What Kind of Site Are You Looking For?

Before you embark on a site design project for your business or organization, you will want to identify what the goals are for your site. This will determine what type of site is best for you.

The best solution for you may have aspects of several different types of sites. For example, it may offer basic brochure pages supplemented by educational content or an online order form. It may be primarily an educational site but also offer opportunities to interact with your customers. We encourage you to visit sites outside of your primary category of interest to get ideas for your site.

Online Business Cards and Brochures

These "first generation" sites offer general company information to generate qualified sales leads. Many of our sites fall into this category, and almost all of our sites include this kind of information. We find it is a solid base for businesses looking for a Web presence.

Information Delivery & Educational Sites

Many businesses supplement their sites with general information to educate their customers. Some businesses and organizations position themselves as experts in their field by including educational content. Still others use the Web as a way to deliver the libraries of information they are charged with distributing. These content-rich sites are our favorite projects to work on!

Online Retail (E-Commerce)

Are you interested in selling a product online? There are a variety of solutions that can help you do that. They range from micro-sites with simple, printable order forms that are ideal for single-product offerings to large, database-driven sites custom designed for large product lines that change frequently.

Community Building

Do you work with a community of people who are geographically widely dispersed? A Web site can be used to reach the whole community and provide opportunities to interact with them or get them involved with organization activities. It can even serve as an activity in and of itself, a forum for the community to work out ideas.

• Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM)
  The BCM serves cyclists throughout Maine. Goals for the Web site include distributing educational materials, letting people know about cycling opportunities, reporting on lobbying efforts and bringing together the cycling community.
• Grief and Renewal.com
  Grief and Renewal.com is dedicated to healing the grieving and bereaved in order to renew their lives and recover from the death or other loss. On this site, psychologist Laura Slap-Shelton answers grief and bereavement questions and provides information on a wide range of related topics. Self-help and support is offered through an online grief and bereavement discussion group. An online book store and gift catalog help support the site.

Product/Service Delivery (E-Business)

Some business activities lend themselves to online transactions. Obvious examples of this are software company sites that allow users to purchase and download their products. There are also sites that allow customers to access their information securely online, thereby streamlining a core business function. What customer interactions do you currently conduct offline that might work online? Let us help you explore the options!

• FISC (Financial Institution Services Corporation)
  FISC, a servicer for financial institutions, offers a suite of e-services to its clients. These include iNow™, which allows lenders and borrowers to access account information through a secure Web site, and iWeb™, which supplies financial institutions with secure online access to images of banking transactions.
• MidCoast Federal Credit Union
  In addition to basic service information, MidCoast provides a variety of online account resources to its members via its web site. The site also features online loan calculators, fee and rate schedules that are updated by MidCoast staff, and online guidebooks to assist members with major purchase decisions.

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