Approximately two months ago, the “Canada, Get Your Business Online” initiative was launched. Supported by big names such as Google, the aim of the initiative was pretty self-explanatory; getting Canadian businesses to build websites. According to Google, 100,000 Canadian small to medium sized businesses were/(are) not online, a sharp contrast to the 80% of Canadian consumers who are online.
Whereas this initiative was definitely a step in the right direction, it may not have been the most effective way to address the online disconnect between Canadian SMBs and consumers. For those unfamiliar with the initiative, it offered both free website creation through a templated “What you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) website provider, and a year of free .ca domain registration, in addition to a few other perks.
I found the idea ineffective in a few ways:
For a small business, a standalone website might not be the right solution
It might seem surprising for someone who works for a company that makes marketing websites to advise against a website, but the fact is in some cases it just isn’t the best way to go. For a small retailer, in order for a website to be useful, it must provide value to the consumer through at least providing an up-to-date view of retail stock, if not the opportunity to purchase those items. Maintaining such a website that has been created through a “WYSIWYG” editor can take a large amount of time, and be largely ineffective.
For a small business, a pre-developed e-commerce marketplace can be a much more realistic solution. An example of this would be “Etsy” http://www.etsy.com, where small creative retailers can sell their wares without maintaining their own site, or at least not their own e-commerce solution.
For a medium business, a free website just won’t cut it
As a business that is looking to build a website, it is important to think about your online front the same way you would consider your office or a retail outlet. You need to be in a quality, well-built location that will show your customers that you are professional, reliable, and high quality. As such, it might not be possible to get what you need for free, or even for $500.
Whether or not you are planning to implement an e-commerce solution, the goal of your website should be to drive revenue. As a result, there will be a measure of ROI. A high quality website might be expensive at first, but if done right, it will be easy to see how it will pay for itself, let alone how it provides a better experience for a consumer.
Although some would argue that this initiative was simply focused on getting Canadian SMBs online in the first place in order for them to discover some of the points I’ve mentioned above, I believe there could be better ways to do this that don’t result in a less than amiable experience for the consumer.
Do what’s right for consumers and for your business, Canadian SMBs, but do so in a way that will be sustainable, and will help your business into the future.
Tags: "get your business online", e-commerce, google, Marketing, Online Marketing, websites
