Web Site Check List

• Does each page on your site have a unique title that appears in the title bar?
• Do the page titles contain important keywords showing that page's content (Don't use your company name in the title unless it's a household word)?
• Does each page have a meta "description" tag? Search Engines use this to describe you in the search engine results.
• Does each link work?
• Does each page have a way to get back to the home page?
• Is navigation consistent on every page?
• Does each page have links to all the other pages?
• Does your site have a consistent design and color scheme?
• Do all pages fit on your screen?
• Is the text free of spelling and grammatical errors?
• Does each page show when it was last revised, modified or updated?
• Does each page have contact information?
• Do all pages load in less than 10 seconds?
• Is there an "entry" page? This is not usually a good sign.

Why Your Web Site Is Important

Your Competitor Has A Web Site

Customers use the Internet to find everything. A small competitor or start-up gains instant credibility with a well-constructed web site. If theirs is the only site found, that's who your potential customer will buy from.

Don't let your competitor be the first to construct a web site. It takes months for a site to become visible in the Search Engines. Internet marketing is a track meet. Get off the blocks first!

Satisfied Customers More Easily Tell Friends

An email with your web site address is a lot easier than finding and faxing or mailing a brochure. A web site = easy, efficient referrals.

A Web Site Beats Hiring A Salesperson

When the number of clients generated by a web site are compared with advertising and salesforce costs, a web site provides a much higher Return On Investment (ROI).

Customers Look For You On The Internet

Using Google to find a person's or company's phone number or address is so popular it's called "Googling." Make sure you're there when you or your company is "Googled."

The Best Customers Use The Internet

Well-funded, well-equipped businesses use the Internet extensively for email and to gather information. These are the most valuable prospects- they have money to spend! If they can't find you, they may go somewhere else.

Customers Investigate Before Making Contact

The anonymity of the web has given the customer an advantage-they can investigate without personal contact and avoid repeated sales calls or giving away information through personal queries. They can visit your site and decide if you have the goods or service that they want.

This also means that the customer who makes contact is "pre-qualified" - they already know you have what they want, making your job easier.

Web Site ROI, Much Better Than Brochure ROI

When the cost of creating, printing, distributing and updating a brochure is taken into consideration, your more-easily-maintained web site is a better investment. We know a brochure can be important, but, if you have a brochure you should have a web site. If you don't have a brochure, you should create a web site first.

A Web Site Makes Your Business Card More Effective

A business card is low-cost and gives your customer a way to remember you. But, the most common information kept is the email address and the web site address.

You Can Tell Your Story

Since you control your web site's contents, you can tell your complete story. It's the one arena you control absolutely. Most customers will not visit your offices and they may miss or ignore advertising. The secretary who answers the phone may flub the call. But you control absolutely how your web site presents itself. It serves as a credibility and competency check for every visitor.

The Bottom Line

Every business needs a web site. This may be most important for a small business that cannot afford missed opportunities and needs the most efficient way to conduct its affairs.

What Should You Do?

Already have a web site?

If so, use our Web Site Checklist/Audit to help decide if anything more needs to be done.

Don't have a web site?

If this article makes business sense to you, contact us and let's talk about what we can do for you. We can build a web site in stages, starting with a small site designed for easy, logical expansion as you gain more confidence in this new medium.