There is no doubt that almost any home based business, whatever the industry, whatever product or service they offer, can benefit from having an Internet presence. But having a bad website can be more damaging than not having one at all. Here are just five of the most common mistakes that new website owners make that serve to devalue, rather than enhance their businesses’ reputation.
Using free, or very cheap web hosting services – The fact is you simply cannot use a free webhosting service to promote your home business without looking unprofessional, amateurish and unreliable. On order to use a free web hosting service you must agree to display ads chosen by the web hosting company, which detracts from your content, especially since that they are located on right in the middle of the “prime real estate” are of your web space. Web hosting with a reliable company costs less than $15 a month these days, and if you are not willing to make that small investment in your business then you should ask yourself how serious you are about the venture as a serious potential income source
Skimping on a Domain name – A continuation of point 1. Your website is the Internet representation of your unique business venture. Why spoil that by adding another company’s name to your internet address? A unique domain name costs on average less than $10 annually and is another tiny investment that you simply cannot afford to skip.
Not getting visitor feedback – You may love your website, but it was not created for you, it was created to promote your business, and the most important opinion about the site is that of your visitors. If you provide a way for your visitors to leave you feedback, good and bad, you will be amazed at some of the great ideas they come up with, free of charge. And on that point remember to act upon your visitors feedback, or at least respond to it. If your visitors feel like you value their opinions they are more likely to keep coming back.
Ruining your reputation with inappropriate marketing techniques – Marketing is of course the key to business success, on or offline. But marketing the wrong way can be fatal. One of the worst things you can do of course is spam people. There is nothing wrong with collecting the e mail addresses of your websites visitors, but never be tempted to bombard them with inappropriate or excessive communications.
Failing to understand the real power of the Internet – The Internet provides a home based business owner with the power to compete with much larger concerns, if used properly. You can use the Internet to reach potential customers worldwide, and then provide a level of customer service that has never been possible before. Business is all about communication, and the more personal it is the better. Just because you are communicating via the Internet does not mean that it has to be cold and robotic; a friendly well thought out e-mail can be just as effective for establishing a great rapport as an hour long phone call.
I think you make some really good points. I cannot understand why small business people do not embrace the marketing potential of the Web. Do you think it is mainly because they do not understand its potential?