by Thomas Nicolosi
Website Developer, 1to1products.com

1) Reason to Exist

A website can be an essential part of your marketing plan if you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Decide up front how your website will help you realize your business goals.

Do you want to: Attract new customers? Keep your members or clients informed of upcoming events? Provide general information about your company and examples of your work?

Once you decide on a purpose for your website and you are clear about your objectives the content and design will follow naturally.

2) Great Content

Quality content will drive the success of your small business website. Plan in advance the type of content you want to place on your website. Good original content can include informational articles, blog posts, examples of your work (including photographs), case studies, testimonials, and product reviews.

Keep it original. Never copy material from another website and post it as your own. Avoid websites offering "reprint" articles and other content for you to post. You do not want to unwittingly violate a copyright and duplicate content is undesirable.

It is always best to post unique content that is tailored to meet the needs of your visitors. Know your target audience and serve it well. Content that excites and interests your potential customers generates traffic, inbound links, inquiries, and sales.

Be concise and to the point. If writing isn't your strength or if you don't have the time, consider hiring a professional that has experience in producing copy for the web.

Always include contact information. Nobody wants to do business with someone they can't reach in case of a problem or if a question arises.

3) Solid Design

Keep your layout as simple as possible while presenting your content in a pleasant manner. Visitors should not need to think about how to navigate your website or how to find the information they need.

Use only graphic elements that are essential. Unnecessary graphics or animations can be distracting and may cause your pages to load slowly.

Insist that your web developer adheres to the latest standards and best practices. Check to see that your site's pages pass W3C validation. This insures that your site is widely accessible and can be easily maintained.

Be sure that your web pages display your content correctly in the most popular current browsers.

4) Memorable Domain Name

You want a domain name that is concise and easy to use. Ideally a potential customer should be able to guess your domain name if they know the name of your business. Choose a domain name that you will not need to spell out over the phone. Stick with Top Level Domains (TLDs) of .com or .net for a business and .org for a club, organization, or individual. Avoid hyphenated domain names if possible.

Consider purchasing both .com and .net variants for your business. Be aware that your name, address, and phone number will be visible to anyone through the WhoIs directory. Strongly consider using a privacy service to shield your personal information.

5) Reliable Hosting

For most small businesses shared hosting is an effective low cost choice. Expect 99.9% or better uptime. Stick with a hosting provider that includes the choice of phone, email, and chat support.

If you intend to use an open source application for blogging, content management, or e-commerce choose a Linux plan. Windows offers a great platform for custom web application development, but a poor selection of open source applications.

Free hosting is available, but often comes with strings attached such as relatively intrusive advertising banners, limited space, no database capability, reduced support, or no FTP capability. Expect to pay in the range of $10 to $20 per month for good shared hosting.