What is the purpose of your site? Brainstorm with all parts of your organization, from the frontline clerks, to marketing and sales personnel, to customer support, to order fulfillment and administration. Generate a list of primary and secondary objectives.

Every element of your site should relate back to your objectives. When you decide to update, add, or change any elements on your website, examine how these changes relate to the primary and secondary objectives you have identified. If there is not a clear match between your objectives and your intended changes, you might want to reconsider the changes. It’s amazing how many websites have been developed with out adequate planning or without ensuring the website ties in with the corporate objectives.

Some of the most common primary objectives include:

• Advertising your product or service
• Selling your product or service
• Providing customer service and product support
• Providing product or corporate information
• Creating and establishing company identity or brand awareness.

Yes, usually you need a Web site to market on the Internet. However, a Web site is simply a collection of documents, images, and other electronic files that are publicly accessible across the Internet. Your site should be designed to meet your online objectives and should be developed with your target market in mind. Internet marketing encompasses all the steps you take to reach your target market online, attract visitors to your Web site, encourage them to buy your products or services, and make them want to come back for more.

Having a Web site is great, but it is meaningless if nobody knows about it. Just like having a brilliantly designed product brochure does you little good if it sits in your sales manager’s desk drawer, a Web site does you little good if your target market isn’t visiting it. Our SEO team will help you take your Web site out of the desk drawer, into the spotlight, and into the hands of your target market.

Steps to plan your website:

• Defining your online objectives
• Defining your target market and developing your Web site
• Defining your online marketing strategy with them in mind
• Developing the Internet marketing strategy that is appropriate for your product or service.