Every business needs a website, no matter what sort of business it is, or what size. At the very least, an Online Business Card style website will ensure a Google search will find your business, and allow you some control in how it is presented online.

Following is a summary of some different categories of business website.

Online Business Card Website

This is as basic as you can get, and should be the minimum requirement for your business.

• One page website
• Displays your logo and tagline
• Includes basic details such as address and contact information
• Can also include a brief description of products and services offered

Online Brochure Website

This is a more standard website for a small business, and will suit most businesses with basic requirements.

• Approximately five pages
• The home page will be sales focused and feature an overview of your business offering
• Products and services will be the main focus of the website
• A page about your business will be included, such as your team and history
• A contact page is mandatory, and can include a map and a contact form

Content Management System (CMS) Websites

For business with lots of information to be organised and made available, a database enables efficient storage and retrieval of information.

A CMS features an administration area that you can log into to manage the website content and pages. Often an administrative staff member will take on this role.

Using a CMS allows website management to become very efficient, and most feature:

• Search engine optimised web pages
• Document and image management
• User profiles
• Creating and saving draft pages
• Microsoft Word style toolbar to simplify rich text formatting

Blog Website

Blogs are great for generating traffic from search engines like Google. A blog can be a standalone website, or can be integrated into any other type of website.

Maintaining a blog requires some writing skills, and commitment to writing regularly, and on topic. Twice a day is fantastic, daily is good, weekly is fine, and monthly is the bare minimum. If you can’t commit to this schedule, then a blog is probably not for you.

Ecommerce Websites

Ecommerce websites are focused on selling products online, and usually feature shopping cart software and online payment systems.

They can be large or small, simple or complex. The products can be physical and require delivery by courier or post, or electronic with instant digital delivery.

Payment methods can be secure credit card, Paypal, direct deposit, and many more.

Application Websites

These days, virtually any kind of software you can imagine can run on the internet.

The great advantage of this is the ability to access it from anywhere in the world, you just need a computer and an internet connection, or a smart phone, such as an iPhone or Blackberry.

Another advantage is the data storage is in a centralised location, rather than on a multitude of desktop computers.

Well, it’s dying. Today’s expensive glossy ads that cost thousands of dollars end up in the bin tomorrow.

Whereas the same money invested online can provide greater returns over a much greater time period.

For example, you can advertise in the place that more people go to when they’re looking for something – Google.

And not only that, you can target your ad to only those who are searching for products or services that you provide.

Then, you can link your ad to a page on your website that’s designed to generate sales or enquiries. That way you get instant, measurable feedback from your investment.

And with the wealth of statistics that are generated from this process, you can tweak your advertising campaign in real time to increase the return.

Once the campaign is making a profit, you can increase your investment, increasing your profit in the process.

For more information, or a free consultation regarding advertising online, contact us today.

Having a Twitter and Facebook page that’s regularly updated will bring more traffic to your website.

But just a minute, I hear you say, I don’t have time to go around updating all those websites – I don’t even really know what they’re all about!

Well, you don’t have to! What you do need is regular content, and if you’re in business that shouldn’t be a problem.

New products, specials, industry trends, client profiles, testimonials, general news, press releases – this is the kind of information you should be generating as a business, and at a frequency greater than once per month.

The best place to publish these things is in a blog attached to your website. From there everything can be automated – publish once and distribute to many places instantly.

To find out more, contact Arrowsmith Websites for a free consultation.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that watching a video online was a painful experience. Often it wouldn’t work at all, and when it did the picture was tiny and distorted.

Now, thanks to new technology and fast broadband, online video use has exploded. And with popular websites like YouTube, videos get shared amongst social networks and become viral, creating a buzz.

The future trend is for much more video on websites, including small business websites. You can use video to tell your story, make a sales pitch, and create a buzz around your product or service.

With the upcoming rollout of a national broadband network, internet television, or IPTV as it is known, will start to replace regular TV. Unlimited online channels, including many in high definition, will be the new standard.

Get ready for the new frontier of online video!

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is part of the rapidly growing South East Queensland metropolis, stretching along the coast from Coolangatta in the south to Noosa in the north. The area is renowned for its natural beauty and lifestyle options, which makes it a great place to live and work.

Looking for a website design business on the Sunshine Coast may seem overwhelming at first, due to the proliferation website designers available. Here’s a couple of tips to take into consideration:

• Look at their website design portfolio, and contact the owners of those websites and ask if they are satisfied with the service and results they received.
• Can you find those websites easily using Google?
• Do the websites all look similar, or based on a similar template?

By just following these 3 tips, you can determine if you are likely to get good service and results, if your website will be search engine optimized, and whether your website will have a unique design.

Some things that people find annoying on websites:

• Music starts to play straight away. Can be embarrassing in an office situation, or if you’re listening to something else. Use a ‘play sound’ button.
• Anything flashing. Usually indicates the ads are more important than the content.
• Can’t find the ‘home’ button. People like going home.
• Welcome page that says ‘click here to enter site’. Why not just enter the site to begin with, instead of requiring an extra mouse click.