If you don't have a website then your business doesn't exist!

[JacobRogers]

So I'm on Spring Break, chilling at my mom's house. Trying to figure out what I want to do while I'm down here. I've been looking into some local restaurants and I get so annoyed when I can't find the website for a place I'm trying to find things out about.

There really isn't any excuse! Some places just throw up a myspace, and while I don't think that's ideal because a lot of said myspaces are hard to read and too flashy for my taste but at least they exist. At least I can get their hours of operations there and a vague idea of the atmosphere they have and maybe even what's on their menu.

Not having a website frustrates me. And the places I'm trying to find that don't have a website, I'm probably not going to go there.

[Dr Small]

Yellowpages generally help. Of course, that depends on if you live in the USA.

[popch]

Yellowpages generally help. Of course, that depends on if you live in the USA.

They're called 'Yellow Pages' in other places, too, e.g. in Switzerland.

[DrMega]

They're called 'Yellow Pages' in other places, too, e.g. in Switzerland.

...And in Britain...

[JacobRogers]

Yellow pages don't give enough information. Living up to the old standards of advertising and having your name in the directory is NOT ENOUGH any more. Because of all the choices available to me I want on demand information about your business whenever and however I want it. If they can't provide that I can go to a thousand other places that can.

[Ripfox]

Why not do what I did and call them and offer to put up a website for 300 bucks? I get a yes more often than not. :)

[JacobRogers]

Why not do what I did and call them and offer to put up a website for 300 bucks? I get a yes more often than not. :)


You do that? That makes the world a better place. I'm not interested in doing that though.

[Barrucadu]

I know, it's so annoying when a business doesn't have any online presence at all, not even in a directory.


Why not do what I did and call them and offer to put up a website for 300 bucks? I get a yes more often than not. :)
I should do that - though I'm told websites here generally sell for about £300ish, which is rather a bit more.

[Ripfox]

Yep thats why i offer the cheap price and throw up a real simple site...it's win for me and win for them. Plus then no one else gets my 300 bucks...lol.

[eljoeb]

It depends on the industry. In many, simply a yellow pages listing is fine, as most of your business comes from a quality relationship with very few customers. Informational websites are too passive when you are looking for meaningful business relationships.

I have never seen a need for my business to have a website and conditions would have to change pretty drastically for me to change my mind.

[Iceni]

I agree with OP. If the company I am considering is not present online I will not use them.

[billgoldberg]

Yellowpages generally help. Of course, that depends on if you live in the USA.

They have those anywhere in the civilized world.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

Even a 1996ish website will suffice.

How much does hosting a low traffic site costs? $20-50 a year, and another whopping $5 for the domain name.

Building a basic website for a small restaurant or something only takes a few hours. You download a free template somewhere. Make a custom banner in the gimp/photoshop and add some pictures and text, upload it to the host and your done. Any neighborhood computer savvy kid can do that, if you slip them $50 bucks or something.

[forestpixie]

It could be that they haven't got a website - because they don't want one and already have the clientèle that they want and don't want to increase the trade.

All manner of reasons could exist - I certainly wouldn't exclude a business on the existence or non-existence of a website - you could be walking past the one place that does exactly what you want or need.


I want on demand information about your business whenever and however I want it

It's quite amazing how we all managed to cope before there were computers and mobile phones - if it annoys so much - use somewhere else. The whole world does not need to be constantly on tap for everyone else.

[eljoeb]

It's quite amazing how we all managed to cope before there were computers and mobile phones - if it annoys so much - use somewhere else. The whole world does not need to be constantly on tap for everyone else.

It might also help to consider many of the people you talk to in these forums are young enough to barely remember a world without the internet.

As to your previous comment, it's rare that businesses don't want to increase sales. It not only increases (apparently an evil thing if I read these forums right) profit, but also provides security when there is a downturn in sales. It is usually not good to be dependent on a single customer (Kind of like 80/20 gone mad). A business will probably not have a website because either it focuses on a very small regional market (like the restaurant down the street that makes yummy omelets) or prefers to look for long term business relationships using personal means, such as word of mouth.

[forestpixie]

I understand that - all I'm getting at is that if someone hasn't got a site - there's probably a good reason for it.

Yes - there are probably many people here who can't remember a world without instant communication, I've got an 8 year old who thinks that she should have a phone, just think it's a bit sad that it can seem an annoyance when the information isn't instantly on tap.

Not that I would want to be travelling everywhere by horse you understand and I'm certainly no Luddite - or I wouldn't be here :)

[CaptainCabinet]

So I'm on Spring Break, chilling at my mom's house. Trying to figure out what I want to do while I'm down here. I've been looking into some local restaurants and I get so annoyed when I can't find the website for a place I'm trying to find things out about.

There really isn't any excuse! Some places just throw up a myspace, and while I don't think that's ideal because a lot of said myspaces are hard to read and too flashy for my taste but at least they exist. At least I can get their hours of operations there and a vague idea of the atmosphere they have and maybe even what's on their menu.

Not having a website frustrates me. And the places I'm trying to find that don't have a website, I'm probably not going to go there.

I'm not exactly sure what your complaining about... :???:

[LaRoza]

Even bars have pages now.

It is a really easy and cheap way to get known.

Although it is not essential, a website/blog/social network site is a very good idea to have.

[SZF2001]

Here's an idea - go outside, maybe? I'm sure you can't smell the delicious foods from your monitor...

[fatality_uk]

And of course the restaurant / pizza place / bar etc will want a dynamic e-commerce site with AJAX, Flash and an online marketing project for £300!

I sold my design agency a few years back and because I never focused on that end of the market, the rewards, both financial and in terms of satisfaction at the end of a days work, were much greater.

Even in these days of pennies per megabyte hosting, if a company is serious about having an online presence, they need to look at spending more than £300.

I still consult on occasion and during initial discussions, if the client is not willing to consider spending £2500 minimum, then I don't even make a repeat appointment. I often use sites like http://www.google.com/analytics/ to complete a statistical review of the present site. You would be amazed at how many bad sites are simply not sticky! A good or even great site will hold a viewers attention and encourange them to travel further into the site and thus learn more about the company.

A bad site is like a bad advert!

[DrMega]

I understand that - all I'm getting at is that if someone hasn't got a site - there's probably a good reason for it.

That good reason may be that they are incredibly busy and successful, operating at capacity, and don't need to promote themselves anymore.

The local garage that I use is a small family run operation. They do an excellent job for a reasonable price. If I need to put my car in I have to book a week in advance. I started using them on the recommendation of colleague, who in turn started using them on a recommendation of someone else.

I have a freind who has his own landscaping firm. I offered to build him a website and he said thanks but no thanks, on the basis that he was booked solid for the next few months and didn't want to have to turn people away, so figured he'd be better off not promoting his company any more for a few months.

The problem is that a website is only any good if there is someone with the skills, time and interest to maintain it. If I encountered a website that was two years out of date, I would just assume the business had probably ceased trading and just left their site to expire.

[Ripfox]

And of course the restaurant / pizza place / bar etc will want a dynamic e-commerce site with AJAX, Flash and an online marketing project for £300!

I sold my design agency a few years back and because I never focused on that end of the market, the rewards, both financial and in terms of satisfaction at the end of a days work, were much greater.

Even in these days of pennies per megabyte hosting, if a company is serious about having an online presence, they need to look at spending more than £300.

I still consult on occasion and during initial discussions, if the client is not willing to consider spending £2500 minimum, then I don't even make a repeat appointment. I often use sites like http://www.google.com/analytics/ to complete a statistical review of the present site. You would be amazed at how many bad sites are simply not sticky! A good or even great site will hold a viewers attention and encourange them to travel further into the site and thus learn more about the company.

A bad site is like a bad advert!

Meh...I live in a pretty small town, so any site is better than no site. I can also put up a very professional looking site that doesn't have flash and all that crap for really cheap, just getting a point across to their customers about what food they have on certain days ect...so I don't think it's absolutely necessary for a small business to spend alot on their website IMHO.