If you have no website, yes people will question your legitimacy and credibility, they will even become frustrated or angry at not being able to explore further into your company before deciding if they want to pick up the phone and call you or not. However if you have an unattractive, poorly designed, cheaply made, and functionally stagnant site that looks like a teenager designed it as a school project for extra credit, while in a haze of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Red Bull, the decision on whether or not to call will be made in seconds....they just won't.
Companies may think they are saving tons of money going this route, and there are plenty of small graphic design shops that will, for what seems to be a very modest sum, throw something together that is really giving people the exact WRONG idea about your company. The company thinks they have entered the modern age because the simply HAVE a website to hang their logo on, but in reality what they have told potential clients, be they consumers or businesses, is that they are behind the times, are anything but tech savvy, and appear to be a cut rate or fly-by-night company. If the website looks shoddy, what will the quality of the service or product be? Most clients these days rarely see your bricks and mortar location, they know your company BY YOUR WEBSITE. What does your website say to them?
Now, am I implying that you must spend a fortune on your web presence? Does it mean that you have no choice but to pay exorbitant rates to create something worthwhile? Not in the least! What I am saying, however, is that your website is not the area where you want to skimp. This is not the place where you go looking at JUST the price tag (notice I said 'just"), and start your search in the bargain basement, because you can damage your brand beyond repair, and the worst part is you'll have no idea of the business you are losing. People will hit your site, make a judgement about your company in short order, and navigate away without you ever knowing that they were there, or the business you could have had. If you wonder why the phone isn't ringing, the answer may be no farther than your website, but let me help you figure out how to effectively leverage the net, build an extremely beneficial website and yet do it in a way that doesn't force you to mortgage your future to build a tool in the present.
When you seriously consider the power you could have in a great website you may have a wish list in your mind of all of the things you would like it to do and be, because there are so many great tools and modules that are being created all of the time. Your list may look like this:
- New look, better branding, enticing functionality
- Full out Search Engine Optimization, the latest techniques to drive traffic
- An e-commerce catalog for a new revenue stream
- An intranet site for dissemination of company information
- An online client file manager with a client log in function with passwords for greater efficiency
- A live chat feature for real time frequently asked questions
- An appointment scheduling feature that updates calendar in real time
You may have heard of the old proverb/joke that says, "How do you eat and elephant?" The answer, of course is, "one bite at a time." Take the large and break it down, make the overwhelmingly complex into a series of manageable tasks...take the big picture of what you ultimately want to accomplish on the web but don't have the funds to afford, or the manpower to manage and build in manageable, more affordable PHASES.
Spend the money to get each phase done right, at a pace you can handle and a cost you can afford, that is the key. Phase 1 might be just redesigning your site to be more branded and marketable, honing the copy to be clear, concise and compelling and maximizing your SEO so you have steady flow of traffic. That should enable you to increase your revenue and profits and then you can afford to add the next Phase, which might be, just as an example, the e-commerce module that again boosts revenue which enables you to hire additional assistance for online orders being processed and shipped. You get the progression.
The point is, if planned and executed correctly with a good SMB marketing firm there should be no reason or excuse for terrible websites that damage your brand and turn business to competitors. All that is required is eating the elephant one bite at a time, digesting as you go, growing and then taking another bite. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you can get by with the cheapo, shabby site or that the economy demands you hire the bargin bin operation with a the rock bottom price. You may think you are saving money, but it will cost you, and in this economy where you need to capture all of the business you can and differentiate yourself from the choices out there you need to make a sensible, wise choice in your web development. That exploding online traffic is going to buy somewhere, so give them a reason to choose YOU!
From where you are to where you want to be,
Doug
