The Internet and Your Business, things to seriously consider…

You can’t stop what is here now and what is next. You are dealing with a new brand of consumer. They do not believe in tradition, establishment or principles. They thrive on expediency and they do not waste their time on websites that are difficult to navigate, look cheap, do not invite them to interact with your business or do not stay contemporary with the latest aesthetic communication tools and technologies.

The number of internet users grew 342.2% between 2000 and 2008 with 1.6 billion people accessing the World Wide Web. You can’t avoid the internet, it’s almost everywhere, even on the latest mobile phones and its only evolving. This is because the Internet is relatively cheap to access, efficient and provides users with immediate international access.

Today, business decisions are no longer reliant on traditional media like print publications, television or walk in. Now, over 83% of people research product evaluations and opinions  online before buying goods while 92.5% of adults said they regularly or occasionally research products online before buying them in a store (Opinion Research Corporation, an infoGROUP company, July 2008; BIGresearch, November 2008).

In the IDC’s 2008 annual report on media consumption it found that internet users spent 32.7 hours per week online, 16.4 hours watching TV and 3.9 hours reading print. This means that average internet users spent 46.32% of their time online compared to 23.23% watching TV and 5.52% reading print such as magazines and newspapers.

The preference toward the internet is governed by the fact it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365(6) days a year and provides users with traditional media as well as allowing them to interact, add and expand upon traditional media. Quite simply the internet provides consumers with immediate sources of information, interaction, communication and entertainment which they control. However, this freedom of communication can be incredibly profitable for businesses which are willing to compete.

Because the web doesn’t have set work hours, holidays or sick leave it is the best, most cost-efficient marketing ammunition businesses have in their artillery to date. But it isn’t as simple as just having a website and this is a key issue many businesses neglect to consider.  For the internet to actually work as a strong growth tool for your business and actually generate revenue streams you have to treat your cyber business like your physical business and utilise people who specialise in the dynamics and aesthetics of website design and online band communication. With today’s web consumers a business that uses a free template or a McPackaged design with bugs will result in bad eWOM (word of mouth) which is harder to recover from than obtaining and sustaining positive eWOM. With the web trust, quality aesthetics and interaction are paramount to success with online businesses losing as many as 67% of consumers due to a lack of business and product information (Allurent, January 2008).

Poor understanding and use of web design, functionality and interactivity damages a business’ profitability online because there are millions of sites exactly the same with the result that consumers either ignore or negatively review the brand. However, business’ can salvage their online reputation and produce growth with help from a web and brand communication company. A good reliable media company will build a strong website and individually stylise your business identity to engage and encourage customers while growing and strengthening the brand. But it requires researching and making an informed decision.

There are key questions and markers you need to look at when assessing the quality of a web designer.  Firstly dig deeper than the first page of Google results. Go browsing businesses in your industry that have a website already and play around with it. Make a list of things you liked and didn’t like and if the company responsible is linked in the footer. Secondly look at prestigious web industry award sites such as the Webby Awards, Interactive Media Awards, Cannes Design Awards and regional web design awards to determine exactly which web design studios are reputable. Thirdly don’t just choose a studio based on their own website, look at their portfolio – look at websites they have created and determine whether the standard of their own site is maintained across sites they have been paid to produce. Fourthly look at what others say about your shortlisted design firms, if the agency lists a testimonial look at the website to decide yourself and then do some checking on forums about the agency and if possible contact the client who gave their testimonial to determine if its valid – you’d be surprised how many “testimonials” are actually falsified with the purpose of making an agency appear spotless, and finally avoid designers that display images of call-centre workers or animated sales people, because it usually is a direct representation of the business core values, if they’re visually displaying or animating someone selling to you then that is all your business is to them, there is no underlying passion or support for your business just a dollar sign.

However, that is the best thing about the internet. It offers you the choice and puts you in charge of the decisions both on a personal and business scale. It simply comes down to how much you value the web as a tool and how your business is represented to the international online community.