Does Your Business Need A Website?
A couple years ago I would have said it depends. Now it is a necessity.
It doesn’t matter how big your business is or how much money you bring in. If you exist, I want proof of it on Google. I can bring up a business listing and even get reviews within minutes right from my cell phone anytime, anywhere.
We live in an on demand world where everything is a click, flick or a button press away.
But I Can’t Afford a Thousand Dollar Website!
Well me neither.
Luckily I make them for a living. For those not as fortunate feel free to learn more about how I can get you up and running with a customizable website for very short cash. The truth of the matter is, you really don’t need a thousand dollar website. There are tons of free content management systems and thousands of open source plugins on top of that creating endless possibilities for a completely unique, dynamic, out of the box website for your business. It’s not always about the glitz and the glam but about easily providing the information your audience needs.
Your Online Identity Freebies
User moderated reviews and online discussions have become the corner stone of a business’s online identity. These sites dominate the search engines and our mobile phones when searching for information about businesses and therefor should not be overlooked. You should check these sites to see if your business is already listed and add/modify as needed.
These sites require more attention on your part if you decide to participate. They take time to develop interested audiences but can be well worth it in the long run.
Don’t Be A Sucker
That basically just means don’t spend thousands of dollars on a crazy flashy website for your corner store boutique. Web developers are a dime a dozen – you can find them at your local college campus, all over Twitter and dominating craigslist. Be careful any way you go about it though. If you think you are getting ripped off, you probably are. Get a couple quotes for the same project and learn the lingo. Don’t go overboard with Internet marketing techniques like social media marketing and SEO. Get yourself a functional up to date website that provides your audience with what they want.
- Photo by Curious Expeditions
I agree. In this age and time, It’s surprising to find out that there are still businesses out there that do not have online presence. They can even build it themselves if they just invest a little time to taking a short course. There are even those that are offered for free and there are also platforms and tools that are free that would help them achieve that goal.
Amy Cameron
BuildMySiteforFree.com
Google provide a couple of handy tools.
Free website: http://pages.google.com/
List your site: http://www.google.com/local/add/
And finally a good little walk through guide I have found:
http://blogs.news.com.au/queenbee/index.php/news/comments/tips_to_boost_your_business/47351
Tris