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MYTHS |
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MYTHS |
Internet Myths to Keep an Eye On
There is no question that an online e-commerce store is the fastest (and probably cheapest) way to reach customers, market a new product, or extend a new business. The benefits of e-commerce are numerous. But there are some misunderstandings of how e-commerce works. Before you toss money at an internet company take a look at these Internet Myths.
MYTH: "Build it and they will come."
If I toss up a website on the net with my name, number, and product, people will buy.
Not true. Selling products via the internet takes time, work, and money just like any other venture. In some cases there are obvious advantages to using the internet (worldwide audience, instant access, open 24/7, extremely low overhead) but e-commerce still takes patience and careful crafting. Nothing happens overnight.
MYTH: If you have a website people will find it with search engines and they will visit your website.
Not necessarily true. While you might get lucky if your site gets spidered and logged by MSN.com you generally have to promote your site to search engines before people will be able to find it. Promoting (or "submitting") a website to search engines is a meticulous "by-hand" project and must be done correctly if you want to "get into the system". Just uploading a page of text somewhere will not draw internet visitors to your website. Also, getting your website into the system takes time - a lot of time - sometimes weeks or even months. Yahoo, for example, takes about four weeks to accept and process a website (and Yahoo is by far the most important search engine in my opinion).
MYTH: Submitting my website to "hundreds of search engines" will bring visitors.
Absolutely not. Please beware of software packages or services promising tuns of traffic by "hooking you up with hundreds of search engines". The fact is, over 95% of all the "searching" done by internet users is done using the top five or six most important search engines (such as Yahoo, MSN, Excite, etc.). I would rather have a reasonably high listing in HotBot.com than have my site listed in 500 fly-by-night web engines that no one uses and that won't exist next month anyway. Please be sure you know what you're doing when it comes to search engines.
MYTH: An e-commerce website means instant business.
No. As with all forms of business getting the website built, getting the site into the search engine system, and winning consumer confidence takes time. E-commerce is, of course, still much faster that the norm, but it does take at least several weeks to organize a site properly.
MYTH: Website hits equal sales.
Again, no. There is no way to guarantee that the content of your website will inspire people to buy. There are certainly right and wrong ways to do things to increase your marketability however.
MYTH: There's no reason for my company to have a website. We're doing fine.
I have to say, no. In 2001 to not have at least some kind of web presence is like not having a fax machine. Nowadays, it's not so much a "sign of prestige" if you have a fancy website, rather, it's a sign of a lack of aggressiveness if you don't have a website. A basic website is now so easy and affordable companies lacking one may lend the appearance of slipping behind. If nothing else, a website gives you another medium of advertising and another way for people to remember you, contact you, and learn more about you. A company website is an absolute must.
MYTH: Hackers could use my website to hack into our company's private, internal information.
Absolutely not. No private or internal information about you is placed on the web. Only the information that you want to be made public is put on the web. There is no link from the web to your file cabinet.
MYTH: Anyone can build and post a website.
This requires a two part answer.
1. Actually, this is, in many ways, true. If you have some technical savvy and patience there are many companies, such as geocities.com, that will let you build and even "host" a very crude website - sometimes for free. The drawbacks are many, however, including the fact that such websites are (by contract) loaded with banners, blinking third-party ads, and popup windows that irritate users and erode any hope of a professional appearance; there is no legitimate customer service offered, usually only a "frequent questions" section; e-commerce is generally not possible and definitely not recommended; and one is never sure when his site will be arbitrarily deleted, out of service, or shut down for some capricious and unexpected reason. Do not host your business website using a "free hosting" company!
2. Again, almost anyone with technical savvy can create about 80% of the basics of a website using special software for non-programmers. The catch is that the 20% a novice can't do by himself has to be done by a professional. For example, if you don't know what these words mean, "Meta tags, keyword redundancy, redirecting, image tags, SSL, broken links" don't try to submit your website to a search engine. And to get a website to do some of the fancier things that will hopefully reflect professionalism (such as feedback forms without blinking banners) you will probably need a programmer. If you intend to do e-commerce I strongly urge you to use a professional.
MYTH: Promoting my website to search engines is equal to advertising.
No. Promoting to search engines makes it possible for people to find you if they are already looking for you. There is no question that search engine listings are vital to sales but note that this is distinct from advertising. Advertising (whether on the internet with banners or in print) is intended to generate interest; search engines make you available to people who are already interested.
The Good News
At KC Websites we understand e-commerce and we'll keep your investment minimal.
• Get a basic e-commerce website for a very small investment.
• We'll keep e-commerce simple for you.
• We'll keep your risk and overhead extraordinarily low.
• We'll let you start small and expand your website as your business expands.
• We know how to do Search Engine work properly.