The first question to be answered is “Why do you want a web site?” Is it for good commercial reasons, or has someone told you that you should have one?
There are basically only three reasons for having a web site. Marketing, Sales or Credibility. |
|
If your reason for having a web site is not one of those opposite, WHY?
Someone may be trying to sell you a concept, “Have a subsidised web site”, “we can get a grant” etc. But unless having a web site fits in with your objectives, any outlay, regardless of how little, will not provide you with benefit.
And remember, just having a website is not enough, you have to keep it up to date and referenced with the search engines, ongoing costs which can be considerable.
Keeping a web site visible to search engines is tie (or money) consuming. You have to register it, keep it at the forefront of search engines, remember that they thrive on change, so you have to continually make changes. Regularly do Search Engine Optimisation as the search engines continually change the way in which they rank sites, and perhaps have a blog. Everything uses up time, time you could spend working.
The Internet is just one part of the overall sales
and marketing mix of your company, and should be treated as such.
|
Marketing is so that you can provide people who browse the internet with information. Either information on you, your company, your products, or general information that they will be interested in. All of this is Marketing, the idea of generating interest in your products and services from people who find your site, interest which may over time translate into sales. |
If you have a product that can be sold over the Internet, then you could benefit from having a sales presence. You do need to carefully consider how to undertake the sale though. Is the product one that people would expect to purchase ‘off the web’. Should you go to the expense of having authorised credit card transactions on-line, or can you get by with an e-mailed order. Is the product worth enough to make it worthwhile selling on-line, conversely is it cheap enough to make people want to purchase ‘sight unseen’. |
| Credibility is the least likely, but there may be instances where you need a web site to prove to clients that you are a large credible organisation. Remember, on the Internet your size and market capitalisation mean little. A web site could be for a multi-national organisation with thousands of employees, or a self-employed one-man-band, and the sites could look the same. Companies are becoming more attuned to the Internet, and are expecting to be able to view a web site to check on the credentials of a prospective supplier. |
