symbolic image for a website reflecting a business
 

A Website is a Mirror for Your Business

In the age of the web, what you offer in the real world needs to be reflected on the web. For most businesses, why have a website is a question answered by the times we live in, a well built website can provide:

  • Credibility - From the content or look of the site and by being there, clients expect a website.
  • Point of Contact - Phone numbers, email, FAQ, support pages, opening times, valuable to all.
  • Two way communication - News or information from you, opinions or orders from your visitors.
  • More clients - Direct from search, or from a web address on your stationery and in off line ads.

So you need a website but is the only option to join the chase for page one on Google. A common target but not always rational. Websites like most business decisions are about return on investment and there are viable alternatives to an all out assault.

Representation on the web

You may have come across the phrase "brochure website" which sounds basic but they can be useful. Creating and distributing literature is expensive, the cost often repeated because of a few changes. An economy in itself if an easily editable website replaces those costs and holds more.

Anyone seeing your website address in an ad, just seeing your name, or recommended by a friend can find what you offer at the click of a mouse. No waiting for information, an opportunity to instantly contact you, or for an on the spot buying decision.

Many business and community websites function perfectly well at this level, they need no more and their resources can be used to concentrate on what they do best. Their representative on the web is a low cost, invaluable asset requiring minimal input, although that is not the same as no input.

The website has to be of a standard which represents them well, offers essential information, interests visitors and to an extent search engines. The site needs to return in obvious searches, for the company name, approximations of a domain name, other logical terms. People don't type http://www.bbc.co.uk into Google, they enter BBC, or BBCTV and expect the site to pop up, as should any successful web presence.

Indexing on major search engines is not automatic, neither is being returned even for the obvious, so this type of website needs to be technically correct and sufficiently optimised to feature as required. Not normally a significant task and doing so can bring a little business from search engines as a bonus.

A Local Business Boost

The next step up the website ladder is focusing on local search. People in the UK search by town, often the nearest large town, or commonly search by county. Local search volumes can be high, several thousand a month for many business services by county, over a thousand for larger towns. There are aspects you need to consider:

  • Businesses or others with no physical address will be handicapped, their address is the web.
  • Being in a location is not sufficient, your website needs to be optimised for these searches.
  • Taking a local road can limit performance in wider searches, hard to succeed in both at once.

The third factor does not preclude wider success but the reality of the web is that many people realise how valuable a place in local search results can be. To compete, core aspects of a website need to be focused on those terms and they can not always serve a national purpose at the same time.

In reality, many businesses are happy to concentrate on local prominence. As the website is being built, they can make decisions to optimise a site for this. Just be sure the objective matches your business aspirations.

Going National or Global

Many dream of web riches, drawn in by headline announcements of supposed hobby websites making millions. A rare scenario, the majority of sites achieving this have been carefully planned, professionally managed and seen large budgets.

This does not mean national, or even international prominence on the web are out of the question. Not easy if you want to outperform large news chains, or international auction sites but within a reasonable niche, you can still achieve what others have. Just be aware of essential principles:

  • Patience is needed, time frames will vary according to situation but a year is good for most.
  • New skills to be developed, or bought in. Web success on a shoestring will rarely be a reality.
  • Within most small businesses, successful sites need more than technique, a different mindset.
  • The direction a site takes must be part of a wider business and marketing plan, not an add on.

With many businesses pumping resources into websites, you can't expect to fly into top search results for national terms. Neither is life on the web as easy as a few years ago, when your competition may have started out. The good, although in a sense bad news is how many sites fail to take the opportunities available to them. Most doors are open but you need to be professional to pass through.

The objective of these notes was not to lay out a detailed process to achieve your web goals, simply offer alternative thoughts on why you should have a website. If this helped and you would like to read more, see our website help articles, or contact us for any assistance we can offer.