It was late Saturday night when we realized that we had forgotten to go to the auto parts store and pick up some power steering fluid.  With Dave going fishing early the next morning, that left me and the kids to deal with the stupid car (I really dislike cars and anything to do with them breaking down!)  I either needed to let Dave drive the car to his friends house and leave it there all day long, or find a Car Parts store that opens early the next morning.  So where did I turn?  The internet. 
 
After searching and searching for any car parts store in my little town, I finally found a Directory that had the two Car Parts stores listed.  Neither on listed their hours but one had a Web Site.  They didn’t have their hours listed on the Web Site, but at least it had a Web Site.  We ended up remembering that our Safeway would probably carry Power Steering Fluid, and again, we went to the Internet to find out when Safeway opened.  Safeway opened early and we had our solution. 
 
If you want to be known, heard, seen or found – you NEED a Web Site!  You need to put important operating information on that Web Site and then you need a great SEO package so that your Web Site is seen by the World! 
Contact us if you have any questions regarding your Web Site or creating a Web Site – your little corner of the World Wide Web!

Things to think about before creating a web site:

Why in the world do I want a Web Site?  To attract new customers?  To communicate with existing customers? To reach beyond my city or state? Or do I want to tell the community where I’m located all the great things about my little store? 

What are my customers like?  Are they High Energy, In-Charge type of person; are they laid back and relaxed or are they High Energy, In-Charge type of person who is looking for a place to kick back and relax? 

Where do my customers live?  Do they live in a big city where DSL is the thing to have or do they live in a smaller town where they are on dial-up? 

What do I want to tell my customers with my Web Site?  Do I want to show them what my B&B looks like on the inside and outside; do I want them to be able to make reservations on line; do I want to let them know I am open in town and to stop by and see what we’ve got on sale this week … there are lots of different kinds of Web Sites and lots of uses for Web Sites.  Make sure your Webmaster knows what you want your site to do before you start the layout design stage.

Do you want to be able to talk with your customers on a daily/weekly/monthly basis?  There are several different ways you can do this.  You can start a Newsletter, Create a Dynamic Template in your web site or you can change the content on your Web Site as frequently as you wish. 

These and many more questions need to be thought through before you create a Web Site or try to revamp an existing one.  Hopefully you will see patterns emerging while answering these questions.  I’ll be examining these (and other) aspects of creating a Web Site in the weeks to come – so come back and visit us!