The vast majority of web sites for small businesses are basic
informational sites. Many people rightly call these sites
"online brochures." Taking into account the price associated
with developing a web site, that's one expensive brochure! Web
sites should be more than just an expensive brochure: they
should be a solution to a problem.
What Can My Web Site Do For Me? That's the question of the day:
what can my web site do for me? It doesn't matter if you sell
products or services, your web site should be an integral part
of your business. Web technology has advanced so much over the
past few years; your web site has a large amount of potential.
Put some thought into what your business needs and then try to
accomplish that with your web site. Here are some ideas of some
functions that come to mind:
*Online Appointment Management - This would be great for
doctors, dentists, lawyers, practically anyone who has a lot of
appointments. Think about being able to set up a dentist
appointment online and then having that appointment sync with
your Microsoft Outlook calendar. It would also be great to get
those teeth cleaning reminders via email; which would cut down
costs for dentists.
*Project Management and Time Tracking - Anyone who operates by
projects can use project management software. Keeping track of
project progress and employee hours is essential to making sure
your business is productive. The benefit of the software being
web based is that it can be accessed from any computer with an
internet connection. There are actually some good free project
management systems available. Check out Dotproject at
www.dotproject.net. *E-Commerce - This is a no-brainer. If you sell any type of
product, you should have an e-commerce site. You can link your
e-commerce site into other large sites like Amazon and Froogle
for a reasonable price. There's never been a better time to have
an e-commerce site, if it's designed well...
*Customer Relationship Management - Almost everyone needs it;
does your company have it? Having a way to track leads,
potential clients, and keeping track of those relations is
crucial for any business. The big plus to making CRM web based
is that if you have multiple offices, they can all stay
coordinated with sales efforts. There are some very good CRM web
applications out there that are open source. Check out SugarCRM
at
www.sugarcrm.com. This is just a chunk of the iceberg. Basically almost any paper
driven process can be translated to the web. Less paper, easier
storage, and easier accessibility makes web applications very
attractive to businesses. Is your web site a solution to your
problems? If not, then take a look at the big picture. The
answer might be starring right back at you!
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