By Becky Michael, Presidnt of Blackhorse Graphics

It can often be difficult to understand the ins and outs of web sites. Do you really need one? Is it worth the investment? Will you be happy with the one you spend money on? How can you tell if you’re using the right company to design and develop one for you?

At Blackhorse Graphics, we pride ourselves in helping businesses with their web sites and other graphic design needs in a cost-effective and timely fashion. Here are some questions I posed to Jeff Fletcher, our web site developer, to help you select the company you trust to build a new, or change your current, site.

Q. Will having a web site help my business and why?

Jeff: In this day and age, it is safe to assume that every business will benefit from a web presence. Whether it be a full content management system with e-commerce to sell your products or just an information page where your traffic can contact you, the credibility of a business relies on a well-formed, easy-to-navigate web site. It’s also important to have an email address at your domain name. Businesses shouldn’t operate with email addresses ending in @aol.com, @msn.com or @hotmail.com. Any legitimate business will have their own domain with their own
email addresses.

Q. Do I need to spend a lot of money to have an effective web site?

Jeff: The answer is “no.” Although a more robust and expensive web site will obviously aid in getting new traffic and keeping current traffic on the site longer, sometimes simplicity is key. Good, professional design will give your company credibility, even on the most simplistic and minimal site. Often, people on the internet have very little patience for navigating through page after page to find what they are looking for, so making your site as simple and direct as it can be should always be a priority.

Q .How do I know if my web site is working for me?

Jeff: It’s important to use analytic software to keep track of the visits and the time spent by visitors. It not only helps you find out where people are coming from to get to your site, but will aid in determining where you are excelling or lacking in your advertising. You can track things like unique visitors, time spent on the site, locale, and how they found your site on the web. The best tracking software out there is free and is from Google called Google Analytics.

Q. Is there a way for me to update my own web site?

Jeff: Yes. Currently I would expect nothing less from a web site. There are many different content management systems that can be quickly put in place and customized to match your businesses needs. With business changing at the rate that it does these days, it’s important for a company’s site to be constantly updated. It should also be able to grow with the company and have a constant stream of fresh information. This aids in good search engine placement too. Content management systems allow you to update your own site in an easy manner and eliminate the recurring cost of a web designer.

Q. My web site is old. Should I keep updating it or have a new one built?

Jeff: Most likely you should have a new one built. For many years sites were built in HTML. It was a great platform in the beginning; however it’s just not feasible for a good site to be built in HTML now. Almost all web sites are going the way of PHP and MySQL. This allows your site to interact with a database which, in turn, makes it possible for it to be easily updated.

Q. Is e-commerce a good way to get my product out to more prospective customers?

Jeff: E-commerce is a fantastic way to get your product out to new markets that are not local and to people who would otherwise not know of you. It has become much easier to put your products online and sell to far larger marketplaces than ever before. The only downfall with e-commerce is the upkeep of the store. If you’re considering selling your products online, be prepared to spend time keeping up with shipping, inventory, payment gateways and emails. Once you start an online store you have to be dedicated to keeping it running, so it’s not a decision to take lightly. But, if you have the time and the ambition to keep up with it, it can be very lucrative.

Please visit our site, blackhorsegraphics.com, to see the web sites on which we’ve worked and the other types of work we do. Contact Becky or Jeff at Blackhorse Graphics with any other questions you may have. We’re here to help!

Blackhorse Graphics
1 Blackhorse Lane
Media, PA 19063
610-565-8865
becky@blackhorsegraphics.com
or
jeff@blackhorsegraphics.com