Expand Your Business With a Web 2.0 Site

Neil Hare
President,
Global Vision Communications
nehare@globeviz.com

You need a great website to benefit from leads generated by online search engines, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and group-buying sites such as Living Social or Groupon. If you’re like most small business owners, however, you don’t have the expertise or bandwidth to build and maintain a good site by yourself, and you may be wary of making a sizable investment to have a vendor do it for you.

You invest in the best equipment, hire the best employees, keep up to date on industry trends, off er new and improved products and services—so why is your website a static page with three-year-old content produced and managed by your nephew Carl?

Having a modern website is a “have to,” not a “want to,” in today’s economy. Here are some do’s and don’ts for choosing the right website vendor:

• Use a web vendor with a track record for servicing small business owners. Today’s web vendors should be more about customer service than technology. So look for referrals from other businesses, and ask the vendor if you can speak to some of his or her customers.
• Look for technology that is “vendor neutral,” which means that if you become dissatisfied with your service you can find a new vendor. If you go with a proprietary software package, you lock yourself into that vendor. Target vendors that use open source software.
• Have your vendor integrate your site with social networking sites. These sites are great for marketing your business and driving traffic to your site for a low cost.
• Watch out for hidden fees. Some web companies offer low introductory prices or low monthly fees. Be aware that they may lock you into a multiyear contract, offer bare-bones technology and service, and charge you for additional requests.
• Do not feel compelled to immediately purchase every software application a vendor may offer for your new site. A website is an evolving tool that is never finished. The right vendor and technology can go live today with the basics such as content management and e-commerce. More advanced applications can be added later.

Having a trusted partner who can deliver a website with a robust content management system, e-commerce, and a customer relationship database will open your business to the next neighborhood, across town, statewide, nationwide, and globally.