Most rural businesses will benefit from having some sort of presence on the internet. You can either set up your own website or join someone else’s. Unless you’re planning a major online trading site, it probably doesn’t matter in the early days as long as you get a mention somewhere. This means that when someone does a search for your type of business, your name pops up.
Do I Need My Own Website?
If you’re new to this, think of a website as space you rent on the internet. It can either be a single page on the screen or as many pages as you want. You can include as much or as little detail as you want.
At its simplest, your website could include a couple of photographs, a brief product description and your contact name and phone
number. At its most sophisticated, the site should include photos of all your products or services, lists of colours, fabrics, materials, ingredients, whatever is relevant, plus up-to-the-minute prices and availability. The customer can buy immediately, using their card details, or go off and have a cup of tea and think about it. The first is the equivalent to an advertising hoarding, the second is an online shop.
Websites can also be used to get valuable feedback on your business. Invite visitors to the site to leave their comments, take part in a survey or email you with comments and queries. You can also keep a running check on the number of visitors to your site.
If you’re not sure if you need your own site then have a look on the internet and see what’s out there already. Look at competitors’ websites and other websites relevant to your trade before deciding.
If you decide you don’t need your own dedicated website, or don’t want the hassle of setting it up and then running it, think about joining someone else’s. If for example you offer bed and breakfast accommodation, could you register on a local tourism site? If you have a shop in a small market town, does that town have its own site? If you’re a specialist craftsperson, look at ways of getting onto sites that promote your particular field, whether it’s jewellery, bespoke furniture, stained glass windows or wrought iron work.
Questions To Ask Yourself
Don’t be bullied into thinking you must have your own website. Despite what your teenage children may tell you, or what you read in the newspapers, the world will still turn if you decide not to. If you’re aiming for a purely local business then there probably isn’t
much point. You’re far better off spending your time and money on buying a new delivery van or developing better products or skills.
But if you decide in principle that you want a website then think about these points:
- The internet is global. How will you feel about taking orders from Ecuador or Oman? Are you prepared to specify on your site which countries you’ll do business in?
- Are your goods easily packable? Either for a UK or a global market?
- How much would you charge for postage and packing?
- Who is going to pay? You or the customer?
- What about after-sales care? If your handwoven rug falls apart in a week and your customer lives in the next village they can easily return it. But if that customer lives at the opposite end of the UK or on the other side of Europe, what then?
- Is your product likely to need spare parts? If so, how are you going to get them to the customer quickly and simply?
- Do you have the time and money to set up your own website?
- Do you have the technical ability?
- Do you have the time and money to maintain your own website?