Thoughts on Creating a Small Business Website

Back in June 2007 I posted an article about some of the elements of an effective small business website. The response was great and many people expressed how much that article helped them to improve their site. Here we are 3 years on and I have made some small changes to that post and the accompanying diagram. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
-~-~-~-~-~

Designing, or redesigning, a web presence for a small business can be an exercise in overwhelm for many business owners. There always seem to be more things to think about and more questions to ask than there are hours in the day.

Unfortunately there are few definitive lists of must dos for all businesses. The approach that you take is really dependent on you, your business, your clients and their expectations. So what I have tried to do here is offer you a snap-shot of some of the things you need to address and 3 questions that most visitors to your site will ask themselves, either explicitly or implicitly.

Basic Structures of a Functional and Useful Small Business Website

• Establish Credibility and Expertise
  • Valuable Content
  • Professional Look and Feel
    • Fast, Simple and Classy
  • Who You Are

• Showcase Products and Services
  • Clearing Identify the Business
  • Demonstrate a clear solution to a perceived need
  • Services Outline
  • Products listing or e-Store
  • Reports or e-products

• Findability
  • Fresh Content
  • Keywords in Context
  • Structure of the Site
    • No Frames
    • Fast Simple Images
    • Minimal or no Flash-based animation
    • CSS Based
    • Robot.txt and sitemap
  • Incoming Connections

• Repeat Visitors
  • Fresh Content
  • Valuable Content
  • Subscription
  • Conversations
  • Community

• Contact
  • Contact Details
  • CRM (customer relationship management) tools/database

These are just some of the things that need to be addressed in a functional website and there will always be more. I invite you to share, via the comments, the elements that you feel are important to a functional website.

Once the site is in place, or it is in the draft stage, I suggest you step into the visitors shoes and ask these 3 questions.

• Does this business understand me?
• Do I like them?
• Do they have something that I need/want?

Do you know any sites that answer these 3 questions well?

The ball is back in your court. Do what you can to make your site as functional and useful as possible without throwing bucket loads of money or time at it. If you can find some colleagues, friends or a trusted advisor who understands this stuff then buy them coffee, a meal or whatever it takes to pick there brain. It will mean that you end up with a website that is more than just a glorified brochure.