The importance of buying a domain name and building a website to promote your business, especially now that the general economy is tanking, was underlined in an article published by 

USA Today this morning. The story, "A Good Website is a Great Asset," was written by Gladys Edmunds who has a weekly column in the national newspaper called Entrepreneurial Tightrope.

Edmunds wrote, "Every now and then I feel compelled to remind you of how important maintaining a website can be to your business. If you have a site that's not giving a return on your investment then perhaps it's time to rework it. If you have been procrastinating about having a website, now is the time to get one." 

Edmunds went on to give a specific example of how small businesses are generating extra sales through their web 

addresses. She detailed how an Ann Arbor, Michigan bakery called Zingermans (at Zingermans.com of course) distinguished themselves by making their high quality products available to consumers around the globe through their website, while still serving their local community. Edmunds offered these tips for using the Internet to help you steer your business through hard times:

Accessibility. Being able to locate your company by a domain name that is the name of your business makes it easier to find you.

Update content regularly. This is easy to let slip by. Keep your info as up to date as possible.

Make the user experience easy and enjoyable. Site visitors should not have to play hide and seek when visiting your website. Icons should clearly state where things are. It's frustrating to have to search each page looking for a phone number for customer service.

Customer service is the lifeline of a successful business. Respond to e-mails immediately. And avoid using annoying automatic e-mail responses.

(Posted Oct. 15, 2008)