On a website, an organisation can upload and share text, images, documents for download, audio, video, etc., for both its employees and the public. In addition to sharing information, an organisation can also use its website to capture information such as inquiries, suggestions, orders for goods and services, etc. from the website visitors.
Because of its far-reaching power as a communications tool, today, owning a website is a critical component of the corporate identity/brand of any organisation. However, its power notwithstanding, here are 3 questions you should ask yourself before investing in a website for your organization.
1. Does it add value to your work?
A friend once asked me to design and develop a website for her business. According to her, the other reason she was interested in having a website for her business was so she could have email addresses customized to the website’s domain name to put on her business cards. Considering her business had been operational for some time, I asked her, “Has any of your customers asked you for a website or customised email addresses?”
By the end of our discussion on the subject, it had become clear to my friend that the website and the customised email addresses she wanted were only going to make her feel nice (at a high cost) without really generating any/much revenue for her. She ditched the idea.
If you live in a desert, it is unwise to buy a yacht simply because everyone you know owns one. Do not just follow the corporate bandwagon and invest in a website just to fit in.
2. Can you afford it?
Besides the cost of design and development for a website (which is usually a one-off payment), there are annual fees that must be paid for you to retain ownership of your website’s domain name and to keep it accessible online (i.e. hosted). Failure to promptly pay these fees automatically leads to loss of the domain name (which can then be bought by another person) and hosting services (which locks you out of your website files online and customised email addresses).
Therefore, before investing in having a website, consider the long-term cost implications and be sure you can afford its maintenance before you even have it developed. Loss of a domain name you have worked so hard to market as part of your organisation’s brand can cause irreparable damage to your organisation.
3. Can you market your website?
Even if you can afford to pay for a website, if you do not have the time and the means to market it, do not invest in it. This may seem contradictory—considering a website is a communications tool supposed to promote the organisation—but it isn’t.
Many people assume that because websites are online and accessible to anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the world, very many people will be visiting their website immediately after it is launched. Not quite. A website can spend even months without getting a single visitor.
To harness a website’s full potential, it must be used and promoted in collaboration with other communications media because websites are not islands in the sea of communications.
Before a website can be effective in promoting your organisation, you must promote it (the website). You must tell the world about your website through word of mouth, in print media, social media, etc., so people can know it exists and then, hopefully, visit it.
The author is a communications expert
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