The Business Presence Site
Written by Randy
One of the simplest sites on the web is the Business Presence Site. This type of web site has a single purpose, to advertise a business or service. In general, these sites are local sites, but in some cases they may be much larger.
In it's simplest form, Business Presents Sites have a straight forward purpose. To get visitors to seek out your products or services either directly or indirectly. By that, we mean that the site does not try to sell something on line. It does not create communities or forums, it simply attempts to let you know about a particular business or product, and it tells you how to find it or them.
Components of a Business Presence Site
A Business Presence Site generally has several required components, and several optional ones:
- Home Page
- This page is a pure intro to the business. It should contain a quick statement of what you do, your logo and location.
- In some cases, this page may be what is called a landing page. If there are multiple client types, a landing page allows you to send each client type down specific paths that are directed at their needs.
- About Us
- This page gives more specifics about the company as a whole. It may contain sub pages but they are not necessary
- Products or Services
- This page will outline your products or services. Describe what you have, and why someone whats it. This is in many ways the money page.
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Frequently Asked Questions page, or FAQ is where you dispell any issues that you can anticipate a client might have. The format is simple question and answer, and you might consider using the questions that you normally get in the course of business.
- Contact Us
- This all important page must be done right. This is what gets your customer to get in touch with you. Options should include a direct form, an email address, a phone number, and if possible, an address. it is also extreamly important that this page be easy to get to, mentioned on every page and every menu. The goal of this site is contact, and this is how it happens.
- Company News
- News is important because it makes a site look up to date. Many business presences don't require much maintenance on a day to day basis, so being able to add monthly or quarterly news stories about things happening in your business is a way to keep your site and content fresh in a relevant way.
- Blog
- In many cases, it is important that you can show your expertise in your field. One way to do this is the blog. A blog allows you to write articles about what you know, giving clients a taste of your abilities without giving away the entire recipe.
- Newsletters and Calendar of Events
- Newsletters and Calendars create a sense of community. They permit your clients to come back looking for news about things to come, or the other way around, they permit you to reach out to your customer base and inform them about new events, products, services or more.
A business presence site generally costs from a low end of about $300 to just under $1000 depending on features and requirements. In general the customer will provide the copy text and images (or purchase a select number of stock images). Timeframes to completion can be from a day or two to a few weeks, all depending on how fast the client can get information to the developer.
Stay tuned for more about web site design and business models.