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Perhaps you think you don’t need a Web site. I’m sure you have many valid reasons why you think don’t need one. Reasons such as: I'm just a small local business; everyone knows who and where I am; I’ve been in business for many years and I’m doing fine without a Web site; my business has nothing to do with computers. It’s time to forget this thinking and understand something about Web sites that a marketing friend has said to her clients many times: Every small business needs a Web site – it is the most far-reaching, cost-effective marketing tool available to small businesses today!

1. PLANNING YOUR WEB SITE is an important first step to a great Web site. This doesn’t mean planning to have a Web site. It means planning your goals, determining your needs, and targeting your audience; gathering your marketing literature, photos and other information; and researching your competitors so you know what their sites look like and what they include. This is not so you can copy their sites, but rather so you can plan to do more, give more and eventually get more than your competitors. You want your Web site to reflect the best your business has to offer. It takes planning to do this.
2. DESIGNING YOUR WEB SITE is the creative fun part of your Web site. This is where the whole concept comes together in a cohesive layout. This is the step where you decide what you want the Web site to look like; what colors and fonts are best for your site; how the pages should be linked together; and what graphic images will be included. This is the body and soul of your Web site. What will my Web site look like? What feelings will my Web site bring to the visitor?
3. DEVELOPING YOUR WEB SITE means putting it all together using a professional, carefully planned approach. This is the step for adding the graphical and textual content, links and menus, etc. The coding is written so everything conforms to the overall desired style of the site. Primary pages are optimized to provide high ranking search engine results for specific keywords or phrases. Coding gets validated against professional web design standards. The site is spell checked and proofread.
4. PUBLISHING YOUR WEB SITE involves testing, uploading and most importantly, analyzing the site functionality. Prior to the actual uploading, the site needs to be tested in various systems. You need to know how it will look in the major browsers (Internet Explorer and Netscape); how it will with look in various screen resolutions and on different monitor sizes; whether all the links (both internal and external) work. Once this is done and your files are uploaded to the host server, the site is ready for “public viewing” and submission to search engines and directories. Now you’re done. Right? Wrong! Your site needs to be maintained, regularly.
5. MAINTAINING YOUR WEB SITE is almost as important as the initial planning of the site. The Web site needs to be kept current with new text and/or images. Search engine listings and rankings need to be checked and pages may need to be modified for better optimization and then resubmitted. Links should be checked periodically to be sure they are functioning properly. Site statistics can offer an opportunity to see what your visitors are viewing and how they are viewing your site. Coding modifications can be made based on these stats. It is extremely important to give your Web site visitors a reason to browse your site. Regular maintenance of your site is your best opportunity to improve your return on investment.

© 2003

With minor modifications, this article was published in The Baptist Magazine (Longview TX), March/April 2008 issue.

Patricia Simmons is a former teacher of Mathematics and Computers. She started her entrepreneurial career as the owner of Computer Basics in Orford NH. Currently, as the manager of Web Wise Concepts, LLC, she specializes in custom Website design and has helps small businesses obtain the online image they need.

Web Wise Concepts, LLC — Sarasota FL — www.webwiseconcepts.com