What is a Website and Does My Business Need a Website?

A website is basically a collection of web pages, documents, images, audio files, and video files, that are accessible from the same URL and typically residing on the same server and maintained by a person, group, or organization. A server is just the “place” online where your website files reside.

The main page of a website is called a website home page and the other pages inside the website are sub pages. Each page is hyperlinked (linked) together so the visitor can travel from page to page.

Websites are created using a combination of programming languages. The top three are Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). These languages and style sheets tell the web browsers what information to display on your website and how it should look.

Learn why most business websites stink in my blog post 10 Reasons Why Your Business Website Stinks.

Learn how you can improve your business website in my blog post Lead Generating Websites: 20 Tips to Improve Your Business Website.

If you have a business, you should have a website with a blog. Having a website or blog for your business is no longer optional, it is a necessity.

People are searching for you, your business, and your products and services online. With web-enabled mobile devices, netbooks, regular computers and wi-fi pretty much everywhere, the Internet is quickly becoming the number one place people are turning to for quick access to the information they need.

Need a plumber? Google it. Looking for a restaurant? Google it. Looking for a local drop in child care provider? Google it. Looking for a dog groomer who specializes in toy-size dogs? Google it.

If you don’t have a professional website, you will never come up in the results of someone’s Google search or Internet search. That means they may never find you. And, if they don’t know you exist, they can’t hire you or buy your product.

Remember, people buy when they are ready to buy, not when you are ready. So, as a business owner, your business needs to be visible when your prospects and potential customers need your product or service. One of the easiest ways to do that is with an optimized website that acts like a 24 hour beacon, attracting and educating your prospects and customers.

Now, I know not every business is a a good fit for the online business model, because there are certain overall businesses that just don’t translate that well. Not every business is going to integrate a shopping cart in their site and set goals to grow a huge online empire.

I also know that every business, big or small, needs to invest in their online store front just as much as their in personal, bricks and mortar store front. Every business must have a professional, branded, easy to use website that provides added credibility, presence, dependability, and interest.

BE CAREFUL! I am going to give you one warning. A bad website, that looks like a high school student did it for a class project, can do more harm to your brand and your business than having no website at all. It screams, “I am too cheap to hire a professional and I don’t value my products and services enough to invest in a good website to showcase them.”

I guarantee, if you don’t invest in your brand and your professional appearance, no one else will either. I also guarantee that without a website, no one will be able to find you online.

But, I can tell you who they will find… your competitors.