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A good question, and for some businesses we would happily advise you not to bother, if it's not appropriate for you. These days though, most businesses would benefit from some form of web presence, and it is important to have the right sort of website, tailored to your target market. Let's look at a few scenarios:
• might only need a simple one-page site that just advertises their existence and how to contact them, plus an idea of the geographical area they cover, so that desperate locals who reach for Google can find them.
• the minimum is to give full information about the establishment, with easy on-line enquiry forms. The website enhances traditional advertising in brochures. Who is the target? If you want overseas visitors, what about some French/German text? Possibly have easy user update facility to advertise 'late availability' or special offers.
• now we're looking at potentially a global market (depending on the product) and some form of e-commerce, with at least an on-line product catalogue (updateable by the owner), and ordering/enquiries by e-mail. Depending on sales volume, may want full on-line e-commerce, credit cards etc.
• probably doesn't need serious e-commerce, but does need to provide lots of information, news etc., again updateable by the organisers. How about a regular e-mail newsletter to interested people?
than visually attractive at the design stage: it has to look good and work effectively for your customers, who may be using a variety of browsers, monitors, languages and Internet connections.
• Is the look and feel appropriate for your business and customers?
• Will your site still look good to someone with an old computer and a slow modem?
• If it's too slow to load, will they even wait to look at it?
• Can they find their way to what they want without difficulty?
• How does it appear in search engines - will customers even be able to find your site?
The way we deal with these issues depends on you, on your business and on your target market, but they are ALL considered.
Planning an effective website isn't easy. There are an awful lot of questions to be asked and answered before it can be done: we know the questions to ask, and hopefully we can work out the answers between us.
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