Small Business: Web site useful tool, but varies according to nees

Yours is a small business. You're not an electronic guru. How do you know if you need a Web site? How do you go about getting one? These questions are ones many small-business owners are asking, and the standard answer is "Yes, you need a Web site."

How you go about getting one, and what kind of site you end up with, depends on your situation.

You need a site because any business can benefit from the exposure and because the competition probably already has a presence on the Web. And considering how minimal the cost of a basic site can be, there's really not much reason not to have one.

The simplest and least expensive option is the "brochure" site. It's the most common and the easiest to set up and maintain. It usually offers information on your business, its products, location, hours of operation and contact information. This is pretty much a set-it-and-forget-it kind of site. You can do a brochure site yourself and have it hosted by an Internet service provider for as little as $30 a month.

A "private" site is password-protected and created for the internal use of a company. It can also be used to communicate with clients and other business associates. For example, a graphic designer might post the latest design of a project for the client to view on a private Web site. It requires some maintenance, depending on how it is used.

The most technical and expensive site is the "shopping" site, aimed at securing a sale online. These have become quite common and usually contain similar components. The merchandise is displayed. Customers load their electronic shopping carts and then proceed to the checkout area. Shopping sites require special interactive software and programming you shouldn't attempt on your own. Furthermore, if you don't have the mail order and customer service systems in place to support it, you shouldn't even consider a shopping site.

Once you've decided to get a Web site, how should you do it? Well, you can design, build, and host it yourself, you can outsource it, or you can do a combination of the two. For small businesses, it's really not practical to have their own servers and do their own programming and upkeep. If yours is a very simple site (and if you know your way around a computer fairly well), you might design it yourself. There are a lot of easy-to-use software packages on the market for creating Web sites. But when it comes to hosting, there's really no reason to run your own server because hosting services today are very reasonably priced as little as $29.95 per month. Web design services have also become affordable, with packages starting as low as $100. Remember though, if you decide to hire a professional service, shop around. With so much competition out there, the extra time spent could save you some real money.

Of course, once you have a Web site you'll want people to be able to find it quickly and easily. Most people use a search engine or directory site to find what they're looking for on the Internet. However, because the Web is growing so quickly it's difficult for the search engine software to keep up with adding new sites to their indexes.

In fact, recent studies indicate that most comprehensive search engines only cover about 15 percent of the Internet.

So, the chances of your site appearing near the top of the list when someone performs a search are pretty slim unless you've enlisted some professional help. There are companies out there who will not only submit your site to the search engines, but also help you push it up in the results. Some Web site hosting services also offer this, but there are many consultants that specialize in placement alone. The less expensive ones will resubmit your site every month. The expensive consultants will monitor where your site shows up on a search and work to keep it showing up on the first few pages. So you'll have to determine how important you believe search results are to you, and how much you should spend in this effort.

Finally, most search engines will also let you buy banner ads that pop up when people search using your particular keywords. Banner ads may also be purchased on other Web sites or traded for space on your site.

(Sonja Chasteen is the business assistance manager for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.)