Consider creating a newsletter that is available on your website. This newsletter should provide newsworthy information, technology updates, and other information relevant to graphic design. It is the perfect opportunity to showcase your graphic design skills! You have the freedom to design your e-newsletter to attract attention, gain business, and increase your visibility as an authority.

You might also consider a monthly or quarterly ezine where you invite your community to submit articles and information for publication in the ezine. Once again, you can use this as an opportunity to display your design skills to the market.

Both your newsletter and ezine can be available to members only. This means that your website will be multi-dimensional with information available to the general public, and more valuable and comprehensive information available to your membership. This can add to your credibility as an authority.

Email and other contact information

Visitors and customers need a way to get in touch with you if they have questions or customer service issues. Be sure you have an email address that is easy to find and use. This sounds simple, but it is important and is sometimes overlooked by new business owners.

Also include contact information for phone, snail mail, or other information that will assist potential clients in their search for services. Make it easy for them to find you! And most importantly, make it easy for them to access “customer service.”

Surveys

One other consideration to make your website more interactive is to include surveys for your customers and visitors. Many people enjoy participating in online surveys and this keeps them on your site longer. They may happen to see something else that interests them during this time. And as an added bonus, you get free customer feedback on a variety of topics such as products, services, and future needs!

Just be sure to update the survey frequently – you don't want them to become stale. And make them inviting and interesting. You'll also want to publish the results of surveys consistently to draw traffic back for updates and more information.

Contact information

With an online graphic design business, you are not typically concerned with having an online “check-out” system. Your customers are more personally engaged in discussion about the services and products they want.

However, it is important to have some type of structure for them to submit their design requests. Consider the service from the buyer's perspective and make sure it is clear how they access services, request custom work, and communicate with you.

There are a variety of forms accessible online that you can adapt for your needs, or you can create and design your own forms. This is a great way to utilize your design talents to make your forms unique, creative, and reflective of your services. Information about contracts and agreements is included later in this Guide.

Other potential uses of websites

Your website is your business. As mentioned earlier, make it interactive. There are some additional ideas you can consider as you expand and enhance your site:

1. Pay-per-click advertising – relevant advertising is important to your website and with pay-per-click, you can make money with every click. Consider this as an additional revenue source and allow it to enhance your position as an authority by advertising high quality, relevant services or products.

2. Use Meta Tags – a valuable marketing tool is already available on your site and you should capitalize on its use. Meta Tags can increase your placement with major search engines and can increase the traffic they send your way. Finding the best niche keywords to drive traffic to your site aids in this strategy.

3. Promote your website address – this really sounds simple but you'd be surprised at the number of people who neglect to include their website address on business cards, letterhead, brochures, online articles, newsletters, invoices, contracts, and other promotional collateral. Don't forget to capitalize on every opportunity to include your website address.

Privacy statements and websites

Your website should always display your customer/user privacy statement. This is usually a statement that says you will not sell or distribute their email address to others and that you will not send emails, newsletters, or other information to them if they opt not to receive them.

The most crucial part of the privacy statement is to adhere to it. If you say you won't sell email addresses, then be sure you don't!

Gain your customers' trust and keep it.

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