The Importance of Having A Web Presence
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Written by Renee C. Quinn Chief Operating Officer, IPWatchdog, Inc. B.S. Pennsylvania State University M.B.A. University of Phoenix Posted: March 13, 2010 @ 5:00 pm Page viewed 7,236 times 
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When you want to learn about a new business, the latest news, the upcoming weather or the current sales at your favorite store, what is the first thing you do? In today’s technologically savvy times, majority of all people asked this question would probably answer it the same way; they turn to the Internet. Computer prices have dropped significantly since the inception of the home personal computer and now most homes, schools and libraries now have computers. When we want to find out more about a company, now we simply go to our favorite search engine and search for the company by name. But how often do you find that the company you are looking to learn more about still does not have an Internet presence through a website of their own? When you go to business networking functions, do you still receive business cards only to find they have email address ending in @hotmail.com or the like? In today’s business world it is hard to fathom just how many businesses still do not have a web presence.
A website is a fairly inexpensive business tool that serves a purpose for both the business and its audience. For the business, having a website is a relatively inexpensive and easily attainable way to advertise you and your business. The Internet is a also a great source for new business that you would not otherwise have access to through traditional means of advertising. Obtaining an appropriate domain name for your business no longer comes with a large price tag. In fact, you can obtain a domain name from Register.com or GoDaddy.com, which is becoming ever more popular due to their Danika Patrick Go Daddy Girl Commercials. You can even obtain domain names for less at other places, but make sure that you do not tie yourself into a long term web hosting service contract in exchange for a super low price. In some cases where extremely low prices are offered you may find you do not own the domain name, but are just renting it.
Web Hosting
Speaking of web hosting, I did a little research on the Internet, of all places, on which web hosting companies seem to rank the highest. I found many “Top 10 Web Hosting” lists and many reviews from independent users. Although we do not use them, what came up consistently as the #1 or #2 Web Hosting Company is JustHost.com. On their website they claim to have “Fast, reliable, web hosting at an affordable price with secure servers, and 24/7 technical support.” They are running a promotion right now for $3.45 per month hosting cost. What I like most about their service is that they offer an “Anytime Money Back Guarantee”, Unlimited GBs of space and transfer and a free site builder service as well. This company sounds as if they are suited to those just building their websites for the first time.
However, if like us, your needs are greater and you wish to have your own server with which to store your website, we use a company called GlowHost.com. GlowHost also offers relatively inexpensive web hosting packages, starting at $4.99 a month. Years ago we started out with one of their lower priced packages and it didn’t take long for it to no longer serve our purposes. We initially selected GlowHost because they, like many other web hosts, have many hosting packages to choose from, and when a shared server is no longer able to keep up with your growing site you can move up to a virtual private server (VPS) or eventually to a dedicated server, with many levels to choose from there as well. At IPWatchdog we have a managed dedicated server, GlowHost manages the technical stuff and also is available for consulting on an hourly basis when necessary. Their dedicated server prices are extremely competitive. So if you think your business has a lot of Internet growth potential, or your current business is growing rapidly on the Internet, you should probably give GlowHost at least some consideration.
Choosing a Domain Name
When you choose your domain name, you will want to choose it wisely! Choose a name that is descriptive of what you do. In fact, if you can get a domain name that includes your company’s name, such as IPWatchdog.com, that is best and what most likely will be the first thing your prospective audience will search for. You may also want to purchase different common misspellings of your domain name if you can, especially pluralities of it, such IPWatchdogs.com. You may also want to consider similar names that unscrupulous competitors might want to take, such as TheIPWatchdog.com, IPWatchdogBlog.com, IPWatchdogOnline.com and MyIPWatchdog.com, for example. And just for the record, we own all those and a few more, so we practice what we preach!
You don’t have to create a website for each and every alternative domain name, you can simply redirect folks that type in these domain names to your main web page. This will not only make sure folks looking for you find you, but will also prevent your competitors from purchasing these other domain names and directing your traffic to their own websites. It happens, I’ve seen it firsthand, and there are many legal battles waged over just such behavior.
Choose a domain name that you plan to stick with because as long as you keep your registration current the domain name is yours to keep. Once you have a purchased your domain and set up your website, you can list your website address on your business cards, fliers and pamphlets, bulletin boards, and even your company vehicle you drive around in each day.
Web Presence
Your website can also be a great money saving tool for your company as well. Space on a website is significantly less expensive than full color print and therefore gives you the ability to show more, for less. For example, whether you sell a tangible product or services, you can feature an electronic catalog on your website, with no limit on size. You can describe all of your products and services in greater detail because space is not limited based on price as normal print advertising would be. Perhaps the most important money saving aspect of an online catalog is if you need to make a change, such as if you delete or add products or services, you have the ability to make the necessary changes at no additional costs rather than needing to reprint all of your printed marketing materials. Not to mention, with a website there is less need to send out expensive mailings that are often thrown away without ever being looked at.
By having a web presence, you expand your market significantly. You make yourself available to people in other time zones and even across the globe rather than limiting yourself to the market audience you can reach in your local geographical area and at a fraction of the cost!
Now think of this, what is it that people look for most nowadays? Convenience! We all lead very busy lives when you consider the commitment of career and family, so when shopping around most people look for convenience and ease. They want to do things when it’s convenient for them, where it’s convenient for them and how it’s convenient for them. With a website, your audience will have the convenience of reading about your company and the services and products you offer on their own time when they want to, making their stay on your site more likely to lead to sales.
It may be unrealistic for you to have hours of operation 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. However, having an internet presence essentially gives your audience access to your business as if you do. Again, it’s a matter of convenience. Your audience does not want to wait for you to open. By including a “Contact Us” link on your website, you give your customers additional accessibility to you when it is convenient to them. They can come to your site to learn all about your company and what you have to offer after dinner, after they put the kids to bed, on the weekends, etc yet still have the ability to put in an inquiry to you even when you are not “in the office”. Your website gives you the ability to go more in depth about what you and your company does, so you can feature multiple tabs on your site with greater details about the different aspects of your company, products and services. You can even provide directions to your place of business, making it easier for customers to find you.
Another important aspect of having an Internet presence is that the Internet offers advertising that is more targeted to a specific audience. The clients who visit your website are there because they have a specific interest in your company’s product or service, which you can use to your advantage. Offer a newsletter or sales flier that your readers can “Subscribe” to which you can send to them via e-mail. By collecting e-mail addresses from willing visitors to your website you can stay in contact with them without having to pay for printing or postage.
Conclusion
Whether you are a small business owner, inventor, entrepreneur, artist, author, musician, band, doctor or veterinary hospital you need a website. Increasingly people are turning to the Internet to find information, and if you don’t have a presence on the Internet you will not only be making it more difficult for people to find you, but you will miss out on so many opportunities for new business. If you want to make a good first impression a website is a great place to start!
Stay tuned for my continuation of this discussion with a series of posts on The Importance of Using Social Networking Websites.
About the Author
Renee C. Quinn is the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Marketing for IPWatchdog, Inc. Renee has been working with IPWatchdog, Inc. since April of 2006. Her primary responsibilities include interfacing with inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is also in charge of accounts receivable, work on developing marketing campaigns and is responsible for coordinating outside vendors in a project managing capacity. Renee acquired a Masters of Business Administration with her course work focusing on e-Commerce and e-Business, with an emphasis on marketing via the World Wide Web. Her particular career focus to date has been on business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing. You can follow Renee on Twitter at IPWatchdog_Too.
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Posted in: Business, IP News, IPWatchdog.com Blog, Internet, Renee Quinn
Good advice all the way around.
I would also suggest the following:
1. As long as you have (and use) the critically-important (especially in the U.S.) .com tld (top level domain)–also at least register (and re-direct to your actual site) address the .net, .org, .info, and .us tlds. While few type / use these when looking for a company; given their low prices; they’re low-cost insurance.
Those who’s business is entirely or primarily not U.S. based should consider using / also registering the country codes applicable to their countries of operation; i.e. .de for Germany.
2. Register any hyphenated versions as well. These are surprisingly popular in some of the countries outside the U.S., and–used properly–can be helpful with the search engines. Using a mythical firm named Knox Goldman Walsh as an example, they should register Knox-GoldMan-Walsh.com (though I wouldn’t personally bother with hyphenated versions in the other tlds; at least as long as you’ve got the .com version).
The firm behind “IP-Contingency-Lawyer.com” ; one of the advertisers here; is another example of this use (though I personally would not use the hyphenated version in advertising because it makes it harder for many to remember; i.e. than IPContingencyLawyer.com.
Nice article. One thing to remember is when you go to the “Top Ten” sites, these rankings are rarely based on customer satisfaction.
The Top 10 hosts are ordered by the owner of the site by which host’s affiliate program pays him the most money. Or, they are paid slots, in which the host that pays the most money for the ad is in the top slot.
In some cases the Top 10 sites are owned by a hosting company and they will put their brand or brands in the top slots and then affiliate or paid ads for their competitors in lower ranks so that they appear to be a better host, and then also take money from their competitor’s affiliate program so it is win/win for the host that owns the site.
By far it is better to google a host’s name and look for comments on reputable sites like this one who are not specifically aiming to promote web hosts by their perceived ranking as a “best host.”
Though caution must be used using this method too as many hosts also understand that many customers know the Top 10 game, and so to compensate they will pay for articles in unrelated sites as well.
Caveot emptor!
[...] this link: The Importance of Having A Web Presence | IPWatchdog.com | Patents … Posted in Web | Tags: business, business-tool, for-people, making-it-more, more-difficult, [...]
Web presence goes beyond having a website. The ability to search or find useful organized information on your website is part of having a presence. An even bigger and more practical element is offering users a way to reach someone and obtain more information. Responding to email, as difficult as that is, is part of a site’s web presence. If email is never answered or phone calls don’t reach anyone, “presence” is diminished.
For hosting, I also like Dreamhost.
Good resource for finding domain names is Domize.com.
“Digital intellectual assets” are often given little consideration by many companies until too late. Domain names should be pursued aggressively and early. It’s also helpful to lock up trademarks in popular services by obtaining control over your names in Gmail accounts, YouTube channels, Twitter user names, etc.
Very timely blog post, by the way. Thanks!!
Thank you , Renee! A very good article!
A few recommendations from a pro,
Don’t use GoDaddy.com for anything! They are a terrible host and only lure people in with their sexy ads and seemingly good deals. I generally agree with the comments from “web hosting.”
Buy your domain names from the same company as your hosting provider, unless you know what you are doing in order to re-direct them. The convenience of having it configured for you and being able to use their tools is usually worth an extra dollar or two. Register.com isn’t bad if you want to go it alone.
Make a list of the features you want and consult an expert to find out what you actually need and how much it is going to cost. Anything more than a basic online flier is probably going to require you to hire somebody and that costs money. A professional with good reviews should be able to take you specs, make an estimate, recommend a host, set up everything for you and do all the work. Of course, you get what you pay for in this regard. A good place to look for people is: http://www.rentacoder.com
Websites can be everything from do it yourself myspace pages to full blown internet apps with teams of developers and designers, so do your research first and figure out what you need, want, and can afford.
[...] way to advertise yourself and your business for free or at a very low cost. In my last article The Importance of Having a Web Presence I talked about utilizing the Internet via a website of your own, in order to expand your reach, [...]
-Steve M Marsh,
Thank you so much for your added suggestions. You are correct that the other addresses such as .net, .info and .org ar also important to think about. Particularly depending upon what your industry is. People may assume so when you are looking for a domain, you need to try and consider the assumptions of others. Hyphens and underscores also should be considered. Again that you for your input and thank you so much for reading IPWatchdog.
-Renee
-Web Hosting,
Thank you for reading IPWatchdog and adding commentary to the discussion. I agree that majority of the “Top 10″ type sites are solely at the discretion of those making the list. However, from my years in the Mental Health field, research clearly shows that you can get a pretty good synopsis of the general feeling within the industry if you get a large enough sampling. Rest assured that it is for this very reason that I did my homework and researched the topic thoroughly looking for a clear sampling from those in the industry as well as reviews of these services. I looked for as many “Top 10″ lists that I could find on this very topic. I used a sampling of more than 20 lists and looking for trends, took my data from all of the lists and reviews in my sample. Consistency is key.
Again thank you for reading and we appreciate your taking the time to add your insight.
-Renee
pop-
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your thoughts and input. I recommended go daddy.com for domain name purchasing and not web hosting, because we have purchased domain names from there for years. We have not had any issues with our service through them, although we don’t dispute that there are probably others who have. I agree though, it is important to do your research. I tell people every day to “Do your homework.” No matter who you choose to work with, including us, it is important that you research and make sure you are not getting into a situation you are not comfortable in, you cannot get out of or that is inflexible.
-Renee
You’re certainly welcome, Renee.
Glad to help such an excellent IP info & advice/recommendation site/service. Can’t believe I didn’t know about IPWatchdog.com until just recently. I visit almost daily now; often a couple times/day.
A couple more thoughts for this string:
For anyone in any industry/field/profession looking for a very nice yet very affordable, template-based, easy-to-use site, take a look at what 1and1.com has recently started offering; starting for less than $20/month.
Also; never let anyone but “you” (the business owner) register your domains. There have been many, many cases (I’m sure many of your readers already know this) where company owners have had their web designer(s), host companies, etc register the domains in their own names; only to be held hostage down the road if the biz owner ever changes their site service providers.
And be sure to register/renew your domains for the full number of years allowed; 10 years in the case of .com; and keep an accurate, most used e-mail address for notices from your domain registrar. 1,000’s of companies have their domains expire every year due to these two common problems.
Steve-
Another excellent point. Many people do choose to renew their domain names each year but can loose site of that as each year passes. It is a great idea to renew for as long a period as you can. But with that, I suggest that you add a calendar entry about 6 months before the next renewal date so that it is not something that is missed.
We are glad to hear that you enjoy our site and visit frequently. WEe hope you are sharing the siote with others who you feel will benefit as well.
Renee