Maintaining Your Business Website

QUESTION:
Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.

ANSWER:
When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor's teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the advice I'm about to give, so you might as well consult Dilbert for your hot business tips.

Should you build and maintain your business Web site yourself or pay someone to do it for you? Let me answer your question with a couple of my own. Number one: is building and maintaining Web sites the key focus of your business? Number two: could your time be better spent doing more important things like, oh I don't know, say running your business? If your answers were no and yes, respectively, then you have no business building and maintain a Web site.

Remember this: every minute you spend on tasks that are not related to the key focus of your business is time spent to the detriment of your business. In other words, every minute you spend focusing on tasks that do not contribute to the growth of your business and thereby increase your bottom line is time wasted.

If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your business is building widgets, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be better spent building widgets, not Web sites.

Case in point: I once had a very wealthy dentist ask if I could teach him how to maintain his Web site so he wouldn't have to pay me to do it. Now my teeth had helped put this guy's kids through college, but that didn't seem to matter. At that moment he was more concerned about having to pay for changes to his Web site than my personal oral hygiene. Sure, I said, I'll be glad to teach you how to update your Web site, just as soon as you teach me how to clean my own teeth so I don't have to pay you to do it. He got the point. And he charged me enough for the cleaning to keep his site updated for months. Smart man.

Many business owners think they can't afford a professionally designed Web site and that simply is not true. While the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is never more true than when applied to Web site design, having a professional web designer do the work for you is money well spent. A well-designed Web site can bring you a many-fold return on your investment. You can't say that about too many other collaterals.

While it is best to leave Web site design and maintenance to the experts, it is up to you (or someone considered a subject matter expert within your company) to provide the designer with the content (text and photographs) that best conveys your company's message to your customers. A Web site, no matter how well designed, is meaningless if it lacks the content required to interest customers in the products you sell or services you provide.

Here's are a few questions that, once answered, will help ensure that your Web site's message is as appealing as its design. Go over these points with the designer before the design process begins as the answers will help determine the direction your Web site's design should take.

What Is The Purpose Of Your Web Site?

Most business Web sites have two purposes: (1) to educate the consumer and, (2) to sell them products or services. If you sell shoes, for example, the purpose of your Web site is to educate potential customers on the quality and durability of your shoes and as a result, to sell them shoes. If you paint houses the purpose of your Web site is to educate home owners on why your services are superior to other painters and sell them on hiring you to paint their house. By defining the purpose of your Web site you will give the designer the information required to create a Web site that best conveys that purpose to your target audience.

Who Is My Target Audience?

Your target audience consists of those folks you want to attract to your Web site: potential and current customers, future and current employees, possible investors, etc. Anyone who might be interested in your company and its products or services is a member of your target audience. Correctly identifying your target audience is vital since your Web site should be designed specifically to appeal to your target audience.

Put yourself in their shoes (or in front of their computers). Imagine your Web site through their eyes. If you were visiting a Web site such as yours what would you expect to find and what would you be disappointed not to find? Identify your target audience, then have your Web site designed to fulfill their needs and surpass their expectations.

What Content Should My Web Site Feature?

Your Web site content should be driven by the nature of your business. If you're a real estate agent, your site should feature photographs of homes you have for sale and information on buying and selling a home. If you own an auto body shop, your site might feature before and after photographs of cars that you have repaired. Remember to determine the purpose of your site, then develop the content to serve that purpose.

What's My Competition Doing?

The last question you should ask is one of the most important: What is your competition doing on the Web? Do a Google search for similar businesses and click around their Web sites. How are their Web sites designed? What message are they trying to convey? Are they doing a good job of conveying that message and as a result, selling products? What do you like about their Web sites? What don't you like? Make note of the things you like and the things you hate, then share your findings with your site designer.

Remember, you're not stealing trade secrets here.

You're just borrowing ideas.

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim's latest books include "Small Business Success Secrets" and "The 30 Day Blueprint For Success!" Related Links: http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

---

Business Website Building Do?s and Don?ts

First, using a lot of web graphics, flash, banners and... Read More

How To Write More Powerful Online Text

Although there are significant differences among the various types of... Read More

The Top Ten Benefits of Having a Web Site

Do you need a web site? Are you considering getting... Read More

Art, Artists and the Web: Part 3--What to Put on an Artist?s Website

What to put your the website if you are an... Read More

Product Promoting: Getting The Response

When you publish a content site there are times when... Read More

Building a Web Site Requires the Right Software to Eliminate Headaches and Keep Money in Your Pocket

When most people build a web site, they think one... Read More

A Network Of Web Sites Is Not Enough!

The big thing these days is your ability to capture... Read More

Credibility - 10 Ways to Build it on Your Website

If you have your own business website and you are... Read More

Website Value - Whats Your Business Website Worth?

If you were asked to put a value on your... Read More

Developing A Login System With PHP And MySQL

Most interactive websites nowadays would require a user to log... Read More

Web Site Optimization: How To Speed Up Your Web Site By Minimizing Your GIF and PNG Image Bit-Depth

Are bloated images slowing down your web site and causing... Read More

Beyond Web Usability: Web Credibility

If you've been developing websites on Mars for the past... Read More

Improve Web Sales Figures Forever And Ever Amen!

"How do I improve web site sales figures?" The CEO... Read More

Six Basic Reasons Why Visitors Stay On Your Web Site

1. The first page appears quickly.It's a good way to... Read More

Ten Major Tips to Develop a Multilingual Web Site to Work

If you are living in a country that its native... Read More

The 2 Most Common Web Site Mistakes

When we review the sites of potential clients, there are... Read More

You Dont Know Which One

I still remember it very clear ... It was almost... Read More

From Concept to Website

You've decided to create a website to market your products... Read More

7 Golden Rules For Building Mini Sites

First, an eye opener. Making your fortune through affiliate programs... Read More

FREE Amber Alert Tickers for Your Website

Project Safekids provides webmasters a valuable tool which could save... Read More

Tips to Protect Your Downloads or Products

1. Upload robots.txt file in to your root directory and... Read More

Three Things Every Website Should Do

When I started my company in 2002, I knew I... Read More

Marketing Your Business Online

As a business you can't afford to ignore the Internet... Read More

Improve Conversion Rates ? Load Times

Your site is getting traffic, but conversion rates are horrible.... Read More

The Problem with Paypal On Your Web Page

When I set up my website I felt paypal was... Read More

What is SQL?

What is SQL? SQL stands for Structured Query Language and... Read More

Abandonment - Why Visitors Don?t Turn Into Customers

Every good Internet business understands the value of conversions versus... Read More

Growing Your Meetings In CyberSpace

As increasing numbers of people search for information on the... Read More

Your Content for Nothing and Your Clicks for Free

The first thing my business consultant (read brother-in-law) asked me,... Read More

What Your Customers Say About YOUR Site! Part 1

The following is a list of patterns that many visitors... Read More

How to Get Your Website In Front of Thousands of Customers At No Cost To You!

Dan Kennedy once said that if you can't make money... Read More

Conceptualize, Build and Publish a Web site

Conceptualize, Build and Publish a Web site - What's required... Read More

Free Websites & Why You Should Avoid Them

It amazes me how many people try to build serious... Read More