Website Basics
by Deborah Rowell, CGWP

How do you continue to build your business in a slow economy? In addition to those "golden" word-of-mouth referrals, how can you keep a steady stream of potential customers calling? What is the best marketing investment for your time and tight budget?

We already know that you understand the value of websites and e-mail contact as you're reading the PRO Force e-mail newsletter and reading this article on the National Lumber website. But have you considered a website for your business? A well planned and simply designed business website can last you for several years. Unless styles drastically change to make the photos of rooms look outdated, or your contact information needs updating, you shouldn't have to update the website very often. After the initial investment for designing and building the website, you'll just have minimal monthly hosting fees, and annual domain name registration fees. We'll touch on this more later.

Is the very thought of a website intimidating? It doesn't have to be. Let's cover the basics and get the ball rolling. You'll find that it feels good to see an online portfolio assembled that gives your business the professional image you deserve.

Today, more and more remodeling customers are doing online research to decide what products they want to buy and who they want to hire to do the work. While word-of-mouth referrals will still be your best source of work, even those who are considering hiring you will be interested in seeing samples of your work. A simple promotional business website can be a marketing tool for referrals and an online portfolio of your work - available for viewing whenever your potential customers want to look. Homeowners who are dreaming and planning for their own project love to look at what others have done for ideas and inspiration.

There is a lot that can be done to enhance the presentation of your information, increase search engine access, and generally make your website more visitor friendly. Let's have an organized plan.

Click on each of the sections below for specific information, or print out the PDF version to have everything together in a 4 page document:

Project Photos

Goals of the Website

Initial Preparations

Functionality

Readability/Usability

Search Engines

We hope that by following these general guidelines you'll find the process less intimidating, and develop a business website that will provide you with a professional appearance to help you grow your business.

Deborah Rowell, Certified Graphics Web Professional, is the Senior Marketing Assistant, Graphic Designer, and Website Designer for National Lumber and its family of companies.