How much website do I need?

When I was growing up, Girbaud Jeans were all the rage. Everyone was wearing them and you couldn't be "cool" without them. The problem was, they only fit girls who were built like a 2x4 - no hips or stomach or tush. I was not this girl. I was curvy and the jeans looked awful on me and were extremely uncomfortable. I had two choices - follow the crowd or look my own personal best.

I see this "keeping up with the Jones'" mentality on a daily basis in the web world. People see their neighbors running ECommerce sites so they think they need one. So how do you know what website will benefit your company and what is a waste of money?

The two criteria that can help you decide is to ask yourself two questions:
(1) Why do you want a website?
(2) How much time do you have to spend on your website once it is up?


There are many reasons to want a website, and your reason may not be identical to your neighbors, so why work so hard to emulate someone else?

"I want a URL for my marketing material"
If you simply want a website so you have a URL to put on a business card, you only need a "Brochure Website". This type of website is for extending your company's brand onto the web. It might have some company info (like location, profiles of the employees, an about us page, etc) as well as maybe some basic package pricing and a contact us page. It is essentially your printed brochure online and as such, should be pretty and eye catching with big colorful photos and a professional design. This is one of the most inexpensive types of websites in terms of both cost and time, because once it is up it is pretty self sufficient.

"I want to sell my products online"
If you want to actually sell products online, you will need an "ECommerce Website". This type of website actually generates revenue by people placing online orders. It usually consists of a searchable catalog of products and a shopping cart. Although there are many out-of-the-box solutions nowadays, this type of website is still fairly expensive because it requires a database, 2 websites (a client facing one and an administrative one to keep products updated and fulfill orders) and credit card security. There are ways to cut costs - such as using PayPal instead of your own payment gateway - but overall this one is more complex so plan on investing a bit more on it. The time commitment for an ECommerce Website varies depending on how often your products and pricing changes.

"I want to strengthen my brand's reach"
If your goal is the strengthen your brand online, you will want to build an "Informational Website". This website type is less about selling your product and more about convincing your customer you are an expert in your industry. The best way to do this is to be the place they turn to for education. Load up your website with tons of articles, reviews, how-tos and advice. It is important you aren't plugging yourself in this content - blatant self promotion makes the content seem less genuine. Just be a resource your users can't live without so they think of you first when they are ready to buy. Because your goal is to keep users coming back, this content must be constantly updated and added to. One way to do this is by incorporating "user generated content" into your website. Things like allowing the users to add comments/reviews, having a forum, giving users the means to blog, etc, can help you grow your content. Just be warned that simply adding this functionality to your website does not mean people will use it. Normally it is a constant campaign to get users to interact - offering them something in return, being very active yourself, promoting your site, etc. This requires a huge time commitment to become successful but the payoff is repeat business and word of mouth recommendations.

Whatever your needs, just remember to define why YOU want a website rather than jump on someone else's bandwagon.