THE RIGHT WEBSITE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Google’s chief executive officer Eric Schmidt has predicted that, based on current trends, India will become the world's biggest Internet market in about five or ten years from now.1 India today has over 81 million Internet users2 and ranks fourth among the top 10 Internet-using nations.3
That leaves no doubts regarding the potential of the Internet for businesses in India. While popularity and the potential of the Internet are clearly evident, deciding which type of website is right for your business may not be as clear, but it doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
An important first step to conducting business on the Internet is to select and register a domain name. The domain name can be used to represent your company’s brand and identity on the Internet. To help increase your company’s visibility on the Web and establish your brand online, select a meaningful domain name and register it as soon as possible.
Just as location in the offline world can be important for your business’ growth, a .com domain name can be the cornerstone of your online success. A .com domain name helps make for an effective Internet presence since it is currently the most popular domain name on the Internet today.4 Further it helps provide instant recognition, visibility and credibility for your brand online, both in India and globally.
To create the right website for your business it is important to consider these key steps:
Designing a website to suit your business need
As a first step, it is important for any business owner to identify the purpose of having a website. Therefore, homework to decide what kind of website is suitable for your business is extremely important.
As you develop your strategy, focus on how your website will benefit your business? Is the website going to promote the company, serving as a marketing extension to your brick-and-mortar business? Or will the website be an online e-commerce store where visitors can purchase goods and services online?
For example, the business of silk sarees is big in India. One of the challenges many shop owners face is managing the large number of sales people required in-store to display the sarees to demanding customers. Another challenge to those owners interested in growing their business is reaching out to an international customer base. Setting up more stores to reach a larger customer base would no doubt be a costly affair.
In this case, a website may not only help display the variety of sarees the store has but may also take orders online. It could also allow its customers to custom-order the sarees.
Once you are clear about the purpose of your website, it would be advisable to do some Web surfing. Check out other websites to help you decide the types of the designs or functionalities you like.
Now that you are clear about what your website can do for your business, you need to pick the right kind of website. There are essentially two categories of websites – static and dynamic.
Static websites
A static website, as the name suggests, is one that is not designed to change. Once the website has been designed, and the contents incorporated into the design template, each page will remain the same over time. In order to update a static website, you will generally need to ask the website development company for assistance.
A static website provides a basic online presence. For example, a website for a holiday cottage may only need a few pages that include details of the cottage, photos of the rooms, a page that provides 'how to find us' directions, and a contact form where visitors can inquire about making a booking.
Similarly, an accounting practice may only need a website which is essentially their business card on the net and where they can also post professional biographies and related information.
Dynamic websites
Dynamic websites, on the other hand, mean that the content can be updated as and when desired by the members of the business itself using a Content Management System (CMS). CMSs are Web-based software applications that allow you to update website content without support from a website development company or having extensive knowledge of Web programming. For example, an e-commerce website is a good candidate for a dynamic website as it would need continuous updates on products, prices, even promotions.
Many large and successful e-commerce websites sell products, take orders, charge credit cards, and ship goods. They offer their target customers the benefit of ease of use, huge selections and a wealth of additional information on the products they sell.
You can always take pointers from these websites and make shopping at your online website simple too. These websites frequently have clean and professional pages. Their use of images, for example, is prudent: never too many and small in size, so the pages don’t take long to load. They know that their job is to give customers a chance to find what they want quickly and easily and to be able to purchase it without a hassle.
Depending on why you need to build a website, you can make the right choice for your online presence with a static or a dynamic website.
Taking the online plunge
Selecting the right type of website and domain name for your business are critical. These decisions can play an important role in being a catalyst in your business growth by reaching out to millions of Internet users that surf the Web and may be interested in your company and your products. A website that works for your business can not only help grow your business, but it can also serve as a cost-saving measure.]
As the Internet becomes a popular means of looking for information, products and services, creating the right online presence can help you carve a niche in the minds of your consumers and give you the opportunity to highlight your business strengths vis-à-vis competition.
Welcome to the Internet world!
1 From the article ‘Google predicts India will be largest net mkt’ in The Times of India by Rashmee Roshan Lall, 24 May 2006 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Google-predicts-India-will-be-largest-net-mkt/articleshow/1549720.cms)
2 www.internetworldstats.com, June 30, 2010
3 From the article ‘Can India lead the mobile-internet revolution?’ by Laxman Narasimhan dated 8 March 2011 availabe at http://www.silicon.com/technology/networks/2011/03/08/can-india-lead-the-mobile-internet-revolution-39747100/
4 During the fourth quarter of 2010, the overall base of .com and .net domain names grew to reach a combined total of 105.2 million names, according to the Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief (Volume 8, Issue 1, February 2011)