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To Web or Not to Web

The Web has become such a fixture in today's world of commerce that you would raise more than a few eyebrows if you admit that your business does not have its own Web site.

Is that response justified? It depends. In this issue we provide a checklist of some of the questions you should ask yourself when considering whether or not it is appropriate or timely to launch your business on the Web. We then provide a brief list of lessons learned from businesses that have created and maintained Web sites.

The "Should We Launch a Web Site" Checklist

Your Business Strategy

- What are your objectives for launching your business on the Internet? For example: do you want to build a more visible public profile, generate income, or enhance customer service?

- How are these objectives aligned with business strategies?

- What are the timelines to meet these objectives?

- Who will translate these objectives into realistic measures of success to be managed?

- Having identified and precisely defined your objectives, what is your overall Internet business strategy? For example: do you want to establish an electronic brochure, develop a site for transactions or build a Web community around your site?

Budget

- What is your budget for developing, launching, maintaining and enhancing your Web site?

- What technical expertise do you already have in place to build and maintain your Web site?

- How much time can your business devote to the planning and maintenance of your Web site?

Management

- What are the criteria and measures of success for your Web site? How will they be monitored?

- Who will be responsible for the management and administration of your Web site?

- Who will be in charge of training and technical support for your Web site?

- Are there processes and people in place for gathering, analyzing, interpreting and responding to client feedback received from your site and doing the same with data concerning usage patterns?

Operations

- What allowances have you made for changes in customer feedback patterns? For example: the volume of toll-free calls you receive may decrease and email volumes may increase.

- Have you assessed the potential advantages and challenges that having an Internet presence will present in dealing with suppliers?

- Have you considered the impact a Web presence could have on each of the following: prospecting, market research, advertising, public affairs and information systems?

Your Competitors

- Do you regularly monitor your competitors' Web sites to learn from their mistakes and triumphs in design, positioning and offerings?

- How will you distinguish your Web site from those of your closest competitors?

- Do you conduct research to identify how your competitors' Web sites are used and valued by their clients and by your own clients?

Your Market

- Which of your desired and existing customers are most likely to visit or avoid your Web site?

- Have your existing or desired customers expressed a need or a desire for you to have a Web presence?

- What Web sites do your customers visit the most for products or services such as yours?

- How do your customers perceive companies with Web sites that offer products or services such as yours?

- What added-value products or services can you offer your clients by establishing a Web presence?

Web Lessons Learned

In addition to the above checklist, the following is a list of considerations drawn from the successful (and not so successful) launch and maintenance of over 600 Web sites from various industries, spanning 1990 to the present.

- Regularly monitor Internet legislation and law to anticipate how your site will be regulated.

- Design a site that is user-friendly and update it frequently.

- Learn from your competitors by monitoring them frequently.

- Build extra slack time into the Web site development plan because there will probably be delays.

- Monitor usage patterns from your Web site regularly.

- Respond quickly to client inquiries and client suggestions.

- Define clearly in measurable terms what you want your Web site to yield.

- Conduct market research to determine if the targets for your Web site are realistic.

- Develop a Web site strategy and design that will be easily updated and enhanced.

- By exposing yourself to a global audience, you run the risk of losing your competitive positioning. So, be prepared to move quickly and frequently to distinguish your product or services from competitors.

- Be aware that the innovation you demonstrate to maintain an interesting site will also raise industry and market expectations for products and services.

- Make sure that your Web positioning is aligned with your brand marketing and sales initiatives as well as with corporate priorities.

- Take precautions to ensure that safety and privacy of business and client information is maintained. For example: internal procedures for documentation and data storage.

Considerable amounts of money and time poured into developing and running a Web site cannot replace careful planning, managing and monitoring. Addressing the issues above will assist you in creating and maintaining a Web site that speaks effectively to your clients, as well as accurately reflecting what makes your business worthwhile.

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