It’s time for you to get a Web site

Pop quiz: How many small-business owners have their own standalone Web site – not just a listing on some other site?
If you said less than half, you’d be right. In fact, the figure is about 41 percent, according to the small-business marketing firm Warrillow & Co., which was surprised by the result of its recent survey. “Amidst all the talk and appeal of online social networks and iPhones, it’s easy to miss the fact that most business owners still have not established a basic presence on the Internet,” Warrillow says.
Customers don’t just expect businesses to have Web sites these days, they demand it. If they are thinking of doing business with you, many will first check you out online. If you don’t exist online, they’ll skip over you entirely, and you’ll never even know.
If your business can afford $5 a month, it can afford a Web site. Let’s face it – if $5 is too much, maybe you shouldn’t be in business in the first place.
The process of building your site is as easy as 1-2-3, so there’s no need to be intimidated. You don’t have to know anything about design. Just pick from a menu of pre-made design setups, styles and colors, and put in your information.
Even if all you do is list your business name, contact information and a description of what you do, it’s better than nothing at all.
An excellent way to see just what can be done with these simple and inexpensive systems is to check out examples of real small businesses that are using them. At Homestead.com, for example, click on “Customer Sites” at the top of the page. There you’ll see examples of the 12-million sites that people have created using Homestead’s easy online tools.
For a total package of easy-to-use tools and services to get any small business online, Microsoft’s Office Live Small Business can’t be beat. If all you need is a Web site and e-mail, it’s free. You can also manage sales opportunities, projects, documents and more with free applications at the same site. Office Live also offers ecommerce and marketing tools for a small fee. You’ll find it at www.officelive.com.
Some business owners worry that free sites are full of ads for somebody else and look cheesy. But Microsoft proves that’s wrong. You get everything your business needs to create a great-looking site, including free Web hosting and free traffic reports on who’s visiting your site. Choose your own domain name and get up to 100 business e-mail accounts free for the first year. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at
editor@business.com.