We do need a stinking website

Tags: small business, websites

A while ago I read a an article in Business Week by Gene Marks which angered me a little. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but thanks to a report published in The Marketing Donut I now have my answer.

So what did Marks say which got my goat up?

Essentially, he was trying to explain how the web designers try and push websites on people and that small, local businesses didn’t need a website to promote their business. I thought for a moment I was reading an article from 1997, but it was from January 2009. The argument being that a lot of businesses rely on word-of-mouth and local communities to drive their revenues.

While I do agree about the importance of WOM activities, to me its remarkably obvious that a website is only ever going to help your business increase it’s exposure and potentially increase it’s revenue.

I read on, and it almost turned into a personal attack on web designers who are just trying to make money off of unknowledgeable business managers. It may have simply been a way to cause controversy, but even still, it just seem silly.

However, thanks to the research from Mr Site (although, admittedly there may be an ulterior motive here too)... small businesses are benefiting to the tune of £52k per year just by having an online presence.

Where I think Marks has missed the mark is that a website doesn’t have to cost the earth. It takes very little time and money to get a simple site just to build a presence – or a small bit of knowledge to create your own using a site builder which many hosting companies provide. You might even want to create a blog and just have contact details.

The crux of the point is that if you are a small business and are thinking in the realm of Marks, then maybe it is time to think again?