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

---

Web Content Strategy 101

Your content is what gets you in search engines, speaks... Read More

The Secret Benefit Of Accessibility: Part 2 - A Higher Search Engine Ranking

An additional benefit of website accessibility is an improved performance... Read More

Live Support from Your Website? Can You Do It for Free?

I'm a freelance programmer and somehow I managed to get... Read More

Maximizing ROI via Web Site Traffic Analysis

We are clearly well past the innocent "golden age" of... Read More

7 Ways to Gain a Professional Online Reputation

A professional online reputation is essential to the flourishing of... Read More

7 Golden Rules For Building Mini Sites

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

5 Sure Fire Ways To Send Visitors Away For Good

So your traffic is going through the roof yeah? It's... Read More

Make Your Web Site User-Friendly!

Making a web site is easy. Making a good web... Read More

Get a Website!, Register Your Domain!: To Website or Not to Website?

If you're fairly new to the Internet scene, you may... Read More

Website Sales: 10 Reasons Why People Dont Buy From You

You've put up a website to promote a product or... Read More

The Power Is In The Pipes: How To Get Maximum Leverage From Your Website

What is the most important part of your online business?Many... Read More

Making Your Websites More Compelling

The Internet is a remarkable publishing medium. With just a... Read More

How One Word Or Even One Letter Can Boost Conversion Rates By Over 400%!

Recently I was reviewing the keyword specific conversion rate data... Read More

What is Blogger.com?

In the late 1990's three San Francisco based web developers... Read More

Thinking Of Taking Money Online? Whats Best For Merchants? PayPal, WorldPay or Something Else?

It's now easier than ever to take payments on the... Read More

PIM Team Case Study: Creating Text Effects With PHP and GD

See how you can create graphic effects on text with... Read More

2 Key Ways to Make Your Site a Success

If one more business owner tells me their website sucks... Read More

Frequent Business Question: How Do You Start a Web Business?

Today it seems everyone is jumping on the entrepreneur bandwagon,... Read More

12 Essential Tips to a Professional Business Website

1. Choose a big enough font size. A size 12... Read More

Five Reasons You Have to Stop Your Web Site

That's right. Your method, behavior and strategy you are now... Read More

4 Rock Solid Reasons For Building Your Own Website

What is the point of having a website, you may... Read More

Profitable Websites for Exclusive Industries

In the region where my company is located, South Bend,... Read More

How To Start Your Own Website

I'm one of those people that always wanted a website,... Read More

Earning From Your Website

Before you start building your site, ask yourself "WHY?". Why... Read More

Things to Consider Before Starting a Website

In the time that I have been using the Internet,... Read More

Why Do I Need A Web Site?

Even though the Internet has been around for a long... Read More

But My Business Doesnt Need A Website!

Revenues are often lost because many business owners don't see... Read More

Is Your Website Innovative? Increase Your Business Over Night!

While studying online for IT investment opportunities, I found that... Read More

Developing A Login System With PHP And MySQL

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

Duplication vs. Individualism

How can we add Word Rich Content to our Websites... Read More

Make Your Web Site Stand Out

When visitors add your web site to their Favorites or... Read More

Benefits Of An Accessible Website: Part 1 - Increase In Reach

The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must... Read More

Where on Earth is Your Websitee?

You've just finished congratulating your marketing team. After six months... Read More