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Does your small business need a website? – possibly not !!

Posted September 1st, 2007 by peter

Back in the internet dark ages – 1994 – when I first downloaded a web browser to look at web pages (from Nelson the closest ISP was Actrix in Wellington – $8 per megabyte of website material looked at – one soon learned to turn off images), I discovered a whole new world.

Of course web pages then were pretty basic, fancy stuff was blinking text, but to me it was obvious that this new resource would soon change the way that businesses would communicate with their target markets. Consumers would have a brand new way of finding out about products and services that interested them. One obvious market would immediately benefit from the ability to tell others located around the world of their offers, and that was of course the Tourism industry.

Around 1999, when the media really started to take notice of what has happening on the net, many industry observers started to say "if you are in business and you don’t have a website, you wont have a business in 5 years" which of course is nonsense. And when I was approached by a local business owner about a website, I used to say to my potential client – "why do you need a website?" and listen carefully to the answer. If I did not think that business owner would get a return on their investment within a reasonable period of time, or their target market was the local market, I would suggest that they put their investment into yellow pages and local advertising. Made sense then, and I think it still in many circumstances makes sense today.

Things change of course, and now internet users search for and research local business and their products and services often before contacting them. And the local business website reflects that business to their internet visitor. It will be perceived by that visitor similar to the bricks and mortar of that businesses premises. How often do we see websites that look absolutely terrible, interrupt your thoughts with so called soothing music or sounds when you run your mouse across a menu, and have flashy stuff that takes our concentration away from what we are trying to read? hard to navigate around – and yet, we have been past or inside their premises, which looks lovely and inviting, clean, well stocked and a nice friendly atmosphere. Quite frankly, that business would be a whole lot better off without a website.

This brings me to an article I read on the Press website. ‘Businesses may not need web’ it shouts. Sir Gil Simpson (the founder of Jade Software Corporation) told the Small Business Expo at the Christchurch Convention Centre yesterday that it was not economic for some businesses to have a website. And of course Sir Gil is – in the main correct in my view. Read the article here.

Let’s take a bar for example. Why would a bar bother having a website if it is not changed each and every week?
Why do people go to a bar? To drown their sorrows? Doubt it. It’s much cheaper to do that at home. No, they go for entertainment, to be with friends, to meet people, to dine out, for a night out – all sorts of reasons.
Why do they go to that particular bar? Because they had been invited by friends, they have had a good experience there before, the entertainment is good, they have seen an advert or have been told about special night on there, it’s their favourite haunt, etc etc etc.

Starting to see where I am coming from? It will not because you have a website, unless your website is keep up to date weekly so their target market can see what is coming up as far as the entertainment is concerned, what specials are on this week. Create an email list, so a personalised email can be sent at least each and every month to your target market to keep them up to date with what is going on in your bar, to remind them and motivate them to come visit again soon. (If you decided to do that, make sure you continue with it – otherwise your email list will think you have closed business).
If that is not happening, it is most likely the whole website thing has been a complete waste of time, and money.
But – I hear the website owner saying – "I want visitors to Nelson to find out about my bar before they come to Nelson, so they will come straight to my bar" – forget it – it will not happen, unless

1.. Your website is easy to find under the phrase your target market is going to use to find your bar
2.. It is regularly updated, so they know what will be happening when they get to your bar.
3.. It looks like a fun place to go to. The ONLY place in town to go to.

And don’t forget your traditional media advertising and promotion. A website is NOT a replacement for it – it is just another medium in your marketing mix to get your target market to spend money at your business.