There are many ways to get feedback and interact with your Web visitors including contact forms, message boards, blogs, and comments, and even social media. The initial fear is that these things will only provide a place for your upset customers to complain. And this is true, but it’s also good because it provides a place for you to address these concerns in the open and in a controlled environment. This make the visitor feel better and lets prospects know that you care and work to fix issues. In this world of corporate corruption transparency is important and can only help you in the long run. I like to say that if you don’t control your brand online someone else will.

As an adult I started describing gut feelings as spider-sense.  Whenever I didn’t listen to my spider-sense I would kick myself.  “You’re spider-sense told you not to speed over that hill.  You didn’t listen and now you have a ticket.”  My wife even began to use the phrase.  Sometimes we listened to that warning in our heads, or spider-sense, and made good decisions about our life or a moment, and sometimes we didn’t.  Over time we learned to listen to it more and more.

Recently I’ve been working with a big client on a Web site redesign.  The client is difficult to work with because they don’t know much about Web design or Internet business, but they want to be involved with every step of the redesign process.  They have had some good ideas but mostly bad ones and I diplomatically knocked down idea after idea until I felt I was wearing them down.  Instead of staying at it and sharing my experiences with them on design elements I backed off and let them run with a few things I thought could be done better.  My spider-sense told me this was a bad idea.

I should have listened to my spider-sense because the client was informed that something I let them do was not a best practice.  They were frustrated even more than when I was a rejecting all their previous ideas.  I had a gut feeling and I ignored it hoping to appease a difficult client.  This was the wrong thing to do.  I ignored my spider-sense.

Most of the time when we are about to get into a dire situation something is telling us it’s a bad idea.  We are guided to do what is right and most of the time the answers are there for us.  They may not be the answers we want to hear but they are there if we take the time to listen.  If you look back on your life at what has gone right and what has gone wrong you may remember the tingle of your spider-sense.  When your spider-sense is tingling you better listen because often that’s the best guide you’ve got.   

The difference between using a website as medium of advertisement compared to any other methods of publicity is the presence of an active audience. Print ads, telemarketers, or mass mailings are mainly dedicated to passive audience. But the greatest advantage of promoting on the web is that you can always get an active audience in larger number than other passive methods of advertising.

If you still have some doubts regarding the necessity of a website, then the answer is very simple – a website can help you to generate more clients. It works as a salesperson that promotes your products and services on your behalf. This kind of strategic marketing generates valuable sales for the company. Most official websites provides valuable information about what products or services the company offers, what the company does, how to contact them, etc.

Websites also act as a great customer service facilitator. With the inclusion of sections like F.A.Q and twenty-four hours helpline service, your company is bound to deliver great customer service to your clients. The site should also have a section dedicated for online newsletter. This customer service aspect of a website makes it more beneficial for any successful business promotion.

Another prominent section of your website is the shopping cart link (mainly for e-commerce websites). If you want people to be able to buy your products and services online, then make sure to offer various payment options like credit cards or Paypal payments.

Some of the inherent advantages of having a website are: It saves important time spent on marketing efforts and allows you to devote more time for the overall growth of your business. People that are interested in the products and services offered by your company will visit your website and depending how your website is built they will turn to be actual customers, which in turn will help increase your sales in the long run.

Secondly, you don’t need to maintain additional staff for explaining your product 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. With a website you’ll be able to deliver the perfect presentation of your product on a 24/7 basis, throughout the year.

Another vital aspect that acts as a catalyst for business advertising on the Internet is the layout of the website. The users of Internet are one of the major source of potential customers. Therefore, having an efficient website is a cost-effective and easy way to advertise your business.

Finally, a website should always give the true image of your company. The main goal of your website should be attracting clients through the strategic marketing of the services and products offered by your company. Make sure to talk in detail with your webmaster or firm and see if they’re right for you.

AOL helped build the Web into what it is today by making Internet connections simple for the mainstream consumer.  They had a great idea but they didn’t look ahead.  Now they are scrambling to survive.  This is a lesson that should be learned by everyone in the Internet business.  If you get something right and hit it big start planning your next move immediately.  The Internet changes too fast to live off of one success.