Perhaps the greatest benefit that you can experience from the internet is the ease with which one is able to access information. All an internet user needs to do to start, is to type a word or phrase on a search engine such as Google, and Google will then generate various sets of results. Search engine results show not only websites or pages mentioning the words you type, but it also shows you related images, videos and books.

This leads to the mistaken impression that everything that one finds on the internet is in the “public domain” and free for the use of anyone for whatever purpose it sees fit. However, not everything on the internet is free, so if you are planning to put your business online, here are some matters you’ll need to know before you begin.

As a general rule, all original images on another website owner’s website are protected by copyright and any unauthorized copying of this image is an infringement of that website owner’s copyright. The same is true with all other original content  in that website. Original text, developed by the owner of the website, is protected by copyright, so appropriating without permission is also illegal.

There are some instances when another website’s content may be used for free. There are a lot of resources for licensed images on the internet. Often, the original owner will provide terms of use, such as that one may not alter the image in any way, or that the user should acknowledge or provide a link to the original site.  Also, there are a lot of clip-art libraries online, subject of course to certain legal limitations. Then there are websites such as www.istockphoto.com and http://shutterstock.com that provide royalty-free stock photos, graphics, and sometimes even video and audio, for a price.

Aside from the above cases, there is one other way that another website’s content may be used for free, and that is under “fair use.” However, Fair Use only provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under certain circumstances such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship.

Therefore, the best way to avoid legal entanglements on the World Wide Web is to make sure that your website’s content is original. If you have products, hire a photographer. If your website requires text, hire a professional copywriter. If you require a logo, hire a professional designer to make one.

Very often, people “steal” content from the internet because they believe it saves them money; they don’t want to spend on design, photography and other professional services. However, if they continue on this path, then the major consequence will be that they’ll end up paying professional services anyway – a really expensive lawyer!

More and more business owners are taking their business online and for good reason.  The successes of online businesses such as Amazon and iTunes have proven that the internet holds unlimited potential for profits. That is, if done correctly. Ecommerce is not a “Field of Dreams”, though. “If you build it they will come” is not always the case. Like any business, it requires hard work and a lot of patience.

You wouldn’t know it now, but Amazon.com started slow. In fact, founder Jeff Bezos expected it. Amazon’s initial plan was unusual in that Bezos himself expected a slow growth, that the market was there but that it needed time to get into the habit of online shopping, and so Amazon.com, which was founded in 1995, did not expect a profit until its 4^th or 5^th year. So, in 2001, while the dot-com bubble was bursting and many internet-based businesses were closing, Amazon.com turned its first profit.

ITunes is another example of an ecommerce gamble that paid off. The elements required for selling music via the Internet had been around for years – the right software and a PC with a CD burner connected to the Internet. What had been missing was a business model that consumers were willing to accept.  Apple not only developed a system where people could download and pay for music, but it also had to create a medium where that music could be stored – the iPod.

If you are only considering taking your business online now, then the timing is just right. During the early years of the Internet, a majority of online shoppers were young men with a high level of income and a university education.  This was understandable, because at that time, using the Internet was not yet part of daily life. But as early as 2001, the profile began changing. In the USA for example, women were 52.8% of the online population.

How to get started?  Quite simply, any site that enables its visitor to pay online is an E-Commerce site. You can use your current website, and have a web developer add features that facilitate online payment through Paypal or a similar service.

But you’ll also need to consider other matters, such as inventory management. You’ll need to have a system in place that ensures that when your website says that a certain product is in stock, it better be in stock. Also, when your website says that it will be delivered to their doorstep in three weeks, it should be there on time, as promised. Because your business is online, a great deal of your business is dependent on the trust that a consumer has in you.

Lastly, think out of the box. That starts with the product or service that you are selling. Learn from the success (and mistakes) of e-commerce companies that have come before you. They weren’t driven by the motivation to sell or make money. They were driven by the desire to innovate and that is what made them successful.

1. Presenting Information
Avoid overloading every page with too many elements. Make sure elements such as testimonials, banner and forms don’t overwhelm the user.  Prior to writing a website’s content, make a site map, and figure out the specific purpose of each page. If a home page is meant to merely introduce your company and showcase a specific product, limit the information to these tasks.

2. Navigation
Your Website’s navigation tools and techniques should basically give users the answer to three questions: Where am I? Where have I been? Where can I go? To be effective, the website navigation needs to be consistent throughout the website. Reduce clutter by grouping links into sections. Lastly, make sure to reduce clicking to get to where the visitor wants to go. The most important factor is usability. Make sure that going around your website is convenient and easy and this will ensure that people will keep coming back.

3. Browser Compatibility
There are dozens of types of Internet Browsers being used today. The more popular ones include Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome.  Each of these has their own little sets of rules and eccentricities, and so the experience of viewing your website may vary from user to user, depending on the kind of browser they are using. While there can be no guarantee of 100% compatibility across all browsers, there are two key points you must stress to your website developer 1. Simplicity as a guiding philosophy in the overall design of the website and 2. Have them test the websites in as many different browsers are they can.

4. Browser Size
Not everyone has the same screen and browser setting. Just because you can see all the elements on your website’s front page does not mean that your users will.  If a button is far down the page, a user may not see it when first viewed the page and will have to scroll downwards to find it.  But many people don’t scroll and will miss it entirely. To minimize scrolling and make sure that the important parts of the page are always prominent to your audience.

5. Visual Appeal
First impressions count when it comes to websites. Research shows that decisions about your website can be made in as little as 1/20th of a second. This emotional judgment dictates all subsequent judgments. Even though your business has superior products or services, an initial negative impression from a poorly designed website can steer customers towards your competition. Make that first impression count, because you only get one chance. Ensure that you have a clean, professional, and fast-loading website.

1. Branding – branding is more than just the color palette and type face to use. Your brand is more than your logo. First and foremost, Branding is understanding what your business stands for. When you have fully understood what you stand for, then your brand philosophy will dictate how everything that represents your company will function and appear. Let your Brand Philosophy guide how your website is made, with your target customer in mind and guiding your decisions not only in form, but also in function.
   
   
2. Make your Website Useful – Don’t limit your website to simply being a digital version of your company brochure. Establish your website as a go-to resource. Once your website becomes something useful and informative, your visitors will not only keep coming back to your website, they will also recommend your website to others.
   
   
3. Surprise and Delight Your Users – Don’t just be Beautiful. Be Charming as well. Make sure to add nice little touches that make your site memorable. Add cute little “Easter Eggs” on your website, such as helpful tips that appear when you click on an element , simple games, a funny quote or joke.
   
   
4. Constantly Seek Inspiration – the most important rule of websites is to never be boring. Always be on the lookout for ideas, and not just from other websites. When all you do is follow what your competition is doing, you’ll soon realize that you’re always one step behind. Get inspiration from art, nature, and from life. Be bold and imaginative. Make your website more than interesting, make it fun and engaging!