At home on the Web - designing a Web page - includes related articles on firms that do not need Web sites, picking a provider, the anatomy of a successful Web site and Web glossary - Internet

Home Office Computing, April, 1996 by Rosalind Resnick, Jim Sterne

The Spindlers' e-mail order form, on the other hand, is not secure, so some customers are hesitant to place their orders online. As a result, the company gets more Web orders through the store's toll-free and fax numbers (which are published on the Web site) than by e-mall. Still Spindler says she has no plans to spend money making her Web site more secure. Interactive games and contests, not hacker-proof order forms, are what she believes will drive customers to her online store.

Other considerations: Are you planning a special offer or give-away? Get professional legal help in creating your Void Where Prohibited statement. Are your products subject to trade tariffs? Remember, the Internet is a global marketplace. You're just as likely to attract a customer from Switzerland as San Francisco, so be prepared to fulfill out-of-state and overseas orders, or clearly declare that you won't.

Do you now sell through dealers and distributors? You'd better include them in your Web site to avoid the unpleasant conversations you'll be having when they find out you're selling directly into their exclusive territory. If you're a dealer yourself, it might not be long before the manufacturers start electronically poaching your customers. Put up your Web site now, create an electronic relationship with your clients, and you might beat the manufacturers to the punch.

Attracting Visitors You're all set--you've thought through your goals and set up a beautiful, functional home on the Web. But it's a waste of time and money if nobody comes to visit. "There's an assumption on the Internet that, if you build it, they will come," Granoff says. "Maybe that will happen once if you're lucky, but they probably won't come back. [Succeeding on the Internet requires] a lot more work, a lot more depth, and a lot more engineering sophistication than most people realize."

The Chocolate Factory has managed to get the word out without much advertising, Spindler says. Her brother, Todd, who created the HTML for the site, went around the Web and sent notices to Yahoo!, Lycos, Webcrawler, InfoSeek, and other Internet directories and search engines. This way, when Web surfers come by and type in the keyword "chocolate," the Chocolate Factory's name, description, and URL pop up. Since then, it's been word of mouth. "[Over] Christmas [ 1994], I did a very good volume," Spindler says. "[The following] year, I got most of these customers back and their friends came too."

Used carefully, newsgroups can be the best place to launch a Web site due to the tremendous word of mouth they enjoy. The key word here is carefully. You need to be sure to make your announcement where the news will be well received. How can you tell? There are two ways: the FAQ and reconnaissance. Most newsgroups have a Frequently Asked Questions document that's posted regularly. This digest will include the answer to, "Is it OK to advertise?" Some newsgroups answer this question with a simple "No." Others will provide qualifications. Ignore these rules at your peril.