Almost all businesses have a website these days. There are many things that go into having a successful website, all of which costs money. But is having a website worth this expense?
Firstly, a website needs to be designed. For a business website it is important that it looks professional as it is an advert for the company. This needs to be balanced with usability. It doesn’t matter how a website looks if it does not meet the needs of the user. Customers need to be able to navigate their way around a site and find the information they are after. Many businesses simply need a brochure site, with information such as who they are, what they do, and how they can be contacted. Others need more functionality, perhaps allowing customers to purchase products through the site.
Once the design phase is completed it needs to be developed. This is where it goes from an idea on paper to a fully functional website. Web development is the most time consuming area of creating a website and involves technical expertise, whereas the web design requires creative skills and imagination.
After the development stage, the website will be ready to go live. For this to happen it needs web hosting. Without this nobody will be able to view it. It is possible for a business to host their own website but this requires the relevant technical expertise and is usually more expensive. Therefore, most choose to outsource their web hosting. There are many different packages and varying prices. Many choose managed hosting, where the web hosting is fully managed by the hosting company. This means the business itself doesn’t need to worry about this aspect of running a website.
Marketing of a website may also be required. There is little point in having a website if no-one can find it. Ideally a website will be found on the front page of the search engines for related phrases. This is where Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, comes in. These are techniques that optimise a site and increase the authority of a site so it ranks well in search engines such as Google. This hopefully leads to people finding the website and becoming customers. Depending on the nature of a website, it may also need maintaining or updating.
Every aspect of creating and running a website costs money, from the design and development to the hosting and marketing. So, are these costs worth the end result? Well, if done properly, then yes it is. These days businesses without a website are really missing out. With so many having a website it becomes increasingly important. People often search online now instead of places like the Yellow Pages. Without a website, businesses are missing out on a lot of potential business. A website is even important if people are looking specifically for a particular business. Many will still search for the brand name online, and if there is no website they might go elsewhere. So although a website can be expensive, in the long run the return on investment is almost always worth the cost.
Andrew Marshall ©
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