What can a website do for you?
Or, online brochure or e-commerce store?

A great deal of frenzy about the Web is being generated by media hype today. Everything is "dot com" this and "dot come" that.

And yet it may not be clear to many people just what having a website can do for them. This is a question asked by many people new to e-commerce or to the Internet itself. Is it simply what my grandfather might call "one of those new-fangled, crazy things"?

I must admit something here. I am one of those people who, seeing a commercial on TV or hearing about a store carrying a product that interests me, turns to the Web to find out more about the company and product. Very often, it is the website itself that finally sells me on the product. And, whether it is reasonable or not, I am more comfortable ordering (yes, with my credit card information) over the Web than through a telemarketer.

What kind of website should you have?
A business website can be anything from an online brochure or advertisement displaying your products or explaining your services to a full-fledged "store" where people can actually select items and purchase them ... and possibly take delivery right there, unassisted by you.

Marketing, ad copy writing, and sales principles certainly apply.

There are websites in which the desired "result" is to get the customer to call a salesperson — and others where the transaction takes place completely online.

E-Commerce.
Depending on what you sell, the financial transaction can be processed offline, or can be transacted at the website in real time. "Real time" simply means now. That is, your customers fill out a form, include their credit card information, press a button, and the transaction is actually verified through their credit card company and the funds are set to be deposited into your bank account.

Then, depending again on what you sell, the product may be available online (example: software can be downloaded after purchase), or may be shipped, etc.

The possibilities are many.

Who should have a website?
Truthfully, there are businesses that probably shouldn't have a website, and in that case we must in good faith recommend just that. I truly hate to rain on anyone's parade, but a good dose of reality is sometimes needed.

We take it on a case-by-case basis:

1. Will having a website benefit this business?
   
   
2. How?
   
   
3. How do we build a website to enhance this business, to make it more effective, sell more widgets, etc.?
   
   

If the answer to the first two questions is yes, then we have somewhere to go. If not, then it would not be ethical to pretend otherwise.

Advanced and advancing Web technologies.
Then again, sometimes we can brainstorm to find a way. I recall explaining to an (unnamed) artist just how his works could be sold online without the need of the usual, ah, distributor for that industry — and that all these Web technologies are available today as we speak. I am under pains not to discuss the particulars but, yes, we got the job, and our head graphics artist is working on it now.

Cost-Cutting.
One thing that may not be well known is that having a website can actually save you money in ways you hadn't imagined. For instance, there may no need for a physical office or store. If yours is a small business, you'll have less need for employees as well. Some businesses exist entirely on the Web — for all we know, these folks do business in their stocking feet!

Your business is online 24/7.
Lastly, bear in mind that, unlike an offline business, your e-commerce store can do business with people around the globe 24 hours a day, seven days a week — without the need of employees. Your online brochure can be available year-round ... without printing and mailing costs.

And updating a website is usually easier — and faster — than reprinting everything, much less reorganizing your store.

Where should you start?
You can start small — with a few pages to test the waters — and upgrade your website as funds and growth permit.

I should point out, however, that just as in the brick-and-mortar world, a half-baked, incomplete online "store" is not likely to be very successful. Although this is the Web, it is still real life and you are still dealing with real customers — so it is imperative to be professional.

The Future is Now.
Interestingly, one of my clients, a loan broker, called me today to inform me that a non-English-speaking mechanic in her town had inquired as to whether he might be able to fill out her loan qualification form online. "Online?" she asked me, "What is this world coming to?!"

Indeed.

What we can do for you.
We can study your business — and your competition — and help you determine what Web solutions might best benefit your company. Then, together with you, we can design a website appropriate to your company and your industry.

Contact us for more information.