Background on Putting Your Business on the Web.

You're on the Web, you've heard the hype: "If you build it, they will come." A Web site is often called your storefront on the Internet. It's also an information kiosk, a customer service center, and a post office box. A good Web site can be one of the most economical ways of getting information out to your customers. A Web site that you put up and then forget about, on the other hand, is just a way to impress your friends with nifty on-screen graphics.

A full course on the principles of designing a Web site might be something better left to a thick manual. You can design a simple Web site yourself using any of a number of good manuals, or you can hire a staff of programmers and designers. Look for expert help close to home. The unfamiliar looking young man or young woman who drove in just before Christmas claiming to be your daughter or son on break from college might turn out to be the only expert you need.

How much will it cost to keep your web site running?

Many local and several national providers will maintain a web site with your own domain name on their servers. Many services can get you a small business Web hosting plan for as little as $150 a month.

You will have to decide from the start whether your site will be devoted primarily to information and publicity, or if it will actually allow users to execute transactions (in simpler terms buy your products and services). A number of venues – "cybermalls" – now exist that will let you put a storefront on the Web. If the Web will be your primary interface for dealing with customers, then certainly you will need extensive transactional capabilities. If, however, your business is not structured from the ground up to take advantage of a Web interface, then you might well be better off sending potential clients to an 800 number.

Once your site is up on the Web, it needs daily care and upkeep. Already the Internet is full of orphaned sites, built with great fanfare and quickly forgotten. Like the playgrounds that many cities built by the dozen in the sixties and seventies, they have been left to the care of the weeds. An effective site isn't static. It lets visitors reach you - quickly. Let them write a message to your company by clicking a single button. Answer fast. A well-designed Web site should be a key resource for communicating with your regular clients. Create a mechanism to deliver key information by e-mail, making it easy for your customers to save important documents on their own computers. Try to create a form that will let visitors choose from a menu of documents. Those could include pricing schedules or, for a consulting firm, sample reports. Also, make sure to give users a chance to register to receive regular news and updates by e-mail. That gives you an opportunity to send them reminders or offers at little or no cost, even if they forget to check your site.

Don't forget that high tech isn't always the way to go. Always include a phone number on your opening Web page, even if you have an e-mail link. Obvious, isn't it? But we've seen plenty of businesses that just plain forgot

Source:  Wachovia.com

« Back