A small business in today’s competitive and dynamic environment needs a website in the same way they need a telephone number. An online presence in the shape of a website, whether a one page placeholder or full-on catalogued online shop, is crucial if you hope to attract new business and add value to services you provide to your existing client base. A website developed as an online marketing tool will help attract business through searches carried on search engines like Yahoo! and Google. So where do you start?
The first thing you need to decide is whether you’re going to create your website yourself or whether you need to employ a developer to the job for you. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches:
You'll save money by doing it yourself, not to mention the fact that you’ll have complete control over the look and feel of the site. If you make yourself the administrator, you have the freedom to update and make changes whenever you feel it's necessary and If you have a working knowledge of basic web design there are free tools that will allow you to create a professional looking website on your own. The flip side of doing it yourself is that If you don't know much about computers and/or web design it could take a while to learn everything and get your site up and running. Although the idea of updating your website yourself is ideal on paper, you’ll need to bear in mind the amount of time you’ll need to spend updating it as and when changes are required. For a static, contact information only website it won’t be an issue, but if you have a large and comprehensive website, you’ll probably spend a large part of your day updating your website rather than spending time on your business.
Should you decide to go with a professional developer for the creation of your website, you’ll need to consider the expense and the fact that you will relinquish some control over the ultimate feel and look of the website in exchange for a professionally executed website which will probably be done far quicker than you could ever manage on your own. The developer would also be able to advise you in respect of other matters relevant to having your website, in particular, your web hosting options. Once you’ve decided whether to go DIY or choose a developer, you’ll need to work out what kind of website you’ll need as well as the all-important domain name.
When choosing a domain name bear in mind that the address will effectively be your marketing frontline when either people log on to your website directly or are referred through by a search engine or link elsewhere on the world wide when. The URL (short for Universal Resource Locator), which is the address of your page should be short and informative. Catchy URLs are very important but may be harder to find than you think. For years, industrious internet entrepreneurs have been snapping up all manner of URLs in the hope that someday, someone would come knocking on their door and make them a quick fortune (and they did). So the top tips for getting yourself a great URL.
• Try getting a “.com” address – these are the most popular, but some can still be had for relatively little outlay.
• Keep it short and simple, something snappy everyone will remember. If the ‘.com’ address isn’t available, find yourself an alternative address or see if you can find your address on a different domain like .co.uk or .net!
• Try and include key words that people might use to find the service you provide in the address. The more common the words, the better the chance of getting more business.
• Finally, choose a domain name you’ll be happy with for the rest of the business’s life. Don’t take this decision lightly as you’ll want to avoid changing the address at some point in the future and lose all the benefit of the ranking, reputation and traffic the site may develop.
Whatever you decide to do, however you execute it, invest some time in building yourself a website. Your business needs it and will stand a better chance of success in the future.