Do Something, ANYTHING!:Basic Internet Strategies for Local Businesses: Part I of III

Posted on August 25th, 2008, 06:08 am
Filed Under (Biz Start Up, Graphic Design) by Joe Witte

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Listen up folks, newspapers are piling up unread on your kitchen floor, and yellow pages are best served as a booster for your 2 year old at the dinner table. So how are your customers going to find your local business? Well, most of your prospects are spending their time nuzzling their laptop in front of the boob tube watching the Olympics (is synchronized swimming really a sport- c’mon!). And in between reading blogs on albino sea horses, people might actually be searching the internet for YOUR services. My question for you is, if someone goes to Google and looks for your service, what will they find? Do you have a website for people to find before we can zero in on how they can find your website? Is your website professional or did your 16 year old cousin create it 5 years ago? If you are ready to enter the new millennium with a decent website, start creating a list of what you want your website to do, which will play a critical role in choosing the right vendor for you.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when analyzing what you want your website to do for you:

• Do you need someone to write the content for you, or can you write it yourself? (If you’re busy, and have the money, hire someone who can write in an SEO format for you. Check out www.WebsiteText.com).
• How many pages will you need? Do you plan on adding any pages in the future?
• What’s the purpose of your website? Informational/Credibility? Sell a product? Drive leads?
• Are you selling lots of products? If you want e-commerce or a shopping cart, check out www.ProStores.com - it’s an eBay product and they have every feature you can imagine for a low monthly rate (starting at around $20 a month). In addition, you can get a custom design, or template if you require it from www.ProStoresTemplates.com .
• What sort of functionality do you need? Do you need a calendar function to show events? Do you need a database to store and collect names or businesses? What do you want the database to do? Will you need to change the text on your sites on your website regularly (this will require a Content Management System or a “CMS”)?
• What do you want your website to look like? (Hint: check out the leaders in your industry and your favorite websites for ideas).

Once you’ve mapped out how your site is going to function, and what it will look like, you will get a better feel for who can meet your needs based on pricing, and area of expertise. You may be surprised to find that creating a quality website may not be as expensive as you think.

Where can you find a vendor? Go to Google, type in “website design” or “‘your city’ web design” if you want to find someone local.  If you know someone who has a nice web site, ask them who designed it or check with your local Chamber of Commerce. Whatever you do, try to find 3 vendors and narrow the field from there.

Next, think about what your budget is, and how you want to pay for your site. For example, do you want to pay a monthly fee and have your design firm on a retainer? The advantage to this is a lower initial cost, but you’ll probably end up paying a lot more in the long run. Also, if you do go this route, the monthly fee should include hosting and maintenance.  The alternative is to pay a flat fee for your website upon its completion, and own the site outright. The only ongoing fees should be your hosting fees (GoDaddy charges around $10 per year) and your domain registration (very cheap), and if you decide you need “maintenance” or an outsourced version of a “webmaster”. This will hit your pocket a little harder earlier, but in the long run, it’s less expensive. Always try to negotiate a ½ upfront payment, and ½ of the payment upon completion. This incentivizes the designer to get the job done in order to get the 2^nd half of their payment.

Web designers can come in all kinds of forms: freelancers, internet based companies, interactive agencies and “do it yourself” web programs.  For most small companies, the first or second option is probably the best fit, as interactive agencies are usually very expensive (but provide a great service) and if you could “do it yourself”- you probably wouldn’t be reading this article.  I would certainly recommend avoiding a “per hour” charge, and try to negotiate a total cost on the project. Nothing is more maddening than watching the clock when your web designer is talking about their kids’ soccer game and wondering if you are being charged for it (we reserve that privilege for our attorney’s fees). However, make sure your specifications and requirements are clear, because any good vendor is going to have to charge extra if you are one of those neurotic people that change your mind ten times half way through the project.

Ultimately, I think you can expect to pay anywhere from $600 to $3000, depending on who’s writing the content and if it’s a custom design (verses a template, which is a “reused” design).  If you can’t afford all the bells and whistles that you want to add at this stage, let your designer/developer know what you may want in the future so they can easily be added without too much trouble or having to redesign the site.

This sounds like a lot, but really, it’s just as easy as rewriting your resume and applying for jobs on Monster, which you can count on doing if you don’t get that darn website up!

Joe Witte is a partner at Logo Design Guru and WebbyGuru, and has successfully started 3 small businesses including CentricSource and Travel Ad Network.