Your business does need a presence on the internet, but does it require a dedicated web site? Lots of business owners we talk with feel compelled to get a web site because everyone else seems to have one. Nobody should be left out of the information revolution, even if they don’t have a computer and don’t use e-mail.

The minimal, contact info” web presence

Lots of business addresses and phone numbers are easily found using a search engine, even if they don’t have a web site. We googled a business in Arcata (we included the word Arcata—narrowing the search with specific information helps to get a good result). Several results had the address and the phone number visible. We didn’t even need to click on the links. So, does this business need a web site if people can find you so easily on the Internet?

Let’s imagine that you are a contractor who uses a cell phone exclusively for the business (because you are traveling more than you are in the office). You get all of your business from referrals. Your cell number is not in the phone book, so if the referral client tries to Google your number on line, he won’t find it through the AT&T web site. He won’t find anything.

Here’s one creative way to get into the big, Google, Internet, virtual phone book. We did a search for Mosgo’s Cafe in Arcata when they first opened. The first link in the search was www.myspace.com/mosgos. Myspace provides free web space for individuals, but it works for businesses as well. Simply log in at myspace.com and upload a photo example of your work, or a photo of yourself and type your contact information into the most prominent place for text under the title. You could achieve the same result by starting a blog at blogspot.com. Google loves blogs (meaning that they show up often in searches), and a blog with the name of your business as its title will be found in Google searches. If you can’t set this up yourself, then get help from someone with moderate computer skills, it’s a fairly easy procedure. Beyond these minimal, “contact info patches,” we would recommend hiring a professional.

Your own domain name

If you decide to get a website, you’ll first need a domain name—a name followed by .com. This can be easily acquired at godadddy.com or another licensed vendor and doesn’t require any expertise. You type the domain name you’d like to have, e.g. pachangamexicana, into a field which ends with the extension .com. If it’s not available, you may try another extension (like .us or .biz). A good extension, and one which makes sense for most businesses is .info, so don’t despair if .com is not available for your use.

Self-serve web sites

There are inexpensive web-based companies which will allow you to build your own brochure site using their templates, and they’ll host it for a small monthly fee. We’ve seen mixed results from the products of these enterprises. It appears that most of the resulting web sites look okay, however, many of the resulting sites have broken links and text problems. Our guess is that you’ll still need some knowledge of HTML if you wish to take advantage of a self-serve, web site builder.

Your own web page

You’ll need a designer for your own web site. The cost will depend upon what features you’d like, the complexity of the design, and the amount of regular maintenance it will require. If you don’t already have a branded look (a consistent, recognizable appearance with a logo, and company colors and fonts), you may want to include branding in the package. Now would be a good time to address not only your web site, but your other marketing needs.

Brochure site

There are varying levels of web design. The basic level is a brochure site—a home page with contact information. The next level of a brochure site consists of a home-page and a few internal links (about us, contact us, etc.). Beyond that you could add a gallery/photos of your work, a page of links to products you carry or trade organizations you belong to, testimonials, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Ecommerce site

If you plan to sell goods or services on your web site, you’ll need help setting up a storefront to accommodate potential customers. A good web site designer will facilitate the shopping experience for your customers, and minimize problems with the shopping cart and checkout process. Problems with slow-to-load graphics and buggy checkouts can send your customers off to a friendlier site. The upfront design expense for an ecommerce site will diminish with increased sales.

Want to learn more about local technology? Drop by the RTC web site (www.redwoodtech.org) for more information about the local tech scene.

Lynn Harvey and Joel Mielke are owners of Carson Park Design, a full service graphic design agency in Eureka. Locally, they are members of the Redwood Technology Consortium and active in both the Eureka and Arcata Chambers of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center.

Copyright 2007. The print version of this first appeared in the Eureka Times Standard Newspaper.