Area Businesses Look For Success Online
By Brad Kane, bradkane@sanduskyregister.com, Sandusky, OH
Businesses put their names on everything from airplanes to cocktail napkins to get their name out there.
In the last 10 years, one of the most popular methods of cultivating success is having a dynamic Web site.
"Once you get people to your Web site, you have a better advertising medium than television," said Michael Allton, sales manager for Viking Technology, Norwalk, which designs Web sites for businesses. "If you want to have people come to your business, a good Web site will bring them there."
First, the company needs to choose a domain name that fits the company image and is easy to remember and spell, Allton said. Having the company name in the domain name is generally ideal, but not always possible.
The Sandusky Mall, which online offers a map with all its stores and their contact information, has its name in the domain.
"It helps our shoppers become more efficient," said Mike Ferguson, mall marketing director. "It allows them to go directly to their stores and just get out as they need to."
Second, the next step is to make sure the Web site reflects the type of business.
"You want your design to be professional," Allton said. "If you are operating a funeral home, you don't want the site to have any loud colors. It should be professional and somber."
Foster Funeral Home in Huron uses its Web site to post obituaries at the home, and friends of the family can write on-line condolences.
"It allows people to let the family know they are thinking of them," owner Wayne Foster said. "The family can go to those online condolences, or I print out a hard-copy for them to have."
The funeral also offers a section on its site where people can plan their own funeral services -- whether they want cremation or burial, what they want to wear and what to put in their obituary, among other things.
"People have not used that as often as I originally thought they would," Foster said. "It is difficult to bring yourself in to plan your own funeral or pre-plan the funeral of a loved one, especially if they have just been told they have a terminal illness. I thought having it online would eliminate some of that difficulty."
Part of the problem may be that people aren't aware what is available on a Web site -- even that a company has a site.
Allton said companies should put their domain name out there as often as possible.
"It boggles my mind when we have customers that don't do that," Allton said. "If you have a business card, put it on there; if you have some stationery, put it on there; if you take out an ad in the paper, make sure the Web site name is mentioned."
Another way to draw regular in-house customers is to offer online exclusives. The Daily Grind in Norwalk offers coupons for discount coffee on its Web site.
"That is the Web site I show our customers when they come in," Allton said.
While an online presence can attract customers, it can also eliminate some busywork company because the answers to frequently asked questions can be displayed on a Web site.
In Erie County's budget crunch, the auditor's office has had to eliminate some of its personnel to save costs. By putting more information online, Auditor Jude Hammond was able to reduce many of the calls to his office and increase the productivity of his remaining staff.
"We are getting hits from places that are really far away," Hammond said. "We have even had people stationed in Iraq using the site."
On the extensive auditor's Web site, visitors can check property taxes, compare it with neighbors and check on real estate and dog licenses.
"I have often felt that government operates better in an open forum where people can see how the things are working," Hammond said.
Over the course of the past year, the auditor's office has nearly doubled the number of hits on its site from 568,225 in September 2002 to just over 1 million in September 2003.
While other local business Web sites would be hard pressed to get 1 million hits in a month, Cedar Point's site gets more than 1 million hits in a day.
"It allows us to reach people both nationally and internationally," said Lee Alexakos, Cedar Point's Web site manager. "There is really no end to what we can do and what we would like to do."
If the thrill park took all the information on its site and compiled it in a brochure, it would be 100 pages long and wouldn't reach nearly the same amount of people, Alexakos said.
The most popular part of cedarpoint.com is the information, photos and videos for its rides -- on the site, visitors can learn the designer of the Power Tower got the idea while throwing his children in the air.
"The more information we provide them, the more excited they get about coming to the park," Alexakos said. "The more we can show them, the better for the park."
When the Top Thrill Dragster was introduced, that section of the site alone got nearly 1 million hits per day.
"It was first designed to be a source of information for the park," Alexakos said. "It has since evolved into a full-service site."
In addition to discount tickets, hotel reservations, park hours and a virtual ride on a favorite coaster, cedarpoint.com has become the No. 1 source for recruiting park employees.
"We have employees from all over," Alexakos said. "A lot of them hear of the opportunities online."
The Web site has also begun to offer a smaller section where visitors can play memory games and send online post cards to friends and family.
"Because we are in the entertainment industry, we try to provide a lot of different things for people looking for fun," Alexakos said. "That is our image, and it is our product."
Cedar Point's Web site might not have gotten as popular as it is -- getting more visitors in a month than there are people in Ohio -- if it weren't for John Hildebrandt, vice president of marketing, who took it upon himself to use the Internet for the company's benefit.
"Several years ago, he drove that initiative," Alexakos said. "Now it has developed to what it is today."
