For some reason, many small business owners feel the need to have a website without a real understanding of how one is used and why you should have one.

The reason for this can be traced back to web designers, who themselves, don’t understand the purpose and use of a web site and mis-educate prospective buyers.

For many designers, a web site is merely a collection of pretty pages and imagery about a company that hopefully gets seen by someone—a tremendous waste of money in this case.

Simply stated, a web site is an advertising and public relations tool that should be used in such a way, as to:

(1) reach your target market
(2) position an idea about your company into the mind of your target market
(3) promote your products and services to them
(4) facilitate the exchange of goods and services.

Notice that the above 4 items all have to do with the use of the tool? That’s right folks, just like a car needs to driven or a wrench needs to be turned, a web site needs to be “worked and used” in order to bring any benefit. A web site sitting out there idly in cyberspace amongst 3 billion others is not going to help anyone.

So, cut through the hype and showmanship when you meet with a prospective web designer and see if they mention 1-4 above during your meeting. If they are very anxious about building you a “great site” but don’t heavily stress 1-4 above, then they are simply lacking a fundamental understanding of what a web site is for and how it is used.

If you would like to find out more about how to use a web site in your business give us a call. We’d be happy to explain how we can put 1-4 above to work for you. And yes, we can also design you a great web site too!