It used to be that if a customer wanted to find a particular business, they’d look in their local yellow pages. Now, over a billion people go to Google, MSN and Yahoo to look for what they want. According to the most recent Netcraft Web Survey, there are now more than 185 million Web sites online. This begs the question: How does your business stand out?
 

There are three keys to building a successful Web business presence:
 

1. USABILITY: Make it easy to find the information your customers are looking for – on average, if a potential customer cannot find what they are looking for within the first 20 seconds of their visit to your site, you will lose them. While creating your site copy and information architecture, think from the perspective of your customer; what you want to tell them may not necessarily be what they want to know. If your business requires that you have myriad information listed on the site, you may want to look into adding a search feature (easily added quickly through Google) which will dramatically increase overall site usability for your online audience.
 

2. Design: Keep the site design consistent with your company’s marketing strategy, keep it simple and keep it fast. Though adding a lot of multimedia to your site may sound like a good idea, it may actually harm you in the long run. A lot of "interactive" multimedia and videos built with Adobe Flash and other software take quite some time (over 20 seconds) to load on your customers’ computers and cell phones and may or may not show up if they don’t have the right technology loaded into their browser – all of which leads to frustration and eventual desertion of your site.
 

3. Web Marketing: You may have a well-designed site with great usability, but if no one knows about it, just how effective is it? According to the Georgia Institute of Technology, about 85 percent of Internet traffic is driven through search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo. Your search ranking on these sites will go a long way in determining the success of your site. Companies such as the recently Google-acquired Double Click specialize in developing and implementing digital marketing plans to help build, strengthen and promote your company’s overall Web presence, as well as your search rankings.
 

With average monthly search queries initiated in homes, businesses, and universities in the United States in the billions, investing in and developing an effective Web presence for your business is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.

Mark Llano • 2009 Vetrepreneur® of the Year • U.S. Marine Corps, 5 Years

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