SCORE Minnesota

Important Tips for a Small Business Website

November 25, 2009

Websites have become as important to today’s small businesses as business cards and brochures. In fact, Websites have become the centerpiece of many companies’ marketing programs, providing an easily accessible source of information about their products and services. In fact, I can’t imagine any business without a Website. It is the first place I check before doing business with a company. If they don’t have a website or their Website looks like it was done by one of their children as a high school project, there is a very good chance I won’t do business with them. I suspect others feel exactly the same.

Your Website is your virtual store, office or corporate office. “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” It is the one place that for a modest one time expense you can look like a multi-million dollar corporation – a successful company that your prospects can trust. You may be running your business from your basement but your Website should not send that message. This is not the place to cut corners on expense.

So here are a few important basic tips on building a website that will actually help your business.

Secure your domain – Do this on your own through a registrar like GoDaddy.com so that you have total control. Do not let anyone bundle your domain name in their services because they can make it very difficult for you to ever leave them. Secure as short of a domain name as you can. The cost is very reasonable at about $10/year.

Select a host – You will need a Website host that will rent you space on their servers to place your website and handle your email. There are thousands of hosts available. Make sure they offer a control panel where you can set up email account and manage your website. Also, make sure they can set a secondary login for your web designer that can be deleted when your project is complete. Cost should be no more than $120/year unless you have some very special Web applications or they are providing you with additional services.

Develop a logo – Every business should have a brand including a logo (see Branding Is The Key to Differentiation).

Graphic design is everything – It is the “graphic design” that makes your website look like a million bucks. Web design includes all the technical issues such as HTML code, tables, etc.

Page Layout – It is better to have many shorter pages then fewer longer pages. Each page should use keywords and phrases that people will use in their search. You may require more but here are your “must have” pages:

1. Home – Introduces company and website benefits;
2. About - Information about your business, management and employees;
3. Contact – Contact information forms, physical address, phone, emails;
4. Service/Product – Information about the services or products you offer; and
5. Privacy Statement - If you require information of any type from customers they must be informed about your company’s privacy policy.

Think ahead – As time goes by, you will certainly want to enhance your Website. You will want to add a blog and other social media tools that will drive traffic to your site. You should plan in advance for how you will do this.

Excluding the cost of securing your domain name and the hosting of your Website, your cost to create a Website should range between $1,000-$2,000 as a one time expense. There is probably no other place in your business where you will enjoy as high a return on your investment as in your website.

To learn more about creating a Website for your small business, attend one of our workshops or contact SCORE by clicking the link on the right to the office nearest you or click here to request free face to face counseling and/or mentoring.

Mike Clough, St. Paul SCORE
View more posts by Mike Clough

Filed under: Marketing,Online Marketing,Website Design

Tags: blog, domain name, graphic design, must have pages, social media, Website Design, website hosts