World Internet Summit Speakers

No matter what anyone tells you, the first step you need to take if you want to set up your business’s website is to first determine the goal for what you want to use your website for.

  You are off to a good start, if you already have a brick and mortar business and you are planning on expanding its reach to the internet.  On the other hand, if you are starting from scratch, and a business website creation is going to be your sole moneymaker, then you have a lot of work ahead of you.

 Because there are more steps involved for those who are looking to make an online business from scratch, we will start at the beginning. Your first step when creating a business website is to brainstorm what it is exactly that you want your business to provide.

 A retail or sales website will look different than a marketing website which will look different than an informational website, and they will all look different than a web application. Your primary concern should be to first determine a genre for your business’s website. Once you have the basic ideas laid out for your site everything else will fall into place. 

 Each type of business site has its own pros and cons. For example, a sales or retail website will have a lot of pictures, sporadic text that is mostly used to describe each product you are selling in a sentence or two, and a shopping cart.

 These sites are very user friendly and feature easy navigation. but they are more difficult to get recognized by search engines and normally do not take advantage of advertising. With the extra traffic, affiliate programs can be used.

 On the other hand, a marketing website is designed to sell one product and one product only. You’ve probably seen a number of marketing websites attempting to sell you get rich quick schemes, web content, and to make web design easier, handy Photoshop plug-ins.

 These sites are the easiest to design and build, feature mostly text with a few images interspersed, and contain a simple “Buy Now” button. They are designed around one product and one product only, making them optimized for search engines and perfectly positioned to make money through advertising and affiliate programs.

 The informational business website is next. These are sites designed to inform about a business, but not necessarily sell anything directly. Think of some of the biggest companies in the world: Toyota, Canon, Sony, Motorola Chevrolet, etc. While you can buy items on some of their corporate websites, they are primarily designed to inform the consumer.

 By informing the consumer about your store or brand you can increase your sales dramatically as you get the word out about your products. These websites, while they can work for anyone who has a well-defined product to sell, are better for companies and small businesses that have a presence nationwide.

It is not a good idea to make an informational website in other words for your local business when you will only get a few site visitors a month - if that. Do not confuse these informational websites with Adsense Sites. The two are distinct.

 Finally, You can consider taking a route that few dare to tread, if you really want to make a name for yourself on the Internet. You could create a web-based application that functions like a traditional program, but is located on the internet. These programs can often give you a channel to make a significant amount of money, provided that people find the applications you create useful.

 However, they do require a lot of perseverance, a very original idea, and a good team of programmers who want the product to succeed. While a web application based business is a fantastic way to make a lot of money, it is not the easiest for those who are new to the business arena.

  It is up to you to choose the one that will most work for your goals,  now that you know the four basic types of business websites. You do not, and should not, decide right now which type of site is the best for you.

  Do some research, take your time, and make sure that you talk everything through with your business partners and/or your immediate family members who may be counting on you to make the right decision.

Ali Halupka said:
There don't seem to be many speakers mentioned for World Internet Summit, Perth in 2010. I hope my son is not disappointed after I encouraged him to attend....