TheadventoftheWorldWideWeb(WWW)hascreatedadynamicshiftinthewaybusinessescompeteinthemarketplace.TheWWWallowscompanies,smallandlarge,tovieforcustomersonaninternationallevelplayingfield.Establishingawebpresenceisessentialtocontinuedgrowthanddevelopment;however,thereareseveralconsiderationstotakeintoaccount.Somechallengesfacingcompaniestransitioningintotheworldofe-commerceinclude:websitedesign,development,hardware,softwareandstrategicplanning.
Thefirststepincreatingane-commercebusinessistocreateaninternetmarketingplan.Thisisthestrategicplanthatacompanyfollowstocapitalizeoffofitsexistingresourceswhiletakingadvantageoftheadditionalopportunitiesofferedbytheshouldexamineitsmission/visionandre-purposeitfortheweb.Acomparativeanalysisshouldbemadeofcompetingbusinesseswebsitesandinternetmarketingstrategies.Asuccessfule-commercebusinesswillintegratenewandemergentstrategieswithbestpracticesofclassicalstrategicplanningtraditionallyusedforbrick-and-mortarcompanies.Ane-commercebusinessmustbeflexibleenoughtoadjusttheconstantinnovationsintechnologythatmayaffectitsonlineoperationsandcustomerrelationshipmanagementtools.
Secondly,withasolidinternetmarketingplaninhand,ane-commercebusinessneedstodesignanddevelopafunctionalwebsite.Websitedesignanddevelopmenthasmanyelements.Ofcoursethesiteitselfshouldfunctionwithintheidentifiedmission/visionoftheorganizationitrepresents.Thismeansthatallofitscontentshouldbeclear,understandableandlogicalinformationrelevantonlytotheproductsand/orservicesthecompanydesirestopromote.Anyindustry-specificjargonandtechnicaleseshouldbelimitedanddefinedforthetargetaudience.Theindividualwebsitepagesshouldbetitledandindexedappropriatelysothattheyareeasilynavigatablebysitevisitors.Thereshouldbeasfewdistractinggraphicalimagesandspecialeffects(i.e.flash,animations)aspossibletomaintainquickandeasyaccesstotheinformationbeingsought.Sitesshouldsticktobasicdesignconventions.Alloftheseelementsaddtoawebsitesfunctionalityandusabilitytositevisitors.
Additionally,thewebsiteneedstobefound.Aneasilyidentifiablebutsimpledomainname(URLaddress)shouldbechosen.Amajorkeywordphraseand/orthebusinessnameshouldbeusedwithinthesiteaddress.SEO(SearchEngineOptimization)andothertrafficgeneratorsshouldbecarefullychosentodrivethetargetedaudiencetothesite.ThismayalsoincludetheuseofWeb2.0toolssuchassocialmedia,integratedsitesearchcapabilities,interactivechatfeatures,video,shoppingcartsandothermultimediaavenuesthathelptocreatetheoverallsiteatmosphereandstreamlinedexperiencefortheenduser.
Throughouttheentireprocess,softwareandhardwareneedsmustalsobeconsidered.Ane-commercebusinesshasthechoicetohosttheirwebsiteinternallyontheirownserversoruseanexternalhostingservice.Ifusingonesownservers,asinthecaseofanintranetsite,networkinghardwarecomesintoplay.TheapplicationsusedtodesignthesitecanbeinternallikeMSFrontPageorexternalsuchastemplatesincludedwithmosthostingpackages.Choicesforsecurityfeaturestomaintaincustomerprivacyandthetypesofvirtualmerchantaccountsorshoppingcartapplicationsarealsovast.
Finally,sincetheonlineworldisconstantlychanging,e-commercebusinessesmustdevelopemergentstrategiestoconsistentlymonitorandadapttoonlineinnovationsandmaintainsiteusability.Toolsthatofferanalyticsandregularsitemaintenanceareessentialtomaintainingacompetitiveadvantage.
Therearemanyconcernswhenbreakingintotheonlinemarketplace;however,withasolidinternetmarketingstrategyandwellthoughtoutconsiderationsforcreatingausablesiteandstreamlinedexperienceforthetargetaudience,almostanybusinesscanestablishasuccessfulwebpresence.Theprimaryelementtorememberistocontinuouslybereadytoaddressthedynamicandever-changingnatureoftheWorldWideWeb.
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