Internet Presence: Do You Need One?
December 1, 2008
“We just need an Internet presence,” yet another business owner tells me. And I’m looking at their ineffective, one page website, trying to think of a nice way to tell them it sucks.
Too many business owners have this type of Internet presence. They only operate offline, so assume that a boring, ineffective page, with address and telephone number will do.
Is Having A Decent Website Really That Important?
Put it like this, if you don’t have a decent Internet presence and you have a business, you’re seriously screwing up your future. More and more business is being done online, as opposed to offline. And Credit Suisse estimate that by 2010, $263 billion per annum will be spent online.
Even when customers don’t actually buy directly online, you can bet that many of them do their research on the Internet, before making a decision. But if you have no internet presence, or a one page website, your business isn’t going to be much use to them.
Do People Actually Look For Your Type Of Business Online?
Whatever type of business you’re in, you can bet that folk will try to find it online. And if you don’t have a decent Internet presence, someone else will beat you to it.
Service businesses are at risk, because national web savvy call centres are taking work that could have been yours and making a hefty profit, by farming the work out to cheap subcontractors. And if you’re in retail, you could lose out, as online stores are able to charge a lot less than you, because they have fewer overheads.
A Mere Internet Presence Is Like Having An Empty Shop Window
Sticking one of those basic websites on the Internet, is like opening a store in the high street, putting your name and address in the window and leaving the doors locked. Would you be inspired to buy anything from that type of business? I know I wouldn’t.
So What Can You Do About Your Internet Presence
You have a few choices but, if you already have a basic Internet presence, you’d probably be better off ditching your original website designer. They most likely charged you a small fortune for something that took them 30 minutes to knock up.
If you don’t have the time, or skill to do the design yourself, find a decent website designer who specializes in something more than giving you a basic Internet presence. Men With Pens did a great job of customizing the design for this website and it didn’t cost the earth.
Do bear in mind that it’s not all about design though. If you suck at writing and you don’t have time to learn search engine optimization, you’ll need to find someone who can do that too. Also, you’ll need to market your website effectively. So the costs of outsourcing everything can mount up quickly.
But if you don’t have the budget to outsource it, building your own website isn’t that difficult. You don’t need to learn html, or anything too complicated, as there’s plenty of decent software that’s easy to use. Site Build it is an excellent choice for people who want to build a website for their offline business. It’s a comprehensive package that includes web hosting, domain name, search engine optimization, online marketing and everything else you’ll need.
Site Build it takes the headache out of building a website for your business and it’s a lot cheaper than outsourcing the whole thing. Also, Site Build It comes with a free action guide, which shows you what to do, every step of the way.
And here’s two excellent free books you can download, which have been written especially for offline business owners, who want to build a website for their business. Feel free to save them to your computer, print them out, or share them with friends.
The first is the Service Sellers Masters Course and it’s great for tradespeople, or folk who have a service business.
The second is the Webmaster Masters Course, which is brilliant if you have a business which sells products.
Have you built a website for your business before? What was the most challenging aspect? Would you recommend others to build their own website, or get a designer and outsource the content writing and SEO.
Or, are you thinking about building a business website? What are your biggest concerns? Please share in the comments section.
Related Resources
How To Build A Website
How To Choose Website Hosting
How To Get Free Internet Traffic
The Recipe: 26 Practical Resources For Starting An Internet Business
Internet Marketing – Are You Forgetting Something?
Internet Popularity – Are You Faking It?
Why Keeping Up With The Jones’s Is Bad For Business
Image Credit: Kevin Jarrett
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23 Responses to “Internet Presence: Do You Need One?”
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I won’t even consider doing business with someone if I can’t research them on the internet first.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Worst. Mom. Ever.
Before I buy stuff online, I look at the reviews of the product (and seller, if available). I’m looking for comments, feedbacks, and social proof. A website that’s just 3 pages tossed together is like no website at all (or maybe even worse? I haven’t thought that one through).
Kelvin Kao’s last blog post..Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Cath. Another good site for building your own website is with citymaker.com. I’ve built two websites with them. My current website for Crimson Compass is being hosted by them. Their templates are fairly easy to use and they come with quite an extensive hosting package…. Heck, if I can build a website, anyone can do it
My latest child is a blog, rather than a website; strictly to promote writing services for now. Up until now that’s been an alternative source of income for me. Now it has an online presence.
The most challenging part of building my websites was finding the time and being patient with getting all the information organized. The rest was fun and easy. The most enjoyable part was writing the copy and sourcing the images.
Davina’s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action
Hi Cath. I think my last comment has landed in your spam folder…
Davina’s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action
Hi Vered – it’s really off-putting isn’t it? No internet presence makes you feel as though they have something to hide.
Hi Kelvin – a lot of people look for comments and reviews before they buy something now. It feels better knowing other people have enjoyed the products and reading reviews is much more enjoyable than being advertised at isn’t it.
Hi Davina – I don’t know why it put you in spam. You didn’t even use a proper link. I haven’t heard of citymaker.com before. There’s so many great design products now. When I built my first site there wasn’t many options – everyone had ugly websites.
So what you’re saying is that website building is easy – even if you’re not technical, so long as you enjoy writing the copy. That’s what I found too. I’m looking forward to seeing your new blog
Cath, a Web presence will become even MORE important, especially to small, local b2c companies, as cell phones morph into hand held computers. The day is not far off when folks will be driving around town with their dry cleaning and do a Web search for “dry cleaners home town UK special offers” on their phone. Huge opportunity for retailers, restaurants, gas stations, etc.
Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Why – The Most Valuable Word in Business
Good post, how to solidify the site internet presence, and thank you for the direction
tkada.com’s last blog post..Picture of the Day-Actress Hamsika!
Not only do businesses need Internet presences….people do too!
Think about it from a recruiter/employers perspective – what’s more appealing? Reading a resume or looking at a site like http://www.wallaceharkness.com ? That was built off of the deluxe version of http://www.jspoweradvantage.com .
I’ve bought all my children’s domain names in preparation for when they’ll be old enough to establish their own online presence. It’s a good thing to do.
Data points, Barbara
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach’s last blog post..17 BEGINNERS Affiliate marketing primers and ideas
I think having an Internet presence is very important. But a poorly designed site can be worse than no presence at all. I try not to do it but I judge the quality of a company by the quality and design of their website.
Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..Stuff This in Your RSS – 12/02/08 – Eleblog
Hey Cath. The new blog is at WriterSense [dot] ca. Technically, it’s a blog, but it’s functioning as a website right now. That’s not to say that in the future the comment section will open, and I’ll have some big name creative people in the advertising industry writing articles to promote their ideas
Davina’s last blog post..When Fear Closes In, Take Action
How did you know that that is one of my current headaches?
I yet have to find a company though that will put up with all my requests and will NOT cost an arm and a leg.
I’m currently revamping my page myself, but what a pain
But I’m learning.
I even finally got Googleanalytics to work
Will check your links out as well.
As always:
Thanks a million!
Hi Brad – it will be cool when we’re able to do that. And as you say, the businesses that get online now will really be able to take advantage of the opportunity.
Hi Tkada – you’re welcome. Glad it helped.
Hi Barbara – That was a smart idea. And thanks for the reminder. Your resume sites are awesome and I hadn’t forgotten that I’d promised to plug them. I have a post coming up soon that they’ll fit well with.
Hi Kim – A badly designed site can be off-putting can’t it. It gives the impression that the business doesn’t care.
Hi Davina – I had a look. It looks great and it didn’t take you long. I like the blog themes that look more like websites because folk don’t feel under pressure to update them all the time.
Hi Nicole – It’s difficult isn’t it. And there’s so much to learn. I didn’t get this blog redesigned for ages because I didn’t have the technical knowledge to know what to ask for. I had no idea back then that you get themes specially customized instead of having them designed from scratch.
And that’s the slight “problem”.
I have so many single products that I a) first need to create and that then will go into the single pages of the webpage.
It took me over half a day yesterday to revamp one single page
But doing that, I learned that I need a navigation bar instead of just a home link for every page.
Well, thank goodness I don’t have to live off my business yet
But my point is. I don’t have a ready product to go on the market. Hence, how can I ask people to deliver me a complete page?
Cath, I love it. I wish all of my prospective clients read this entry. I haven’t blogged for months, but my last entry was on this particular subject. Like the empty shop window analogy.
Sterling’s last blog post..The #1 Problem With Small Business Websites
Hi Nicole – are you trying to build a website or a blog? If you’re creating a website with heaps of product pages, it might be worth looking at XSitePro.
You can add pages to it as you add products and it’s really easy to add new products and pictures. You can even add special product pages with the pic on the left and the writing on the right.
I’ve tried lots of different things and for a site with a heap of products it’s a lot easier to use. I think the tutorial took me about 1 hour and 15. My review is the second one down on this page:
http://cathlawson.com/blog/how-to/build-a-website/
The Site Build It Review is also on that page. If you want to build it quickly – I would choose XSitePro – but if you don’t mind taking a bit longer and need all the extra SEO, marketing and business building help, I think Site Build It is the better product.
Don’t use FrontPage – I tried that with a site with a lot of pages and it drove me round the bend.
Hi Stirling – I can vaguely remember the post. It’s ages since you’ve blogged. What are you busy with? Do you have any more travels planned? Are you still thinking of going to Costa Rica?
Website.
Thanks for all the Input and Tips!
@Cath – Been busy juggling a few projects. Just launched http://teathis.com over the weekend, and several more to launch this month. Definitely need to return to blogging.
As for travel, got married in Hawaii in Oct. Planning on Germany in May. Costa Rica has been put on hold for now (but would still love to go eventually).
I miss you & your blog. Will be checking in more frequently.
Sterling’s last blog post..Oolong Mojitos and other Tea Cocktails
I totally agree and am putting together a blog for my honey’s sustainable, green architecture practice…Their website is a disaster, but I think they have hired someone to get it up and running…
My techie and Blogger Dad are helping me…I will manage the site and help to give it a distinct flavor….his is a small firm in small town…competing with the 130 person firms who have not commitment to sustainable and green energy use and design…They just want their art out there for everyone to ooh and ah…This brilliant guy needs people to know that he is out there…and doing amazing work…which is earth friendly and gives his children a future…
Wow I am learning so much from your writing and posts.
Thank you….
Patricia’s last blog post..Chug, Chug, Toot, Toot
It’s amazing isn’t it. Someone will pay thousands of dollars for “professional” signage for their business but then put up a website that is the virtual equivalent to a piece of cardboard hand lettered with a fat tip permanent marker.
Remember folks – these days someone is more likely to see your website before they see the signage for your business!
Kathy – Virtual Impax’s last blog post..Small Business Marketing Strategy & Tactics
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Hi Nicole – you’re welcome. I hope you get it finished. It would cost a fortune to get folk to do heaps of product pages for you. And it would be better for you if you could change them easily and quickly.
Hi Sterling – I didn’t know you’d been working on a new project – I’ll check it out. Congratulations on the wedding – I read your post on Twitter. Germany is meant to be really nice.
Hi Patricia – It sounds like an interesting project – you will have to tell us where the site is when it’s done.
This is where smaller businesses have a real edge over larger ones. A lot of businesses with 100 plus staff don’t allow much of a budget for Internet marketing and many of them are quite complacent about it.
I think they think it doesn’t matter because if they don’t know what they’re doing nobody else will. And this really gives smaller businesses the edge.
Hi Kathy – that is a really good point. Why do they do it? I think that by the time they realise how important it is to have a decent web presence, they’ll be too late. As we both know – it’s easier to compete against the masses when you’re already at the top.
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