Part I - Do I Still Need a Business Web Site?

As each new trend appears, others take a back seat. Facebook and Twitter have far outdistanced MySpace as the top social networking sites. Entrepreneurs are obligated to keep up with trends and turn each into a marketing tool.

Using social media as a way to connect with customers, small business owners may question the necessity of having a web site. Is the web site concept outdated? Does a business owner still need to spend money having a site developed and updated?

The simple answer is yes. A web site serves a different purpose than social networking. Social networking is great for personal interaction with customers. A web site is the more professional side of a company. A smartly developed web site with informational content is the online version of a brick and mortar store. It enhances the perception of a solid, trustworthy business.

The majority of online businesses are still found through search engines. A business web site with enriched and useful content has a better chance of being highly listed and more easily found in the list of results. A first page search engine listing will increase your exposure.

A web site is a low-cost form of advertising that can reap wide dividends. A simple, informational, and easily navigable web site is an "always on" marketing broadcast, where people learn about your company, products or services, and discover why they should buy from you.

That said, a web site must update regularly or it will lose status with most search engines. In Part II, we'll talk about ways to keep your web site fresh, the search engines happy, and get returning web site visitors.

Why Use a Web Design Professional?

OK, this is going to sound a bit like a rant. That's because it is!

I have just read yet another article about ways to make money online. Web design is listed as one of those ways. Yes, web design is a way you can make money online. But the part that really ruffles my feathers is where the author goes on to say that, if you don't know anything about web design, just pick up a couple of how-to books and you are good to go. Excuse me?

In part, I blame Microsoft for promoting the idea that anyone can build a business web site. While Frontpage was great for someone who wanted a personal web site to put pictures up of the new baby, it was not a good tool for creating a business web site.

An experienced professional designer will know how to create an attractive, easily navigated web site, will know about how colors look on the web, will know about designing for the different web browsers so the site looks good in all of them, will know how to optimize graphics for the web, will have learned and kept up with the techniques for rankings in Google and other search engines and a good web designer will walk you through the process so it is not a chore. You cannot gain this knowledge through a couple of how-to books.

The fact is that the public expects a business to have a professional looking web site that provides them the information they need. Unless a business owner has the time and knowledge to create such a site, he or she should seriously consider hiring a professional.

OK. Rant over. For now...

Choosing a Domain Name

You should take some time with this decision. Your first step should be to write your ideas down. You probably want your company name as your domain, but it's possible that it has already been taken by another company or individual.

To find out, go to Internic's Who Is Registry and do a search. If it's not taken, great! Go ahead and register "yourcompanyname.com". If it is taken, you may be tempted to try your company name with a .net, .org or one of the other available extensions. Don't do it. You are a business, you should use a .com extension. If you don't, web viewers will be confused.

OK, your company name is already taken. What to do? Write down your company's main functions. Is there some combination of words that you can combine to come up with a good domain name? Maybe you sell specialty widgets. Is SpecialtyWidgets.com available? Some things to keep in mind when combining words for a domain. Your combination of words may already be taken and you think, "How about using a hyphen in the domain to separate the words"? Try not to do that, either. People will not remember the hyphen and have problems finding your site. They will certainly find the site without the hyphen, though. If you use a combination like SpecialtyWidgets.com, you can capitalize the first letter in each word when using it on your business cards, printed materials and your email address to help people see where one word ends and the next starts. It's much easier to remember SpecialtyWidgets.com than it is to remember Specialty Dash Widgets.com.

You also do not want your domain to be too long. Remember - you will be typing and writing it out when people ask for your web address. You will also have email addresses using the domain. Try to keep it short and memorable. Here's a chance to use your creativity!