Website Considerations: Before You Build
You're about to launch your business or you've already started; now you're tackling some tough questions. How do I reach my target market? What can I do to tell my clients what I do? How can I increase sales? One of the most important questions for a small business - how do I do all this and stay within budget?
A website can be a very cost-effective solution. At a small fraction of the cost of Yellow Page advertising, you can have a dynamic tool that grows and adapts, works 24-7, and reaches an audience as large or small as you want. For a small growing business, these points can be critical. There is no status quo; you need to grow and adapt or become one of the many casualties. A Web site can help you keep pace with changing markets and needs.
Before you decide to create a Web site, consider these important points to speed the process and keep budget under control:
- What is the purpose of my site? Am I selling a product or service? Do I want to answer client questions? Do I want to feature new services or a schedule of events?
- What is my budget? I may not want to share this until I know whom I'm working with, but I need to know or I'm wasting my time and theirs.
- Do I have a clear picture of my message? If I do it could save time and money, and avoid several 'back to the drawing board' stages.
- Research - Do I have information ready about my business? Have I looked into my competition? Do I have a list of their websites, brochures and handouts?
Once you're ready, how do you determine cost? What's reasonable? What is the process? What's involved? How do you discover the information needed in a format and timeframe comfortable to you?
Select a possible developer and ask! It is critical to meet your developer face-to-face and trust your instincts. If you are uneasy for any reason, try to identify why. It may be you haven't asked an important question. Go back, ask questions until you're comfortable or look for another developer.
An excellent list of questions is available at www.websiteethics.org.
Websites are available in a wide range of flavors and options. Consider starting with an online tool to establish a presence, but be careful; online tools often produce a 'cloned' look or may be invisible to search engines. If you want your website to be highly visible on the web and distinctly reflect your image and the way you do business, then this is probably not the way to go. Find out all up-front costs, and beware of someone who does not have most fees in writing; they may be pricing by what they think you can afford.
Ask your developer about visibility on the Web. While they may not have experience with search engine optimization (SEO), that doesn't mean you can't work with them. Instead, consider contacting an SEO firm to work with your developer and establish basic design points. Then if you decide to use SEO services, your website won't need a complete redesign. For more information, refer to our article on Search Engine Strategies in the Dec 2004 Cooperative Magazine or contact us for a copy.
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