Websites......are they worth it?

[Cowboy]

When I first opened 4years ago, I had put up a page describing who we are, where we are and what we offer. Since then I have been toying with the idea of making a more interactive website with about five navigational pages. However, I have had many people tell me that it is more of a hassle than it is worth. But, others tell me that without one, essentially you don't exist, you are not a real business. I find the latter of the two a little far fetched, but nonetheless, it may be so. Do any of you have websites, and if so, are they worth it?

Appreciate any and all responses, thanx

:cheers: To All.

Cowboy

[edKENdance]

Chat with Keith Benjamin and check out his site. Web pages are cheap and if you have some flair then you don't have much to lose. I am opposed to crappy pages; AR council are you listening? Do it yourself.

[keithbenjamin]

Hey Cowboy,

I've wondered the about validity of websites for the majority retail opticals myself. I tend to think because of the restricted, local nature of the target market you probably wouldn't get the return on your investment by implementing an interactive website since the nature of the Internet is global, unless you had the time, interest, and ability to implement it professionaly yourself. I would definitely recommend having a site, but would probably limit it to a "brochure site" that contained information about your store/practice. You could then refer people to the site for more information and use it in your advertising. You could also make information available as a service to your customers, for example: information about eyecare or care of their new eyewear. You could post specials and promotions, ask your customers if they would like to receive emails, e-newsletters, etc. I would try to keep the content largely static to limit the maintnance required. That being said however, it is still very important to keep any infomation you have available online, up to date. But to do something that is truly interactive requires: a) a lot of time and a little talent, b) a lot of expense, or c) both. Like any business decision, you really have to evaluate your goals in regards to the website, look at the costs involved, and determine if its worth the expense.

In designing our site, we really wanted to provide a service to both our customers and optical community at large, by providing an interactive site, that served as a wealth of information we felt was so lacking in the online world of the O's. We're still probably a ways of from that goal, but I think we're off to a pretty good start.

I hope this post amounted to more than tired ramblings. Let me know if you have any questions or I can help you out in any way.

Keith

[Chris Ryser]

Cowboy said:

........................... However, I have had many people tell me that it is more of a hassle than it is worth. .......................

But, others tell me that without one, essentially you don't exist, you are not a real business. ................

I find the latter of the two a little far fetched, but nonetheless, it may be so. Do any of you have websites, and if so, are they worth it?

Cowboy

I have been on your site and found it very straighr forward and to the point. you could add some ideas and specials and soup it up with like Keithbenjamin said.

They are definitely worth it :

A website is definitely worth it if you can be found when people are asking questions to the search engines.

If your site is not listed within the first to the third page of web results you have a proplem that needs correcting.. Unless researchers of large companies R&D departments are looking for a specific item the regular Joe will abandon the search after 3 pages. So you have to be in the top listiings.

You can achieve that by reading up on all these many weekly news letters by site promotion companies develop your action plan and follow it to the point.There are some basic rules that you can follow and the DO WORK

By investing 2 hours of my day, usually from 4 to 6 am, I have brought my website from 18,000 hits to close to an average of just below 70,000 hits in an 8 month period. The average visiting time went up from 2.30 minutes to 5.45 minutes.

The cost is minimal because it is ALL my own time, the savings are tremendous because I now get more people reading up on my products than the trade magazines could give me. We actually are now getting customers from many other fields than just the optical professions.

If you start by reading up and learn how to create traffic on your site you will be able to make up your mind how to do it.
You can always go on my site at: http://optochemicals.com and check it out.

[Darryl Meister]

I suspect that a website can be particularly beneficial to a practice if you have your other marketing and promotional materials point to it. While I doubt the average consumer searches optical websites before purchasing eyewear, you can certainly add lines like "see our website @ wwwsitedotcom" for "special savings" or "to learn more about the service we offer" to your yellow page, brochure, and radio ads. This will give them a reason to look your site up, at which point you can further educate them about your practice, your services, and so on.

I would at the very least include a small map to your location, office hours, staff profiles, products/services you offer, a list of any promotions you are running, and that sort of thing. Articles on vision care, recommended products to showcase, coupons to print, and that sort of thing may also be a good idea. For instance, articles on UV protection, sunwear, benefits of AR coatings, importance of regular eye examinations, and polycarbonate lenses for children would be a start. Also, since they're probably "computer users" if they are visiting your website, you'll probably want to include links, articles, and products relevant to computer users and vision.

You might also check with your vendors to see if your website can qualify for any co-op advertising. However, while a good website will complement and supplement good local advertising, it will probably not replace it anytime soon.

Best regards,
Darryl

[Emile]

If you do publish a web site it is very important to maintain it's content. The web is littered with obsolete sites and broken links. I cannot take seriously any company or organization whose web site has not been updated for four or five years. Either these gomers have gone out of business, are in the process of going out of business, or just don’t care about business. Personally, when I encounter a site that has not been maintained, I’m outta there. Sloppy web site – sloppy business.

Take, for example, the NFOS web site (http://www.nfos.org/ ) frequently cited on this message board. The last posted newsletter is from April 2000 – that’s almost four years ago. If someone looks for a school in Central Massachusetts they will find a listing for Quinsigamond Community College. This program closed its doors many years ago. And on and on.

I guess the point is that if you use a web site to provide information make sure that it is always current. It is, in many cases, the first point of contact that a prospective customer will have with your business.

Emile