It often happens that one is asked by clients or prospective clients about the possibility of developing a company website. This request, which at first glance may be seen as trivial, involves deep thinking that not everyone (or rather no one) does.
Nowadays almost every business has a website, so the first discriminating factor is whether to totally REPLACE or REMOVE the current one. This question is critical for two reasons:
- We may not be the previous developers and we may not have the sources available for possible
- To totally redo means to "disown" the current one, and in the eyes of the client it could be seen as a "WHAT I DID BEFORE WAS WRONG"
From my experience, I can assure you that point 1 is the most critical while point 2 is not even worth considering. Websites, like fashions, evolve and a site designed in 2017 could be considered obsolete and outdated as early as 2018. The main advice I can give is not to remain fossilized in your own positions and let competent people advise you on the best even completely twisting the web vision of your company. Developing a fashionable website is a sign that you are keeping up with the times and that you are evolving by following the market. Financially, it often happens that the makeover is less burdensome than the change. Obviously, this consideration is not to be considered if the modification you want to perform is the simple "adding two small pages" to the current site.Let us now come to the second question to ask, which is also the title of this article: what kind of website do I want to have and how much time can I devote to it?First of all, I would like to make a clarifying comparison: developing a website is like opening a commercial headquarters of your company. You can have different types of locations, from a storefront with no staff presence (and interaction) to a full-fledged representative office with dedicated and knowledgeable staff. Obviously, as even a non-expert can well imagine, the two extremes have a completely different commitment (both monetary and management).In order to simplify the vision we can categorize the various types of sites into these 3 macro categories:
- Classic institutional site
- One-way content site
- Two-way content site
All three can also be optionally combined with a possible e-commerce (but this is beyond the scope of this article.Classic institutional siteSusually the site consists of a few pages and the classic ones are:
- HOME
- WHO WE ARE.
- WHAT WE DO.
- WHERE WE ARE
- CONTACTS
Needless to say, it is the least expensive site (indeed, some web service providers offer it to you at no cost) and it is 90 percent of Italian business sites. Another platitude but one that I would like to emphasize: despite what any salesperson will tell you, this site will not bring any kind of visibility to your company. Its only function is to tell the world that your company exists but the Google search must be done by people/businesses who already know you. Having it or not having it doesn't change anything. In fact often (if old and not updated) it gives a bad image of you so it would be better not to have it. If you want my advice, rather than such a site, create a Facebook or Linked-in page. These socials will definitely give you more visibility.
Last thought just about "free" or very low-cost website providers: they are certainly cheap but sites made using this system standardize all layouts so your site will be similar to a thousand others (if not more). I believe that one of the added values of companies in these times of low-cost competition is precisely the fact that we can customize the service/product offered to customers. If we make a "custom" product how could we ever communicate it with an "assembly line" website?
One-way content site
Let us begin to reason! As in many religions,in love and in life in general, even in the Internet the rule applies: WHAT YOU GIVE YOU SOMETIMES YOU RECEIVE!
This is a golden rule; create a website where you can upload content that identifies your company and gives useful advice, unique information and more. By doing this (and you must be consistent) you will slowly build an audience that will follow you and perhaps recommend your site to other people as well. Remember to always combine the release of content also on various social channels (facebook, linked-in, youtube, instagram) so that the visibility is the maximum you can get.
Obviously, if you want more visibility, you can always access the various campaigns that social provides. In this case it is always a matter of the money you want to invest.
Making such sites (or rather CMSs) will require the use of qualified professionals who can help you and perhaps teach you how to go about publishing content.
The time to devote to a "portal" of this magnitude is
Two-way content site
As above but in addition you will give your visitors the opportunity to post comments and requests. This interaction requires additional time since in addition to publishing content we have to read and respond quickly to all the comments that will come in from visitors.
Conclusions
Obviously among the 3 macro sites highlighted there are many nuances that can be developed. The real professionals of the subre can help you in the choice and development of web projects. There can be many people involved (from programmers, through graphic designers to copywriters) increasing the investment budget. The mistake that is often made is that once the site is developed and put online (in whatever form it was conceived) it is left to itself. Once done the store should then be opened on business days and, if possible, on holidays as well. On the Internet, business is 24/7.
