On the run up to Christmas online sales are expected to reach £6.8bn, a spending increase of £132 per person, according to Verdict Research.

With the busy lives we all lead and shopping days counting down, people are ditching the traditional Christmas shopping trip and are turning to the internet to purchase their festive delights.

In the age of the internet we have entered a new era in consumerism. More and more people are using the internet because it provides a wide variety of choice, it’s convenient and offers comparable prices. Having a website these days is the ‘norm’ and any business wanting to stay competitive would benefit from one.

Now is one of the best times to launch a website, as more people turn to the internet to see what bargains are to be had. Companies that already have a website would benefit from refreshing their site to make it stand out from competitors, or adding special promotions to help increase sales.

Although we are currently in a recession and many high street outlets have seen a decline in consumer spending, online sales look set to rise. So, whether it’s a new website or updating an existing one, any business would want to be part of the increased expenditure of Christmas shoppers.

With a luring price tag of £100 or even less why wouldn’t you build your own website? The price looks good, you can add some text, a few pictures and away you go – right?

While many businesses don’t require an all singing, all dancing website there are a few things to consider before diving in for the cheapest price going.

A website is often the first contact a business has with potential customers. It is a reflection of your company so you want it to look professional and stand out from your competitors.

A bespoke website from a reputable company will provide a professional, knowledgeable approach to your website, and offer advice and guidance so you get the most out of a very powerful marketing tool.

If you think of the cost of a full colour advert in a local paper then the cost of a website is negligible. For the price of a weekly paper advert any business can have a custom built, fully functional website that is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

While a DIY website may look appealing cost-wise, there are also additional costs that you may not be aware of, such as domain name registration and website hosting. A website design company will provide advice and guidance for these as well as the latest SEO (search engine optimisation) techniques to help the site rank higher in search engines.

At the end of the day, would you rather spend a few pounds on a template website that looks the same as many others, or invest in a custom designed and built website that makes you stand out from the crowd and offers visitors a great user experience?

If you are sitting and waiting for new clients to knock on your door, then you are in for a long wait. As with any business you need to make yourself known, let people know you are there and generate more customers. At the end of the day the crux of any business is to generate new client leads. As well as bringing in the money, new clients’ help a business develop, improve and remain competitive.

To get you started, here’s a list of things you can try to get your company name out there:

Word of mouth

• Word of mouth is one of the best forms of advertising. People are more likely to use a company who has been recommended to them by family or friends
• Email all your friends and family about your business and ask them to spread the word

Existing clients

• Get feedback from existing clients
• Get in contact with existing clients about any new services/products you have
• Contact existing clients who you haven’t heard from in a while and see whether they need your services/products – never forget the clients you already have
• Ask your clients for referrals
• Send out promotions with your invoices

First contact!

• Research businesses you would like to target and cold call them
• Send promotional material to potential clients

Networking

• Attend industry events, conferences and exhibitions
• Go to events in your clients industry
• Carry out a talk, seminar or webinar
• Sponsor an event
• Do some work for a charitable organisation that has links to your clients industry
• Always be ready to tell people what you do and have your business card ready

Promotion, promotion, promotion!

• Place an ad in relevant publications
• Set up Google Adwords
• Get listed in printed and online business directories
• Take part in a trade show
• Give away branded merchandise
• Carry out a direct mail campaign
• Create leaflets and posters that you can distribute and display

Let the media work for you…

• Send a press release to relevant media (local, national, industry specific) about a new product/service
• Get mentioned on a local or national radio show
• Do something ‘quirky’ that will get your business noticed (publicity stunt)
• Pitch an article to a relevant publication

Get a website!

• A website is the most effective way to reach more potential customers
• A website has no word or space restrictions, unlike traditional advertising.  Say what you want to say, without the limitations
• A website helps your business stand out in an increasingly competitive market
• Reduce your advertising costs by putting ‘see our website for more information’
• A website never sleeps, and will continue serving your customers even after you have gone to bed!
• Use SEO techniques to help search engines find your site

Use the web

• Start a blog
• Participate in online forums
• Register with social networking sites

Web standards exist to try to standardise the way website code is displayed in various different browsers. They have been created by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) to guide developers on the best way to code websites and to help browser manufacturers such as Microsoft, Mozilla and Google create browsers that can display websites correctly. Unfortunately, the W3C web standards are only recommendations, and although there is excellent support globally for their adoption, some browsers reflect them better than others.

So why should we develop to these standards if they’re not fully supported? The fact is that most modern ‘A’-grade browsers do implement the W3C standards very well, and problems arise mostly from older browsers. The issue for web developers is deciding which versions of old browsers to continue supporting, as customers often have browsers on their computers which are out of date. Our aim is always to make the website as accessible as possible to the most people on widely differing technology. The pay-off is more potential customers reaching your valuable information; the cost is a harder, longer development time, but by developing to the latest web standards, you are ensuring your website will reach the widest audience and support the most forms of technology available to your prospective customers, and you are building a platform for the future that will be easy to maintain and re-develop.

Whilst many people may feel one way or another about Michael Jackson, there is no debating the world-wide phenomenon that was his life. And now in death, it seems his effect is even more powerful.

As the news about Jackson’s death began to circulate, the Internet became a focal point for people everywhere trying to verify the story, find out more facts, and pass the information on to friends and family across the world.

The vast increase in traffic caused many sites to feel the strain, with Google producing error pages on related searches, and Twitter crashing for only the second recorded time. In fact, the search for more information on Michael Jackson became so feverish, that Google rated the topic as “volcanic” on their hotness meter, even considering the sudden influx as a possible attack, and BBC News received 72% more traffic around the time of his death, along with many other sites.

The fact that the Internet can be rocked by such real, physical events is somewhat reassuring – we haven’t yet reached the stage where computers, cold and unfeeling, can report the news dispassionately, without a thought for its effects on those more “fleshly”. At least not yet, and I for one think that’s a good thing.