A website today is as essential as the name of your business, your phone number or the façade of your retail store. Every business — from a restaurant to a biotech research firm to an industrial laundry — needs one. Yet research has indicated that about only 50 percent of small businesses in the U.S. actually have websites, with those numbers lower in less tech-savvy markets, according to a report by Internet consultant Peter Krasilovsky, of Krasilovsky Consulting, in Carlsbad, Calif. The Yankee Group puts that number close to 43 percent.

Here are some compelling reasons why you need a website:

• Reason #1 – To set up a store front
  Many a small business has found that even if they can’t afford rent on Main Street, or in the mall, they still can exist in cyber space and sell their goods and services. “The Internet has changed the way people shop. It’s no longer about getting in the car and driving down to the store, or even looking in the phone book,” says Mike Walton, of Mobius Designs, a Web design firm that focuses on Flash animation and scripting and has helped numerous small businesses create a Web presence. Walton also teaches website design at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Having an address on the Internet gives you a place to describe your goods and customers a place to find you.
• Reason #2 – A cheap way to advertise
  Creating your online presence needn’t be expensive. A very basic Web presence can be had for as little as $1,500, a standard website for $3,000-$5,000, and a full Flash site for $8,000 and up, Walton says. Compared to other forms of advertising, websites offer very good value to money spent, he adds. (With Small Business Design Solutions, however, the cost is significantly less!)
• Reason #3 – Customer service
  A website is essential to establish your businesses’ credibility and to provide support for customers so that they can find easy answers to their questions about your business – such as where you are located, what products or services you sell, and how to contact you. This self-serve information for customers can help you, as a business owner, save time by leaving you free to focus on business.
• Reason #4 – Remain open 24/7
  Few businesses keep their doors open around-the-clock. But a Web presence can make it seem as if your business does. Through click-on e-mail, customers, clients, or partners can contact you when it’s convenient for them. Potential customers can find out information about what you sell and how you sell it at all hours — on weekends, in the middle of the night, or in different time zones.
• Reason #5 – Think globally
  Having your signpost on the Web allows your business to do business all over the world. It lets potential customers in, say, Buenos Aires know what products you sell in Hoboken, N.J. A trick to expanding your business internationally is to offer translations of information on your website into the languages spoken in the countries you want to target (although this can get very expensive).
• Reason #6 – Launch promotions easily
  On the Web, it’s much simpler to change your product or service offerings, or your prices, than in a print catalog. You can also launch new promotions with a few keystrokes. Walton suggests adding fresh content and incentives to bring customers back for more. “If the website remains static, there’s no reason to return,” he says. “Weekly updates with web-only deals and coupons is a great way to keep your customers checking back if you don’t have any actual content to add. For a small company, a regularly-updated news page is often enough to keep you in the loop.”

Source: Why You Need a Website, Launching a Website article – Technology.Inc.com

Can a well-designed business card, brochure and website really do that? Yes!  And the cool thing is you can be assured that Small Business Design Solutions will get to know you and  your business well enough to communicate your vision clearly.  For an extremely affordable cost, you can have a coordinated look that is professional and inviting to your potential customers.

Most small business owners keep quite busy putting their efforts into sales, customers, products, paperwork, employees, etc. – all very important things.  However when it comes to marketing materials, do-it-yourself becomes the method of choice because professional design “costs too much.”

Maybe you’ve thrown your name, phone number and email address on a pre-designed business card template and knocked them out on a personal printer.  BUT…

• ooops – your competitor used the same design
• card quality is flimsy
• printing is crooked
• logo (if you have one)  is not unique

Maybe you’ve set up your own website, or had your teenager do it for you.  Found cheap hosting, got a domain name.  Everyone should find you now. BUT…

• wow, you spent a lot more time trying to figure it out than you thought you would, and you probably paid for more than you really need
• you Google yourself and you’re not listed
• huh, what’s an A Record and an IP address?
• the content is there, but you didn’t know how to resize the pictures so you scrapped them
• you aren’t too thrilled with the overall look – but that’s okay, at least you have a website.

Noooooo – these things are important!  When people are deciding within five seconds if they’re going to stay or leave your site, make sure they want to stay!

Not everyone is a computer pro with an eye for design, and that’s okay – because we are!  And most of all we are passionate about helping the small business owner get the look you deserve, at a cost that you can afford!  You can get absolutely everything you need for your business for under $1,000.  Individual items cost even less.  Check out our website for package pricing, samples of our work and testimonials from happy clients.  Then give us a shout to start transforming your image today!

Facebook:

• Pros:
  • Great for interacting with your customers and gaining “fans.”
  • Viral – someone likes you – they let all their friends know.
  • Current info goes out to your customers instead of them having to come to you.  (If you’re not “hidden”)
  • Pretty easy to set-up an account.
  • Easy way to offer regular specials.
  • Easy upload of photos, videos, etc.
  • Easy to shoot out messages that appear on your fans’ newsfeed.
• Cons:
  • May cause some confusion when separating your personal Facebook page with your business Facebook page. Do you really want your customers seeing your beach vacation photos?
  • Viral – someone doesn’t like you – they let all their friends know.
  • Other than adding a picture of your logo or learning FBML (FBML is Facebook’s own little coding language.  I haven’t even jumped into that yet!), there’s no way to change the design of your page.  Even the colors are all the same for everyone – blah blue.
  • You don’t know if your messages are appearing on your fans’ newsfeed, because they may have “liked” you to get that coupon, but not enough to keep from “hiding” you in their feed. (Guilty )

• Not necessarily cons – but other things to keep in mind:
  • You need to be sensitive to your fans and use proper Facebook etiquette.  Keep your messages short, professional and reasonably spaced apart – one to two posts per week.
  • You may need to spend time monitoring the comments on your site.
  • You need to be checking it daily and interacting!!!

Website:

• Pros:
  • You are not limited to custom design of your site.
  • Each page can have specific information relating to your business or product.
  • Your brand is all over it! (Keeping the rule of “Less-is-More,” of course).
  • More opportunity to be found by search engines.
  • There are many website options now that make it super-easy to update your content, add images, videos and more.
  • Extra features like shopping carts, forums, blogs can all be found in one place.

• Cons (sort of):
  • Cost.  If you think you have to spend thousands on a professional website, you’re wrong!  With Small Business Design Solutions, we only charge $500 for a 5-page website.  We keep it simple, attractive, professional and functional. And, people say we’re fun to work with too!
  • Not knowing how to get started.  It can be a very overwhelming process to get started with your website. We help keep things in focus by gaining a full understanding of your needs, having questionnaires available to help you think about what you need and delivering a product that fully meets your needs.  We will “hold your hand” through the process.
  • Takes time. All GOOD things do take some time – and it’s worth it in the end. We can usually design a site and have it online in about three weeks. You can always set-up a Facebook page to let people know your awesome new website is coming soon and they won’t want to miss it!

My final answer…

Yes – you should have a website and a Facebook page!  Facebook is a great compliment to your website, but should not replace it.  A well designed and easy to navigate website will give you a competitive edge, keep your image professional and help build credibility.  Are you ready to get started?  We can help!

I’ve used Homestead, in fact I like their product.  As with all do-it-yourself sitebuilders however, there is a bit of a learning curve and things can get overwhelming.  So if you haven’t read my article  DIY Website Warning, you may want to check it out.  It contains some great things to think about before you jump in to one of these anyone-can-do-it sitebuilders.

Here are a few tips for using Homestead, if you decide to go that route…

• Have a basic knowledge of desktop publishing. Working in programs such as MS Publisher will be a great help when using their interface.
• Their templates are not bad, but many are not the most modern looking.  The good news is you do have complete control in jazzing one up!  Make sure not to just use their standard template. Customize one to your specific branding.  You can also design your site from a blank page.  Just don’t go crazy – remember Less is More!
• Once you’ve customized your template, you can’t just change it and keep all your content like some other sitebuilders.  So make sure your design is finalized first (and utilize the master page!) and then plug in your content.
• Download their sitebuilder software to your computer for major edits.  It works much better than their online editor which is more geared for minor edits.
• To have a 5-page site, it will cost you about $120 a year.  The $4.99/month advertised rate is just for the first three months, then it goes up to $9.95 per month.  And, they require you prepay for the year.  (Note:  We can offer similar options that average $50/year, have unlimited pages, and are easier to use.)

If you are sold on using Homestead/Intuit, great!  But, if you find out it takes more time than you have to learn and implement, give Small Business Design Solutions a shout!  We know the Homestead interface and how to build your site to get noticed using their product. Our prices are extremely affordable and just may be worth the investment to save you time and give your website a professional, pleasing and targeted look.

Learn more about Small Business Design Solutions at our website.

You need to know how to:

• set-up well thought out and organized navigation
• create links – internal, external, email and file links
• upload pictures and resize for proper screen resolution
• customize and upload header images (if your sitebuilder allows that)
• use keywords, meta tags, alt tags, etc., and understand how they affect your search engine ranking
• submit your site to search engines and local online listings
• Point or redirect your domain name (if you already own one)
• Make the site visually appealing (see the “Avoid These Website Mistakes” post).

It would also be helpful to know how to:

• set-up an email account or an email forward
• set-up photo galleries
• set-up blogs
• integrate your site with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more
• understand hosting “language” so you’re not paying too much for hosting or getting a whole lot more than you really need.

Additionally, for eCommerce sites you’ll need to know how to:

• offer and set-up shopping carts
• accept PayPal and/or other forms of payment
• display your products with pictures that capture the true essence of the product.

Many times, what starts out as something “fun and simple”, can become overwhelming and time consuming.  We can’t stress enough how important it is that your website make a favorable impression within the first 10 seconds.  The reality is people do “judge a book by its cover”, the only difference is when they’re online, they’re just one click and a few seconds away from your competitor’s website.

So make sure you have the time and the know-how to make your site a success.  And remember, customized websites from Small Business Design Solutions start at only $300 for a professional one page brochure site, or $500 for 5 beautiful pages!

If you understand most of the above and feel confident to tackle a website yourself, let us know.  We are constantly researching the best site builders and keeping up on their improvements and upgrades.  We would be happy to recommend the best one for your needs!

Remember that consistency rules. From fax forms to letterhead, envelopes to business cards, the same colors, logos, typeface and fonts should be used. The same critical eye of consistency should be applied to integrating your communications. Whether it is personal selling, print ads in a trade magazine, or your web site, the same message should come through each medium. The targeted audience should be exposed to the same message and get the same feeling of confidence through all communication vehicles. This integration and consistency is where you will find the biggest returns from your marketing investments.

Excerpt from Getting Past Third Base: The Small Business Branding Challenge, by Dr. Wes Martz.

• Excessively large graphics that make download time slow.
• Too many animations that confuse and overwhelm a user.
• The Blink Tag. It’s annoying!
• “Under Construction” signs.
• Bad Color Choice. Choose colors that fit your audience.
• Grammatical Errors. The website speaks for your services – no one will hire you if you cannot spell!
• Text that is too small or too large.
• Horizontal scrollbars along the bottom of your website to view the right-hand side of your webpage. Users automatically know to scroll down on a website but scroll across too? This is inefficient from a usability standpoint.
• Audio clips that play automatically. No sounds are ideal as they increase download time, but if you absolutely must have music playing in the background, give the user the option to shut it off.
• Broken images. Square boxes with missing images? Very unprofessional.
• Broken links. Enough said.
• Too little blank space between sections. Give your reader some “white space” to rest their eyes!
• Overuse of UPPERCASE. This screams “yelling” at your user and is against netiquette (net etiquette).
• Having your website on a host that never seems to stay online. Choose a reliable host for your website that is online 24/7.
• Too many advertising banners!
• Slow servers or oversized pages because of un-optimized, large, graphics. Either one will send your user elsewhere. Patience for websites to download is scarce nowadays.
• No text navigation option. Always provide text navigation at the bottom of your website or a sitemap to help users find their way should they get lost at your website.
• Last but never least, remember to keep it simple!

Source:  http://www.mediamage.com/website.htm

• People. Whether you hired, fired, promoted or made title changes, make sure the names on your site belong to people who actually are a part of your organization.
• Photos. You may love the photo of the company picnic from 1986, but if the group shot is full of big bangs and parachute pants, your customers might think twice about visiting your business.
• Schedules. If it’s 2009, please kindly remove your 2007 schedule.  Unless for some reason, it’s used as a reference – then archive it.  People are used to getting current information in a split second and will most likely leave the site if it’s too inconvenient to get the right info.
• News Items. Latest news, newsletters, monthly updates, etc.  However you communicate your latest information, make sure it is exactly that – the latest.  It’s good to have this information easily accessible from your home page, whether in your menu navigation or a visible link.
• Products/Services. If they’re no longer available, don’t make them available.  If a popular item is temporarily out of stock, communicate when it will be available again.
• Coupons. Discount offers are a great thing – when they haven’t expired.  If you have a time-sensitive coupon, remember to take it off your site or update it when it expires.  This also goes for coupons offered on Google Local Business, Linked In, Merchant Circle and more.

If you are juggling a lot of information that’s kept in many different places, take some time to create a master chart. Start with a list of all of your communication pieces (website, brochures, signage, newsletters, etc.). Next, think about what info frequently changes (see list above).   When an update needs to be made (such as adding a new staff member), you can see on your master sheet every place that particular information needs to be updated.

When your information has multiple errors, your company’s credibility is lessened. Here are a few proofing tips to make sure your information comes across without a hitch:

• Use your spellchecker. Don’t forget about this important tool that’s usually available at the click of a button. And remember, as you’re typing, if a red line appears under a word, it is misspelled.
• Print it out. Sometimes it’s best to get away from a computer screen. Print out your content, grab a pen and make changes the old fashion way. One trick is to read backwards.
• Sleep on it. I tend to be very task oriented, wanting to get things done the minute I start them. I have learned that things always turn out better when I “sleep on it” and come back another time to proof and tweak.
• Second set of eyes. Have a friend or coworker look over everything before it goes to print. Or, have your older child check things over – if they’ve been paying attention in school, their familiarization with grammar rules may be better than you think!
• Google it. There are many online resources that will answer your questions. Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Grammarbook.com are just a few.

We all make mistakes. In fact, I kept misspelling grammar (grammer) when writing this article! But thanks to the use of some of the above-mentioned tools, I was able to catch my mistake before it went out to the world!

When is the last time you did a “visual audit” of your marketing materials? Lay out everything you’ve got and look at it all together. Do your materials compliment each other or look like a hodgepodge of cluttered information? Is there a way of simplifying your information into fewer pieces?

Take some time to ask people what their impression is of your marketing materials.  When they see your flyers, business cards, website, etc., does it make them want to take the next step with your business?

If you find yourself not quite knowing how to take the next step, feel free to contact Small Business Design Solutions for a free consultation.  After all, we make you look good, by making your stuff look good!