Why do you need a web site?
Everyone
is in business to make money and to cut cost in every aspect of
earning it. A web site is the world's most effective use of money
to purchase media in order to market to the masses. The Internet
functions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no labor costs
to you and has the most inexpensive and widespread marketing capabilities
ever seen. Through this highly affordable media, your web site
offers your services to the world.
Statistics show that the Internet is an excellent way to market
your business and sell your products and services. More and more
customers are logging on, making purchases, buying services and
researching choices and information through the Internet. Why
should you limit your business to your immediate locale when the
whole world is a keystroke away? The Internet is revolutionizing
entire markets, allowing all businesses, large or small, the same
opportunities to market their products, services and information
on the Internet in an effective and appealing manner. You also
gain major credibility by having an Internet presence; effectively
you can look like one of the big companies - all without wasting
your money.
Most
Cost-effective Means of Advertising
Development and distribution costs are extremely low. When you
compare the cost of establishing a web site to what it costs to
promote your business in print or on the air, you'll see that
a web site is the cheapest form of marketing ever created. A radio
campaign featuring several 30-second spots per week for three
months could run you Ksh. 80,000- Ksh. 160,000. That gets you
five minutes per week of exposure for three months in the local
area only.
Newspaper and magazine ads are similarly highly priced, and only
last for the life span of that particular publication. A web site
has virtually limitless space. You could put up a web site with
dozens of photographs and several thousand words for under Ksh
25,000 for the first year, and keep it up and running for a few
thousand shillings per year after that. What would it cost to
run a newspaper ad of this size for a year? Imagine how much it
would cost to produce a catalog for 200 different products and
keep it in consumers' hands for an entire year. You can accomplish
this with a web site very easily with low development cost and
almost no distribution cost. Web sites are in full color - a palette
of 16.7 million colors for your photographs alone.
24-Hour Accessible
Think of your web site as an automated operator. As a virtual
employee, your site can reduce customer service representatives'
burden by taking over repetitive tasks such as answering your
most frequently asked questions, gathering information and automatically
sending out responses. Your web site also works around the clock,
so people from other time zones and countries will be able to
work around their schedules, not yours.
Instant Feedback
When you register your domain (www.yourname.com ) you are entitled
to 5 email accounts at no extra cost. Your web site feedback from
clients can be configured to be channeled direct to your email
account hence getting feedback from clients immediately. You will
know immediately via your site whether your customers are raving
or complaining. You can even track traffic through your site and
find out which of your services or products interests visitors
the most.
Globally
accessibility
A web site is globally accessible; that means your
web site can be viewed by anyone, anywhere, as long as they have
Internet access. There are no physical limitations to broadcast
areas, as in radio nor circulation region restrictions, as in
newspapers or magazines.
You
can keep your web site more current more affordably than any other
media. You can update a web site immediately and as often as you
like. Imagine you sell products whose prices fluctuate. With a
web site, you can change these prices every time they go up or
down, so your marketing materials are always accurate.
The
little guys can compete with the big guys since a web site is
economical and not limited by size. This means a small business
can present as large or creative an image on the Internet as a
bigger company - with the right design team.
Cost
Effective way of communication
A web site also allows easy, safe communication between you and
the consumer so that anyone who visits your site can contact you
at any time by sending an email. Unlike communications that originate
from other forms of advertising, consumers who send emails don't
have to deal with many problems of everyday business: pushy salesmen,
remembering to call during business hours, having to battle crowds
to get to your stores, spending time waiting on voice mail or
getting the wrong information. It's convenient, easy, and safe
for the consumer. Email is also convenient for you. You can respond
to all your customer inquiries at the same time, and do it when
you have a free moment - not in the middle of rush hour when someone
calls up to ask for product information or directions to your
location.
You
can save money on tech support and answering questions. If your
employees spend a lot of time answering the same questions and
sending out the same material, you can reduce that labor cost
significantly by providing the information on the web site For
instance, a client can avoid having to mail or fax information
for over 1,000 phone call solicitations in a one-year period simply
by providing the information on their site. That improves on labor
costs and provides a real cost savings in reduced long distance
phone bills (for faxes) and postage. Your web site can also take
orders while you sleep as people can place orders on a web site
at any time, day or night.
But most importantly, no salesmen manning the store, no utilities,
no insurance, no payroll ... computers don't need a benefit package
or overtime. For every second of every day, your web site is working
for you!
Web
site Design
Web site design is the most crucial of all the marketing media
at your disposal. All other forms of advertising (business cards,
brochures, etc.) can be patterned after you web site design layout.
To attract prospective clients/customers who are surfing the Internet,
your site must draw them in and hold their attention until your
desired result is achieved. Like a good writer telling a story,
you need to grab and hold your reader's attention.
Other opportunities are only a mouse click away, so a poorly designed
web site can quickly become a faint memory as the prospect speeds
away to another destination. A solidly designed web site, appealing
in content and appearance, will draw the client back for regular
visits and will create word of mouth traffic as well.
Designing Web pages is easy. Designing a good web site is difficult.
A professional Web designer has a background in graphic design,
knowledge of HTML and other design programming languages (such
as JavaScript, ColdFusion, Dynamic HTML, ASP, etc.). More importantly,
a professional designer understands how to design a web site that
will most effectively present you, your business or organization,
and your products and services.
What
do you need to have a web site?
• A Computer: Although highly recommended, it is not necessary
for you to have a computer but it is essential for those wishing
to view your site and accessing your emails.
•
ISP: an Internet Service Provider is how you connect to the Internet.
This ISP will provide you with an email address to communicate
by electronic mail (email).
•
Domain Name: This is www.yourname.com; your address or home page
on the Internet.
• Hosting: An Internet presence provider. This is where
your web site is stored for the world to view.
• Web site Design: You'll need all the codes, computer language,
scripts and graphics which, when put together, formulate your
web site into a viewable form for the world to see.
• Maintenance: Updates, additions, changes, and most importantly,
search engine analysis and submission of the pages that make up
your web site
Future
of Internet business transactions "E-commerce"
E-commerce
simply means Electronic Commerce. It is the buzzword for the new
millennium, and for very good reason. The Internet is changing
the way business is done with literally billions of dollars being
made over the Internet. E-commerce gives you the ability to accept
payment over the Internet by either credit card or electronic
checks. Through E-commerce, you can sell products or services
instantly to anyone in the world without having to constantly
monitor your web site
Marketing
a web site
It is important to understand that you cannot simply put up a
web site and expect that all you have to do is wait around for
orders. In fact, we recommend that you use your web site in addition
to other marketing methods.
A
web site should always be regarded as part of an overall marketing
strategy. A web site requires the same kind of advertising and
promotion as any other business before it can generate income.
The customers you gain through other methods can become excellent
web customers as well. Once you have traffic coming to your site,
your web site becomes your 24 hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week 365-days-a
year web storefront!
How
much will a web site cost?
Cost of a web
site will depend on the number of pages your site will have .
For details on cost please check our cost page
or click here for details.