Before you build a house, design a brochure, or develop a web page it's best to have a plan. This page is designed to help you think about what you want to accomplish, and what materials will be needed before you actually bring the web page carpenters on site.

• What can an Internet presence do for you?
• Where do you start?
• What are the steps in the process?
• What work remains after the web page is done?
• What's the best company to develop my web page?

Not every company can increase its business by establishing a presence on the web, but here are some types that can.

• High-volume businesses with products that could be sold to customers from all over the country or the world. Most large catalog companies have already established their Internet sites.
• High-margin products with a narrow target audience. If you are trying to sell airplanes or custom coaches, for example, the Internet is an ideal way to reach your upscale audience.
• Businesses that are trying to attract visitors to the area. Travelers are increasingly looking to the Internet for local hotels and attractions before they start their journeys.
• Businesses that cater to a local audience, and are looking for a competitive edge. Restaurants, for example, can show their menus and feature their specials more cost-effectively than other media, and weekly updates are simple to make.
• Businesses or community agencies with constantly changing events and services. Any festival, fair, or event will find an advantage to promoting to audiences in the local area as well as the surrounding state(s).

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Setting a good foundation will make the rest of the job easier.

• Be specific about your intentions. Who are you trying to reach? Will you try to show all your products? Will your Internet page be a sampling page to get people to send for your catalog, or will you try to provide enough information that you don't need a catalog anymore?
• What do you want to say? Approach copy development in the same way that you would for any marketing piece. The best advice is to think, "What should the reader know when he gets done?"
• Gather photos to support your text. Prints or transparencies both work fine, as well as photos from your current brochure. You don't need the original computer file of the photo if you have the printed piece; the requirements for screen images are much lower than for printed images.
• Find a web page developer who understands what you're trying to accomplish, and can make your efforts even better by organizing the web pages properly, editing your text, and optimizing your photos for the Internet.

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• Develop a conceptual design How do you want users to navigate your pages? Keep in mind that they may not travel in a linear path, and they may not travel in the order that you intended, so you need to duplicate critical information on each page.
• Edit your copy for the screen. Readers won't read much. Simplify, and chunk your copy into bite-size pieces.
• Edit your photos for the screen. High resolution = slow. Readers won't hang around waiting for images unless they have a high value, so you may need to balance speed vs. quality.
• Do the coding. Browsers like Netscape and Mosaic read HyperText Markup Language. A variety of HTML tools and do-it-yourself manuals can be downloaded from the Internet. To see what HTML coding looks like, follow these instructions now: If you are using Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, click on the menu choice View >Source. When you are done, click on "OK" in the Document Source window to return to browsing.
• Use a WYSIWYG editor. Editing software like FrontPage, DreamWeaver, or GoLive make the process much faster if you are willing to invest the time in learning the program. Like so many things on the computer, the payoff comes with the second web site, or the second word processing document, or the second spreadsheet.
• Test. Each graphical browser like Netscape or Explorer reads the HTML code differently, so it's important to try your code on different applications to see if the results are acceptable. Different screen resolutions also make the pages look different. All your "design" work may go out the window depending on the system that is viewing it.
• Transfer everything to a server. The next step is to get your files (HTML-coded text and photos) loaded on the server of an Internet provider (ISP). This can be a sticky area, so the best thing to do is talk to tech support at your ISP.

Users won't beat a path to your door unless they know you exist.

• Register your page. There is no all-encompassing index to all sites on the web, but several companies are making attempts to keep up with the explosive growth of new web pages. You can send your web address and company information to them (the pro-active approach), or wait for them to find you. Yahoo is the best-known of the indexed directories, and has a self-explanatory button on the first page to add a new URL (address). We keep a list of about twenty lesser-known indexes which we use for our clients.
• Develop and register a domain name. The value of a domain name is that your URL can become "www.mycompany.com" instead of "www.empnet.com/mycompany". It looks better when you get to the next step and start to include your URL in your advertising. Registering a new domain name costs less than $50/year.
•  Promote your page. Now that you have this equity, make something of it! Send a press release. Include the URL in your advertising. Include the URL as part of your e-mail signature. Develop a promotion that gives 10% off for mentioning some hidden key in your web page. Encourage your employees to tell their friends. Tell your friends.
• Keep it fresh. Think of your web page as a newsletter rather than a brochure, and make plans to update it monthly, even if all you do is to change the color background. The best sites invite repeat visits just like the best stores. No-one comes back for the same old stuff.

We hope our explanation has illustrated the following points:

• The Internet is one more marketing tool, like advertising or a brochure. It's not a computer exercise; it's about the image of your company.
• Design is a small part of the process. Proper preparation and execution will make or break the success of your investment.
• There is at least one developer (ahem) who can provide one-stop shopping. Marketing Ink can write copy, massage photos, code and place your pages on the server, and register your site with indexes. We can even help you develop promotions that will get your web site off with a bang.
• An orderly process makes the whole thing simple.
• Here are some case histories:

• Call us at 541-317-1183