Does your small business need a website

Fact: No matter what size your business, you have to have a website. Maybe, maybe not. I recently came across a website for a legal firm in South Africa. To say it was primitive would be too kind. Other more unpleasant adjectives spring to mind. Why bother I wondered.

Best bit of advice on this topic would be that you shouldn’t set up a website if you can’t afford to do it right. Sounds good doesn’t it? But then who decides what is right? Do lawyers always have to have sophisticated sites?

I had this conversation a little while ago while visiting my elder daughter in Dubai. She’s a web designer so she has some valid ideas and points of view. We had embarked on a round trip of the Emirates. The main aim was to renew a visitor visa. For my benefit we added on a whole sight seeing part to the outing, which was just fine with me!

On the way back from a very quick visit to Oman, literally in and out of the country and not seeing more than the border post, we drove towards Umm al-Quwain. It was a matter of a visit to a bottle store with good prices that took us on this detour. Definitely worth it!

We stopped for petrol and decided that the little eatery attached to the forecourt shop looked inviting enough to have a late lunch at. It was a tiny little place, a counter decorated invitingly with masses of fresh fruit, selling their fruit juices and a long menu showing off a range of fast foods.

Somehow our discussion got onto the topic of websites and whether one needed one. The two locals, read expats, I was with told me that the Emirates were not into digital as yet. Everything was focused on print and the web was not part of a company’s marketing strategy.

We mulled over this for a while and one of the reasons for the slow uptake of digital communication seemed the very slow broadband available in the UAE. There are huge differences between the concept of broadband in the UK and in countries such as Dubai or South Africa.  Needless to say, the internet users in the UK are very very lucky!

While we were leaving the cafe I picked up a little packet which we had been given with our bill. It was one of those sealed pouches with a cleansing tissue. It had a website address on it. Wow. A fast food outlet, in the middle of the dessert, in a country that believes in print rather than digital? Wonders. I packed it away and only found it again on unpacking back in the UK.

Check the website of this take-away called Sea Shell Cafeteria and Refreshments. I must just point out that there were no sea shells anywhere near the cafe. We were not near a beach, that is not for another hour or so’s drive anyway.

The website’s quite nice. The search items don’t work, but then who would actually click on the link to find an outlet and expect it to actually come up, possibly with a pic of the cafe location. One could speculate.

So do you need a website when you set up your small business? Before rushing to have one made for you ask yourself what you wish to achieve with it. Here are a few questions to start you off with:

1) Check your target audience. Would they search for your services? Would they consider a website essential to give them peace of mind that you exist. With other words would your customers need to read about you to feel reassured that you are worth using.

2) Have a look for alternative solutions. See if the industry you operate in has well known portals where you can set up a page on your business. Or possibly the local Yellow Pages may have an online directory where you can have a web presence. As an example, my favourite place in Cape Town is At Cheryl’s. See her page on an accommodation portal. She also has a killer website. So both are obviously possible.

3) Do you have the budget? Of course a site can be in the form of a blog, hosted by a blog site such as Wordpress.  In that instance it would only cost you your time. But if you want to be more sophisticated than that you need to spend time and money using a web designer and using a reliable service provider, possibly even a copy writer and professional photographer.

4) Do you have the time? Writing copy and collecting content for your blog or site can be very time consuming.  You have to spend time briefing your designer so that the designs are what you had in mind. You need time with the designer to try out the copy on the pages to see whether they fit the space and whether the site is user friendly. You need time to research suitable internet service providers.

5) Decide how sophisticated your site needs to be. If you are setting up an office as a lawyer or accountant it would probably be good to have a well designed extensive site to support the image of a professional. If you are selling products as an affiliate marketer online then it seems that a very basic page will do the trick. Evaluate the site against the views of your target audience.

6) Do you need the services of an SEO, a viral marketer or social media specialist? It could be hugely important that your site is maximised for search engines. Deciding on relevant keywords and paid search advertising might require input by a specialist. Do you need to know about the value ro your business of Twitter, Digg or Facebook?  Is your site an online brochure or will it need to contribute to your marketing strategy.

These are a few questions to ask yourself before launching into the world of an online presence.  If you have decided that your service is directed at residents of your suburb, you bake fresh cakes for instance, a knock and drop leaflet to each household, a poster at the local church, school or shopping mall could be a far better ad spend than setting up a website. If in doubt, talk to someone who can advise you.

If you have a question that you would like answered or would be interested in more info on a topic please mail info at marketingfundi dot com. And if you like the above you might want to subscribe to my feed or e-mail newsletters. Check the fill in options on the right hand side of this site. It’s free and no spam!