If you've gone out and paid good money for a company Website, be it to a professional design firm or not, the next stage is to make sure that people know where it is, and why they should visit.

Many small-medium sized companies make little or no effort to actually use and maintain their Websites once they've been built. In fact, the majority of small business Websites that I come across in the course of my work do far more harm than good for that very reason. It's sad, but true. With a little effort though, that 'online business card' can become the valuable asset you've always known it could be.

This article is intended to give both site owners and site designers a checklist for the smooth launch and integration of a Website into any 'bricks and mortar' small business. It does not cover search engines. There are hundreds of articles on this subject, and this is not one of them.

Okay, let's get started...

Launch Your Website
Hopefully you're very proud of your new site and presumably that means you'd like to tell people about it. There are several rather obvious ways that anyone can do this:

• E-mail
• Telephone
• Word of mouth
• Snail mail

Let's look at each of these points in a little more detail:

Email
Email everybody in your address book, and if possible and appropriate, ensure that everyone in your company does the same thing. But be careful! This kind of email can easily be considered spam. Bear these two important points in mind:

1. K.I.S.S.
   Keep It Short and Simple. 4-5 lines including the URL will be quite sufficient.
2. Send plain text.
   Don't be tempted to send html email, as many will object to it and some won't even open it. Besides, most email clients will render the URL as a link anyway.

Telephone
We'll focus here on how you might approach your customers (your friends will probably be delighted to hear from you and excited by your new site, so calling them to tell them won't be a big deal).

In my humble opinion (which means that it's not even remotely humble!), there are two rules to promote your site by phone without causing annoyance:

1. Call to inform your customers of a genuine benefit to them regarding your new Website.
2. Tell them about it when you next speak to them in the course of business -- don't call them solely to tell them about your site.

For example, you may wish to tell all of your customers where they can now find important information, or perhaps take advantage of a special 'Website-only' offer. More on this later. And remember to tell whoever answers the phones in your business to mention the new site in each call as well.

Word of Mouth
This doesn't really warrant much explanation, other than to point out that when you tell someone about your new site, your recommendation will have a greater impact if you can hand them a business card that shows the URL (or at least write it down for them).

Your efforts here will again have far greater results if the people that you talk to perceive some benefit in visiting your site, such as special offers and relevant information on products and services.

Snail Mail
The rules here are pretty much the same as for email. The best way is to either write a short mailshot that details a specific benefit to be found on your site, or include a small note/paragraph in your regular correspondence to clients.

You can also use postcards. You can't fail to miss the URL, as the message isn't hidden inside an envelope, and there's only room for small message -- keeping everybody happy!

Promote Your New Website

Okay, now you've told everyone about your new site, what can you do in order to reinforce your message and further promote your online presence?

The processes detailed here also fall into some fairly simple categories and although none of them would have a huge effect individually, used together they can make a sizeable impact on the effectiveness of your site.

• E-mail
• Print
• Telephone

Email: The True Killer App

You've already mailed everyone in your company's collective address book -- what more can you do? Loads of stuff actually. eMail is the original 'killer app' and provides an ideal way to both promote your site, and add value to your customer service. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Staff eMail Accounts
   Ensure that everyone has an @yourcompany.com email address, and more importantly, make sure they use it. Make these email addresses available on your site, and encourage your customers to make business inquiries this way.
   
   There is one golden rule that you should follow however: You must ensure that the email addresses are checked regularly -- at least three times a day for most businesses. Not having their email answered will make your customers feel unloved, and will inevitably result in lost business.



2. Create a Standard Company Signature
   Make sure that every email sent from your company address has a proper signature. This should be no more than four lines long and contain useful information such as the Name, Position, Telephone and Fax numbers of the sender, and of course the company URL.



3. Create Generic eMail Addresses
   Most companies will have need for addresses such as info, sales, help, or support@yourcompany.com Again, make them easily accessible via your site, and ensure that they're checked regularly and responded to appropriately.
   
   One further point, if you use mailto links on your site, make sure that the link text is the actual address rather than the person's name. Not everyone will want to launch an email client to contact your company, especially if they happen to be using somebody else's computer. If you provide the email address, they'll be able to note it and send you an email later.
   
   
4. Use Auto-Responders
   Check with your ISP to see if they provide an Auto responder service -- many do, and they're not usually hard to set up. If your host doesn't provide this facility, then there are a few free services like this one that you might like to try.
   
   The funny thing about getting an automated message from a company you've emailed is that, even though you know it was sent by a machine, it still has that 'I'm being looked after' quality to it. A simple 'We've received your message and will be responding shortly' response also buys you a little time if you don't have an immediate answer for the client's query.

Promote Your Site in Print
This is a broad category and covers everything from business cards to product packaging, shop-fronts and advertising. Here are some ideas that should help most small businesses.

Stationery etc.

Include your URL as well as relevant email addresses in:

• Letterheads
• Business cards
• Receipts
• Warranties
• Packaging
• Marketing materials such as flyers, posters, banners, streamers
• Promotional items such as pens, t-shirts, mugs and bumper stickers

...in fact, almost everything!