How To Choose The Right Website For You - Internet Marketing Article

By:Theresa Evans

Choosing what you want your website to be isn't always as obvious as it might seem. There are so many options available to you that it really pays to take time out to think about this question before jumping in. Ask yourself what you are actually aiming for in having an online presence? Do you want a personal website, an online shop, a blog or diary style presence? Or do you want to run a forum related to your product or interest, perhaps an ezine with a back-issue website or if you are an artist, photographer or craftworker, maybe an online gallery would best promote you? To help you decide, try asking yourself these questions.

Do you want to sell physical goods? Items that have to be delivered by post, such as books, toys, clothes, electrical goods etc are ideal for an ecommerce website. There are many options open to you whereby you can catalogue your items by entering them into a database. This sounds more complicated than it actually is. Most shop building software has a simple interface whereby you can enter items in obvious categories, add prices, sizes etc and postage costs. The add to basket buttons are generated for you for each item.

There's a huge number of companies offering you shop solutions for your website but they don't all have the same facilities. As ever, it pays to research and find one that does everything you want it to. Most companies will offer you a free trial and I recommend that you select a company that does.

You can choose to buy shopbuilding software to install on your computer, the benefit being that this is a one-off purchase and no recurring monthly payments, apart from your web hosting. Alternatively you can go for the hosted shop option. There are an enormous number of companies offering this. Advantages are that your hosting and website are integral. Everything is done online so you can even update your shop from any computer wherever you may be. These options are usually very simple to use and have good help menus.

Do You want to sell downloadable goods, eg. software, music, ebooks? Downloadable products are very hot selling items on the internet. The reason is obvious and it benefits everyone involved. The buyer receives his/ her purchase immediately payment has cleared and the seller has no stock to buy, keep or deliver. Some product examples are music, images, software, templates and ebooks.

Ebooks are one of the most popular downloadable products. They are very easy to produce and most people have the ability to read them from their computer screen or even print them out. "How to" books are the most popular by far as they provide answers, solutions and ideas. The internet is used by many as a research tool and people are actively looking for information and solutions to problems. If you can provide these on a popular enough niche topic, your ebook is likely to be in demand.

There are several websites which offer you the facility to sell downloadable products, such as Clickbank and Payloadz. A quick google search will give you more options to explore to find the most suitable for your particular needs.

Are you an artist or photographer or craftworker? Firstly, ask yourself what your purpose of having an online presence will be. For example, are you looking to have a classy online portfolio or do you want to set up an ecommerce shop where you promote the sale of your original work and prints? Can you design websites or do you have the financial means to ask someone to build one for you? Do you have sufficient I.T. skills to join one of the many online galleries that allow you to upload your work to your own gallery area on their website? Do you like the idea of being part of a larger online gallery but need someone to do all the techy things for you?There are an enormous number of online galleries now but knowing what you want to achieve will help you narrow your search significantly.

Do you have a bricks and mortar shop? If your business is in the real world, think about what it is you require your website to do in order to promote or give added value to your business. Do you wish it to be simply an online information post so that people can find more about what you offer or find their way to your premises? If so, you may if that your local government will offer you a free web page or mini website on their main council site. If you want something more individual, then a simple site built with Frontpage or a webuilder is probably your best option. If money is no object, then you can hire a webdesigner and achieve something more sophisticated.

Or perhaps you wish to add something extra to your business such as an online, out of hours, ordering system with home delivery. Again, unless you can pay for your site to be custom built, one of the easy web-shop builders is probably your best option. Here are some excellent ones for you to review.

Do you want to sell or promote a service? For example, are you a webdesigner, childminder, photographer, plumber, tutor, dogwalker, typist, financial adviser, mobile hairdresser, decorator, gardener, acupuncturist or beautician? The list is endless. If you offer a service whether online or off you will want to reflect your professionalism in a well designed and easy to navigate website. If you are able to afford to have your website designed for you to your own specifications, then this can be a good choice as it frees up your time to get on with actually providing the service you are involved in.

This is in option which many cannot afford. An alternative would be to build the website yourself. The advantages to this can really repay the time you put in. To start with, you can update your site whenever you wish, so keeping the content fresh and relevant. Software to help you do this is easily obtained. Dreamweaver and Frontpage are amongst the most popular. I find that the latter is an excellent choice for someone new to web design as it is so intuitive and easy to learn.

Having built your site yourself, the only ongoing costs are the time you decide to spend on it plus your webhosting and there are some excellent deals to be had these days. If you feel uncomfortable with building sites, don't despair. There are some fabulous online website builders on offer these days. with this option, your website and hosting are all inclusive. Typically, you will be given a login area where you can select the template, ie. look and feel of your website and add images and information in a very simple step by step way. There is considerable competition amongst web hosts offering this option and for you, the consumer, this means that more added value is being tagged onto these packages all the time.

Do you want to build a community website? Websites reflecting the interests of a community or group membership don't need to be sophisticated but it is an excellent idea to have one that is interactive. Being able to post questions and opinions, vote on a member poll or even post photographs will encourage members to participate more fully and can lead to new ideas and renewed enthusiasm within the group. An ideal solution might be a one page website linked to a forum. Some web hosts will offer free websites and hosting for not-for-profit groups and this is well worth looking into. Another idea is to have a community Blog. Again, these are something that permit group participation in posting plus are easy to set up and manage and many are free.

Good luck with your endeavours whatever your aims! The internet is a great place to have your own voice.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article keywords: choosing a website, gallery, shop builders, selling online

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Theresa Evans is an artist and webdesigner. Her personal website is www.flowerportfolio.com and her online gallery for other artists can be found at www.paintimpressions.com

Top Internet Marketing Articles
1). The Fly & The Window Of Opportunity By : Rick Davies Copyright 2006 1stPromotion.com One afternoon after going through a small backlog of emails, I was daydreaming about how it shouldn't be tough for absolutely anyone out there to make that first online sale and then to go on and make more and more sales. I feel bad for people that have paid money for some of the programs out there that promise to "stuff their wallets effortlessly" only to find that there is no free lunch.
2). Sign Our Guestbook � How Signing Guestbook�s Or Creating Your Own Helps Your Website By : Anton Cheranev Guestbook�s are some of the most popular areas on websites. Before a consumer does business with you, they are likely to check out your guestbook. Guestbook�s are somewhat like testimonials in that they offer real feedback on your site, your business, and your products. They are honest and are created from those that have had some sort of experience with your business or those who simply visit your site.
3). Where To Find A MySpace Friend Adder By : PaulG MySpace friend adders have become a great tool in maximizing the MySpace experience. Since MySpace has become popular, so has the importance of having tons of MySpace friends. This can benefit the causal MySpace user, the MySpace Music artist, and even the web publishers and marketers that use MySpace as a stepping stone toward success. Now MySpace friend adders have gone even further by adding other MySpace abilities to their programming.
4). How To Monetize A 1,000+ Page Site In 5 min. Or Less Without Violating Google's Adsense Policy! By : D Dean Hall As webmasters, writers and authors we all want to find ways to maximize the profitability of our content. We employ a variety of methods such as Adsense, Yahoo Ads, links to affiliate products of all types but there are a couple of problems. There is the sheer time involved in creating these links and then keeping them updated to the most relevant and profitable products.
5). 'Social Bookmarking' As An Aggressive and Acceptable Blog Marketing Tactic By : gregw Social bookmarking websites are becoming more and more popular. They allow you to save bookmarks online and Tag/Categorize them with keywords instead of saving them as bookmarks in the favorite's list of yourbrowser. This is particularly useful when your browser based bookmarks have become unwieldy. It's also help since you can access your bookmarks from any computer where you have an internet connection.
6). The Four Big Adsense Secrets By : Iszuddin Ismail Is there a BIG secret to the huge Adsense checks? Yes, you�ve seen those screen shots of 5-figure Adsense earning � so have I. And that made you thinking, why are some people earning those huge income, and you are not. Whatever people may say, I only see these are the only factors that make the difference between your earning and those �big-guns�. 1 - Adsense Placement Yes, putting your Adsense in a special way can be the difference between 1% click-through rate (CTR) and 10% CTR.
7). The Downsides Of Reciprocal Linking To Increase Search Engine Rankings By : Brian Gilley Reciprocal linking is still a highly sought after method for many companies and webmasters hoping to increase their web site�s ranking in the search engines. Back in 2002, when reciprocal linking firmly took its place as a real way to boost your rankings, many webmasters and sites started using it to quickly and frantically get the upper edge on their competition and the search engines.
8). One of the Quickest and Easiest Way to Dramatically Increase Your Website�s Page Rank By : Tim Wright This is one of the easiest and fastest ways that you can increase the number of one way links to your website and dominate your competition.
9). Spy on the Competition, Stay on Top By : Jay Chirino Just when you thought you had this whole online business thing mastered, it turns out that now you must become a secret super spy, break into your competitor�s databases and steal important documented information that you can put to use for your own benefit. So get your rope and mask ready because we�re going in! Oh, and by the way, I�m just kitting.
10). Let's Start! Create A Business Plan By : Helen Chow Let's Start! Create A Business Plan

New Internet Marketing Articles
1). 5 Tips for Making Mounds of Money on the Internet By : Michael Gulbin Make sure you are doing everything you can to make money on the web.
2). Are You Costing Yourself Money With This Common Article Marketing Mistake? By : Chris Ellington The Article Marketer editorial team reveals the worst mistake an internet marketer can make when submitting royalty free articles.
3). Learn To Market From A Child By : Clint Pollard A marketing lesson I learned from my grand daughter.
4). How To Maximize Your Profits From Backend Sales By : Jason Oickle The truth is with backend sales, you can gain additional or continuous profit without having to do any extra work.
5). Web Site Promotion Guides For Newbies By : Obinna Heche If you are new to the internet world you are not alone. There are a lot of people who are not too familiar with the internet but want to join in on the profits that are available.
6). Network Marketing for Overall Growth By : Sanjay Johari Network marketing provides tremendous opportunity to learn and earn. Those willing to learn have unlimited potential to earn and grow.
7). What Should You Know Before You Start A Home Business By : Arun Pal Singh As 2006 dawns on earth I am quite thoughtful. Many persons started their business in 2005. Some succeeded and some left disappointed.
8). Internet Marketing: Give Me Good Content By : Virginia Bola Have you ever considered how much boring, poorly written, superficial, and totally uninteresting stuff there is in those billions of web pages floating in the ether?
9). Internet Marketing: Give Me Something New By : Virginia Bola Give me freshness, variety, and a taste of greatness. I am totally frustrated by the lack of vitality found in the majority of websites.
10). Why Everyone Needs a Mentor. By : Gary Muller Why do you need a mentor and what could they possibly offer to help you grow your business? Discover why even successful marketers utilize the skills and expertise of an internet marketing mentor.

� 2006 articles2k.com - Privacy Policy