In most economies today a website has become a ‘do or die’ object that causes a lot of headaches and stress that you didn’t even know could exist. It is widely acknowledged that having a website for your business is an absolute must if you want to be successful, but is it really worth all of the trouble?

First of all you have to register your domain name or web address. Once you have finally found something relevant that hasn’t already been taken, you then have to find someone to host your website. Unless you actually have a website you probably don’t know what hosting is, let alone all of the terms that come with it like band-with, servers, php, etc. So before you find a host you have to understand all the terminology – otherwise you end up plumping for something that probably doesn’t suit your needs. If you have a friendly web designer, he might be able to point you in the right direction.

But then there is finding a web designer and the design of the website. There are a lot of designers that charge over the odds to ignorant customers and throw a lot of jargon at their clients to make a basic website sound a lot more that it is. Filtering through these to find someone who is going to give you what you want often entails having to go and find out exactly what you want first of all. By the time you’ve understood what flash, CSS, Java and everything else is, you might as well go and design it yourself!

So you’ve now found a web designer that is going to give you what you want and let’s face it this has already taken up quite a lot of time and you now have to shell out for the cost of the design, which you duly do and your website is eventually up and running. Once it is up and running most people naturally go and search for themselves on major search engines, so you do that, only to discover that you are coming up on like page 50, if at all, which is no good. After a bit of research you discover something called Search Engine Optimization. You read a few articles about it, watch a video or two, grasp the basics and now what? You are busy running a business, you don’t have time to submit yourself to 1000s of business directories or write articles, so you find an S.E.O company. Of course, this is more expense, and results only start to filter in a month or two later when you start to get sales through your website. But even so, by now unless you sell some very expensive products, you are going to need to get quite a lot of sales to start making a profit from your website.

So is it really worth all this hassle? Well for the small tradesman or local business probably not, because most of your business comes from a small area and always will. You probably also have a network of people and word of mouth has got you thus far and will continue to carry you onwards unless sci-fi predictions of a completely electronic future come true. You will also always have that security of being able to still do business if there was a massive electricity issue or the internet broke (unlikely I know but then again anything is possible). Then again, there are companies that are purely internet companies, who make millions out of trading online, or a business that benefit from being able to reach nationally and internationally. So, if you’re ready to expand your business then get online, but find someone who can take you through every aspect of a website in terms that you will understand. Most successful web design and hosting companies have consultants you can talk to that can explain everything in a way that makes sense to you and can liaise with designers on your behalf to make sure you are getting what you need without the headaches.

Rhiannon works for UKWEBS an successful Internet Solutions company who believes that all your internet needs should be in one place and on terms that you understand. Visit the company at http://www.ukwebsis.co.uk

If you’ve decided to invest in professional Web design services, you need to find the right designer for your objectives.

Deciding what expertise you need

For most business sites, it helps to select designers who come from a marketing communications background, not a pure programming or art background. Your developer must have the ability to design with an eye towards your target market, be knowledgeable about achieving business objectives, and be skilled enough to do the programming tasks required. Not every designer is right for every type of business or has staff with the experience to meet the specific requirements described in your request for proposal (RFP)

Developers with enough staff might be able to help with all tasks in the preceding list, or they might subcontract these services out, saving you the trouble of finding providers yourself. At the very least, they probably have a list of people they recommend. Most small businesses can’t afford all these professionals. Decide which aspect of the site is most important to its marketing success. For instance, online stores and tourist sites depend on high-quality photography. A
content-rich site inherently demands good writing, while a multimedia site might need an animator, videographer, or audio engineer. Prioritize by outsourcing the most critical element. Do the best you can with the rest.

Finding good providers in your area

Locating qualified professionals is like finding any good service provider. A recommendation can’t be beat. Take the time to review designers’ and other providers’ portfolios online to ensure that you like their style and to assess their talents. Match their description of skills and experience against your RFP. Always check references – not only those that providers give you, but also several others randomly selected from their portfolio.

Reliable File and Image Hosting Service.

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These days, people have a total fascination about researching what it going on and who they are dealing with. And all of this research is completed on the internet. This absolute fascination is uncovering information is, of course, pushed by services such as Twitter and Facebook, with encourage the users to share their movements and thoughts on a regular basis. This proliferation of available information has developed a culture of reading and almost obsessing about what other people are doing.

So, how can this help the average business? Obviously, for those with a product to sell they can advertise the product and make it available to purchase online. Retailers can even drop their expensive shop fronts and just sell from a more cost effective unit somewhere, using the website as their customer facing product.

But for many small shops this is impractical. They might still have hundreds of product lines and loading and maintaining these on a regular basis can be a nightmare. For these, a small brochure website that gives an overview of the business would be enough to satisfy people’s desire for more information. Add to this a Twitter feed and a link to a Facebook page and you are giving your customers plenty of reason to visit your website and be involved.

Brochure style websites are very popular at the moment as they can introduce customers to the services around. Not every website can provide the full purchase information and not every business is suited to a full all singing all dancing website that sells the product online. I have dealt with a variety of people who just need a brochure website. One good example of this is home insurance. All of the big websites will provide quote tools that will give visitors the quotes automatically online. But there are also big name insurance providers who will just accept the visitor’s contact details and then call them back for a quote later on. For the small insurance broker, this is a perfectly acceptable way of getting online quickly and cheaply and benefit from the effects of the internet.

It is not just people who have a product to sell that can benefit directly from having a website. A new customer has a concept that he wants to get known to manufacturers. His intention from the website is that it might get noticed by a few people and get them talking. He hopes that by generating interest in his theory people will get to know about the advantages and maybe some of the big manufacturers might take up the idea, which is the result of his lifetime’s work!

For many businesses there are the possibilities of really making more from your business by getting an online website sorted. By then mentioning the website in marketing etc, customers get to know about the site. If you then give them a reason to visit the website, some people will come along and could just increase your bottom line. By giving discount codes and vouchers on the website or by giving details of the latest special offers and new products on the website, then these people have a reason to visit your website.

Combine these efforts with other techniques such as the major social networking sites of Twitter and Facebook and you can draw in visitors. Other services such as YouTube can also help a modern business draw in new and existing business for an increase in profitability.

For most businesses, a website is essential!

For more information call in at our marketing blog, or call in at our main site to learn about Merseyside website design and internet marketing.

Written by Keith Lunt