Give everyone reasons to return to your site

You are interested in doing business with a local company. So you check out their Web site. This company's Web site design was clearly a creation from the late 1990's, looks amateurish and is so generic you can't tell what services the company actually provides or if the owner is in China.

Game over.

It is a very sad fact that you are better off not having a Web site than having a bad one. Your company's Web site is your front line and should demonstrate your company's level of sophistication.

Get right to the point. Visitors to your Web site should quickly understand who you are and what makes you different from the competition.

Provide a compelling introduction on the home page, outlining what you do and your firm's core values. Then develop throughout the site snapshots of your company's primary competencies and descriptions of the people behind the company.

If permissible in your industry, make your Web site a research tool with case studies or portfolio pieces. For example, a company that designs and constructs luxury homes can legitimize claims of being an imaginative and quality builder with a portfolio of completed homes right on its Web site. A consulting firm that provides crisis management can demonstrate its experience by providing anonymous client case studies detailing how it helped a client manage internal and external communications during a crisis.

You probably want to avoid hiring a non-professional to do your Web site design. Many companies in the region have horror stories of Web sites that never got finished or that can't be updated since the cousin's boyfriend who was hired skipped town. Your company Web site is simply too important to play games.

Since your Web site is often the first impression on a new customer, count on a quality Web developer to leverage tools like flash animation and design with rich images that create a visual medley to accompany the words that describe your company.

Finally, give visitors to your site reasons to come back.

Write a blog with useful tips and advice and post regularly on your site. Write news releases of company news and happenings and create a link to those stories on your home page. If you are in a retail-oriented business, post specials or offers on an ongoing basis and update those offers frequently.

Don't get caught having a Web site that hinders your growth. Make your Web site an asset.

Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a marketing and public relations firm serving the Hudson Valley. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 796-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at focusonmarketing.blogspot.com or visit www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.