Comments on: The #1 Problem With Small Business Websites

By: Kikolani

Kikolani — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:00:57 +0000

These are good points. Small business owners especially should realize how important it is to have an outstanding website. If for no other reason, a professional website will give future clients confidence in their product or services.

~ Kristi

By: Jannie Funster

Jannie Funster — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:56:03 +0000

Sterling – I think my site’s unique? There is not a lot of competition for strange songs and such – I can name my own market, I guess. Be as weird as I wish.

And I want to thank you very much for your recent comment on my uke song / video. I hope you will learn to play yours too — your two sound like beautiful instruments! As I mentioned in my response to you, now that I am out of “the institution,” I can maybe get some strings on mine!

By: Ribeezie

Ribeezie — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:07:54 +0000

I especially like #1. I’ve seen so many people put up a website for the sake of putting up a website and it can’t be done that way. It has to be polished and ready for presentation. I mean c’mon, we all know first impressions matter! I mean, you wouldn’t show up to a business meeting wearing shorts & a t-shirt would you? So don’t hit that publish button until the site is absolutely ready to go!

By: Sterling Okura

Sterling Okura — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:44:40 +0000

@John Hoff – You bring up a good point with the generational gap. I think it is harder for people who have been used to doing business a certain way for decades to adjust to doing business online. Thank you for dropping by.

@Mike McMahon – I agree, first impressions make a big difference in closing sales. Content is great way to deliver value to visitors and establish your self as an authority in your niche. Thank you for your comment.

By: Mike McMahon

Mike McMahon — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:57:13 +0000

Great post. You only get one chance to make a first impression and many times it’s your website doing it for you. They call this the information age for a reason websites should be resources of great content and yet very few even bother to provide content for their visitors.

By: John Hoff - eVentureBiz

John Hoff - eVentureBiz — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:33:15 +0000

Sterling, this is so true. I have a cousin who’s an entrepreneur and owned a business for awhile, wasn’t very educated in things online, and slapped up some stock template boring corporate website for his company.

He paid no attention to cosmetics and usability to it. Instead, he paid big advertising $$ on radio ads which ultimately cost him his business (he wouldn’t listen to my advice about growing his business online – he’s stubborn).

I think this is a big problem with many entrepreneurs, especially the baby boomers and before generation. They are use to doing things a certain way and as entrepreneurs, many times they can get thick headed and think they know everything.

In today’s world, advertising offline is fine, but a powerful website is what greatly improves the chances of winning over the client. Create a boring and hard to navigate website, you just lost a customer.

By: Sterling Okura

Sterling Okura — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:54:16 +0000

@Jimmy – Thanks for stopping by. I’ve been busy working on some projects, one of them MMA related. I’ll keep you posted on that, and will be linking to your site.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:39:02 +0000

Sterling,

Great great great article, it seems to me a lot of small businesses either have a website just to have one or just ignore having one all together. It’s funny to see sites that are just not user accessible and are flat out ugly (not to say that I could do a better job or anything).

I really like your 4th point and having a blog is great. I feel that small businesses should establish a blog with helpful free content and fresh news. Chances are someone will find useful content and most likely buy the service.

Wonderful article, hope to see you post more! By the way, haven’t seen you twittering much, busy with work?

-Jimmy / mmafight

By: Sterling Okura

Sterling Okura — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:34:02 +0000

@Vered – Good point. A few years ago the #1 problem with small business websites is that they didn’t have one. Thank you for commenting.

@Barbara – Thank you. It was fun to design.

@Cath – That it is a great description of a mindset that contributes to the problem. Small business owners were told they had to be listed in the phone book, so they were. Now they’re told they have to be listed on the internet, so they are. If they’re not planning on getting leads online, then they probably won’t until they change their mindset.

By: Cath Lawson

Cath Lawson — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:41:03 +0000

Hi Sterling – I’m so glad you mentioned this. I’ve spoken to so many business owners who have some crappy website that does nothing for their business. When I ask them why they bothered at all – they always say they’re not planning to get any work from the site, but they were told that they needed a web presence. It’s crazy.

Having a blog is great advice, if they have someone who is willing to work on it. And I’ll be checking out the other tools you mentioned too. Thanks.