is a website worth it?

[tonygreek]

i think you guys seem to have missed my use of the term "subjective". anything, if done well, is better than nothing. if it's a stereo-typical freebee, and done poorly, it's counter-productive.

if someone says they'll give you free flyers to hand out for your business, and they are bright red paper with illegible flourescent orange text, would you give them out since they were free or do you think it might be counter-productive and turn off potential customers? that's my point. free websites are often times done by the business owner, who probably knows jack about putting together a decent site. case in point is one person asked for a critique of their site on here. half-a-dozen or more people chimed in with "great site!". odds are, each was on a broadband connection because every single image, including the menu graphics, and lco logo were over 500k. 1.6+ meg worth of that stuff on the intro page alone. took me more than 10 minutes to open page 1 on my test dial-up. it's been well over a month since that critique, and it's still the same. is that productive, or counter-productive? yes, he does have a site, however...

tony

[Up North]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

i think you guys seem to have missed my use of the term "subjective". anything, if done well, is better than nothing. if it's a stereo-typical freebee, and done poorly, it's counter-productive.

if someone says they'll give you free flyers to hand out for your business, and they are bright red paper with illegible flourescent orange text, would you give them out since they were free or do you think it might be counter-productive and turn off potential customers? that's my point. free websites are often times done by the business owner, who probably knows jack about putting together a decent site. case in point is one person asked for a critique of their site on here. half-a-dozen or more people chimed in with "great site!". odds are, each was on a broadband connection because every single image, including the menu graphics, and lco logo were over 500k. 1.6+ meg worth of that stuff on the intro page alone. took me more than 10 minutes to open page 1 on my test dial-up. it's been well over a month since that critique, and it's still the same. is that productive, or counter-productive? yes, he does have a site, however...

tony

I understand what you're saying Tony. I wouldn't be doing my own website, don't know jack about it and don't have the time to deal with it. A website, an employee, a flyer, etc. all are an extension of your company. It has to represent you in a positive manner. That's why I asked some of these questions...is it worth it? I don't want some crappy site because customers will think that is the kind of work you'll do for them. A crappy site can be cheap or from what I've seen in the past pretty expensive as well. So it really boils down to the people putting it together and their knowlege.

Bottom line, I don't know that I've been convinced enough that having a website is going to be a huge asset to me yet. Still need to think this over a bit.

Buck

[mdvaden]

Here is another way to look at it - I don't know if I can convince you that it is worth it.

But most of us with decent websites realize that lacking a website is more of a detriment than a gain.

In other words, if you don't have a website; that's a fact. You don't have a website.

Even if it only got you one job per year, that would pay for the domain and hosting of about $100 per year give or take.

[tiedeman]

I had a great website for years, paid to have it in searches, updated it daily with loads and loads of information, yet I found it not to be a great marketing tool at all. Maybe it was my experience.

[Carolina Cutter]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

i think you guys seem to have missed my use of the term "subjective". anything, if done well, is better than nothing. if it's a stereo-typical freebee, and done poorly, it's counter-productive.

if someone says they'll give you free flyers to hand out for your business, and they are bright red paper with illegible flourescent orange text, would you give them out since they were free or do you think it might be counter-productive and turn off potential customers? that's my point. free websites are often times done by the business owner, who probably knows jack about putting together a decent site. case in point is one person asked for a critique of their site on here. half-a-dozen or more people chimed in with "great site!". odds are, each was on a broadband connection because every single image, including the menu graphics, and lco logo were over 500k. 1.6+ meg worth of that stuff on the intro page alone. took me more than 10 minutes to open page 1 on my test dial-up. it's been well over a month since that critique, and it's still the same. is that productive, or counter-productive? yes, he does have a site, however...

tony

Are you talking about me? I don't have any problems opening any of the pics or viewing any of the site from any dialup connection. My site has been productive....I have already gained a customer from it. So...my "subjective" thinking is that it does work no matter your opinion.

[tonygreek]

nothing in that post indicated that was regarding your site, merlin, nor did i critique your site. you didn't ask for one.

[Carolina Cutter]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

nothing in that post indicated that was regarding your site, merlin, nor did i critique your site. you didn't ask for one.

Ok....no harm no foul.....LOL. Just yanking your chain......LOL

[tonygreek]

no problem, merlin. the reason i take interest in the web site forum here is because i have 10 years of experience in web strategy, ranging in site scale from the thousands to the millions of dollars, and i like to help others when i can. credit a healthy dose of attention deficit disorder and a vein of entrepreneurship and you come up with me spending time on this site.

tony

[olderthandirt]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

no problem, merlin. the reason i take interest in the web site forum here is because i have 10 years of experience in web strategy, ranging in site scale from the thousands to the millions of dollars, and i like to help others when i can. credit a healthy dose of attention deficit disorder and a vein of entrepreneurship and you come up with me spending time on this site.

tony

Well Tony how much you charge to make one up for me???????
Mac

[mdvaden]

That might be a handy idea.

One thing about web sites - in about 5 years - if we have 10 good web site strategists each helping 10 landscape type companies develop good sites; we know that 90 of the 100 will not be on the first page let alone the top 3 slots.

That's why these days it makes sense to develop a site that fits the character of the company as goal numero uno.

In 10 years or 15, having a website will be almost like having a number in the phone book. Thousands of them in there, but very few that stand out.

But either way, it's nice to have someone with a bit of skill lay the site out so it functions right.