trivia quiz? A contest? Be sure to offer prizes to winners, too. Remember, the average websurfer is there to learn, to interact, to be entertained, to find freebies, but, most of the time, not to buy.

Equally important to the actual content of your site is your marketing of it. The web is unique in that the only way most people will visit your site is through publicity. You must advertize your site both online and off.
The best thing you, as a business owner, can do with your website and Internet presence is to use it to generate offline publicity, to increase the quantity and quality of your interaction with your customers/clients, to maximize customer/client loyalty to your goods and services.
The best thing you, as a website owner, can do to enhance your business is to give something of value, with no strings attached, to the Internet and its community.
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What should you look for in a website developer?
The business Internet client needs a rounded experienced developer that will do an expert job of design, marketing and helping you make money. Your designer should be adept at the interface between color and graphics which attract, and well balanced text and high level content.
Your developer should have all the necessary tools available - scripting, state-of-the art server - in addition to experienced and talented HTML experts and graphics artists.
You will probably need a producer who will also maintain and update your website regularly (at least monthly) because visitors lose interest in a stagnant site.
You need a provider who configures your site smoothly and fixes problems quickly and efficiently.
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IMHO
Through the Internet, we're creating a new marketing paradigm in an all new medium, an incredibly well developed, major interactive global communication system. This new medium is constantly evolving; so are the tools available to us to explore and utilize it.
The Internet is a graphically enhanced text-based medium. Users need to be able to communicate, and businesses need to attract customers with good, well-expressed information embellished with well-designed, user-friendly graphics, pictures and interactive tools.
We, at Seacoast Sites, think that this is a wonderful thing.