A Winning Approach to A Successful Web Presence
The emergence of the internet has created an unprecedented societal change, and this transformation has permeated all the way through the way we conduct business. The explosive growth of the internet has brought new opportunities to businesses in ways that Microsoft itself had not thought about—it completely missed the opportunities to tap into the Internet services business.
To a certain degree, a lot of businesses have missed the opportunity to utilize the power of the Web to strengthen their position by establishing a strong Web presence. Some businesses have attempted to create brochureware Web sites, which resulted in little ROI to their investment. Businesses with a clear vision and a well-defined strategy were able to successfully make a (tangible and intangible) revenue generating web site—one that contributed to the company's growth and success.
A Web presence must be considered as an integral part of any company's business plan. A carefully crafted strategy must lie behind this business endeavor to ensure the creation of a successful business tool, and enable the business to reap the many benefits of an internet presence.

We will briefly outline keys principles that constitute key ingredients to establishing a strong, successful, and long lasting Web presence.
The website is your gateway.
A successful web site should present a professional image of your business. Your web site must exude professionalism and must have the word 'sophisticated' written all over it—which does not mean ostentatious. This is one of proven strategies to win credit and trust from visitors.

Formulate a strategy.

There are three fundamental objectives that should drive the establishment of a business web presence:

(1) Outreach and Communication: extend your customer base by reaching untapped customer pools. Increase your exposure to the vast array of potential users connected to the large network of the World Wide Web. Time-sensitive information can be made available to customers, with pertinent data that are useful and relevant.

(2) Reduce Cost. Utilize the potential of your web site to shave business cost and at the same time increase your bottom line—yes these two principles can co-exist. One area where this is most glaring is in advertising. Many businesses spend countless resources (financial and others) in advertising through traditional channels, when they could have gained at the very least the same amount of exposure for a fraction of the cost.

(3) Increase profits. This can be achieved by a deliberate design that is conducive to:

Offering greater customer convenience. Example: a Web form to submit online requests.
Better conversions: avoid car salesman pressure by giving your customer the freedom to learn about and request for your services without feeling harassed.
Increased customer retention: keep them coming back again and again.
Reaching new markets: an online store selling hot and spicy salsa discovered that their customers wanted also gourmet salsa and started to expand its product offering.
Expanded communication channel. You can easily obtain feedback from your customers. With a quality web presence you have the opportunity to harmonize your customer outreach efforts.
It is vital that you write down your Web objectives, and then integrate them with your Business objectives.

Define your target audience.

Finding definite and precise answers to the question, what kind of people do we want to attract, is paramount in establishing a successful Web presence. There is no such thing as a 'universal site.' The targeted visitor population needs to be categorized according to age, gender, income level, geographic location, computer literacy, interests and hobbies, as well as ethnic and religious backgrounds, if applicable.

Establishing a web presence is an evolutive process.

Business image and search engine optimization. Successful companies keep on re-inventing themselves. We mentioned Microsoft's failure to take advantage of Internet business services. It has since admitted its blunt mistake and is investing billions of dollars in Web services. Avoid the trap of resting on the laurels of past and present success. Many businesses make the mistake of counting on the rules of the past to produce future success. Although we may learn through experience and trial and errors how to strengthen our web presence, we need to be constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve the way we do business. Business owners should develop new interactive ways of engaging customers through their web site.

Moving from the invisible to the visible Web.

One must realize that millions of web pages are developed and plugged into the World Wide Web everyday. A Web site that is made live is literally just a tiny and minuscule drop launched and floating in the vastness of the Internet galaxy. A Web site needs to be carefully designed and optimized, following sound SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rules and principles, before it can be seen and properly indexed by search engines, such as Google. Interestingly enough, the SEO process is the most overlooked step in establishing a Web presence. Granted, most Web sites receive their first visitors through word of mouth (a personal contact, a business URL on a business card or flyer, etc…), but Business owners must move beyond that initial stage and exploit the fullest potential of their Web site. This phase represents a critical business development, as a vast array of potentials, possibilities, and opportunities are awaiting once that exciting leap is taken.

Written by Miary Andria, Web Architect. MiaPlus We