Vital Facts to Know when setting up an Internet Presence

The purpose of this information is to help you to understand what you need in order to have your very own web site on the Internet.

1.  Difference between an Internet Presence and your own Web Site

If you are registered on a Social Site (e.g. Facebook) then you have an online presence, but not your own web site.

We are assuming you are reading this because you want the control and brand identity that having own web site gives you.

2.  What is the primary focus of your web site?

Good Examples:

• Present my business / venture online and an overview of our product(s) / service(s)
• Present my business / venture online and an online catalogue
• Present my business / venture online and take orders from an online catalogue
• Present my business / venture online and purchase from an online catalogue
• Place for my Customers to find support information about our products/services
• Place for my (customer/business) community to share with each other
• A place for us to share information / news with our community

Examples of a poor formed objective:

• I just want a Blog for myself
• I heard I need to be on the Internet (whatever that means)

3.  What does an Internet Presence REQUIRE?

• A registered Domain Name (for a co.za domain you need a Hosting account 1^st)
• An Account with a Hosting business to: host your web site (it will physically be installed on their servers), provide you email addresses in the name of your domain and preferably provide you database access for your web site (see CMS in #7 below)
• A developer/company to set up your site (unless the Hosting Company provides free tools)
• A good idea of what you web site must look like (examples are good)
• A business email address using your registered domain
• An installed web site
• Some sort of maintenance agreement with your development provider is advisable, to ensure you don't have to stand at the back of the line when you want to expand your site

4.  Basics your Web Site MUST have

• A Header area at the top of every page
• A Footer area at the bottom of every page
• An easy way for a visitor to navigate to/from every page
• A Front page providing an overview of your business (your home page)
• At least 1 page describing your product(s) / service(s)
• An About Us page describing you and the purpose of your venture
• Also include your physical location & contact details (it shows you're not a scam and creates trust)
• Legal Disclaimer (in the footer; it shows you are serious and creates trust)
• A Contact Us form for a visitor to contact you (make it easy to get hold of you!)
• A Copyright notice (in the footer)

5.  You MUST protect your Site

• Spammers harvest email addresses from web sites. Use anti-spam measures (obfuscate email addresses so spam robots cannot easily find and read them)
• Ensure your site is set up securely, so somebody cannot simply modify your site.
• If you don't protect your content, somebody can easily copy your site and use it as their own! Otherwise ensure you don't publish any confidential information.
• Requiring a logon to confidential information is thus advisable.

6.  VITAL facts for Internet Marketing for your Business

• You need a Google Analytics account, with the code installed in your web site.
• Having a site up on the internet is not enough. You must advertise it!

7.  OWNING your web site

• Ensure your domain is registered in Your name, not your developer's. Ensure an email address is used in the registration that only you have access to.
• Ensure you have a full copy of your web site as backup (files on your PC /on CD).
• If your content (product descriptions, prices, etc) will change frequently (daily / weekly / monthly / quarterly), then your site needs to be based a Content Management System (CMS). This allows you to login to your site whenever you want, and update your published documents, etc. (Important: A CMS requires a hosting account that provides a database)

At ServeLime we address all of the above and more.

Please do contact ServeLime.com to enquire on our services

- Web Site HOSTING

- BUSINESS Site BUILDING

Good Luck!

Looking forward to working with you.

(c) 2008 www.ServeLime.com