The other day I received an email from a guy asking whether we
could build his eCommerce website. Since Rusbiz is a company
which has a full service web solutions development department, I
sent him our executive brochure by email and asked if I should
send him our website building checklist. The answer I received
was “Can I work directly with your web programmer and tell me
what your hourly rate is?” I wrote him back that there is no
problem in working with the programmer, but we use a team of
experts to build a website and he will be much better off if he
goes by a flat price for his project instead of going by hourly
rate. Apparently he did not like the idea! Too bad!

Web development services fundamentally differ from say an
attorney’s services. If you are working with a professional
company, depending on the size of your web project a team of
people will work on it. Namely: your account manager, lead
programmer, web programmer, designer, Content editor, database
programmer, web promotional specialist, and web administrator.
The tricky thing about website is starting from making your site
by yourself on Geocity or similar free site builders to hiring
topnotch web development companies that charge thousands of
dollars the range is way too broad. Often, people select a
company to do their web development job based on their
subjective perception not based on knowledgeable decisions.
Although, price should be a key issue, you should not go for a
company just because it quoted you a cheap hourly rate! Many
fall for nicely designed previous works of the vendor. The
design is also only a part of the whole project, albeit a very
important one but don’t make the mistake of overemphasizing on
it! A beautifully designed website with nice graphics and
pictures is not necessarily a good eCommerce website. It could
be even just the opposite!

Website development is increasingly becoming a sophisticated
task with narrow specialties. Before handing over your job, make
sure that the company does have all the right people in their
team. The team may also consist of other specialists apart from
the ones listed below:

Team Members and Description of their Services

Project or account Manager

This is the person who manages expectations through a project’s
lifecycle. Determines project needs, outlines specific
deliverables and oversees the process and team from start to
finish. He or she also maintains ongoing client communication
and education throughout project. Handles budget and scope
issues, including weekly status updates and additional changes.

Art Director/Designer

This person oversees visual design process. Helps transforming
client expectations into the right visual look and feel. Applies
technical and user needs into final UI (User Interface) design.
Works with project manager and the client to establish a clearer
vision of the site.

Information Architect/Designer

Defines overall site organization and layout from an
informational, navigational and functional perspective. Works
with client and project manager to determine overall content
strategy and site structure, page layout and interaction through
out a site. Participates in usability testing and works with
developers to bridge gap between design and technology.

Developer/Programmer

This person works on writing and coding programming parts of the
web site. Oversees design and ensures effective translation to
HTML. Also works with other developers of the production team to
maintain standards for coding. Depending on the size of the
site, there could be several programmers involve in a project.

Content Manager

This individual provides a consistent style and tone of the
site. She works closely with client to gather all information
and materials for the Web site. Understands fundamentals of
content development, and has a clear understanding of the
overall goals and communication objectives of the site. She
works with the designer to implement content in an efficient
manner. She also works with Web Promotional Specialist in order
to bring the content inline with search engines’ requirement.

Technical Lead

Provides management and direction of the programming team for
back-end projects such as database development or system
integration specialists. She acts as a liaison between front-end
and back-end teams.

Database Programmer

Depending on the needs of the website, a database specialist may
necessary to handle the development of various catalogs and
various database issues.

Usability Specialist

An individual with a background in human factors engineering
and/or cognitive psychology who has a broad understanding of
usability issues on the Web. This individual should have
knowledge in information design, navigation and Web development
processes.

Web Promotional Specialist

Helps optimizing web pages for search engines. Understand the
fundamentals of search engine optimizations and aware of the
latest changes in the algorithms of mail search engines. Make
recommendations to the client and help him popularize the
website. This individual works closely with content manager,
designer and developer.

Now, for your website you may or may not need a team with all
the members stated above, and in some cases one person may have
knowledge of two fields but it is better to understand that in
the ever changing world of the Internet if you are serious about
your web business, you better build your site with the help of
real experts of each core area.

Statistics shows that almost 70 percent of web projects do not
finish on expected time frame with allocated budget. To reduce
your risk while ordering your new website or revamping your
existing one, take the following steps:

Check out the vendor’s site thoroughly.

Do they follow what they preach? How the site looks like? Are
you going to buy a product from the look and feel of the site?
Check out the example sites. Are they good enough?

Find out if the team consists of professionals.

Ask them detail questions. Check out cross reference. Talk to
the team members directly.

Write a clear well-defined technical scope.

Develop a thorough technical scope before starting building your
eCommerce site. This will eliminate confusions before they
occur. You will have a coherent picture of the required time and
budget. You will also understand your own needs better. A scope
is like your business plan and works as your road map. Spend
enough time to make your scope as meticulous as possible. Once
you finalized your scope, no matter what, don’t try to change it
at later stage if you want to finish your project on time.

Work closely with the team.

Ask questions whenever they arise to the individual of the team,
whom they concern most.

An astounding large number of site owners are not happy with
their websites. A little preparation and follow-up will help you
avoid becoming one of them.

PPC is one of the four basic types of Search Engines. PPC is
also one of the most cost-effective ways of targeted internet
advertising. According to Forbes magazine, PPC or Pay Per Click,
accounts to 2 billion dollars a year and is expected to increase
to around 8 billion dollars by the year 2008.

Let us take a quick look at how PPC Search Engines work.

These engines create listings and rate them based on a bid
amount the website owner is willing to pay for each click from
that search engine. Advertisers bid against each other to
receive higher ranking for a specific keyword or phrase.

The highest bidder for a certain keyword or phrase will then
have the site ranked as number 1 in the PPC Search Engines
followed by the second and third highest bidder, up to the last
number that have placed a bid on the same keyword or phrase.
Your ads then will appear prominently on the results pages based
on the dollar amount bid you will agree to pay per click.

How do you make money by using PPC into your affiliate marketing
business?

Most affiliate programs only pay when a sale is made or a lead
delivered after a visitor has clickthrough your site. Your
earnings will not always be the same as they will be dependent
on the web site content and the traffic market.

The reason why you should incorporate PPC into your affiliate
marketing program is that earnings are easier to make than in
any other kind of affiliate program not using PPC. This way, you
will be making profit based from the clickthroughs that your
visitor will make on the advertiser’s site. Unlike some
programs, you are not paid per sale or action.

PPC can be very resourceful of your website. With PPC Search
Engines incorporated into your affiliate program, you will be
able to profit from the visitor’s who are not interested in your
products or services. The same ones who leave your site and
never comes back.

You will not only get commissions not only from those who are
just searching the web and finding the products and services
that they wanted but you will be able to build your site’s
recognition as a valuable resource. The visitors who have found
what they needed from you site are likely to come back and
review what you are offering more closely. Then they will
eventually come back to search the web for other products.

This kind of affiliate program is also an easy way for you to
generate some more additional revenues. For example, when a
visitor on your site does a search in the PPC Search Engine and
clicks on the advertiser bided listings, the advertisers’
account will then be deducted because of that click. With this,
you will be compensated 30% to 80% of the advertisers’ bid
amount.

PPC is not only a source of generating easy profits; it can also
help you promote your own site. Most of the programs allow the
commissions received to be spent for advertising with them
instantly and with no minimum earning requirement. This is one
of the more effective ways to exchange your raw visitors for
targeted surfers who has more tendencies to purchase your
products and services.

What will happen if you when you integrate PPC into your
affiliate program?

PPC usually have ready-to-use affiliate tools that can be easily
integrated into your website. The most common tools are search
boxes, banners, text links and some 404-error pages. Most search
engines utilize custom solutions and can provide you with a
white-label affiliate program. This enables you, using only a
few lines of code, to integrate remotely-hosted co-branded
search engine into your website.

The key benefits? Not only more money generated but also some
extra money on the side. Plus a lifetime commissions once you
have referred some webmaster friends to the engine.

Think about it. Where can you get all these benefits while
already generating some income for your site? Knowing some of
the more useful tools you can use for your affiliate program is
not a waste of time. They are rather a means of earning within
an earning.

Best know more about how you can use PPC search engines into
your affiliate program than miss out on a great opportunity to
earn more profits.

Many people have been opting to shop on the Internet because of the availability of choices, and of course, simply because the web saves us from further leg work.

Online sales are really booming fast as compared to offline business establishments. People surfing on sales-related websites have the potential to become buyers as opposed to just looking around. But most marketers neglect the fact that the population of these buyers do not only comprise of young people. Senior citizens too are getting the right vibe with online shopping.

In this article, it says:

“…seniors control over 70% of all disposable income and currently spend over $7 billion online each year. Taking into account future general growth rates in terms of population age groups, accompanied by an ever increasing uptake of the web by this demographic slice, this will indeed be a lucrative market.”

As clearly stated, looking at your older markets is really something. I guess that with competition among online business establishments, this is something you have to take into consideration in order to move a few steps forward from your competitors. Many online businesses are neglecting the fact that there is a high percentage of senior buyers. And because of this, they are completely focused on marketing to their younger markets.

With this in mind, you have to make a marketing plan that would somehow regard to your senior “potential” buyers. Actually, there is not much of a difference when it comes to the young and seniors’ buying interests, only that the latter is prone to stick with their own taste regardless of fashion.

But, when you would initially consider to market with seniors, make sure that you have not neglected them on all our web pages. Maybe a few pointers below would help you:

1. Be able to provide a special section/offer to seniors as this would mean that they are specially treated.

2. When it comes to information, make sure to be very detailed as possible and be ready to entertain any further questions because most seniors happen to ask a lot of questions before purchasing.

3. If you would really want to capture senior buyers, then your site should look and imply at least a little of maturity on the side. For example, when choosing photo for your ad, make sure that the photo would target not only the young but also senior buyers.

4. If you would want seniors to trust your site, make sure you are a credible site by polishing your site’s overall look—-that is from content to pictures, and even to security purposes.

5. It is also important to make use of print in marketing for seniors also prefer to look into print ads.

The importance of extending your marketing to senior audience is not only met at their growing number online, but more so because seniors may also become loyal clients. If they happen to like your service or product, you win their loyalty. And loyalty is something that is truly rewarding for you both gain constant sales and good reputation.

http://onlinepr.gbwatch.com gives updates on the ins and outs of public relations and marketing within the Internet. It helps various companies of all sizes to become competitive entrepreneurs, and to focus on building good publicity, promotion and higher sales. It aims to teach businessmen to be witty, confident, and strategic in whichever industry they hope to build their dreams upon.