Small Businesses: Web and Domains Part I

PART I:  Information

As we prepare to move out of the ‘00’s or the Naughts, the internet has cemented itself in our daily personal and business lives.  Rare is the person who does not use the internet or email on a regular basis to do everything from socialize to find a plumber for a broken pipe.  Surprisingly, however, not all businesses have adapted and small businesses in particular are at risk of losing clients by not keeping up with the culture of technology.

Small business decision makers tend to be heavily involved in actually running the day to day operations of the business and therefore may find it difficult to explore the marketing opportunities of the internet, which progress rapidly.  Needless to say though, if your small business does not have a web presence it is absolutely necessary to acquire one.  The main reasons for developing a website for a small business are: Information, Advertising and Authority.  Crucial to achieving those goals and a strong website is a quality domain name.  Let’s expand on how Information, Advertising and Authority are achieved through a website and how the domain name contributes to this.  Today we will deal with the objective of Information.

Information:  Providing information about your business should be the primary goal of any small business website.  A website gives potential customers all relevant information about a company, from the type of business to the phone number and address.  Information at the tip of a finger is what defines the internet and a business needs to use the opportunity to make as much information possible to a discerning potential customer or a returning customer.  The domain name can be a customer’s first experience with your business whether through typing it in a browser or by seeing it on Google.  Don’t let the first opportunity to inform the customer fail. A proper domain name can say quite a bit about the business quickly.  For example, which domain name conveys more info about the business, chicagogutters.com or mcfeeleybrotherscontracting.com? (This is a made up example)  Obviously by one quick glance a person can infer that ChicagoGutters.com presumably is a Chicago area gutter company, whereas, the other domain is vague and unspecific.  When there are thousands of listings most potential customers will not waste time exploring vague sites.

Providing potential customers with Information about their business is the most cited reason by small businesses when creating a website and justifiably so.  However, businesses must not ignore the Advertising opportunities and the Authority that a solid website and domain provide.  Look for Part 2 where we will discuss Advertising.

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