What next?

There are a numerous variables that will influence not only your starting point, but also the speed of growth of your overall Internet activity.

State your strategic aims

The first step is to be realistic. Set your short-term objectives whilst bearing in mind your long-term goals. Developing a simple strategic plan will enable you to focus on what you want to achieve and how viable any expectations are.

You should try to be as precise as possible with your strategic aims and goal setting.

For example, what do you want the site to achieve within the first month, or the first year bearing in mind your existing product and service offering?

Internet activity can be easily monitored. Efficient site auditing of traffic and visitor use can provide owners with a plethora of information, some of which can be misleading if not clearly explained. Site monitoring can provide details of individual visitors, the number of pages viewed (page impressions), as well as the most popular pages and content areas.

Response forms and online purchasing procedures can be designed to show clearly how and where enquiries and orders were received. Such information makes any measuring of goal setting, benchmarking and monitoring processes relatively straightforward.

Setting a sensible timeframe for development and coordinating a launch date to coincide with a key sales event such as a boat show also helps in providing an effective platform for completion.

But you must be realistic.

The more comfortable you are with your website and how it integrates with your existing sales and marketing strategies, the more benefit you will derive from it.

Set your budget

One of the foremost considerations is of course the budget. There is an expense to Internet activity - both in the development and launch phase and in managing and maintaining a presence.

Whether any or all of these aspects are handled in-house or outsourced to an agency, there is still a cost.

It is essential to earmark the financial resources available for the project bearing in mind initial site development costs, annually recurring fees such as website hosting and the renewal of your domain name, and management of the site with regards to updates and additions.

Budgeting for site management is essential and should be included within initial estimates at the beginning of any project. All foreseen costs can be clearly explained and outlined by a potential development partner.

Assess your human resources

Getting the most out of your web presence requires regular monitoring and management.

With this in mind you must allocate human resources effectively. Who will check to see if orders have been placed?

How will enquiries be serviced and integrated? Who will update the site when changes and additions are required?

It is sensible to nominate a member of staff who will be responsible for web activity early on in the project.

Assigning them at the planning and development phase will be of great benefit when the site is launched.

As well as being the central point of contact for site development activity (both internally and externally) it should be their job to coordinate any site developments, manage enquiries and orders, and report on opportunities and site use.

Assess your IT resources

You must also ensure that your IT set-up is at a standard suitable to your requirements.

Having a website does not necessarily mean you should have cutting-edge technology.

Simple websites can be set-up, managed and maintained through a single PC with a basic modem for email and Internet connectivity.

However a high volume ecommerce solution with nextday delivery services may well be best managed using a highspeed broadband connection and a networked IT approach throughout the organisation.

Whatever your level of operation, it is worth remembering that all activity is scaleable. Human, financial and IT resources can be adapted as you and your web presence develops.

In-house or outside agency With all this in place, all you need to do now is build the thing.

Simple sites are often designed in-house with the belief that this saves money.

Unless you have an experienced web developer within your organisation, the time taken to create a site that meets both your strategic aims and reflects well on the company is often much longer than expected.

It may well be more costeffective to source a web development partner.

Any potential development partner should first and foremost be within your budget. Most agencies can provide accurate quotations for any development work as well as annual costs and maintenance charges.

They should be proactive as well as responsive and have a good understanding of your individual needs and those of your customers. They should have sound technical expertise and a track record in effective site development.

Appointing such a partner can often take time itself, but the benefits are significant.

Indeed bringing an agency in at an early stage can help identify key opportunities and enable you to set your strategic aims more effectively.

Next month we will approach the key design and content guidelines necessary to develop a professional and effective web presence. Elements such as the how visitors find your site, how they navigate around your pages and the way in which you present the information are all important aspects in striking the balance that is meeting the strategic aims of the site owner and the expectations of site visitor.