“I own a small business. Do I need a web site? a blog?”
It’s a valid question. As a businessperson, you don’t want to dump money into a web site if it’s not going to be a good investment for you. And if you choose to have a web site, how do you go about deciding whether it should be a blog or other type of web site?
A Rose by Any Other Name
Here’s a secret: a blog is just another name for a content-based web site. A blog is honestly just a collection of web pages.
It’s usually set up in a way that puts the newest pages on the main (index) page and allows people to be notified when you add another page to the site.
Web pages are called “posts” and organized in two ways: categories and tags. Categories are more structured and tags are a little bit more free-form. You can search through the posts easily.
When set up properly, blog posts are easily accessible by people who search for post content on Google.
All of these features make a blog an attractive web content management system. With just a little tweaking, you can even make your “blog” look and feel like a high-powered content management system (CMS).
So what? Would that help your business?
My answer is, most definitely, “maybe.” Here’s a quick checklist.
Do you want to attract more business?
If your business is running smoothly and you don’t need new customers, maybe a web site is not for you.
Do you need to stay in touch with your customers?
If your business doesn’t need to do any kind of customer service, then maybe you don’t need a web site.
Do you need to convince prospective clients to work with you?
An online portfolio, and maybe case studies, will show off your talents to prospective clients. If your products/services don’t need this, then maybe you don’t need a web site.
If you can say “NO” to all of these questions, maybe you don’t need a web site.
Other stuff to put on a site
Here’s a short list of other stuff that you might need/want to put on your web site. Be prudent; it will only pay off if you put up features that directly relate to and promote your business.
- Message board
- Business-related tools
- Online store
- Online chat
- Photo/image gallery