The recession and how can we beat it? This article is a discussion on using the Internet as a recession buster. Why the Internet? You only have to read the many and highly accessible reports on market trends to see that online shopping shows an ever increasing trend. This of course has its consequences to other industries and professions outside of the retail industry. These consequences will form part of the discussion.



Now that recession is officially upon us what are the courses of action open to us? We can sit back and hope that our business can with stand the consequences; for some businesses, e.g. undertakers, that maybe a viable option. Alas for most business such a course of action will result in the end of trading. A more positive approach is needed if our businesses are to survive, with growing competition due to the worldwide market place and the public's growing concern over value for money we have to ensure that any action we take is not only economical sound but also employs a marketing strategy that will expose our products and/or services to as wide a population as possible. So where do we start?

Mass media marketing, e.g. television, newspapers may appear the obvious, but are they cost effective? If you are a large supermarket chain, then the answer would be yes. However, for the majority of businesses this option is too costly. Historically word of mouth was a strategy employed by many, this is of course one of the major and legitimate strategies in use today. Its place will always be there in any reputable company; alas it does have its draw backs in that it is a bit on the hap-hazard side. There is of course the Internet; which has seen a massive increase in trading over the last 10 years. Yes, the increases that are reported are mostly in regards to the retail industry, but what are the implications to industries and professions outside of retail?

Historically if we here looking for a builder, solicitor, etc our reactions would be to reach for the local paper or the yellow pages; many people still do. However this reaction is decreasing as more and more people are becoming familiar with the Internet. Through their build up of trust, due to online shopping, coupled with this familiarity it has become common place for trade and the general public to switch on their PC's and search the Internet for whatever they desire. Two of the many reasons for this apart from variations in costs are the diversity of options on offer and the convenience of detail offered. They no longer have to make numerous phone calls or tread the pavements to find what they are looking for, be it a joiner, architect or a new fishing reel. As the online retail market grows; so does the trend for searching for other services. How can we take advantage of these trends to help us beat the recession?

This to the uninitiated appears an easy question to answer; we get a web site. If only things were that simple. For any web site to be successful it has to be carefully planned, designed, developed and marketed. Yes, I hear ?marketed?, I thought that was our market strategy? You may have the sweetest web site ever known to man, but it is no good if no one sees it. Just do any simple search on the Internet and see how many hits you have. It is only the first few pages of search engine results that are generally accessed and in most case only the first page of the results. To get listed on the first page of a search engine results is a drawn out process. There are companies and individuals selling services that guarantee first page placement, however the placement will not be based on search parameters that are of any use to your venture, for example search parameters of ?baby depression? finds results dealing with postnatal depression. I could guarantee that with a few selected words regarding actual ?baby depression? embedded into your web site you would find yourself on the first page of search results. Let us briefly break down the planning requirements for a successful web site.

Before any design of the web site commences a detailed plan should be drawn up. This should consider; what are the demographic and geographic considerations, what image should the site project? These questions relate to the target audience; in regards to demographics, is the target audience the general public or a specialised population? The geographic consideration may reflect the complexity of language used, e.g. if a native English speaking audience is targeted then we may use more complex sentences, whereas if the target audience includes second language English speakers then the language should be kept simple. The image that the web site reflects not only reflects the business but also should induce a mood on the visitors, e.g. bright colours induce a mood of fun whereas mid-greys reflect a conservative attitude. Once the initial plan is drawn up the next step is the design.

The design of the web site is more than what it looks like it can be more likened to an extension of the plan; one of the most critical components in the design process is the choice of key words; that is words that are expected to be used in Internet searches. So how do we decide upon what key words are important to our web site and will be used by the potential visitors to the web site? Firstly, the products and/or services have to be summarised into to single words or very short phrases. The web designer should then use one of the many tools at their disposal to verify the usage of the words and/or phrases on the Internet. It is critical that these are correct if your target audience is to be exposed to your web site then these have to be built into the text content of the web site.

A second and often wrongly assumed consideration is the computer/Internet literacy of a targeted audience. This is almost impossible to predict, for instance there are many senior citizens at ease with the Internet and many professionals who are keyboard allergic. In general the design has to be visitor friendly without being condescending; not an easy task. The secret is to keep the navigation as simple as possible, you may well find your navigation technically spectacular, but what use is that when your visitors get lost and proceed to competitor's web site through either frustration or lack of patience? Discuss this with your web designer, don't let them overly impress you with gimmickry, many will try. Keep it simple.

To summarise; when using the Internet as a recession buster do not jump in without thinking. It is more than critical that you plan any web site venture carefully, much of which you should do before approaching a web designer/developer. At the very least you should have profiles of your products and/or services along with your target audience, and last but not least a concept of the image you wish to project.