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| Year
2005 |
How to Export - Part 12
What Kind of Web-Site Suits Your Business
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| It
is now fairly accepted that web-site is as essential
for business through Internet as your daily cup of tea.
We have gone through some of the reasons in last article.
Let us go into specifics in this article.
There are essentially four issues - that you should
address before starting work on your web-site. These
are:
- What is the purpose of this web-site
or, to put it differently - ask yourself 'What exactly
I am expecting from it ?'
- What kind of hosting solution should
I consider
- What will be the content and how
to manage it
- How to promote the web-site
Purpose of
Web-Site
Design of web-site
is critically dependent on your business goals. Web-sites
are used for various reasons, such as
- Pure Dissemination of information
For examples - web-site of very large companies
(IBM, Reliance) Newspapers, Govt organizations (DGFT,
Customs), Educational institutes, business associations
etc
- Extension of existing services, such
as banks using web-sites for on-line transaction
processing. Customers can enjoy many services from
home without physically visiting bank premises (NetBanking)
- Marketing products and services -
where it acts as online brochure. Most companies
use web-sites for this purpose
- Selling Products on-line - where
it not only markets products but also acts as store-front
for selling products and services, popularly known
as e-commerce.
- Customer service where customers
use web-site for troubleshooting, lodge complaints,
request information etc. Examples are web-sites
of hardware, machinery, equipment manufacturers
- Facilitating interaction among a
group on subjects common to all group members -
such as discussion boards, consumer activist forum
(e.g. Mouthshut.com) etc.
Above is merely an illustration - there are many other
applications (such as BLOGS) and more will emerge in
future.
Important point is to decide the purpose of your web-site
- which may be one of above or a mixture. A helpful
tip is to write the purpose clearly on a piece of paper
and discuss it with your design team. Use feedback from
your friends, colleagues, technical team and customers
to evaluate and if necessary, change your web-site plan.
It is better to develop a plan first as mid-course changes
are always expensive and time consuming.
Hosting Solution
for Your Web-Site
Web-Site is composed
of html files, computer programs, databases, Javascripts
etc. Once this stuff is placed on a special kind of
computer called server - your web-site becomes part
of World Wide Web (WWW), visible from any part of the
world. Such servers are called 'Host' in Internet lingo
and the process called hosting.
Hosting Solution means zeroing on a suitable server
that will host your web-site. There are two broad issues
that will largely determine the nature and extent of
your web-presence - one is technical and the other financial.
Technical
Considerations
Apart from technical
specifications of host - you need to consider following
- Over 90% of servers that constitute
WWW are either Windows or Linux/Unix based. Windows
and Linux are a kind of computer software called
'Operating System' or OS. In internet lingo -
they are called platforms. So, your first job
is to select the platform for your web-site host.
- While static html files will work
perfectly from both kinds of servers, computer
programs and databases are largely platform-centric.
So, if you are going to use databases and software
- better select the platform first.
- Linux is considered more robust
and faster than Windows. Besides, it is far more
capital-inexpensive as most databases and software
for this platform are available free (called open
source in Internet lingo). However, in India,
it is easier to find a Windows programmer than
Linux, as most teaching schools use Windows. So
maintenance cost of Linux software may get higher
than that of Windows.
Financial
Considerations
Apart from selecting
hosting platform, you also need to decide the extent
of your web-presence - mainly dependent on financial
consideration.
Based on budget and other considerations - there are
essentially three options :
- Part of larger web-site - like
a Rented Office
- Virtual server - like owning an
apartment in a high-rise
- Dedicated Server - like owning
a house or bungalow
Part of
Larger Web-site
Like a rented
office, in this mode you hire some web-space from
a larger web-site (not host). Your internet address
(URL in Internet lingo) looks like
- http://www.large-website.com/your-humble-presence
or
- http://your-humble-presence.large-website.com
The later (also called micro site)
is little more prestigious and may suit some businesses.
While such web-presence is inexpensive, convenient
and maintenance free, it may not suit your purpose
in long term for following reasons:
- Like rented office, the address
is temporary. If large-website.com decides to
throw you out or close down their business - you
will have to look for another place and consequently
another URL. This could be suicidal as your customer
will not be able to locate you and all your money
spent on promotion (as we shall discuss later)
will go down the drain
- You will never be able to use business
e-mail like sales@your-company.com
- There may be severe restrictions
on usage
There are many other reasons against
such web-presence, but the most important is very
low cost benefit. This kind of web presence might
have been cost effective during initial days of Internet
when web-hosting was a costly affair - but is no longer
so today. Falling price of web-hosting has made this
option mostly redundant.
Virtual
Server
This is perhaps
the most popular and cost-effective option today where
you enjoy fair amount of independence and a permanent
Internet address (URL) for a moderate price. Like
apartment in a large mansion - you get space earmarked
for you in a server or host alongwith many others
like you. Unlike apartments - you will never lose
your Internet address (URL) as domain name (yourcompany.com)
remains same even if you change server or hosting
provider.
You will enjoy almost all facilities that a dedicated
server or bungalow owner gets like business e-mail,
own programs, databases etc. Your web-site will look
and act like independent of anyone though in reality
it is not (it is part of a server) - hence the name
virtual server.
The disadvantages of this mode of web-presence are
- Beware of cheap service providers
who cram hundreds of web-sites in a single server
choking processor efficiency and bandwidth. Your
web-site in such a server will be slow to respond,
resulting in lose of customers. Research has shown
that a typical website visitor does not wait beyond
20 seconds for a web-site to load. Make sure your
web-site does not keep visitors in a queue - else
all your investment goes down the drain.
- Stingy service providers may not
invest in server resources or user-friendly web-administrator
software resulting in slow server and time consuming
web site administration
- Over enthusiastic hosting service
providers may impose unreasonable service restrictions
- One can not grow beyond a certain
limit. An apartment owner can not build extra
rooms.
- Like apartment owner - you should
not do anything that might cause inconvenience
to other apartment owners such as too many visitors,
too much use of common facilities etc.
All said and done - this is an
excellent option for all small and medium enterprises
(SME) who take necessary care to select a suitable
hosting service provider. True, there are limits in
such web-presence but in reality - it may take quite
some time for you to reach that limit. Till that time
- it is cost effective to use virtual server.
Dedicated
Server
As the name indicates,
you get a whole server to host your web-site - no
sharing of resources. There are almost no limits in
usage and everything is good in this mode except cost.
You need to spend quite a lot for a dedicated server
and hire highly skilled technical professionals to
maintain it. Normally, an SME may not need a dedicated
server, not at least in the beginning.
Conclusion
We have discussed
two of the four issues identified earlier. In next
issues, we shall discuss remaining two issues that
will play a crucial role in making your web presence
a success - content and promotion.
Happy and Productive Surfing
Dr. Amit K Chatterjee
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