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Don't be afraid! It's just an Internet Marketing Plan
A good internet marketing plan can generate website traffic and lead to more sales, but does not have to cost a lot of money. Mark a day on your calendar to work on your plan! It's easy! Take the day to:
Define who your perfect customer is
Decide where your users will see you online
Decide what message you want to communicate
Create goals and set some dates
Analyze your budget for the project
At the end of the day you should have a pretty good idea what is required to start taking the steps toward launch. Don't worry if your first step is just a small email campaign, if done properly, you'll be managing your own pay per click banner ad campaign in no time.
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Defining the scope of your website development project
Before you roll up your sleeves and dive into HTML programming, hire a website developer or engage an internet marketing company there are several things you should take some time to define.
Will your website be for business or personal use?
What are the goals of the site?
Who is your target audience?
What is your budget and time frame?
What image do you want to project?
How large will your site be? 1 page? 1000?
Do you have web development and design resources available?
Will you require maintenance and support for the site?
By answering these questions before beginning the project, you will have a tool that will later enable you to maintain focus and stay organized while developing a great website.
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What is FTP software?
A File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program allows you to transfer files between computers, regardless of operating system. In web development, these programs are usually used to transfer website files to your Hosting provider. If the HTML editor you choose does not have FTP functionality, you'll need this type of program to upload your files to your website when they are ready to publish.
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What is a web development firm?
A “web development” company specializes in web-based applications and generally has a strong background in computer programming. Web developers could create an ecommerce website or information resource as you will need to employ back-end webstore or content management technology for your catalog of products or information.
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Extending your CMS: Don't Fear the Redesign
One of the greatest things about implementing a content management system is that it will allow the site redesign process to be simplified greatly. By removing the arduous production nightmare of moving all your content into a new template, you can concentrate on getting the design right and 'flipping' the design when you've perfected it.
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Defining the budget for your website project
When defining your budget for your website design project be sure to keep in mind the following services and their costs:
Domain management and hosting
Illustration, photography and logo design
Internet application development or customization
Copy-writing
HTML production
Search Engine Optimization
Website Maintenance
You can spend little to no money to get your website up and running, but remember the old adage 'You get what you pay for!'
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Effective Email Marketing – Create a Call to Action
If you're spending the time and money to create an email marketing campaign be sure to give your users a clear call to action. Make them informative, make them attractive, but most of all make it clear to the user that you have something they need. If you're inviting your east coast clients to a Boston seminar, your call to action might read something like "Register today for this informative seminar right in your own backyard."
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Common Website programming languages
There are numerous programming languages to create websites and web applications with. Following are a few of the most common.
HTML - Use Hypertext Markup Language for basic website design using text and images, HTML is a simple is easy to learn, and can be written in a simple text editor.
ASP - Active Server Pages are HTML pages that include language-independent cross-platform server-side scripts created by Microsoft. They are easy to use and very flexible if you use a Microsoft web server.
JSP - Similar to ASP, Java Server Pages contain servlets - little programs that run on your web server that produce dynamic content. JSP pages are not limited to Microsoft web servers.
ASP.NET technology is Microsoft's new programming language and it is thought that it will eventually replace standard ASP. .NET development is somewhat slower than ASP but it is incredible stable, runs faster and opens up many new programming possibilities.
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User Acceptance Test: Scenario Testing
Scenario testing can, and should, be done multiple times during a website creation process. You can do scenario testing with simple line drawings on paper, with printed examples of your design, or on your actual website. Define tasks that will emulate how users will most likely use your site. For example, if you're launching an ecommerce site, ask your subject to start at your home page and go through the purchasing process for a certain product. Ask the user to 'think out loud' while they perform the task so you can understand their process. Be quiet, take notes and DON'T HELP. Whatever medium you choose to use, your goal is to watch users perform tasks you define to analyze the effectiveness and ease of use for your website design. If a user gets frustrated with a task, don't try to explain your logic, listen to theirs and consider revisiting the design if you get similar feedback from additional test subjects.
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