How to Create a Profit-Building Web Site.

"Embrace e-commerce or die."

These words have likely caused many a businessperson to churn out a Web site. E-commerce wannabes should proceed slowly though. A good Web site takes a lot of thought, planning, and revising to be effective; a bad one can actually be detrimental to a business.

1 DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

Defining your business objective should be the first step for any business undertaking, and it's especially important when it comes to a Web site.

The main reason for putting up a Web site is to help meet strategic objectives such as increasing revenue, decreasing expenses, or making other operations more effective.

A Web site can enhance business profits in several different ways: through direct sales; subscriptions or memberships; advertising; Internet-related services; cost cutting; and strengthening other operations.

Determine exactly what your business wants to accomplish before moving on to the next step in the Web-building process.

2 DESIGN THE SITE

Designing the site doesn't mean writing code for the pages. It means determining what information and graphics to use and how to link them. The power of the Web is its links. Done properly, a good Web site can help people move through information in a way that's natural, comfortable, and effective. For that to happen, it's necessary to spend time defining how that information will work and what information will be linked.

There are two basic ways to approach the design: from the outside-in and the inside-out. These methods should be used together to create an effective site.

The inside-out method is the most common way to design a Web site, beginning with the company name or purpose, and moving outward through products and services, their features, their benefits, and other company details.

The outside-in method is a little different, beginning with what customers look for when they first log on to a Web site.

Consider these questions: What do your customers want to know? What problem are they trying to solve? What opportunity are they trying to seize? Then, determine the type of design that will best help them get the information they're seeking.

The site should be designed in a graphic--not outline or "tree diagram"--form. Outlines and tree diagrams, which many web designers use, are limiting because they are linear and the Web is inherently a non-linear medium.

A helpful tool for both inside-out and outside-in design is mind mapping, originally developed as a way to organize information for a presentation or when taking notes. Mind mapping works by using graphics and key words that your brain latches onto. It links items on a Web page in a graphical form similar to the way that your mind links items as you jump from one concept to another. (See "Mind Mapping" by Joyce Wycoff for more on that subject.)

While working on the inside-out and outside-in site designs, review other Web sites to gather ideas and check out your competiters' pages.

After completing the design process, you should have a graphical, non-linear site plan.

3 DEVELOP THE SITE

Developing the site involves putting together the actual pages and links to see how things will work.

Start with a mock site that you build on a hard drive--not on the Internet. Once the mock site is running smoothly, you're ready for the beta test, or testing your Web site on the Internet.

A couple of tips for testing your site include:

* Test your site by visiting it at various times of day and with various kinds of Web browsers (including PC and MAC-type browsers).

* Check your site with a variety of monitors. Size of monitors and color palettes can alter Web pages significantly from computer to computer. Try to develop a site that will look good on most systems.

While you're running the beta test, start preparing the strategy for deploying your site.

4 DEPLOY THE SITE

Deploying the site and presenting it to the general public is the next step.

Once your Web page is on the Internet, it need to be publicized. Some ideas include:

* Put your URL (web address) on stationery, business cards, brochures, etc. Send out special announcement postcards.

* Prepare a news release and send it to your key clients, prospects, and friends so they are aware your site is up.

* Put up notices in appropriate newsgroups and forums.

* Have your sales force inform clients about the Web site. Suggest clients add the site to their hotlist or bookmark file.

* Register your site with all of the popular search utilities.

By this time, your site should be well-tested, well-publicized, and working for you. But the job is not done yet.

5 DO IT OVER

Businesses that get the most out of their sites are constantly improving, updating, and redesigning. Changing material keeps the site current and brings clients back for more information.

When you've had your site up for three or four months, take a look at it again with a fresh eye. Are there things you would like to do differently? What kind of reviews is your site getting? Is it helping you meet your business objectives?

When you're ready to make revisions, go back to step one again. Look at your business objectives, decide how you're going to measure your achievement, and work through the process again. This time it will go faster.

Wally Bock is author of the Web page "A Common Sense Approach to the Digital Age" and publisher of Monday Memo,