My simple answer is that if you are in business you better have a web site – and it should be good – and yes,  you will need to update it or pay someone to update it. It doesn’t have to have a million pages to be good.  Here are just a few of the  reasons for having a website I bring up when I hear the crazy – to me – statement ” We don’t need a website!”

1. Do you have more business then you know what to do with?

2. Are highly qualified employee applicants lining up at your door – and begging to get in?

3. Does your phone ring off the hook? Only to find out that your staff is answering the same question over and over and over – “What time do you close?”

… there are several more, but this is a start – keep reading for the answers

Answers:

1. Most companies are looking for new business and a website will help you reach several market segments you have been unable to reach before. Believe it or not people are searching for your product and service right now on the web. If you want the statistics then contact me and give us a few key words associated with your industry and I”ll tell you how many searches are made per month, per year, regionally, nationally, internationally

2. When you are trying to hire well for your company having a solid, helpful web site with info on employment is powerfully important. You interview them but they interview you. Applicants are smart and they want to know more about the company they are applying to. They want to feel like the company is solid, dependable, probably friendly. Companies with better web sites can hire better from stock clerk to contractor all the way to CFO. We have set up systems so clients can post jobs and take applications online – how much money do you think  that saves?

3. Phone calls from your existing clients are good, but they can take up a lot of time. For lots of our clients we suggest and implement adding more info to their web sites. We can add “How To” manuals, and basic forms to download and
fill out before visiting. Even having simple info like hours of operation on your website can cut down on nuisance phone calls. Don’t you have more important things for your staff to be doing?

And believe it or not I have people who ask why they need a blog – but I guess you might be able to answer that question if you have read this far.

This is unfortunate, because that 17% is missing out on a whole new world of interactivity, design aesthetics, functionality, speed, security, and quite frankly, I can’t understand why.

Internet Explorer 6 has been criticized by web standards experts, internet security firms, and designers since it’s launch in 2001.

In June 2004, the U.S. Government’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) urged readers to use ANY browser other than IE6, because of security flaws. Read the article here.

As of 2009, the security firm, Secunia, counted 142 vulnerabilities, of which 22 remained unfixed.  Some of these 22 are classified as moderately critical in security. Read the article here.

In 2005, PC World magazine rated IE6 as one of the 25 worst tech products OF ALL TIME.  This list is going back 30 years.  The list included some older products, but also included AOL and Windows Me, which turned out to be a complete dud.

On top of all the security flaws prevalent in IE6, there is much criticism from web designers and web standards experts regarding the functionality of IE6.

The problem is that IE6 does not support CSS2, unlike most browsers.  This means that developers must write hacks and other coding workarounds to ensure proper display.  This means a longer turnaround time and extra costs that are then passed on to the client.

Jeff Zeldman, author and leading web standards guru says

“IE6 is the new Netscape 4. The hacks needed to support IE6 are increasingly viewed as excess freight. Like Netscape 4 in 2000, IE6 is perceived to be holding back the web.”

IE6 does not support transparent PNG files, which are smooth transparent images, that allow for shading and depth on a web page.  Designers must include hacks that display less attractive transparent GIF files that leave a choppy, hard edged outline.  This option certainly lends itself to a less  fulfilling web experience.

Even social networking leader, Facebook, has decided their users using IE6 will receive an inferior user experience, by not allowing many features when using IE6.  They bluntly explain why, and encourage the user to upgrade their browser.

The thing that escapes me the most is the reasons for not upgrading your browser.  Aside from some large institutions and government bureaucracies, that require certain software that will only run on IE6, there isn’t much reason for a normal user to stay with such an antiquated piece of software.

Imagine you got a car in 2001 (internet explorer 6).  This car was comparable to other cars at the time.  It wasn’t the fanciest, it wasn’t the most secure, but there weren’t many other options, and it got the job done.

Now, imagine five years later, you were offered a brand new car. This car was fancier, quicker, safer, and it was FREE (internet explorer 7). You decided to turn it down.

After nearly ten years, you were offered a newer, faster, even more secure car, with side impact air bags and anti-lock brakes, all wheel drive, and stability control (Mozilla Firefox 3)… Completely free. But still, you turned this car down for your ten year old jalopy that was falling apart, had proven safety issues, and frankly was ugly as sin.

The logic escapes me.

As an IE6 user, you may not even know what you’re missing out on.  But, do yourself a favor, download a newer browser.  One of my personal favorites is Mozilla Firefox, an open source browser with lots of add-ons and extras. Google Chrome is a new kid on the block.  If neither of those entice you, you may want to try Microsoft’s replacement for IE6, IE7 here.  However, you shouldn’t get attached to IE7 too long, because version 8 was just released.

Trust us folks, you’ll be happy you did.

So many people think that “if we build it” then it will market itself and “they will come” – that people will come to the site simply because it exists online. We can load the site with meta data and have all of the key words in the right places and have the best CSS programming and the most optimized graphics, but that only gets you so far. The truth is, some sites can market themselves, especially in the short term, but you need a long-range plan to market a site ongoing.

When we design and code sites they are optimized for search engines like Yahoo! and Google and most of our new sites do very well in Search Engine ranking in the first few weeks, but if there are no ongoing updates, web marketing, viral marketing, traditional marketing (like outdoor media, radio or print campaign), blogging or key word bidding that bring activity to the site it will soon only be found in the nether world of search engines.

We put a lot of effort into getting to know the people we work for, and because of this, we often take accomplishing their goals personally. So, we go to great lengths to make sure they don’t throw their brand marketing dollars at fancy stuff that doesn’t work for them. So I like to say that “If we build it – they will come…however you have to show it lots of love and attention if you want it to help you make more money and reach your brand community.”