One of the most significant way that IT impacts businesses is through the Internet. Over the last fifteen years or so, the Internet has risen from a plaything of academics to have a central role in the life of many businesses. The question now is not “is the Internet relevant to my business?”, but “how is the Internet relevant to my business?”.
In particular, the Internet can be a critical way in which customers (and potential customers) interact with your business. Of course, some business sectors are more suited to the Internet than others. For example, many people when looking for a new property only search the Internet. Real estate agencies that do not have their properties listed on the Internet are cutting off a huge number of potential buyers – and ultimately sellers, if they become less effective than their competitors at moving properties.
The Internet may not be as central to your business. But businesses that cannot use the Internet in some manner to reach new customers or provide for existing customers are few and far between.
Even if there seems no need for your business to have an Internet presence, it is likely that you should be listed on the many Internet directories that are available. Being listed on relevant directories is the equivalent of a Yellow Pages listing – it helps people find you. Many people simply do not use the traditional means of finding a business any more. The Internet is their exclusive way of finding what they need – and if your business is not listed in some way, it will not even register.
However most business will need at least a website to advertise their presence to the Internet world. Many more will engage in some form of e-commerce with their customers – goods or services will be made available via their website and often monetary transactions will be made on-line.
The simplest website is simply an electronic brochure that details the company's products, services, and contact details (which generally will include an email address). On its own, of course, it is of little value. How will potential customers find it? Will they be attracted by what they see?
This is where Internet search engines come into play. Websites such as Google (www.google.com) and Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) provide search engines that users enter their search terms into. The search engine produces a list of websites relevant to the search terms – generally many thousands of them. If your website is in the top few dozen, preferably the top ten, you will get people visiting your website.
Search engine optimization – the process of getting your website into the top few results for particular search terms (called 'key words') is an industry of its own. It is often worth paying a specialist to optimize your site for search engine results – it can make a huge difference. They can manipulate website pages to maximize their position in search engine results.
Many businesses opt for more sophisticated websites. They may provide regular updates on company news, on-line discussion forums so that their customers can discuss their products and services, and e-commerce capabilities – so that customers can purchase their products on-line.
As a website's complexity increases, costs increase dramatically. A simple site based on a company brochure may cost less than $1000 to develop. Expect to pay many thousands of dollars for a site that has an extensive product catalogue and allows customers to purchase on-line. And the more complex a website, the more expensive it is to maintain. For example, product catalogues must be kept up to date. Products that are no longer available must be removed, and prices may need to be changed daily.
Note that the above implicitly assumes that you are paying professionals to build your website. This is generally the best approach. Unless you have professionals in-house who have a track record in developing websites, this is something you should outsource to people who know how. You really don't want your IT department learning how to develop websites while developing your own. The end result may not be attractive and functional, and will probably be a long way off. Amateurish looking websites don't attract customers.
If you are outsourcing, ensure that regular maintenance is under your control. You don't want to have to pay to modify product catalogues, for example, or update the company news. The website developers should be required to deliver a system that permits you to do everyday tasks.
In addition to website development costs, the site must be hosted somewhere – the web pages and data that comprises your site must be on a computer connected to the Internet. Web hosting normally will include provision of email accounts as well as web pages. Generally, it is best for this to be outsourced to a reliable web hosting company. For simple sites that don't expect much traffic (i.e. hundreds of page views a day or less), this is relatively inexpensive. For sites that receive many thousands of page views a day or more, it may become more expensive. More page views (a page views is when a user views a page on your site) mean more data is transferred from your site and this costs money. And the more crucial your website is to your business, the more you will need to pay for reliability and security. If your website is not available for a day, consider how much business you might lose. If it is significant, don't skimp on website hosting. It is best to use a web hosting company that is recommended by others – and search on the Internet for reviews and complaints. An unreliable hosting company can cause you a lot of grief, and lose your company a lot of money. Usually, you get what you pay for. If you are paying $US 4.99 a month, don't expect a great deal from your provider.
An important part of website hosting is backups. This should be part of your hosting agreement – the web hosting company should be making daily backups, particularly if the website is dynamic (e.g. product catalogue that changes regularly). Copies of backups should be obtained regularly in case the hosting company is not as reliable as they claim. In fact, you should never soley trust your hosting company to do this.
Security is an important consideration. If websites are not secured properly, they can be easily hacked and defaced. Even worse, if credit card numbers are stored on the site, they can be stolen. Again, use professionals when it comes to security. Generally, your web hosting provider will leave security up to you - they won't take much responsibility themselves. If your site is hacked, you may be on your own. If important information is stored on your site, get a security audit of your website, and make sure the recommendations are applied. Better still, don't keep important information on your website – or if you do, make sure it is only there temporarily. Having an entire year's worth of customer credit card numbers stored on your website is asking for trouble.
The Internet presents many opportunities to businesses, large and small. Mega-corporations such as Google, Ebay, Yahoo and Amazon have taken only a decade to emerge, and are now vastly profitable and worth billions. Millions of businesses have made the Internet a key part of their business strategy, and this probably includes your competitors. If you don't have an Internet presence, it is time to start asking if you should.