YES! If your business doesn’t have a website your business will eventually get lost in the Stone Age.
Recent studies show that 80% of people look for products and services online first, and even research your business, before they even consider picking up the phone to call you. Every moment without a website means fewer customers, fewer sales, less repeat business and ultimately less profit.
Your business needs a website for so much more than just selling online.
Your website is your:
- Lead generation tool
- Customer relations tool
- Events, sales or specials promotion tool
- Increased exposure tool
- Email marketing tool
- Branding tool
… and so much more!
So how do you get online quickly, easily and affordably?
- To keep costs down the more you have ready for your designer, the more affordable your site will be!
- Make a plan for your site – what do you want it to do, what is the goal for your site?
- Choose your domain name (website address i.e. www.yourdomain.com).
- Choose your hosting company – you can get good hosting for as little as $5.95 / month.
- Put together content for your site: pictures, graphics, introduction, about us etc.
- Find sites you like and write a list of likes and dislikes. This will help to keep costs down when working with your designer.
- Choose your designer. Ask around for recommendations, find someone you can work well with and has a good price point. Not too cheap, not too expensive. Ask for a quote upfront and make sure there are no hidden or ongoing costs.
- Get your site online!
DIY or a professionally-built web site?
I ALWAYS recommend hiring a professional (not just because I am one!) but in the long run it will cost you less and cause less headaches to have your site professionally built. Try a home-based designer; they have low overheads and often a very high skill set.
How can I get people to my site?
As obvious as it may sound, tell everyone about your site. Add a link to the bottom of every email you send, put your web address on all your business cards and on your car, participate in forums, include it in all your current advertising, use it to keep in touch with your current customers, write a blog, submit articles to free online directories on matters of interest… these are just a few, there are many ways to get people to your website – there are many more!
What’s the most important factor when getting my website built?
Make sure your site is user-friendly. The best way to do this is to watch someone navigate through your site, are they getting lost, do they know where to go, or are they just confused?
The biggest mistake in web design is making the site ‘pretty’ rather than user-friendly. Stand by the rule of – “Don’t make your customer think about where they need to go.”
