It is important that your web strategy is integrated with your overall business plan.

Decide how big a role online marketing will play and allocate an appropriate amount of time, resources and money to it – there's no point crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

Core components of a web strategy

1. What and why

• What role does your website, social media and external partners play?
• Is it important to be positioned as the industry leader and therefore be first in Google?
• Who are you selling to – consumers or other businesses?
• Are you selling goods directly online or is the web a lead-generation tool?

Web marketing works best when highly focused, so you may decide to focus your efforts on one area of your business, knowing you can up-sell or cross-sell to people once you have established a business relationship with them.

Don't forget that you can also use your web properties to provide customer service and support for suppliers to reduce operational costs for your business. Your web marketing should also support any off-line marketing such as print advertising.

One key requirement for any business is to develop a database of potential and actual customers. Your customer database is a vital asset, so collecting contact information via your website is very important.

Your budget will largely dictate what you can achieve. Don't think a $500 website will make you a millionaire!

2. How are you going to make it happen

Once you know what role the web plays, you can decide the best way to achieve it.

If you are relying on social media buzz to spread the word, you will need content assets such as a articles, video and social platforms to spread the word.

Want to be on the front page of Google? Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is necessary for organic search marketing, and needs to be built into your content strategy and website design from the beginning. Social mentions are also important for SEO.

If you are a local business, you need to focus on the local community and business networks. Geographic references will need to be clear on your website. Hosting location and domain name will also play a part.

Certain industries such as books, music, leisure accommodation, entertainment and employment are dominated by centralised portals such as Seek,

One of the most important considerations at this point is deciding your website goals (link). This is specific measures such as number of visitors, sales or sign-ups that the site will need to achieve, if your business goals are going to be met.

At this point you will also be making some decisions about technology – most professional web developers will use a Content Management System (CMS). There are a large number to choose from, some Open Source (so any one can use them) and some will be owned by your web provider. This choice is often made for you by a web company, so make sure you find out what they will be using and what advantages and risks will come with it.

Content (text, images and video) is a critical part of SEO and social media marketing, so figure out what content you need to be creating and how. You may need to employ the services of a writer for this part.

3. Who's going to do it

Can you DIY? Do you have the skills in your existing team to deliver everything you need?

Most smaller businesses don't, so think about outsourcing some of the more technical or specialist aspects to the experts.

Choose partners carefully - don't assume the person that designed the site knows anything about search marketing. Your branding agency may not have developers that can help with security or website optimisation and many graphic designers don't understand the web environment at all.

In the same vein, don't think you can give it to your one-man IT department or get your neighbours son to do it.

If you have an online shop, and most of what you do involves working with your site, consider attending training to get up to speed.

Assign responsibility for the web channel to someone - it could be marketing, sales or even IT.  Each of these will have to work well with others to round out their skill sets, but if the buck doesn't stop somewhere, it could mean nothing gets done.

4. When will it happen

One sure thing to derail your plans for world domination is expecting a website design or campaign to magically appear within days.

Good web professionals will have work booked in advance, and a lack of planning on your part will not constitute an emergency on theirs. And they may well refuse to take you on as a client if your expectations are unrealistic because they don't want to produce rushed, shoddy work.

For a good quality site, especially if more than a few pages, expect the project to take a few months to go through concept, design and build. Content creation is often what will delay progress, so don't leave it too late in the project time line.