Do You Really Need a Web Site?
by Rick Green — Partner, Adventurocity Inc.

Do you really need a Web site? The answer depends on what kind of business you have.

If you are a small operator and the majority of your business comes from within your own neighbourhood, a Web site is unlikely going to pay off unless you have your sights set on an aggressive expansion covering a much broader geographical area. You would be better advised to focus on customer service to increase loyalty and profitability from up-selling.

If you are in the business of destination marketing, you definitely want access to a broad geographical area. Having a Web site is a logical solution to reaching people across the country, even the globe. However, a Web site on that scale can cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Is there any way to minimize that cost? Yes.

For destination marketing in particular, there are a variety of ways to get your message out without having to have a large, elaborate (and expensive) Web site. You do need a site, but it need only have contact details, an FAQ, and two-way communications features such as chat or a message board.

There are plenty of existing sites covering destinations around the world with lots of message boards with interested people asking questions about those destinations. They need help. Go help them. Making them come to you when you can find them is not very service-oriented.

Another possible strategy is to approach a travel portal like Expedia or Travelocity and propose a partnership whereby they provide you with a co-branded site in exchange for you maintaining the currency of the destination information and managing the community. In addition to avoiding significant expense, you tap into a qualified, captive audience.

For those organizations that decide to create a large Web site regardless, two primary mistakes will result in inferior site traffic, especially a low rate of repeat visitors.

First, traditional marketing techniques revolving around image building and branding are often applied to the Web. Consequently, a site may largely consist of catchy multimedia and promotional copy. Why does this not work?

People online are largely goal-driven — they are looking for solid information and they want it fast. They have little patience for slow-loading pages, plug-in error messages, or pop-up windows going off left and right. Why should someone be forced to navigate through this minefield if they have already decided to vist your country before visiting your site? They should be able to get to practicalities such as visitor entry requirements, office hours for government services, or dates of public holidays within three clicks from the homepage.

A second common mistake is that once the site is built, there is very little support given afterwards. Spartan message boards, silent chat rooms, and clearly outdated information are obvious signs of "out for lunch". A simple mouseclick sends your prospective visitor to a destination that is "open for business".

It should become clear, then, that creating a Web site is not a panacea. "Build it and they will come" simply doesn’t hold true. It is a communications tool like a phone, not a monument to self-promotion. Like a phone, there not only needs to be dial tone, but someone on the other end.

Contact us with your comments on this article or find out how human-centred technology can work for you and your customers.