Small Town Website Must Haves
I’ve recently moved to a very small town outside of Yosemite National Park. The town is so small that we even have our own local telephone company and ISP. Even though I’m still in California, I get the feeling that not everyone in town understands the internet as well as they should. Many of the small businesses in town don’t even have websites, which is a shame, because so much of the local revenue is generated from tourism. Those that do, unfortunately, aren’t as complete as they should be. Some don’t even have the bare minimum of information that a local business website should offer.
Every local website should include:
- Full name
- A description of what the business actually does. If it’s a restaurant with an attached bar tell me so, don’t make me guess.
- A telephone number and email address (that is actually checked and responded to)
- Your street address and textual description of where you’re located. 124-B 8th Street does me less good than ‘At the corner of 8th and Bullion Streets between the auto parts store and the bank.’
- A map is always handy, too.
- A photo of your business from the street
- Does your business sell specific brands? If so, list them. There are at least three hardware stores in town and they all sell different brands of chainsaws. I always forget which one is which, and it’d be handy to be able to figure it out before I have to visit all three.
- Extra Credit: A photograph of the owner. I always like to know when I’m talking to the owner and not just another employee.
What else does a small business website need? Do you have any recommendations?
This post was inspired by Beck McCray’s Checklist for your business website.
Scott Quitter on January 26th, 2009 8:43 pm
Dane,
My wife and I were just talking about this recently. We live in a larger city then you and even most of our city’s businesses don’t have websites. Those that do, same as you said in your post, are not complete or are not updated regularly. It’s amazing.
Cheers,
Scott Quitter
@scottquitter (Twitter)
Becky McCray on January 26th, 2009 8:57 pm
Dane, you nailed it. Including a text description, like “Ninth at Main” or “Across from the fire station,” is ten times better than a just listing a street address.
Thanks for building on this idea.
W^L+ (Walt Hucks) on January 27th, 2009 10:47 am
I disagree, actually. In most communities, the liquor store on the corner is not going to gain any business by being on the Web. Other than having a little listing in a directory site, all this would do is distract the business owner from what he or she really needs to be doing.
Also, if a business owner is already overwhelmed, an e-mail address listed on a public Web site is only going to make things worse. For most businesses, there will be almost no e-mail inquiries from potential customers, but tons of spam and computer-infecting trojans sent through said e-mail address.
Going on the Web is a choice that should be made in full consideration of its impacts or lack thereof on the business. If a site is just there as a “me too” thing, skip it and make sure you’re listed in superpages.com and industry-specific or location-specific directory sites instead.
Dane on January 27th, 2009 11:03 am
Walt, good point about the email address being harvested for spam.
Perhaps a better solution would be a contact form.
Becky McCray on January 27th, 2009 11:27 am
Walt, I agree with your points that not every business needs to be online, and that each business should weigh it as a business decision.
But when you said the liquor store on the corner is not going to gain any business, I had to jump back in. I know my little liquor store has gained business, significant business, from our website. And I was surprised by how much it has generated for us. Just sharing my own experience.
Jaclyn on January 27th, 2009 3:07 pm
That is a very good point. I think even the smallest business should have a website. it doesn’t take that much up keep for the smallest website, so i don’t see where it would deter away from business duties due to checking the website. maybe on the site they can offer a section of suggestion’s or comments welcomed (to see if there is anything the public feel’s their store is missing). also…hour’s of operation listed is alway’s handy so people know when to go there especially if they are out of towners googling the store.
cassy on January 28th, 2009 10:26 pm
for me small or big town web site is playing a big rule specially in business and in goverment agency! its really important to have a web site!
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