The advantages and cost effectiveness of a business website have been detailed in numerous publications.  Many small businesses still don’t have websites for various reasons including –

• Concerns about the ongoing expense
• Expectations website won’t bring in enough new business to cover the expense
• Business owners are not sure where to start

Websites are the 21^st century version of phone book ads.  They validate your business and, at the most basic level, provide a quick reference for your location, hours and products.  With a little investment, a website can differentiate your business from your competitors and provide you with an inexpensive venue for communicating with current and potential customers.

If you really aren’t ready for a website, I strongly advise that you register your business with on-line directories.  I know of many small businesses that have picked up a substantial amount of non-local business through on-line directories.

Hiring-Out:  Selecting a Designer

Up front research critical for a successful business website.

• Google your industry and evaluate competitor’s websites.  Make a list of what you like and don’t like.  A qualified web designer will ask you to do this.  This is also a good resource for developing an outline of what you want on your website.
• When you begin your research of specific website designers –
  • Review the designer’s on-line portfolio.  Do you see sites that you like?  Are there a variety of designs?
  • If the site does not provide information about costs, call them.  They should be able to provide you with a rough estimate for a 7-10 page generic website with a unique template.  If they can’t, move on the next designer.
  • Obtain a list of client references.  Was the work done within the quote parameters?  Was the designer attentive to design preferences and changes?  Has the client hired the designer to do any maintenance work on the website?

Based on this information, you should be able to identify the more responsive, creative, and professional web designers.  It might be helpful to create a matrix for rating the designers on characteristics important to you.

Outline What You Want on Your Website

• What major topics make sense for your business and the message you want to convey?  These topics should provide a logical organization for the information you want to offer about the services and products offered by your company.
• Do you want any special graphics such as a logo, icons or page frames?  These can be very important in enhancing the brand for your business.
• Do you want a calendar, Paypal store or a special offers page?  Do you want any forms, surveys, or user interaction systems?

Content

You need text and photographs for your website.  You can save money by doing this yourself.  Many web designers also offer copy writing and photographic services or can recommend writers and photographers.

Get a Quote

Web designers can help you develop your outline and coordinate your content needs.  Once you’re comfortable with the outline, get a quote.  If you have a large job, it might be appropriate to request quotes from a couple of designers.  Trust your intuition regarding competence and don’t trade that for price.

Other Issues to Keep In Mind

These days, most designers will build your website using a Content Management System, such as Joomla!  A CMS allows you to make changes to the content of your website without knowing anything about web programming.  For example, articles can be easily changed via text editing windows.

Make sure you get documentation for you website. If you have a CMS system, documentation includes instructions for adding, editing and deleting content and photos to your website.  For CMS and non-CMS systems, documentation includes all of the usernames, passwords and webhosting information for your website.  The documentation should be included in your quote.

Debra McNeill
Rev. September, 2011