| |
BUILD A GREAT WEBSITE WITHOUT EMPTYING YOUR
WEBSITE
If you have a business related to tourism, you need to be on the web
by Justin Britt
So you realize the power of the web and what it can do for you. The big
question is how do you put the Internet to work for your company?
The first step is to build a website, but before you start, you must consider
one very important thing…
The World Wide Web levels the playing field for your industry.
When a potential visitor logs on to the Internet and opens your website
into a browser window, they know nothing about your company. They cannot
see the inside of your restaurant, or your hotel. They don’t know
what type of kayaks you have or the gear that you carry on your fishing
boat. They don’t know the quality of the materials your selling nor
do they know the great location of your rental home.
Armed with this information, it is vital to recognize that your website
is a reflection of your business. A potential client across the ocean doesn’t
know you from your competition. If your website is poorly put together,
the automatic assumption will be that your Luau is also poor. This does
not mean that you don’t have great food or the best looking hula dancers
in town, but a potential customer cannot tell this from staring into their
computer.
Does this mean I have to take a second mortgage on my house just to
build my website?
I know what you’re thinking, “my cousin’s friends brother
can build me a website.” It’s true, just about anyone can build
you a website, but inexpensive does not mean cheap. It takes years of hard
work and dedication to learn the intricacies of building professional web
pages. My advice is to leave this important job to the professionals. This
does not mean a nice website has to put you in the poor house. Look around
and you’ll be sure to find something in your budget. Here are a few
things to consider:
You don’t have to put your entire business on the web. Try to
include only the best features of your business on your website. All you
need someone to do is make that first phone call or walk into your store
to make the sale.
Use pre-existing logos and artwork. An expensive part of web design
is branding your company. If you already have a look and logos that work
for you, try to stick with them. (note: not everything transfers well to
the web)
Do some of the work yourself. You can write the text and take the
photos.
Save your money if you’re not going to promote your website.
I see so many nice websites from Kauai that I know people spent good money
on; yet, they are not listed in the Google search engine or Yahoo index.
Do not build a website if you’re not going to spend the money to promote
it (more on marketing tomorrow).
So what makes a great website? The first thing you need to consider when
building your web page is that there are billions of websites out there.
Your site has to stand out from the rest to capture your audiences’
attention. This means professionalism.
Make sure your site is simple to navigate. People have to find
what they’re looking for easily. If a visitor has to search for information,
they will leave your site.
Don’t get too fancy; sometimes less is more.
Your website should download quickly. If people have to wait too
long, they will leave your site. To ensure fast download times, optimize
your photos for the web to keep file sizes down.
Choose colors that make sense. Bright colors appeal to the human
eye, but don’t go overboard. Also, white text on a dark background
reads best, however, white backgrounds are standard.
Obviously, there is more to building a great website then what I mentioned
above. The most important tip I can give you is to look at the web designer’s
portfolio. Anyone can say, “Yah, yah—I build great websites.”
But a person’s work speaks for itself.
|
|
|
Extending your business beyond the barriers of the island can spell
success for you and your company. A 3 part series to get you up and running,
or to take your website to the next level.
Kauai's Reliance on the Web
Build a Great Website on a Budget
Website Promotion
|
|
