Nearly every company has a website. It is estimated that more than 100,000 new websites go live each day. Why? What do the owners of these sites hope to accomplish? What are they trying to gain?
The simple truth is that a lot of them don't know.
A website has become something that one has to have, the "why" isn't often considered. But it should be, because having even a small website will cost you money, time and effort. To make sure you receive a good return on investment there has to be a plan, a purpose and a clearly identified goal.
Before you rush to find a web design company, ask yourself the following:
- Who is this site aimed at?
- What will this website do for my business?
- What will it do for my existing customers?
- What is the purpose of this website? (create sales leads, generate sales online, offer quicker support for existing customers, provide information, something else?)
- How will it accomplish these goals?
For a lot of people nowadays the internet is THE place to find information. We view the web as a combined dictionary, encyclopaedia, yellow pages, newspaper and library. Rarely will I bother to pick up the phone book or try to find information in a book. Our first point of call in this day and age is simply a search engine.
So whilst it clearly is essential that every company have a website, unless the important questions listed above are asked and clearly answered, your website will not produce the desired return on investment.
The vast majority of small business websites are poorly developed, offer little or no information, tell you nothing that you actually want to know and don't seem to have any purpose other than "being there".
The good news is that the glut of uninformative sites makes for a great opportunity. You could be one of the few businesses to own an effective website. You could make your site stand out from the crowd simply by knowing exactly why it's there and what it is meant to accomplish.
This Web Design guide was written by Search Engine Marketing Guide, a step by step tutorial to search engine friendly design and website promotion.
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Why Have a Website?
