Why should a small business have a website?
There are a number of reasons to have a website.  A website can provide information about your business such as products/services, contact information, etc.  A website can make your company look more professional with the right content and images.  Also, a website is usually the first place a person visits before doing business or shopping.

Depending on the type of business you have you can design your own website or you hire a web designer to create the site for you.  Its a question we are often asked …which is better?  If you have a need to have a “online presence” a place to showcase your services, reviews from customers, offer coupons and a  page so interested people can contact you…then you can easily and effectively do this with a business website builder.  Not all website builders are alike and its imperative to find one that offers the technology you need.

What to look for in a website builder product:

Support: Does the product offer support or are you left on your own for troubleshooting?

Program updates: Does the product implement updates to the software to better improve usability?

SEO: Are you able to effectively implement Search Engine Optimization on your website?

Now on the other hand if you have a “e-commerce” type of website – where you offer hundreds of products wtih many details – it may be best to contact a web specialist so they can streamline this for you and make it easier for you to update your inventory (which includes using a database and can be quite cumbersome to manage this yourself. )  Its all about how quickly you can update your pages – and sometimes it is best to contact a professional.

So the first step is outlining what it is you need your website to do for you – from there you can begin to make a informed decision.