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How to give
your small business web site a corporate look
Teacher: Milana
Nastetskaya
The Web is an amazing thing!
You can be a 15-year old girl and make everyone believe you
are a big-time executive who just can't wait to get home from
work after a busy day of meetings and lunches, and relax by
your big-screen TV with an expensive Siberian cat in you lap.
I am not exactly sure why you
would want to do that, but it's certainly possible :-) In the
example below, however, you might find that sometimes boosting
your online image is important to you AND your wallet.
Have you ever said to yourself, "I
am just a person, not a company - why would anyone trust me
enough to buy from me?" You ARE a company! If you provide a
service or sell a product that others are willing to pay for,
then you are a one-person company.
Just because you work out of
your home office, doesn't mean you are less professional. Still
many people today will not take you seriously if they see you
talk from the "first face" ("I" instead of "we", "mine" instead
of "ours").
There is a remedy for this problem.
You can reate a professional, more corporate look on your web
site using the skillful techniques I will share with you here.
1. Create a high quality logo
on your web site. If you don't consider yourself a good graphic
designer, hire a professional. The owner of gotlogos.com can
give you an excellent quality for only $25.00. There is no
good reason not to have it done.
2. Professional web site look.
If you can't come up with good design ideas for your web site,
consider using high quality web templates. This will immediately
boost your credibility by at least 50%, so do this as soon
as you can. Just go to http://www.freewebtemplates.com for
a huge collection of templates and pick one out.
3. If you don't have your own
domain name, get one ASAP! It is not even a question - you
absolutely need one to be considered "in the game", so to say.
I don't think I have ever shopped on a site that has an address
like www.geocities.com/1234/~meg or similar.
4. Once you have your own domain,
you can use a "real" business e-mail address. For example,
my domain name is HelpingFoot.com. This means that instead
of milana@earthlink.com I can use milana@helpingfoot.com. Ask
your hosting company how you can set your e-mail address up
to match your domain name.
5. Have you ever heard of a catch-all
e-mail account? I have one and I absolutely love it! You can
send me an e-mail to anything that ends with @helpingfoot.com:
sales@helpingfoot.com, president@helpingfoot.com, service@helpingfoot.com
and whatever else you can think of... and I will receive it
in my mailbox.
You can use this feature to create
different "departments" in your business: service, sales, support,
owner, etc. and when you get an e-mail you will know exactly
who the sender was trying to reach. This will also create an
impression of a bigger company.
6. Add a toll free phone number
and a physical mailing address, if possible. An 1-800 number
always makes an impression on me as I can pick up the phone
and ask a question of a real person.
7. Consider using a multiple-column
site design instead of one or two columns. Take a look at big
corporate web sites like MSN.com, CNN.com, cars.com - they
are all constructed with at least 3-4 columns. I like to call
it a "magazine" layout, because the columns are also illustrated
with small clipart or photographs and creates a really fancy
commercial appearance.
8. Make your web site consistent.
Choose a design and use it on every page, along with your logo.
Don't make every page on your site look different like so many
personal web sites do. It's distracting and confusing, and
your visitors might not even realize they are still on your
site.
9. Create a "Partners" section
on your web site. List your affiliates, ad exchange partners,
joint venture partners, or those people who published your
articles. The word "partners" itself sounds so big and important
that it will immediately boost your credibility in the eyes
of your visitors. Just make sure to list the names professionally:
instead of Joe Smith say "Founder of the very first site for
seniors awareness, Joe Smith".
10. Make sure your web site is
filled with useful content. Put up a "Frequently Asked Questions" page,
gather relevant articles with free reprint rights, as well
as your own writings. Post your newsletter archives, tips,
business history and owner's information. Most big corporate
web sites have a wealth of helpful information.
11. Add a "Translate To Another
Language" link to your web site. Simply go to AltaVista.com,
click on "Translate", choose the language, and type in your
web site address. You will see your web site in a different
language placed in a frame. Right-click on your web page and
choose "Properties". Highlight the URL and link to it from
your main web site.
For example, if you click on
http://world.altavista.com/urltrurl?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.helpingfoot.com&lp=en_de&tt=url&urltext=&doit=done
you will see my HelpingFoot.com translated into German. (This
feature works better in Internet Explorer than in Netscape,
but can still be used).
Too bad they didn't have a Russian
translation - I am just dying to find out how to say "Helping
Foot" in my native language :-)
About the teacher:
Milana Nastetskaya
is a full time web and the author of two books: "Create Your
First Busines Web Site in 10 days" and "65 Instant Web Design
Answers".
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com
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