What's Your URL?

What's Your URL?
A webmaster shares his secrets on building a stellar company Web site

The Four Seasons Car Wash Web site, www.fourseasonscarwash.com, maintains a consistent image throughout, with a simple, brightly colored logo repeated on each page. Carwash services are easily identified, and gift certificates can be ordered online. Other features include online coupons, a full carwash menu, a list of VIP club benefits and a form for comments and suggestions. Phone numbers, hours and locations are listed under each category.

The Internet is nothing new. For many of us, it is probably hard to remember what life was like before e-mail, instant messaging or amazon.com. Postage stamps and stationery are becoming about as foreign to today's youth as eight tracks and BETA machines.

The car care industry has, in many instances, seized the opportunity presented by the Internet to better business. Carwash operators can find a wealth of information on the Web, visiting sites as comprehensive as www.carcarecentral.com or as uninhibited as the Auto Care Forum. What is surprising, under the circumstances, is that there is still a large number of car care operations that do not have their own Web sites. Or else the Web sites they do have in place are little more than a few flashy graphics and a street address.

This month, Modern Car Care interviewed Chris Dohman, owner of Dohman.Net, based in New Brighton, Minn., a company specializing in Web development, promotion, hosting and domain registration for small businesses. Any operator with questions concerning cost, how to keep a site maintained, how to set up special features like online stores or how to make an existing site better can't afford to miss this "behind-the-screens" look at creating a successful Web presence.

What are the initial steps a small business owner should take when looking into setting up a Web site?

Decide what type of site you want and what you are trying to achieve. Do you want an informative, brochure-style site, e-commerce, the ability to collect information from visitors, or complex programs and advanced interaction and data? Does the type of site you want match your budget? Look at other sites that are in the same business as you are and see what features they have. Decide what you like and dislike about the sites.

Gather and write out content you know you want to include. Any brochures and printed materials you have may include much of the content you want for your Web site. Find or take pictures you want included. Have any logos and artwork available for your developer. Logos and artwork in digital file format are best for this rather than pictures on paper or brochures. The same is true for text content. Having the text content ready for your developer in a file format such as a Microsoft Word document or text file will save time and expense. It is time consuming, and thus expensive, to have your developer scan and rewrite your content from brochures and printed material. Seeing your brochures and any other printed material will be helpful for your developer to get to know your business.

Start detailing the number of sections, pages, links and photos you envision for your site and what content they will include. This is one of the first things a developer will ask for.

Find a Web developer and Web host you are comfortable with who will be happy to answer all your questions and give suggestions. Many times you can find a developer who can provide both development and hosting, saving you from having too many contacts. You can look for developers just about anywhere--on the Internet, in trade publications, a local phone book or through referrals. Also look for a developer who fits your budget and develops for the size project you want to do.

A process of information exchange between you and your prospective developer will start once you have found a developer you like. In this process, you will clarify both the initial development process and exactly what your site will include. Be sure to clarify if there will be any charges for these initial consultations and processes of deciding the scope of your project. These processes can be done either through e-mail, by phone or in person. From this, your developer can produce a bid or quoted price for development of your site.

Many developers will require a down payment upon acceptance of a bid which may range anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the total bid with the balance due upon completion.

Choose and register a domain name. Your developer should be able to help you with this.

What should an owner be willing to spend on a site (ranging from a basic to a more-involved site)?

The Star Car Wash Web site includes an area map for each of the carwash's six locations and a link to the Weather Channel Web site, allowing visitors to get an up-to-date weather forecast for any U.S. city. The site also depicts all accepted credit cards.

Hosting: It will cost $15 per month/$150 per year for basic hosting service and $600 per year for more features. You can spend up to $1,000 or more per month for a dedicated server that handles only your Web site (only for large sites with heavy traffic or applications). Look for hosting that gives you e-mail with multiple mailboxes.

Development: It will cost a minimum of $100 for a simple, one-page "business card" type of site. Simple sites with five to 10 pages and a form or two should usually be done for under $1,000. For $1,000 to $3,000, you should be able to get a larger site and some interactive features plus a basic shopping cart. For $3,000 to $10,000, you will start getting into a more complex site and custom programming. Graphics work with logos and such can dramatically add to the time and cost involved.

Domain registration: This will cost approximately $10 to $35 per year. Maintenance really depends on your site content. You may also pay $25 to $100 per month for basic updates and maintenance.

How much of Web site development and upkeep can an owner do on his own and how much should be left to professionals?

Some Web sites are built with Web pages that allow an owner to update content easily with simple forms. News, articles and forums are examples of such. These features cost a bit more upfront to build these interfaces. The actual editing of HTML code should be done by the developer unless you are comfortable with computers and know programming code. If you do edit the code, make sure you have talked to the developer. Let him know of your editing and work out how updates will be done.

What components do you feel are absolutely necessary for a successful Web site?

Methods for contact and service. Nothing is more frustrating than searching a Web site for a way to contact a business and not being able to find a phone number, address or e-mail address. Accepting credit cards if you sell items online is also important.

What should an owner know about providing online purchasing options?

Simple shopping carts can be added without great expense. Having a merchant account to accept Visa and Master Card is a must but there will be fees involved. You must monitor for purchases and inquiries every day and be ready to respond to each customer. Watch your inventory closely and limit the items offered online only to those in stock.

What design elements are most important in an effective Web site?

• Useful information
• Fast-loading pages
• Simple and uniform navigation
• Current content and updates
• Good spelling and grammar

What are the most common mistakes business owners make with their sites?

• Too many fancy and slow-loading graphics that really have no purpose. You are lucky if someone sits and waits to see the whole thing once, let alone each time he visits a site.
• Developing a site and then just letting it wither and die by not updating, evolving and promoting it.
• No promotion. A site must be promoted. Simple things like putting your site address on your stationery, brochures, literature and signs tell your current customers that you are out there. Also, a site should be promoted online through search engines, directories and advertising.
• Poor spelling and grammar. It can turn someone off as soon as he starts reading.

How often should a site be updated?

Visitors to www.bubblescarwash.com can schedule detailing appointments online, or sign up to be on the Bubbles Car Wash mailing list. The Pipeline page includes a section called Lifestyles of the Clean and Famous,where Polaroids of customers and their newly detailed cars are posted regularly.

It really depends on your products, market segment and content. If you have breaking news, it better be current to the day. If you have a simple, informative site with hours and locations, a weekly or monthly update of specials or happenings will work. If you are selling products online, your online catalog needs to reflect the products you have available to sell. A change of colors and layout every six months or so will help keep your visitors from becoming bored with the look. This also lets them know you are open and running.

How can an owner market his Web site?

• Company letterhead, brochures, literature, business cards, invoices, receipts and promotional items
• Online search engines, directories and targeted advertising
• Online sales and discounts
• Traditional forms of advertising including your Web address.

How are advancements in technology providing new Web options for business owners?

New features and applications are always being developed and offered for sale. Buying an existing application and adapting it to your needs is much cheaper than having a programmer custom develop an application for you.

New development technologies are evolving, making database-driven sites easier and quicker to develop with more features to deliver up-to-date and select content. Java, Flash, streaming media and wireless Internet are some cool technologies, but they need to be used for specific purposes and not just to show off. Cool graphics can add a splash but use with caution. You don't want to waste a person's time with needless graphics. In some cases, some of these graphics technologies can be used to effectively present hard-to-describe products or visualize items in the manner they will be used.

Do you have any final advice?

Many owners think that once they hire someone to develop a site, their work is done and the developer can do it all. This is far from the truth; the owner must be very involved and provide most of the content of the site. A developer needs to take this content and build it into a functioning site.

Be sure to portray the same image on the site as you do in your regular business practices. You don't want to confuse your customers with something totally different. Use similar colors, logos and graphics.

Ideas to include for carwash sites: services, prices, specials, locations, employment opportunities, gift certificates, car tips, helpful links to other auto sites, feature articles, auto news items, contact info, Internet specials/coupons, fundraising and charity, forums and mailing lists.

Chris Dohman can be e-mailed at chris@dohman.net.