30 Must Haves For a Profitable Website - eBook by Web123

A MUST READ

30 Must Haves
for a Profitable Website

Web123
Starter Kit

www.web123.com.au

30 Must Haves for a
Profitable Website
Intro

Part 4:
Part 1: 14. Content 14
1. Mapping a Plan 01
15. Writing it Right 15
2. Strategy 02
16. Educate & Offer Value 16
3. Identify your Audience 03
17. Lead Capture 17
4. Being the Solution 04
18. Calls to Action 18
5. Positioning Yourself at the Top 05
19. Staying in Touch 19

Part 2: Part 5:
6. Laying a foundation 06
20. Nitty Gritty Details 20
7. Site Structure 07
21. Domain 21
8. Optimising for the Future 08
22. Email 22
23. Payment Methods 23
Part 3: 24. Shipping 24
9. Design 09 25. Delivery 25
10. First Impression 10 26. Final Checks 26
11. Logo & Colours 11
12. Using the Right Images 12
Part 6:
13. Consistency 13
27. Marketing & Measuring 27
28. Getting the Word Out 28
29. Get Social 29
30. Measuring Success 30

Conclusion

Web123 Starter Kit P 02

Introduction
Australians spend $12 billion online every year
Welcome to Web123’s Website Starter Kit! If you’re reading this eBook, you
are either starting a new website or looking to revamp your current one.
If that sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place!
More and more consumers are turning to the web before opening their wallets, either to buy
or to research their options so it’s absolutely imperative that you have a strong online presence
and take advantage of these awesome opportunities.

In order to position your business in front of the masses online, you’re going to need a website.
And to build a successful one, there are some definite do’s and don’ts. This eBook will guide
you through every step of the “must haves” for your new site to sure your website is
positioned for profit the day it goes live.

Roughly 6% of every dollar spent by Australians happens online - that’s $12 billion annually!
The number of Aussies doing business online is increasing every single day, and a report by
Frost & Sullivan estimates online spending in Australia will rise to $18 billion dollars by 2014.
The Australian Communications Marketing Authority (ACMA) estimates that 59% of Australians
shop online - an increase of 53% from just two years ago. ACMA also found that the majority
of Australians prefer to buy from domestic companies online - something that small businesses
have been much quicker to embrace than large companies. A recent survey by Google and
MYOB found that 52% of Australian businesses now have a website - up from 35% in 2011.

Reasons for purchasing online With all these dollars changing
hands online, brick and mortar
80
74 businesses are also turning
70 Nov 09 to the internet for growth,
67
Apr 11 and yours should too. The
60
internet is more than a fad
50 – it’s a fundamental shift in
43
the way we communicate.
40 38
Getting your business online is
30 imperative to keeping up with
these changes! Remember
20 16 15 – the question isn’t whether
10 your business should go online
or not, it’s how well you rise
0
to the challenge when you do.
Convenient Cheaper Better range of
goods/services


Part 1:

Mapping a plan
60,000 new .au domain names are registered
every single month.
Still think you need a website? Good! Let’s get started.
Just like any other investment in your company, it’s
important to think through how this feature is going to
help earn you profits. You wouldn’t hire a new staff member
without working out what their tasks would be and how
their help would make you more profitable; a good website
needs to be seen as a business investment and a part of
your profitability plan.

Do you know what the single most important part of a business
website is? It’s not the logo, the Content Management System,
or even your marketing. The most important part of any
website is the business strategy behind it.

It can be easy to get carried away with all the details and
design of a new website, but laying a foundation and a
roadmap for where you’re going with your business online
is the best way to ensure the future success of your new
website. “Pretty” websites won’t put money in the bank any
faster than an ugly one might - it’s all about strategy.

In this Website Starter Kit, you’ll learn all the stealth tactics
and strategies Web123 has perfected to help hundreds and
hundreds of our clients succeed online.

So sit back, grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about how you can
easily make a website that works.

Web123
Starter Kit

Mapping a plan
Do you know what the single most important part of a business website is? It’s not the logo,
the Content Management System, or even your marketing. The most important part of any
website is the business strategy behind it. It’s so important to start out on the right foot by
planning your website in the beginning of your online journey, instead of fixing it later.

Just like any other major development in your business, your website needs a plan. The very
first, and one of the most important, challenges of getting online is figuring out why you want
to be there. Think about the purpose of your website. What do you want your business to gain
from having a website? What benefit will the website provide your customers? Think about
why you’re doing this - and don’t say because everyone else is already online!

Getting a website just for the sake of getting a website isn’t going to do much for your
business; you need to work out how your business is going to function online, and how
it’s going to make you profits.


Part 1:

Creating a Strategy
According to a 2011 Productivity Commission Report,
69% of Australians are now shopping online.
It sounds simple, but many new website owners get excited about the prospect of getting
online and may overlook this vital step altogether. Create a strategy!

Some important things to think about:

• How is this website going to get you sales?
• How might this website affect your offline business?
• How do you plan to get in touch (and stay in touch) with prospects?
• How will prospects get in touch with you?
• How will you convert leads to sales?

Businesses start websites for a lot of different reasons. Ask yourself, “What do I want
to achieve with this website?” Is it to educate about your services? Have a self-operating
storefront 24/7? Attract and reach customers from a broader market? Showcase your work?
Once you know the why and the who for your website, organising the what, where and how
will be much easier.

Identify your Audience
Approximately one third of Australia’s small businesses
are owned and run by women.
Once you’ve thought about what you want from your website, the next step is to spend some time
on the people you really want to impress: your customers. Before you make a single click on your
new site, let’s take a step back and have a quick think about who this new website is intended for.
Do you know who your target market is? Do you know who your target market is NOT? Believe
it or not, your new website isn’t at all about you or your business. It’s all about your customers!

You could build the best website in the world, but if your customers don’t like it, you won’t
get anywhere.


Part 1:

Demographic Profile
Understanding your audience’s demographic makeup is a key part of connecting with the right
people. If your business only services a small region, for instance, you certainly don’t want
to be promoting your website to people on the other side of the planet.

Your target audience’s demographic profile should give you an idea of your client’s location,
age, gender, income, profession, and any other relevant details about their background.
Consider also your current relationship with them, and what level of experience they may
already have with your industry.

Psychographic Profile
Now that you have a better idea of where on a census your target audience may fall, it’s time
to dive a little deeper and look into their psychographic profile. You want to know what makes
them tick, why they think the way they do, and most importantly - why they cannot live
without your services.

Understanding what motivates your customers will help you speak right to their needs.
You will be able to directly address their problems and fears while offering solutions -
making your products and services irresistible. Some experts reckon that the Psychographic
decision making process makes up about 90% of the equation when people buy, so if you can
get this part right you’ll be way closer to making sales than if you don’t complete this at all!

Do your research and try to create a profile (or profiles) of your ideal clients. Get specific
about who this “Perfect Client” is, what they like, what they do. You might have several different
“ideal clients” in different locations, age groups, or industries. Understanding your clients’
demographic information will give you insights into why they need your products or services;
the psychographic information will show you reasons why they want your offerings.

Survey your current clients to find out what it is they like about your business, or what things
they might like you to do differently. Remember that constructive criticism is a blessing!
Working out exactly who you’re business is targeting makes it easy to tailor your content
in a way so your ideal clients will come running.


Part 1:


Two views of the same user

Demographic overview Psychographic overview
Female, Mother of 2 young kids, Keeps up with trends,
Age 35, small business owner, lives enjoys shopping & family holidays,
in regional Australia, household always looking for time-saving tips
income $70k+ & ways to simplify, active on social
media, makes impulse buys,
very structured


Part 1:

Being the Solution
An estimated 300 million new websites went live in 2011.
Make yours more than a statistic!
No one goes to business websites out of boredom. Odds are that anyone who comes to your
website is going to find their way there because they have a problem that needs solving,
whether explicit or implicit. Addressing those needs throughout your website positions
your business as the solution, earning you consumer trust - and sales.

Take, for example, a prospect who happened upon your website for the first time while
searching for a birthday gift for her son. This prospect might tell you her explicit needs are
getting a gift for her son in time for his birthday, but as a business owner you need to know
that her implicit needs (the ones she might not even be thinking about) might also be to
get a high-quality educational product that her son will have fun with while learning. That
prospect might not have come to your website looking for educational toys, but because
you understood her problem better than even she did, you just earned yourself a very
happy customer - who will likely sing your praises to all her friends.

Don’t think of your business as just selling products and services. You help people.

A dentist, for example, doesn’t just offer tooth care. A dentist helps people feel great
about themselves with perfect smiles. He takes away insecurities.

Don’t sell your customers on how great your products are; sell them on how great those
products will make your customers look or feel. By putting the emphasis on the benefits
those products provide, you’ll be the ready solution for your customers’ problems and your
conversion rate will skyrocket.

Once you’ve developed an understanding of your target audience, you will be able to directly
address their problems and fears while positioning your offerings as solutions - making your
products and services irresistible.


Part 1:

Positioning Yourself at the Top
Any web user knows that there are countless options for shopping online. If your target
customer is online looking for something your business offers, you want them to know more
than just the product availability. You want them to know that product is great, available, and
that of all the other options they might find a similar product online, your business is the very
best to buy it from. That may sound like a lot, but you can do it! It’s all a matter of positioning.

Why do your current customers choose you over
competitors? Are you the fastest? Most reliable? Best
money-for-value in the greater metropolitan area? Are
you available to make emergency house calls in the
middle of the night? Do you carry rare handmade goods?

Highlight these positive points of difference everywhere
you can throughout your website. Speak naturally, but if
your business mantra is all about XYZ you should absolutely
be echoing those values throughout your website. Shout
it from the rooftops! Reinforcing the points that make your
business unique will help customers feel more connected to
you. The better you can help prospects get to know your brand,
the more likely they are to do business with you. After all,
consumers buy from those they know, like, and trust!


Part 2:

Laying the foundation
Some web developers will charge you just to
make changes to your site. Yikes! Make sure
you have a good CMS that YOU are in charge
of so you can do anything you need for the
entire life of the website.
Now that you’ve got a good idea of who your audience
will be, what you’re going to provide them and how you’re
going to stand out from the crowd, it’s time to get started
on what’s going to be on your site. Figuring out all this
background info is going to make mapping out the basics
for content on your site so much easier!

Web123
Starter Kit

Part 2:

Site Structure
You should have as few clicks as possible to get from the Home page
to the checkout. Test this on your products and see how you can make
the process simpler.
You wouldn’t start building a house without working out how many bedrooms you’ll have
or where the kitchen would be, would you? Just like building a house, a website requires
structure and order. You can always reorganise or renovate later, but a clear structure
and purpose will make things easier from the start.

Before you start building, think about what sort of content needs to be on your site. Will you
have products? A blog? Create a list of all the types of content you think you’ll have on your site.
(Remember, this is just for a guideline. You can always make changes later!) From this list,
it’s easy to see that some of these pieces of content will relate to one another.

Types of content you might have on your website

Articles BLOGS HOMEPAGE BANNER Internal Banners

PRODUCTS CONTACT FORMS SHOPPING CART DOWNLOADS

SALES / SPECIALS eBooks Newsletters Event Calendars

Staff Profiles Social Media Image Gallery Event Sign Up

Related Videos Google Maps Members Area Applications


Part 2:

Site Structure
If you’re a visual person, creating a mind map can help you brainstorman idea of how to relate
types of content. Mindmeister.com and Bubbl.us are both free resources for creating mind maps.

Once you’ve got your clusters of related content, it will be much easier to divide the site into
an easy-to-navigate structure.

A good place to start is your homepage. Imagine your site as a tree where the homepage is
the trunk, every other page on your site is a branch off it. There isn’t place for leaves on the
trunk, so keep your detailed info a little further in. Your homepage should be a strong, simple
introduction of your business.

Once you’ve worked out what information should be on the homepage, then think about what
the second most important branches of information you’d like to have from there are - items
you’ll likely put in the main menu or navigation. When in doubt, start as simple as possible.
Try to keep everything in 3 clicks or less, including the products and categories in your shop.
The more levels you have, the harder it is for your customers to find your content and the less
potent that valuable content becomes in search engines.

Homepage About Us Contact

Welcome OUr story Contact Form

Meet the team Phone / Address Twitter

About our Services Social Media links Facebook

Google Maps Pintrest

If you have a lot of information on your site, think about how you might organise the content
into categories. Categories exist to make finding items on your website easier. A category
with just one item is like turning down a dead-end hallway; a category with 900 items
in it is like trying to find someone in a crowded festival. Follow the “Goldilocks ideology”
as you’re grouping content into categories: not too empty, not too full.


Part 2:

Site Structure
Things to think about as you’re deciding how to map your site structure:

• How many clicks does it take to get to a product from the home page?
• Does every page in the main menu have a clear purpose?
• Is your site easy to navigate?
• Are there any pages or categories that might be better combined into a single section?
(i.e. Sales and Special Offers)
• Are there any pages or categories that ought to be split into separate sections?
(i.e. About might contain both the story of your company and your Contact details -
sometimes it’s better to separate these.)
• Do you have links within your site to easily get from one page to another
(other than the main menu)?

If you’re not sure where to begin, look at few competitor websites to see how their structure
works. Try to think like your customers, and arrange your content as intuitively as possible.

As you’re putting your site together, you might find that the design doesn’t flow as well with
the structure you’ve envisioned, but that’s ok! Web123 clients can change between any of our
100+ templates at any stage. (And no! Any content you’ve already added to the site will not
be affected by changing template.) Finding a design that meshes well with your desired
structure is important to making your website effective and productive for your business.


Part 2:

Optimising for the Future
88% of search engine users will change their query if they don’t find what
they are looking for in the first three pages of search engine rankings.
One of the single most important (and commonly overlooked!) areas of a new website is opitimisation,
also known as search engine optmisation (SEO). In a nutshell, optimisation is the strategic practice of
using certain keywords or phrases throughout your website to help you show up more frequently in
search engines like Google - which in turn gets you more traffic and then more sales!

The single best thing you can do to get this started is to research your keywords. These are
the words and phrases that you want your business to be known for, such as “Mothers’ Day
Flowers Melbourne” or “Lawn Care Hire”. If keywords are new to you, download our SEO
Bundle (free for Web123 clients!), which will introduce you to lots of free tools like Google’s
Keyword Tool and step you through a much more in-depth optimisation process.

The idea is to identify a few key terms that your business should be known for on the web,
and then include those keywords in your page titles, meta descriptions, and content
throughout your site. If you’re not ready for a full-on optimisation strategy at this point,
at the very least identify a two or three keywords you want your business to be known for,
and make sure to use those keywords wherever it makes sense to on your site. Identifying
your keywords before you write all your content will make tying them in much easier!

If you do nothing else to optimise your website, do this: Complete your Meta Title & Page
Descriptions. You know how when you do a search in Google and you see a headline followed by
a line or two of text? Google needs some abbreviated help to read what every page of your website
is going to be about. Summing it all up in a sentence and giving it a descriptive title (using your
keywords as much as possible!) is the absolute best thing you can do to start. Choose one keyword
for each page based around your content. Make sure to include that keyword in the text on that
page, but also in the Meta Title, page description, and any images that are on the site. This will
make each page highly visible to Google for each keyword you’re using.


Part 3:

Design
Users will only wait an average of 4 seconds
for a web page to start loading before clicking
away. Too slow, and they’re gone!
A quality website design serves two purposes: winning the
favour of both Google and your prospective customers.
Having a good foundation in SEO, as we’ve just seen in the
previous section, will help you tremendously with getting
traffic to your website. However, once your prospects have
found your site, those keywords and meta tags are completely
meaningless - it’s all about the look and the content.

Web123
Starter Kit

Part 3:

First Impressions
The average visitor to your site will spend less than 5 seconds on your
homepage before deciding to move on to another page or go back to
searching. Grab their attention right from the start!
First impressions count for a lot, but they don’t necessarily convert. Many designers make
“pretty” websites that don’t do anything for your bottom line. The web is full of millions of
these Internet Tombstones that are sitting idle burning a hole in business owners’ back pockets
instead of yielding massive profits. Your website exists to help you make profits, so making
a first impression that converts “browser” into “buyer” is exactly what you should be after.
Make sure you have strategies in place to capture potential leads (see Calls to Action and
Lead Capture in Part 4), and that your design works well for your business.

Your homepage is one of the most important parts of your website. This is the default place
your visitors will land every time they click on your “www”. Use this valuable real estate to
grab the visitors’ attention, showcase the very best of your business, and guide them along
your online sales process.


Part 3:

Logo & Colours
If you had to sum up your entire business in one word, could you do it? It’d be pretty
challenging! What words can’t quite capture, a quality design will convey for you.

A quality website design serves two purposes: winning the favour of both Google and your
prospective customers. As you’re thinking about how your new website is going to look, the
very first thing to consider is your logo: the visual cornerstone to your brand’s marketing.

Your business logo design will appear on everything your brand does, from letterheads to
business cards to banners and beyond. If your logo looks amateurish, so does your business!
If you haven’t already, make the investment and get a quality logo designed to start your
business off right. Having a quality, credible logo will help your business make a strong
impression right from the start - offline and on.

The colours you choose for your web design should mesh well with the colours in your logo, since
they’ll go hand in hand with your website. Choose colours that reflect your brand (bright and playful,
calm and professional, cool and outdoorsy), and use these colours throughout your online work.
Make sure the colours you choose pair together and contrast nicely in a way that’s easy to read.
Nothing’s worse than having to squint to make sense of a poorly designed website!

If you’re a Web123 client, you can select all the colours for your website yourself, or our expert
design team will hand-pick them for you. Colours are a crucial part of branding, so make sure
they’re ones you really like and use them consistently in your branding.


Part 3:

Using the Right Images
Another key part of getting the right “look” on your site is design. Have you ever gone to a
website that’s nothing but plain text? Boring! Quality images and graphics are the butter
to your website’s bread! The visual aids on your website have a huge part in building consumer
confidence - showing visitors to your site that you and your offerings are the best of the best.
ONE SECOND… That’s all you have to tell your website visitors what you do and why you’re
the only one that can do it right for them! No wonder imagery and design are SO important!
Good banner design grabs website visitors and inspires them to stay.

If you’re selling products directly through your website, you’ll want to use clear images of
each product. No one wants to buy something sight unseen! Consider using photos showing
alternate views of the product for items such as clothing. For example, you could have one
image of the front of a shirt, another one of the back, and then a third image of someone
modeling the shirt. This will give your customers a better idea of how the product will look
in real life, increasing consumer confidence and helping you make that sale.

If you don’t have access to a quality camera or are worried that you’ll break the bank hiring
a photographer, stock photos can be an affordable option that will still make your site look
great. Real photos of your real business are always going to be more compelling than stock
images, however any image is better than a page of boring text. If your product requires
a demonstration, a “how to” video showing how the item works would be very compelling
to an uncertain buyer - and it’s great for your SEO!


Part 3:

Quality Control: Consistency
As you’re building your business online, there should never be any confusion whether a
particular page belongs to your company or just another company bearing the same name.
Use the same colours, font styles, images, tag lines and language everywhere your business
is online. That includes every page of your website (including blog and eBooks!), your social
media accounts, your profiles on business directory listings – everything!

Regardless of whether your business has a physical location, you should do everything you can
to match the branding between your offline presence and your physical one. Your business
cards, your banners, your product packaging... everything! Being consistent with these design
elements of your company will ensure that the moment a customer sees your content online,
they will recognise it as part of your brand. Establishing consistency across your online reach
will help your business build a positive online reputation and increase brand awareness –
which in turn helps you extend your reach while attracting and retaining customers. If that’s
not enough reason for uniformity I don’t know what is!


Part 4:

Content
A website without content
is no more exciting than
a phonebook listing. Your
business website should offer
valuable content and insights.
Give visitors to your site a
reason to keep coming back!

Web123
Starter Kit

Part 4:

Writing it Right
Google and other search engines can’t “see” most of the images and other
designs on your website. They rely on the text content around those images
to work out what each page is for – so make sure your site has lots
of text to go with the images!
The next step in creating your website is to start thinking about what you’re going to use
to fill up your beautiful design. What pieces of content will you need to create your website?
and how will each of these parts fit together? The visuals on your site may be what give visitors
that winning first impression of your site, but it’s the content that will keep their attention –
and keep bringing them back for more.

When writing for your website, try to use the same language that you would use as you would
if speaking to a customer in your store. Keep the message simple and easy to follow. When
in doubt, be clear – not clever. For instance, the name “Nails 4 U” may seem like an obvious
title, but you’re going to lose any web traffic that searched for the phrase “for you” instead.
Furthermore, there’s no immediate way of knowing whether that name is referring to a
hardware store or a beauty salon. If the meaning isn’t immediately clear, it could it could
mean a big difference to a consumer!

That’s not to say you can’t still have fun with your writing,
just make sure it makes sense entirely out of context –
exactly what happens when someone finds your website
for the very first time. Using clear language and direct
messages will not only help more people find your website,
but make sure it’s the people you want.

Not sure what to write about? Make a list of the 10 most
frequent questions prospective customers ask you, and
answer those questions. Not only will it save you some
repetition, prospects will feel like you’ve made the buying
process even easier by anticipating their needs.

Remember, you are now in the business of knowledge!
To be hugely successful online, you need to become a savvy
content marketer. Turn your website into a Resource Centre
– position your business as the answer to your customers’
problems. Become the go-to expert people think of when
they need what you offer.


Part 4:

Educate & Offer Value
Educational content allows you to deviate slightly from the core text that
would normally be on your website. There’s no better way to build
up your site with valuable keywords!
In the business world, getting that leg up over your competitors can seem daunting. But why
should the “other guys” get all the sales? Providing educational materials on your site is one
of the best things you can do to demonstrate your expertise and win sales. Show your
prospects exactly why you are the go-to source for industry insights, and you will become
the only one they want to buy from.

Some of the educational material on your website should be readily
accessible for public access, i.e. blog posts, product information,
or FAQ. Don’t give away the whole kit and kaboodle though!
One of the most powerful conversion tricks for websites is to
withhold some of this content, and give it away only to those
who ask. Downloadable articles or whitepapers, eBooks,
or newsletter subscriptions are all types of valuable,
educational content that you can offer to prospects in
exchange for their contact details. That simple name
and email address could open the door for a personal
follow-up so you can make sure those interested
prospects become paying customers.


Part 4:

Lead Capture
Some say it takes an average of 9 points of contact before a
prospect becomes a sale. Don’t let those leads slip away too soon!
One of the most important pieces of any content strategy is Lead Capture. Collecting
contact details for prospective customers can be every bit as important as closing
an initial sale. By offering content in exchange for prospect’s contact details, you’ve
essentially just landed the initial sale where the customer is paying with information.

Every single page of your website should have a simple lead capture option
somewhere on it. You might do a newsletter sign-up in the sidebar, an enquiry form
at the bottom of a page, or a link back to your Contact page somewhere within
your content. The first step in converting “interested” to “sold” is finding a way
to communicate with your prospects, so make sure there is always an easy option
for visitors to get in touch with you.

As you’re gathering details for your prospective customers, you’ll want to create
a database to keep track of them. A good Content Management System (CMS)
like Web123’s will allow you to track and organise your prospects.

Just getting prospects’ information isn’t enough though. One of the biggest
mistakes businesses make online is not responding to requests they get, or letting
leads go stale. You wouldn’t slam the door in a potential customer’s face, would
you? Of course not! Respond to every query and comment you get online. Even
if they’re not interested in buying right away, you should still find a way to keep
in touch. Nurture those leads through email marketing campaigns or by phone
follow-ups to build a relationship with your prospects. Remember, earned trust
is also an earned sale!


Part 4:

Calls to Action
Split testing shows that using simple Calls to Action can increase conversion
rates by as much as 62%!
Just as in the first part of this eBook you had to think about the why of your website, it’s
important also to take this a step further and think about the purpose behind each piece of
content. Look at each piece of your website individually and consider: What is this page for?
And more importantly, what do you want your prospect to do from here? Make sure you are
guiding visitors to your site along the sales process by telling them what to do next. The brief,
direct language used to direct customers on your site is called Calls to Action (CTA).

John Caples explained it well: “You have caught the readers with your headline. You have
interested them with your copy. Do not leave them hanging midair. Tell them what to do.”

It’s amazing how effective simple instructions can be! Give your visitors direction and watch
them turn from statistics into sales.

Make sure that every page on your site has a well-defined purpose and clearly informs the user
what you’d like for them to do next. Use action words like “Add to Cart”, “Call us for a Free Quote”
or “Download”. Make these instructions big, bold and irresistibly obvious. Try not to give too many
action options per page – one strong CTA is million times stronger than a dozen weak options.

As you’re writing your copy, make sure that each page has one definitive Call to Action that
guides your prospects along every step of the buying cycle.


Part 4:

Staying in Touch
B2C websites get the most traffic after hours when your shop is likely
to be closed. Contact forms and posted hours of availability will help close
this gap, even if you don’t sell directly through your website.
One of the most important things you can do to build
consumer confidence is to make yourself readily accessible.
That doesn’t mean live chat support as you hover over your
keyboard 24/7! What it does mean is that, wherever possible,
you should prominently display your contact information.
Make sure your phone number is easily visible throughout
the site, or link to your Contact page if you prefer requests
via email. Let your customers know that a real business with
real, trustworthy people are behind this website.

On your Contact page, make sure you include all the relevant
ways to get in touch with your business: phone, physical
address if you have one and a map showing where it is, your
normal hours of operation, and your social media pages.

Odds are that anyone looking at your website is there
because they’re interested in your business. Give them as
many options to connect with you as possible, both direct
(phone) and indirect (social media, email subscription).


Part 5:

Nitty Gritty Details
Now that your website is lined up to be a lead generating machine, it’s time to tackle the last set
of obstacles that can often slow new website owners down. See, when you’re setting up a new
website it’s easy to get excited by everything else you’re working on and overlook these items.
So pay attention! These last few tasks are not the most glamorous, but they’re definitely
important. Make sure you’ve covered these last few bits so that as soon as you’re ready,
the site is also ready to go live.

Web123
Starter Kit

Part 5:

Domain
Not just anyone can buy a .au domain name! Only registered Australian
businesses with qualifying ABNs are eligible to order them.
One of the most important parts of any website is the domain name. What is the “www”
address that you’d like to use for your website? A domain is like a street address for the
internet – it tells the world where to find information online about your business.

If you have an old website that you’re replacing, you’ll probably want to put your new website
up in place of the old one on the same domain. If this is your first website, you probably need
to purchase a new domain. Web123’s support crew can help you with everything you need
to get a new domain registered.

If you’re buying a domain for the first time, there are several factors to consider such
as: keywords, whether a .au is right for you, ambiguity, variations, availability, and your
competition. Some businesses may choose to have multiple domain names for one website,
which is ok too. (For instance, MyBusiness.com and MyBusiness.net might both take you
to the same website. That’s ok!) For more advice on how to choose a domain for your new
website, read How to Choose the Best Domain for your Business.

Once you have a domain you’d like to use for your website, you’ll want to get in touch with your
web developers ASAP. The time it takes to set up a website on a domain may take anywhere
from a few hours to several weeks, especially if it was purchased through a third party,
so make sure to factor this into your Go Live plan. Getting your new website set up on
the domain can be quite technical, but Web123 customers can send their details through
to support@web123.com.au and our Support Crew will take care of it for you.


Part 5:

Email
In most cases, you can still keep any old email addresses you used
for your business prior to getting a new domain. Check with your email
host (Web123) about how to create or set up email accounts.
If your website is the face of your brand online, then your email address is your electronic
signature. Once you have purchased the domain for your website, you can also set up
professional email accounts on that domain. Think of how much more impressive it is to contact
your customers from info@smallbusiness.com.au than from randomguy@hotmail.com!

All Web123 customers get free email hosting included with their websites, but if you already
have email set up elsewhere you’ll need to check with your current host to see whether
it’s a good option for you. If you do set up new business emails, make sure to let your
customers, providers (and especially your web developer!) know of any changes.


Part 5:

Shopping Cart
Forrester Research predicts Australian online retail sales will reach $33.3 billion
in 2015. That’s a LOT of potential sales coming through your website!
Being able to sell directly through your site is great, but there are a few additional steps you’ll
need to make sure you’ve taken before you can go live. (If your website doesn’t have
a shopping cart, you can safely skip this section.)

Payment Methods
The first step in setting up your shopping cart is to decide which types of payment methods
you’d like to accept through the website. It doesn’t make much sense to send your customers
through the entire order process without giving them a way to complete the transaction!

You can have as many payment methods on your website as you want, but if you have
a shopping cart you need at the very least one.

If you have a Web123 website, the most common payment method options are credit cards,
PayPal, and offline payment methods (e.g. direct debit or cheque). For each type of payment
method you want to use, certain information from a third party will be needed to set that
payment method up. For instance, if you decide you’d like to accept PayPal, you’ll first need
to create your PayPal Business account. Then share your PayPal Merchant ID or your email
address with Web123’s Support Crew to help you wire up that method in your shopping cart.

Some payment methods, such as credit cards, can take some time to set up since you’ll need to make
arrangements with your bank, so keep this in mind and plan accordingly when you’re scheduling your
launch. Allow 3-6 weeks if working with a bank for your payment methods just in case.

For a complete list of payment methods that work with a Web123 Shopping Cart and all
the information needed to set them up, check out the Payment Methods Flow Cart.


Part 5:

Shipping
While you may be worried about getting your shipping rates
“just right”, it’s better to lose a few cents on shipping than
to lose a sale over charging too much.
The second half of setting up a shopping cart is working out how you’re going to deliver
your products. If you’re selling physical products, shipping is an important part of your
online sales equation.

How do you plan on delivering your products to the customer? How much will it cost you
to do that? If you aren’t using a shopping cart on your site, this isn’t something that you’ll need
to worry about since customers will probably come right into your store after reading about
you online. However, if you’re going to be selling directly through the website, your shopping
cart system will need to know how to calculate what you’re going to charge for shipping.

Your shipping rules need to do two things:

Ensure that you aren’t losing any money on delivery. Packaging and postage aren’t free!
So make sure your costs are covered by either factoring your expenses into the price
of your products or setting up a shipping rate that has you covered.

The other important thing your shipping rules need to do is to not charge so much that
you scare off all the customers. You need to make sure you’re not losing money delivering
your products, but just as importantly you don’t want to charge $20 shipping for a $10 t-shirt -
you’d never get any sales!

The Web123 Support Crew will need to work with you to create a formula for how you’d like to
charge your customers for shipping. This might be something like $5 per item, or $10 per order,
or maybe your system is a little more complex and you’d like to work out a way to price shipping
based on weight. Maybe you’d like to include an option for local pick-up that doesn’t need
shipping at all. You can do that! Whatever system of shipping you decide to go with, the Support

Crew will just need some basic information to get it up and running – and it can always
be adjusted later.

For more information on how to price your shipping, read Web123’s Suggested Shipping guide.
With a Web123 Shopping Cart, your shipping options are very flexible and can be changed
at any time. That’s why we suggest starting out with the simplest method that works for
your business, and making changes later on as needed.


Part 5:

Delivery
Being upfront about your policies helps build consumer confidence.
Do you offer guarantees? No-question returns? Brag about all the good
things your business does that make you stand out.
This part isn’t required to get your shopping cart up and running, but some businesses may find it
helpful to create a page explaining what the customer should expect once they’ve place an order.

How long should the customer expect until they receive the product? Through what service
will it be shipped? Under what circumstances is it ok to return the item?
While only some banks require you to explicitly explain product
delivery or your refund policy, setting a page up with this
information can be helpful both to you and your customers.


Part 5:

Checking it Twice
One of the very last steps we recommend for any site going live is to double check EVERYTHING!
Enlist the help of a friend or colleague who hasn’t been involved with your website to go through
and point out anything that doesn’t seem quite right. A little constructive criticism can go a long way!

Re-examine anything that your friend found confusing or problematic, and make changes
where needed. The last thing you want is for a potential customer to end up on a broken link
or finding leftover “filler” text on your site! Spellcheck and grammar check all your content to
make sure you haven’t missed anything. Log out to view your site as the general public sees
it, and make sure everything you want to be public has been published on the site. Click on
every link, fill out every form. You want it to be perfect!

Don’t overlook details like creating custom “Thank You!” pages for after someone fills out a contact
form, or personalising the details that go out in an email from with their order information.

If you have a shopping cart, create a $1 test product and go through the entire ordering
process with each payment option to make sure that everything functions as you think it
should. From Home Page to Check Out, the process should be streamlined and intuitive.
Not only will trying this in advance point out any glitches that might have come up for a customer
trying to purchase through your website, it will also help you understand exactly what process
the customer goes through and what information they receive when placing an order.

Remember, your website is the heart and soul of your business’s web presence. Before you
put the site live, you want to make sure you’ve put your business’s best foot forward and that
your customers are going to see exactly what you want them to see.


Part 6:

Marketing & Measuring
Now that you got a website put together, do everything you can to help people know it is there.

You’ve put a lot of work into making your new site great, now make sure everyone knows about
it! It’s not uncommon to think that once you’ve launched your website, the sales and leads will
just start pouring in. Unfortunately, it’s not always as simple as that!

Once you’ve got your design done, your amazing content laid out, and your Calls to Action
ready to roll, it’s time to tell the world about your new site.

Web123
Starter Kit

Part 6:

Getting the Word Out
There are hundreds of techniques and methods you can use to let the world know about your
website. Which ones are best suited for you depend largely on your budget and the amount o
f time you have to invest in it.

One of the simplest (and most overlooked!) means of getting traffic to a new website is… telling
your existing customers about it! In order to get traffic online, start by looking offline. Tell all
your family and friends about the new website and ask them to share it with their connections.

When customers call your store asking for information, refer them to your website for product
images or detailed specs. Add your new web address to all your print materials (business cards,
flyers, banners, ads). Put a sign up next to your register or an announcement in your newsletter.

Your personal connections can be particularly helpful for broadcasting the message as well.
Send an email out to all your contacts and let them know the good news! Share a link on all
your personal social media accounts.

There are so many ways you can promote your website, the list is endless! For more ideas
on getting the word out about your website, check out 47 Ways to Promote Your Website.


Part 6:

Getting the Word Out
Facebook is projected to reach 1 billion members later this year.
No matter who your market is, they’re probably on Facebook already!
A lot of businesses focus too much about what their website says about their products
and services, rather than what the website can do for their customers. Shift your focus
to your customers and you’ll be amazed at the changes!

Consider adding a Testimonials or Client Examples section to your site to highlight success
stories. Your customers will be thrilled to be featured for their success (and will likely send
all their friends the link to check it out!), and prospective customers will be impressed with
the social proof of other customers who have benefited from your services. Where possible,
add social media Share buttons, such as the Facebook Like button, which make it easy for
visitors to share your content with the rest of their online networks.

Creating social media accounts for your business can be one of the most effective and
cost-effective ways of connecting with new customers. Casual and open interaction with
your customers and prospects is a great way of building a better relationship with the
customers you already have, while building rapport with your prospects - without
sounding pushing or too salesy!

Set up a Facebook fan page for your business to channel your business updates and attract
new leads. Twitter is another great option for promoting your business. In brief 140-character
messages you can send out updates about your business and industry. Twitter is the ultimate
opportunity to establish yourself as an expert in your field, and can help you easily build
credibility by making you a content curator. If your business is (or could be!) using video on
your website, YouTube is a very powerful tool for driving traffic to your website.

Social media accounts are frequently thought of like miniature extensions of your website.
As you’re setting up your business social media pages, make sure you maintain consistency
in design, language, and style - just as you would throughout your website and offline
branding. This helps build your brand reputation online and make sure your business is the
first thing that comes to mind the next time someone is in need of your services.

To learn more about social media marketing strategy, download a short course in Twitter
for Business and Facebook for Business Fan Page Marketing Secrets.


Part 6:

Measuring Success
There’s a common saying in marketing, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”
How will you gauge the success of your website?

One of the best ways to track what’s happening on your site is through ongoing monitoring
of Statistics and Reports. A good Content Management System will give you a detailed look
at which pages are the most popular on your site, as well as information on how visitors
are getting to your site – such as links on partner websites, social media, or which words or
phrases they are using to find your site. (On Web123 sites, you’ll find this tool in the Control
Panel of your Gadget Bar.) For additional statistics, you might want to set up Google Analytics -
a free tool that provides more in-depth analyses of the traffic on your website.

If you know where your visitors are spending time on your website, you can focus on
optimising those pages for conversions. Consider also what elements those popular pages
might have that other parts of your site might not, and try to replicate those appealing aspects
elsewhere on your site.

Similarly, if all your site visitors are coming in from a partner’s referring website, you might
want to negotiate a referral agreement with the site’s owner. Monitor which keywords visitors
are searching for in Google when they find your business website - they might give you some
great ideas for content updates!

Use all the information in your site statistics monitoring tools to track which parts of your
site are getting the most traffic, and especially which parts are getting the most conversions.
If a certain eBook seems to be winning you all the sales over another one, place it front and
centre! Continually revise your processes until you find what works best for you. Remember,
just because you’ve got everything “done” on your site doesn’t mean it’s finished. You should
always be adjusting and re-evaluating your online strategies, and tracking what’s working
is the best way to do it right.


Conclusion
Don’t expect that once your site is live your job is over. Far from it! A website is a
continual work in progress. It will never be perfect; it will never be finished. Nurture and
grow your site by keeping it updated with news, images, and product updates. There is
no magic bullet that works for every business website, so try different things until you
find what works best for you.

If you’re a Web123 client, we’ll help make keeping your site fresh easy for you by rolling
out new features or helping your master new tools through unlimited free ongoing
support. If you’re not a Web123 client yet... Well, what are you waiting for! Get your
business online and off to a strong, successful start today.

Contact Us
If you’ve got a question, need some
help or just want to have a chat, call

1800 932 123 Web123
www.web123.com.au Starter Kit

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30 Must Haves For a Profitable Website - eBook by Web123

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30 Must Haves For a Profitable Website - eBook by Web123