Starting a Business Online - Research Paper Example

?Starting a Business Online Introduction Registration of domain is the first step in starting a business online. The entrepreneur select appropriate and attractive domain names to websites for their online business after taking into consideration several factors into account. The website should be simple to understand and easy to navigate with provision for catalogue, shopping cart and payment gateway. A professionally designed website has text and images properly proportioned and the pages appropriately named. This paper discusses about web marketing strategy for a local clothing store along the Jersey Shore boardwalk. Domain name In web marketing domain name is an asset. Usually the domain name should be relevant, catchy, stylish, fashionable and easy to remember. According to Ethics Newsline (2013) “The introduction of new top-level domain names — the ending letters in web addresses, such as .com and .org — is raising some unanticipated ethical issues, according to various press reports…Addresses such as .car, .toronto, or .apple will become available, reports the Toronto Star, but at a price.” Web spoofing and cyber-squatting are unethical activities in e-commerce. Spoofing refers to creating domains similar to well-known brands or established corporate companies like valmart.com for wallmart.com. Cyber-squatting is registering domain name of a well-known company or brand with the purpose of misusing it or selling it to the concerned company at an exorbitant price. Firms may be forced to buy these domains simply to avoid e-commerce frauds. Though $1,000 for domain re-sale is attractive, the name was not registered with the intention of re-sale. The name was selected after carefully considering various factors to ensure its suitability to the business and it is expected to be beneficial for the growth and development of the business in the long run. Also, it is felt that resale of domain name amounts to selling the name to our competitor who finds it worth to buy at this price. Also, if the buyer is not likely to become our competitor, it is bought with some ulterior motive and the domain name could be misused that is unethical. So, there is no question of resale of domain. E-Commerce software The Internet has emerged as a global medium for communication that is used gainfully used for commerce by creating web-based applications. In e-commerce, catalog designing is important like physical display of products in a showroom. It should be imaginative to include online marketing tools like gift certificates and discounts apart from display of prices and special features. The possibilities of expanding the market potential are unlimited with a good blend of content, photography, association with popular themes with a proper mix of graphics, flash and background images in a website. Online shopping cart software should incorporate features for selection of product, price comparison, placement of order and change the products selected if necessary. In the case of shopping cart software, synchronizing price and quantity with accounting and stores is very important and lack of this facility in software impedes real time inventory control. Establishing a good system for incorporating returns and exchanges in software is also essential for ensuring smooth flow of business. Order processing includes single-order processing, batch processing or mail order processing. Providing reputed online payment gateway in shopping cart for secure, fast and reliable transactions on real time basis is essential. Achieving optimum processing capacity of the system is very important for enhancing user experience. Null and Lobur (2012, p. 40) stated “No matter how many processors are placed in a system, or how many resources are assigned to them, somehow, somewhere, a bottleneck is bound to develop. The best we can do to remedy this is to make sure that the slowest parts of the system are the ones that are used the least.” Web presence and increasing Website usability The important factors need to be focused in formulating web marketing strategies are visibility on search and web usability. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important for the company to ensure its presence in browsing so that the chances for the people to visit the website increase. Taub (2006) states “getting a prominent placement in a search engine is the only way to ensure that your site will be seen by those who can increase your business.” There are several apps available for enhancing the traffic level through SEO by gaining prominence in Google and Bing search results. The rules are getting more complicated and there are several apps available and updated on regular basis. However, the fundamental factor is ‘Key Word’. Key words should coincide with the search terms. Use of key words in title, header, URL, images could be useful in SEO but, excessive use of key words can be categorized as spam. It is important to note that use of numerous key words for optimization of website will be counterproductive since Google does not encourage it. Key word density beyond 1 to 2 per cent may attract penalty. For example, for a word content of 400 in a page, 4 to 8 words, preferably on a lower side, say 4 to 6 is reasonable. Writing META tags is also an important aspect. Search Engines include description coming after title, one or two sentences. It should be ensured that the description contains important key words. Using key words in hyper links is also important for search engine coverage.  Video on YouTube mentioning the site name will be useful in driving traffic to the site. Internal linking within the site is important in SEO. Updating the content on regular basis is very important for increasing traffic. There are several apps available that can be useful in integrating several data sources including social media for SEO. Google’s Webmaster Tools will be helpful in enhancing presence on the web. Many webhosting companies provide various tools giving statistics about the traffic, its sources and the search terms the visitors use. Social networks such as facebook and twitter can be skillfully used either directly or through re-tweeting for improving SEO. Studies “show that only 50 percent of Web visitors scroll down the screen to see what lies below the visible part on their PC monitor. Users spend 30 seconds reviewing a home page, Mr. Nielsen said” (Taub, 2006). Search words the audience look for should be targeted in home page to rivet their attention or for them to linger a longer time within the site. For enhancing website usability, it is important to engage the visitors by providing what they want in minimum possible time. The website should be able to lead them to the required page within this time. The crux of the issue is to be clear about the visitors’ needs. Providing site map would be useful by limiting the visitors’ travel time to reach the relevant page. Providing details of contact enhances credibility of the business. FAQ with answers should be carefully planned to avoid ambiguity and aid visitors for resolving navigational issues relating to search. Web marketing strategy Convergence of technology has offered unlimited opportunities to expand e-commerce. Application of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) techniques is very important for effective performance in e-commerce. Schneider (2011, p. 25) stated “By reducing the cost of searching for potential buyers and sellers and increasing the number of potential market participants, electronic commerce can change the attractiveness of vertical integration of many firms.” Standard application infrastructure for operations like credit card processing is important for web-based customer interface for ensuring security, reliability of the system and efficiency in the operations. Convergence of technology integrating voice, video and data through mobile telephony has increased marketing choices tremendously. With the different people using different channels for communication in e-commerce, companies started targeting customers based on the platforms they use for promoting different types of products to different customers. According to Lake (2006) the 12 fundamentals for e-commerce are relating to good user experience, solid on-sight search, architecture and navigation, clarity in labels and pages, trust and credibility, prioritizing key information, minimizing distraction, good copywriting, good images, servicing the pre-purchase consumer, no alarms and no surprises and high visible support options. Mooney (2012) stated “Press Releases are an important part of any website/ blog/branding strategy. The media is LOOKING for news online and if you have a way for them to find out important news about you and your company, they will find it.” The opportunities in e-commence should be effectively exploited based on the strengths of the firm by overcoming weaknesses such as chances of fraud and long delivery time and avoiding threats due to factors like statutory regulations and rapid innovations through effective forecasting and planning. Being a local company, tie-up with the other local companies such as restaurants or shoe marts for advertisement in other websites will be useful for enhancing the firm’s reach within the community.  These reciprocal arrangements would be beneficial to both the companies in enhancing their reach to the local customers by increasing familiarity through different sources. Getting included in the local trade associations or other organizations will enable linking from these sites to the firm’s website. Free advertising on Google through Google Places, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local with good logo and address enhances search engine results and provides information about location graphically. The maps will be useful to the people who make local search. “A big trend is convergence websites, which combine local business listings and directories with search functionality and paid advertising” (Kooser, 2007).  Similarly, social networking could be used effectively for local advertising. Inside Facebook (2013) states “these ads can be particularly valuable for local businesses who only need to reach people in their area.” Advertising is the main source of income for many bloggers. Blogging could be used for advertising by the business firms. Mohr (2013) states, “Blogs have begun to replace newsletters that businesses used to send out to tell their customers about upcoming promotions and what is going on with the company.” Issue of news releases in web, industry magazines or trade association sites with links to the firm increases traffic to the site. However, it should be ensured that these news releases are informative and useful to the visitors for gaining popularity. Social networking media will be useful in getting direct traffic and produce links to the site with unlimited permutations and combinations due to ‘follower’ system in linking. Conclusion Internet has been the cornerstone for e-commerce and banking transactions are more and more dependent on internet. IT infrastructure in e-commerce is very important and it should aim at efficiency in interaction with different suppliers and customers for effecting purchase, sales and distribution. Web marketing hinges on installation of suitable hardware such as computers and peripherals and software for effective management of various operations connected to the business that includes billing, accounting, supply chain management, warehousing and CRM, storage of data with security and easy retrieval, telecommunication facilities and manpower relating to information and communication technology and website management and content developers. Apart from these internal infrastructure facilities, infrastructural arrangement with the external service providers such as internet and telecom companies, companies involved in supply chain management and deliveries, the banks and agencies such as PayPal involved in online collection and payment is very important for uninterrupted services. References Ethics Newsline (2013). Ethical Issues Cloud Sale of New Internet Domain Names. The Institute for Global Ethics, 16 January 2012. Retrieved from http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2012/01/16/ethical-issues-cloud-sale-of-new-internet-domain-names/ Inside Facebook. Facebook Ads Can Now Do Local Targeting for Thousands More Cities. Retrieved from http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/03/04/thousands-of-new-cities-now-in-facebooks-performance-advertising-tool/ Kooser, A. C. (2007). The Basics of Local Online Advertising. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/174700 Lake, C. (2006). The 12 fundamentals of e-commerce. E-consultancy.com Ltd. Retrieved from http://econsultancy.com/in/blog/091-the-12-fundamentals-of-e-commerce Mooney, H. R. (2012). 99 Resources: Press Release. Women in Commerce. Retrieved from http://wecai.org/4992/99-resources-press-releases Mohr, A. (2013). Do Business Use Blogger? Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/businesses-use-blogger-21628.html Null, L. and Lobur, J. (2012). The Essentials of Computer Organization and Architecture, Third Edition. Sudbury, MA, USA: Jones and Barlett Learning. Schneider, G. P. (2011). E-Business, 9th Edition. Intrenational Edition. Cengage Learning. Taub, E. A. (2006). How to Make Your Web Site Sing for You. The New York Times, November 15, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/business/smallbusiness/15web.html?ex=1321246800&en=5fb569e65eee5dae&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&_r=0 Read More