Take your business to your customers

Imagine being able to employ a salesman who works round the clock every day of the year. He can appear in every business and every home simultaneously day or night. He works virtually for free and does exactly as he's told. He can carry your entire product range and details of all the products. He can accept payment for products there and then. Sound good? That's what an online store gives you. At least that's what some of the more unscrupulous Internet "professional" will tell you. Of course it's not true, launching an online business is just the start. It takes commitment and hard work like any other business. True, the potential profits - if you get it right- can be huge.

Build an effective online business

Takes more than simply publishing your site and getting it listed in search engines. Although these days even getting a good listing can be difficult. There are proven methods for ensuring the success of your business online. Partnerships with technology companies like CTL are proving to be the way forward. A partnership with us gives you access to much more than a simple online store. We can help devise a complete web strategy, a blueprint for building an online business. We have extensive experience in this area and will help you avoid the - sometimes - costly pitfalls. CTL are actively seeking new partnerships with companies and individuals to create new business opportunities. Partnering with our network gives you access to a wide range of help and advice in areas that may be completely new to you.

The right tools for the job

Heard the saying "why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut?" CTL have seen instances of this in the past where companies have completely over-engineered their I.T. solution and wasted thousands of pounds. Similarly we've seen cases where the solution was not up to the job it was originally intended for. Striking the right balance requires knowledge and an understanding of the available technologies. We can ensure you don't overspend whilst providing scalable solutions to meet your I.T. needs.

OPTIMIZATION

A website needs to provide different things for different users. Search engine optimization is an art in itself and not to be taken lightly. It's easy to drive traffic to a site but how useful is it if they came for the wrong reason? It may end up costing you money to support the huge amounts of traffic but with little reward. Targeted well chosen traffic is the key. Thats not all, the site needs to perform well for everyone since the slightest delay or hiccup can put off a potential buyer. For a lot of customers the web store is the only interaction with your business they may have and if that's true what impression do you want to leave them with? Talk to CTL we can help with all this and more.

Is your site designed for maximum impact? A well designed site site will take account of things like speed,content etc. but does it also lead your customers through to making the sale? Is the information they need and want easily available ?

It's all well and good driving traffic to the site but if it's the wrong kind of traffic it could cost you more than you make.

Is the site optimised for search engines. Good listings are important if you want to pull in that kind of traffic.

How are you marketing the site? It's not enough to simply get it listed in top search engines. Every business needs a marketing strategy and an online business even more so.

What about your supply chain, can you handle large increases in orders without having to hold huge amounts of stock? How do you plan to ship your orders? Which countries will you accept your orders from? This can have an effect on your shipping charges.