The recent shake up of e-commerce companies should not mislead us into thinking that the web has gone away. It has and will continue to have a profound impact on the way we do business. This includes the way we make and sell our products and services; the ways in which our employers will work; the speed at which our employees will work; the speed at which we communicate and also the dangers of losing touch with people.

It is essential that companies develop a comprehensive web strategy.

E-commerce is not new infact it has been around since the 1960’s in the guise of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and it is not reserved for companies with a technological focus. You need to embrace the technology into your business or risk not having a business at all.

Put in basic terms E-commerce is just commerce using a different medium. Its major difference with traditional commerce is that it is dynamic, allowing direct customer interaction with the company and allowing business to be conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. This can be achieved right across the world with no geographical boundaries. Furthermore it is not constrained by time zones or normal working hours. To summarise whatever markets you operate in and whatever customer base you have, someone out there can target them unless you adopt a proactive e-commerce strategy.

For smaller businesses in particular, a quick return on any investment made in e-commerce is crucial. Any Investment by any organisation should pay dividends. A Web site is an investment and should bring benefits ultimately reflecting in increased profits.

It is essential therefore that the business owner be armed with the key questions to ask themselves and their partners in developing such a strategy:

The first step in developing a Web site is to make sure you have defined a set of goals and know what it is you want to accomplish with the Web site. Without a clear statement of purpose and objectives the project will begin to wander off course and get bogged down, or may even go on past the point of diminishing returns.

Careful planning and a clear sense of purpose are the keys to success in developing Web sites, particularly if you will be working as part of a team to develop the site.

Before beginning to develop your Web site you should:

You should also begin to identify all of the content information and graphic resources you will need to collect or create to achieve the goals you have set for your Web site.

What are your ultimate objectives?

A clear, short statement of objectives should form the foundation of your site design. This is where you expand on the goals in your statement of purpose, and will be the tool you will use to analyse the success of your Web site.
For example:

The statement should go on to list a few more specific financial and other organisational goals the Web site is designed to fulfil, how long the evaluation period will be, and how the success of the site will be evaluated.
Building a Web site is usually an ongoing process, not a one-time project with static data. Long term editorial management and technical maintenance must be covered in your plans for the site. Without this longer perspective your electronic publication will suffer the same fate as many newsletters; - an enthusiastic start, but no lasting accomplishments. Remember it’s a marathon not a sprint.

Know your audience

The next step in the design process is to identify the potential users of your Web site, so that you can structure the site design to meet their needs and expectations. The knowledge, background, interests, and needs of users will vary from tentative novices who need a careful structured introduction to expert "power users" who may irritated by anything that seems to patronise them or delay their access to information. A well-designed site should be able to accommodate a range of user skills and interests. For example, if the goal of your Web site is to deliver internal corporate information, human resources documents, or other information that used to be published in paper manuals your site will be used by people who will visit many times every day, and also by people who only occasionally refer to the site.

Web surfers

Home pages aimed at browsers should be comparable to magazine covers. The objective is to entice the casual browser with strong graphics and bold statements of content. All the links on your home page should point inward, toward pages within your site. Provide a very clear and concise statement of what is in the site that might interest the reader.

Novice and occasional users

These users depend on clear structure and easy access to overviews that illustrate how information is arranged within your Web site. Novices tend to be intimidated by complex text menus and may be hesitant about delving deep into the site if the home page is not graphically attractive and clearly arranged. Infrequent users benefit from overview pages, hierarchical maps, and design graphics and icons that help trigger memory about where information is stored within your site. A glossary of technical terms, acronyms, abbreviations, and a listing of "frequently asked questions" can be helpful to first-time or infrequent users of your site.

Expert and frequent users

These users depend on your site to obtain information quickly and accurately. Expert users are very impatient with multiple low-density graphic menus that only offer two to six choices at time. Power users crave stripped-down, fast-loading text menus. Expert and frequent users generally have very specific goals in mind, and will appreciate detailed text menus, site structure outlines, or comprehensive site indexes that allow fast search and retrieval.

International users

Remember that you are designing for the World Wide Web. Your readers could be the people down the street, or people in Australia or Poland. To reach the maximum number of users in other countries you may need to provide translations, at least of your key menu pages. Avoid idiosyncratic local jargon or obscure technical acronyms in your introductory or explanatory pages. Don't assume that every reader follows your local date and time conventions. For example, don't abbreviate dates on your Web pages.
In most countries 3/4/2001 would read as April 3 2001, however to a American it reads as "March 4, 2001

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